Tag Archive: video games


EGM Review: The Walking Dead: Episode 1

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June 2, 2012

A New Day

With an abundance of zombie games in recent years, it’s not an easy thing to differentiate yourself from the mindless crowd when a new one is announced. But when you have one of the most popular comic book and TV series of the past few years as the basis for your game, that alone will turn a few eyeballs your way. Combine that hit franchise then with the unique perspective that only a developer like Telltale Games can give and suddenly your shambling ahead of the rest of the crowd.

The Walking Dead: Episode 1 does just that. Instead of focusing on action and how many NPCs can be fit on screen at once, The Walking Dead: Episode 1 revolves around problem solving, character development, and difficult choices. And zombies. This first episode takes place about a month before the comic starts, at the very beginning of the outbreak, and you play as Lee, a felon being transported to the county jail when the zombie apocalypse hits. After the cop car wrecks itself against a zombie shambling in the middle of the road, you find yourself free from the backseat and trying to survive this brand new world before you, where the dead walk amongst the living.

What impressed me the most was that because you’re not running around collecting tons of crazy guns and ammo and blasting everything that moves, but instead must point and click on key interactive items in the world to progress the story, those few instances, where you have to do the correct button prompts when you actually do square off against a zombie, are some of the most pulse-pounding, tension filled moments you’ll get in a zombie game. Include the need to win people over by building relationships with other survivors as you explore different areas of the world and you have enough action/adventure and RPG elements that should whet the appetite of people aren’t used to this genre of game, but are fans of the franchise or at least just zombie horror.

Another small aspect that I loved was that at the end of the episode it tells you what the five most major decisions were and how other people who have played the game reacted to the same situation. And they are truly major as some people’s lives literally hang in the balance. Throw in some The Walking Dead cameos by fan-favorites like Glenn and fans of the comic should be hooked.

The only real drawback for The Walking Dead: Episode 1 is that the episode lacks immediate replay value until you collect the entire series as the decisions you make here will carry over down the line into the next episode and beyond. And because of that, the waiting may just be unbearable for some. The cel-shaded graphics may also turn off some folks who prefer more realistic tones to their rotting flesh. All in all though, if you love The Walking Dead, zombie games, or other point and click adventure from Telltale, this game is more than worth the price of admission.

SUMMARY: Fans of The Walking Dead comic book or TV show will love the character development and attention to detail this first episode takes. The only downside is a lack of replay value and the waiting for Episode 2.

  • THE GOOD: Serious ramifications for nearly every decision you make
  • THE BAD: Lack of instant replay value, waiting for Episode 2
  • THE UGLY:  No matter how cel-shaded you make them, zombies are never not ugly

SCORE: 9.0

The Walking Dead: Episode 1 is available on XBLA (Xbox 360), PSN (PS3), PC and iOS. Primary version reviewed was on XBLA.

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EGM Preview: Enemy Front

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Face Towards Enemy

When we look back at how first-person shooters have evolved over the past decade or so, WWII was really the setting that started it all and set us down on this path that has led us to modern and futuristic weaponry and intricate geo-political storylines that may be rooted in some obscure facts. But the folks at City Interactive want to make sure that we do not forget about the past and so in a market flooded with modern settings, they give us Enemy Front, an old-school, no holds barred, down and dirty WWII first-person shooter that reminds us why its so much fun to romanticize our grandfather’s war and just blow Nazis up.

In Enemy Front you play as an American OSS Ranger who epitomizes the strong, silent type. Inserted into Nazi occupied Europe during the invasion of Dunkirk while the Allies are in full retreat, you’re running in the opposite direction, headfirst right into the teeth of the Nazi war machine. There, you will team up with a sexy female French resistance fighter and a no frills British commando to work your way deep behind enemy lines to take out key Nazi installations as your mission won’t take you on the traditional direct line to Berlin. Instead you’ll fight through at least France, Poland, and Norway as you assault some of Hitler’s most prized outposts in order to help the Allies turn the tide of the war. And because of the variety of locales, don’t expect this to be your typical five-hour campaign.

“A big thing I wanted to do was get out of that 5-hour campaign rut. I’m sick of it. I’m a huge FPS fan myself, obviously, and it’s just like as I’m about to really get into these other games that are out there, it’s over. So our levels are looking to be about an hour long each. They’re built on CryEngine 3. You can do pretty wide open levels with that, but we’ve kept things relatively linear. It’s a bit of a corridor shooter, but you’ll see that it’s a very wide corridor and you still have options on paths to take and what not. I’m a big believer in the Power of Three when it comes to game development. Anytime you’re thinking of a number in development, it’s probably three. So at any given moment, in terms of level design, I want to player to have at least three choices as to where they’re going and what they’re going to do. And so we’re looking at about 11 levels and hoping to get about 12 hours out of the campaign,” says Enemy Front Creative Director Stuart Black.

