Category Archives: Video Games

March 4, 2012

Playstation Vita (Helpless in the Face of New Technology II)

By Joe

I didn’t go back and look, but I think I mentioned the Playstation Vita in three posts and in all three I said I wasn’t going to get one at launch.  I had purchased a 3DS at launch last year and it didn’t turn out to be the best purchasing decision of my life.  The software at launch was terrible and the entry price pretty steep.  Roughly six months later Nintendo would slash the price of the unit by a significant margin.  As an early adopter, dubbed a Nintendo Ambassador, I received ten free NES games and ten free GBA games but if given the choice I might have just chosen the cheaper unit.  And the 3DS isn’t a bad system at all.  I’ve enjoyed it now that the software has caught on and even purchased the new add-on.  It seemed unwise to be an early adopter again, especially for a Playstation product.  I’m not sure if any Playstation console has had a good launch lineup and they’re always expensive.

I could have said it until I was blue in the fact, but the simple fact of the matter is, when new technology comes out I can’t help myself.  And when I got a glimpse of what Uncle Sam was sending me as a refund I found it harder and harder to make excuses.  I lasted over a week, so I guess I can be proud of that, but as of March 4th I am an owner of a Playstation Vita.

Vita game cart. Pretty small, as you can see.

Now, I said Sony consoles tend to have expensive and poorly supported system launches and in one way the Vita is no exception.  The Vita is expensive.  There’s no way around it.  I’m a bachelor with a home and a good job.  I have no kids and my living expenses aren’t too cumbersome.  I have disposable income to throw at video games, but even so, it still didn’t entirely sit right to spend $350 on a new handheld system.  What did my $350 get me?  Well, it got me a Wi-Fi enabled Vita ($250), a 16 GB ($60) memory card, and one game ($40).  The price tag of the Vita itself isn’t awful.  It’s the same price the 3DS launched at but the Vita is the far more powerful system which makes it seem reasonable.  However, the 3DS came with a 2 GB SD card and most of the games save directly to the game’s cartridge.  There were also some pre-loaded games, nothing great but it’s something.  The Vita comes with nothing.  There’s a USB chord, an AC adapter, and some documentation.  There are some augmented reality cards that I admittedly haven’t even done anything with, but I’m not expecting much entertainment from them.  There’s no onboard memory though, and that’s the Vita’s biggest hurdle.

The memory cards are a joke.  Sixty dollars for 16 GB of memory?  That’s obscene.  And you need a memory card to play just about every game and there isn’t any onboard memory to download games to.  It looks like most of the games will require between 4,000 KB and 5,000 KB for save files.  This isn’t a scientific observation, merely what I saw on the back of each game case I looked at.  The packaging for the memory card itself says you can expect to hold 4 to 8 complete games on it, so if you’re planning on acquiring most of your games digitally you may want to go even larger.

Even smaller than the the games; the Vita's stupidly expensive memory cards.

Because of the costly memory, I suspect most will just buy game cartridges.  The cartridges are small, thumb-shaped cards.  Most will set you back $40, but there are some for $50 like Uncharted: Golden Abyss.  I picked up Rayman Origins and that cost me $40.  The cases are small but proportionately similar to a Blu Ray case.  In the case of Rayman, there was nothing inside the case except the actual game.  There is a clip for an instruction booklet, so maybe other games come with one, but this one only comes with an electronic booklet.  It’s kind of strange to have a case even this size for one tiny cartridge but whatever.  For Rayman, the load times are pretty minimal and I’m not sure how they compare with the PS3 version.  I would expect this type of medium would have pretty quick load times and would certainly be faster than the PSP’s UMD format.  I don’t know why they lack their own means of storage for game saves and have never seen it addressed.  It seems to me like they should be able to do that, but maybe I’m underestimating just how much space these games take up.

