Nintendo has released a new trailer for Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers. Please, God, talk them out of using that music anywhere in the game.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Purple is the new ZOMG-cute
I downloaded The Maw the day it was released on X-box Live Arcade, and I'm happy to say that this Arcade direct-download indie game has so far outlasted Fable 2 in play time and interest. Yes, a simple $10 arcade game has surpassed a fully-funded big-studio $60 360 title. Someone please give these kids at Twisted Pixel buckets of money, so that they might continue to develop their bundles of epic win.
It seems like it's always the simple-concept games that have the most impact, and The Maw is no exception. The premise is about as simple as it gets: You are a cute little alien. You have a pet alien that is even cuter than you are. It likes to devour things that are cuter than both of you mashed together. It is your job to help your pet, named Maw, to fangoriously devour everything in sight.
Over the course of this feed-fest, you and Maw encounter puzzles that must be solved using your laser wristband and Maw's insatiable appetite. Sometimes that appetite leads to interesting temporary changes in Maw, such as the ability to float or zap things.
Or, to develop a dozen more eyes and the ability to shoot laser beams:
Maw's nom-nom-nom noise gets my vote as the most adorable sound effect in a video game ever.
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It seems like it's always the simple-concept games that have the most impact, and The Maw is no exception. The premise is about as simple as it gets: You are a cute little alien. You have a pet alien that is even cuter than you are. It likes to devour things that are cuter than both of you mashed together. It is your job to help your pet, named Maw, to fangoriously devour everything in sight.
Over the course of this feed-fest, you and Maw encounter puzzles that must be solved using your laser wristband and Maw's insatiable appetite. Sometimes that appetite leads to interesting temporary changes in Maw, such as the ability to float or zap things.
Or, to develop a dozen more eyes and the ability to shoot laser beams:
Maw's nom-nom-nom noise gets my vote as the most adorable sound effect in a video game ever.
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Chrono Trigger: Timeless
After almost 14 years, countless overwhelmingly positive reviews and a status that borders on legendary, I can tell you there’s not much I can say about Chrono Trigger that hasn’t been said already.
The game was an instant smash when it was released in 1995, peaking the twilight years of the SNES. Fans and critics alike loved the concept, which took the masterminds behind Japan’s twin role-playing colossi, Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy, and fused them together to create a sprawling, time-traveling epic. They loved the execution even more.
Six years went by. Square decided to re-release the game for the ps one, complete with a vastly improved translation and an assortment of flashy new anime cutscenes from the game’s character designer, Dragonball’s Akira Toriyama. Gamers everywhere went ga-ga, myself included.
Now, with the treads of the Square-Enix remake machine running arguably past full power as they have since 2006, Chrono Trigger is back for round three, this time on Square-Enix’s perennial favorite, the DS.
This new, travel-friendly edition has all the bells and whistles included with the ps one release, plus a touch screen mode which unclutters the game’s battle screens, an improved (read: richer and more nuanced) translation and a goofy monster battling mini-game reminiscent Dragon Quest VIII’s monster arena, among a few other surprises.
And while I could spend this review saying what’s already firmly been established—that Chrono Trigger is without a doubt one of the best RPGs ever made, as many so fervently believe—that would be a proverbial waste of breath.
What I can tell you is this: when you have a host of next-gen games at your fingertips and you still find yourself gravitating towards a 14-year-old game that made its debut before today's run-of-the-mill gaming technology had really even been in use, you know it’s something special.
The remake angle is not a new concept for Square, who have been re-releasing past Final Fantasy’s and other titles since well before they gave Chrono Trigger another chance in the limelight.
But unlike even past Final Fantasy reworkings, Chrono Trigger has arguably retained its damn-near immortal status not because just because it’s good, but because it’s a game with personality and character.
Sure, there’s plenty of games that have great characters or an engaging story, but few can pump the kind of blood into a tale like this one does—a tale of friendship, heroism, and good old fashioned good and evil. Like revisiting a classic film, the straightforward charms of both the game’s characters and gameplay will bring a smile to the face of even the most jaded gamer, something few games can pull this off this well, even today.
So, can you really improve on a classic? That seems to be the question that Square-Enix is driving at (or attempting to) with the changes pumping blood through this new iteration.
The new translation is, for the most part, a much deeper and more subtle script that adds to the overall experience, if in a slightly superfluous way.
The ps one’s translation was perfectly fine, and in some cases even better—for example, the decision to eliminate Frog’s quasi-Shakespearean mode of speech, present in the ps one edition a la Vagrant Story or the PSP’s Final Fantasy Tactics redux The War of the Lions, is a definite tragedy.
However, this is a minor complaint amidst a host of new or improved features.
The DS edition’s touch-screen capabilities are a nice touch, as is the handy and ever-present map that occupies the lower screen. The sweeping score remains an aural treat, and the anime cutscenes, ported over from the ps one release, look cleaner and (for the most part) sharper than ever. Even the little pauses that cropped up in the playstation edition after winning a battle have been (seemingly) reduced, and drastically.
And while its important for those of you who haven’t played Chrono Trigger to know that it plays like a game that was made in 1995, that shouldn't be a deterrent. In all likelihood, games wouldn’t be the same today without the important innovations Square first unveiled here.
Aside from the game’s engrossing clockwork narrative, Chrono Trigger set precedents with its multiple endings, unique battle system (goodbye, random battles) and new game plus, a concept that allowed you to take your leveled-up characters and play through the game with them again. All of these concepts have since been used in countless other RPGs.
The best form of praise (or perhaps the most paid attention to) I can give the game, however, is that it’s still a blast to play. Now that Square has seen fit to re-release it for the next generation of gaming tykes, I only hope they too can look past age and experience firsthand all the heart and soul this game has beating inside it.
Chrono Trigger may be well into its own twilight years now, but believe me—it’s still got it.
Chrono Trigger
4.5 out 5 stars
Square-Enix
Nintendo DS
$39.99
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Prince of Persia: Big budget art?
When Ubisoft relaunched the Prince of Persia series six years ago with its titular hero reborn as a rugged, strapping prince who had more in common with Shinobi than Ali Baba, you’d probably never have guessed the visage the character has now taken on.
Enter Prince of Persia, 2008’s confusingly self-titled next chapter (and latest reboot) of the series, starring a new prince who is evidently steeped in legend. Although the prince is simply known as just that, he isn’t a nobleman as his predecessor was in 2003's The Sands of Time. Actually, the new prince has little to with the princes of old.
No, the new prince, delivered via the series' development team at Ubisoft Montreal, is everything the old one wasn’t—a dusty, smartass scoundrel who earns a ragged living robbing tombs. He’s part Aragorn, part Indiana Jones and part Captain Mal Reynolds of Firefly fame.
