Latest Entries »

Hands-On: Chivalry: Deadliest Warrior

Filed under: EGM (Electronic Gaming Monthly), Written — Leave a comment
September 23, 2013

Who is deadliest?

For three seasons, Deadliest Warrior on Spike took some of history’s greatest combatants and threw them into a fictional “What if?” scenario. Torn Banner Studios’ Chivalry: Medieval Warfare is a best-selling PC title best described as a first-person slasher where feudal knights clash in multiplayer combat in order to achieve a variety of objectives.

When the two meet, you get Chivalry: Deadliest Warrior, a Chivalry expansion pack coming this fall via Steam. It might sound simple, but after going hands-on with the game, there’s a lot more going on than you might initially expect.

Sure, the first major aspect is obvious: the six warrior classes. The Knight will be familiar to longtime Chivalry players, but the Ninja, Samurai, Pirate, Viking, and Spartan are new—and each brings their own brand of mayhem to the proceedings. In true Deadliest Warrior fashion, all combatants have a choice of weapons, so a Samurai-versus-Spartan showdown could theoretically play out quite differently each time.

The game also includes projectile weapons—much like the main Chivalry experience—that fit the needs of each character. For example, a Spartan can throw his spear, while a Pirate can fire his flintlock pistol. The Pirate and Ninja weren’t available in the demo, but I did get a chance to try out the Spartan; tossing his spear felt excellent, especially when it hit and impaled an opponent for a killing blow.

Speaking of weapons, fans of Deadliest Warrior know how heavily these bouts rely on statistics. But don’t these matchups wreak havoc on weapon and armor balancing?

“For us, we’re trying to keep the personality of the weapons,” says lead game designer Steve Piggott. “We’re not going to use the exact stats. If Spartans are using bronze weapons and armor, that would never cut through the steel armored plates of a knight. But we’re not going to represent that in the game, because that would be the least fun thing ever. So, we’re trying to maintain the character and personality of those weapons without losing the fun factor of wielding them. And then, from there, it’s just constant iteration to make sure it’s a fun experience.”

Aside from a variety of authentic weapons, each class also has its own unique arena with different traps or features that could change the way you think of combat. I was able to try out the Samurai’s arena, where I was able to run on the rooftops and get the drop on enemies from above. At one point, a Knight tried dropping down on me—but all that heavy armor didn’t make for a sound strategy, and it was an easy kill for my Viking warrior. I also tried the Spartan’s arena, which has a 300-style pit into which you can kick careless foes. Of course, if you’re like me and mash the kick button near that pit, you also leave yourself open for an easy gutting.

The biggest change, however, comes in the form of multiteam matches, where up to six teams of 10 players clash in a single arena. There’s also Mixed Team Deathmatch, which allows for a hodgepodge of classes on a given team; Faction Battle, where 32 from one class go against 32 from another; a traditional Capture the Flag mode; or 1-on-1 duels akin more to a traditional Deadliest Warrior scenario.

Meanwhile, Deadliest Warrior fans will be thrilled that comprehensive stats will be kept on globally ranked leaderboards to help fan the flames of that eternal debate: “Who is deadliest?” Players can also monitor their personal stats, including kills and their most effective weapons. Honestly, there’s a lot of potential here. I only got a chance to see the 1-on-1 duels—which were certainly exciting in their own right—but this is a mode that fans of both the Deadliest Warrior games and TV show will embrace.

But it’s the idea of expanding that into multiple teams and factions versus factions that really got me excited. Who wouldn’t love to see 32 Spartans up against 32 Ninjas? Or see 10 Spartans, 10 Ninjas, 10 Samurai, 10 Vikings, 10 Knights, and 10 Pirates duke it out? The potential for mayhem is awesome, and that’s what will really draw players into this $15 expansion.

Tags: , , , , , , ,
Comment

EGM Developer Chat: Watch_Dogs Lead Story Designer Kevin Shortt

Filed under: EGM (Electronic Gaming Monthly), Written — Leave a comment

Hack to the future

A lot of attention has been paid to the unique hacking gameplay Watch_Dogs is going to be bringing to current and next gen consoles in November. But there’s still a story behind Aiden Pearce and his uber-connected world of the near future. With this in mind, we were able to sit down for a few minutes with Kevin Shortt, one of the writers and Lead Story Designer for Watch_Dogs and pick his brain a little.

EGM: Watch_Dogs has been in development for more than four years now and a lot can change in that time. How has the story changed, at all, from the original vision you guys started with?

KS: I think the core idea has always been there. We wanted a bit of an anti-hero whose making questionable choices towards a noble cause. The story itself, for sure, it’s shifted a lot. And that’s going to happen. As you’re working with the game developers and designers and creative director, we all get in a room and we start realizing what the best flow is both for gameplay and for story.

And so as a result, you end up having to shift the story quite a bit to make sure it hits all the right beats and has the right energy. Four years, for sure, you start thinking to yourself “that idea was kind of crap, but this idea is f***ing amazing and we’re going to go with this.”

So, we finally landed on that amazing idea that we’re really happy about it and we think is a story that’s going to resonate with people. They’re going to get pulled into it. What’s cool about the story is it’s really reflective of how the player’s going to play. The player will find it easy to live Aiden’s life because he’s a guy who can’t stand by and just watch people get hurt and I think the way the game is you find you can’t just walk away from these situations. You have to step in.

