17
Jun
2009
Sucker Punch Delivers a Knock-Out: inFAMOUS Review
Sucker Punch 2009 for the PS3
Overview
Sony has found their new posterboy in this new multi-faceted main character, Cole. inFAMOUS is altogether a really well thought through, great game from beginning to end. This is the kind of title that you play for hours, and when you finally turn it off, you can’t help but keep thinking about it. Not that there’s anything extraordinary about the storyline that sucks you in more than any other game, but there is just so much freedom to manipulate the world however you choose, that the game becoming strangely addictive.
Controls
I have to congratulate the team that developed the controls for this game. Being able to control a super-hero’s every move with a small-handheld controller, yet still have all of the inputs be intuitive is no small feat. They somehow managed to pull it off though. With everything from being able to scale any building on the map, to using your powers to “fly”, the player actually feels really in-tune with the character, because of how easily they can manipulate him to perform the most complicated moves. My only critique is that that radius around objects that you essentially “snap to” as if you were going to climb them when you fly by is entirely too large. Just because I may be flying near an object doesn’t necessarily mean that I’m going to want to cling onto it and climb it instead of continuing on my current flightpath. But, since everything else is done so well, this minor detail is negligible.
Graphics
Sucker Punch did a great job of creating a nextgen game without losing the stylistic flare they were trying to achieve this game. The graphic novel cutscenes are a nice change of pace compared to graphics heavy cinematics of say: MGS4. Not to say that anything is wrong with having movie quality graphics incorporated between gameplay, however the graphic novel approach seemed to work well with the feeling of this particular game. One thing that was done particularly well was the distance that was rendered in the open world map. You could take your character to the top of the highest building, then use the zoom-in ability, and you could still see details for nearly as far as the eye could see. However, the character models felt slightly unfinished as a whole. Specifically towards the very beginning of the game when there is a lot of dialogue, it’s really evident that the production was rushed to meet a deadline, and they simply didn’t get around to polishing off all of the edges of the character models and talking animations. The good part about this though, it that is has absolutely no effect on the gameplay whatsoever!
Gameplay and Story
I cannot brag enough about how much fun this game was to play. I was looking forward to this title for multiple reasons, but once I got my hands on the controls, I forgot all of them and just got sucked into how much plain fun it was to run through Empire City as a “walking sparkplug”. What makes this game stand out is the engine it is running on. There is ZERO lag for the game no matter how many explosions are onscreen at the same time, or how many dozens of enemies you are fending off. That’s the beauty of an engine that is specifically made for a game, rather than a game that is designed to work around the capabilities of a specific engine. All in all, the storyline and gameplay were captivating and addictive, what more can you ask for from a new IP?
The Bottom Line
9.4/10
Despite the fact that I’ve already beaten the game completely through twice, and gotten the platinum trophy, I don’t see this game collecting dust on my shelf for long. Even after you beat the game, there is so much fun to be had simply rampaging through the streets and abusing your superpowers against “exploding pedestrians”. This is one of the best titles yet to be released on the PlayStation 3 platform, and I would go far enough to say that no self-respecting PS3 owner’s game collection would be complete without this game among the others on the shelf! If you haven’t bought this game already, I don’t know what you’re waiting for, if you have then you’re probably going to do the same thing I am after writing this, go back to playing more inFAMOUS!
26
Apr
2009
Worms Review
Overview
Worms finally hits the downloadable marketplaces (XBLA and PSN), developed by Team 17 and with a $12.99 price tag, featuring a variety of challenges, offline and online multiplayer modes.
Controls
If you are familiar with the original title, then the controls won’t be that much of a surprise for you. Also, if you are new to the franchise then don’t worry, there really isn’t that much a learning curve. Overall the controls are pretty simple and not really hard to understand for gamers of any age.
Graphics
Worms boasts incredible animations, extremely colorful backgrounds and nice explosions. The developers held true to their style of graphics but still managed to give it a nice little nextgen tweek. The game have a very steady frame rate and it is overall pretty good in the visual aspect.