The prince’s new rough-and-tumble look is only part of the equation, however. Although handy with a sword, his combat skills are tempered by the presence of Elika, a devoted princess (and priestess) who wields magic powers against the ‘corrupted,’ demon-like beings who pledged their loyalty to the dark god, Ahriman, who is (sort-of) let loose from his prison at the beginning of the game.
Together, Elika and the prince must cleanse the corrupted lands of…wherever they are, and when not effortlessly swinging and clambering across gorgeous landscapes, they're forced to face off in a series of heavily-cinematic battles with Ahriman’s would-be brood in order to save Elika’s nigh-abandoned kingdom.
Combat has also been modified and tweaked in the new Prince. Far more artistic than technical, there are only two attack types (gauntlet and sword), acrobatics and Elika’s magic. The result are often-climactic, film-like deathmatches that show the prince and his companion in various dazzling acrobatic signatures which highlight the game’s stunningly stylized art direction.
So, if you’re expecting to find an evil vizier in this Prince of Persia, you won’t.
Call it the Batman Begins of the gaming world—And like Christopher Nolan’s take on the Dark Knight, Ubisoft Montreal’s recreated prince is emblematic of just how much everything old is new again in this game.
It’s actually a near-completely different interpretation of the series, similar in some respects to when Japanese director Ryuhei Kitamura reimagined Hideo Kojima’s PS one classic Metal Gear Solid in the Gamecube’s MGS remake The Twin Snakes (although a bit more drastic).
But unlike The Twin Snakes, which could have been called “Metal Gear Solid: Ridiculous Action Movie,” (a jab I make lovingly—games wouldn’t be the same today without Kojima’s precedent-setting series) Prince of Persia may actually be something else entirely: an “art” game.
Take, for example, Elika. Her presence seems to draw some vague parallels to Sony’s PS2 title ICO, which paired a hero (a little boy with horns) with Yorda, a defenseless princess, on a quest to escape a mysterious castle.
Despite its fantasy setting, ICO feels and plays like an indie film (and rightly so, considering the game has been lauded for its unyielding originality, and many feel it’s responsible for starting the whole ‘games as art’ debate). And while Elika is an actual asset in battle, Prince of Persia doesn’t exactly feel like your run-of-the-mill adventure game, either.
The game actually has more in common with Shadow of the Colossus, Team ICO’s “boss-battle-only” spiritual successor-cum-quasi-prequel to ICO—also added to “art game” canon because of its unique combat structure.
Like Colossus, fighting in the new Prince amounts a series of simply-controlled, one-on-on boss and mini-boss battles that pit the prince and Elika against the guardians (as well as the occasional minion) of each of the game’s distinct, open environments, whose areas become more accessible as you progress.
Also like Team ICO's god-killing masterpiece, Prince of Persia’s open-ended world is vast and beautiful, although you won’t be felling monstrous beasts on horseback. Instead you’ll be spending most of your time traversing across an increasingly vertical world, whether you’re exploring, talking with Elika or healing corrupted lands, in a mix between adventure game exploration and straight-up platforming.
But perhaps the biggest thing about Prince of Persia which is suggestive of “art game” status is that you can’t die. Every time you fall down an endless chasm or are about to feel the rough blade of a corrupted in your chest, Elika’s mysterious light-based powers intervene.
In theory, this isn’t really that much of a departure from most any other game—you make your way through the game, fall down a pit, get attacked by a monster, are shot up by terrorists, whatever—after game over, you either start from a checkpoint or a savepoint.
It’s understandable why some might throw up red flags over my claim that a Prince of Persia could really be an “art game” to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Team ICO's efforts or those of Killer 7 creator Suda 51. To some degree, I wonder how it could be possible, too.
But hear me out: it's all in the game’s approach. Since the prince can't die, you can’t lose. And if you can't lose, the developers were obviously hoping gamers would find another emphasis on something other than the challenge.
Luckily, there’s myriad parts of the game with which to distract you. Gameplay is smooth, the world sumptuous and absorbing, and its unique mechanics, with a focus less on crossing blades than on running across cliffs and leaping over chasms make for an exciting time.
The prince himself is well developed, swashbuckling, and unlike his predecessors, often laugh out loud funny—particularly during in-game banter sessions you can choose to have with Elika (which makes sense, given that his vocal cords are supplied by none other than Nolan North, who brought Nathan Drake to life with same smart-ass personality in PS3’s Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune).
The game’s script often has the spirit reminiscent of the original Pirates of the Caribbean, complementing the new Prince’s high-end production values, its gorgeous cel-shaded character models and the wonderfully organic world rendered around them. The result is a game brimming with humor and heart.
Ubisoft Montreal are also clearly a bunch of cinema lovers, which is evident in more than just the combat. Watching Elika cleanse the corruption from filthy, polluted wastelands into brightly lit, lush, colorful landscapes is a major visual treat that show off the game’s technical prowess and artistry, as are some of the game’s epic setpieces. Both bring to mind the kind of unique vision and execution of rousing adventure films.
Would the old prince ever have been able to springboard through the sky between giant globe-like flying machines ripped from the imaginations of Jules Verne and Tim Burton? I don’t think so.
However, as fun as the new Prince is, it isn’t perfect. Some players may find it hard to subscribe to the game's no-death philosophy, and others may be turned off by its “tap a button”-style combat and the general ease given with essential immortality.
In it’s own way, Prince of Persia does still feel like you’re living out an ancient legend, albeit one that displays a different kind of storytelling than in The Sands of Time. But if art is defined as “thinking outside the box” then Prince of Persia is certainly worthy of such a description.
Like Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, which Russell Crowe once called “an arthouse movie with a big budget,” the gameplay in Prince of Persia isn’t your typical mainstream industry fare. Hell, the villain isn't even really present, aside from being a much talked about malevolent force.
There are snatches of industry standards, to be sure, but what Ubisoft Montreal has really done is taken the series, stripped it down to its bare essence, and rebuilt it from the inside out with a new, completely different body.
True, without the promise of death, the presence of real tension in the game is questionable, but maybe it’s not the point, either. If more games would take more risks like this, video games could very well develop into the same kind of multifaceted medium that film industry has become.
And if Ubisoft can do it to the new Prince, an unabashedly high profile game which wears its budget on its sleeve, maybe more companies should be able to take such chances. It’s likely that's precisely the message the game is trying to get across, otherwise such drastic changes probably wouldn't have made it beyond the stage of concept art.
It’s rare that art games move that many units, but it doesn’t make them any less important—such may well be the case with this game.
So, will the industry listen? Only time will tell. But even if Prince of Persia isn’t perfect, it too is important. It's bold and brassy, and most notably, tries something different. Do yourself a favor—don’t ignore this one.
