December 2010

James Bond 007: Blood Stone

December 7, 2010

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

I love James Bond. The gadgets, the clothes, the accent – he’s the guy every boy wants to grow up to be. I lost many hours of my childhood sitting in the basement playing Goldeneye with my little brother and our two best friends. Nobody was allowed to pick Oddjob (lest he be pummeled throughout the match), and when we got tired of multiplayer we’d run through the missions again seeing how quickly we could complete objectives. Goldeneye was the first game of any appreciable length that I beat more than once, and now I finally have a Bond game that feels like a worthy follow-up. 

Blood Stone is equal parts Splinter Cell: Conviction and Project Gotham Racing, and it’s great for it. The shooting feels good, the driving is fun (if a bit unforgiving), and the story is more than enough to keep me playing. As James Bond you’ll infiltrate high-security areas, take out guards with silenced pistol shots, participate in all-out gun fights, and then speed away in your swank ride provided by MI-6. The on-foot action is all third-person which works really well. It allows you to feel more like a spy as you can make use of cover, sneak around a bit easier, and then take out a guard from behind with a melee attack which nets you a focus shot. Focus shots work a lot like marks do in Splinter Cell. You earn them by killing enemies with melee attacks and when you use them you’re granted a one shot kill on your target. The system makes the shooting a bit easier, but it adds immensely to the atmosphere. There’s something wonderful about sneaking up behind a guy, snapping his neck, and then taking out his pal from across the room without alerting anybody.

Where the third-person play falters a bit is the use of the smart phone. Just like Batman’s detective vision is Batman: Arkham Asylum you will spend the majority of your time in this mode. It makes sense that you’d have your phone out all of the time – it highlights enemy positions, the trail to your next objective, and any scannable objects. What it also does is ruin the aesthetic of feel of the game. When was the last time you watched a Bond movie where he was looking at his phone 75% of the time? It’s challenging to keep the virtual phone in your polygonal pocket, but the whole experience is better when the phone is used sparingly.

After you’ve dispatched all of your enemies it’s time to hop in your car and make your getaway. Bizarre Creations has a great reputation for driving games with the PGR series and the criminally underappreciated Blur so it should be no surprise that the cars control well, and the driving sequences are well-done. The requirements can be a bit unforgiving, but everything is doable, and you’ll feel like a super spy when you’ve successfully driven across a frozen lake while being assaulted from behind and lived to tell the tale. All of the driving section are set pieces, and they all feel great within the context of the game.

Blood Stone’s multiplayer is competent but wholly unnecessary. There are team Deathmatch, Objective, and Last Man Standing modes available. All are by the book and while there was no noticeable lag there also isn’t a very large population of people playing. The perspective is shifted from third to first-person, but if you want to play a multiplayer shooter then Halo: Reach and Modern Warfare 2 are probably still your best bets. Blood Stone is strong enough to stand on its own as a single-player game, and you shouldn’t let the by-the-numbers multiplayer stop you from experiencing the single-player mode.

Blood Stone may not have a movie attached to it, but if you like action spying then pick this one up. There are plenty of goons to shoot, car chases to complete, and it’s great to see Daniel Craig as Bond again.

Pros: Good shooting mechanics, Focus shot mechanic is fun to use and makes you feel like a spy.

Cons: It is too easy to abuse the smart phone.

 

Sonic Colors

December 6, 2010

Reviews / Wii / by Gerry Pagan Make a comment! / Tweet it!

The Sonic the Hedgehog franchise hasn’t exactly had a great track record since the jump to 3D. While the Sonic Adventure series was decent, every other follow-up has been a complete wreck, culminating with the Werehog fiasco of Sonic Unleashed. So it comes as a surprise when it’s not Sonic 4, the hyped-up title that was supposed to bring the franchise back to its roots, but Sonic Colors that sets the franchise running in the right direction. 

Sonic Colors pretty much does away with most of the complaints that have plagued the series for the past 8 years. You only play as Sonic, there is actual platforming as opposed to watching Sonic run forward automatically, stages don’t drag on for more than 15 minutes and there are no Werehog-like gimmicks to be found. But, most importantly, the game is actually fun.

Sonic controls similarly to how he’s done in the past. While he’s lost the traditional ability to spin dash, he can now perform a double jump, as well as a multitude of power-ups gained by combining with the game’s Wisps. These range from a drill that lets you burrow under the stage to a crazed alien that destroys everything in its path. Each of the game’s stages has multiple ways of reaching the end goal; all varying on whether you just run through a stage or use the Wisp powers to your advantage. It’s a design that reminds me of the stage layout for the original Sonic games, as opposed to the completely linear paths in most of the 3D titles. While there are still some issues with field of vision, these are minor when compared to the horrific stage-design problems of titles like Sonic Heroes or Sonic ’06.

The game itself looks great. While the animation during the cutscenes can be a bit silly at times, the in-game visuals are vibrant, fluid, and colorful. Each of the game’s areas are based on themes, such as one made out of cake and candy. The audio is typical Sonic fare, though I did appreciate that, outside of the traditional ring-collecting and Sonic-jumping sound effects, the themes aren’t recycled. 

