VicoGaming

My Top 5 Games of 2013

2014-01-16T04:57:00.003-08:00

2013 was a huge year for gaming. New consoles finally arrived and maybe in 2014 some decent games for them will too. The 3DS almost single handedly proved smartphones are not killing portable gaming and Steam showed off their incredibly pointless Steam Machines at CES - making no impact at all.

As for me... time, money and "what I felt like playing" meant I didn't get around to playing many of 2013's big games - which results in less review writing. But the autumn and winter Steam sales offer a chance to catch up on some games, which is why my list is a little late. As usual the sole criteria is "fun I had" but in a revolutionary twist I will follow advice given to me and present it in a more traditional: reverse order.

Yup. Enjoy!

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5. Tomb Raider

March 5, 2013 - My Review

This position proved surprisingly difficult. It came down to a choice between two high-budget games and a recent indie title. After considering the overall 'feel' of each, I am going to have to risk being uncool and give it to: Tomb Raider (the other two being DMC Devil May Cry and Risk of Rain).

They were all fun, but in the end Tomb Raider was more of a complete package. Set in a visually impressive and diverse location, the story has enough fantastical elements to be interesting but not so much as to become silly. The gameplay is solid with decent combat and fluid platforming mechanics - topped off with a pleasingly high graphical fidelity. It drops the ball fairly spectacularly with the characterisation of Lara Croft and her comrades, but manages not to ruin the experience.

4. Bioshock Infinite

March 26, 2013 - My Review

With such standard and uninspired gameplay, it would be easy to write off Bioshock Infinite as undeserving of any accolades. However, no other game in recent memory has given me so much to think about. The ending may be a little pretentious but is so thought-provoking that I find myself thinking about it, months after completion.

The story is not especially emotional, but it features meta-concepts that require an unusual amount of consideration - for a video game. Any experience that causes genuine reflection of video game stories and life in general, should be considered worthwhile of your time. Add in the peerless characterisation of Elizabeth and visuals that are nothing short of beautiful and you definitely have one of the best games of 2013.

3. The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds

November 22, 2013

A game I have not reviewed but thoroughly enjoyed. Although Zelda is a franchise I am quite committed to, I never played A Link to the Past. Now that I own a 3DS, I took the opportunity to play the latest top-down Zelda and it suitably impressed me.

The 2D Wall-Moving mechanic is simply brilliant and opens up so many original puzzle and gameplay mechanics. At first I was not convinced on the item renting but I warmed to it. I prefer a more linear progression system but being able to do the temples in any sequence made a nice change. The 'two-worlds' idea is a little old hat for Nintendo, but is elegantly tied into the gameplay and story. The puzzles, plot and overall gameplay is of the high standard one comes to expect from the Zelda franchise and a fine counter to the "Handheld gaming is dying" discussion.

2. Dead Space 3

February 8, 2013 - My Review

If 2013 was the year of publisher controversy, then Dead Space 3 really kicked it all off. EA received much criticism for implementing (what was seen as) a money grubbing game mechanic, tied to micro-transactions.

I carefully gathered my thoughts and here are my conclusions on the whole thing. I was never asked to buy anything in-game and I do not consider the resource collection/gun building mechanic detrimental to gameplay. Yes, we are far removed from the survival horror aspirations of the first Dead Space but that does not inherently make a bad game - just different. I understand how the micro-transaction in big games are the 'coming of the storm', but I think Dead Space 3 manages to keep a nice balance. It could well be the start of the slippery slope, but I do not accept this makes it a "bad game". I felt it was a "good game (with some policies that if unchecked could become anti-consumer)".

1. Rayman Legends

August 30, 2013 - My Review

I almost knew from the start that this would be my game of the year. Gameplay, art style, sense of fun,
challenge, level design, mechanics, non-intrusive but clever social elements... Rayman Legends excels at all of these.

I was raised (gaming-wise) on platformers, so it makes me very happy to see an excellent, high-budget 2D platformer in the modern gaming scene - from a publisher that isn't Nintendo.

Ok, so the most successful titles currently have a focus on graphical fidelity and an adult theme... that's fine! This quirky, cute, gorgeous looking, mechanically stellar platformer brimming with charm gave me the most gaming fun I had all year.

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The 2013 "Honourable Mentions" Awards

● Luigi's Mansion 2 - "Most adorable characters"

● DMC Devil May Cry - "Best Level Design"

● Brothers: A tale of two sons - "Most Emotional Control scheme"

● Risk of Rain - "First Roguelike Game I liked and ended up playing a lot"

● Deadpool - "Funniest Triple-A Game"

● The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing - "Most impossible to write about"

● Antichamber - "Most intriguingly frustrating puzzler"

Bioshock Infinite: Burial At Sea (Part 1) (DLC)

2014-01-14T02:48:00.003-08:00

Buried at Sea

Burial at Sea assumes you have completed Bioshock Infinite

Introduction
Burial at Sea (Part 1) is the first instalment of a two-part DLC series for Bioshock Infinite (my review). Released in 2013 for Xbox 360, Playstation 3, PC and OS X, both parts of Burial at Sea are included in the DLC Season Pass, as well as the non-story DLC "Clash in the Clouds".

Disclaimer : Standard first-person shooter violence with some slight horror themes.

The First Thing
It should be no surprise that I am a big fan of Bioshock, since I appointed it my sixth 'best game of all time'. Rapture is one of the most interesting locations ever used in a game, so the opportunity to peek at life before it fell apart is a happy one. It certainly looks absolutely fantastic, but strange FPS, obvious linearity and little story explanation prevented me from becoming immersed.

Plot & Devices
It's News Years Eve, 1958. Booker DeWitt (you) is a private detective in Rapture and asleep on his desk. A woman calling herself Elizabeth wakes him from his drunken state with information that a little lost girl named Sally is still alive and Booker is needed to investigate. Together the two head out into the city to find Sally.

We're back...

Burial at Sea feels primarily intended as a nostalgic experience. In fact it spends little time on any story, saving it for the final few moments - where it ties into Bioshock Infinite. Instead the world is filled with references to the gameplay and story of Bioshock. Nothing new is added to the lore but listening in to NPC conversations or audiologs helps paint a picture of what 'life was like' before the social structure collapsed. Gameplay mechanics such as the Skyhook or 'drinkable' plasmids which did not feature in the original Bioshock are explained in-game - sometimes a little tongue-in-cheek.

The Game
Gameplay is the same as Bioshock Infinite (my review) save a few changes that have been made to emulate the original feel of Bioshock. Some are in name only ("Vigors" are called "Plasmids") but others are alterations to game mechanics - like the removal of the two-weapon system. The game is split into sight-seeing and combat sections, with little interconnectivity between the two.

In the first part the player and Elizabeth wander around a small, linear area of Rapture. The intention is to provide a small glimpse of the city before it fell apart - something not available until now. Players unfamiliar with the story will probably not enjoy this section as much, as gameplay is restricted to exploration, a fetch quest and examining objects.

Combat from Infinite and environment from Bioshock

An interaction with a fan-favourite Bioshock character starts the second half which is more in keeping with the original game: first-person combat against splicers in dark and gloomy environments. Combat is the same as Bioshock Infinite with the only change that now all weapons can be carried at once, selecting them from the weapon wheel. Resources are also scarcer to emulate the conservation and survival feeling of the original game. In Infinite Elizabeth was constantly throwing health, ammo or eve, but here she frequently says "I can't find anything". The plasmid selection is a mix between the two games, with a new frost one added.

Traditionally DLC takes existing level design or features and adds new content, allowing developers to use their existing hard work and add more to the overall game and universe. Because Rapture does not really feature in Bioshock Infinite, it had to be built from the ground up for Burial at Sea. The result is that whilst the game feels like Infinite, it looks very different. Familiar visual style and sound assets ("Welcome to the circus of values!") does a convincing job of replicating the feel of Bioshock.

Wrap Up & Negatives
Building new environments from the ground up results in a new experience, but is developer time that could have been spent elsewhere. Burial at Sea is short, even for a DLC. Given that the experience is only about two hours it makes the price questionable too - although if you buy the Season Pass it becomes more acceptable. The shortness of the campaign negatively limits the story, which does not feature at all until the final few minutes. Given the ending of Bioshock Infinite, Burial at Sea ends in a predictably complex fashion but is undermined by the limited gameplay. In hindsight the events do not really make a lot of sense, in particular Elizabeth's overall plan.

Visually in keeping with the original Bioshock

I feel the absence of developer time has also resulted in a game that is little less technically competent than I would have liked. Bioshock Infinite ran at a steady framerate but Burial at Sea had frequent low-spikes, particularly in the starting area. Along with AI that felt 'dumb' and gameplay features that served no purpose (the upgrade system) it is hard not to feel negatively. Note: The gamebreaking bug which prevents retracing of steps through airlocks has been fixed.

For full enjoyment one will need to be familiar with the story of Bioshock, but completing Infinite will suffice. I would suggest that players briefly remind themselves of how Infinite ends because Burial at Sea uses the same complex concepts and details with its ending.

Personally
Overall I was left disappointed. Erratic FPS at the start was certainly a factor but the game was just too small. The brief campaign prevents the story and gameplay from achieving any depth and I felt compromises were made in order to put it out as DLC. The developers did a good job but Burial at Sea feels unworthy of its predecessors.

Perhaps this is influenced by the level of personal 'bioshock-fandom', but speaking as a 'big' fan I would say that whilst the experience was worthwhile, I regretted the missed potential.

Metro Last Light

2014-01-08T08:30:00.004-08:00

The Title Screen

Introduction
Metro: Last Light is a first-person shooter developed by 4A Games, released in 2013 for PC/Mac, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360. The sequel to Metro 2033, it features a singleplayer campaign based on the world established by the Metro book series by Dmitry Glukhovsky.

Disclaimer : Standard first-person shooter violence, occasional strong language and some nudity/sex. There are some minor horror elements but done atmospherically, rather than trying to terrify the player.

The First Thing
After tackling the extremely low FPS by turning Nvidia Physx off (I do not use Nvidia), I was impressed by just how well Last Light runs. I have frequently heard how Last Light is considered to be one of the best looking games ever developed so I was expecting a degraded experience on my three year old machine. But on 'high' settings it still looks really good and had a smooth 60FPS nearly throughout. The extremely tight level design probably helps but I was still impressed. Fantastic optimisation work by the folks at 4A Games.

Plot & Devices

Metro 2033 had two possible endings: a 'good' one where Artyom realises the Dark Ones (psychic, scary-looking creatures) are friendly and a 'bad' one where he destroys them all. Last Light continues on from the 'bad' ending.

A year has passed since the events of Metro 2033. The surface of Earth is still uninhabitable from the nuclear war and the survivors are living underground in the Russian metro network. Artyom (you) has officially joined the Rangers who are now occupying D6; a large military depot with supplies. However, news of D6 is spreading and creating unrest within the two rival metro factions: the Reich and the Red Line. On top of this, a surviving Dark One has been sighted recently. Still conflicted about his role in their demise, Artyom is sent to track and kill it.

The surface

Last Light is a story driven experience which is reflected in its gameplay. The author of the Metro books, Dmitry Glukhovsky, helped write the story and plans to released a more complete version as the novel "Metro 2035". Listening to the fully-voiced cavalcade of characters progresses the story and atmosphere although Artyom himself is a silent protagonist - except during the loading screens where he narrates a quick summary of events. Apart from the intro and outro sequences, there are no out-of-engine cinematics. As a character Artyom is fleshed out further through collectible 'notes' scattered throughout the game; offering insight into his thoughts on the current situation.

Like Metro 2033 there is a hidden moral system that decides which cutscene to display at the end. Influenced by a mix of subtle and obvious choices, it has no impact on gameplay or events.

The Game
Set in the first-person perspective, Last Light feels divided into three gameplay types: sight-seeing, underground combat and the surface. Sight-seeing usually involves exploring a new settlement or story area. The player walks around listening to characters talk and trading the bullet-currency for ammunition and guns in the shops. Effort has been made to disguise the linearity of these moments, but there is still clearly only one path to take. Sight-seeing serves as a respite from the action and helps establish the atmosphere of the situation.

Stealth gameplay (blue light = visible)

Combat takes place either against humans or monsters. There is a focus on stealth gameplay against humans, with Artyom's watch serving as a visibility indicator. Players have the option of bypassing entirely, knocking out or killing enemies. Lights can be disabled to provide cover and enemy detection will sound an alarm. There is a slight pause between being seen and alarm which allows the player to scurry back to the shadows if quick enough. The stealth-detection capabilities of the AI is not especially complex, but most of the time they will react with alarm to gunshot and body discovery.

Otherwise, combat is handled in standard FPS fashion. Artyom can carry three weapons and use a melee attack. There are many different weapon types with their own ammunition and each is modifiable at vendors. Throwing knives, grenades, fire-grenades and mines can be assigned to the 'thrown weapon' slot. Artyom's health regenerates, but there are syringes to bring health to full for emergencies. Enemies have hit-box detection and headshots cause additional damage. Human enemies will take cover and use basic combat tactics, whereas monsters will attempt to rush the player. Tactics are still required for monsters, such as the use of light against spiders. Additional ammo and bullet-currency can be looted from dead humans.

Do you really wish to see what is waiting for you in the darkness?

Artyom has two sources of light available to him for the darkness: a re-chargeable flashlight and a lighter. Both can be used simultaneously but the flashlight must be charged-up manually for its brightest output. Using light will alert hostiles so a trade-off is often required between seeing and being seen. A gas mask must be used when encountering tainted air on the surface or in the tunnels. Artyom's watch displays a five minute timer that ticks down till the current air filter expires. At this point the player must replace the air filter or start choking to death. Gas mask sections will provide enough filters, but often needing a modicum of exploration to find. Should it get too damaged the gas mask can be replaced with another if found.

From the voiced characters to the monsters and guns, Last Light features high quality sound effects. Music is atmospheric and a short musical cue indicates the process of being detected in stealth. Graphically the game has exceptionally high fidelity, the lighting effects in particular are outstanding. Last Light is artistically split between the confined, dark tunnels and the open, ruined surface. With highly customisable options, flawless mouse and keyboard controls (control pad is supported) it is an excellent PC game. I encountered only one serious bug but it was not game breaking. Clocking in at nine hours play time, the campaign is a decent length for a modern FPS.

Wrap Up & Negatives
Two big negatives coloured my time with Last Light: linearity and plot completion. About three-quarters way through the campaign the story shifted from its political focus of survivors fighting over limited available resources, to a fantastical, meta-physical tale of redemption. I realise this will sound a weak criticism, but it really felt it was 'trying to be clever'. The completely abstract sequence involving a river (you'll know when you get to it) killed any interest I had in finishing the story. Also, the short levels and little inter-connectivity result in Artyom being 'captured' or 'knocked out' too often. All in all I felt detached and uninterested in the story by the end.

The exceptionally beautiful but linear and non-interactive world

Last Light is also oppressively linear. At all times it is quite clear there is only one path to take (except sometimes on the surface). This takes something away from a world that otherwise is quite believable. I realise that atmosphere and pacing can benefit from extreme linearity, but for large parts of the game I felt quite unconnected from the actions of my character. Exploration and resources scavenging could fit quite naturally within the theme of Last Light, but are disappointingly not offered.

Binary 'good' and 'bad' endings feel outdated when compared to games like The Walking Dead. I was irritated to find out after I completed Last Light that I received the 'bad' ending. I felt I had failed in some way. Furthermore it did not feel appropriate since I'm mostly morally positive in games. With research I discovered the system is fairly arbitrary and inconsistent. Killing some humans results in negative points, but not others. Giving money to beggars is 'good' but paying a stripper is 'bad'. This is why binary moral choice systems are inherently flawed. They assume decisions are only either 'good' or 'bad', which is incorrect.

Personally
When all is said and done, Last Light is basically all right. Despite the problems it excels at enough to make playing worthwhile. The world it creates is phenomenally atmospheric and highly believable, filled with genuine characters and real emotion. True, it mostly takes place in dark and gloomy tunnels but it is a beautiful game none the less. Though I would have preferred more of the visually astounding (and less linear) surface gameplay.

Some will love Last Light and some will only feel 'so-so'. Others might be too scared to even see it through to the end, but I reckon most players will enjoy the visuals, atmospheric levels and story-telling (even if it gets a little out of hand towards the end).

Gone Home

2014-01-02T05:37:00.002-08:00

The Title Screen

Introduction
Released in 2013, Gone Home is an interactive-story focused, exploration game by The Fullbright Company for Windows and Mac OS.

The First Thing
The elegant art style and competent options menu were pleasing discoveries and made a good first impression. However, I quickly encountered some very unstable FPS. Since at first glance Gone Home is not a technically demanding title, I went looking for a reason. The developers state that high/stable FPS is not to be expected since the use of ultra-high texture quality cause FPS drops. They then go on to say that high FPS is not required, nor is detrimental to the experience. I'm not so sure I'd agree that "it is not detrimental" but I can confirm high FPS is not required. This is an exploration game, with no reliance on fast or precise mouse control.

Plot & Devices
Kaitlin Greenbriar has returned to her family's new house after a European trip of unknown length. Upon arriving in this unfamiliar home, Kaitlin finds it completely deserted; no sign of her younger sister 'Sam' or her parents. A note on the door from Sam tells Kaitlin not to go looking for a reason as to why this is the case, but that they will meet up one day. Kaitlin enters the strange house and tries to find out what has happened.

Gone

Uncovering the story is the point of the game and is achieved through exploring the house and interacting with objects; normally ones with text or pictures on. Certain objects will prompt entries into a Sam's narrated audio journal, which offers more perspective. The story and progression are linear, but hidden well enough to promote a genuine feeling of exploration. The plot is about Sam, with a few hints about the parents along the way. Although Kaitlin would already know certain facts already, it is not long before the player and Kaitlin are discovering new information at the same time.

Disclaimer (and Spoiler): I apologise for this spoiler, but it may be necessary. One of the prominent themes of the story is homosexuality and players uncomfortable with this subject will be uncomfortable with Gone Home. I personally felt that the subject was handled matter-of-factly enough and was neither condemned nor condoned. As Kaitlin is a silent protagonist, players are free project their own feelings onto the subject.

Many a light shall be turned on

The Game
A somewhat recurring theme of 2013, the gameplay can be neatly summed up as: a linear exploration title with a strong focus on story and atmosphere. The player can move and interact with objects, picking items up or altering them in some way; turning on a light, opening a door, etc. Targeting objects with the reticle reveals an option, and interacting will then perform that action. Once or twice there are puzzles to solve, but these are no more complex than "find the combination to the combination lock".

The fully voiced narration of Sam's journal is updated periodically upon examining certain items. For example, finding a concert music ticket may prompt a journal entry about going to a concert. Interactable objects can be picked up and rotated to examine and are usually just everyday objections to help build a general picture; occasionally providing some specific insight into characters or events. There is a rudimentary physics engine applying to the objects but is never needed for game progression and just helps with immersion.

The graphical fidelity of Gone Home is surprisingly high, due to its high-resolution textures. Lighting plays a big part in generating atmosphere, but although there is a 'horror' feel to the game there are no fear elements nor action sequences of any kind. As a PC game it comes with a robust options menu, including an FOV slider. It is a short game and I did not encounter bugs/errors of any kind.

Examining objects reveals the details

Wrap Up & Negatives
As mentioned already, steady FPS will not be a common experience. I did find it detrimental, but not overly so; in terms of 'immersion building', rather than gameplay. Considering this is caused by an extremely high texture quality it can be overlooked since those particular textures go far in creating the mood and atmosphere.

Like other similar titles, this is not much of a 'game' and is certainly a brief experience; taking me about 75 minutes to complete. Although more interactive than such games as The Stanley Parable and Dear Esther, I personally would have preferred more puzzles. Given the low retail price and the size of the development team this is to be expected.

Personal preference will decide whether the homosexual theme is a negative. With my neutral hat on, I feel that it is handled delicately and is actually more a tale of youth, family interaction and the lies we tell each other. But it will be up to the individual player.

Personally
I liked it, more or less. It could do with a few improvements but out of this recent wave of story-focused exploration games I would say this is the best yet. The Stanley Parable was funny and thought provoking but Gone Home is an exceptionally well-told story experience, which I preferred. The developers should be commended for creating such fleshed out and believable narrative, and competently handling a divisive subject matter.