Prince of Persia
4.5 out of 5 stars
Ubisoft
PS3, Xbox 360
$39.99
- Princely quips
The prince definitely has a way with words, as is clearly seen in his conversations with Elika and elsewhere in the game. Here's some of our favorites:
P: - "Ugh! I was on my way home. I had more gold than you could--I'd'a had wine! Women! I'd had carpets this thick!"
P: - "Hey, you're cute, but not 'stay and fight a dark god' cute."
E: - "Would you have helped my father if he had asked you?"
P: - "He's not that cute, either."
P: - "Anything else you think you should be telling me?"
E: - "You're an idiot."
P: - "I like your top."
E: - "I think I have a spare if you'd like it."
E: - "Just be patient. Patience brings rewards."
P: - "So does walking into a harem covered with chocolate."
P: - "Do you often go falling out of the sky on to men? I mean, you're a good-looking girl and all...obviously pretty high maintenance, but you shouldn't need to go dropping out of the sky on to men."
P: - "Do corruption stains come out?"
P: - "Gods, monsters, crazy women...what's the difference?"
P: - "Run, jump, die, repeat. Run, jump, die, repeat. I'm starting to get the hang of this!"
P: - "She's not my girlfriend, she's my donkey."
Friday, January 16, 2009
Sheer beauty
Benheck's PC Mod of the Day yesterday was absolutely stunning. Usually PC mods just don't do it for me beyond the initial "wow look at what someone else far more talented at making shit than I will ever be just made" reaction. They (usually) are awesome, yes, but my second thoughts are usually "damn that has to be a bitch to dust" or "yes but how do you feed the gold fish in there?
But this one..? My God. Wolfenstein 3-D was my first FPS ever as a kid. This case mod is magic. Pure, Nazi-gutting, magic.
But this one..? My God. Wolfenstein 3-D was my first FPS ever as a kid. This case mod is magic. Pure, Nazi-gutting, magic.
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Cheap Fan Service
You know, for a development team comprised mostly of men, you'd think the team behind Fable 2 would get tired of hearing "we're through already?"
And yet, once again, Lionhead Studios has produced Fable content that is disappointingly short and sparse. To illustrate just how short the "extended" (really it should be called simply "additional" or maybe more appropriately "Haiku-esque in length") content that was released on the 13th is:
Yesterday afternoon, I logged in to Xbox live, forked over $12.50 to buy enough points to download the content, and waited 30 minutes on PSU's internet connection for my download to complete. Another hour after that, I was done with 2 out of the 3 new quests the expansion comes with, and I'd purchased all the new items in the (admittedly neat) surprise shop.
If I had known, after that hour that I was nearly done with the $10's worth of game I'd just purchased, I might have dallied a little longer. Stood on a cliff, maybe, and taken in the scenery with my trusty dog, Mr. Grrr.
As it is, it took me a few minutes to realize I'd already beaten it this afternoon, after merely one more hour of play, which included a stop back in Bloodstone to look after my family and get distracted at the gambling table.
It was only after I'd made one last, pitiful, hopeful round of Knothole Island that it sank in: I had finished all available quests and essentially paid $10 so that my character could wear sunglasses and a top hat. Really, Lionhead? That's all you had in you? Really?
Come on fellas. You built us one of the most beautiful sandbox worlds to play in, now please, put a little more effort in to the content before I leave you for good for a game that can go all night.
And yet, once again, Lionhead Studios has produced Fable content that is disappointingly short and sparse. To illustrate just how short the "extended" (really it should be called simply "additional" or maybe more appropriately "Haiku-esque in length") content that was released on the 13th is:
Yesterday afternoon, I logged in to Xbox live, forked over $12.50 to buy enough points to download the content, and waited 30 minutes on PSU's internet connection for my download to complete. Another hour after that, I was done with 2 out of the 3 new quests the expansion comes with, and I'd purchased all the new items in the (admittedly neat) surprise shop.
If I had known, after that hour that I was nearly done with the $10's worth of game I'd just purchased, I might have dallied a little longer. Stood on a cliff, maybe, and taken in the scenery with my trusty dog, Mr. Grrr.
As it is, it took me a few minutes to realize I'd already beaten it this afternoon, after merely one more hour of play, which included a stop back in Bloodstone to look after my family and get distracted at the gambling table.
It was only after I'd made one last, pitiful, hopeful round of Knothole Island that it sank in: I had finished all available quests and essentially paid $10 so that my character could wear sunglasses and a top hat. Really, Lionhead? That's all you had in you? Really?
Come on fellas. You built us one of the most beautiful sandbox worlds to play in, now please, put a little more effort in to the content before I leave you for good for a game that can go all night.
FFXIII in North America? Not before 2010, says Square
Now that 2008 is officially over, Square-Enix is ringing in the new year with a major, and completely expected, delay. The victim? Final Fantasy XIII, at least in North America.
Don't say I didn't predict this.
Hot off his announcement that the next proper installment of Square's trademark series is expected to be out in Japan this year, company president Yoichi Wada is now saying that if you're expecting to see FFXIII this year in North America, you're out of luck. Wada confirmed as much in an interview with Reuters, saying the game won't see it's North American debut until at least April 2010.
But hey, FFXII took 5 years to come out right? Don't be surprised to see this pushed back until Summer 2010...at the earliest.
Don't say I didn't predict this.
Hot off his announcement that the next proper installment of Square's trademark series is expected to be out in Japan this year, company president Yoichi Wada is now saying that if you're expecting to see FFXIII this year in North America, you're out of luck. Wada confirmed as much in an interview with Reuters, saying the game won't see it's North American debut until at least April 2010.
But hey, FFXII took 5 years to come out right? Don't be surprised to see this pushed back until Summer 2010...at the earliest.
Friday, January 9, 2009
PS3...3D?
Sony, Sony, Sony. What are we going to do with you? It's not like CES, Las Vegas' annual consumer electronics show, is really that big a deal (it's no E3 or Leipzig, or anything) but it seems like you'd want to bring a something a little more interesting than...3D PS3 games.
Yes, you read that right. At this year's show Sony had tech demos of Gran Turismo 5, Motorstorm and Wipeout HD running in RealD 3D, a new kind of 3D technology. So far, all the impressions I've read of Sony's demonstrations have been pretty positive. And while the idea of a 3D game is cool, this idea seems troublesome to me.
Aside from gamers having to wear 3D glasses in order to experience this technology, this feel like a gimmick to me. Anyone remember Nintendo's Virtual Boy? If that didn't work, (although Nintendo's console was situated so that it was almost impossible to play for more than 10 minutes before it became extremely uncomfortable--Sony's just asking you to wear a pair of dorky glasses like some Persona 4 reject) I'm not sure it would work this time around, either.
Now, Sony stressed that these tech demos were just that--demonstrations of new technology experimentation. That means there are no official plans to make 3D PS3 games. At least, not yet.
