Super Streetfighter 2 Turbo HD Remix – Review (Xbox 360)
13 January, 2009 at 3:45 pm | In reviews | Leave a CommentTags: HD, PS3, Streetfighter, Xbox
Amongst Streetfighter purists, many consider Super Streetfighter 2 Turbo (SSF2T) the definitive Streetfighter title. There’s a sensible amount of characters, its a logical progression from the previous Streetfighter 2 titles, and there’s plenty of depth to its gameplay. It was popular enough to be re-released on the Sega Dreamcast (a console ripe with contemporary arcade titles for its time), and it has been ported to assorted consoles many years after its initial arcade release.
The Streetfighter series went in many different directions since SSF2T. Capcom have heartily experimented with their Streetfighter formula with assorted gameplay mechanics and different art styles to produce an overwhelming amount of Streetfighter related titles.
Knowing this, I was a little skeptical of this new digitally distributed title. I mean its the classic SSF2T with a new lick of paint, right? Essentially, yes. If you never enjoyed 2D fighting games and didn’t really get the whole Streetfighter thing the first time round, then the chances are you probably won’t like this pretty new HD version either.
But if you did enjoy Streetfighter, you owe it to yourself to download this title. The presentation is simply top notch. Graphically, the redrawn chunky sprites make the game look and feel better than ever, and the remixed music is all done by Streetfighter fans themselves over at OC Remix. This is a labour of love through and through.
The online component of this game is also very reliable and lag is minimal. This is massively important, as its the online gameplay which really makes the crucial difference between this update of the game and the original. Its no longer about who is the best Streetfighter player in your circle of friends anymore as you can pit yourself against the rich talent of the masses. The online gameplay is really interesting, as you’ll constantly be discovering some really good tips and tricks from fighting your online opponents.
The bonus of Capcom’s decision to make this game digital distribution only makes this game a fraction of the cost of a retail purchase for, depending on how much you and your friends enjoy Streetfighter, many hours of gameplay. With the upcoming Streetfighter IV, there really is no better time to be the new challenger…
Guitar Hero: On Tour – Review (Nintendo DS)
18 October, 2008 at 9:53 pm | In reviews | Leave a CommentTags: Activision, Guitar Hero, Nintendo DS
Since Activision’s acquisition of the Guitar Hero franchise, we’ve seen lots more of the Guitar Hero games spring up seemingly from nowhere. Guitar Hero: On Tour is one of these Guitar Hero installments that nobody saw coming. This is probably because the idea of a game centred around a peripheral on a portable games console is insane. I mean, imagine a lightgun game appearing on Sony’s PSP where you had to hold a physical handgun peripheral. Its outright bonkers.
Fortunately Red Octane, the hardware makers, have invented something called the ‘Guitar Grip’. This attaches to your Nintendo DS to give it a fretboard. The idea is to wrap your hand around the Nintendo DS to grab the fret buttons and to strum by using the touch screen. They’ve even provided a special plectrum shaped stylus. Initally this strange setup will probably cramp your hand as you adjust to it, but after a while you’ll get used to it.
Red Octane may be the guys behind the hardware, but the actual game was developed by Vicarious Visions. They’ve kept the Guitar Hero game play formula intact: a conveyor belt of coloured blocks travel towards you, hit them in the sequence they appear and you’ll produce guitar sounds. The mechanics are also the same as in previous Guitar Hero games – you can adjust the pitch of some long notes using the whammy bar , and you can use star power to temporarily double your note score. The whammy effect is used from the stylus and the star power is activated by shouting (or blowing) into the DS’s mic. The only significant gameplay difference on the Nintendo DS version is that there’s physically 4 notes on the fretboard instead of the usual 5.
This game also creates another first for the ever expanding Guitar Hero franchise, as everything is stored on a small memory card instead the usual optical media of DVD’s. This means that there’s a lot less songs than your usual Guitar Hero: there’s a grand total of 25 songs – and no bonus songs(!). Vicarious Visions’ solution to this is simply have quality over quantity. There’s a very strong lineup of loveable guitar music from Nirvana, Blink 182, Maroon 5, No Doubt, and lots of other successful acts. Selected songs from Guitar Hero 3 also make a return, giving it an element of a greatest hits compilation.
Usually this would seem like an extremely lazy thing to do on the developers behalf, but having familiar songs available on the go really does make for a convincing ‘play Guitar Hero anywhere’ feel. Put some headphones on, and your bus/train/airport/outdoor surroundings will melt away into Guitar Hero goodness.
