Developer: Ritual

Year: 2006

Genre: First Person Shooter

Themes:  Sci-fi / Mutants / Evil Organizations

Available on: PC

Original Sin

Sin Episodes is an interesting game. I write that because I can’t really put it any other way. There’s a lot of history behind both its predecessor and this brave sequel attempted eight years afterwards. The original game was an above average shooter which was quickly swept aside by Half-Life when it was released. Now, Sin Episodes utilizes the Half-Life 2 engine as a grand sense of irony. The developer, Ritual Entertainment has struggled to push games to shelves for reasons of poor sales amongst other things. Sin Episodes was essentially its last attempt at a cash grab with nine different episodes planned but only Emergence (Episode 1) released.

Meanwhile, Valve was releasing its own episodes for Half-Life 2, probably frightening all but a few dedicated Sin fans away. Finally, Ritual was acquired by a larger fish and Sin Episodes was seen as a sin for merger, bringing about its demise. That leaves us with one episode to fill a gaping void, however it’s still a worthwhile entry if you’re into shooters.

Story

Emergence doesn’t offer much in the way of plot. Obviously if eight other slices were added then you’d have something of significance. I’m not absolutely certain where it picks up although I’ve pinpointed it to somewhere after first game. Elexis Sinclaire is still alive and so too is John Blade. Unfortunately Elexis seems to have gained the upper hand on HardCORPS leader and has him strapped to an operating table at the start of the game. You don’t need any knowledge of the previous game although it might help in understanding the returning characters better. A couple of new faces also emerge early like Jessica Cannon, the latest addition to HardCORPS who rescues Blade after a peculiar vial of green stuff is injected into him. Another addition is Viktor Radek, the one jabbing syringes into Blade, while combing his oversized goatee. For the rest of the game you’re chasing down Radek for answers with the assistance of Jessica and everyone’s favorite tech-freak, JC also remerging.

The game is still set within Freeport city and does a wonderful job of illustrating its grandeur as you roam around the levels and note various pieces of technology and view the skyscrapers from across the bay. And of course there’s the mutant trend and their various labs although not much is explained.

Elexis is bouncing back after her defeat in more ways than one

Gameplay – Physics and Shooting

Working with the Half-Life 2 engine, Emergence also contains Havok physics and doesn’t work with it too often. There’s one part where you can place a box to boost yourself onto a higher platform and you can place health canisters into medical stations. That’s about it. Sometimes grenades can bounce off one another resulting in one sent hurtling towards your face but aside from that the only use of physics in gameplay is when a boss charges down on you and smashes fences. I thought the clever use of physics could have more of an impact. Watching enemies fall off buildings ragdoll style was still amusing.

The one time I wished walls didn’t break

The predominant gameplay is very standard for a shooter. Blade finishes wave after wave of soldiers and mutants with a massive arsenal of three weapons. That’s just unacceptable. Aside from the classic Magnum making a comeback there’s also a shotgun and an assault rifle. While each of these has a secondary fire mode, all of them seem equally effective. The shotgun rounds still travel a fair distance and a headshot or two spells doom for the oddly outfitted green defense force. The lack of weapons while being depressing isn’t all tragic. Blasting troops in half is very satisfying and in some ways feels like FEAR. This is squad clearing action which is entertaining and occasionally evokes that feeling of invincibility. Bouncing grenades off walls or the ricochet off the shotgun could also provide a giddy thrill although it’s exceptionally difficult in open areas.

The levels convey well implemented design. Only a small amount of backtracking required and different landmarks make them feel like they’re not running together. The problem is there’s not any variety in the gameplay. No vehicles to commandeer, no stupid seesaw puzzles to solve. You unlock doors on consoles, break crates and shoot endless waves of charging, thoughtless militia. Occasionally Jessica shows up to lend a hand.

This is about what you can expect from the AI in terms of intelligence

Graphics

Overall the graphics convey the same art direction as Half-Life 2 except with Freeport and HardCORPS logos replacing the Combine emblems. Until you traverse outside on the final level of the game you won’t see anything which separates it from the Source engine. This is when you manage your first glimpse of the city. It’s quite a spectacular view and was probably intended to be expanded on in the later episodes. This only left me wanting more. That feeling of unfulfillment is infuriating and disheartening. It’s definitely solid in the graphics department and moreover the bust physics section.

Clearly this is what advanced physics engines were designed for

The women in Sin Episodes have abnormally large breasts like Elexis Sinclaire originally had. This was used to Ritual’s advantage in the advertising campaign as the usual “sex sells” routine and it almost did until people realized the majority of bouncing occurred in the first five minutes and decided to stick to YouTube videos. It’s sexist for those five minutes and deviates to a few encounters with Jessica and her fabulous g-string on show. Looking at her posterior also warrants a few sexual lines. This probably locked women out as a potential audience.

Sound

Emergence brings back JC and Blade’s voice actors although Blade doesn’t deliver any of his witty one liners after annihilating a string of baddies. Blade is a very silent protagonist. He only utters the names of his squad members when answering their transmissions. Whether this is due to the lack of cutscenes is questionable but for now Blade retains a Gordon Freeman approach. Jen Taylor offers the majority of voice acting as Jessica although I too often thought it was just a physical version of Cortana because she literally has no other style of delivery.

This vehicle’s destination is south corner of Fuck and You

On the other hand the sound design is one of the more impressive accompaniments. A sizeable amount of ambient noises were added to build the atmosphere with alarms sounding, explosions booming and my favorite, enemies shouting. One of the best ways to identify soldiers ahead was by listening. You could hear those barking orders from across the field and the effects were altered to highlight that. For instance, an enemy yelling in a larger room prompted an echo-like distorted sound. It just works very well and mimics what was done in Half-Life 2 to great effect. The music in contrast is pretty standard orchestral stuff; don’t expect much except for a lovely song on the menu.

Verdict

I think Sin Episodes is a very reasonable shooter if you’re on a budget. In addition to the first episode you also receive the original Sin game and a number of arenas which are like survival maps against the AI for a couple of minutes. This package will more than likely last you an entire weekend although might leave you dissatisfied by the fact you can’t continue playing more. It only lasts a couple of hours but you could increase the difficulty for the replay as the game features many ways to adjust it. Not bad, maybe worthwhile for the cleavage too.

It’s on Steam for $10 with the first game as a bonus.

Now I wish episode 2 was out. Guess I’ll settle for Half-Life 2 episode 3.

Recommended level – High Rise

Pros
+Good weapon control and firing mechanics
+Decent graphics and enhanced “bouncing”
+Simple and effective challenge system
+Bundled with the original game
+Bouncing grenades off walls and ragdoll events which follow
+Arena survival modes

Cons
-Sometimes horrid animations
-AI just runs at you
-Limited enemy and weapon types
-Not much of a plot happening
-No variety in gameplay or use of advanced physics
-Not much to separate it from Half-Life 2 / other Source engine games in terms of look
-Blade doesn’t speak too often
-Very very short. Outlook on future episodes is extremely bleak

Developer: Ubisoft

Year: 2010

Genre: Hack N’ Slash

Themes:  Assassination / Revenge / Violence / Otaku

Available on: Wii

It’s Game Time!

Travis Touchdown is back for another ultra-violent escapade in Santa Destroy. I was looking forward to this game as I really enjoyed the quirky humor and characterization of the various assassins you face in the first adventure. Out of respect I toured through ranks eleven to one of the first game again before jumping into the desperate struggle. After completing the next saga of Travis’ battle out of hell I was fairly satisfied but not to the same level of the initial game. Desperate Struggle does deliver an entertaining hack n’ slash fiesta although lacks the charm fans are familiar with. Allow me to articulate.

Story

Don’t expect a much of a story. That’s all I can say. It’s just like the first game and because it coasts in the same direction you can expect the game to concentrate on dishing out geeky joke after joke which will leave most of us squirming. Desperate Struggle begins three years following the events of the last game. Travis is still part of the United Assassin’s Association which he joined and worked his way to the top in. He has unfortunately dropped in rank though, back to 51^st place for whatever reason (it’s never explained.) Suddenly his friend Bishop is brutally slaughtered by order of the highest ranking assassin in the association and this prompts Travis to ascend the ladder once more to get his revenge.

From that point on, there’s not a great deal happening other than some scenes where the camera zooms in on Sylvia’s bust for two minutes while she explains the history behind the assassin Travis is about to fight. Strangely, she’s talking to someone else and this leaves a few questions open which generate some interest. Beyond that there’s some minor development in the last few moments of the game and you’ll also see a few scenes where Travis starts to become sympathetic to those he’s battling with.

Now one of the greatest accomplishments of the first game was its ability to create unforgettable psychopaths. Travis chatted with troubled souls like Doctor Peace and Bad Girl and the dialogue not only provided insight into the character but also set the stage for an entertaining battle. In Desperate Struggle it’s practically the opposite. Only a handful of bosses will say a few words to Travis before arming themselves. The majority leap straight into action, preferring that their actions speak louder than words. This approach is less than amusing and I say that sincerely because we miss out on a few laughs in their conversations. I’m not annoyed at the changes; however I am suggesting that this seriously was a highlight of the first game. The way it built up to those events made them very worthwhile; here it just feels like an afterthought.

You’ll receive the same kind of ludicrous plot fashioned in the first game with ample laughs and even more profanities. Just keep in mind you won’t have as many memorable bosses as before.

Gameplay

The gameplay is largely the same as before although I found one of the major differences is the way the movement works. It’s the most frustrating part of the game for me as Travis tends to move awkwardly inward to locked on targets which means he’ll have a harder time positing himself and will take a fair amount of blows as a result. Combat in general aside from strafing around is similar but slower on a whole. Killing enemies can take quite a while longer and doesn’t have the same kind of effect as before. When you finished off a foe before, their body would explode into a pool of blood and you could immediately move onto the next target. Here when enemies die their corpse falls to the ground and it blocks Travis, altering the transition. The camera also has a tendency to swivel rather oddly when locking onto the next enemy.

Those gripes aside it’s still enjoyable and Travis can now carry around multiple weapons at once, drawing the ones he wants while in combat to instantly suit the type of enemy. You eventually get your hands on a pair of beam katanas, using both to slice through mobsters and now incorporating the nunchuck into death blows (finishing moves.) Another major addition is the ecstasy gauge which is represented by the tiger on screen. As you deal damage the tiger pays more attention until it glows red. Once enough damage has been doled out, Travis can enter a God mode and attack like a maniac for a few seconds. This complements the slot machines which also activate a god mode if you get lucky after killing an enemy. One of them even turns you into a tiger. A possible issue with the ecstasy gauge is that it detracts from the gameplay because it’s simple to build up. Every second pack of enemies will have it fully charged and you could be in god mode more than you’d expect, although taking damage does admittedly lower ecstasy.

Furthermore there are a few new moves. The most major is a dash attack which occurs when you swing the Wii remote in a slashing motion. This can be a very serious pain after recharging yours sword because the motion is almost the same. Different moves are also available when playing other characters. For three sections of the game Travis takes it easy while Shinobu and Henry return to help him on his quest. Henry’s abilities are fun and fine although they only last for one fight which is a huge letdown. In contrast, Shinobu tackles two larger sections. She has a weird series of animations, like crouching while running. More importantly are problems with these little platforming segments attached. Shinobu can jump on platforms and reach higher ones. The detection system to actually achieve the jump is beyond broken. Even if it looks physically impossible that she’ll miss those platforms, it can happen. This was another irritating gameplay aspect which wasn’t ready for release.

Outside of combat Travis goes around town doing sidejobs. Before I forget to mention, there is no need to traveling between different parts of town, you now choose your destination off a menu which appears. I found that was a huge improvement and also a huge smack in the face as you can’t see the town anymore. One of the purposes of traveling around before was to collect items for new moves as well as hidden costumes. All of that is now gone and was unsettling. Why not have both?

