Category: EGM (Electronic Gaming Monthly)


EGM Review: Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare

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March 2, 2014

Sowing the seeds of fun

Whenever someone decides to do a spin-off—whether in movies, TV, or videogames—it’s a huge risk, since it’s rare to end up with a good one, and even rarer for it to actually be successful. So, when PopCap revealed that they had a small band of developers at the studio working on a title called Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare, most of us were intrigued, but we worried if this tower-defense franchise could survive the sudden transition into the world of third-person shooters.

Taking elements from both Battlefield and Call of Duty, Garden Warfare mixes in some strategy gameplay and PopCap’s own brand of offbeat humor to create a wholly unique experience that’s wildly fun to play. Eight total classes (four plants, four zombies) playable across seven different modes provided me probably as much, if not more, enjoyment as I get from the shooters this game takes its inspiration from.

The element that grabbed me right from the get-go? Garden Warfare has the most interesting customizable classes I’ve seen in quite some time. Though you only start with four on each side, each class also has six unlockabale options that do more than just provide a new skin. This means there’s over 50 playable characters, each with their own degrees of originality. For example, the Peashooter has a Commando alternative that does less damage per shot but has a higher rate of fire.

Their use on the battlefield isn’t where this uniqueness ends, though, as each gradation is fully customizable. Garden Warfare offers hundreds of different items to unlock to give your plants and zombies their own distinct look and style. Whether it’s sunflowers with top hats, Chompers with zebra stripes, or All-Star Zombies with 3D glasses, there’s no reason everyone’s characters should look the same.

And, thankfully—for once—you don’t have to worry about microtransations when it comes to getting items. Instead, you unlock them via a free, in-game card system. You get cards from packs you buy with silver coins, the traditional Plants vs. Zombies currency. You can earn coins by completing matches and doing well, or you can perform certain challenges in a match (revive three allies, kill two Sunflowers with one shot, and so on). It may be a bit of a grind, but it won’t cost you anything extra on top of the money you’re already paying, a welcome change away from the policy of most EA games.

The combination and balance of characters is also intriguing and requires a lot more to master than you might expect. The Zombie Scientist is both the healer and shotgunner class for the zombies, while the Cactus is both the sniper and the explosives expert for the plants. Having a balanced team when you go into battle is critical and requires pinpoint communication between everyone on your team, especially in more tactics-driven modes like Gardens & Gravestones (think Capture the Point). A nice touch is being able to change classes mid-battle, in case strategies need to change on the fly.

Not everything about Garden Warfare is sunshine and rainbows, however. Even though the game has the lowered price tag of $40 ($30 on Xbox 360) to make up for the absence of any single-player, I still found it lacking the content you’d expect from a multiplayer-exclusive experience at launch. While the game lists seven modes, there’s really only Garden Warfare’s take on three: Team Deathmatch, Capture the Point, and Horde Mode.

Team Deathmatch serves as the basis for three modes by itself with Team Vanquish (straight-up Team Deathmatch), Classic Team Vanquish (any customization features are wiped away), and Welcome Mat (beginner’s mode). Capture the Point is seen in Gardens & Gravestones, which also has a Classic variant. In Gardens & Gravestones, the zombies must try to capture six to seven different points in succession. If the plants stop the zombies just once, the match ends. Finally, there’s Garden Ops—which, obviously, is Call of Duty’s Spec Ops, which originally was their take on Horde Mode. This is the only mode to feature a local and online option (exclusive to the Xbox One version) and sees up to four players taking on the role of plants and facing off against 10 waves of increasingly difficult zombies.

Besides the lack of modes, the game also has a paltry list of maps to fight on. Some modes only have one map, while others have a maximum of five (some of these being day/night variants of a map), and although it’s great to see them all done in the same bright and cheery art style of the main series, it gets repetitive when you’re cycling through the same areas again and again. At the very least, though, the maps fit the modes. Team Vanquish only supports smaller maps to up the encounter rates, while Gardens & Gravestones has large, expanded maps to allow for more strategic maneuvering when looking to capture points.

Now, don’t get me wrong—even though there’s not really a lot here, the game is still tremendously fun, especially when you’ve got a full room playing 12-on-12. The gameplay’s fast and frantic, and each mode brings nuance to the tried-and-true formulas. Garden Ops allows you to grow friendly plants that were all featured in Plants vs. Zombies 2 to provide extra defenses, while Gardens & Gravestones actually makes you feel like you’re accomplishing something when you capture different areas and push the front lines forward. I just wish there were more modes to try, and while content packs are coming down the line, I can’t judge what doesn’t yet exist.

