So I’ve never been a huge fan of RTS games. Civilization was a good one, and one I only really got into with Civ 5, but when a friend recommended Endless Space, after trying it once I was hooked.
It’s similar, of course, to most RTS games. Lots of micromanagement, research, battle, etc. etc. Continue reading
Not Just Another Shooter
It seems like every year we get another generic first person war shooter providing an experience that we’ve all played before. Well The Darkness 2 provides something new and different. Whether it’s the comic book style aesthetic, quad-wielding gameplay, or the immersive story-telling, The Darkness 2 offers a refreshing unique experience that is hard to come by nowadays.
Frozen Synapse is a turn based tactical strategy game that is set in a dystopian future where the player takes control of a system called the ‘Shape’. The Shape is a system which is both digital and physical, which allows the player to gain control of the vatform units on the field who were design solely for the purpose of combat, practically VR control taken to the extreme.
NBA 2K12 is a game that has dared to be the best. It has come close. I’ve put enough hours into this game that I finally feel confident in writing a review to do it justice. To find out how close this is to perfection check out the rest of the review below.
“How did they do that?!”
inFamous 2 is an incredibly fun game, you have the powers of an electricity wielding superhero and it is awesome being Cole. From the platforming to the combat, the gameplay mechanics are great. The gameplay flows together well. You can easily go from gliding across rooftops to firing electricity bolts within seconds and even throwing cars towards enemies is easy and intuative. It all feels very polished and satisfying.
Datura is a very unique, strange, and peculiar game. It’s a sort of Puzzle/Adventure game, however it is also an intriguing and immersive experience. It can be played with PlayStation Move or the normal Dualshock controller. For my first playthrough I used Move which I would recommend using if you have it, as it makes the game much more immersive and you literally get a better feel for the game. Though the normal Dualshock works fine too. Datura can be completed in under 90 minutes, but I don’t think it’s short length takes anything away from the experience or makes it worth any less. I do think it’s satisfying completing an experience like Datura in one sitting, as it is very unique and strange. It feels like one complete experience that you have which is fitting to the inspiration of the game.
Uncharted: Golden Abyss is most comparable to the first Uncharted game, Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune which was released back in 2007, because most of the game you are in a similar jungle environment, and the gameplay mechanics feel very similar. Which is a great thing. But playing through the game I quickly realised it is much more than just Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune on the Vita.
Firstly the game looks incredible, while not on the level of Uncharted 2 or 3, it looks vastly better than Uncharted 1. From the lighting effects, to characters models, to environmental textures, everything looks great. Specifically in some of the later chapters in the game where the environment switches from the usual jungle scene, the game’s graphics really show off. Continue reading
The Uncharted series is one of my favourite game series of all time. Ever since the first game and now onto the Vita game, Golden Abyss, the adventures of Drake have always been very entertaining and kept me interested and engaged from the start to finish of each game.
Due to great motion capture and acting performances, Uncharted has great story-telling, cut-scenes and a voice over that make the characters feel real. The immersion of playing as Drake, fighting enemies and climbing through the environment is greatly enhanced by Drakes’ dialogue. The humorous dialogue and witty one-liners make Nathan Drake one of the funniest characters in computer games. Uncharted 3 builds upon Drakes’ character, after the first 2 games I really liked Drake, in fact I considered him my favourite character of all time (and still do). I liked him because of his witty humour and sarcastic light hearted jokes, even through rough times. His relationship with Sully and Elena showed that he cared about those around him, but he still wanted to embark on adventures to complete his goals.
Shogun 2: Fall of the Samurai is set against the backdrop of the Boshin War period in 19th century Japan, this new standalone campaign starts in 1864 during a time of growing resentment against the Western colonial powers which had chosen to ‘civilise’ Japan. Fall of the Samurai includes 39 new ground troops, ten new steam-powered ships, multiple nations ironclads, and three new agents who can be deployed on the turn based campaign map to disrupt enemy forces, flirt and even kill your enemies. Before you start your campaign you choose a faction. There are 6 standard factions, 3 who support the Shogun and 3 who support the foreign powers. During my first play through I decided to try out the new weapons and gadgets so I choose the Satsuma clan. The Imperial factions such as the Satsuma have immense European and American weapons of which to utilise. The new weapons really change the way this Total War game plays.The rules have changed and now it is considered polite to shell your enemy from the sea with giant naval gunnery. The range of the new late 19th century weapons completely changes the way you play the game. For example I have had several battles where I stayed in the same place for half an hour and shelled my enemy from afar. This probably doesn’t sound like much fun but combine the new artillery with the new third person firing perspective and you have a recipe for fun. Continue reading
Deus Ex: Human Revolution is the third installment in the first person RPG series Deus Ex. It is set as a prequel to the original Deus Ex, which is often hailed as one of the greatest games of all time. Human Revolution is set in a dystopian future, where, unlike in the previous titles, the idea of human augmentation is up for debate with you being thrown into the middle of it as Adam Jensen the security chief of Sarif Industries, whose headquarters are attacked during the opening mission. From here on in, you are tasked with finding out who is responsible for the attack, researching both pro and anti augmentation groups such as other firms and the activist group ‘Humanity Front’.