The sidejobs are all related to physical labor. There are also revenge missions which put you in combat although they can only be completed once and you’ll never see them again, meaning you can’t earn money how you want. Every sidejob is done to a retro style, circa NES era. I really enjoyed the presentation as the controls for these were not only better than the game itself but also had the 8 bit sounds to go with them. They’re not all as rewarding as one another though. Puzzle games can take several minutes to complete for small rewards given the time taken. Sticking the same three games to earn cash was enough for me.

With your hard earned cash you can purchase new weapons, clothes and train at the gym. The gym has an extremely annoying minigame attached to increasing your attack power, it can take almost twenty minutes to get a sequence down. Travis can also get his cat Jeane into shape, play awkward Otaku games and decorate his room with items scattered around assassination maps. That’s all fun, but lacks the input of the town as I stated before.

Graphics

Desperate Struggle is a modest increase to the graphics of the first game. The major characters are better detailed and the environments don’t look quite so blurry. Particle effects for weapons have been built upon and now look far more impressive, showing off awesome trails as you smash your katana into hulking chainsaw wielders. The blood isn’t as amazing as before in my opinion because has a tendency to spill away from the camera.

The presentation for everything is well handled with an increased retro design focus which means you’ll think you’re back in the 80s for a moment or two until it achieves a balance between the two. People who’ve played Killer 7 before will also get a glimpse of a familiar assassination completion sign with really spiffy brushstrokes.

Sound

Continuing on the same excellent standard set in the first game the music is eargasmic. This peppy, jazzy soundtrack provides the perfect sounds you’ll want accompanying your endless slaughter. Themes for each boss were again written and this time there’s more of a vocal emphasis. One my favorite tracks for instance is one called Philistine which plays during the Margaret boss. In this way, Philistine created the character of the boss entirely through this song and practically made her the best by doing so. Interestingly and moreover disappointingly the song was changed for the PAL version into one which is heavily synthesized and almost unrecognizable.  Fortunately the jazzy remix of the main theme has been left intact and is just an amazing tune to start the game with.

All of the voice actors are also up to scratch. Atkin Downes is still providing the same enraged tone for Travis, keeping it effective yet sarcastic as it should be. On a side note, Yuri Lowenthal voiced two bosses for the game which was just ridiculous. Using him twice was obvious and lazy, perhaps because of localization problems.

One of the largest sound problems though is to do with a very annoying enemy who all use guns and the exact same line “Getting your jollies?” They will say this every six or so seconds without fail. It’s the most annoying sound design I’ve encountered in a while. Maybe it was intentional, because oddly enough they’re the enemy you will always end up killing first.

Verdict

Desperate Struggle is an adrenaline fueled entry into the emerging series. It retains a very familiar combat system while improving some of the more tedious aspects of the first game such as the sidejobs to make them far less painful. Unfortunately the bosses are not even remotely close to those presented before and are the obvious weakness of this game as that was a fundamental factor of the original. Various problems with movement while in combat also hinder the experience a little more as they can cause both you and Travis a great deal of pain.

You probably won’t end up replaying Desperate Struggle as you unlock a deathmatch mode to face any previous bosses at the end of the game and really won’t miss out on too many words. It’s ten hours of good ol’ Travis Touchdown and his deadly but rather hilarious exploits.

Recommended boss – Margaret

Pros
+Strong jazzy / 8 bit soundtrack
+Dual wielding and ultra-violence
+Typical satire of Otaku culture and hilarious pop culture references
+Retro games
+Better challenge
+Fast traveling system and no requirements for ranking fights
+Better detailed environments and particle effects

Cons
-Bosses have far less characterization than before
-Pre-ranking fights can become extremely repetitive
-Ecstasy gauge is built too fast meaning alot of mashing of A
-Can’t travel around town
-Not able to repeat assassination sdejobs
-Frequent camera problems and movement issues
_Shinobu’s platforming sequences
-Ruined Philistine song on the PAL version

Developer: Ubisoft

Year: 2010

Genre: Action-Adventure

Themes:  Persia / Time / King Solomon / Demons

Available on: PC, Xbox 360 and PS3

Forgotten Fans

Forgotten Sands takes Prince of Persia back to the forgotten series. Essentially these days there are two divisions of Prince of Persia. The first is Sands of Time which is the most popular having been conceived in 2003 and enjoying continued success with two sequels. The second arrived in 2008 which was yet another rethinking of the Prince to generate a completely different experience and character. It is simply referred to as Prince of Persia 2008 due to its title, like how Rambo 4 is titled Rambo for some reason.

Forgotten Sands is the latest offering in the Sands of Time series, returning to a timeline previously thought to be finished, however this is not the case. It takes place somewhere between Sands of Time and Warrior Within. For that reason our Prince has started to develop that troubled and furious appearance which comes to fruition in Warrior Within. Some of his youthful traits are still there, including his goatee from Sands of Time. This is a Prince moving quickly into adulthood and consequently his personality in Forgotten Sands is more logical and considerate. If you’re confused why I’m writing about this it’s more or less to demonstrate his behavior in this game because the Prince literally transforms into a different person each game.

Story

The burning question is of course, should you play Sands of Time first? Let me be clear, this game has almost no relevance to the other Sands games. In fact it seems to have a hard time fitting in because the events which transpire in this game are never mentioned again. Anyway, the Prince fresh from has encounter at Azad travels to his brother, Malik’s Kingdom in order to learn a thing or two about leadership. When he arrives the city is naturally under siege and Malik is pushed further back into the sanctuary of the palace’s walls. This is the point where everything quickly becomes confusing. Mailk unleashes a mythical army of sand demons to defeat the invaders. Instead this turns everyone in sand statues, except for the Prince and his brother who have a split seal, protecting them from its corruption.

Then shortly after that the Prince meets Razia, a mysterious Queen sorceress who starts giving him a series of familiar powers like the ability to rewind time. This time though, they’re mainly water based. What better way to destroy sand? From that point onward Razia tasks the Prince with destroying the sand army leader, Ratash to bring an end to the crisis. It’s quite straightforward from then on. There aren’t that many surprises or even cutscenes to advance the plot. In fact there’s only about five minutes of actual story and some back history on the fortress. This is where Forgotten Sands falls short for many fans of the series. The other games were strongly story driven and provided interactive experiences because of that. Forgotten Sands is more like a “Doomish” kind of game. No plot, just action and more action. If that actually sounds better to you I think you’ll really enjoy this game. It’s something you can sit down and play without having to dwell on some ridiculous narrative.

Gameplay – Platforming

As mentioned above, Forgotten Sands contains a number of powers gifted by Razia. These powers give the Prince several platforming abilities via environmental manipulation which have never been encountered in Prince of Persia games before. You can temporarily freeze water to bounce off walls, leap across chasms with a burst of energy and restructure areas of the city which have been destroyed. Putting these powers together makes platforming in this game very enjoyable and satisfying. You have to switch powers again and again and master all of the other basic abilities the Prince has. Outside those abilities the Prince has standard skills which are a mixture of every Sands of Time game. He can of course run along walls, jump, wall to wall kick, roll, push and pull devices, fall on curtains, grab onto pillars and climb. There are a few slight modifications to make this easier like the fact you no longer have to balance on beams at all and the controls for moving between pillars almost never fails because of a perfect linear camera. Unfortunately one of the new basic abilities makes less sense than I’d like. When kicking off one wall to another in order to climb the Prince can now extend a wall run after a click meaning he scurries up a wall after a jump. That’s physically impossible because it means he would have to be walking vertically. Well, acrobatics has always been odd in this gymnastics game so I can forgive this one.

Platforming accounts for approximately 70% of the game. It can all go to your head because you are repeating similar strings of sequences for five minute durations until the difficulty might be increased. Also a lot of them actually take place in extremely familiar looking areas from the other games. For instance, the Ramparts at the very beginning appears identical to the initial city in Sands of Time. There are also a small handful of easy puzzles to complete all of which are less than remarkable.

Gameplay – Combat

The remaining 30% is spent in combat. Here the Prince faces off against waves of sand demons. Fighting fifty at once is quite normal; imagine it like it was a Serious Sam game with swords. It’s completely focused around crowd controlling enemies so they can’t retaliate. The Prince is awarded powers from a straightforward upgrades system which is upgraded from XP earned for defeating sand monsters and finding hidden sarcophaguses. Amongst quite linear upgrades to things like damage done and health increases are four elemental powers. Using these powers the Prince can increase his defenses, leave fire in his step, send shards of ice flying at foes and create a miniature tornado. Each of these powers has its individual use, however the ice based one is above and beyond the rest. This is because it also sends enemies flying in addition to dealing massive levels of damage, which makes it the only one worth upgrading. I thought the upgrades system was a very nice touch because it was evidently needed in games like Warrior Within, however some of the abilities are absolutely useless compared to others.

Another problem is a missing support character again and this was rather infuriating due to the blurb on the back of the box which indicates you will fight alongside your brother. Malik never directly assists you in combat or even follows you around. This is the definite low point of the game for me because Prince of Persia is known for having support characters in more modern games. You only have small chats from time to time with Malik and it’s about as stagnant as Warrior Within.

My thoughts on Forgotten Sand’s gameplay are generally positive. The combat is a vast improvement on the most recent game although it can suffer from relatively boring fights during the first few hours. It doesn’t have the same amazing variety of the freeform fighting system, but just facing off fifty foes at once is an empowering feeling. It also borrows from God of War to implement the upgrades system and the combat actual seems more like that instead of a Prince of Persia game. In fact, the way health and magic is recovered is identical to God of War and the animation for it is indistinguishable. The last thing to note is there are no quick time events for bosses. Not being a fan of quick time events this sounds like bliss but has actually led to very much uninspired bosses which just spam the exact same ability the entire fight.

Graphics

Forgotten Sands is not a fantastic looking game. Considering Ubisoft was developing three different engines at once for the portable, Wii and  Xbox 360/ PS3/PC versions I wasn’t expecting much. As mentioned earlier you will encounter almost identical areas from the other Sands of Time games. Imagine those areas with better textures and lighting and that’s exactly what you get. Some of them are very impressive and are in line with today’s standard. Others around the middle of the game are bland and encourage you to move quickly.

The particle effects are all excellent with amazing detail for water freezing, right down to the drop. Ubisoft also seems to have mastered sand storms which become more common closer to the conclusion, generating an intense feeling. They and the Prince’s model are absolutely the highlights although I just wish there were more particle effects.

Sound and Music

Don’t expect too much from the sound design. You really won’t hear many ambient noises other than the howling wind. There’s generally a missing atmosphere unlike previous titles which have birds squawking, people screaming and combat. You’re isolated so it’s normal to hear only your footsteps. In combat the sand demons don’t even make much of a racket, you hear their bony feet clattering forward and a sword cleaving the air.

Voice acting is another peculiarity. Yuri Lowenthal is back doing the voice once again although he sounds much deeper than before. Whether or not this is to tie in with the Robin Atkin Downes voice actor in Warrior Within is question and is probably the only reason. There’s not much really said because of the lack of cutscenes and there’s far less of the Prince’s arrogant, sarcastic monologue than previously but I’m glad it’s there.

Finally, the music is decent and relaxing. You can play through Forgotten Sands at a calm pace with this soothing soundtrack which is very close to the one offered by Prince of Persia 2008 and occasionally Sands of Time. It harbors that Arabian sound too with the Kamaan, Tabla and Naay playing a number of different themes appropriate for each section of gameplay. Overall the sound lacks any kind of atmospheric depth and the music compensates with some very relaxing tracks for comfortable gameplay during a weekend.