Graphically, its impressive what they’ve managed to squeeze out of the Nintendo DS. The overall presentation is nearly on par with what you’d expect from a Sony PSP title. The character models of your chosen guitarist and their band are very detailed and make for a good attempt at recreating the visual feel of the home console Guitar Hero games.
For the Guitar Hero fanatics out there, this game is definitely worth picking up. It has everything you’d want from a Guitar Hero game and it really is a lot of fun having the option to play Guitar Hero on the go. The only problems with this package are physically getting used to the Guitar Grip, and some people may be disappointed at the cut down song selection. This is an otherwise brilliant chance for you to take your Guitar Hero gaming on tour with you wherever you go!
9/10
Soul Calibur XBLA – Review (Xbox 360)
9 September, 2008 at 7:35 pm | In reviews | Leave a CommentTags: Live Arcade, Soul Calibur, XBLA, Xbox
In the build up to Namco-Bandai’s fourth installment of the Soul Calibur franchise, they’ve decided to release the original Soul Calibur onto the Xbox 360 Live Arcade (XBLA). Soul Calibur was originally an arcade game at the turn of the Millenium before it was given a new lease of life on Sega’s Dreamcast. This home version was a complete remake, boasting new groundbreaking 128bit graphics and an exclusive character, Cervantes – an undead pirate and the boss of Namco’s Soul Edge (released on PS1 as Soul Blade).
But enough of the history lesson! How does this XBLA game play? In short, extremely well. Its easy to understand why the original Soul Calibur is rated as such a balanced and polished game when you can revisit it the best part of a decade later and still find an amazingly playable, fluid, deep fighting experience.
To the utterly uninitiated, Soul Calibur is basically like Namco’s Tekken fighting game franchise but with swords and set roughly around the 17th century. The characters use a range of edged and blunt weapons ranging from a hulking battle axe to an experimental mechanical sword that can break apart into a whip.
An inviting thing about Soul Calibur are its controls: there’s 1 button to block, 1 button to kick and 2 buttons to swing your weapon either horziontally or vertically. Like all brilliantly designed games, its easy to grasp the basics but will take you a long time to achieve mastery. This is aided by some well thought out mechanics.
The 8 way diagonal running system meant that for the first time 3D fighting games authentically ventured into the third dimension as you side stepped and danced around your enemies. Also, the fact that every single character in the game was able to interrupt their opponents attack with the correct timing made for some very deep tactics as players thought many moves ahead.
Visually its still very much a pretty game, and it feels very authentic – complete with slightly dodgy physics when people bounce off the edge of an arena during a ring out. A virtual museum in the game also allows you to read character biographies, browse concept, developer and fan art and look at some impressive weapon demonstrations as each character fluidly shows exactly what they’re capable of doing with their weapons of choice.
The XBLA version comes with all of the secret characters, costumes and arenas of the Dreamcast version unlocked so you can get started straight away. Although the scoreboards have online functionality, there is no feature to play against other people over Xbox Live. A lot of people may find this disappointing, but given the rushed and totally flawed online experience of other XBLA fighting games (Streetfighter II Turbo, I’m looking at you here!) I’m actually quite glad they haven’t tainted an otherwise fond memory of this fighting classic.
9/10
Rockband – Review (Xbox 360)
3 July, 2008 at 9:33 pm | In reviews | Leave a CommentTags: Harmonix, Rockband, Xbox 360
For those who know their Guitar Hero history, Rock Band is the latest offering from the original creators of Guitar Hero, Harmonix. Having sold off their precious Guitar Hero IP and now rolling with the big boys over at MTV Games and EA, Rock Band breaks their silence in the only way possible with a rock centric music game. With lots of noise!
If you’ve played Guitar Hero, the basic gameplay of Rock Band should be very familiar: there’s a constant conveyor belt of blocks which are scrolling towards you and by using the correct buttons to hit them in time you’ll find yourself creating a song.
Immediately the first thing that sets Rock Band apart from any other competitors is the inclusion of drums and vocals, and the shift of focus from individuals to a group. The Rock Band instruments are wired guitars, wired drums and a wired mic which all plug in via USB. Fortunately, they come bundled with their own USB hub to cope with the strain of the extra devices you’ll be plugging into your games console. Whether intentional or not, the whole ’spaghetti junction’ of assorted music peripheral cables makes you feel as if you’re performing on stage or having a studio session.