Human Revolution allows the player to choose augmentations, through a very precise and easy to follow menu screen which includes augmentation upgrades, the inventory as well as the message page which includes the emails and messages you find throughout the game. The player is giving the ability to chose which augmentations to upgrade/unlock which gives them a better connection to the game as well as the freedom to explore the game in entirely different ways. For example, a character who focused on the hacking skills would be able to access more locked areas than say, a character who focused on the offensive augmentations. However, this does not simply lock away a portion of the game from players who chose not to improve their hacking ability as quite often the game provides alternate routes to the objective or even into the room in question via key codes found in the game or traversing the air duct system (which also provides the player with extra experience due to the exploration xp system) or even using other augmentations, such as strength which allows you to smash down certain wall sections.
Personally I can only comment on my experiences and therefore that of a stealth character. For a better perspective I will explain what augmentation upgrades I chose. The main augmentations I upgraded were those which were of a non-combat role, hacking, stealth (however, leaving the invisibility ability to far later into the game), energy and eye augmentations (x-ray vision to see positions of enemies through walls etc). With these augmentations my main goal was to sneak through levels without being seen, and if need be take out enemies in a non-lethal manner. With this set up, this style was highly achievable and allowed me to play how I wanted to, which in anyone’s books has to be a huge positive note for the game in question. I was also able to accumulate enough Praxis points (the points required to upgrade augmentations) to be add points in other augmentations which just sounded fun, and therefore I ended up with a character who mainly worked in stealth but was able to fight hand to hand effectively (which was made even more entertaining with high energy cell slots and the invisibility augmentation).
The game play worked like a dream, I was actually surprised at the scope of the hub areas when I first entered the Detroit hub where, I quite promptly ignored my mission and went exploring, this exploration was made even better when I thought to myself “can I attack this random person” and quite promptly punched a guy in the gut. Going exploring is exactly what I had done previously when in Sarif Headquarters, where I had ignored the mission I was given, resulting in the degradation of the situation involved. Little details such as random NPCs complaining at me for being late and having a completely different attitude towards you compared to if you had left for the mission straight away (the only area I actually repeated) as well as the bigger differences just as different secondary objectives and dialogues. The world got far more exciting for me when I found out that the choices you were given were not only what augmentation to upgrade, and not just how to use them for each situation, but how you would react to certain situations that were presented in front of you. Either using the brilliant dialogue system to work out which style of argument will persuade your opposition in dialogue style boss battles, which also have multiple end results such as just letting them go free go persuading them to give you something in return for freedom, or if you feel like it just killing or knocking them out. This mechanics presents the player with a system that bounces opinions back and forth, making you gauge what statement would appeal to them more so you can get what you want from them. This style of engagement with the characters you account is brilliant, and it felt from more interactive that other dialogue systems I have encountered in the past. However, this style of encounter Mr Jensen has with those surrounding him does not seem to be used to its full potential. In the entire game I can only recall three moments when I actually had to use persuasion which resulted in the majority of the encounters with those involved in the plot against Sarif Industries not involving the dialogue mechanic but the traditional boss battle.
Here is where the problems began for me, unlike the previous Deus Ex games, you could not use your stealth ability to just by pass the boss but had to fight them in the traditional boss fight manner. This was a huge problem for my play style for in my inventory, which is of limited space and therefore you have to chose which weapons to take, there was only non-lethal weaponry and the 10mm pistol when I reached the first boss which made the non avoidable combat situation extremely annoying. For a character who was just evading all the enemies before hand, why on Earth would he openly walk into each boss situation carelessly rather than weighing up the situation and tracking the guards movements I had him doing all game. These battles just got annoying as I never had the right equipment or the right augmentations to combat these bosses, which always ended up with Jensen being chased around a room by a ridiculously augmented super soldier in fear of being shredded to pieces, which seemed to happen to me every time I got caught out in the open by generic enemies even with full armour upgrades.