Enemy Front also looks to differentiate itself via the weapons it allows you to use and how they can be used in combat. Spotlighting a lot of less featured weapons from most other WWII games allows the game to have a newer feel in this old-school genre as weapons like the British Lanchester SMG are actually your character’s weapons of choice. There is also a unique reload system where you can reload your weapon faster, no matter what it is, if the clip hasn’t been fully emptied. This risk/reward system can become critical in a firefight as you have to strategically plan when to reload as a longer reload caused by emptying the clip could mean the difference between life and death.

But just because a lot of focus is being keyed in on the single player campaign for the game doesn’t mean it won’t have a multiplayer feature. Looking to incorporate a territory-based twist to your standard Team Deathmatch, Enemy Front will definitely allow you to jump online with your buddies for some WWII setting multiplayer mayhem. Beyond the confirmation of Team Deathmatch though, there was nothing else that was willing to be revealed about the mode at this time.

All in all, this throwback seems like a breath of fresh air as, even with its simplified scene and story, it gives the player a real sense of empowerment pitting you against the entire Third Reich and giving you a legit chance to come out on top. I can’t wait to return to my WWII first-person shooter roots a bit when Enemy Front comes out during this upcoming holiday season.

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EGM Preview: Call of Duty: Black Ops 2

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Back in Black

The original Call of Duty: Black Ops took a risk with the franchise by inserting players into a new conflict for the series—The Cold War—and changing up its storytelling mechanic to where most of the game actually takes place via flashbacks. Much like the rest of the franchise though, Black Ops was a huge success, and the new characters introduced resonated with gamers everywhere. So where could Treyarch go from here with their next chapter in the Call of Duty franchise? Well, if the original Black Ops was a change of pace, then Black Ops 2 looks to take the franchise and turn it on its head (in a good way).

The story of Black Ops 2 looks to take place in two main conflicts—the first of which is The Cold War of the 1980s. With talks of Iran, Afghanistan, and Ronald Reagan’s STAR WARS program permeating the culture of the time, you will once again work with Alex Mason and Frank Woods. Yes, Woods is alive and well (and being played by James C. Burns again) as we find that Mason’s unstable mental state had him believe Woods was dead in order to carry out his Manchurian Candidate mission. In the game play demo we saw, we briefly were introduced to what Black Ops 2’s Afghanistan would look like—along with being graced by Woods’ distinct attitude as Mason and Woods rode on horseback (with realistic horse movements as Treyarch went as far as to mo-cap some thoroughbreds) through the Afghanistan desert, working in the best interest of the time for the United States.

The other conflict will not take place in the past or even modern times—but in the future of 2025. There, you will play as Alex Mason’s son, David, who has followed in his father’s footsteps as an ass-kicking soldier supreme who has to stop a ghost from his father’s past—Raul Menendez—from ruining America’s future.

“While playing the game, you’ll see through the eyes of Alex and Frank how this monster is created in the first Cold War,” explains Black Ops 2 Director Dave Anthony.  “Then, in 2025, while playing as David, you see him again and you actually experience what this monster is capable of. While working with David Goyer [writer of Batman Begins, The Dark Knight] on pushing the story and re-writing the rules on the story telling aspect of Call of Duty, the first place we really looked was the villain himself. We wanted to create a human being—not a two-dimensional character. The best reference I can probably give you is if you look at a TV show like The Sopranos, where the main character of the show—Tony—is a villain. He is a cold-blooded murderer; he does things we in our right minds would never do. But, you find subtle layers of understanding of who he is as a human being. You find yourself empathizing with him on many different levels—it puts you in a real conflict. So we have that side of Raul Menendez, and working with David Goyer on this—the man who wrote Heath Ledger’s Joker—you can imagine how far Menendez will go. It’s been very exciting because we’ve been working on this character non-stop for 18 months and I can say that Raul Menendez will be a very memorable character for you.”

Continuing with the two conflicts aspect of the game, Black Ops 2 is really centered around two things: Player choice and parallels (beyond just the father-son relationship of Alex and David and a villain’s past and present). And it wouldn’t be a Call of Duty game if there wasn’t a conflict with global ramifications throughout. So, the first big parallel is that—much like how the 1980s were about oil and stopping the spread of communism—the Cold War of the future looks to be similar.

Doing extensive research and bringing experts on future warfare in like P.W. Singer of the Senior Fellow Brookings Institute (to add to Call of Duty’s go-to-guys on warfare Lt. Col. Hank Keirsey and Col. Oliver North), Black Ops 2’s geo-political conflict revolves around REEs—Rare Earth Elements. REEs are important because they power the laptop you might be reading this on, the iPhone you use to call your friends to talk about this preview with, or the flatscreen TV you’ll end up playing Black Ops 2 on—and 95% of the world’s REEs are currently mined in China. Electronics manufacturers are at the mercy of the world’s most populous country, and a country which could cripple the economies of many other countries if they so choose because of it. The demo we saw of Black Ops 2 hints that they might do exactly that, as REEs make everyone forget all about oil.