The microphone included is a standard quality USB mic with a nice weight to it. Any USB microphone can be used with Rock Band, or you can use any of the headset adaptors if you want to be a show off and sing whilst strumming on guitar or hitting drums. The singing itself is very similar to Sony’s Singstar games – it detects pitch (sung any octave higher or lower than the original recording if need be) but fails to recognise words or phrases. There are parts of the vocal track where you can give your throat a rest and tap out a rhythm.
Drums are definitely the most refreshing thing about Rock Band and they certainly deliver. As you’d hope to expect from something you’ll be hitting a lot over time, they’re very durable and have thick rubber pads capable of standing even the most enthusiastic drum solos. Its not all indestructible: the foot pedal for the kick drum definitely feels more fragile than the rest of the kit. The pads aren’t velocity sensitive, so hitting them harder or softer has absolutely no difference on the sound you’ll be creating. The drumming snobs out there won’t enjoy that all of the pads are at the same height unlike a real drumkit, but for a videogame peripheral they are absolutely fine.
The Rock Band guitar is a lot bigger than its Guitar Hero counterparts, resembling the size of a real guitar. Aside from the main fret buttons, it has a smaller set of frets lower down the neck of the guitar, which come in handy for those virtuoso solos. Its possible to play the guitar solo sections purely by tapping out the notes on smaller fret buttons, leaving a free hand to fiddle about the special effects on the guitar. You can adjust to have wah wah, flange, chorus, or echo anytime you have a solo or use your star power to really take your guitar performance to the next level.
What really brings Rock Band alive is its multiplayer. The core gameplay really pushes for teamwork, if a fellow bandmate fails during the performance you can revive them if you’ve earnt enough star power by hitting highlighted notes in succession. You also get a bonus if you play notes all in unison, and if you all co-ordinate your star power together you’ll multiply the scores of new notes you hit for a short period.
The Band Tour mode is where you and up to 3 friends can form your band and do a career together. You’ll get given various amount of cash and win fans depending on how well you perform on each song, and later you’ll have the chance to travel to various cities playing new songs. For the musicians who really love to live on the edge, you’ll occasionally be offered a double or nothing bet on the condition you play a set of songs to a certain level.
Because you can’t always be surrounded by your bandmates, the solo career gives a chance to play through the song sets at your own pace with your instrument of choice. This gives you an opportunity to unlock the songs for quick play sessions later. As a solo musician, you can also go online and challenge other people at your chosen discipline in the tug of war mode, which sees you and a competitor take turns to play different sections of a song, or you can choose to do a score battle which has both of you playing an entire song to see who ends up with the overall highest score. In the interests of fairness, you can’t do any versus modes against other instruments, though it would have been interesting to see a drummer and a guitarist go head to head.
One thing Rock Band has going for it is a very strong song selection. There’s plenty for all in the standard song set, such as Foo Fighters, Garbage, Radiohead, Bon Jovi, Nirvana, Muse, Weezer, etc. Sadly the bonus songs are really weak and lack the charm from previous Guitar Hero games. Speaking of previous Guitar Hero games, some old favourites return in true multi-part Rock Band form such as Jet’s “Are you Gonna Be My Girl” and The Killers “When You Were Young”. The online music store for Rock Band is fully integrated into the game – no invasive Xbox blades popping up required! Downloaded songs will seamlessly appear in the band career mode, making that much more than a traditional tacked on extra like they have been in previous Guitar Hero games.
There’s a high level of presentation in Rock Band, and lots of subtle touches such as the translucent conveyor belt of notes during the main game and special visual effects during different parts of the songs. The characters in the game have a very cartoon-like crisp character models, but everything is under a grainy fuzzy filter.
The most negative thing I can say about Rock Band should be obvious to anyone who’s seen it in a high street shop: the price is something you could practically put a mortgage on, at launch a complete set up is fetching the same price as a brand new games console! Gameplay wise, the songs are not as challenging compared to Guitar Hero III, which may disappoint those virtuoso players looking for a dragonforce level of difficulty.
If you’re a fan of music games, particularly Guitar Hero, then Rock Band truly is a worthwhile purchase. The single player modes as different instruments will keep you busy for a long time, and jamming along with likeminded individuals as a group really is something you’ll get your money’s worth out of. Besides, whats more Rock and Roll than making an extravagant purchase?