A solid story-telling experience that excels at a simple idea and a title that will lead the way in this new wave of exploration/story-focused games.

The Stanley Parable

2013-12-28T03:06:00.005-08:00

The Title Screen

Introduction
The Stanley Parable is a first-person, exploration game, independently released through Steam's Greenlight system. Originally a Source Mod, this high definition 'stand-alone' remake was released in 2013 and is available for Windows and Mac OS.

Big Disclaimer: This game is an almost unique experience, extremely prone to spoilers. To that end this review will be short and all spoilers avoided.

Plot & Devices

Stanley works in an office all day and although he performs an objectively pointless task, he is happy. Then one day, he notices all his other office co-workers have disappeared. He gets up to explore.

All gone

That is the summation of the short opening sequence that is the framework for the story. From there, events are unfolded by the player through exploration and interaction with a narrator. Whilst events certainly drive the game, it is not quite accurate to say that the story does. The Stanley Parable challenges how we experience plot as players by effortlessly swapping between fixed and abstract story telling - which is the point of the title.

The Game
Set in the first person, the player can control movement and interact with the occasional button or door. Other than that, there are no controls or mechanics of any kind. In fact The Stanley Parable is extremely light on actual gameplay and by many definitions, would be hard to describe as an actual video game.

So what is the point then? Exploration is accompanied by a narrator, and it is from this interaction the enjoyment is derived. Much effort has been placed into making the narrator feel as genuine and organic as possible. During exploration, the player will encounter choices - directly or indirectly: which door to go through, whether to stay or move on, push this buttons, etc. These choices determine the direction of the story and the events that transpire and how the interaction with the narrator progresses. It is hard to properly explain, but will seem natural when playing.

Although an indie production, The Stanley Parable is a fine PC game with re-bindable keys and a surprisingly expansive graphics menu. The game is not graphically demanding, and the style is very typical of Source Engine based games. The narrator is fully voiced and subtitles are available.

Go on, walk through it...

Personally
I definitely recommend The Stanley Parable. Although the game adds absolutely nothing new in terms of mechanics, it is almost unique in its combining of storytelling and player involvement. It's not an emotional tale, but I laughed a few times and found it thought provoking. There is a reason that this small, downloadable game is featuring on many 'Top of 2013' lists.

Understandably, it will not be for everyone, but it is highly likely that the game will at least provide an entirely original experience to new players. I have played many games over my life and this definitely felt a new idea. Add on technically competent and it becomes an easy recommendation.

Set aside a few hours and play it. Like it or not... you won't regret it.

Deadpool

2013-12-20T02:38:00.000-08:00

The Title Screen

Introduction
Deadpool is an action-brawler-adventure developed in 2013 by High Moon Studios. Released for PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, it is sanctioned by Marvel and written by a Deadpool comic writer - so is as 'official' a version as one could expect. It features a singleplayer campaign and challenge mode with online leaderboard integration.

Disclaimer: This is an extremely adult title. Much violence, adult language, and sexual themes/references throughout. The only thing absent is drug use.

The First Thing
Unfortunately, my first experiences of this game were not favourable. The PC port felt extremely questionable, the controls in particular. As a third-person, hack n' slashy looking game I wanted to play on my control pad, but only the vertical axis can be inverted. This is bizarre and eventually forced me to swap to Mouse and Keyboard. This was more palatable, but since only some keys and three mouse buttons are available as bindings, was still unsatisfactory.

Plot & Devices
To understand the events of Deadpool, one needs to understand Deadpool as a character: a highly-skilled, human mercenary who undergoes an experiment giving him super-human abilities. He can heal so fast that is essentially immortal, but has been turned insane as a side-effect. One key character trait is that Deadpool knows that he is a comic book character, and in Deadpool he is aware that he is in his self-titled video game. Much of the humour and characterisation is based around this concept.

Deadpool and one of his internal voices

That being said, there is a plot to Deadpool - it's just not that important. At the start, Deadpool phones High Moon Studios and discusses being in a video game. They duly send over a script, and the story beings - without Deadpool actually reading the script. At some point the character Cable shows up to explain about how the world needs Deadpool's help, but Deadpool isn't listening. So, whilst there is a story, it is not a focus and the characterisation of Deadpool and the 'fourth-wall breaking' humour is what drives events and the gameplay.

It should be noted that Deadpool constantly acts very degradingly towards women; sexually objectifying them exclusively. As he is aware of his comic-book nature, this trait has been used by writers as a way of drawing attention to how females are typically inappropriately depicted in video games and comics. However, Deadpool could still easily be taken in an offensive/misogynist way, so it is something to keep in mind.

The Game
Appropriately, the main focus of Deadpools's gameplay is combat. In a style similar to the Arkham Batman games, the majority of encounters consist of groups of enemies, or larger and more powerful foes. The objective is to weave attacks continuously between targets, whilst avoiding incoming damage and ideally prioritising the dangerous adversaries. Landing an attack will add to the combo meter and the different types of enemies the player will have to deal with include : guns/projectile attacks, 'explode on death', shield-enemies, blocking and flying.

Group combat (with an enemy that is providing a shield to the others)

Deadpool's attacks are standard for brawler games : light and heavy melee and a ranged weapon. These three can be combo'd together in different sequences to produce varying attack chains. Successful hits with the gun also build the combo multiplier, and many enemies have head-shot hit-boxes. Deadpool also possess a short range teleport which acts as a dodge and counter. Whilst teleporting the player can not be damaged, but the ability is placed on a short 'cooldown' after multiple use. During combat enemies will occasionally telegraph their attacks and a counter button prompt will appear. The only other form of combat are turret sections where large groups of enemies are dispatched with a stationary gun of infinite ammunition.

During combat Deadpool will slowly charge a "momentum" bar, which when full can be used to unleash a powerful attack. Bars will deplete over time if not in combat, unless full in which case the abilities remain ready. The Upgrade Store will allow the purchase of more momentum attacks, each with their own bar. These powerful attacks are designed to deal with large groups of enemies in different flashy ways.

Between combat, the player can expect some light platforming. Deadpool can double jump, and platforming failing will not kill the player; offering a teleport prompt instead. Although the character of Deadpool is immortal, for the purposes of combat he is not. He does have regenerating health, but it takes about 15-20 seconds of not taking damage to activate. He takes no falling damage, but can die in battle. Death will return the player to the most recent checkpoint

The upgrade store

Throughout the game the player will acquire 'DP points', either through combat, chests or collectible tokens. The combo multiplier increases the number of DP points and functions as a reward for skilful play. These DP points are then used to obtain upgrades and new weapons from the 'store'. Weapons fall into the three categories : ranged, swords and "items" (such as grenades or land-mines). Each weapon has its own upgrade tree, unlocking passive bonuses, extra combos, finishing moves and momentum attacks. Player upgrades are also purchasable in the form of health/momentum return during combos, additional health and an extra teleport. Upgrades critical to progression are handed to the player at the appropriate moment in the story.

Predictably, the art style draws from Deadpool's comic book origins. Cutscenes are handled in-engine, but some reflect the meta aspect of the character by being poorly edited (by Deadpool himself...). The soundtrack is heavy rock/metal in keeping with the character and the sound effects are suitable, if a bit plain. Deadpool is voiced by Nolan North and has excellently written/voiced dialogue throughout the entire game. The overall technical competence of the title is a little questionable at times, however.

Wrap Up & Negatives
There are a few aspcts Deadpool that are not quite right and my main criticism is with the quality of the PC port and game in general. I encountered many bugs, most notably : AI behaving absurdly, Deadpool getting stuck on the floor and objects failing to be interactive (particularly chests). The PC port is fine graphically but the control scheme is ineptly implemented and a few moments of brief FPS dropping.

The difficulty curve is all over the place. Combat alternates between being trivial and very difficult. In particular enemies with machine guns can pose significant challenge. My advice would be : get the upgrade that heals on every 10th hit as soon as possible. The enemy variety is also extremely poor and fighting the singular larger/tougher enemies combat turns into a routine of stab-teleport-stab-teleport, with the occasional running away to regenerate. On top of this, the checkpoint system is really unfair sometimes, requiring the re-playing of up to 10-15 minutes of gameplay.

The "running away from large enemies to regenerate" combat tactic

The upgrade system feels totally pointless, but as that is referenced as such by Deadpool himself I can perhaps forgive that. But still, I never felt the need to buy any items or different weapons, which I can't decide is a failing of the game or my own playstyle. I feel the combat will be the biggest negative for some as it is quite repetitive. The teleport ability and frequent set-pieces do help alleviate the monotony, but there are definitely moments where it feels routine.

The usual caveat with humour/characterisation-focused games applies : if you do not like the title character, or this type of humour, then you will find that a large negative. If unsure, check out the trailer I have linked at the end.

Personally
Deadpool is an interesting game to critique. On the one hand, the actual gameplay is pretty uninspiring, and has its fair share of bugs and PC implementation issues. But in the end I more or less enjoyed my time with it because of the excellent Deadpool characterisation. I personally like the style of non-sequitur/meta humour and I was left with an overall positive impression. It's a shame that high-budget comedy games are something of a rarity at the moment.

Should you buy it? Well my advice would be... watch the official launch trailer : YouTube. If it makes you laugh, and you like brawly/beat em' up games, then definitely try Deadpool. If you're focused on gameplay and/or do not find the trailer funny, then give this title a pass.

Oh, and Steve Blum playing Wolverine which he does in the show Wolverine and the X-Men? Brilliant

Rayman Legends

2013-11-28T04:59:00.002-08:00

The Title Screen

Introduction
Rayman Legends is a 2D platformer released in 2013 for PC, PlayStation 3 & 4 (2014), Xbox 360 & One (2014), Wii U and PS Vita. A sequel to Rayman Origins, it is developed and published by Ubisoft and features a singleplayer campaign/challenges that can also be played locally with up four players.

The First Thing
Rayman Origins was released without DRM (except Steamworks) as sort of an apology to PC customers. It was therefore a nasty surprise this time to discover Uplay insisting on downloading and installing an update to itself (not the game). Mandatory updates to games are almost justifiable, but with the increasing number of publisher's own launchers things are starting to become unacceptable and even a little insulting.

But...

...then I started playing. And Rayman Legends was so outstanding, even from the start, that it almost made that initial Uplay disappointment acceptable. Everything about this game screams style, elegance, fun and improvement. These days you never know how a sequel is going to pan out and Rayman Legends shows how it is done.

Nap time for the Rayman team

Plot & Devices
Following directly on from the story of Rayman Origins, the Teensy Wizard has survived and returned - bringing the Nightmares once again. Woken from their sleep by Murfy the Greenbottle, Rayman and friends must set out to free the captured princesses and put a stop to the Teensy Wizard and his dark copies.

The plot is once again on the light side but this time effort has been made to explain a little more of who people are and what places/objects are called. There is still no real dialogue, and meaning is conveyed exclusively through animations and tone. The same sense of 'silly' is found throughout, but it never overwhelms.

Rayman Legends continues the demonstration that a game's personality does not need to be tied into a complex narrative/dialogue or deep character progression.

The Game
Most of the gameplay is a continuation of Rayman Origins: a 2D, side-scrolling platformer with occasional 3D-looking elements woven in. Lums and other objects are picked up through touch, crates and enemies are dispatched with physical attacks and wall-jumping and hovering are used throughout. Unlike before, characters now start off with all abilities, including the ability to swim/hover. Instead of an RPG-style unlocking of 'powers', this time more complex platforming is just saved for later levels. There is no lives system and failure in standard levels will return the player instantly to a recent checkpoint. One nice touch is players have the chance to get a heart power-up in the loading screen for each level - if they are quick.

Each Lum will turn Pink if collected in the indicated sequence

Collecting Lums is still important and is tied into a reward system of sorts. Pink Lums are worth double, and instead of the Lum King now Lums will turn pink in order if collected as indicated. Total Lum count will unlock new playable characters and the player will receive a Lucky Scratch Card if enough Lums have been collected from a level. This scratch card always rewards with either: more Lums, a Rayman Origins remastered level, a collectible pet or a Teensy.

Instead of rescuing imprisoned 'electoons', each level now has eight Teensy prisoners and a queen and king Teensy. The king and queen are behind hidden challenge doors, with the other normal Teensies are scattered throughout the level. Collecting Teensies is necessary to unlock further content. The singleplayer campaign is divided into five zones (with a bonus music-zone after story completion). As the player progresses through the campaign short, time-challenges will appear for previously completed levels; which will reward three more Teensies if completed successfully. Each zone has two additional 'rescue' levels which unlock additional princesses and the zone ends in a boss; completion of which will unlock a final 'music-themed' level.

One major new addition to the game mechanics is Murfy the Greenbottle. Every few levels the player will be joined by Murfy, and (if playing alone) will use him to interact in some way with the environment. This can be anything from 'moving objects' to 'eating cake tunnels'. On the PC Murfy will automatically snap to a location where he can 'interact'. At first glance it seems like just an extra button to press, but the challenge comes in fluidly weaving Murfy into platforming - especially in the harder, later levels.

Murfy making a guacamole platform for the player
(who, of course, has been turned into a chicken...)

Rayman Origins was not without it's challenges, but they were mostly tied into the singleplayer campaign. The campaign in Rayman Legends still has challenging elements, but now a new section has been created specifically for people who wish to try more skilful platforming. There are four challenges (two normal and two extreme difficulty), two of which change daily and two that change weekly. Each challenge has certain success thresholds to win gold, silver, etc, and performance is compared to other players around the world. Ghosts of other players are incorporated into attempts which is not only entertaining, but can be helpful as they can lead by example. The 'extreme' challenges are aptly named and it is nice for the hardcore platformers to have a dedicated challenge section.

Navigating between levels and other content is now done in a fully-controllable area, instead of a map screen. Paintings acts as gateways to either sub-menus or levels. Aside from the single player campaign the other sections are: collectible pets area, challenges, a football mini-game, levels from Rayman Origins and playable character. Collectible pets and remastered Origins levels are obtained from the Lucky Scratch Cards. The remastered Origins levels are essentially the same but with slight modifications to incorporate new design choices. The collectible pets are a bit pointless but do reward with Lums each day for the player to collect. Fun statistics such as "distance run" and "number of times failed" can be accessed from this menu-area too.

DANGER!

Visually the game looks the same as Origins, but improvements have been made to tighten up the overall experience. The UbiArt engine still has its strong focus on beautiful visuals, but now there is water rippling, light/shadow effects and even a rudimentary gravity system - much of which is now tied into gameplay. There is a large variety in level design, with some interesting new ideas (there is even a basic 'stealth' gameplay segment). The music is orchestral and appropriate and the moments where the gameplay is tied directly into the soundtrack are especially noteworthy.

Running at a perfect 60FPS/1080p the game felt like a more polished version of the original - if that were possible. As with all platformers, I played with my gamepad and would recommend players do the same. I am not aware of encountering any bugs and an excellent PC game. Rayman Legends brought out my inner completionist and I reached 380/700 Teensies and the end of the 'story' in 18 hours - so plenty of content for those that want it. I could imagine it easily taking another 10 hours to complete all content Rayman Legends has to offer.

Wrap Up & Negatives
No game is perfect, but Rayman Legends comes so very close. Even the Uplay system is ultimately small and mostly unintrusive. I do wish the main campaign levels had a 'retry' button like the challenges, but other than that nothing bothered me at all. It goes without saying that if you do not like platformers, the art style, the music, or fun... then you may not enjoy the game. But that's personal opinion.

Personally
What is there to say? I strongly approve of this game! I find it an outstanding example of sequel-making: take core gameplay that works, add new ideas, tighten up loose areas and don't be afraid to remove elements you think should be. I find it amazing that this was released in just under two-years from Origins.

I have not done Rayman Legends justice in this review, since to talk about every new addition and refinement would take too long. It is the best platformer I have played to date and most likely my top game for the year. It is simply a superb game.

Path of Shadows

2013-11-19T08:26:00.005-08:00

The title Screen

Introduction
Created by students at the Pompeu Fabra University, Path of Shadows is a third person, action-stealth game released independently in 2013. It features a singleplayer campaign only and is available free to download from their website: Path of Shadows

The First Thing
Taking into account the price and student developers, I was really impressed by the visuals to the game - in particular the model for the playable character. There are paid games from professional design studios that look significantly worse than Path of Shadows. Maybe not the first impression of a triple-A release, but one of passion and budding skill for sure.

Plot & Devices
The soul of a ninja is brought back to life and imbued with powers over shadows by a mysterious female entity. She informs him that he is there to serve her, and to release her the temple where guards have her imprisoned.

The Ninja

Other than that, there is nothing else to the story. The game is only 15-20 minutes long and the story is simply tool to frame the gameplay. But like much of the game, it's indicative of the shape the game would take if the developers were given got the chance to work on it professionally.

The Game

Path of Shadows consists of three zones: graveyard, village and temple. The objective of each zone is simply to get to the end. The gameplay is never especially complicated, but is more about what it represents: many of the traditional ideals of the original stealth games like Thief. Clear indicators of shadow/light and open levels that give the player choice about how to proceed.

Shadows and light play an important role in most stealth games, but in Path of Shadows they are even more central. The ninja possesses certain magic powers that cost energy; energy which is only regenerated when in shadow. Being outside in light diminishes this energy so a careful balancing act could exist. Despite the short gameplay the compliment of powers is quite extensive. The player can teleport to shadow, create pools of shadow on the ground that slowly shrink (this poo does not recharge energy), summon a raven to show the direction to travel and see the world in a form of x-ray vision. There is no combat, but enemies can be slain if attacked from behind and bodies can be made to dissolve with pools of shadow. Alerted enemies will go for help/pursue you, but can be lost by intelligently hiding in shadows.

Sneak sneak sneak

In a Dead Space style the UI is displayed on the playable character, with the brightness of the glyphs indicating when in shadow and the glyphs on the scarf representing how much energy is available. There is no ability to save and Esc will close down the game. There is a checkpoint system of sorts, in that you can return at any time to a recent check point with backspace but it is inconsistent what this does. It seemed to me that alive enemies would reset, but dead enemies would remain dead (a bug I think).

The art-style is reminiscent of a graphic novel, with vibrant colours and over-inked edges. Shadow is black, and other pools of brighter light are shown quite clearly. Special mention should be made to the ninja, who is drawn and animated exceptionally well for what is essentially an amateur production. The music is not particularly memorable, but appropriate. The voice acting is about the level you would expect from a production like this.

As a PC exclusive I found that frame-rate was consistently way above 60, and mouse control was without problem. There is no in-game options menu (a small pre-game launcher does exist) and the developers do warn that there is a possibility the game may not run on some set-ups - but was fine for me. I did encounter bugs, but nothing too game breaking.

Get back to the shadows

Wrap up & Negatives

This is a student effort and is free; which means that expectations should be lowered, and leniency given. There are quite a few bugs and the length of the game is very short. The voice acting is a little suspect and one wonders whether some of the effort spent in making some of the ninja powers could instead have been put elsewhere like another level...

...but it was free! And made by students. So all this gets a free pass.

Personally

This is a very promising title. You should play it because it costs you nothing and takes 15 minutes of your time. It's even a good game (brief as it is) with nice mechanics and art style. I am not exaggerating when I say it has one of the best looking main characters I've encountered, and mechanics I would love to try out in a fully fledged game. I look forward to playing a bigger release from these devs if they get the chance. Try not to look at Path of Shadows for what it is, but more of a demo of what it could be.

The student team behind Nitronic Rush (my review) went on to launch a successful kickstarter for a spiritual sequel called Distance. They raised $161,981 and from the pre-alpha footage of Distance (YouTube) it looks to be good. This outcome was unlikely to happen without support, and with it brought new talent and content to the gaming scene.

Give the same to the Path of Shadows guys and let's bring their potential to gaming too. Play it. If you like it, recommend it. I definitely do and will be supporting a kickstarter from this team if we are lucky enough to get one.

Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons

2013-11-15T11:20:00.002-08:00

The Title Screen

Introduction
Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons is a singleplayer only, adventure platformer by Starbreeze Studios. Released in 2013, it is available solely via download on Steam, XBLA and PSN.

Disclaimer : Brothers is short and very story driven. Care has been taken to avoid spoilers, but that also means some points may not be fully explored.

The First Thing

Brothers is a good looking game. A really good looking game. Not in fidelity, but in style. The colourful and visually diverse imagery goes far in creating an air of mystery and fantasy about the world. It is a nice example of how visual style can trump realism and makes a very pleasing first impression.

