Black Bugs!!

Review - Deus Ex: Human Revolution

2011-11-23T15:06:00.004+10:00

IT’S hard to not be cynical these days when a sequel, prequel or side story is announced that ties in with a classic game, mostly because remakes and reboots change the often much-loved franchise in key areas. Sometimes to the point where it’s only the name that bares any similarity to its predecessor. But Deus Ex: Human Revolution, prequel to the critically acclaimed PC game, stays true to it’s roots in many respects while pushing the series forward.

Set in Detroit in the year 2027 the game follows Adam Jensen who is a reluctant recipient of cybernetic augmentations after his place of work is raided by an unknown terrorist group, leaving him for dead after a brutal assault. Worse still they’ve kidnap his on-again-off-again girlfriend who just so happened to working on a new type of augmentation process. What ensues is what you’d expect from a game with Deus Ex in the title – a vast conspiracy involving shadowy organisations and a whole lot of lies and deceit before the end game where you can pick your desired ending.

The story overall is quite good in concept, but the execution is fairly hit and miss. I liked Adam quite a bit, which is an achievement in itself as most modern video game protagonists tend to annoy me these days, but the core storyline doesn’t feel fleshed out enough. That said it’s better than most games and the side stories are entertaining more often than not. But what really sells this world is the brilliant atmosphere. Cyber-punk is an all too often neglected genre in video games, so Human Revolution has an unfair advantage of being the only game of its type on the market. But far from resting on their laurels the game developers have created a vibrant world that is both engaging and a joy to explore.

The game’s main appeal is the augmentations, which is a sci-fi way of fitting out your character with new skills and abilities. If you want to focus on stealth you may choose to upgrade your invisibility skill to last longer or level up your hacking skills and shut down security cameras or turn enemy drones over to your side. Want more action? Upgrade your armour and aiming abilities then mow down whoever stands in your way. On top of this you can customise your weapons to further complement your style of play. In fact I could choose an entirely altered load-out and play a completely new way on my second run through and experience a very different game. That’s what’s great about Human Revolution - you won’t punish for playing your way. Well at least not during the main campaign, the unavoidable boss battles are another matter all together.

Undeniably the worst part of the entire package is the confrontations you’ll have with a number of boss characters littered throughout the story. Everything that can go wrong has gone wrong here. In a game about freedom of choice your options for taking down one these boss characters is limited to “hit them a lot, preferably with explosives”. There’s no alternative take-down, no talking your way out of a fight, no using the environment against them. Just get a lot of ammo and start shooting. There’s also the whole believability of these situations – you’re a highly advanced killing machine like these guys, so why can they take about two clips worth of armour piercing bullets from your fully upgraded pistol straight to the head but you can barely survive a close range shotgun blast? So much work is put into making this world feel alive and realistic, only to be flushed down the toilet during these moments?

Ultimately the good excessively out weighs the bad. The customisation of your character, but more importantly how you choose to use these customisations, is executed with such care it’s hard to believe there was a time when I was actually worried this game may not turn out very well. The world this alternative future of 2027 is so well realised and expertly designed it’s going to be a hard act to follow for anyone else trying their hand at a cyber-punk game in the near future.

In staying true to what made the original so great and improving on it Human Revolution has restored my faith in remakes and reboot, but more importantly made me want to see what comes next in the series.

GRADE: A

Deus Ex: Human Revolution is out now on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Windows PC. Review written after the entire story was complete. The review reflects my experience on an Xbox 360. Review guidelines

Review - Daredevil (2011) #1 - 3

2011-09-28T14:26:00.022+10:00

UP until recently I had limited experience with Marvel comics, so I was keen to get on board the latest Daredevil series. But what sealed the deal was Mark Waid – a man who knows how to honour the past but still move characters forward. And after just three issues I’m hooked.

Daredevil (2011) #1, Marvel Comics, US$3.99

It’s clear from this first issue that Daredevil has through a lot over the last few years and without resorting to overly long exposition or tedious flashbacks I was told all I need to know through the characters actions. Matt Murdoch is blind but can “see” the world around him with sonar, he’s brash and cocky but likable and after all the bad things he’s had to endure there is nothing left for him to fear.

Even for a newcomer who has never read a single issue of Daredevil this is a great jumping on point, but I can also see long-time fans getting into this. None of his past has been erased, and if anything Matt has grown from those experiences. In addition to Waid’s great writing, Paolo Rivera does an exceptional job bringing the world to life with his clean yet intricate artwork. In all, this is everything you could want from the first issue of a new series.

GRADE: A

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Daredevil (2011) #2, Marvel Comics, US$2.99

The first issue of Daredevil gave us time to get to know Matt Murdoch and what his section of the Marvel universe is like. The second issue broadens the scope, bringing in Captain America as he attempts to bring Matt Murdoch to justice for past crimes. Now what these crimes are isn’t exactly clear to a new reader like myself, , but that’s not really the issue – the point it that despite his cocksure charm the Daredevil is somewhat of a rogue in this world and this battle establishes that. Still, a little more backstory would have been nice for a new reader like me.

Moving on from that confrontation Matt’s life as a lawyer is further explored when he takes on a Muslim man attempting to sue the NYPD for police brutality. Though this type of subject matter is hardly earth-shattering in most media, mainstream comics are usually very conservative. And without being overly dramatic or pandering the story of a man fighting an unfair system was handled surprisingly well. Of course it wouldn’t be a comic book without comic book villains, and what better adversaries than a group of monsters made of sound. Overall, this was another solid issue that made me look forward to the next.

GRADE: B

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Daredevil (2011) #3, Marvel Comics, US$2.99

Moving away from the more down-to-earth narrative of the previous two issues, this issue pits Daredevil against a classic villain (who was unknown to me) Klaw, the Master of Sound. What’s great about the way the series has been progressing is when it jumps for the normal world to the world of super-heroes it doesn’t feel jarring or overly ridiculous. Matt Murdoch is believable in both facets of his life, and when one has run its course the other picks up to offer a good mix of nice character moments and action-packed fights against strange monsters.

The other great thing about this issue is how it explores Matt’s weakness a little more as well as his strengths. He’s portrayed as the kind of guy who can keep a cool head in a tough situation, but despite his seemingly he can be brought back down to earth and turned into a blind man in a red devil costume if his enemies know how to exploit his weaknesses. Again, and I know I’m sounding like a broken record, Mark Waid and Paolo Rivera have delivered another excellent issue of Daredevil.

GRADE: A

Review guidelines

Review - Flashpoint (2011) #1 - 5

2011-09-22T00:19:00.008+10:00

DURING my extended break from comics the announcement of Flashpoint piqued my interest for a number of reasons. First it was being written by Geoff Johns, which I see as an almost instant guarantee of quality. Secondly, artist Adam Kubert is another sure-fire hit and teaming him with Johns to create a big crossover event was exactly what I needed to get back into the medium.

But possibly the biggest draw was the promise by Johns that Flashpoint wouldn’t be bogged down with tie-ins or require extensive knowledge of every corner of the DC universe. Basically it was an event for DC Comics fans that knew a little about the Flash and the wider super-hero world around him but mostly after a good story that stood on its own. Without putting to fine of a point on it, Johns and Kubert delivered. Overall the event doesn't feel as epic as Crisis on Infinite Earths or as brilliant as Infinite Crisis, but it was a lot tighter and focused than some other bloated events like Final Crisis.

It's a relatively simple story of Barry Allen waking up in world where he wasn’t the Flash, Superman was locked underground and experimented on by the US government, Hal Jordan never got his Green Lantern ring and Bruce Wayne was killed by that infamous mugger leading to his father taking up the Batman mantle. But the biggest change is the massive apocalyptic war between Atlantis and the Amazonians of Themyscira, sparked by a botched assassination attempt at the wedding of Aquaman and Wonder Woman.

Though this devastating war, which has already destroyed much of Europe, is always in focus the main story sticks with Barry Allen who must reactivate his now dormant powers to become the Flash again and track down the Reverse Flash who hold responsible for altering the timeline.

The plot isn’t overly complicated and at just five issues it never felt drawn out or boring. Everybody involved has their own motivations, which are further explored in their raft of mini-series’ released to tie into the even, but you could easily ignore these extra stories and still get a lot out of Flashpoint.

When it’s all said and done an event in comics must be two things – a good story that constantly surprises and leave a lasting impression on the world it is set in as well as the reader. On both of these front Flashpoint succeeds. It’s not as epic in scope as some other events, but the twist and turns along the way, as well as the great ending and touching epilogue, make Flashpoint and series that’s worth your time and money.

GRADE: B

Flashpoint (2011) #1 – 5, DC Comics, US$3.99

Review guidelines

Review - L.A. Noire

2011-07-13T18:13:00.004+10:00

YEARS of broken promises, false starts and almost no solid facts about what L.A. Noire actually was gave the impression that this was a title doomed to fall into the pits of development hell. Thankfully Australian developer Team Bondi pulled it together, despite what appears to have been a nightmarish workplace, and created one of the best games I’ve played all year.

