February 2008

Endless Ocean

February 21, 2008

Reviews / Wii / by Kat Ingersoll Make a comment! / Tweet it!

Endless Ocean is best summarized as the simplicity of Animal Crossing combined with a gorgeous National Geographic documentary about fish.

As a freelance scuba diver, you (or your somewhat customizable character) drift around in the waters off the fictional Monoa Lai island. You explore the region’s waters, learn about the various fauna that live there, collect sunken treasure, guide clients around the coral reefs, populate the local aquarium and teach your diving partner (a dolphin) tricks.

And…

That’s about it. There’s no ultimate goal or way to “win” or “lose” the game. Much like Animal Crossing, there is no required order in which to accomplish the goals you encounter. And the fish you encounter seem to live in perfect harmony without trying to eat each other or your diver.

The controls are simplistic and well-suited to the Wii’s unique control scheme. B swims, A interacts with fauna and objects, + zooms in, and – does “auto swim”. Tilting the remote makes the diver turn or go deeper. Young children and casual gamers will have no problem mastering the controls as they swim around in their waterlogged sandbox.

The sound is… non-offensive. The sounds of the bubbles escaping the scuba gear, the diver kicking to go deeper, dolphins whistling and the radio crackling to life are all very nice touches that increase the game’s immersive feeling. However, the soundtrack is full of snore-inducing music. While the music is appropriate for the environments, it’s not something I would actively seek out for listening pleasure. Luckily, Arika takes mercy on people with more varied tastes and allows you to play your own MP3’s off an SD card.

The real gem of this game is in its graphic representation of the water and fauna. While the image of the human characters (usually on the boat) looks very similar to those in the Sims series, the sea bed and its fauna look like it came from National Geographic or Discovery Channel. Many of the fish act like they would in the wild when you interact with them. Moving to different areas is seamless, with no discernible transition period. Even general caves and walls look gorgeous. I half-expect to hear the voice of Jacques Cousteau to come out of my surround sound as my diver swims around.

The only real gripe I can think of is that the immersive experience may cause nausea in those prone to motion sickness. Even though I don’t generally get sick, I still felt a minor touch of queasiness after my first session. That went away once I got used to the controls and environment. Your mileage may vary.

All in all, Endless Ocean is a fascinating addition to the “sandbox” and “edutainment” genre of games. Small children will enjoy moving the diver around to explore the rich sea life (that strangely never eats or attacks each other). Adults will enjoy learning new stuff and meeting the small goals. There is a lot to do and discover, and players may even learn something.

Commanders: Attack of the Genos

February 21, 2008

Reviews / Xbox 360 / by Justin Last Make a comment! / Tweet it!

Commanders represents a seldom-seen genre on the Xbox 360: turn-based strategy. If you’ve played Nintendo’s Advance Wars then you’ll feel right at home playing Commanders. An art deco style and a 50s pulp sci-fi story surround a solid strategy title with good pacing, an appropriate difficulty curve, and enough variety in mission and unit types to keep strategists busy for a very long time. And since Commanders is an XBLA game, the entire package – consisting of 15 campaign missions with two difficulties, 10 skirmish maps, and online multipayer – is a steal at the simple ten-dollar price.

Like any good strategy game, Commanders is essentially a big game of rock, paper, scissors. Light infantry beats heavy infantry, heavy infantry beats light tanks, and light tanks beat light infantry. Other units exhibit similar strength and weakness relationships. Heavy artillery, for example, is great at taking out all ground-based units, but it has no armor to speak of. Bombers and gunships can both peck away at tanks, but anti-air absolutely destroy them. Commanders adds a new wrinkle to these relationships, however. All commanders have both a passive and active ability. Alec Falcon, the first commander you’ll play as, grants all surrounding units a defense bonus as a passive ability, and he can fire on all units in his range as an active ability. Other commanders have different abilities including passive healing, extended line of sight, increased artillery range, action points regeneration, and summoning reinforcements.

In a change from Advance Wars‘ A

Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity

February 21, 2008

Reviews / Wii / by John Marques Make a comment! / Tweet it!