The bottom line is, until we can get 3D holograph displays like the ones in Blade Runner, should gaming really move in this direction? It seems like a bit of a misstep. Why don't more developers continue to try thinking outside the box in terms of game innovation? LittleBigPlanet, Mirror's Edge, Braid--last year these games (to name a few) made gamers think in new ways, while delivering on the sort of forward thinking the gaming industry needs--especially if we're really supposed to get "next-gen" games.
Look, the idea of games that "pop", even at the cost of wearing ridiculous 3D glasses, is admittedly kind of cool, but c'mon guys. Until the industry starts taking itself in a more creative direction, can't we focus on making games more progressive instead of just making them a tiny bit flashier?
Thanks to IGN's PS3 site for the story.
Yes, you read that right. At this year's show Sony had tech demos of Gran Turismo 5, Motorstorm and Wipeout HD running in RealD 3D, a new kind of 3D technology. So far, all the impressions I've read of Sony's demonstrations have been pretty positive. And while the idea of a 3D game is cool, this idea seems troublesome to me.
Aside from gamers having to wear 3D glasses in order to experience this technology, this feel like a gimmick to me. Anyone remember Nintendo's Virtual Boy? If that didn't work, (although Nintendo's console was situated so that it was almost impossible to play for more than 10 minutes before it became extremely uncomfortable--Sony's just asking you to wear a pair of dorky glasses like some Persona 4 reject) I'm not sure it would work this time around, either.
Now, Sony stressed that these tech demos were just that--demonstrations of new technology experimentation. That means there are no official plans to make 3D PS3 games. At least, not yet.
The bottom line is, until we can get 3D holograph displays like the ones in Blade Runner, should gaming really move in this direction? It seems like a bit of a misstep. Why don't more developers continue to try thinking outside the box in terms of game innovation? LittleBigPlanet, Mirror's Edge, Braid--last year these games (to name a few) made gamers think in new ways, while delivering on the sort of forward thinking the gaming industry needs--especially if we're really supposed to get "next-gen" games.
Look, the idea of games that "pop", even at the cost of wearing ridiculous 3D glasses, is admittedly kind of cool, but c'mon guys. Until the industry starts taking itself in a more creative direction, can't we focus on making games more progressive instead of just making them a tiny bit flashier?
Thanks to IGN's PS3 site for the story.
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Obama likes Wii bowling!
It seems that Obama likes to play Wii Sports' bowling, according to John Harwood of The New York Times political blog. Obama actually claims to be better at Wii bowling than he is at actual bowling. The important part of the article, titled "Obama predicts a Florida victory," as is follows:
"Mr. Obama said he’d have his hands full attempting to rescue the American economy. But he has gotten in a little practice in bowling lately on the Nintendo Wii his daughters received for Christmas. Mr. Obama, who famously struggled in bowling during last year’s Democratic primaries, said he performs better in the video game."
That's right, Mr. president-elect Obama! We knew there was a reason we voted for you. Please keep supporting the industry. But not with crap Wii shovelware. A man who wants change would know better than that, right?
Thanks to our dear friends at the New York Times Political blog.
"Mr. Obama said he’d have his hands full attempting to rescue the American economy. But he has gotten in a little practice in bowling lately on the Nintendo Wii his daughters received for Christmas. Mr. Obama, who famously struggled in bowling during last year’s Democratic primaries, said he performs better in the video game."
That's right, Mr. president-elect Obama! We knew there was a reason we voted for you. Please keep supporting the industry. But not with crap Wii shovelware. A man who wants change would know better than that, right?
Thanks to our dear friends at the New York Times Political blog.
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Manhunt 2, uncensored
Any of you remember the great Manhunt 2 scandal?
I was perusing GamesRadar's wonderful website earlier this evening when I came across this little gem. That's right, view 'em and weep--here's all of Manhunt 2's gory, gory, gory kill videos in all their uncensored, uh, mediocrity. Be warned--this video is extremely graphic and violent (duh) and is also guilty of not aging well, despite only being a year old.
So, now you can take solace in the fact that you're allowed to see what the ESRB so many gamers were so horribly cheated out of last year, or cry because of how silly and stupid most of it looks now, how much of an uproar people were thrown into over its existence, and how Rockstar could have easily just cut a few of these scenes and the game would have been fine. It's up to you.
I was perusing GamesRadar's wonderful website earlier this evening when I came across this little gem. That's right, view 'em and weep--here's all of Manhunt 2's gory, gory, gory kill videos in all their uncensored, uh, mediocrity. Be warned--this video is extremely graphic and violent (duh) and is also guilty of not aging well, despite only being a year old.
So, now you can take solace in the fact that you're allowed to see what the ESRB so many gamers were so horribly cheated out of last year, or cry because of how silly and stupid most of it looks now, how much of an uproar people were thrown into over its existence, and how Rockstar could have easily just cut a few of these scenes and the game would have been fine. It's up to you.
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
EGM obit -- R.I.P.
1989-2009
Electronic Gaming Monthly, a well-known gaming publication revered for its high quality editorial content, died today after nearly two decades of coverage, following the buyout of its mother company, Ziff Davis, to competitor Hearst. It was 19 years old.
Through its staff of talented writers and editors, EGM provided solid, and often exclusive, cross-platform game coverage through five console generations, starting in 1989. In addition to its North American branch, the magazine launched outfits in Mexico, Turkey and Brazil in its nearly two-decade run.
In its final months, it was rumored that Ziff Davis would sell the magazine's digital counterpart, 1up.com, to Hearst, and the fate of EGM would go with it. Tragically, the rumor was true, and Hearst, owners of ugo.com and many of the world's most powerful newspapers, passed on continuing the magazine, which remained brave and faithful to the industry which it served until the end.
One of the last great gaming magazines, gamers across the nation will be hard-pressed to find a replacement to fill the hole EGM has left not only in the industy, but in our hearts.
A print orphan, EGM is survived by 1up.com.
Saturday, January 3, 2009
Tomb Raider: Underworld is a series pinnacle, if an imperfect one
In the first few minutes of Tomb Raider: Underworld, developer Crystal Dynamics really push the game’s bombast. The building Da Vinci Code-esque title screen music, Lara’s escape from a burning Croft Manor in the first level, the script’s timely cut to a week previous just as Lara is inexplicably getting shot at by her allies—these are all epic hooks to draw you in.
Then Ms. Croft is plunked into the Mediterranean, determined to scuba her way to (what else) an ancient artifact. Compared to her brief jaunt through the flaming wreckage of her home, Lara’s exploration of the Mediterranean and the submerged ruins beneath it feel downright tranquil. Even when she encounters a screen filling Kraken, the beast just seems sleepily annoyed at Lara’s presence, only tentacle-lashing her if she gets too close.
