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EGM Review: Assassin’s Creed III

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November 20, 2012

No assassination without representation

The American Revolution is one of the most significant moments in the history of the world. And I don’t just say that because I’m an American; I say it because it set off a chain reaction like few other events in history. It marked the beginning of the end of British Imperialism. It would inspire other countries to similar revolts. It would also completely change how trade could be conducted. But we’re not here for a history lesson. After all, it might be moot; as Assassin’s Creed III shows us, the history we know and true history may not be the same thing.

Assassin’s Creed III sees us relive a new ancestral life of protagonist Desmond Miles as the remnants of the Assassin Brotherhood continue to try to stay ahead of the Templars and unlock the remaining puzzles revolving around the Pieces of Eden. After jaunts in the Crusades-era Middle East and an extended run through Renaissance Europe, we find ourselves learning how Desmond’s bloodline traveled across the pond and settled into the American Colonies—and just how much an effect Connor Kenway, his half-British, half-Native American ancestor, had on the American Revolution and what role he played in the Assassin-Templar war.

Much like the previous installments of the Assassin’s Creed franchise, the clear emphasis in Assassin’s Creed III is on the conspiracy-laden plot as Connor tries to use a steady hand and a clear moral purpose to guide history in favor of the Assassins, while Desmond tries to learn from his ancestor key clues in order to unlock advantages for the Assassins in the present day. More than ever before you will be blown away as this newest chapter in the franchise is chock full of twists and turns that quickly turn everything you know on its head both in terms of actual history and the canon laid out thus far in the series. The only gripe I can see some folks possibly having is that in order to introduce and establish a lot of the new characters this go around, the game starts off a bit slower than you might be used to with an Assassin’s Creed title.

A lot has changed though besides just a new protagonist in Assassin’s Creed III and some plot twists. In terms of game play there is a marked improvement in both variety of missions and the hand-to-hand combat system this go around. In regards to variety, the new naval missions are the prime example as you explore the waterways around the Colonies as the sea battles of the American Revolution were integral to the Colonies winning the war. You get to pilot your own ship around key strategic ports and carry out specific missions as you order your crew to blast away at various British ships that impede your quest.

Most of your time will still be spent on land, however. And if you are to make any progress, you need to be well versed in the tools of the assassination trade. Channeling his Native-American heritage, Connor uses traditional weapons like his bow and arrows and tomahawk to wreak havoc on British troops. The fluidity you now have in combat is at an unprecedented level though as you can counter and kill multiple enemies at once and perform killing strikes in quick succession with everything in your possession including the new rope dart or pistols or weapons in your enemies’ possession. And don’t worry, Connor still has his traditional hidden blades as well, although this was the first Assassin’s Creed game where I found other weapons, specifically the tomahawk, to be more to my liking.

So, you’re definitely going to get your combat fix in with this game, but there is so much more to do besides just hack your way through red coats (although that is my personal favorite element of the game). The new frontier affords so much exploration that you could get lost in it as you get in touch with Connor’s roots and get back to nature. From hunting animals for their pelts to trade to helping other folks around the frontier in order to procure their services later, the open world frontier affords you a bevy of side quests that could occupy just as much of your time as the main story if you let it.

But if you don’t want to occupy your time in the single player (you might be a few feathers short of a headdress though), there’s also the top-notch multiplayer. The Assassin’s Creed multiplayer has always had the benefit of being unique compared to what’s out there, but now they’ve decided to put their originality to the test by incorporating their versions of classic versus mode Domination and a co-op mode called Wolf Pack. Domination was thrilling in Assassin’s Creed III because it requires you to think more than your standard-take on the mode. Wolf Pack though was the real eye-opener as you and three friends must perform assassinations in unison in order to score points within a time limit and only by truly working together to get the highest scores do you have a chance of advancing through the mode’s 25 levels.

When all is said and done, it’s hard to argue with how polished and deep Assassin’s Creed III is. From new game play elements like the naval battles, the expansive frontier, new multiplayer modes, and the smoothest combat to date, any fan of the franchise will not be able to put this down and newcomers will be awe-inspired by the world laid out before them.

SUMMARY: The more fluid combat system and diversity of gameplay combined with the series’ most expansive setting and a still-engrossing story makes this the best Assassin’s Creed yet.

  • THE GOOD: Bigger world, better combat, and more diverse gameplay.
  • THE BAD: A bit of a slow start to the story.
  • THE UGLY: Have you actually ever tried to skin a bear?

SCORE: 9.5

Assassin’s Creed III is available on Xbox 360, PS3, and PC. Primary version reviewed was for Xbox 360.   

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EGM Review: WWE 13

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A bionic redneck’s dream

I’ve been a wrestling fan for most of my life. It started with watching Hulk Hogan take on Andre the Giant with my grandfather. Then IRS came along and tried to make Tatanka pay his taxes. However, for a short time period I admittedly fell out of wrestling fandom. But with a crazed man from Long Island being flung from the top of a demonic structure and the rise of a certain bionic redneck, I was sucked back in and rarely strayed since.

