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Jurassic Park: The Game Review

Malcolm Spinedi — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 15:00:04 +0000

It’s hard to believe that the movie Jurassic Park came out almost 20 years ago. Back before maturity fully set in, Jurassic Park was hands down my favorite movie ever. I must have seen it in theaters eight times at least. This isn't terribly surprising: I was a kid, it was a movie about dinosaurs, and it had a character named Malcolm in it! It wasn’t even a fair fight. I loved it so much that I read the book, bought the toys, and even did a skit about it at my elementary school’s talent show. All that being said, I was really surprised to hear they were making another Jurassic Park game. The shock turned joy as the screen shots of the dinosaurs looked great. So I allowed myself to get a little pumped and downloaded it. This would be my first mistake. The story actually takes place at the same time as the movie, although you never interact with any of the characters from the film. You play as multiple characters as they try to survive Jurassic Park during the time Dennis Nedry sent the park to Hell. On paper, this idea is as sound as any for the plot, but the execution is very poor. The characters are cliché and bland. You have characters like the powerful mercenary, the fatale trying to save a loved one, and the father protecting his misfit kid. Unfortunately, I never managed to get a strong connection with any of them. It seemed very phoned in from top to bottom, and that’s an unfortunate theme. The Game looks more like Jurassic Park: The Cartoon, which is fine. The world and environment are average. It’s not going to win any awards or anything, but it’s average at best. I will give them credit as they managed dinosaurs, props, and the island itself well enough. However, the humans look a little cartoonish to me, and it took away from the experience. Graphically, Jurassic Park is pretty flat. I admit, the dinosaurs are great, and look spot on. I even remember smiling when I heard the familiar whoot of the Dilophosaurus. However everything else, especially given the bad animations, looks subpar at best. It feels more like a computer game than a PS3 game. There are a bunch of tech problems that hound Jurassic Park as well. The animations are a bit stiff, resulting in characters losing a lot of realism. Often times the animations are just a character's lips moving and eyes blinking. The voice acting often times will fail, too, with animations resulting in characters looking like ventriloquists’ dummies. I even had the sound drop out a few times here and there. The soundtrack, with the exception of the movie’s original score, is forgettable. The ultimate failure is the gameplay, or lack there of. The screen shots that I saw a few months ago made me think this was an action game, but I see my mistake. This is the same studio that made the Back to the Future game awhile back. However, this makes Back to the Future look like Uncharted in terms of action gameplay. Jurassic Park should have been called Quick Time Events II: The Quickening because that’s what it is -- one huge quick time event. I understand why they felt the need to leave JP:TG with basic graphics, as I was spending most of my time looking for button prompts. This has always been one of my issues with QTEs -- there is always something cool going on that I miss because I’m looking for button prompts. This is the case with here too, as I end up missing dinosaur battles, suspenseful chases, and near deaths. It ends up killing whatever suspense or excitement Telltale Games was aiming for. Gameplay is repetition at its worst. I’m going to tell you how it plays from start to finish. You inspect an area until a little magnifying glass appears, and you press the button shown. Sometimes this starts an action event, and you press prompts to escape. You then wash, rinse, and repeat till until you're finished. At odd points, they’ll insert a puzzle for you to figure out as well. Don’t get too excited, since the puzzles are bad and are easy to figure out. Despite being 4 episodes long, Jurassic Park is pretty quick. You can finish an episode in its entirety in an hour and a half, so it's roughly 6 total hours in length. You're given a score after each level, which decreases each time you die. The only reason you’d have to go back is for a better score. Trust me though, you’re not going to care to come back after you beat it. After playing it, I have to say it was a mistake for Telltale to take on the Jurassic Park franchise. While some effort was made, this isn’t worth the $29.99 price tag. You want to relieve the experience of Jurassic Park? Rent the movie. You’ll be a lot happier than with this. FINAL GRADE: D-