These might seem like points against the game, but they aren’t. Rather than arming Lara to the teeth and making her blast the mythical creature to kingdom come, you’ve got to figure out a way to break a giant stone chandelier-looking structure hanging from the ceiling to crush the Kraken’s head with a brains-over-brawn approach that’s prevalent throughout.
However, with its surprisingly solid story, high production values and some occasional fireworks, Underworld certainly does its best to be the most epic Tomb Raider to date. But with the game’s more natural exploration and beautifully-crafted environmental puzzles taking precedence over gunning down faceless goons and wild critters (as has sometimes been the case in past games), the game is actually a quieter affair, if one that’s no less compelling, than its opening moments might have you believe.
Instead, this is Tomb Raider in its element—if you don’t want to spend all your time exploring dead cities and secret passages, Underworld isn’t the game for you.
Underworld's grapple mechanic is much improved over previous iterations.
In terms of both story and design, the game is also as much about Crystal D’s previous efforts with the series as it is a standalone game. The caveat is that while Underworld is great in its own right, some shoddy technical problems with the game force me to say so with some trepidation, based on the series’ past mistakes and marred track record.
The developer’s first shot with Ms. Croft, 2006’s Tomb Raider: Legend, introduced gameplay far more fluid than the stubbornly rigid originals, essentially giving the series an update for the current generation while allowing Tomb Raider another chance to go toe-to-toe with its competition—something a number of unoriginal sequels that were rushed in time for Christmas had been preventing for years.
Legend was a much-needed breath of fresh air for the series, although it kept some action-game elements and modern locales for Lara to traipse about in addition to her usual crypt-like haunts. Crystal D followed up Legend with 2007’s Tomb Raider: Anniversary, essentially a re-imagining of the original game complete with its isolating, damn-near enemy-less design.
Both games felt and played well, earning the series more acclaim than it had seen since ’97’s Tomb Raider II—it was obvious Crystal D had taken the time to get things right.
Which brings us to Underworld, the team’s first release that takes advantage of both the PS3 and the Xbox 360’s hardware. While technically a continuation of the events in Legend (prepare to be confused if you haven’t played it), Underworld is a mash-up of sorts, taking some of the better elements of the last two games while wrapping up Legend’s story arch, which deals with Lara looking for her believed-to-be-dead mother in the Norse land of the dead.
The environments Lara explores are bigger and more impressive than ever.
The game’s levels are actually the stars of the show. Unlike Indy, Ms. Croft could never get by just on personality (although Lara has shown more depth than ever before since Crystal D took over), but thanks to the team’s talented level designers, she doesn’t have to. Underworld’s various sites of antiquity, from Thailand to Mexico, are impeccably rendered and lighted, wondrous to behold and massive enough that you’ll have to stop and figure out where to go or what to do next.
The game retains linearity, but in these huge, open environments everything feels much more natural. Exploration has always been a cornerstone of the series, and thankfully Crystal D doesn’t shy away from it here. Whether you're negotiating traps, solving wonderfully conceived ancient puzzles or simply trying to get from point A to point B, this is the most organic Tomb Raider yet, and as a result, gameplay is a lot of fun.
Yet for all its sweeping grandiosity, Underworld tears a little more at the seams than either Legend or Anniversary. For every sprawling jungle or temple Lara encounters, there are inconsistencies with the frame rate, and with every brain-busting puzzle there are glitches between animations and invisible barriers around objects which Lara can and often will get stuck on.
Each time the game draws you in with beautiful graphics and awesome, gargantuan setpieces like a cavernous room of giant swinging pendulums in the shape of Norse hammers—and it will happen plenty—these numerous little problems will rob you of some of the experience. I don't like to nitpick, but when the final boss of the game gets stuck in the air until you move to a part of the level that triggers another set of attacks, it kind of takes away from the overall experience.
Poor dead critters.
The game is also a bit short, although new downloadable levels coming out sometime early in 2009 could increase the length to some extent. Sadly, Underworld’s DLC is exclusive to the 360 version of the game at the moment, so unless Sony starts making overtures to Crystal D, it's unlikely PS3 owners will see the full story on their console.
Don’t get me wrong. I love Underworld, for as long as it lasts. But both because of the aforementioned missteps the series has seen in the past, as well as Crystal D’s success in reviving Tomb Raider into a capable series, these little chinks in Underworld’s armor are more than just annoyances—they’re distressing warning signs that future games could be shipped half-done just to make a buck.
Since Underworld is the close of a multi-game story, it seems logical that Crystal D will go back to the drawing board for whatever’s next for Lara, taking their time to put out a new revamped game that breaks the formula they’ve more or less perfected. But for better or worse, Underworld is a reminder of how much fun that formula can be, and is a proper send-off of the series until Lara’s next adventure.
Tomb Raider: Underworld
4 out 5 stars
Eidos
PS3, Xbox 360
$59.99
--
Disagree with this review? Have something to say to the reviewer? Leave a comment below!
Then Ms. Croft is plunked into the Mediterranean, determined to scuba her way to (what else) an ancient artifact. Compared to her brief jaunt through the flaming wreckage of her home, Lara’s exploration of the Mediterranean and the submerged ruins beneath it feel downright tranquil. Even when she encounters a screen filling Kraken, the beast just seems sleepily annoyed at Lara’s presence, only tentacle-lashing her if she gets too close.
These might seem like points against the game, but they aren’t. Rather than arming Lara to the teeth and making her blast the mythical creature to kingdom come, you’ve got to figure out a way to break a giant stone chandelier-looking structure hanging from the ceiling to crush the Kraken’s head with a brains-over-brawn approach that’s prevalent throughout.
However, with its surprisingly solid story, high production values and some occasional fireworks, Underworld certainly does its best to be the most epic Tomb Raider to date. But with the game’s more natural exploration and beautifully-crafted environmental puzzles taking precedence over gunning down faceless goons and wild critters (as has sometimes been the case in past games), the game is actually a quieter affair, if one that’s no less compelling, than its opening moments might have you believe.
Instead, this is Tomb Raider in its element—if you don’t want to spend all your time exploring dead cities and secret passages, Underworld isn’t the game for you.
In terms of both story and design, the game is also as much about Crystal D’s previous efforts with the series as it is a standalone game. The caveat is that while Underworld is great in its own right, some shoddy technical problems with the game force me to say so with some trepidation, based on the series’ past mistakes and marred track record.
The developer’s first shot with Ms. Croft, 2006’s Tomb Raider: Legend, introduced gameplay far more fluid than the stubbornly rigid originals, essentially giving the series an update for the current generation while allowing Tomb Raider another chance to go toe-to-toe with its competition—something a number of unoriginal sequels that were rushed in time for Christmas had been preventing for years.
