What I'm Playing 29/04/12

It has been a while since my last update to the plethora of games that lay before me incomplete. So I thought it was about time that I gave a little insight to the laundry list of games I aim to complete relatively soon.

First up is the latest instalment to the Elder Scrolls Franchise, yup Skyrim. Although it has been out for several months I haven't quite mustered up the courage to plunder the depths,dungeons and ditches of Skyrim. It might be a bit too late to capture the inital excitement of setting up my own little trading business in alchemy but hopefully the DLC will bring a breath of fresh air and entice me once more.

Next up is yet another popular RPG. I have recently bought The Witcher 2 and I am totally engrossed in the story. I feel it is definitely one of the few games you can truly believe the hype with. Every choice has its consequences and you are pulled between tough choices along the way. I really look forward to delving right in and see how dark the story can be.

Slowly dragging myself away from RPGs with japanese grindfest may not be the best idea but the allure of another "Warriors" game is just too great. On the plate this time around is the ever so appetising Warriors Orochi 3. I personally feel that these games combine the best from Samurai Warriors and Dynasty Warriors without compromising either playstyle. With a step up in story and a lot more characters I have found myself dedicating far too much time to the slaughtering of thousands of snake like warriors.

I've also got Armored Core on back up in case the countless hordes of warriors doesn't quite satisfy my need to grind. This is where I can indulge in even more grinding and with endless customisation to boot. So far ACV is the best looking in the series and has loads of online possibilities from creating a clan of Mecha-Warriors to help in your missions or fight 5v5 in an all out robo-war.

Next up is Skullgirls, a charming fighter from Reverge Labs. As it is only an arcade title you wouldn't expect the game to have such a massive impact on what I have been playing but it has and in the best of ways at that. I cannot tell you how much fun I have had with the game, it is best played with friends but if you can convince them to buy it is a lot of fun. With slick visuals and a unique cast it has been a delight to lose countless hours in first to 50s and play in to the wee hours of the night. 

And finally the newest edition to the collection is The Walking Dead. The game truly sticks to the feel and art of the comics, with interesting dialogue and truly human decisions it begs for countless play throughs. Although I can't give much insight as of yet I can't wait to fire it back up and start to develop my own zombie survival plan.

So that is the long and short of what I am really playing just now but as with any gamer there is even more anxiously fighting for some screen time in my pile of shame. I guess they might just have to wait a little longer.

Generation Lost

Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm Generations

Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm Generations is the latest in the “Ultimate Ninja” series in the Naruto game franchise. Much like the others the game collects a vast cast from all over the naruto manga and pits them against each other to see who truly is the ultimate ninja and this time it comes with a twist. Generations gathers both the old, the young and even the alternate versions of Naruto’s foes, friends and ancestry all in one large roster.

With a story that spans almost 10 years the game does a great job of summing up the highlights of the Naruto manga in 11 different storylines. This starts with a young, fresh faced Naruto graduating as a ninja and progresses through the story at an alarming pace to the more recent stories such as the Kage Summit. Not only does the game tell the story of Naruto but it also has 8 other campaigns based off other members of the cast including Itachi Uchiha, Zabuza, Kakashi and Killer Bee. With such a large cast and extensive back catalogue of story the developers have been hard pressed to squeeze in such an elaborate story all in one game, which unfortunately leaves the story feeling a bit hollow and rushed at times. That being said other sections of the story have been elaborated on with new anime and different perspectives on the story that have never been seen before.

The game itself struggles to hold down multiple game modes with very little in the way of “extras” beyond different tournaments and a very basic survival mode. While the button system remains largely unchanged the game’s mechanics feel more polished and smoother than its previous iteration. This means that there is still only one dedicated attack button and the others are dedicated to projectiles, charka concentration, assists, items and substitution jutsu.

Although all this polish and shiny new story points have came at a price, there is no longer the RPG like game play between missions nor is there much replay value to the story unlike the previous games in which you had the opportunity to replay missions for extra money and rewards. The online was rather weak too and every player I faced seemed to lag dramatically, which resulted in giving it a miss for the rest of the time I played the game.

As with every Naruto game the extras are all there. They range from the rather insignificant titles you can give yourself, extra images and substitutions that differ from the standard log as well as a customisable item set for battle. In comparison to its predecessors Generations is again lacking.

Although I greatly enjoyed playing Naruto there is little to no replay value to be found. If you are a fan of the series you will love it and there are some quirky sections I won’t spoil but for the majority of those who don’t divulge in weekly readings of the anime and don’t care too much about the battle between Sage Naruto and Rasengan Naruto it might be best to look at the older games and pick up The Broken Bond or Rise of a Ninja.

