Chris Massey

Root Beer Tapper

February 23, 2007

Reviews / Xbox 360 / by Chris Massey Make a comment! / Tweet it!

I’m not going to hide the fact that I’m virtually inept at arcade games. In fact, I might have only been to a single, albeit defunct arcade in my life. That said, it’s hard not to be familiar with the usual classics like Pac-Man, Donkey Kong, or Space Invaders. Root Beer Tapper, however, is one of the games that I never heard of until it hit Xbox Live Arcade, but apparently it’s one of the big ones. I suppose root beer was big in the 1980s. At any rate, upon first playing the game, it’s easy to see why the game is a classic, with a simple design but complex difficulty. Like many classic arcade titles, Root Beer Tapper will only last a short while, but it is also a faithful and challenging addition to the Arcade line.

The concept of Root Beer Tapper is simple. As some sort of Mario clone masquerading as a bartender, you are tasked with providing customers with their tonic of choice: root beer. That’s right, all the tough cowboys and aliens love to down that non-alcoholic alternative to actual beer. Your customers will continuously move down four different bars demanding their frothy substance, which you will need to send down the bar stand. Successfully sending a drink to a person will send them flying back, hopefully through the door where they won’t bother you for a while. Sending a drink flying off the table or letting a customer make their way to you will end in a lost life. The ultimate goal: clear the bar to pass on to the next stage.

The game itself proves to be quite difficult. You will begin in a saloon serving cowboys, which is simple enough. The next level, the sport stadium, considerably ramps up the difficulty, while the punk bar is even harder. I can only imagine how difficult the last bar, the alien bar, is, since I can’t make it there for the life of me. Truth-be-told, Root Beer Tapper‘s difficulty will probably frustrate some people, as the only way to progress is to eliminate all patrons from the bar, meaning you could potentially go forever if not for the fact that the game’s speed will eventually do you in. Still, arcade-lovers will probably adore the difficulty.

Being a classic arcade port, Tapper is light on the game modes and will last a fairly short while unless you’re devoted to getting to the very last bar. There are some co-op and online multiplayer versus modes thrown in to give the game a little more substance, and the achievements also help to give the game a little more life. Unlike many Arcade classic titles, Tapper doesn’t have the option for updated graphics, but really, the game looked good enough then, and even now, it doesn’t really need to look better, so no problem there. There’s also a small but kind of neat touch that the developers took by letting the right analog stick act as the A

Need for Speed Carbon

February 23, 2007

Reviews / Xbox 360 / by Chris Massey Make a comment! / Tweet it!

The Need for Speed series is special. It’s special in the sense that EA makes one of them every year, and yet, only seem to make a meaningful entry into the series every couple years. Last year’s Need for Speed: Most Wanted did a good job of trying to update the series in a way that helped bring the Need for Speed title a bit more credibility, and for the most part, it succeeded much more than the Underground games ever did. Now, a year later, we get Need for Speed: Carbon, which serves as an excellent example of meeting low expectations. All things told, Carbon seems to take the Need for Speed series nowhere, and while the game can be entertaining in its own right, many of the new additions aren’t very compelling. The multiplayer options have improved, but aside from that, many of Carbon‘s elements, including career mode and new game play ideas, fall flat.

Carbon seems to be the first Need for Speed title to directly tie itself to its predecessor. The story is continued from Need for Speed: Most Wanted as you drive in a BMW M3 GTR, which you won back from Razor in the last game, towards Palmont City. It’s not long until Sergeant Cross, the police chief now turned bounty hunter from Most Wanted, catches up and totals your BMW. You’re soon introduced to Darius, who informs you that you’ll be working with him to take out the three rival gangs in the city and rebound from your run-in with Cross. As time goes on, you’ll uncover a lot of the underlying plot behind Carbon, which includes you escaping the city one night after a massive police bust some time ago. Thus begins the career mode.