Verdict

Forgotten Sands is another troubled attempt by Ubisoft to keep the Prince of Persia franchise together. Although this was released around the time of the Sands of Time film it remains to be seen whether or not this was a cash in. Since multiple games were developed at once Ubisoft was appealing to all of the fans from previous titles which probably led to mass confusion about what kind of game they really wanted to develop. Forgotten Sands is quite repetitive and lacks any kind of interesting story but has some genuinely exciting platforming and combat, particularly later in the game. It’s a sound entry for Ubisoft, proving they haven’t completely abandoned the Prince in favor of the new Italian assassins. My advice is to wait for this game to drop to around $10 in price and then go for it on a weekend you have off. It’s absolutely a no stress action-adventure game with the same Persian feel fans are accustomed to. If you were looking for a more solid action-adventure title though, God of War 3 is my recommendation.

NOTE: This is a review of the PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 version. The Wii, PSP and DS games are completely different!

Pros
+Incorporates many of the better aspects of previous titles
+Persian feel
+Fighting 50 opponents at once with various powers
+New platforming abilities such as freezing water
+Better controls than before
+Rewind system intact

Cons
-No real story evident
-Slowly evolving combat system with very dull bosses
-Dated graphics in some areas
-Platforming sequences can start to get very repetitive after a while
-Imbalanced upgrade system
-Generic level design, borrowed from other games
-Can only save one game file

Developers: Irrational Games and Looking Glass Studios

Year: 1999

Genre: FPSRPG

Themes:  Cyberpunk / Horror / Science Fiction / Mystery

Available on: PC

Shoot First Ask Questions Later

When I was at the awesome and exuberant age of 9, Half-Life and Unreal were about the only games I played. The sheer thrill of whacking aliens with crowbars and launching rockets at boulder throwing behemoths was empowering. I loved playing shooters; I had to play them all. The rush, that adrenaline so many people crave. At the time I was still buying PC Powerplay magazines, rushing through the articles and then checking out the latest demos. On that month’s disc I found a demo which would change my perception of shooters forever and become my favorite game ever. System Shock 2. I was puzzled, I merely glanced at the title and mouthed “Might be cool.” It was cool alright. It was perfection.

Story

System Shock 2 follows the original game up, 42 years after its events. For this reason the necessity of playing the first becomes void almost immediately. Moving the narrative from a decimated space station to a starship is quite a transition. In System Shock a rather nasty incident involving a corrupted AI caused a number of employees belonging to the Trioptimum Corporation to lose their lives on space station Citadel. After 42 years Trioptimum is ready to serve mankind once again, this time via space exploration. You assume the role of a soldier who has been assigned to the starship Von Braun after a 3 year tour of duty. Upon arrival you’re kept in a cryogenic state for 6 months while the starship journeys through the cosmos. When you wake up, anything and everything has gone wrong. The ship has been hijacked by an unknown alien force and the security AI is malfunctioning.

Someone should fire the interior decorator

I won’t go any further. It progresses into an excellent story at a frantic pace. You’re in a state of constant isolation, oppression and fear. Your only contact is a Janice Polito who urges you to meet her on deck 4 of the ship. The plot contains one significant and exceptional twist which catches players completely off-guard. If you’ve played Bioshock before which quite literally parodies this game, you’re in for a shock like that. You can also piece together other vital information such as how the ship came to its current state and what were you doing in cryogenics for so long. This is achieved by a wonderful and inventive system of audio logs which are short messages from crew members at various dates. Gradually all is revealed. Audio logs in this instance are what they should be in other games like Batman Arkham Asylum. They convey how people feel and what’s going on rather than spitting out codes you need for every locked door. System Shock 2s ability to construct an engaging and horrifying story is marvelous. The continual force towards cyberpunk pushes you into this gripping universe.

Gameplay – Upgrades and Inventory

For me System Shock 2 painted a style of gameplay I had never encountered from days of applying half my brain towards Doom. This was a different kind of shooter. I found that going in and blasting my way through wasn’t an option. I had to time my actions and execute attacks with unrivaled perfection just to avoid getting snapped in half by various enemies. Our protagonist is human and very venerable at that. It’s an effort to survive and that’s precisely what this game is about. As your foes gain strength you’re supposed to keep them in check by furthering your own character. By purchasing cyber modules gained from completing tasks and scavenging you can upgrade your own abilities in many different areas.

These specializations are classed as STAT, PSI, WEAPON and TECH. Putting points into each will increase the character’s own abilities in other facets. TECH for example includes hacking as a skill. By developing it you can hack security terminals and containers to open for you. Another might be PSI which is essentially the game’s magic. There are psi points attached to the protagonist which is just another word for mana. You can purchase various psi powers to buff yourself and harm others.

Hacking a ValueRep

In addition to regular abilities there are other things to watch out for. Your character also has to manage an inventory, a bunch of nanites (money), weapon degradation and energy. If it sounds daunting don’t worry, there’s a great tutorial which walks you through everything you need to know. The rest is experimenting! Now on weapon degradation. This is actually an enormously interesting aspect of gameplay. As you fire the various weapons you find scattered throughout the ship your weapon will start to decay. Once it reaches a condition of 1 your weapon may break on you. This is a nightmare and is an incredible survival horror implementation even though weapons obviously wouldn’t break that fast. You can still maintain them with a skill and even repair them when they’re broken. Most weapons can also be modified too.

Gameplay – Character Building and Mode Swapping

So with a multitude of RPG elements presented in the game, System Shock 2 could potentially be seen as the first shooter to squeeze this into the genre. This created a small sub-genre of games called FPSRPGs (First Person Shooter Roleplaying Games) which have simple leveling systems attached. Some more modern examples include Fallout 3 and Borderlands. It’s just incredible the amounts of games like this exist today and it’s all thanks to this breakthrough in System Shock 2. Well, with that praise out of the way how does it all work in the game?

Flawlessly is one way to put it. Depending on the skills you’ve chosen you’ll have advantages and disadvantages. It comes down to your preferences. Starting from the word go you can choose a career in the Navy, Marines or Ops. This allows you to specialize in what area you think you’ll enjoy. Are you someone who likes to shoot everything in their path? Or are you more of the kind of clever hacker who bypasses security altogether? It’s entirely up to you. Sometimes a wide variety of abilities can be employed at once.

Crawling around on the different decks progresses the plot. Polito gives you tasks on each deck to complete which are more or less problems, caused by the alien forces. Don’t worry though, there’s no countdown this time. You can explore at your leisure and will be able to revisit decks once the primary objectives on each are completed. The level design is a terrific improvement on the general mazy environments of System Shock and a mini-map can be placed in the upper corner. Oh and if you were wondering about the windows you could use in System Shock, this game uses a different system called USE mode and SHOOT mode.

In USE mode you can access your inventory and essential data. In SHOOT mode you can walk around, picking up items and blasting aliens away. It’s easy to master; all you have to do is press tab to switch. It’s all in real time so when you’re in USE mode, be cautious of approaching aliens. I love this idea, you’re still under pressure. I once jumped from my seat because I was whacked while in USE mode. The aliens themselves, without spoiling anything freak me out, even today. Their mannerisms and speech are so psychologically mind bending that you may physically cower in fear. The themes of horror are built upon with a heavy series of ambient sound effects and a chilling soundtrack. Add a dash of blood to each floor and you’re in for one spine tingling ride. I’m not even kidding when I was say that I stood in a spot for thirty minutes after an encounter with a menacing spider. The spiders in this game have to be the best I’ve ever seen. There’s a mod available just to remove them. It’s highly atmospheric and intense. I guarantee you will believe you’re on this starship.

Don’t Cry, Don’t Cry. Soon You’ll be the Mother of Them All

I hope you can understand a few of the things written above. Based on my personal experience I really enjoyed the roleplaying elements not only because it was something I’d never seen in a shooter but also because of its sophistication. There are literally builds written out for maximum survival in this game. The speed running world record holder for this game used a variety of abilities to tremendous advantage. Place yourself in this isolated, creepy and intriguing environment and you’re in a game which truly stands out.

Graphics

System Shock 2 uses the Dark Engine from Thief. Working together on the project, Looking Glass Studios and Irrational Games created a particularly decent looking game for the period. It focused more on complex shadowing than anything else and to great effect. The short corridor levels of the game meant there were shadows everywhere and flickering lights. Unfortunately keeping to the shadows doesn’t allow you to stay hidden from the enemy. Every deck has a unique look and feel, like Recreation which has a mall, yes a mall built into it and Engineering which has radiation leaking through its coolant tunnels.

If This Render Doesn’t Freak You Out, I Don’t Know What Will.

Cyberpunk elements are of course intact like in the first game. Security cameras, terminals, turrets. You name it. It also seems particular attention was paid to the vital systems of a starship. There’s an engine core, an operations room, a shuttle bay, escape pods and a bridge. The Rickenbacker which is the second part of the starship is quite small by comparison and that feeling of claustrophobia is really instilled with finely crafted crammed corridors. There are wires running everywhere and creaking noises from the battered exterior. Graphically I think System Shock 2 performed well, however it was definitely overshadowed by Unreal earlier.

Sound and Music

Sound is the absolutely fundamental part of System Shock 2. The emphasis on looping ambient noises is massive. There’s a constant hum from the ship’s engine core, aliens walking around singing to themselves and klaxons wailing at you to get out before it’s too late. I think sound is very much the high point of this game. It may be the icing on the cake. It’s amazing what you can achieve with a few small sound effects. The level of atmosphere elevates above and beyond levels you’d ever fathom. It’s the idea of putting the player in that spot which works. You’re on a starship, you’re alone. What will you hear? That’s what the teams knew and targeted. It paid off and did so once again in Bioshock. In Bioshock you’re underwater right? There’s still water flowing in from the outside so that sound was looped to great effectiveness.

Then there’s the music. Aside from one small problem I have with a track being slightly more upbeat than I’d like the soundtrack is another example of music adding to the atmosphere. It sounds like something out of the shining. Short horn sounds and eerie notes looping. Techno beats as you scurry through radiation. Every environment on every deck has exactly what you’d expect the mood to be. This mood is set by the audio logs you’re hearing, the shadowing, the overall size of your surroundings and what you’re hearing. It’s haunting and tranquil at the same time.

Vedict

System Shock 2 is my favorite game so I’m absolutely the first to admit my praise can encroach on this review. There are a few general problems with the AI and the skills system which I can overlook because they’re not that game breaking. Really though this is a fantastic science-fiction horror game, built around solid RPG elements. It pushed so many delightful characteristics into this one amazing, jaw dropping shooter. If you’ve ever played Deus Ex and enjoyed it or are just a horror fan in general it then this is the game for you.

Recommended Level – Deck 5

Pros

+Large degree of RPG elements and character building
+Extreme level of atmosphere and horror
+Twist and turns plot which introduces things as you encounter them
+Audio logs playing messages with a great level of depth
+Incredible ambient sound design
+Different difficulties

Cons

-Slightly dated graphics for 1999
-AI can have some very awkward animations
-Certain weapons and skills are useless

Developer: 4A Games

Year: 2010

Genre:  FPS / Survival Horror

Themes:  Horror / Post-apocalyptic / Moscow Metro / Mutants / Survival

Available on: PC and Xbox 360

STALKER Suffers its Own Fall Out

Post-apocalyptic shooters seem to be all the rage at the moment. From Fallout 3 to STALKER it seemed apparent you could get your fill. When Metro 2033 suddenly appeared out of the blue I almost immediately dismissed it as an unoriginal game which would capitalize on the popularization of the theme. That perverted attitude flipped when I discovered Metro 2033 was actually based on a popular Russian novel and the people behind the game would be none other than the developers who went walking off the STALKER project.

Using the book as inspiration to create their own take on life after nuclear missiles slammed into Moscow, 4A Games has created a very atmospheric and unique shooter. The important question though is how does it compare to other and more successful titles on offer?