The Vita itself is an impressive piece of tech.  Which makes sense, because if it wasn’t I wouldn’t have bought it.  I’m going to skimp on the features since they’ve been covered elsewhere, but the screen is an OLED screen with touch capabilities.  There’s a second touch “panel” on the back of the system as well.  There’s cameras on the front and back and all of the buttons from the PSP are returned.  The biggest additions are the analog sticks.  The PSP’s nub is no more as the Vita features twin mini sticks that feel very similar to the PS3’s.  They do not double as buttons like the PS3 ones, which is unfortunate as that’s the only setback for the Vita.  Without the additional triggers and buttons the PS3 has, it will make certain ports trickier than others but the addition of a second analog stick is pretty significant.  And the quality of the hardware is exceptional.  The unit is larger than a PSP, but is surprisingly light.  It’s thin and very portable if you carry a messenger bag (or purse, if you’re a woman) but it’s probably not going to fit in most pockets.  And you probably wouldn’t want to try anyways without a screen protector or some kind of case.  I didn’t spring for one but I might have to eventually.

I mentioned earlier I got the Wi-Fi model.  For another $50 there’s a 3G one with service through AT&T that costs a monthly fee.  I have no interest in a monthly fee for my handheld gaming device so deciding which one to get was a no-brainer.  The device is also equipped with Blue Tooth and I assume it can be connected to certain headsets.  It also can communicate with the PS3 and the two can share a PSN account.  I checked out the remote play feature, as I never tried it with my PSP, and found it worked fine.  It basically turns your Vita into your PS3, but not all games can be accessed (for me, no games could be).  I think all of the PSOne Classics are supposed to work with the Vita, but might not yet.  Some games available across both platforms will be able to communicate with each other and some of the early releases include both a Vita version and a PS3 version.  Most of them will require a double purchase though.  It would be nice if buying the PS3 version of MLB The Show got you a discount for the Vita version, but I don’t expect Sony to go that far to please the consumer (edit: after publishing this I looked on both amazon and Gamestop’s websites and saw that if you buy both versions it will cost you $80, which is a $20 saving which is better than having to spend $100).  I’ll probably buy both versions of that one as I’m eager to test out the cross platform features with that particular title.

I spent multiple hours with Rayman Origins and found the Vita pretty comfortable.  Surprisingly, my left thumb is a bit tender which I would not have expected but it isn’t bad.  The buttons are all easy to reach though the shoulder buttons are slightly awkward, but not too bad.  Visually, the Vita (and Rayman Origins) does not disappoint.  The OLED screen is bright and vibrant offering a better picture than most plasma TVs.  It has to be seen to be truly appreciated.

The Vita, side by side with a Circle Pad Pro equipped 3DS. Neither is very portable.

It helps when the game is gorgeous too.  Rayman Origins is a direct port of the critically acclaimed PS3/360/Wii title from last year.  It’s an old school 2D platformer that will test your jumping abilities with lots of timing based challenges.  The gameplay is tried and true, and though I’m only a short way into it, I’m impressed.  Visually though it’s one of the most appealing games I’ve ever played and it doesn’t appear to have suffered one bit in being ported from consoles to the Vita.  It looks like a living cartoon.  Some cel-shaded games, like Super Paper Mario, came close to achieving such a feat but none have managed to pull it off like Rayman Origins.  The art style reminds me of 90’s era cartoons like Ren & Stimpy and Rocko’s Modern Life.  There’s a “zany-ness” to everything and a lot of the movements of the characters are exaggerated.  There’s more screaming than speaking, and the whole thing just seems crazy.  If you haven’t played it, and like platform games, definitely check it out.  It can be found for about $30 new for home consoles and is the type of game developers should be rewarded for making.

So for $350 I got an excellent game and a new handheld with (hopefully) plenty of memory.  I feel okay about it, but the other risk one takes on when buying a new system at launch is long-term support.  The Vita got off to an okay start in Japan, but shortly after launch sales were ground to a halt.  I haven’t seen sales figures for the US launch yet, but most of the stores I’ve been to over the last week or so are not over-flowing with units.  I’ve even seen a few sell-outs, so it would seem that the Vita is off to a good start.  I’ll be curious to see if it can maintain that momentum as the PSP wasn’t a huge success in the US, certainly not compared with Japan.