In terms of player choice, there are now branching paths in the middle of chapters—similar to what you might see in Gears of War, where you can choose to go down different paths with your character and see the same conflict from different angles. The example we were shown was where David could choose to take a sniping position on an L.A. freeway and cover his troops as they moved through some rubble below, or lead the charge himself and take the lead. Same conflict, two completely different points of view—an element which could give some great replay value to the campaign.

The most thrilling new aspect of Black Ops 2 may be the technology though, both in-game as well as the stuff that actually powers that game. In terms of gameplay, the demo we saw had David firing a sniper rifle with specially-charged bullets which could actually fire through concrete as thick as L.A. freeway support columns. And, we knew where to fire those specially-charged bullets because of the special X-ray-like scope attached to the gun. As David then wove his way through Los Angeles—the target for one of Menendez’s attacks—he took control of a small squad of Quad-rotor drones that he commanded through an area in a fashion similar to how Commander Shepard commanded his team in Mass Effect 3.

But you aren’t the only one in control of fantastic technology like spy drones outfitted with weapons as Menendez and his group obviously know a thing or two about hacking government equipment. Aside from these aerial drones, there were also ground drones called C.L.A.W.s that reminded me of AT-ATs from The Empire Strikes Back—another loose parallel to Reagan’s STAR WARS plan perhaps? So, aside from terrorists, David now had to contend with these unmanned drones that are more deadly accurate than a human could hope to be. And, because they don’t think like humans, they have a completely different A.I. pattern for you to contend with.

Another gameplay parallel we saw—and this one was more in line with the Black Ops series itself—was David having to fly what was referred to as an FA-38 VTOL (vertical take-off and landing). That such a plane could exist in 2025 is possible due to fact that the military is currently testing an F-35B VTOL manufactured by Lockheed Martin. Once airborne, David must shoot down a series of drones and the task itself that might remind some players of the Vietnam helicopter mission with Alex and Frank from the first game. That entire sequence though ended up playing out completely differently, as you might imagine the differences between a 1960s helicopter and a futuristic super-jet. 

Going back to the technology behind the game, I think players will be surprised at what Treyarch is getting out of their engine this time around: Their goal is 60 frames per second, and PC quality graphics on a console. A high bar to set indeed, but I would love to see if the team can pull it off. What we did see though was a pair of incomplete multiplayer maps dubbed “Aftermath” (urban area) and “Yemen” (rural area) that really showed us what they were trying to do to reach those goals, as different parts of the maps were in different stages. More complete parts had “reveal mapping”—a technology new to the series—which gives crevasses and cracks in the ground or walls a more sensitive, detailed, and realistic-looking texture to them. We also saw examples of brand new lighting schemes and particle effect, which included bounce lighting and self-shadowing to really emphasize the realistic qualities of light that are being added to locations.  I think the most impressive thing about these maps were how different they looked compared to anything we’ve seen before in the Call of Duty multiplayer.

“You’ll notice a lot of the areas you walk through are very distinct and unique spaces on the maps,” says Dan Bunting, Director of Online for Black Ops 2. “In ‘Aftermath’, I started in an empty parking lot and then moved into a parking garage, went into a destroyed street, through a fire escape tunnel, and ended up in a hotel lobby. We intentionally do this. Its important to us as designers that we design maps that are easy to understand and that players have a sense of space. As soon as they spawn in, they know where they are. They need to be able to call out to their teammates things like ‘There’s a flag carrier in the lobby!’, for example. It’s not just about communication though, it’s about how the maps flow. There’s always a learning curve when you first start off on a new map and we want to decrease that as much as possible. The fastest way to learn is by having very distinct spaces.”

Clearly, it wouldn’t be Call of Duty without its multiplayer—and it wouldn’t be Treyarch if the “Zombies” mode didn’t return. Thankfully, fans everywhere will enjoy shooting zombies once again, as that mode has been confirmed for Black Ops 2. The folks at Treyarch didn’t want to go into much detail beyond that, but Game Design Director David Vonderhaar did give us some interesting tidbits on what the team is aiming to do with multiplayer overall.

“When we knew for sure where we were going with the time period, and what the game was supposed to be like, it actually opened our eyes up to thinking very critically about challenging what assumptions we had been making about how this game should work, extending the systems that we have, and just what cows are sacred. Did the game have to work the same way it did last time just because it’s a sequel? We asked ourselves this and with many of the game’s core systems like create-a-class and kill streaks, we pulled all these things back to where they started from and asked why do we have this particular perk that acts in this particular way? Are they good? Are they bad? And we really just focused in on three key things on the design side. First, we wanted to create a healthy amount of balance. Like with the Ghost perk. It prevents you from being seen by UAVs. But that’s something that is just on/off. You can’t tune something that is just on/off. So we needed to put ourselves in the best position to where this content is tunable. Then we looked at progression.  Going from when you first pop that disc in to what for many people becomes 40, 60, even 80 hours of game play time. But most importantly, we focused in to make sure that players had the most diverse amount of game play. We challenged ourselves when it came to game play style and as long as we could keep coming up with counters for the most insane game play style then we’re confident we’d create this wide range of game play that appeals to the largest range of people possible.”

