Consolation Prize

The first downloadable expansion for Grand Theft Auto: IV, The Lost and Damned, is finally here, gifting us with the perfect excuse to return to the playground of Liberty City once more. It already looks like it’s going to be the new benchmark for DLC that all others will be judged by given its reported success [1] and critical acclaim [2], and although I’ve only managed to spend a few hours with the game, so far it’s the entertaining and polished product one would expect from Rockstar North.

The first thing that caught me by surprise with TLAD was the opening sequence, or more specifically the fact that the adventures of Johnny Klebitz and The Lost motorcycle club begins with an impressive opening cinematic that would make most retail games envious. It sends out a message - this isn’t going to be the run-of-the-mill DLC we’ve generally come to expect. This is, in essence, a separate game, a new experience, albeit set within the confines of familiar surroundings.

I appreciate the continuity that is evident in TLAD, it serves to put the events and experiences of our protagonist Johnny into context with those of our eastern European friend Nico. It provides us with a time-line that we understand and can relate with. Nico has a couple of notable cameo appearances during the early stages of TLAD. We first witness him pushing through the crowded streets, presumably shortly after arriving in Liberty City, and then secondly we meet him in the company of Playboy X and Elizabeta. It’s during this second encounter when the web of entwining stories that Rockstar North are able to proficiently weave becomes apparent.

Read the rest of this entry »

I’ve recently being playing through Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin on the Nintendo DS and although the successful “metroidvania” formula doesn’t seem to have changed much there are at least some elements that make the game feel slightly different from all the others I have had the pleasure of playing.

Probably the most noteworthy aspect in Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin is the introduction of two new playable characters, namely Jonathan Morris, and Charlotte Aulin, whom have to work together to overcome the Castle’s obstacles.

Both characters can be switched between at will, yet individually they’re sufficiently different to one another to help keep things interesting. Whilst Jonathan plays the role of the self assured warrior with a grudge, Charlotte is the powerful, but vulnerable magician. In itself this dynamic character switching wouldn’t be enough to ensure long term success, but Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin seems to have been thoughtfully designed to make the best use of this cooperation with regards to exploration, puzzles, and of course boss battles.

Throughout the adventure - what I’ve played of it so far at least - it’s frequently necessary to call upon the AI player to help out. Although it isn’t entirely necessary to have them following you around all the time, what I have discovered, however, is that I prefer to have my companion chasing my coat tails rather than dismiss them to the sidelines while I am exploring.

This started me thinking. Although I generally profess to be a solo video game player, I do genuinely enjoy games where there is some form of “companionship” – especially if it’s integral to the game and there is a binding relationship between the characters. But with the exception of traditional style role playing games, which by and large have always featured companions, could you name some truly memorable partnerships? Who could forget the churlish imp Midna [1], The completely believable Alyx Vance [2], the helpless Yorda [3], and perhaps more recently Elika [4], but beyond that I’m really struggling. Any suggestions?

[1] The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess.
[2] Half Life 2: Episode One and Two.
[3] Ico
[4] Prince of Persia

After many months of deliberating I finally took the plunge and decided to purchase Wii Fit. To be honest it wasn’t for Wii Fit itself, but for the Balance Board, which I wanted to combine with Shaun White Snowboarding: Road Trip. In the end however, and perhaps to my surprise, it’s Wii Fit that has seen regular use.

I think it’s fair to say that Wii Fit has endured quite a bit of scorn and scepticism during its brief life. Quite possibly because it represents the new “casual” Nintendo, not the hardcore fan service of yesteryear. But I don’t really take offence with what they (Nintendo) are doing; they’re just tapping into a mostly untouched demographic and are fully exploiting it for all it’s worth before everyone else jumps on the bandwagon. In the meantime I’ll get most of my kicks on another console - that’s my prerogative.

For the record, I don’t necessarily view Wii Fit as a game in the traditional sense, although I do think it’s challenging the boundaries of what’s conceptually acceptable as a video game. It does after all have some of the qualities present in most video games - active participation with feedback, unlockable rewards, high score tables, and a goal in the form of self improvement. However, I prefer to think of Wii Fit as something more akin to say a fitness DVD. A motivational tool that’s far more entertaining than grinding out 30 minutes on a mind numbingly dull piece of fitness apparatus. And although the benefits may be proportionally less than a specialised piece of equipment, I believe it can still find place, especially if used regularly as part of an overall training plan.