EGM: Has it been difficult crafting an anti-hero as your main protagonist?

KS: Yeah, well I think any story can be difficult. They can all be quite difficult to make. The easy thing would be to make him a black and white hero, and off you go. But, we wanted him to be three-dimensional, and that means you have to really think about what are the human choices you would make that aren’t necessarily the right choice. We all make these mistakes and I think that’s what we were after, to make sure he was very human.

The people around him, as well; that was an important part. The characters—we’ve mentioned Clara and Jordi, two characters that you meet in the game—they have their own stories as well. And their stories don’t mesh perfectly. They are not crafted to strictly help Aiden Pearce. They’ve got more than that going on. They’ve got their own ups and downs and their own goals that they’re trying to achieve while Pearce is trying to achieve his goals. And that makes for a great collision between the characters and makes for an exciting story.

EGM: What went into the decision to set the game in Chicago?

KS: We loved the character of the city, the landmarks, the history. I think another thing is we looked at it from a gameplay perspective. It’s a great city for that. Look at all those bridges. And we knew this would just translate into a fun city both visually and gameplay-wise to explore and have fun in and that as well was a big reason why we went with Chiacgo.

EGM: What are you most proud of with the story?

KS: That’s hard to say. I guess I’m most proud of the depth of the characters we have. We’ve got a rich cast of characters who all have their own goals and they end up blending well together without serving each other too obviously.

So, overall I’m pleased with how well we crafted the story and integrated it with gameplay. What was different about this game from other games that I’ve worked on is from day one, I was sitting there in the room with the game designers, the creative director, the level designers, and we worked out together how’s the gameplay and how’s the story going to work. That doesn’t always happen in games at all.

Story quite often can come much later. And you’re wrestling to fit your story into the gameplay. For us, we worked on it right from the beginning.

I’d say that’s what I’m most proud of. We’ve gotten to a point where the gameplay and the story mesh so well that I think it all just flows really beautifully together. We’re able to adapt quite easily on the fly. If gameplay has a problem that they need to solve, because we’ve worked together already so well, it’s easy for us to adjust it this way to make it work and still hold everything together.

Tags: , , , , , ,
Comment

EGM Book Review: Total War Rome: Destroy Carthage

Filed under: EGM (Electronic Gaming Monthly), Written — Leave a comment

Et tu, Sega?

It’s been a while since we’ve done one of these game tie-in book reviews. Quite honestly, it’s not easy to review a book like a game or movie, because there’s a lot less to go on. A book is based solely on its creative merits. There aren’t any graphics to critique, there’s no voice acting to lament, and there aren’t any controls to put through their paces. So, if I tried placing a book review on a similar scale to a game review, I’d fail miserably. It’s not like I can knock off points for things like font choice or the type of paper used at the printer! With that being said, I got my hands on Total War Rome: Destroy Carthage, the first of what’s supposed to be a brand-new series of tie-in novels to the Total War series from Thomas Dunne Books. This one highlights Total War: Rome II, which was just released last week.

Written by renowned archaeological/historical-fiction author David Gibbins (Atlantis, Crusader Gold, The Mask of Troy), Destroy Carthage follows the life of the fictional Fabius Petronius Secundus to see how Rome transitioned between the Second and Third Punic Wars, culminating in the fall of Carthage in 146 B.C. While Fabius may be the main character here, the story is actually about how the very real Scipio Aemilianus Africanus rose to power in Rome and led his army through Carthage. The narrative takes Fabius’ point of view as Scipio’s second-in-command; our protagonist conveniently rides his commanding officer’s coattails, which gives us an interesting look at what one of ancient Rome’s most famous generals would’ve gone through to carry out his lifelong mission of wiping Carthage from the map.

And while Fabius isn’t the only fictional character created to help demonstrate certain factual Roman political, social, and combat traditions, Scipio’s also far from the only real man to make an appearance in the novel. The feared Hasdrubal, leader of Carthage during its fall; Polybius, famed Greek historian and adviser to Scipio; and Roman praetor and censor Marcus Porcius Cato (better known as Cato the Elder) all play major roles in the novel, just as they did in history.

Perhaps the most impressive element of Destroy Carthage is that it finds such a large thread of history that’s so accurately able to parallel the action of the game. While a few sections get into the trenches in rather gruesome detail—including the Battle of Pydna during Scipio’s teenage years and the siege of Carthage itself—the book is, by and large, a political thriller. While we might think of that term describing the modern-day wheelings and dealings in Washington, D.C., politics absolutely played a role in societies from millennia ago; striking this balance of less action and more intrigue helps the book do justice to a game that requires meticulous planning. It also shows Gibbins’ attention to detail—he paints a vivid picture of what ancient Roman life would’ve been like circa the second century B.C.

Unfortunately, this attention to minutiae makes Destroy Carthage a slog at times. Though it’s not surprising given Gibbins’ scholarly background, he takes few historical liberties beyond the handful of fictional characters. Several Latin phrases are liberally thrown around, and with Roman naming traditions being so alien from our own, it’s a bit confusing early on understanding just who everyone is and their role in society. It all comes together eventually, but I found myself looking at the appendix a bit more often than I might like, which broke up the pacing on several occasions. A perfect example is that Scipio Aemilianus is the younger son of Lucius Aemilius Paulus Macedonicus and was adopted by Publius Cornelius Scipio, eldest son of Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus, changing Scipio’s official name to Publius Cornelius Scipio Aemilianus. By the end of the book, Scipio is Publius Cornelius Scipio Aemilianus Africanus.

