Tag Archive: DLC


Reinventing the Renaissance: Assassin’s Creed II DLC announced

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May 11, 2010

Originally Published: December 2, 2009, on Lundberg.me and Examiner.com

With Assassin’s Creed II living up to the tremendous hype it had leading up to its release with awesome gameplay and an engrossing plot, and with a solid 800,000 units sold in its first week for Xbox 360, it is no surprise that Ubisoft has officially announced two new DLC packs for the first quarter of 2010 for Assassin’s Creed II.

The first new DLC is titled “Battle of Forli” and will hit the marketplace sometime in January 2010. No details of the plot have been released, but if it is taking place in the Romagna/Forli region, and if you paid attention to the Animus’ promptings for history lessons about the people and buildings in the area, then you could probably draw the conclusion that you are going to be doing a few favors for the lovely Catalina.

The second new DLC is titled “Bonfire of the Vanities” and is supposed to hit the marketplace in February 2010. There have been absolutely no confirmed details released about either of these DLC’s in terms of plot and how they tie into the main story of Assassin’s Creed II, but Ubisoft has confirmed that each DLC should be about 1 GB in size. This means that each one is going to be about the size of GTA IV’s The Lost and the Damned if you are looking for a point of reference.

Ubisoft has also said that they will reveal more before the New Year at least about “Battle of Forli”. There has been no word on achievements, price, or exact release dates up to this point, but with the few details we have, I think it is enough to get excited about considering how great Assassin’s Creed II was.

An addendum: Published 12/5/09: After finally completely beating the game, I make the prediction that the two DLC packs are the “two sequences” that are skipped over in the regular game for the sake of time due to the Templars closing in on your Animus 2.0’s position.

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I’m Going Down to South Park…

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April 24, 2010

Originally Published: October 7, 2009, to 1050ESPN.com (now ESPNNewYork.com), Lundberg.me, and Examiner.com

It is one of the funniest and longest running programs on television and has permeated the pop culture like few shows do, especially ones that reside primarily on basic cable. But the four foul-mouthed youths from South Park on Comedy Central are still going strong and are once again attempting to invade the digital realm.

South Park Let’s Go Tower Defense Play takes this hugely popular franchise and sticks it in a tower defense game (hence the title). What is amazing is that South Park’s cast of characters makes this straightforward, lackluster genre somewhat fun.

The basic plot is that a mysterious force is sending some of the boys’ most nefarious foes from the past towards the heart of South Park in order to destroy the town once and for all! Homeless people, terrorists, ginger kids, demons, and old people just scratch the surface of the mindless hordes bent on destroying South Park as the boys must set up specially designed towers ranging from fast pitch baseball machines to magnifying glass powered lasers to cherry bomb launchers and fireworks to repel the invading forces over 11 levels from all over South Park and the surrounding area.

Cut scenes between each level help forward the plot (done in the style from the forever classic episode “Good Times With Weapons”) as the boys desperately try to unravel the mystery of who has brought together all of these clearly evil forces (I’m focusing in on you old people!) bent on destroying their peaceful little town and the end revelation will shock you into hysterics.

The best part of the game though is the scrapbook (inspired by the “Cartman Sucks” episode) in which you not only collect images of the foes you defeat along the way, but unlock over 80 original clips from the show highlighting the first appearances of these infamous villains ranging all the way back to Season 1.

Being downloadable content, don’t expect the graphics to be crystal clear, but considering the animation style of South Park, it is more than forgivable. The audio though is top notch with the entire voice cast coming on to do voices and record thousands of original lines for this game.

The game is not perfect though, as the gameplay is a little glitchy. I found it difficult for my characters to run around a lot of times without freezing a little and it was difficult to select which specific tower I wanted to build many times. Add in that it would have been so much easier to set the boys to the four directions of the d-pad instead of constantly having to rotate through them with the right bumper.

The bottom line is that if you are a fan of South Park, you are going to want this game because it is hysterical, but I don’t see it appealing to people otherwise. There are four difficulties to the game and they threw in five challenge maps for when you beat the 8-10 hour campaign, but aside from that there isn’t a lot to bring you back to this except for a couple of classic laughs you might want to replay.

South Park Let’s Go Tower Defense Play is an Xbox Live exclusive, available tonight (which just so happens to coincide with the new season premiere) for 800 Microsoft Points (roughly $10) and considering the content you get, the price is well worth it if you are a South Park fan.

Ratings are based on a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being the best.

Graphics: 8.0: You might download this and gawk at the high graphics score I gave it, but you have to take into consideration the style of animation that South Park is done in, so the game’s actual graphics are close to watching the actual cartoon and the cut scenes, although done in the old school comic book panel by panel style, look awesome.

Audio: 9.0: The game opens with the theme song and the entire cast came on board to voice over thousands of lines of dialogue so I can’t give the audio a poor score. Generic SFX and background music in the levels though docks the overall score a point.

