Tag Archive: nintendo


EGM Review: Heroes of Ruin

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July 20, 2012

Need a dungeon-crawling hero on your 3DS?

When gamers think of expansive dungeon-crawling action-RPGs, they tend to think of games primarily on the PC. And with the popularity of these titles as of late, it’s no surprise to see Square Enix throwing their hat into the ring, too. With the help of developer n-Space, they’ve given us a hack-n-slasher that still provides that sense of collecting loot, leveling up, fighting off swarms of bad guys, and teaming up with friends—but, in this case, it’s on the 3DS.

Heroes of Ruin tells the tale of a world ravaged by war until nearly all-powerful Lords rise up and broker a temporary peace. When Ataraxis—who happens to be a Sphinx and one of the fabled Lords who rules the city of Nexus, which also serves conveniently as a hub world—falls ill, heroes far and wide are called upon to find a cure. And, of course, in the process, they’ll also uncover a sinister plot.

From the start, you can choose from four classes. The Gunslinger is your standard ranged badass type; the Vindicator looks like Lion-O from ThunderCats and swings a massive sword like him, too; the Alchitect is your typical mage character; and the Savage is your brutish tank that likes to get his hands dirty. Once you choose your character, you can do some minor customizing before your adventure starts, but as you start to collect bushels of loot, your character’s look will definitely change further as your progress.

Once you actually begin your quest to save Ataraxis, you’ll quickly recognize that each character has stat sheets that basically translate to “attack,” “defense,” “magic,” and so on. You’ve also got several slots in which you can equip items to bolster these stats, ranging from torso and leg armor to belts, rings, and shoulder pads. You also have three different ability trees, and you can assign one from each to the three corresponding face buttons. If you’re like me and play as the Gunslinger, you’ll find you can throw flasks that act like flashbangs and stun enemies from one button, while you can perform a sweeping arc of fire from your guns to perform a large area-of-effect attack with another.

In terms of gameplay, this is indeed your basic dungeon-crawling RPG, and it does little to differentiate itself from the crowd. If you’re expecting something on the level of Diablo out of this top-down action-RPG, you’ll certainly be disappointed—but, of course, if you were actually expecting Diablo, you might also be certifiably insane. Heroes of Ruin looks nice for a 3DS game, but compared to what you can get on your PC, it obviously pales in comparison. The same goes for the audio, as the voice acting and music push the 3DS’ tiny speakers as far as they can go. I probably could’ve done without the enemies respawning every 30 seconds as well, considering the backtracking required to complete a lot of quests. At least this leads to quick leveling and more new powers, though. So, on the surface, little stands out in a positive way about Heroes of Ruin—though there are also very few outright negatives, either.

But there’s one aspect where the game really shines, and that’s in the social and multiplayer aspects. The game features seamless 4-player drop-in, drop-out co-op and the ability to perform daily challenges via SpotPass, which helps with leveling as well. The most impressive feature, though, is the use of StreetPass to access Traders Network, where you can swap items you pick up as you play. If you’re playing by yourself, this encourages you to be a little social, as you’ll accrue a lot of loot for classes you aren’t using. Instead of just quickly cashing that loot in for a few gold coins, you can get its full value or an item of equal or greater use if you put it on Traders Network.

Overall, Heroes of Ruin won’t disappoint fans of dungeon-crawling RPGs. In fact, it’s a solid effort for a 3DS entry considering the scale and scope of the adventure; the game really only falters from its lack of originality and the fact that anyone expecting more from the hardware will likely end up migrating back to their PC sooner rather than later. If you’re looking to kill a few hours with a hack-n-slash dungeon-crawler that shines brightest when it links up with three other 3DSes for 4-player co-op, though, this might be a good way to get your fix on the go.

SUMMARY: Heroes of Ruin is a pretty game by 3DS standards, with a compelling story wrapped around unoriginal combat, quests, and leveling. 

