Consolation Prize

Over the last week I’ve been enjoying the highly atmospheric and amazing sci-fi survival horror game Dead Space. I’ve only just started Chapter 5, and although I realise that by only getting this short distance into the game after several days of play constitutes a rather lacklustre game pace, in my defence I’d like to state that this is by far the most frightening game to ever grace my Xbox 360.

You see, I tend to shy away from any game that ever decides to call itself “survival horror” - the only exceptions to that rule being the Resident Evil series which I’ve managed to become acclimatised to over the years and now seems to have become more about survival rather than horror. Looking back on those early Resident Evil games on the PlayStation I’m amazed they ever managed to induce so much fear and tension. I wonder if in years to come when I look back on Dead Space will I view it in the same light when playing the latest and greatest horror game on the Xbox 1080 or PlayStation 5. Probably not, but apart from the obvious future improvements that will be made to the graphics it’s hard to imagine bettering the atmosphere.

Dead Space really does impress, and through the clever use of sound, vision, and story creates a frightening experience. The sound design is simply second to none - bangs and creaks made by a spaceship under duress overload your senses, blood curdling and disconcerting noises from freakish enemies induce fear, and intentionally uncomfortable music scores aim to heighten the tension. Lighting is also used to great effect with flickering lights and shadows of unknown creatures cast onto walls. And of course the game then delivers the coup-de-grace with the truly horrendous Necromorphs - abominations created and mutated from dead human flesh and bone.

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Going back a few years to 1996 I remember thoroughly enjoying Tomb Raider on the PlayStation. It was an amazing game to play at the time; full of exploration with intricate platforming levels, featured some truly stunning and varied locations, and was steeped in mythology which enhanced the story. Both gamers and the media alike took to the new English upper class gun-toting-ass-kicking heroine, Lara Croft, like ducks to water. And for a while everything was hunky-dory.

However, after so many sequels it got to the point where the game had moved far away from the roots of its success and had become just another run of the mill action game, albeit with a female protagonist. Thankfully the series was given a much needed reboot by Crystal Dynamics with the release of Tomb Raider: Legend – an enjoyable romp based on the Arthurian legend. And now we’re on the verge of finding out whether the series is going to continue it’s upward ascent, or is about to plummet back down to earth like a fallen angel (of darkness) with the release of Tomb Raider: Underworld

The recently released demo at least gives us an inkling of how the finished game is going to fare, and on the whole I’m pretty happy with what I’ve seen so far. Although there are still some issues that could do with being ironed out.

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Yesterday started out as a good day. I’d finally got my hands on Fable II, and with a little bit of trepidation was anticipating dedicating most of the day to exploring the land of Albion. I was ready to fully engross myself in the rich tapestry this fairytale action RPG purportedly offered, and wondered if Peter Molyneux and Lionhead Studios could actually deliver all that was promised.

The surround system hummed into action; the disc in the 360 span with a cacophony and the fairytale began with a glorious intro with enchanting music, setting the scene as a young boy takes his first tentative steps towards greatness.

So far so good - the game was delivering. The camera which focuses and zooms in on the action or significant events is a great touch, the “old” London English accents were corny but made me smirk, the townsfolk had character, and Bowerstone, of what little I saw, looked amazing.

Unfortunately it all came to a crashing end (literally) as soon as the tutorial missions were completed after about 30 minutes. In horror I realised what was about to happen as the spinning disc slowly came to a standstill and the game froze solid. I’ve now tried it on a couple more occasions and the freezing occurs more or less around the same spot, just after activating the magical music box. Digging around the Net it appears that I’m not alone and the forums are alive with posts that relate to “freezing”. Even if there isn’t a definitive pattern as to the “why and when” the freezing occurs, it still appears that I’m certainly one of the unlucky ones.

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While waiting for the release of Fable II this week, a title I’ve been anticipating for many months, I took the opportunity to play through the Brothers in Arms: Hells Highway demo. An historical tactical first person shooter based on the events that occurred during Operation Market Garden, an allied airborne invasion that saw two American divisions and one British division dropped behind enemy lines in the Netherlands with the aim of securing key military bridges.

The WWII historical theme may be getting a bit too close to overstaying its welcome since the market became saturated with sub-par historical shooters, but there’s no denying that as a back drop for a story it’s one of the richest veins a developer can tap into. And, if handled correctly, can still deliver a meaningful FPS.

I’ve never played a Brothers in Arms game before but I definitely get the impression that this is a more tactical shooter than say Call of Duty. Playing the role of squad leader Matt Baker of the 101st Airborne Division, you’re in command of a fire team which you can order around the battlefield to provide suppressive fire support. Suppression of enemy forces is in fact the key to game, and whenever an enemy soldier is in cover a small round dial appears above their head to indicate how “suppressed” they are; the aim is to ensure the dial is completely grey, thus making life easier for yourself as you approach their flanks.

