April 2008

Insecticide

April 9, 2008

DS / Reviews / by Chris Ingersoll Make a comment! / Tweet it!

A quirky future Earth where mankind’s rampant genetic engineering both allowed for the evolution of intelligent bugs as the dominant species (or to be scientifically accurate, class) and the de-evolution of humans into hyper-allergic “hominids”; a noir-style murder mystery containing a personal quest to uncover one’s forgotten past; and well-written, humorous, fully-rendered, voice-acted cinema scenes: this is Insecticide, an almost well-executed game. Its one glaring flaw that drags it down to merely Above Average is, somehow, the decision to use the DS as a platform for the unique blend of genres.

Insecticide features two distinct styles of gameplay. One of them, “Detective Mode”, is a point-and-click puzzle interface in the vein of old-school LucasArts/Lucasfilm Games PC classics like Sam and Max Hit the Road — which is fitting, as several of the programmers at developer Crackpot Entertainment list that and other such titles on their resumes. This is the type of gameplay at which the DS excels, with its two screens and stylus interface, and it should come as no surprise to learn that this mode is incredibly solid. There is no voice acting during this mode, sadly, but the humor is brilliant and the puzzles are creative; a few key objects may be difficult to pick out from the backgrounds, but that’s the kind of thing that makes this types of game work — call it the “Oh! Why didn’t I think of that sooner!” factor.

The other half of the game is “Action Mode”, which turns the game into a third-person 3D platforming shooter along the lines of Ratchet & Clank. These types of game are completely dependent on their control schemes, and the DS simply cannot provide quality analog control to make this anything less than frustrating. You have the choice of using “Button Mode” or “Stylus Mode” to control rookie detective Chrys Liszt during these sequences, but neither one is acceptable. Button mode (the default setting) had a chance, with lock-on aiming included to help you navigate, but the inability to customize your buttons forces you to use the R button to shoot and the A button to lock on, which is backwards to everything my hands want to do in this situation; the fact that Chrys automatically “sidesteps” — a jerky, hopping motion that you can enable when not locked on by holding L — when moving while locked on was also a hindrance. Stylus mode features such ill-conceived ideas as tapping the screen to jump and having to cycle through two pages’ of weaponry once Chrys has accumulated more than four guns. The only saving grace of Action Mode is the fact that you have unlimited lives, which is fortunate as you will be dying with obnoxious frequency no matter which way you try to control the game.

The controls aren’t the only issue with Action Mode, sadly. One stage sees Chrys infiltrating a stronghold after being stripped of all her weapons; it would have been helpful if it was mentioned that she was capable of unarmed combat at any point, but on every level prior to this she had a pistol with unlimited ammo, so there is no reason for you to know this. It’s possible that it was mentioned via on-screen text and I just missed it somehow, but that’s probably because the text was red against a largely-red background and flashed past too quickly for me to notice; it certainly wouldn’t be the first time that happened in this game. Additionally, the screens tend to be very dark (on my original non-Lite DS, at least), which can make discerning between a platform and a bottomless pit — or even a fall just slightly over Chrys’s very un-bug-like tolerances — a bit iffy. There are also the usual camera problems, but all of these are really minor when compared to the inability to reliably control Chrys at all for half the game — including three Boss Fights. You might get the hang of it eventually, or at least stumble your way through enough to clear the stages out of sheer perseverance, but you will probably never actually enjoy it.

I would love to see Insecticide done “correctly” on a console rather than a handheld (there is also a PC version), as just about everything else about the game, from the graphics to the sound to the concept, is rock-solid. If they find the time to add to the length a bit (by adding more Detective Mode scenes, ideally) that would also be a plus, as I was able to complete the game in a handful of hours — most of which were spent dying in Action Mode. I also wouldn’t be opposed to a sequel featuring some of the other characters in the 47th Precinct Insecticide Division, whom we only meet briefly in one Detective Mode scene. Overall, Insecticide works far better in concept than in actual execution, but the game is still fun on the whole and bonus points have to be awarded for at least trying something different.

Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII

April 9, 2008

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

Final Fantasy VII has been overhyped and played-out. Included are Before Crisis, which never came to the Americas; Advent Children, which made little to no sense; Last Order, which told nothing anyone who had played the game didn’t already know; Dirge of Cerberus, which did little to contribute to the plot of the FFVII saga; and lastly, On the Way to a Smile and The Maiden Who Travels the Planet (Hoshi wo Meguru Otome). So why play Crisis Core? Because in a sea of re-hashed and uninteresting material, Crisis Core is a breath of fresh air, even if it’s a Final Fantasy VII story.

Crisis Core is one of the only games in the saga where the player takes on a different perspective that isn’t Cloud or Vincent. Granted, Before Crisis put the player in the shoes of the Turks, but most of the playable characters had little to no direct bearing on the plot. The character the player takes the role of in Crisis Core is none other than Zack Fair. While Zack played a very small role in the original game, it was integral to the plot.

Zack starts off as a SOLDIER 2nd class, and has high aspirations of making 1st class like his friend Angeal, as well as becoming a great hero like the famed Sephiroth. After quelling the uprising of the Wutai, all seems fine. However the meat of the story deals with a defected SOLDIER operative who is a friend of Angeal and Sephiroth named Genesis. When Genesis seemingly talks Angeal into joining his rebellion, it’s up to Zack and Sephiroth to stop their plans for rebellion against SOLDIER and Shinra. To be frank it’s a basic plot, but it helps establish the groundwork of the rest of the FFVII saga.

The gameplay flows quite cleanly. It usually begins with Zack strolling around the SOLDIER floor of the Shinra building or around Sector 8, gathering info about his next mission, buying items, and taking on side missions. From there, it’s out to the field and tackling the current assignment. This helps give the game a fast-paced feel and makes it fun to get into. The flow, as well as the gameplay mechanics, are simple and easy to get a grip on quite quickly.

One of the big things everyone was looking forward to is the game’s battle system. Battles are conducted in real time using a simple menu system that the player uses the L and R triggers to navigate and a simple push of the X button to attack, use spells/abilities, or items. A lot of what happens in battles is governed by the DMW, or Digital Mind Wave, system. It’s represented as a slot machine-like mechanism in the top left corner of the screen. It can change the parameters of battle, bestowing effects like invincibility, increased luck, or limit breaks on Zack. The game lays out in great detail how all the DMW effects work and after awhile, it becomes second nature.

There are only a handful of gripes about Crisis Core. The first is that the battle system might feel a little clunky at first but it’s nothing more than a modified Kingdom Hearts engine, complete with guarding and dodge-rolling. Another thing is the DMW. Level ups seem to occur on an extremely arbitrary basis; they come when the reels read 777 during a limit verge, and ONLY during a limit verge. Materia levels up in a similar fashion. When two of the reels read the same number during a limit verge, then the materia in that slot levels up. It can be frustrating for when that one extra level could really help out. Speaking of frustration, the game has several voiced system messages that play before, during, and after battles such as A

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare

April 9, 2008

PC / Reviews / by Michael Walbridge Make a comment! / Tweet it!

Few series get up to part “4” in any medium and even fewer are any good. Call of Duty 4 is an exception. It’s the best game Infinity Ward has ever made and has set the new standard for modern, realistic shooters.

Call of Duty has made a beautiful transition to modern weaponry. The weapons and gadgets truly are modern warfare–flash grenades never looked so good or worked so accurately. In the previous games, the old ratchety pistols, rifles, and machine guns took a while to bring someone down. With an AK-47 in your hands, your enemy dies satisfyingly quickly. Of course, this means you do too, which makes routine firefights much more challenging.

The voice acting, graphics, script, soundtrack and plot are Hollywood quality. There are few good action movies anymore, and Call of Duty 4 delivers a more intense and involved experience than most of those. I actually wondered how certain characters would fare, and how the conflict would be resolved. The story was interesting and unpredictable. Unfortunately, the single player, despite its new setting and involving storyline, is a little bit more of the same: the controls and moves function identically and the missions progress in the same linear fashion as the first Call of Duty. This is really 4‘s only flaw: the weapons are the only thing different about combat, and if only buying this for the single player, you may just find it a good sequel.