Rayman Origins Review

Joe Garcia — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 16:00:23 +0000

It’s completely understandable if you’re one of the many that glossed over Rayman Origins last month. Released within a maelstrom of blockbuster releases, it’s a wonder that any copies were sold at all. This is where I get to tell everyone what a terrible mistake they’ve made. When Rayman Origins was first announced, I wasn’t sure what to expect. Despite my love for platforming games, Rayman was never something that held my interest for very long -- it was mostly the visuals made me keep tabs on Origins during its development. What I was unaware of was that Michel Ancel and Co. were busy crafting one of the finest platforming experiences that your hard-earned dollars can buy. The story is simple: Rayman and his buds are hanging out on the Snoring Tree in the Glade of Dreams. As they nap, the sound of their snoring makes its way down to the Land of the Livid Dead, which annoys one of its inhabitants enough to send an army of minions up to the surface to retaliate. Chaos ensues as Electoons and Nymphs are captured across the land, leaving it to Rayman and his pals to restore order. If that sounds silly ... well, that’s because it is. Nothing is taken seriously throughout the entire game, a wonderful change of pace in a season filled with all-too-serious narratives. Nowhere is this this more apparent than in the striking graphics, which feature some of the most wonderfully weird art direction that you’ll find anywhere. Whether you're gliding through areas on the air blown by didgeridoos or using jumping beans to get over a lava pit, the visuals never fail to amuse. Throw in the outlandish character designs and some of the most fluid animation that you’ll find anywhere, and suddenly you’ve got one of the best-looking games of the year, bar none. This is somewhat lost if you’re simply looking at screenshots -- seeing Origins in motion is the only way to do it justice. While the stunning visuals are the most pronounced feature, they’re hardly the most important. Rayman Origins could be as pretty as it wants, but it would be for naught if it played like crap. Borrowing key elements from games such as New Super Mario Bros. Wii, Kirby’s Epic Yarn, and Super Meat Boy ensures that such a crisis is averted. Allow me to explain. The game’s structure is fairly straightforward. Each level has at least three (but usually six) Electoons to collect. By breaking open a cage at the end of each level you will earn one Electoon, and since you have infinite lives to work with simple attrition will see you through to the end. Some levels require a certain number of Electoons to unlock, so eventually you’ll have to do better than that. Much of the challenge comes from collecting as many Lums as you can (the Rayman equivalent to rings and coins), allowing for two more possible Electoons. For the levels with six Electoons, you’ll also need to find two more cages hidden in the level somewhere. The sixth? For that you'll have to complete a speed run of the level. Much like Nintendo’s pink puffball, it’s not completing a level that’s the biggest challenge, but rather completing it skillfully enough to be rewarded handsomely for it. But don’t think that Origins is an easy game just because there’s no “Game Over” screen to taunt you. The first half of the game isn’t terribly punishing, but some Super Meat Boy-level platforming is required if you plan on seeing everything there is to offer. The levels that you unlock by collecting Electoons are each home to a Tricky Treasure, and they’re equally the most rewarding and frustrating part of Rayman Origins. It’s simple enough on paper -- sprint after a treasure chest through the entirety of a level which is only about a minute long, maybe two, when successfully completed. However, there are traps everywhere, and you have to learn where those traps are and how to get around them. Since you have to start all over if you die it becomes a cycle of “sprint/die/memorize trap/dodge trap/continue sprinting/die at next trap”. Your execution has to be perfect -- you must be swift, and you must jump at the exact right place on each platform. Suddenly, you’ve spent 10 minutes beating a level that’s over in two.

GoldenEye 007: Reloaded Review

Malcolm Spinedi — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 17:30:13 +0000

I have a lot of memories of the original N64 GoldenEye 007 that came out in 1997, although the funny thing is that I never really played it. Most of my memories came from the sheer amazement of how popular that game was. Every other college dorm room had the game playing with 2-4 people playing with them. The game was definitely the point at which game studios realized that there is money in having an addicting multiplayer. I can only imagine how big the phenomenon would have been if online multiplayer had been around for consoles back then. Cut to now and the release of GoldenEye 007: Reloaded, an HD update for the classic game. Does it captures the addictiveness of the first game, or are left with a studio getting some quick cash? Let's begin with the single-player campaign. Those expecting a loyal recreation of the story of the actual 1995 movie, or the