  • THE GOOD: Seamless 4-player drop-in, drop-out co-op
  • THE BAD: Unoriginal story and gameplay
  • THE UGLY: Never-ending streams of respawning baddies

SCORE: 7.0

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EGM Review: Pokémon Conquest

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July 8, 2012

Gotta conquer it all

Since the “Gotta Catch ‘em All” superfad days of the late ’90s, Pokemon’s been a gaming staple that’s transcended audiences due to its addictive, turn-based RPG base and its cute, family-friendly humor and themes. But like all great Nintendo cash cows, it also needs to break away from the formula every once in a while in order to possibly reach new audiences (and wallets). That’s what led to the creation of the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon spin-off, after all—and to the game we’re looking at today.

Pokémon Conquest is a cross between the pocket monsters we know and love and the classic Tecmo Koei strategy series Nobunaga’s Ambition, which tasks players with uniting feudal Japan under one banner. In this game, you’re the newest daimyo in the land of Ransei, a Japanese-inspired realm. Along with your loyal pet Eevee, you’ll build an army comprised of the best Pokémon trainers in the land in order to conquer the 17 other daimyos and rule Ransei. Each daimyo, just like in all the other Pokémon games, battles using themes based around specific types of Pokémon—and, with 17 daimyos to conquer, you’re sure to see each type represented once.

But if you’re expecting a traditional Pokémon game beyond those aspects, you’ll be sorely disappointed. The Pokémon you wield are simply tools to carry out macro and micro strategies on a gridlike battlefield. In fact, Pokémon traditionalists may well be irked by the gameplay. But if you can look past what this game isn’t and focus more on what it is, you’ll find a deep, well-polished, engrossing strategy offering.

The bulk of the actual gameplay sees you positioning your Pokémon around a field, moving them square by square in standard strategy-game fashion and then either choosing to attack, hold your position, or use an item, which reminded me of a poor man’s Fire Emblem. One downside to this, though, is that each Pokémon only has one attack move instead of the traditional four. That means that once you choose to attack, your turn with that Pokémon is all but over. For a game revolving around strategy, removing that classic Pokémon element is somewhat puzzling. That, and when—or if—a Pokémon evolves almost seems to come at random, as the leveling-up system we know and love has also been replaced by a Pokémon’s “strength rating” and a meter measuring the relationship with their respective trainer.

The biggest key to success in Pokémon Conquest, though, is that instead of capturing new Pokémon, you recruit new trainers and their specific Pokémon to your cause and build your army up. This is an interesting dynamic, as you can fight with up to six Pokemon per turn; once you reach the limit of six trainers in your party, though, you’ll need to start distributing other trainers to previously conquered lands. But since each land can also only hold six trainers at a time, you’re very limited in who you can or can’t recruit—and this will surely frustrate players used to trying to complete their Pokédex (now replaced by a common gallery) and having as many Pokéballs they could buy and then just storing them in a massive PC.

Though the Pokémon label might be slightly disingenuous, Conquest does offer a novel, enjoyable take on the strategy genre—and the Pokémon brand also gives the traditionally hardcore strategy genre a modicum of accessibility to a wider audience. If the wider Pokémon fanbase can look past a few curious decisions in regards to this odd franchise marriage, they’ll find a strong strategy title that should provide some severe addiction in its own right.

SUMMARY: Another solid Pokémon spin-off, but die-hard fans will quickly miss much of the gameplay from the main series.

  • THE GOOD: Interesting blend of turn-based strategy elements with Pokémon.
  • THE BAD: Hardcore Pokémon fans will miss the traditional catching and leveling aspects of the main series.
  • THE UGLY: Some of the simplest level design you’ll ever see.

SCORE: 8.0

Pokémon Conquest is a Nintendo DS exclusive.     

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EGM Review: Kid Icarus: Uprising

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April 16, 2012

Get ready to hate eggplant again

Many of us who grew up with the NES fell in love with the idea of a little angel who was trying to save the heavens from a nasty demon with snakes for hair. Then we played this game and proceeded to throw and smash many a controller due to what would become its legendary difficulty and would need to go to anger therapy for being turned into an eggplant over and over again.