Even though there’s a bit of a bare-bones quality, content-wise, to Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare, it’s definitely one of the good spin-offs. No matter what genre they tackle, the developers at PopCap really care about this franchise, and they clearly put forth a great effort. From the deep class system to the solid controls to the tiny details like zombie-movie references in the graffiti scattered around the levels (my personal favorite was “You’ve got red on you” from Shaun of the Dead), there sure is a lot here to love.

Developer: PopCap Games • Publisher: EA • ESRB: E10+ – Everyone 10 and up • Release Date: 02.25.14
8.0

Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare is a polished, tremendously fun time even without all the options or content of its multiplayer contemporaries.
The Good A surprising amount of depth and customization in the character classes.
The Bad A lack of maps and modes at launch.
The Ugly Here’s hoping the port-a-potty with a zombie inside was clean before the Chomper swallowed it whole.
Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare is available on Xbox One, Xbox 360, and is coming to PC at a later date. Primary version reviewed was an Xbox One retail copy provided by EA.
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EGM Review: Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2

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Whip it, whip it OK

One of the more frequent complaints about the first Lords of Shadow was that it got away from what players have come to expect from the franchise. Most still generally agreed, however, that it was probably the best 3D Castlevania ever (not that that was saying much), so the hype—and the hope—was pretty high for the follow-up.

In Lords of Shadow 2, players get to control Dracula himself for the first time ever, and they do so in the modern era as he wages his own personal war against Hell’s best soldiers. After being awoken from a 200-year slumber by necromancer extraordinaire Zobek, Dracula has to shake off some of the rust that’s accumulated over two centuries and must search within himself—and the city that’s risen over the remains of his old castle—in order to reclaim his once-impressive strength.

After a four-year wait for this sequel, I’ve got some good news: MercurySteam took a lot of the first game’s criticisms to heart. The bad news? Some of the solutions create new problems, and some strengths of the first game just aren’t as good here.

The first—and probably biggest—issue that MercurySteam addressed was the linearity of the first game. Whereas Lords of Shadow was broken up into small stages that took place within one of the game’s dozen chapters, this sequel features an open world for players to run around in and explore. Like most games of this ilk, as Dracula regains his lost abilities, more of the world opens up, and previously unattainable power-ups and secrets become accessible. Simply put, an open-world game is an easy fix to the linearity problem—if it were planned properly.

MercurySteam was so ambitious that they essentially built two open worlds, since Dracula often “travels” back to his castle in the past from various points in the modern world. They’re big enough that you’ll easily get lost in them—and that’s the problem. You will get lost, and not in a “I lost track of time because the game is so good” sort of way, but more like “This is the third time I’ve passed that landmark, and I’ve gotten nowhere.” Lords of Shadow 2 is in desperate need of a better map system, especially in the city. It’s hard to remember where collectibles are or if you’re even going the right way. Several sections look so much alike that the areas almost blend together, and the game does a horrible job of letting you know there’s a marker system buried somewhere in the countless menus.

One change that does seem to have worked out for the better? The combat. In the original Lords of Shadow, many players found themselves simply mashing a button or two and only changing strategies for the few enemies who could counter the more basic moves. To encourage players to mix things up this time around, Dracula has three main weapons—the Blood Whip, the Void Sword, and the Chaos Claws—and they all get stronger by using and then mastering different techniques with them. And this Master System is one of the few straightforward things about Lords of Shadow 2. You defeat enemies to get experience points, then spend these points to unlock new weapon techniques. After using those techniques so many times in combat, you can transfer knowledge of the technique into the weapon itself, making it more powerful.

I’ll admit that I still found myself slipping into the bad habit of using only one or two techniques—like the Guillotine aerial smash—now and then, but the combat system is still much improved and far more rewarding this time around. And even if you’re like me and fall into old patterns, you’ll still use more moves total due to the increased enemy variety, even if you develop favorite tactics over time.

One of the strongest elements from the first Lords of Shadow—and one that most players probably hoped wouldn’t change—would be the storytelling. While it started slow, the first game built up nicely to a crescendo and then a cliffhanger ending to make Lords of Shadow 2 possible. This time, it’s a bit of the reverse.