Gameplay and Story
When you first watch this game you can think the gameplay is really simple, but when you play it you will realize that it is incredibly deep; when you use your weapons you may want to think of some things before pressing the fire button. One of these elements is the trajectory and power of the wind. This wind (which is constantly changing) has a major impact on the trajectory of your missiles or grenades, making it a very important factor. The main goal on this game is to simply destroy the worms from the other team before they kill you. Overall the gameplay in this game is very well balanced and is have pretty much everything you can expect when buying a Worms game.
The Bottom Line
8.5/10
Worms is one of the best and post additive multiplayer titles available on the downloadable marketplace spectrum. I would highly recommend this title to anyone, especially if you like the previous Worms games.
25
Apr
2009
Flock Review
Overview
Flock is a physics based puzzle-platformer where you take control of a flying saucer to guide a variety of animals to your mother ship. The game features a single player and co-op. This game is published by Capcom and costs $14.99 or 1200 points.
Controls
In Flock you have control of a flying saucer that produces some sort of power that scares the animals that are near you, so basically you need to move the left stick to move the ship in order to make all the animals walk (or run) to the Motheflocker. But not everything is that easy, sometimes you will need to move some obstacles or you need to make some bridges with the objects that are around you, to do this you need to press the R2/RT button. And finally with L2/LT button you can deploy some sort of boost that makes your ship go faster for a moment.
Graphics
The graphics in this game are very nice and crisp, but it lacks some variety, most of the levels look really similar. The frame rate is very solid; this makes the experience very smooth and more enjoyable. Not too much more can be expected from this genre in a downloadable title.
Gameplay and Story
We can say that this is the aspect of the game that is lacking; sometimes you want to guide the animals to some place but they go the other way. However, this can make the experience extremely frustrating. On every level of the game you try to make your best to earn a variety of badges (Bronze, Silver, Gold) awarded to you based on your performance, also you can find leaderboards to compare your score with your friends. There is even a level editor where you can create your own levels. This really is one of the few elements that gives lasting appeal to a title the seems to like a lot of replayability.
The Bottom Line
7.0/10
Flock is a game that could have been a lot better. You have the features, you have the content, but the gameplay can drive a lot of people away from this game. It is worth checking out, but very hard to justify the $15 price tag.
11
Apr
2009
Rag Doll Kung Fu: Fists of Plastic Review
Overview
Rag Doll Kung Fu is a 2D fast paced combat game developed by Tarsier Studios. The game features single player challenges and 4 player local multiplayer, sadly there is no online available on this game. The game costs $9.99 and it was released on the PlayStation Store on 04/09/09.
Controls
The controls of this game are really simple, you jump with X, punch with Square and kick with Triangle. You can also make special attacks like a lightning ball or a flying kick, these moves are performed with a superb implementation of the motion controls. In addition you can move your character’s arms ala LittleBigPlanet, to do this you need to hold the R2 or L2 buttons and move the analog sticks. Not really necessary, but a lot of fun to do.
Graphics
The visual quality in this game is great and it reminds me quite a lot to LittleBigPlanet. The game features a variety of levels that have lasting visual appeal. The ragdoll physics are always good for a chuckle, and this joke never seems to get old. Considering its a 2d party-fighter in the same vein as the Smash Bros series, the graphics blew all of their competitors out of the water.
Gameplay and Story
In Rag Doll Kung Fu you can play 8 different single player challenges where you need to achieve certain objectives, there are 4 different medals attached to every challenge (Bronze, Silver, Gold and Plastic). The difficulty of these challenges is very well balanced; they aren’t frustrating but they require a certain amount of practice to beat them. On the multiplayer portion of the game we can find 4 different modes (Deathmatch, King of the Hill, Dodgeball and Capture the Fish). The most entertaining multiplayer mode is dodgeball: on this unique mode you throw a ball in flames to the other 3 characters to try to hit them and earn points. The game also features certain unlockables where you can earn clothing to customize your character. You can also find leaderboards for every challenge, here you can compare your score with your friends and with people around the world. But after all of this, there still seems to be a key feature missing with the lack of online multiplayer.