Story

Metro 2033 is set beneath the ruins of Moscow, specifically in the Moscow Metro System which has remained intact. Together with 40,000 others, our protagonist Artyom has lived in the claustrophobic tunnel network for 20 years and was brought up there as he was just newborn days before the disaster. It begins eight days in the future where Artyom is fighting alongside rangers on the surface. He encounters waves of mutated creatures and is eventually pinned to the ground by one. After a quick fade to black time is turned back 8 days earlier, beginning the story of how Artyom came to that point.

Waking up in his home station Exhibition, Artyom is informed by a fellow ranger, Hunter that the mutant attacks against the station are intensifying. It appears a new threat has developed underground. Stronger mutants known only as Dark Ones are responsible for this unprecedented level of danger. Artyom is entrusted with a mission from Hunter to contact the other rangers in the central station, Polis. From that point onward he’ll be journeying to the different stations meeting and greeting those sympathetic to his cause. One of these characters is Khan, a spiritual ranger who has a psychic affinity with the system and its mutated inhabitants. While you travel with Khan you will witness some strange phenomena and be backing away from your keyboard.

It’s just fascinating to explore these tunnels and every one of them presents something different. Paying attention to what is being said is crucial to getting the most out the story ranging from internal struggles between the Nazis and Russians to the enigmatic Dark Ones.

Gameplay – Surviving and Shops

Metro 2033 is basically a standard shooter integrating a few RPG elements. It’s a little more difficult than most so don’t expect to run and gun. Ammunition conservation is necessary to survival. Bullets in the metro system are quite scarce and it’s important to make them count by aiming carefully. Fortunately there are shops throughout the stations who sell bullets for bullets. That’s right; the game’s currency is bullets. These aren’t your ordinary bullets though; they penetrate flesh far more effectively compared to the homemade ammunition offered by the vendors. It’ll be up to you to choose what you should do with them.

Buying anything other than ammo unfortunately seems useless. Artyom carries around filters for his gasmask and medkits for quick health boosts. I found them to be plentiful in comparison to bullets. Also sold are weapons with various modifications attached. The scoped assault rifle I purchased was actually more difficult to use than the iron sight version. This was because the lens was cracked and Artyom breathes heavily, adjusting his aim. I understand this is more realistic, but it certainly was harder and there aren’t too many sections where you can take targets out from distance. Silenced weapons are fine for some of the stealth segments and I’ll explain. So the shopping system is fine but remember to purchase ammo only because it’s cheap and exactly what you need.

Gameplay – Combat and Horror

When you aren’t deciding what you’ll need to brave the tunnels you’re trying to survive them. There two basic enemy types, bandits and mutants. Typically every group of bandits you come into contact with is a stealth opportunity. You can sneak by unnoticed although it’s extremely difficult. If one bandit is alerted and starts firing then almost every bandit within a one kilometer radius immediately knows your position. There’s no hiding from that point onward unless you restart your last checkpoint. Here’s another problem, Metro 2033 has a habit of saving about every ten steps. If you accidentally get spotting while moving and then it saves the entire level must be restarted to regain stealth. The bandits aren’t that hard to finish since your health regenerates, but fight more than two of them at once and death is guaranteed.

Time spent with mutants is more frequent. For every level with mutants in you’re accompanied by another character. Their company is welcome, believe me. Not only do allies have unlimited ammo but they also make you feel safe. Metro 2033 is a highly atmospheric game especially during long walks down dark tunnels. I was turning around every time I heard a sound, I swear. It’s that immersive. I found it horrific at some points and comparable to the game FEAR and Silent Hill as there are just moments where you don’t know what the hell is going on. The psychological horror is a strong point however if it was built on further this game would truly stand out.

Additional atmosphere arrives with frequent visits to the surface where snow is blanketing the ruins of Moscow. Every walk on the surface requires you to have your trusty gas mask equipped, resulting in a HUD where glass and heavy breathing perfects the impression. It’s vital to keep your eye on the filter timer because you can’t stay outside forever. Now I myself didn’t have this problem but as Metro 2033 is a linear game every trip outside is a requirement. If you don’t have enough filters you’re screwed. There is one time when they’re not sold at a station before you are pushed outside again and many players have died as a result. There is however, a way to get over this by restarting from an earlier chapter. Personally I believe it is a flaw in the design so players might have to grin and bear it.

Metro 2033’s gameplay is sound and the highlight is absolutely the overwhelming atmosphere portrayed by the relationships between characters, the encounters with Dark Ones, walks on the surface of Moscow or just moving about a tunnel in general. With a nice dose of horror added to that Metro 2033 is worth playing just for those reasons. The only major gripe I have is the fact that it’s a linear game. You can’t visit any other tunnels on the map which I felt would’ve made this an even better experience and extended the game time beyond six hours. It’s also worth mentioning that the levels are short. I’m not certain as to whether that’s to support the 360 version of the game. On my PC the load times were only three seconds.

Graphics

Expect Metro 2033 to look like an advanced version of STALKER. Truthfully that’s what it boils down to. Considering the engine developers of STALKER were involved in the project their finesse is replicated here. Particular attention was paid to the lighting visuals. When you shine your headlight on the murky walls of the Metro there will be the occasional hidden shadows which are supposed to represent those involved with the tragedies which have befallen other stations. As you illuminate various sections of tunnels and watch as the shadows dance about it there’s just something extraordinary to encounter.

When Artyom is on the surface there’s also a vast amount of detail which went into the particle effects to convey the blizzard. Backed with the sound of howling wind I was easily immersed and actually started to feel cold. This also offers something unique by comparison to STALKER which has a darker palette. Truthfully the diversity is welcome and I always looked forward to my next trek through the snowy streets of Moscow. You even reach a higher point of the city later on, viewing the cataclysm as it stretches for miles.

The only thing graphically which I was skeptical about is perhaps the facial features. They didn’t quite strike me as the most realistic expressions you could expect nor the correct kind of eyes. Every adult male in the game has pupils which are more like cylinders than spheres. For this reason I confused Khan with another soldier frequently. However, one could argue that they have their masks on for lengthy periods, virtually negating this flaw. So in the end Metro 2033 is an excellent looking game. It’s all the small details in the tunnels like the debris which provides the depth to engross players in this flame engulfed world.

Sound and Music

For a burning reason, sound is the overall highlight for me in Metro 2033. Imagine shoving all these short ambient noises into the tunnels and having them play at just the right moment. Things creak, water drips, mutants howl. I was frantically turning around whenever I heard something out of the ordinary. It’s brilliant. Playing this game at 3 in the morning with headphones jacked in is highly recommended. Other games like System Shock 2 and Bioshock similarly add so many ambient sounds to soak players into their world. Whether it was the humming starship engine in System Shock 2 or the echos of Rapture in Bioshock you just felt there.

In my mind, Metro 2033 did this exceptionally well, if not better. If this game included a free roam aspect there would be no doubt in my mind that utter perfection in sound could be achieved. One irritating sound that I have to mention is the heartbeat effect. If you’re attacked, have low time left on your filters or just went for a run this very annoying heartbeat repeats itself for a while. Aside from those noises you’re with your comrades who chatter back and forth (except for Artyom who stays silent until he delivers a monologue between chapters) It’s clear they employed some Russian voice actors with the ability to speak English to include the accent and as such the voice acting may have suffered. It might be my imagination but I think the same actors were used for multiple characters. Maybe I’m just applying stereotypes to Russians again. It’s good voice acting, I wouldn’t go so far as to call it great though. At least everyone speaks in this game unlike STALKER.

If you were wondering about the music. Forget it. There’s basically nothing except a few sharp violin tracks to up the horror. I can’t honestly remember when the music was playing for extended periods of time. Personally I’m fine with that. The less music, the more horrific the ordeal.

Verdict

Now in a market of post-apocalyptic franchises expect something new from Metro 2033, but probably not as good. The greatest weaknesses of Metro 2033 are that it is not only short, but also lacks some non-linear features which would’ve added to its small RPG elements. In general however, it’s a decent little shooter with a stress on immersion and working with others. A sequel is currently in production and I think Metro 2034 has sparked my curiosity enough to say I’m certainly looking forward to it. If your favorite level in Call of Duty Modern Warfare was the one set in Chernobyl I guarantee you’ll like this game. If you’re just interested in nuclear catastrophes in general I’d lean more towards Fallout 3 and STALKER for the moment.

Recommended level – Khan

Pros
+Ammo conservation
+Unbelievably high atmosphere
+Ambient sound design
+Compelling storyline
+Working with others
+Advanced STALKER engine with lightning fast loads
+Walks on the surface of Moscow
+Beautiful lighting and particle effects

Cons
-Completely linear in nature
-Some of the shops and weapon upgrades aren’t necessary and might be downgrades
-Stealth segments have a nasty habit of autosaving when you’re caught
-Annoying heartbeat sound effect
-Limited enemy types
-Some players may run out of filters and can be stuck

Developer: Square Enix

Year: 2009

Genre: Japanese Roleplaying Game

Themes:  Magic / Science Fiction / Romance / World Saving

Available on: PS3 and Xbox 360

A Final Fantasy

Final Fantasy is an absolutely immense franchise. It’s been there since the era of the NES, seeing the release of 13 games in its main series with countless spin-offs and additions. Since Final Fantasy VII, people have been led to believe the decline for the mighty JRPG titan had begun for multiple reasons ranging from combat systems to character design. The thing about Final Fantasy is that every new game is a completely new universe, sometimes retaining certain characteristics related to design. Final Fantasy XII was the last main series title to grace the Playstation 2 before XIII would take the stage for the next generation.

I was excited about the possibilities for XIII on the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 considering their enormous capabilities as systems. They would have the ability to push graphics further and create something which could be a breakthrough for RPGs in general. After four years of development it was time for people to enter the world of Final Fantasy once more. Only this time, they probably wouldn’t want to visit it ever again.

Gameplay – Linearity

The number one problem with Final Fantasy XIII is that its gameplay essentially discards the fundamentals of what makes the others interesting. See I could sit down and write something I liked about each and every Final Fantasy game and usually it would be a novel aspect for the series. XIII just goes backwards, not only offering nothing new but removing everything old. Being able to traverse the game world has been one of the greatest strengths for almost every JRPG in existence. People just enjoy visiting other locales, talking to people, shopping and completing sidequests. It was this capacity to explore the vast world on offer which made you feel truly part of it.

XIII has none of this. It’s a completely linear experience. You will walk in a straight line from place to place and you won’t ever be able to revisit area previously visited except for the very last parts of the game. Until approximately the 30^th hour of gameplay there isn’t any alternative. The universe of Final Fantasy XIII is composed of two planets, Cocoon and Pulse. Around the 30^th hour you then have the opportunity to stroll around Pulse. Even it’s plagued with problems because no one, save for monsters resides on the planet and the only quests available all involve killing a monster. The best feature of the Final Fantasy franchise was gutted from the game for no apparent reason. There’s little to no interaction with inhabitants of Cocoon, you genuinely feel like you don’t belong there. Aside from walking in a straight line there’s only two other gameplay aspects.

Gameplay – Combat

Combat in Final Fantasy XIII incorporates a few of the worst aspects of Persona 3. In combat you will fight in a party of three but two of your party members will be controlled by the AI. This is because the pace at which combat moves is more real time than traditional turn based. You will queue up abilities in Active Time Battle gauge like in previous installments but it won’t be just one move, it will be up to 6.

For this reason combat starts off extremely dull at the beginning of the game when you only have two ATB gauges. Most of the game you’ll only be queueing up the attack ability over and over by pressing X continually. If you’re lazy the game has a default feature called autobattle which as the name implies will automatically queue up abilities for you. It won’t necessarily queue up the best abilities, but they generally are correct. This means you could just have the game think for you and most players will change to selecting their own abilities until they realize autobattle just does everything faster and with ease. Around the 4^th ATB gauge you’ll need to use autobattle anyway, because of the rate at which it recovers. It’s too fast, especially if you switch Paradigms.