Legend was a much-needed breath of fresh air for the series, although it kept some action-game elements and modern locales for Lara to traipse about in addition to her usual crypt-like haunts. Crystal D followed up Legend with 2007’s Tomb Raider: Anniversary, essentially a re-imagining of the original game complete with its isolating, damn-near enemy-less design.
Both games felt and played well, earning the series more acclaim than it had seen since ’97’s Tomb Raider II—it was obvious Crystal D had taken the time to get things right.
Which brings us to Underworld, the team’s first release that takes advantage of both the PS3 and the Xbox 360’s hardware. While technically a continuation of the events in Legend (prepare to be confused if you haven’t played it), Underworld is a mash-up of sorts, taking some of the better elements of the last two games while wrapping up Legend’s story arch, which deals with Lara looking for her believed-to-be-dead mother in the Norse land of the dead.
The game’s levels are actually the stars of the show. Unlike Indy, Ms. Croft could never get by just on personality (although Lara has shown more depth than ever before since Crystal D took over), but thanks to the team’s talented level designers, she doesn’t have to. Underworld’s various sites of antiquity, from Thailand to Mexico, are impeccably rendered and lighted, wondrous to behold and massive enough that you’ll have to stop and figure out where to go or what to do next.
The game retains linearity, but in these huge, open environments everything feels much more natural. Exploration has always been a cornerstone of the series, and thankfully Crystal D doesn’t shy away from it here. Whether you're negotiating traps, solving wonderfully conceived ancient puzzles or simply trying to get from point A to point B, this is the most organic Tomb Raider yet, and as a result, gameplay is a lot of fun.
Yet for all its sweeping grandiosity, Underworld tears a little more at the seams than either Legend or Anniversary. For every sprawling jungle or temple Lara encounters, there are inconsistencies with the frame rate, and with every brain-busting puzzle there are glitches between animations and invisible barriers around objects which Lara can and often will get stuck on.
Each time the game draws you in with beautiful graphics and awesome, gargantuan setpieces like a cavernous room of giant swinging pendulums in the shape of Norse hammers—and it will happen plenty—these numerous little problems will rob you of some of the experience. I don't like to nitpick, but when the final boss of the game gets stuck in the air until you move to a part of the level that triggers another set of attacks, it kind of takes away from the overall experience.
The game is also a bit short, although new downloadable levels coming out sometime early in 2009 could increase the length to some extent. Sadly, Underworld’s DLC is exclusive to the 360 version of the game at the moment, so unless Sony starts making overtures to Crystal D, it's unlikely PS3 owners will see the full story on their console.
Don’t get me wrong. I love Underworld, for as long as it lasts. But both because of the aforementioned missteps the series has seen in the past, as well as Crystal D’s success in reviving Tomb Raider into a capable series, these little chinks in Underworld’s armor are more than just annoyances—they’re distressing warning signs that future games could be shipped half-done just to make a buck.
Since Underworld is the close of a multi-game story, it seems logical that Crystal D will go back to the drawing board for whatever’s next for Lara, taking their time to put out a new revamped game that breaks the formula they’ve more or less perfected. But for better or worse, Underworld is a reminder of how much fun that formula can be, and is a proper send-off of the series until Lara’s next adventure.
Tomb Raider: Underworld
4 out 5 stars
Eidos
PS3, Xbox 360
$59.99
--
Disagree with this review? Have something to say to the reviewer? Leave a comment below!
Sonic Unleashed shows there's still some hope for the series, but its got a ways to go
I’ll get straight to the point: Sonic Unleashed is a tease. A horrible, horrible tease. Sonic’s name has always been synonymous with going really fast—a mechanic that’s never really gotten old in his nearly-20 year run, even if the games haven't always exactly delivered on it.
That might sound too simple a formula to really work in longevity, but to most veteran gamers worth their salt, it’s the truth. All we really want out of our Sonic experiences is to have the rush of speeding breakneck through everything in sight.
Sonic Team doesn’t seem to want to get this through their heads.
Instead of just giving us what we want, Sonic’s creators have spent the past decade soiling his adventures with hackneyed gimmicks since the debut of his first legitimate 3D game, 1999's Sonic Adventure.
To wit: Sonic vs. his darker, more-extreme-twin, Shadow (who eventually turns out to be a gun-wielding hedgehog), Sonic tethered to two other teammates at all times, and an on-rails Sonic saving pages from Arabian Nights are just a few examples.
Critical reception has ranged from mediocre to abysmal, mostly due to numerous technical glitches, poor design, shoddy gameplay and a recurring god-awful camera. Unleashed doesn’t suffer from all of these problems, but the game does prove that there’s still has a long way to go in Sonic’s slow re-ascent towards legitimacy.
Basically, Unleashed’s gimmick takes Sonic and transforms him into a werehog with inexplicable stretchy arms when the sun goes down. Yes, you read that right. Sonic the werehog. Who can stretch like Mr. Fantastic. Um…what?
WTF?
So, with this new conceit, you’re basically given A Tale of Two Hedgehogs.
In daytime stages, you play as the Sonic we all know and love—the fast one. And when you’re controlling everyone’s favorite speedy blue ‘hog, Unleashed just about sings.
Daytime Sonic’s levels are silky smooth, (mostly) hyper-fast levels that change from 2D to 3D and back. If Sonic Team had stopped right there, the game would have been damn good from beginning to end.
When the moon (always full for some reason) is out, however, things get a bit wonky. Taking control Sonic the werehog—a slower, tougher, brawling-prone beast—results in a play style that’s completely different, turning the game into a brawler/platformer that’s something akin to a more-cuddly God of War rip-off.
I know what you're thinking—“I don't need brawling in my Sonic games.” Believe me, I agree. But as far as some of Sonic Team’s past design efforts go, Unleashed isn’t as bad you might think.
Past the first few werehog levels, which are little more than derivative slogfests through hordes of cookie-cutter enemies, the level design opens up a little, offering up levels of genuine platforming rarely seen in the series.
Sonic’s werehog also has a pretty decent selection (although not initially) of tap-combos, again mostly straight out of God of War. The move list increases with collected experience, which enemies drop, which can then in turn be saved and distributed amonst various attributes such as your strength or life meter (ripped straight from Kingdom Hearts and Onimusha, respectively). Experience also works for regular Sonic, giving upgrades to speed and speed-boosting ring energy, which is a nice touch.
Once you upgrade your werehog moveset, what enemies you do encounter can be dispatched in short order—sometimes combat’s even fun, if only for a little while. But it’s the platforming that’s still the best part of Nighttime Sonic’s levels.
As much as you might not like Sonic as a werehog, his slower style lends itself really well to this kind of gameplay shift, and once they start focusing more on jumping-obstacle-courses, Sonic Team’s level designs are actually pretty good.
Platforming bits save Sonic Unleashed's nighttime levels.
