Tag Archives: video games

What I Played Today: Transformers: War For Cybertron

Posted on by Semtex Skittle

In my recent hunger for new games to play (not new to the world, just new to me, mind) I started browsing the Steam store… and playing some of the crap that was coming in off of my Gamefly subscription. In honour of the fact that I haven’t written a column in three weeks, I thought I’d throw out some quick thoughts on a game I’ve played quite a bit recently. Sadly, it’s not a new title anymore… but there it is. Maybe next time, Gamefly… maybe next time.

Transformers: The War for Cybertron – My most recent arrival from Gamefly. It’s a solid game. The game-play is pretty tight, and it does a pretty decent job of integrating the idea of both heavily armed and armored robots… as well as their ability to transform into things. The whole system is pretty simple – and you’ll discover over hours of game-play that it lacks a certain level of depth – but the game is certainly fun enough.

The single player mode has you taking command of a single Transformer in the service of either the Decepticons or the Autobots (both have their own full-length campaign mode, which combine together to tell a single story). We are taken far into Transformers Past and the initial battle for control of the planet Cybertron that began the million-year-long war between the two factions. Ambitious Megatron claims that he will build a galactic empire rightfully dominated by the power of the Cybertronians… while Optimus Prime and his Autobots battle based… well, mostly on principle. Honestly, we’re not given much background. Luckily, the story is simple enough; nobody is going to get lost in this narrative.

You’ll recognize the names, and the look, and even the transformations of the titular robots in disguise… but one of the game’s most disappointing features is that there isn’t the variety from Transformer to Transformer that you might be hoping for. Although each one has a unique loadout of one or two weapons, their unique transformation, and a pair of special abilities, all of these are drawn from the same pool (with the exception of the transformations… oh, and Megatron and Optimus Prime receive unique weapons… but they’re the only ones). Ultimately, you’ll probably end up fighting with whatever weapon you like best / whatever weapon you happened to find that will work for the given situation. This isn’t a terrible thing; after all, games like Halo are completely based on the concept of two weapon swaps, switching out weapons for new weapons and so on, and the model works.

Still, the game has some fun voice acting, some cool level designs… and it’s pretty fun to roll through. The levels are longer than I expected going in… which is both a plus and a minus. Since the gameplay is, on the whole, fun… it’s not debilitating… but some of the sequences definitely begin to drag before you’ll finish a given level. The sequences can be challenging, depending on your difficulty level, but there’s earnestly nothing in terms of tremendous innovation in any of the game-play sequences. Basically you’re thrust into a third-person shooter with a variety of terrain, weapons, and enemies… and you go to town. There’s nothing wrong with that, but there’s nothing to this game that really makes it feel Transformers-y… aside, again, from the transformations themselves. At times, these will help you out, and do add an element to the game.. but you’re going to want to spend most of your time in combat in your robot form, doing robot things.

Oh well.

The multiplayer component features a few modes  modes. The competitive multiplayer modes (Deathmatch, King of the Hill, etc.) bear some similarities in structure with Activision’s Modern Warfare 2, with perks and levels and so on. The co-operative multi-player is headlined with the by-now-completely-standard horde mode (called Escalation in this particular incarnation), where you face off against wave after wave of enemies. I know that there’s only so many permutations of multiplayer modes; particularly within a given genre. I accept that each game isn’t going to break new ground with its multiplayer modes or concepts. That having been freely admitted? There wasn’t much to get hooked on here.

If for some reason you haven’t been turned off by the movie franchise or the endless bastardization of the classic Transformers, and you enjoyed this game, there’s something to look forward to: A planned sequel in 2012.

April Power Poll

Posted on by Semtex Skittle

The rack has seen some serious action since I last addressed this topic back in March (not the smallest change has been the introduction of an entirely new physical rack. It’s more of a drawer now, but that has less torture-device correlations). As you may know, one of the most important ways in which I get access to video games over time is through my long-running subscription to Gamefly. I use the two-game package, because inevitably at least one of the two games sits around for ages while I play the other and any new releases… still, it does give me a way to play a bunch of games that I would never consider spending $60 on. In theory, GameFly will send you the games you really want at the top of your list. Of course, the reality is that when you build a queue of 40 games it’s sometimes a surprise to see what shows up in the post. Am I getting some A+ rated game I forgot I wanted to play two months ago, or something terrible that had some flashy reviews and bamboozled me? Well, if it’s the latter, at least I didn’t pay full retail.

Anyway, non-seq introductions aside, here once again is my Video Game Power Poll… in April. These are games that command significant time. If you think I have good taste in games, you may want to check some of these titles out. As always, I’ll try and give long-winded blurbs about each game as we go. And they’re still in reverse order. And no, I wouldn’t turn down sex for any of them. (Well, maybe for #1). Also, I’ve only got seven entries this month. I’m more dedicated than usual.

7. Call of Duty: Black Ops. Still standing strong months, and months, and months later. I’d actually taken a significant break from this title, but then my friend B and I played some the other night, and I was right back in. There’s something about the visceral pleasure of shooting people who think they’re doing a great job camping that never tires. Of course, when I first came back, the rust pretty much locked me up… and some of the game’s flaws have me longing for the next Modern Warfare release. When does that launch again?

6. Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds. This one is really up and down depending on mood. I had whipped myself into a serious fighting game craze for a couple of weeks there… and it made me think harder about Mortal Kombat. I’ve had some predictable issues with the online multiplayer. I still hold strong to the belief that fighting games were meant to be played against people in the same room. You know, to avoid that whole lag issue.

5. League of Legends – It’s been suffering from some server instabilities in the last little while… but they thoughtfully gave out a pittance (and I do mean pittance) of in-game Riot Points to buy things with as compensation. I did buy some stuff from them to support disaster relief in Japan, and I saved a copy of the picture of their CEO holding up a huge cardboard check to my hard drive. This game is never going away, though, because they just keep improving it!

4. Bayonetta – This one is a GameFly rental. It’s actually kind of an old game by now, apparently. I had never even heard of it until it popped up while I was perusing GameFly’s database. It sounded worth a look, so I went for it. It’s visually stunning, but took some real getting used to after years of playing FPS, sports, and RPG games. Maybe I need to branch out more often.