Despite all that, I enjoyed Total War Rome: Destroy Carthage. The hardcover price tag of $25.99 is about what you’d expect for a book of this size (352 pages), but if you’re low on cash, a paperback version will likely come sooner or later. If you enjoy immersing yourself in a historical time period and learning a bit about long-extinct cultures—or find yourself obsessed with the corresponding game and need something else to help augment your experience—this is a solid read that’s definitely worth your time.

Author: David Gibbins • Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books • Pages: 352 (hardcover) • Release Date: 09.03.2013
7.5
The hardcover price tag of $25.99 is about what you’d expect for a hardcover book of this size. If you enjoy immersing yourself in a historical time period and learning a bit about long-extinct cultures—or find yourself obsessed with the corresponding game and need something else to help augment your experience—this is a solid read that’s definitely worth your time.
The Good More political thriller than action, this book serves as a solid tie-in to Total War: Rome II.
The Bad Though it’s historically accurate from a linguistic standpoint, the liberal use of Latin throws off the pacing and reading comprehension.
The Ugly The Roman centurion on the cover has a face only a mother could love.
Tags: , , , , , ,
Comment

UDON Celebrates 10th Anniversary with Release of Street Fighter Origins: Akuma

Filed under: EGM (Electronic Gaming Monthly), Written — Leave a comment

In order to celebrate their 10th anniversary and continuing relationship with Capcom, as well as mark the publishing of their 150th original book, UDON Entertainment has released Street Fighter Origins: Akuma.

One of the most feared fighters in the world, Akuma, Master of the Fist and wielder of the Dark Hado, has always been a Street Fighter fan favorite. Never before though have we been able to learn just how Akuma came to be and what drove him down his sinister path. Following him from his youth in rural Japan, we see how this once innocent boy becomes trapped on the path of chaos.

Even if you’re not a big fan of Street Fighter, at the very least you can always appreciate UDON’s high quality work. Artist Joe Ng delivers the kind of breathtaking visuals that define UDON books, and Chris Sarracini’s story makes sure there’s plenty of action, which you’d expect would punctuate the early life of someone as destructive as Akuma.

Street Fighter Origins: Akuma is a 128-page, 8” x 11” hardcover graphic novel retailing for $34.95. The title is available now wherever comic books are sold.

Tags: , , , , , , , , ,
Comment

EGM Review: The Wonderful 101

Filed under: EGM (Electronic Gaming Monthly), Written — Leave a comment

It’s a Not-So-Wonderful Life

As Nintendo tried to get everyone hyped up for the release of the Wii U, few titles intrigued and excited players more than The Wonderful 101, long known only as “Project P-100.” Much like several other titles that were supposed to arrive during the system’s launch window, however, The Wonderful 101 experienced countless delays and technical issues during the final stages of development. As it slipped further and further away from its original release-date projections, its relevancy in the Wii U’s lineup became more and more diminished.

Now, instead of a title that helps champion the Wii U’s cause from the start, The Wonderful 101 finds itself as a lone new IP drowning among more established Nintendo franchises slated for the console in the second half of 2013. After finally getting my hands on it, though, I found that while it doesn’t totally overcome its well-documented development difficulties, it doesn’t get swept permanently beneath the waves, either.

As the game begins, Earth has come under attack for the third time from a group of alien terrorists known as the Geathjerk. The invaders are powerful, but the Earth’s premier defense team, the Wonderful 100, have always quelled the threat before. This time, however, they can’t make a dent in the Geathjerk’s offensive onslaught individually, so they must come together and unite into fantastic objects and weapons to help subdue the otherworldly threat and send these space invaders back from whence they came.

On the surface, The Wonderful 101 is exactly what the Wii U needs. Its vibrant art style is a throwback to the work director Hideki Kamiya and producer Atsushi Inaba did together on Viewtiful Joe, and it stands out from the realistic first-person shooters and action-adventures continually flooding the market. The humor and story falls directly in line with what you’d expect from Platinum Games, and the voice acting only helps carry this across, with some solid performances from veterans like Tara Strong as Wonder-Pink and Roger Craig Smith as Wonder-Blue. What’s more, the core concept of 100 (relatively) normal people coming together to do extraordinary things and become heroes is a message that gamers of all ages can get behind.

But ideas and concepts can only get you so far. At the end of the day, it all comes down to execution—and this is where The Wonderful 101 falters. As aesthetically pleasing as the game may be, its controls—which force players to use the Wii U GamePad for several features—are a far tougher opponent than any of the alien Geathjerk.

The Wonderful 101 is really meant to be played with two screens, but it’s technically capable of Off-TV Play. Unfortunately, because of the horrendous camera—which is usually either too close or too far out to be effective—you can hardly see anything on the tiny screen to actually advance. During the handful of indoor sequences when the game abruptly shifts to a first-person perspective, you might as well be blind. GamePad-only play also disables the drawing capabilities of the controller, so you then have to trace all the symbols that have your Wonderful Ones unite by using the right analog stick and an invisible cursor, which is far too sensitive to be used in any capacity in this game. Basically, you’d have to be a glutton for punishment to even attempt Off-TV Play here.

