Tag Archive: ray carsillo


EGM Captain America: Super Soldier Review

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July 25, 2011

Originally Published: July 19, 2011, on EGMNOW.com

Game Name: Captain America: Super Soldier

By: Ray Carsillo

Publisher: SEGA
Developer: Next Level Games
Platforms: 3DS, DS, PS3, Wii, Xbox 360

The Good: Stellar shield mechanics makes you really feel like the Star-Spangled Avenger
The Bad: Uneven plot pacing leaves you feeling vaguely dissatisfied
The Ugly: Unnecessary acrobatic sequences too often break the flow of action

In an adventure worthy of the character’s long history, Captain America: Super Soldier takes some liberties in regards to the original comic story lines, but from the get go fans will know that Cap is in his classic element and I can’t imagine it feeling better than how this game portrays it. From working your way through WWII trenches and punching out HYDRA foot soldiers, to taking on some Arnim Zola inspired monstrosities in German warehouses, the action sequences are worthy of any comic book hero as Cap pursues his long time nemesis, the Red Skull, deep into Nazi controlled Europe.

The first thing anyone should want to try out is Cap’s iconic shield, which handles surprisingly well in both offensive and defensive situations and feels like a natural extension of Cap. Aside from deflecting punches or bullets, the shield’s offensive capabilities have it so you can get the drop on your enemies from afar or use it in its own combo as it bounces off three, four, or even five enemies at a time just like Cap does in the comics. And for more personal combat, the game takes a page out of the Batman: Arkham Asylum handbook. Cap will often find himself surrounded by various foes, but by stringing together punches, kicks, and properly using your shield to counterattack, you can pull off combos that will leave your enemies sprawled at your feet and you no worse for ware, even if it feels a bit more stiff than the inspiration from which the system seems to be taken.

Unfortunately, for as good as the fighting feels, there are also a lot of unnecessary points to the game play, specifically some acrobatic and platforming situations that seem more akin to Assassin’s Creed or Prince of Persia, but far too linear. Although meaning to show how Cap could use his superhuman abilities to get around, the sequences often came at the sacrifice of the flow of action and jarred you out of the world you found yourself in as you tried to needlessly time these forced maneuvers.

All things considered though, when you include cameos by some of Cap’s classic allies like Nick Fury, the Invaders, and Bucky Barnes while taking down iconic foes like Baron von Strucker, Madame Hydra, and the Red Skull himself in this comic worthy storyline and the positives clearly outweigh the negatives as any Cap fan will be thrilled by how well-portrayed the Star-Spangled Avenger is overall in this game.

Score: 7.5

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EGM Bastion Review

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Originally Published: July 19, 2011, on EGMNOW.com

Game Name: Bastion

By: Ray Carsillo

Publisher: Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
Developer: Supergiant Games
Platforms: XBLA

The Good: Old school RPG dungeon crawl feel with new stylized design twists to keep it fresh
The Bad: “Quests” can become repetitive
The Ugly: The game is more linear than most RPG fans may like

Most gamers nowadays don’t have the time to devote to a 40-hour dungeon crawl like Dragon Age. Well, those gamers out there who have been looking for a more casual dungeon crawl may finally have the answer they’ve been looking for with the first entry into this year’s Xbox Summer of Arcade: Bastion.

Bastion is a real-time combat RPG with a top down hack ‘n’ slash-style flare reminiscent of Gauntlet Legends. You play as “The Kid”, a young adult who has seen his share of hardship and finds himself as one of the last living beings in his world after a great calamity has wiped out all he’s known and loved. Planning for such an event, his people built the great Bastion that was to serve as a protective meeting place should the need arise, but even that is in shambles and must be rebuilt by “The Kid” and other survivors.