Plot & Devices

In an unknown fantasy kingdom, two brothers live with their father. Their mother was lost to drowning and when the father becomes deathly ill, the two must travel on an adventure to find a mythical tree for the only cure. Along the way they will encounter monsters, wonders, dangers and explore the meaning of life and death.

Little brother, father and big brother

The story is the game and drives every aspect. Since the characters talk in Sim-style gibberish, events are conveyed almost entirely visually. The father coughs, and a local man has a picture of something that looks like a tree. Other than that we are essentially left to fill in the blanks ourselves. It is not a complex story and I never had any trouble working out the essence of what was going on. Character and story progression is mostly advanced through short, in-game cutscenes that blend fairly seamlessly with gameplay.

One should note that although the art style is cartoon-like, the themes conveyed are anything but childish. The story is ultimately about how death impacts life and is explored quite literally at times.

The Game
The control system of Brothers is central to the experience and important to address first. There are four controls (six if you count rotate camera left and right) and they are

Left thumbstick to move older brother, left trigger for him to 'interact'
Right thumbstick to move younger brother, right trigger for him to 'interact'

This can be disorientating and quite often you may find one brother running in an unintended direction. Despite this, the controls elegantly tie into the story's emphasis of two brothers working together through hardship. Each half of the controller represents half of the brothers.

'Interact' is basically 'perform a context sensitive action'. It can be anything from 'hold on to a ledge/saw/end of a pole', to more precise actions. It is a little hard to explain, but the controls feel quite intuitive when thought of as reflecting 'two people working together'. Releasing 'interact' does have implications to gameplay and one of the primary challenges is remembering which controls apply to which brother when performing some of the more complex platforming. Releasing the wrong brother at the wrong time can have fatal consequences. I personally found it helpful where possible to keep the brothers on sides of the screen that match the controller layout.

Standard Brothers puzzles. Working together, and moving with thumbsticks

Although the controls are unconventional, the overall gameplay is very simple and amounts to "keep moving forward". The characters will jump over any obstacle they are supposed to, crouch for any hole and slow down where appropriate. Invisible walls prevent falling off most edges and the only time the player can 'die' from platforming is if they release 'interact' when clinging to a ledge/wall over a great fall. Dying returns the player to the most recent checkpoint and is a fairly generous system. There is no combat, although occasionally the brothers encounter enemies that will kill and must be dealt with in some fashion.

The puzzles are also simple and essentially boil down to discovering how to deal with each situation with both brothers. The puzzles themselves are quite varied and is easier to just list some examples:

Using both brothers to push or rotate an object aside by interacting with it
Fending off attackers with fire, and moving both forward inside in the circle of light; using the brother with the torch to 'interact' and wave the torch at the attackers.
Separating the brothers so one can perform an action that allows the other to proceed.

Its seemed to me that 'solving' the puzzles was not the primary point, but more the experience using two separate controllable entities. I found solving the problems in Brothers satisfying in a different way than standard puzzle games.

Graphically the game is not intensive and the camera is mostly fixed in an isometric point of view. As mentioned before, the art style is impressive and appropriate. The characters travel through a varied landscape and each area shows evidence of thoughtful design. Nice visual touches such as ripples on water or footprints in snow all help add to the feeling of adventure. Throughout the game the player will discover benches where the brothers can sit down and the camera pans to show the overall scenery. As well as indicating the next step of the journey, the benches presents a nice opportunity to admire the visuals.

Puzzles combine art style, story and control schemes

The spoken language is gibberish, but voice tone still conveys emotion. Mostly this works fine when it sticks to short and punchy 'conversation'. The music is not memorable, but plays a huge role in establishing the atmosphere. Sound effects are solid and appropriate too.

It is an excellent PC version with constant 60FPS, (very brief frame slowdown when loading a new area). Although it has keyboard and mouse controls, it just is not that kind of game and that is fine, not all games have to play with them (looking at you, elitist PC gamers). I encountered some small visual bugs once or twice, but nothing worth detailing.

Wrap Up & Negatives

I feel Brothers is an example of a game where brevity is detrimental. Since this is a very story-driven experience, the shortness of the campaign (two and a bit hours) resulted in a lack of personal investment for me. More time was needed to flesh out character and drama. As the game jumps straight into "mother has died, and now father is sick too. Go quest!", we are given no time to get to know the characters and become emotionally involved in their story. This is what I call 'textbook' emotional story telling: we are being told that the situation is sad, which is not the same as genuinely feeling sad.

For me this then came to a pinnacle with the ending, which I can't discuss much because of spoilers. The game was going through the standard ways emotion is manipulated, but I felt like I was being told what I should be feeling. Perhaps this was furthered by the gibberish language and maybe some actual dialogue would have helped.

Feel something!

I do not consider the unconventional control scheme a negative (although some might). Whilst it is very immersion breaking to have one brother run continuously into a wall because of a momentary player lapse, the controls fit the game perfectly. In fact Brothers is the only example I can think of where a game's mechanics actually contributes to the story, which is an exceptional accomplishment (I don't count Spec Ops: The Line's "controls are bad because war is bad" thing).

Personally

I find myself at odds with the majority of the reviews which highlight the emotional impact of the title. I found Brothers interesting, but I disagree that this game comes close to the emotional power of say, The Walking Dead. I wonder whether in an age of many emotionless releases, people tend towards over-enthusiasm for titles that moved them only a little. I cried at the end of The Walking Dead (even on a second play-through), but experienced nothing like that here.

Because my reviews split games into components (story, gameplay, etc) I do a disservice to this title. The true worth of Brothers is how well it combines all game elements into a singular experience. That alone would be enough for a recommendation, but the fact that it is also a good game makes it a 'must play' title. It was fun. It looked nice. And I liked it a lot.

Luigi's Mansion 2: Dark Moon

2013-08-27T13:41:00.000-07:00

The Title Screen

Introduction
Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon (or Luigi's Mansion 2) is an action-adventure title from Next Level Games. Released in 2013 for the 3DS, it features singleplayer and multiplayer modes. This review is on the singleplayer campaign only.

Disclaimer : Since it is not possible for me to take acceptable screenshots on the 3DS, I have obtained pictures from the internets. I will link to the original source, and I thank those I have taken them from.

The First Thing

Since this is my first game for the 3DS XL I have to be careful not to mix in my first impressions of the device. But it has been a while since I've played a contemporary Nintendo title, and the familiar warmth and appeal of the characters/situation was immediately noticeable; Luigi in particular. Unfortunately, the opening moments of the game were then ruined a little by the incessant interruptions of E.Gadd. Perhaps a less constantly intrusive tutorial concept would have worked better.

Plot & Devices

Professor E.Gadd lives in Evershade Valley, with friendly ghosts whom he studies. However all goes wrong when the King Boo arrives and shatters the Dark Moon; covering the land in fog and turning the ghosts evil. Meanwhile, as Luigi is enjoying a nice sleep he is woken by the Professor and summoned against his will through the television to E.Gadd's secret bunker. From there Luigi will be sent out into the various mansions of the valley to capture ghosts, find missing pieces of the Dark Moon and investigate why this has happened.

Professor E.Gadd & Luigi
from: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/

The plot is quite typically 'Nintendo Adventure Game'-esque: something has been shattered, or taken and must be retrieved. The story is not complicated and Luigi's Mansion 2 relies more on its gameplay and characters to keep the pace moving. The effort placed into animating and giving personality to Luigi is especially praiseworthy. Presented as a long-suffering 'everyman', he is resigned to his fate of saving the world, all the while being absolutely terrified of anything unexpected or spooky. Professor E.Gadd on the other hand is a genius, but amoral, scientist; with no qualms about sending others to sort out the mess.

The story is mostly advanced through direct exposition from the Professor, either between levels or through the DS-Phone device. Since the ultimate villain is revealed to the player from the start of the game, but is unknown to the Luigi and the Professor, we are essentially waiting for the characters to catch up. Occasionally the King Boo can be seen in the background, but it takes the main characters most of the game to deduce what is happening. Despite the spooky subject matter, there are no horror elements to the story or game.

The Game

The core gameplay falls under the vague 'action-adventure' description. Set in 3D, the player will spend a large amount of time exploring the rooms of each mansion; either for quest items, hidden collectables, or just from curiosity. Keys and locked doors usually act to gate level progress, and sometimes the path is blocked by puzzles. The only platforming elements come in the form of simple spring-jump moments, or balancing beams where the orientation of the 3DS is used to maintain balance.

The overall level design is a quite unusual. There are five mansions, or zones. Instead of standard linear progression, the player will return to the same mansion each time. Each new visit usually opens up areas of the mansion, but the player is usually able to revisit all previous rooms. This is often the only way to find all the collectibles, and the Boos in particular, from previously visited rooms. The 3DS lower screen shows a map that shows objectives, as well as access to the current mission log.

Ghost Capturing
from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luigi's_Mansion:_Dark_Moon

Combat purely consists of capturing ghosts. This basic formula applies to all encounters: flash the torch to stun, then 'start sucking' with the Poltergeist 5000. The combat variety comes in how the different ghosts behave. Many become invisible, some hide inside objects, some protect their faces making them immune to stuns. When in the grips of the Poltergeist 5000, Ghosts will generally attempt to flee and if
moving in the opposite direction causes the Poltergeist 5000 to start building power. Upon a certain level of power, the player can unleash a small period of great suction. Ghosts have a 'health' number that depletes during suction and are defeated on reaching 0.

The difficulty comes in later levels with the many different types of ghost. The player will have to choose when to 'suck' and when to avoid enemies, since taking damage breaks any hold on ghosts the player has. Enemies telegraph their attacks and more than one ghost can be stunned and 'sucked on' at once, providing additional rewards if successful. The suction function is used for many other elements as well, such as picking up objects, or removing wallpaper/rugs/curtains etc for puzzles, or secrets. The normal torch is also used for opening certain doors by flashing their light sensor. It can also be used to turn critters into gold. The Poltergeist 5000 can 'blow', but this does not really serve much purpose except for a few sections.

As well as the suction and normal torch, Luigi also possesses a rainbow-projecting torch to uncover invisible objects. Upon locating such an object, floating blue orbs appear and must be sucked up quickly in order to permanently reveal it. There are not many indicators that an object is hidden. Sometimes there is a shadow, but most of the time the player either must remember from previous visits or deduce from the surrounding environment.

Many problems are solved with light
from : http://www.eurogamer.net/

The player receives a score at the end of each level broken down by time, health lost, number of ghosts sucked and gold acquired. Each mansion has a series of collectible gems that are hidden away, often behind puzzles. Each level also has a 'boo' ghost that can only be revealed and fought with the rainbow torch. Finding the boos in all levels unlocks a time trial version of the whole mansion. If all health is lost, the entire level must be restarted; unless a hidden golden bone object has been discovered. Each room has many interactable objects that may or may not possess rewards. There are five set upgrades to the Poltergeist 5000 that are unlocked with gold.

The graphical quality is high, with a lot of effort placed into character animations. I would describe the art style as the fairly typical cell-shaded style associated with Mario games. The level environment deserves special mention as much time has been spent on making each room feel complete and nice looking. The sound is excellent, and the voice (limited though it may be) has charm and emotion. The controls felt more or less suitable, although I feel that a button press for autorun is outdated; especially with an analogue stick available. The title is polished and I only encountered two gameplay bugs where I performed a task unexpected by the collision engine.

Wrap Up & Negatives
I started to become annoyed with the level design and how it interacted with the scoring system. Neither is bad individually, but combined they create an atmosphere of obsessive re-visiting. It starts to feel like a grind. It is of course completely optional but the scoring system at the end of each level makes you feel you are not playing properly. Normally I am really quite fond of the "check every cupboard, box, drawer, etc. in a room" style of game but even I found the notion of looking through every room of a house for a 5th time too much.

The scoring system is also vague. Luigi's Mansion 2 handles in-level collectibles quite well, but the requirements for the 'score medals' at the end of each level are hidden. Makes it difficult to work out what aspect you should improve on to get the next medal. Since there are only five set upgrades, collecting gold suddenly becomes a bit pointless 3/4 through the game. On the first playthrough the player will find that levels suddenly end and I found myself purposefully avoiding anything I thought might end the level in order to continue exploring.

I am not sure how I feel about the 'golden bone' life system. On the one hand, I quite like the idea of having to find each level's 'extra life', but on the other hand dying without it forces an entire level restart. Given that a level can take upwards of 30/40 minutes if you are the exploring/committed type, this sorely hurts and is too extreme a punishment. It took me 15 hours to complete, but I had to redo two levels and a lot of time was 'wasted' on re-exploring empty rooms.

Personally
I had a lot of fun with the game. It has so much charm. Although the story and characters are not especially deep, the whole tone is warm and appealing. I thought the cute little 'Greenie' ghosts in particular were fantastic; some of the best characters to appear in a Nintendo game to be sure.

I just wish they'd been a little more creative with the level design. After a while the concept of thoroughly re-checking each available room again became too much for me. The lack of checkpoints and one life may put some players off, but despite all this, Luigi's Mansion 2 was a great game. The indefinable Nintendo charm comes together with solid and enjoyable mechanics to provide a really fun experience. A lovely title, definitely worthy of your time.

Charge!
from: http://nintendo.wikia.com/

Why we need Nintendo

2013-08-17T11:34:00.001-07:00

Random News: I have recently purchased a Nintendo 3DS XL. I'm not the biggest console gamer, but I've always been fond of good, portable gaming and especially these days I appreciate the ability to play a quality game, without having to ignite the nuclear core that is my gaming PC. With it's good games line-up now and on the horizon, I felt it was time to buy in; and it's been worth every penny.

Don't get me wrong, I love PC gaming, but console titles often don't make it to our elysian fields. Either because developers incorrectly don't see a viable market, or because of console exclusivity; the biggest weapon in the gaming war. Ultimately, what is the difference between a PS3 and an Xbox 360? You can't play Halo on a Playstation. This is even more the case with Nintendo. Some big exclusives from Microsoft and Sony have been ported to PC (eventually), but it seems likely that Nintendo titles will never officially cross over. Maybe a little annoying but it's fair business practice. It encourages a degree of competition, which is always good.

But as I plough on through Luigi's Mansion 2, I've been reflecting on my past where Nintendo featured more prominently. The release of the new Xbox and PlayStation has forced Nintendo into the background, and it seemed right for an opinion piece on why we need Nintendo and how our gaming is better with them around.

* * *

Should Nintendo License their franchises out?

Nintendo is going through a bit of a rough patch; to be honest the Wii U sales are almost humiliating. The catch-22 of "no games, no purchases, no developers, no games" is firmly in place. Of course "there is still time", but they are struggling. Recently I've been hearing the suggestion that to increase their revenue, they should license their games out. If the next Mario game was available on the Xbox/PlayStation then it would sell more copies. Alternatively, they could re-make Super Mario 64 or Pokemon Blue for the iPhone and watch the millions roll in. This makes sense as there are plenty of people who own an Xbox 360/iPhone, but not a Wii/3DS.

Recently the president of Nintendo, Satora Iwatu, firmly rejected this idea. And ignoring my personal desire to have all N64 games legitimately on my PC, I agree with him. Nintendo is not a publisher, developer, or hardware manufacturer. It is all three and for better or worse this allows them to provide a unique experience. An experience which would be fundamentally incomplete if just one element was licensed off. It's hard to predict how, but the overall Nintendo brand would inevitably change and Iwatu-san is not willing to do that at this time.

Would the financial gain even be that high? In 2013 Q1 Nintendo posted £57 million profit on £575 million sales (bear in mind this is "underperforming"). Contrast this to the £127 million sales/£45 million profit by the developer of Angry Birds, arguably the most popular Gaming App franchise, for the whole of 2012. We do not know how well iOS versions of classic Nintendo games would do, but it's important to note that one of the biggest players in App gaming makes money that Nintendo would consider small. Getting that extra few million from iOS is not worth changing who they are, or how their franchises are perceived.

They will also be competing against themselves. A large part of Nintendo's business is hardware manufacturing. Console exclusivity is their best tool to entice potential customers and it is hard to predict how a move to game licensing would cannibalise their own sales. It is sometimes suggested that Nintendo should go the route of Sega, and leave the hardware to the 'big boys: Sony and Microsoft. Well, I'm not sure Nintendo would look at Sega's 2013 Q1 profit of £262,000 and see that as compelling motivation.

Fact is, the Nintendo brand is still worth a lot. Their last home console was a runaway success. They turned the 3DS into a huge success, from a very shaky start. Changing their whole way of doing business in order to scrape some extra cash is not wise or necessary at this time.

* * *

Nintendo is different

Microsoft and Sony have been slowly increasing their involvement in the development of video games, but no one publishes and develops for their own hardware to the extent of Nintendo. It's why they've always seemed conceptually apart from the other two. But is their unique approach to video game development good or bad?

To be honest it is a bit of both. Much like Apple and the iPhone, controlling the hardware and software has the potential to make a product that is that extra bit special. The outstanding success of the iPhone and iPad are testament to this. Nintendo has a similar methodology. Their developers can design games that access every scrap of available power, and use all hardware features to the maximum because the engineers who designed and built the device are in the same company. There are no secrets between divisions and it's clear how potentially rewarding this can be.

So, what is the bad? Unless specific effort is made this method results in a very closed environment for decision making. Truly disastrous decisions are usually avoided, but without the benefit of outside influence there can sometimes be very questionable choices. This is why it took 4 iterations of iOS before iPhone users were allowed to change their desktop wallpaper and how Nintendo still has not got to grips with online gaming. It also partly explains the current Wii U controller mess they find themselves in.

Despite this potential for bad ideas, the potential for good means that I would always want a company like Nintendo around in the games industry. Because...

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Pedigree

...look at what they have done. Their positive contribution to the Video Games industry is simply undeniable. It is not hyperbole to suggest that over the years they have defined and redefined what it means to be a gamer. Listing their accomplishments would take too long, but anyone familiar at all with Video Game history ... knows. If you rank games by number sold, then the top 10 of all time are from Nintendo (Yes, you better believe it...). Their biggest achievement? How about developing and producing the highest critically-rated game of all time: The Legend of Zelda - Ocarina of Time. Or maybe making the "highest selling video game of all time": 1985's Super Mario Bros (over 40 million copies sold).

No one has equaled their best (Nintendo Games). They are in it for the games and the gamers, pure and simple. No company is above criticism or mistakes, but as I sit here playing Luigi's Mansion 2 on a fantastic piece of hardware (with the 3D firmly turned off), I feel those responsible still have what it takes to deliver quality gaming. Maybe I will never relive those golden memories of the N64 and it's staggering games line-up, but the company responsible is not gone.

If anyone in this industry has earned the right for a bit of faith and support during some bad times, it's Nintendo. Who are they even hurting with their recent odd decisions? How could any thoughtful person want them gone? The absolute worst they can do is make a console you never buy, or games you never play. But the best they can offer you? Video game experiences almost impossible to match, and contributions that propel gaming forward to the benefit of all.

Top 10 Games of my life

2013-07-26T12:47:00.000-07:00

Every year I enjoy making (and reading) top game lists. In fact I like any kind of "top X" list when it comes to gaming. Provokes discussion. Memories. Introduces you to games/ideas you didn't know. Great stuff.

I am feeling particularly nostalgic of late, so I wanted to take a break from my regular routine and write a list of the Top 10 Games I enjoyed playing most throughout my life. There will be a few modern titles, and a few older ones. You have to be very careful when thinking about past games because time can easily change opinions. We forget negative experiences quicker than positive and it's easy to be left with a rose-tinted view of older games.

What I am trying to recapture is how I felt whilst I was playing. Which games were I eager to keep playing for the experience alone. This will be a very personal list so feel free to agree, disagree or just have a good old think.

Anyway, let's give this a go:

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1. Dead Space 2

PC (2011)

There is no doubt in my mind that this game takes the crown. None at all. I purchased Dead Space for cheap along with some new computer parts a few years ago. It was just a random purchase of an unfamiliar, cheap horror game and boy was I surprised. Yes, it was a crappy PC port and yes, the story wasn't the most original; but I loved it. And so I waited for Dead Space 2 with great anticipation.

Damn did it deliver! It had lost a few of the horror elements, but it still roughly had the same tone. The new focus on story, interesting levels and voicing of the main character turned a great first game into a fantastic sequel. Dead Space 3 was unfortunately a bit of a step back but till the day I die I will recommend Dead Space 1 & 2. I know there are better horror games. Better story telling games. Better action games. This just does it for me and until it is unseated, my number one game.