Oh Paradigms? They’re the classes of Final Fantasy XIII. There’s Commando, Ravager, Saboteur, Synergist and Medic roles. You will be able to switch these throughout combat in order to alter your strategy. This is a surprisingly decent but stunted feature. Every enemy in the game has their own gauge called Stagger Limit. As you attack an enemy their Stagger Limit goes up and you will gradually increase your damage against them until they are staggered. While staggered your party will be able to unleash large amounts of damage and crowd control the target. Staggering a target is only possible by choosing the appropriate roles for each party member. You will need a Commando to keep the Stagger Limit in motion and a Ravager or Saboteur to build the Stagger Limit.

Which ability should I queue up next?

The problem is the Saboteur and Synergist aren’t very useful for regular battles. They all end too quickly and if you want the maximum rating you won’t use them. You get rated on a scale of 1 to 5 stars of your performance in the game. The only reward is extra tension points which I’ll address later. The Synergist role is used to buff Allies in combat although shrouds which are one time buffs can also be used, removing its usefulness as a class. The only buffs and debuffs you’re really interested in are haste and slow. These increase the attack speed of your party and decrease the attack speed of the enemy and are ridiculously powerful compared to all others. Saboteurs can apply this and maybe an additional debuff to weaken enemy armor and that’s all their role does.

Sentinel on the other hand is quite useful for more difficult encounters later on but absolutely useless for bosses. The Sentinel is a tank class which will taunt enemies off allies and absorb hits for them. Every boss in the game virtually has nothing but abilities geared towards damaging all allies so again it reduces the need for the class. Every class does however, give small passive bonuses like less damage taken from enemies as a whole from a Sentinel but I have yet to do the math to see if it’s better than using more medics.

Medics work well as the healing class; however cheap potions which heal all party members are just as effective for half the game. See what I mean? Every class aside from Commando or Ravager barely has any use which is just as well because the majority of the game occurs with two characters until the 25^th hour where three always accompany you. Then there’s the 30^th hour when you can finally choose your party members for specific roles you want because they won’t have developed their other classes very far. I promised you an explanation on tension points, they let you analyze the enemy, perform summons and some others skills. Only helpful if some situations.

Gameplay – Crystarium and Weapon Upgrades

Every class has its power increased in the game’s upgrade system, the Crystarium. As you defeat monster after monster every character regardless of their location will gain Crystarium points. These can be spent on statistic gains and new abilities and increase in cost they reach higher tiers. This sounded like a great system and is very similar to the sphere grids used in Final Fantasy X, however it’s just another terrible point. By defeating each encounter by walking in a straight line in every chapter you will have enough points to purchase everything in every role. No joke. No decisions required, just spend, spend, spend. Around the 30^th hour characters can start investing their points in minor roles which they won’t be as decent at. This is where you finally get to make decisions about spending points. Heed my advice though; you don’t need them for the rest of the game. If you just invest a few points in statistic increase in each major class for characters there will be no problem in finishing the game.

The Crystarium is the only way to level your characters and this generally results in huge statistic gains where you won’t be able to fairly judge how much of an increase you’re getting. The damage numbers displayed are ludicrously inflated. One moment you might be doing 120 damage an attack, the next hour 12,643 damage. It’ll take you a while just figure out how much of a gain you’ll get from 20 extra strength. By the very end expect to dish out over 1 million damage an attack and have 30,000 HP.

Guess what? The Crystarium isn’t even the worst upgrade system. The one you use for weapons makes me want to have the designers psychoanalyzed. Weapons are upgraded at save points which double as shops. At these shops you can buy raw materials to upgrade your weapons. As you add more worthless materials to weapons they can gain a multiplier for an XP gain. Then you add larger components to increase a weapon’s XP and level it up. Here’s the dilemma. You have no clue what will work and what won’t. Certain materials work better than others. You spend gil to purchase materials and it’s extremely rare. The only way to get additional gil is by selling items dropped by enemies.

Every single enemy on Cocoon drops nearly worthless items which sell for little to no gil. So when you get to the shop you won’t be able to try each material out because they’re too expensive. I hopped onto GameFAQs for a few minutes and then I immediately had the best ratios for XP and the knowledge of how to get the best possible multiplier. Turns out you should add 32 barbed tails for a 3x XP multiplier and 1 Ultracompact Reactor for the maximum potential gains. This works for every weapon, there’s no logic to it. I thought by adding components which are wooden in nature to a staff I would get better XP as a result. This is incorrect. I don’t understand why they’d add this at all.

Furthermore there are 3 tiers of weapon upgrades you go through and at the end of every tier a weapon requires a specific gem to move it into the next tier. How do you know which one is right? Again you have no idea; it’s all trial and error. The last tier upgrade requires the gem Trapezohedron. The only way to get those is by farming the hardest regular enemies in the game, the Adamantoises. You will need 6 in total, one for each character. Sounds simple enough right?

Wrong. The drop rate of these items is 6% and that’s only with a special item equipped to increase the chance of them dropping. Each Adamantoise takes approximately 5 minutes to kill by using a special trick. Then you have to spend another 5 minutes powering that special trick up again. You do the math. It can amount to almost 30 hours of farming for these. It’s supposed to be a JRPG, not an MMO.

Gameplay – End Game

Why would you do this? Good question. We’re moving into endgame discussion now. Once you’ve finished the game you will unlock another tier to the Crystarium. Effectively you will farm these Adamantoises for extra Crystarium Points and Trapezohedrons. This is excruciatingly boring but practically a necessity to tackle some of the monster slaying missions on Pulse. There are 64 of these, all involving the murder of one beast for extra loot and achievements. Some of them unlock teleporters and chocobos (mounts) to other areas of Pulse, thank Christ. So you won’t have to traverse the entire world again. It’s the worst end game content in the history of games, I swear. It is the most boring thing imaginable and your only reward is a few trophies and higher numbers.

After 30 hours work you get a sword which looks worse than your starter

The only other facets of gameplay are treasure hunting with chocobos where you wander around a large area until your chocobo gets an alert saying it’s found something and a small segment where Hope rides on a Juggernaught machine. Characters will also gain Eidolons which they can summon and ride and all that requires is pushing X again.

That’s the gameplay of Final Fantasy XIII. It’s an absolute disaster. Combat takes too long to evolve into something decent and the upgrade systems attached are thoughtless. There’s no mana point conservation required, no remembering to heal up after fights. Everything moves so far away from basic choice. You have to walk down a straight line; there is no real freedom until the last hours of the game. It might as well been a movie. Every other Final Fantasy game presents more diverse gameplay, like all of the minigames in VII for instance and the places you visit and things you discover.

Characters

If you can stomach that prepare for the next rude awakening. Spending 40 – 80 hours amongst the worst characters imaginable. I’m not going to go into fine details here but there is no clear protagonist. It’s supposed to be Lightning but she is so far gone and spiteful that you might think she is the primary antagonist. Lightning is the first female character to lead since Terra in VII. The character presents some solid design aesthetically, aside from looking like a female version of Cloud Strife. The outfit is practical; the gunblade is an improvement over Squall Leonhart’s. Everything has promise. That was until you find out she’s a complete an utter insufferable bitch. That’s the only word I can use to describe Lighting.

She hates everyone and everything. How this was supposed to happen is shortly explained by her parents having died and her having to become responsible for her sister, Serah. So Lighting joined the ranks in the most dangerous occupation imaginable, being a soldier and thought it was very responsible. From then on she becomes introverted and unhappy and she starts the game with that attitude. Lightning punches other characters, refuses to listen to others and is generally uncooperative. You will hate her guts the entire game. She only smiles once.

Serah didn’t bake the cake properly

Next is Snow. I like him. He loves using the word hero all too often. Unfortunately he gets stuck with a bunch of Final Fantasy X look-alikes with the strangest hairstyles and mannerisms I’ve ever seen. Then he goes missing for half the game with the character Fang. His entire role in the game is to rescue his wife-to-be Serah. Lighting doesn’t approve of the relationship so there will be blow after blow delivered to his face.

Fang appears halfway through the game out of nowhere and is a well done character again with a background you get to decipher. I felt she was more of the kind of character Lightning should have been, with the same masculine traits. Why she has to show up so late in the game is beyond me.

Vanille a girl with red pigtails is a beyond irritating character you’re stuck with most of the time. I had trouble guessing what age she was. It ranged between 12 and 15 and I was completely wrong. Vanille is 19 but you wouldn’t know it. She contributes nothing to most conversations except “Let’s run away” It’s like she’s off on another planet. That might be true with all of the accent changes. The worst thing about her is the really strange sexual noises she makes. They are quite common and embarrassing to sit through. When she performs her Eidolon animation it almost sounds like an orgasm. I don’t understand her purpose in the game at all.

Ooooooooooohhhhhhhh!

Hope. Who comes up with these names anyway? Hope has to be the most infuriating, rage fueling, reject of a character ever. He’s a teenager who complains about anything and everything. At the start of the game he’s a complete coward but a few minutes later he can suddenly take on the world. He falls over time and again because of exhaustion and then starts shedding puberty driven tears all over the place. He has a falling out with Snow as his mother dies and the entire revenge driven escapade he embarks on mimics that of Persona 3s Ken and Shinjiro. I swear Snow even looks like Shinjiro.

Finally there’s Sazh. Not much to say about him except he’s the black male comic relief who has a chocobo in his hair and uses the most appropriate weapon, guns (compared to a boomerang, a sword, and two staves) If it weren’t for him I would’ve never made it through the game.

Story

Now I’ve gotten most of the horrendous aspects out of the way there are a few redeeming qualities of Final Fantasy XIII. The story isn’t too shabby although it takes a while to familiarize yourself with the world. For the first three hours it’s basically as though you just walked into a room where people are having a discussion on a topic you’ve never heard of and you have to listen a while to get up to speed. Terms like Ragnarok, L’Cie and Fal’Cie jump at you and you might have to dive into the datalogue to understand. Why should you need a compendium to comprehend the story though? You should see this datalogue, it basically contains the entire story word for word. I’m just wondering how much time was spent on it and not the gameplay.

Maybe he should commit to the possibility of getting this guy new clothes

So there are two planets, Pulse and Cocoon. They both hate each other and are both ruled by entities known as the Fal’Cie which are giant floating robots more or less. They provide people with food and shelter and give them the strength to govern. Recently on Cocoon a scare campaign has been run to drive up hatred for Pulse Fal’Cie. Then Pulse Fal’Cie suddenly shows up and everyone who has come into contact with one is to be “relocated” in a purge. This is where the game starts onboard the purge train and all of the characters jump into action each with their own motives. I won’t reveal too much more you can find out what drives them yourself. For quite a few chapters the story is just dropped in favor of character relationship struggles. Depending on the characters described above expect nothing of consequence for a long time. It takes too long for anything to develop and when it finally does it might take a while to readjust to the narrative. I think the story overall is sound and straightforward but has a habit of being subverted by the characters complaining about their issues.

Graphics

Final Fantasy XIII presented a beautiful and very original game world. It almost seems like Avatar has leaked in a bit which is true because Avatar is basically a mediocre but very good looking film like Final Fantasy XIII is a game. That and Leona Lewis manages to ruin both at the very end. Perhaps it’s a tech demo for them on the Playstation 3 and they’ll use this engine again for something better.

Everything is heavily detailed from the forests of Gapra Whitewood to the glaciers of Lake Bresha. It’s probably one of the better looking games these days because of so much color and the varied palette. The animations for characters are excellent and the cutscenes are glorious in full high definition. The cutscenes make you think “Gee I wish I could be playing that instead.” Make sure to play the PS3 version for less jagged edges.

From sprites to rendered models chocobos seem to gain more feathers

One thing that did make me think though was all of the science fiction elements this game had. There were robots, soldiers with nanotechnology, lasers, sophisticated electronics. Can this truly be considered fantasy now? I’ll admit it really started with Final Fantasy VII and the Mako reactors but this is just pure science fiction not fantasy. Not steampunk, cyberpunk. I don’t know. It might leave you wondering why you bought a game called Final Fantasy.