3. Dragon Age II. It still won’t die. There’s a lot of permutations to this one… and I love the fact that the automatic dialogue from Hawke changes based on the responses I frequently pick in-game… I love the characters. Wait, I did a whole review on this.

2. Red Dead Redemption. Another GameFly-er… finally. I actually had wanted to play this title since its launch, and I’m just now getting to it. Definitely going to be the subject of the next ‘what I played today’ style column. This one is definitely worth checking out for anybody who hasn’t gotten around to playing it yet. It’s very much in the style of Grand Theft Auto 4, but with a lot of improvements (in my mind) to the game-play. Of course, if you don’t like westerns, it’s probably a stay-away.

1. MLB 2K11 – I’ve been trying to author a review to this game for months. Seriously. I started writing the day of its launch after I bought it and powered through a few games straight. I love it. It has some weird glitches that are kind of frustrating, but if you want to play baseball, there’s a lot to like in this release… I guess pretty much like every year. Anyway, with all of the excitement over the baseball season itself, I’ve been glued to this title a lot. I suppose it will cool off in time (just as my Madden obsession inevitably does) but then again, the baseball season is a lot longer. I particularly like the ‘My Player’ create-a-player mode in this year’s offering, which is pretty meaty. Baseball is a good sport for it.

What I Played Today: Jade Empire

Posted on by Semtex Skittle

Every so often – because I like old games better than I like new ones, or so I’m told – I like to revisit a classic game. I’m sure, if you read my columns often, you’ve noticed that by now. Continuing this month’s theme of BioWare inundation (spurred, of course, by the release of Dragon Age II and the Arrival DLC) today I decided once again to play a little Jade Empire. Longtime WRPG fans will remember the title from its 2005 debut. Newcomers to BioWare’s camp may have missed this jewel. In the interests of saving the integrity of the game for anyone who never played the original release, I’m going to avoid serious game spoilers here, even though the game has been out for six years now.

The first thing I’ll say is that this game holds up better than most other original XBox titles with graphics that are bearable, at least, and smooth play on the XBox 360. I never played the game when it was originally launched on XBox, and only got into it after a friend recommended that I fork over the cash to buy it on the XBox Originals in Marketplace. Smooth emulation aside, I immediately fell in love with the title. Jade Empire offers a highly interactive game-play experience (more on this later) that is settled on the solid foundation of classic BioWare RPG structure. We slowly accumulate a group of loyal followers, whose personal story develops through conversation options between major plot developments in the overall story. Although many of these characters follow what we might call the “BioWare Rules” in terms of their personality archetypes (although Dawn Star is unconventional, she still reeks of Carth Onasi, doesn’t she?) they’re predictably detailed, with a diverse set of backgrounds and motivations. In this respect, I hardly think that Jade Empire is the gold standard for WRPGs. Its relatively simple story progression doesn’t lend toward diverse side missions undertaken in far-off locales.

The game’s outstanding feature, however, is not the party members, the story, the voice acting, the graphics… or even the interesting-in-theory morality system of competing philosophies. Unfortunately, while the idea of two philosophies competing against one another (Open Palm and Closed Fist) sounds compelling, and a refreshing departure from someone merely being good or evil, light or dark side, it amounts to the same thing. The complex motivations that would drive a practitioner of the Closed Fist according to the game’s story ultimately don’t matter; points are accrued by being a jerk, just as always. Sliding scale morality systems are always going to be imperfect in general, of course, while we’re on the subject… but I almost feel as if Jade Empire could have benefitted from a dual system; having both a good vs. evil slider, as well as competing philosophies (in this scenario, we might wish for more than two that are so diametrically opposed). Oh, and why can’t we ever have a philosophy of neutrality in these games? Wouldn’t that be fun? Maybe not.

The reason I keep revisiting Jade Empire, attempting to jump off for the third time, is because of the interactive game-play system. Even Mass Effect with its shooter based game-play doesn’t explore the potential as deeply as Jade Empire, which plays successfully like some kind of action game, only with distinct RPG elements. It lacks the elaborate combos that we might see from Devil May Cry or similar games, but it interweaves level-ups and equipped items just like a more traditional RPG. Unlike latter-day BioWare offering Dragon Age, we are truly rewarded in Jade Empire for dodging, and knowing when (and from where) to use our different martial arts styles and their different unique powers. Now, of course, those who are traditionalists and would rather have the stats decide things (this also includes people who just aren’t that good at action games) I suppose this is probably frustrating. I personally think it’s mild enough that once you get the hang of it almost anyone could have fun with the system and be successful in the game. For me, this outstanding combat system makes the game incredibly easy to just drop in to and play. In fact, every time I load it up and play, I angst over how much fun it is… and how it’s the one game amongst all of BioWare’s RPGs that never got a sequel.

Oh, yeah, and as a side bonus, the game features a 2-D scroller style airplane game where you pilot your airship and fire your weapon straight up toward a variety of aerial enemies and hazards that cross the screen and generally try to ruin your day. All of these sequences but the first one are optional, but they provide a nostalgic element for me…  and completing them provides a bunch of XP within the game, too.

And hey, maybe if enough people realize what a great game Jade Empire was… we’ll get that sequel after all.

On Special: 4 DLCs

Posted on by Semtex Skittle

Micro-transactions… are the future. In the future, the principle game will be less important than it even now is. We’ve already learned to expect from pioneers in the DLC field like BioWare that a retail game may be half of what it ends up being… and not through the antiquated idea of a full expansion (although those are still nice and profitable too, I’m sure) but rather through add-ons. DLC. Updates. Extras. Once we’re paying for little tidbits to enhance the game we’ve already paid full retail for, we are just walking, talking wallets for the developer.

In a way? This is actually a good thing. We can expect more content to be established over time and to bridge the gap from release to release. Does this seem lazier, and a way to push retail titles out faster? Unquestionably. However, even with full eyes-wide-open knowledge that I’m being exploited somehow… I’d earnestly rather be able to download and play a few new scenarios over the course of a year that eventually complete the game I had purchased… rather than finishing a more-complete-at-retail-launch game… and having nothing to play for a year.

