Enter the Matrix is based on the trilogy written by the creators of the Matrix movies, Larry and Andy Wachowski. The story line of the game inter-twines with the story line of the movie Matrix: Reloaded and even has film footage from the movie. You have your choice of characters, Ghost or Niobe. Both appear in the second installment of the Matrix trilogy, Matrix: Reloaded. Each is a human whose mind has been freed from the Matrix. Ghost is described as a A
It seems that prior to it’s release Stake
was being hyped as a game that would break genre barriers and bring
us a type of game play we have never experienced before. How did
Gameness Art Software and Metro3D attempt to accomplish this? By
blending the four-player split screen action of a First Person Shooter
(FPS) with the beauty and finesse of a 3D fighting game. Initially
the concept raised my eyebrow a bit so I decided to go ahead and
review this game for the fans.
Shit, My Blender
Is On Fire
The main problem with the blending of
the two genres in Stake is that they forgot to include good graphics,
game play, sound, control, plot and replay ability in the mix. This
game reminds me of something you would see in a movie about a science
experiment gone terribly wrong. Stake would play the role of the
early, deformed mutant experiment that got locked in the basement
when they didn’t really know what they were doing and screwed everything
up.
I desperately wanted to like this game. After a few hours of playing I was desperately thinking
that I must have missed something, there had to be something else
to this game! In the end I was wrong, there is nothing else to this
game. I knew it was supposed to be some sort of party game, but
it didn’t seem like there was really any game at all.
A
Games that launch with movies have a history of being amazingly
average. Spiderman, Lord of the Rings, and Harry
Potter quickly come to mind when I think of games that have
suffered this fate recently. There is nothing about these games
that really bothers you, but nothing that really stands out to you
either. This makes for a very bland gaming experience. Most of these
games are forgotten quickly and leave you with no lasting impact.
Will X2: Wolverine’s Revenge suffer the same fate as many
of its predecessors? The SB crew breaks this one down for you.
Insert Action Hero Here
I spent a good part of my day yesterday hanging out with The Wraith
over at EB Games. We discussed many things, from video games, to
The Matrix, to Pretzel’s susceptibility to panic attacks.
It was a good conversation. I made mention to him that I was currently
giving X2 a trial run. He pointed out to me that it was basically
the same game as Spiderman. I partly agree with him. It’s true that
they are both games that were probably rushed during development
to meet unrealistic deadlines. They are both third person action/
adventure games. They both rely on the popularity of the characters
to sell games rather than worry about graphics, game play, or story
development.
How can you argue with the results though? Marvel characters =
game sales. It’s really a simple equation. If I had a say in a game
development company we would be cranking out super hero games. In
comparison with other games they don’t cost as much, don’t take
as long to develop, and sell like crazy. Even I will admit that
if some company released a game-featuring Gambit from the X-men
I’d buy it. I expect the upcoming Hulk game to be more of the same.
This strategy of swapping out graphics and changing the story reminds
me of what Nintendo games were like in 80’s. A successful game like
1942 would come out and would quickly be followed by a string
of games running off basically the same engine (i.e. GunSmoke).
I can’t say I blame the developers on this one. If the consumers
are going to continue to buy the same game over and over again why
would you quit repackaging it?
Left Shoulder Forward
X2’s graphics looked like they were slapped together from leftover
parts of a good game. While playing I get the feeling that the developers
saw something they liked in another game and just decided to throw
it in there. Several times throughout the game you will have to
trudge through the snow to get where you are going. Someone must
have liked the way that you left footprints in the snow in other
games, so they added it. Instead of footprints you leave some sort
of odd gray trench looking thing.
One of the most irritating examples of this is when your character
goes into sneak mode. It reminds me mostly of the “Aura Vision
Mode” in
Bloodrayne. During sneak mode everything on
your screen turns a tint of orange, everything except Wolverine
himself. Surrounding Wolverine during this mode is a thin line of
white pixels that make him look like he was cut-and-pasted there
using Photoshop. The most frustrating part of this whole “sneak
mode fiasco” is that Wolverine seems to be locked into this
strange walking stance where he leads with his left shoulder.
