In my hands: Fight Night: Round 4. Lots of gaming this weekend. Hope yours is filled with gaming, too.
xbox 360
2 Minute Review: Shadow Complex
An old school throwback with all modern bells and whistles
DO: Indulge your sense of nostalgia over a game genre that’s time has largely past. Alternatively, if you’re not a gaming dinosaur, find out why everyone loved Metroid so much.
TYPE: Side-Scrolling Platformer
PLATFORM: XBox 360 (Reviewed)
PRICE: $15
MEAT: You play as Jason Fleming (sidenote: More protagonists should be named “Jason”. It’s an awesome name.) who appears to be an everyman in the same way Steven Seagal’s character in Under Siege was “just a cook”. In a very brief flashback we’re given that Jason’s mysterious background includes some kind of training because his father is some kind of super-spy and/or warrior badass and wanted his son to follow in his footsteps. Despite his attempt at a normal life he finds himself unwittingly drawn into a plot against the United States when he, and I’m not making this up, stumbles into the base of a homegrown terrorist organization thanks to an outing with his “girlfriend” that was supposed to be nothing more than some hiking and spelunking. I used “girlfriend” in quotes because despite the marketing materials for the game they also establish that Jason and Claire have been dating for all of two days. The lengths he goes through for a woman he met at a bar is nothing short of epic.
I wouldn’t usually bother with the back story, but in this case the story is very much part of the gameplay and it does a great job. For a side-scroller I don’t expect much since you’re artificially confined in your actions, yet the action onscreen and the story presentation flow together perfectly. Your character is upgraded gradually and as you unlock new abilities you can backtrack to previously visited locations to acquire upgrades that were inaccessible before. Despite all the backtracking, the ability to explore a section in a way that wasn’t previously possible keeps the game interesting even though you may have visited the same room multiple times.
Just a minor spoiler, but what you have is a guy who starts out with a flashlight and the ability to jump who gradually ends up with a suit of incredible power armor that gives him abilities beyond that of normal men.
PERKS: In my opinion these kinds of retro-retreads are unnecessary since technology has since advanced enough that we can move beyond the old “side scroller”. There is a reason the Metroid series went first person. The only reason why I’m reviewing this game is because I downloaded the demo just to see what all the fuss was about.
Then something miraculous happened.
The game was just ridiculously fun to play. Save points occur often enough that the game can be played in short bursts, if you can actually force yourself to turn it off, but are far enough apart that there is a real challenge. The controls, for the most part, are excellently done. One of my long-standing complaints with platformers, even those that fuse with side-scrolling shooters, is the lack of precision in controlling the character. Aiming your weapons is a bit of a challenge at first, but with practice becomes fairly simple. I never felt like I was struggling with the controls and that is incredibly important.
The actual “Shadow Complex” is vast with many varied environments, hazards, and enemies. The game has an excellent pace, keeping the player engaged and allowing them to flex some muscle on occasion while making sure they get fresh challenges. I really appreciate that as you acquire new abilities some of the early opponents that are quite difficult become easy to dispatch in a variety of satisfying ways. Naturally, the game keeps ramping up the “bosses” so it never gets too easy but the player is not exposed to a challenge too early either.
SCREAMS: The game is “2.5D”, so there are times when you have side hallways that enemies can approach but you can’t travel down. In theory you can aim and shoot them, but sometimes you have your gun pointed at enemies and other times it’s pointing straight up. In this case the controls try to interpret your intention and it doesn’t always work.
Your ability to “wall climb” is limited, which is ok except that sometimes the game doesn’t register your attempt to jump off one wall to another Jackie Chan style. Also, one of your abilities is a grappling hook which is tons of fun but has the same problem as the wall climb. It can be very frustrating to see your grappling line bounce ineffectually off of a wall or ceiling.