Unfortunately, I think the developers realized this even before I did… and it led them to release games that weren’t even ready to go, reasoning that they could be completed later. Still, the idea of rushed production isn’t new. Let’s take the example that I’m sure some of us are still angry about… Knights of the Old Republic II. Obsidian’s sequel offering to the critically acclaimed original threatened to be better than BioWare’s classic original in literally every way. We had more characters, more sophisticated interactions, a more diversified playing field in terms of character customization as well as available items. We threatened to go to more places, more diverse locales, and places not quite so stubbornly grounded in the Star Wars trilogy canon. In short, the game threatened to be an all-time great. Oh, except that a third of the content was cut before release. It was released with roughly ten trillion bugs. It was released, in short, because the producers wanted to make money for Christmas… rather than put out a game that would endure even through 2011.

But if Knights of the Old Republic II were released in 2011… we would have gotten the HK factory. It would have been a $5 (U.S.) add-on, but we would have gotten it. We would have gotten patches and updates to make the game stable and play-able so that we could have gotten the HK factory. So that we could have gotten the Sith Academy. Or whatever else cut content we found ourselves to be lacking.

Given that I was going to buy Knights of the Old Republic II either way… and given that I’m going to buy incomplete DLC-driven money-grubbing games today… I guess I’ve just accepted, at this point, the inevitability of DLC and micro-transactions in general. If I can spend $5 at a time for some cool add-on, I do it almost without thinking. At least, for my favourite games. If the retail release is garbage, I’ll never think about it again. So I suppose that’s the line that developers have to walk in this brave new world. Make it good enough that I’m willing to play it on-and-off for a year. This will keep the game always in my head, so I’m already thinking about the sequel… and it will keep me happy, so that I don’t write scathing reviews about your product.

Phew. Rant over. Alright, here’s something that might potentially become a regular feature for me. Four (or more, but this time, four) DLCs or add-ons I played recently. My impressions, whether they were worth the money I shelled out, and what they did to the overall game. These are, in this case, in no particular order, but I did include the launch DLC for Dragon Age II… just because.

Jill Valentine / Shuma Gorath – Additional Characters for Marvel vs. Capcom 3 – It’s been two weeks (or more?) and I still earnestly can’t believe what I paid for these characters. As anyone could have guessed (and, really, since these two at least were in the game files anyway, it didn’t take a savant to anticipate) the first ‘major’ DLC for MvC3 is the addition of fan-favourites from MvC2. Unfortunately for my wallet, the idea of being able to use Jill Valentine and Shuma Gorath again somehow justified the cost. Given that these add-ons were basically unlocks (costing me roughly 100 KB of space on my XBox 360’s hard drive) and not new content at all, I’m extremely unimpressed with their addition. Couldn’t I have gotten this as a bonus for pre-ordering? I already forgave developers for adding cut content on later as DLC packs, but I feel like this reaches a point where content is deliberately cut in order to make a few extra dollars. Are video games not enough of a growth industry? I’ve got an idea – make a better game. Sell me a half dozen characters as an add-on, not two individual ones each of which cost me a few bucks. As much as it pains me, I really can’t discourage this DLC enough. What a disappointment!

The Golems of Amgarrak – Add-on Scenario to Dragon Age: Origins – I reviewed this just today, so I won’t spend a ton of time on it. Considering its cost, and how much I enjoyed the original game, I can’t say that I regretted this purchase. After playing it, I’m sternly disapproving of the marketing of this DLC as some kind of super ultimate difficult challenge. I thought the Emerald and Ruby Weapons in Final Fantasy VII were harder… and they were literally just a matter of patience in game-play. And fine, say what you will, that in a game that allows tactical thinking you can’t make a challenge that is difficult for everyone yet also possible for everyone… but don’t try to tell people who really enjoyed the tactical combat of Origins and were hoping for more just how hard Golems would be. Because it wasn’t.

Arrival – Add-on Scenario to Mass Effect 2 – Very much following in the vein of the Overlord DLC, we are treated to what is ultimately an elongated single mission. For this scenario, we have Commander Shepard rolling solo, and the scenario is quite a bit more challenging than normal – mostly as a result of this solo-Shepard format. However, I can’t argue with the scenario design, which is fun to play through. The DLC is about the average BioWare-single-scenario-add-on length… but yet again, the marketing let me to expect something that I don’t feel like I got. Arrival didn’t do much to bridge ME2 and ME3 for me. Now, of course, I’ve envisioned scenarios in which it stands as a direct bridge, but the DLC still felt a little lazy to me… and not something that profoundly changes the way I felt about the setting. I was earnestly disappointed after the DLC that we’d received from the ME2 team in the past, with Shadow Broker, Kasumi’s Stolen Memory, and Project Overlord all head-and-shoulders above this offering. Still, it was fun, and if you’re hungry for a re-visit to ME2, Arrival isn’t a terrible choice.

The Black Emporium / The Exiled Prince – Launch DLC for Dragon Age II – As a pleased pre-order customer of this game, I received both of these DLC packs via the usual unwieldy 4957 digit prize code entry which gave me permission to spend twenty minutes downloading add-on content for my launch copy of Dragon Age II. My fundamental issues with the format aside, I’m reasonably happy with the fact that I got these add-ons for free. The Black Emporium is little more than a curiousity, despite its potential. Its existence provides a solid jump to your Hawke in the early stages of the game, but you earnestly may never visit the in-game Emporium more than once… maybe twice.

As for the Exiled Prince… it was actually a very strong DLC. I may not have liked Sebastian Vael as much as I liked the game’s stock companions, but he has a very complete role in the story. He’s interwoven with elements of the plot, with events from the previous game, and with the most important underlying themes of Dragon Age II. He feels like an integral part of the story if you take the time to do each of his plot scenarios and speak with him when the opportunity is given. Of course, as is common with this game, the overall sheen of Exiled Prince is marred by the bugs it launched with. Most notable amongst them? Not being able to earn achievements from the DLC. I don’t mean to sound overly critical… but this is just unacceptable, particularly for customers who would have purchased this add-on after market, not received it for free with a pre-ordered copy.