These boss battles just seem out of place when looking at this game as a whole, in a game that allows the player to choose how to play and then force them to fight the bosses in this way is just stupid, and bloody annoying to say the least, and for this reason I have to mark the game down due to by overall enjoyment of the game being tarnished by annoying boss battles that my character was not suited for. However, this is the only down side I can think of for this otherwise amazing game and ignoring the boss battles Human Revolution was the best experience of stealth game play I have had for years.
Madden is a franchise that has of recent years been known for it’s little improvements. This year however is different. Madden 12 see’s the integration of new Game Day presentation , new Franchise mode options , and improved ultimate team , to name but a few. I shall start as usual with the intro video , it’s not as flashy as previous years but it does the job. I wasn’t bowled over by it as I have been with previous Madden intros. Instead of the usual flashy NFL moments mixed with cracking commentary , we get a Inception style soundtrack over the top of a rather nice painted art style. It’s certainly unique from previous years.
So onto the gameplay. It plays in much the same way as the previous 3 Madden games [9,10,11] however with an all new collision , lighting and textures engine , it brings something new to the ball game. 3D grass has been added to the graphics engine however it takes it’s time to load , which can lead to it popping in and out of scenes , especially in-between snaps. Even with the game installed on the Xbox HDD it still happened regularly. The new lighting engine adds great realism to the players , it’s tiny things like seeing the roof lights of the Lousiana Superdome in the Saints helmets that make this years Madden a little bit special. It’s the same engine used on FIFAs World Cup and 11 games last year. In all it gives a greater sense of realism to the game.
When combined with the new presentational elements , it really shines. This year , each team has it’s own unique , true to life intro , from my Seattle Seahawks running out with the hawk at Qwest Field , to the traditional pre game dancing of the Ravens All Star defensive player Ray Lewis at Baltimore. The only issue with the new presentational elements is that they don’t quite seem to gel. They don’t mix together in the same way a tv presentation would. The rather random halftime cutscenes seem almost pointless. If they’d of combined these cutscenes with last years halftime shows then they would have far more impact on the overall presentation. Personally I think EA need to take a leaf out of 2Ks NBA series , which last year hired a TNT game day graphics analyst to design there in game presentations , from the stats on screen to the locker room camera angles. However complaints aside. The new presentation adds a whole new aspect to Madden. It’s quite cool seeing your team burst onto the field. Also things like flyover during the playoffs help to add to the sense of occasion.
Ultimate team has seen the biggest improvements out of all the online modes. Last year I barely touched it, the year before it didn’t even come free with the game, however this year I’ve found myself donating countless hours to creating my Ultimate Team. The ability to play equally skilled teams and players leads to interesting and often tense games , where one dynamic superstar can be the difference between winning or losing. You gain points by playing equally ranked or higher ranked opponents. You receive a lot more points for defeating higher ranked or better skilled opponents. NFL seems to be sport designed for this mode , it’s suits it perfectly. More so than FIFA. Each position in an NFL team is so important to the team it places an added dynamic on top of the ability to build a team. Due to the size of an NFL team every player from the lowest ranked to the highest rank plays there part , unlike FIFA where your starting team tends to be the ones you always play with. The different offense cards , coaching cards and play style cards all give Ultimate Team what it needs to keep you playing and building for months on end. Most game modes in Madden this year appear to have had some improvements. Franchise mode in particular has added things like the ability to cut your team players down during the pre season , a free agent biding war for the off season and the ability to change teams during the season. All minor improvements asked for by the public. It’s nice to see these things added in by EA and to be honest , I think they have out done themselves this year.
Licensed video games never seem to have much luck. Rushed out to meet the cinematic release of its counterpart, they are usually a technical mess, completely failing as a game and failing to capture the magic of the film it’s being based off of. For every Pixar film there usually is an accompanying game, from A Bugs Life on the PSOne to Wall-E on the current generation formats. All have been below standards.
Now the video game adaptation of Toy Story 3 is here, it has a lot to live up to. Developed internally by Disney Interactive and Avalanche (with assistance from Pixar), instead of the regular developer/published THQ, this has a shot at being the best video game adaptation ever. Is it?