Plot/Plot Development: 9.0: Fans of the show will already be familiar with the surroundings and characters so since this is clearly marketed to the already established fan base (myself included) there wasn’t a need to go into background details. The game starts off like an episode of the sitcom and continues over the course of the day. The mystery is developed well through the cut scenes and the surprise ending fit perfectly into what South Park is all about.

Gameplay: 6.0: Passable, but barely. The gameplay is a bit glitchy and I thought the switching between characters and selecting towers tool was difficult to use at best. The whole game, even with the challenge maps, is probably about 12 hours overall and doesn’t get more straightforward than build towers, delay and kill enemies, don’t die yourself.

Replay Value: 5.0: It is nice that you can do online co-op and play with lots of characters like Jimmy or Pip if you get tired of the boys, but there just isn’t enough here that appeals to me to play through the campaign mode repeatedly on different difficulties to try to unlock all the various clips of episodes I’ve already seen countless times.

Overall (not an average): 8.0: If you love South Park, you will love this game because there is just enough polish to make you try to work through the entire campaign. If you don’t like South Park, then you are going to want to avoid this game, but who doesn’t like South Park? This game is sweeeeeeet.

-Ray Carsillo

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Lurking in the Shadows

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April 20, 2010

Originally Published: August 18, 2009, on 1050ESPN.com (now ESPNNewYork.com) and Examiner.com

I want to continue our exploration of games being featured on Xbox Live’s Summer of Arcade and in doing so we look at an exclusive downloadable game.

Shadow Complex is a product from Chair Entertainment and Epic Games (the same team that produced Gears of War) and the best way to describe the gameplay is a mix between Bionic Commando and Metroid.

A 2.5D side-scrolling shooter, Shadow Complex is the story of how a couple of hikers in the woods stumble upon an anarchist plot to overthrow the U.S. government, starting with San Francisco. The hero of our story, Jason, must rescue his girlfriend from the clutches of this unknown organization after she is captured during their hike and, in the process, defend truth, justice, and the American way by taking down the entirety of the underground complex.

The story progresses extremely quickly, but this is understandable considering downloadable games are typically far shorter than disc-based games for the sake of hard drive space and download times. Unfortunately, it seems to only skim the top of a much larger plot and keeps you in the dark even after the game ends (maybe that’s why they call it Shadow Complex?). Of course, the end credits do reveal that the game is a compliment to an actual novel and that the game is set in the universe of Orson Scott Card’s Empire series. Nice to see Epic Games encouraging us to read more by making us go out and get a book to figure out the larger plot to their game. A maximum of 10 hours worth of gameplay if you go through the training mode and set it to the highest difficulty, if you just blow through the story mode and gather a decent amount of collectibles, you can get complete it all in 4-5 hours.

The gameplay is smooth for the most part, but the 2.5D aspect with enemies coming out of corridors that you yourself cannot enter makes it difficult to know who or what you’re aiming at most of the time. A variety of special weapons and upgrades, including a prototype suit of armor with a grappling hook and speed boost, make dispatching the enemies in new and creative ways a constant thrill, though. There are also several methods to solve each problem. If you can’t find the jump boost, you can make a bridge out of the foam shot. If you lack the grappling hook, you might be able to run up a curved wall with the speed boost. This non-linear play is a nice change considering how linear side-scollers traditionally are and this harks back to Bionic Commando and Metroid.

It is a pretty game for a side-scroller and the cut scenes are just as good as if it was a regular disc-loading game. Unfortunately, it doesn’t sound nearly as good as it looks. A lack of overall music is a disappointment and the few times it comes in it actually shocks you out of the illusion of the game because it is so rare. Add in cheesy, over-the-top voice acting and you might as well just wear earmuffs while playing.

A few minor details bothered me in Shadow Complex, most notably the aiming dynamics, but in terms of story, action, and item collection it deserves to be in the same class as Bionic Commando and Metroid, two of the all-time great side-scrollers. If you’re looking for a cheap game to kill a few hours with some quality old-school gameplay, Shadow Complex is a great pick up as Xbox wraps up it’s summer arcade push.

Ratings are based on a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being the best.

Graphics: 8.0: Considering it is a downloadable game, the graphics are really good. During the game itself, the graphics are flawless and very pretty. I only take a couple of points off because the cut scenes, which Epic usually makes so beautiful, weren’t as smooth as I suspected in a few instances.

Audio: 4.0: The little bit of music the game offers jolts you out of the experience instead of enhancing it and the cheesy voice acting makes the listening experience a very poor one. Good use of SFX for the guns and explosions keeps this score out of the basement.

Plot/Plot Development: 7.0: Certain parts of the plot were a little too convenient and others were sloppy and left you guessing at plot points. The fact that you might need to read a novel to understand all the loose strands of plot keeps this from being a classic story. I would prefer a stand-alone tale over a compliment to another story.

Gameplay: 9.0: Solid action, combined with flawless, glitchless play that allows you several methods to solve problems in the game makes this a truly enjoyable experience. Four levels of difficulty and a pretty thorough training mode could provide up to 10 hours of gameplay, which is great for a downloadable game. The only downside to the game was trying to aim at enemies in the background where your character could not go.

