October 2010

Xbox Live Fall 2010 update impressions

October 8, 2010

Editor-in-Chief Chris Rasco got into Microsoft’s dashboard update preview. The update includes upgrades to the Zune Music and Netflix apps, as well as the new ESPN3 service. Here are his impressions of the new features.

In preparation for the upcoming launch of Kinect, Microsoft launched a new Xbox Live Update Preview Program this week. Despite the fancy name, this is really just a limited beta launch of the upcoming Xbox 360 Dashboard. This Dashboard update includes a long awaited upgrade of the Netflix streaming app, a new Zune streaming service, ESPN3 support, and of course support for Kinect.

Along with new features, the UI has been slightly tweaked to remove some of the round edges and flatten the navigation. I suspect this is largely to accommodate the natural motion navigation that Kinect will provide next month. The tweaks are subtle but noticeable and I quite like the shift to straight lines and corners. It gives the whole UI a new feel without a drastic change. I’m also quite glad that we don’t have that slightly angled perspective navigation anymore as it has been replaced by a more traditional flat side to side navigation. READ MORE

Gaming Unplugged: Gloom

October 8, 2010

Features / Unplugged / by Chris Ingersoll /

Keith Baker’s quirky card game Gloom, published by Atlas Games, is “a game of inauspicious incidents and grave consequences,” filled with dark humor and storytelling much in the same vein as The Addams Family.

The theory behind it, taken straight from the rules sheet, is that one’s reward in the afterlife is based on the misery endured in life; so your object in the game is to make the members of your quirky family suffer as much as humanly possible before sending them to an Untimely Death. The base game supports from two to four players, but each expansion adds enough cards for one additional player, to a current maximum of seven.

Each player selects a family of five members (plus a residence if using the Unhappy Homes expansion) and draws a hand of five cards. The cards in Gloom are transparent plastic, allowing certain symbols to appear through cards laid on top of them, although this can be difficult if too many layers are applied. On your turn, you can play or discard two cards, then draw back up to whatever your current maximum hand size is (default five); the only restriction is that Untimely Death cards can only be played as your first action. Untimely Death cards send the suffering of a family member — and you can play all cards on anyone’s family, not just yours — and take that character out of play. Only dead family members count for the final scoring, but unless they’ve really suffered you won’t score (many) points.

That’s where Modifier cards come in. Modifiers affect a living character’s self-worth (point value) by making them experience all manner of inconveniences. These include ailments such as “Plagued by Poodles” and “Mauled by Manatees” (actual flavor text on the card: “They’re fierce, if you rile ’em”), but some can increase a character’s self worth, such as “Starred on the Stage”. Most modifiers also affect the game in some way, such as affecting the hand size of the player who controls the character that was modified as long as that modifier remains on top of the character’s stack, and there’s often a correlation between the point value of the modifiers and how they affect their controller, so strategic decisions have to be made as to where Modifiers get played. It’s also worth mentioning that Untimely Deaths cannot be played on a character with a positive self-worth (including zero), as those characters currently have too much to live for.

The final card type in the base game is Event, which are wild cards that do different things. Some may swap modifiers, others draw cards, and a few can be played outside of your turn to counter other cards. The Unhappy Homes expansion also includes Mystery cards, which can only be played on residences. The card types are color-coded and for easy reference; Modifiers are black with gray text, Untimely Deaths are gray with black text, Mysteries are blue with gray text, and Events are red with gray text in the base set — although this is incredibly difficult to read and was changed to gray with red text for the expansions. The other two expansions, Unwelcome Guests and Unfortunate Expeditions also introduce new mechanics: Guests, which are pesky nuisance characters that move from family to family, and Expeditions, which affect the rules for everyone but change constantly as certain cards are played; all of the expansions’ mechanics are optional.