6 tails out of 10.

Resident Evil: Operation Left for Dead

Operation Raccoon City is the latest instalment in the Resident Evil universe. Many of us have grown up with the original clunky stop and shoot controls of the survival horror genre that Resident Evil built its foundations on. Many players have grown to expect a certain standard from the series, although over the years many people like the core games have strayed from the mainstream into their own territory and this title is no different. Operation Raccoon City is the first and hopefully the last squad based shooter in the franchise.

The game takes place during the events of Resident Evil 2 and 3 with you operating on the other side of the story. The game starts with you being tasked to prevent the spread of the T-Virus and exterminate Dr. Birkin, the majority of Resident Evil enthusiasts know where this leads so I’ll spare you the details. In short, zombie apocalypse once again ensues. As part of the Umbrella Secret Service you need to cover up any involvement of the ludicrously evil organisation and attempt to calm a rogue tyrant. Unfortunately the story is rather short and lacks any real depth or character development but there are some points where you get to see what happened on the other side of things when the outbreak occurred in the old games.

I don’t quite understand how metallic shades of blue can quite constitute an art style but Capcom appear to be really pushing this envelope in ORC. The art is hard to make out amongst the poor lighting and overbearing shades of black, even the whole team are kitted out as some sort of fetish group’s big day out. Every character has their own wonderfully Matrix-esque gas masked ensemble that seems highly inappropriate for a covert mission as amongst a city of survivors and zombies they stick out like gimps in the apocalypse. The series brings very little ingenuity to the already established characters of the Resident Evil series and the extent of the monster design is rather bland.

The gameplay should be where this game flourishes Can you see “should” carefully placed in that sentence? Good. The game itself isn’t particularly bad but feels like a very weak rendition of Left 4 Dead crossed with Clive Barker’s Jericho (there’s another bondage based game we would all rather forget). You play as 1 of four members in a team and fight your way through several levels in an attempt to kill zombies. As for controls the game plays very similar to nearly every other 3rd person shooter with a few twists for each character’s specific power. These powers are special to each class of character and tend to be rather generic with armour, detection and invisibility type traits.

The worst part about the game is the computer AI for your teammates. They bring a new definition to dead weight as on many occasions they joined the ranks of the living dead and proceeded to slabber intently as they lumbered after me and then they got infected. On several occasions they could be found rubbing up and down against door frames or blocking the only exit to the room in an attempt to act as some form of edible zombie blockade. This difficult hurdle can be overcome with the addition of friends online but without a full team of 4 you will have to be accompanied by the wonderfully stupid AI. The best analogy for them I have managed to concoct was that of comparing them to a bunch of children juiced up on red bull and blue smarties, they constantly run around you each individually begging for your attention before they crash in the middle of a rather crowded street and proceed to cry for the next 10 minutes about how they need help.

The online modes are very similar to different deathmatch and capture the virus type scenarios. This tends to be on a 4v4 with one side playing as the USS and the other as Spec Op forces. There is a lot of fun to be had online but it can drag at some point when the lag results in floating guns and what appears to be some odd sort of stasis mode for some players in which although they do not appear active but are actually present somewhere on the map and are continuously on the attack. My personal favourite was the Biohazard mode in which the player had to capture vials in a capture the flag based game mode. On the whole the multiplayer did feel rather bare and lacked that special something that made left you begging for more.

If only the game was this colourful.

Resident Evil:Operation Raccoon City is barely worthy of it’s name. An awfully short campaign and bare bones online leaves you feeling cheated at the end. The game could have been great but with so many issues and lacks of modes coupled with the abysmally short story you will honestly question if you even want to buy RE6 in the future. Long gone are the days when Resident Evil spin-offs had the complexity or the storyline of outbreak or the atmosphere and panic of the survivor series. Instead we are presented with a lackluster attempt to keep up with the times.

3 dribbling AI out of 10 wonderfully similar zombies.

It's More Than Tricky

 

It has been almost six years since the last true SSX game. A lot has changed since then, extreme sports games are nowhere near as popular as they used to be and Tony Hawk hasn’t even released a game in a good few years. In spite of the long period between games it feels like the whole crew have been ready and waiting on their triumphant return. The game looks and feels fantastic with great controls and a great atmosphere in game.

