Consolation Prize

After two successful outings on the PS2, it’s time for the Ghost of Sparta to step into the mobile market for God of War: Chains of Olympus on the Sony PSP. The development reigns (or should that be chains) have been handed over to Ready At Dawn Studios using an enhanced version of their proprietary engine that was developed for Daxter (PSP).

Set as a prequel to the events that took place in God of War, this entry in the franchise nicely fits into the story arc that has already been told thus far and fleshes out more of our angry Spartans background.

At start of the game Kratos, already in servitude to the Olympian gods, is sent to the city of Attica to repel the Persian invasion. It’s an adrenalin inducing start and introduces the player to the controls gradually throughout the level and finally climaxes with a showdown with a Basilisk that has been terrorising the city. The level however is merely a taster of things to come and it’s not until vanquishing the beast that the true story line becomes apparent as Kratos witnessing the sun falling from the sky begins a quest to restore the god Helios.

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Although I’ve never read any of Robert Ludlum’s original Bourne novels I have enjoyed all the Hollywood movies starring Matt Damon as the ex-secret agent Jason Bourne. The books and movies have been successful but is the video game adaptation going to continue the run? Well, you can decide how the game is going to fare by trying out the demo of The Bourne Conspiracy that’s available on both Xbox Live Marketplace (1.2GB) and PlayStation Network (1.65GB).

The demo provides the player with three levels to play through, two of which “Escape from the Embassy” and the “Paris Chase” I remember from the movies, but I’m assuming the level “Eliminate Divandelen” may have been taken from one of the novels. Firstly players will immediately notice that Matt Damon hasn’t authorised the use of his likeness for the main character. Those of us whom are more familiar with the movies will feel a little disappointed that a new “face” has had to be used to represent Jason Bourne, but on the whole this shouldn’t really matter as long as the game plays well.

The three levels on offer act to showcase the different gameplay styles available in the game, after all this is Jason Bourne we’re talking about so we expect close hand-to-hand combat, thrilling gun fights, and unbelievable car chases. The demo does it’s best to serve up a slice of each but is only partly successful in delivering an exhilarating experience.

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There’s been a raft of new demo’s recently appear on Xbox Live Marketplace and as usual I like to give most of them a go at some point. Knowing that there’s a new Iron Man movie around the corner I thought this would be an ideal opportunity to give the demo of the tie-in game a once over.

The demo is quite a short affair with only the one mission “Stark Weapons” to try out, and unfortunately it’s a fairly bland mission at that. The pretence here is that your former captors have stockpiled a cache of weapons thus providing the ideal opportunity for Tony Stark to try out the new power armour.

There are three difficulty levels to pick from with “formidable” accompanying the usual easy and normal difficulties. Once the desired difficulty is chosen you have the opportunity to configure your suit, upgrading or changing various components such as the your “Repulsors” or “Power Systems”.

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Capcom’s Devil May Cry series has been around since 2001 and the highly anticipated fourth installment is due to be released next month. A demo of Devil May Cry 4 was released onto Xbox Live Marketplace last Thursday (24th) and should be available on the Euro Playstation Network later this week.

In previous games the lead character was Dante, but the demo introduces you to the new character Nero via two playable missions to showcase the different aspects of the game. The first mission “Exterminator” allows you 10 minutes to experience the core of the game as you move from area to area in an opera house plaza clearing enemies with the odd simple puzzle thrown in. The second mission “Executioner” lets you play a couple of set piece battles, firstly against some “Icy Frosts” before the final showdown with the impressively huge flaming boss character “Berial”.

The controls are all fairly straight forward and moves and combos are slowly introduced throughout the demo. Like Dante, Nero has both a sword for melee and a gun for ranged attacks but his right arm is not human and has a couple of “Devil Bringer” attacks that can also be used. There are some great attacks to play around with in the demo. Whether it’s launching enemies into the air or grabbing enemies and hurling them around with his demonic arm when “B” is held down, which is particularly great to watch against the boss “Berial”, all of them look impressive.

Both sword and gun attacks can be charged up for additional damage by either holding down the left trigger or “X” respectively. As with the previous instalments in the series each encounter is graded and the key is to try and chain combos together, not only to dispatch an enemy as fast as possible, but also to get the best rating.

The camera, which for the majority of the game provides a fixed viewpoint of the action, can only occasionally be moved by the player and it does take time to adjust to this, especially as the viewpoint will change as you’re running along or between areas which can cause some disorientation.