The Bottom Line
8.0/10
Rag Doll Kung Fu is an incredibly fun and entertaining game that you will find yourself coming back to again and again both by yourself and with friends. However, the absence of online multiplayer seems to take away from what could have been an incredible title. But, there’s still room for a future patch!
4
Apr
2009
Flower Review
Flower
ThatGameCompany 2009 for the PS3
Overview
Flower is the sophomore project for ThatGameCompany on the PS3 platform. Continuing with their roots of solely using Sixaxis controls, as established by their first endeavor, fl0w. This was outlined to be an experiment in creating an “emotional” experience for the gamer. fl0wer takes you through 6 very different stages that all play off different emotions from the bright and cheerful levels depicted in all of the trailers. However, while the game takes your through these “high” emotional moments, it contrasts it with lows as well. The 5th stage particularly is spent in an effort to resurrect nature in a dark is dismal “industrial wasteland”. This dark stage is where the “emotional” gaming experience is allowed to truly shine. It creates a unique gaming experience that I have not found playing any other title.
Controls
One word: Sixaxis. To all of the critics that have stated over and over that Sixaxis is a waste of time and money to have present in the PS3 and controller, this game will finally provide much needed opposition to that argument. This game takes what was a stepping stone in fl0w (using Sixaxis in a 2d environment) and takes it to the next level by incorporating it into a full and brilliant 1080p 3d world. The controls are simply intuitive, nothing more needs to be said. Being restricted by joysticks almost seems like a cage that wouldn’t be fitting of holding the “wind” that you’re controlling within. Instead, the freeform motions allowed by the Sixaxis controls allow the gamer to become more fully immersed in the experience and allow them to almost have a “full body” experience with the game. ThatGameCompany seems to have laid the groundwork of how to successfully implement Sixaxis controls in a title, expect more developers to be taking a hint from them in the future and trying to work it into their titles as well.
Graphics
Beautifully rendered 1080p 3d environments. The crispness of each blade of grass can be visually experiences as you soar through the air and nose-dive into the lush landscape. Each individual blade has physics applied to it so that it reacts to how you (as the wind) affect it. As far as I’m concerned, the graphics are simply the icing on the cake of what is a beautifully crafted game and story. The bright colors are vibrant in the “happy” environments, while the dark colors are deep and rich in the worlds that are made for you to experience “sad” emotions. Once again, I couldn’t ask for more from this standpoint.
Story
Essentially, this is a story without words. The gamer can read a lot into what the publisher is trying to say about nature and the destructive tendencies of our cities on the environment, but in the end I don’t believe that any of that really matters or affects the gaming experience as a whole. These 6 different “dreamstates” give the player a chance to experience the full spectrum of playful windmill farms, to the dark industrial underbelly of a city. But in the end, this game was created to relax the user and create an emotional experience for them to talk about and come back to experience again and again.
The Bottom Line
9.1/10
I don’t know much more you could ask for out of a $9.99 downloadable title. My own complain would be that there aren’t more levels and environments to enjoy. I want more fl0wer! As far as replayability goes, particularly the second and final stages I could see myself coming back to again and again, or even relying to those levels to show the game off to a friend. It is a great title by an innovative company. I look forward to seeing what ThatGameCompany and SCEA Santa Monica Studies come up with for future releases.
4
Apr
2009
Mirror’s Edge Review
Mirror’s Edge
EA Games 2008 for the PS3/Xbox 360
Overview
This was a widely anticipated title that was set to “revolutionize” how people thought about games. Originally I felt the same way, “look at the camera…” “no one’s done anything like this before” etc. etc. etc…. However, the more I thought about it, what was revolutionary about it? The camera was a simple first person shooter with motion tilt/shake to simulation running, jumping, etc. Sure the game was innovative in a sense, but everything they were doing had been done before, just separately in different IPs, not together in one cohesive title.
Controls
The word intuitive comes to mind first of all. However, is intuitive enough? If you ever tried the time trials, you know how frustrating it can be to try to mash L1,R1,L1,L2 quickly and in the correct order. This can be so frustrating in fact that it actually takes away from the gameplay/fun factor overall. In layman’s terms, that button combinations simply means jump, turn around, jump off the wall, and hurdle/slide. This is the most frequently used combination used when trying to improve your times on a specific level, however there an infinite ways that the game can “mess it up”.