For multiplayer, the Headquarters, Search and Destroy, and Team Deathmatch modes return; new ones include Domination (Halo‘s “King of the Hill”) and Assault, where two teams compete to rush a bomb to one side of the map and blow up the other team’s objective. Also included are ‘hardcore” versions of all the modes, where there is no HUD and no radar unless someone gets 3 consecutive kills to call in a UAV unit.

The experience point and create a class systems make Call of Duty 4 so different that it can hardly be compared to any other games, even the previous entries in the series–it’s here where the game goes from “good sequel” to “best FPS of the year.” Each kill nets points and accomplishing certain tasks (blow up a car, get 25 headshots with an MP5, etc.) give experience points, too. Going up levels unlocks new abilities and weapon choices, ranging from longer breath times for snipering to packing extra frag grenades to carrying two full weapons instead of a main weapon and a sidearm. It takes a long time to level to 55, and the challenges encourage players to learn the nuances of every game type and weapon. The abilities and new weapons actually matter and the ability to customize is almost on par with an RPG character. A newcomer who can only use the 5 default classes would be at a distinct disadvantage here, so the game is better bought sooner than later. The unlocked abilities are so distinct that all the new players will want them. I frequently heard new users wondering how they’d died, and on receiving an explanation, asking “Oh, when do I get that?”

While the level discrepancies work themselves out, a feature that detracts from multiplayer is the ridiculous power of the air strikes and the helicopters. In one Search and Destroy match, an air strike instantly obliterated seven members of the enemy team at the beginning of the round, and there was no cover that could have prevented it. The helicopters are definitely mortal, but they are tough and take away from the fun of the game, even when they don’t kill anyone. Fortunately, because this is the PC version, servers have the option to remove them, and many don’t allow air strikes in the first twenty seconds on Search and Destroy.

If you’ve never played any realistic, Tom Clancy-type shooters, make this one your introduction. Most shooters today are disposable wannabes, but the rewards for completing Call of Duty 4‘s campaign and the variety and customization of the multiplayer will keep players coming back for a long time. Call of Duty 4 is brilliant and will be difficult to top.

Metal Gear Solid: The Essential Collection

April 9, 2008

PlayStation 2 / Reviews / by John Marques Make a comment! / Tweet it!

Metal Gear Solid is the quintessential spy game, so for anyone who missed out on the MGS phenomenon, this is a great chance to catch up on some great video game history. The Metal Gear Solid series has the subtitle of “Tactical Espionage Action,” and it’s an apt description.

For those not in the know, the Metal Gear Solid series involves the player taking on the role of a special operations agent named Solid Snake, in the cases of MGS1 and 2, and the CIA agent Naked Snake in the case of MGS3. The games revolve around stealth and infiltration. MGS1 finds Snake making his way into a nuclear weapons facility on a fictional island off the coast of Alaska; MGS2 involves nuclear weaponry again, but throws in the twist of Russian terrorists trying to get hold of said weapon. MGS3 takes a step back to the series origins and introduces Naked Snake, who would later go on to become the infamous Big Boss.

The games involve sneaking from location to location while the player tries to avoid being spotted by an enemy. When spotted, enemies send the game into “Alert” mode, where Snake has to evade enemies as long as possible and send them into “Caution” mode, where patrols a bit tighter and in greater numbers, and then until the patrols revert back to normal status where it’s easier to sneak around again. Between bouts of sneaking through bases and the wilds are boss fights. The most notable boss fights from each game, in a matter of opinion, are Revolver Ocelot in MGS1, the Harrier in MGS2, and The Boss in MGS3.

Now, it’s possible to just gush over how great Metal Gear Solid is, because, well, it is, but the Essential Collection has some fundamental flaws. It works best to address the shortcomings of each game on its own, so here goes.