These iconic moments in WWE history were just some highlights of what is now known as ‘The Attitude Era’. Stone Cold Steve Austin, D-Generation X, The Brothers of Destruction, and many other iconic men and women of that time period would cement their legacies as well as establish WWE as the dominate wrestling brand as they overcame WCW’s mid-90s advantage in the Monday Night Wars. And now, WWE 13 is having us relive some of those great moments like never before.

With cover boy CM Punk possibly marking the creation of a new era himself after last year’s infamous pipe bomb promo, it was only fitting that WWE 13 gave fans a brand new mode this year to replace past years’ story modes by using actual storylines from 1997-2000 and having players re-enact some of the most iconic matches of Stone Cold, The Rock, Kane, Undertaker, Mankind, HHH, HBK, and more. Not only does this give younger wrestling fans an overdue education, but it gives those of us who grew up in the era the most legitimate stories we’ve seen from the franchise since WWE No Mercy. It doesn’t hurt that it cranks the nostalgia factor up to 11 either, of course.

There are numerous other improvements to this year’s iteration of the WWE franchise though in terms of both presentation and game play. No, unfortunately not all of the hit detection and in-ring glitches we’ve almost become accustomed to were worked out. But besides these occasionally troublesome setbacks (its hard to suplex someone when they are cemented in the middle of the announcers table), there are new outside the ring features like ‘OMG!’ moments where you can sacrifice a stored finisher to spear a foe through the barricade or with super-heavyweights like Big Show and Mark Henry, actually smash the ring with a superplex.

Something the WWE franchise is known for, its creation features, has also seen marked improvements as additional layers and items have been added to wrestlers, like an individual layer for kick-pads on your shins. You can also now customize the stage and Titantron in Create-an-Arena, and even make your own Championship belt if you’re really old school and want to introduce something like the old AWA belt back into the mix. Altogether, this is amazingly the deepest creation suite we’ve seen yet.

There has also been a lot of fine-tuning in terms of the game play. Due to many matches from last year’s game seemingly ending much too quickly, many wrestlers health bars have been extended to help add some length to every time you step into the ring. This can sometimes lead to the precarious position of needing to hit a pair of finishers before your foe is in a weak enough state to the get the pin, but it definitely adds the desired length to matches. The counter system has also been tweaked, giving a larger window of opportunity for you to the hit the counter button in order to reverse your buddy’s maneuver. This allows many of the matches to take on a more natural feel as now even the most green of wrestling gamers can turn the tides should they be taking on a counter-happy veteran.

The online modes have also seen some major shifts as bots are now allowed into online matches meaning players no longer have to wait for six players to actually show up to do Elimination Chamber matches or the like. You won’t get any online experience in terms of moving up levels for beating a bot, but if you just want to have a match with some friends online and there aren’t enough for the match, this is a nice quick fix.

All things told it’s hard not to say this is the best WWE game of this console generation. Sure, there are still a few glitches, and the camera transitions aren’t as smooth as they could be, but when you consider everything that has been crammed onto one disc with the ‘Attitude Era’ mode, new matches like ‘I Quit’ and the King of the Ring tournament, the still stellar WWE Universe mode, the bevy of new customization features and improvements, and the high quality most of these improvements have been made with, if you are a wrestling fan this game is simply a must have.

SUMMARY: The bevy of unlockables, still stellar WWE Universe mode, even deeper customization features, and the nostalgia driven Attitude Era mode makes this the best wrestling game of this generation.

  • THE GOOD: Attitude Era mode hits every right note for long-time WWE fans
  • THE BAD: Still some seemingly ever-present glitches and hit detection problems
  • THE UGLY: That it isn’t an option to have Good Ol’ JR call ALL the matches

SCORE: 9.0

WWE 13 is available on Xbox 360, PS3, and Nintendo Wii. Primary version reviewed was for Xbox 360.   

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EGM Review: Marvel Avengers: Battle for Earth

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Gimmicks Assemble!

Every time you walk into a comic book store nowadays, it seems there is some sort of new major event going on, especially with Marvel. This constant bombardment of universe changing stories makes it so that mighty Marvelites barely get a chance to breathe when it comes to keeping up with the flood of fiction usually before them. Fear Itself, World War Hulk, House of M, Dark Reign, Avengers vs X-Men, Civil War, Chaos War, Schism, and Spider-Island, are just some, not even close to all, of what has happened in the past few years of Marvel. So when we first heard we were getting a Marvel Avengers Kinect game based off of Secret Invasion, most of us were shaking our heads at the idea since in modern comic terms, this four-year old story arc was already considered ancient in the mythos of Earth-616 and is not nearly as beloved as some other stories.

The basic premise of Secret Invasion was that the shape-shifting Skurllls had found a way to transform themselves to resemble many of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes without being detected and then inserted themselves as sleeper agents amongst the super hero populous. Once it was revealed with Skrull-Electra’s death, the event had everyone guessing as to whom they could trust and just where all the original heroes had gone. And so the idea of jumping into the shoes of everyone’s favorite heroes to bash those green-skinned, three-chinned, would be conquerors led to Marvel Avengers: Battle for Earth.