For the better part of the game, the narrative is still solid. Much like how Lords of Shadows 2 offers two worlds to explore, it also includes two major enemies. The first one is obvious: It’s Satan, in that classic man-versus–the supernatural scenario. The second foe? That’s Dracula himself. As explained by a 15-minute cutscene early on, in case you didn’t play the first game, Dracula was originally Gabriel Belmont, cursed forever to fight his bloodline after absorbing the powers of the original Lords of Shadow. This leads to powerful scenes of him racked with guilt over having not known his son, losing his wife, and his cursing a God who’s abandoned him.

Of course, it also leads to some confusion and plot holes for those familiar with the series. How exactly does Dracula go back in time to his castle to unlock his powers? Are they hallucinations? Has his guilt taken form to test him before he can reclaim his power? Is he actually traveling back in time? Is it all of the above? It’s all really unclear, and just when I thought I’d figured it out, the next story beat would happen to befuddle me again. And if I was confused after having played all the previous games, I can just imagine how it might be for someone looking to get into the series. It’s probably not the best idea to start with Lords of Shadow 2 if plot means something to you.

The story also tries its best—but fails—to cover up the fact that many of Dracula’s objectives for 80 percent of the game are glorified fetch quests to lead him back to his true strength. I would’ve preferred more time with all my powers so I wouldn’t have had to backtrack so much to find all the hidden items. The worst part, however, may be that the story builds towards a preconceived end point, only to provide a cop-out finish that left me unsatisfied.

Even with these problems, though, there’s still a solid core to Lords of Shadow 2. The mood-setting orchestral music is fantastic, and I loved the voice acting, led by Patrick Stewart as Zobek and Robert Carlyle as Dracula. What’s more, the epic boss battles rival those seen in the first game. It’s just a shame that MercurySteam’s evident lack of experience constructing open worlds, and letting the story get away from them, keeps Lords of Shadow 2 from being better than its predecessor.

Developer: MercurySteam • Publisher: Konami • ESRB: M – Mature • Release Date: 02.25.14
7.0
Lords of Shadow 2 runs into a classic sequel problem. By trying to do more and fix the few issues of the first game, MercurySteam actually does less and creates more problems. Despite this, they’ve still crafted a competent tale with solid core gameplay that should entertain longtime Castlevania fans, even if it’s not quite everything they’d hoped for.
The Good Drastically improved, rewarding combat.
The Bad A pathetic excuse for a map system; objectives feel too much like glorified fetch quests.
The Ugly How fast I’d probably succumb to vampire queen Carmilla’s, ahem, charms.
Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 is available on Xbox 360, PS3, and PC. Primary version reviewed was for PS3 using review code provided by Konami.
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Hands-On: Wolfenstein: The New Order

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Time waits for no hero

I’ve gone hands-on with Wolfenstein: The New Order before, but my recent glimpse at the game has given the most complete picture of B.J. Blazkowicz’s new adventure thus far. For those of you who may be unaware, the premise of The New Order is that it’s an alternative storyline or parallel universe from the Wolfenstein games many of us grew up on. Here, B.J. Blazkowicz doesn’t stop General Deathshead. Instead, he suffers a coma-inducing injury, sleeps for 14 years, and wakes up to hell on Earth, a world where the Nazis won.

This new build allowed me to play the entirety of the game’s first three chapters, starting with B.J. flying into Nazi airspace with his buddy Fergus. Now, I’m not going to get into the minutiae of my time with this demo, because if you’ve played a Wolfenstein game before, you’ve got an idea of what to expect: lots of Nazis to shoot and stuff to blow up. But few games have given me that big-budget action-film vibe more than this.

From that very first sequence, you’re asked to do the impossible, and as is typical in these kinds of games, it’s all so much daily routine, like brushing your teeth in the morning. Jumping from your doomed plane onto the wings of another allied plane. Hopping into a turret and fending off half-robotized German Shepherds. Commandeering an AA gun to take out a giant mechanical walker reminiscent of a Star Wars AT-AT. And this was just the first chapter.

Beyond the variety seen in the over-the-top action moments, The New Order did a great job of making me feel empowered with just its standard first-person shooter fare. Running through the trenches, dual-wielding assault rifles and mowing down Nazis left and right, legs and arms flying everywhere. I felt like I could take on the entire German army by myself.