The actual exercises’ within Wii Fit are split into four distinct categories: Yoga, Muscle Workouts, Aerobic Exercises, and Balance Games. To begin with not all the exercises in each category are unlocked, but instead they are slowly revealed as the total amount of Wii Fit minutes accumulates in the piggy-bank. This not only helps promote a gradual progression, but it also serves to act as a simple reward mechanism – the more you play, the more you’ll unlock, and hence the more you’ll get out of Wii Fit. Tutorials are provided for both the Yoga and Muscle Workouts with each one clearly demonstrated and explained by your personal trainer, whom will also provide useful feedback and recommendations during the actual exercise depending upon the movement being fed back from the balance board.

Read the rest of this entry »

Tom Clancy seems like he’s associating his name with a variety of games these days, and not just tactical shooters, albeit all of them having a military theme of some sort. The latest offering, HAWX, hopes to take to the skies with the aim of shooting down its nearest rival: Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation.

I must admit that I’ve always had a bit of a soft spot for air combat games. It’s probably because I had delusions of becoming a pilot whilst growing up and spent many pleasant hours flying around stark battlefields in games such as F-15 Strike Eagle
[1], and Gunship 2000
[2] – basically I would play anything from Microprose back in the day. I am always keen to see how any air combat game fairs; perhaps with the hope of rekindling a long lost passion.

With HAWX we’re thrust into the world of the PMC (Private Military Contractor) as an ex-USAF pilot now working for Artemis, whom have recently secured a defence contract with Brazil in the year 2021. In this demo you get to play through a couple of missions, although the first of which is really nothing more than an elaborate tutorial to familiarise oneself with the controls whilst practicing some rudimentary air combat against some remote drones. It does however demonstrate the difference between “assistance on” and “assistance off”. The latter apparently gives you more manoeuvrability but forces you to adopt a distant view of your aircraft, rather than a chase or cockpit camera angle - which to be honest you’re either going to love or hate. Personally, this view isn’t for me, and I found it incredibly disorientating. I want to feel like I’m flying a multi-million pound military fighter, not controlling a remote controlled plane I just purchased from Toys R Us. At least it’s an option – so everyone should be happy.

Read the rest of this entry »

I’ve recently returned to some older titles that have been sat forlornly on the shelf gathering dust for the last year or so before they become a forgotten casualty of my impulsive spending habits. With that in mind I decided to start playing Assassin’s Creed for the Xbox 360, a game I bought upon release but only played for about an hour or so before putting it down and returning to whatever game I was in the midst of at the time – which I think was Mass Effect.

For the first few hours I was amazed and enthralled by Assassins Creed. Primarily based during the year 1191 at the time of the Third Crusade in the Holy Land, this point in history provides us with the opportunity to visit some diverse and interesting locations, and I believe anyone would be impressed by the detailed locations of Damascus, Acre, and Jerusalem. These vast areas feel impeccably designed and present the illusion of a living, breathing medieval cities; replete with peasants, roving guards, scholars, beggars, drunkards, and phenomenally beautiful architecture. It’s hard not to be dumbstruck upon first visiting each city, especially upon climbing to the highest point atop a church spire or a mosque’s minaret and surveying the surrounding cityscape.

However, Assassin’s Creed has a fatal flaw that relegates the game from being great, to plainly average, and quite possibly to the depths of just downright annoying - and that’s the repetitive nature of the information gathering missions. For each of your nine targets marked for elimination you are required to gather at least three (from six) bits of information about the mark so as to get the local blessing of the assassin’s guild, and to help plan your assassination attempt. But in each instance these missions never really vary throughout the entire game. I will either have to eavesdrop, pick someone’s pocket, interrogate an individual via fisticuffs, or complete a timed flag gathering or guard assassination mission for an informer. Initially they’re all relatively interesting, and perhaps one could perhaps forgive the odd reuse, but to use the same pattern over and over again is perhaps taking things too far.