The game has you play as 20 different characters from the Marvel Universe and take on both regular and Skrull versions of many of these heroes and villains in a fighting game style as you loosely follow the events of Secret Invasion. From the infiltration of the Baxter Building where the Fantastic Four make their home to the attack on the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier, you must fend off dozens of foes overall as each level has several conflicts associated with it.

Each round of fighting features a pair of heroes or villains on each side, but should one character’s lifebar be depleted, the match is over. In terms of the motions you must perform, anyone who played Ubisoft’s previous Kinect hero game, PowerUp Heroes, should be familiar with the actions as you kick, punch, and swing your arms around to mimic moves that the actual Marvel characters might do. From clasping your fists together and swinging upward for a massive Hulk uppercut to opening your arms up wide for an Iron Man Repulsor Beam, the game does a very good job of recognizing your movements and what exactly you want to do with each character. To immerse you in the experience even more, there are even voice commands where if you scream certain phrases during Ultra Attacks, like ‘HULK SMASH’, your moves are even more powerful and as cheesy as you may sound, the gimmick is surprisingly fun.

As tight handling as the game may be for a motion game though, its core mechanics are overly simple and the motions become repetitive and boring as you quickly realize just how many battles you have to work your way through in order to beat the game’s campaign mode. The story adaptation also clearly needed more work than it got and if you are a diehard fan of the comics, you won’t appreciate the characters and scenarios that were randomly added to try to force some longevity into this title that even then should really only require a few hours to beat.

Despite its fatal flaw of being as repetitive as every other Kinect game out there though, Marvel Avengrs: Battle for Earth actually has a lot more polish than you might expect from a game of this nature and is a great way to get your butt out of your chair to pummel some of your all-time favorite comic book characters. Along with some tight controls, there is a versus and co-op feature that allows you to play with or against your friends and could prove to be a great way to kill a rainy day should your living room have the space for it. The look and sound of the game also helps give the game an authentic comic book feel. All told, if you’re a Marvel fan really looking to get into the shoes of one of your favorite characters, there are worst things you can do than play Marvel Avengers: Battle for Earth.

SUMMARY: As usual, the gimmicks quickly become evident and tiresome, especially for folks familiar with the comic arc this game’s story is based off of. However, there is some surprising polish here and you might have more fun with it than you’d expect as it is one of the few Kinect games where the controls actually work.

  • THE GOOD: Great look and sound to the game that mimics the comics well
  • THE BAD: Simple game play that can become boring quickly
  • THE UGLY: Skrulls and their triple chins

SCORE: 7.0

Marvel Avengers: Battle for Earth is available currently for Xbox 360 and will later be available on Wii U. Primary version reviewed was for Xbox 360.    

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Hands-On: SimCity

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Hello City

I admit to never being much of a PC gamer growing up. However, there were always a few titles that crept their way onto my harddrives, and possibly because of rarely using my PC for gaming purposes as a child, those few games hold extra special memories. One of those games was SimCity 2000, where I would actually stay after school in middle school and head down to the computer lab to try to build more and more fantastical cities. As subsequent SimCity titles were then released, it remained one of my favorite game franchises. So, when it was then officially announced at GDC this year that the first new entry into the series in six years would be coming in 2013, I admit a huge smile crossed my face.

Flash forward to a very recent EA event where I was able to get several hours of hands-on time with this title that intends to re-launch this classic franchise and really pick it apart. Mind you, the version I saw still had a lot of work to be done, but if you’re as much of a fan of SimCity as I am, then I think a lot more people are going to be smiling as well comes early March.

You start by obviously selecting a swath of land and building roads outward from the main highway to where you would like to lay the foundation for your, hopefully, soon-to-be megalopolis. And as soon as you wish to start developing this new city, you realize that more so than ever before, every decision you make is a major one and it affects the world around you in ways that you’ll need to see to truly start understanding.

After cutting out a square of roads and designating land for houses, factories, and retail centers, I knew I would need a few basic necessities for my starting population to survive and the first necessity I wished to tackle was power. I had to choose between coal or wind. Now, not only would coal pollute the city I had just founded, but if my initial land choice wasn’t rich in minerals, I might be forced into wind. The same problem could arise if my burgeoning city was at a low altitude and didn’t get very many gusts, I might be forced into coal, showing how even where you start to set up your city is important.

But if neither of these were an option, the new kink in the game is the social aspects where if I had some friends who had a surplus of power in a nearby city, I could trade them resources for access to their electrical grid, at least until I could afford nuclear power or some other option. This option was demoed for us, but wasn’t as clear to me in my game, but it also could have been because we are on a closed server and there really wasn’t anyone for me to trade with to really test it out.

All this then continues as you expand ever outward in the hopes of bringing in more people to your city to bring in more cash. In turn, more people then need more necessities ranging from very basic things like water and power, to trash collection, sewage disposal, police and fire departments, and much, much more as you tackle the problems your populous encounters. And there were a lot more problems than you might think as there were also new side missions that featured some more vocal members of your community. These civic-minded folks could bring dilemmas to your attention and as mayor, should your choose to intercede as all choices have consequences, could earn extra cash for your budget.