And, yes, all this sounds super-sensationalistic, but you don’t play Wolfenstein for realism. If anything, gaming these days is so much about immersing you up to your eyeballs in the world we already live in that when something like The New Order comes along, it actually feels kind of refreshing. I saw how fast B.J. sprinted from his wheelchair in the asylum after sitting on his behind for more than a decade, and I knew that most of reality had been checked at the door. This game is all about empowering the player on a very basic level.

Even the cutscenes communicate how much of a badass B.J. is. In one, after escaping the asylum, B.J. interrogated a German officer with a chainsaw. Let me say that again. With a chainsaw. In the three chapters I played, B.J. projected more testosterone than I’d seen from every male gaming protagonist combined over the past year. I’m not saying that’s always a good thing, but in this context, with the absurdity of the situation, it fit—and I found myself enjoying my playtime more because of it.

Some less-bombastic moments with B.J. also showed a little depth to his character. My favorite? After clearing out a bunch of Nazis from a roadside checkpoint’s motor pool, B.J. got into the husk of an abandoned jeep. He then started spinning the wheel, pretending to honk the horn, and even worked on his pickup lines with an imaginary girl. It helped give the sense of B.J. being a man out of time—both in regards to recent gaming trends as well as his own plight. Then he went outside and blew up a pair of mechs.

I also noticed something interesting while working my way through the game’s menus. Late in the first chapter, your unit is captured, and you have to make a choice on whom to save between a pair of soldiers. I made my decision and realized later on that text appeared on my menu detailing the person I’d saved, giving me the sense that it could affect my playthrough later on. I don’t know if the choice will result in anything beyond a cameo later in the game, or whether it meant my entire story had been thrown down a different path, or even if more choices were coming at some point, but I love the idea of your decisions—even in something as far-fetched as Wolfenstein—carrying weight.

Honestly, I was more excited for Wolfenstein coming out of my play session than I had expected to be. The stunning attention to detail in the world and its characters impressed me, but what I’m most looking forward to is seeing how far MachineGames goes with this action-movie focus. Sometimes, like moviegoers with big budget blockbuster films, you just want to leave your brain at the door, and Wolfenstein looks to be banking gamers will be looking for that kind of experience come May.

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EGM Review: Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze

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A rumble in the jungle

I absolutely loved Donkey Kong Country Returns when it released on the Wii more than three years ago. It was a long-awaited return to form for Nintendo’s simian supreme. I’ll admit, however, despite the success Retro pulled off with Returns, I was a bit worried when I heard their next game was a direct sequel. Unlike their previously successful resuscitation of a dormant Nintendo franchise with Metroid Prime, platformers like Donkey Kong Country don’t really have an overarching story tying all the games together. I feared that Retro had already pulled out all the stops, and that Tropical Freeze would be a clone with a new coat of paint. Sometimes when I’m wrong, I’m really wrong.

Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze sees our beloved banana-hoarding ape and his family celebrating DK’s birthday when a cold wind comes blowing in from across the sea. Suddenly, Donkey Kong’s tropical paradise has become a winter wonderland. New Viking-like enemies, the Snowmads, have appeared out of nowhere to claim Donkey Kong Island for their own, and they promptly send DK and friends out to sea. The Kong Clan must now band together and work their way back across a variety of new and uncharted locales before taking on the Snowmad leader to reclaim their lost home.

Yes, it’s the same “Someone’s stolen DK’s home/horde” story as always. But, then again, Mario’s almost always rescuing a kidnapped Princess Peach, too. You don’t play a Nintendo platformer for the story. It’s simply an excuse to test your skill with a controller over the course of dozens of specially crafted stages.

It’s these stages that make it clear that Retro is just as talented as Nintendo. For one, the precision required is a notch higher than in Returns, and it’ll push you more than you might expect. By the time I got through the entire game, I’d had a great experience, but I also felt like I’d accomplished something by beating a game that was no pushover—a rare feat among modern platformers. The difficulty ramps up smoothly, and I never once felt smothered by a sudden array of collapsing platforms or other hazards. Sure, a few trial-and-error stages caused me to sacrifice some life balloons, but for the most part, the game informs about the dangers ahead and how to bypass them, leaving it up to the player to input the proper commands. For example, a lone Snowmad walks under a giant plant—and the plant then eats the Snowmad. That enemy’s clearly there to say “stay the f*** away from this thing” without you having to be the victim first.

