I thought it would be prudent after the quite impressive Chronicles of Riddick demo to take Wheelman, the game designed to tie in with the movie of the same name starring Vin Diesel, for a test drive.
To be honest I was feeling a little bit apprehensive about this demo. After all, movie related games aren’t exactly renowned for there quality and generally give the impression of being thrown together just to ride upon the coat-tails of celluloid success . My expectations, therefore, weren’t high.
The demo kicks off with an impressive opening cinematic as the camera sweeps majestically over Barcelona harbour before finally speeding into the city itself where it centres upon a stationary car. Within, sits our protagonist, Milo Burik. He waits patiently, glancing in his mirrors, and doesn’t seem phased when a local police car slowly drives past. A few heartbeats later the camera pans to a building as we witness an unidentified woman exiting possibly what is a bank. She steadily walks towards the parked car, but seconds later an alarm sounds. It’s your job to get her to safety.
I must admit that at this point in the demo my impressions were entirely positive. The opening sequence had been enticing; the in-game graphics looked great, and I thought to myself that if Wheelman continues this level of quality and polish then maybe, just maybe, we would have a rarity on our hands: a decent movie-game tie-in.
Alas, it wasn’t to be, and the more I played Wheelman the more my enthusiasm diminished.
The initial chase through the city, evading the police and then a local gang, is quite entertaining as you streak through the streets trading paint with your pursuers and causing spectacular crashes which are played out in slow motion. In some respects it feels as if Burnout has had a small part to play in influencing Wheelman during this early chase sequence, but in fact the further you progress into the demo the more obvious it becomes that Wheelman is a concoction of borrowed styles all aspiring to make this more than just a racing game.
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Posted in Demos, Impressions, Sony PS3, Xbox 360
Over the years we’ve learnt many things courtesy of the film industry; chief among them is the fact that space is certainly not a safe place for humanity to explore. And we’ve also learnt that when contact, be it with a colony, vessel, or even a town has suddenly and inexplicably been lost it’s not because of something simple like a communications malfunction, or due to static interference, it’s usually because the crew/colonists/residents have all been horribly slaughtered.
Alarm bells should be ringing loudly in the ears of whichever bright spark has decided to lead an expeditionary mission to determine the cause of the silence, but instead they will wander unconcerned (mostly) into danger like the proverbial lamb to the slaughter. This blasé attitude, although not good for promoting a long and prosperous life, does however provide the perfect setup for horror films, or alternatively in our case a Sci-Fi survival horror game.
The reason I’m making such a tenuous link to the film industry is that in some respects Dead Space feels like it’s borrowing aspects from some of the great Sci-Fi flicks of the last 30 years. However, instead of just being a carbon copy of something like Aliens, Event Horizon, or even Solaris there’s enough originality here, and delivered with such panache and polish that makes it a game that is worthy of your attention.
Playing as Isaac Clarke, an engineer aboard the USG Kellion, you and your crewmates are dispatched to the USG Ishimura – a “planet cracker” class mining vessel that rips planets apart in search of valuable minerals and ores. As you may have surmised contact with the Ishimura has been lost after an initial distress signal was received, and on rendezvousing with the stricken vessel above the planet Aegis 7 a decision is made to dock with the ship and provide any help required. It is however, only a matter of time before things go completely pear shaped leaving you to repair various systems on the Ishimura so that you can escape the nightmare.
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Posted in Reviews, Sony PS3, Xbox 360