Tying night and day together are some light RPG elements, held-over from the days of Sonic Adventure. As such, Sonic travels all over the world to various cities, helping citizens fend off the advances of “Dark Gaia”, which the nefarious Dr. Eggman not only used to transform Sonic into a werehog in the first place, but unleashed monsters from the planet’s inner core as well. The story makes little sense, but it also doesn’t really matter.
These various world-themed cities, towns and hamlets serve as hub levels to both night and day stages. I personally have never much cared for RPG elements in Sonic games—if I wanted those, I’d play Bioware’s Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood.
And although I don’t see holding inane conversations and solving gee-whiz problems for people as part of the hedgehog’s job description, other than adding a layer of tedium to gameplay, they’ve never been too much of a problem. I had a different experience with Unleashed, for two reasons.
First, Sonic Team elected to place collectable sun and moon medals in each level. Ok, just another platforming “thing to collect", right?.
Wrong.
See, it turns out that its mandatory to pick up a certain number of these medals to access new night and day stages. That would all right, if all the medals per level could be snatched up relatively easily. Most of them can, but some are hidden and require some searching.
So if you haven’t picked up enough medals, sooner or later you’ll effectively hit a break wall and be forced to play through levels you’ve already beaten. This isn’t so bad when you’re replaying Sonic’s daytime levels, but looking for medals in Unleashed’s slower-paced nighttime levels can be a huge chore, and one that artificially extends the game’s overall length.
My point is, no game should punish you by forcing you to replay levels just to collect things you may have missed the first time around, especially when it doesn’t even make a big to-do about when said items are even for.
It would be one thing if there was emphasis on collecting the medals actually does—like how Mario games always make the point that stars open locked doors—but that isn’t the case here. Couldn't these medals have been used to unlock something less detrimental, like mini-games or secret passages or something?
My second point also has to do with cheap ways to extend a game’s length. Like RPGs that make you grind levels until your brain is mush just to beat a certain dungeon, Unleashed is sometimes incredibly vague about game progression, meaning you’ll waste a lot of time trying to figure it out where to go or what to do next.
On several occasions I had to wander around a town where I thought I should be, only to find that I was either a) in the wrong place entirely or b) lacking some gained skill only found elsewhere that I could use to get to wherever the game was telling me to go.
So, if I was told that I had to go beat the boss in the desert temple, what I actually had to do was go to a city halfway across the world, beat a level in that, and then come back. This is not good game design, and leads to an overall uneven presentation.
Now that's more like it.
Outside if the RPG-lite realm, Unleashed has some other problems as well. Controlling the werehog can sometimes be a little sluggish, and things can only be grabbed on to after a green targeting reticle locks on, which feels unnatural and can sometimes hamper platforming segments.
The camera can sometimes be annoying during the nighttime levels, too. Although most of the time it’s fully 3D, occasionally Sonic Team snatches away control to present a more cinematic view of the action, but this can also present problems when trying to land a death-defying jumps.
In sunny levels, sometimes obstacles or turns come up way too fast, resulting in instant death until you get the hang of a course. The occasional light platforming elements in the day stages also feel like an afterthought, and often do little but frustrate and break up the level of speed.
I’m harping on Unleashed flaws for a reason, though. On the one hand, there’s some really great ideas at work here—yes, even in some of the nighttime stages. Finally, Sonic’s traditional levels are coming together after 2006’s truly awful reboot Sonic the Hedgehog, with a good balance between speed, dexterity and player control.
Futhermore, the nighttime levels help break up the pace of the game with some pretty good platforming. There are also some pretty cool boss fights, including one particularly badass encounter pitting Sonic against a G-Darius-type fish robot that actually plays like a horizontal arcade shooter.
But the point is, the aforementioned problems keep the game from being something truly special, and, let’s face it, the werehog conceit seems like something you would more likely find in a spin-off title rather than an actual Sonic game.
Faster than a galloping werehog.
Unleashed remains a tease because in its moments of greatness, it shows us how good a 3D Sonic game can actually be. The daytime levels are dangled in front of us like bait, and really, that’s what keeps us playing through the rest of the game.
I completely understand and applaud Sonic Team for wanting to inject some innovation into the long-running series, and I don’t fault them for it. But you’ve got to know your source material—will this new idea work, given what this series is known for? With Unleashed, it doesn’t always.
I’ve got news for you, Sega. There’s plenty of old-school gamers that would love to see Sonic return to his former greatness, but this isn’t the best way to go about it. No one really cares about Sonic’s annoying, cuddly friends (that weren’t in the original games). No one wants to make Sonic run around fulfilling mundane tasks.
No one wants to play as a slow, lumbering hedgehog. Save those ideas for other games, or at least don’t make Sonic do them himself. Just because I actually enjoyed Unleashed more than I thought I would, but that doesn’t mean its developers shouldn’t be held accountable for its shortcomings.
You’ve showed us that its possible to make a great hedgehog game with the high speeds we’ve all been clamoring for for years—the blueprints are all right here. So next time, put your money where your mouth is and give us a long-overdue Sonic title that’s completely worthy of the series name.
Sonic Unleashed
3 of out 5 stars
Sega
PS3, Xbox 360
$59.99
--
Got a problem with this review? Found a factual error? Have something you want to get off your chest? Leave a comment below!
That might sound too simple a formula to really work in longevity, but to most veteran gamers worth their salt, it’s the truth. All we really want out of our Sonic experiences is to have the rush of speeding breakneck through everything in sight.
Sonic Team doesn’t seem to want to get this through their heads.
Instead of just giving us what we want, Sonic’s creators have spent the past decade soiling his adventures with hackneyed gimmicks since the debut of his first legitimate 3D game, 1999's Sonic Adventure.
To wit: Sonic vs. his darker, more-extreme-twin, Shadow (who eventually turns out to be a gun-wielding hedgehog), Sonic tethered to two other teammates at all times, and an on-rails Sonic saving pages from Arabian Nights are just a few examples.
Critical reception has ranged from mediocre to abysmal, mostly due to numerous technical glitches, poor design, shoddy gameplay and a recurring god-awful camera. Unleashed doesn’t suffer from all of these problems, but the game does prove that there’s still has a long way to go in Sonic’s slow re-ascent towards legitimacy.
Basically, Unleashed’s gimmick takes Sonic and transforms him into a werehog with inexplicable stretchy arms when the sun goes down. Yes, you read that right. Sonic the werehog. Who can stretch like Mr. Fantastic. Um…what?
So, with this new conceit, you’re basically given A Tale of Two Hedgehogs.
In daytime stages, you play as the Sonic we all know and love—the fast one. And when you’re controlling everyone’s favorite speedy blue ‘hog, Unleashed just about sings.