Bastion succeeds in finding a balance between keeping the action quick and simple, but also providing an engaging enough story to make you feel you should have a vested interest in the characters. Part of what makes you care is every action you take in the world is described “live” by the story’s narrator and it compels you to continue on even when the game’s dozen or so levels start to feel repetitive. The narrator also helps to set the atmosphere of the game as you can actually feel your heartstrings tug as you walk up to less-fortunate citizens who have been petrified, akin to real life victims of Vesuvius in Pompeii millennia ago. Turned to ash almost instantaneously, but preserved, frozen in charcoal, the narrator talks about who they once were as you come across them and it is the most haunting graveyard you may find in a game.

The only real drawback I found to Bastion is the overall lack of choices you have. Many of the levels are unlocked one right after the other and so with your path already laid out before you, there isn’t anything story-wise beyond your weapons selection and leveling up bonuses for you to directly influence. Despite this, Bastion is one of the more replay-able RPGs I’ve seen, as there are weapon challenges, three horde mode-like levels with 20 waves of enemies, and several side-quests that may prompt you to go replay levels. All in all, with a terrific plot, tremendous atmosphere, and solid game play, Bastion is another title in the long list of stellar downloadable games that have been part of Xbox’s Summer of Arcade.

Score: 9.5

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Valve Teams with Dark Horse to Collect Graphic Novels into One Volume

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Originally Published: July 19, 2011, on EGMNOW.COM

THE BUZZ: Dark Horse Comics, the publisher of comics like Hellboy and several titles that follow the Star Wars universe, will be teaming up with Valve to provide a hardcover volume of the comic book tie-ins that Valve has produced over the years for some of their most popular games.

WHAT WE KNOW: Titled Valve Presents: The Sacrifice and Other Steam-Powered Stories, the volume will be priced at $29.99 and be 304 pages in length. Due to be released on November 16th, 2011, the three games featured in the volume will be Portal, Team Fortress, and Left 4 Dead. When released, it will mark the second video game related property that Dark Horse will publish in as many months as October 19th will also see the comics publisher launch a 4-issue mini-series dealing with the Mass Effect universe.

WHAT IT MEANS: This is nothing new to see video game developers teaming up with comic book publishers to promote games old and new. Prototype, inFamous, Halo, and Gears of War are just some of the first and third party developed games that have had printed comic book tie-ins before. Even iconic figures like Sonic and Mega Man have their own monthly comics, so it is no surprise that Valve would want to showcase Chell from Portal, the Survivors from Left 4 Dead, and the various crazy character classes from Team Fortress. An extra plus for this hardcover is that most comics cost $2.99 for 24 pages, so 304 for $29.99 is like 25% off the cover price if these issues were all sold separately.

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Sony Becomes 1st First-Party to Institute Online Passes

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July 24, 2011

Originally Published: July 19, 2011, on EGMNOW.COM

THE BUZZ: Joining the ranks of THQ, EA, and Warner Bros., Sony has come forward and confirmed that they will be the first first-party to include an online pass, rumored to be called PSN Pass, with their games to unlock some, if not all, of a game’s online features.

WHAT WE KNOW: The PSN Pass system will be much like others implemented in third-party games up to this point. A new copy of the game will come with a one-use only code that can be used to access online play for the game. Players who buy the game used from retailers such as Gamestop and want the online content will be forced to go onto the Playstation Store and pay a small fee for a new code to use with their previously owned game, just like with third-party titles that make use of online passes. The price point is still unknown, but will likely be universal across the board once more games begin featuring PSN Pass and Sony has confirmed that Resistance 3 will be the first game to require it for unlocking its online multiplayer.

WHAT IT MEANS: “This is an important initiative as it allows us to accelerate our commitment to enhancing premium online services across our first party game portfolio,” said a Sony spokesperson on the matter of PSN Pass. This is clearly just another step by developers and publishers to make sure they receive some sort of cut of the profits from used game sales and it was only a matter of time before the first-parties got in on this. And since Sony’s online pass will already be implemented by September with Resistance 3, even though Sony said it would be game-specific, it isn’t too far fetched to think that Ratchet and Clank: All 4 One, Twisted Metal, and Uncharted 3 could likely see passes as well even though they were not directly mentioned. And if Sony is willing to begin implementing this, could Microsoft be that far behind? Considering you already have to pay for Xbox Live, compared to PSN’s free service, Microsoft could be even more primed to put the screws to used game retailers in the future.

