Consolation Prize

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.

Recently I played through God of War II on the PS2. I was a fan of its predecessor and was very much looking forward to this game and overall it was a very enjoyable experience. For those unfamiliar with the series the game sees you playing the role of Kratos, once a Spartan warrior but as the game starts now the titular God of War. The game is based on Greek mythology and is an action fighting game with some puzzle solving elements thrown in for good measure.

Kratos is an angry man, and most of that venom is directed at the gods of Olympus. He really does have a right to be a bit hacked off with the gods. Not only was he tricked into killing his own wife and son by Ares, as told as part of the story of the first game, but in this second installment he is fooled into becoming mortal and into losing his godly powers. Thus this is a story of betrayal and revenge as Kratos seeks out the Sisters of Fate so that he can change his own destiny and destroy the Olympian gods.

Once Kratos has lost all of his abilities you’re slowly introduced to the various button combinations and as you progress through the game a number of magical abilities and additional weapons become available. These can be powered up using the collected souls of your defeated enemies giving you additional moves or attacks. What you power up really depends on how you prefer to play the game and what you find the most effective. Personally I chose to power up Kratos’ default weapon, “The chains of Athena”, along with the magical attacks “Cronus’ Rage” and “Atlas Quake. What I like about this game is that not only can you string together quite complex combo moves, but you can also get away with a bit of button mashing without being penalised. And in this respect the game finds a good balance for both the casual and hardcore gamer alike.

There are a number of difficulty levels available, however I played through the game on normal and on the whole this is well balanced and provided a good challenge to my limited skills. I did find that the game had the occasional difficulty spikes as you take on a number of the set piece enemies, and just as you breath a sigh of relief you suddenly find that more enemies have just spawned into the battle and finish you off. This can lead to some moments of head banging frustration but I always found that a specific strategy would be required and it’s just a matter of learning the attack patterns and not trying to wade into battle without defending yourself. If you die a number of times in a row on a specific section the game humbles you by asking “if you want to change the difficulty to easy”. I found this spurred me on rather than face the indignity of playing on easy, but at least the option is there should you and the game come to an impasse. Generally checkpoints are generously spaced so you don’t have to repeat vast sections of the game again should the worst happen but there are a couple of notable encounters that left me feeling an additional checkpoint was required.

The game has a rich enemy selection and some of the boss encounters are spectacularly memorable. Once an enemy has been weakened you will be able to perform a finishing move which is activated by pressing the relevant button icon floating above their head. This then launches a series of “quick time” events of button presses and / or joystick movements and if successful Kratos sends them packing to Hades in a number of brutally violent ways.
This game certainly showcases that the Playstation 2 can still deliver graphically and it’s still spectacular even by today’s “next-gen” standards. Both characters and backgrounds are expertly modeled with some fantastic animation and the level design is of an exceptionally high standard with some great puzzles. I wish I had played the game on a PS3 as its ability to sharpen and upscale the graphics from the standard PS2 resolution for my HDTV would have enhanced what is already an impressive graphical accomplishment. Not only are the in-game graphics excellent but there are some great FMV sections that progress the storyline throughout the game.

It took me about 18 hours to complete the game but there are some extras available once completed including the “Arena of the Fates” and additional costumes should you wish to glean more from the game. Unfortunately the story doesn’t really conclude at the finish of the game and leaves the door open for the inevitable “God of War III”. I really enjoyed this game and although towards the end of the game I found it difficult in places, I never felt like giving up and always knew that there was a logical solution to tackling the situation. On the evidence of what has been delivered with this game I can’t help but look forward to the next installment.

Stranglehold popped onto Xbox Live yesterday. It’s a meaty download at 1.3GB so be prepared for a bit of wait before you can take Inspector Tequila for a stroll.

The game is a third person shooter and has been developed in collaboration with the film director
John Woo of Hong Kong action movie fame. It features
Chow Yun Fat whom is reprising his role as Inspector “Tequila” Yeun from the movie
Hard Boiled. Those that have seen a John Woo film should know what to expect as the game brings on non-stop action with a cinematic flare.

The demo is based in Hong Kong and the story commences via a cut scene showing the abduction of a police officer. After the police department receive a ransom call demanding that they send in a lone policeman to Kowloon Market Inspector Tequila steps forward and volunteers for the mission.

The game makes use of most controls on the Xbox 360 controller with the left joystick used for movement and crouching (when clicked) and the right joystick used for aiming. The right trigger is used to shoot whatever weapon you have while the left is used to interact with objects or to perform dives when used in combination with movement. The left bumper button is used to take cover, for example against walls or columns while the right bumper is used to activate “Tequila Time” which is a slow mo mode that lasts for a limited duration. Special moves entitled “Tequila Bombs” are activated via the d-pad and finally “X” is used to pickup weapons, “A” switch weapons and “B” is used for grenades. Although there are quite a few controls to remember the game does a good job of introducing them to you as you play through the level.