2. Sonic 3 & Knuckles

Mega-Drive (1994)

This game originally required a highly novel method to play. The Sonic 3 cartridge was slotted into the top of the Sonic & Knuckles game, using its specially designed entry port (not kidding - picture). This then combined the two games into a single, mega-game. Not only did this mean a playable Tails in Sonic & Knuckles and a playable Knuckles in Sonic 3, but it also brought some level changes and new areas/secrets were revealed. The story carried across and 100% completion (chaos emeralds into super emeralds) unlocked a 'Hyper' Sonic/Tails/Knuckles form and also a new, final boss fight.

This concept alone should have made it memorable, but it was a fantastic platformer as well. Great and varied level designs, good boss fights, chaos levels, music, power-ups, Knuckles... it had it all! I honestly feel this should go down in history as one of the best ideas and games so far. The Sonic franchise has unfortunately really lost its way since, but that does not undo the sheer greatness that Sega pulled off with this game. I've purchased and re-purchased this game over the years more times than any other. Under my bed still is a Sega Saturn purchased off eBay exclusively to play this title (through Sonic Jam).

3. Doom 3
PC (2004)

As I write this, I know there will be 'better' games further down my list - at least, games generally considered to be better. Valve's more acclaimed Half-Life 2 was released a few months after and has generally eclipsed Id's shooter. But for me Doom 3 provided enjoyment few shooters have since matched. Even though not especially scary, this game was great

The key was the focus on story. The combat-less introduction wasn't boring and set up atmosphere perfectly. The finding of PDA audiologs/emails was a great addition and one that encouraged so much exploration. The way the new Id Tech 4 engine allowed the interaction of objects with the mouse was a nice new addition. The horror 'surprises' in the game did become a little predictable, but there were still some great scary moments. It got the ammunition/health conservation aspect more or less perfect, and I definitely remember more than once backtracking for health on the harder difficulties. The icing on the cake for me was the choice between holding a flashlight or holding a gun, creating some very tense moments in the dark areas.

4. World of Warcraft
PC (2004)

I feel a little embarrassed to put this title here. Why is that? There is this general feeling that people who play World of Warcraft are the nerdiest of the nerds. I can sort of see where that comes from, but let's be honest most of the world thinks that of gamers in general... so why further segment ourselves?

WoW is the online game. Sure, other games have/will have more 'active players' (whatever that means), but World of Warcraft defined an entire genre. It is hard to call WoW unique because almost every MMORPG has similar elements, but it definitely feels the king. It's vast, well put together, and has consistently created varied and interesting content that kept people coming back week after week.

You will be hard pressed to find balanced opinions on this game. It inspires great hatred and derision, and over-zealous defence. People sneer at WoW players in a unique way. But facts are facts. WoW has been said to be "dying" for years now (even in BBC news) but after 9 years World of Warcraft still has over 7.5 million monthly subscribers. No other game has achieved anything like this. Maybe it's time is passing, but it's undeniably an excellent game.

5. The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask/Ocarina of Time

Nintendo 64 (1998 & 2000)

Let's be honest, it is expected that one of these titles (usually Ocarina of Time) will feature in a 'best games ever' list. The reason is simple: they were outstanding. Most gamers fortunate enough to play them at the time walked away with positive impressions. There isn't anything left to say about either game that hasn't been said in full somewhere else.

As for me, I am in conflict about which one I consider better. One of the criteria many people use is 'originality' and something was 'first'. This is seen found in all mediums that provoke a critical response. Film remakes/sequels. Games. Music. Books. etc. But I find this criteria is illogical. Ocarina of Time is generally thought to be the better one, but I wonder how much of that is because it was first? I also wonder how many say Majora's Mask was better just to be different or 'edgy'.

I think Ocarina had the better story and integration with gameplay, but Majora was more polished and had some game mechanics that were astounding. Majora had a more complete world and I think I like it more, but they're both exceptional. I sometimes wonder why there are so few 'Zelda' style games, given their success. Maybe developers feel that the formula can't be done better, so why bother. A bit of a shame really.

6. Bioshock
PC (2007)

Anyone familiar with this game and my tastes could predict its presence on my list. First-person shooters with a horror theme are usually games I like very much. Bioshock has a large focus on story, and with it's plasmid gameplay can feel a bit more supernatural than a title such as Doom 3 or F.E.A.R..

Where Bioshock truly triumphed was the world it created. Rapture is an amazing location. The art deco style, the contrast of extravagance and destruction, the surreal but beautiful underwater location all contributed to an environment that was begging to be explored and understood. Even though heavily based in science fiction, Bioshock's story was essentially about humanity. About how a city could start off so bright, yet end up so awful. Add in the enjoyable gameplay and you have a title that was guaranteed to be successful.

7. Diddy Kong Racing

Nintendo 64 (1997)

Every genre has its paragon; a title that features all great aspects. For some the action-adventure paragon is Ocarina of Time, for others the FPS paragon is Goldeneye or Modern Warfare 2. For me, the paragon of the racing genre is undoubtedly Diddy Kong Racing. I am not a huge player of racing games, but I will never hear a bad word spoken about this game.

The racing itself was essentially perfect, with fun power-ups and varied racing types: cars, planes and hovercraft. The controls were simple, but the gameplay complex enough to reward skill. There were hidden tricks, secrets to discover, and unlockable characters. The balloon progression system was well tuned and the multiplayer combat zones provided hours of fun. On completion the game had great re-playability by offering every level in reverse.

Even the non-gameplay components were great. It was colourful and vibrant, and the music was outstanding. Maybe I sing its praises too loudly, but for me it is one of the few games that comes close to flawless. The only negative it had: it's only a racing game.

8. Super Smash Bros

Nintendo 64 (1999)

I have read very few gaming magazines in my life - criminal, I know. I'm not sure why this is. I just never quite had the will when younger to read about games and when I finally did the internet was becoming a 'thing' and that was that. But I vividly remember reading a friend's magazine that described an upcoming game 'Super Smash Bros' and I remember the excitement I had just reading about it.

It isn't necessarily the large ensemble of Nintendo characters, although I do like them very much. Bringing all the familiar characters into one game was a brilliant idea and to be honest, something that only Nintendo could do properly; as they created all of them. But for me, it was the gameplay I really loved.

Nintendo absolutely nailed the mechanics. The concept of having a % damage done that increased your likelihood of being thrown off was great fun. It created so much more opportunity for interesting situations than fighters with static health bars. I have some very fond memories of epic struggles where characters 'just' manage to make it back from seemingly impossible distances. Level design was great with large, open levels with layouts and events that influenced gameplay. The items not only provided nostalgia, but a very interesting twist to combat and created even more varied combat situations.

Although I have definitely played the sequels more than I played the original, I found they were slightly different. Super Smash Bros still stands out in my memory as the superior title and where I had the most fun.

9. Gauntlet Legends

Nintendo 64 (1998)

The gameplay of Gauntlet Legends was simple: pick your character and hack n'slash your way through millions of enemies. Each character only had one attack, although special moves and potions could be used. A fairly average singleplayer experience.

But Gauntlet Legends truly shined in its co-operative play. I can't say exactly why, perhaps it was just the combination of abilities, characters or the interesting level design. Perhaps it was just the collective enjoyment of the Cathedral background music. Maybe it just fit my personality.

Either way, I think it is this title that set up my long love of playing multiplayer games co-operatively, rather than combatively. No game has ever quite replicated the particular multiplayer enjoyment this game provided. Yellow Wizard is about to die!

10. Halo

Microsoft Xbox (2001)

It would be hard to argue that a console has had a better launch title than Halo for the first Xbox. It went on to spawn one of the most successful and well-known franchises currently in gaming.

Everything was good about this game. The story was good. The location was interesting and highly innovative. The combat was very solid, and the inclusion of vehicles was a noteworthy addition; especially the NPCs that could hop on and help. Although it had few levels, each was long and varied; but a good checkpoint system prevented them becoming tiresome. It even managed to work in rudimentary stealth gameplay at times.

Nowadays it is easy to forget how Halo transformed the first-person shooter genre. Whether it changed it for the better is a different discussion, but it is impossible to deny the impact it had. Two-weapon systems, regenerating health-like resource, the instant mêlée attack, the shift from precision shooting to precision timing. This all came from Halo. Could this change have happened if Halo was a bad game? No. This happened because it was a giant. A shining example of how great console shooters could be.

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The Honourable Mentions

There is no time to write about every game I have enjoyed over the many years. Also keeping the list short makes it more meaningful. But there were games that I wanted to feature, but didn't make it for whatever reason. Here is a little honourable mention to some favourites that have their fond places in my memory.

Conker's Bad Fur Day (Nintendo 64) - I really, really wanted to include this game. I loved it. It was hilarious and enjoyable. To this day I believe this game did not get the general recognition it thoroughly deserved.

Hybrid Heaven (Nintendo 64) - Not the most well known of games. Wasn't the best mechanically speaking either, but I remember becoming more and more invested as the story continued. Just a solid RPG with a good story that I really liked.

Spec Ops : The Line (PC) - If this game represents the future for story telling and character development in games, then I would consider that a positive. Despite fairly average gameplay, this game managed to penetrate a surprising emotional depth and was an experience I enjoyed immensely.

Yoshi's Story (Nintendo 64) - Loved this game. It was adorable and fun and had a lovely atmosphere throughout its very short gameplay. There is room in this world for 'happy' games, and Yoshi's Story would be king of that world.

Command & Conquer: Red Alert (PC) - One of my childhood favourites. Although I am not a big RTS player any more, I have never found a game in the genre that provided the fun Red Alert did. I also quite liked the next game in the series, the first Tiberian Sun.

Quake 2 (PC) - Quake and Doom were both fun, but this was the first FPS I found amazing. It may have something to do with the fact that they gave it a rudimentary story. I remember watching the intro sequence over and over. Very good times were had with this game.

Metroid Prime (Nintendo Gamecube) - This really was a good game. Gameplay wise, it was an amazing shooter, even though it was a little unconventional. Just lacked a little something for me in the story department.

Mario Tennis (Nintendo 64) - The only sports game I have ever enjoyed. Unless you count racing games. But let's not. So yeah. *cough* The only sports game I have ever truly enjoyed!... that wasn't a racing game.

Bomberman 64 (Nintendo 64) - This was a quaint little game. It had great level design and the multiplayer was a lot of fun as well; with the dynamic levels and interesting power-ups.

Diablo 2 (PC) - There is no better isometric, mouse-drive RPG for me. Once again Blizzard made a game that defined a whole genre. The story was fantastic, with some cinematics that still hold up to this day.

F.E.A.R (PC) - A great, horror FPS that I really enjoyed playing. Perhaps if I had played this when it was new I may have appreciated it more. When I finally got around to it, it was a little dated.

Portal (PC) - Perhaps rather childishly this is absent from my list because it's a universally loved game. It's almost impossible to have a personal connection with Portal these days. Everyone knows the Cake is a Lie. It's a phenomenon, and rightly so.

Bioshock Infinite

2013-07-20T12:40:00.000-07:00

The Title Screen

Introduction
Released in 2013, Bioshock Infinite is a first-person shooter from Irrational Games for Xbox, PlayStation and PC. This is the third title in the 'Bioshock' franchise but shares no particular connection with events of the previous games.

Disclaimer : Standard first-person shooter violence, some minor language once or twice. Racism (especially against Blacks) features prominently in the story, but is shown in an appropriately negative manner.

The First Thing
The opening moments of Bioshock Infinite were simply outstanding. The introductory experience to Columbia is very well done and pulled me in immediately. The opening perfectly establishes one of the early dramas with the contrast between the visual impressiveness of Columbia and the murky ideology it was founded upon. An innovative carnival of mini-games featuring different aspects of future gameplay struck me as a great way to introduce players to the game mechanics without immersion-breaking tutorials.

The Plot
It is 1912. Brooker DeWitt (you) is dropped off at a lighthouse where he has been instructed to rescue some girl to repay his debts. The lighthouse leads him to the cloud city of Columbia, a floating, American, ideological haven. Further investigation uncovers the underlying intolerance, racism and oppression set to the tune of religious fervour, perpetuated by the founder 'Father Comstock'. Comstock has prophesied Brooker's arrival as an evil "false shepherd" and events quickly turn nasty once Brooker is discovered. He must then fight his way through the city to find the girl and rescue her. But Elizabeth is more than a damsel in distress. She is special. Strange. Dangerous.

Elizabeth

Bioshock Infinite is one of those games where the story is important and an unknown direction of events is beneficial to the experience. This makes it hard to comment on the plot without ruining it. There is a strong focus on character development as Elizabeth will accompany the player for a large portion of the game. Any cutscenes are short, in the first-person perspective, with the player usually in control. Characters drive events with dialogue and actions, and like the previous two Bioshock games audio journals can be discovered scattered around to provide further background and context. Many journals are hidden to encourage exploration and are often the 'reward' for doing so.

It should be noted that unlike Bioshock where player must learn about the mythical-like city and the catastrophe that happened, here the player drives the catastrophe. Consequently there is only half as much explanation required.

The Game
The best way to summarise Bioshock Infinite would be: a first-person shooter with a strong focus on story development. The player has a choice of magic-like powers ("Vigors") and can use them in conjunction with ordinary guns to defeat enemies. Using a Vigor consumes some 'mana' resource ("Salt") and is replenished by items around the levels. In a slight change from the previous games, the player is now able to carry around all discovered powers, but can only hold two weapons. The Vigors all have a secondary function that usually requires the player to hold down the cast button. Vigor abilities include some standards such as fire and lightning from the previous games, but also some new ideas such as summoning crows, and charging towards enemies.

Powers ("Shock Jockey") and Gun combat

Each weapon has its own ammunition, and all weapons can be used in an iron-sights mode; some weapons will have a scope instead. Ammunition is obtained from looting enemies, level items or vendors. It seems ammunition can be collected independent of the weapon and is held in an invisible inventory system. Health does not automatically regenerate, but the player will have a shield that absorbs damage up to a point and will regenerate if no damage is taken. Much like the shield in Halo 1. If the player dies in combat then they are returned either by Elizabeth, or to a recent vendor. There are no "Vita-Stations". Falling off the outdoor levels just results in an instantaneous return.

The player also has four 'Gear' slots which can be interchanged to provide bonuses. Hats, trousers, chest and boots can be found in boxes (often as rewards for secrets/exploration) and provide bonuses. They are often perks such as "chance to do 50% more critical damage" or "75% chance to set to set target on fire when using a mêlée attack". There is a reasonable amount of choice, if the player is willing to explore, but many of the upgrades are tailored to very specific playstyles.

'Silver Eagles' is the monetary currency for Columbia and can be found by looting people and objects. It is used to purchase upgrades to weapons and Vigors, as well as more basic items such as ammunition. There is a direct link between the amount of exploration, and the amount of currency. Upgrades are expensive and it is most not possible to buy them all. Health, Vigor and Shield amounts can be upgraded by the discovery of an upgrade potion. These potions are often the rewards of side mission or complex secrets and ask the player to choose which attribute they wish to incrementally upgrade.

Hook Jumping and Sky-line Gameplay

Brooker's permanent mêlée weapon is the Skyhook and this allows him to leap to specific highlighted hooks, or to the sky-line that surrounds most of the outdoor levels. Once on this rail the player can control throttle and change direction. They can shoot and target specific enemies to jump off 'at' in order to do a damaging attacks. This does not make combat trivial as many enemies also use the sky-line or employ tactics to force the player to dismount. The Skyhook mêlée weapon can also be used to perform executions if the target is on low health. A skull notification presents the opportunity for a small animation and target death.

There is no little sister or morality system and the game only has one ending. There are still occasional ethical dilemmas or choices. For much of the game Brooker will have Elizabeth as a companion. Her existence is largely for story reasons, but she does contribute to some gameplay elements. She does not take part in combat, except to occasionally throw items to the player if in need such as health, ammunition and salts. She also has the ability to unlock padlocks (a 'press button to continue game' mechanic) but non-story locks require lockpicks to open; which must be found. Elizabeth grants the player the ability to summon objects from time to time and is mostly used to provide tactical options in later combat sections.

Quality art style and graphical fidelity

The graphical quality is high, with a slightly cell-shaded art style. FPS was consistent except for one area, but a game restart cleared that up. Much like previous titles, the effort placed into the art style is extensive and almost 100% responsible for making the world interesting. All character dialogue is very well voice-acted and in Bioshock Infinite the protagonist is voiced too. The music is well done, with several anachronistic song covers lending a mysterious element (intentional and explained). The control system is simple, and mostly can be rebound. First Person Shooters are played with Mouse and Keyboard and I found no problems there. This is a good PC version. I encountered a few minor bugs here and there, but nothing serious.

Wrap Up & Negatives

There are two main negatives with Bioshock Infinite: the combat and the plot. The combat becomes boring quickly for a few reasons. Firstly, enemy variety is not that high and the AI is quite simple. I played on Medium difficulty and I really did not feel challenged at all. The smaller enemies are far too easily dispatched as the game progresses and although the larger enemies can withstand more damage this does not make fighting them harder; just longer. Secondly, the two weapon system is a very bad idea when tied into the expensive upgrades. It feels nonsensical to use un-upgraded weapons and for literally four-fifths of the game I used the machine gun and sniper rifle. The final levels try to force you to use different weapons and it felt awkward using un-upgraded guns I had never fired.

My problems with the plot may be subjective and I can not go into much detail without spoilers. But essentially I did not agree with the metaphysical direction of the story. The initial story is about race, inequality and human ambition which I found very enjoyable. As great a character she is, the introduction of Elizabeth marks a downturn in story enjoyment for me. Make no mistake, the plot is exceptionally well thought out and is central to the game. I just did not enjoy the direction it went and I started to find it a little pretentious, convenient and needlessly complex. It took me 9-10 hours to complete and the story barely manages to cover that; filling some moments with bizarre events that bear no relation to the rest of the game (the bit with Elizabeth's mother will strike anyone as random).

Out with the old, in with the simple (upgrade system)

Also, fans of the original Bioshock games may be disappointed by the simpler nature of this title. There is no assembling items from scrap. No ammunition management or swapping of plasmids/bullet types. No lockpicking or hacking minigames. No Moral Choices. A large amount gameplay has been removed or simplified for Bioshock Infinite. There is also an issue with the depth of Columbia. It appears to be large and interactive but then becomes series of large combat arenas. There is also no explanation about Vigors and how these fundamentally frightening powers slot into society. With Bioshock the plasmids were central to the plot, in Columbia they are just sort of 'there'.

Personally
If you had asked me what I thought whilst playing the first half, I would have told you it was one of the best FPS games I've played in a while - a true rival to the original. Unfortunately as the story progressed further and further into complex science fiction and away from the character drama I found I was enjoying it less. This is then made worse by the simple and repetitive combat. The story ending is fairly solid, if on the pretentious side, but the middle-late gameplay/plot was disappointing. A story like this was always going to be a challenge and I think the developers let it get away from them.

However, the amount of thought into the references, tie-ins and little hints scattered around the game was impressive; special mention to the Lutece's 'Coin Toss'. There is a lot to look back on at the end of the game. I thought the characterisation of Elizabeth was very well done and loved the effort placed into making her an interesting gameplay companion. A lot of the game in general was fun and the city of Columbia is an incredible environment with visuals that are frankly breathtaking at times.

In short, Bioshock Infinite is a good game... just not the fantastic title it started as.

Tomb Raider

2013-07-18T13:11:00.001-07:00

The Title Screen

Introduction
Tomb Raider is an action-adventure reboot by Crystal Dynamics of the well known series with the same name. Released in 2013 for PC, PlayStation and Xbox, it features a singleplayer and multiplayer mode. This review is on the singleplayer campaign only.

Disclaimer: A mature game featuring fairly strong violence and occasional strong language. There is also one moment where a sexual attack is implied.

The First Thing
Mixed feelings at first. I was initially quite impressed by the menu and all the hallmarks of a well implemented PC version. However I felt the main game started in a rather clumsy manner, opting to jump straight into intense action. Setting the scene with long cutscenes and quick time events was not the most stellar of choices in my opinion. This uneasy start prevented me from settling into Tomb Raider for some time.