Gloom is at its best when everyone gets into the storytelling aspect of the wacky Modifiers and Untimely Deaths; if you play it as a heavy strategy game you’re going to come away from the experience disappointed. It’s best when contained to three to five players, as going beyond that introduces a lot of down time; game length can be shortened by reducing the number of characters in each family, as the game only ends once one player’s family has all met an Untimely Death — with the lowest (i.e., most negative) score winning. Play time can therefore vary wildly, with the base game taking around an hour. Also, despite its name and theme it is best to play Gloom in a well-lit area due to the difficulty in reading some of the cards thanks to the transparency. The base set can be found for around $25 and expansions for about $13 each, although you’ll also want to invest in some sort of card carrier if you’re going to venture beyond the base game.

New X-Men game coming out in 2011

October 7, 2010

News / by Shawn Vermette /

Activision and Marvel announced a new X-Men game today. Titled X-Men: Destiny, it is being developed by Too Human creators, Silicon Knights. It is currently scheduled to come out next fall. READ MORE

Comic Jumper

October 6, 2010

Reviews / Xbox 360 / by Justin Last /

Comic Jumper is a game at odds with itself. It is entertaining, visually striking, well-written, and genuinely funny. To get to all of those things, though, you have to play a mediocre game. Comic Jumper can’t decide what it ought to be in terms of mechanics. Is it a beat-em-up? A 2D dual-stick shooter? A shmup? Or a Space Harrier clone? It is all of those things, but it isn’t especially good at any of them. Fortunately, you will have enough fun along the way that the gameplay won’t ruin it for you.

Captain Smiley is finished. His comic book was canceled and now to pay the bills he must make guest appearances in other comics. This setup allows for multiple art and play styles. You will fight through contemporary comics, silver age comics, old adventure comics, and Japanese manga. Each comic type features three levels and multiple play styles. Most will feature at least a beat-em-up section and a shooter section. Beat-em-up sections involve three-punching everything you come across while the shooting sections are all about doing your best to take out all of the bullet sponge enemies. Until you grind out some upgrades every enemy feels like a mini-boss and the whole thing just feels tedious.

The writing and voice acting in Comic Jumper are both top notch. Captain Smiley finds himself in some strange situations, but the voice actors really sell it. Captain Smiley can’t do it on his own though. His sidekick, Star, is always along for the ride but instead of helping you out in combat his primary role is that of wise-cracker. His quips don’t always hit the mark, but he has far more hits than misses and the game would not be the same without him. Star is not the only absurdity in Comic Jumper. Captain Smiley can use smart bombs to clear the screen when things get too hectic, but instead of a big explosion you’re treated to the guys from Twisted Pixel slapping the screen followed by a wink from a man with a great beard. There is no better description of Comic Jumper (or Twisted Pixel as a whole) than that.

I have a hard time lauding the virtues of Comic Jumper as a game, but you should pick it up nonetheless because it is smart, funny, all sorts of crazy, and you will enjoy the experience despite the middling gameplay mechanics.

Pros: Snappy writing, great art direction

Cons: Mediocre gameplay mechanics

NHL 11

October 6, 2010

Reviews / Xbox 360 / by Robert Rasco /

EA Sports’ NHL franchise skated onto the ice in August of 1991 with NHL Hockey, which was available only on the Genesis. With each successive release of the NHL series, EA has done an incredible job of integrating the fundamentals of hockey into the games. It is these fundamental basics of hockey in which games are won and lost. With NHL 10, they gave us board battles, an incredibly important part of a dump-and-chase style of hockey. NHL 09 did not offer a way to battle for the puck down deep (or anywhere for that matter) which we often see in real hockey after the puck is dumped in. It was merely first-come-first-get-the-puck. When NHL 10 introduced board battles, it made the game what it is, the truest form of a hockey simulator ever produced. That all changed when NHL 11 was released this September which not only includes board battles, but more than 200 additional gameplay enhancements that help it easily succeed NHL 10.

At the core of new features in NHL 11 is an all new real-time physics engine. The physics engine was designed to produce true-to-life reactions with face-offs, body checks, players, and the puck. The players move differently, the hits are entirely new, and the puck moves more realistically. It is an understatement to say that every aspect of the game has been impacted by the implementation of the new physics engine. There is a slight adjustment period when transitioning from NHL 10 to NHL 11 to get acquainted with the new physics of the game, but it is well worth the learning curve.