What I Played Today: Golems of Amgarrak

Posted on by Semtex Skittle

I was in quite a mood after playing so much Dragon Age II, and (as that led to) another full play-through of Dragon Age: Origins. I had originally planned to continue straight on to Awakening, and just complete the whole series. But then, as I was on my roll, I remembered that I had purchased a couple of DLC packs for Dragon Age: Origins a while back on the cheap. They had some kind of sale for half price DLC, or some such. I’d taken that opportunity to pick up both Witch Hunt and The Golems of Amgarrak… but while I’d completed the former some time ago, I’d never bothered to sit down and play through Golems. I took a look at the achievements, because I’m like that, and I realized that I needed to complete the DLC on a minimum difficulty of Hard in order to receive my e-recognition for my accomplishments.

Harkening back, I recall that Golems of Amgarrak was touted as an extra-difficult bit of DLC… it was, ostensibly, much harder than the regular game, even on the Casual difficulty. In short, this DLC was not intended for the faint of heart. This did nothing but excite me, but I did go into it expecting a higher degree of difficulty, and felt that I should use some caution.  Although I might be ‘that guy’ when it comes to gaining achievements in an expedient manner, I’m strangely honourable about some of them. It seemed to me that if I were going to defeat the DLC’s final boss on a Hard or Nightmare difficulty, I might as well play the whole DLC on that difficulty. So, I set my difficulty, and I chose to import a Warden from an Origins playthrough at level 20, a Dwarven sword-and-board warrior.

The DLC took a couple of hours to play through all the way. It introduces a semi-new area (yet another re-skin of the default Dwarven Thaig that we saw four times or more between the Origins game and the various DLCs) that paves the way into a completely new area. Amgarrak itself is a completely unique area replete with colour-switch puzzles, swarms of enemies (mostly of the more difficult types. I assumed there would be Golems, but I was treated to a plethora of Revenants, Arcane Horrors, and high-ranked skeletons as well), and a bunch of loot. Most of the loot proved to be useless, but it did provide upgrades to the Golem which I picked up on my way in. As one might expect, the Golem is the key to the whole deal. It has significant healing abilities, and while it can’t always fight its way out of trouble, the Golem is tough enough to escape from danger so long as your party features some tankier types.

Ultimately, I found the DLC a little on the disappointing side. It was about as substantial as I expected (given the average length of BioWare’s DLC add-ons) with a fairly large area to run through and a whole new party. However, in lieu of adding substantially to the story (as Leliana’s Song does, and Witch Hunt debatably does) the idea behind Golems of Amgarrak was to provide a very challenging play experience within the tactical game engine of Dragon Age: Origins. Earnestly, I didn’t feel the need to adjust my tactics much from playing the original game. Tank-type characters are still able to mostly take care of themselves, and the most effective approach for me seemed to be to focus on healing. The only encounter I had to repeat was a surprisingly difficult swarm of golems which jumps out at you in an optional chamber while in the process of acquiring golem upgrades. I was not particularly impressed by the Harvester, which seemed to be mostly a matter of managing a group of enemies and keeping on top of healing.

Anyway, I think this polishes off my experience with Origins. I’m very much anticipating a DLC – any DLC add-on, really – for Dragon Age II.

Video Game Power Rankings

Posted on by Semtex Skittle

Recently, as I settled myself into my cheap office chair, I realized that there was a stack of 360 games which was sitting on the table between my actual workspace (computers, etc.), and the TV with the 360 hooked up to it. My mouth twisting in annoyance, I inspected these games, determining which ones needed to go where on ‘the rack’. The rack is where games go to die after they’ve escaped immediate interest, especially in a climate like March of 2011… a climate in which new games are constantly being released.

A few games went on the rack. Others, I knew, had to stay out. Why? Because they’re go-to games. They’re games I need on-demand. This is 2011. If it takes me longer than 20 seconds to achieve video game bliss, I am doing it wrong. But it did get me thinking. What games are sitting on top of that stack? Which ones does Steam claim I’m addicted to? Which PC games are relevant enough to where I actually keep track of their DVDs?

So I thought, why not talk about video games the way I talk about sports? Why not have a power poll? After all, there are games which dominate my time, and those which do not. Not all of the games which occupy my attention are new. Not all of them are critically acclaimed. Not even all of them I would take the time to review (unless someone really wanted me to, I guess. I can probably write 2,000 words about any video game at this point). But these games do share a certain quality which sets them above and beyond the average title. These are games that I actually want to keep playing. Some games might make the list, from time to time, simply because I need to finish them in order to write a review (or, from a more fiscally responsible standpoint, mail them back to Gamefly) … but not all. Not even most. That stack which remains ever at my fingertips is video gaming bliss.

At least, today, it is. Tomorrow, who knows? So I thought I would share a few titles from ‘the stack’. You can think of that as a metaphor from now on. It represents the sum total of my gaming experience, from 360 titles through Steam downloads. These are the kind of games that I’d think about, for a flickering flame of an instant before slapping myself back to reality, turning down sex for. These are games which I can disappear into, and later boast about the accomplishments rather than hanging my head in shame over the time-sink. I think that’s enough adieu. Let’s agree to stop for now, shall we? Instead, let’s dive into the power poll, in reverse order…

8. Call of Duty: Black Ops – Not nearly the time-sink that it used to be. This reduction in attention has nothing to do with the game itself – which is still pretty fun – but rather due to the inundation of new games forcing their way in. If I had to pick just one multiplayer game to jump into with my friends, it would still be this one… but I’m not sure there’s any reason to play Black Ops solo right now.

7. Command and Conquer: Red Alert 3 – Steam tells me that I love this game, and that I’ve spent prohibitive amounts of time playing it. Unfortunately in this case, Steam is right. I actually had never picked up RA3 on its retail release, but I was unable to refuse Steam’s recent sale on latter-day C&C products. I was hooked pretty much on entry, through a combination of nostalgia and longing for a legitimate RTS release. Ever since I burned out on StarCraft II for no discernible reason, I’ve been looking for another strategy game to fill the void. I guess this one is it. At least, for now.

6. Civilization 5 – A perennial power-poll contender. The Civ series is a fall-back position for me. Anytime I hunger for immersion and a way to kill a two-hour-block, I fall back on this series. Ever since I embraced the latest incarnation over Civilization IV it’s been a no-brainer.

5. Bulletstorm – As I’ve stated before, this is a great game. I’m just not sure how replayable it really is. Given time, I’m sure I could play through the single player again and love every instant of the carnage… but in the meantime, the lack of variety in the multiplayer mode has this one shelved behind some of the newer titles, and some of my perennial all-stars.

4. Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds – The DLC for Jill Valentine and Shuma Gorath is hideously overpriced. That having been said, having Jill back in the fold has totally re-ignited my interest in the game. I now play it as a kind of bridge between other more ‘serious’ games. I remain terrible at multiplayer MvC3. If you want easy winds, challenge me.

3. League of Legends – Continuing their unending trend of new champions, game state patches, and new content, Riot Games continues to impress with their tactical multi-player smash. I’m sure the microtransactions in this game are making everyone involved rich, too… which bothers me only in that I’m not involved in the collection of cash.

2. MLB 2K11 – I play two sports games every season; MLB 2KXX and Madden NFL. I will sometimes also trot out NCAA Football… but not often. Anyway, the latest version of MLB 2K isn’t exactly a re-invention of the wheel. We’ve known the rules of major league baseball since 1898, and Bud Selig remains as committed to stagnation as ever. There’s not a ton of new features to be desired in this latest incarnation, but the graphics are even better than ever, and the pitching and hitting controls are as good as I could conceive of a way to make them. There isn’t much to hate in this latest title.

1. Dragon Age II – Immersive doesn’t begin to cover this one. I’ve heard a lot of the complaints about this game… and my succinct retort would probably be something like: “I love this game. I hate listening to reason. So let’s not discuss it.” Frankly, that, and the enormity of what I have to say about this title, are the core reasons that I haven’t tried to review it yet. Fear not… thoughts are forthcoming… but I suppose after a certain point a true review doesn’t do anyone any good.

Initially, I had intended to make this a ten-game feature.. .but then I figured, why push it? These are the games that currently snare me. I’m playing them a lot. If you don’t know them, they might be worth checking out, and I’m certainly open to discussion. Also, if anyone wants to suggest new games to me that you’d desperately like to see reviewed, or that you think I’d really like… well… don’t be a stranger.

Game Review: Bulletstorm

Posted on by Semtex Skittle

Unfocused Ramblings

I loved Gears of War. I just want to establish that before I begin a rant that no doubt is going to feel very much like some kind of savage attack at the heart of that game. My problem with Gears of Wars is simple. There’s just too much ultra-real-gritty-brown-and-gray in today’s media. It’s not confined to Gears. It’s everywhere. Films have taken a darker ultra-realism tone, video games seem to be obsessed with avoiding an artistic style in favour of an ultra-realistic one. I’m sure this trend was fueled by a hundred different factors – not the least of which being that people expect HD graphics to look like real life – and it’s not even wholly a bad thing. It’s just everywhere.

So imagine my surprise when Epic’s new first person shooter game isn’t gritty or ultra-realistic at all. Here’s the first and strongest thing I can say about Bulletstorm: It’s almost an anti-Gears of War. The setting is shiny and vibrant. There are colours everywhere. I don’t have trouble making out details of the setting because of the lack of contrast between surfaces. And it’s ridiculous over-the-top action. Now, of course, it’s also a traditional first person shooter rather than an over-the-shoulder affair and it isn’t cover-based, so it’s not in quite the same genre as Gears of War… but I’d say there are certainly some strong parallels in places. It’s just that Bulletstorm feels like a much livelier game.

Which is ironic, because the game is about a dwindling group of people trapped on the surface of a hostile alien world which is completely overrun with toxic mutants, carnivorous plant life, and five hundred foot tall monsters with a foul temper.

Bulletstorm is, at its heart, about over-the-top action. Throughout the game, you will acquire points by slaying enemies. The caveat is that the game doesn’t reward precision or efficiency, but creativity. Although a small point bonus is given for shooting an enemy with a devastating headshot, a much bigger one is given for kicking him off the side of a chasm into a swirling tornado which has become charged with lightning and presumably ending his day in a less-than-desireable way. These point bonuses are universally referred to as Skillshots, and there are a couple hundred of them, encompassing virtually every conceivable creative killing. Oh, at this point it might be worth mentioning that this isn’t a game for your young kids. Trust me. The language is strong, the violence is insane, and the themes of bitterness, revenge, and despair aren’t particularly accessible to the under-20 crowd. Of course anyone can appreciate a good action game… and this is definitely one of those, because you’ll be moving non-stop, even while you try to find creative ways to dispatch your hapless foes and occasionally take cover from the devastating fire being flung back at you.

Like Gears of War, Bulletstorm features a quick-switching weapon trio. We haven’t got any grenades, but we do have a supertech gadget called a Leash. This is the game’s outstanding feature, as it allows you to manipulate your environment in many ways, gripping objects, flinging them from place to place, and so on. Of course, it distinguishes itself from other physics-heavy weapons (like Half-Life 2’s famous gravity gun) in that it also directly manipulates your enemies themselves. You’ll use the Leash to draw enemies out from behind cover so they can be kicked onto some metal wreckage (for good bonus points!) or to maneuver an explosive container for a timely detonation. The Leash definitely offers the most potential for manipulation and fun, but of course there are some enemy types which are (mostly) immune to it except in special circumstances by virtue of being either too large or too fast… but you’ll be relieved to know that even at the end of the game’s single player mode most enemies are ready to be tossed around like rag dolls.

In addition to the Leash, Bulletstorm features a variety of weapons. We have the obligatory assault rifle, a high-caliber pistol, a sniper rifle with remote controlled bullets, a gun that launches drills, among other stand-outs. In addition to their basic firing mode, each weapon has an upgraded ‘charge’ mode which can be purchased (with those ever useful score points) that can be used in special circumstances. The ‘Peacemaker’ assault rifle, for example, can use its charge mode to fire a special hundred-shot clip instantly into a foe. This will literally disintegrate one or more opponents if you land it, with the accompanying visual effects. The Leash itself has an upgraded charge mode called the Thumper which will use a wide-area application of force to launch your enemies into the air and crash them into the ground. It has more applications than it sounds like, and can occasionally be used to dramatically clear an entire field of enemies.

The weapons are re-loaded, re-armed, and equipped at the discretion of the player who will use special containers called DropKits which will accept the currency of the player’s score (achieved, again, through killing enemies through the skillshots) in exchange for the player’s choice of weapons, charge ammo, regular ammo, Thumpers, and so on. This interface also features a handy database of skillshots. You know,  just in case there was a weapon effect that you hadn’t considered.