The demo of DMC4 looks fantastic, with some great looking cut-scenes, decent character and enemy designs and a great boss encounter. However, the game mechanics all feel very familiar and don’t seem to have changed significantly from its predecessors, which on the one hand will appeal to fans but may alienate newcomers. The demo is well worth investigating and fans will be happy with what’s on offer until the games release.

Kingdom Under Fire: Circle of Doom is a fantasy third person hack and slash action role playing game. A demo of the game is now available from Xbox Live Marketplace and is a rather chunky 1.2GB download.

According to the written prologue, which you can view if you’re really desperate, the world was once ruled by a pair of deities, Nible the lord of light, and Encablossa the lord of darkness. Each lord would take it in turns to rule and shape the world as they see fit and then after an age had passed hand over the reigns of power. However as is usual someone always gets fed up with the arrangement, in this case Nible throws his toys out of the pram and refuses to hand power back to Encablossa, thus igniting a war between the forces of light and darkness.

Upon starting the demo you can choose from one of two selectable characters. The final version of the game features six characters but in this instance you can play as either Leinhart an assassin, or Kendal the paladin. As you’d expect each character has strengths and weaknesses and specific weapons and armour types are only available to certain characters.

There are quite a few controls to get your head round in KUF:CoD but the demo will walk you through both the controls and item management. Different weapons can be assigned to both the “A” and “X” buttons whilst “B” and the right trigger are used for special abilities and the two shoulder buttons reserved for item assignment. Although this kind of configuration allows easy access to attacks, abilities and items as with most RPG’s item management forms an essential part of the game and you will frequently have to re-assign buttons as you find better equipment or learn new abilities. The tutorial can be skipped at any point but it’s worthwhile putting up with it the once before deciding to head off into the unknown world.

Any kind of attack, whether it be melee, ranged, or the use of an ability will cost “SP” points to perform. Your character has a total number of “SP” points available indicated by a blue bar at the bottom of the screen but once depleted the character will no longer be able to attack or use abilities. Although the SP bar does replenish fairly quickly (or via potions) having depleted can leave you vulnerable to attack for a period of time. This is compounded by your characters complete inability to block any type of attack.

Along the linear path that your character travels “idol sanctuaries” will be found. At these locations the player can buy, sell or synthesise items together. Alternatively you can choose to sleep and enter the dream world, a place where you can learn new abilities and discover more about the characters and the story.

KUF:CoD looks quite good. The demo environments all look OK and the main character models are decent enough but there is a lot of screen tearing throughout. Unfortunately I found the AI to be very poor with groups of enemies standing around and quite happily ignoring the player until trigger points are crossed. Similarly when fleeing to a previously cleared area enemies will only pursue you so far and will suddenly break off and return to there original stating location.

The camera is frustratingly poor, needs constant attention, and will frequently get obscured by a bush, tree or other object whilst fighting large groups of enemies. By holding down the left trigger you can change the camera to an aiming view. However this view seems rather pointless because although I could see a group of enemies and fire at them they were invulnerable until a trigger point was crossed. Once triggered the group would be upon you in seconds leaving only enough time to loose off a couple of ranged attacks.

On a positive point the game has a wealth of equipment and special abilities with which to customize your character. Levelling up a characters hit points, sp points, and luck works quite well with a pot of “attribute” points that allocated how the player sees fit.

I wouldn’t say that KUF:CoD is a terrible game, just average. It does quite a few things competently enough but there are some key areas in the demo that it falls down on, not the least of which is that it is repetitive. If you’re a fan of hack “n” slash RPG games then it’s worth giving the demo a cursory glance.

The demo for Conan, a third person action hack and slash game, is now available to download from Xbox Live Marketplace. The game lets you try out a single level and provides some mild entertainment.

Initial impressions of the game were not that great. It certainly isn’t the best showcase for the graphical capabilities of the Xbox 360 with OK character models and an uninspiring environment on show. In all departments a game such as God of War 2 on the PS2 is superior.

The games strongest element is the combat. Conan has at his disposal a huge variety of attacks based upon combinations of light, heavy or grappling moves using the “X”, “Y” and “B” buttons. You can also block an attack using the left trigger and if this is timed correctly Conan can perform a deadly counter-attack. The right analog joystick is used to evade attacks but unfortunately because it is reserved for this purpose you have no direct camera control leaving its placement in the lap of the gods.

Conan is a blood thirsty game and doesn’t hold back with the severed arms, decapitations and general blood spilling and soon the level is awash with the spilt blood of your enemies. Hopefully the final release of the game is given a bit of a polish as lurking beneath the negatives and rough exterior is a game that is both playable and quite good fun.