N64 game for that matter, will be a little disappointed here. The game makes a lot of changes to the plot in this one, and even cuts some events out completely. On top of that, all the characters are completely different. Pierce Brosnan (despite being the actual star of the film) has been replaced with Daniel Craig, the current Bond. Characters are either completely different (the magic that was Xenia Onatopp is gone completely) or they have been completely removed (Boris Grishenko apparently wasn't invincible enough) from the story. Which is a shame, because the original GoldenEye had some of the most memorable characters of any Bond film to date. Graphically, while the game doesn't look terrible, you can tell very much it’s an update of a N64 game. The textures look terrible on a lot of objects, to a point that some areas look like an amateur created them. Some items like the guns look like they were taken straight from the old game. In terms of being an "HD update" it's a pretty lazy attempt. Granted, this may have been on purpose to give the game a more "like the original" feel to it, which may please fans of the classic. However, for myself after playing HD updates for Metal Gear Solid and the Team ICO collections, it’s a little disheartening. The game play lived up to my expectations. It was very much like playing a history lesson in gaming, as a lot of the stuff that’s normal in FPS games now is in here, such as the button layout and look. I also enjoy how the game gives you the choice on whether you want to be stealthy or a killing machine. This is one of the few games I've played that gives you some benefit towards being stealthy. Being silent and deadly means not only that you don't get shot at but you also have to deal with fewer enemies to deal with as well. Becoming John Rambo and shooting everyone in the room alerts more people in the area to where you are, and you end up dealing with double the original amount of enemies. The game is fun, which is the most important detail. I had fun sneaking around and subduing enemies, as well as simply shooting people. For the most part, I felt like 007. I say for the most part because the big let down for me was gadgets. Instead of any of the gadgets from the movie, you get a smartphone. That’s it. You simply get a phone with a lot of great apps. It kind of kills the spectacle of being Bond when I technically have the same tools that he does. Some other critiques I have for the game is the length of time of the single player campaign. The solo game is short, even with secondary objectives. The game is very linear, and the levels are really short. You could probably wrap this game up in 6 hours, maybe less. I guess Activision was focusing its attention to the multiplayer, but that’s a shame that the story mode took such a backseat. The original GoldenEye was a topnotch 007 film, and it's a shame they neutered the story and characters like they did. New to this remake of GoldenEye is a special mode known as MI6 mode. In this mode, you play survival different missions that focus on offensive, defensive, or stealth missions. While some may find these missions to be a nice timeout from the multiplayer and single player modes, I found them boring. They didn't add anything to my overall experience in the game, I didn't get anything from playing the missions, and I ended up wanting to play the other modes again. However, it does make for some good practice, but you can easily get that by just playing through the game. Now for the part everyone has been waiting for -- the multiplayer. Good news, as the mode does not disappoint. In fact, this has to be some of the most customizable multiplayer that I've ever seen. There are 13 different modes you can play in, ranging from classic death matches, bomb defuse, and survival (Escalation); the game has plenty for you to do. You can do this on your own or with a clan (which you can create and invite people to). As you play more and more games, your profile level goes up, which unlocks more guns and skins to customize your character with. I enjoyed the multiplayer, and highly recommended it. One thing to mention, as it's surprisingly a big deal for players of the original game, but the maps for multiplayer are different now. I suppose this has to do with the developers wanting to give new players to the game some sort of advantage. Players I've talked to were really ticked off at this, but obviously I had no qualm with it, as I rarely played the original. I did enjoy GoldenEye 007: Reloaded. It was a nice game for what it was, a nice little throwback to a really awesome game. However, I can't help but feel that fans of the original will have a bit of a problem with some of the changes. In fact, I dare say you may have more fun with this game if you never played the original or even watched the film. While the multiplayer was fine, the story was butchered and could have used a lot more work. The graphics also didn't look like HD, and looked more like a PS2 game than PS3. I guess my biggest critique is that it didn't live up to my expectations. I would recommend giving this game a rental before laying down the cash to pick it up, especially since you don't need an online pass for this one. FINAL GRADE: C+