There’s a new Sonic game out. Most gamers would likely cringe at the prospect of a new Sonic game given the blue blur’s recent track record, but as far as Sonic racing games go, Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity is better than past forays into the genre. Zooming around on hoverboards might seem out of character for Sonic, but for those familiar with Sonic R back on the Saturn, an on-foot racing game was a better idea on paper.

The plot of the game is relatively simple. A meteor fragment has fallen to the ground and has caused a massive uprising among all the world’s robots. Naturally, it’s up to Sonic and his crew to get to the bottom of things. Along the way, they run into old rivals such as the Babylon Rogues and learning how to harness the power of these meteor fragments to control time and gravity.

The core gameplay remains the same from the first game, racing around the track as in any other racing game with the twist of being about to perform A

Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles

February 21, 2008

PSP / Reviews / by Justin Last Make a comment! / Tweet it!

Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles for the PSP is a port of the until now Japan-only Castlevania: Rondo of Blood. Rondo of Blood is more like Super Castlevania IV (SNES) than Symphony of the Night (PSX, 360) so those whose who enjoy Castlevania titles for its 3D format may be frustrated by it, but those who remember the punishingly hard Castlevanias of years past will be right at home helping Richter vanquish Dracula one more time.

Dracula X is about precision. It’s completely possible to mistime one jump and be killed by a bat. You can’t move while jumping; Richter is committed, and the double jump is used as a means of escape instead of one to access high platforms. Instead of just jumping higher, Richter’s double jump is a backward somersault away from whatever horrible monster is currently trying to kill you. Once you come to terms with the old-school controls the game becomes a test of platforming skills. Enemies aren’t particularly difficult to kill, but mashing the square button won’t get you through things; you’ll need to learn and properly react to enemy patterns. Dracula X is difficult, especially if you don’t regularly play classic games. Technically, Dracula X’s main mode can be beaten in an hour, but you can expect to take much longer.

Graphic and sound design have always been strong points for the Castlevania franchise, and that tradition continues in Dracula X Chronicles. Richter and his assorted enemies are all modeled in 3D, and great lighting effects abound. Most bosses are introduced via a short cutscene, and boss attacks in particular are beautiful in addition to being deadly. Sound is another strong point for Dracula X; Rondo of Blood‘s original soundtrack has been remixed here to sound more orchestral (the original was fairly synthesizer heavy), and even if you prefer the original the new soundtrack sets the mood brilliantly. A Castlevania game has never looked and sounded so wonderfully gothic before.

Like the original Rondo of Blood, Dracula X Chronicles features excellent level design. Considering when the original was released (1993) level designs are varied, and the inclusion of secret areas and alternate paths through the areas is a huge step for the action platformer as a genre. Action platformers were typically a left-to-right affair, but Rondo of Blood and now Dracula X mix things up by hiding maidens to be saved, alternate boss fights, and secret exits throughout the game’s many levels.

If Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles was only a modern remake of Rondo of Blood it would be worth a purchase, but there are a few additional modes included in the package. Boss Rush makes a return, and is exactly what it sounds like. Maria mode changes things up by allowing you to play as Richter’s girlfriend with a different attack style, and the follow-up to Rondo of Blood, Symphony of the Night, is also available as an unlockable. That’s essentially three excellent games for the price of one on one UMD.

Castlevania is regarded as a classic franchise for a reason – it combines excellent level design with difficult but rewarding gameplay in one well-polished and pleasant to the ear package. This is a must own for PSP owners.

Meet Abel, The Newest Street Fighter

February 14, 2008

News / by Chris Rasco Make a comment! / Tweet it!

Capcom sent over the following screens and artwork for the 10th fighter to be shown off for the upcoming Street Fighter IV. This character is named Abel and his background is a bit on the unknown. The only included background information was the following paragraph:

With no memory of his past, this young man has no choice but
to move forward, using any clue he can get his hands on to
rout out what may be left of Shadaloo. His fighting style
represents a mix of multiple martial arts. Though he appears
gruff and unfriendly on the surface, he is not the misanthrope
he seems to be. His serious and polite nature is easy to
misinterpret as indifference, but these still waters run deep
indeed.

You can see some new screens featuring Abel after the jump.

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