Perhaps a personal preference, the game has many areas that are inaccessible early on that you can later unlock by using upgrades the game gives you. The problem here is that the upgrades needed seem to come about midway through the game, but then come quite often. This is kind of frustrating though because you can see areas that have extras you could get to but have to continually ignore because you haven’t acquired missiles yet or can’t double jump.
A common complaint is that you can trigger the endgame by accident. The good news is that if this happens you can simply end and restart from your last continue. This way you can still get any upgrades you may have missed. You cannot trigger the endgame sequence without at least having the basic abilities to beat it, so the game at least gives players the possibility of winning, though the challenge may be greater than it has to be if they are not sufficiently prepared.
VERDICT: Let me be clear here, this is my “2009 Game I Can’t Put Down” and I truly do feel this entire genre is well past it’s prime. This is a game I was determined to hate and love it anyway. You can’t rent it and I would recommend this as a BUY even if you could.
Curse You, Microsoft
Curse you, Microsoft, your crappy UI design, and that piece of junk called a dashboard. I loathe your ten step click and move process to do anything. My son and I booted up the 360 to play a little LEGO Indy co-op and by a combination of button presses on both controllers, we just purchased ‘Splosion Man. There goes my Fallout 3 DLC. This arcade game had better be good. (Just another in a long line of reasons I cannot wait for our 360 to bite it.)
Over XBox Achieving
I understand there is a huge debate over the merits of Achievements on the XBox 360, and for the most part I think people tend to make a big deal out of nothing. Either people put way too much into getting them or they often feel too strongly about how worthless the concept is and think it’s important to share this point of view.
I think like any standard of measurement, even as unscientific and illogical as it may be, achievements are only as important as you make them. For me though I established one rule that I have stuck by even though it has been painful at times. I will not put aside, trade-in, give away, or throw out a game that I have not earned at least one achievement while playing.
This was, in theory, my “give it a fair shot rule”. Since not all games dole out achievements equally I have often felt frustration trying to live up to my rule. While I don’t exactly flaunt my Gamercard I’m not going to hide it either. The one useful metric achievements has given me is an easy display that I at least tried a game before I used the disc as skeet.
I don’t think you have to finish a game before you can decide if you like it or not. A game that is absolutely brilliant in the last two hours but painful to play in the first two is not a good game. Of course, the typical game often shows the lack of focus it had later in its development the longer you go through a game, so if it was bad in the beginning it is likely to get worse as a good rule of thumb. My belabored point is that sometimes a bad game is just a bad game and wading through the manure hoping to find a diamond is a fool’s errand.
However, that said, I like to be able to “prove” I give every game that graces my disc tray a real chance. I won’t deny that it’s a point of pride that I will not dismiss, or even love, a game lightly.
Ads coming to the 360 Dashboard?
It seems like we might be getting ads in the near future on the 360 dashboard. (Don’t we already? When it boots up online?) Well, I won’t. I’m selling my Xbox, instruments, and library of 30+ games. It’s unrelated, but makes it easier.
Point Lookout First Impression
Calling this a “First Impression” might be a bit misleading considering I have all the achievements, even the “Bog Walker” which means I’ve visited all the locations in Point Lookout. However, until I have the time to do a longer write up this will have to do.
Point Lookout is a true expansion to the game. Sticking close to what Fallout 3 does best, with some combat, plenty of exploration, and just enough story to keep things interesting. I love the new weapons and I enjoy what they did to the setting. The terrain and enemies are largely different, with a few familiar faces from the Capitol Wasteland also taking up residence in Point Lookout. On a lark I decided to go to Point Lookout with no weapons other than a Ripper and basic Leather Armor. I think this was the best idea as I had to rely mostly on what I found in the new location. Players often complain about the DLC, but if I showed up with my full kit then it would not have presented much of a challenge.
On the other hand, Fallout 3 was my favorite game last year and I’ve purchased all of the DLC, so keep that in mind. This one isn’t without its problems, but really it’s just the same problems that plague Fallout 3 in general.