But still, all this was part of the charm of the original Kid Icarus, and many of us wondered why we never received a true console sequel. Sure there was a Game Boy version in 1991 that was really just a dumbed down version of the original and we’d later be teased and taunted by Pit being a fighter in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. But now, finally, after so long, Pit is back to serve the goddess of light, Palutena, and save the world once again from Medusa. And Medusa has a few surprises in store for our dear Pit, including a dark doppelganger of our hero, the return of her lieutenants like Pandora, and yes, that damned Eggplant Wizard as well. At least now the eggplant thing is only temporary though (although I would’ve loved to have seen some 3D nurses).

But, although Eggplant Wizard may no longer be as infuriating as he once was (or his new cousin Tempura Wizard that can turn Pit into a shrimp), there is still some great difficulty to be had with the new Kid Icarus: Uprising. But if the normal experience should prove simple for some of you out there, you can make the game more difficult before hand by sacrificing found hearts to the “Fiend’s Cauldron” before each chapter and amp up the Intensity to a level 10 (the game starts at an Intensity level of 2). This can lead to finding bigger and better treasure in a level, but will also throw a lot more and stronger enemies at you and if you should die, you lose all the hearts you used to increase the difficulty in the first place.

Unfortunately, the “Fiend’s Cauldron” isn’t the only thing that makes the game difficult. Some of the game’s inherent difficulty also stems from the unusual control scheme. All of the action from the game stems from shooting with the L Button, moving with the circle pad, and using the stylus to aim and look. Each level is broken into two parts. The first is always an on-rails in the air style shooter where Palutena is guiding Pit’s wings and all you have to do is shoot enemies as they come on screen. This works fine with the odd controls.

The problems always arose during the second part of each level when Pit was on the ground and the game became more of a traditional third-person shooter. It was difficult to target enemies, move the camera around with the stylus, and really just figure out where you were going at any time or where you should be looking. I would have killed for some sort of Z-Targeting system like in The Legend of Zelda games (or a second joystick like every other shooter made in the past decade) just to help me keep my bearings with a lot of the foes, especially during the epic boss battles. And although the included stand does help alleviate some of the strain that comes from having to hold the 3DS so awkwardly whenever you play, it also limits you to where you can play as it only works best on a table or flat surface of some kind. Trust me, I tried it in my lap and a few other places, and tables are your best bet.

Despite this, you’ll probably be able to force your way through most of the game as long as you take it in short spurts of only a couple of chapters at a time. And because of the humorous writing and great story, you’ll definitely be compelled to finish the story mode. Not to mention, the ability to use nine different types of weapons with a bevy of options in each category really helps keep the game play from getting too boring as you get new weapons through a variety of different means.

But, here I am getting carried away with how awesome the story mode is, and I almost forgot that there is also a huge new multiplayer component to the game as well. First, you can use AR cards included with the game or Idols collected in game to duel various creatures from the game’s universe against each other with the 3DS cameras. There are also “Light vs. Dark” team-style and “Free-For-All” versus arena modes where you can battle up to six players with your own customized Pit depending on what weapons you find and use in the game.

The game is also pleasing to the eyes and ears as no two levels, in story mode or versus, look alike and take advantage of a bright and colorful design palette, and the voice acting, especially for Pit and Palutena in story mode, who fill in most of the gaps of the story with some witty mid-level banter, is simply top of the line. Add in some remixes of classic NES themes and a few new tunes as well and the audio/visual component of the game is superb all around.

When all is said and done, although the controls may be frustrating at times and take some getting used to, this is a very solid game. Great visuals, tremendous depth of game play modes, and a fully realized plot that is brilliantly executed on every level makes this probably a must have for every 3DS owner out there.

SUMMARY: A brilliantly written and executed new chapter in the long-abandoned, but never forgotten, Kid Icarus franchise that will appeal to new and old fans alike with its amazing depth and stunning visuals.

  • THE GOOD: Great action and writing throughout
  • THE BAD: Unusual control system can get uncomfortable after long periods of time
  • THE UGLY: How about a two-decade long wait for a true sequel

SCORE: 8.5

Kid Icarus: Uprising is a Nintendo 3DS exclusive.