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NHL 12 Cover Boy Announced

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July 15, 2011

Originally Published: July 12, 2011, on EGMNOW.com

Lightning Strikes: Stamkos Broke Face in Playoffs, EA Using Better Picture

THE BUZZ: Steven Stamkos is an up and coming superstar, so it makes a lot of sense for him to be NHL 12’s official cover boy. The grit and determination he showed in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals when he literally had his face broken by a puck off a slapshot and then came back in the same game and you can see that this kid is a perfect snapshot of “hockey”.

WHAT WE KNOW: Stamkos is quickly becoming a player to watch for hockey fans. After a slow start to his career, Stamkos exploded in his sophomore and junior campaigns for a combined 96 goals, averaging a goal every 1.7 games. Along with this, he shared the “Rocket” Richard award (most goals in the NHL) with Sidney Crosby in the 2009-2010 campaign, was the third youngest player to have 50+ goals in a season behind Wayne Gretzky and Jimmy Carson, and led his team to a Game 7 in the Eastern Conference Finals this year. Hockey has a new face and it resides in Tampa Bay.

WHAT IT MEANS: The boys from EA Canada, which is located conveniently a stone’s throw from Vancouver, may be holding a grudge in not putting Boston goalie Tim Thomas on the cover. Considering that EA’s big new feature for NHL 12 is being able to hit the goalies and have them fight each other, not putting the one who won the Cup, the Cup MVP, and the Vezina (best goalie in the NHL) on the cover doesn’t make a whole lot of sense otherwise.

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EGM Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D Review

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July 7, 2011

Originally Published: June 28, 2011, on EGMNOW.COM

More mindless than the zombies you’ll be shooting

Publisher: Capcom
Developer: Capcom
Platforms: 3DS

Release: 06.28.11

Players: Singe Player, 2-player Co-op

ESRB Rating: M – Mature

The Good: Beautiful graphics
The Bad: We’ve seen this all before in Resident Evil 4 and 5
The Ugly: Time is your greatest threat, not your enemies

Every fan of the Resident Evil franchise has been waiting with baited breath to see if it could make a successful transition to portable gaming with a pair of titles coming to the 3DS. The first of those titles, Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D may have the diehards worrying a little.

Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D is the attempted expansion and combination of the Mercenaries mini-games found in Resident Evil 4 and 5. Although the graphics for the game are crisp, the character models look nearly as good as they did on a console, and the use of the bottom screen for your inventory and map are nice touches, there is little beyond these features to make the game worthwhile.

The point of Mercenaries is to play as one of eight different characters from the series that are randomly inserted into various familiar locations from the Resident Evil 4 and 5 games. Whether in Europe taking on cultists or in Africa taking on the Majini, the object of the game revolves around an arcade style time-trial where you try to get the highest score possible in the time allotted while also building up combos by quickly dispatching several foes in a row.

Unfortunately, even with 30 possible missions, RPG-like powering up of your favorite Resident Evil characters, and some stellar graphics, the game gets repetitive and boring quickly. There is an overall lack of enemy variety with nothing you haven’t already seen in previous Resident Evil games and because of limited enemy A.I. and the powering up feature, where any character can equip up to three upgrades once they’re unlocked, your greatest threat against getting a high score does not come from the infected but from the clock on the top of the screen.

A nice feature to try to add some replayability to the game is that Mercenaries does feature a co-op mode for a friend with a 3DS, but then you’ll have two people getting bored after a handful of missions instead of just yourself. Add in poor controls that will take a lot of time to get used to as the most often used actions for this game, shooting and reloading, require not one, but two buttons to be pressed or held at a time and overall, Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D just lacks the substance necessary to make it a worthwhile purchase.

