Tag Archive: review


EGM Review: Shoot Many Robots

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March 16, 2012

Robots Hate Your Freedom

Very rarely can you gather the entire concept of a game just from the title alone. But publisher Ubisoft’s and developer Demiurge’s Shoot Many Robots does just that as the title simply says it all. You play as P. Walter Tugnut, a redneck who has been stockpiling weapons and beer for years in his RV just waiting for the robot apocalypse. And then one day it actually happens. After destroying his beloved pick-up truck, Tugnut knows his day has come to Shoot…Many…Robots.

As soon as I started playing the game, I felt like I had been transported back to a childhood arcade where I was still feeding quarters into Metal Slug as I was given this somewhat cartoony, but still modern enough looking hero, with a bevy of weapons and an even larger horde of enemies to take on in classic side-scrolling fashion. And when I say there is a large horde of enemies, I’m easily talking 20-30 robots on screen at once, and 200-300 robots per level. And I used everything from conventional weapons like assault rifles and bazookas to some more sci-fi inspired weaponry like freeze guns, to grind the gears of these gyro driven automatons into dust.

An interesting dynamic thrown into the entire game though is an RPG-like leveling up system where Tugnut could unlock new weaponry and armor that allowed him to slide, double jump farther, carry more health restoring beer, or, of course, do tons more damage. This reward system helped keep the game play satisfying as you mowed down the metal monstrosities.

Unfortunately, even with these unique features throw into the old-school side-scrolling dynamic that Shoot Many Robots gives us, it can get monotonous as you work through three or four stages per level and you just keep taking down the same robots over and over again for the most part. The look and sound of the game is rather dull and lacks the vibrancy you’d prefer in this kind of game to help keep your senses stimulated considering the monotonous game play. And with no real story to tie everything together, this is more a true arcade game in every sense, but this could turn off players who prefer a deeper experience.

There were also times where I wish I could upgrade the individual weapons with laser sights or other goodies as the aiming function was clumsy at best. More often than not I found myself trying to jump or slide into a better position, or use the bullet reflecting melee technique, rather than aiming as I couldn’t tell half the time where I was shooting.

There is also a steep difficulty curve with Shoot Many Robots as after the first couple of levels the robotic horde gets to the point where they can easily surround and start to engulf you. Mid-chapter checkpoints do help alleviate frustration in many instances, but it seems whenever a new foe or environmental hazard is introduced, you will likely meet your doom as you try to figure out what to do about them while still beating back the blade-wielding ankle biters that make up the majority of the robotic force as the game just keeps throwing more and more bad guys your way and barely gives you a chance to breath.

Aside from the mid-chapter checkpoints, the game does have another arcade staple fortunately that can assist you as well and that is 4-player co-op. Having three of your friends come on board so you can have a redneck death dealing parade and leave a swath of robot carcasses in your wake does help a lot and co-op like this always makes this style of game a better experience in the long run.

Still, I think that even with its strong positives and nostalgia inspiring experience that Shoot Many Robots is best served in short, but fun doses. This doesn’t seem like the kind of game you’ll sit down for three consecutive hours for. Instead, maybe just grabbing a friend for 30 minutes before tackling a more hardcore game seems to be the right speed for this title. But if old-school side-scrolling arcade shoot ‘em ups are your thing, Shoot Many Robots definitely hits all the right buttons considering it’s $10 (800 MSP) price tag.

SUMMARY: A frantic side-scrolling shooter reminiscent of classics like Metal Slug that may become tiresome in long intervals, but is more than enjoyable in short bursts.

  • THE GOOD: Fun, frantic action in an old-school arcade style
  • THE BAD: Even mindless mayhem can get tedious at some point
  • THE UGLY: Rednecks with guns are always a scary proposition

SCORE: 8.0

Shoot Many Robots is available on Xbox 360 (XBLA), PS3 (PSN), and PC. Primary version reviewed was on Xbox 360.

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EGM Review: Mass Effect 3: From Ashes DLC

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The Cycle Repeats

In Mass Effect 2, we learned a lot about the Prothean race, the beings that took the Reapers head on in the last cycle and fell to the wayside from their robotic onslaught. They then went extinct after their last resort, cryogenic sleeping pods, malfunctioned due to power failure. But what if one was to miraculously survive?