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EGM Review: The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword

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November 29, 2011

Birth of a hero

As reserved and conservative as they may come across at times, Nintendo knows how to celebrate the big moments. Mario’s 25th anniversary saw the release of a limited-edition Super Mario All-Stars, reminding us that it’s OK to look back on the past and appreciate those old games for what they were—and what they’ve done for so many of us as gamers. Well, now another Nintendo mainstay’s joined the 25th-anniversary club, and he’s got a brand-new game that pays tribute in its own special way: The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword. Featuring classic elements, characters, and enemies from many of the best Zelda games of the past—with plenty of nuances to make it its own standalone title—Skyward Sword’s conceived as a prequel to Ocarina of Time, a title not only considered by many to be the best Zelda game of all time, but also one of the best videogames of all time. Those are some pretty heavy Iron Boots to fill.

Skyward Sword opens with a brief history of Skyloft, an island in the sky created by the Goddess to save humanity from the massive monsters that populate the earth below. To protect the remaining people, the Goddess devised a cloud barrier that would both keep humans off the land and the monsters out of the sky. Once this backstory’s established, we find Link, as always, oversleeping. Zelda—who’s portrayed as Link’s lifelong friend in this game—sends a majestic bird called a Loftwing to wake up our pointy-eared hero, and he heads over to the statue of the Goddess as Zelda prepares for a traditional Skyloft ceremony. After a short opening quest that introduces Skyloft’s many denizens, Link must participate in the ceremony, which serves as the game’s flying tutorial. Once victorious, Link and Zelda embark on a celebratory flight across the clouds until a dark tornado from beneath the fluffy barrier reaches up and knocks Zelda off her Loftwing. Link must now find a way down below the cloud barrier—and, in the process, fulfill his ultimate destiny.

The first thing you’ll notice is the distinctive look the adventure takes this time around. Strongly inspired by impressionist art, Skyward Sword will take your breath away as it mixes elements from Wind Waker and Twilight Princess to suggest the feel of a living painting. But this new graphical style also has gameplay elements in mind, as it allows for exaggerated enemy designs that still maintain elements of realism. That creates more obvious strengths and weaknesses in many of the foes Link faces, and it’s also an obvious nod to the controls—but more on those later. You’re constantly solving puzzles and meeting challenging foes even when you’re not dungeon-crawling, which adds a lot of playtime to the overall adventure. The audio’s also brilliant, featuring a full orchestral composition that seamlessly flows with the story. And, of course, music once again plays an integral role—a traditional Zelda motif for many years now. All in all, this game will please your eyes and ears better than any Wii release—aside from, perhaps, the Mario Galaxy titles.

Skyward Sword lays enough groundwork so you can see how this is indeed a prequel to Ocarina, but you’ll also notice parallels to later games in the series: Link’s crimson-colored Loftwing acts as Link’s transportation in the air much like the King of Red Lions does for Wind Waker’s oceans. And Fi, the spirit of the titular Skyward Sword, acts much like Navi does in Ocarina, locking onto targets and providing hints and information when needed. These elements work well, and I’m sure they’ll stir up timeline enthusiasts once they see all the connections, but it’s when you start to scratch past the surface of Skyward Sword that you begin to see some of the flaws. Though many key elements from past games are still present, like exploring diverse regions, conquering puzzle-laden temples, and collecting fantastic items to help you overcome larger-than-life bosses, some changes might irk fans—beyond the fact that Link starts with six hearts instead of the traditional three.

The most blatant annoyance storywise definitely has to be Zelda’s disempowerment. Though she still plays this society’s role of princess as the knight headmaster’s daughter, she almost comes off as pining for Link from the second you meet her. In the EGM offices, we likened it to Metroid: Other M’s unfortunate relationship between Samus and Adam. I understand that Zelda and Link are played off as best friends in this game, but she just comes across as reliant upon Link long before she falls below the clouds—following him around like a lovesick puppy and hoping he’ll win the ceremonial festivities so they can take a celebratory ride together above the clouds. You could argue that since this may be the very first Zelda, she hasn’t yet evolved the characteristics that come with being a princess of a large kingdom. Still, it just comes off wrong and dampens the moments when she tries to be the more strong-willed character we’ve grown accustomed to over the years.