The story of the game is that Zoe and Griff have decided to tackle the worlds most deadly descents.  These descents are located around the whole world with each having a different rider to conquer the mountain. Griff splits from the group of SSX riders and the descents then turn in to a competition to show up Griff and prove Team SSX and far superior to Team Griff.

 

The game plays like a hybrid between Skate and Tony Hawk Pro Skater in terms of the control scheme, there are two different layouts based on either the use of the face buttons on the control or the right analogue stick to pull off tricks. What is more interesting about the gameplay is the integration of different types of equipment. This equipment ranges from ice axes to use on iced terrain, armour, head lamps, oxygen tanks, solar panels, pulse goggles that show the contours of the terrain and my personal favourite the wingsuit. These pieces of equipment add a whole new dimension of the game and the feeling you get from soaring high above the mountain with the wingsuit deployed is awe inspiring, as you look down upon the other riders as you soar above the race you get a feeling of serenity as you evade the dangers of the race.

 

One final piece of the puzzle for the mechanics of the game is the ability to rewind time. These can be limited, unlimited or turned completely off throughout the many events on offer. This means that if you fly off the edge of the mountain it isn’t the end or if you get a mouth full of snow you have the pleasure of skipping back to watch the demise of your combo all over again if you aren’t careful. The rewind system has been done before but adds a safety net for those who might have a tendency to try and fly without the wingsuit and personally was very welcome at some points.

The game has both a story type mode that is used as an introduction to the basics of the game and a series of events on each of the descents that are accessible via purchasing them through the level select screen with money you have earned. These levels can consist of survive events, races and trick events. The objective of each of these is pretty straight forward but the levels are both fast paced and have multiple routes through them that add to the excitement of flying down a mountain at 300km/ph.

 

Although SSX doesn’t necessarily have a multi-player mode it does have some awesomely cool modes that make a great use of online. The first is the Autolog like system that pits you against those on your friends list in a bid to control the top spot on each run of the mountain. This mode is dubbed RiderNet and will notify if somebody has beaten your score and even recommend friends for you to add if you want to expand your network.

There is also an online global event set up where pots are put up for events which riders can either enter for free or use their hard earned in game points to wager on much larger pots. The events can least anywhere between 30 minutes to weeks at a time with loads of different criteria amongst them. You can even set up your own events for your friends and others to take part in privately. The final part of the online aspect of the game is the geotags. These markers can be placed through out runs and those who collect them are awarded with experience and credits but if you manage to place on that others cannot collect you are rewarded handsomely for your cunning placement with even more points and experience than you would for simply placing them. These rewards encourage you not only to explore the levels further but try and find the unreachable and unthinkable locations in the game allowing you to experience everything each mountain has to offer.

 

As with every extreme sports game, music is what defines how you feel while pulling off sick combos. I’m glad to see that although it is a remix that “It’s Tricky” is still on form and still has a great feel when your combo amps up and you enter tricky mode. There is a good mix of dance songs and some indy music and a good all round mix. The soundtrack captures the atmosphere of snowboarding and has the feel of your favourite skate/snowboarding edits.

The look of the game is astounding. You can see the snow slowly crunch under the board as you land and each mountain is a great view. The HUD look slick and blends well in to the style of the game. Each time you enter tricky mode the screen comes alive with colour as the ends of your board glisten and the combos become more extravagant and outrageous. Even when you are amidst a race it is hard not to stand and take in the scenery as most of the time you are so eager to pass it in a blur of tricks and boost.

SSX is a great game and was a blast to play. At some points it can get rather tricky and you might want to smash a remote or two but once you come to grips with the mechanics and settle in to the flow of things you will start to experiment and find your favourite moves and characters to tackle the odds with. Don’t miss out on what is yet another fantastic edition to a pretty awesome series.

A totally rad 9/10

Street Fighter X Tekken: Battle of the Best

 

It’s the answer to the question that has been playing on every-one's mind since the 90’s. It’s 2D X 3D, Shotos X Mishimas. It’s Street Fighter X Tekken (SFxT) and it’s here to blow your mind. Street Fighter first hit the scene way back in 1987 but it wasn’t until 1991 with the release of the first true 2D fighter, Street Fighter 2 sprung in to action. Hot on its heels was the first king of the 3D fighters Tekken and so the debate ensued, which was better? This question would not be answered to over a decade later and now because of the rivalry we have the first in the “cross” series. Only time will tell in the 2v2 showdown and the victor will claim the crown of best fighter.