When you do play on your TV, it’s quite the opposite. You can use the GamePad to draw the necessary shapes to make different offensive forms like massive fists, swords, guns, whips, or hammers, or you can use it to change the environment around you or temporarily recruit ordinary citizens by drawing a circle. While the right-analog-stick method is too sensitive during Off-TV Play, drawing on the tablet isn’t sensitive enough—it’ll either give you the wrong weapon or completely ignore what you’ve drawn altogether.

The worst part? The pacing during the action sequences is all out of whack. Having to draw on the GamePad isn’t nearly as quick as pressing a button, yet many of the combat situations require those split-second reflexes. For much of the game, especially early on, you’ll be dealing with a horrendous learning curve. Battles will drag on and on, and levels will become akin to marathons with very little payoff—you’ll get pummeled by the Geathjerk when trying to draw lines while running around like a chicken with its head cut off.

At times, though, these marathon battles are worthwhile—and that comes when you finally get to the chapter boss. These behemoths are truly terrifying: They fill sports stadiums, consume skyscrapers, or plug up volcanoes, and they definitely put the weapon forms you acquire to the test. But unlike the missions that lead up to these encounters, you actually have a great sense of accomplishment when you topple one of these kaiju-like beasts.

And that’s the essential problem with The Wonderful 101—it doesn’t live up to its full potential, and a large part of that comes with being on the Wii U. A regular controller and simpler method of switching forms would’ve been far more effective than shoehorning features into the GamePad, and a shorter buildup to the boss battles would’ve been preferred. Players with the patience to work through the bugs and pacing problems should leave at least somewhat satisfied, but The Wonderful 101 could’ve been a true gem if Platinum had more time to polish the experience and figure out how to properly work with the Wii U hardware.

Developer: Platinum Games • Publisher: Nintendo • ESRB: T – Teen • Release Date: 09.15.2013
7.0

A horrendous learning curve, poor story flow, and shoddy controls take away from what could have been a superstar new IP for Nintendo. Instead, only players who can look past the bugs and pacing problems will be satisfied in the end.
The Good Humor and style befitting the pedigree Platinum Games.
The Bad The touchpad drawing gimmick gets in the way of the flow of gameplay.
The Ugly Wonder-Green’s stalkerish obsession with Wonder-Pink.
The Wonderful 101 is a Wii U exclusive.
Tags: , , , , , , ,
Comment

EGM Review: NHL 14

Filed under: EGM (Electronic Gaming Monthly), Written — Leave a comment

An all-time great

After living in SoCal now for a couple of years, I miss that first cool October breeze to signify that summer’s come and gone, and that it’s time to look forward to a deep, wintery chill. Mind you, it’s not the shoveling snow, changing of tires, or layers of clothes that I reminisce about—I miss that it actually starts to feel like hockey season.

The closest harbingers of hockey I get these days? Blasting my AC, complaining about the fair-weather L.A. Kings fans who constantly seem to crawl out of the woodwork, and playing the NHL franchise. Fortunately, NHL 14 does the best job yet of making me forget that longing for North Jersey winters and drowning out the know-nothing Kings fans.

As always, I started off by selecting and using my favorite team, the New York Rangers. Yes, I’m from New Jersey, but I root for the Rangers. The reason? Fans of the New Jersey Devils are as mythical as the Jersey Devil itself. They don’t exist, and if they do, there’s only about 30 of them huddled in a cave down in the Pine Barrens somewhere. South Jersey roots for the Flyers. North Jersey roots for the Rangers. End of story.

The Rangers are actually ideal for a review like this, though, since they’ve got a balanced team: Some guys can shoot, some guys can hit, and some guys can skate. Sure, NHL 14 sees plenty of major additions this year—and I’ll get to them—but when I want to test the nuances of the game, I’m covered with the Broadway Blueshirts.

Take winger Carl Hagelin and his blinding speed, for example. In NHL 14, I could really see how much faster he was than everyone else as he pulled away from the defenders who chased him through the neutral zone. Similarly, it makes sense to use a guy like 6’7” forward Brian Boyle to bowl over a sniper on the penalty kill, whereas 5’7” right wing Mats Zuccarello will just bounce right off. Having every player feel unique when you take control of them is a huge plus in a sports game, and that shines through in NHL 14.

But it’s not just about the physics of a monster like Boyle running over a hapless player on the PK. In previous NHL entries, you’d have to flick the right analog stick—almost like the truck feature in Madden—to deliver a punishing hit. While that option’s still there for fans who can’t break old habits, you can also simply skate as fast as you can, and the new momentum feature will automatically see Boyle stick his hip out and send that sniper spinning to the ice—or maybe rough him up a little harder if some bad blood’s been brewing between the two rivals over the course of the game.

And that leads into the next big feature—and probably the one that’ll be a favorite for casual hockey fans: The fighting system is completely overhauled. Borrowing mechanics from EA’s Fight Night franchise, NHL 14 offers nuances to each throwdown. You can try to push or pull a guy off his skates, bob and weave to avoid incoming haymakers, or drop some bombs of your own—it feels more like a hockey fight should instead of the Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots–style fights of years past.

Of course, similarly to how everyone’s helmets started to fly off or they got checked into the bench more often in NHL 12, the fighting’s definitely tuned to happen a bit more often now. If it’s not your thing—and I’ll admit that it can be a bit jarring, since everything else around you stops pretty abruptly—you can at least turn the frequency down in penalty options. If you leave it as is, though, you’ll go from having no fights or one fight per game, like in previous years, to potentially two or three each game. And if it’s a rivalry matchup—say, the Rangers versus the Devils—you’re likely to see it even more than that. I got into five fights the first time I played the Devils!