In the grand scheme of things, this could be construed as minor, but what really keeps Skyward Sword from reaching the level of several of its predecessors is the control scheme. Remember how I mentioned that the visual design emphasizes enemy strengths and weaknesses? Well, this graphical quirk comes from the conscious decision to make Skyward Sword too reliant on motion controls and Wii MotionPlus—and it’s this element that singlehandedly holds the game back from elite status.

Twilight Princess’ motion controls worked because the game was more forgiving of your movements; simple flicks of your wrist would provide the desired results. Now, due to the enemy design revolving around the motion-control gimmick and being forced to use the MotionPlus—which follows you too well—you’re often pulled out of the immersion, because you’re constantly reminded that you are holding a controller whenever the controller doesn’t do what you want.

A perfect example is the miniboss you face in the first temple. It’s a Stalfos, a Zelda enemy staple from the very beginning. This dual-sword-wielding skeleton towers over Link, so in order to do damage, you must swing where the Stalfos isn’t blocking. If he’s holding his swords horizontally, you must swing horizontally through the gap; if he’s holding them vertically, you strike vertically. Unfortunately, if you’re like me and have played a good amount of button-mashers over the years—or even just older Zelda titles—your instinct is to attack hard and fast. But if you swing too fast, even with MotionPlus, Link won’t be able to catch up to you. Or, worse yet—since I’ve yet to meet someone who prefers to play games standing up—if you’re sitting down, it’s impossible to swing the controller perfectly horizontally or vertically every time, and you’ll often have to reset your position, destroying the illusion of immersion.

Another failure of Wii MotionPlus comes with bombs. For the first time in the series, you can roll bombs into crevices and holes instead of just dropping them or throwing them, and this is necessary at certain points to open doors or take down particular enemies. The problem, though, comes from the way most people hold a Wiimote. Think about it: You have your thumb on the A button, your index finger on the trigger, and your other fingers wrapped around where the batteries are stored. If you attempt to roll something, like in Wii Sports Bowling, you’re going to turn the Wiimote to its side so that the bottom of your hand faces toward the sky. The problem in Skyward Sword is that this makes the bombs sail far off to the right of your intended target and forces you to overcompensate with an uncomfortable palm-down technique more akin to throwing a bocce ball.

So, yeah, the controls are pretty rough. And it breaks my heart, because I think this could’ve been one of the greatest Zelda games yet had the controls just worked. But, despite the controls, this is still a great Zelda game. You’re looking at a 30-hour-plus adventure if you’re a Heart Container fiend like myself—and probably still a good 20 hours if you’re just looking to complete the story, even if all those fetch quests get a little tiring after a while. Even with cruddy controls, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword is still an epic adventure worthy of the franchise—and it should absolutely be played by all fans of the series.

SUMMARY: Skyward Sword has all the elements of a spectacular Zelda tale, but poor controls prevent this from reaching an Ocarina-like level.

  • THE GOOD: Classic Zelda elements remind us of 25 years of greatness
  • THE BAD: Poor motion controls remind us of 5 years of flailing futility
  • THE UGLY: The hole in my living-room wall after throwing the Wiimote through it in frustration


SCORE: 8.5

The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword is a Nintendo Wii exclusive and therefore reviewed only on the Wii.

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EGM Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time 3D Review

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June 29, 2011

Originally Published: June 21, 2011, on EGMNOW.COM

Game: Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time 3D
Publisher: Nintendo
Developer: Grezzo
Platforms: Nintendo 3DS

Release: 06.19.11

Players: Singe Player

ESRB Rating: E10+ – Everyone 10 and up

The Good: One of the best games of the past 15 years revamped for a new generation
The Bad: Need to complete story once to unlock Master Quest
The Ugly: New hint system is completely unnecessary

When I was 13, I remember waking up Christmas morning and one present stood out above all else. It was The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, a golden cartridge that would redefine what I thought of action/adventure games and that I would beat a dozen times over the next several months as each time I found something new.

A few years later, I would wake up early on a random Sunday morning and drive to my local toy store to pre-order The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker in order to get Ocarina of Time: Master Quest for the Gamecube. Again, I would devote many hours to this evolved version of the original Ocarina of Time.