 

Aside from the obvious bid to bring two behemoths of the fighting genre together there is something of a story peppered ever so slightly around the edges. This “story” is based on a box the eerily resembles the cosmic cube descending from space and landing in the antarctic. This box is dubbed “Pandora” and all hell ensues as those who come in to contact find the urge to bludgeon the very last breath out of each others overtly muscular physique. As fighters amass around said box they become imbued with the strange fluorescent liquid that resides within the box bestowing power on all of those it consumes.

This story is the front to the first of the offline modes on offer and lies within arcade mode, the endings in the arcade mode are abysmal and struggle to reach beyond the generic black screen with scrolling text and label it a suitable ending. That being said many of those who chose to play fighting games are not gravitated towards its wondrous arcade mode but it’s abilities to enable locally with friends as well as the ability to train and guide the player towards bettering their play. The offline modes are extensive and allow up to 4players in a standard tag match or the increasingly fun scramble mode. In scramble mode all the players fight at once in a smash bros/Street Fighter type game mode where each player has ability to bound about the screen and beat the living tar out of the competition. This game mode allows for countless hours of fun and has to be one of the highlights of the game. There is also a tutorial mode for those just picking up the game and a set of challenges and missions for each character to help them learn new combos and show them other possibilities.

 

The online has sparked somewhat of a debate in the gaming world as there has been several issues with sound drops and issues with playing with a friend locally online (or lack there of) on the xbox 360. Out with that the game boasts a rather extensive online system with an online training mode to practice with your partner, an endless lobby system to invite friends to, ranked matches and a replay channel to boot. The online does have a few issues and can be a deal breaker on some fronts but if you are able to see past the issues you will find a rather robust and rather smooth online gameplay that does a lot to handle lag to prevent the online play suffering. The aforementioned replay channel is some what spectacular in the sense that it allows you t follow your favourite players and create your own channel to view lots of different videos and updates you when there are new replays to be watched.

The system feels like a cross between the tag combos of Tekken Tag and the fighting mechanics and style of Street Fighter with a whole load of extras mixed in to try generate the hype of the marvel series. The buttons are that of the 6 button layout with 3 punches and 3 kicks and combinations of these buttons can tag, cross assault and cross rush. Each of these different combos can deal a devastating amount of damage if used correctly and have flashy explosions to add that extra punch. There is also a juggle system in the game that allows the player to cancel moves with tags and continue combos that  previously would not of worked. Finally there is also 4 button based combos for the Tekken players that act like links in the street fighter series as well as the already present chains in SFxT that allow players to tag in new characters.

 

Out with the in game mechanics there is the gem system that allows a degree of customisation to each character. Every player has 3 gem slots per player in their team. These gems can add extra damage, defense health regeneration and several other attribute bonuses that are activated under specific criteria. On top of that there are also different types of assist gems that aid the newer people to the series tech throws, auto block and have easier inputs at the cost of damage or meter. Other ways of customising your character is through the colour palette which is rather bare at the moment but you can change colours of all your favourite characters from the massive 38 player cast. These colour swaps are rather lack luster as your struggle to go beyond the colours used in the alt colour for 2 player and black/white incarnations that are available through customisation.

 

As previously mentioned the roster is massive and manages to hit most of the right spots if not all. There are many favourite spanning across all the Tekken games and many faces from both SF3, SF2 and other from the large back catalogue of Street Fighter games including an appearance from Poison of the Final Fight series. Personally I can’t stop playing with Law/Rolento and struggle to pick between such a diverse cast.

Capcom plan to keep their game in the spotlight for years to come and have an extensive list of post-release content on the horizon ranging from more colours for the customisation, different gems, more quick combos and alternate costumes. There is also a collection of 12 characters to be released when the game makes an appearance on the PS Vita. These characters have sparked quite some debate as they have already been found nearly completed on the disc and videos were uploaded online, they have since been released but many consumers are disgruntled by the fact that these characters were not playable on release. That being said Capcom plan to support the game in to the distant future and hopefully we will be able to see the roster continually expand and evolve as the year progresses.

Overall SFxT boasts the 2D fighting style of the Street Fighter series with the flare of the Tekken series. With a whole host of mechanics to boast and a character roster to match you will find plenty of combinations and possibilities to immerse yourself in. All in all the game has both its ups and downs and it can occasionally be pretty frustrating but you get over the issues and as you learn find new and interesting combos.

7 deadly blows to the face out of 10.

Integrated Project Update

It has been a few weeks since the last update and the game has came along way. With the majority of levels already designed we have started to implement more art assets and textures.