The Mass Effect 3: From Ashes DLC answers that question, and just like Liara, my reactions were very similar in that they were along the lines of “Oh my God, a real life Prothean! Amazing!” Javik, a Prothean general who was supposed to usher in a new cycle of dominance for his race, is now the last of his kind after his pod is discovered by colonists on Eden Prime, always a hot bed for Prothean activity in the Mass Effect universe. And his story and added dynamic to the team fits in very well after you rescue him from Cerberus, who are after him for their own nefarious means.

The problem with the DLC though mainly revolves around the price. You paying $10 (800 Microsoft Points) for literally only an hour of content in terms of missions and maybe an extra half hour worth of unique conversations aboard the Normandy and CItadel just seems really steep. The pack also features some new costumes for your other squad mates, but with no difference in terms of bonus attributes from the armor that ships with the game, it’s all just cosmetic. So really, I just can’t help but keep thinking to myself that is this is just another ploy to squeeze a few more dollars out of the players.

The way Javik is worked into the story and how he plays just like any of the other characters with his own unique powers and abilities is very well done. But it just seems like this DLC pack was cobbled together. And now that Bioware has decided to step into the multiplayer realm, to include a DLC pack without any sort of multiplayer content at all should irritate a lot of folks who have really embraced the mode, even if Mass Effect will forever be seen more as a single player experience.

So at the end of the day, you have to appreciate how good a character Javik is, but when you drop $60 for a 30 hour campaign, it just doesn’t seem to add up to get only another 60-90 minutes when you drop another $10 and so I just don’t see this DLC being worth the price considering how little it really affects the game overall. DLC stands for Downloadable Content…so where’s the freakin’ content?!

SUMMARY: This is a great story and new character, but he should have just been included in the game in the first place, not a $10 Day 1 add-on.

  • THE GOOD: Dynamic new character that fleshes out your roster
  • THE BAD: $10 for an hour worth of content, next time EA and Bioware should buy us dinner first
  • THE UGLY: The Prothean redefines the term ‘four-eyes’

SCORE: 5.0

Mass Effect 3: From Ashes DLC is available on Xbox 360, PS3, and PC. Primary version reviewed was on Xbox 360.

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EGM Review:Mass Effect 3

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Don’t fear the Reapers

Part of what’s made Mass Effect so amazing as a series is how much the direct choices you make as a player not only affect you in game, but beyond. And the concluding chapter in this tremendous trilogy doesn’t let up at all in that regard, as choices made in the first two games come back to reward or haunt you in unforeseen ways as you continue to fight against the Reapers.

Whereas the first Mass Effect was all about introducing us to the major players and ME2 was about building up relationships and your own personal task force, ME3 is all about cultivating the relationships from the first two games in order to best prepare the galaxy into forming a united front against the Reapers, who now even pester you in the galaxy map, which adds a new layer of danger to the previously mundane process of probing planets. Every task you complete and planet you successfully probe will affect how much military strength you can muster, and by crossing the wrong person or making the wrong choice on how to allocate available resources, you can strengthen or weaken the armada you’re trying to create.

The story’s also a bit more engrossing this time around, as there are a lot more cinematic, big-movie moments—and they all look amazing, as the visuals are probably the most impressive in the series to date. This more fluid story telling really helps the game flow, and fans of the series will appreciate a lot of throwback references that sometimes come from nowhere and will instantly put a smile on your face.

The weapons, armor, and RPG leveling-up system have also been streamlined so that players who want a more action-packed experience are doing less item hunting and navigating menus. Plus, there’s also a “narrative” difficulty option that really fleshes out conversations and the customization for those players who’d prefer the more traditional RPG experience.

The combat controls feel tighter and field tactics are also smoother this time around, but the cover mechanics introduced in Mass Effect 2 are still very delicate, and movement’s much more deliberate than you’d want in any type of a shooter. And that isn’t what you need in the heat of battle, as you’ll often accidentally roll away from cover when you’re trying to stick to it. Coupled with a flawed damage feedback mechanic that doesn’t properly inform players how much damage they are taking, and combat can still be irksome at times.

But Mass Effect 3’s greatest problem is its new multiplayer system. And it’s not the fact that it’s an amalgamation of Battlefield 3’s class system with Gears of War’s Horde mode, as I love both of those games’ multiplayer options. No, my problem lies in the fact that you’re pretty much forced into playing the multiplayer in order to unlock the best possible ending in the single-player mode. This aspect, called “Galaxy at War,” starts where the galaxy’s 50 percent ready to take on the Reaper threat as soon as you begin your single-player game. But instead of collecting more assets in single-player or completing side quests to improve on this number, you need to win multiplayer matches, which correlates to your armada readiness in single-player mode—this means players will be forced to play a mode they might not necessarily want to get into right away. Plus, there is no local split-screen options and a lot of times the best co-op multiplayers all allow you to have your buddy sitting right next to you while you play.