As soon as the demo begins you’re thrust into the action and one of the most impressive things that you immediately notice is the amount of destruction in the game. Most of the objects in the game can be damaged in some form or other and as you take on an ever increasing number of enemies you start looking at the environment for assistance in dispatching your enemies. Any environmental objects that “Tequila” can directly interact with flash as you approach them and objects that can be shot to cause damage noticeably “glint” to draw your attention. The game rewards you for style and the more stylish a kill the more your “Tequila Bomb” gauge is filled. Thus instead of running at opponents head-on you soon find yourself diving over barriers, sliding down banisters and trying to interact with the environment.

There are four “Tequila Bombs” (special moves) accessed via the D-Pad which include a health boost, a precision aim which zooms in on the target and follows the bullet to the point of impact, a barrage attack where you unleash a massive number of bullets, and finally the spin attack which kills every enemy in the vicinity. The game also includes “stand off sequences” at set points. In these slow-mo events the camera changes to an over the shoulder view as “Tequila” is surrounded by a number of enemies and one by one you have to take them out as you dodge left or right to avoid incoming bullets. The last three “Tequila Bombs” and the “Stand-Offs” are very cinematic and enhance the overall “movie like” feel of the game.

No shooter would be complete without a selection of weapons and you start with a pair of pistols but eventually you will come across shotguns and a few hidden weapons like the golden pistols or Uzis.

The demo offers a good amount of gameplay and to start with only two difficulty levels, “Casual” and “Normal” are available. Repeated plays unlock “Hard” and “Hard Boiled” and also the last two “Tequila Bomb” moves (Barrage and Spin Attack). If you want to experience all the demo has to offer then you will most likely play through the level at least three times.

Overall I thought the graphics were great and Chow Yun Fat was easily recognisable as Inspector Tequila. Although the controls are pretty good I did find that “Tequila” has a tendency to slide over objects (which is automatic) far too easily which did annoy me on a number of occasions and an option to have this tied to a button combination may have been preferable.

If you’re a fan of action games and third person shooters, and especially if you like Hong Kong action movies, then I’d recommend you check out this demo. The game is shaping up very nicely and I’m looking forward to it’s release later in the year.

Overlord is a fantasy action RPG in the third person perspective but instead of taking on the role of a traditional hero you are instead cast as an evil overlord and it’s your job to bring the realm back under evil dominion. A 892MB demo of the game is now available on Xbox Live Marketplace.

As the demo begins you are awakened by your evil minions and discover that your predecessor has been killed and your tower has been plundered and wrecked. With the help of your right hand minion master “Gnarl” you’re taken through a series of tutorials on summoning minions, basic combat and minion control as your unfortunate court jester takes a pummeling.

After the tutorials you’re allowed to try out the first few tasks of the game that include recovering the “Tower Heart” which is the source of power for your evil tower and teaching halflings a lesson or two as you “rescue” some villages.

Not only do you get control of the “overlord” but you have the ability to summon minions to help you wreak havoc. The minions can be targeted at objects or creatures or you can take direct control of them using the right analog stick to “sweep” them to an area. Minion control looks to be a fundamental aspect of the game as not only will you need them to fight for you but also to move obstacles standing in your way.

Overlord is set in a cliched fantasy universe, with bright colours, bouncing sheep, bubbling brooks and ugly pitchfork wielding farmers. This is not a negative, the cliches are here as intended by the developers. This game does not take itself too serious as there are a number of humorous moments throughout the demo, from the dialog with the court jester to finding out that my minions like to wear pumpkins on their heads. I think it’s important that this game does not take itself too seriously as I’m sure if this game was delivered in the wrong way then it may be unpalatable to some gamers.

The controls worked well although minion control uses the right joystick which can take a bit of getting used to as a majority of games reserve this for direct camera control. Instead you have to remember to hold down the left bumper button if you wish to move the camera.

The graphics are excellent with nicely animated character models and good textures. The look of the game reminds me in some ways of Fable, which is no bad thing, but a similar negative for both games is that invisible walls are employed to keep you on track. The sound also deserves a mention with good sound effects and backing music all fitting in well with the environment. The minions are especially good as they gleefully go about there tasks.

I really enjoyed this demo and I’m intrigued to see how the “minion” mechanics evolve for the final game. In the demo you only get to control one minion type but the game hints that different types will be available. The game is looking to bring some new mechanics to the action RPG genre and I can’t wait to give the full game a go.

The “Tenchu Z” demo was made available last Thursday on Xbox Live Marketplace as a 642MB download but I’ve only just got around to trying it out.