[2 Minute Review] Red Faction: Guerilla
We’re gonna have a revolution, yeah
DO: Blow up every building nearly brick-by-brick and stick it to “The Man”!
TYPE:Third Person Sandbox
PLATFORM: XBox 360 (Reviewed), PS3, and PC (in August)
PRICE: $60
MEAT: Oddly enough, the more “sandbox” games that have come on the market, the more restrictive they seem to be. What I loved the most about Grand Theft Auto III was the freedom that it gave you. While there is a definite progression in Red Faction: Guerilla, you are free to go pretty much anywhere you want in-between tackling the story missions. Also, you can level every building in the game piece-by-piece.
This is not an exaggeration at all. You start the game with a humble sledgehammer and remote detonated explosives. While the game gives players many options, from conventional assault rifles and pistols to building leveling singularity bombs, the tools you start out with are useful throughout. The game instantly found a place in my heart when an enemy trooper was hiding behind a wall and I was able to strike through the wall with my hammer and take him out. I could not begin to list the number of games that have frustrated me by having an enemy soldier hiding behind the most invincible piece of plywood they could find. The game often rewards players for ingenuity rather than forcing them to follow a strict path or sequence of actions.
There is a story contained within, but it’s a familiar trope that is one part Bolshevik Revolution and one part Total Recall. I suppose there might be some lip service to the previous Red Faction games, but if you’re not familiar with the background materials it doesn’t really matter. Gamers familiar with traditional sandbox games will find the basic gameplay familiar. You have the main story missions to progress the plot and plenty of different side missions to keep you occupied. Side missions include standard defend, raid, demolitions, and escort (Ugh!) with other familiar elements like tracking down convoys or tailing couriers. Despite the harsh Martian landscape there is plenty to do. My initial concern was that this game would be like Just Cause, where everything was too sparse and spread out to keep the game interesting.
Saving the best for last, there is a small cadre of robots you can take control of throughout the game. They are available for specific story missions and some side missions, but you will occassionally find them scattered around the map. These “walkers” are almost overpowered, but so much fun to use that I don’t really care.
PERKS: Literally every structure in the game can be destroyed. If your idea of entertainment is to blow things up, this game was tailor made for you. Unlike other games that let you play with high explosives, bringing down a building is not done simply by applying the correct number of explosives. There are actual physics involved. Land a giant robot on the roof and you may go crashing into the building. Need a quick path somewhere? Run through walls using your sledgehammer.
The vehicles are somewhat generic, but the controls are great. Vehicular combat is somewhat disappointing in anything other than tanks though. Most vehicles are much better for soaking up enemy fire while you recuperate than having any real offensive capabilities, even if they have mounted weapons. On the other hand, it is very satisfying to literally drive a dump truck into an enemy barracks to start an assault.
The enemy AI is noteworthy as well. They will retreat, take cover, and evade attacks, even on the easiest difficulty. They are not obnoxiously difficult, but it is a nice touch that they don’t stand around letting you blow them away. They do tend to be braver in greater numbers, so you may find yourself massacring quite a few before they remember to play smart. Overall though, the AI is solid.
SCREAMS: Past Red Faction games were more about deformable terrain, in this game the terrain is impervious. The game is also difficult even on the easiest difficulty. Most of this difficulty is the swarm of enemies you can be up against. Furthermore, as solid as the enemy AI is, your allies are next to worthless other than providing a temporary distraction. In the early stages this doesn’t seem so bad, but towards the end you are fighting dozens of troops with air support, vehicles, and possibly armor. This means they can overwhelm you with sheer numbers and they seem to come out of nowhere, making it difficult to find a place to hole up for those few precious seconds you need your health to recuperate.
Vehicles cannot be stored or brought up on demand and the quick travel system is limited to safehouses only. Furthermore, buildings will not regenerate until you beat the game and if you destroy special garages you may not be able to use some of the more spectacular vehicles and robots later in the game.