Mass Effect 3 is still an awesome game overall, of course, as the few negatives just happen to stand out against what is an otherwise mostly blemish free experience. Even the Kinect options are a lot more enjoyable than I had anticipated, although I found myself falling back into old game play patterns a few hours in as I’m just not used to screaming at my TV (when not watching a sporting event, anyway). The conclusion to the story is phenomenal, the action’s great with legions of new and old enemies alike, and the multiplayer’s fun and addictive, even if I don’t like how it affects your single-player campaign. Not to mention Mass Effect 3 has one of the more moving scores I’ve heard from a game in a while and fantastic voice acting for all our returning favorite characters, and a nice job by some new folks like Freddie Prinze Jr. as James Vega. Fans who invested in the first two games will know the wait for this third game was well worth it, and BioWare shows why they’re some of the best storytellers in the industry.

SUMMARY: Mass Effect’s brilliant story remains intact, and if you played the previous two games, the payoff’s more than satisfying. Some cover and combat issues remain unsolved, though, and the idea of participation in a completely separate multiplayer mode potentially influencing your single-player ending is mind-boggling.

  • THE GOOD: Brilliantly concludes one of the most epic trilogies of this console generation
  • THE BAD: Multiplayer tie-in to single player, combat and control nitpicks
  • THE UGLY: Joker wanting to get it on with a robot

SCORE: 9.0

Mass Effect 3 is available on Xbox 360, PS3, and PC. Primary version reviewed was on Xbox 360.

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EGM Review: WARP

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Now You See Me…

Warp might be as unusual for a puzzle game as much as our pint-sized, traffic cone colored protagonist is for a hero, but the game’s ability to make you think combined with its unique game play dynamic revolving around teleportation makes this a surefire winner overall.

You play as an unnamed alien who has been the latest in a long line of captures by a covert government organization who dissects and analyzes creatures such as yourself. Unlike those who have come before you though, you have a lot more fight in you than they would realize and after running through a humiliating obstacle course, unleashes your fury on them in ways they could not imagine.

Using your teleportation powers, which you can upgrade over the course of the game by finding “grubs”, a nutritious pink slime that our nameless hero loves, and some ingenuity, you try to work your way through the underwater base and escape to freedom. Some of these upgradeable powers include casting an “echo” or ghost of yourself to draw attention of guards away from particular paths, or launching items like barrels across the room once you have teleported into them. Your main ability though will always be your ability to ‘warp’ through walls, into objects to hide in, or into people to make them explode from the inside out and carve yourself a gory path out of the base.

Each level offers different challenges, usually centering on your expanding repertoire of powers and building on all of them until reaching the climactic final level. This natural progression makes sure that the game does not give you too much too quickly and helps keep the addiction level at a nice even pace as you take on challenge after challenge laid out before you.

The stealth aspect is also a twist thrown into this game that really amps it up though and helps develop a protagonist who never speaks. Your objective after all is to escape this government base and you must work your way past soldiers with guns and automatic robotic turrets whose sole purpose is to put you down. So finding the quiet, efficient way to take them out first is just as much of a challenge as the physics based puzzles you’ll encounter.

There are a few minor flaws with Warp though that hold the game back. The first is the fact that although the game has some very fun and inventive boss battles that will test your abilities like no other moments in the game, there are very few of them and you wish there could be more. Also, even though the base is entirely connected, you really cannot backtrack with upgraded powers to go back and find collectibles you may have missed along the way and completionists may find that aspect irritating.

The worst part of the game though comes in the later levels where all the tight puzzle design through about 90% of the game seems to unravel before your eyes and a randomness that relies more on luck than on skill seems to take hold. This can lead to some frustrating deaths as you must walk a very fine line through trap-laden corridors.

All in all though, Warp can be a lot of fun and if you look at the collectibles as a part of the replay-ability for the campaign and combine that with the nine timed challenge maps with online leaderboards then Warp definitely has enough to offer to be worth your 800 MSP. I think puzzle fans will be pleasantly surprised by the stealth based conundrum solving throughout the game and with its high level of polish should be near the top of their downloadable title lists.