Of course, what better way to provide gameplay diversity than with a brand new mode? Strike Force Campaign is a mode that has some real-time strategy elements to it, where you can jump into the shoes of any character or drone on the field, or pull back to a satellite-like image where you can point out posts and command your troops to move where you want them to. And—depending on how well you do or do not do—the following missions and mission options could be drastically different. Again, strong player choice and replayability is being offered here, and Strike Force being its own special campaign adds a lot more meat to the game as a whole as it hits an entirely new demographic with the real-time strategy aspect.

All in all, I do not think I could have been more blown away by the demo we saw and the effort that Treyarch is pouring into this title in every possible aspect. And honestly, this is the most excited I’ve been for a Call of Duty game since the first Modern Warfare. From the parallel moments in history to the new player choices, game modes, and fantastic looking futuristic weaponry and combat, Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 is something that all gamers, not just fans of the franchise, should be keeping their eyes on as its November release steadily approaches.

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EGM Review: Prototype 2

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Revenge is Sweet

Prototype 2 starts off a little more than a year after the events of the first Prototype. Alex Mercer, the first game’s hero, has been lambasted as the villain behind a new mutagenic viral outbreak that now cripples New York City (since renamed New York Zero). Sergeant James Heller, a man who has returned home from overseas military conflicts to find his wife and daughter murdered, supposedly by someone infected with what has now been dubbed the Mercer Virus, plans revenge on Mercer, who he blames for his loss. But Alex has other plans for our dear Sergeant, whom he promptly infects with the virus. Now, with power comparable to Mercer, Heller looks to take down all who get in his way on his vengeful path.

The first thing you pick up on when you start playing Prototype 2 is the drastic change in the tone of the story. Whereas the first game’s plot was very conspiracy theory heavy, Heller isn’t here to play detective. He has one purpose and one purpose only, and if on the way to that he blows a lot of stuff up that hurts Blackwatch and GenTek, so be it. People who love plot and story may not enjoy just how simple things have gotten, but simplifying the plot also makes the game a lot easier to relate to, helps the story pace flow more smoothly than the convoluted conspiracy theories of the first game, and helps keep the main focus on the action.

And there is a lot of action in this game, especially as you start to evolve Heller’s powers with a streamlined upgrades tree. Not only are many of Heller’s powers different from Mercer’s beyond the wall-running and gliding, but a lot of the control issues from the first game have been done away with and so a new game play element has surprisingly crept in: stealth. In the first Prototype, if you picked something up, you automatically set off an alarm. Now, it just raises your suspicion level and you can place it back down and wait for things to cool off without entering conflict. You also have a new sonar sense so you can tell who is most vulnerable in a group of enemies, sneak up behind them, stealth consume them, and work your way into Blackwatch bases or GenTek facilities without ever tripping an alarm. And seeing the reactions of soldiers and scientists as they realize their co-workers are slowly disappearing is hysterical.

Of course, if you want to be a bull in a china shop, you can do that, too. And with powers like “Black Hole”, where you fire a cluster of tendrils at someone or something and when the cluster makes contact, the tendrils explode outward and pull in whatever is within reach, doing massive damage, it’s not going to be easy to take Heller down.

The one downside to all this is that the game play can get very repetitive after a while. There is very little in terms of mission variety beyond murdering high value targets for information or new powers as you build up to the final confrontation. I never thought I’d see the day where I’d get bored suplex-ing a tank, but it can happen in Prototype 2. And the mini-games that are present are good for building up experience, but really are a sad attempt at changing the pace of action as they are not at all necessary on your path towards completing the game and aren’t as fun as they were in the first.

The game also has a fair amount glitches in it. It’s understandable with such a complex physics system in an open world that sometimes things won’t go as smoothly as they should, and these can be patched later on, but some of these glitches are in the vein of Skyrim or Red Dead Redemption where they are more humorous than game play hindering. I’m talking NPC hobos randomly flying across the screen for no reason or bouncing around in the middle of the street like they’re having a seizure or standing in place and floating up the side of a building like they’re in some invisible elevator.

All in all though, if you enjoy superhero games, then you’re going to really enjoy Prototype 2 because I imagine this is what it would feel like if you had a Spider-Man symbiote to play around with. There is never a slow moment (although they are repetitive) and the story is solid, if not as good as the first. The voice acting is superb, the graphics are awesome (when not glitching), and at the end of the day, I had more fun than not smashing up a virus-laden NYC.