With all this serious stuff going on like managing power grids via the amazing layered graphics provided by the GlassBox engine or watching your people dynamically cause new problems for you to solve, it wouldn’t be a SimCity game if there wasn’t some zany fun stuff either. Beyond being able to transform your city in various ways from that of a potential gambling den to the ideal slice of American suburbia and more, there is also the power to destroy that which you create. Yes, you don’t have to just bulldoze what you’ve built to start over if you so choose, you can do it in glorious fashion via divine acts. Earthquakes, tornadoes, meteor showers, UFO invasions, and more can have you wreck all that you have created in the hopes of re-building it better, or just having some fun with wonton destruction.

After carving out a small, but sustainable little paradise for myself in the mountains, my time with the new SimCity ran out. It wasn’t nearly as long as I would’ve hoped, and the build was somewhat early so it still had a few bugs, but overall a lot of great memories were getting ready to possibly be supplanted by some new ones as this game is shaping up to be special for a whole new generation of gamers and I can’t wait to get my hands on the final product come March.

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EGM Review: Forza Horizon

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Peace, Love, Horizon

Forza has been one of the premier racing series for quite a while; the franchise has constantly provided top-tier physics, an impressive lineup of elite cars, and a variety of options to help personalize your driving experience. The setting of the game, however, has never really strayed from enclosed tracks and menus asking you where you wanted to race that day.

Enter Forza Horizon, the first open-world entry for the franchise. Horizon is set in a semi-fictional slice of Colorado where many real-world roads from the Centennial State cut together to form a twisting, turning spattering of insane driving roads along beautiful mountains, a rural expanse, and a suburban outcropping. So, what’s the reason all the in-game racers have gathered at this perfect storm of road racing? The (fictional) Horizon Festival, the Woodstock of car racing. And, naturally, you play as the young, up-and-coming nobody looking to make a name for himself and be crowned king of the festival.

Starting off in a crappy 1995 Volkswagen Corrado, you’ll race in beginner events in the hopes of earning credits to not only obtain better cars, but also to work your way up to stiffer competition until you’re finally ready to take on the champion in standard racing game fashion. Unlike previous entries in the series, Horizon offers many other ways to earn extra credits: illegal street races, promotional events where you take on unconventional vehicles like hot-air balloons or biplanes, and even racing for slips against the game’s seven bosses. In total, you’re looking at hours upon hours of racing outside of the 70 festival-sponsored races in single-player alone.

Along with the robust racing choices and the game’s main plot, there’s also the underlying quest to become popular. Yes, it does sound like something you may have had to do in high school, but in Horizon, this extra quest to do tricks or cause destruction in the environment to earn popularity points helps keep the long drive between some races entertaining as you look to move up from 250th amongst the racing fans to becoming the number one driver in their hearts. And performing enough of these tricks also adds to the in-game achievements where you can unlock more credits by performing specific stunts and maneuvers.

These new elements are all well and good, and when you jump into Forza Horizon to start, this new take feels original and exciting with the atmosphere of the festival, the radio DJ’s script, and the phenomenal soundtrack adding even more life to the scenes before you. But, as you get deeper into the game, if you’ve played any racing series besides Forza, you start to realize you’ve actually seen many of these tricks before.

Forza still does what it is known for very well in terms of physics, car choices, and customizing the driving experience. And the plot and quest for popularity are very enjoyable. But as an open-world game ,it still needs a bit of work, and the minor annoyances start to add up. The fact that the game doesn’t present a clear difference between what’s breakable in the environment and what isn’t particularly grinded my gears. I could smash up some fences but not others, and I’d be able to drive through some foliage only to be stopped suddenly by a single piece of lone shrubbery in the wilderness.

Another aspect of the open world that bothered me, especially later in the game, was how the area outside of the main festival felt like a ghost town. I loved how expansive and detailed the world was, but it barely felt like there was anyone else in it; much of the civilian traffic felt more like more random obstacles than actual people in the world. Many of the tracks also start to repeat themselves toward the end of the game, which was puzzling, considering how much unused open road there was. I also would have loved some character customization or at least some depth to the character you’re forced to play as. If I got called the “Mystery Driver” one more time, I was just gonna drive off a cliff!

All in all, Forza Horizon is a fine new take on this venerable racing series. It has a few quirks that come with the franchise’s first attempt at an open-world game, but at its heart, it’s still a solid Forza title. I can see Horizon being the start of a continuing bold new direction for the franchise, and with a bit more polish, I can even see it becoming the Forza standard. If you’re a Forza fan, this is definitely worth checking out.

SUMMARY: A different turn for the Forza folks maintains the high level of racing the series is known for, but their first open-world attempt falls flat in some ways.

  • THE GOOD: Same tight Forza physics and handling.
  • THE BAD: The open world feels empty and hollow.
  • THE UGLY: Starting the game off with a Volkswagen Corrado.

SCORE: 8.5

Forza Horizon is an Xbox 360 exclusive.  

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EGM Review: 007 Legends

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Operation Game Slam

He is the world’s most notorious super spy. Men want to be him and women want to be with him. And after 50 years of books, movies, and games being set in his universe, the folks at Activision and Eurocom thought they should get in on his golden anniversary by giving us a game that lets us relive some of his greatest adventures while also setting up his upcoming movie romp, Skyfall.