SUMMARY:  This inventive and unique puzzler is so much fun for the price that a few irksome late game flaws can be forgiven.

  • THE GOOD: Inventive blend of puzzle and stealth elements provide unique experience
  • THE BAD: Late game puzzles seem to rely more on luck than skill like some kind of carnival game
  • THE UGLY: Bouncing human body parts after tearing them apart from the inside-out

SCORE: 8.0

Warp is available on Xbox 360 (XBLA), PS3 (PSN), and PC. Primary version reviewed was on Xbox 360.

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EGM Review: Dungeon Hunter: Alliance

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Crawling Away From This Dungeon

Based on the PSN game of the same name that was inspired by the popular Dungeon Hunter iOS series, Dungeon Hunter: Alliance has you play as a wise and benevolent king who falls apart at the sudden death of his beloved queen. Not willing to accept this, he dabbles in the dark arts to resurrect his wife, but changing one’s fate can have consequences and the queen carries within her now a dark presence. Upon her reanimation she betrays her king and stabs him to death. Now 25 years have past and the king has been resurrected by fairy magic in order to free his kingdom that has suffered for long enough under the oppressive thumb of his former bride.

Dungeon Hunter: Alliance is done in the classic dungeon crawler style akin to games like Gauntlet Legends, but has a lot more side quests and a central hub that help the game from becoming as linear as those arcade action styled games of old. There is also the positive of being able to play with up to three of your friends as you choose from your typical classes of Warriors, Rogues, and Mages. The hack ‘n’ slash game play is everything you’ve come to expect from the genre and adding in the portability and multiplayer compatibility of the Vita are nice, but this game is far from perfect.

Although fun to play at first, the action does get repetitive quickly and the item system is sloppy at best as there is no easy way to organize the many items you pick up along the way in your adventure. The graphics also aren’t anything particularly special as even though the characters seem to have been done in great detail, they exist in a bland and generic world that will have you get turned more than once as every dungeon and town you visit look exactly the same as the last.

The biggest negative for the game though probably lies in the price point. The only difference you’re getting between this $40 game and the $15 PSN version that has had numerous sales and promotions for it since it became available last April is the fact that the game is now obviously portable. And if you played the $5 iOS games that are a part of this series, then you’ll know exactly what to expect as well as the formula hasn’t changed at all from there either. So although the game had a few bright spots, it’s hard to recommend a game in the already flooded list of launch titles for the Vita when you can get the same game for less than half the price via another means of distribution.

SUMMARY: Solid dungeon crawler action is held back by monotonous game play and a cluttered loot system, but most of all a price point at $40 that is more than double the PSN price for virtually the same game.

  • THE GOOD: Classic dungeon crawler action
  • THE BAD: Cluttered item system and generic game play
  • THE UGLY: Another example of a barely upgraded iOS game that is clearly overpriced on the Vita

SCORE: 5.0

Dungeon Hunter: Alliance is a PS Vita exclusive.

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EGM Review: Asphalt: Injection

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February 23, 2012

Burning Rubber

Based on the popular mobile Asphalt series, Asphalt: Injection looks to throw its hat into the ring of racing games at the launch of the PS Vita, but instead of having its competition eat its dust like hoped, it really has just been left behind at the starting line.

The game features your standard campaign mode where you attempt to beat computer controlled cars in various race types like your obligatory race for first, an elimination style race where the tail car is removed every so often until only one remains, and even a race where you’re simply trying to avoid police officers the entire time who are looking to take your street racing crew down. As you win and unlock tracks, you can also earn funds to purchase new cars and upgrade your existing garage. There is also the connectivity of a versus mode the Vita can utilize so you can take on your friends.

At the end of the day though, with fifteen different tracks loosely based on some iconic locations around the world and nearly four dozen licensed cars, Asphalt: Injection is really just a perfect example of an over-priced iOS port that seems to define a good chunk of the launch library of the Vita. It fails to satisfy your racing cravings and doesn’t even show the effort of trying to look good while doing it.

Considering that the Vita has enough power to produce PS3 worthy visuals, you’ll be so stunned by the horribly dull look of every level you play that you’ll do a double-take to make sure you’re not accidentally playing one of the Nintendo DS versions. But at least an iOS version of this franchise, like Asphalt 6: Adrenaline, will only cost you 99 cents whereas this cobbled together port will cost 30 times as much. So even with some solid controls, at the end of the day you’re really paying $30 for a game that should be a throwaway on your iPad as it shouldn’t last more than a few hours in your system as you easily blow through each race location. You can’t even say the portability of the Vita is a plus because last I checked you could carry around an iPad and Nintendo DS as well.