The levels are great and Gavin and James are adding more and more to the levels each day and it is actually starting to feel like a real game. The only issues are the bugs that we aim to fix relatively soon.

The assets are also flying in with new set pieces and obstacles showing up almost every second day. All that is left to do is properly texture them and we are good to go.

In the coming week we hope to rid the game of bugs, add more art and start work on tweaking the story and adding music. Hopefully I'll be able to get some screenshots when it looks a bit better.

I'll probably get another round up this time next week if possible.

Mobsters, Mutilation and Gun Toting Maniacs

It has been 5 years since Jackie Estecado last tore his way through our chest and in to our hearts. Since then there have been several changes to the game and its development team. Previously it was Starbreeze Studios that took on the momentous task of bringing Top Cow’s legend to life but due to prior commitments they were unable to return to the franchise for the sequel. This lead to the game being passed on to Digital Extremes.

The Darkness 2 follows Jackie 2 years after the first game, he has learned to suppress his inner demons and has been living as much of a normal life as possible until an unknown enemy literally come crashing in to his life. Jackie is dragged to safety by his trusted right hand man Vinnie while the darkness slowly stirs inside of him, bursting to get out. The game continues as Jackie is engulfed by the darkness as it tries to control him and haunt him with the memories of his beloved Jennie. The only solution that Jackie can see is to find his new enemy and seek out a way to quell the darkness.

 

The Darkness 2 is more than just your standard FPS, the game plays to the comics and uses several different powers to liven up the standard linear shooter that we have got far too familiar with. At first the player starts with just his pistol and the two demonic arms sprouting fourth from Jackie’s back. As the story continues you can collect skill points from inventive kills and from finding special artifacts hidden around the game. These points allow the player to enhance his bullets by channeling his darkness through his guns, harvest black holes from dead bodies, call upon a swarm of dark bugs to attack his enemies and teach his demonic arms to kill his enemies in a manner of horrific ways.

What is different from the previous game is the lack of the ability to send your demonic arms in to the world to sneak up behind unsuspecting enemies. Instead this is replaced by scripted events where you now take control over your one and only minion. I felt like this was kind of a disappointment, instead of elaborating on previous ideas they merged and constrained the two which is a bit of a let down. There also seemed to be a lack of outfits for your minion, in the previous game you were able to kit your team out with different outfits and weapons where as now there is only one (2 if you pre-ordered a special edition).

 

Another change in the game is the aesthetics. The game has now received a going over with a cell shaded brush. At first the style felt a little out place. It seemed that its developers had seen borderlands just at the start of development and thought it would be the ideal choice for them. Unfortunately they were wrong, although the visuals look astounding at some points and create brilliant atmosphere I felt like they were a bit too bright. I have a great love for Marc Silvestri’s art and I can’t help but feel a little left out with the lack of close up shots as Jackie with his darkness unleashed and there was no point where you were able to see him decked out in his full darkness armour.

Although it isn’t directly the art style Jackie has returned in-between levels to talk to the player. The story telling in the game is artistic to an extent, it really feels that they have taken the time between action to step back and spend a little time plunging in to the depths of the darkness and it’s great span across time. Whether that is through the collectibles or through the character’s dialogue. The story is a great improvement over that of it’s predecessor.

 

Again there has been some cut backs between games in another aspect of the game. This could be seen as a positive as to be frank the online mode from The Darkness was pretty dire although it did have some potential that could of been built on.

In lieu of the versus mode’s absence there is the new vendettas campaign where the user can play as one 4 characters with darkness possessed guns in a bid to retrieve special artifacts that have been tainted by the darkness throughout the world. Each one of the character’s has a claim to their own unique and at sometimes very controversial back story. Personally I loved Jimmy the hard walking, no shit taking Scot with an axe he can split skulls with from a distance. This mode can be played both online with a friend and off line on your own. The only problem I had with the mode was it was too short. As well as vendetta mode there is also a set of missions that you can play online with your friends.

The game also has a new game+ option which I feel adds a new level of playability to the game where you can explore different different talent trees, make different choices and just bask in the wonderfully told story again as it unfolds.

 

In conclusion The Darkness 2 lacks a few awesome quirks from the last game but on the whole goes miles beyond the story and gives a second wind from the monotonous shooters that have flooded the market in the past year or two. If you can find a friend to play with online I urge you to try out the wonderfully colourful characters that are at your disposal. Although I had my issues with the game it was a great play and had great nods here and there to the comics.

A rather tasty 7 hearts of helpless mobsters out of 10.