The fighting’s so detailed now, in fact, that players will walk away with black eyes and face bruising that’ll last for a couple of games. Of course, even before the fights, these are some of the ugliest character models I’ve ever seen. EA Canada can’t even get something as simple as a player’s hair color right. I look at Rangers center Derek Stepan when he scores a goal, and I see a real-life picture of him with dark brown hair—and then I see his character model with albino-white hair. It’s a little thing, but at this point, I’d like to think that the developers have figured out the differences between brown and blond.

I’ll take little snafus like that, though, when NHL 14 sees significant additions—such as the ability to change the opposing general managers’ AI in Be a GM mode. For years, opposing teams were either so stupid that you could easily fleece them and put together a virtual team of all-stars, or they were so smart that you’d have to sell the farm to even get a mid-tier prospect. While Be a GM’s default AI seems pretty good in this incarnation, it’s nice to be able to make adjustments if you don’t think it’s acting as realistically as it should. And adding money options—such as taking on part of a player’s contract instead of the whole thing—makes the negotiating room even more heated if you like wheelin’ and dealin’ like myself.

But if stylin’ and profilin’ on the ice is more your bag, the new Live the Life mode—a revamped version of Be a Pro—is the way to go. I don’t normally create players, but I tried this option out and worked my way up through the CHL to get drafted 7th overall by the Edmonton Oilers (I’m still working on getting traded to the Rangers!). Pre- and post-game press conferences with your player, interactions off the ice with teammates, and talking to your agent about what endorsements you should sign gets you closer to living the dream of being a pro hockey player than the franchise has ever offered. And for me, personally, it was even more special. See, every NHL player has a soundbite associated with his surname, and thanks to Chicago Blackhawks left wing Daniel Carcillo, it always sounded like Gary Thorne was saying my name during play-by-play—it freaked my girlfriend out when she heard it the first time!

Part of why I was drafted so high? The new, simplified deking system. I’ll freely admit that this aspect of NHL was way too difficult for me in the past. Some people swear by it—and more power to ’em—but I’d rather just make crisp passes that work the goalie out of position instead of worrying about spin-o-ramas and the like. This year, instead of working both analog sticks while holding a bunch of buttons, you simply need to tap a shoulder button—if your player’s skilled enough, of course. I’d never done so many dekes in a single version of an NHL game before, but it’s so simple here that I couldn’t stop.

One new feature, however, hasn’t been simplified. If anything, it’s gotten more complicated, and it comes when you skate into the face-off circle. Now, I’ve never been good at face-offs. I’m lucky to average a 30-to-40-percent success rate. Face-offs require a lot more finesse this year, and you’ll need to use both analog sticks to really work for the puck. This may feel more realistic, but it’s also a lot more frustrating—I only won around 5 percent of my face-offs against the computer. I could hold my own against human opponents, but it’s damn near impossible to win against the computer—especially when the friendly AI, for all the strides it’s made, still isn’t smart enough to skate over and take the puck if I tie up the opposing center.

Let’s be honest: I could probably be here all day talking about hockey. My love for the Rangers. My hatred of the Islanders. And the Devils. And the Flyers. And the Penguins. My love and hatred aside, this is easily the best hockey experience EA Canada has delivered yet. They’ve listened to just about everything the fans have said over the years, and they’ve done their best to incorporate it here.

They’ve even heard the fans in a particularly special way: NHL 14 features a full-blown NHL ’94 mode that not only celebrates 20 years of what many consider one of the greatest hockey games of all time, but that also expertly blends the arcade style of the past with the simulation style of today. That shows true dedication and passion from the development team, and NHL 14 is as close to that hallowed Super NES/Genesis classic as any entry we’ve seen since then.

Developer: EA Canada • Publisher: EA Sports • ESRB: E10+ – Everyone 10 and up • Release Date: 09.10.13
9.5
One of the best hockey sims to date. A couple of minor adjustments are always needed, but this is as close as its going to get for you short of lacing up skates and donning pads yourself.
The Good New fighting mechanics, better physics, and Online Seasons for Hockey Ultimate Team.
The Bad It’s impossible to win a face-off sometimes.
The Ugly The character models get worse-looking every year.
NHL 14 is available on Xbox 360 and PS3. Primary version reviewed was for Xbox 360.
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Comment

EGM Review: Pokémon Rumble U

Filed under: EGM (Electronic Gaming Monthly), Written — Leave a comment
September 5, 2013

Don’t catch this one

We’ve always had to take Pokémon spin-offs with a grain of salt. Sure, there have been some interesting ideas like Pokémon Mystery Dungeon and Pokémon Snap that have been able to pique our curiosity for a little while along the way, and natural evolutions to the series like Pokémon Stadium, but most don’t have the staying power for sequels or simply fail outright. It’s just hard to capture the core of what makes the main series of Pokémon games great and put it into a different format that still appeals to consumers. Yet, Nintendo still keeps on trying to milk its precious cash cow in different ways.

The latest attempt at capitalizing on their beloved Poké-brand is Pokémon Rumble U, the third in the Rumble spin-off franchise and the first Pokémon game of any kind on the Wii U. In the Rumble series, players play as wind-up toys designed to look like Pokémon. You battle your way through a series of arenas, mashing a single button for a signature move that corresponds to the Pokémon. (You get two moves if they happen to be a dual-type.) As you fight your toys against other toys, you can add those you defeat to your collection, trying in essence to signify the capturing of a Pokémon from the main series.