Set in 1940s Los Angeles, you take on the role of Cole Phelps, a war hero struggling to come to terms with the things he saw and did while fighting the Japanese in Okinawa, but has since become a reliable cop in a city filled with corruption. The overall story progresses slowly, but what you're really here for is the cases - and thankfully this is where L.A. Noire excels. But before I get into that I point out that despite looking like a Grand Theft Auto-style game, thanks in no small part to its open-world design and large amounts of car chases and shoot-outs, L.A. Noire is not an action game. This is a serious police procedural game - right down to questioning reluctant suspects and investigating crime scenes from clues. In fact you can only draw your weapon when the story calls for it and that you can skip all action sections if you so choose, but that’s because the focus is on gathering evidence and solving cases. On top of that there's a healthy dose of melodrama to ensure you actually care about the characters in L.A. Noire and want to solve each crime with the best possible outcome.

But by the same token don't be think of L.A. Noire as a police simulation game - it's more like a police drama simulation. The beginning of each case starts by showing you the victim being murdered, much like any television police drama, so you don't go in completely blind like a real investigator would. And often times cases devolve into shoot-outs where you kill a gang of bad guys, with practically no consequences, or car chases that smash through construction sites and damage civilian vehicles. Surely you'd have to do a little extra paperwork for that, right? I didn't expect the game to go that realistic of course and in the battle between realism and fun in a video game fun should win most of the time, but just go in knowing this is a drama and not a simulation.

Still, LA Noire may let you get away with a lot in certain areas, but when it comes to the investigating crimes you'd better pay attention because you can really screw the pooch if you don't. The first step to most investigations is arriving at the scene of the crime and determining what happened by walking around and grabbing whatever you find and checking it for clues. On paper that may sound like a chore but searching a crime scene is easy, thanks to subtle audio and controller rumbling cues that let you know when you’re near something of interest. Most of the time your character will think out loud, summarising what you are looking at and why it's important. But the clues will still be useless if you don’t pay attention and end up following the wrong leads, misinterpreting evidence and ultimately putting away the wrong person. But when you get it right it feels incredibly rewarding to back some low-life into a corner with solid evidence before slapping the cuffs on them.

The game is made up of 'desks' - patrol (which barely counts as it's more of a tutorial than anything), traffic, homicide, vice and arson. Each of these desks comes with its own set of challenges and overall story arc, such as the Black Dahlia murders on the homicide desk, as well as a new partner for you to work with. One of the game's greatest strengths is the relationship you build with your partner - whether it's the slippery vice detective or the hard-nosed arson investigator, these characters feel well fleshed out and realised. There's no long drawn out scenes of exposition, just a couple of guys working a case and occasionally letting parts of their personality seep into their work.

L.A. Noire's most obvious big draw card is its graphics, and thankfully they are put to good use. The city environment is simply incredible, and even though this slice of 1940s Los Angeles does suffer from that open-world problem of under-population, it's hard to not be impressed by how massive the city is and how great it all looks. The buildings, the vehicles and the various landmarks all look and feel real which makes the whole world believable. Of course the other impressive graphical feature is the facial animations. Motion-captured from actors you'll no doubt recognise L.A. Noire's characters come to life with animated facial movements which can help you determine who you can and can't trust during an interview. They still have a certain video gameness to them, but considering how much footage must have been used it's quite a technical achievement and it's put to good use.

In short, L.A. Noire is unlike any other game out there and that alone makes it worth checking out. It has its faults and glitches, and last half of the final case is fairly abysmal, but for around 20 to 30 hours L.A. Noire had be completely hooked and wanting more. And really, what else could you ask for from a game?

GRADE: A

LA Noire is out now on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and soon on Windows PC. Review written after the entire story was complete. The review reflects my experience on an Xbox 360. Review guidelines

Review - Crysis 2

2011-06-20T15:55:00.007+10:00

THE original Crysis was a game I could only admire from afar. It looked incredible but as I wanted to play it the fact that it was a showcase game for high-end computers meant I was never going to. Crysis 2 is the best of both worlds in that regard - it's still an amazing looking game, but it's available on home consoles so I don't have to break the bank and buy a new computer. Too bad it's just so generic and lacking in so many key areas.

Taking place in the near-ish future Crysis 2 puts you in control of Alcatraz, a US Marine sent to New York City to investigate the collapsing city and the ensuing large scale panic. Soon after your arrival you are given the Nanosuit 2.0 by its former owner who then gives you some vague messages about "the best he could do" and then proceeds to shoot himself in the head. A nice welcome as you can imagine. You're then sent on your way to explore the decimated city and put a stop to whatever is causing this wide-scale destruction.

And that's about it for the story. Well there is a little more, but so little effort has been put into the narrative it's hardly worth paying attention to. So many times I found myself utterly confused by the different human factions' objectives, and even the invading aliens (the Ceph) seem to be a little lost with no clear reason to be in New York City. Yes, it's global domination they want, but their methodology seems pretty stupid. I mean their campaign never seems to move forward, it's just invade and wait. And how come you never talk? It's so frustrating when you are being asked questions and even being called Prophet, the name of the Nanosuit's last owner, and you won't even take five-seconds to correct them. A silent protagonist is fine, but don't draw attention to it. It's just lazy writing.

And while they were at it would have been nice if they could ditch the generic gruff Army dudes just looking to protect America and hating you for no good reason. Surely they can see you're their only hope? Please, make me care about theses people and this conflict, otherwise don'r bother. It's a game about the destruction of humanity and you failed to make anybody likable enough that I actually wanted to save them. Say what you want about game like Gears of War's story (ie it was awful), at least I cared about the four main characters a little, which is more than I can say about anyone in Crysis 2.

Also, about four or five times in the game you are robbed of your powers while foot-soldiers drag you around and beat you. Nevermind the fact that I'd just killed about a hundred aliens a few minutes ago, now you're a hobbling cripple because they hit you with an EMP or something. Seriously, why didn't the "advanced" aliens try this? Video games like this should feel empowering, but I just felt numb.

The semi-open nature of the game is its biggest strength. The large scale environments lend themselves to a variety of play options, and thanks to your Nanosuit you can jump huge distances, sprint at great speed, deflect enemy bullets and turn invisible. This all comes in handy as your main opponents, the aforementioned Ceph, are actually pretty challenging. Fortunately you can choose to play in total stealth, guns blazing or something in-between. Well, that's sort of true, but the only real way to play this game is as a deadly lone wolf as playing fully in stealth is not a viable one. For starters sneaking always works best in third-person because you need to be aware of your entire surroundings, in first person you can only ever know about what you are looking at. To combat this you can tag enemies, so that they show up even when you're in cover, but too many times you'll be spotted from behind or some other angle that you just can't check quickly enough in a first-person game.

That could be forgiven, but what cannot is the fact that the only way to gain experience points to spend on upgrades is by killing enemies. Because of this there is no incentive to go completely stealth unless you plan on being under-powered the entire game. What would have been nice is if there were ways to use stealth to set up traps for enemies and use the decayed environment against them. But that's not the case here - your best option is to go invisible, draw one squid away from its group, perform a quick stealth kill, rinse and repeat. And repeat. And repeat. There are a few vehicle sections to break up the action, but they're rarely fun or last very long.

Looking back there are a few great moments in Crysis 2, but most of them are to do with giant buildings collapsing or watching the city become flooded - things that look great, but don't add to how well the game plays. There's so much more I wanted to do in this game, but just couldn't. The environment, for all its destruction, is just so static. Why can't I blow up huge sections of it to take out alien squads? Why can't I be rewarded for going completely stealth and taking out as few enemies as possible? Why do I feel like I have such narrow tunnel vision when I should be looking around and discovering new areas in this big open world? So many missed opportunities.

When the end credits started I had no desire to start all over again, which is a shame because it would seem logical that a game boasting wide open environments would be one you'd want to revisit. But it's not. I'd seen all there was to see in on play through, and I really didn't care enough to do it all again. Crysis 2 does have some great moments, but I can’t help feeling there’s a lot missing, holding it back from being better than your average first-person shooter.

GRADE: D

Crysis 2 is out now on the Xbox 360, Windows PC and PlayStation 3. Review written after the entire single-player campaign was complete. No multiplayer was played; the review reflects the only single-player experience on an Xbox 360. Review guidelines

Perverted Video Games

2011-04-27T14:09:00.017+10:00

SEX and video games have always made strange bedfellows. Most games avoid it all together, some try to be mature about it, but others are feel like they were made by 13-year-old boys who just discover the joy of naked ladies. But then there are those few games that defy explanation leaving you feeling dirty and violated for having just seen them. Here’s just a sample of what’s out there.

Beat ‘Em & Eat ‘Em

(Atari 2600)

Developed by the now infamous Mystique, an American based video game make promising “Swedish erotica video games”, Beat ‘Em & Eat ‘Em was released in 1982 and was as bad a game as it was confusing. The aim was to guide two women with their mouths wide open and help them catch all the falling drops of jizz from a man having a wank on top of a building. Obviously a lot is left to your imagination as the game was, in true Atari style, quite pixelated. But still, it’s hard to imagine who would have green-lit this idea, let alone spend countless hours programming it. Another version of the game was released, but this time around two men had to catch falling breast milk from a haggard old witch.