Examples:
Although the door may be part of the wall, you cannot wallrun over that specific part.
Faith may be able to climb a 30-story building, however jumping over a 3-foot guardrail seems like an impossible task at times.
Graphics
As far as multiplatform titles go, there is nothing to truly complain about. Apart from minor texture issues on some of the characters’ faces (Cecelia in the training level) it looks really good. The environment is futuristic and colorful because of the runner vision. There is a good attention to detail in the graphics with everything from elevator displays to readable type on computer screens. That being said, the cutscenes were portrayed in an anime-esque style. Why? That’s a good question, however it seems to work for some reason. Just an example of well done FPS graphics, nothing to write home about, but nothing really to the contrary either.
Gameplay and Story
As I stated under the controls section, it plays pretty well. Everything you really need to know is taught to you right off the bat in the tutorial, aside from that, it’s just a matter of fine-tuning your techniques. The game was remarkably easy for me to beat, which on its own was a little disappointing. I really wanted to have an epic boss battle or something to really legitimize the climax of this game, however it seems like the player is left with blueballs on that note. The story was well thought out, it had its own set of twists and turns, but was extremely predictable. People die, people turn on you, your friends aren’t what they seem, etc… It’s all been done before.
The Bottom Line
8.3/10
This game had the potential to be something new and exciting, but in the end it didn’t feel fresh or new, just a regurgitation of old ideas out on the canvas. However, it was enjoyable for a playthrough on both easy and hard, and I look forward to seeing how they can improve on this game with the sequel.
3
Apr
2009
Midnight Club: Los Angeles Review
Midnight Club: Los Angeles
Rockstar Games for the PS3/Xbox360
Overview
What can I say about this game that hasn’t already been said. Let me preface by saying that I am from Los Angeles and was excited about this title coming out so that I could race around my hometown without getting a ticket like I normally do. However (and I’ll just come out and say it) this game let me down. Whether it was because nothing in this game was believable, from the storyline, the characters, the voiceacting, anything?!?! Or for various other reasons, this game was a struggle to complete and get through.
Controls and Gameplay
Thank God that you could change the default controls. I would have set this game back immediately if I had to use the right stick to accelerate and brake for the entire game. However, because they allowed me to change the settings, I can’t hold that against them too much. As far as the rest goes, it handles like a standard racer, you can tell the difference in how tuners handle compared to muscles and exotics. But what really through me for a loop were the bikes. They might as well call this game “Use a bike if you want to win”. Owning a maxed out Kawasaki Ninja is like unlocking God Mode for any other game. Physics does not apply when you hit a wall with the motorcycle. If you hit a wall from any angle besides head-on then you simply avoid crashing… As if the accident never even happened. It barely even hinders your speed. This is a major flaw in the game, and is evident in online play, as you can tell that EVERYONE uses motorcycles.
Graphics
“meh”. That’s all that really needs to be said. Sure, that graphics are okay… But is that what we’re aiming for now when we’re making games? Mediocrity? They built the city of Los Angeles decently well, but there are some major glaring flaws in the simple structure of the city. First of all, the LA River: This is a site that is used time and time again in the game to race through, everyone knows this structure. They didn’t even build it the way it is in real life! There is no water running through the middle. There is no canal through the center. It looks merely like a long running half-pipe with bridges over it. Sure, if they put the canal in it may hinder racing. How do you think people race through it now!?!?!? If your goal is to make a lifelike representation of a city, please don’t half-ass it, because people like me who live there will call you out on your bullshit. Essentially the game looks GTAIVish, without the details and close attention paid to building the city.