VERDICT: This is definitely a BUY. I rarely purchase games at full price and feel like I have to wring my $60 out of them. Red Faction: Guerilla was worth every penny. I won’t claim it is a perfect game, but it is packed with tons of fun.
[2 Minute Review] The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena
Does hope really begin in the dark?
DO: You are Riddick, a man with a very high opinion of himself. For some reason, however, he keeps getting caught. He likes the shadows and is willing to stab the occasional obstacle in the head.
TYPE: Stealth/Shooter hybrid
PLATFORM: Xbox 360 (reviewed here), PS3 and PC
PRICE: $60
MEAT: There are essentially two games here. First, there’s a remake of the popular Xbox One game, Escape from Butcher Bay, where you control Riddick as he tries to break out of prison. Having broken out of prison, he finds himself a prisoner of sorts on the Dark Athena, a mammoth space ship. The second game chronicles your attempt to escape once again.
Escape from Butcher Bay concentrates on more of the stealth aspects of the game while Dark Athena is shooter heavy. Butcher Bay has some almost-RPG elements as you can complete missions for fellow prisoners (which basically boils down to punching people in the face) as you try to figure out a way to escape. The hand-to-hand combat is quite satisfying. The sneaking around has its issues and the shooting isn’t perfect. But for the most part, when it’s sticking to one or the other, it’s a heck of a game.
Both games have their problems, I’m not going to gloss over them. As I said, stealth isn’t perfect. If I’m hidden, let me stay hidden. If I’m caught, but can get away, let me have the freedom to move around without being spotted from across the room. The PITCH BLACK room. There are swear-off-gaming-forever moments of frustration. There are also exhilarating did-I-just-do-that? moments that make you forget the aforementioned downers.
It’s a balancing act, but in the end I enjoyed Riddick.
PERKS: Stealth kills are crunchy and will bring a smile to your face, whether you’re beating someone down with the “Peacemaker” or your stabbing them in the head with a screwdriver, it never gets old.
SCREAMS: That it would make up its mind! Either be a shooter or a stealth game, but don’t force me to do a shooter set-piece when all I want to do is hide until the badmen go away. The shooting is well done and fun. So is the stealth. But the whole is not greater than the sum of the parts. Stick to one thing and do it well.
VERDICT: Buy. I struggled with this one. After some of the frustrating moments, I would have said “Rent”. I would have said that it’s not worth the effort. Even after beating the final enemy, I wasn’t convinced. But looking back, taken all together, there is a really fun game here. It’s not a strong, 100% Buy recommendation, but I still feel confident that most buttonmashers will enjoy it.
It’s finally back in the game [E3 2009]
I’ve got an E3 post coming up shortly, but I quickly wanted to post how excited I am that EA has announced that the “Create A School” feature is finally back in the game.
This was a mainstay in all the NCAA games I played on the Gamecube and has been sorely missed in the recent 360 versions. I’ve already played around with the create-a-school website and I whole-heartedly approve.
I just wish I could figure out how to link directly my team (The North Royalton University, named after my high school) but if you know how, let me know. Here’s a screen grab of my unis:
Preview – The Chronicles of Riddick: Assualt on Dark Athena [Xbox 360/PS3]
The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena
Genre: First Person Action
Website: The Chronicles of Riddick: Dark Athena
Developer: Starbreeze
Release Date: April 7, 2009
Buy it from Amazon
Here’s the deal: You’re a prisoner. There’s a wallet in your back pocket that would make Jules Winnfield proud. You sneak around a prison, stab and punch your way out while shooting any number of guns at numerous bad guys. You break out. (In fact, you broke out a few years ago. Now the break-out is in HD.) All in a sneaky, shadowy way. Then you eschew the shadows for blazing guns during an the Assault on Dark Athena.
The game has been out for a little while now and has been mostly well received. Yahtzee didn’t hate it, so that’s got to count for something. We’ll have a review coming soon.
You can see a trailer video at the jump. We’ve also posted a set of screen shots over at Flickr.
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