Game Modes

Bulletstorm features a feature-length single player campaign of what to me felt like ‘appropriate length’. I didn’t time my run through it, but I can say that I was neither left wanting more nor lamenting the time spent on it. It tells the story of Grayson Hunt (voiced by Steve Blum, of anime dub fame), a bitter alcoholic space pirate and his squad. In the opening moments, Grayson makes a poor decision amidst an alcohol-induced haze which lands he and his remaining friends on a hostile alien world. Before all is said and done, Grayson is left with only his emergency-rebuilt pal Ishi, who is now half machine and partially in the grips of a psychotic AI. Recognizing that, despite Hunt’s mistakes, their best chance lies in cooperation, Hunt and Ishi take off across the hostile alien terrain. They discover the overgrown remains of what seems to be a giant tourist-friendly resort which has apparently been taken over by inhuman mutants, hostile plant life, and others.

It also features the Echoes mode, which is essentially a series of time trials that take you quickly through sequences from the single player game only without the story bits and dialogue, and with the bonus of a timer. As a result, these levels are completed quickly, and they heavily emphasize using the point-boosting skillshots in order to achieve a high score (in this case, rewarded by Stars, which are essential to completing a number of Achievements/Trophies).

Multiplayer is another outstanding feature as long as you have some fun folks to play with. The game mode, which is called Anarchy, is similar to a Hordes or Firefight mode from other FPS titles. However, the Bulletstorm twist (as you might expect) is that the game is based around racking up a high score through the use of skillshots. The environments in Anarchy mode provide some extra opportunities to earn some skillshots not seen in the single player mode, which is good, because the team’s aggregate score must pass a certain minimum in order to advance out of the current round. A premium higher than survival or the overall massacre of your enemies is on using the terrain features correctly in order to maximize player score. Although it’s certainly a great deal of fun (at least, initially), you may ultimately find that there’s not a ton of variety to be had in the Anarchy mode. The main variation is in the specific details of the maps, but there’s not a PvP aspect to it, and the AI is the same as it would have been in the single player campaign mode.

The Bottom Line

The single key word to Bulletstorm is: fun. It’s not thought-provoking (although the characters are oddly compelling), and it’s not breaking new ground all over the place, but it is a great deal of fun just to sit down and play. It’s worth re-emphasizing that this isn’t a game for younger kids… the characters swear like sailors.

The Big Question

Is it now required by law (as opposed to just by convention) that every game needs to set itself up for its own sequel?

Game-Play

The game plays pretty tightly. Occasionally you’ll find the hit tracking on the melee attack isn’t so good against enemies who are right up in your grill, but this is only a problem when trying to pull off specific skill shots and not an overall problem when playing the game. Despite having quite a few mechanics going for it, Bulletstorm’s control system is simple and intuitive. If you’ve mastered the controls of any first-person shooter in the past you’ll have no trouble with Bulletstorm. Despite its variety of game modes, Bulletstorm is ultimately a bit limited in terms of the variety of experiences that it provides. However, as long as you ration your exposure, you could very well find the game fun forever.

Graphics

As we expect from Epic, the graphics in Bulletstorm are gorgeous. More importantly, we see some varieties in colour, with lush green foliage all over the place and a clear sky above. Now, of course, there are some areas of the game which are more breathtaking than others, but all of the sets were gorgeous in design, and some of the set pieces were very epic, and very cool. You’ll have such encounters as a hydroelectric dam which is coming to pieces around you (including its massive water-turning wheels), and trying to escape not only from enemies but also from terrain pieces aboard a fast-moving train. The character models are also very pretty, although some of the textures will sometimes break down in close-ups. The best character design in the game definitely has to go to Ishi and his newly-installed machine parts. You’ll also be treated to a number of interesting visuals directly tied to how you finish off your enemies, but those I’ll leave you to discover on your own.

Sound

The score is proficiently done and fits the settings pretty well. For the most part, the tracks are forgettable (although I do very much enjoy the main theme which plays on the menu and at places during the single player campaign). The voice acting is all very well done. I particularly like the voice acting for Ishi, which has been digitally modified to have a mechanical edge to it. His banter with Grayson is a little reminiscent of what you get between Dom and Marcus in Gears of War, but with a more genuinely hostile edge to it. The sound for the game’s effects, weapons and other features is tight and complete. Nothing to complain about in the sound department with this title.

Multiplayer

The Anarchy mode is definitely a lot of fun, but it’s not something that most people are going to want to play every day. Given the style of the game it’s not insane that there isn’t a strong PvP multiplayer component to Bulletstorm, but by its nature PvE multiplayer is going to have some limitations that there are no ways to overcome – human enemies will think creatively, and want to hurt you. AI opponents just do whatever they’re programmed to do.

Game Review: Marvel vs. Capcom 3: The Fate of Two Worlds

Posted on by Semtex Skittle

The Bottom Line

It’s been over a decade (no, seriously! Marvel vs. Capcom 2 came out in 2000! It was on the Dreamcast!) since we last dropped into this remarkable franchise of fighting games. A lot of our favourite characters are missing, but the feel hasn’t changed.

Unfocused Ramblings

As usual, I like to begin these reviews with a boring story about my personal life. About ten years ago, a friend of mine owned the Sega Dreamcast. He never had a ton of games for it, and we all agreed that the controller was preposterously big, but it was probably the console that my group of friends and I played the most during that stretch. Because whatever we thought about the Dreamcast, and however few games there were on it, or however few my friend owned… he did own Marvel vs. Capcom 2. At this point, years later, I don’t even remember much about the fine details of the game. But I do remember its feel… and that feel has returned, to my hazy memory more or less intact, this year with the release of Marvel vs. Capcom 3: The Fate of Two Worlds. So now that I’ve played it, and the excitement is all flooding back to me, the unfortunate truth comes out: for all of its selling points (and it has them to spare) this game is not as much fun as its predecessor.

It’s not. You may think it is, and you may even be having more fun with it now… but it’s a matter of circumstance. And this game is not as much fun as the last one.