Should any individual stage start to bring on conniptions, though, you can still find ways to overcome the challenge through purchasing items. By spending the plentiful collectible Banana Coins at Funky Kong’s shop, you can accrue more lives, additional air for the underwater segments, extra armor for mine-carts, Banana Juice for invincibility, and more. Most experienced platform players will probably only visit Funky to try their hand at the gumball machine that spits out randomized 3D character models, but it’s a nice touch to offer these options so that players of all skill levels can enjoy the adventure.

While any level can be cleared with Donkey Kong alone, the areas drastically change if he has Diddy, Dixie, or Cranky Kong on his back. Each partner offers special advantages, and they all feel different from each other. Dixie’s helicopter spin gives Donkey Kong a boosted jump, and her slow hover back to the ground affords the chance to take a little extra care when hopping from platform to platform. Diddy’s rocket barrels help DK glide across long gaps more smoothly as well, but he may prove most useful underwater, where he gives a huge speed boost. Finally, Cranky’s expertise comes in helping DK avoid taking damage from spikes with a move that makes him look like Scrooge McDuck in Capcom’s Ducktales games as he hop alongs on his cane. While you may come to rely on a favorite (mine was Dixie), in order to find all the game’s secrets, you’ll need to learn how best to all utilize their unique skillsets and switch between them when necessary.

What’s more, the variety between stages is astounding. Not content to simply offer traditional mine-cart levels, Tropical Freeze instead includes mine-cart rides that take you through a sawmill and see you racing against runaway buzzsaws. Underwater levels don’t just have you swimming in a lagoon; they have you searching for treasure to find the key to unlock the exit. This diversity continues into the “regular” levels, which see DK running through a burning savannah, leaping through a spiraling tornado, and riding a hot-air balloon through the clouds. I honestly never wanted to put my controller down just because I wanted to see what wacky situation I’d be thrown into next.

There’s also one thing I never really expected from Tropical Freeze, but I got it in spades: replayability. If you blow through the main adventure, the game’s about 12 to 15 hours long, but there’s easily enough content here for three times that. Not only do all levels include collecting all the K-O-N-G letters and five to nine puzzle pieces to unlock some awesome concept art, but they also offer time trials to unlock medals. The time-trial videos can be uploaded to a worldwide leaderboard, or you can download other players’ runs to see how they were able to get Gold in a particular level and make their speed-run tricks your own. This process is so seamless, in fact, that I hope more Nintendo games start using it. On top of all this, some stages have multiple exits to unlock branching paths, and it wouldn’t be a true Donkey Kong Country game if there weren’t some hidden worlds.

Despite my gushing, I’ve got a couple of minor gripes with Tropical Freeze. The chaos that is co-op makes playing this mode almost worthless unless you and your partner are perfectly in sync. So, even though the option’s there, this game shines most when played solo. I also wish we would’ve seen more of Donkey Kong’s animal buddies from the SNES days. The returning water levels especially screamed for Enguarde the Swordfish to return, even with the Kongs now able to defend themselves underwater.

Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze is, otherwise, an absolute blast to play. With stunning audio and visuals, combined with gameplay depth and variety, Tropical Freeze has easily cemented itself as one of the best platformers I’ve ever played.

Developer: Retro Studios • Publisher: Nintendo • ESRB: E – Everyone • Release Date: 02.21.14
9.5
One of the best platformers I’ve ever played, Tropical Freeze finds a way to build on the successful foundation of Donkey Kong Country Returns in new and wonderful ways.
The Good New and creative challenges throughout keep gameplay fresh.
The Bad Co-op leaves something to be desired.
The Ugly Thinking of what could have happened to Enguarde, Expresso, and the rest of DK’s SNES buddies.
Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze is a Wii U exclusive, and was reviewed using a retail copy provided by Nintendo. 
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Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare–inspired action figures and Minimates announced

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A line of action figures and Minimates based off EA and PopCap’s upcoming Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare are in the works,Diamond Select Toys announced.

Their official unveiling is expected to come at the annual Toy Fair in New York City this coming Sunday.

The first series of Minimates features two zombies versus two plants: All-Star Zombie and Engineer Zombie facing off against Cactus and Pea Shooter. As a bonus, an extra plant, Marigold, is included as well. Each Minimate stands two-inches tall, features 14 points of articulation, and sports various interchangeable parts and accessories. The box set is suggested to retail for $19.99.