For me, Conan is a game that I may pick up if I had no other games to play and it was found lurking in the bargain basement bin at the local gaming emporium.

If you’re familiar with Hong Kong action movies then you will have more than likely heard the names
John Woo and
Chow Yun Fat. Stranglehold sees the film director Woo bring his style of gun-fu action direction to a video game while the actor, Chow Yun Fat, lends his appearance and vocals to reprise his role as Inspector “Tequila” Yeun of the Hong Kong Police Force for the leading character.

John Woo’s influences are noticeable. From the “stand-off” sequences when you’re surrounded by hostiles, to the animations used in some of the special moves, all have a certain cinematic feel and flare. Although there’s a storyline to the game revolving around the disappearance of a cop and the kidnapping of those close to Tequila, told through some nice cut scenes and flashbacks, the main emphasis is on non-stop unadulterated action and if that’s all you require from a game then Stranglehold delivers.

The story takes you through both varied and interesting locations including a Hong Kong marketplace, a restaurant, and a history museum in Chicago. The environments themselves consist of a vast number of objects that “Tequila” can interact with or are destructible to some degree. Interactive objects are highlighted when close by and a quick squeeze of the “left trigger” will find you sliding down banisters or zip lines, swinging on chandeliers, or even rolling on a food carts whilst taking pot shots at hostiles. As mentioned previously the environments have a large number of destructible objects which can be used to your advantage to dispatch your enemies with style. Speaking of style, the more outrageous a kill the more “style” points are awarded. Simply shooting an enemy rewards you with a couple of points but if you take them out by shooting the explosive canister they’re standing next too while Tequila is sliding down a banister then you’ll be handsomely rewarded. Style points are not just there for bragging purposes they’re also used to help fill your special move gauge and can also be used outside of the game in the “Unlock” shop to purchase a number of extras like multiplayer skins and artwork.

The destructible environments deserve a special mention as they certainly alter how you approach a level and provide an entertaining game mechanic. In most games for example you could quite happily crouch behind a wall to avoid incoming fire but in Stranglehold if you dive for cover behind a structural column, wall, or most other objects you won’t be safe for long as they’re gradually whittled away by incoming fire and may leave you exposed. It does however still provide a brief respite to gather your thoughts and I found the use of cover essential in the latter stages of the game as you are attacked by multiple enemies from all sides with automatic weapons.

There aren’t a huge number of weapon types in the game but the basics are covered well with pistols, shotgun, sub-machine gun, assault rifle, heavy machine gun and a rocket launcher available at some point or other. However Tequila can only carry two weapons at a time and throughout a mission they will be swapped frequently with those from fallen enemies as ammunition is depleted.

There are four special moves known as “Tequila Bombs” that are gradually unlocked as you progress through the game. The first of which is the most basic and just gives you an instant health boost. The remaining moves are more interesting with the “precision aim” enabling you to zoom in on enemies and snipe them, the “barrage” attack giving unlimited ammunition, invulnerability and a higher rate of fire for a short duration whilst the “spin attack” kills all enemies in the immediate vicinity. The barrage attack can be particularly devastating when used in conjunction with a certain weapons like the shotgun, golden pistols or rocket launcher.

One additional gaming element not mentioned so far is “Tequila Time”. This is essentially a slow-mo mode and is activated automatically whenever you’re interacting with an object or diving whilst an enemy is in your sights. The mode can also be activated manually if required and this is an essential feature of the game as it allows you those few additional seconds to line up head shots or target the environment whilst in the thick of the action.

The game offers four difficulty levels with “casual” being the easiest and “hard-boiled” the most difficult. I played through the game on “normal” difficulty and on the whole this provided the right level for me. However, I did feel there were a few difficulty spikes in the latter stages as enemies kept spawning until certain trigger points were reached. The game does suggest an easier difficulty if Tequila dies too many times in a row but I’ve always found that persistence is the best attitude and eventually through trial and error progress will be made.

Graphically the game is no slouch with some great reactive animations from your enemies depending on where they’re shot, well designed environments and decent character models. Chow Yun Fat is easily recognisable as the lead character and John Woo even makes guest appearances in a couple of places. My only reservation with the game engine is the camera, which for me sometimes placed itself in awkward locations and I prefer a manual override when I want to examine the environment rather than having to move the playable character around.

Overall the game was fun to play, if not cerebrally challenging. It does have some flaws but none of them are game-breakers and detract from what on the whole is an enjoyable experience.