All in all, this is a complete waste of plastic game cases and software chips. Considering the high quality of some of the other games on the Vita at launch, even in the same genre, there is no need for you to waste your money on this ridiculously expensive and overpriced shovel ware.

SUMMARY: Although it handles well enough, the fact of the matter is this game has barely been tweaked over its 99 cent iOS brethren and is ridiculously overpriced for it as it sits amongst a field of a half-dozen better racing games for the Vita launch.

  • THE GOOD: Solid physics and car controls
  • THE BAD: Nearly direct port of an iOS game that doesn’t take advantage of Vita’s specs
  • THE UGLY: The idea of dropping $30 on a game that is 99 cents on iOS

SCORE: 3.0

Asphalt: Injection is a PS Vita exclusive.

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EGM Review: Alan Wake’s American Nightmare

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Heeeeeeerrrreee’s Alan!

The original Alan Wake wowed audiences with a twisted and unique story that saw an unlikely protagonist rise to the unreal situation he found himself in. And when last we saw Alan, he had sacrificed himself to the Dark Dimension in order to save his beloved wife Alice, taking her place as its hostage.

Flash-forward now two years later. Alan has basically had to scrape together an existence, fighting for his life on a near daily basis in the Dark Dimension, his love for his wife the only thing that keeps him going as he continues to look for a way out. The Dark Dimension satiates itself by feasting on Alan’s creative writing talents, but in the process of being touched by this ethereal power, Alan has acquired some unique abilities all his own, including using his writing to help change the reality of the given situations he finds himself in to better suit his needs. And in this new adventure, where the Dark Dimension has inserted Alan into one of his early writing experiences, a script for the cult-TV show “Night Springs”, Alan must take on his dark side given physical form in the nefarious Mr. Scratch, who taunts Alan by being able to cross between dimensions freely where the barriers are at the weakest, like Cauldron Lake or in this case, the Arizona desert, and threaten everything that Alan has ever loved.

A major goal in developing this game for the guys at Remedy was to try to make American Nightmare accessible to both new and old audiences to the franchise. And I think that by trying to play both sides of the fence, they may have missed their mark a little on each side. Easier to find manuscript pages help fill in the back story to newcomers, while some also flesh out this newest adventure for the series loyalists, but unless you actually experience the first game, a small narrative piece, that many people may not even find all the parts for, doesn’t do the first game’s tremendously original story and adventure justice and newcomers may feel like they’re missing out on something.

Meanwhile, the game does have a lot more of a “pick-up and play” feel to it as the action comes hot and heavy from right after the opening cut scene. This is all well and good as newcomers and veterans alike will enjoy the smooth controls, still awesome “light washing away the dark” dynamic, and the satisfying feeling that comes from dispelling the huge variety of new Taken like the Giant or the Grenadier. The problem that hardcore fans will find though is that after the survival horror aspects of the first game had you hording your strongest light producing materials for more diffcult moments in the game and scrounging for ammo, batteries, and flares, the abundance of self-replenishing ammo boxes in American Nightmare will ruin any chance of building suspense as you never actually feel in danger anymore. Flares, flashbangs, and some new and more powerful weapons not in the first game at all make themselves very readily available right from the get-go (SMG for the win). The challenge that I loved from the first game is completely gone.

Even with these flaws though, there are enough aspects that fans on both sides of the fence will also tremendously enjoy that makes the game a worthwhile purchase considering its 1200 MSP ($15) price tag. Again, the action is very well done and the controls are still tight and responsive enough that each kill or nimble dodge of an axe swipe by Alan feels very satisfying. The new Arcade challenge mode, complete with 10 maps, adds to some of the replay-ability found in the collectible hunting of the main story as you try to work your way up the leaderboard and earn the high score as you refine your Taken bashing skills.

Another brilliant aspect of the game is the TV sets scattered about Night Springs, Arizona. The dynamic of a live-action Mr. Scratch, using the TVs that established “Night Springs” in the first game, to taunt Alan in that classic villain fashion, is almost comical as Scratch is that rare charismatic bad guy who a part of you deep down roots for. There is one where he talks about his “tools of the trade” that was absolutely spectacular. And the use of licensed music in proper moments, especially as a backdrop to these “episodes” is definitely another strong point for the game.  And at the end of the day, it is all part of what is really a very solid story, especially if you look at this as a day in the life of Alan now since he has become trapped in the Dark Dimension.