Does that mean that Marvel vs. Capcom 3 isn’t a great game? No. Actually, I’ve been impressed by basically everything that I have seen from the new title so far. It has the same feel of the old game. That hyper-frenetic superhero/comic book/action game and so on action is quite intact. You still have the hyper combo bars. You still have three different characters who are flying in and out of the action supporting one another and generally causing some havoc. You can still fill the screen with blasts of energy and crazy attack schemes that seem like no one could ever possibly survive them (and be just as disappointed to see that your opponent blocked in time). In other words, they’ve done a magnificent job of recreating what made Marvel vs. Capcom great. So we can say that this sequel is a faithful one. So what’s the problem?

I’m not sure this game translates as well to playing against faceless strangers on the internet as some of the other fighting games that have come out over time. Of course, it’s not a different experience on XBox Live (or the equivalent service of your choice) but this game, unlike other games, is a more intense frenetic experience and should be less about a cold, tactical approach. To me, this makes it more fun to play with friends than in multi-player match-making. Ultimately, that’s subjective, and if you like fighting games you should enjoy the multi-player experience here as well. Of course, whatever I may say about frenetic superhero/video game combat, the more skillful players of fighting games will still maintain a big advantage in this game due to the huge variety of combos available, even if the move-sets of each character are relatively simple. A lot of universal concepts translate across all characters (such as chaining together flashy aerial or team combos, and the counters to those moves).

The game does offer some options to help teach people about the game-play mechanics. If your fingers aren’t made of steel you may get frustrated attempting to execute long multi-team-mate-extravaganza type combos, but the mission mode (sort of a training mode with specific objectives as far as moves) encourages you to explore chaining moves together (from the basics of knocking a foe in the air and coming down on top of them with a crushing blow all the way to the aforementioned 500000 hit combos). I suspect that if you explore some of these modes, and trouble to learn the moves of a few favourite fighters, you’ll quickly get the hang of winning in this game.

Oh, and don’t be overly troubled by the absence of some Marvel vs. Capcom favourites. I’m sure they will all be available through DLC sooner or later. What’s that, you say? They announced that Jill Valentine and Shuma Gorath will appear as DLC characters even before launch? Let the games begin!

The Big Question

What were they thinking, not including characters like Megaman X? Presumably they were already looking at the prospect of selling DLC packages… but there is an infinite pool of characters to draw on between Marvel and Capcom. It still feels a little cheap to have excised some of the staples that we’ve been playing with since the first installment in the series.

Overall Game-Play

It’s a seamless game-play experience that has more than its fair share of flashy effects and super-cool sets of moves. My one gripe with the game on the whole is the inconsistency in move-sets between the characters, where some of the characters have a huge variety of diverse moves that can work in every situation… while other characters… are basically stuck with a signature move or two and a series of button combos. I can see how the innate attributes of the different fighters necessitate some of this for the purposes of balance, but it’s a little disappointing to find out that a personal favourite character has a lackluster move set. I suspect that this will be the exception rather than the rule for most players, but I do think it’s worth mentioning.

Graphics

It’s not visually breathtaking, but it has a certain (and to my mind, incredibly appropriate) style, and you won’t be disappointed by the attack animations. A ton of unlockable artwork accompanies the game in addition to the rendered character models, and there’s a lot to like with the visuals in this game. More important than the overall graphical presentation is probably the tightness of the experience, which doesn’t seem to have any glitches or bugs to it.

Sound

An upbeat main soundtrack accompanies unique themes for every fighter in the game as well as for the mighty Galactus. You’ll likely recognize a lot of the music as remixes on songs associated with the character in question (for example, Chun-Li’s appearance in a bout is accompanied by an overclocked remix of her battle theme from Street Fighter II) and you’ll probably come to appreciate a few favourites. I didn’t find the score forgettable which is a point in its favour. Obviously there’s not a ton of room for mood music in a fighting game, so the character themes and menu themes are essentially it. As for the voice acting, I haven’t encountered any voices that send me to my knees screaming at the heavens, and I take that to be a good sign. For a handful of bonus points, if you have some good surround sound and bass, you may be blown out of your seat by comments from Galactus, who addresses Thor with a hearty “If you are a god… then what shall we call Galactus!?” and other fun-loving quips.

Quick Take: Magicka

Posted on by Semtex Skittle

Quick Take

If you ever asked yourself how much fun it would be to randomly combine 10 different “elements” to create an absurdly large array of spell effects this game answers the question. For the rest? Don’t ask questions.

Unfocused Ramblings

I have, upon reflection, a soft spot for games that are developed by groups of Swedish students. I mean – in a broader sense, if you can make a game that people will enjoy, then why not? And through the magic of Steam, this game becomes available to the world. I know a lot of people have already played Magicka, and but I’m hoping more people will take the plunge into it.

So what is Magicka? It’s a humorous adventure-RPG-ish-game set in a world that parodies a number of mythologies as well as aspects of pop culture. You’ll see a ton of references to pop culture icons like Star Wars, 300, and literally dozens of others. The opening movie which introduces the setting and the premise is chock full of pop culture references and popular memes, and it doesn’t slow down from there. The player takes command of a nameless mage clad in an obscuring robe who has been taught at the academy of magic, and learned to wield eight ‘basic’ elements in order to weave together ever-more-impressive spells. If that weren’t enough, you quickly learn about two basic combines which produce two other, we’ll say “hidden”, elements (which, themselves, are frequently used to create still more sophisticated spells). With these ten building blocks, tens of thousands of combinations are possible. And, since the game doesn’t really force you to progress forward, and even your most tenderly beloved allies are valid targets for your spells, the game really does encourage you to play with these elements until you create something you really like. And from there, to use that spell until you get tired of the animation… and develop something new… and so on.

And yes, there are some big booms available in the more sophisticated spell combinations.

On top of just randomly mixing and matching various elemental building blocks to create beams, balls, streams, and walls, there also exist a repertoire of ‘Magicka’; defined spells that you learn the combination to which have particularly powerful effects (such as Revive, which restores a dead ally, Haste, which allows your mage to run at incredible speed, or Grease which deposits some very flammable fun on the ground).

Your mages can collect weapons from time to time which have some special effects, but for the most part, the game attempts to steer clear of any kind of level-up or power-up type stuff. The focus is very much on the interplay of the spell combinations, and the limitless fun you can have blasting your friends up, over, and through the landscape elements using your magical powers.