The game’s writing, while it’s nothing special, feels like an episode taken from the original “Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog” cartoon. I’d much rather have Sonic and Tails cracking jokes over “Baldy Nose-hair” than exploring the complexities of life, love and death. In addition, the change in voice actors works this time. Any voice actor that can actually make me like Tails is perfectly fine.

To say that Sonic Colors is a step in the right direction for the franchise is an understatement. Hopefully this is a sign of things to come from Sonic Team.

World Supremacy

December 6, 2010

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

I’m not really sure who World Supremacy is supposed to wow over. Low-budget turn-based strategy titles need two things to be worth the time: they need to be well-designed and they need just one other rewarding variable, some sort of gravy to go with the meat. That gravy could be effective multiplayer options, a challenging computer opponent, a single-player campaign with a rewarding storyline, or involving graphics and sound. Something, anything. While World Supremacy as a game is well-designed (it borrows heavily from the always-enjoyable Axis and Allies), it doesn’t have any other necessary rewards to make it worth picking up, though not for lack of trying.

The biggest difference between World Supremacy and Axis and Allies is that World Supremacy has simplified Advance Wars-style combat for every time there is a battle. Units come on screen in the order of their having arrived at the space. The attacker moves and attacks with all his units first. Units are on a grid and have varying attack ranges. Units die in entire pieces. If you have 3 tanks and your 6 infantry units don’t quite kill a single tank, there is no damage or life that carries over to the next battle. Against the computer, you simply get to the middle first, wait for them for a turn or two so you get the first hit, and you always have the advantage. Why not just roll the dice and let the stats grind it out? The combat is not very satisfying either, as Advance Wars and its imitators have fog of war, special abilities, and the map is the combat. Here, the map is the map, and combat only happens when one space moves to another. It’s an ambitious change, but does not mix well with the rest of the game.

There are optional neutral countries to liven the game up, as well as a random map generator, which is always a plus. Choose as many players and as large of a map as you want–with saved games, you can make an extremely large or small game. While these are better features than the managed combats, these elements also don’t mesh well, since the only multiplayer options are hotseat (which doesn’t mix well with either the optional fog of war and the non-optional manually fought battles) and TCP/IP. That’s right, TCP/IP. Is this a game for only one opponent?   

World Supremacy also has more units than Axis & Allies, which are upgradable. You can also build cities, which up your money count without you having to grab new territories. There are also nukes, which is a different and admirably bold idea.

Ultimately, most of these features don’t matter, even though some are well-implemented. The computer is predictable, boring, and easy to stomp, there are no advanced graphics, sounds, or storylines, and the multiplayer options are not friendly. The elements of design as a board and strategy game are done well in World Supremacy, but all the mixed signals and flaws of all the bonus features make for a boring and uninteresting experience. No gravy here.

Pros: customizability, simplicity, randomly generated maps, unit depth and options

Cons: No multiplayer community features, poor UI, overpriced ($30), absolute lack of graphics and sound make it feel like a mod / free-to-play game, the combat sequences

New Tomb Raider reboots franchise

December 6, 2010

News / by Shawn Vermette Make a comment! / Tweet it!

According to a teased feature from January’s GameInformer, the next Tomb Raider game will be, as rumored, a reboot of the series. According to the head of Crystal Dynamics, we must “forget everything you knew about Tomb Raider” and that this game is “an origins story that creates Lara Croft and takes her on a character defining journey like no other.” READ MORE

Auditorium HD

December 5, 2010

PS3 / Reviews / by Gerry Pagan Make a comment! / Tweet it!

Most puzzle games gravitate toward solving a specific situation with a pre-determined solution. Enter Auditorium, a musical experience where every puzzle has no definite answer. With the PC version being a smashing success, developer Cipher Prime has created a high-definition version for the PlayStation Network, Auditorium HD, with a completely new tracklist and 3D support.

The premise is simple enough: direct particles of light towards empty color-coded containers using the tools given to you, which can range from simple direction-changing devices to more complex tools like reflectors, barriers and accelerators.  However, there is usually a specific stage gimmick blocking you from simply pointing the particles of light to the containers. You must use the tools given in a specific stage to go around the obstacles or use them to your advantage, which is where the devious side of Auditorium comes into play. 

Each segment of the tracklist eases you into its particular gimmick with some easy puzzles before cranking up the difficulty. It’s possible to have the answer staring at you one second, and then have a single tweak with your tools messing it up entirely. There is no one way to solve a puzzle, so while one person may discover one solution, it’s possible for someone else to also solve it by using the tools in completely different locations. It’s an excellent mind-tease which tests your ability to adapt to new situations.

Visually, the game is impressive. The game shines in full HD and is an immersive 3D experience to those with the equipment, but even in standard definition, the combinations of colors and effects are a sight to behold. Orchestrated tracks slowly start playing as you fill in the colored containers, getting louder and more intense as you fill more of them. It’s almost a shame that a soundtrack for the game isn’t readily available, as the music is that good.

If you’re looking for an excellent musical puzzle experience on the PlayStation Network, you can’t go wrong with Auditorium HD. It’s a stunning visual and musical experience that you really shouldn’t pass up.

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