Starting with Goldfinger and working its way through On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, License to Kill, Die Another Day, and finally Moonraker, the game gives us a brief glimpse at definitive movies of all the men to have played Bond before current actor Daniel Craig. Somewhere along the lines though, someone decided to remove the classic actors from these great movies and insert Craig’s likeness with a pitiful replacement voice in their place as the developers tried to tie together a very loose narrative about Bond’s history.

And unless you are the most diehard of Bond fans you may have trouble understanding just what is going on around you as this plot fails to set any sort of a stage around you. If you’ve never seen Goldfinger, you might miss out on why Auric Goldfinger, originally played by Gert Frobe and whose likeness returns from the grave, but his voice is done by the same shmuck who replaces Daniel Craig’s, wants to irradiate the USA’s supply of gold at Fort Knox. Or just who exactly is Ernst Starvro Blofeld as SPECTRE is never even mentioned throughout the entirety of the On Her Majesty’s Secret Service missions or why Theresa Draco is so damn important to James.

However, there is a perfectly logical reason why it may be easy for you to miss these important plot details. You’ll be too busy writhing in pain as you try to look past the last generation quality visuals to pay any attention to the actual dialogue. Although many of the environments have been re-imagined in order to better suit a modern vibe, the lack of detail in many instances makes the levels feel like lifeless, bland looking shells. When you combine this with some of the worst ragdoll physics I’ve ever seen in a first-person shooter and quite honestly it doesn’t even look like Eurocom tried to do Bond justice.

But even worse than poor visuals and story is that the game play is damn near atrocious. Exceedingly boring and mundane, you might wish you could turn your Walther P99 back on your own head at points. The boss battles have been trivialized into sloppy quicktime events, the stealth aspects are pitifully frustrating as you can’t even drag dead bodies into corners and are far too often discovered for it, and the guns are poorly balanced where it often takes as many as seven bullets to the torso to down enemies who are not wearing any sort of body armor.

And aside from poor visuals, game play, and plot, the game is also ridiculously short. The entire single player campaign is only five to six hours long as there are only so many scenes you can take from each movie and turn into a video game level. And even with the promised free Skyfall missions DLC, I don’t see them adding enough value nearly a month after the game’s release to be worth a $60 purchase. With Activision’s history of spoiling movies though in their games (see The Amazing Spider-Man game from earlier in the summer), it’s surprising they didn’t just include the levels with the disc anyway, or wait to release the disc for another few weeks.

There are a few aspects of the game that weren’t complete wastes of time however. The challenges mode, giving you special objectives and win conditions for most of the single player game’s levels, offered some difficulty and replay value as the levels were too boring on their own for the most part. Also, the versus multiplayer and its corresponding modes, although they were a carbon copy of last year’s Goldeneye 007: Reloaded with just the current game’s character skins, worked well enough. The remixed music of the classic movie themes was also well done, but the complete absence of the classic James Bond theme is unforgivable.

All in all, there is nothing legendary about 007 Legends. In fact, it doesn’t even quantify itself as average. If you are a James Bond fan and are thinking about getting this game, you should just re-watch the corresponding movies instead. You’ll get far more enjoyment from them and they will also take up far more of your time.

SUMMARY: For something that was supposed to celebrate 50 years of the world’s favorite super spy, it sure seemed more like a slap in the face. Poor visuals, bland game play, and a generic multiplayer seem to have become the gaming standard for 007 with Legends just being the latest example.

  • THE GOOD: Bringing together great moments from Bond history on one disc
  • THE BAD: Looking like an N64 game while doing it
  • THE UGLY: The voice actor playing Gert Frobe in the Goldfinger missions

SCORE: 3.0

007 Legends is available on Xbox 360, PS3, and PC. Primary version reviewed was for Xbox 360.   

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EGM Review: The Walking Dead: Episode 4: Around Every Corner

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October 20, 2012

Decisions, decisions…

It’s not easy living in a world plagued by the zombie apocalypse, but Lee, Clementine, and whomever else you’ve saved up to this point in Telltale’s The Walking Dead are making the best of it as they continue to carry out their plan to get out of Georgia by boat and hopefully find a place they can start anew. But when they finally arrive in Savannah in Episode 4: Around Every Corner, their lives go from bad to worse as they now have a very live stalker following their every move with his eye on Clementine. All the while, the gang must uncover and then deal with a dark Savannah secret. Soon, it’s evident to Lee, Clem, and the rest of the group that the live humans aren’t as bad as the undead ones…they’re worse.

By now, fans of the first three episodes of The Walking Dead should instantly recognize the formula for how things work as Lee and the crew scavenge for whatever they can to keep surviving. Still, that doesn’t mean that the story has lost any of the qualities that have made it the achievement in game storytelling it is, and this new episode will suck you in just as easily as the others as new problems arise and require…inventive solutions. Lee and Clementine definitely have their work cut out for them this time, as the action ramps up significantly when desperate times begin to call for desperate measures.