Story
WTF were they thinking? The story is just lame. Half the time you have to wait for people to call you on your phone for the actual storyline to progress. Waiting is not my idea of having fun playing a game. Unlike games like GTAIV where you have to wait for the story to progress, there are not “side-missions” that you can do to continue moving forward in the game. The extra missions are pointless and accomplish nothing in the grand scheme of the “story”. The characters are ethnic sterotypes and honestly kind of bothered me. The voiceacting is atrocious to say the least. The only comparison I can think of for how bad the voiceacting and dialogue is would be the new Price of Persia. It is full of nonsensical one-liners that make you groan and return the game to get a refund.
The Bottom Line
7.1/10
Do not buy this game if you are expecting Burnout. The online mode leaves much to be desired, and the single-player is lacking in all aspects. This game is trying to be what Burnout Paradise accomplished years ago, but didn’t even come close. Go out and buy a copy of Burnout instead of wasting your money on this game.
3
Apr
2009
Noby Noby Boy Review
Noby Noby Boy
Namco Bandai 2009 for the PS3
Overview
I have been trying for about an hour now to think of some coherent way to describe this game. As many of you know, this is a title from the creator of the surprise PS2 hit Katamari Damacy. However, as if that title wasn’t strange enough, Keita Takahashi (the mad genius behind the game) has taken all structure and semblance of plot away form this title and left of with this… Noby Noby Boy. There are no missions; there are no time frames to worry about. It is only you, Boy, eating everything in your path to try to aid your friend, Girl. (I’ll try to explain more under the Story section… but bear with me…)
Controls
Not exactly the best control setup I’ve ever seen in my life, but it gets the job done. Essentially you can control both the head and the back end of Boy with each joystick independently. While this seems simple enough, they decided to throw a wrench into the mix by making practically every other control in the game hinging on one single button, L2.
L2’s functionality:
Holding L2: Boy grips the ground around his head, causing more friction and making movement slower and more restricted
Tapping L2: Boy’s front half jumps/Boy opens his mouth to eat what is in front of him. How can you differentiate between the two of these commands, you can’t! Sometimes you eat when you want to jump, and vice versa. Now the question is, with about 10 different programmable buttons on the PS3 controller, why would there every be a need to double up on the same button?
Graphics
These are glorified PS2 graphics, let’s just be honest. But then again, this is Takahashi’s style. I’m not going to dock points from him because he didn’t change who he is as a game designer. If you look closely, despite the rigidity of the shapes as first glace, there is actually a great bit of detail that went into each character and every one of the 50+ stages that was created. He took the graphics from his hit, Katamari Damacy, and updated them with a little bit smoother corners.
Story
This is where you’ll need to bear with me as I attempt to explain this. Let me just be brief: There is no plot to this game. I’m not even sure if I can truly call this a game, because there is no real point to playing it. There is no endgoal to be accomplished, only a tally of your points which is added to the cumulative total of everyone in the world who has logged into the game online. However, this is where the interesting part comes into play. You as “Boy” stretch and grow, then give the points of how many meters you grow to a sort of highscore. The visual representation of this is “Girl”, a giant pillar jutting out of the Earth. As of right now, there is only one playable planet within the game (with 50 some odd maps), but when Girl becomes the length of the distance between the Earth and the moon, Takahashi has stated that he would release an expansion containing “moon levels”. This will continue on as Girl grows and reaches more planets within the solar system as well. Considering I couldn’t make out what is going on within this first version of the game, I have no clue what to expect from an expansion or further updates.
The Bottom Line
7.6/10
This is a great way to waste time without truly thinking at all. It is mindless fun with a creepy and quirky worm-like character that defies physics. The lack of structure in the game hurt it a little in the end, but the main thing that took away from this PSN game was the camera. This is quite possibly the worst camera in a game I’ve ever seen to date (yes, worse than Lair). Very hard to control, it is supposed to follow the Boy around the map, yet having it do so can often be more trouble than its worth. There are some obvious flaws in the game, but for the price of $4.99, it is definitely worth downloading this title to see what all the fuss is about.