Sonic Generations Review

Joe Garcia — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 17:00:16 +0000

Poor, poor Sonic. Ever since his first foray into the third dimension he's been in steady decline, with long-time fans clamoring for a return to his 2D roots. They conveniently ignore the fact that the blue blur has been in several great 2D games on the Game Boy Advance and Nintendo DS, instead asking for a "proper" numbered entry in the series. They got that last year with Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 1 and many still moaned that it wasn't good enough (it was). One year later and we have not Sonic 4: Episode 2 but Sonic Generations, which promises to combine the best that the Sonic of yesteryear and the Sonic of today have to offer. It's a goofy idea, but a company's flagship character only turns 20 years old once so we'll roll with it. Can the combined forces of Classic and Modern Sonic be enough to carry Generations as the anniversary celebration that one of the most iconic characters in video game history deserves? Well ... Let's start with the game's story, if only to get it out of the way. Sonic is celebrating his 20th birthday at a picnic with the stupid, awful friends that he's collected over the years when the inevitable happens -- a dimensional rift opens in the sky, and a creepy dark figure comes down and takes all of Sonic's pals with it. The same happened on my 17th birthday, so I know how bummed Sonic was. Anyway, he's knocked unconscious in the process and awakens in a whitewashed world featuring gates to strangely familiar places. As it turns out, this place serves as a hub to the game's Zones, and speeding through both Classic and Modern iterations will restore their color while also pulling Sonic's friends out of their frozen limbo states. The story is outrageously silly, which isn't terribly surprising; in a game in which Sonic works alongside himself to battle two Robotniks it's far from egregious. There are cute little touches throughout, such as Tails being completely unfamiliar with the original game's Green Hill Zone (a game he wasn't in), and there are a few chuckles to be had as Classic Sonic pantomimes rather than speaks. Classic Sonic being mute is strange, though, as Classic Tails is also in the game and speaks with the same voice he had in the original Sonic the Hedgehog cartoon. Was Jaleel White not available or asking for too much money? Oh well. No matter how ridiculous the story, all that really matters are the game's mechanics. You take on three Zones at a time with a boss in between each set, and each Zone is divided into one Classic Sonic Act and a Modern Sonic Act. The two play styles are obviously distinct, yet surprisingly similar. Classic Sonic only has one move besides running and jumping (the spin dash) and his levels are, of course, fast-paced sidescrolling affairs. He plays much like he did in his heyday, although it's still not an exact match -- he's a little more slippery here than he was in his 16-bit games and can make slower platforming inexact. Still, it's much closer than Sonic 4 came last year, so it should be chalked up as a win in anyone's book. Meanwhile, Modern Sonic is also about moving quickly, although he's generally moving forward in a 3D space. When done right these levels are great fun, but when he's not zooming around and guided by his lock-on attack his movements become very imprecise and the simplest jumps become more stressful than they should be. Modern Sonic's levels also occasionally have 2D segments that work surprisingly well, but Modern's floatier feel and lock-on ability distinguish him from the Classic levels. A platforming game is nothing without good levels, and Sonic Generations is all over the place in this department. In Sonic Team's selection of old and new, the divide technically goes like this: three Genesis/Mega Drive worlds, three Dreamcast worlds, and three current-gen worlds. You quickly realize that the actual divide then becomes 3/6 in Modern Sonic's favor, and it's a part of one of Generations' biggest downfalls -- there's not enough Classic Sonic in it. It's a strange thing to say, as there are 9 total levels for each Sonic to traverse, as well as 45 challenges each, but it's the truth. Seeing Chemical Plant Zone in HD is a treat and the modern levels that are included are great, but why not recreate a couple more 16-bit worlds? We don't really need 90 different challenge levels that are essentially tweaked, small portions of the main levels, do we? I would think that someone at Sonic Team has a soft spot for Ice Cap Zone, but I guess not. Then there are the boss and "rival" levels -- one boss and one rival (Metal Sonic) revolves around Classic gameplay, while Modern Sonic gets two bosses and two rivals (Shadow and Silver). In a 20th anniversary celebration more reverence is paid to a version of Sonic that's fresh in gamer's minds, and with a plethora of potential Classic Sonic levels to choose from the tiny morsel presented here is inexcusable. Equally erratic is the actual design of the game's levels. Modern Sonic haters would no doubt assume that that all of his levels suck and that Classic Sonic's are the best part of the game, but it's really a mixed bag. Some of Classic Sonic's levels are brilliant -- his Green Hill Zone Act is a near-perfect level -- while later Acts are plodding, drawn-out affairs that can become abysmal 10-minute wars of attrition. The same goes for Modern Sonic, where some levels provide easy fodder for his detractors and others offer some of the most fun and exciting parts of the game. The aforementioned challenge levels are no different, where some of them offer great twists on the best parts of the game, while others are maddening wastes of time. In either case, there are simply too many of them (ninety!) and I'd rather have real levels in their place. The most consistent part of the game is in its presentation, which is thankfully excellent. Sonic Generations benefits from the hedgehog's history of colorful games, and they're more vibrant than ever. It's great to see classic Zones and enemies redone in HD, and hearing modern instrumentations of classic 16-bit music is extremely gratifying. The original Sonic the Hedgehog is also unlockable, which is a nice bonus. Overall, the overarching "Happy Birthday, Sonic!" theme will warm the hearts of long-time fans, even if the level selection doesn't necessarily reflect that sentiment. Sonic Generations tries to combine two different worlds in one package, but it never quite hits its mark. Sonic Team is certainly on the right track, and if they were to flesh out either Classic or Modern Sonic then they could very well make the hedgehog special again. By juggling both versions, though, they end up tripping over their own feet and the game suffers as a result. It's certainly worth a rental, especially if you're looking for a break from the buffet of overly serious AAA titles on the market right now. Otherwise only the biggest Sonic nuts will find it worth the full purchase price. FINAL GRADE: C+

WWE ’12 Review

Malcolm Spinedi — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 15:30:41 +0000