X2: Wolverine’s Revenge also features the return of the “Hyphen
bullet.” With all the technological advances and all the experience
of the game development industry one would think that you would
be able to come up with something to represent gunfire better than
hyphens. Orange tinted hyphens at that. The hyphen bullet is one
of those things that make my unforgivable sin list. It just shouldn’t
be done, ever, under any circumstances.
There are parts in the game where the graphics look pretty slick
and overall I wouldn’t call the graphics poor. As I said earlier,
it just looks slapped together. Some of the stealth kills and finishing
moves are very nice to look at, but after 50 times or so it gets
a little monotonous. I would say in the end that the graphics are
exactly what I would have expected from a game like this, nothing
too great, nothing too bad. Bland.
Less Hack, More Slash
I don’t know about you, but if someone hits me as hard as they
can in the chest with a butcher knife I do one of two things; 1)
fall to the ground screaming in pain, or 2) run for dear life and
hope to god I don’t bleed to death. Put “Get back up and try
to punch the guy still holding the knife” at the top of the
list of things I would not do. Amazingly enough the enemies in X2
are gluttons for punishment. Something deep in my heart tells me
that it shouldn’t take six slashes to kill each and every bad guy.
It’s not that they realize pose much of a threat, it’s just obnoxious.
The only thing that poses less of a threat than the enemy henchmen
are the actual bosses themselves. Even Sabretooth is cake to defeat.
I would spend more time worrying about falling off a cliff than
the ten enemies with guns who are standing there. This is yet another
part of the formula that is used when creating these super hero
games. “Make the game as easy as possible because all anyone
wants to do is see the story and super villains later in game. You’ll
find yourself with the controls mastered in five minutes or less
and you won’t have to do any thinking at any point in the rest of
the game. The only thing that could possibly inhibit you from beating
this game is the cocoon of boredom that you’ll quickly find yourself
in.
Leave It On The Shelf
Don’t bother with this game. I’ll go ahead and tell you the two
best parts of this game. Patrick Stewart actually does the voice
of Professor X and you can unlock different costumes for Wolverine.
Of course you’ll soon realize that if you’re a fan of Wolverine
that you’ve seen all these costumes before and nothing new is really
going on.
It’s not that this is a bad game, but I promise that you’ve played
it before only it was called something else. Your time and money
will be much better spent watching the movie than playing the game.
Let’s all keep our fingers crossed that Enter The Matrix
doesn’t suffer the same end as many of its movie turned game predecessors.
The much anticipated Return to Castle Wolfenstein: Tides of War
finally hit the console market. Many mouths have been salivating
over this game for years now and the loyal now have their prize.
I fondly remember the original Wolfenstein 3D game from way back
in the day. Back then it was easier to please me when it came to
video games, now its a hell of a lot harder. Along with everyone
else I was very excited about the release of RTCW, so much so I
was looking around for games to return so I could pick it up before
my paycheck hit my account. I can only imagine how I would be feeling
at this moment if I had paid for this game.
Disclaimer:
Here at Snackbar we give our honest opinion about the games we play
review. This game is so high profile that you may think we are on
crack (can you guess if I liked it yet?). Know that we have four
members that play and review games, and this one just happened to
land in my lap to review, so you get my side of the story.
By the way, I fucking hated this game. Allow me to explain.
When talking about the graphics in RTCW the word “underachieving”
comes to mind. With powerhouse ID behind the development of the
game you would think that presentation would be held to the highest
standards. While the game looks great, I just don’t see the Xbox
pushed any; hell the Xbox seemed pretty bored while running the
game. The environments were on par with any average game, not the
high profile game that ID brings to the table. The tombs, cities
and everything else was mediocre with pixelization showing up on
gates and walls from up close. The game ran at a smooth frame rate,
and then again I’m sure it was not pushed at all by rendering the
environments. Fog in the crypts looked like terrible; I mean I almost
lost it. I have seen some great fog rendered on games, but this
was just sad. I mean what the fuck is going on. By this time in
the game I am thinking to myself, “This cant be the right game”.