Further to my initial
impressions of the demo I’ve now finally completed Overlord and I thought I’d post up my final review of this fantasy based third person action adventure.

As the game starts you become the new overlord of the Dark Tower, once a mighty bastion of evil but reduced to ruins after it has been plundered by the so called forces of good. It’s your job to restore the tower to its former glory and once again gain dominion over the lands around you.

To help you with the task at hand you can call upon your minions, small impish creatures that you can directly control or order to attack creatures, retrieve objects or move objects too heavy for your wimpy strength. At the start of the game you only have access to “brown” minions, but you will also gain the devotion of “red”, “green”, and “blue” minions which have there own strengths and weaknesses. Brown minions are best at melee, reds are immune to fire and can throw balls of fire for a ranged attack, greens are immune to poison and have a powerful back-stab attack whilst blue are the weakest at melee but are immune to some magical attacks and can resurrect fallen comrades.

The controls are fairly straight forward with the only complexity being minion control. The right joystick is used for direct control over your horde and it’s necessary to familiarise yourself with the control as soon as possible. Your horde can consist of different colour minions and if you don’t want to send the entire horde into battle then you will have to master selecting the different minion types and guard marking. Choosing a minion type is accumplished by holding down the right bumper button and then selecting the appropriate colour joypad button that closely resembles the minion type in question, for example “B” would select “red” minions whilst “Y” would select “browns”. You can also leave minions “on guard” using the “Y” button and using a combination of these controls becomes essential the further you progress.

The inhabitants of this fantasy world are all the typical creatures you’d expect, halflings, dwarves, trolls and plenty of other interesting enemies to get your teeth into (or your minions), with some requiring specific strategies if you don’t want to witness the slaughter of your impish friends. There are also a number of “Hero” boss characters you will need to dispose of throughout the game as part of the story arc, but their days of righteousness are far behind them. Every hero has become warped in some form or other and towards the end of the game you learn how these former heroes have fallen from grace. Every creature that is killed in the game releases certain types and amounts of lifeforce which is stored and used to summon minions from spawning pits dotted around the landscape and thus a certain proportion of the game involves retreading already cleared areas harvesting lifeforce to ensure you’ve got a healthy supply in stock.

Although minions help your chances of survival you’re not completely defenseless and you have a number of magical spells at your disposal. New spells are unlocked when found during exploration but there are four definitive classes of spells accessed from the D-pad; “up” gives you fire based attacking spells, “right”, domination spells that affect your enemies, “down” gives you defensive shield spells and finally “left” results in minion enhancing effects. Of course you can always just wade into combat swinging your axe should you prefer a more “hands-on” approach.

Your tower also provides you with few other distractions. A forge allows you to create three basic weapons (sword, mace or axe) or new armour and helmets once you’ve recovered the appropriate smelters. All can be upgraded by sacrificing minions to imbue them with magical properties depending on the number and types of minions sent to the flames. Forging better armour and weapons isn’t essential (I just used the basic steel set initially), but if you’ve got minions to spare then it will make the later parts of the game easier to handle. Spare cash from looting can be used to upgrade your tower with various aesthetically pleasing objects like statues or a marble walkway, but these items don’t really serve a purpose apart from personalising the look of your tower. Finally you can access the dungeon which allows you to take on most creatures you’ve previously encountered and is a good way of harvesting minion lifeforce when choosing any of the “beetle” types unless you prefer to venture outdoors to find one of the many flocks of “sheepies” roaming about the wilderness.

On the whole the game looks good with some interesting cliche’d fantasy environments such as the mines in Golden Hills, the twisted forest of Evernight or the halfling village with typical Tolkien-es burrows built into the hillsides. However the game doesn’t employ a “roam anywhere” policy and thus you will unfortunately come across many an invisible barrier blocking your path as you try and explore the environment.

There’s quite a lot of decent voice dialog employed throughout the game and the sound effects and music serve there purpose well but on a few occasions I found that some of the scripted dialog for Gnarl, the minion master and your guide, to be annoying when repeated; Hearing his explanation of the forge time-after-time soon got on my nerves.

Although the premise of the game is to be evil I was playing through the game to get the “zero corruption” achievement and thus most of my actions could be interpretted as “good” deeds. All the enemies in the game are provided in a negative light, and heroes have long since stopped being heroic. And I ended up liberating the townsfolk rather than subjecting them to tyranny.

Overall I enjoyed this game. It has some interesting ideas and gameplay mechanics, is laced with wry humour and is fun to play. It’s not without its flaws but if you’re looking for a fantasy game that offers something a bit different then this would be worth trying out.