I've had two major passions in my life since I was a kid: video games and professional wrestling. Since “Macho Man” Randy Savage took on Hulk Hogan for the WWF title at WrestleMania V, I've been a diehard fan. So video games based on pro wrestling has always been a double whammy for me, targeting both my passions. After years of SmackDown vs. Raw, Yukes has completely taken the game back to the drawing board and made it into WWE '12. Does this new title live up to the hype, or is it more of the same in a pretty new box? Let's begin with the most important element in any game: the game play. They redesigned the controls, and I'll say that they’ve made the best set of controls yet. The square button allows you to hit striking moves, the X button is for grappling, triangle let's you hit signatures and finishers, and circle pins your opponents. Holding R1 while your opponent is dazed allows you to target body parts, a feature that's especially welcome for submission wrestlers. The controls work really well. Once I got used to the new arrangement, I was excellently executing wrestlers with the best of them. The real challenge will be getting used to reversing moves, an action done by hitting R2 at the right moment. This can be difficult, but once you master it, you'll feel like a main eventer in no time. A minor nitpick about the new controls is I wish they'd made a tutorial level to get used to them. They did this in the previous game, and it really helped me get used to the controls. Also, finding out the controls and the conditions for winning specialty matches can be exasperating. For instance, a table match I had with Jack Swagger took forever because they don't explain what’s necessary to prop your opponent on a table. Occasions like this are thankfully sparse, and didn't pose too much of an issue. The main issue I had with this game was getting used to all the changes they made. For example, kicking out of a pinfall is not a matter of button mashing. Instead you hold down the X button and release a growing bar inside the correct section of the grey bar. Submission wrestling has become a button mashing event called Breaking Point, with it being easier to make opponents submit if the body part is weak. Like I said, I like the system and think it's the best one they've ever created. It just takes some getting used to. Graphically, the game for the most part is fine, though it isn't perfect. Members of the audience look terrible up close, though I appreciate that they all look different. The wrestlers themselves range from amazingly accurate to okay. A running joke in these games is that you can tell who's a main eventer in WWE thanks to the level of detail in the characters. For example, cover boy Randy Orton looks so true to life it’s incredible. He looks and acts so much like the real deal that you'd almost swear you were watching WWE live. Wrestlers on the lower card however don't look as accurate, such as John Morrison with hair that looks like it’s made from Play-Doh. It's a shame, but ultimately excusable. This year Yukes redid all of the animations from top to bottom. Gone are the days when you'd warp to the middle of the ring to execute certain moves that you triggered. Now you can pull of a move from any position, and even change the direction of most of them. Even better, the move can be interrupted. Is Rey Mysterio about to hit your tag partner with a 619? You can jump him as comes off the rope. You can interrupt any move or finisher, which makes the game even more like the real thing. Yukes made some other tweaks to the game as well, such as the ropes shaking when you bounce off them, cameras angles switching just like on TV, and even special taunts that make your opponent slowly stand up in time for your character's finisher. On top of this, all of the arena set-ups from pay-per-views of the past year have been recreated to great detail and are a blast to wrestle in. The environments overall are all created to perfection and are a blast to wrestle in. If there's anything you really have to tip your hat to WWE '12 for, it’s the incredible amount of content in this game. Not only is every wrestler on the main roster in the game, they also many legends from the past such as Arn Anderson, Shawn Michaels, the Legion of Doom, Kevin Nash, Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Rock, Edge, and many more. Plus, more wrestlers will be included in the future as DLC, like Brodus Clay, Trish Stratus, Kharma, "Macho Man" Randy Savage, and Mick Foley. If there's anything that isn't in the game, chances are you can make it. Quite rarely have I seen a game provide so many options for customization. You still have the classic Create-a-Wrestler (with more options to chose from than ever), which allows you to create a grappler from the ground up. You can give this wrestler (or any wrestler at all) a new finisher thanks to Create-a-Finisher. Don't like any of the entrances? Don't worry because you can create you own entrance as well. Didn't like the Road to WrestleMania plots, and thought you could do better? You can make you own story with any wrestler you want with the Create-A-Story. On top of all this, they created another new feature for you to use called Create-a-Arena. This one allows you to create any ring area you want. Want one dedicated to DX? nWo? Monday Night Nitro? You can do this and more with the new Arena creator.

Assassin’s Creed: Revelations Review

Malcolm Spinedi — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 18:10:56 +0000

I'll start this review of Assassin's Creed: Revelations by admitting right off I'm not a huge follower of the series. It's definitely on the top of my "To Play List" but Revelations is the first game from the series it that I've sat down and played at great length. I mean no disrespect to the series -- it's done a great job of taking the art of shanking someone from behind and running away from the cops, and making it into a very interesting series. So how does Assassin's Creed: Revelations measure up? Revelations continues to follow the story of Ezio as he travels to Constantinople (now Istanbul) to find the keys to open Altair's library. As he finds each key, it opens up a memory of Altair (protagonist of the original game), thus allowing you to finish up not only Ezio's story, but Altair's as well. I give the story a lot of credit here, as it's very well told. Ubisoft has gotten slowly but surely better when it comes to stories. The characters have become more memorable, and the story is a lot more engaging as well. You follow Ezio as he not only searches for the keys, but also ends up getting involved in a pretty intense political situation in the process. You have Altair and Desmond with missions of their own to deal with, so the story and plot build up to a nice crescendo. I find myself really torn on the character of Ezio. On the one hand, I love how they developed this character. I love it anytime they have a story that allows you to see a character grow and mature. We started with Ezio when he was a teenager, just donning the hood, and finished with him as a battle weary veteran now leading in the war against the Templars. And it's a memorable story too, as I still remember feeling for the guy when they murdered his family right in front of him. It was a very "Batman" type of origin. That being said, I'm sick to death of Ezio. Let me explain my point: if Assassin's Creed began and continued with Ezio as the central character, I'd be fine. This however is not the case. The series protagonist is Desmond, and each entry was supposed to be Desmond going into a different ancestor's memories. We began with Altair and then continued with Ezio. We then stayed with Ezio for a total of three games. Why? AC is a series that has the ability to be really interesting if Ubisoft wishes it to be. We could get a story set during World War II, the Revolutionary War, during the reign of Genghis Khan, and so forth. Then there's the elephant in the room : when will Desmond put on the suit to give us a modern-day AC? Instead, we get Ezio three times in a row. It’s as if Ubisoft couldn't think of any other ideas, and decided to play it safe. Well, I have to say that safe is getting boring.