Plot & Devices
Lara Croft (you) is a young archaeology student on her first expedition to find the lost island of Yamatai with her team. Victims of a mysterious storm, their boat is destroyed and the team is marooned on a nearby landmass. Immediately kidnapped by natives, Lara narrowly manages to escape and sets out to reunite with her team. But the land is a dangerous place and Lara will be faced with many difficult choices and hardship if she is to survive. On top of that something strange seems to be going on with the weather...

Lara Croft

Tomb Raider is predominantly a character story about the development of Lara from innocent, naive girl to hardened, ruthless survivor. She faces continual hardship and horror which directs her development. However, the backdrop is another story about the history of the island and the events that have taken place before her arrival. Over the decades people of all cultures have been stranded on the island, leaving their mark in various ways; books, artifacts and structures. So whilst the player is dealing with the immediate story of Lara and her survival, they can also find out about the history of the island.

Both stories are advanced through cutscenes, events, journals, artifact and dialogue. The journals and artifacts are often only discoverable with some 'off the path' exploration and therefore the player is left to decide how engrossed in the islands story they wish to be.

The Game
Like so many action-adventure titles, Tomb Raider's gameplay is split into 'combat' and 'platforming/exploration/puzzle solving'; with some minor crossover. The platforming is key to navigating the levels and the player can expect to be jumping, climbing, balancing and sliding around for most of the game. As the game progresses more complex platforming skills are acquired, such as the ability to climb rock faces or shoot ropes with a bow. Occasionally the player will be presented with trickier platforming challenges which requires constant movement and more precise timing.

Combat and Climbing

For combat, Lara has access to four weapons: a bow, a pistol, a shotgun and a rifle. The weapons are discovered at specific points over the course of the game and most have an unlockable alternate fire. Weapon ammunition is obtained from boxes scattered around the levels. Mostly enemies are humans armed with knives, guns and explosives, but the occasional wolf will pose a threat.

Although Lara has regenerating health she can be killed quite quickly if caught in the open. There is no formal 'cover system', but during combat Lara will crouch and automatically softly stick to objects; as if "in cover". Aiming in this mode results in leaning around objects, rather than the normal style. Human adversaries with guns will mostly stay in cover too, albeit less intelligently. Lara will return to her normal posture when all enemies are defeated. Flashing red marks indicate explosives designed to flush the player out and are quite common. The checkpoint system is forgiving and failures can be reattempted quickly.

There is also a basic mêlée system, but given the high incoming damage is not generally advisable. It is used for certain killing blows that activate upon certain conditions; indicated by a UI prompt. Unaware enemies can be silently dispatched from behind with a mêlée attack, promoting the stealth element of the gameplay. Tomb Raider features Quick-Time Events (QTEs) from time to time and pre-set combat sequences will often use them.

The Camp menu system

On top there is an RPG system. Many tasks such as killing enemies/animals and finding collectibles will reward in XP, which in turn award skill points to be used for perks. Skills come in three categories: survival, weapon skill or brawling. Each weapon has its own separate upgrade system and once a player has accumulated enough 'salvage' and weapon pieces from exploration/dead enemies, they may buy an upgrade for that weapon. The skills and gear upgrade menu can be found at campfires, which also save progress. It is also possible to fast travel between some camps; useful for completionists.

I initially started playing with my pad, as I normally do for third-person titles. However, I switched over to keyboard and mouse upon discovering how much aiming is required. Digital controls are not as suited to 3D movement of course but I had no problems at all. All keys are rebindable and the mouse implementation is excellent.

The graphical quality is exceptionally high and there is a varied art style too. Given the history of the island, locations can range from forests and snowy mountains, to world war two style complexes and ancient Chinese temples. Once or twice I encountered a few minor bugs, but nothing really noteworthy. If your mouse becomes jerky a quick restart will fix it. All dialogue is voiced and there is a fair bit of it at a high standard. Music is atmospheric, but a little generic.

Wrap Up & Negatives
The most glaring negative is how Lara's character development conflicts with her actions in gameplay. Lara is understandably traumatised and upset when she has to end a human life for the first time. But less than a minute later she is killing any human she meets. With ease. Even worse, skilful or close personal kills are encouraged due to the XP system. To top it off, the enemy are frequently characterised as brainwashed men, marooned on an inescapable island; frequently discussing wanting to leave and their general misery. Sure they will do Lara harm, but they are in no way evil enough to justify the "kill on sight" mentality that is encouraged.

The sensitive and vulnerable mass murderer, Lara Croft

There is no real way around that by the end of the game Lara has committed mass murder on a level that is utterly indefensible. Now this is not uncommon in a modern action video game and would normally not be a problem, except that here Tomb Raider focuses on her emotional development. At one point Lara describes her enemy as "crazed murderers" without a trace of irony. This was so conflicting it made me burst out laughing. In gameplay, Lara is basically the worlds most gifted assassin and cutscenes where she is supposedly traumatised by the horror start to feel increasingly meaningless as the game progresses.

Any other negatives are just little nitpicks. At times the game can be quite linear and uses tricks like disguising loading times by forcing the player to walk slowly. The enemy AI was disappointingly simplistic and easy to overcome (although I do not know if this is improved on harder difficulty settings). Lara is generally quite well characterised (if you ignore my primary criticism), but the rest of the cast are generic and forgettable.

This may be just personal taste, but I found Lara talking to herself very annoying. Especially the constant "you can do this" style of encouragement in the earlier moments. It became quite grating for me.

Personally
I thought this game was pretty great. The location is fantastic and the story is not too bananas. Although, I did feel the plot was stretched a little too thin and perhaps should have ended earlier than the ten hours it took me to complete. The constant misfortune, contrasted with extreme combat prowess certainly disinterested me in the main character and I realised about half-way through I realised I simply did not care what happened to anyone in the game. This did not make the gameplay less enjoyable, just lowered overall emotional investment.

Unlike the old games, there are not a lot of puzzles/tombs - but the few that featured were enjoyable. I feel the platforming was very fluid and much better than the geometrical-precise platforming required in the original titles. I think Tomb Raider can consider itself a successful reboot and a more 'tomb' focused sequel will be an outstanding game.

Antichamber

2013-07-13T03:39:00.002-07:00

Logo

Introduction
Antichamber is an indie, first-person, puzzle platformer from Alexander Bruce. It was released in 2013 for PC only (available on Steam).

The First Thing
I really enjoyed my opening moments of Antichamber and it nicely set up the tone for the rest of the game. Upon starting there is no menu or title screen and the player will immediately find themselves in a black antechamber with writing and images on the walls. On one wall is an interactive options menu and I thought this novel approach seemed good way to pull the player into the world; as well as establish a tone of innovation/novelty for the rest of the game.

Plot & Devices
In a similar style to Q.U.B.E. there is no plot; in fact even less so since the end of Q.U.B.E. allows some minor inferences. Antichamber is about the gameplay, nothing else.

A fairly standard puzzle: blocks, locked doors & gun

The Game
The general goal of Antichamber (although this is never directly expressed) is to proceed through a maze of locked doors and puzzles to reach the 'top' of the complex. Although due to the abnormal physics it is not especially clear that you are moving in any particular direction. The unusual physics is a core gameplay mechanic and is based around Euclidean Geometry (basically... objects do not have to obey perceived 2D/3D rules). This leads to some very interesting level design where hallways, objects and puzzles are not what they appear to be. Often the player will find that walking through a door will lead into a room with no entrance, or looking through a small opening changes the current room into the one being looked into.

One of the core puzzle mechanics concerns the manipulation of blocks and the gun that the player carries. Although blocks come in different colours, it is the gun that is important and the abilities it has depends on the current game progression. The colour of the blocks is really just an indicator of the 'level' of the puzzle - so that it can be returned to later with the appropriate gun. Each new gun retains the previous abilities, and adds a new ability. They are:

● Blue: can pick up and deposit blocks.
● Green: can pick up and deposit blocks continuously.
● Yellow: can command blocks to move towards another location. All connected blocks will follow the commanded block, like a snake.
● Red: can make blocks continuously appear around the target location in an expanding fashion.

All of these abilities are limited by the number of blocks in the gun. i.e. the red gun can only make three blocks appear if it has three blocks 'stored'. The gun can store an unlimited number of blocks but they have to be picked up somewhere. Puzzles that require many blocks often have a regenerating source somewhere close. Every now and then puzzles will feature 'dead zones' where all blocks stored in the gun will be removed if the player passes through. This is either part of the puzzle, or designed to prevent the trivialisation puzzles by stockpiling blocks.

A fairly typical 'green' puzzle requiring continuous blocks

Blocks have various purposes. They can be used to construct simple ladders or bridges. Fitted in a slot to activate/deactivate switches. Can hold open doors or block lasers. And can form squares to create more blocks, or inside special grid switches. Pretty much every 'puzzle' involves the manipulation of blocks in some way. Puzzles often have pictures nearby that can be activated to give vague hints as to how to proceed, and some will have arrows directly indicating where to go. At any time the player can instantly return to the starting antechamber and from there instantly travel to another part of the complex. Doing so resets all puzzles and blocks and this is how a player will restart any failed attempts.

Other puzzle mechanics are pretty standard; lifts, switches, lasers and bouncey platforms. As well as the puzzles, there are secret rooms that require advanced puzzle-solving to enter that and showcase elements of the developmental process. As well as elusive pink blocks for completionists.

The art style is quite simple and the graphics are non-intensive. The simple aesthetic adds to the mystery of the levels and hides the geometric tricks that create such interesting level designs. The sound effects are quite basic and the background music is atmospheric. There is no spoken dialogue, but occasionally odd sound effects such as birds chirping, or the seaside are used to further confuse the player.

Simple and effective

The control scheme is simple and not rebindable. Since this is a PC exclusive I found no perceptible problems with the controls, and the frame rate was solid throughout.

Wrap Up & Negatives
I think the biggest negative for me comes from the overall concept and how it is tied in with grand level design. Individually the various rooms and puzzles presented are fine and generally enjoyable, but the player is expected to move around the entire complex and re-visit areas to a certain degree. When travelling along the standard progression path this is fine, but moving away from it (sidetracked, took a break, got stuck) can start to become frustrating - amplified by the unexpected/nonsensical nature of the game.

I was especially frustrated by one section where (for whatever reason) I had not learned an ability required. There are very few direct tutorials to contribute to the 'mystique', and so I spent 30-40 minutes running around clueless, revisiting previous areas and becoming increasingly frustrated. The crazy level design is fun, but it makes remembering the overall layout much harder. At least if you got stuck in Portal, you knew the solution was in a finite room; not the entire complex. The map is little help as well, since it deliberately does not represent dimensions accurately.

WHERE AM I SUPPOSED TO GO, GAME?!

Otherwise, the game is fairly solid; it achieves what it sets out to do. And to be honest, there is a chance that getting stuck/frustrated could just be a 'me' issue. But objectively speaking, there are moments in the game that are intentionally vague and confusing, so it is not hard to imagine someone feeling confused. Or vague. Perhaps a story would have been nice, but it is unfair to say that the game has no atmosphere. It may not have an evil talking robot but the unusual nature provides its own atmosphere. It took me about four and a half hours to complete, leaving behind a few secret rooms.

Personally
I do not know where I stand with this title. It has some of the most innovative level design ever and a puzzle game requiring non-standard puzzle solving is quite refreshing. However, it has the potential for great frustration. Maybe you could say that was 'developer intent', but I don't see that as a positive. Ultimately I'd rather be entertained than annoyed.

Is it worth playing? Most likely - if only for a few unique level experiences. Maybe you'll love it. Maybe you'll hate it. Or maybe you'll think: "Fun, but thank God it's over!". It's quite a polished game for such a small production, and a great demonstration of what innovation the indie scene can bring. Just remember it is a different kind of puzzler... and that messing with your mind is part of the experience.

The Walking Dead : 400 Days (DLC)

2013-07-12T03:02:00.002-07:00

I have taken care not to ruin the story of 400 Days.

Introduction
400 Days is story-focused, downloadable content (DLC) for the action-adventure title: The Walking Dead (my review). It requires a purchase/installation of at least 'Episode 1' from the previous season and is available for PC, Xbox and PlayStation from July 2013.

Disclaimer: This is still a mature experience. Featuring the same levels of violence, language and psychological themes of despair, peril and terror found in the first game.

The First Thing
Given that this is DLC, my first impressions are irrelevant. However, I will say that I found the change to short separate stories from a singular story slightly jarring.

New people with their new stories

Plot & Devices
400 Days tells the stories of five people (Vince, Shel, Bonnie, Wyatt, Russell) and how they ultimately came to be united into one group. Each story happens a certain number of days after the apocalypse and although the characters do not directly interact, the stories occasionally echo each other. Each tale is in some way connected to Gil's Pitstop - a highway truckstop.

No main character from the original game is present (No Lee, Clementine, Ben etc.). Once or twice previous events are referred to in some small way, but no decisions or outcomes are influenced by choices made in Season 1. The five new character stories can be played in any order, but to play them chronologically would be: Vince > Wyatt > Russell > Bonnie then Shel. I have read that the order played has an impact on outcome, but I personally do not believe this since I unintentionally played them non-chronologically and did not feel it could be otherwise.

The Game
If you have played The Walking Dead then there will be no gameplay surprises here. 400 Days features the same control scheme and gameplay that can be read about in my review here. This DLC took me a little under an hour to complete and I encountered no bugs.

Wrap Up & Negatives
There is nothing much wrong with the game, unless you compare it to the first. I feel this is viable source of criticism since 400 Days is a story-based addition, rather than a stand-alone sequel.

Each story is short, about 10 or 15 minutes in length, making it much harder to develop any emotional investment. This has the knock on effect of rendering 'important' decisions less meaningful. How are we expected to care about the fate of people we have only known for 3 minutes? 400 Days does try hard to make you care, with excellent dialogue, difficult decisions and fantastic voice acting. But often it felt quite artificial when compared to the elegant character development of the first season.

Oh no! Characters we don't know are in trouble!

This negative is further compounded by the mindset developed from Season 1 with regard to strangers. One of the key sources of tension in The Walking Dead is to do with unfamiliar characters. You develop a strong sense of protecting the people you know/like and are wary of strangers and their potential threat. Since the player does not know any of the characters from 400 Days, and is never presented with enough time to become familiar, I feel this sets up a subconscious conflict in the two games.

A couple of times I felt like my choices did not matter. It is still unreasonable to expect a game to have infinite choice outcomes, but The Walking Dead did a much better job of disguising this. The problem with 400 Days is that sometimes it is painfully obvious that choices and development time are limited. Without giving away much, at one point I had to decide whether to take a lift from a stranger. I opted not to, but a few seconds later a hoard of zombies magically appeared from nowhere to render my decision moot. I resented being asked to do something when the story could only go one direction. Conversational choices also feel impotent since there is not enough time to develop personal relationships.

One final small gripe I had was the re-using of faces from the previous game. I understand that development time is limited and they at least tried to disguise them with new hairstyles. But for me it was disturbingly obvious that Shel has the same face as Lilly. Normally I am not bothered by the practical re-use of art assets, but in a game where you forge personal connections with characters it can be a little silly to see them again with a new hair-do.

Personally
When I discovered that 400 Days is effected by the choices made The Walking Dead (Season 1), I rushed through the first game a second time - since I had lost my save files in a computer re-install. I am glad I did this, but at the same time it influenced my experience of 400 Days. The story telling in the first game is exceptional where you are (essentially) tricked into believing your choices matter. The writing and decision making process all contributed to meaningful, and emotional, character development.

A 'hard' decision becomes meaningless if we do not know the people

The problem with 400 Days is that by comparison it was a disappointment; not only a much smaller experience, but also split amongst five new characters. Events have more of an obviously fixed outcome, whilst interspersed with the occasionally "heart wrenching", random binary choice. There is little emotional connection to the characters, or the events that transpire. There is a world of difference between feeling a genuine emotion, and simply being told to feel it.

Still... It is only DLC; and quite cheap DLC at that. It is the same basic 'The Walking Dead' experience which is still fun to play. It is well voice acted, the dialogue is good and some of the sequences are quite entertaining. It seems likely that this sets up the events for Season 2 in some way - so probably worth playing for those that want to experience a continuous story. Just be aware that it carries none of the depth or complexity of the excellent title it builds upon.

Used Games

2013-06-17T07:07:00.000-07:00

(20/06/13): Due to a large policy change from Microsoft, some of the information about the Xbox One no longer is accurate. Further clarification at the end.

What springs to mind when you think of 2013's E3? Probably something to do with Sony, Microsoft and the subject of used (or "pre-owned") games. Currently Microsoft has engendered hatred, pitchforks and fire for attempting to regulate the re-sale of video games. Meanwhile Sony has gamers kneeling down, brushing its hair and licking its shoes with a very 'pro' policy on the matter.

The core of the debate is simple: should you be allowed to sell your copy of a game to a third party? Surprisingly, this is not about legality but principle and ethics. Do companies have the right to try and prevent it? If public opinion is anything to go by then the answer is firmly "no". This debate focuses on console gaming since PC games have not been re-sellable for some time.

The issue at hand

But before we delve into the ethics of it all, I want to clear up something first...

Bad Analogies

Analogies are lovely to use. It always feels satisfying to extrapolate a theoretical point into a 'real world' example. I love doing it, and in researching this subject have encountered numerous examples of other people who do too. However, I feel they are being misused in this discussion and that people should treat them with caution.

An analogy is the act of transferring meaning from one set of variables to another, i.e. "video games are like DVDs. I can sell my DVDs, so I should be able to do that with a game". It sure is a good way of illustrating a point, but is not an argument. Nothing has been proven here; just a comparison between two objects that seem to conceptually share the same space. There is no reasoning. Logical steps. Rationalisation. Evidence. None of the elements that prove helpful in a debate. Any conclusion formed is from an apparent similarity and the sentiments of the listener.

At first glance analogies often seem perfectly reasonable. It may appear sensible to compare a purchase of a video game to a car, or DVD, but only at an extremely simplistic level. Almost by definition a video game can not be a DVD; they are different entities. Only vague conclusions could be drawn from vague comparisons. To be any more specific is unhelpful to discussion.

Analogies are not inherently bad and have their rightful place in our conversational toolbox. Just bear in mind that a reasonable sounding analogy is not necessarily based on reason. Always go looking for the base of the argument.

Why is this suddenly a discussion?

The general principle of consumer purchasing is pretty straightforward for most: "If I buy something, it is mine". This generally entails a right to "sell it on, resulting in a loss of my ownership". I think we can all agree that this is how things have worked for a long time. Should I choose to sell an item I would reasonably expect this item to sell for less than it was purchased for, due to:

(a) the passage of time lowering its value. New and better items etc, and/or

(b) most items have a fixed lifespan/quality, which degrades over time or use. An object that has been used 100 times, will have 100 less uses of it.

The phrasing is a little odd, but hopefully this adequately sums up second-hand purchasing. Note how this does not apply to the sale of houses; something which has always fascinated me.

All new, All digital

But the rise of digital media and the notion of second-hand digital products has added a new element. It is true that (a) still applies; graphical quality of modern games is certainly higher than games created 10 years ago. But (b) does not apply: the 'game' does not degrade through use. Of course, the physical method by which the game is delivered may become damaged, but the game itself remains perfect. This is further complicated by digital distribution, where a purchased title can be played an infinite number of times (in theory) and will still each time provide an identical experience.

Whilst perfectly acceptable to purchase a second-hand item for a lower price, with it's coinciding drop in quality, is it the case with digital media?

The Good, the Bad and the...

There has been an exponential rise in second-hand sales within the video games industry, driven by retailers and consumer desire. Second-hand will always be cheaper than 'new' (even if only slightly), does it make sense to buy a 'new' digital product? You could make some argument about how the "disc might become scratched", but that is a rarity now and perfectly solvable if it happens (Disc Resurfacing). And if the disc was broken, then it would be an illegal sale anyway (unless explicitly listed as faulty).

What happens is this. Retailers purchase games from consumers for cash, or trade-in currency, and then re-sell as "pre-owned" copies. How much the game is worth is still linked to supply and demand, just like any item. As they are providing a service they are entitled to make a profit on that service, so the game is sold for higher than was purchased. For example, the UK retailer CEX will currently pay £136 for a Wii U console, which will be sold at £235.

Is this a good thing? Well, it is for the consumer who saves money, and can even make a little back when finished. In fact it is easy to imagine a situation where gamers exclusively buy pre-owned titles, which are then returned for a discount on the next pre-owned title. A second hand sale is also extremely good for the retailer, as it is a highly profitable source of revenue. But for everyone else used games are ultimately bad.