The Yakyuken Special
(Sega Saturn)

Less of a game and more of a “look at naked girls” simulator, The Yakyuken Special is basically a strip version of rock-paper-scissors filled with young Asian women. Once you have picked one the 12 girls in the game to compete with a short video of them dancing like they’re in a bizarre 80s disco plays before you have to choose either rock, paper or scissors. If you lose five times (and you will as the game cheats) you have start from the beginning, but if you win she removes an item of clothing then dances awkwardly for you once more. The whole thing feels surreal and a bit dirty as the girls seem so innocent and rarely attempt to look sexy, or even interested in what’s going on.

Doki Doki Majo Shinpan
(Nintendo DS)

Leave it to the Japanese to make something this bizarre and creepy. The 2007 game Doki Doki Majo Shinpan (which means Thump Thump Witch Judgement) has the player assume the role of bad boy high school student Akuji who has been tasked by a young apprentice angel to find evil witches. To do this he find the elusive “witch mark” on their body. Being a Nintendo DS game you get to make full use of the touch screen as you poke and prod every inch of you fellow female students. This may sound creepy enough, but when you consider the girls age range from the ripe old age of 23 all the way down to 13, you have to wonder who would actually buy this game.

The Guy Game

(Xbox, PlayStation 2, PC)

Trivia games for the most part are pretty good wholesome fun, so it makes sense to add a bunch of bikini clad girls into the mix, right? Released in 2004 and slammed by

video game critics The Guy Game gave you a series of multiple-choice questions that both you and a pretty, if often stupid, girl on spring break had to answer. The twist

was that if they get it wrong they have to show their breasts, which were censored of course, but as your score increased the censorship began to subsided until you could finally see their jubblies as nature intended.

All of this hardly makes the game perverted and more juvenile, right? Well there was a slight problem - one of the girls in the game wasn’t 18 years old, which meant the game was classified as child pornography in the United States. Soon after the developer, Top Heavy went under but copies of the game can be found online and in 2007 Microsoft’s backwards compatibility update included support for The Guy Game on Xbox 360. Weird.

Boon-Ga Boon-Ga

(Arcade)

In what must have been a serious effort to dispel the rumours that South Korea is a somewhat conservative country arcade game developer TaffSystem made Boon-Ga Boon-Ga (also known as Spank ‘Em), a game about abusing butts and winning crap. Literally. The arcade cabinet itself features a backside bent over and ready for you to ram a plastic finger right up inside it as hard as you can. The game has eight different characters that include your ex-girlfriend, mother-in-law, a child molester and of course a prostitute to name a few. For their efforts the game tells the player how good they are at bung-hole bashing and reward them with a plastic piece of shit. The game came in 2001, and only in Asia, but that’s probably for the best. On a side note, there's an alternate version of the game that uses a furry mallet instead of a finger and gives out more conventional (but still crappy) prizes. But yeah, it's still pretty messed up.

Custer’s Revenge

(Atari 2600)

Video game developers Mystique were still up to their old tricks in the 80s with Custer’s Revenge, but this game had a much darker, twisted edge. Still angry about his defeat at the Battle of the Little Bighorn (a battle that claimed his life no less) Custer is back with a permanent erection and must traverse a hot American desert while avoiding incoming arrows and randomly appearing cactuses. And what is his reward you may ask? A Native American girl tied to a cactus that he can rape. Needless to say the game caused a lot of controversy amongst women’s rights groups, Native Americans and various politicians. But in the end the developer folded soon after this atrocity, and not a moment too soon.

Review - Bulletstorm

2011-03-10T17:48:00.021+10:00

BULLETSTORM - even the name sounds like a parody of the whole violent first-person shooter craze. And in a lot of ways it is, but more than that this game embraces the absurdity of its genre and pushes it forward with its vibrant graphics, fast paced gameplay and tongue-in-cheek dialogue.

Set in the distant future Bulletstorm follows Grayson Hunt as he continues his quest for revenge against his former commanding officer, Sarrano, who used him to kill innocent civilians under the guise of national (or perhaps inter-galactic) security. Together with his small posse of misfits Grayson must survive on tropical resort that has been overrun with mutants and crazed outlaws so that he can exact his revenge and save what’s left of his comrades.

What struck me as an odd but a very pleasant surprise was that the story didn’t completely suck. From the outside it looked like this would be a dumb action game with little character development, but instead there’s a bit of character growth and the constant push for you to move from one area to the next makes the game and its storyline feel cohesive. There are no big jumps between locations – everywhere you go feels connected, which helps to make the world of Bulletstorm feel more real and alive.

But of course the plot isn’t Bulletstorm’s main strength – that honour goes to the game’s armoury. The developers did a good job of giving each of the weapons their own feel – and more importantly a reason to use each of them. The most interesting tool of death is the wrist mounted whip – which looks like an electrified beam that grapples enemies too slow to get out of its way. So if you’re sick of your enemies hiding behind cover grab them with you whip, yank them towards you and then unload a few rounds into their spine or kick them into a giant cactus. The whip and your trusty boot both put your enemies into slow-mo for a few seconds, allowing you to nail a head shot or kick them into an exploding barrel to take out even more foes as well. While the other weapons are all awesome, this one feels the most unique and gets quite a work out before the adventure is over.

The other weapons are all equally as absurd and have certain crazy comic book charm to them where realism is thrown out the window in favour of awesomeness. My personal favourite is the Flail Gun which fires two mines attached by a long chain. Wrapping it around an enemy is fun enough, but then booting them into another enemy and detonating it in time to blow them both up never gets old. I won’t spoil anymore of the weapons, including the brilliant new take on the classic sniper rifle, because there’s actually a lot of joy to be found in learning about all of them and their individual strengths.

Plus what’s great is that there’s a point to all theses crazy guns and their bizarre effects – to earn points from Skillshots. Earning points is done through killing your enemies in unique ways. For example you can slide across the floor (a trick that comes in handy a lot), kick an enemy into the air, take out his friend with a headshot then without taking your finger off the trigger kill your original target will get you a few extra points. These points can then be used to upgrade your arsenal with bigger ammo clips buy and unlock their alt-fire modes. In short the game rewards experimentation and isn’t just about getting head shots, it’s also about shooting a remote controlled rocket into some guys arse and then slamming him into his buddy and watching the two explode into a red mess of detached legs and arms.

But don’t think for a second that just because you have this incredible arsenal at your disposal that you’re invulnerable. Large bullet-proof enemies, speedy ones that can’t be whipped and mutants that have to be shot in specific places are all challenges you’ll have to face. But thanks to the range of weapons at your fingertips you should be able to find the right tool for the job.

So if the armoury is the game’s biggest strength than its graphics would have to be a very close second. The game looks absolutely stunning and is filled with colours not usually seen in action games like this. The resort is surrounded by clear blue water, the green palm trees sway in the wind while neon bars and clubs add to the games already expansive palette. Gone are the browns and greys of your typical space-marine games – Bulletstorm’s brilliant use of colour makes it stand head and shoulders above it’s competitors in terms of visual fidelity.

So after all this praise there has to be a downside, right? Well there’s a few unfortunately that hold Bulletstorm back from being truly brilliant. For starters the sometimes repetitive nature of a shooter like this is all too evident when you’re trapped in yet another fire-fight that felt a lot like the one before it. Don’t get me wrong, the majority of the battles are actually quite fun, but there are times when you just want to get to the next boss or cool vehicle sequences to break up the gun-play a little.

But by far the games biggest weakness is that it takes far too long to get going. The opening chapter is spent setting up the story, which is perfectly acceptable, but the plodding nature of it is very annoying. The slow doling out of weapons, and the fact that the alt-fire modes often come much too late in the game, means that you can’t enjoy what makes Bulletstorm so great until hours into it. And then it’s all over too soon, taking around eight hours for the end credits to start rolling after a very disappointing ending. Those issues aside Bulletstorm is proof that the journey can be better than the destination – it starts weak and ends weaker, but somewhere in the middle is an awesome game that will one day be the basis for the even better sequel. But until then we have a great game that is well worth your time, just don’t expect it to stay for very long.

GRADE: C

Bulletstorm is out now on the Xbox 360, Windows PC and PlayStation 3. Review written after the entire story was complete and a few Echoes missions complete. No multiplayer was played; the review reflects the only single-player experience on an Xbox 360. Review guidelines

Review - Pac-Man Championship Edition DX

2011-01-12T16:59:00.011+10:00

THE little yellow ghost hunter Pac-Man has hit the big 'three-zero', so to celebrate 30 years of being awesome Namco Bandai have released Pac-Man Championship Edition DX. Much like the original Championship Edition from 2009 that took everything that made Pac-Man such an enduring classic and reduced what made it a sometimes frustrating experience, DX takes that idea one step further by making the player feel more empowered than ever before.

The ghosts are now far more passive as they sit and sleep at various spots in the maze, only springing to life when Pac-Man runs past. From there the ghost begin to form a train that will follow your exact movements instead of aggressively hunting you. That in turn means they form a nice orderly queue to be devoured by the truckload when you find one of the many Power-Pellets.