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Review

Tyler Lee — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 15:30:14 +0000

Many great games have graced our consoles this year, from Arkham City to Dark Souls. Well far be it from Bethesda, developers of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, to not have their game counted amongst the greats. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is a finely tuned, annoyingly buggy, incredibly fun gaming experience that far outshines its predecessor. It isn’t perfect, slipping through the same cracks that Bethesda has grown possibly a little too comfortable with. However, it succeeds where it should and with flying colors. From the very beginning, Skyrim thrusts you into the story and action of the game more intensely than any Elder Scrolls before it. Still fitting you with the role of the unknown prisoner, the epic opening sequence does a fantastic job of smashing you directly into the game, from narrowly escaping an early death, to the adrenaline-pumping flight through the burning town, to the battle through the underground caverns to safety, each part giving you subtle hints at the overall story, but leaving you more clueless (and curious) than anything. As you progress into your first few hours, you learn basics of the main story you will be a part of (or not, if you so choose). Your journey takes place in the country of Skyrim, home of the Nordic race. The dragons of ancient times have come back and you, the prophesied Dragonborn are the only one that can stop whatever evil plot has brought them back. In the midst of all this, several other stories are unfolding all throughout Skryim: civil war, a plot against the ruling body, the stories of the many factions, all of which are there for you to influence and become a leading part. Each one feels just as deep and important as the main story line, with each one introducing you to new and unique characters, making friends, eliminating enemies, building and toppling dynasties. These stories and the ability to be a part of them is definitely the most appealing and enjoyable part of Skyrim.

Aside from enjoying the story, Skyrim isn’t bad to look at either. The landscape is breathtaking -- the environments, the green forests, riverways and waterfalls, caves, all the way to the many snowy mountains -- all look great and just beg to be explored. Due to these appealing visuals and more varied environments, exploration is done not just to progress the story, but for sheer enjoyment as well. You may very well forget you have a mission and instead choose to dungeon dive or explore the open landscape. Granted, the textures aren’t the greatest when right up in the camera, but if you spend all of your time putting your face right up against the rocks and trees, then you will miss out on all the great things Skyrim has to offer.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 Review

Joe Garcia — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 23:31:44 +0000

The Call of Duty franchise is inarguably the most popular game franchise of this generation, which means that it gets an equal amount of naysayers as it does people that are happy to plunk down $60 a year to play their favorite shooter. Despite the increasing number of gamers that say they won't touch the game, the number of people that buy into it does, too. Competitors are constantly gunning for its place at the top of the heap as well, with the recent Battlefield 3 being the latest attempt. It's a fine game for sure, but whether it manages to chip CoD's sizable player base remains to be seen. It's also no secret that there have been some ... personnel changes over at Infinity Ward, to the point that the newly-formed Sledgehammer Games had to help put the game together, with Raven Software and Beachhead Studios also chipping in. This raised more than a few eyebrows, leaving people wondering if the original Call of Duty studio's best days were behind it. Maybe, maybe not. What I do know is that Modern Warfare 3 is a damn fine shooter. I kicked off my time with MW3 by playing through its campaign, and make no mistake: this is one of the most pulse-pounding experiences of the year. The story, which picks up right where Modern Warfare 2 left off, certainly isn't going to win any writing awards. However, the excellent variety of mission tasks and jaw-dropping set pieces show that whoever was left to work on the game still understands what makes an action game fun. And that's just it -- while other games try to beat you over the head with stories that think they're better than they really are while trying to make you care about personality-deficient characters, Modern Warfare 3 just makes sure that you're never bored with it. There are minimal quick-time events and no moral decisions to make. The game simply tasks itself with entertaining you from beginning to end, and does so with flying colors. The campaign also addresses my largest complaint with the series, which is when they used to spawn an infinite number of enemies at you until you managed to push forward; thankfully this is gone now. Paired with competent (but not totally impressive) AI partners that are helpful without doing all of the work for you, I rarely found myself frustrated while playing through the story. When that AI is the wonderfully-mustachioed Captain Price, all the better. The Special Operations mode also makes its return, and aside from one major addition it's much like what you saw in Modern Warfare 2. A large number of missions are laid out for you to tackle either on your own or with a buddy, and many of them are scenarios ripped right from the campaign, though usually with a twist. Where in the campaign you were trying to stop a group of people, here you're in the assailants' shoes. Spec Ops also has its own leveling system, which is similar to what you see in the game's multiplayer. You earn XP as you play, and you earn new weapons, perks and equipment as you level up.