Career mode is ultimately similar to many of the previous Need for Speed titles. Notable differences include a return to urban street racing as well as night racing, but the biggest difference in Carbon is probably the street racing gangs that control territories throughout the city. At the start, you’ll have to compete in races in territories in order to obtain them for your gang. Once you’ve taken over all of the territory from a gang, you’ll have to race against the leader of said gang. Repeat four times, and you’ve essentially got Need for Speed: Carbon‘s career mode in a nutshell. It can often times feel a bit dull, and it also seems a little shorter than in previous games, which, given the dull nature, may not be such a bad thing.

There are some additions as well as omissions with the race types. Drifting has made a return after being absent in Most Wanted, and there are a few new online modes like A

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Justice For All

February 22, 2007

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

The [i]Phoenix Wright[/i] series has been popular for some time on the Game Boy Advance in Japan (under the name [i]Gyakuten Saiban[/i]), but it wasn’t until late 2005 that the United States took an interest in the series. Capcom was apparently so unsure of [i]Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney[/i]’s success that they produced very few copies, not prepared to meet the huge demand later. Given the large appeal for the first title, Capcom has now repackaged the second game in the series onto the Nintendo DS in the form of [i]Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Justice for All[/i]. For the people who enjoyed the first title, [i]Justice for All[/i] will bring more of the deep, investigative courtroom drama to the table, but it may be a bit difficult to get past the recycled nature of the game.

[i]Justice for All[/i] continues the storyline from the first Phoenix Wright. As the ace attorney himself, you’ll go through four different cases, battling in the familiar courtroom setting as well as investigating the scene of the crime for clues and evidence. In the first case, you are introduced to the courtroom mechanics as Phoenix comes down with a case of amnesia, but after the first case, we can see the story picking up a year after the events of the fourth case from the first game. Maya makes a return, Edgeworth makes a mysterious disappearance, and new prosecutors aim to take Phoenix down in the ever popular attempt to maintain their perfect win record. For the most part, the story is very similar in nature to the first [i]Phoenix Wright[/i] and contains some of the same, if not tired, plot twists and fake-outs.

Things also play exactly like the first title. In fact, you’ll probably get a sense of dA

Outpost Kaloki X

February 19, 2007

Reviews / Xbox 360 / by Chris Massey Make a comment! / Tweet it!

Out of all the titles available on Xbox Live Arcade at this point, [i]Outpost Kaloki X[/i] is probably one of the more interesting titles. While most games on the service focus on either classic arcade titles, shooter after shooter, or other traditional games, [i]Kaloki[/i] presents one of the few strategic sims available on Arcade. This alone makes it stand out from many of the games next to it, and it certainly does bring a new kind of play style to the strategy genre that is very gamepad friendly. Unfortunately, the game might not have enough depth to really keep many people playing and can actually drag on for a little too long. [i]Outpost Kaloki X[/i] offers up a lot of content for the price point, but many may find the game play to be a little too tedious and one-note to actually play through it all after so long.

[i]Outpost Kaloki X[/i] is, as I said earlier, a strategy sim that is probably reminiscent of the countless tycoon games plaguing the PC. The way things work is that you are given a large station that has a given number of ports on it, and your job is to construct business establishments on those ports and meet the customer demand based on tastes and preferences. There are a number of different types of businesses, and each type has different, more expensive buildings. As you build, you’ll have to construct power sources to meet consumption needs as well as maintenance facilities to repair structures. The ultimate goal above all of this is to meet the goals of each scenario, which range from making sacks of money to building a structure high up on the tech tree.

Speaking of scenarios, the main attractions in [i]Kaloki[/i] are the two story modes that are made up of several different scenarios. The adventure story takes you through the game with an economic slant to things, while the war story concentrates on building guns to fend off attackers. In reality, there is little difference between the two stories, with the only major thing being that the war story adds in defensive structures. Even then, the war story is just as economically driven as the adventure story and just isn’t really that different. Also worth mentioning is that [i]Kaloki[/i] comes with about a dozen other scenarios to play through, and on top of that, Ninja Bee even has additional downloadable scenarios on the Marketplace. There’s no denying that [i]Outpost Kaloki X[/i] is packed to the brim with content.