9/10
Mariokart Wii – Review (Wii)
1 June, 2008 at 10:45 pm | In reviews | 2 CommentsTags: Kart, Mario, Mariokart, Racing, Wii
Its hard to believe it, but Mariokart is old. The franchise has been going for over 15 years since its debut on the Super Nintendo, and its seen many incarnations as its graced various Nintendo consoles. The hardware available has always dictated the series direction, from the N64’s four controller ports making multiplayer more accessible, to the DS’s wireless capabilities taking Mariokart online for the first time. As you’d expect from the hardware available, the Wii version makes use of the motion sensing controllers and the wireless online play.
The established mixture of a racing game and party game is still very much present, but there are some subtle indications that this game’s direction is hinting at being more of a racer. Gone are the character specific battle items, and instead they’re replaced by increasing ways to give you a speed boost and get a good racing line.
Now more than ever, its really important to get a good racing line as the amount of karts on the race track have risen from 8 to 12. The new tracks, full of gentle turns and wide straights can fully accommodate this, but the retro tracks seem much more cramped. The selection of retro tracks themselves are slightly controversial as Nintendo have opted to revive an entire new selection of courses from previous Mariokart games. What this means is that fond classics like the frantic Baby Park from Double Dash have been ditched in favour of the N64’s icy Sherbert Land (complete with annoying penguins and icy chasms).
The new tracks are colourful and original. For the first time there’s an Autumn forest course, lit up by a golden sunset where you have to dodge falling leaves and navigate through hollowed out half pipes of tree trunks. The whole half pipe mechanic is something that crops up in a lot of the courses now, as a shake of the Wii mote in mid air performs a stunt and boosts you as you land. Stunts are also rewarded with speed if you perform a wheelie by pulling back on the Wii mote while you’re racing on a bike. Although this gives you a brief speed boost, you can only make minute adjustments to your steering and the slightest nudge from another player will make you lose a lot of speed.
The online mode of Mariokart Wii is implemented very well. Its very easy to find a race, and there’s rarely lag when you race with the other players. The option to challenge time trial records in the form of other player’s ghosts fuels an active time trialling community, and you can even watch the replays of the world’s best racers to learn the best racing lines and shortcuts. The major problems with the online mode of Mariokart are more universal with Nintendo rather than this game: there’s no voice chat, making it that bit less personal (and satisfying) and the friend code system makes it overly complicated to race with your friends.
The split screen multiplayer racing is sound, but the way the game defaults to races of with a minimum of 8 computer racers really interferes with the traditional party feel of Mariokart. You can switch them off, but then the huge race courses seem to really stretch out a little too far for just 4 people. This type of subtle imbalance really affects Mariokart and does a lot to lose its appeal as a pick up and play party racing game. Admittedly these are small gripes and aren’t anything that you’ll get used to over time. Unlike the monstrosity of the battle mode.
The Mariokart Battle mode: home of some of the most tense rivalries ever waged in console gaming history. There’s nothing like fighting to be the last man standing in balloon battle. It was a fantastic way to instantly prove who’s better at the weapons side of Mariokart without forcing everyone to learn every race course. In Mariokart Wii, this is not possible. Nintendo’s inexplicable decision to force players into two teams is a curious one: turning their backs on what must have been Mariokarts major selling points. Being forced into teams seriously damages the battle mode experience, but it doesn’t fundamentally break it like the other new feature: you can no longer die. If all of your balloons get burst, you’ll respawn and give away some points to the opposing team. The Balloons are now just there for decoration, its all about points.
Its very hard to list all the reasons why, but Mariokart Wii is definitely missing that familiar spark that establishes it as a great game. Its an ok game, and thats the problem – its definitely the weakest of all the Mariokarts yet, which is such as shame as its most recent Mariokart installment on the DS was probably the strongest. Proceed with caution: people searching for a fun racing game will enjoy it, but those who know what to expect from a Mariokart game will be disappointed.
7/10
No More Heroes – Review (Wii)
7 May, 2008 at 10:57 pm | In reviews | Leave a CommentTags: No More Heroes, Suda 51, Wii
Whats the first image that creeps into your mind when you picture an assassin? Is it a man in a suit, probably wearing dark glasses and wielding a ranged weapon like a silenced pistol or sniper rifle? Chances are, it won’t be an Otaku guy in jeans, anime t-shirt and jacket, wearing sunflower glasses wielding a Star Wars inspired ‘Beam Katana’. Unless you’re Suda 51, the quirky creator of such twisted and dark games like Killer 7.