Now, I’m older and wiser (sorta) and I don’t wake up early that often anymore if I have anything to say about it. So when my phone starting going off early one morning, much like Navi trying to wake up Link in his Kokiri tree house, I was not happy. I felt a familiar thrill though when it was my boss assigning me Ocarina of Time: 3D.

The biggest difference between this version of Ocarina compared to the others is obviously the graphics. The flawless 3D gives you a whole new sense of depth that you feel on every step of the journey, but especially when using your slingshot and bow. Not to mention the painstaking detail put into every corner of Hyrule now. Every house and shop is full of life and color (in the past anyway) from the ceilings to the floors and really shines through.

Score: 9.5

-Ray Carsillo

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From My Mom’s Basement – Vol. 2 Ep. 5 – Saluting the General

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March 29, 2011

Originally Published: March 29, 2011, on Youtube.com/RCars4885

I come to you once again with your weekly geek fix from my mother’s basement! This week’s episode sees me review X-Men #9 from Marvel and the downloadable Ghostbusters: Sanctum of Slime from Atari. My hot chick pick of the week is Nancy Patton and this week’s theme is Ray Parker Jr.’s Ghostbusters movie theme.

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Conduit 2 – SEGA Spring Showcase

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March 8, 2011

Originally Published: March 8, 2011, on Original-Gamer.com

At the 2011 SEGA Spring Showcase, I had a chance to talk with David Pellas, the Design Director from High Voltage Software and SEGA’s Conduit 2. David and I talked about the massive facelift given to the franchise and what fans can expect from this go around with Mr. Ford and the ASE. New weapons, more locales, and huge bosses just scratch the surface of what was talked about in anticipation of this Wii-exclusive’s April 19, 2011, release.

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Super Monkey Ball 3D – SEGA Spring Showcase

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Originally Published: March 8, 2011, on Original-Gamer.com

I had a chance to head to the Sega Spring Showcase this year in New York City and got a hands on preview of Super Monkey Ball 3D. Classic Monkey Ball action will find itself as one of the launch titles for the Nintendo 3DS on March 27, 2011, and will feature brand new multiplayer modes as well as utilize all of the 3DS’s new social features.

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Don’t Come Out of the Shadow

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February 27, 2011

Originally Published: February 27, 2011, on my StrongProtector profile on GiantBomb.com

Often in games, shadows are nothing more than minor details we look at when deciding how good the graphics are. But what if the entire story of a game revolved around these barely acknowledged details?

Lost in Shadow from Hudson Entertainment begins at the top of a mighty tower that stretches far beyond the clouds. There, someone who looks like a cheap Darth Vader wannabe strikes a boy in chains with a sword and the boy’s shadow slips away. The cloaked figure then takes the shadow and flings it as far as he can from the top of the tower. The shadow, after landing, longs to be whole, and must now manipulate light in order to ride the shadows of his surroundings back up to the top of the massive tower and find out why the cloaked figure would do such a thing as separate a boy from his shadow.

I remember playing a demo of Lost in Shadow at the 2010 New York ComicCon and I absolutely fell in love with that early concept. Of course, I only had the opportunity to play the handful of tutorial levels, but it was enough to get me excited about this game, which makes it even tougher for me now to see it end up wallowing in mediocrity.

The concept of Lost in Shadow is a great one and turns your typical platformer on its head. Only with the assistance of a little fairy friend that helps lost shadows called a Spangle, can you interact with the real world and move around loose pipes, steel girders, and the light sources in the room in order to help lay out the shadow path that will allow you to climb up to the next floor of the tower. On top of this, you must also collect three Monitor Eyes per level that will allow you to remove shadow barriers at the end of each floor that are trying to keep you from advancing further. This pushes you to not only try to move through each level, but explore it thoroughly as you do so as it is the only way to find the Monitor Eyes.

It wouldn’t be much of a game though if you were just moving around the environment and constantly climbing. No, the shadows of horrific creatures like giant spiders and lizards, shadow turrets, and other traps line the tower’s floors and will require you to find a weapon to help vanquish these terrors as you continue your quest for unification.