As with the original Championship Edition the mazes in DX constantly change as you eat bonus items (fruit, keys, crowns, etc.) that appear after eating a collection of Pac-Dots. And as per usual, the maze changes happen on the opposite end of the screen that you are currently on, so it's never too jarring. On top of that the longer you play the faster the game gets - so much so in fact that the speed can feel almost overwhelming. But to help the player out Pac-Man has a few new tricks up his sleeve.

The biggest addition is the bomb, which can be triggered at any point to return all pursuing ghost back to the centre of the maze and cause all sleeping ghosts to ignore you for a while. On the downside it reduces your speed, you score multiplier and you have a limited supply. That said, obtaining more is pretty easy and if you use them right you'll never get backed in a corner. The other, more subtle, addition is the slow down that occurs when you are about to get hit by a ghost. For a brief second or two, right before you would usually die, Pac-Man and the ghost slow right down, giving the player a chance to reconsider their last move.

It's hard to not get swept up in the action when playing DX. The music is simply awesome and fits in the action perfectly, while the range of graphical filters means you can make the game can resemble a number of classic Pac-Man games. On top of that there are a number of fun challenges, such as eating an insane amount of ghosts or blazing mazes as quickly as possibly, to keep you occupied for quite a while. In all DX is a great game all round and it feels like this is how you should celebrate Pac-Man's birthday.

But, DX isn't perfect, and truth be told I still prefer the original Championship Edition. The biggest problem is that the game feels much easier than previous Pac-Man titles and so the sense of accomplishment is not as great. Getting every power-pellet and eating all four ghosts in the original was a challenge, and no small feat in later levels, nor was it always an easy task in Championship Edition where the ghosts felt a lot smarter than they do here. That's not to say that the game isn't satisfying. After all, building up a train of ghosts then devouring them in quick succession never gets old, but at the same time I never felt overly threatened. Championship Edition kept just enough of what made the original such a good challenge, but DX ditches most of it in exchange for a faster, more glitzy style of game.

Having said that, not every game needs to be hard to be fun, and that's certainly true with DX. The satisfaction you get from being the hunter instead of the hunted is as good as ever, and DX does a good job at tricking you into thinking you're a Pac-Man master by giving you little helping hands along the way. It’s not my favourite in the series, but I constantly find myself going back to it for a few more rounds before realising an hour has just slipped me by. It may not be perfect, but it’s a great game and one that will appeal to every type gamer.

GRADE: B

Pac-Man Championship Edition DX is out now on Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network. Review written after hours of play, reviewed on an Xbox 360. Review guidelines

Review - Dead Rising 2

2010-10-14T18:44:00.015+10:00

I CAN still recall buying the original Dead Rising, playing it for about two days, hating it, and taking it back to where I bought it to get The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion instead. I was so annoyed at how broken that game was because of how much promise it had. Looking back, I can now see that Dead Rising wasn’t broken, it was just … different. I was trying to do it all – save all the survivors of the zombie outbreak, kill all the psychopaths and solve all the mysteries before the time quickly ran out. But what I should have done was embrace the game’s difficulty, spent more time levelling up my character and enjoying what is now regarded as something of a cult classic. That’s not to say it was entirely my fault – Dead Rising had a lot of faults, and I still won’t stick up for it’s awful save system even if I do respect it. But it was a good game that I will go back to one day.

Years later we have Dead Rising 2, which takes most of what made the original so well loved and fixes most of the flaws (including the save system) to create an excellent sequel that fans of the original, new-comers and possibly even haters of the first game will enjoy. Set years after the first zombie outbreak struck America, the game takes place in Fortune City, a replacement for Las Vegas which was destroyed during the undead epidemic. To quell America’s thirst for revenge a new game show that combines killing zombies with motocross called Terror is Reality has been created within the city.

Enter Chuck Greene, a former motocross star who must now participate in this show so he can afford a new 24-hour zombification suppressant drug called Zombrex for his daughter Katey. But things take a turn for the worst when a massive zombie outbreak kills nearly everyone in the city and is pinned on our hero Chuck. Barely making it to the city’s safehouse with his daughter Chuck must now prove his innocence by finding out the truth of the outbreak and locate more Zombrex for his daughter while dealing with the hordes of zombies and the various maniacs in Fortune City – all before the military arrives in 72-hours.

From the moment you gain control of Chuck you know that Dead Rising 2 is a different beast than its predecessor. The game throws you straight into the action on motorcycle with chainsaws strapped to the sides and has you mowing down mountains of zombies on the aforementioned Terror is Reality gameshow. Soon after this little diversion is over the outbreak occurs and you gain control of the regular on-foot Chuck. From here the game waste no time showing you what kind of horror you’ll be dealing with as names of those dying around you appear in the middle of the screen. Shaun is dead. Helen is dead. Drake is dead. Before you even get the hang of the controls the game makes it very clear – you can’t save everyone. That’s important to remember because as you progress through the story (especially on your first play through) you’ll have to leave a lot of people behind if you’re ever going to survive. It’s an odd feeling having to accept failure, but the sooner you do the more fun you’ll have because there’s nothing worse than over-extending yourself by rescuing too many people, only to die and have to start at the last save point or not have enough resources to look after your followers. That said, the risk/reward structure of Dead Rising 2 means that if you’re willing to go the extra mile and get more survivors back to the safe zone you can gain more Prestige Points (or PP) which make you level up earn more health, better attacks and other abilities.

This brings me to the main appeal of Dead Rising 2 – homemade weapons. At some point in your life you’ve probably looked around your house and thought about what you could use as a weapon. I have. Say a burglar comes into your house while you in the kitchen, would you grab the steak knifes or the rolling pin? Walking back to your car – stick your keys in your hands and make crude claws or look around for a solid object like a rock?

In video games this sort of thinking isn’t welcome. Sure your rifle and pistol are out of ammo, but you always have your knife and the butt of your gun. But why can’t you rip a plank of wood of the side of a house or pick up a garbage bin to protect yourself? Dead Rising didn’t care what you wanted to use as a weapon. Want to smash a park bench into a group of zombies then pick up the broken pieces of wood and use them too? No problems. Furniture, cooking utensils even kids toys – everything could become a weapon.

Dead Rising 2 takes this concept one step further. So now instead of relying on your trusty baseball bat why not shove a couple of nails into it too? Got a bucket and a drill? You’ve got a hat to liquefy your enemies’ head. A knife and some boxing gloves? You’ve got a set of claws to tear through your lumbering foes.

Obviously there are a number of predefined weapons you can make, so your choices aren’t exactly unlimited, but there is a lot to choose from and some of the best weapons and just so stupid but fun you can’t help but want to find more. To make things a bit easier you can collect combo cards, which tell you what items to combine to make these weapons. You can, of course, discover these combinations on your own, but if you find a combo card, either in game world or by rescuing survivors, you can often gain access to a secondary attack using the new killing device and gain extra PP.

But while the actual game of Dead Rising 2 may be a lot of fun, but the story wrapped around it needs a some work. The world of Dead Rising is actually quite interesting and the conspiracy of why the zombies exist is worth exploring, but the execution often leaves a lot to be desired. From Chuck’s stupid one-liners to the sometimes awful dialogue and pathetically misogynist way female characters are portrayed in the game, it feels like Dead Rising 2 was written by a bunch of horny teenage boys with no concept of how real people actually speak or interact with each other. I’m fine with cheesy storylines but it feels like the more serious side of the game's plot becomes lost while the attempts at humour are over-emphasised. To be fair it’s not always terrible, and on the plus side the voice acting is very good as is the fun, if somewhat limited, interaction with the survivors, but the bad outweighs the good when it comes to the writing.

Forgetting the holes in the game’s narrative, Dead Rising 2 is an incredible experience on so many other levels. The sheer size of the undead army that is constantly hunting you as well as the excellent attention to detail throughout the game world makes the whole experience a joy to both play and watch. Granted the graphics aren’t as polished as a more focused game, but for an open-world action game it’s very impressive. Also the failed attempts at humour in the story pale in comparison to the genuine laughs to be had as you plough throw the undead hordes. It’s hard to not at least smile at the confused zombie with a road cone of his head or laugh at the one rubbing up against the bright lights of a poker-machine only to be smacked in the back of the head with a sword fish.

Overall Dead Rising 2 may have its flaws, but it’s still the best zombie-killing simulator on the market. The difficulty is still unforgiving, but if you play the game on its terms and by its rules there’s a hell of a lot of fun to be had here.

GRADE: B

Dead Rising 2 is out now on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Review written after the entire story was complete, including a few restarts and a lot of messing around. No multiplayer was played, the review reflects the only single-player experience on an Xbox 360. Review guidelines

Review - Alan Wake

2010-08-16T20:02:00.014+10:00

IT seems only fitting that a game that deals with such dark subject matter as Alan Wake was stuck in development hell for the past five or so years. In 2005 it was going to come out on the PC and “next-generation consoles”, then in 2007 it was going only to PC and Xbox 360 as an open-world game. Now, in 2010, Alan Wake is a linear (albeit with a wide path to follow) third-person action game and is available only on the Xbox 360. Thankfully all of that extra time and effort has not been wasted and Alan Wake has emerged from the depths, which has claimed Duke Nukem Forever and StarCraft: Ghost, and is, thankfully, a compelling and highly polished game.