Score: 4.0/10

By: Ray Carsillo

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Binary Domain EGM Preview

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Originally Published: June 28, 2011, on EGMNOW.COM

EAT YOUR HEART OUT, JOHN CONNOR

Binary Domain boils down to a futuristic sci-fi shooter against sentient robots, akin to something like Terminator, but there is so much more going on with this game that just grabs you by the balls and yells “PLAY ME!” The controls for one felt very natural for a shooter and the game itself had a very polished, cinematic look already going for it. “The team is really dedicated to the look and feel of the game. And that’s one of the things they really concentrated on graphics wise was to give it a different look and a different texture. Something different, but still giving it a shooter look and feel,” said Dan Gallardo, part of the Marketing team for SEGA.

I was also pleasantly surprised by the integration of the RPG-elements, like squad selection pre-mission and path selection once you move into the mission. This adds replay value to the game as each mission could be done multiple times and play out differently each time. For example, do you want a demolitions expert to blow a hole through a wall to get to your objective, or a sniper to provide cover fire while you try to sneak around back? When taking on the boss of the first level, a giant bi-pedal robot laden with turrets and missile launchers, I chose to use my heavy machine gunner to draw the big bot’s attention while I ran to the roof of a nearby apartment building and took fire at its barely exposed weak point on the top of its head. Lots of guns, lots of options, and a sci-fi feel all make me very excited for Binary Domain.

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SSX EGM Preview

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Originally Published: June 28, 2011, on EGMNOW.COM

TRY CONQUERING A MOUNTAIN WHEN THE MOUNTAIN FIGHTS BACK

From the second you start playing SSX, you know you’re in for a wild ride. Using Google Earth and various other mapping technology, SSX paints a 3D globe while highlighting some of the world’s biggest peaks like Mt. Everest or K2. After selecting your mountain, you then enter into one of three game modes that revolve around the game’s theme of “Race It, Trick It, Survive It”.

The first two games modes are standard to a SSX game and deal with racing to the bottom of the mountain or getting the highest score possible by pulling off insane stunts. With some crisp graphics and the fact that you can perform a trick or grind anywhere leaves these modes with so much new potential. “It really speaks to our physics system that allows you to trick off anything, ride anything, and do things you’ve never been able to do before,” said SSX Producer Connor Dougan in regards to pulling off stunts in the game.

But the third mode, titled “Deadly Descent”, offered so much more in terms of testing your ingenuity and boarding skills. Likened to a boss battle where the mountain took center stage with each battle revolving around a particular element of being up in the mountains. The one we saw featured a beautifully rendered avalanche, that almost seemed alive as it kept reaching out to swallow our boarder whole, which we of course had to outrace to the bottom in order to win. This mode provided a completely new twist on not only the franchise, but snowboarding games in general. I’m looking forward to catching some fresh powder when SSX drops in January 2012.

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X-COM E3 2011 EGM Preview

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June 29, 2011

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

A WAR OF THE WORLDS

WHAT ITS ABOUT: Set in the early 1960s, the world is under attack from an unknown alien force. As a member of the secret government organization known as XCOM, you must put together a crack field team to analyze and somehow subdue this threat to humanity.

WHY YOU SHOULD CARE: This franchise reboot sees a major facelift from the original’s tactical tradition. Not just a first-person shooter, XCOM will put your wits to the test in not only building and leveling up your team, but also how you act in the field. Will you capture enemy weaponry for personal upgrades later or turn them against their alien masters right in the middle of the fray? The choices are near endless.

WHAT RAY THINKS: Easily one of the longest demos at E3, I wouldn’t have minded seeing even more. XCOM has a strong, cinematic feel while mixing in elements of both Bioshock and Mass Effect. Weird and wonderful weaponry will constantly be at your fingertips while you command your units on the fly in the field and also dish out as much punishment as you can yourself from the first-person perspective. I can’t wait!

-Ray Carsillo

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EGM Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time 3D Review

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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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