With the new physics engine in hand, EA’s developers headed out to enhance virtually every other part of the game, and they did. One of the more toted about features of NHL 11 is the addition of the EA Ultimate Hockey League (EAUHL). The EAUHL is an online dynasty mode that allows you to acquire actual AHL, CHL, or NHL players which are used to build your team from the ground up. Players are represented by their hockey card. For example, Henrik Zetterberg: If you acquired Zetterberg’s hockey card, he is now a part of your franchise and at your disposal in EAUHL games. In the EAUHL, you are responsible for managing every aspect of your franchise. Mix up line combinations to create chemistry between players, manage player contracts to ensure they are in your lineup when you need them, compete in online monthly leagues to prove that you have what it takes, and of course do it all while remaining under the salary cap.

Not only did EA craft an entirely new physics engine, but they enhanced several other pieces of the game as well. The hits have also changed with the introduction of the Hit Stick. If you are familiar with EA’s Madden series, then you already know about the Hit Stick. The Hit Stick enables players to aim high or low when checking an opponent. Mix in the new real-time physics engine that does not animate hits and you have the potential for a hit that nobody will ever see again. That’s right; the physics engine does not animate hits. In previous versions of the game there were animations for hits, that means you got to see the same hits over and over again. Never again. Hit an opponent low and send him over your back, rail him into the boards, or clip him and hit knee-on-knee. Every hit is different. In addition to the Hit Stick, a hip check button has been added that allows you to initiate a hip check instead of letting the physics engine decide when conditions are right. NHL 10 only performed hip checks in certain situations and it was purely automatic, you couldn’t force a hip check. A hustle button now serves as the missing turbo everyone seems to have been looking for. Hustling does cause a skater to fatigue, so use it wisely.

Rounding out some of the more notable gameplay enhancements include new quick dekes, broken sticks, custom goal celebrations, disallowed goals, and a completely redesigned face-off system. The quick dekes are performed the same as before, but the moves have changed and you have more control over dekes. Sticks randomly break when taking shots, blocking shots, and getting hit. Kick the puck, go to the bench for a new stick, or borrow one from a nearby player. Custom goal celebrations can now be invoked after scoring a goal. Most buttons on the controller perform a preset celebration such as riding the stick or jumping head first on the ice. Questionable goals are automatically reviewed, creating a few tense moments until the referees rule the goal good or overturned. And final, the new face-off system. NHL 10 offered few choices when approaching the face-off dot, but NHL 11 takes face-offs to an entirely new level. Players can establish a forehand or backhand grip prior to the puck drop to direct the puck to a certain team mate, tie-up the opponent taking the face-off to allow teammates to retrieve the puck and make a play, or shoot directly off the face-off. The addition of the new face-off system is one of those fundamental basics that EA pays attention to. They know what a face-off means to the game of hockey, as do the fans, and they brought it to life in NHL 11.

One thing EA has always done well, with all of their major titles, is provide a variety of game modes that offer something to everyone. Most of us don’t play every game mode regularly, but prefer one to some or none. I prefer online versus play because it offers the most realistic opponent a game can offer, another human. Other players may prefer the EAUHL, Be a GM, Be a Pro, Online Team Play, or season modes. To each his own, but the point here is variety. I may grind out a season with my beloved team and watch them grow playoff beards during the postseason, hit up online ranked versus for some fan-on-fan brutality, or test my Ken-Holland-like skills managing a team in the EAUHL. We, as hockey fans, have the opportunity to play whatever modes we enjoy most and EA continues to dish out the best variety in town.

Let’s face it, you know if you’re a hockey fan or not. If you are, and you play video games, this is a no brainer. You need this game. There won’t be a better hockey game until next year and you couldn’t ask for a better game to deliver on both ends of the ice. NHL 11 is a must have for true hockey fans and due to the high level of detail and control, it may appeal to players who enjoy sports games in general.

Pros: New real-time physics engine, broken sticks, custom goal celebrations, disallowed goals, new face-off system, playoff beards.

Cons: Matchmaking issues, losing is no fun

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