Music and Sound

The soundtrack is a bold step for the Final Fantasy series as it didn’t feature any compositions from Nobuo Uematsu, the master behind the music in the other titles. It still held up well, not quite at the same level but well enough. Its strong orchestral focus creates generally pleasant themes for cutscenes and walking around. The battle theme is particularly excellent as it builds into something rather extraordinary, making every battle seem more important than it really is. One of the aspects lost however is the victory fanfare. You know the little jingle which plays after a fight “Da da da da da” is gone, replaced by some awkward piano piece. That’s just another step backward from the Final Fantasy in its title.

Voice acting is generally decent with the exception of Vanille. The actor is supposed to be Australian I know but has been living in Los Angeles. Therefore her accent changes time and again. Also there’s the weird orgasm noises. Cover your ears whenever Vanille speaks, believe me.

Verdict

By putting Final Fantasy in the title of XIII Square Enix was just asking for trouble but also money. They probably knew it was unpolished gameplay but pushed it into the market as fast as possible on two major consoles. The expectations for the game had been lofty for many eager fans but they had all been shot down. Instead they were given a mediocre JRPG which should’ve been a movie, but that would cost too much. If it didn’t have Final Fantasy in its title it could arguably just be a different game which some people would’ve enjoyed and it wouldn’t tarnish the reputation of the seires. This is the trouble with franchises these days, maximum profits, minimal effort. At least they’re not as bad as Activision Blizzard.

If you’re not too worried about the combat system by all means play it for the story and visuals, but watching it on some high definition YouTube channel would suffice too. Otherwise go and play Demon’s Souls if you’re looking for a fun JRPG.

Pros

+Glorious cutscenes in full 1080p
+Colorful and diverse areas
+Sound story construction
+Combat eventually gets better on Pulse
+Decent orchestral soundtrack continuing the tradition
+Some characters are fine

Cons

-Far too linear and even when you have freedom you tend to repeat tasks
-Unfit protagonist and teenager characters
-Mashing X endlessly to queue up the exact same abilities on every enemy in the game
-No victory fanfare
-Terrible weapon and cystarium upgrades systems
-Most of the classes don’t get chance perform in combat
-Rushed ending, Leona Lewis doesn’t help either
-Hopeless end game content

Bayonetta

Developer: Platinum Games

Year: 2009

Genre: Hack n’ Slash and Beat ‘Em Up

Themes: Angels / Witches / Violence / Sexuality

Available on: Xbox 360 and PS3

In Other Words I Love You

It would appear my prayers have been answered, by a fast paced and frantic hack n’ slash title where you decapitate angels as a witch. Bayonetta comes from the creators of the popular Devil May Cry series offering something refreshing and daring for fans of the genre. Incorporating some of the better elements on offer in God Hand and combining it with the gunplay of Devil May Cry has spawned a game which gets your heart racing as you tap buttons like a madman and gape in awe when heaven’s hitmen perish under the weight of colossal summoned hair demons.

Story and Characters

The tale of Bayonetta is one which is fairly straightforward but on a larger scale than you’d imagine. Within the story is another more complex story which would have you reading various books of lore collected throughout the game or going to Wikipedia for a translation. Simply put Bayonetta is the name of our glasses donning, gun wielding witch protagonist and she’s bubbling in a cauldron of amnesia. Waking up on the bottom of a lake some twenty years in the past, Bayonetta has no recollection of her past and is continually assaulted by a clan of angels called the Lumen Sages who are apparently opposed to her faction, Umbra Witches. The game begins with Bayonetta being informed by bumbling mobster Enzo of a mystical eye device location which she has apparently been searching for. Traveling to the town of Vigrid, Bayonetta begins her search for the enigmatic object and will slowly uncover the truth of things. Essentially someone referred to as Jubelius is going to be resurrected, it’s a little bit like God Hand.

Along the way she has various encounters with other characters including the revenge sworn journalist, Luka who feels Bayonetta is responsible for his father’s death, Rodin the smooth bartender who supplies weapons after getting pulverized by demons and  Cereza, a child who bares a striking resemblance to Bayonetta herself and gleefully screams “Mummy!” on sight and Jeanne, another Umbra Witch who has a habit of showing up and challenging Bayonetta both physically and mentally. Each of these characters will surprisingly have their own back story so they become very involved in the central plot with no added confusion. The central narrative will progress through short cutscenes, developing all the way throughout the game, definitely holding attention and contributing laugh after laugh with its continued sexual innuendo and references to geek culture.

Sexism or Satire? (this section deals with issues of sexism in the game, skip if want)

Now, about Bayonetta herself. You might wonder why Dante was dropped in favor of a female Sarah Palin look-alike with the weirdest body proportions imaginable. This is probably the most interesting thing about the game, just because of all the controversy she has stirred. Frequently during gameplay the camera has a tendency to zoom in on Bayonetta performing sexy poses after finishing a massive string of combos or performing a climax move on enemies, revealing more of her flesh. Because of these moments the game has sparked anger amongst feminists and I understand why they might be upset.

I felt that it was all satirical as the sexual euphemisms and implications during cutscenes all seem to suggest it’s just teasing the player. I won’t say Bayonetta is an eyesore but she certainly isn’t the most attractive character on the face of the planet with various moles, huge hair and glasses. She also has a British voice actor who quite obviously speaks in a sarcastic manner to great effect. On the other hand, one could argue that during gameplay her moves are a little too inappropriate, especially if you acquire some of the more alluring outfits. Honestly I believe people will be too focused on what the angels themselves are doing because they attack extremely fast and you’re more interested in staying alive instead of Bayonetta’s behind.

Some people just don’t like the idea of playing as a female character and that’s fine, but seeing as how Bayonetta is a witch there is little alternative. Is the game itself sexist? It’s completely debatable, but judging but the past history of the developers includes God Hand as a title, I’m led to believe it’s all comedic. Anyhow, this is a review of a game not a discussion of women’s rights but I thought it might be important to remember that if you do play the game it’s all in good taste. It certainly doesn’t degrade women on the basis of power because Bayonetta’s targets are mostly male.

Gameplay – Combos and Rewards

If you’ve ever played games like God of War, Devil May Cry, Ninja Gaiden or Darksiders, Bayonetta is like all of those in one neat package. It focuses heavily on combat and rewards you for pulling off lengthy combos. Each chapter of the game is divided into verses which are battles against random angels and bosses. As you complete each verse you’ll be given a score based on your combos, timing and damage taken. These scores will amount to a medal ranging from stone color to pure platinum. At the end of a stage your statistics are all tallied to give you’re an overall score and trophy. The incentive for doing better is more halos (the game’s currency), unlocks and bragging rights. It’s a lovely system because you can challenge yourself and it adds a high level of replayability.

So how do you perform these wonderful combos you keep hearing about? They’re mostly assigned to two buttons, yes two. With just two buttons (and occasionally some others) Bayonetta has the potential to pull off hundreds of different moves. I instantly thought it would be a button masher because of this point but I was wrong. If you just press random buttons during combat you’re only doing yourself harm. Inputting correct combos is the only way to obtain higher scores, damage and crowd control the enemies. Bayonetta’s most powerful abilities are moves called Wicked Weaves, most of which occur at the end of combos. These summon strands of hair which come out and smash angels into the pavement. So, depending on the location of the enemy you’ll have to practice combos for any given situation.

If that’s not all obtaining new weapons will also unlock more moves. From guns to laser swords to whips, Bayonetta seems to have just about every weapon you’d ever want with the exception of an orbital laser. They’re just really a lot of fun to use and you can customize two sets of weapons to switch during combat. For example I could have two shotguns for my first set and one bazooka and machinegun in my second. Using the right weapons at the right time is pinnacle to beating the game in some of its harder difficulty levels.

Gameplay – Difficulty and Enemies

About difficulty. Bayonetta is fairly challenging game, you’ll die quite a few times just learning the ropes. Thankfully there is a lot of assistance from using Witch Time. By dodging an attack at the last second Witch Time is activated, slowing down the world around you so that an effective counter-attack can be launched. This ability will save you a ton of grief because a good block of health can be knocked off in just one attack. Furthermore, there are items and accessories which can give the ability to block or increase attack power. Once you get over the initial difficulty wall and concentrate on evading attacks you’ll be reducing the number of times you hear “The Shadow Remains Cast” line playing upon selecting continue. If you’re truly insane, the highest difficulty level disables Witch Time so prepare to get destroyed even if you reduce bosses to a small sum of health.

The bosses are the game’s strong point more than anything else. Absolutely gargantuan angels will hunt Bayonetta and leave you wondering how the hell they can be defeated by such a miniscule witch. It all comes down to ripping off individual body parts to disable them and the way in which it is presented is violent but moreover epic. That’s really the only word I can use to describe bosses. The unfortunate thing about them is a vast degree of quick time events which will result in mashing a button some of the time to perform climax attacks, summoning the hair demons again to do the work for you. Don’t get me wrong, it’s quite an awesome display but can be somewhat unfulfilling.

Gameplay – Quick Time Events and Minigames

The game is littered with quick time events like in God of War. This is probably the shortcoming of most hack n’ slash games around because there’s no real way you could display these interactive scenes other than making them cutscenes. An example of a game without quick time events is Prince of Persia Forgotten Sands which actually had very plain bosses as a result. Sometimes you even have to press buttons during scenes to save your skin and not paying attention is instant death. Finally, there are torture attacks. Once you have magic you can press a button to enter yet another quick time event to have Bayonetta torture devices ranging from guillotines to iron maidens. These are again button mashing sequences where you’ll be given more halos for better pressing.

Aside from the quick time events there is only one other small issue in gameplay. During two chapters there are minigames where you ride on motorbikes and guide a rocket. These take a break from the regular gameplay and are enjoyable as such, however they just seem to go on forever and repeat themselves. I don’t know if others feel the same way but I thought the length could’ve been reduced. Yet it seems worth it because the diversity in Bayonetta’s gameplay isn’t extraordinary. There are no puzzles of sorts, just some small platforming between battles.

Gameplay – Replayability and Flow

However, there is some treasure hunting that can be done for things, involving the discovery of alheim’s which are small challenges. These might be using Wicked Weaves to beat angels only. You are rewarded handsomely for your exploration in the linear chapters, unlocking new weapons, music, life upgrades and magic upgrades. There’s just tons of things to discover and that’s why Bayonetta is a highly replayable game.

You might replay to get more halos to purchase costumes, accessories, weapons, items and other secret stuff. Perhaps you’re giving another difficulty a try. Maybe you’re just after that achievement. For me I found the second playthrough to be the best actually because I understood the game mechanics and was dishing out attacks at the speed of light.

The fast pace of Bayonetta’s combat and platforming really is an adrenaline fueled ride if you can get over the quick time events. It just has so many redeeming qualities with all of the moves to master and medals to aim for. Four cups of coffee and Bayonetta was the best gaming experience I’ve had in a while, trust me. It was bloody amazing.

Graphics

Graphically Bayonetta looks beautiful. Not the character I mean, I’ll never get over those misshapen legs but the game world is really pleasant. Sometimes I was wandering around town, others were spent in lava filled caverns and some were just in space. Yeah, quite a different series of locales and they are all eyecandy. Additionally there are just particle effects everywhere. The detail in the Wicked Weaves and summons clearly has taken some thought. Every angel and angel boss displays a unique look, retaining characteristics of what we hold angels to be. You know, wings, trumpets, halos. Yet they all have something which makes them different, maybe it’s a dragon head or a noah’s ark body.

The artwork is further built upon in the cutscenes. There’s an approach focusing on displaying the scenes by zoomed out reels, pausing on individual strips. This makes every dramatic point of the story less serious by letting sound do most of the work. In turn that doesn’t let the gravity of each situation take over letting Bayonetta retain its comedy stylings. During one animated scene for example Bayonetta draws lipstick over Luka’s face for a good laugh.