The big difference between this iteration and previous titles in the Rumble franchise is that it takes advantage of the Wii U’s built-in NFC technology. This allows you to buy special figures (17 in all) that can help their corresponding Pokémon in the game, giving the a sense of leveling up for the first time in the series. You don’t need these figures to beat the game, mind you, but Pokémon fans and collectors alike will probably want to try to pick up a couple.

Of course, this has the beginnings of a slippery slope for Nintendo and consumers. First, there are all 649 currently available Pokémon in the game, and only 17 figures, leaving the door open for more figures to be added. The figures are also concealed, so whatever you buy is given to you randomly. It comes across as a lottery system really that takes advantage of Poké-fanatics’ willingness to throw money at anything with a Pokémon label on it.

Moral ambiguity aside, the worst part is that Pokémon Rumble U really isn’t a very good game. It’s by no means broken, and the ability to have four people play at once, trying to collect as many coins in battle as possible like some deranged Mario Party mini-game, makes it something that could offer younger children a distraction for an hour or two. But the strategy, the gameplay, the characters, and, most importantly, the bond you may develop towards your most familiar Pokémon are completely absent from this game.

From the very first battle, you’re encouraged to leave behind the Pokémon you start with for the ones you capture, who are typically stronger than your previous crew. Even then, when you actually get into one of these arenas, most of the time all you’re doing is mashing a single button. The gameplay is beyond mindless and gets tired fast no matter how many Pokémon figurines you want to collect.

When all is said and done, Pokémon Rumble U comes off as nothing but Nintendo trying to build up some hype for the highly anticipated Pokémon X/Y and line their pockets with some cheap action figure sales in the process. The game works as a proof-of-concept for the NFC technology (even if no one else is using it right now), but beyond that, this is the kind of dull downloadable game you hope will get lost in the ether sooner rather than later.

Developer: Ambrella • Publisher: Nintendo • ESRB: E – Everyone • Release Date: 08.29.13
5.0
Serving as little more than a proof of concept for the Wii U controller’s NFC technology, Pokémon Rumble U is a boring, pointless game that should just be chalked up as another failed Pokémon spinoff.
The Good A Mario Party–style competition system that could make the game fun for multiple players.
The Bad The lack of any of the core gameplay mechanics that make a Pokémon game great.
The Ugly The parents who will surely be duped into buying the companion NFC figures.
Pokémon Rumble U is a Wii U exclusive. 
Tags: , , , , , , , ,
Comment

EGM Review: TMNT: Out of the Shadows

Filed under: EGM (Electronic Gaming Monthly), Written — Leave a comment

Oh! Shell-shocked!

Like many people my age, I grew up with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Movies, comics, cartoons, and action figures depicted the lean, green, fighting machines everywhere I looked, so it’s no wonder that I’ve remained enamored with the franchise throughout the years. It helps that they’ve maintained some measure of success in many of these mediums since their mid-’80s inception. But there’s still one area the Heroes in a Half-shell continue to stumble in: games.

Sure, we all remember how awesome Turtles in Time was in the arcade, but that was more than 20 years ago. And, yes, we’ve seen some mediocre-to-above-average TMNT offerings since then, but we haven’t had that huge blockbuster hit that harnesses the magic of Turtles games from decades ago. TMNT: Out of the Shadows hoped to be that game—the one that could marry nostalgia with the expectations of a modern audience. The good news? It did succeed in avoiding being average. The bad news? It’s downright awful.

I was cautiously optimistic when I heard about Out of the Shadows. Unlike the middling offerings based off the second cartoon from the early 2000s, Out of the Shadows is based on the latest animated incarnation of the TMNT. A downloadable title sounded like a good way for Michelangelo, Leonardo, Raphael, and Donatello to dip their toes back into the digital waters, especially with a new iteration like the Nickelodeon cartoon fresh in everyone’s minds. After playing the game, it felt like Red Fly Studio had a bunch of ideas on a board in the planning stages of Out of the Shadows and instead of paring them down like most developers would, they tried to cram in every idea they had and ended up with this confounding mess.

The most glaring and obvious flaw comes from the gameplay, which tries to channel the Batman: Arkham series with buttons assigned to weapon attacks, kicks, jump, counters, and gadgets (usually just shuriken, but other Turtle specific items later). In theory you were supposed to feel like a true ninja badass. Each Turtle would have their own style based on their weapon and personality, and you could switch between Turtles with the D-pad like some multi-character action-RPGs do (think Marvel Ultimate Alliance).

Instead, the combat is busted—the first of many broken things you’ll notice in this game. There seems to be a delay between your button inputs and when your character actually performs the action, causing you to frequently break your own combos with an extra button press intended to make up for the game’s inconsistent speed. Because the Turtles don’t automatically lock on to their nearest foe when fighting, it’s difficult to aim many of your combat maneuvers, especially when you’re just dealing with a single opponent. Worse yet, if you’re using projectile weapons, you’ll sometimes hit a friendly instead of a foe.

Tying the game further into the action-RPG genre, the Turtles can also gain levels and earn points to be put into the most elaborate bunch of skill trees you’ll ever see in a downloadable game. Some may relish the challenge of trying to earn the dozens of points it’ll take to max out a single Turtle, but I’m of the mind that it’s just overkill. The convoluted system feels a microcosm of Red Fly’s development approach: Come up with up way too many ideas and never stop to cut the fat.