A typical inside of a Gamestop store

Why? Because the money from a pre-owned sale only goes to the retailer. Purchasing a 'new' copy filters money back to either the developers of the game, or the publishers - people involved with its creation. And before you say that all publishers are evil and deserve no money, let's just remember that they pay the initial cost of a game; so obviously need to be compensated. Modern triple-a titles can cost a fantastic amount of money to produce. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is estimated to have cost between 40 and 50 million dollars. CliffyB (him) recently mentioned that the latest Assassin's Creed game employed thousands of developers. These people need to be paid as they work - not just afterwards. Let's not forget that beyond all this discussion is a real world of real people who work. Have bills. Need to live.

But why is this such a big deal here? Surely every digital item is subject to the same problem? This is true, but video games are handicapped slightly by only having one revenue stream: the point of sale. By contrast a music artist can charge (often extortionate) ticket prices for music concerts or appearances. They can license their songs to radio or TV/films for royalties extending long past the song creation. As well as selling their songs through CDs or digital distribution. Note I am in no way justifying the stealing, or free sharing of music; it will still negatively impact the artist in some way. The point I am making is that video games are hurt more by this practice than someone with alternative revenue streams.

If I was a publisher or developer I would hate video game retailers, and their system designed to effectively steal profit from my work. Microsoft has decided that it was time to build a console that addresses this problem. Xbox One games can only be sold at 'participating retailers', i.e. retailers that agree to terms and conditions about the allocation of second-hand revenue (to the publishers, not Microsoft). A game may be given free of charge to a friend, but only once. This is a publisher and developer friendly idea, but will be seen as restrictive to consumers - which it is. To enforce this system, Microsoft requires the Xbox One check-in with servers every 24 hours. This is essentially how the Steam platform works, although with more frequent checking.

A fairly common sentiment

Restrictions will always be unpopular, and the publicity backlash against Microsoft has been overwhelmingly negative. It does seem that Microsoft could have handled this a little better, and Sony have capitalised on it. Whether or not viewed as necessary, this sort of thing will never be liked by consumers as it equates to less choice.

A couple of counters
Many arguments have been made in support of used games sales, and a couple of them I feel have merit enough to be worth addressing. Whilst I do agree with the right of a consumer to sell something on, I also do not agree in a mass system designed to exploit this right that harms content creators. There is a large difference between a local car-boot sale/friend, and an international games retailer.

● "Video games are too expensive. Second hand titles allow me to save money to buy the occasional new release" also
● "Second-Hand sales get consumers into the industry that wouldn't otherwise"
Very understandable. A standard console title on launch is quite expensive and if you could prove to me that more 'new' copies are sold due to commercialised second-hand availability, then I would support them. Gamestop president said that that "70 percent of income that gets handed over to consumers for traded goods is immediately spent on new games" (source). I am not sure how they are able to track this statistic except for in-store currency purchases, and in my personal experience more 'new' sales are lost, than gained overall.

I feel it is important to mention that PC gamers have cheaper titles on release, and no second-hand sales. Add this with the Steam Sales where temporary large discounts sell tens of thousands of extra copies with the money going still going to the developers. This shows that ultimately price is dictated by consumer willingness to pay and second-hand sales might be keeping console prices higher. If the removal of second-hand titles leads to a general price drop, would that be an acceptable?

● "Often it is the only way to find old titles"
If second-hand is the only way to buy a sought after title then there is nothing wrong; it is hardly the fault of the consumer if retail does shelf a new copy. My only suggestion would be to perhaps try a service like Amazon, with a large selection of titles and competitive pricing. True you have to wait an extra few days which may be unacceptable for some.

This is one of the problems that is completely solved through a digital distribution system. Titles are available for much longer; in fact they theoretically could be available forever. I had a quick look for some games I played when younger on Steam:
- Quake 2, £5.99
- Jedi Knight 2, £6.99
- Max Payne, £5.99
- Tomb Raider 2, £4.99
And I know that if I buy it, the money is still going to find its way back to the creators.

My Conclusion

I simply do not support the purchase of used games (if the game is reasonably available 'new'). The last few years has seen a record closure of development studios, and even big publishers like THQ have been ruined. I loved THQ's Darksiders 2 (review), but these games have to be paid for. Of course, I would not suggest that THQ failed exclusively because of pre-owned sales, and/or piracy. But I am incensed at the very idea that creators of quality games lose their jobs because money is taken away from them - just so the consumer can save a few pounds/dollars/euro.

I do not agree it is acceptable for a retailer to keeps all profit from a pre-owned sale, and as the product is digitally identical in quality they can fractionally undercut the prices of new copies. It seems frankly bizarre to me that a store that sells games spends so much effort in denying profits to the people who made the product it trades in. Stories about the retailers training their employees to push second-hand titles at all times to customers should also be considered unacceptable practice - if true.

Did you cheer?

Therefore, and this is a little harsh, I look down on all those who loudly cheered Sony for 'supporting' used games sales. Do they not realise how they are effectively cheering a system designed to deny money from the games creators? Just because it saves them a little money. I am not a rich person and games are expensive to me, but I can see where this sort of practice will end up if it keeps going. If we start denying people their rightful profit, then why should we expect them to keep working hard to produce quality?

This is not the first time the industry has tried to deal with this, but every attempt is met with a backlash; especially against publishers. EA is considered the most evil company on Earth by some. It is time to start looking at the bigger picture. Truly, Microsoft's attempt to sort this out is not perfect, but would they even got involved if consumers were more responsible? Truly, publishers have the potential for very money orientated practices and should be held accountable for some, but used games is not that way.

So...

...to Microsoft: I support your idea to get a handle on this, but do it better. It seems possible to create a solution that would not cut off legitimate gamers if their internet fails, or is unavailable, or when your servers fail (which is probable)

...to Sony: It was a very clever piece of PR and you are doing some great things with regard to indie development. But come on now. You know that this is bad and are kind of exploiting consumer ignorance to sell more PlayStations.

...to the Gamers: Time to think about that bigger picture. Pay that extra cash and properly support the creators. And if you are just cheap, or can not afford a new game, then wait for a sale or price drop and buy new then. If you went to E3 you obviously cared about the industry; act like it.

* * *

Update : 20th of June, 2013
It appears that Microsoft felt that reforming the approach to used games sales was too harmful to their product. As of last night, they have changed their policies on two controversial issues. Now:
- the Xbox One will no longer require an internet connection once per 24 hours.
- the customer will be free to resell/lend a disc-purchased game as they see fit with no restrictions.

As I see it, this is both good and bad. Good in that the Xbox One will be more successful as a console now, as it is more consumer friendly. Bad because the more progressive digital benefits (such as the ability to play any game you own on any Xbox, or any member of your family able to play a single copy) will have to be removed - since the 24 hour DRM-thing existed to enforce them.

A shame really but perhaps the world (...or just gamers) is not ready. I am still happy Microsoft tried to change the industry for the better, and I am happy they are willing to change policy based on feedback. Everyone makes mistakes - even big companies. Used Games sales will eventually disappear but it seems this generation is not the time.

DMC Devil May Cry

2013-05-13T06:47:00.001-07:00

The Title Screen

Introduction
DMC Devil May Cry is a spectacle-fighter released in 2013, by Ninja Theory. Intended to be a reset, or re-imagining, of the Devil May Cry series, it features the same characters, combat style and general feel of the other games with the name. It's available on PlayStation, Xbox and PC.

Disclaimer: Most definitely an adult game with sexual themes, violence and frequent strong language. Players should also expect to find concepts and ideas common to stories featuring hell, angels and demons.

The First Thing
I am only passingly familiar with the games from the Devil May Cry series; I roughly knew what to expect with regard to gameplay, but not much else. Consequently, the tone of the game completely surprised me. The heavy music, deep voiced announcer and chosen background images painted an air of "serious light-heartedness". DMC embraces that it is 'over the top' and frankly a bit daft and maintains a serious and solid gameplay experience. As strange as it sounds, this combination of the absurd, irony and polished gameplay endeared this title to me almost from the start.

Plot & Devices
The world is in peril. The people of Earth are permanently monitored by an evil mass-media corporation and an addictive, tainted soft drink keeps them fat and obedient. Demons are responsible and are pulling the strings from their parallel dimension: Limbo. Dante is the feared orphaned son of an Angel and Demon, blessed with the powers and strengths of both races. Initially content with women, drink and nightclubs, he is drawn into the war by the demons who see him as their only threat. Saved by a psychic called Kat during one of their attacks, Dante finds himself part of the human resistance and reunited with his long lost bright, Vergil. Together the three of them must exact revenge and free humanity from slavery.

Dante

One of the key story elements is the character progression of Dante. At the start he is a bit of a douchebag; there is no better way of describing him. It's perfectly understandable since he is a young man with incredible powers, but the transition to responsibility would be meaningless if he was mature to begin with. Advanced primarily in between levels, there is nothing particularly surprising in this standard revenge story. Even the plot twists end up being quite predictable and standard. Do not mistake this for inept story telling though, DMC is intended to be so 'over the top' that to consider it unbelievable is missing the point. Although one or two key moments are handled with surprising grace and emotion, DMC is mostly about the gameplay.

The Game
The original Devil May Cry is pretty much the poster child for the spectacle-fighter genre; where style is emphasised over realism. Waves of demons, fantastical locations, and abilities that defy the laws of physics are all par for the course for a spectacle fighter. Set in the third person perspective, the game is split between combat and platforming. The thematic elements of Demons and Angels are found throughout, with each having a different impact on gameplay.

The core of DMC is combat, which mostly takes place against waves of demons in enclosed arenas. Enemies have different attacks and the objective is to chain together offensive abilities in the most fluid way possible, whilst avoiding taking any damage. The player is expected to be actively involved in choosing attacks, targets and locations. Enemies are either ground based or aerial, and there are many different ways of moving between the two. Occasionally much harder adversaries require specific tactics, and boss fights at the end of some sections test skill in standard fashion.

The power of Angels and Demons

Dante has three weapon types: Angel, Demon and Ranged. Each type has two or three weapons to choose from, but only one weapon usable at a time. Angel weapons are typically fast and low damaging, good at handling multiple enemies. Demon weapons on the other hand are slow, but very powerful. Ranged weapons vary from being basic damage filler, to situational attacks. If neither angel or demon mode is used, Dante will use his regular sword intended to be a balance between the two. Each weapon has two buttons/attacks are determined by combinations, ground/air location and whether the demon or angel modifier is used. For example:

■ Button 1 = Standard attack with balanced sword
■ Demon Modifier + Button 1 = Standard attack, with Demon Weapon
■ Angel Modifier + Button 1 = Standard attack, with Angel Weapon

The other side of gameplay is basic platforming where the only goal is to move between platforms and not fall. Falling results in a Zelda-style loss of health, and return to a previous platform. The various tools Dante has at his disposal to navigate the platforming challenges are tied to the Demon and Angel modifiers; with the modifiers turning his ranged weapon into a grappling hook. The Demon Grappling Hook is used to pull objects towards Dante, and the Angel Grappling Hook is used to pull Dante towards objects. It is quite clear which hook is supposed to be used by graphical prompts and the challenge comes in executing the correct hook, at the correct time. Dante also has a jump and double jump, but these are not especially useful in platforming due to their vertical nature. The Angel modifier however turns the double jump into a forward glide that is used throughout. All the platforming abilities can be used in combat, such as pulling Dante towards an enemy or vice versa.

RPG gameplay

Dante will acquire items and points that are used in an RPG fashion to purchase combos or upgrades. Weapons are unlocked at set points during the campaign, but upgrades and abilities beyond the default are left to the choice of the player. Any spent points can be sold for a full refund and assigned somewhere else. A training mode is provided for the player to try combos, or abilities before purchasing. At the end of each level the player will be presented with a score on how stylish/varied their play was. This score also rewards in points used for more upgrades.

The soundtrack is only noticeable during combat where it becomes quite heavy. The sound effects and voice acting are nothing special, but are solid and reliable. Although, the voice acting is hard to judge given the outlandish nature of most of the dialogue. The graphics are good, although can sometimes feel a little cluttered. A lot artistic effort has been placed into the art style of each level to make them feel interesting and different. Although most of the game takes place in 'limbo' the experience is a little different each time - whilst conforming to similar ideas such as no gravity, or stopped time. DMC certainly has some unique and memorable level aesthetics.

I encountered no issues with the PC version. I played with a gamepad, as I do all third person platform/combat games and found no control issues. It did take a little while to get to grips with the default key-bindings though. Fitting the angel/demon modifiers into combat will take some practice before players feel 100% in control of every action.

Large boss fights feature at the end of many levels

Wrap Up & Negatives
Is it a negative to have an outlandish, shallow and clichéd story? Even if that was that was the design goal? I simply don't believe the developers were unaware of how loopy their story was and I believe the ironic undertones reflects this. But still, this will be a negative for some - and if so, probably the biggest. The combat will also become repetitive for any player that chooses not to experiment with the variety offered. The game is also quite on the easy side, especially the boss fights. I did not try the harder difficult settings, which I presume provide a great challenge.

The platforming is noticeably not as varied as the combat and is mainly used to quickly connect different combat encounters. Also, I fell to my death a fair few times due to the vertical jump, which was frustrating. The platforming is also quite 'samey' and is mostly "jump, grappling hook, more jump, more grappling hook". However, despite being simplistic it does feel smooth and fitting with the overall feel. Since the platforming often takes place in some very interesting level design, it is less noticeable.

Other than that, I feel most negatives are subjective. I can imagine the art style, gameplay and music could all be disliked, but these are not negatives in their own right.

Personally
Once I'd adjusted to the ludicrous story, I settled into DMC and had a lot of fun. I can imagine avid players of the spectacle fighter genre being disappointed with the difficulty; but that is why harder settings are provided. The combat is well put together and the result is an enjoyable and stylish experience. The platforming is a little simple for my tastes, but I still found it satisfying. I also warmed to Dante even though (and I hope you'll forgive the expression) he is a total dick at the start. This is actually a testament to good character progression that we feel differently about him at end than the start. I also found the dialogue quite funny at times.

Sometimes the level design is really imaginative

However, there is one aspect of DMC that makes it worth playing for alone; the level design. Having levels set in an alternate reality similar to ours allows for some really interesting concept exploration and some of the design is nothing short of astounding. Perhaps even more impressively, the innovation is kept going throughout the game, with new ideas found in later levels. One boss fight in particular sticks in my memory for being simply a great and original idea, even if simple to overcome.

A polished, enjoyable title that deserves recommendation. The story is clichéd and crude but the gameplay is solid from start to finish. Just get over the different hair colour and remember we were all young once...even Dante.

Dead Space 3

2013-02-13T10:42:00.001-08:00

The Title Screen

Introduction
Released in 2013, Dead Space 3 is a third-person shooter by Visceral Games. A direct sequel to the 2011 Dead Space 2 which continues the story of Isaac Clarke, on PC, Xbox and PlayStation. The singleplayer campaign can now be played co-operatively, but there is no other multiplayer. This review is based on the singleplayer at hard difficulty, with no co-op assistance.

Disclaimer: This is an adult title, with occasional strong language and fairly graphic violence in an futuristic alien/zombie-like setting.

The First Thing
Sadly, the opening of the game did not really elicit any strong emotional response from me. The menu is fine and the tutorial mission is interesting enough, but the opening moments just did not grip me in the same way the previous games did. I feel that, particularly at the start, the story telling is just not up to the same standard and I was left feeling disconnected to the familiar characters and events for some time. The time jumps and frequent plot exposition was not to my liking.

Plot & Devices
A few months have passed since the events of Dead Space 2. Isaac Clarke (you) and Ellie have already formed and ended a romantic relationship, resulting in Isaac living alone in hiding and depression. Suddenly two military officers inform him that Ellie has gone missing on a mission to find the source of the Markers. On top of this, EarthGov has been overthrown by the Unitology religion and their terrorist leader, Danik, is looking to find Isaac and kill him. The decision to rescue Ellie will take Isaac to the Marker homeworld where the origins of their power and final plan will be discovered. Isaac, Ellie and their team must brave the frigid wasteland, horrible monsters and devout fanatics to end the evil of the Markers forever.

Isaac and Ellie

This time the story feels more driven by events, than character development. Isaac is still the same 'victim of circumstance' character, but is now feels more accepting of his role. Human drama does enter into the story, but always feels secondary to overall events. The plot continues on from the previous game and for full enjoyment I would again advise playing through the previous titles if new to the franchise; particularly the second. However, it is not required by any means.

Much like the previous games, Isaac will be alone most of the time and character interaction takes place over radio/video, or small in-engine cutscenes. Many text and audio logs are hidden around the levels and will reward competitionists with additional background and story depth; as well as other in-game rewards.

The Game
The core gameplay remains unchanged. Dead Space 3 is a third person shooter with the HUD information shown holographically on characters. Health, stasis, ammo and oxygen will be shown on Isaac, and inventory, mission objectives and other noteworthy information is displayed in front of him. The Stasis Shot still slows objects down, and the Telekinesis can move many items for puzzles or combat. Quick-time events require the pressing of the indicated button shown on the RIG to survive. Isaac now has four minutes of air to use in the oxygen-less environments, and can still float around the Zero-Gravity areas as he did.

Fighting the waves of Necromorphs

Although not particularly scary, the combat feels the same except that Isaac now carries two weapons instead of four and there is one universal type of ammunition. Health will not regenerate automatically and is managed through various health packs. In true survival style, combat is a little sticky and ammunition is not intended to be plentiful. The Necromorphs still require targeted attacks and limbless Necromorphs are still as dangerous as ever, and have more variety in how they react to their injuries. This time Isaac will encounter human enemies as well, who use guns, grenades and stasis against him. Isaac's new crouch and roll abilities are especially suited at dealing with the human enemies. All defeated enemies will drop an item on the first hit, or foot stomp, they receive after death.

Items construction is a new, and large, part of gameplay. Throughout the game players will find Construction Materials (Tungsten, Scrap Metal, Gel etc.) that can be used at Work Benches to build many different items. New Scrapbots can be carried around that seek out additional Construction Materials when placed on the ground, returning them to the Bench. A pulsing sound indicates special locations where a Scrapbot will be particularly effective at gathering materials. Construction Materials do not take up inventory space and the Bench also act as a bank, storing player items for later. Most items found can also be de-assembled for some Construction Materials which is a useful way of turning unwanted items into something useful.

Weapon diversity has been overhauled and consequently there are no more 'set' weapons. With the new crafting system the player is free to customise weapons from the different components they currently have. Components can be found in the levels, or created with Construction Materials. This system results in a lot more customisability than the previous games, and gives the player the ability to create quite a personalised combat experience. For example, affixing a "repeating" component will turn weapons into rapid fire, but deal less damage. Good weapon combinations can be found in blueprints and this can help offset the slightly overwhelming nature of the new system. Also, the classic weapons from the previous games are not gone but unlocked in blueprints throughout the course of the story.

Weapon construction/upgrading

The power node upgrade system has been completely removed. Weapon Frames have a varying number of slots and 'Circuit Boards' can be fixed to these slots and will adjust the weapon in some way (Damage, Reload, Firing Speed, Clip Size). Circuits can be found in levels, and can be crafted with Construction Materials once initially discovered. Circuits can be removed and swapped around at will and this provides players even more choices on how to customise their weapon. Player armour is still upgradable and Stasis, Telekinesis and Health can be upgraded at the suit changers and costs Construction Materials.

Level design is still predominantly linear, but there is a fair amount of off-path exploration offered that will reward in Construction Materials, other secrets or good places for Scrapbots. Every now and then the player will be presented with an optional mission that will reward in some plot explanation and special items. They are completely optional, but since resources are scarce it felt sensible to take any opportunity to find upgrades and Materials. There are also optional missions unique to the Co-Op, but I only encountered two of them.

More new mechanics brought to the franchise include rappelling on sheer cliff edges, sections where Isaac will freeze to death if he spends too long outside or away from fires, and new puzzle ideas such as rotating discs with telekinesis or controlling two independent symbols on a grid. The game is also quite a bit longer than previous titles clocking in at 15 hours for a 90.5% completion at game end - I did all optional missions and as much exploring as could.