The story of Alan Wake is possibly the game’s biggest draw card, and I’m pleased to say that it doesn’t disappoint. You play as the titular hero of the game, Alan Wake, as he takes a vacation in Bright Falls with his loving wife. Things soon take a turn for the worst as she is kidnapped by evil forces and Alan emerges from a car crash with no memory of how he got there. But before he can ask too many questions Alan must defend himself from hordes of possessed townspeople, controlled by the same evil that took his beloved. I could go on about the plot of the game, and I know that I really haven’t done it justice with such a brief summary, but I’m holding back on giving away too much as finding out all you can about Alan Wake and the mysterious town of Bright Falls is very rewarding.

Moving on to the actual game part of the game there are a lot of labels assigned to Alan Wake, and even its own packaging describes it as a psychological action thriller. This would understandably cause gamers to lump it into the survival horror category, but make no mistake, Alan Wake is a third-person shooter. Comparisons with other horror games, such as Silent Hill, are justified in terms of tone, but the core of the game is more about fighting for your life with a small variety of weapons than solving puzzles or managing your inventory.

Speaking of weapons, Alan Wake’s main source of defence is actually the humble torch (or flashlight if you will). Possessed vehicles, including rampaging bulldozers and four-wheel drives, as well as various other objects and killer birds can be taken down using only light which can come from your torch, flares or mounted spotlights. Darkness infected humans however must first be worn down with light then finished off with a few rounds from one of your rifles or handgun. Thankfully Alan is capable of dodging a few attacks if you time your button presses right and the ‘defending with light then attacking with firearms’ mechanic works well, so combat is never a chore. That’s not to say that it’s easy though, and it’s hard to not feel overwhelmed at times, but it’s also satisfying to rip the top off a flare and watch a horde of infected nutcases recoil in pain and then finish them off with a couple of well placed rounds.

But as solid as the combat is Alan Wake lacks big gameplay moments that stay with you after the end credits. Towards the end there are some truly memorable sections that play right into the story, and there is a great shoot-out that takes place on a large rock concert stage, but there is a distinct lack of big encounters and epic battles beyond taking down large groups of enemies. The other major gripe is the facial animations. As amazing as this game looks, and trust me there attention to detail in every section of this game is truly impressive, it’s bizarre how badly animated the characters of Alan Wake look when they’re talking. It’s a real shame as the voice-acting is great, but everyone looks so wooden when they’re trying to emote. It’s by no means a deal breaker, but it’s very noticeable. Still, for what little Alan Wake lacks it more than makes up for in narrative and pacing and not since Bioshock’s now infamous “would you kindly?” moment has a game surprised me the way Alan Wake did with a number of its twists and turns.

So if you’re after a different kind of video game than most you really should pick up Alan Wake. Much like a good television drama this game draws you in with its engaging story, complete with episode breaks and story recaps, and keeps you playing by teasing you with answers to your questions in every new section. It may have a couple of flaws, but rarely does a video game feature a story so strong coupled with such solid gameplay as is on offer in Alan Wake.

GRADE: B

Alan Wake is out now on the Xbox 360. Review written after the entire story was complete. Review guidelines

Review - Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker

2010-07-12T22:30:00.008+10:00

IN a world of video games that feature high-definition graphics and massive production budgets a title like Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker on the now ageing PlayStation Portable could easily be overlooked as a foot-note in the Metal Gear canon. But, after spending days and nights sneaking through the jungles of Costa Rica, I can assure you Peace Walker is an incredible experience that puts many “big budget” games to shame.

Set in 1974, Peace Walker has players once again entering the battlefield as Snake, the former FOX unit member who still feels he has not earned the title of Big Boss despite being awarded it after the Snake Eater mission from Metal Gear Solid 3. Now, after turning his back on his country Snake has set up his own mercenary squad, Militaires Sans Frontieres, who operate out of their new home base, Outer Heaven.

The story starts out simple enough with Snake being hired to protect the world from the threat of another nuclear missile crisis, and there’s some of the usual Metal Gear plot elements including the return of a past enemy, a lot of back-stabbing and Snake getting trapped in long conversations when he should be pulling the trigger. But thankfully the story is well paced and never feels like its dragging or filling in time, and fans of the series will love the gap-filling that Peace Walker does to the Metal Gear timeline. Also the animated comic style through which it is told is fantastic and artist Ashley Wood has done an even better job here than he did on the previous Metal Gear Solid game on the PSP, Portable Ops.

The core gameplay is what you’d expect from a Metal Gear game, emphasising stealth and hiding from enemies, with the occasional intense battle against powerful mechanical foes thrown in to even things out. The level design is far better than Portable Ops, which lacked polish and looks dull and blocky in comparison to Peace Walker’s detailed levels with multiple paths and places to hide. Even beyond the level layouts, Peace Walker just feels so incredibly well made. There’s not padding here or half-baked ideas, and as series creator Hideo Kojima has stated Peace Walker is Metal Gear Solid 5. This isn’t a side story; this is everything a fan from the series could want.

Well almost everything because there is something lacking – crazy boss battle. Don’t go expecting anything like Psycho Mantis’ memory card reading tricks or something similar to the intense sniper battle against The End. This time around the larger battles are about taking down groups of enemy soldiers and armoured vehicles - usually a tank, helicopter or powerful mech thingy - to be repaired and used in your own private army or stripped for parts to build your own secret weapon.

Managing your army is one of those side options that it is quite possible to ignore and let the game do automatically for you, but once you learn the ins-and-outs it’s actually pretty easy to do and a fun diversion between missions. If you’ve played Portable Ops you’ll be familiar with recruiting soldiers and putting them to work, but Peace Walker is far more streamlined in its approach and with the help of the Fulton Recovery System. Now you can simply air-lift prisoners and incapacitated enemy soldiers off the battlefield and back to your base instead of dragging them back to your special kidnapping truck.

Being a mercenary outfit you can also send groups of soldiers and armoured vehicles out on missions, known as Outer Ops, which are then played out as computer-controlled turn based battles. Winning can result in new recruits and improved stats for your men, but losing can wipe out entire platoons of soldiers and tanks you’ve work hard to earn. As with managing your base, these missions are simple to manage but can be a lot of fun to do, especially when you’re out-numbered and out-gunned squads come back victorious.

The controls in Peace Walker are worth noting – purely because of how good they are, especially when you consider the fact that the PSP is not a great platform for a game can require precise movement. The face buttons (triangle, square, X and circle) and analogue nub are used for moving and aiming, the D-pad for item and weapon management and the shoulder buttons for readying weapons and attacking. There are time when you’ll start running when you wanted to sneak or selecting the wrong weapon in the heat of battle, but it’s hardly the game’s fault that the PSP needs a second analogue nub, and quite frankly it didn’t detract from my enjoyment of the game all that much.

What could have been improved is the multiplayer. While it’s true that if you don’t feel like playing alone you can play cooperatively with your friends, you have to do so locally as there is no online multiplayer. I can appreciate the fact that maintaining servers for the game may be more trouble than it’s worth, but the new co-op mode looks like a lot of fun and it’s disappointing that the sequel to Portable Ops, which had great online multiplayer integration, is lacking this feature. It should be noted that if you have a PlayStation 3 you can use adhocParty to connect with other players online, but I was unable to test this feature. That said, a game on portable device like this should really include multiplayer that can be played anywhere you can find a wi-fi hotspot. While this omission is not a deal breaker at all it’s disappointing that this is the first Metal Gear game in a while with no online.

But regardless of whether you play own or with friends Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker is an outstanding game. In years to come when gamers look back on the PSP I have no doubt whatsoever that Peace Walker will rank up there with the best games to come out on this under-appreciated platform, and will no doubt be one of the best games released this year. A true diamond in the rough.

GRADE: A

Available on the Sony PlayStation Portable. Main campaign beaten by myself with no help via co-op, and A LOT of the Extra-Ops were beaten (including one of the Monster Hunter missions which is very difficult on your own). More than 30 hours played when the review was written. Review guidelines

Review - Pokemon HeartGold and SoulSilver

2010-04-27T14:50:00.022+10:00

MOVIE remakes and songs covered by different musicians are pretty common these days, and the more cynical side of me says that this is because it's far easier to repeat a winning formula than make a new one. That's not to say that remakes can't be superior to their source material, but too often remakes are churned out in the hope that the name alone will sell the product.

The same can be said about video game remakes and reboots which take and old idea and try and put a new spin on it. Sometimes they're weak game hiding behind a strong name, other times they're genuine improvements on an already great title. Thankfully, Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver fall into the latter category, and manage to be surpass the original Game Boy games they are based on, which is no small feat considering many fans, such as myself, consider theses to be the epitome of the series.

So many great ideas were introduced in the original Gold and Silver game, such as breeding and improved Pokémon designs that looked more like their anime counterparts. And of course these concepts have carried forward into newer versions so it was always going to be hard for HeartGold and SoulSilver to stand out from the saturated Pokémon market. But even though at first glance these may seem like just another couple of Pokémon games, it soon becomes clear how well designed the originals were and how incredible these updates really are.