Unfortunately, gallons of content don’t always translate into compelling game play, and [i]Kaloki[/i] ultimately suffers from a bit too much. It probably isn’t that Ninja Bee included too much in the game, but more that the general game play wears thin very quickly. You may very well find that [i]Kaloki[/i]’s approach to strategy is interesting during the first few games you play, but after so long, you’ll realize how repetitive things can get, and things basically play out the same in many missions. It’s very easy to get into the same routine mission after mission. On the plus side, many of the scenarios can be pretty challenging, but after so long, you’ll basically get into a fixed routine and the challenge fades somewhat.

As far as presentation goes, [i]Kaloki[/i] doesn’t give out any mind-blowing graphics, but for the type of game it is, the quaint 3D visuals fit well enough. The sound department is where things fall a little flat, however. There seems to be only one single piece of background music, which sounds nice enough at first, but may drive you mad after awhile. The characters were also given gibberish sound bites as voice acting, and some characters like Sarge from the war story have the most bizarre, annoying voices I think I’ve ever heard. The sound isn’t enough to really hurt the game, but it sure could have been a little more substantial.

I am a bit conflicted when giving a grade to this game. On the one hand, it is probably one of the only real strategy games available on Xbox Live Arcade, and for ten dollars, you get a whole lot of content. On top of that, [i]Kaloki[/i] does offer up some fun, challenging game play that gets you thinking. However, the game can get so repetitive that you might not really want to play through all the things [i]Kaloki[/i] offers, and it is definitely a game that either grabs you or it doesn’t. I suggest firing up the demo and looking at what [i]Outpost Kaloki X[/i] has to offer, and if you like what you see, take the plunge. Just keep in mind that if you like the first couple levels the demo presents, you might still grow tired of things in the long run.

Tony Hawk’s Project 8

February 7, 2007

Reviews / Xbox 360 / by Chris Massey Make a comment! / Tweet it!

It looks like Tony Hawk is finally back on his game. There are many who agree that [i]Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2[/i] and [i]3[/i] were the highlights of the Tony Hawk franchise, while the Jackass-inspired [i]Tony Hawk’s Underground 2[/i] was probably the lowest point. Now that Tony Hawk has made the jump to the next-generation with [i]Tony Hawk’s Project 8[/i], the franchise has not only seen a much needed graphics overhaul, but is also a return to the great game play of the original [i]Pro Skater[/i] era. There are still some traces of staleness here and there, and some issues damper its comeback, but [i]Tony Hawk’s Project 8[/i] manages to finally bring the series back to life, at least to some degree.

Here’s the story: Tony Hawk has come to your town in search of the top amateur skating talent in what he calls “Project 8.” The deal is that there are hundreds of skaters vying for the top eight positions on the team, including yourself, who begins the whole thing at the bleak ranking of number 200. Completing skating challenges, tricking it out with other pro skaters and unlocking the entire city will eventually lead you into the top eight. Is this a deep and involving storyline? Not particularly, but honestly, it is a bit refreshing to see the series return to simple skating as opposed to focusing on the ridiculous and sophomoric storylines brought on by the Underground series.

Last year’s [i]American Wasteland[/i] introduced the load screen-free seamless world to the franchise, and [i]Project 8[/i] takes the concept further. Here, everything seems to be directly connected to each other, where the capitol will lead directly into the city park which then leads into both the factory, main street, and the slums, as opposed to American Wasteland where each area was connected by empty corridors disguised as brief load screens. It’s a good thing, too, because all the loading is done before the game begins and helps to create a persistent world where goals and tricks stretch almost around every game area. It is very possible, considering your balancing skills, to make a combo stretch through every area of the game. Connecting the city into one big open area also leads to some new challenges, and with over 200 different challenges, [i]Project 8[/i] can take awhile to play through.

[i]Project 8[/i] is also, quite possibly, the most difficult Tony Hawk game in quite some time, if not the hardest in the series. The game is full of different challenges, with the majority of them having three different difficulty criteria; Am, Pro, and Sick. The Am challenges are fairly simplistic, and Pro challenges are somewhat more difficult, although not by much. The Sick challenges are where players will probably trip up, as most of them have some pretty, well, sick requirements. On top of that, there are a lot of new challenges types to wade through, such as spot challenges that require you to perform combos to different chalk lines throughout the city, and turf wars, which require you to combo some insane lines and get to the target area. On top of all this, the trick multiplier has been hampered pretty significantly, so it is much more difficult to make millions, or even a million period, points.