Toy Story 3 is a game of two halves. The game features a traditional Story mode, which follows the events of the film. The first sequence of the film involves a daring train chase and the game faithfully recreates this, and expands on it perfectly. As the game goes on, the differences between the film and the game widen, but they still remain tied into each other, but it’s unfortunate that the game didn’t stick even closer to the film, but what they have come up with is absolutely fine, even if it does gloss over the events very quickly.
Bizarrely, for a kid’s game, there is a stealth level about half way through the game, where the toys have to escape Sunnyside day care centre. The gameplay is very much trial and error and can get very frustrating very quickly, but luckily they are generous with the checkpoints. Apart from this, the gameplay is fairly standard, with platforming, jumping and a bit of shooting, along with the obligatory object collecting. It’s very standard, it doesn’t try and be unique, but its mechanics work fine.
The single player works out at about five hours, which, if this was all the game had, would be a repetitive drive. It’s functional, but it isn’t ambitious and could be so much more. Luckily, the game has another ace up its sleeve: Toy Box.
Have you ever wondered what Toy Story would be like as a grand theft auto-esque free roaming adventure? Me neither, but developer Avalanche makes it work. The idea behind Toy Box is that, as one of the three main characters, Woody Pride, Buzz Lightyear or Jesse, you explore an open world in the Wide Wild West and you complete tasks from different Toy Story characters, such as Hamm, Slinky and Stinky Pete.
Toy Box really opens up after an hour or so of play, and it gives you lots of different play options. The game utilises racing mechanics for doing stunt loops and races, character customisation options and much more besides. You can build different structures within the town, fully customise them and open up new areas dedicated to specific characters, such as Zurg’s spaceport and Lot’s-O-Huggin’s fairytale forest.
Whilst the open world is relatively small when compared to dedicated free roaming games, such as GTA, the game more than makes up for it in the amount of things you can do in it. From completing quests, new toys become available, such as Alien laser guns, photo cameras and electric wands, all increasing the variations of the gameplay.
Toy Box is an interesting concept, and Toy Story 3 completely manages to pull it off. It’s like a love letter to the universe that Pixar have created, and its Wild Wild West setting is fantastic. Whilst it doesn’t have a story, per se, Toy Box offers many more hours of fun that the rather repetitive single player, and will keep you playing for hours. It’s a shame the game doesn’t feature any online play, especially considering that there are three main characters, but there is split screen multiplayer, and as this would be what younger children would be mainly using, it isn’t a problem.
On a technical level, Toy Story 3 delivers. The game looks great. The art design is very strong, perfectly complimenting Pixar’s design whilst expanding it themselves. The characters look great, with particular attention having been done on Woody and gang. The frame rate generally holds up, although whilst playing through Toy Box I did notice some slowdown when a lot happens on screen (a lot of fireworks go off whenever a mission is completed, and as this is quite frequently, slowdown does occur). I also noticed a fair bit of screen tearing, but like the slowdown, this only appeared when a lot was happening.
The sound is more hit and miss. The game doesn’t feature the voices of the movie, and whilst generally the voices do sound a lot like their celluloid counterparts, the Tom Hanks impersonator is not good. Quite terrible, in fact. The music is taken from the films, in particular Toy Story 2, and because of this, the music gets very repetitive very quickly. No matter how good You’ve Got a Friend in Me is, it gets very grating after the tenth time in a row. Sound effects, on the whole, are generally good, but like the music, can get very repetitive.
The controls are nice and responsive. It’s very easy to pull off a lot of the jumping and shooting in the game, and this certainly made the game flow better. The camera can be very annoying, pulling right behind you’re character and sticking in corners quite often, but a nudge of the right analogue stick can usually put this right.
It’s rare that a second animated sequel is as good as the ones it’s following, but Toy Story 3 is easily up there with the other two. The game also manages to be what is very rare these days, a great video game that fully uses its license to create a fun game that fans of the films will love. Sure there are problems, but taken as a sum of its parts, Toy Story 3 is great. I wouldn’t recommend paying full price for it unless you have young children, but if do find it on the cheap, I wholeheartedly encourage you to play it. I can only hope other licensed video games turn out this good (I’m looking at you, James Bond: Bloodstone).
+ Fully uses it license brilliantly, and to its full potential
+ Toy Box is a whole heap of fun, perfectly executed
- Short and repetitive single player mode
- Technical shortcomings can dampen the experience.
Format Played: Playstation 3. Completed Single Player missions, about half of Toy Box.