Easily the biggest addition idea introduced into the series by the classic Gold and Silver games was the use of a real world clock that affected the game. I can fondly recall getting up early on Sunday to get to the Goldenrod City markets, and waiting until it was night-time so that my Eevee would evolve into an Umbreon. This idea has of course been carried forward, but to help HeartGold and SoulSilver break the fourth wall the way their forerunners did Nintendo have devised a way to have Pokémon on you at all times through the use of a Pokémon-themed pedometer.

The Pokéwalker comes packed in with the game and allows you to transfer one Pokémon from your game to it via an infrared port on top of the game cartridge, and then take it walking with you in the real world. Your steps generate watts which in turn can be used to find items and rare Pokémon through mini-games in the Pokéwalker. What seems like a gimmick at first proves to be a brilliant idea that keeps you in the game no matter what you’re doing. And seeing as the rarest Pokémon only show up after you've done 9,000 or more steps you'll be doing a lot of walking to get the most out of this ingenious device

Pokémon as possible, then battle them against the numerous gym leaders to earn badges and ultimately become the master of all Pokémon. And as per usual no one version has every Pokémon, so you’ll need to link up with other Pokémon fans and trade with them to complete your collection. All of this is pretty standard fare for a Pokémon game, but honestly none of these basic elements need to be changed. It's still a lot of fun fighting your way from town to town and engaging in epic battles with the tough gym leaders, and it's hard to not get at least a little excited when you stumble across a new Pokémon or hidden area containing rare items.

What HeartGold and SoulSilver do so well is make the world of Pokémon come to life. It's little things like finding a farmer raising a herd of Miltanks (a cow looking Pokémon), wandering around the bizarre Ruins of Alph or listening to the radio to find out where rare Pokémon are hiding that make this game so much fun to explore and makes the world feel that much more real. On top of this the actual story of HeartGold and SoulSilver is the strongest in the series, and while it's not an exactly an epic tale, it's still quite entertaining and has some nice little in jokes that long time fans of the series will love.

Focusing more on the actual gamer there as some new additions HeartGold and SoulSilver such as the ability to trade online, which was first introduced in Pokémon Diamond/Pearl/Platinum a while back so its addition here is not surprising but welcome none-the-less. A bigger addition however is the Pokéathlon events which is a collection of mini-games that your Pokémon can compete in so you can earn you points to spend on buying rare items. While they do have a certain amount of charm to them I lost interest fairly quickly.

That said I can see their appeal, and I'm sure that these events will act as a nice distraction for certain players, but the need to be constantly swiping and tapping the touch screen does seem a little out of place in a Pokémon game. Despite this minor speed-bump, which is thankfully completely optional, Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver are the pinnacle of a series that has constantly surprised its fans and defied its critics.

In a way this feels like the end of the classic Pokémon series, and it's clear that the next instalments will be moving in a slightly different direction. But honestly I could think of no better way to say 'thank you' to the fans than to re-release the best versions of the series and give them such an incredible make-over.

GRADE: A

Pokémon HeartGold (version reviewed) and SoulSilver are out now on the Nintendo DS. Review written after 50+ hours of play. Review guidelines

Review – Bayonetta

2010-02-08T20:59:00.017+10:00

IN my time as a gamer I’ve been a bald space marine, a rogue government agent and an underworld crime figure about a thousand times. But until Bayonetta I’d never played as a witch who looks like a sexy librarian crossed with a stripper, armed with a gun in each hand and two more strapped to each of her ridiculously long legs.

As you’ve no doubt gathered the titular star of Bayonetta is a unique creation that is at first confronting, but soon proves to be a powerful independent female character in a genre usually dominated by bulky guys with hands and arm muscles bigger than their heads. A genuine concern I had for this game was that I wouldn’t like the character of Bayonetta, and that her obvious attempt at being a sex symbol (despite looking slightly deformed) would make her obnoxious and unappealing. Thankfully her dark sense of humour and cocky attitude actually makes her endearing in weird sort of way.

Bayonetta is the last of the Umbra Witches, an ancient order locked in a constant battle with the Lumen Sages as they maintain the balance of the universe by fighting for the powers of the Inferno and Paradiso respectively. Eventually the two clans were destroyed and Bayonetta was imprisoned for 500 years, only to be freed with no memory of what ended the war or what happened to her people. Though this sounds simple enough the poor use of cutscenes to further the story makes the plot hard to follow, so instead the player must rely on text contained in books you collect throughout the game to fill in the blanks. The problem is that stopping to read them seriously breaks the flow of the game, and they are quite boring to read.

It’s odd that a graphically impressive game such as this makes such poor use of the fact that it is a visual medium and decides to tell the player the story rather than actually show it. Needless to say it’s not the most important part of Bayonetta, but it is one of the bigger flaws in a game that is otherwise an excellent package.

One of the areas where Bayonetta excels however is in its implementation of the eclectic collection of weapons that are on offer. No one weapon is better than any other, and using a combination of all of them is the key to success. At the press of a button you can switch between two user-defined presets, so you can have a combination of pistols and shot-guns on one selection, than switch to your faithful katana for close quarters combat in the blink of an eye. Coming up with the arrangements that work for you according to the situation is the key to survival.

But the weapons are only as effective as the game allows them to be, and fortunately Bayonetta has a robust combo system that has brilliant mix of simple yet effective moves for you to fall back on, as well as complex attacks that require precision timing for maximum damage. Add to this the multitude of combinations you can have of feet and hand equipped weapons and you have a lot of choices when it comes to finding what best suits your play style.

Finding that style isn’t too hard either as the learning curve in Bayonetta isn’t all that steep, which is surprising for such a frantic looking action game. That’s not to say that learning new techniques isn’t rewarded, but mashing the attack buttons is often enough to get you out of most situations.

To counter this simplicity the game rewards the player for learning how to become more effective in combat by awarding them with more halos (the in-game currency) to spend on better weapons, moves and accessories. To increase the rewards you must refrain from using items, not die, and vary your combos and weapons usage. In this way the game will let you progress through hard sections by allowing you to fall back on tried and true attacks, but will reward you for getting better and trying new moves. This is further accentuated by the ability to backtrack through levels you have previously completed and use your new found skills to earn higher scores, and in turn, more halos.

One of the most powerful moves in the game is the humble dodge, which can allow the player to slow down time for a few seconds if done right. To pull this off you must wait until an enemy attacks you and then pull the right trigger button. If you’re too early Bayonetta will simply dodge the attack, but if done at just the right moment the precious few seconds of frozen time allows you to get in a few quick jabs and start a fast combo with a powerful ending.

If Bayonetta was just the action game I’ve described it would still be a good game. But there’s so more to be found when you start to really get into the game. The boss battles for example feel truly epic and involve gigantic angel-like creatures that are that must be taken apart piece by piece. Also, at the end of each battle is a quick button mashing segment as Bayonetta uses her hair, which up until now has doubled as her clothes, to summon powerful demons that devour her enemies. It’s a satisfying end to some of the more difficult battles.

In addition to this there are a number of levels that you just wouldn’t expect to see, but for the sake of not wanting to spoil anything I’ll let you find them on your own.

Aside for the aforementioned storyline issues, it’s hard to fault Bayonetta. The games bizarre presentation, excellent graphics and varying gameplay make it compelling package. But at the end of the day the most important aspect of a game like this is the fighting mechanics, and in Bayonetta it's rock solid.

If you’re worried that games are becoming too casual and that the hardcore audience is being forgotten, grab Bayonetta, because it truly feels like one of those ‘by gamers for gamers’ experiences that comes along only every so often.

GRADE: A

Available on the Xbox 360 (version reviewed) and PlayStation 3. Main campaign beaten with multiple side-quests undertaken. 30 or so hours played when the review was written. Review guidelines

Review – Scribblenauts

2009-12-06T00:01:00.008+10:00

THE promise of a game that allows you to create anything you want sounds far too ambitious to be real, especially for a Nintendo DS game, but somehow Scribblenauts manages to contain an incredibly impressive library of objects, from UFOs and pearl tea to giant squids and zombies, that you can use in virtually any way you’d like.

There are a few understandable limitations though, so you can’t create anything alcoholic, suggestive or copyrighted. Another limitation ensures that you can only create a certain number of items per level so that your poor little DS doesn’t have a meltdown.

Fortunately it’s a generous limit and you can delete any objects you make so you can replace them with a new one. Aside from that, the only limit is your imagination. The aim of each of the 200-plus levels is to collect a golden star, called a Starite, by any means necessary.

Half of the levels are action focused, which means the player can see the Starite and must find a way to reach it. For example in one level the Starite is at the bottom of a pitch black, shark infested bay, so my solution was to put on scuba diving gear and use a giant squid to take out my enemies while using the sun to light up my path. Of course a simpler solution could be to make a submarine and use it torpedoes on the sharks, or dropping a toaster in the water to shock them to death.

The other half of the levels are the puzzle focused ones, which means you must solve a problem to make the Starite appear. As an example one puzzle asks the player to revive a monster, so I chose to drop an electric eel on it, but you could try hooking it up to a defibrillator or even shooting it with a stun gun.