Read the rest of this entry »

Halo Wars may just be the perfect swan-song for Ensemble Studios. Best known for there Age of Empires series, this Microsoft owned development studio whom specialise in RTS games unfortunately shut up shop earlier this year (29th January) after completing work on what could have been there best seller to date given the strength of the Halo fan base.

Set twenty or so years before the events in Halo: Combat Evolved the demo introduces you to the first couple of campaign missions for the UNSC. In addition there are basic and advanced tutorials to help players more familiar with first person shooters acclimatise to the nuances of a real time strategy game, and there’s also skirmish mode to play against the AI on one of the maps.

Firstly, this does feel like an RTS by the numbers approach to the franchise and follows the familiar template - we have a base to construct, units to produce, resources to gather, and of course an enemy to smite. I’m struggling to identify any real innovation, and I’ll admit to not being an RTS connoisseur of late. But if you expect nothing more of the genre, then based upon my time with the demo, you’ll be more than happy with the results here as it is competently handled.

Historically, RTS games on consoles have suffered when it comes to user input, usually as a direct result of trying to map complex controls more suited to a mouse and keyboard to the limited options available on a controller. Fortunately Halo Wars feels like it has achieved the correct balance between simplicity and complexity and predominately uses the “A” button for selections, “X” for movement and targeting, and then the left thumb-stick to highlight options within circular menus and to pan around the screen. The net result is that you’re free to concentrate on the base building and strategy without having to navigate endless menu screens whilst wrestling with the controls.

Read the rest of this entry »

I can quite easily lose myself in Fallout 3. Happily immersing myself for hours at a time concerned only with the adventures of the lone wanderer and not worrying about real world stimulus - like the need to eat and drink. However, there always comes a point where you have to decide that enough is enough, it’s time to move onto other games, and this was the case a few weeks ago as I left my companions Dogmeat and Fawkes to fend for themselves. I knew I would be back at some point, and Operation Anchorage provides the perfect excuse to journey back into the Capitol Wasteland.

Operation Anchorage is the first of a trio of planned downloadable content from Bethesda to be sequentially followed up by the forthcoming The Pitt and Broken Steel. The new content fits in seamlessly with the existing lore of the game, and is best viewed as a side quest – albeit a fairly large one. It does however at least provide some welcome relief from the irradiated wasteland, swapping the desolate nuclear blasted landscape for the barren and frozen vistas of Alaska via the wonders of virtual reality simulator that has been unearthed by a group of Brotherhood of Steel outcasts.

The simulator is where you, the lone wanderer, fit into the equation. The outcasts have been unable to complete the simulator missions in order to gain access to the technology locked behind the associated vault. As the envious owner of a PIP Boy 3000, you’re able to interface with the simulator and enter the virtual world, complete the tasks therein, and as a reward get a percentage of the loot found behind the reinforced vault doors.

Read the rest of this entry »

I had an inkling that the Prince and Elika wouldn’t end up walking hand-in-hand into a clichéd sunset as the credits rolled at the end of Prince of Persia, but the actual ending did leave me with mixed emotions.

[Spoilers Ahead]

During the game it’s revealed that Elika had previously died and has been subsequently resurrected. Her current existence, and thus the corruption that is spreading throughout the land, is a direct result of a bargain struck by her father to free Ahriman in return for his daughter’s life. In the final climatic battle with Ahriman, Elika has to choose her fate, and in an act of self sacrifice uses her own life force to restore the Tree of Life and imprison the dark god.

It’s directly after this event where the game takes an interesting course of action. After the Prince has rushed over to the princess, gathering her lifeless body up in his arms, the controls suddenly and unexpectedly return back to the player. You’re expecting an end cinematic so it comes as a bit of surprise to learn that the game isn’t quite over just yet. This is just a pseudo ending, a prelude designed to tug at the heart strings as the Prince walks out of the temple whilst some credits roll with some suitably melancholic music playing in the background.

Upon exiting the temple the true cyclic nature of the story is revealed, and we have in fact come full circle when the Prince, lying Elika upon the temple alter, decides to destroy the Tree of Life, freeing Ahriman, but importantly restoring Elika to life. The first word uttered from her lips after her resurrection is “Why”?

Read the rest of this entry »