Then, of course, there’s Nail the Trick, the new gimmick that’s supposed to breathe some new life into the series. I wouldn’t necessarily say that Nail the Trick is great enough to redefine the franchise, as some have put it, but it is a fun new addition. It works by clicking down on both analog sticks to begin focus mode, during which you use each analog stick to manipulate the board and concentrate which directions your board goes in. There’s an art to getting things right at first, but once you play around with things, Nail the Trick is certainly a welcome addition to what is otherwise the same trick set as seen in previous games. Although I should mention that this time around, every trick in the game has been motion-captured from the pros that perform them, so the same old tricks do look a lot better because of it.

[i]Project 8[/i] does contain the standard online multiplayer, although strangely enough, only on the Xbox 360. It’s basically similar to the online modes of all the previous Tony Hawk titles, right down to the interface. Up to eight players can join into an interactive lobby where you can free skate until the host begins a game, after which players will return to free skate until the next game. Graffiti, Combo Mambo, and other standard game types return from the older titles. The only new addition is Walls, which is almost like a tribute to Tron where players skate around with colored walls trailing them, trying to entrap other players in their wall. Unfortunately, there seems to be no spectator mode, so when you’re eliminated from a game, you’re treated to the [i]Project 8[/i] logo screen and skating sounds until the game ends. It also seems somewhat hard to actually get into a game at times, either because you lose the connection, the host boots you, or the host is away from his console.

One major thing to mention are the graphics. For years, the Tony Hawk franchise has worked under what look to be first generation Playstation 2 graphics, and even American Wasteland for the Xbox 360 saw little improvement. Being the first Tony Hawk game developed for the next generation of consoles, there has finally been an update, and it is certainly welcome. At the same time, while things look marginally better, the development team really seemed to screw up when crafting the faces of individual characters, particularly Tony Hawk and the pro skaters, almost looking cartoonish to an extent. It doesn’t help that Tony Hawk himself is on the box art, because comparing it to his in-game self only supports the goofy look of the character models. Still, it’s hard to complain with the fact that Neversoft finally decided to put some effort into the graphics after years of lazily rehashing them.

An especially strange change resides with the character creation system. The create-a-skater mode has been widely praised over the series, but for some reason in [i]Project 8[/i], they have divided the different clothing, faces, and other options into different skater styles. This means you only have access to a very small set of features, and if you go online, there’s a good chance you’ll find someone who looks just like you. I honestly can’t understand this decision, as the create-a-skater has been a time-tested staple of the series for years now. Create-a-park has also been removed, although there are traces of it in the single-player. This isn’t as big an issue for me, but many Tony Hawk fans have decried this move, so it’s worth mentioning.

Other minor issues mar [i]Project 8[/i]’s overall presentation. For instance, there is a nagging frame rate lag that appears when the nearby environment gets too populated. It doesn’t hurt things too much, although the slow down is very noticeable, and if you happen to be in the middle of a combo, a button press may get ignored during the slowdown. I also have to take issue with the ridiculous ragdoll physics engine they introduced. It’s not so much that I hate the rag doll effect (in fact, I love rag doll physics usually), but here, they just seem so exaggerated. I have never seen a system like this where your character launches twenty stories into the air upon hitting something, say, a fence, although admittedly, it is fun to watch them come crashing down to earth (in all the bone-shattering glory) afterwards.

I can really appreciate [i]Tony Hawk’s Project 8[/i], because it brings back the memories of the Hawk games of the early years of the series. I personally hated [i]THUG 2[/i], and [i]American Wasteland[/i] didn’t grab me a whole lot either. Playing [i]Project 8[/i] feels like going back to my teen years when my friends and I couldn’t get enough of the series, and that feeling is a good one. It could have been a little better had they cleaned up the frame rate issues and hadn’t gone and screwed up the create-a-skater, but for the dedicated Hawk fan, [i]Tony Hawk’s Project 8[/i] won’t disappoint.

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