The added action sequences also leave a few more lulls in the pacing, but rest assured, folks—these quieter moments are just as critical as Lee grabbing a shotgun to carve a path through a horde of walkers. The added drama is palpable, as it’s clear Episode 4  is all about setting up the series’ epic conclusion series in Episode 5. Although it may at first seem like a come down from the insane emotional highs of the past episode, you can bet that the groundwork laid out in this section of the story will result in a payoff that makes all the work you’ve put in so far well worth it.

The game is still mostly a point and click adventure, although there are a few more action sequences that’ll put your trigger finger to the test this time around. Aside from those moments though, the star here is really the story, especially with regard to Clementine. As she’s matured more and more with each new episode, she’s slowly become one of the most enjoyable characters I’ve ever seen in a game. The fact that you actually develop affection for this little girl you’ve been trying to protect shows just how well thought out and deeply written this story is.

When this episode concluded with the most epic cliffhanger yet, I actually stood up and clapped. Sure, there are a couple of glitches, an occasional minor plot hole, and the annoying fact that the button prompts break Zombie Media Rule #1 and explicitly label the Walkers as “Zombies,”but overall, this is one of the best written video game works I’ve ever seen. I cannot recommend this series more highly to anyone who enjoys good drama, zombies, and the mayhem they cause. If you’ve managed to miss out so far, go back and download Episodes 1-3 and get to work. You won’t regret it.

SUMMARY: The Walking Dead: Episode 4: Around Every Corner continues the landmark storytelling of the first three episodes as the situation takes a drastic turn in order to ramp up for the final episode. Fans will not be disappointed.

  • THE GOOD: Maintains the tension and epic consequences of the first three episodes.
  • THE BAD: A couple of minor glitches and plot holes.
  • THE UGLY: A barricade made of zombie flesh.

SCORE: 9.0

The Walking Dead: Episode 4: Around Every Corner is available on XBLA (Xbox 360), PS3 (PSN), and PC. Primary version reviewed was for XBLA. 

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EGM Review: Marvel vs Capcom Origins

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Clash of the Classics

When I was just a boy, my friends and I would argue for hours on end on the playground about what superheroes would win in an imaginary fight when pitted against each other in all different kinds of wacky combinations. We didn’t just mix up teams from a particular universe, but came up with all kinds of scenarios that put our favorites against all manner of pop culture heroes and heroines. So, when games like Marvel Super Heroes and Marvel vs Capcom breathed even more life into these conversations, you can easily imagine why we were hooked.

Flash-forward nearly two decades, and these games have led to the production of one of the most successful and beloved fighting game franchises there is. Because of this, Capcom wanted to make sure that not only us older games didn’t forget our roots, but also show a new generation the foundations of what set us on our hypercombo-ing path.

Marvel vs Capcom Origins is no ordinary old-school compilation, though. Included with these two original games—which have also had some HD graphic upgrades—are 8-player online lobbies with spectator modes, replay saving, dynamic challenges that unlock levels, and points you can spend on unlockables like characters that were hidden in the originals, end movies, or concept art.

The best part of the dynamic challenges and unlocks, though, may be that they give both games an unprecedented amount of replayability. Plus, if you’re as big a fan as I am, you will absolutely geek out over the sketches and stills of your favorites heroes and villains, as well as the chance to easily unlock the hidden characters that we originally had to input an impossibly long code for—Dr. Doom and Thanos in Marvel Super Heroes and Gold War Machine, Hyper Venom, Orange Hulk, and Shadow Lady in MvC.

Another nice aspect of the game is that everything that made these fighters unique in the first place is still there so you can relive the experience as if it were 1995 again and you were feeding quarters into an arcade cabinet under pink neon lights. The gem system of Marvel Super Heroes (inspired by the Infinity Gauntlet story from Marvel comics) still allows you to enhance your players temporarily with the powers of Space, Power, Time, Soul, Reality, or Mind, and MvC still gives you dozens of assist characters and the Duo Team Attack where you and your partner can combine your hyper combos into one truly devastating maneuver.

Unfortunately, in terms of gameplay, the games are a little too demanding at times, as players who are used to modern fighters will quickly see the age on these classics. Sometimes a little clunky and even a bit frustrating, both these games—but especially Marvel Super Heroes—can feel stiff, and the smooth combo chains you may be used to from Marvel vs Capcom 3 are much harder to string together and pull off in these titles. It’s not that you won’t be able to get the hang of these characters eventually and have fun in the process, but if you play modern fighters like MvC 3 religiously and then expect to be able to jump right into these games, you might be caught a bit off-guard by the stark differences.

When all is said and done, Marvel vs Capcom Origins hits enough of the right nostalgic notes to make it a more than worthwhile purchase for long time fans. I mean, the game even offers zoomed out, angled camera camera views designed to replicate the experience of playing on an old wooden cabinet. Younger fans might be a little frustrated with the less than silky smooth controls, but they should still play in order to truly appreciate how far we’ve come with fighting games. They’ll even likely start creating fun memories of their own once they adjust to the outdate feel. All in all, Origins is a fine compilation that’s more than worthy of a download.

SUMMARY: Marvel vs Capcom Origins does a fine job of staying true to the originals, while the addition of dynamic challenges provide a new layer of addictiveness that helps to overshadow how much these games have aged in the past two decades.