The first assortment of action figures comes in four sets of pairs. Each pair contains a zombie and a corresponding plant to do battle with. The figures stand five-inches tall and features multiple points of articulation. Sets include Scientist Zombie (equipped with Healing Station) coupled with Gatling Pea Shooter (equipped with Chili Bean), Soldier Zombie (equipped with Commando Head) bundled with Ghillie Cactus (equipped with Potato Mine), Engineer Zombie (equipped with Turret) paired with Chomper (equipped with Spike Weed), and All-Star Zombie (equipped with Imp Bomb) combined with Dark Sunflower (equipped with Marigold). Each pair is set to sell for $24.99 each.

Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare is set to hit Xbox 360 and Xbox One on February 25, 2014. These action figures are not likely to be available, however, until sometime this summer.

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EGM Review: Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Z

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A not-so-Super Saiyan

I was never really big into anime, but like most every other guy back in my day, there was about a two-to-three year period where Dragon Ball Z was near the top of my list of must-see TV shows. Unlike some other obsessions in my life, my Dragon Ball Z love affair was short-lived,  mostly because there really hasn’t been anything new with the series since those days.

Even the DBZ videogames that have been released over the years simply rehashed the same story over and over again. It’s gotten to a point where it’s hard for me to get excited anymore because I know that nothing content-wise has changed. All we’ll see is maybe better graphics or some new gameplay mechanics as we take on Frieza, Cell, and Majin Buu for the billionth time.

But Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Z was supposed to be different. It was coming after last year’s release of Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods, a film that Battle of Z was supposed to incorporate elements from, and the first new DBZ movie in years. Battle of Z also channels the look and gameplay of Dragon Ball: Zenkai Battle Royale, a DBZ arcade game, so this could surely breathe some freshness in the series for those who only play on consoles.

I’m afraid, however, that my high hopes didn’t pan out. As is normally the case, not enough has changed, and some of the new mechanics do more harm than good.

The new customization features are a perfect example. Not only can you change the color of your favorite DBZ characters’ outfits, but as you beat missions in the story mode, you earn points and special boost cards. These cards can increase your melee strength, HP, Ki blast power, speed, and more. The points can also be spent to also buy more cards if needed.

It starts off as an intriguing way to see whether you can truly make Goku “over 9,000” in terms of power level as you see the direct benefits of what a “+35 melee” card or the like, but by the time you get halfway through the Cell Saga, you’re trying to grind for new cards or points to buy better ones than what you’re given to overcome some really brutal battles.

The worst part about the card system, though, is that it’s random. You may want a melee boost, but you might only collect Speed and HP boosts. Plus, each character can only equip so many cards at a time, so you could have a flood of cards you don’t need as you slowly try to collect the point to buy the card you want or hope you get lucky. It’s an interesting take on leveling up characters and implementing new RPG-like elements into a fighter, but the randomness becomes a grind that gives little to no reward.

Besides this abominable leveling system, the game also fails to deliver enough content revolving around Battle of Gods. The first new movie in over a decade for DBZ gets a single mission in the game. With 60 missions in the single-player mode overall, that’s a pathetically small offering, especially when you make players grind through multiple missions based around the same handful of storylines we’ve been playing through for decades now. At the very least, beating it does unlock Goku’s Saiyan God form as well as two new characters from the movie, Whis and Beerus. But it’s not enough.

Not everything is a disaster, though. From a gameplay perspective, Battle of Z does a fine job of representing its arcade brethren—and the anime itself—on consoles with over a dozen huge arenas and battles that usually are massive in scope. You can also take up to three AI allies into every battle, even if they’re clones of the player character. This leads to some epic re-creations, since the Z Fighters (Goku and his friends) can take on the entire Ginyu Force in one mission. It also opens up some interesting “What If?”-style missions in the single-player mode, like having a bunch of Super Saiyans taking on all four forms of Frieza at the same time. The friendly AI could use some work, and the camera can go a bit wonky when the action gets particularly hectic, but otherwise, the combat’s definitely not the weakest part of this fighter.

When you boil everything down, this still isn’t the Dragon Ball Z game fans want. The single-player mode offers almost nothing we haven’t seen before, and it can’t even be bothered to give us any cutscenes from the anime to tie all the missions—or at least the Sagas—together. A few interesting co-op and team-battle modes on top of the story can make for some online havoc, but it’s still not enough to warrant a Battle of Z purchase by anyone but the most obsessive of DBZ fans.