Although it doesn’t do much in terms of forwarding the overall plot of the franchise and how Alan will hopefully one day escape or destroy the Dark Dimension and its denizens, it gives us a peek into what Alan must endure to hopefully set himself up for the end game and makes us care about the characters even more so than before and gives the series a weird sense of realism considering how far out there it is concept-wise. But one thing that American Nightmare does do in terms of forwarding the franchise’s story is it helps give us the sense that the Dark Dimension is not just some primal entity, but it is conscious of what it does in many ways and is truly alive, giving us a sense of some epic struggle worthy of a Greek mythos as Alan must endure trials and tribulations thrown in his path by some dark and unyielding god before he can finally return home.

There are also some minor nuances I believe that will also be universally panned by both sides of the fence with this game. The voice acting and dialogue outside of the “Night Springs” narrator or the Mr. Scratch TV episodes is bad. Like Japanese-import bad. And there are moments where Alan is surrounded by light, but still has to take on Taken. There is one scene where you are surrounded by a burning oilrig. Last I checked, fire gave off a good amount of light. And there was a lot of fire, and a lot of Taken. Small little gaps in the continuity of the universe like that had me scratching my head some.

All in all though, I think that as a stand alone adventure and a spot check on seeing how Alan was doing, this game did a good job of giving us an idea of the struggles the character is going through and hopefully will serve as the launching point for a bigger and even better story down the road.

SUMMARY: In trying to please everyone, American Nightmare takes a small step back from what made the original Alan Wake an original and enthralling experience, but is still well worth the price of admission for old and new fans alike.

  • THE GOOD: Fluid action and smooth controls
  • THE BAD: Dumbed down, broader appeal approach will turn off hardcore fans
  • THE UGLY: Dialogue worthy of a Japanese import

SCORE: 8.5

Alan Wake’s American Nightmare is an XBLA (Xbox 360) exclusive.

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EGM Review: Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 – PS VITA

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It’s déjà vu all over again

It was one of last year’s premiere fighting games and it is a franchise that arcade fighting fans absolutely can’t get enough of. So, much in the same vein of how the Nintendo 3DS had Super Street Fighter IV at their handheld system launch, Sony wanted to make sure they had a premiere fighting game to go along with their handheld on launch day as well.

That game, of course, is Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3. But with a game already heralded as a superior fighting product that gave fans everything they wanted and then some, what could they possibly do with their port to the PS Vita? Nothing. Well, that’s not entirely true, but relatively speaking Capcom did very little with this latest version of the game that makes it stand out from its console brethren.

And this can be a good thing because why mess with something if isn’t broken? The game still has stunning visuals due to Vita’s processing power and the full 48-character roster of fighters remains completely in tact. The arcade, training, mission, and versus modes all return as nothing content wise was cut to facilitate the small size of the Vita’s cartridge. The voice acting and original music is still all there, the story cut scenes done in a style similar to comic book panels, the hyper combos, Galactus as the final boss, and even personalizing your online card is still present. All of the patches and balancing tweaks that console players had to wait for are all packaged in the game and because of it you still get one of the premiere fighting experiences of 2011 available to you.

The problem is that now it is 2012. And most people who were going to buy this game already have. And the major negative of making little to no changes with the game is now evident. If the audience has already been tapped, who is going to buy the exact same game twice?

Sure, it’s portable now and you can link up with friends to get in some quick versus matches. That’s a cool feature, but again, most people won’t have need of it really if they already bought the game unless they are so hardcore that this game is the center of their entire gaming universe and must have it with them AT ALL TIMES. But for the rest of us, what might sell us on this? Will a new touch screen system make us want to pick this game up? No. Especially since the touch screen is mostly pointless as it is crucial to actually see the screen when playing a fighting game to learn hit boxes, range, patterns, and other critical elements to victory and so you can’t have your fingers constantly getting in the way of that.

And speaking of fingers, it does become a bit harder to pull off a lot of the moves you’re accustomed to with the smaller joystick and buttons of the Vita. And the one thing the Vita version of Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 does lack isn’t a shortcoming with the game itself, but with the hardware as you only have two shoulder buttons to try to pull off moves that were originally mapped to four. This can lead to some unnecessary button mashing that changes the game play for the worse.