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Based in the near future, Tom Clancy’s EndWar is the recounts the desperate struggle for resources between the superpowers of the US, the EF (European Federation), and Russia in the year 2020. Unsurprisingly, the events leading up-to this “clash of the titans” doesn’t feel that unbelievable, and as with all the best fiction it contains some contemporary truths woven into the fabric of the story line.

But enough about the setting, what you all want to know is if this real-time-strategy game is any good or not, and is it worth keeping an eye on? Well, yes. I found it entertaining enough to play and it managed to burn a good hour or two of my time without me even realising.

Of most interest to gamers will be the voice control interface. Indeed I must admit to being a bit dubious about the actual practicality of such an interface, but once the voice configuration is complete, and the dialog and structure of the possible commands learned, then in practice it turns out to be surprisingly good and easy to use. Only on the odd occasion did it not understand my commands - even when I tried to catch it out by speaking faster than normal.

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Think of War World as the poor man’s Unreal Tournament - but with Mechs. That’s probably the easiest way to summarise the game and definitely my overriding impression from my brief time with the game. This therefore is predominantly an arena based deathmatch shooter with a selection of Mechs that have vaguely differing capabilities. Smaller Mechs tend to be quicker but have less armour, whereas the larger behemoths compromise speed in favour of a thick protective coat.

It’s quite difficult to formulate an in-depth opinion of War World due to the heavily restricted nature of the trial game. Given that you’re only able to choose from one mode (deathmatch), one arena, and one Mech (Panther Striker), and then given an embarrassingly miserly 50 seconds of game time before being told “Game Over” and unceremoniously dumped back at the title screen, its little wonder then that my overall impression isn’t going to be a glowing one. The cynic in me wonders if it is deliberately handicapped to avoid revealing all the game has to offer within 300 seconds, let alone 50 seconds.

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Since the “Summer of Arcade” extravaganza came to a close I’ve not really been paying that much attention to the latest Xbox Live Arcade releases. But it’s about time that changed, so I downloaded both Shadow Assault Tenchu and War World yesterday in the hope of finding a lost gem. Did I find a diamond in the rough? Or were they both just plain old lumps of coal? Well today I present my impressions of Shadow Assault Tenchu, to be followed shortly by War World.

Shadow Assault Tenchu is a puzzle action hybrid viewed from a top down perspective. Upon selecting a character - of which only the one: Rikimaru, is available in the trial game - the player is tasked with negotiating a series of levels and completing a simple objective per level such as “defeat all enemies” or “kill the Samurai general”.

However, instead of having equipped weapons at the ready with which to deal out death and destruction you are required to pick up “one shot items” that lie dotted around the map, laying them as traps in strategic positions to eliminate the opposition. Luckily choosing the best place for a trap is a fairly simple affair as the enemy path finding is purposefully rudimentary and it shouldn’t take too long before a set pattern can be identified. To make it even easier to sneak up on your foes the enemy line-of-sight is heavily restricted and is actually shown as a number of surrounding yellow squares giving you a clear indication of how close you can get without detection.

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I finally tried out the Mercenaries 2: World in Flames demo that has been sitting in my proverbial “games to play pile” for over a couple of weeks now. It didn’t give me the sudden urge to rush down to the local game emporium and hand over some hard earned green, but neither did I feel it deserves to be shot down in flames.

The problem with the demo is that it drops you in straight in at the deep end and gives you no time to acclimatise to the controls or the game itself. Given the mercenary Mattias Nilsson, your mission should you choose to accept it, is to install a listening post deep within a heavily defended enemy compound. Starting atop a rocky outcrop as the mission begins it’s only a matter of seconds before you’re under fire and harassed by lots of unhappy Venezuelans leaving little time to scope out the enemy encampment and formulate a plan of attack. Somehow I don’t think Mercenaries 2: World in Flames deals in too much subtlety.

I have to admit that initially Mercenaries 2 proved to be frustrating. The direct approach into the compound didn’t go according to plan, and playing tag with some explosive shells from a light tank patrolling the compound didn’t help Mattias’ complexion. However, after discovering you can hi-jack vehicles - with a press of “Y” followed by a short button pressing quick time like event – I found that I could trundle quite happily into the compound “disguised” as one of the faction’s members allowing me to get closer to the designated objective. This subterfuge only lasts for as long as you’re not rumbled by the enemy, or get out of the vehicle, and is indicated by the use of a gauge which gradually decreases when loitering near enemy troops.

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