New climbing and heat management gameplay

The sound track is quite atmospheric and more noticeable, but still primarily used to heighten emotion during combat. Sound effects are extremely punchy and solid, and the voice acting is of good quality; featuring the same actors for Isaac and Ellie. The graphic fidelity is more or less the same as the previous game and generally looks good, but I feel a few of the new enemies suffer from the visual contradiction of complicated, new textures in an old engine. Mostly the visuals are fine with good cutscene animations and some fairly fantastic looking vistas at times.

Given the bad reputation of the previous games with regard to the PC porting, it seems effort has been made to do a better job this time. Unfortunately V-Sync locks FPS to 30, but with it off I was reaching 200FPS and higher which was surprising. For personal preference, I used RadeonPro to lock it at 60. With this achieved, mouse control was excellent and I noticed no other porting errors. The graphics menu (whilst not great) has some good options and every key can be rebound.

Wrap Up & Negatives
Most of the negatives for Dead Space 3 come from the plot. Although the story is good, it is not always handled too well; with important plot points or character motivation simply being told to the player. In comparison to the developing and interesting personalities of Dead Space 2, characters now seem to have become a little one dimensional and predictable. The story also did not feel deep enough to support the length of gameplay, and towards the end started to feel stretched and a little padded.

The enemy AI is still inconsistent and gets stuck behind scenery sometimes. Like the previous titles, it completely breaks any terror or immersion when enemies run away just because you walked through the occasional 'magic' door. The new save system is designed to allow the player to farm Construction Materials, and actual progress is saved from the most recent checkpoint. However, there seems to be no relation between a checkpoint that you return to on death, and one that you save to when quitting. This caused me to repeat 35 minutes of gameplay at one point which was not nice.

A little too much direct plot explanation

There are a few other nitpicks, such as the game re-populating areas that have already been visited with new items, which is counter-intuitive. It is also fair to say that almost all horror has gone in favour of action and for some this will be a negative. Despite the attempts at disguise, the game occasionally shows signs of its over linearity with doors that open mysteriously to coincide with story, or remain locked until all monsters have been killed. At least in the first game this was attributed to 'containment breaches'.

I feel I should address the potentially controversial addition of co-op and micro-payments. Neither impacted the story or my experience in any significant way. I felt no need to buy additional resources and I was never prompted by the game to purchase anything for real money. I did encounter two optional missions only playable in "co-op", but this is acceptable to me and vastly better than a story not making sense, or being forced to play with an incompetent AI partner.

Personally
Given that the previous game is quite possibly my favourite title ever, it is hard not to be biased. But with my objective hat on I feel Dead Space 3 is a good action shooter that stands apart. They have taken the existing formula and built upon it, with no real bad or frivolous additions. The weapon creation system is fun (if a little complicated), the optional missions are woven in nicely and increased enemy variety is always welcome. As for gameplay, this is exactly what a sequel should be: new mechanics, trimming out what didn't work (like multiple ammunition types) and keeping the familiar characters and story.

I enjoyed playing, but I felt disappointment with the story implementation. The plot is perfectly fine, just stretched a bit thin and not always gracefully delivered. If this is the end of the story then I feel this is a solid and respectable ending. Worthy to be part of one of the best franchises in recent gaming, for sure.

Fly'N

2013-02-06T02:25:00.003-08:00

The Title Screen

Introduction
Fly'N is an indie platformer with mild puzzle elements, by developer Ankama Studio. Released in 2012, as a PC exclusive featuring a singleplayer campaign only. Player performance is logged on online leaderboards. It was brought to market by the Steam Greenlight program.

The First Thing
My first thoughts were of interest and total confusion. The aesthetic of the game is very inviting with its strong art style and vibrant music/sound effects. but I had no idea what the hell was going on. The 'wordless' style of conveying information is not very effective and I was essentially completely clueless even after a couple of hours of playing.

Plot & Devices
This is taken from the official description on the Steam Store page: "They are the guardians of the World-Trees: the Buds…Save the World-Trees from Dyer, the loony hair-dryer who intends to destroy their Helys!". I had to look this up because I literally had no idea what the plot of this game was whilst playing. I could deduce certain elements, like how the hair-dryer-mouse creature was the 'bad guy'. But I had no idea what the playable creatures were called, or the motivation of the hair-dryer-mouse.

The Blue Bud

The gameplay seems to suggest there is only one playable character, but the brief pre-rendered cinematics in between zones suggest otherwise. There are short in-game cutscenes at the start of levels featuring the antagonist, but other than that there is no character interaction of any sort. I am still not 100% sure what Helys are, which is why I will write them as "Helys(?)". I believe they are the bright floating blue balls/bubbles. It should be noted that I feel this minimalist approach to storytelling is entirely deliberate and not some sort of developer negligence.

The Game
In most respects Fly'N fits the standard 2D, side-scrolling platforming formula. The different Buds share general abilities but with one special ability unique to each one. Buds can run, jump, double-jump and glide and these will be used plenty. The special abilities are as follows:

■ Blue can sing. This is used to inject/extract Helys(?) from objects to activate or change their status in some way. It also uncovers special hidden creatures in each level.

■ Green can stick to any and move along any non-damaging surface.

■ Black can become an invulnerable bouncy-ball, who's first bounce will be higher than consecutive bounces. This ball can destroy some rocks.

■ Orange can pause in mid-air, and zoom in a player chosen direction. It can do this three times before needing to return to ground and can destroy some blocks it passes through.

These special abilities are used to complete most challenges the player will encounter. New Buds will become available as the player progresses and in later levels the player can expect to alternate between them. It is only possible to swap between Buds at fixed respawn boxes and only to the colours that the level dictates. The available colours the player can swap to at these points should be considered part of the puzzle.

Three different Buds (Green, Black & Blue) using their special ability

The respawn boxes serve many purposes. As mentioned they can allow the changing of Bud colour, but they also mark where the player respawns upon death. There is no 'life' system and Buds can unlimitedly respawn; although the total number of deaths will be noted in the level summary and affects leaderboard ranking. Respawning will also cause some elements of the level to reset, such as destructible blocks or rising waves of death. The player can respawn to the most recent respawn point at will, which is important in the challenge levels where a single death alters the outcome. Adversarial creatures generally do not exist and the player will be mostly killed by harmful environment.

The game is split into four zones, with eight levels in each. Each zone is associated with a Bud colour, influencing most of the types of puzzles encountered. The second, fourth and sixth level are 'challenge' levels where the player must climb against a lethal rising wave. Reaching the end of the without dying then will award bonus Helys(?). It will also unlock a bonus level that is separate from the story and is usually a quirky, challenging platforming experience. Using the respawn teleport does not count as a 'death', so is very useful here. The final level of each zone consists of a boss fight, followed by mobile platform challenges designed for the Bud of that Zone.

A 'Cocoon' which acts as a base of operations where the player can choose to replay a particular level, bonus level or change zone; it is basically just an interactive menu. There is artwork available for purchase from any additional Helys(?) and viewed.

The final big game mechanic shared between all Buds is the ability to move between two realities/worlds: shadow and light (This is my interpretation of this mechanic as the game does not explain). Solid environment in one reality may not exist in the other and the player will use this to navigate many challenges. Sometimes more complex objects such as moving platforms will be encountered and the player will find themselves frequently changing realities mid-jump/glide. Moving between realities is instantaneous and is signified by a change in colour scheme and background music. Air streams that can only be used in the shadow reality exist and these will transport the Bud elsewhere in the level.

Moving between two realities

As with most platformers, I played with my gamepad, but since this is a PC exclusive I was curious at the Mouse and Keyboard implementation. I found it quite acceptable when I tested, although I still think digital controls are not as suited to platformers, but these are well implemented. Most of the time the gamepad controls felt adequate but occasionally not as tight as I would like.

The art style is striking and vibrant, helping to offset the slightly low graphical fidelity. It ran at a smooth 60FPS from start to finish. Personally, I found the art style a little overwhelming at times but the layout of the level and objects was always clear. The soundtrack and effects are nice and suitable, but are not particularly memorable.

Wrap Up & Negatives
The biggest negative has to be how clueless I felt at the start. I'm an experienced gamer, but still it took me a long time to work out some things; like the glowing orbs (Helys?) and their use with the singing power. Or the cocoon. The little picture pop-ups do help, but are essentially just button prompts. Quite a few elements of the game were learned by trial and error. And it felt a little bewildering.

What is this? What does it do? Is it important...?

I still had no solid idea what the story was until I started researching for this review. I do not think that "indie title" is really an acceptable reason because many story driven indie games exist. I wouldn't have minded a total absence of story (like with Q.U.B.E), the problem here is the constant allusion to plot/characters that is never explained.

Most of the time the controls are good, but occasionally do not feel tight. Using the Green Bud's wall climbing and jumping often felt a little clunky. The graphics do not feel particularly well-scaled up to a 1920x1080 resolution with outlines looking a bit 'over-sharpened', but honestly this did not bother me too much. I just find it a little odd as this is a PC exclusive and my resolution is not uncommon.

It also uses a single save file. Once you start, that's it. I don't know if this is really a negative and will be up to the preference of the individual gamer.

Personally
I think Fly'N is a very technically proficient title and a fairly enjoyable game. I liked the 'two realities' and the related platforming challenges, combined with the different Buds and how their special abilities interact. But I do question some aspects, particularly with regard to the introductory experience. I can easily envisage a new player losing interest; which would be a shame. A purely visual conveyance of ideas is a difficult developmental path to take, and just perhaps a bit of simple and obvious text is not a bad thing.

If you like platformers, then this is a decent one. And I would say this is better than the average indie platformer currently overwhelming the market. Just be prepared for the possibility of maybe not fully understanding everything right away. But once I got a handle on things, I enjoyed it. Good looking, good mechanics and worth trying.

My Top Games of 2012

2013-01-18T02:31:00.001-08:00

And it's that time again. Another year of releases... and another chance to make a list. Like the last one, these are the top games that I had fun with that were released in 2012. I still maintain that fun should be more of an important criteria in games and not whether it had the best graphics or was the most technically proficient game to ever grace our lives.

There may be some big omissions, but I can't help that; I can't be playing games full-time. One big omission, and a game I think I would have loved, is Journey. But I do not own a PlayStation 3 and the business world still insists on exclusivity. Another big omission is Far Cry 3, which I just have not gotten around to playing. I have never liked the Assassin's Creed series much and their latest instalment is set in a time period I consider quite uninteresting, so won't be here either.

So here are my choices, to agree or disagree with as you like!

* * *

1. Spec Ops: The Line

(June 26th, 2012) Click for Review

A military themed shooter is not my usual cup of tea; particularly one featuring cover-based combat. I have nothing against them per se, but it always seems to end up waiting for enemies to stick their heads out into your cross-hair. But even whilst halfway through, I knew this title would be the game I recommended most from 2012.

Technically speaking, it is not that impressive. The graphics are fine and the voice acting is good, but no matter how you spin it the combat controls are sticky and adds nothing original to an already overcrowded genre. So why is it here?

Because the storytelling is superb. You start in a standard, pro-american shooter and by the end you are questioning your actions, war, military-themed shooters and maybe reality in general. It excels at setting up situation after situation where you think you are choosing correctly, but looking back reveals the truth. There are greater devils than you in Spec Ops: The Line, but that ultimately provides little comfort. We need more games like this.

2. The Walking Dead (Season 1)

(April 24th, 2012) Click for Review

Zombies are becoming too commonplace. It seems everywhere you look artistic creations are featuring zombies. Surely another zombie story then can't offer us anything we haven't already seen?

Well, The Walking Dead actually does. Despite the predictable theme and despite the game breaking bug that took away all my progress (which I sort of managed to recover), this game truly achieves something special.

This has been a well talked about title in Video Game journalism. There is a reason for that; it is a true interactive storytelling experience. With believable characters, heart wrenching decisions, unexpected outcomes and more. If Telltale Games can continue this level of excellence (and fix the bugs), then The Walking Dead franchise will be remembered as one of the best.

3. Diablo 3

(May 15th, 2012) Click For Review

I feel that there is a lot of bad will towards Blizzard as a developer. Whenever they release an expansion for World of Warcraft, or in this case Diablo 3, there seems to be a section of journalism wanting it to fail, or have negatives.

This is commonplace in nearly all forms of journalism. Secretly everyone wants to find that diamond in the rough and will scorn the popular 'thing' that many like. Such people will use phrases like "for the masses" with total disdain.

Well, sometimes you just have to accept that a film that made a billion dollars, did so for a reason. And sometimes you have to accept that a game that sells millions of copies, does so for a reason too. No, the entire world other than you isn't brainwashed. Yes, there are better games, yes initially they had some server problems and I'm sure there are a myriad of other little negatives to highlight, but the fact is this game provided me, my good friends and millions of others hours of entertainment.

Yes, maybe Torchlight 2 to you is that diamond in the rough by the 'real' developers, but please get over yourself.

4. Rayman Origins

(March 29th, 2012) Click for Review

These days if I asked you to think of the 2D platforming genre you may think of Nintendo's many Mario games (or even early Sonic!), or the great wave of indie titles that has appeared over the last couple of years. And perhaps you may also say that the genre is comfortably full with different titles right now.

Well, Ubisoft thought there was room for an AAA game and not only were they right, but they did a fantastic job. Rayman Origins oozes so much charm, solid gameplay and fantastic visuals that it was kind of a surprise to everyone; including the developer. A product so good that it convinced Ubisoft to change their priority schedule a little. They even went the extra mile with the PC market and included no DRM as a sort of mea culpa for some of their previous actions.

Honestly I would not blame you if you were a sick of 2D titles, but don't forget that AAA developers have resources and budgets to pull of some amazing things. And sometimes, just sometimes, they do.

5. Thomas was alone

(July 24th, 2012) Click for Review

This was a tough spot to pick; there are quite a few contenders. However, when I objectively examined the amount of enjoyment I derived from the game, I realised this had to be number five.

Even though it is very short, those few hours were spent enjoying myself immensely. I feel it is a sign of a good title if you find yourself wanting to rush to experience more (rather than rushing to just finish it or 'get to the end').

Unfortunately, I don't think Thomas was alone will find its way to many 'best games of 2012' lists, and I find this is a bit disappointing. I have seen many glowing reviews of this game, and wildly positive comments from players - but it seems there has to be something 'more' to a game to be considered best of the year. Indie titles hardly ever make it to these hallowed lists, and the ones that do have to be exceptional. Well, in my opinion this game well and truly earned its place in my list.

* * *

Honourable Mention

I wanted to take the time to mention a couple of other games that didn't make the list, but easily could have if not for a few little things:

Darksiders 2 (review) was a game I really enjoyed. But it was let down by the story and repetitive nature of the tasks; which started to feel like story padding. The characterisation of the main character was amazing, and I would recommend it to anyone looking for a more action Zelda-like experience.

Dishonored (review) was also very good and had fantastic gameplay; smooth, well thought out and very interesting. The addition of the teleport ability was a breath of fresh air to the stealth genre as it removes one of the potential frustrations of waiting unseen for a guard to turn his back on a fixed patrol path. However, its story, characterisation and moral choice aspect really let it down; hence not on the list.

World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria is not here because it is difficult to compare an MMORPG to other games as I find them so conceptually different. However, in my opinion Blizzard has proven why they are still king of this genre. They've made some mistakes, like anyone ever does with a project this size, but it possibly is the best expansion yet and the game itself is in a good, polished and balanced place.

Alan Wake (review) was a good game, with very repetitive combat. Had an interesting story idea too, even though it was kind of just taken from famous horror books. Alan Wake is the best example of PC porting to date, making the cost of the porting process back within 48 hours. It is an outstanding port technically as well and shows that the PC market is full of paying customers, that will gladly pay when effort is made.

The hardest choice for me was whether to include Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning (review). That game is immense, great looking, has a fairly decent story and features solid combat. I think the reason it isn't here is because after about 40 hours I really had exhausted my interest in it and felt like the game was going to be the same for hours more. This is an example of bad pacing and is in comparison to Elder Scrolls: Skyrim which managed to entertain for over 100 hours in total - and I still don't understand how. I also think I am becoming disinterested in the 'fantasy elves epic' story theme. But even with all that, I would still recommend playing it as there is a lot of enjoyment to be had.

Thomas Was Alone

2013-01-17T09:15:00.000-08:00

The Title Screen

Introduction
Thomas Was Alone is an puzzle platformer developed by Mike Bithell. An indie title that was released for PC/Mac in 2012, and featuring a singleplayer campaign only.

The First Thing
The game is incredibly charming. It's hard to describe how but it projects warmth and friendliness, even with its minimalist focus. It sounds a little corny to say, but the music, menu and opening levels endeared the game strongly to me straight away.

Plot & Devices
This is a delicate situation. Thomas Was Alone has a story, but I do not want to spoil any of it as the raison d'être is about coming to terms with 'awareness'; for the characters and the situation. It is not a particularly lengthy story, so I have to be careful not to ruin any of it. There are some moments I would not wish to spoil for anyone, so I have taken care not to in the writing and removed any text from screenshots.

Thomas was alone

The story of Thomas Was Alone is not really about the events that transpire, which are quite fantastical. Character development and the subject of friendship is the real 'story'. Since the characters are essentially just different coloured rectangles, successfully personifying them is a real accomplishment. The characters do not 'speak', and inter-character conversations and thoughts are described by a narrator at the start of each level. The different puzzle-related abilities of each rectangle is worked into their personality, i.e. the block that can jump the highest is also a bit of a 'show-off'.

The Game
The general gameplay premise is quite simple: navigate all rectangles through each level to their portal (outline of their shape). Once all rectangles are at their respective portals, the level will end and the blocks are transported to the next level. The challenge comes in navigating each level with the characters provided. Different rectangles have different attributes that must be combined to advance. For example, rectangles that can not jump high will frequently have to jump on taller rectangles in order to proceed.

The levels increase in complexity and difficulty, requiring the use of teamwork to get all characters to the end. There are hazards that must be avoided like spikes and water, and touching these will normally return that character to the start or the latest restart point. Occasionally a 'death' will result in a complete level restart, but this is infrequent. Buttons of various types appear that have an effect on the level layout in some way. Any new concept is usually clearly shown within the art style. For example, if a button is the colour of one of the rectangles, it evidently can only be pushed by that character.

Blocks and their portals

It follows standard puzzle game progression, which is to slowly teach individual concepts, then use them combined, and then at the end use them in interesting ways (like swapping abilities between neutral blocks). I found that whilst the levels generally have a specific path in mind, quite a few can be approached differently - which prevents the frustration that accompanies some puzzle games of "how did the developer mean for me to do this". The downside is that puzzles are never too complex and are often more about platforming ability, than any 'puzzle' solving. The game is split into ten chapters, with each chapter having around ten or so puzzles.

As a PC exclusive, I found no issues of controlling or porting errors. I had a solid 60 fps the entire time and no bugs. As with all platformers, I played with a gamepad and can say the characters handle excellently using it. The graphical fidelity is not intensive, but the art style is very clear and striking; which is useful in puzzles and characterisation. It is obvious that a lot of thought has been placed into the visuals of this title; minimal, yet friendly and warm.

The soundtrack is simply amazing. Every chapter has a different variation on the theme, which is repeated throughout each level. Composed by David Housden and can be purchased at this website. It perfectly sums up the game: simple, slightly retro and inexplicably moving. I hesitate to use the word beautiful, but it is quite possibly appropriate here (official YouTube Video). The narration is also outstanding in writing and delivery, and gives the coloured blocks great life and personality.

There is much platforming to be done

Wrap Up & Negatives
This game sets out to achieve what it means to, and there are no real negatives. Some people will say it is too short as it only took me about three hours to complete, but that is represented in the price. Length has never been a reliable indicator of quality (Portal, one of the most highly rated puzzle games ever, was about that long).

A couple of levels have a few unforgiving restarts that may cause a little frustration. Also, it can be a little annoying to scroll through all the characters when you have so many. But I think that was more of a 'me' issue than a design one.

Personally
Well, this game took me completely by surprise. I would say that the characters are the true focus of the game, over puzzles and actual gameplay. I found myself continuing on simply to hear more about them, rather than to enjoy the actual puzzles. It is never particularly challenging compared to some puzzle games, but it has a very smooth difficulty curve. It teaches concepts well, and block abilities are reinforced by their personalities so it is easy to remember what block does what.

This will sound a bit strange, but this game really made me happy. The game is so charming at times that sometimes you can't help but smile. The soundtrack, narration and art style turn what is a mechanically straightforward puzzle platformer, into an amazing game. The puzzles are satisfying, even if a little simple.