But, aside from that, if you should pick this game up again, you’ll get everything you would expect from the console version. And if you missed it the first time around on a console, then picking it up for the Vita will definitely be money well-spent. There just isn’t enough of a positive difference though between the console and Vita versions to warrant owning both in most cases.

SUMMARY: Still a stellar fighting game, but if you already have it on a console, there’s no point in picking it up again.

  • THE GOOD: Basically the same game as on consoles
  • THE BAD: Pointless touch controls, lack of shoulder buttons sacrifices move list
  • THE UGLY: Tiny buttons and joysticks make button mashing more difficult

SCORE: 8.0

Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 is available on Xbox 360, PS3, and PS VITA. This review was based on the PS VITA version of the game.

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EGM Review: Uncharted: Golden Abyss

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February 14, 2012

The Return of Sony’s Golden Boy

Uncharted: Golden Abyss sees our favorite modern-day treasure hunter, Nathan Drake, in the jungles of Central America as he stumbles upon a 400-year old mystery involving a murdered Spanish expedition. Of course, no Drake adventure would be complete without some sort of meddling from interlopers, so Nathan will have to avoid the rivalry of an old friend, Jason Dante, and new leading lady Marisa Chase, a girl who’s searching for her missing archeologist grandfather—and who can hold her own in a firefight.

Now, Sony moving their crown-jewel franchises over to portable systems is an inevitability that’s paid off some decent dividends when you look at franchises like God of War and Resistance. But can Drake make the transition as easily as when he hops from ledge to ledge—especially with the pressure of being a PS Vita launch title—or will he stumble and fall into a portable-gaming chasm of doom?

For Uncharted fans, the answer isn’t quite so clear, unfortunately. The story unfolds just like one of Drake’s PS3 adventures we’ve all come to know and love. Sony Bend’s tale stays true to the character while also brings along new players seamlessly. Couple this with the great voice acting for which the series is known and console-quality visuals, and—at least on the surface—this game looks like a winner.

But if you were expecting to come into this experience and be able to pick up and play it just like one of its console brethren, then your frustration level will rise quickly. To start off with, the game features forced tutorials that showcase special Vita-style controls—and which constantly pop up throughout much of the early part of the game. Now, this is somewhat understandable, given that the Vita’s an entirely new paradigm, but after learning what it takes to execute even the simplest of moves, you’ll quickly realize that it’s just much easier to do what you’ve always done on the PS3 with button prompts. Why would I want to draw a path with my fat fingers for Drake to climb when I get a much more desired level of accuracy—and a more satisfying feeling of direct input to my character—by moving the analog stick and pressing buttons?

But whether you choose to avoid the Vita-style gameplay or not, Golden Abyss forces you into countless minigames that not only break up the pace of the action, but are also so simple that you’ll wonder why the developers are making you bother in the first place. These minigames include putting together a torn-apart map, taking pictures of interesting ruins, rubbing your finger over the screen to draw a charcoal etching, and, of course, balance games. Because nothing says Uncharted like running away from poachers with assault rifles, coming to a log bridge, and then being forced to stop in the middle to play with the Vita’s gyroscope so that Drake can miraculously balance himself and continue being chased. And these instances are constant—I must’ve taken a dozen charcoal drawings and balanced on half a dozen bridges (not always being chased) in the first five chapters alone. For a series whose pacing and storytelling is as celebrated as its visuals and voice actors, the former really falls apart when forced into these proof-of-concept minigames.

The other major problem is that even on the least-sensitive setting, the aiming crosshairs are still much too sensitive; the right analog stick is so small that each degree of movement is greatly magnified. This means that while your movement might work on the PS3, it’s completely thrown off by the shrunken-down scale of the Vita’s analog stick. This leads to constant misfiring and needless deaths as you attempt to work out where your enemies will be so as to save yourself the trouble of aiming. And though you can move the Vita around to help with this, you’ll find that it just throws too many moving parts into the machine, and you’ll still overcompensate as you move your arms and thumbs trying to line up a shot.

Uncharted: Golden Abyss may serve as a Vita proof-of-concept, but it also serves as proof of a lesson to be learned: Don’t mess with something that isn’t broken. All the new moving Vita parts and features end up watering down what should be celebrated as a really great Uncharted story, but the diluted pacing, unnecessary minigames, and hit-or-miss (literally) controls keep this from being anywhere near the level of a console Uncharted.

SUMMARY: A story worthy of the franchise, Uncharted: Golden Abyss falls short in terms of pacing and controls, as the touchscreen gimmick takes the experience down a big notch.