Battlefield 3 Review

Joe Garcia — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 20:27:15 +0000

Since the release of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, the video game market has been flooded by droves of me-too copycats looking to topple Activision’s baby, and EA has played a significant part in doing so. Two Battlefield: Bad Company games and a Medal of Honor reboot threw their hats in the ring, but didn’t quite resonate with the mainstream the way CoD did (and still does). This year, EA are putting all of their eggs in the Battlefield basket, releasing the first “true” sequel in the franchise in over six years. With a bleeding-edge graphics engine, aggressive marketing campaign, and a sizable chunk of the gaming population bored to tears by the prospect of another annual Call of Duty release, DICE and EA are sitting pretty. But now that the game is out, can it usurp the current king of console shooters of its crown? There’s only one way to find out. You might have read a few other reviews on Battlefield 3 by now, and most of them are quick to point out how terrible they think the campaign is ... and they’re mostly right. The single-player is a shallow 4-5 hours, with a paper-thin terrorism plot that tries so hard to out-Call of Duty Call of Duty that it all rings hollow. There are multiple playable characters, but I couldn’t give less of a damn about any of them -- the game’s emotional moments fall flat, and all I could do was roll my eyes. There are quick-time events, but there are far too many and they all manage to overstay their welcome. Shit is blowing up all around you, but, well, that was actually pretty cool for the most part. Still, I never cared about why anything was happening. If you’re looking to buy Battlefield 3 for the single-player, don’t. Please. I’m begging you. There’s also a co-op mode, with missions based on the campaign for you and a buddy to run through. There are six of them in all, and none of them bring anything particularly exciting or special. Gears of War this is not. Oh, but none of that is the game’s real draw, is it? No, it’s Battlefield 3’s multiplayer that’s the real attraction, and for good reason: It’s one of the finest console multiplayer experiences out there. Multiplayer is broken down into three modes. You have your standard Team Deathmatch, where the two teams try to reach a kill limit before the other; Conquest, where there are several capture points on the map that are used to reduce the other team’s respawn tickets; and Rush, where one team defends a pair of M-COM stations while the other pushes forward. The attacking team hopes to destroy three pairs of stations, while the defending team hopes to reduce their tickets to zero before they can succeed. Team Deathmatch and Rush also have smaller squad-based versions if you prefer to play with less than the maximum 24 people. TDM is nothing special, and I had the least fun with this mode by far. It doesn’t encourage team play nearly as much as the other two modes, and doesn’t distinguish itself much from TDM modes in other shooters. Both Rush and Conquest are a hell of a lot of fun, though. Since the attacking team has a limited amount of respawns to destroy the two M-COM stations, you can’t just charge into the objective all willy-nilly. Conquest ended up being my favorite mode, as just about everyone on the map can play a positive role on their team, no matter their skill level. I spent much of my time capturing and defending flags, and there’s a certain smug satisfaction that I got from outscoring someone with a 17/5 kill/death count with my humble 7/6. There are four classes of infantry for you to choose from -- Assault, Engineer, Support, and Recon. The Assault class has the ability to heal and revive teammates, the Engineer can repair vehicles and has access to RPGs and SAMs, Support can resupply ammo, and Recon has access to sniper rifles. They’re nothing you haven’t seen in any other shooter, but they work quite well here. They’re all very well balanced since they all get similar (yet distinct) weaponry, so no one ever has a reason to feel overmatched. Finding the class you're most comfortable with takes no more than a couple of matches, and fulfilling your role is gratifying. The game also makes a point of sprinkling its maps with vehicles, and the result is hit or miss. Jeeps and tanks are tremendously useful for getting around the map, while also boasting an obvious kick in firepower. The controls aren’t great, though, and can sometimes feel clunky. Jets and helicopters are where it really starts to fall apart, because the controls are so ridiculously bad and terribly explained. It was a fairly common sight to see these vehicles crash into the distance simply because the person piloting it couldn’t turn it around competently. In time people will learn, but the fact that you have to do it on the fly in the middle of battle leaves a sour taste in my mouth. The inclusion of vehicles also makes it quite apparent that Battlefield 3 was designed with PCs in mind, with console gamers left to make due. The game is pared down from a maximum of 64 players to 24, and the game’s maps clearly reflect the larger number. Some of them are massive, even if they’re scaled down from the PC version. If there’s no vehicle around, your team has no control points and you’re not part of a squad, it’s going to take you an awful long time to get back into the action. The console downgrade doesn’t end there, however. Battlefield 3’s Frostbite 2 engine is extremely impressive on a PC, but the transition to consoles is less than great. There are instances in the campaign where the game looks fantastic, and the destructible environments are a ton of fun. However, there’s still some considerable pop-in when you’re flying around in a jet and the game doesn’t quite reach the levels of graphical fidelity that we’ve seen in the best console games, which is a bit disappointing considering how good we've seen some shooters look on the PS3. Thankfully, the sound in the game is incredible, and makes up for the graphics just a little bit. If you’ve got a good pair of headphones or a home theater system, you’re in for a treat. So where does that all leave us? We have a game that has to make some fairly significant compromises in order to make its way over to consoles, and with a seriously lackluster campaign and co-op element to boot. In all honesty, it would have been better if DICE had cut the single-player and charged $50 for a multiplayer-only experience, because that part of the game is so strong. With its fast-paced, over-the-top, yet strategic brand of warfare, it’s something that people would have been able to cope with. Battlefield 3 certainly has its issues, and any mode that isn’t the multiplayer is a superfluous waste of time. Once you get around those things, it’s easy to fall in love with what is ultimately one of the premier multiplayer experiences of this generation. FINAL GRADE: B+

Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception Review

Malcolm Spinedi — Sat, 05 Nov 2011 14:00:13 +0000

Uncharted is one of the key franchises on the PS3. I dare say what Mario is to Nintendo, Nathan Drake is to Sony. The original Uncharted set the bar for visuals on the PS3. Uncharted 2 was adored by the PlayStation community and won many "Game of the Year" awards in 2009. To say Uncharted 3 has some really big shoes to fill is the understatement of the year -- does it live up to the hype? I'll start right off with the story, and I'm going to put this out there right now: this is the best story in a video game to date. I mean every word of that sentence. Naughty Dog deserves a lot of credit for the story and the way they flesh out the characters here. Yes, it's still a story about Nathan Drake and company going out to find treasure, but there's more to it than that. The game focuses largely on Nathan and his backstory, especially when he's with Sully. We get a lot of backstory on Drake here, including one huge tidbit that they never follow up on (have to save something for the sequel, I guess). I dare say that thanks to this game, Drake has moved up a lot in my favorite characters list. His character is so masterfully fleshed out over the course of the game that I found myself genuinely caring about him, hoping he makes the right decisions, and even feeling his pain. Drake's not the only character, of course. Sully, Elena, and Chloe all return, and we're also introduced to Charlie Cutter, who is a very welcome addition to the cast. Whoever writes the banter between the characters at Naughty Dog deserves a raise, because they did a great job. From Elena and Drake joking about the last time they parachuted somewhere to Cutter explaining why he uses a prepaid phone, they do a great job of giving these characters some humanity and making them relatable. The story of Drake and company's quest is an incredible rollercoaster ride. We get barroom brawls in London, gunfire on horseback in the desert, fighting off hordes of enemies in a sinking ship during a storm, and surviving a vast desert, and that’s just the stuff from the trailers! Naughty does a tremendous job of incorporating the environment with the gameplay to such a point that your environment could be considered an enemy in a lot of levels. The presentation of it makes Uncharted 3 feel less like a video game and more like an interactive movie, and a great one at that. The gameplay is the same as the last two games, with two new additions. There’s a new "throwback" action with grenades, meaning if an enemy throws a grenade at you, you have a little bit of time to grab and throw it back at them. The second new addition is the new melee combat system. Along with using square to attack, triangle is used to counter an enemy's attack, and circle is used to grab them. Once you grab them, you can shove them into parts of the environment to finish off your opponent. For instance, you can shove them into a bar counter, and finish them off by hitting them with a beer bottle. This makes every fight you see look realistic. Granted they could use more fight animations to keep it from getting repetitive, but it's still sweet nonetheless. I've said it once and I'll say it a thousand times: the devil is in the details, and graphically Uncharted 3 is full of sin. While this is a staple for the series, it’s still impressive with every game. The game itself is gorgeous, and the landscapes really come alive each time. Jungles look lush and colorful, the storm in the ocean level is powerful and intense, and the desert was massive and cities are populated and busy. It’s a testament to how beautiful a game can be when you push the PS3 to its limits. I also love a lot of little things like how character's clothes get wet when they jump in water, or sand sticks to Nathan when he crashes in the desert. It's also in the animations as well, like when Drake stumbles as he runs away or collapses or shows the desperation as he staggers and crawls through the desert, as it gives a small measure of depth to the character. The score can make or break a game, but we can chalk up this one in the "Make" category. The music does a great job in heightening the mood of every scene. Some of the key moments of this game (which are getting harder and harder to not talk about as this review goes on) are as powerful as they are thanks in part to the music that plays in the background. As awesome as this game is, I do have some complaints. Number one, this franchise has some of the stupidest enemies in the history of video games. I'm not talking AI, but how they act in the story. These guys really want to kill you, even if it means dying in the process. Maybe this was has been a staple in the series and I'm just now noticing, but it's pretty bad. So bad in fact, even Sully and Drake start cracking jokes about it during the game! Let me you about this one enemy in particular, who's a shining example of this. This happens in the famous scene where Drake is hanging out of a plane by a cargo net. As I climb up the net, I spot this lone enemy hanging off the net. Now if this enemy would use both hands to climb, he could save himself. However he instead tries hanging off with one arm while using his free hand to try and shoot till he eventually flies off. Now repeat this guy 750 times, and you have the enemies of this game. I also can't help but feel that the Batman: Arkham games influenced this game just a little. First of all the new melee system is very reminiscent of Arkham's fighting system. On top of that, we now get scenes of Drake fighting off 12 enemies at a time kind of like Batman. Also and without spoiling too much, there is a villain who uses a type of fear toxin as a weapon, just like a certain Batman villain. I also had some issues with running in this game too. For instance, I'd be running to cover and hit circle to try and take cover, but I'll end up rolling instead and getting killed. The reverse also ends up happening with the result also being I get killed. However, I recognize that really these are just nitpicks. When Joe reviewed Batman: Arkham City, he said, "Buy this game, armed with the knowledge that you’re buying the best game of the year." Well Joe, hate to break it to you but the race for Game of the Year just became tough. Uncharted 3 is a fantastic game and has once again set the bar for what makes an amazing game. It excels in every way I can think of, especially putting together a story that is the best story I've seen in years. This is one you need to get people, and is a testament as to why Naughty Dog is a force in this industry. FINAL GRADE: A+