Some of you will be thinking the same. The guns look great; however
your little “boot” attack had my jaw dropped to the floor.
When looking at your co-op friend kick nothing happens to his character,
as in the kick is not a real animation! There are many things you
can break and smash around the level, but the breaking itself just
didn’t look right…something is very wrong here. The cut scenes
look good and character models in them are on par with some of the
best. When you find yourself looking at your teammate in co-op mode
you will think there is connection lag taking place. We are talking
major frame issues, it looks sad, and only adds to the stack of
issues this “High Profile” game has.
The games sound was great with the exception of one thing. Gunshots!
Coincidently you will be hearing mo
re
gunshots then anything else
in the game. The shots themselves sound muted and dull. The ambient
sounds are good; then again I didn’t notice them or not notice them,
which is not a bad thing. Voice-overs are crisp and at a good volume
and the enemy conversations are good as well. Note that this is
an FPS, so sound is not the foremost priority.
RTCW’s control is solid. Taking notes from the Halo handbook, the
movement/look/fire mechanics are all instinctual. The frame rate
is very solid with a “not too fast, but not too slow”
feel. The game helps you out via the use of icons, which I thought
was pretty cool. You will know whether or not you can bash something
by the icon represented on the screen, this will eliminate you trying
to smash everything in sight looking for that secret room that Wolfenstein
is famous for. The implementation of a quick turn would be nice,
then again that would require the extra step that ID seemed determined
to avoid.
The game’s challenge was decent with the default difficulty settings
in place. Most anyone can just pick up and start plugging some bad
guys full of lead, however to be a real man you must play on the
hardest mode. The harder modes are a total bitch. You will have
a hard time getting that head shot and the enemy will run and hide
behind crap whenever possible. You will be fired upon from all angles
and sometimes you won’t find out from where until you respawn about
three times.
We did not get a chance to play the Live version of the game. I
hear what sets this game apart from the others is the multiplayer.
I don’t want to bank on a game being cool because the multiplayer
version is fresh; I want to be able to enjoy the single player missions,
especially for a game like Wolfenstein. To be honest I was let down
tremendously. I knew this wouldn’t be Halo, but I was expecting
so much more. I wanted a good FPS game (which it is) but I was also
expecting something above par and it wasn’t delivered. I feel ID
let the ball drop right on my foot. I was so happy to bring the
game home than so pissed when I played it. The game has so many
small issues that drive me crazy. I’ll give the online game play
a try or two, but single player and co-op are terrible to the eyes
in all ways possible.
I am pretty upset right now. When asked if I like the game and
I say no people freak out. I suggest they look at the game itself
and ask themselves if this is what they wanted. I know deep down
you are disappointed as well. In my opinion I say don’t even fucking
bother with this game. It is total crap with too many small issues
to look past.
I will now go into my room where I will not be playing RTCW, only
sitting and waiting for Halo 2.
[floatleft]http://www.snackbar-games.com/images/reviews/serioussam/cover.jpg[/floatleft]Now I don’t know what you have heard about his game, but for twenty bucks this game is quite entertaining. Serious Sam was first introduced to me by The Wraith at EB. He had mentioned that his wife really was entertained with Serious Sam’s “Quake” like game play. With massive killing and very little plot, this seemed like a game that I should try out. It’s important that you know that I am the biggest FPS fan you will every meet, so needless to say you are probably going to read good things about this game…MAYBE!!