SUMMARY:  The rough controls of the first Prototype have been tweaked and revamped to allow for a more user-friendly experience. The story also flows a lot more smoothly than the more conspiracy-driven first game.  Unfortunately, even with Heller’s different powers, Prototype 2 does become tedious at times as there is little variety in mission parameters, but you should still find some fun in blowing up everything that gets in your way.

  • THE GOOD: Many of the rough edges from the first game have been smoothed out
  • THE BAD: Lack of game play variety
  • THE UGLY: All non-human bad guys look like something you would puke up.

SCORE: 8.5

Prototype 2 is available on Xbox 360 and PS3. Primary version reviewed was on Xbox 360. 

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EGM Review: Trials Evolution

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Darwin’s Daredevils

The original Trials HD won over the hearts of wannabe daredevils everywhere when it first crashed (literally and figuratively) onto the scene in 2009 with its tight controls and the simple, yet addictive game play of a motorcycle rider working his way through insane and twisted obstacle courses. So, when a sequel was announced, fans everywhere double-checked their life insurance and prepared to start smashing and crashing all over again.

And it’s a good thing they did because both fans of the original Trials HD and gamers who may have missed it the first time around, but are curious about the hype, will find that with just a few tweaks and expansions to that original base concept, Trials Evolution has done just that: it has evolved. Mind you, the core is still pure and simple. You are a motorcycle rider tasked with working his way through a series of insane courses that range from some simple slopes in the countryside early on to doing back flips through dilapidated factories or jumping the mini-canyons that have opened up between parts of a rickety wooden roller coaster as the game gets progressively more difficult.

The key part to making these obstacle courses so fun and exhilarating though is the tight controls. Every flick of the joystick that helps shift your rider’s weight as you try to maneuver your way though each course with as few crashes as possible, while still maintaining top speed (or at least close to it) in order to beat the clock, is as fine-tuned as ever and is definitely not for the ham-handed. This gives the game a difficulty at times that older gamers may liken to the classic perilous platforming of a Mega Man and although this may frustrate and turn off some less patient gamers, the feeling of satisfaction for a hard track mastered is second to none.

But there is a lot more to this game that just the several dozen obstacle courses laid out for you in the single player mode and a chance at working your high score onto the leaderboards. Trials Evolution now also features a 4-player versus mode where players will take on the same course, side by side, and attempt to win a series of races that almost have an Excitebike feel to them. Crashes are, of course, penalized so not only is it a race against your opponents, but just like in the single player, the richest rewards are for those who can maintain their balance on their two-wheeler the entire way through.

The grandest addition to the game though may be the expansion of one of the original game’s most illustrious features: the track builder. Now, there are two different versions. A ‘lite’ version that is similar to the first game’s and a ‘pro’ version that is actually the same track builder that the developer used to build each track in the single player mode. This offers possibly unlimited replay value for Trials Evolution as the community is challenged with making tracks that are worthy of the Trials name. And with tons of zany new additions, like UFOs or Jetpacks being your transportation mode of choice instead of your standard motorcycle, the possibilities are near endless.

Trials Evolution does have a couple of minor shortcomings. Obviously, there is no real story to the single player mode and the audio can get repetitive. As you progress and crash more and more, hearing the same crunch as the last time you crashed can get on your nerves a little is all I’m saying and I think having a licensed music selection would’ve been a lot more in the game’s interest than the generic stuff we hear throughout instead.

With Microsoft officially launching their ‘Arcade Next’ promotion with this game, marking that XBLA games can now feature up to 400 Gamerscore a pop, it is very fitting that Evolution is in the title. And if I were looking to start a new promotion, there are few games that I think could get you off on the right foot more than Trials Evolution. Great game play, an expansive track builder, more interactivity with the community than ever before, and considering it’s $15 (1200 MSP) price tag, Trials Evolution is a must have download for gamers everywhere.

SUMMARY:  Fans of the original Trials will love the steps the series has taken to move forward while being more open for newcomers to jump right in and have fun with it. It can be a bit frustrating at times though, as the game almost has an old-school platformer feel to it being easy to learn, but very difficult to master.

  • THE GOOD: Robust track creator, local/online multiplayer
  • THE BAD: Difficulty of some levels may turn off less patient gamers
  • THE UGLY: Slamming helmet first into a low beam just past a high jump

SCORE: 9.5

Trials Evolution is an Xbox 360 (XBLA) exclusive.

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EGM Review: Deadliest Warrior: Ancient Combat

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Back from the Grave

Fans of the hit Spike TV show Deadliest Warrior are more than familiar with its concept. A pair of history’s greatest factions or individual warriors are pitted against each other in a computer simulated battle after using real-life statistical input by modern experts on their techniques and practices. Using this data, not only does Spike TV put on an entertaining hour long show with three seasons (and hopefully more soon) under its belt, but they’ve put out a pair of games based on some of their most epic match-ups that are meant to relive the highest highs of the show.  And conveniently now, they have compiled both of those downloadable games into one disc, including all the DLC, a bonus arena, and six episodes from Season Three of the show for the price of $29.99.