Unfortunately, there really isn’t much to this game once you get past the first ten floors and learn the concepts you’ll use throughout the game because you’ll start to realize there is a pattern. That repeats for another 60 floors. Although the concept of Lost in Shadow is very original, the gameplay and level design is actually very uninspired.

You’ll find yourself having to solve the same puzzles and traps over and over again that by the time you even move halfway up the tower, you might just give up due to boredom. The game will probably only take most gamers about ten hours to beat, but it becomes such a chore to constantly have to repeat yourself, that it will feel like you’re putting in a lot more time. Never mind the fetch quests dropped on you later in the game that force you to then backtrack throughout the tower.

If you’re a completionist, you’ll want to pull your hair out by the time you’re done with Lost in Shadow as you’ll think you’re finally getting close to finishing and them some other inane and repetitive task is given to you and you’ll just end up screaming “ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!” Okay, so I admit I’m a bit of angry gamer, but Lost in Shadow will test the patience of even the most hardcore gamers out there.

And it’s not just the gameplay that is dull and uninspired. The graphics for the game are a mixed bag. The handful of cutscenes throughout the game are nicely done and the shadow effects are great especially considering they make up the game’s entire concept, but the level backgrounds are just bland with the same handful of tones used throughout most of the game. It gets really tiresome to just look at the same green, blue, and yellow walls over and over. Combine this with the steampunk wet dream inspired foreground of rustic steam pipes and silver gears and there is nothing that really screams out visually in Lost in Shadow.

The graphics aren’t nearly as bad as the sound though. No voice acting whatsoever and the same monotonous theme that plays throughout all the game’s levels will probably give you a headache by the time you’re only a couple of hours in. The only thing that had less effort go into it than the sound for this game was the level area names like “Factory” followed up shortly thereafter by… “2nd Factory”.

One saving grace at least for Lost in Shadow is that the controls are pretty tight. Your shadow seems to sail on certain jumps and then fall short on others and the game can be a little finicky when it comes to performing actions like moving blocks or pulling levers, but for the most part everything seems to operate as it should. It’s just the fact that you have to perform the same motions with no variety whatsoever over and over again in the game’s 70-plus levels that will wear on you.

When all is said and done, Lost in Shadow was a terrific concept that hoped that would be enough to make it a great game. Too many cut corners though combined with a lot of unnecessary and repetitive levels makes this one of the more painful 10 hour games I’ve ever played. If your curiosity gets the better of you, then maybe Lost in Shadow is worth a rental, but I’d think twice before I added this permanently to my collection, even with it only being a budget title priced at $39.99.

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

Graphics: 6.5: The bland colors get repetitive after a while and there is really nothing that jumps out about the steampunk designs of this 2.5D world, but since most of the game is done in shadows and bland colors anyway, it’s not that big a deal.

Sound: 4.0: No voice acting whatsoever coupled with 70-plus levels of the same instrumental music repeated over and over again will drive you absolutely insane.

Plot/Plot Development: 7.0: An original idea can only carry you so far. The game is so drawn out over the repetitive levels that although the beginning of the game is very intriguing, you’ll lose interest too much over time. Bonus points for trying something different though.

Gameplay: 5.0: A very simple puzzle platformer with the enemies thrown in seeming more like an after thought. The controls are very tight, but the puzzles are so repetitive you might fall asleep.

Replay Value: 1.0: Any game that you can walk away from and be happy never playing again or finishing is rare for me, but I wish I didn’t have to finish this game for a review. I want most of the ten hours I put into this game back.

Overall (not an average): 5.0: An original idea can only take a game so far and although the concept for Lost in Shadow was indeed special, so many other cut corners really take this down to the point where even as a budget title I cannot recommend this beyond a cheap rental if your curiosity gets the better of you.

 

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Sonic and the Black Knight Review for the Nintendo Wii

Filed under: CGR Undertow — Leave a comment
January 23, 2011

Originally Published: January 23, 2011, on youtube.com/CGRUndertow

As a part of CGR Undertow, I reviewed Sonic and the Black Knight for the Nintendo Wii from SEGA.

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