Daytime Sonic’s levels are silky smooth, (mostly) hyper-fast levels that change from 2D to 3D and back. If Sonic Team had stopped right there, the game would have been damn good from beginning to end.
When the moon (always full for some reason) is out, however, things get a bit wonky. Taking control Sonic the werehog—a slower, tougher, brawling-prone beast—results in a play style that’s completely different, turning the game into a brawler/platformer that’s something akin to a more-cuddly God of War rip-off.
I know what you're thinking—“I don't need brawling in my Sonic games.” Believe me, I agree. But as far as some of Sonic Team’s past design efforts go, Unleashed isn’t as bad you might think.
Past the first few werehog levels, which are little more than derivative slogfests through hordes of cookie-cutter enemies, the level design opens up a little, offering up levels of genuine platforming rarely seen in the series.
Sonic’s werehog also has a pretty decent selection (although not initially) of tap-combos, again mostly straight out of God of War. The move list increases with collected experience, which enemies drop, which can then in turn be saved and distributed amonst various attributes such as your strength or life meter (ripped straight from Kingdom Hearts and Onimusha, respectively). Experience also works for regular Sonic, giving upgrades to speed and speed-boosting ring energy, which is a nice touch.
Once you upgrade your werehog moveset, what enemies you do encounter can be dispatched in short order—sometimes combat’s even fun, if only for a little while. But it’s the platforming that’s still the best part of Nighttime Sonic’s levels.
As much as you might not like Sonic as a werehog, his slower style lends itself really well to this kind of gameplay shift, and once they start focusing more on jumping-obstacle-courses, Sonic Team’s level designs are actually pretty good.
Tying night and day together are some light RPG elements, held-over from the days of Sonic Adventure. As such, Sonic travels all over the world to various cities, helping citizens fend off the advances of “Dark Gaia”, which the nefarious Dr. Eggman not only used to transform Sonic into a werehog in the first place, but unleashed monsters from the planet’s inner core as well. The story makes little sense, but it also doesn’t really matter.
These various world-themed cities, towns and hamlets serve as hub levels to both night and day stages. I personally have never much cared for RPG elements in Sonic games—if I wanted those, I’d play Bioware’s Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood.
And although I don’t see holding inane conversations and solving gee-whiz problems for people as part of the hedgehog’s job description, other than adding a layer of tedium to gameplay, they’ve never been too much of a problem. I had a different experience with Unleashed, for two reasons.
First, Sonic Team elected to place collectable sun and moon medals in each level. Ok, just another platforming “thing to collect", right?.
Wrong.
See, it turns out that its mandatory to pick up a certain number of these medals to access new night and day stages. That would all right, if all the medals per level could be snatched up relatively easily. Most of them can, but some are hidden and require some searching.
So if you haven’t picked up enough medals, sooner or later you’ll effectively hit a break wall and be forced to play through levels you’ve already beaten. This isn’t so bad when you’re replaying Sonic’s daytime levels, but looking for medals in Unleashed’s slower-paced nighttime levels can be a huge chore, and one that artificially extends the game’s overall length.
My point is, no game should punish you by forcing you to replay levels just to collect things you may have missed the first time around, especially when it doesn’t even make a big to-do about when said items are even for.
It would be one thing if there was emphasis on collecting the medals actually does—like how Mario games always make the point that stars open locked doors—but that isn’t the case here. Couldn't these medals have been used to unlock something less detrimental, like mini-games or secret passages or something?
My second point also has to do with cheap ways to extend a game’s length. Like RPGs that make you grind levels until your brain is mush just to beat a certain dungeon, Unleashed is sometimes incredibly vague about game progression, meaning you’ll waste a lot of time trying to figure it out where to go or what to do next.
On several occasions I had to wander around a town where I thought I should be, only to find that I was either a) in the wrong place entirely or b) lacking some gained skill only found elsewhere that I could use to get to wherever the game was telling me to go.
So, if I was told that I had to go beat the boss in the desert temple, what I actually had to do was go to a city halfway across the world, beat a level in that, and then come back. This is not good game design, and leads to an overall uneven presentation.
Outside if the RPG-lite realm, Unleashed has some other problems as well. Controlling the werehog can sometimes be a little sluggish, and things can only be grabbed on to after a green targeting reticle locks on, which feels unnatural and can sometimes hamper platforming segments.
The camera can sometimes be annoying during the nighttime levels, too. Although most of the time it’s fully 3D, occasionally Sonic Team snatches away control to present a more cinematic view of the action, but this can also present problems when trying to land a death-defying jumps.
In sunny levels, sometimes obstacles or turns come up way too fast, resulting in instant death until you get the hang of a course. The occasional light platforming elements in the day stages also feel like an afterthought, and often do little but frustrate and break up the level of speed.
I’m harping on Unleashed flaws for a reason, though. On the one hand, there’s some really great ideas at work here—yes, even in some of the nighttime stages. Finally, Sonic’s traditional levels are coming together after 2006’s truly awful reboot Sonic the Hedgehog, with a good balance between speed, dexterity and player control.
Futhermore, the nighttime levels help break up the pace of the game with some pretty good platforming. There are also some pretty cool boss fights, including one particularly badass encounter pitting Sonic against a G-Darius-type fish robot that actually plays like a horizontal arcade shooter.
But the point is, the aforementioned problems keep the game from being something truly special, and, let’s face it, the werehog conceit seems like something you would more likely find in a spin-off title rather than an actual Sonic game.
Unleashed remains a tease because in its moments of greatness, it shows us how good a 3D Sonic game can actually be. The daytime levels are dangled in front of us like bait, and really, that’s what keeps us playing through the rest of the game.
I completely understand and applaud Sonic Team for wanting to inject some innovation into the long-running series, and I don’t fault them for it. But you’ve got to know your source material—will this new idea work, given what this series is known for? With Unleashed, it doesn’t always.
I’ve got news for you, Sega. There’s plenty of old-school gamers that would love to see Sonic return to his former greatness, but this isn’t the best way to go about it. No one really cares about Sonic’s annoying, cuddly friends (that weren’t in the original games). No one wants to make Sonic run around fulfilling mundane tasks.
No one wants to play as a slow, lumbering hedgehog. Save those ideas for other games, or at least don’t make Sonic do them himself. Just because I actually enjoyed Unleashed more than I thought I would, but that doesn’t mean its developers shouldn’t be held accountable for its shortcomings.
You’ve showed us that its possible to make a great hedgehog game with the high speeds we’ve all been clamoring for for years—the blueprints are all right here. So next time, put your money where your mouth is and give us a long-overdue Sonic title that’s completely worthy of the series name.
Sonic Unleashed
3 of out 5 stars
Sega
PS3, Xbox 360
$59.99
--
Got a problem with this review? Found a factual error? Have something you want to get off your chest? Leave a comment below!
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