Though the action levels can be fun in an silly platforming game sort of way, solving the puzzles stages with random objects is usually more challenging, fun and rewarding. That’s because you can solve 90% of the action levels with a lasoo, a jetpack and the occasional giant squid (or kraken if you will). Sure, you can decide to not reuse objects, and there's even an advanced mode that doesn't let you create previously used used ones, but the rewards for trying new things just aren't substantial enough.

The in-game currency of Ollars is given to the player after each puzzle so they can unlock new areas, and you’ll gain more by using a different objects and trying new things. Of course, this is supposed to be an incentive to be creative, but by the end of the game I’d bought every level and still had tons of Ollars left over, so trying new ideas was more for fun than for any real gain in the game.

Rewards aside, by far the biggest flaw in Scribblenauts is its controls. The reliance on the stylus to handle both object placement and character movement is completely baffling and is the games biggest weakness. A misplaced tap on the touch screen can cause you to accidentally pick up an object, undoing your hard work, or make your on-screen avatar come running, often to his demise. It’s not a game-breaking problem, but it will be the cause of much frustration for some gamers, and did make me want to snap my DS in half on more than one occasion.

Scribblenauts is the type of game that will give back as much as you put in. You can choose to solve every puzzle in a different way, but eventually if things don’t work out the way you want you’ll fall probably back on your tried-and-true methods to get you on to the next level. That said, the puzzle levels are often quite clever and when everything goes according to plan Scribblenauts is a very impressive game.

It may not be perfect, but Scribblenauts is a unique game that is definitely worth your time and money.

GRADE: B

Available on the Nintendo DS. Every level completed, and a few were replayed for extra Ollars. Review guidelines

Some more of my video game junk

2009-10-05T03:00:00.006+10:00

LIVING in a PAL territory like I do you get used to being screwed by video game companies. And I don’t mean a gentle slap and tickle behind the bike shed; I mean a hand over your mouth after lights out style screw.

Little things like the “worldwide” PlayStation 3 launch a few years back and the big delay between the US and Australian release of Rock Band are just a few examples that come to mind, as well as the memory of some truly horrible NTSC to PAL conversions. But that said things have improved and most games now come out in PAL territories soon after their international release.

As a way of apologising to PAL gamers for bad conversions and late releases developers and publishers often created extra stuff to put in with their PAL releases. Below are a few examples from PlayStation 2 era from my collection.

SILENT HILL 2

Silent Hill 2 came out in Australia only a couple of months after the North American release, but Konami still felt so bad they made this awesome 2 x DVD slip-case edition of the game.

The artwork on the digipack style package and the slip-case is impressive and shows off James and the women of Silent Hill 2 along with the always creepy, and now iconic, zombie-nurse.

These photos don't do the package justice. The red band on the black inner cover is covered in quotes from Mary, the main character’s wife, such as “our special place...” and “you promised you’d take me there again...”.

The bonus disc packed in with Silent Hill 2 was brilliant. It had a documentary on the game that delved deeply into the game’s origins, creation and storyline. In all honesty waiting the extra two months for this disc was well worth it.

But there was a catch – the DVD was coded for Region 2 (Australia is Region 4), which meant that you had to call the publisher and order a new disc. Thankfully it arrived fairly promptly, and you could keep your old disc.

FINAL FANTASY X

Final Fantasy X was a shit PAL conversion. There’s no two ways about it. The game looked terrible and featured as the gorgeous 4:3 graphics were squashed into a 16:9 aspect. Don’t get me wrong, this is easily one of my all-time favourite games, but the PAL version did look like a smashed crab.

The worst part is that the game came out in July 2001 in Japan, then arrived in North America on December 2001 and then took until May 2002 to reach Australia.

Surely the 10 month gap between the Japanese release and the PAL release was enough time to get the game running at a consistent frame rate and not grind whenever I summoned an Aeon. You'd think I'd be over this by now... moving on.

To make up for this a bonus disc was included, which contained a great ‘making of’ and some other Final Fantasy X promotional material. But like the Silent Hill 2 caper it was the wrong DVD region.

This time however there was no replacement disc being made. For me it wasn’t a huge deal because I could watch it on my computer, but those gamers who only watched DVDs on their PlayStation 2 were out of luck.

METAL GEAR SOLID 2

If there is one company in this world who knows how to treat PAL gamers right it’s Konami. The PAL version of Metal Gear Solid 2 looked great and thankfully ran almost flawlessly, except for a few screen-tearing issues.

Released in 2001 on 14 November in North America, PAL gamers had to wait until March 2002 to get a copy of this brilliant (and I believe overly criticised) game. But in this four-month gap Hideo Kojima and his team made produced an excellent PAL conversion and added extra content.

The new content included a European Extreme difficulty that was a total bitch to play and only for hardcore fans of the series, a Boss Survival mode that was fun for a while and the Casting Theatre, which was a smart way to watch old cutscenes again.

In addition to these extras, PAL gamers were also treated to a ‘making of’ DVD, which was produced by the same people who made the Silent Hill 2 ‘making of’.

Like the aforementioned Silent Hill 2 DVD, the MGS2 'making of' it was extremely well made, and thankfully this time there were no region issues.

It should be noted that this 'making of' is nothing like the Documents of Metal Gear Solid 2, but is its own separate production.

The packaging was also great with clear DVD case allowing you to see the reverse side of the cover, which featured some great artwork of characters featured in the game. Overall the MGS2 PAL edition was worth the wait and was further proof that Konami knows how to treat their international fans.

So there you have it, a sample of my PAL exclusive collector’s editions and bonus discs. Nowadays being in a PAL region isn’t as of a big issue when it comes to conversions and release dates, so these kinds of extras are not as common. The biggest problem facing Australian gamers now is the lack of an R 18+ rating for games and the occasional stupid decision to not release good games here like Henry Hatsworth.

Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker TGS 09 demo impressions

2009-09-29T03:46:00.015+10:00

SO by now you’ve probably heard that the Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker demo for the PSP is available on IGN right now. And if you’re anything like me you downloaded it the second you could put your recently exploded head back together.

The demo is very short to be sure, but it does show off quite a lot of what gamers can look forward to next year. For starters the cutscenes are fully voiced and animated in the motion comic book style from Snake’s previous PSP outing, Metal Gear Solid Portable Ops. The overall presentation of the game is excellent, even the user-interface looks slick and is easy to use despite being in another language.

The most noticeable change is the controls, especially the camera movement. Similar to Resistance Retribution, Peace Walker allows the player to control the camera with the face buttons (circle, triangle, x and square). I was worried that this new control scheme may make the game more action orientated, but this layout is actually quite accommodating to stealth as well. Snake has also worked out how to go prone and walk slowly instead of crawling on his belly which makes sneaking much speedier affair.

Another addition to the Peace Walker is the camo-index that was first used in Metal Gear Solid 3. Though the system seems much more simple here, and there doesn’t appear to be any option to change your camouflage type while in the game, it still adds another layer of gameplay. The demo also has four different types of outfits (Naked, Jungle, Sneaking and Battle) for Snake, each with their own strengths and weaknesses. The Battle outfit for example gives you more weapons and armour but makes sneaking much more difficult.

While the introduction level and the first real mission gave me some insight into the game it wasn’t until repeat play throughs that I full appreciated what Peace Walker has to offer. For instance, in the second level of the demo the third area has a log lying next to a river as well as one stationary and two patrolling soldiers. Trying to earn an S-rank I worked out my stealthy plan of attack – the first step was tapping down on the D-pad to go prone and then going down to the riverbank while one of the patrolling guards was walking away from me. I continued in my prone position for as long as I could beside the log that separated me from my foe’s route and quickly dropped to the ground just as he turned around by holding the down button on the D-pad. My camo index went up to around 85%, so to him I was invisible.

As he walked past I released the down button and went back to being prone, then I continued on my path and came up behind a tree with the stationary guard on ther other side of it. Dropping to the ground again, so as not to alert the second patrolling guard, I used the new camera controls to see both patrolling guards movements and when the coast was clear I went back to prone and snuck off silently, then quickly shuffled off to area’s exit.

This one section can be played out so many ways. For example I could easily knock out one of the bad guys with either CQC or the tranquilliser pistol, then attach a Fulton balloon to their body called which sends knocked out baddies flying into the air and out of sight. Then again I could always come in guns blazing with the battle armour and not worry about any of this. Or in a new twist for the series, I could invite a friend to join in and help me take everyone down in complete silence.

Peace Walker isn’t the first Metal Gear game to go online, but it does have a unique take on this particular feature. From what I’ve seen and read players can host or join games with other owners of this demo and have them help you. The first level is totally solo, the second area supports up to two-players and the third can be played by four-players. Having four different Snakes in one level may sound like overkill, but the third area of this demo has Snake attempting to take down a tank, so really you need all the help you can get. Even with the Battle suit and a lot of practice it’s still not an easy task to do alone.

Unfortunately seeing as I’m the only PSP owner I know and certainly the only one I know who would bother player a Japanese demo of an upcoming PSP game it’s impossible for me to test the CO-OP modes. But regardless, I can tell how much fun this game would be with friends and can’t wait to give the new CO-OP mode a spin. The demo only supports playing locally via Ad Hoc, but hopefully (and most like it will) the full game will have full online support.

