Wii

Valhalla Knights: Eldar Saga

November 23, 2009

Reviews / Wii / by Shawn Vermette Make a comment! / Tweet it!

Valhalla Knights: Eldar Saga is not a bad game. It is a horrible game. It’s also not a buggy or incomplete game. It feels like it was finished about 13 years ago–for the Playstation 1. Valhalla Knights wouldn’t even have been a good game on the Playstation, but it would have been more tolerable on it. On the Wii, it is simply an unforgivable game.

Valhalla Knights doesn’t really explain its story very well, so I’ll explain it better for you here. A thousand years ago civilization was almost destroyed by a war between monsters and the four races of Eldar- human, dwarf, elf, and halfling. An alliance of the four races managed to drive off the hordes of monsters. Soon after, however, conflicts between the races soon ended the alliance and they all secluded themselves from each other. Now, one thousand years later, the monsters are returning to finish what they started. This story isn’t that intriguing to begin with, but the fact that it is never really explained very well in the game makes it even worse.

Your part in the story is to reunite the four races to combat this returning menace. However, the character you create and customize, the character you’ll spend hours building up, will disappear halfway through the game. Once you unite the races, you’ll be told to pick a wife from one of them. This choice will influence the entirety of the rest of the game for you because once you reach this point decades will suddenly pass and you’ll continue playing as the child of your character. The abilities and stats for your child are directly dependent upon what race they are, be it human/elf, human/dwarf, human/halfling, or full human. The problem is you are never told this, so you won’t find out until it is too late to change anything.

There is no tutorial to speak of in Valhalla Knights, and there is absolutely no direction given in the game. You will be told to do something and thereafter will be expected to remember exactly what it is and exactly where you need to go to do it. No hints, no reminders, no breadcrumb trail. There is also no map to speak of, other than a minimap showing vague outlines of the current area you are located in. Additionally, when you die, and you will die…repeatedly…because the difficulty ramps up insanely fast, you are sent back to the last town you visited. You will then have to traverse the entirety of the world back to where you were trying to go. And it will be a long journey back because the distances you have to travel in this game are vast.

The controls are awful and laggy. If you push the attack button three or four times while attempting to attack an enemy, you will slowly perform those attacks in the direction you were facing when you hit them, regardless of where the enemy has moved and with no option to stop the attacks. There is a lock-on option, but it makes you so slow and vulnerable to attack that it’s almost worthless.

The graphics are bad…real bad. They look as if they were made for the original Playstation, but even then they wouldn’t look good because of how bland everything is. The landscapes are uniformly grey, the buildings are grey, the trees are dead and grey, and the enemies are grey.

The soundtrack is the best part of the game simply because it isn’t grating or annoying; however, it is still subpar compared to the soundtracks of other RPGs. The voice acting is appalling; luckily there isn’t much of it. The worst part of the sound design is definitely the sound effects. Nothing sounds remotely close to what it should sound like. Dragons roar like squealing pigs (seriously); death screams sound like laughter; running people thud like horses galloping across stone; and birds flapping their wings sound like plastic bags rustling. Yes, the sound effects are that horrific.

Finally we come to the multiplayer. You can link up with a friend to play Valhalla Knights co-op by using friend codes, though why you would want to subject a friend to this kind of misery remains to be seen.

There are surprisingly few RPGs on the Wii, but despite this, no one should ever consider this a game worth playing. The entire thing is ugly and confusing, and there are absolutely no redeeming qualities about it.

ESRB: T for Alcohol, blood, and fantasy violence- if you can play any kind of action RPG fare, you can play this

Pros: With the right mindset, the sound effects are hilarious; You aren’t forced to play this game

Cons: Everything

MySims Agents

November 13, 2009

Reviews / Wii / by Shawn Vermette Make a comment! / Tweet it!

At first glance, MySims Agents is not a game many people would consider playing. The art style of the MySims series alienates many people because of how cutesy it is. However, they would miss out on one of the better adventure games to be released on the Wii thus far.

In MySims Agents you will first create your agent from an assortment of preset options in a number of categories such as: hair, face, clothes, and headwear. The variety is much lower than you would expect in a Sims game, but there’s still enough to satisfy most players. Once your agent is created, you’ll find yourself in Gino’s Pizzeria, where you’ll get started as a small-time detective. After solving a few cases involving missing pets and secret admirers, you’ll be deputized into the Sims Protection Agency, which is somewhat like the FBI. From that point on, you’ll go on various missions- both in the city and in exotic locales with an eye toward catching and defeating a super villain.