Once you pop the game into your Xbox it will seem that it may have a good story behind it. IT DOESN’T!!! Somehow the world has been taken over by freaky looking aliens and other extremely odd creatures and the only person that can save the world is none other than…yes you guessed it…Serious Sam!! Some how, Sam is then sent back in time to destroy the creatures, and also he needs to collect some elements that are similar to the ones in the movie “The Fifth Element”.
[floatright]http://www.snackbar-games.com/images/reviews/serioussam/ss02_thumb.jpg[/floatright]I have put in close to ten hours playing Serious Sam and I have not beaten it yet. It usually takes me about that much time to beat a game. It is impossible for me to beat this game, the game continues on forever with no end. I’m sure this game has an end, but I haven’t seen it yet. Serious Sam is an all around shoot ’em up game. With tons of enemies and guns, the carnage never ends on every level. Each level is set up with certain weapons that are given to you, so that means that only certain types of creatures are after you. As you progress throughout the game, the creatures become more intense with insane numbers. If your worried about power ups or armor…don’t! Each level has an insane amount of armor, power ups, extra life, and ammo everywhere. What’s really hilarious about this game is that there is no pivotal point to the game except getting an insane amount of points. You can literally run through each level without shooting one round. Unfortunately, if you do that you won’t receive one point or extra bonus stuff. Every level is filled with secret passages, treasures, and extra weapons. Serious Sam can carry insane amount of weapons and ammo, that’s another thing that I really enjoyed about this game. While your running around blowing up psycho looking creatures, you can scroll through your list fifty or so weapons as the game progresses. Rocket launchers, miniguns, canons, sub-machine guns, flamethrowers, laser guns, the list keeps going. So if you’re worried about variety, don’t stress, this game has it. Another entertaining option about this game is its multiplayer. Mass chaos is also very fun with sixteen of your friends if your wanting to system link that is.
I have pretty much summarized the simplicity of the game by now. So you would think that if the game play is simple, the control scheme must be. The controls in Serious Sam are very user friendly with very little management and responsibility. You don’t have to worry about reloading, because it’s done automatically for you. Once you do run out of ammo for that particular weapon that you are using you are automatically switched to the next weapon with ammo in your arsenal. The only management on your controlling pad that you have to worry about is deciding what weapon you want to use. Strafing, running, and jumping are the basic movements on your toggle sticks.
Now comes the bad part of the game. I’m not planning on spending much time on explaining the graphics aspect of this game. Why you ask…because the graphics just plain suck on every level of the gaming spectrum. I mean there is not much to describe because it sucks so damn bad its not even funny. I laughed so hard when I saw them at first. However, I did not buy this game for the graphics. I bought this game for the sole purpose of running around and blasting things to death.
[floatleft]http://www.snackbar-games.com/images/reviews/serioussam/ss05_thumb.jpg[/floatleft]With that said I can move on the overall challenge of this game. This game is completely insane on normal difficulty. Serious Sam has about four different difficulty levels to choose from. Currently I am playing on normal, and the levels take me almost thirty minutes to an hour to complete because of the wicked battles that I encounter. Creatures just never stop respawning. More than anything you will need to play this game is stamina. Bosses at the end of the levels are easy to get through. Trust me, it will only take you one time to kill every boss; it just takes a long time.
There is really no point to out develop one aspect of the game if the other part sucks. The sound is no different than the graphics, they both suck, the sounds of the creatures are horrible, Sam’s dialogue is corny and cheesy, and the music sounds like it was ripped off the soundtrack of a porno. One thing I want to warn you about in this game, is the distant screaming that starts really low then gradually becomes louder and louder. That sound is the sound of “The Al-Qaeda suicide bombers”. They run around each level with their domes lopped off and with two bombs in their hands ready to explode when they are in close proximity to you.
For twenty dollars I think that Serious Sam is a very entertaining game if you’re into the cheap FPS genre. It’s simple, cheap, and fun. I suggest renting it if your not convinced to purchase it. However, its only twenty bucks and it seems like a never ending game with great possibilities for sleepless nights.