All of that sounds good, right? Well, it is. But the game does have some problems, and I would be remiss if I didn’t warn you about them before you shell out your hard-earned cash for a copy of Magicka.

– The single-player version of this game just doesn’t stand up well on its own. For several reasons. The most important one is that it’s very easy to kill yourself in Magicka, and if you do so when playing solo, you’ll find yourself regressing to a checkpoint that could be a good ways back. Quit the game? You’ll end up restarting the entire chapter. This glaring weakness still exists in multiplayer, but with a team of four, you can revive your comrades and hopefully not all die at once. This is tough in single player.

– There are some bugs. Let’s not mince words about this. In addition to wacky things that can happen with spell effects (many of which will send you or your enemies flying around the screen) the game seems to crash occasionally, and it just doesn’t feel quite as polished as you might expect from EA’s latest release.

– They made some inexplicable choices with the multi-player, such as not being able to reconnect to a game in progress, and the cut-scenes not being skip-able except by the host (and they’re pretty lengthy cut scenes at that. You can skip ahead of the cut-scene even if you’re not hosting, but you just stare at a loading bar until the cut-scene ends anyway).

– Despite having its own tutorial section, Magicka really doesn’t teach you much about how to play. Pay close attention to the controls it does show you, and don’t be afraid to experiment, but also don’t spend a lot of time looking for the game to guide you… because it won’t. That having been said, it’s not a crippling problem since experimentation is half of the fun in this title.

– Although the game is clearly more friendly for multi-player use, you’re definitely going to prefer putting together a group of four friends as opposed to playing open multiplayer. Friendly fire is a huge part of this game, and you’ll enjoy it more with your friends. Trust me.

The Bottom Line

Personally, I love Magicka. It’s a great multi-player experience and the combination of spell effects is a lot of fun. But it’s not a polished experience; it has some bugs, some of which are frustrating, and as a single player experience it leaves quite a bit to be desired. For what you’re going to pay for Magicka, however, you’ll feel as if you’ve gotten your money’s worth.

DLC! Black Ops: First Strike

Posted on by Semtex Skittle

(This DLC is an add-on to  Call of Duty: Black Ops by Treyarch.)

Standard Open

Hey, it’s that time of year! No, it’s not time for a new Call of Duty game… but it is time for the first multi-player map pack that Treyarch has released for the latest iteration of the Call of Duty franchise –  Black Ops. The “First Strike” pack contains 5 all-new maps, four for the standard multi-player modes of Black Ops, and one for the “Zombies” mode. Since there’s no other content for this review, I’ll go ahead and give you the multi-player play-by-play (if for some reason you need a review of a zombie mode map, I don’t know what to tell you)

Ascension

Hey, it’s a zombie map! As you would expect, it has a lot of doors… I guess that doesn’t tell you much. This map has you climbing a missile silo. Like all zombie maps, it centers around team-work and cooperation. Don’t play it with your enemies.

Berlin Wall

This map is a (relatively) small battleground that is divided into two distinctive halves by the existence of a kind of ‘neutral zone’ across the middle. This zone, marked very clearly on your radar in red, is the home to multiple guard towers who will shower you with a pleasant hail of sentry gun bullets if you so much as set foot inside of it. The rest of the combat is, to a lesser or greater extent, defined by this dead zone at its centre. Although it initially seems like more long-ranged combat would be the result, you may find that most combatants are seeking ways around the dead zone in order to engage their foes, and that the map actually has a much more intimate feel than you might expect given its small size.

Discovery

This map is the arctic site of some Nazi laboratory. It’s very small, and divided into two distinctive halves. The division is not nearly as clear as maps like Nuketown, but the presence of a bottomless chasm that divides the centrepoint of the map still leads to a limited number of routes from one side to another. It definitely feels like a map where a spawn lock could be effective. That having been said, a central bridge which connects the two halves of the map makes for a potentially brutally-contested “B” point for Domination and other balanced side game-types. Despite its small size and the relative open-ness of most of the map, Discovery is very much a 2-3 level map, and enemies will often be above or below you, so pay close attention!

Kowloon

This map is based on the Hong Kong escape level from the single player campaign, using many of the same terrain elements to create a multi-leveled brawl. This map is very small. In terms of physical size, it probably would rival most of the mid-sized maps, but because of the way the multiple levels and terrain intervene, it plays as small as any level in the game. You’ll often find that combat over the central portion of the map is the key to victory, and is defined by numerous level-changing bridges which provide access not only from rooftop to rooftop but also between the combat levels. Enemies can, and will, come from all sides on Kowloon, and it’s important that a prudent player stay careful throughout.

Stadium

Another small map, actually, despite having several different distinct combat areas. Depending on your chosen game-type you’ll find yourself mostly embroiled in combat in one of the map’s main “zones’… which is to say, the hockey arena itself,. the area outside of the building, or between the rink and its surrounding structures. Spawn points, available cover, and the general feel, of this map change significantly from iteration to iteration. Like most of the best multi-purpose maps, the first time that you play Satdium you should find yourself wondering what it plays like in Death-Match, or Domination, or Demolition, or whatever you’re not playing. Out of the four maps, I personally think that Stadium is the most universally fun design, albeit with some potential for tiresome slug-fests over the same couple of areas of the map.

The Details

For X-Box Liver users, this game is going to run 1200 Microsoft Points (or roughly $15). For hard core Black Ops players the DLC is very much worth it, as it significantly expands the basic roster of maps that the game shipped with. Much like Modern Warfare 2 this DLC will not allow you to match-make on the new maps if you don’t own them, without forcing you to select an alternate play-list (Halo style). On the other hand, this method filters down the available pool of players based on the ownership of the DLC, so it probably evens out.


The Bottom Line

Is this DLC worth it? If you’re a serious Call of Duty multi-player mode player, then yes, it probably is. You’ll appreciate the additions to the game’s maps… and the new maps seem to have been founded with an understanding of what Black Ops really is; a game that features much more intimate combat than its immediate predecessor. You probably won’t feel any urgency to use your sniper rifle on most of these DLC maps (not to say that you can’t snipe, but merely that these have a feel more like Firing Range or Nuketown, and less like Array), but your SMG will probably get a workout.