After you’ve been deputized, you will be able to recruit agents, place them on teams, and then send them out on dispatch missions. These missions will net you various rewards such as loot for your headquarters and more people that you can recruit as agents. Each team you have is quartered on a different floor and you can customize each floor with the loot you get for finishing dispatch missions. Every item and piece of furniture improves the rating of the team on that floor in at least one of the attributes in the game: charisma, athleticism, science, nature, or paranormal. The higher the rating of a team, the more likely the team is to succeed on the missions they are assigned.

The two defining aspects of the MySims series have always been social interaction and customization. Rather than making social interaction the primary aspect of MySims Agents, as EA had done with previous MySims games, EA took the characters of the MySims universe and placed them in an adventure/detective game. Social interaction has been reduced to a handful of conversation options that change based on your progress through the story. Customization, however, is still a big part of the game. In fact, now customization is arguably a bigger part of the game than ever before, as how you customize your agency directly impacts how well your teams operate on dispatch missions.

Throughout the game you’ll be asked to solve puzzles in order to hack computers, analyze compounds, and pick locks. These puzzles are quick and enjoyable, and provide some variety to the game. Unfortunately, almost all of them are either very easy or fairly easy. A few will take a number of tries to complete, but most are effortlessly solvable in less than five minutes. I suppose this is a concession to the age group EA expects to be most interested in this game, but it’s a shame because the charm and adventure of the game will appeal to all ages, not just younger ones.

Throughout MySims Agents the charm of the Sims franchise is present. The graphics are bright and colorful, the locales are vibrant and interesting, and the characters are, well, characters. The writing is humorous and witty. The story, while not really unique, is entertaining enough to keep you wanting to know what’s next.

The style and art of MySims Agents may turn you off at first glance, but you owe it to yourself to check it out. The charm and humor will make this game appeal to most gamers if given a chance, and the collectibles and customization will appeal to many others.

ESRB: E for Everyone- Comic Mischief.

Plays Like:  A MySims style adventure game

Pros: dialog is humorous; minigames are fun; sims charm is intact; lots of collectibles; fun, lengthy story

Cons: minigames are too easy; dan’t revisit previous locales; damera angles are sometimes awkward and can block facial expressions during conversations

Rune Factory Frontier

November 13, 2009

Reviews / Wii / by Shawn Vermette Make a comment! / Tweet it!

Rune Factory Frontier is the first game Neverland Co. has made for the Wii. Despite this, it is one of the best Wii games I’ve had the pleasure of playing since I bought my Wii three years ago. It’s clear that Neverland put a lot of time and effort into Rune Factory Frontier and that we can look forward with eagerness to their next title.

Rune Factory Frontier is the third game in the Rune Factory series, and you’ll play as the same protagonist, Raguna, as in the previous two games. However, the story is completely unrelated to the previous games, so you don’t have to worry if you’ve never played them. At the beginning of the game, Raguna is wandering the countryside looking for Mist, a girl that lived in town with you but mysteriously disappeared one day. You’ll stumble on her in Trampoli Village during the opening scene of the game and, much to Raguna’s surprise and chagrin, find yourself in charge of a completely deserted and overrun farm. At this point you’ll have the choice to continue through the story or simply enjoy immersing yourself in the leisurely pace of Rune Factory Frontier.

The difference between Rune Factory and Harvest Moon is that Rune Factory games have some basic action RPG elements brought into them, and Rune Factory Frontier is no different. You’ll start out the game with some turnip seeds, a watering can, and a hoe. It is your job from then on to earn a living however you wish to. You’ll be able to purchase a basic kitchen, forge, and laboratory early in the game, and anything made in them can be sold for profit. In fact, everything in the game can be sold, even the grass you pick from your field. And did I mention action RPG elements? Rune Factory Frontier has that in spades. You will gain access eventually to a number of caves and ruins that are home to any manner of foul and loathsome beasts- all of whom want to hurt you. These monsters can range from squirrels to spiders to giant man-eating mushrooms to magic tigers. You can use your farm tools to fight or you can buy or forge swords, spears, axes, and even learn to use magic. As you fight you’ll level up, and each time you level up, your stamina and health will be restored. At the end of each cave or ruin, there’s a boss to fight which will require all of your strength to beat.