So, on paper, this is worth it because if you didn’t get these games the first time around, you’re basically getting everything you could’ve bought online via XBLA or PSN, plus half a season of Season Three of the show. But compared to a lot of the other fighting games out there, unfortunately, these games really have trouble stacking up. Although definitely different, fighting fans that aren’t familiar with the show will have a lot of trouble getting into these games, especially with the lack of a life-bar in Legends and the one-hit kills in both games. And since technically Legends is better as a lot of the collision issues from the first game were fixed, the fighting game veterans whose curiosity get the better of them might even pass over the first game altogether.

What really holds these games back though is the depth and replay value because there just aren’t a lot of fighting fans that have stuck with these games so there is little online community to be found to fight against. And the CPU, even with varying difficulty levels, can only offer so much resistance. And if you really were a fan of the series and bought these games the first time around, there is no reason to buy these games again as the only real difference is the TV episodes and a single arena.

So, when all is said and done, Deadliest Warrior: Ancient Combat is a great bang for your buck if you’re a fan of the franchise, can look past the technical shortcomings, and didn’t get these games online already, but if you’re just a diehard fighting fan or already have these on XBLA or PSN, there is no need to bother with buying this all over again.

SUMMARY: Fans of the SpikeTV show will enjoy having a chance to relive some of the battles they’ve seen on TV and the bonus DVD is nice, but when compared to other entries in the fighting genre, the Deadliest Warrior franchise comes up a little short and won’t satisfy people looking for a deeper fighting experience.

  • THE GOOD: Strong bang for your buck
  • THE BAD: Lacks the polish of other fighters
  • THE UGLY: Post-death twitching corpses

SCORE: 5.0

Deadliest Warrior: Ancient Combat is available on Xbox 360 (XBLA) and PS3 (PSN). Primary version reviewed was on Xbox 360.

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Hands-On: Dragon Ball Z Kinect

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Kamehameha!

Admittedly, many of us in the press (and I’m sure some of you out there as well) had the same exact reaction when we heard Dragon Ball Z Kinect announced at Global Gamers Day: instant facepalm. The track record thus far for the Kinect adapting hardcore gaming and geek franchises has been, well, less than stellar and with Dragon Ball Z being another cornerstone of geek-dom for a generation, the shoes that this game has to fill to please its intended audience are massive indeed.

Now, since this is a Kinect game, I guess this is more of a “hands free” preview, but nonetheless, at Namco Bandai’s recent Global Gamers Day, Namco had a chance to put their money where their mouth is. And so shortly after the announcement, I was able to put on an orange jumpsuit, spike my hair (Woo! Woo! Woo!), and relive some of the early moments of an anime near and dear to all our hearts when I jumped into Dragon Ball Z Kinect.

The game is supposed to follow the series from the beginning right up through the Boo Saga and so there promises to be a fair amount of depth in the final product, but we started off with an easier, early battle in Raditz vs Goku (or Piccolo if you’d prefer). Our preview time was brief, only the one battle per person, mostly because each battle was so epic and felt like running a mini-marathon. If you were to emerge victorious, the flurry of constant punches and kicks you had to throw would exhaust even some of the more stellar athletes.

The worst part about this though is that, like so many previous Kinect games before it, the game just did not seem to pick me up as accurately as I would have liked. My punches and kicks all came across fine. But when it came to charging up my Kamehameha or other super moves, the world came to a still as both myself and the computer waited for something to happen. Finally, after several tries, I guess I squatted low enough to charge up Goku’s signature move and I blew Raditz to hell, but hopefully in the six months before this game ships, Namco will be able to tweak things to be a bit more responsive.

Aside from this, the game does come across as something that Dragon Ball Z fans may enjoy as you get to relive all your favorite classic battles. And as you unlock more and more of your favorite characters like Vegeta, Piccolo, Gohan, and Krillin, you’ll get some replay value from mixing and matching story mode battles with characters who may not have been originally involved. Not to mention the art style stays true to the series and the voice acting comes straight from anime itself so the presentation at least is very strong.

In the end though, until proven otherwise, it’s going to be hard to believe that any game released for the Kinect with a hardcore fan base as its prime audience will come in at a power level of over 9000, just due to the casual nature of the system and its controls. So we will just have to wait and see if Dragon Ball Z Kinect can break out of that mold or will simply be the latest victim to this motion-sensor trend.