Replay Value: 8.0: With four difficulty levels and hundreds of collectibles, there is plenty to bring you back to Shadow Complex as you try to find every nuance to the massive underground bunker.

Overall (not an average): 8.0: A good game made great considering it is downloadable software. I would love to see a fleshed out, more polished version of Shadow Complex with even more levels and collectibles and a less vague story. Until then, this is not an elite level game (its close), just a great value for your buck.

Shadow Complex is available for download exclusively on Xbox Live on Wednesday, August 19th, 2009, for 1200 Microsoft points ($15 American dollars).

-Ray Carsillo

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Like Staring into a Crystal Ball

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April 19, 2010

Originally Published: May 18, 2009, on 1050ESPN.com (now ESPNNewYork.com) and Lundberg.me

One of the major selling points for any video game nowadays is its potential beyond the confines of the disc itself. Sequels are usually the first things that come to mind, but what has become increasingly popular have been the map and expansion packs that can keep you immersed in some of your favorite worlds. Whether it is ruined industrial wonders that you find in Gears of War 2, or once immaculate cities left in scarred shambles by nuclear war in Fallout 3, expansions packs have been key in keeping these great titles warm in our systems months after their release.

Continuing along these lines was another of 2008’s highly anticipated sequels and one of the best RPG’s out there, Fable II. With the success of one expansion pack already (Knothole Island), the developers knew that the world of Fable II was still ripe for new wonders to be discovered and explored. Thus, for the meager amount of 560 Microsoft points (roughly $7 American dollars) four new quests along with promises of great things to come for our heroes have been released in the new See the Future expansion pack.

Murgo, the traveling salesman of wonders both exotic and mysterious, and who unknowingly sets you on your fate in the beginning of the game when he sells you a mysterious music box that grants its bearer a wish that usually has unforeseen consequences a la the Monkey’s Paw, has returned to Albion with new magical wares. When the great hero approaches, Murgo realizes that he has found just the customer to help him push a few of his more difficult items. He reveals that he has several items that have been cursed and he needs someone to lift the curses to help his shop prosper.

Along with the cursed items, he also has several new goods to add to the game that you might find interesting including potions to turn your mutt into a pure-breed of a canine of your choosing (I chose the husky) and many new face paints and hairstyles to strike that extra bit of fear into your enemies (or friends).

The first item he sells to you, for the same paltry five gold pieces that he sold the cursed music box to you for, is a snow globe that contains a shrunken village that has been cursed (sounds like something from a Superman comic). Supposedly you can hear tiny screams emanating from the snow globe when you place it against your ear like a sea shell.

With a quick flick of your wrist, the curse is activated and you are instantly teleported to a world similar to your own, but lacking any color. Upon exploration of the black and white Albion look alike, you see blue demons sapping the color and strength of one of the snow globes’ denizens. It is then you realize that your weapons are glowing with the colors of your special abilities, blue is your melee weapon, yellow your skill weapon, and red for your will abilities.

After dispatching the blue demons with only your melee weapon, you realize that you must mix and match your styles as you begin to hunt down these color vampires in order to restore order and vibrancy to the miniature Albion.

Once this mission is complete, for another five gold pieces, Murgo gives you a skull, which when activated, teleports you to a graveyard separate from the rest of Albion. A fallen warrior pleads to you from beyond the grave that his soul has been wrongfully entrapped from an odd tomb that you encounter at the beginning of this mystical mound of death. You then acquire special costumes of some of your more bestial foes in order to mimic statues set about the graveyard opening up new doors and releasing the spirits that keep the fallen warrior entrapped.

Though, after freeing all the spirits, you realize you have been tricked: the fallen warrior is actually a ruthless necromancer who was imprisoned amongst those he conjured as an ironic punishment by benevolent spirits.

After defeating the necromancer and lifting the curse of the skull, Murgo sells you a dark item from your hero’s past; a model of Lucien’s tower. Upon activating the tower, you are teleported to where you had to defeat your greatest foe and are met by Theresa once more. She still keeps guard over the tower and reveals that she had sold the items to Murgo in order to test if you were ready for the visions of the future she was ready to impart to you.

After seeing your future, a final item is given to you. A model of what looks like a great Roman Coliseum where you can test your mettle (and earn fantastic prizes!) against wave after wave of foes. This can be repeated again and again for varying prizes and gold and is a sure fire way to build up you bank account (if you can keep surviving).

This expansion pack was a lot of fun because it encompassed everything that Fable has come to stand for, but if you’re a decent player who has leveled up their hero enough, you can blow through these extra quests in about two hours. So, the question then becomes, is two extra hours of gameplay worth seven dollars?

Considering the small price, I think it is well worth the buy and if you are a Fable-freak then you will definitely love the excuse to go exploring Albion again. The See the Future expansion pack is downloadable now via XBOX Live.

-Ray Carsillo

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