This is a written review and screenshots do not do it justice. Basically: Thomas Was Alone is a game to play. Every now and then, something different comes along and epitomises why Video Games are worthwhile. I shall definitely be keeping an eye out for future games from Mr Bithell.

The Walking Dead (Season 1)

2013-01-13T05:00:00.003-08:00

The Title Screen

I have taken care in this review not to ruin the story

Introduction
The Walking Dead is an adventure, point-and-click game by Telltale Games. Based on a comic book series of the same name, the video game was released for PC, PlayStation, Xbox and iOS. Initially released in 2012 in a bi-monthly episodic format, this review is on the first five episodes that make up "Season 1" (the 'first' game).

Disclaimer: This is definitely a mature title. It features violence, strong language and psychological themes of despair, peril and terror.

The First Thing
What was the first thing I noticed? The mouse. It may seem small but when you start a game for the first time and feel that familiar sluggish control, it's a disappointment. It is such a shame it is the case for one of 2012's most highly rated games, from a developer with extensive experience at mouse driven PC titles.

Plot & Devices
Lee (you) is on route to prison, but the police car is involved in an accident and Lee finds himself stranded in the woods. The dead are walking and attacking any living they find; turning them into zombies too. Taking shelter in a nearby home, Lee discovers a little girl named Clementine who has been surviving all alone. Taking her into his care, the two of them must find safety, allies and come to terms with this new world; filled with evil, danger and living nightmares.

Lee

The story is the game. Every single aspect is designed to advance events or further character development. Noticeable effort has been spent on creating a strong narrative filled with detailed and believable characters. Whilst the player can not change the overall direction of the plot, many details along the way will change by choices made. Will Lee be nice or mean? Who around him will survive? Who trusts him and who hates him? Actions have consequences.

The Game
The gameplay is quite simple, and just feels like a vessel for the story. The player should expect to spend much of the game just observing events, and choosing a dialogue response when prompted. Any choice is designed to avoid being obviously 'good' or 'evil', and the player will have to use their personal judgement. A lot of consequences are unpredictable which encourages a personal playstyle. Sometimes a choice is limited by time and occasionally dialogue responses will have actions attached. There is no ability to 'save' the game, and infrequent checkpoints will auto-save the current progress.

Other aspects of gameplay are reminiscent of traditional puzzle games and requires more direct player involvement. The game will hand control of Lee to the player, who is free to walk around an enclosed area and investigate. Here items can be interacted with and simple actions performed, such as "look", "pick up", "use" etc. Sometimes there are puzzles, but usually are pretty straightforward and never stray far from "use key on lock" style. NPCs can be talked to and, as with the rest of the game, actions/conversation affect the story.

Interactive Objects (can be turned off in the options)

Due to the simple control scheme, sections with intense action are mostly dealt with by Quick-Time Events, or alternatively the player will have mouse control and must click at an important area. These moments are often quite hectic, but are not especially challenging. The intent is to unnerve the player into making a mistake, not provide a challenging task. Failing these mini events will often result in Lee's death. The death of Lee will simply restart the game at a recent checkpoint, but the death of other characters is permanent and worked into the continuing story.

The graphical fidelity of the game is not high, but features a striking art style. The Walking Dead bears resemblance to its comic book origins, and looks like a three-dimensional, interactive comic. Occasionally some art assets, like zombies, are quite obvious in their low quality; but nothing really sticks out too much. The soundtrack is solid and the voice acting is outstanding. The mouse is smoothed/accelerated and seems incapable of being disabled. The controls are non-rebindable, but are not complex as basic movement and Quick-Time Events are all that is needed. Despite the problems, I recommend playing with a Mouse and Keyboard. Playing all five chapters took me about 11 hours and I spent a lot of time investigating each item and area.

Wrap Up & Negatives

Aside from the inexcusable mouse implementation there is nothing particularly wrong with The Walking Dead as a game; although the ability to rebind keys would have been nice. However, there are a few little things that did cause me minor frustration - and one completely game breaking bug.

It is not always clear the tone of voice Lee will use for conversation, which can be irritating given that dialogue choices are so important to character development. Saying something in anger that you thought was encouraging can create unwanted consequences. It can be equally frustrating to advance story or character development by seemingly unrelated actions when trying to solve a puzzle. It is possible to 'go back' and try again, but this is discouraged by offering infrequent retry points.

Surprise attack by a Quick-Time Event!

Some of the gameplay does not flow smoothly together. It can be a little jarring to suddenly enter action when the last 20 minutes have been spent in conversation. I feel it is unreasonable to expect players to sit on the edge of their seats waiting for a Quick-Time Event when so much of the game is story.

The game excels at linking decisions with outcomes, but occasionally presents the player with a straight binary choice; normally choosing between two alternatives or people. These are so obviously predestined that they make previous decision making feel a little inconsequential. They are also a bit too simplistic and don't incorporate logic like "I will save X because Y looks like they can take care of that one zombie".

Unfortunately, about half way through the 4th episode, the game reset itself and I lost all of my progress and settings. This seems to be a common bug and is mentioned on quite a few forums, so I would recommend that back-ups are taken regularly. I sort of managed to fix my game by following advice I found here, but some of my previous choices were remembered incorrectly.

Personally

The Walking Dead has appeared in many "best of 2012" lists - and in my opinion, this praise is well deserved. It is truly one of the most engaging video game narratives I've experienced and is one of the few games able to legitimately claim that "actions have consequences". The NPC characterisation is nothing short of superb, with excellent voice acting and deep personalities. I definitely felt some emotional connection to the characters; Clementine in particular.

This game should be tried by anyone who enjoys a well-rounded and excellently implemented story. Although zombies are becoming a little commonplace, The Walking Dead stands head and shoulders above most other storytelling games. My advice is to try and live with any choices made; no matter how bad. It is technically possible to undo bad decision, but the whole point of this game is maybe there are no 'good' decisions in this kind of scenario. Be warned though, there are some pretty emotional moments and some events are honestly pretty horrific......but it's good. Very good.

But then there is the bug; the one that wiped out all of my progress. It's difficult to recommend a game that can do this, but I more or less fixed it and it truly was an excellent game. So, be warned.

XCOM: Enemy Unknown

2013-01-09T11:29:00.000-08:00

The Title Screen

Introduction
Released in 2012, XCOM: Enemy Unknown is a strategic RPG with turn-based, tactical combat missions. Developed by Firaxis, it was released for PC, PlayStation and Xbox. It currently has had two DLC implemented, with the expectation of more.

Disclaimer: Features violence in a futuristic setting, with some moments/concepts that may be unsuitable.

The First Thing
I'd heard XCOM: Enemy Unknown was 'critically acclaimed' and the re-imagining of a franchise that began over 20 years ago. Therefore, I was a little surprised at the apparent lack of effort I found in the introductory experiences. The menu is poor and uninteresting, the opening cutscene is brief and uninformative, and the base management tutorials are not particularly useful either. I realise a Video Game should be about the gameplay, but it did leave me with a first impression of confusion and mild disappointment.

Plot & Devices
When Earth is attacked by an unknown alien race, the Council Of Nations activates XCOM: an elite organisation of the best minds and resources solely preparing for an alien invasion. It is up to you, as the XCOM Commander, to make the choices necessary to learn all you can about the invaders and then defeat them. The entire planet is in jeopardy, and XCOM is the only defence.

Aliens!

The story is progressed through in-game events, but does not really explore the basic premise in any detail. Since the NPCs have limited dialogue and never express any personality, there is no character development either. Short cutscenes accompany important story milestones, but are mainly used in a summary capacity rather than a form of progression. The focus of XCOM: Enemy Unknown is definitely on the gameplay, with the story existing as a framing device.

The Game
XCOM: Enemy Unknown's gameplay is split between combat and base management. Combat missions feature tactical, turn-based gameplay with a squad of soldiers and differing objectives. Meanwhile back at the base the player must deal with management decisions that will determine what resources/equipment will be available throughout the game. The different sides of the game are not independent and decisions/actions taken in one will affect the other.

When at base the player will have to manage operations and the allocation of resources. The player is more-or-less free to do as they wish, but will not proceed very far through the game if they engage in frivolous decision making. Materials are salvaged from combat missions and can be used in a variety of different ways. Base management typically involves:
● Assembling items to be equipped by soldiers in combat missions.
● Choosing research tasks.
● Constructing Rooms for the base to use the resulting benefits.
● Managing Soldiers loadout and customisation.
● Managing fighter planes to be used when a UFO appears.
● Waiting for the Aliens to attack.

The base

The world is divided up into sections, with each area possessing a 'panic level'. The aliens usually attack multiple locations at once, meaning the player must choose where to defend. Defeating the Aliens will reduce the panic and grant a reward from that specific area, but the panic will rise in the undefended areas. Satellites are used to extend monitoring ability and grant monthly rewards. Rewards from missions and countries vary from money to more personnel/resources.

When at base there is a representation of time; about one real second equates to an in-game minute. Certain activities and events require time to pass before they are available and some of the more complex constructions such as satellites can take quite a while before they are ready. Researching different projects costs resources and time as well and although it is hard to say whether time is an actual resource, it does add a forward thinking element to the game. If a player finds themselves with nothing to do, then the mission control's "Scan For Activity" should be used to fast-forward's until an event happens.

Scan For Activity

Combat missions utilise completely different gameplay. Set in an isometric perspective, the player directly controls each soldier in a turn-based, strategic style. Soldier have two action points that can be used per turn and different commands consume either one or both points. For example moving a short distance uses one point but moving a large distance costs two. Shooting usually uses one action point and this means a soldier can move a short distance and then fire, or move a long distance with no shooting. When all soldiers have used their action points, the player's turn is over and the aliens have their turn. Soldiers do not need to be used in any sequence and some actions can take place in the opponents turn, such as instructing soldiers to shoot anything that enters their range.

Commanding a soldier to shoot presents a choice of available targets and the % hit chance of each shot; with line of sight and range affecting the %. A successful hit has the chance to critical strike for extra damage. Cover provides a defensive bonus, but does not impede offensive actions as soldiers/aliens can lean around/over. It is never wise to be out in the open, and the player will often have to think ahead before issuing a command. When a soldier loses all their health, they either die or fall into a critical condition and will die in three turns unless stabilised by a medical pack. Afterwards soldiers injured in combat are unusable for in-game time, depending on how severe the injury was. Dead soldiers are gone forever.

Soldiers are categorised into classes (Heavy, Sniper, Support etc) and taking part in combat missions will award XP. When a soldier levels up, a new ability becomes available for use in combat. Some weapons/items are class restricted and a balanced squad is generally preferable. Enemy AI will behave differently on each time, although they will always be in the same starting place. Any unexplored terrain, or area that is obscured from all soldiers, will be shrouded in Fog of War and hiding enemies inside.

Movement and Shooting interfaces

The soundtrack is pretty standard and the voice acting is flat and clichéd; but the sound effects are decent. The graphics are not of high fidelity, but I suspect this is due to effort placed into the cutscenes. There are many little cutscenes in the game, which feature the actual customised soldiers of the player; which is a nice touch. The controls and interface was specifically written for the PC version, so there are no porting bugs. The mouse control is excellent, although occasionally combat camera controls feel a little clunky.

Wrap Up & Negatives
It is a buggy game. Nothing especially game breaking, but bugs in combat missions are definitely annoying. Being able to be randomly shot through walls completely undermines the importance of line of sight and cover. There are also some questionable design decisions, such as aliens receiving a free move when they are discovered. Since their starting position is unknown, it is common to be caught in a bad position and suffer high damage in that free move - which seems a little unfair.

As the game progresses, the punishment for failure becomes too severe. So much time and resources go into soldiers that the player will be very tempted to save and re-load if things go wrong. The combat is supposed to have random elements, but it can be very annoying to miss a shot with a 95% hit chance, and then have the enemy kill your soldier instead. Losing hours of work due to an unlucky dice roll is not enjoyable and just encourages further abuse of the save system.

Although base management is initially a little overwhelming, it can easily become routine and boring. Quite often I found myself with nothing to do and using the "Scan for Activity" to move time forward. It strikes me as strange design to have events that take days to complete, but then using a 'fast forward' button. This could just be my interpretation, but I just felt 'time' was a delaying tactic to pad out the game, rather than a mechanic.

Be wary of that Alien free move

Personally
I definitely have mixed feelings. The combat is reminiscent of the Fire Emblem series which I very much liked, but the base management side mostly bored me. I am not sure why XCOM: Enemy Unknown received so much critical praise, given the bugs and questionable design decisions, but if I had to guess, it would be that people are crying out for a change from the sequels and FPS AAA releases of late. So when something seemingly different comes along, it receives enthusiastic attention.

It is two games in one and if you hate tactical combat, or the base management, then you will not like half of the game. Personally I thought the combat was great (aside from the bugs) but the base management side was routine and tedious. It is worth trying because it is a refreshingly different AAA release, but I would advise trying to pick it up at a discount. Firaxis are continuing to develop DLC, but there does not appear to be much general support as most of the bugs are still in the game at time of writing.

Mark of the Ninja

2012-12-13T05:57:00.003-08:00

The Title Screen

Introduction
Mark of the Ninja is a 2D side-scrolling stealth/action game from Klei Entertainment. Originally released in 2012 on XBLA, a PC (Windows) version followed a few months later. Although published by Microsoft Studios, there is no Games for Windows Live integration.

Disclaimer: This is somewhat of a mature game. It features fairly graphic violence, but presented in a cartoon-like format. There are no other adult themes.

The First Thing
The style is very striking and evident in every aspect of the game. The menus have quick and sudden transitions in keeping with the ninja theme of precision and speed and the options menu itself is fairly extensive, leaving me with a first impression of style, substance and developer effort.

Plot & Devices
A nameless tattooed ninja (you) is woken from his nightmare by another ninja, Ora. Their home is under attack and after repelling the invaders, the nameless ninja is informed that his tattoos give him heightened abilities, but will slowly drive him insane. He and Ora must take revenge on their attackers, and complete their mission, before the protagonist must honourably kill himself prior to losing his mind.

The nameless protagonist and Ora

There is not much depth to the plot. Brief animated cutscenes are used between levels to provide context and explain transitions. There are no in-game cutscenes and the camera will only move on its own occasionally to illustrate a particular point. Mostly the story is just a framing device, but it does managed to set up a choice at the end that is quite interesting.

The Game
Set in the 2D perspective, the player must traverse levels filled with lasers, guards, dogs and traps to complete various objectives. Although mostly in a side-scrolling tradition of left to right, there is plenty of up/down level design, as well as occasional backtracking. Levels are quite open, and there are often multiple choices with different obstacles. Occasionally there is a fixed path, but most of the time the player is free to explore and travel as they wish.

The player is awarded score, with a goal of attaining the highest possible. There is no mandate on whether to kill or not, and score is only deducted if the player is seen and an alarm is sounded. Killing enemies is a viable strategy, but bodies will have to be hidden from other guards; there is no 'render unconscious' ability. Guards can often be avoided, but sometimes a distraction is useful. Kills reward score when performed, and every guard not killed will add score at level competition. Each missions features three special challenges that will be something like "Sabotage the helicopter without killing" or "Be sniffed by all three dogs".

Avoid guards by hiding

Stealth is the heart and soul of the game. The ninja has many tools to use, but shadows and sound are the basics. Standing in light means being easily seen, whereas shadows provide near invisibility; unless the guard has a torch/night-vision goggles/is a dog. Line of sight matters and enemies will not look up unless they think you are around. Light sources are often destructible, but doing so will create a sound pulse. To raise the alarm, enemies actually have to see you as a quick glimpse will only arouse their suspicion.

Many actions will create sound pulses that will alert anything inside. The sound pulse is relative to the scale of the action performed and enemies inside the pulse will come to investigate; so thoughtful positioning is required to create good distractions. Alert enemies will explore the area, and not just stare at the object that made the sound. An aiming mode is available where time stops and the player can lock on to individual targets. During this mode, any action that will make sound displays a theoretical sound bubble which is useful information. Other items can be used during aiming, and it can be entered into at any time; even whilst jumping or falling. There seems to be no damage taken or sound made from falling.

Gadgets and special abilities are available to help. The ninja carries darts in an infinite supply, that are useful for distractions and destroying certain objects (maximum of three simultaneously). He also carries a grappling hook used to quickly, but not invisibly, move to certain locations. Towards the end the ninja will acquire powers such as being able to see through walls, and to teleport short distances. Other gadgets are split into Distraction Items (Noise makers, Smoke-Bomb, etc.) and Attack Items (Spiked Mine, etc.). They are unlocked during the campaign, upgraded with points acquired through getting high scores/special challenges done. 'Techniques' are purchased abilities mostly designed to kill silently. Right-clicking any item/technique will give a short audio description by Ora, in a nice touch.

Techniques, items, upgrades

New outfits are unlocked during the campaign, and the player is prompted at each mission start to choose their 'loadout'. Levels can also feature places where the player can re-customise and/or restock a loadout. The ninja can move quite freely and climb on almost any surface; including some ceilings. Special items are hidden in hard to reach areas that will result in bonus score if found. Each level has three scrolls that will result in an upgrade point and a short audio-log continuing the story of the previous tattooed ninja. Levels may also have a hidden gong, which will teleport the ninja to an enclosed puzzle specifically designed to test.

The art style is interesting and suits the gameplay, but seems a bit strange in cutscenes. I suppose the idea was to take the violence down a notch. A lot of effort has been placed into making it instantly clear whether the ninja is in darkness or light, and how much sound is generated - something many stealth games should take note of. The sound effects are good, but the soundtrack made little impact on me. Voice acting is a mixed basket, with most people seeming to be Australian mid-sentence, but the voice acting for Ora (the most used) is of a good standard.

The PC version is good and the mouse support is generally quite impressive. The only issue I had was the aiming of abilities such as Smoke-Bomb. Since it can only be on a surface, it feels a little clunky and was clearly designed with a gamepad in mind. All keys are rebindable but the controls can be a bit sticky at times, however I think this is a general issue rather than a PC one.

I have not talked about combat much because I never used it. Since enemies will defeat you very quickly if you are discovered, it is recommended to only perform silent/stealth kills. There are occasionally important enemies who must be killed, but they do not count towards the "No Kill" bonus. There are a wide variety of options available for silently dispatching enemies from the purchasable Techniques.

Maybe too many puzzles use lasers

Wrap Up & Negatives
The controls and checkpoint system irritated me. Although generally quite smooth, the controls are occasionally frustrating; especially with changing from one surface to another (wall to ceiling). Since one binding is used for 'change surface' and 'jump/drop', I fell down instead of changing surface many times - which if sneaking above an enemy is bad. The checkpoint system is generally forgiving and well implemented, but occasionally can save your progress at unwanted moments; especially if you have just done something you wish to undo. On more than one occasion I set off an alarm and went to reload, only to find that a checkpoint had happened and the only way to undo the alarm was restarting the level. I would personally change it so that a checkpoint only saves if there are no enemies currently aware of you.

I played a 'no kill' style, which I always enjoy, but like with many stealth games I felt I was being pulled in different directions. Mark of the Ninja is caught in that awkward spot of encouraging players to kill with abilities and upgrades, and rewarding those that choose not to with bonus points at the end. The score probably balances out, anyone who kills will feel they 'fail' to get the no kill bonus. It is difficult to provide a stealth game that fluidly encourages a mix the playstyles. Choosing not to kill also seems to turn the game into a puzzle game, rather than an action based one. I was looking for the 'solution' to how to progress each section without killing.

It is not a negative as such, but if you want detailed story progression, or emotional character development, this game will disappoint you.

Personally
This reminded me a little of the 1989 2D Prince of Persia which I have fond, but distant, memories of. There isn't a lot of depth, but gameplay definitely succeeds in a "Ninja" feel. The campaign took me about 9 hours to complete, but I would not say it was absorbing all the time. It definitely started to feel more of the same; especially the frequent laser puzzles. A few interesting final levels do spice things up though. Given that the story is quite light, I was surprised how I found myself weighing the final choice quite deliberately - which is impressive for a game these days.

Mark of the Ninja will always be towards the cheap end of the price spectrum (as of writing, £11.99 on Steam), so I sincerely recommend this if you are looking for a stealth/action/ninja game. I had a lot of fun with parts of it, and hiding in a cardboard box with little ninja legs sticking out is a developer stroke of genius...