Unlike many action RPGs though, fighting isn’t all you’ll do in the ruins and caves. You can also grow crops in them, there’s even an area that will allow you to grow crops from any season, all the time. Additionally, you can tame the wild beasts, many of whom have special abilities that will make your life easier on your farm. These abilities will range from helping you harvest crops, to chopping down trees, watering crops, and even destroying the boulders that cover your field. Some will even give you products like wool or milk when you raise them. These monsters take the place of the livestock you would normally care for in a Harvest Moon game; you’ll find no cows or chickens here.

Progressing through the game, you’ll meet any number of eligible bachelorettes who would love to get to know and marry you. In fact, the farther you advance through the story and the more profitable your farm becomes, the more people will move to Trampoli. Unfortunately, the relation and conversational systems in Rune Factory Frontier are no more in-depth or realistic than they’ve ever been. Most people will say the same few things for the majority of each season, and getting them to like you is simply a matter of talking to them often and giving them the one or two gifts they like the most.

As far as the technical aspects of the game are concerned, almost everything is top-tier in terms of quality. The graphics are vibrant and look great for the Wii, though the environments are slightly less detailed than the characters themselves. The sound effects are spot on, whether you are watering crops, chopping up wood, or slaying monsters. However, the voice acting is some of the worst I’ve heard in a video game. It is grating, annoying, and conveys less emotion than the writing on the screen does. The soundtrack isn’t particularly noteworthy, but it is fitting for the game. The control scheme for the game feels smooth and responsive and is actually fairly intuitive.

Neverland also changed the inventory system for Rune Factory Frontier. No longer will you have to deal with running out of space in your backpack and need to leave a cave before you are finished because there’s not enough room for anything else. Everything will stack, up to 99 pieces, in a single slot in your backpack and you have at least 80 slots to fill. There are storage boxes and shelves in your house to use, so the only time you’ll ever run out of space is by failing to take advantage of the various inventory options.

The Wii has had few notable third-party games to call its own, and even fewer worthwhile RPGs, but Rune Factory Frontier certainly fills that void. It’s one of the best games I’ve played so far on the Wii and will have something for almost anyone to enjoy. It can be as fast or slow-paced as you make it, and you can pretty much spend as much time as desired on each of the different activities in the game.

ESRB: E10 for Fantasy Violence, Mild Language, Suggestive Themes, and Use of Alcohol

Plays Like: Harvest Moon meets a dungeon crawler; previous Rune Factory games

Pros: Controls feel smooth and responsive; graphics are great for the Wii; inventory is simple, easy, and the best in the series; just as addictive as ever

Cons: Menu system is clunky, with lots of screens that you can only flip through one at a time; voice acting is atrocious

Ghostbusters: The Video Game

October 16, 2009

Reviews / Wii / by Chris Rasco Make a comment! / Tweet it!

The Ghostbusters is a staple of any good 80s movie collection and is one of the more recognizable pop culture brands. This makes it all the more confusing as to why a title with such potential would have a difficult a time as this title did making it to market. After getting canned, and then revived and finally landing on Atari’s lap, we are blessed with what could be the quintessential Ghostbusters game. It lives up to the hype.

I originally picked up Ghostbusters: The Video Game for the Xbox 360 and after playing through a few levels I switched over to the Wii version for the unique control scheme and different art style. Both versions carried an identical story, but they felt like very different games.

As the newest member of the Ghostbusters team, it is your job to be the Experimental Equipment Technician. This is a fancy way of saying you’ll be carrying the untested and experimental equipment that has been developed in the Ghostbusters lab. You’ll have the option of playing through the game as a male or female character.

Once you get through the tutorial that explains how to play the game, you’ll start your first real mission. Controls are similar to the recent Metroid Prime title released for the Wii that utilizes the Wii Remote to look around and the nunchuck to control movement. This can get a little tiring, but ultimately works well for this game. B and A control primary and secondary weapon fire while the D Pad allows you to equip and change the active piece of equipment you are using. The nunchuck also handles locking on to an enemy and deploying ghost traps for capturing those pesky ghosts.

Each mission can be played alone or cooperatively. As you play through the levels you’ll have certain objectives that progress the story. The game is rather linear in that regard and doesn’t have a lot of open exploration at any given time. You’ll go room to room eliminating various spooks and ghosts and capturing them with your traps. As you progress, you’ll acquire new equipment from Boson Darts to the Stasis Stream. Usually, you’ll be awarded these upgrades as you need to utilize them in the game.