It’s the right kind of graphical interpretation. Bayonetta is easily one of the most colorful games in a sea of grey console shooters making it worth playing just for those well thought out character designs which pay homage to witches and angels. By the time the game ends I was just blown away by the presentation, particularly the last hour of it. Once you finish your first playthrough the gallery is also unlocked. The amount of concept art available is staggering.

Music and Sound

Music is the highlight of the game’s sound achievements. So many composers went to work to create harmonious choirs for your encounters with the behemoths you battle against. Approximately 150 different tracks provide for strong vocal and jazz pieces like a rethinking of Bart Howard’s “Fly me to The Moon” Unfortunately the game reuses the regular battle theme time and again for little to no reason when there’s so much other music to use. It can also be a little embarrassing when someone else in the room because of the way it’s sung. If you get over that problem the music is sensational and ready for the rapid fighting.

Voice acting from Bayonetta is excellent as stated above. Something about her sassy British tone just clicked with me. Luka is voice acted by Yuri Lowenthal who does well in mimicking the attitude of Bayonetta. Jeanne is basically Cruella De Ville but done better. The worst part is Cereza, just because of the number of times the word “Mummy” is uttered. Even Bayonetta tells her to quiet down.

Verdict

Bayonetta for me was just a very exciting, action packed thrillride which I have played over and over. After playing God Hand and some other beat ‘em ups for a while this one had excellent presentation and was an intellectual property which offered something completely fresh after sequel after sequel. If you can get over the large amounts of quick time events and repeating battle theme you can expect a game which you will replay regularly to get the most out of it. Unlocking new items barely felt like a chore, even after four finishes. It’s challenging, it’s funny and it’s exciting and worth every dollar. Bayonetta is glorious and I’m off to play some more.

Recommended level – Epilogue

Pros

+Huge list of combos and different weapons
+Extremely fast pace
+Beautiful and well designed artwork
+Characters and comedy
+Diverse jazzy and vocal music
+Replayability for halos, accessories, medals and more
+Higher difficulty levels

Cons
-Motorbike and Rocket minigames drag on too long
-Battle theme tends to repeat itself too often
-Have to fight some bosses twice (in less epic ways)
-Too many quick time events
-Possible sexism problems

Developer:  ATLUS

Year: 2007

Genre:  JRPG

Themes:  High School / Fantasy / Social Simulation / Japan

Available on: PS2 and PSP

NOTE: This is a review of Persona 3 FES: The Journey. This does not include the answer and is only about the PS2 version.

What is a video game?

Persona 3 is an unbelievably complicated game to review for reasons concerning my definition of what exactly a video game is and what it should be about. I’ve always played games to push buttons and make decisions at a frantic pace while maintaining complete control. My favorite pastime always will be chess because it perfectly captures the essence of what a game is. So when I played Persona 3 the first time my reaction wasn’t pleasant.

Hours of painful grinding, controllers thrown across the room, meals skipped just to complete an immense eighty hour effort. Was it really worth all the trouble? I don’t think so. Perhaps if you’re the kind of masochist who plays games for their frustrating elements or you’re a tremendously hardcore JRPG fan this is for you, otherwise read on to understand what enraged me.

Story – Setting

It began appropriately enough with some perplexing anime scenes depicting a world where people were being transmogrified into coffins while the lights malfunctioned. This event is revealed as “The Dark Hour” a hidden time just past Midnight. During this hour you, the blue haired MP3 wielding mute are still able to walk around. You’re moved to a dormitory with several students who attend your high school and it turns out they’re also able to thrive in the dark hour and that’s why you’ve been chosen to reside there.

You’re conscripted to be part of SEES (Specialized Extracurricular Execution Squad) who exercise the power of Persona during the dark hour to defeat the grotesque shadows that move around the city. SEES explores the astoundingly colossal structure called Tarturus which appears during this hour. They beat shadows to a pulp and climb the tower in the hope to better understand why their school turns into this 263 floor nightmare. So the story is rather creative and interesting.

Story – Characters

The team members are very weird, or at least the girls are. For a game that’s also attempting to be a social simulator they certainly don’t behave the way you’d expect. Yukari clearly is mentally unstable, her constant aggression and confusion isn’t healthy. Mitsuru boasts overdeveloped features, her physique is well beyond that of someone that is seventeen and her precise vocabulary is consistent with a being that has devoured the dictionary. Fuuka is basically a smurf, she’s short, she has green hair and her voice actor is the worst thing since House of the Dead 2. On the flipside the guys are quite the opposite. Junpei is unbeat and full of life, Akihiko is cool, calm and collected and Ken is focused and energetic. This isn’t a display of phallocentric nature, it’s just the Japanese and their perceptions of women always go overboard in anime.

Gameplay – Grinding, AI and Bosses

An odd concoction of individuals is a mere footnote to the real plague of Persona 3. Now if you’ve played at least one Japanese RPG before you’ll know that it emphasizes turn based play, usually with four party members at one time. Persona 3 is the same, grab your best buddies and jump into the action. Immediately the sense something very foul is at play arises when you watch your teammates attack of their own will.

That’s correct, you can’t control them. They make all of the decisions which means you get to play one quarter of the time. You are able to set their tactics and change your Persona to a different elemental configuration strategically however this impacts rather lightly. The AI is flawed, so much so I thought it was just trying to get a rise out of me. It was successful all right. Unless you analyze an enemy they will continue making errors of judgment, but it doesn’t even stop there. Mitsuru is out to get you, I’m not joking. Her moves actually do more harm than good. Using charm spells on bosses, waking up knocked down opponents are but a few of her feats of stupidity.

What’s worse is that you have to fight random battles in this manner for 263 seemingly similar floors of Tarturus. It’s pure, concentrated grinding and it’s the primary reason I detest the game. Enemies can annihilate you in a single hit if you don’t figure them out quickly. The elements of light and darkness can finish you off unless you have an immunity to them. It’s only ever fair when you have an advantage which grants you an extra turn so you can analyze them and switch to a Persona to make yourself immune. Some enemies like the floating cubes will just kill you in one hit anyway, despite your HP. The complete randomness of light and dark elements makes combat cruel and unfair.

After you work out a solid grinding routine of saving, beating five waves of shadows and then saving again it works out less irritating but still oh so boring. Once you’ve finished a two hour effort you’re ready to fight the moon bosses at the end of each month which is the entire reason for grinding. They’re amusing and have strategies however they last just five minutes and then it’s back for another two hour grindfest. I don’t know what developers were thinking. If Tarturus had a different layout in some areas and maybe some puzzles I would’ve enjoyed it, but returning to the exact same thing time and again makes me want to jump on screen and grab one of the guns their using to shoot myself.  Also if you buy the PAL version, prepare for far more pain because it takes twice as long to do anything.

Gameplay – Social Links

Apart from combat the game features a social aspect which allows you to grant an XP bonus to new Personas which you create for yourself. Sounds pointless right? Yep. Social links are just lines of text and nothing else. You read the worst miniature stories about fictional characters; it’s almost like a really bad philosophy lesson. Imagine reading about a Kendo player who injures his knee and then complains about it every time you see him, that’s what you’re in for. The lines are repeated again and again, how many times do people say “TCH” honestly? Oh yeah and this accounts for about a third of the game.

Sound

Ah, the music. It just makes everything bearable. There’s so much variety to it, hip hop, j pop, heavy metal. When you’re listening to Mass Destruction in Tartarus it’s like the grind doesn’t exist. The voice acting is generally well done, I had to keep in mind that this is a Japanese translation and they hired some great voice actors for everyone except Fuuka. It’s mainly the dialogue which lets them down in segments because it never seems to reflect the scenes properly.

Verdict

My underlying thought about Persona 3 is that it’s a pretty addictive game but a higly frustrating one. You should have complete control over what you’re doing. That’s just so painfully obvious from other successful RPGs. Breaking the formula was a bold move and didn’t work. I know people will argue it adds challenge but when the AI work only half the time, that’s just luck. Fortunately ATLUS has remade the game on PSP which fixes just about every problem discussed above. In that version you can control all characters and I believe grinding is a little easier. Coupled with the fact you can carry the 80 hour adventure around with you that’s a huge bonus so you don’t have to sit in front of a TV all the time.

If ATLUS made this game shorter and dumbed down the grinding, social links and gave the player full control over their actions this would’ve been an excellent game because the narrative, graphics and music really stand head and shoulders above the rageworthy gameplay. I’d give it top marks for those aspects but the gameplay needs a fix. I know hardcore RPG players will disagree and that’s fine, as for me I’d rather not torture myself. I’d advise anyone reading this review to play Persona 4 instead if they don’t want to pull their hair out.

Comments are welcome. What do you think? Were you as angry as I was? Do you like the AI taking turns? How about the social links?

Score – Can’t give it a score but my recommendation is Hardcore RPG players go for it, everyone else move on to Persona 4

Recommended Level – Final Boss

Terminator Salvation

Developer:  GRIN

Year: 2009

Genre:  Third Person Shooter

Themes:  Terminators / War / SKYNET / Survival

Available on: PC, PS3 and Xbox 360

Salvation For The Terminator Game Franchise?

I’ve played my fair share of Terminator games. They’re mostly horrible, unplayable titles without a future; it’s as if SKYNET developed each of them. Why then would I bother to think Salvation would be any different? Well, I decided to glance over the video reviews for a laugh or two and IGN delivered an unfavorable review as expected. In the related videos section I noticed Classic Game Room had also reviewed it and since I really enjoy his videos I watched it too.

This was strange; they appeared to be completely different in opinions. CGR expressed enjoyment from blowing robots to pieces while IGN droned on about boredom experienced. Seeing the game in action I actually thought it looked rather decent and couldn’t make up my mind whether to purchase and play it. I placed it on my wish list for Christmas and was granted the gift. I asked for a preowned copy because they were only about $10 and after opening the case I was astounded that it was in perfect condition. The manual wasn’t torn, the disc had no scratches. Obviously it was an unwanted gift for someone else.

I loaded it up on the 360 and pressed a few buttons to see a small menu greet me. This was my first disappointment. Salvation only features a singleplayer mode although it does have co-op for another as long as the person is playing right next to you. I wouldn’t mind playing this over Live but actually having someone in the flesh willing to play this game in one sitting is difficult to obtain.

Story – Presentation, Dialogue and Characters

John Connor appeared on screen, clearly forlorn about the situation, delivering a monologue about the fading hope of humanity. It turns out this is actually a prequel to the movie, set in Los Angeles, 2016 which is 12 years after SKYNET first attacked and 2 years before the events in the film. Basically the story from what I gathered through the confusing cutscenes is that a resistance attack on SKYNET failed and they’re pulling out. Being the natural machine hating, stubborn man that he is, John refuses to leave one of the trapped teams behind and embarks on a mission with the assistance of Blair, a character from the movie.

Speaking of characters they don’t actually look that much like their screen counterparts. Connor barely resembles Bale (which is a VERY GOOD THING BY THE WAY IGN); Blair has her hair tied oddly. Barnes seems to look similar, although I can’t remember him being so vocal. So you and your team of misfits fight your way through hordes of terminators, gaining and losing team members along the way. The storytelling devices are clones of Gears of War, cinematics and walk and talk scenarios.

Dialogue is fairly limited. They seem to jabber back and forth about how things used to be which implies you should interpret this as strengthening resolve. Actually I found it depressing and looked for an option to turn speech off. When they were finally discussing something relevant to the franchise it was really only a discovery of the initial terminators to mimic human physique. I didn’t think there was much of a narrative in general but at least it made more sense than the movie.