This isn’t to say Out of the Shadows doesn’t have a couple of highlights, though. The arcade mode, which features seven stages taken from the game’s campaign, utilizes four-player local/online co-op so that you and your friends can get a hint of how things were back in the 8- and 16-bit TMNT glory days. Even this, though, is tarnished by the odd, realistic art style that tries to make the Turtles look like they did in their 1990s live action movies and a horrendous camera that glitches and gets caught every time you turn a corner.

And don’t think that the questionable art direction and busted camera are limited to Arcade Mode, because they only get worse in the campaign. The off-putting visual style only becomes more pronounced via the cutscenes, where voice acting is done over animation-style stills that look a lot more like the cartoon the game is supposed to be based off of. This transition from realistic gameplay to cartoony cutscenes and back left me completely befuddled. The incongruity becomes more dramatic if you try the “classic” option that then turns everything black and white like the original Eastman and Laird comics.

The voice acting, at least, is a bright spot. The actors from the cartoon are not present, but a solid cast led by voice acting veterans like Yuri Lowenthal as Donatello and Catherine Taber as April O’Neill do their best with a script and dialogue taken straight from common TMNT canon. The only problems with the audio come from the fact that every time you pick up an item, a line of dialogue is spoken corresponding to the Turtle you were controlling. As an unintended side effect, sometimes story sensitive lines will be triggered at the same time you pick up a pizza and you’ll have two separate lines played simultaneously as an incomprehensible, garbled mess. That’s not to mention how quickly it gets annoying to hear Donatello lament the fact that he’s eating pizza off of a floor every time you pick one up. Maybe it’s some weird Pizza Hut propaganda.

The campaign’s problems don’t end here, however. It also suffers because it only supports two players locally. Considering you can play the arcade mode locally with four players—which, for all intents and purposes, is nearly as long as the campaign—there is no reason to not have this feature in both modes.

At least, that’s what I thought until I tried playing the campaign locally with a friend and was presented with a split screen. That’s when I realized that there had to have been two different teams working on the two modes separately, with no communication between them. To have all four players presented relatively comfortably from a single viewpoint in arcade mode, then to squish the third-person action point of view into split screen in campaign is quite simply one of the most boneheaded things I’ve ever seen in a game like this.

But even that’s not the crux of Out of the Shadows‘ stupidity. I’ve never spent so much time being lost in a game so linear. There are several massive arena-like enclaves where you’ll have to face countless classic Turtle baddies including Mousers, Foot Ninja, and Purple Dragon gangsters. Once you clear the area, you’ll then waste a lot of time running around and mashing the A button to see what is or isn’t climbable and just what will open up the path way to the next area, since there are no indicators or mini-map to help you along. The worst, though, is when a single enemy will have glitched into one of the boundaries of the arena and you don’t realize that until you do your lap, knock him out so you can advance, then have to run around mashing the A button again, still hoping to find the right path out.

But then again, maybe this is all just part of Red Fly’s lack of self-editing. There were some decent core ideas here that ended up getting lost under the piles of gameplay garbage thrown on top. (One of those bad ideas includes spending some of their budget on getting the rights to Partners in Kryme song “TURTLE Power” from the 1990 movie to serve as their main title theme, by the way.) There are references to the comics, the movies, the cartoons and previous games. There’s split-screen, local co-op, online co-op, skill trees, action-RPG character selection, and Batman-like combat. At the end of the day, TMNT: Out of the Shadows doesn’t know what it wants to be and doesn’t do anything it tries to be well. It doesn’t make the younger Nickelodeon fans or the older, nostalgia-driven fans like myself happy. All it ends up being is a mess and a waste of time.

Developer: Red Fly Studio • Publisher: Activision • ESRB: T – Teen • Release Date: 08.28.13
2.5
There seem to be the beginnings of some good ideas in TMNT: Out of the Shadows, but none of them are properly fleshed out. Instead, these shortcomings are simply covered up with more half-followed-through mechanics, resulting in a mess of a game.
The Good The arcade mode will feel nostalgic for some. 
The Bad Lots of glitches, loose combat, and an identity crisis.
The Ugly Everything visually about this game.
TMNT: Out of the Shadows is available on Xbox 360 (XBLA), PC (Steam), and coming later for PS3 (PSN). Primary version reviewed was for Xbox 360.
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Comment

EGM Review: Killer Is Dead

Filed under: EGM (Electronic Gaming Monthly), Written — Leave a comment

Everybody gets to go to the moon

I’ll readily admit to being a Suda51 fan. Some may consider his games to be niche fare that fails to live up to its potential, but usually, there’s something about his typically zany ideas that draws me in. Whether it’s taking control of a schizophrenic hitman, a lightsaber-wielding assassin wannabe, or a chainsaw-toting cheerleader, I’m definitely a Suda guy. So, it’s no surprise that I was looking forward to his latest, Killer Is Dead.

Normally in a review, I’d give a brief synopsis of the basic plot before talking about some of the game’s weak and strong points—character development, pacing, that kind of stuff. As games have gotten more and more cinematic and story complexity has evolved, narrative has definitely become a focal point for me when it comes to reviews.

But I’m going to be completely honest with you here, folks. Killer Is Dead left me confused, bewildered, and, worst of all, frustrated and wholly unsatisfied, to the point where I’m not even sure what I played—or that I could properly describe it.