The version of MGS1 included in the collection is the PS1 version, so it’s lacking a bit in the graphics department. It’s not that big of a deal that the game shows its age, but it would have been a lot nicer had it been a port of the GameCube version, The Twin Snakes, which is the original remade using the MGS2 engine. A number of years ago, the game was released in a special package called Metal Gear Solid Integral that never made it to the US, with an extra included disc with all kinds of VR missions, which were great fun. MGS VR Missions was released later on down the road in the US, and it’s sadly absent from this collection. It was easy to waste hours on end trying to best scores for sneaking times and enemy elimination training. Also, since the game is its original PS1 version, if you don’t own a PS1 memory cards or a PS3 with backwards compatibility, then it’s an impossibility to save the game. Strike one.

The version of MGS2 is the re-release Metal Gear Solid 2 Substance. It includes a slew of VR missions with a total of six playable characters, as well as the Snake Tales side story, which allows the plot between the Tanker Chapter and the Big Shell Chapter to be filled in. Also included is the popular skateboarding minigame where either Snake or Raiden shred their way across Big Shell racking up points from stunts and collecting different items. The drawbacks to this version of Substance are the inability to post high scores from the VR missions online, as Konami’s old Substance site has been down for quite a number of years now. The game also lacks the Document of Metal Gear Solid 2 which, while was not part of the original Substance, came out when MGS2‘s original installment Sons of Liberty was first available. It certainly would have added quite a bit to the collection. Strike two.

MGS3 consists of the first disc of its re-release Subsistence. The Subsistence disc includes a special mode with background information to better set up the plot of the game. It also includes a “Demo Theater” which allows access to any one of the game’s cutscenes at any time. The game entirely lacks the Persistence disc from the previous release of Subsistence, as well as the Existence disc from the Limited Edition. While the omission of the Existence disc can be overlooked due to the Subsistence disc’s Demo Theater, the lack of the Persistence disc is inexcusable. Persistence included the popular “Snake VS Monkey” minigame that crossed over with the Ape Escape franchise, the Duel mode which allowed the player to fight any of the bosses at any time, the ability to play the two original Metal Gear games, and other extras. The original Persistence disc granted access to Metal Gear Online. Last year in April, the MGO servers were taken down, rendering that game mode completely useless. Many fans believe the shutdown of MGO to be responsible for the Essential Collection‘s lack of the Persistence disc, which is no excuse at all. Strike three.

It’s hard to completely write off this collection because the games in it are so great, but it has so many shortcomings that just add up and make it difficult to say whether it’s worth owning. The Japanese version of the collection had some different extras such as the aforementioned lack of the original two Metal Gear games and the Document of Metal Gear Solid 2, as well as the very informative and interesting Metal Gear Saga DVD, and MGS Portable Ops for the PSP. With the exception of PSP games being an entirely different media, it’s hard to imagine that this collection would likely have worked better as a PS3 release on a single Blu-Ray disc.

So should you get this collection? A diehard fan would likely say no, as it exhibits a serious lack of time and effort on Konami’s part. For those who’ve not really experienced the Metal Gear franchise, this would be a great way to get into the series if you’re looking for a basic package.

Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Ring of Fates

April 9, 2008

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

When the name Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles comes to mind, people think of the original GameCube game. While the original had some merits, such as being a great multiplayer romp (provided you could get 3 other people with their own copies of the game), it felt like it was the bare minimum as far as gameplay and story were concerned.

The sequel, Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Ring of Fates, has finally come to the DS, and it’s got a totally revamped feel over the original. Ring of Fates introduces us to a young boy named Yuri and his sister Chelinka. They set out on an adventure shortly after their father Latov gives them his prized hatchet. All seems fine and dandy until after coming home from a day out with their mentor Alhanalem when their home is paid a visit and nothing is quite the same. While the story is simplistic in nature, it’s certainly much more of a breath of fresh air compared to its predecessor boring, never-ending predecessor.

The action in Ring of Fates is a fairly standard dungeon crawl. The player enters a dungeon, kills a lot of monsters, levels a lot of levels, and grabs as much loot as possible. Normal controls are handled using the d-pad and face buttons with the basic fare of actions like jumping, using a melee weapon, using items for healing and casting spells, and using unique A

← Previous Entries

Next Entries →