  • THE GOOD: New leveling up and variety of unlocks compliment classic game play well.
  • THE BAD: Games show their age at times.
  • THE UGLY: Far and away, it’s Shuma-Gorath.

SCORE: 9.0

Marvel vs Capcom Origins is available on XBLA (Xbox 360) and PS3 (PSN). Primary version reviewed was for XBLA.

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Hands-On: Fuse

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Lighting the Fuse

It’s hard to believe that the holidays are already upon us and that the calendar year is coming to an end. Usually, this is a great time for people to reflect on the events of the past year that have transpired. This is also a good time, however, to look ahead. And in that vein, EA held their ‘Naughty or Nice’ event in New York and allowed us to play some games slated for the next few months depending on if we’ve been good boys or girls (hence the name of the event). Some lucky few of us have been particularly naughty this year though and were able to go hands-on with Fuse, the upcoming third-person shooter from Insomniac Games.

In Fuse, you play as one of four misfit soldiers in the near future as part of a group called Overstrike 9 who work for the government after they start developing experimental weapons with an alien substance dubbed Fuse (hence the name of the game). Your objective is to then take down a corrupt organization known as ‘Raven’ with your new alien-powered weapons while also working as a cohesive unit.

What looks to separate Fuse from every other third-person shooter out there is not only the Fuse powered weaponry you acquire, but the ability to hop between all four members of the team should you be playing solo. This is critical as each member of the team has a distinct style and special abilities that will allow you to overcome the obstacles in your path. Of course, the game will also feature and encourage co-op, but gives you this option incase you’re like me and prefer to play games by yourself in a dank hole in the ground and the game can still therefore convey that feeling of being in an organized group.

The first character I tried was the fiery redhead Izzy. Her Fuse weapon’s special ability is to fire matter at enemies that freezes them in place, allowing you to focus on other targets or shatter them into tiny pieces with a melee maneuver and conserve your ammo.

Next, was Dalton and his ability was a special energy shield that not only prevents you and your teammates from being hit, but increases your ammo’s strength should you fire back through the shield yourselves.

Then came Jacob and he was one of my favorites. He has a special crossbow that not only allows you to impale enemies into the wall (think the Javelin Gun from Dead Space 2), but if multiple bolts are in the environment, you can link them together via an electric tether and then incinerate anything caught in-between the field. A perfect example of this was at one point in our demo a group of riot shield wielding thugs tried to storm the facility we just captured. In order to get them to drop their guard, I fired a bolt in front of the group, and two behind. I then activated the link and created a giant triangle of fire that killed many of the guards and the few who survived were so panicked that they were easy pickings for the rest of the squad.

Finally came Naya and she was another favorite of mine. Not only does she have an awesome gun that opens up miniature black holes from within enemies and consumes anyone close to it, which in and of itself is amazingly badass, but she also has a cloak that allows you to flank or sneak up on unsuspecting enemies and create havoc from behind enemy lines. I used this to get by many a turret in the demo and it saved me often as it’s easy to lose the invisible person in the midst of a firefight.

Aside from the brilliant gunplay, the game also features a cover system that worked well enough when compared to what is out on the market currently, and a simple free-running mechanic as the various characters could do things any normal soldier would do like hop over chain link fences to get to alternate pathways or to a breachable wall or door.

After infiltrating and wreaking havoc on the Raven facility, the group was met by a bi-pedal mechanized monstrosity reminiscent of something out of early Metal Gear. After taking trash to the group, the robot began pummeling us with lasers, missiles, and melee attacks as it hopped around the enclosed area we were fighting in. But with four people to attack it at once, it had difficulty targeting multiple foes and by literally running circles around it, we were able to turn the robot into scrap.

Although our time with Fuse was short, the game felt immensely satisfying as I played both by myself and with other people. The Insomniac staple of insane weaponry is evident clearly right from the get go and the unique abilities these weapons afford you looks like they’ll hopefully keep the game play fresh throughout. The only question now is if the story can live up to the off-the-wall fun the weapons provided and give us a wholly entertaining experience when the game is released in March 2013.

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The Sleeper Hold – Episode 13

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CM Punk continues his unending quest for respect and not even Mr. McMahon would get in his way! All the details inside this week’s Sleeper Hold!

Main Plot Overview:

Monday Night RAW this week was one of the most adrenaline fueled, emotion driven episodes we had seen in quite some time, but that’s what happens when the Chairman of the Board is back in town. Yes, Mr. McMahon was present in Sacramento, CA, for his annual state of the WWE address. However, CM Punk would not let him finish since he felt that Vince McMahon, for the longest time, had been the most disrespectful one of all to Punk.

With a slap that no one would soon forget, Punk walked out of the ring laughing as Mr. McMahon writhed on the ground. But no one pushes Mr. McMahon around and gets away with it and with more venom and anger than we had seen probably in his entire feud with Stone Cold Steve Austin now more than a decade ago, McMahon said if Punk didn’t face him that night, he’d simply fire him. With an insane gleam in his eye, Punk gladly accepted.