Gameplay – Covering, Flanking and Weapons

Now to the gameplay. I mentioned Gears of War above and that’s exactly what Salvation is. It’s based strongly around a cover system which encourages flanking. You can execute many of the same moves from Gears like blind fire and choosing cover. In some regards it can be even better because grenades and pipebombs just require a button to be lobbed. Other times you’ll wish they had the roadie run because moving all the way around to flank is a slow process.

Connor and Blair can carry two weapons at once and you don’t have much choice with only five offered. I found the best combination to be the RPG and Shotgun since you can huddle next to your teammates for extra shotgun rounds (or M4 rounds) and it’s excellent for taking care of most enemies quickly. The M4 and M249 don’t seem to dish out the damage and have their clips expended in seconds, they’re also tough to use with blind fire. Last weapon is the grenade launcher which comes into the game far too late and isn’t as powerful as the RPG.

Gameplay – Combat and AI

When you engage the machines this is where I really find a clash between the good and bad. I really enjoy watching the muzzle flashes as both forces attack one another. It can really come across as exciting watching hundreds of bullets jump back and forth. This sounds weird I admit but when you’re fighting an HK on the back of a Jeep you’ll definitely see what I mean. Attacking them is also fairly enjoyable as long as you have the right weapons.

Turns out the machines are very much that. Regular bullets barely deal damage when used on the front of the body. In order to effectively destroy a terminator the only method is to flank the enemy and attack it in the rear where a weak spot exists. There’s always the right amount of cover for players to flank without taking a round. When you finally reach their backs this is where serious problems and frustration is encountered. The machines simply focus on Connor meaning it’s impossible to attack.

Your only option is to wait for the AI or Co-Op player to destroy them. It happens far too often and is annoying because the game basically says you can’t play. There are only three basic types of enemies in total too: Wasps (Aerostats), Spiders (HK Spiders), Endo / Skin Jobs (T-600s) You only ever encounter flying HKs, Harvesters or Motorbikes in special sequences which really blows. Fighting the same robots over and over for four hours is just a bore. Oh and as for the Wasps, they’re the reason I use the shotgun because hitting one with the machinegun takes an entire clip because they fly too fast.

The game flow is basically just doing the same thing for nine chapters. Flank and destroy. Sometimes the routine is broken when you defend Barnes or fight in vehicles (the friendly AI is surprisingly good at these parts) You even get to control guns for an HK for one chapter with the typical red HUD although this part was astonishingly difficult. Salvation really isn’t that hard at all although I have to commend it for mixing up the regeneration of health which only occurs once you’ve defeated all enemies on screen, very cool.

Graphics

Okay the city is in ruins, we know but did Los Angeles always look this hideous? There are blobs of green and grey textures everywhere. For a couple of chapters I thought we were backtracking because I had seen the area before; turns out it was actually new. They also messed up many of the cinematics with shoddy animations and the characters look worse than they do in the game. If there’s anything positive to be said about the graphics it’s really the terminators. They definitely look close to what we’ve seen before and watching them shoot chainguns and plasma cannons is awesome. Unfortunately when you destroy them there’s no explosion, just a blue cloud. How disappointing.

Sound and Music

The voice actors just suck. It’s like they just made Barnes talk like a stereotype for comic relief. What’s worse is they shout ridiculous lines during combat such as “Get away from me!” Don’t ask me what was going on there. Sounds are limited too, the M4 inexplicably comes across as a chainsaw and the terminators make unpleasant beeping noises. Music is generally well done because the original Terminator theme was remixed into something quite epic and there’s the T-1000 theme from Terminator 2.

Here’s the drawback. They loop and my God do they loop. Generally the track lasts thirty seconds and you can tell when it loops because the sound cuts out for a split second and the theme restarts. Did GRIN even care? What an afterthought. There are about five or so pieces of music, either prepare to hear each for about an hour or turn them off.

Verdict

Salvation is a game I wanted to review after first seeing it in action on YouTube. What you see there is probably the highlights for the game. Infrequently it’s fun because of some better levels on vehicles or tons of high powered weapons lying around which can make the player feel unstoppable. Otherwise it’s just a buggy, repetitive robot fighting game in a bland environment with slower Gears of War fighting.

It’s definitely a plus to have a co-op mode and you can both grab an easy 1000 achievement points by just beating it. However, with a four hour campaign, limited replayability and nothing more to do you’ll feel like you just blew your time and money. This game is only for Terminator fans and probably only ones that enjoyed the latest movie. For everyone else make sure you play Gears of War 1 and 2 instead. They’re far better games.

Score – 40% (alone) 65% (co-op)

Recommended Level – Chapter 5 – Underground

Pros

+Peculiar health system
+Christian Bale isn’t around
+Above average co-op experience
+Detailed Terminator models
+Good vehicle segments
+Larger weapons are definately fun to use
+Bullet spray makes staying behind cover cool
+Easiest 1000 achivement points ever earned

Cons

-No online play, unlockables or different game modes
-Frustarting flanking because machines always concentrate on you
-Barely any variety in enemies, music, guns or environments
-4 hours long, that’s it;  no reason to replay
-Story comes across as underwhelming
-Repetitive like a machine’s routines
-Voice acting
-Controls, especially when fighting Wasps

God Hand

Developer: Clover

Year: 2006

Genre: Beat ‘Em Up

Themes:  Demons / Asskicking / Martial Arts / Comedy

Available on: PS2

Beat ‘Em Up

The Playstation 2 has been responsible for scores of extravagant fighting games, yet they’re always focused on one on one combat scenarios.  The 1980s saw the birth of the Beat ‘Em Up / Brawler genre where players could fight multiple opponents while moving through a scrolling 2D Environment. With the PS2s technology a 3D brawler was developed sporting the interesting title, God Hand. After hearing about it from a friend I looked up metacritic to see IGN branding it with a 3. This greatly grabbed my attention and I decided to pick it up since it was only $10 new.

Story

God Hand doesn’t feature much of a narrative at all. You’re given control of Gene, an overly sarcastic youngster who sports the God Hand. It’s basically an entire arm infused with immense power and grants Gene some interesting abilities. The objective of the game is to defeat an army of demons with human characteristics before they resurrect an ancient demon to conquer to world.

Effectively the storyline is ridiculous and that’s what makes God Hand such a giddy thrill. There are constant references to popular culture in the form of parodies which will leave your sides aching. An example is Elvis, a chubby, balding demon boss obsessed with hedonism. Just looking at Elvis could warrant a few giggles but then he and Gene have a chat, revealing a comical Mexican dialect. If that’s not humorous enough, the theme which plays during his fights sounds as though it was performed by the King himself. The conversations between characters are always worth listening to because the jokes are so farfetched that they’re actually rather decent.

Gameplay – Difficulty and Moves

Many of the reviews for this game haven’t been overly positive and there’s a simple reason why. As critics struggled to string together explanations of why they didn’t like the game (namely IGN) there was one aspect which caused them to behave as such. God Hand is a very difficult game, extremely difficult in fact. It’s reserved for the hardcore crowd and most people will lose on the first level with the easiest setting.

Finally a game appears that’s actually a little harder and everyone refuses to play it. Since the SNES, games have gradually become seriously casual to such an extent that pressing a button in Uncharted 2 may instantly win the game. God Hand is challenging for a few fundamental additions to gameplay.

Firstly it features a scaling system which ranks with skill. If you’re damaging opponents or evading attacks (no blocking available by the way) then a message appears on screen informing you of a level up. There are four levels of skill and each time the opponents hit harder and attack faster. The level can also drop if Gene is taking hits and if he dies you can simply continue.

Other factors which add to the overall complexity are moves. Choosing the right moves determines Gene’s combat effectiveness and God Hand offers over one hundred, themed to a mix of martial arts. Assigning techniques to different buttons in the menu is a breeze and you can even produce a deadly combo onto the square. You’d better be handy with that controller though because tapping buttons quickly and in succession is the only way to survive. After one level players may find their fingers aching so prepare for occasional cramps.

Gameplay – Assistance

Although the gameplay in God Hand is tough getting it right will make you feel unstoppable. Dodging attacks and pummeling demons with so many moves is a very rewarding experience and never gets old! There are some major inclusions for casual gamers too which are the tension meter and roulette wheel.

As Gene battles with demons his tension meter grows and once it becomes gold can be used to activate the God Hand. The ability temporarily renders Gene invincible and increases his attack speed allowing you to defeat the deadliest of foes quickly. On the other hand, the roulette wheel which is powered by orbs gives you the chance to use deadly moves. Most of these abilities are oriented towards fighting, however some can heal Gene. Each is extremely unique and provides entertaining animations such as Dragon Kick where Gene sends enemies flying into the background, finishing with a star effect.

Also available are various powerups scattered around levels for health, tension, damage increases and orbs. You might choose to rescue civilians who grant you healing items and some chests containing rare moves. Even further help comes from the shop which can be accessed between levels, selling techniques and items to boost health, tension and orbs.

Gameplay – Flow

Think of God Hand like Super Mario. The world is divided into eight sections and each presents a different environment, with a map that tracks progress. There are multiple levels to each segment and approximately two mini bosses await you, followed by a final boss. Most of the time you’re wading through groups of demons, using anything which could help like the Picnic Umbrellas to smash foes.  Also if you damage them enough a “fast finish” move becomes available for you to rapidly smash circles for super saiyan results. Enemies change their skins between sections and basically fight the same way, however the challenge increases. The levels aren’t long meaning there’s an opportunity to save every ten minutes.

If you tire of the normal world then the town between levels lets you play the casino games for extra cash, change outfits, listen to the jukebox and more notably partake in the ring. As you progress in God Hand new ring challenges are unlocked, pitting you against different enemies and even some bosses. There are conditions for each confrontation and many are on the harder difficulty levels. One of the best is the Gene vs. Gene fight which is probably the hardest feat in gaming history and one I have yet to unlock.

Graphics

Yeah yeah, they’re not great IGN, I agree. Who cares honestly? With 8 different settings I think the variety in graphics is enough to overrule their scraggly look. God Hand runs very smoothly because they’re not Crysis photorealistic effects. Changing the skins for characters was a really great idea to keep consistent and the demons in their final forms are actually incredibly detailed.

If that’s not enough remember there are hundreds of animations in the game. Imagine how much research was undertaken to discover these moves. They just look amusing and exciting and the results are tremendous.

Music and Sound

You want awesome music while kicking the snot out of bad guys right? God Hand dishes it out. From the Elvis theme I mentioned above to the fight music for Azel, these are worth pausing the game just to listen. You might also want to stay for the credits, never have I seen a game actually mock itself with a riotous song.

It’s a small disappointment that the sounds for fighting aren’t quite as loud because the music can muffle it although they’re basically your typical “HYAH” and “OOF” sounds; if they added some onomatopoeia speech bubbles I think that would’ve really brought across their point about the game.

As for voice acting, it’s actually quite decent for most characters although some come across as a little robotic. This is what happens when you translate a game folks, thankfully it’s no where near the level of House of the Dead 2.

Verdict

Forget what IGN says because it’s obvious they only played the first stage.  This game is absolutely amazing and presents a challenge on par with old school gaming. If you grew up in the 1990s prepare to take a nostalgia hit from their days of Comix Zone and watching The Matrix. It’s fun, it’s awesome and it’s still on shelves. Get God Hand and your PS2 will live again!

Score 94%

Recommended level – Elvis – Demon Form

Pros

+Amazing Martial Arts style and hundreds of techniques
+Ridiculous plot and amusing characters
+Action packed levels with a smooth transition
+Challenging gameplay, suited to your level
+Incredible music score and credits song
+Jaw dropping attacks from my roulette wheel!

Cons

-Background detailing not that great
-Hand cramps
-Casuals don’t stand a chance (this should really be a pro)
-Some voice acting is off
-Money system probably rewards too much

Note

You can read IGN’s review here for a completely different take. You might find this funny too. I don’t hate IGN but good gravy their review for God Hand was stupid. The guy who wrote it was actually fired.