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Hands-On: Mark of the Ninja

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April 16, 2012

Out of the Shadows

Mark of the Ninja puts you in the shoes (or footy pajamas) of a nameless ninja who has been chosen by his respective clan to be their hero in this dire time of need. As part of this process, he has been given special tattoos that grant him peak human abilities (think Captain America’s Super-Soldier serum) so that he can run faster, leap higher, and detect things that no ordinary man would notice. There is a price though. As time goes on, the ninja’s new power will slowly start to drive him mad and so he must complete his mission before he loses his humanity and his clan’s hope for survival is lost along with it.

Although the art scheme and side-scrolling game play will immediately be recognizable to many as Mark of the Ninja is done by the same team who did Shank and Shank 2, this project is more than just a departure for Klei Entertainment from that over-the-top run and gun style, it’s a whole new way of life.

“The genesis of the game really came out of the fact that as an archetype, especially for a stealth game, the fictional construct of the ninja is so rich. But there aren’t actually any ninja games about being a ninja. There’s Tenchu, which came out 14 years ago, and that’s it. A lot of the other ninja games are crazy, over the top action, very much like Shank. And that’s fine and those games are good in their regard, but we thought it was just like a squandered opportunity to not have a stealth game that is actually about being a ninja because you get so much for free from that archetype. You don’t need to explain a lot. You say ‘ninja’ and people immediately understand it and then you can just focus on layering all kinds of nuance, and atmosphere, and themes, and other stuff on top of it,” says Nels Anderson, Klei Entertainment’s Lead Designer on Mark of the Ninja.

And they definitely stuck to their guns with the stealth aspect. I was able to play the tutorial level and was amazed at how many options I had for dispatching potential foes as I hid in bushes, hung from tree branches, smashed lights with ninja daggers, leapt to rooftops with a grappling hook, and crawled through vents in order to ambush and take out some unknown mercenary force who were invading our dojo. The real difficulty of the game seems to come in just making up your mind and choosing a method to take down a foe, not actually figuring out what the method was. And should my choice fail and I was spotted, the advantage was quickly lost and more often than not I was cut down, as ninja stars will typically lose to automatic rifle fire.

The most impressive part of the Mark of the Ninja though may have been how easy it was to lay out those possible paths to my end goal once I got used to the controls due to the feedback I got as a player.

“We wanted all the stealth mechanics to be very, very clear. So, the game isn’t about figuring out what’s going on. ‘Am I concealed? Did that enemy detect this?’ and we didn’t want some awkward analog mechanic or something like that. We wanted to make sure it was obvious. Not ham-fisted beat you over the head obvious. But very clear, very usable, so your surroundings become another tool you have in your arsenal. So the character himself, his appearance completely changes. When you’re in light, when you’re exposed, you can see the colors and detail of the character, but when you’re in darkness, he’s all black with white outlines and red highlights. So you know, just from looking at your character that you’re concealed and safe or vulnerable and exposed and need to get somewhere else,” mentioned Anderson.  

Being able to “see” through doors, see how far the sound of my footsteps would echo, and the clear differences laid out between being in shadow and being in the light made the game play that much more enjoyable.

All in all, it was great that I truly felt like a ninja, more so than in any other game I’ve played in a very long time, as Mark of the Ninja seems to have found that sweet spot of giving you just enough action and just enough puzzle-like challenge and exploration as you figure out enemy positions and work to remove them or avoid them altogether. I am definitely looking forward to tossing some more smoke bombs and shuriken when Mark of the Ninja is released this summer on XBLA.

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EGM Review: I Am Alive

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Dust to Dust

Whenever we think of the apocalypse nowadays, it always seems to be vampires ruling the Earth, the dead rising from the grave, or nuclear fallout, and the various problems that would then result from surviving any of those hellish fates for the planet. But what if the biggest problem you would find yourself facing is your fellow man?

Driven to the brink of madness like starving dogs fighting over a single slab of meat, I Am Alive is an interesting glimpse at human nature as you play as Adam, a man who was stranded on the other side of the country when an event happened that shook humanity to its core and after a year of traveling on foot, has finally come home to look for his family. What’s most interesting about I Am Alive is that what happened before doesn’t really matter as your primary concern is dealing with its effects on the environment you find yourself working through now. Never specified, whatever triggered the apocalypse has pushed what’s left of humanity to their baser natures and your primary enemy has become other survivors, and the dust from the fallout of whatever cracked the earth in two.

The atmosphere that I Am Alive portrays hits you like a ton of bricks from the second you take over as Adam. Dark, bleak, and desolate, even the tutorial may make you want to give up hope. But, as you press on, you’ll come across other survivors as you search for your family. Some folks are friendly, and some not so much. And then there are others still who won’t attack you unless provoked and you have to choose whether a confrontation may be worth what they are hiding.

Once you peel back the layers of atmosphere though, you begin to realize that I Am Alive is a very bare bones game. The graphics are barely worthy of the last generation of consoles, never mind this one, and the combat is more like an intricate puzzle than something you would expect in a survival game. Many situations play out where you have four enemies encircling you and only two bullets. A surprise attack with your machete could take out one, but that still leaves one unaccounted for. At first this requires some fast thinking and faster trigger work, but once you realize there is no real A.I. and all the enemies slip into one of only two or three patterns and the game becomes repetitive and dull when it comes to the combat aspects.