  • THE GOOD: The story’s worthy of an Uncharted adventure.
  • THE BAD: The gimmick-based play destroys the pacing and flow.
  • THE UGLY: My fat hands trying to use touchscreen controls.

SCORE: 7.0

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EGM Review: Gotham City Impostors

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

I’m Batman…and so are you

Loosely based off DC Comics’ Detective Comics #867-870, Gotham City Impostors thrusts you into a Gotham gone mad where the majority of the populous has either taken up the mantle of Gotham’s Guardian, Batman, or the constant acid-dipped thorn in his side, the Joker, and you have decided to join in on the chaos. But, even if you’re not familiar with that story arc, you’re still likely to have a lot of fun as this online versus multiplayer shooter has had so much comic-book infused personality injected into it that it has the potential to become as addictive and as popular as games like Team Fortress.

Now many of you out there are probably wondering how guns and Batman would work, but Monolith brilliantly also inserted an “Initiation” mission that will allow you to not only get used to the smooth controls should you choose to play it (as well as it unlocks an achievement), but also explains why the Batz and Jokerz use the weapons that they do. Quite simply, Joe the Plumber doesn’t have the bank that Bruce Wayne has to use the moral high ground of non-lethal weapons. Whereas a PVC Pipe Rocket Launcher sounds a lot more pliable for Joe. And for those slow times when there may not be as many people online, the game also features a single-player Challenges mode that allows players to really hone their skills with their various weapons and tools before jumping right into the fray and for which they can earn extra experience to level up with.

The meat of the game though revolves around the online play. Much like any other online versus multiplayer out there, you gain experience for winning matches and performing a variety of kills out on the field and when you gain experience, you unlock new customization features, weapons, and accessories. Some of the best stuff can be a bit of a grind weapons-wise, but should you feel more inclined to drop some extra cash, you can perform some micro-transactions for different costume items should making your Batz or Jokerz look just the way you want be a priority as well. Same goes for your “Calling Card”, the custom image your foes see when you kill them along with a taunting one-liner. You can buy backgrounds inspired by the comic work of artists like Jim Lee or more cartoony versions of some already available backgrounds to truly bring your unique style to the game.

You can also customize a load out and this is where the game starts to differentiate itself really. You have an assortment of guns and pistols with Batman and Joker style ornaments, but the gadgets are unlike anything seen before in this genre. Glider kits allow you to hover after jumping off high points or ride up open ventilation shafts and then dive bomb onto unsuspecting foes and your grappling hook can have you racing across an entire level in no time if you get the right vantage point. Roller skates give you a huge speed boost and let you trick off ramps and spring boots give you twice as much jumping power.

All this flair and polish though can also be seen as a distraction from some of the game’s flaws. Although the levels are very well designed and offer some frantic action, there are only five of them and so it can get repetitive at times knowing you’ll end up at only one of five locations, even if they are some of Gotham’s most iconic in Ace Chemical, Amusement Mile, Crime Alley, Gotham Power, and The Docks.

There are also only three play modes once you go online. First, there is your standard Team Deathmatch with up to six people on a team. Then, there is a mode called Fumigation, which is basically like Capture the Point. You and your team must try to control three special gas emitters and the person who pollutes the atmosphere 100% with their special concoction first wins the match. The final mode is Psychological Warfare and is very much like Capture the Flag. You’re objective is to take a randomly spawned car battery and attached it to a bevy of speakers that will pump negative propaganda into the brains of your enemies. This will render them unable to use their weapons for 30 seconds and the team who can trigger the propaganda the most in a time-limit wins.

So, when you strip away the fancy gadgets and customization features, the game is your standard run-of-the-mill online versus multiplayer shooter, but it handles so well and looks good enough that if you are a fan of the genre then the Batman flair gives you just enough of a difference from the standard fare for these kinds of games to be enjoyable and worth going back to should Monolith continue to support it down the line with some new maps and modes.

SUMMARY: Gotham City Impostors looks and feels great and adds just enough personality to differentiate it from the crowd of similar online multiplayer games.

  • THE GOOD: Looks and feels great and is on par with most online versus shooter multiplayers out there
  • THE BAD: Lack of maps and modes can shorten the experience
  • THE UGLY: Fat guy in a little Joker-coat

SCORE: 8.0

Gotham City Impostors is available on Xbox 360 (XBLA) and PS3 (PSN). Primary version reviewed was on Xbox 360.

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