The basic gist of what I was able to decipher is that you play as a man named Mondo Zappa. He’s another assassin in the typical Suda style, and he travels to fantastical locations—including the moon—in order to track down his targets. Everything after that gets kinda hazy.

I’ll put it this way. If you couldn’t stomach Suda before, forget it—Killer Is Dead isn’t going to change your outlook on the man. But even if you’re like me and appreciate his special brand of insanity, this might be the point where you finally lose your patience with his wacked-out concepts.

Aside from the terrible plot, much of the side content left me wanting as well. Sure, some challenge missions add to the gameplay variety as you race against the clock or take down certain foes in a field of baddies. But the “courtship” minigame is nothing more than a tacky, half-baked idea that somehow wormed its way into the final product.

Not only do these segments—which revolve around staring at the clothed bosom and crotch areas of random girls in the hopes of then bringing them to bed—feel pointless, but they even cross the line for me and feel a little degrading and insulting. And this is coming from a guy who loved Travis Touchdown’s blatantly perverted flirtations with Sylvia Christel in No More Heroes! My bar’s set pretty low on the politically-correct front, but this was still a bit much, even for me.

Despite the shoddy story and lewd minigames, there’s still a silver lining to Killer Is Dead: It feels like Suda’s finally honed his hack-n-slash gameplay to the point where it’s now quite enjoyable. You can smoothly mix in Mondo’s arm cannon mid-battle, and a blood meter allows for special executions. Meanwhile, some foes require balancing normal attacks with parries and counters, which prevents Killer Is Dead from devolving into a mindless button-masher.

The combat also includes some RPG elements. Mondo can learn new assassination moves, level up his abilities, or unlock additional mechanisms in the arm cannon. While most of the cannon’s extra moves aren’t necessary beyond the standard machine-gun mode you start the game with, the dash abilities and health regeneration become vital as you move through the various missions.

It’s just a shame that, outside of the enjoyable core combat, Killer Is Dead is such a mess. The plot’s incomprehensible, while the boss battles lack the memorability of past Suda games. The visual style is a beautiful evolution of what he’s done before, but I’d rather listen to a stray cat’s starving mewl in the middle of the night than endure any more of the inane voice acting and dialogue found here. Some of the content feels tacked on and unnecessary, even though the game clocks in at a mere six hours on Normal difficulty.

As much as Suda fans may want to like Killer Is Dead, this may finally be the game where the over-the-top antics are just too much—even for them.

Developer: Grasshopper Manufacture • Publisher: XSEED • ESRB: M – Mature • Release: 08.27.2013
6.0

The decent core combat can’t hide the fact that this is Suda51’s most ridiculous, nonsensical plot yet, and an offensive “courtship” minigame is a further black mark on the proceedings. This one may even turn off Suda’s most hardcore fans.
The Good The most rewarding combat ever seen from Suda51.
The Bad If you thought Suda’s stories were convoluted before, Killer Is Dead redefines that idea.
The Ugly 100-foot-tall, mutated scientists. Yep. I just typed that in a legit review.
Killer is Dead is available on Xbox 360 and PS3. Primary version reviewed was for Xbox 360.
Tags: , , , , , , , ,
Comment

Hands-On: EA Sports UFC

Filed under: EGM (Electronic Gaming Monthly), Written — Leave a comment

One rear-naked chokehold I welcome

I need to preface everything I say here by pointing out that these hands-on impressions are based off a build meant more as a demonstration of the Ignite engine at work in EA Sports UFC than actual gameplay. What I saw had none of the bells and whistles the final product will feature—no life bars, no stamina meters, no character-select screen. It was as pre-alpha as it gets. What I played was but a brief introduction to the groundwork of a potentially revolutionary new fighter that’s due out in nine months.

Part of what makes a game like EA Sports UFC possible, according to creative director Brian Hayes, are the advances made via next-gen technology. The look and feel, after all, is a critical component to an authentic MMA videogame. The veins bulging out of the neck of a fighter trying to lock in an armbar. The subtle bruising that peppers bodies over the course of a fight. An eye swelling shut after a few too many blows to the head. The changes in face color as a fighter succumbs to a rear-naked chokehold. These are just a few examples of the minute details that developer EA Canada is smoothly pulling off with next-gen tech and their new engine.

In my brief hands-on time at Gamescom, I got a feel for how fighters moved around the octagon. There’s a weightiness there now, with each movement tying right into the next. The fighters didn’t float around their opponent. Instead, they confidently planted their feet and moved with precision with each push of the control stick. And though the ground, grapple, and submission maneuvers were disabled during the demo, the attacks I could pull off felt substantial: Each punch I threw felt like it had power behind it and did real damage. Superman punches off the cage, flying knees, and spinning heel kicks were all available to me, and each one made me feel like I was watching a close-up of a fighter during a legitimate UFC PPV.

Now, normally, I’ll take something so early in its iteration process with a grain of salt. Show a little skepticism. But, honestly, after what I saw, I can’t help but feel hopeful that this is the game UFC fans have been clamoring for over the past decade. If the care seen in the in-ring segments transfers to the gameplay options—ideally, create-a-fighter or career modes—then this is primed to be a surefire hit. If not, there’s still a solid foundation here for what could ultimately become one of EA Sports’ more popular franchises.

Tags: , , , , , , , ,
Comment