Developer: Artdink • Publisher: Namco Bandai • ESRB: T – Teen • Release Date: 01.28.14
6.0
Battle of Z had a lot of potential, but like so many DBZ games before it, it fails to capture the opportunity. The unnecessary amount of grinding required to progress through a story we’ve seen a dozen times before overshadows the decent combat.
The Good First DBZ game outside Japan with Goku’s God form, Beerus, and Whis.
The Bad Horrendous camera; customization system makes grinding more bothersome than normal.
The Ugly Remembering why I stopped caring about Dragon Ball Z in the first place.
Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Z is available on Xbox 360, PS3, and PS Vita. Primary version reviewed was a retail copy provided by Namco Bandai for the Xbox 360. .
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Punch-Out!!’s Little Mac joins Smash Bros. roster

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Little Mac is the latest addition to Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and for 3DS’ ever growing roster, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata revealed during today’s Nintendo Direct presentation.

Little Mac, of course, is best known as the main protagonist in all three Punch-Out!! games, first debuting in Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out!!  for NES in October 1987 (originally just called Punch-Out!! in Japan).

The diminutive fighter is portrayed as the stereotypical underdog, overcoming all the odds caused by his smaller stature to become champion of the world. His reveal trailer for Super Smash Bros., which is embedded below, pokes fun at this, also showing that a lot of fight can come in even the tiniest of packages.

Not surprisingly, his powers revolve mostly around him being able to perform a flurry of fast punches. He also has a charge meter that, after absorbing enough damage, allows him to unleash a devastating uppercut to his opponents. The trailer also shows off his Final Smash ability, which sees Little Mac become anything but little, as well as a new stage based around a boxing ring, (obviously tailored to Mac).

The only disappointing thing probably about this latest Smash Bros. announcement is that Nintendo still hasn’t provided a solid release date for the series’ fourth full entry.

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GDC Awards to honor Feminist Frequency creator and Riot Games founders

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The 14th Annual Game Developers Choice Awards have announced who will be receiving this year’s Ambassador and Pioneer Awards at the awards show in March.

The Ambassador Award is given to someone who has helped videogames advance through advocacy or action. This year’s recipient is media critic Anita Sarkeesian, the creator of Feminist Frequency, a video series that explores representations of women in pop culture, with a particular focus on gaming.

The Pioneer Award is given to those who brought about breakthrough tech or gameplay design milestones. This year’s recipients are Brandon Beck and Marc Merrill, the co-founders of Riot Games, the company behind League of Legends. With more than 67 million players a month and a driving force behind the growth of eSports, League of Legends has become a phenomenon like few others in the gaming industry.

The Game Developers Choice Awards, hosted this year by Respawn Entertainment’s Abbie Heppe, are a part of the Game Developers Conference held each year in San Francisco. This year’s show will take place March 19, 2014, at 6:30 p.m. PT at the San Francisco Moscone Center. The awards are open to all GDC attendees. Immediately preceding the show is the Independent Games Festival Awards, hosted this year by Nathan Vella, president and co-founder of Capybara Games.

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EGM Review: Fable Anniversary

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February 10, 2014

Chasing the chicken, for old time’s sake

It’s hard to believe it’s been 10 years since the first Fable. Like many who played it the first time around, Lionhead’s fantasy RPG has always held a special place in my heart. I loved the idea that your interactions with the world around you could affect your character’s quests and their physical appearance (good characters received a “holy glow,” while bad players would sprout demonic horns) gave the sensation that your choices actually carried some weight—a rarity back then.

The combat was deeply satisfying, and finding the balance between Strength (melee), Skill (ranged), and Will (magic) to fit your playstyle delivered an instant gratification you rarely see in RPGs even today. Plus, the game featured a charming story that may not have been all that original (boy’s parents are murdered, boy becomes hero, boy enacts vengeance on those who wronged him…kind of like Batman), but it was still entertaining, especially since it was garnished with some classic British humor.

So, even though it didn’t redefine the genre (no matter what Peter Molyneux may say) and has been surpassed many times over at this point, Fable still remained a personal favorite of mine. It didn’t do anything spectacularly, but everything it did back in 2004, it did well. But I must admit after all this time that my memory may have been looking at things through Briar Rose–colored glasses.

Fable Anniversary builds off the content of the expanded 2005 re-release, Fable: The Lost Chapters on the original Xbox, providing a much-needed facelift by updating every asset with Xbox 360-caliber graphics. Along with this, Achievements have been added, and a brand-new user interface has been integrated into the game, one that not only allows players to save wherever they want, but also makes navigating store and inventory menus far easier. There’s even some interesting loading screens depicting an ever-growing map of Albion as you explore.