Tenchu has been around for a fairly long time now and this demo gives you the opportunity to play a “Harbour Town” level from the latest instalment in the series. Your mission is to find out what goods a trader is importing but before you can start you have to choose your characters gender, face and costume from a number of different options. I have to admit that I found a few of the face types to be quite hideous, especially some of the female ones which didn’t look right to me. Once you’ve decided upon the look of your character you can distribute various ability points between “Vitality”, “Strength”, and “Agility”.

It’s up-to you how you get to the ship where the trader is located, and there’s plenty of rooftops to clamber onto so you can avoid the numerous guards that roam the streets if you don’t fancy a direct confrontation. Your character is armed with a sword but your most efficient means of dispatching enemies is from behind while they are unawares. This allows you to take them out in one hit rather than a prolonged sword fight, but you could knock them unconscious if you prefer. To help you in your mission you have a number of items, such as shuriken, which are accessed via the d-pad. The demo really doesn’t give you any information about them so your only means of determining what they are is by using them.

The enemy AI isn’t the best in the world as each guard has a predetermined patrol route which won’t change unless your detected. I also found that guards seem to have a limited range of vision and although you may be directly in front of a guard and in plain site you won’t be detected unless you get too close.

I found the controls fairly frustrating, causing me to drop off a rooftop or miss-time a jump at the most inconvenient of times and they felt like they were lifted from one of the games predecessors. The graphics are not great with character models lacking detail and the town lacking atmosphere, for a harbour town there was a distinct lack of civilians. The in-game graphics engine is also used in cut scenes which is not unusual these days, but the facial models do not animate along with dialog. This was forgivable for PlayStation (one) title but not something I’d expect to see in an Xbox 360 game.

Despite all these flaws I quite enjoyed the demo but in its present state it’s not something I’d think about buying. The game does not look like it’s going to push any boundaries but I’m sure it will have its own set of fans.

Yesterday I thought it was about time to play some of my back catalog of games before I buy any new ones; First up on the list is “Shadow of the Colossus”.

So I dusted off my PS2 which has not been fired up for many months, and after messing about with the “rats nest” of connections behind the TV managed to locate the power and SCART cables. Popping the disc into the PS2 the disc whirred into life, the intro started and then unexpectedly froze. Wondering if it was because I’d set the game to 60Hz mode I tried it on 50Hz, but to no avail I received the same result. As a last ditch attempt I took out the disc and gave it a good clean. This time after a few moments, the intro finally continued. Something has to be said for trying out a game straight away rather than just leaving it on the shelf for months!

Onto the game…

The intro is beautiful, you see Wanda travelling on horseback across the land. The music is melodic and haunting setting the atmosphere for the game. Eventually Wanda reaches his destination, dismounts, and lifting a bundle from the horse he proceeds into what appears to be shrine. Placing the bundle on an alter Wanda removes the shroud to reveal the body of a girl. This is your first taste of the story, Wanda has travelled to this far off land to restore the soul of this girl. After talking to some entities that live in this place he is told that it may be possible to restore her to life if he seeks out and destroys the Colossi that roam the land.

To find the colossi you loft your sword high in the air, and using the reflected sunlight scan the landscape until the direction is shown as a beam of light. After riding across the landscape and scrambling up a cliff face you have your first memorable experience with a colossus. A huge foot passes in front of you and the camera pans around to reveal the behemoth in its full glory. Your first few thoughts are “wow, that’s huge” followed by “how the hell am I going to defeat it?”. Luckily there are some handy hints that appear to help you learn how to kill this colossus.

Locking the camera onto the colossus you run around trying to find a place to clamber on. The beast is fully aware of your presence and is not standing still, but it is slow and after dodging a few huge attacks you get close enough to climb onto its foot. Grabbing on as it moves across the land you slowly work your way further up onto its torso and then finally up to the head. This is where you find its weak spot, shown as a glowing tattoo and where you must plunge your sword. Of course the colossus is not taking this lying down and tries to repeatedly throw you off, shaking Wanda from side to side. This was just the first colossus, Wanda must destroy 16 very different colossi in total.

Although this is a two year old game the graphics are gorgeous with a distinct appearance and push the PS2’s aging hardware. So far I cannot fault the atmosphere, you’re launched quickly into the game with just a fragment of story but that’s all that’s needed at this point. I don’t really need to know the full history between Wanda and the mysterious girl, just that he’s willing to do anything to try and bring her back to life. There is a real sense of scale to this game, the landscape is vast and spectacular. The colossi that I’ve seen so far are all immense, intricately detailed and fantastically animated, and I must say that I feel a little pang of guilt when I finally kill one of them.

There are some minor issues so far, I initially found the controls to be a little bit fiddly but I think this may be because I’m out of practice with the PS2 controller. Also, the camera isn’t perfect and seems to require some attention from player every now and again. Neither of these faults though detract from the game experience.

Shadow of the Colossus is a very unique game. There’s nothing else quite like it on the market and I look forward to continuing to hunt down the remaining colossi. I’ll post my final thoughts when I complete the game.