3
Apr
2009
F.E.A.R. 2 Project Origin Review
F.E.A.R. 2 Project: Origin
Monolith Productions 2009 for the PS3/XBox360
Overview
So, I’ve been on a sort of survival-horror binge lately. F.E.A.R. 2 played right into that hand for me. There was a lot that I liked about this game, but there were also a couple key elements that detracted a lot from the overall experience. Essentially this game was like a video-game version of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde: Every time I felt like I was really getting immersed in the story and game as a whole, some glaring glitch or terribly animated monster would pop up, and immediately the illusion was broken, “Oh wait… Only in video games do they have frame-rate crashes like this.” So, it really is a love-hate relationship between a game that I really wanted to like, but detracting factors that got in the way.
Controls and Gameplay
The controls were nothing to complain about. Coming out of 2008, if I don’t know how a standard FPS operates, then there’s something seriously wrong with me. However, I’m going to complain about the (triangle) button: reflex mode. Pressing the triangle button allows you to slow down time and gain the reflex advantage over any enemies that are near you. Sounds about fair, right? This really isn’t necessary in the easier difficulties on the game, however during my playthrough on “hard” I found that I was relying on this technique more than my own skill. By gathering all of the “reflex injectors” from around the game, you can double the time you can stay in the slowed down state so that it becomes almost too easy to obliterate any enemies that ever try to slow you down. In otherwords… To enable God-Mode, simply press triangle.
Apart from that obvious difficulty deterrent, the game played and controlled well. The environment reacted to you well, however the enemies did not. The AI in this game was probably my biggest grievance. They were entirely too predictable, and worse yet, their movement animations seemed rushed and incomplete. Especially with the creatures called abominations. Some people have suggested that this was intentional to make them seem more “unnatural”, however when I’m seeing them glitch and lag, so their movements are strangely reminiscent of me playing counter-srike on a 56k connection, then I hope to god that it wasn’t intentional. The scariest part of this game was not that the creatures popped out at you, it was how poorly they were animated.
Graphics
Continuing on from where I left off… The environments were made very well made, and fit the type of emotions the creators were trying to pull out of the gamer. The colors were very dark and rich, and it felt like half of the time, the only light in the scene was that weak beam radiating from your flashlight. (HINT! To heighten the gameplay and make the experience scarier and harder, drop the brightness down a notch or two) This is were my praise for the graphics end. As far as I’m concerned, Monolith has no clue how to texture a moving object. The times that you’d think they’d pay particular attention (during the close-ups) seemed to be the weakest display of their graphics potential. It really left me wanting a lot more. Polygons and broken textures really aren’t that scary, just in case you were wondering.
Story
I’ll admit it, I’m a bad person, and I haven’t played the original F.E.A.R. However, in this case, it gives me an outside perspective and the ability to say that they did a very good job of not alienating people like me. I felt like there wasn’t much that I missed by not playing the first title, probably because this is an alternate story arch from the character that was playable in the first installment. Other first person shooters need to take notes from the single-player campaign. There were 14 different chapters, and each of them taking at least a good 10-15 minutes to get through. I guarantee that no one will finish this game just to exclaim, “That’s it?!?!”
The game has its obvious twists and turns in the plot, nothing too out of the ordinary, but I won’t take points off for being a little predictable. The only thing that really got under my skin though was how they deliberately set the game up for a sequel with the ending. I won’t give away any specifics, but when the credits roll, you’ll be in good company if you’re thinking, “Well, looks like there’s going to be a F.E.A.R. 3.”
Multiplayer
Now, this part of the review just makes me sad. Through no fault of their own, the multiplayer in the game is lacking. Not lacking in terms of type of gameplay, weapons, options, or even vehicles that you can tear up the map and eachother in. It was lacking in the number of people that were playing it online. You were lucky if you could find one game in each of the 6 different gametypes at any given time. As I said, you can’t really blame the company because no one is using their product for online gameplay, because the servers are top notch, and work very well. The game just had the unfortunate launch timing to be released within a week of Killzone 2 in a field of competition that is already saturated with online FPS’s.
The Bottom Line
7.9/10
I enjoyed playing through this game twice in the single player campaign, and even the desolate multiplayer was fun when I could find enough people to start a match. But in the end, the shoddy animations and weak enemy AI were just a little too much to bear. Thus resulting in the score that doesn’t give justice to what this game could have possibly been.