No More Heroes is about making this protagonist, Travis Touchdown, become the number one ranked assassin in the country. Fortunately for him all of the other higher ranked assassins reside in his hometown of Santa Destroy, a city mainly populated by thugs, drifters and other people who are basically fodder for your rampage as you hack and slash your way to your goal. Along the way you’ll meet rival assassins as outrageous as yourself, such as the delivery boy turned super villain, or cheerleader who hits people with a burning baseball bat.
In the right hands, the trusty Beam Katana can make short work of the many enemies you’ll encounter, reducing them to nothing as your poor victims explode into dust, bizarrely releasing a shower of coins. If this wasn’t odd enough, killing an enemy also activates a roulette wheel which will could unleash the “dark side” mode. This mode will make you do things like instant fatalities on enemies or go into a first person perspective as you shoot bolts of energy at your unsuspecting foes with each swing.
The actual combat itself is very intuitive – there’s a button to slice with the Beam Katana, a button to melee your opponents and a button to block. The Wii mote is subtly used – holding it upright or down facing towards the screen makes high or low attacks respectively. When you’ve worn down an enemy, a swing with the Wii mote at the prompt will execute a finishing move. The Wii mote and Nunchuk are also used in tandem to perform a variety of wrestling moves which Travis also has at his disposal.
The city of Santa Destroy is free to explore as an open world as Travis rides around on his turbo powered bike. Don’t be fooled by an mini map in the corner of the screen and the fact that you’re allowed to drive everywhere in the city: this is a world away from being a GTA clone. Nevermind the fact that you can’t interact with pedestrians or other cars, the choppy framerate and wild amounts of pop up make it genuinely look like an N64 game.
Perhaps its not the most satisfying part of the game, but at least the open world sections act as a hub connecting you to a variety of shops and other places. The clothes shop, Area 51 lets you kit out Travis in memorable clothes such as a pink T-Shirt boldly exclaiming “You say Psycho like its a bad thing!”, blood stained grey jeans and snake skin belts. You can also travel to the gym, where you can increase your life meter and strength through short energetic bouts with the motion sensing controllers.
Although Travis is a hitman, hes not above taking menial jobs to help raise funds for things like cool clothes and a gym membership. You can opt to do such side quests as coconut collecting, cat rescue and lawn mowing to earn some pocket money. There’s benefit you more than earning some cash, they’ll also unlock some sinister assassination side missions.
Visually this game has a very striking shadowy cell shaded art style, giving everything a rather edgy graphic novel look to it. The presentation in general will be a delight to anyone who has plays retro games, as a recurring theme of 8 bit chimes and pixel art crop up during Travis’ adventure.
Its not a 40 hour romping epic, but this is a game that will keep you busy for a reasonable amount of time. The open world section has a sensible amount of collectibles to find (later in the game you can get a radar to help you) and there are some super hard 1-hit kill battle modes to unlock and fight through for the gamer who loves to push the boundaries.
As a Wii exclusive title, this is certainly worth trying out. There’s simply nothing else on the console that offers the interesting visuals, quirky story and bizarre humour. Its by no means perfect; the open world sections let the game down, the fighting doesn’t massively develop and the general tone will not be to everyone’s taste. But if you can see past that, this is without doubt one of the Wii’s underrated gems of gaming.
8/10
Devil May Cry 4 – Review (Xbox 360)
19 March, 2008 at 11:16 pm | In reviews | Leave a CommentTags: Capcom, Devil May Cry, PS3, Xbox 360
Capcom can’t be faulted for not trying to push next gen console gaming. They’ve done well with new IP such as Dead Rising and Lost Planet on the Xbox 360, but its still the arrival of established franchises such as Devil May Cry which attract lots of anticipation. Its also making a mark in a genre which is not the most crowded of the next gen offerings: the hack n’ slash. Apart from titles like Heavenly Sword and N3: Ninety Nine Nights, there really hasn’t been many other games to choose from.
Just like in the previous DMC games, you’re encouraged to hack and shoot things up in all manner of stylish ways – usually by attacking multiple foes while maintaining a long combo and dodging attacks from all over the place. Its a hardcore game. Or, at least it was until the difficulty was toned down for this installment. Not only will seasoned DMC fans find this game easier, they’ll also learn to use the new character, Nero.