The character development is also very poor and as sad and as bleak as this world you are in is, you have a hard time caring for many of the NPC characters and their simple fetch quests. I admit though, there was one shocking moment I had where I did feel bad for an NPC after I failed her. If only I had found a second food can in time.

The controls for the most part are a bit stiff, but you can work with them once you get used to Adam’s limitations. And the inclusion of a stamina bar makes a lot of sense and makes your exploration of this new world the most hazardous to your health as running out of energy while climbing a skyscraper could lead to instant doom. It also gives the game a bit more of that realistic atmosphere as Adam is clearly no Nathan Drake or Altair. Despite this flash of ingenuity though, I Am Alive’s strong atmosphere and interesting premise isn’t enough to pull it up to elite status everything considered.

SUMMARY: A wonderful job creating the bleak and oppressive atmosphere of the post-apocalyptic world you find yourself in, the combat and character development leaves much to be desired.

  • THE GOOD: Moody and atmospheric unlike most any other survival game out there
  • THE BAD: Repetitive, puzzle-like confrontations with poor enemy A.I.
  • THE UGLY: The last generation graphics are more depressing than the actual tone of the game

SCORE: 6.0

I Am Alive is available on Xbox 360 (XBLA) and PS3 (PSN). Primary version reviewed was on Xbox 360.

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EGM Review: LEGO Harry Potter Years 5-7 – PS VITA

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Falling to pieces

The Harry Potter franchise is beloved by millions of people around the world. Movies, books, and, of course, video games have all seen the boy with the lightning bolt scar enter their medium and be met with success for the most part. And so with such a popular franchise, it was only a matter of time before our dear Harry joined the ranks of Batman, Indiana Jones, and Star Wars and was LEGO-ized. But does the conclusion to the boy wizard’s saga hold its own in this unique universe, especially when ported over to the new PS Vita handheld?

Quite frankly, this may be the worst game the LEGO series has put out there on the market to date. The only real positive that I saw with this game is that much of the LEGO inspired humor that is a staple for this series remains intact with its ample cartoonish embellishment in order to get points across without the use of voice acting and fans of the Harry Potter movies will surely pick up on all the key moments and giggle in delight no matter what your age. And speaking of the movies, much of the music from the films was licensed so at least you got a moderately authentic feel in that regard.

But after that, this game takes a nosedive like someone jumping off a ledge with the wrong broomstick between his/her legs. The first thing you really notice is the graphics do not really take advantage of the PS Vita’s processing power, much like every other port we’ve seen to the handheld console thus far, and this is especially evident in the cut scenes. It looks more like the 3DS version may have been the one directly ported over and if that’s the case, that’s a bad move for the Vita. This would make sense though if TT Games was cutting corners since the PS Vita version features touch controls, but again, like many games that also have console brethren and so also implement a full button layout control scheme for the Vita, the touch controls are tacked on and really offer no enhancement to the game play whatsoever.

And speaking of the game play, this is probably the weakest movie adaptation yet by the LEGO folks as unlike Batman, Indiana Jones, Pirates of the Caribbean, or Star Wars, there is a lot less action in this game as much of the story is advanced by solving puzzles and playing mini-games. This may tie more directly into the movie franchise, but as a gamer it can get tedious quickly in LEGO form as many of the puzzles continue to be focused on a demographic under the age of 12, even if the franchise may appeal to a wider audience.

The biggest mistake this game makes though may be removing the online multiplayer features from LEGO Harry Potter Years 1-4. This is especially a death knell for the Vita version as the system’s highly touted connectivity is absolutely wasted here. So, at the end of the day, LEGO Harry Potter Years 5-7 is just another weak port of an already released game with limited scope to begin with and that maintains many of the problems of its console brothers, but they either become more evident on the Vita or forget to take many of the positive points of its console brothers along for the ride. If you’ve already bought this game for another system, there is really no point in buying it again and if you haven’t, this is not the system to experience it on.

SUMMARY: Nothing new in terms of game play when dealing with the basics of the LEGO series, LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7 for the PS Vita is one of the more dull adventures set in a world crafted from the classic building blocks. Combine this with no multiplayer, tacked on touch controls, and the fact that the game has been available on consoles for months already, and this port is barely worth anyone’s time.

  • THE GOOD: Maintains classic LEGO games humor
  • THE BAD: No multiplayer, one of the duller adventures in the LEGO series
  • THE UGLY: Poor Harry’s scar is much more noticeable in LEGO form

SCORE: 3.5

LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7 is available on Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, 3DS, DS, PSP, PC, and PS Vita. This review was done for the PS Vita version of the game.

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