Some of my fears for this game have been alleviated with this demo while others have only been slightly eased. For one thing I’m glad that this game is Kojima’s priority and that from what I’ve played and seen it will most likely be another brilliant addition to this incredible series. What worries me is the possible dependence on finding help from other players to beat certain areas.

While the tank level is the only level that makes me think this way, and I’m almost certain that it’s only going to be “challenge map” of sorts rather than a real “story mission”, I just don’t want my single-player experience to be interrupted by the need to seek out help. Hopefully these two worlds will be kept separate enough that the game will be awesome with just one player and a different kind of fun with a larger group, much like Portable Ops.

Peace Walker was always on my radar. From the first trailer right up til now this game is quite possibly my most anticipated title. While I do still have some concerns over where the series is headed I have a lot of faith in Kojima and his team and I’m confident Peace Walker will be an awesome game that was well worth the wait.

Review - Batman: Arkham Asylum

2009-09-14T20:28:00.036+10:00

THOUGH it may not be the boldest of claims (seeing as a lot of video games based on comic books aren’t very good) but Batman: Arkham Asylum is the best comic-to-video game adaptation ever.

The story follows the Dark Knight as he takes the Joker back to the infamous Arkham Asylum. But as usual things quickly get out-of-hand as the Joker and his henchman take control of the asylum. And so begins what must be one of the longest night in Batman’s storied crime fighting career.

Easily the most noticable strength of the game is the hand-to-hand combat. An intuitive counter system as well as Batman's incredible agility ensure that fighting off hordes of Batman's foes is never a chore and is actually something to look forward to. Of course an all out assault isn’t always the best idea, but luckily when it comes to stealth nobody does it better than Batman.

Every so often you’ll encounter a room filled with armed enemies that you must take down before advancing, but the problem is that Batman is no super-hero and can only take a few shots before going down for the count. This is were gadgets like your Batarangs, explosive gel and grappling gun come in handy as you hide in the shadows and take out your enemies one by one. Another tool at your disposal is 'dectective vision' - a filter that highlights items of interest as well as letting you see through walls, monitor your enemy's alert level and ultimately plan your attacks much more easily.

When you need a break from combat or silently stalking your enemies there are a host of puzzles set up by the Riddler to be solved. These side quests can involve finding trophies, hidden question marks or identifying personal items of famous inmates (such as Catwoman and Two-Face) to then unlock bonus material such as character profiles or 3D models for the gallery. However the best unlockable content is the challenge maps, which are arenas outside of the main story mode that focus on either facing a series of enemies in direct combat for points or taking down bad guys using stealth techniques.

All of these different elements come together to ensure there's a perfect mix of stealth, detective work and straight up combat which means players aren’t constantly doing the same thing over and over again.

The atmosphere of Arkham Asylum is incredible; the art style alone is impressive but the real star here is the audio, and in particular the voice work of Mark Hamill as the Joker and the taped interviews with the Arkham inmates that are scattered throughout the game.

On top of all of this are hidden relics that help you discover more about Arkham Asylums secret past, an experience points system that allows you to upgrade Batman's suit and gadgets and a number of brilliant encounters with Scarecrow and his hallucogenic gas, one of which left me absolutely speechless.

The only downside to this whole experience is the collector's edition, which is poorly made and very over-priced. Here in Australia we received the UK version of the collector's edition, which means our character profile book is of similar paper stock as the game's manual and is not leather-bound like in the US. One area where every region got screwed is the Batarang. This chunk of scratched plastic, stuck to a cheap stand no less, is beyond disappointing. How am I going to threaten anybody with this? I would take it off the stand, but it'd probably break. The UK version also lacks the big bat-shaped box used to house all of these extras, and instead comes in a cheap black cardboard box. But still, as disappointing as this is it's hardly the developers fault, so there's no point taking it out on their excellent game.

Aside from the aforementioned packaging issues, everything about Batman: Arkham Asylum just feels right – the fighting, the stealth sections and the overall atmosphere have been finely tuned to fit perfectly within the Batman universe. And truth be told, everything mentioned in this review is just a taste of what is waiting for you in this deep and intelligently designed experience.

Though the coming months will see a lot of great titles being released it’s not hard to imagine Batman: Arkham Asylum being on a lot of people’s games of the year lists. Mine included.

GRADE: A

Available on the Xbox 360 (version reviewed), PlayStation 3, PC. Story mode was played to completion with the vast majority of Riddler's puzzles solved. Review guidelines

Some of my video game junk

2009-08-28T07:00:00.005+10:00

I own a lot of video game related junk. This is partly because I can't stand the idea of people throwing out video game related stuff to the point where I own a few broken GunCon pedals that a friend of mine was throwing out a while back. They now live in storage, never to be looked at again. Tragic.

In all honesty I believe that one day we will live underground and trade jugs of water and video game memorabilia for ammunition to fight of the legions of robots from hell. It’s what I was raised to believe. It’s in the bible. Anyway, I figured I’d share some of my less junky pieces of junk.

First up I figured I start with one of my favourite items - Sonic’s 10th birthday pack. As a kid I was a huge SEGA fan boy, and in a way I still am. I only wish there were more SEGA branded stuff that was actually good.

I got it off the now dead Lik-Sang a while back and as far as I recall it was pretty cheap. I don’t remember exactly but it was less than AU$50. The pack included a copy of Sonic Adventure for Dreamcast, a 10th Anniversary copy of Sonic Adventure 2 (which I’m certain is the same game as the regular version), a soundtrack CD that contains various Sonic tunes from all of his games, a gold coin with Sonic embossed on it and a little history booklet. It also came with a Sonic action figure thing that was about 30cm tall, but I’m pretty sure it’s in a box somewhere that I can’t find. It’s probably next to the GunCon pedals and the Nintendo 64 RF adapters. That’s not a joke.

Anyway, on to the pictures.

Here is the Sonic anniversary pack next to a copy of Sonic Adventure that came in the pack.

A close up of the back of the box.

This is Sonic’s birthday. Write it down and try and remember it this time. You guys are such dicks. Think of all he’s done for you!

This is what comes inside the pack – Sonic Adventure 2 and the other digi-pack thing.

Here’s a close up of the coin. Front and back. Not sure which one is the front.

Here is the first page of the booklet. If you look to the left you can make out the embossed logo that is on the cover. The cover is white and doesn’t show up in photos very well so this gives you a better idea of what the booklet is actually like.

An example of one of the pages inside the booklet.

This page has a few Sonic facts.

Yes kids, there was a time when Sonic was popular.

This is the last page. If only he could evolve to good games.

Well that's it for now. I have some more stuff I'll post when I get around to it, which shouldn't be too far away.

What this blog is all about...

2009-06-29T00:50:00.018+10:00

FOR the longest time I've wanted to be a journalist who covers video games. That's not something that's easy to say out loud, but here on my blog I can say whatever I want. I want this site to be something I come back to every now and then and add my current thoughts on stuff that interests me. That's mostly video games of course, but also comics, movies, music and any other media I've consumed recently.

I don't want this site to be just a collection of random rants. Ultimately I'd love to build up a small following of readers who I can bounce ideas off, and then one day use this site to show my passion for covering video games in a serious yet fun manner.

REVIEWS GUIDELINES

One of the major focuses of this blog is for me to have somewhere to post my reviews. I see my reviews as a buyers guide more than a serious critical analysis. That's not to say that I wouldn't go back to a good (or bad game) and look at it in a more in-depth feature article, but the reviews are designed to tell you if a game is worth your money or not based on my own personal experience.

VIDEO GAME RATINGS GUIDE

A
A brilliant and engaging game that is worth your time and money. A game that will be looked back on in years to come as high point in gaming.

B
A excellent game that is not without its problems, but is ultimately a well made experience. Worth the cost and the hours you'll lose playing it.

C
A solid, fun game that has a few serious flaws. By no means a bad game, just one that is good but could have been better. Possibly worth buying, and most likely worthy of a rental.

D
A bad game. Not worth buying, and I wouldn't recommend renting it on it's own, but there's something in it that stops it from being a complete failure.

F
A failure. A bad game that has serious, possibly game breaking, flaws. Don't rent it, don't buy it, just pretend it never happened.

(There's no E. I know that seems odd as I remember seeing E at school. Usually in my maths class. But for uniformity sake, A, B, C, D and F is what I'll use. Also there's no - or +, just the letter, nothing more.)

Information and disclosure segment

At the end of each review I will write a small section in italics where I'll point out what platforms you can buy the game on, how far I got before reviewing it, and any other information relevant to the review. My reviews will generally reflect the single-player experience, and I may give a separate score to the multi-player side if necessary.

LATE TO THE PARTY REVIEW POLICY

When a game is fresh from the developer and still within its “new release” window it’s easier to form your own opinion about it then it is months later, after numerous reviews, discussions and post-mortems. When doing a Late to the Party Review I plan on acknowledging this fact, and will explore what my expectations were and factors that may have influenced my opinion of a game before I even played it. In addition to this I plan on discussing wether or not my opinion of matches up with the general consensus and if my own preconceived ideas have changed since playing it.