Nero is this game’s main protagonist, and bears a striking likeness to Dante, the previous hero of DMC games. He’s got silver hair, a long red flowing coat, and carries a sword practically the same size as himself. His sword can be revved like a chainsaw, and once powered up it spews out fire as you swing it at an unsuspecting foe. Nero also carries a ridiculously big double barreled magnum, but his signature weapon is the Devil Arm – he has a demonic right arm, granting him loads of context sensitive special moves such as throwing enemies around like skittles and grabbing far away ledges like a hookshot from Zelda.
Dante also returns as a playable character, and the fact that you only get the chance to play as him during the later stages of the game is a clear indication that he is not the easiest character to use. His 4 different special ’styles’ system from DMC3 makes a return, along with a generous assortment of melee and projectile weapons. He may not have a Devil Arm like Nero, but he sure packs enough gear to rival it.
And lets make no mistake here: they are rivals. The game starts off with a one on one face off between the two heroes, complete with striking choreographed cut scene involving sweeping camera angles, gratuitous use of slow motion and utterly insane stunts. As the course of the game unfolds, they become friends and develop a mentor and student dynamic reminiscent of Snake and Raiden of Metal Gear Solid 2.
Unlike Metal Gear Solid 2, the storyline is a lot more straightforward. Nero’s girlfriend, Kyrie is kidnapped and he’s fighting through ranks of assorted demonic enemies of varying shapes and forms to rescue her. There are some minor plot twists about who Nero’s friends and enemies really are, but really the story feels more like a vehicle to move the game along rather than having any true merit by itself.
Suprisingly, the environments are incredibly varied for a gothic action adventure. Though a great deal of the game is set in typical castles or dungeons, your violent travels will take you to places like a dense green jungle, and harsh arctic snow-covered plains. All of these look absolutely stunning in high definition and this is one of the best looking games to date. Another hallmark of the DMC series is having huge hulking bosses, and this game does not disappoint. Clearly they haven’t heard of picking on something their own size, as its not uncommon for them to take up the whole screen.
As great as the levels and bosses are, they are completely and utterly recycled during the later stages of the game when you backtrack through them as Dante. You can’t help but feel slightly underwhelmed that you’ve got a new character to play with but no new places for him to go. The camera is also slightly schizophrenic in this game, as sometimes its a fixed camera and during other times you can move it around freely. This can sometimes make it difficult to dodge enemy attacks. Although its hardly a huge problem, people who have played previous DMC games will find the standard difficulty rather easy compared to previous titles in the series.
The difficulty issue is something easily taken care of, as there are many levels of difficulty to unlock which will test even the most dedicated, masochistic players. There’s quite a few things for the perfectionist gamer to do, such as scoring a prestigious S rank for each level (aided by the sensible level select), or finding and completing the outrageously hard sub missions tucked away throughout the main game. Considerately, you get to keep all the special skills and items you’ve acquired if you choose to play the game through a second time.
It should go without saying that despite the fun of pulling off special moves as you hack and blast your way through masses of demons and other beasties, it does get a tad repetitive. Its no more a criticism than saying all you do in racing games are drive things. Its a hack n’ slash game through and through, if you’re expecting an immersive adventure you’ll be disappointed. But if you know your Capcom action games, they’ve been doing games like this well for a while and they still have what it takes to make it work.
8/10
Small Arms – Review (Xbox 360 Live Arcade)
24 February, 2008 at 10:06 pm | In reviews | Leave a CommentTags: Review, Small Arms, Xbox, Xbox Live
The Xbox Live Arcade is home to all sorts of games like puzzlers, shmups, retro games and the like but its not everyday a 4 player fighting game is released. Enter Small Arms. This is a game best described as a mixture of elements from Nintendo’s Super Smash Bros and Konami’s Contra games.
Fighting games are hardly renowned for their plots, and the developers understand this enough to fashion a tongue in cheek story involving time travel, mutant animals and an evil scientist (called Dr.Soandso). What this boils down to is a roster of cute animals each with their own signature weapon who will happily fight each other to the death. There’s a pig with a sniper rifle, a chicken with a flamethrower and a teddy bear with a minigun for an arm amongst others.
Up to 4 players can play at the same time as you frantically jump, shoot and melee round a variety of 2D arenas. Standard player moves include a double jump and the ability to shoot at any angle from anywhere you are on the screen (sort of like Geometry Wars). The controls are very simple and so are the rules: shoot everyone and try not to get shot too much yourself. There are health and weapon pickups that randomly appear around the level which reward players who are jumping around.