And surprisingly, it was an interesting match. Heck, Vince put on a better match with Punk than John Cena has in half of the matches he’s had with Punk. At first, the WWE champ dominated the much older McMahon, but Vince doesn’t back down from a fight and when Punk thought his point had been made and turned his back, he made a vital error. The match then took on a somewhat old-school ECW vibe as Kendo sticks and announce tables soon became the theme of the match as the men battled and beat each other down. Finally though, Punk, with a pair of Kendo Sticks, wailed on Mr. McMahon’s back and it looked like he would be down for a while.

Then came Ryback.

Punk ran out of the ring though ‘like a scalded dog’ as JR so eloquently put it in his Oklahoma drawl, but there the injured, one armed John Cena came down to the ring and blindsided Punk, threw him into the ring, and Ryback got his last meal of the night. When he went to hit his finisher though, Punk wriggled out of his grasp and this time ran through the crowd. McMahon then drabbed the mic, his eye bloodied from the confrontation, and laid out an ultimatum for Punk. At Hell in a Cell he had two choices. Face John Cena for the WWE Championship. Or face Ryback for the WWE Championship.

Honestly, it’s clear that Cena is nowhere near 100% and that these Ryback interventions have been to try to build him up to Championship status in a short time. This ‘ultimatum’ is just another move by WWE to see how Cena heals after another week of rest and rehab. At this point though, I think Ryback versus Punk would make for a very interesting PPV match because Ryback is clearly a beast and the crowd loves him flaunting his power. Ryback would never come out victorious though because the ‘Punk is scared of Cena’ storylines are ripe for the picking once John is healthy again enough to continue his feud with CM Punk should Punk ‘choose’ Ryback.

Match of the Night:

There were some solid matches during this RAW. From Antonio Cesaro again dominating to Ryback being fed Epico and Primo and doing his maneuver on both men (yes, he put almost 500 lbs on his shoulders and walked around the ring carrying them). Of course, my favorite part of Epico and Primo is Rosa Mendes who seems to wear less and less now whenever she comes to the ring.

But no, these would not be our Match of the Night. In fact, hell no! As in Team Hell No versus Dolph Ziggler and Alberto Del Rio in a tag match was the winner. Kane and Daniel Bryan continued their winning ways after their odd mix of teamwork resulted in Kane choke slamming Dolph Ziggler (and Ziggler selling it very well as always) and getting the 1, 2, 3.

The best part of this match though was how it had a very old school tag team match feel with the heels dominating and isolating Daniel Bryan for a large chunk of the match before Kane got the hot tag and went crazy. And then we still saw glimpses of Team Hell No’s disfunction as the two would then tag each other in and out for the end of the match until finally Kane’s choke slam would prove to be the deciding factor. It was one of the better wrestled matches I’ve seen in a while and that’s a credit to all four combatants and it ended with a clean victory fitting of the faces that Kane and Daniel Bryan are becoming.

Promo of the Night:

I wanted to give this to possibly to Daniel Bryan and Kane arguing more backstage with special guest Larry King for when Daniel Bryan said that Kane looked like someone slapped him in the face with a Fruit Roll-Up, but one great line does not a promo make, no matter how funny it was.

No, and not really that surprisingly, it has to go to when CM Punk interrupted Vince during the State of the WWE address. It felt like they had wanted it to be more a Vince/Stone Cold promo of old, but Punk and McMahon went much darker and deeper than that and it felt more like the pipe bomb that Punk dropped a year ago as he started talking about how Vince held him back and didn’t know what to do with him. And then the slap was a great exclamation point as Punk then chastised those who cheered him because they were doing it only to be ironic. WWE has to be careful though because if they push Punk too hard with this heel arc, although he plays a great one, he’s getting dangerously close to ‘crazy Austin’ territory and all the work he’s done over the year could begin to unravel.

Shocker of the Night:

There really wasn’t much that was shocking on this episode of RAW beyond CM Punk, but in order to keep this from being dominated by Punk, I’m going to choose the Divas Championship match between Kaitlyn and Eve because it was actually well wrestled even if it was only a 5-minute match. Kaitlyn, still nursing her ‘injured’ ankle would finally cash in her Championship match as number one contender and dominated Eve for much of the match hitting some great maneuvers and even showing off some strength herself until said injured ankle gave way on an atomic drop.

Eve, ever the opportunist, would lock Kaitlyn into a painful looking submission maneuver that focused on the ankle (it looked like a cross between a figure four and an ankle lock) and Kaitlyn would have to tap out. But this was a rare women’s match that I enjoyed watching for the actual wrestling and not just the hot ladies in skimpy clothing. Definitely a shock to me.

Cheap Pop of the Night:

For some reason Larry King was on the show, promoting his new Hulu series I believe, and so a promo between him, Kofi Kingston and the Miz (looks like they’re finally going to give Kofi another singles push with a focus on the IC belt) erupted when the Miz demanded everyone sing him happy birthday.

Besides this though, there were two cheap pops in this segment. Larry King started it off by exclaiming his love for Sacramento and the Kofi did the same thing when he took the stage and the microphone. A good segment all around for Miz and Kofi as Kofi did some high-flying acrobatics off the stage and onto the Miz, but the pair of pops (which even the Miz pointed out) to get a rise out of the crowd for the pointlessness of Larry King was easily the Cheap Pop of the Night.

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