The concept of hunting ghosts and trapping them is a simple one, but in practice it can be quite challenging. Ghosts have an energy meter that must be depleted before they can be wrangled and ultimately trapped. This is accomplished using whatever equipment you currently have available to you be it the Blast Stream, Boson Darts, or something else. Once the ghost is worn down, you’ll use the Blast Stream to grab hold of the ghost. Slam arrows will appear indicating which direction you need to flick the remote in order to slam the ghost into a wall or floor. When a 4 way slam arrow appears, you can slam in any direction and deploy a trap to finally capture your ghost. It is definitely tougher than it sounds.

As you play, you’ll make use of the classic PKE Meter to track down ghosts that may be hiding and to scan ghosts for Tobin’s Guide. You’ll also notice a spot on your HUD that indicates the total damage you’ve caused to your current venue.

Of all the great things about this game, one feature of Ghostbusters The Video Game sealed the deal for me and that was the fact that the original actors performed the voices. It absolutely made the game for me and took it from being another generic adventure game to feeling like an interactive version of the movie. Another feature unique to the Wii version aside from the control scheme was the art style. The Wii version didn’t follow the other versions of the game with a realistic visual style and instead adopted the style from the Ghostbusters animated series and it really looked great.

In the end, Ghostbusters The Video Game really is an interactive version of the classic Ghostbusters world complete with humor and for this version of the game, very interactive ghost hunting. I loved everything about this game and my only issue would be that maybe it’s a little too easy to delete a profile, as my 5 yr old did on one occasion. Normally I recommend the 360 version when games are available cross platform, but I definitely think the Wii version is head and shoulders above any other version of this title.

Plays like: Metroid Prime 3
ESRB: E10+ for Fantasy Violence and Comic Mischief
Pros: A blast to play; Original actors for voice work
Cons: Too easy to delete profiles

The Munchables

October 13, 2009

Reviews / Wii / by Chris Rasco Make a comment! / Tweet it!

My son once described The Munchables as the game with the vegetable space pirates and the guys who eat everything. Oddly enough, that is probably the best way to actually describe the game to someone who has never played it. Taking on the role of Chomper or Munchy, the greediest Munchables, you have set out to retrieve the Legendary Orbs of Star Ving from the Tabemon space pirates who have stolen then. Let’s find out how a game with vegetable space pirates stacks up.

The game begins by allowing you to select either Chomper (for the guys) or Munchy (for the girls). The Munchables is broken up by different planets each with 2 levels and a boss level. You’ll progress through each stage battling pirates of varying levels. Combat is pretty simple as you can outright eat any pirates of a similar or smaller size by pressing the Eat button or you can break apart larger enemies into more manageable sizes by attacking them first. Your character grows and evolves as his/her stomach gets full as indicated by the on screen display and is able to eat higher level pirates. You also have a few special items at your disposal such as the vacuum that turns your Munchable into a sort of Dyson vacuum sucking up any nearby pirates. Along the way you will also be collecting hidden acorns. If your Munchable happens to take damage from one of the space pirates, the number of pirates you’ve eaten on that stage will decrease and you’ll shrink to your starting size momentarily. Taking damage in this shrunken size will end the game. Shaking the Wii Remote shortens the length of time you are vulnerable.

Surprisingly enough, Namco Bandai included the ability to use the Wii Remote + Nunchuk, Classic Controller, or even the GameCube controller. We opted to use the Wii Remote controller option. Your control scheme is determined by the controller you use to start the game at the title screen. An unnecessary option as the Wii Remote control scheme works very well, but a welcome one for fans of more traditional controllers. The controls were tight and responsive in every regard with the exception of jumping which could be a little frustrating at times.

Initially, the concept of the game sounds a little juvenile and may draw a parallel to a parent trying to get their kids to eat their vegetables, but The Munchables has been surprisingly entertaining to play. The combat is quick and easy and the levels are short enough that they don’t begin to feel cumbersome and drawn out. The replay value is also quite high as you replay older levels to try and increase your score and get the highest grade awarded for every level.

The Munchables is an interesting niche title that combines vegetable space pirates with aliens that eat their enemies and it just seems to work. It’s got a variety of controller schemes to please everyone and even though the story is shallow it’s a real blast to play. It is definitely a niche title that not everyone will want, but the upside is that it has already hit the bargain bin so I have no problem recommending you pick this up even for the occasional play. If you’ve got kids, it’s definitely something you’ll want to check out.

Plays Like: A common adventure game
ESRB: E for Everyone; Comic Mischief and Mild Cartoon Violence
Pros: Fun; Quirky
Cons: Shallow story; Jumping is a pain

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