For a small Live Arcade game, the visuals are very well done, and the cute cartoon-like look to the animals are quite reminiscent of Rare’s N64 games like Banjo Kazooie or Conkers Bad Fur Day. The environments are also fully in 3D with lots of pretty lighting effects and textures.
Sadly, although this game looks the part and has lots of character, it can’t disguise the fact that its fundamentally flawed. The reason why its so flawed is because it falls inbetween 2 established genres and fails miserably at both of them. Its not quite a versus fighting game in the true sense as its lacking the ability to guard attacks or throw your opponent. Its also not a true versus shooting game as all of those use the third dimension to dodge bullets.
What you’re left with is a game devoid of any real skill; where its impossible to attack someone without taking damage yourself. With such terrible foundations as these, adding frantic multiplayer modes only complicate things and make the game more frustrating.
For me the most frustrating thing is that I really wanted to like this game. For an Xbox Live arcade game its well presented, has lots of character and some interesting ideas (such as introducing the first viral achievement on Xbox Live). Its just a nightmare to play after a few minutes when you find yourself searching for some gameplay.
5/10
Zelda: The Phantom Hourglass – Review (DS)
30 January, 2008 at 9:21 pm | In reviews | Leave a CommentTags: Nintendo DS, Review, Zelda
Its interesting how history sometimes repeats itself. The Gamecube’s Zelda: The Wind Waker was released an agonising amount of time after the system’s launch, sparking controversy over the cartoon like graphics but generally receiving critical acclaim. Its only fitting, then, for the direct DS sequel to be released well after the launch of the DS. But does it live up to the Wind Waker’s legacy in terms of quality?
The strange thing about the Zelda series is that it manages to follow the same tried and tested formula that its been using over the past 20 years, but introducing a new element to it with each game. It constantly reinvents itself, and The Phantom Hourglass is no different. Although the DS has been around for a while now, there are still very few games outside of the mini-game genre that have used the stylus creatively to enhance the gaming experience. This game feels as it its been designed from its concept based on what the stylus is capable of. If you really wanted to, you needn’t touch a single button. Everything from basic movement and attacking to inventory handling and navigating your ship is handled by stylus control.
Immediately after starting the game, princess Zelda is kidnapped and its your job to rescue her. If this already sounds familiar, you’ll also recognise that in order to do this you’ll need to explore an entire world gathering all sorts of equipment, killing bosses and solving puzzles in dungeons. Keeping true to the Zelda franchise, the basic structure is nothing new, but the way it is presented and played makes it feel fresh.
The huge innovation in this game is the ability to annotate maps. It sounds like such a simple idea, but it really does add such a personal touch as you make notes of key parts of the map, or jot down an important hint you’ll need to refer back to – and of course its all in your writing. There’s even a completely uncharted section of the game where you can embrace your inner cartographer and chart the map yourself. The game’s special items also benefit from the touch screen.
Take, for example, a special item such as the boomerang. Its been in every Zelda game, and for the past few games it can be locked onto multiple targets. In the Phantom Hourglass, you can draw a path which the boomerang will follow, so it can lock onto different targets in any order you choose. There are lots of puzzles in the dungeons which make full use of the new control method the traditional items have.
Its also worth noting that The Phantom Hourglass also has a really high level of presentation. The cartoon like graphics first seen in Zelda: The Wind Waker are very faithfully recreated, and it practically feels like having a Gamecube in your pocket. Having cartoon like visuals really means that this game can achieve a great detail of emotion on the characters faces, and some of the cut scenes are suprisingly funny as the characters put on a melodramatic performance.
As charming as the game is, its not without its flaws. There are some stealth sections where you have to sneak by invincible guards without being detected, otherwise you’ll be chased back to a safe point or forced to restart the section. In all fairness, its executed quite well (the top down viewpoint particularly makes it reminiscent of Metal Gear Solid) but these sections just seem to really break up the pace of the game too much. The sailing sections in the game are also guilty of this, as all you do is plot a course and watch your ship merrily sail to its destination. Thankfully there are obstacles to dodge, and monsters that pop out of the sea to keep your attention.
The other big criticism I have with this game is that its very easy. Perhaps its catering to the expanding DS demographic and is aimed at people looking to outgrow their touch generations games, but there are very few moments where this game poses a real challenge.
You may find yourself sailing through this game, but it does have more to offer in the form of side quests. One worthy of note is kitting out your ship with custom parts, something that holds your attention more than amassing a huge stash of money you’ll never need to spend.