Besides the look, however, Fable Anniversary fails to offer anything new to the game. That’s not to say the game doesn’t benefit from the graphical update, but seeing Fable’s roots—especially with Legends on the horizon and Fable II, III, and Journey all in the rear-view mirror—makes Anniversary reek of a cash-in on the admitted nostalgia gamers like myself feel toward older franchises.

I’m here to warn you that time hasn’t been kind to this one. Compared to everything that’s come since then—even within the Fable series itself, let alone other RPGs—these roots seem shockingly bare. The stark realization that things aren’t as good as you may remember could leave a decidedly sour taste in your mouth. It left me quite sad, actually.

In one way, it’s an interesting exercise in seeing how far the industry has come. Now, you can choose to be a female protagonist in many RPGs. You still can’t make that choice in this Fable, nor can you customize your character to any reasonable extent. If the developers were going to take the time to update the entire look of the game, couldn’t they have afforded a few more in-depth customization options?

And would it have killed Lionhead to add a couple of extra missions and lengthen the game a little bit? Couldn’t they offer players an experience a little different from the one we had back in 2005? My Xbox 360 still plays Fable: The Lost Chapters (remember when systems had backward compatibility?), so there’s really very little incentive for me to go out and buy a whole new game—even with a $39.99 budget price—unless I’m an Achievement hunter or an OCD collector.

Anniversary lacks many of the features we’ve come to expect in modern RPGs, and the passage of time has dulled the punch of those few that the game did tout. The only value now lies in showing players who came to the franchise late the beginnings of this ongoing tale. It still works from a technical point of view, but only the combat remains rewarding—the one element not ravaged by time over these past 10 years.

What hurts Anniversary most of all, though, is coming to the realization that when Fable first came out, it was very good, even if it really didn’t break new ground. Now, it’s borderline irrelevant, since so little work has been done on this re-release to make the experience stand with contemporary RPGs. It was depressing to trudge through an Albion that looked so very different to me, not only due to the new graphics, but because of my sweet memories being shattered and replaced by a harsher reality. The tagline for Fable used to be “For every choice, a consequence.” Well, the consequence of Fable Anniversary is one disappointed reviewer—and the newfound understanding that, sometimes, it’s better to just leave your memories in the past.

Developer: Lionhead Studios • Publisher: Microsoft Studios • ESRB: M – Mature • Release Date: 02.04.14
6.0
Fable still has some charming elements that have stood the test of time and survive in Fable Anniversary. But most of the game shows its age, so if you played Fable or Fable: The Lost Chapters the first time around, there’s little here to bring you back for more.
The Good Friendlier user interface and a graphical facelift; combat system holds up.
The Bad Everything else is starting to show its age.
The Ugly How entertaining I thought the fart feature once was.
Fable Anniversary is a Xbox 360 exclusive. 
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Tim Schafer says he’d love to make a Brütal Legend 2

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January 25, 2014

Tim Schafer hopes to return to his metal-inspired IP Brütal Legend one day, Double Fine Productions’ head said yesterday during a Gamespot live stream.

“I love that world, and I would love to go back there,” Schafer said during a Let’s Play of his latest title, Broken Age. He also mentioned Jack Black might be interested in returning to the franchise as well.

Black lent his voice (and likeness) as Brütal Legend’s main protagonist, Eddie Riggs, a legendary roadie who is transported to a world built on the tenets of metal (the music genre, not the solid material that is typically hard, opaque, shiny, and features good electrical and thermal conductivity). Along with Black, the game starred some of metal’s biggest names, including Judas Priest’s Rob Halford, Motörhead’s Lemmy Kilmister, and Ozzy Osbourne.

While the game sold more than a million copies and had good critical reception, it was not considered a commercial success, costing $25 million to make. Because of this, raising that much money for a sequel “might be tricky,” according to Schafer.

Even though a true sequel may be out of the question for the moment, Schafer went on to talk about how he’d like to do a DLC pack centered around General Lionwhyte, a demented character that looked like David Bowie, and who used his massive hair to fly. He was also one of the characters voiced by Rob Halford.

Lionwhyte’s Hair Metal Militia had always been an AI-controlled faction, so DLC where you could play as them in multiplayer could work (and would be welcome).

Brütal Legend was originally released on Xbox 360 and PS3 back in October 2009, and was ported to PC early last year.

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