The Phantom Hourglass does have some small nagging flaws, but there’s so many great ideas and features in this game that you’d really be missing out on a real gem to pass this one up. Its a worthy addition to anyone’s Nintendo DS collection. And yes, it was worth the wait.
9/10
Crackdown – Review (Xbox 360)
14 January, 2008 at 10:29 pm | In reviews | Leave a CommentTags: Crackdown, GTA, Xbox 360
The Xbox has played host to some high profile spiritual sequels. Bioshock was a sequel of sorts to System Shock, Blue Dragon was developed by the guys behind Final Fantasy and Dragonball Z and Crackdown is developed by Realtime Worlds, a company founded by Dave Jones, the creator of games like Grand Theft Auto and Lemmings. Its also a spiritual sequel, of sorts, to the GTA series.
In this game you play as a genetically engineered super agent who is sent out to rid an entire futuristic city of organised crime, and you’re allowed to do it by any means necessary. This game puts a heavy emphasis on freedom; there are no missions you must complete in a set order, or sections of the city you can’t explore until later progression.
So whats the best way to go about ridding a city of gang crime? This game’s answer is to stroll in guns blazing and eliminate the gang bosses. There are 3 separate gangs each with a kingpin and 6 sub bosses. You can opt to kill any of them in any order you choose, and by killing sub bosses you’ll hinder the gang’s efficiency as a whole. For example, without their man responsible for supplying weapons their gang members won’t be carrying round as many lethal guns. The more of the sub bosses you kill, the higher the chances of being able to kill the gang kingpin.
One thing which really separates Crackdown from other games in the GTA mould are its platforming elements. Its entirely possible to jump and climb your way around the city, and you’ll soon become very familiar with window ledges and other bits of building architecture as your agent effortlessly scales buildings. Its very refreshing, as what once was an obstacle now becomes just another method of transport as you leap from rooftop to rooftop. Its clear that Realtime Worlds encourage this by including rooftop races, a mode where you have to leap across a series of markers placed at high points within a time limit. The freedom and fun offered from jumping is slightly reminiscent of Super Mario 64, and I was disappointed to find there wasn’t a wall kick to help you climb around.
The subtle cell shaded visuals give this game a slight comic book feel, which is fitting given the superhero traits displayed by your agent. There’s a very clean, shiny feel to the graphics which works well with urban environments but struggles to make beaches, rocks and water look convincing.
The more conventional characteristics of Crackdown such as its driving and shooting are sound, though the vehicles feel very light and floaty when you’re driving them. The shooting is worthy of a special mention, as its possible to lock onto vehicles and target their tyres, sending them spinning out of control, or their fuel cap, which will make them explode in a shower of debris. This is a subtle yet significant refinement which provides some creative options for causing chaos.
And causing chaos is always fun. Stuff like hijacking and crashing cars, blowing things up, running amok with a machine gun – they’re always fun until the police get involved to ruin your good time. Except with Crackdown, you’re part of the police force, which immediately makes them more reluctant to take out one of their own. Even when they decide enough is enough its still very easy to carry on.
Which brings me onto talking about the difficulty. Its not that Crackdown is just an easy game, its also very forgiving. The inclusion of a Halo style recharging health system means that even after you’ve sustained ridiculous amounts of punishment – like a direct hit from a rocket launcher that sends you hurtling off a skyscraper – all you need to do is hide for a few moments for recharged health. Even if you do die, you’ll respawn from a nearby place to find things exactly how you left them. This means that before long you’ll have wiped out the gangs and finished the game.
The biggest replay value is offered by the co-op mode. I simply can’t stress how much fun it is double teaming the unsuspecting victims. Kneecapping people from the roof of your friend’s moving car before he crushes them. Sandwiching someone between a high speed head on collision. The fun feels only limited by your mischievous creativity.
Crackdown is an extremely fun game while it lasts, but behind all its streamlined gameplay mechanics it doesn’t have that much character. The in car radio is a playlist of mostly unknown electronica with no spoof adverts or ridiculous radio presenters we’ve been spoilt with in the GTA series. The only character in this game is a disembodied voice which intermittently dispenses context sensitive advice.
If you’re looking for an extremely polished immersive story driven experience, you’ll be better looking elsewhere. But if you want a fun and thought out sandbox game, this game is near essential as it really does offer a level of unparalleled freedom in its genre.
8/10
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