Whether it survives or not will depend largely on price and software.  The price is already out there and quite an obstacle, but if it’s moving units then maybe I’m placing too much emphasis on it.  That other problem most Sony systems face at launch is not an issue for the Vita.  There are plenty of good, and even great, games available right now.  Some, like Rayman Origins, are ports of console titles and some, like Uncharted, are all new.  For the system to flourish, developers will have to continue to support the Vita with both new titles and ports.  Some games are perfect to see ported to a handheld, especially sports titles.  If that’s all that’s out there though then gamers might get bored.  If given the choice, more often than not gamers will take a home console game over a portable.  A pick-up and play title like Rayman Origins is a rare exception, as I think that’s a game that works great for a portable.  A more in depth experience like Arkham City though is best on a home machine.

So I guess I’m happy with the Vita, for now.  I have so many games to play now, it’s borderline obscene.  It may actually be a week or more before the Vita even accompanies me on the train as I’m currently splitting my time between Tactics Ogre for the PSP and Resident Evil Revelations for the 3DS.  I will get MLB for the Vita though, and at that point I may not be able to resist playing it during my commute, but after that I have no idea what my next Vita game will be.  I guess I’ll have to start paying attention to all of these games.  I have a problem.

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March 4, 2012

Greatest Games: Castlevania: Symphony of the Night

By Joe

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (1997)

There are several core genres of video games, but few games can actually be summed up as one genre.  A game can be called a role-playing game, but there’s a big difference between Chrono Trigger and Baldur’s Gate.  The same can be said for platform games, as few will confuse Super Mario Bros. with Ratchet and Clank.

The Castlevania series has long struggled with genres.  The original game is often described as a hybrid action-adventure title.  Famous for its great, but punishing, gameplay it’s no surprise it spawned several sequels.  The first of which, Castlevania II: Simon’s Quest, was a radical departure.  For that title, Konami decided to take the non-linear gameplay fans seemed to enjoy so much about the first game, and expand upon it by introducing many RPG elements.  Simon’s Quest was an ambitious title, but probably one that had more failures than successes.  As a result, Konami would simplify the many sequels and slowly work its way towards something more complex.

With new hardware and many more attempts are crafting quality Castlevania games, it was time for Konami to get bold once more.  The arrival of the 32 bit era brought about realistic opportunities for 3D gameplay design.  Not 3D as we know it today (the optical illusion), but 3D polygons instead of hand-drawn 2D sprites as a visual and gameplay style.  If Konami was attempted to explore this style with Castlevania, it wisely held off and stuck with what worked.  Symphony of the Night was born on the Playstation and unveiled to the world in 1997 in a very quiet manner.  Because it was not 3D, and was up against the massive hype-machine known as Final Fantasy VII, it was overlooked initially.  Review outlets were generally impressed by the title, though some would probably like a do-over as even many of those old reviews look like they were done as after-thoughts.

In Symphony of the Night, players will take control of Alucard; son of Dracula!

No matter, Symphony of the Night would receive its due eventually.  SotN took Simon’s Quest and married it with Nintendo’s Super Metroid.  This has lead some fans to affectionately refer to the title as “Metroidvania,” which should not be mistaken as an insult.  SotN sees the player dropped into a familiar setting; Dracula’s Castle.  Only this castle is different than before.  The player can explore it at will as the game doesn’t merely force the player to go left to right.  There are many ledges and secret rooms to find and explore and roadblocks, especially early in the game, are quite frequent forcing the player to back-track.  This emphasis on exploration made the game more than just an action title and really put the focus on the adventure aspect.

In the starring role this time was a familiar, and yet unfamiliar, face.  Alucard, son of Dracula, is the primary protagonist.  The first scene of the game teases a starring role for Richter Belmont, but Alucard is the one who will receive the majority of the playing time.  Alucard plays very differently from the other protagonists to appear in a Castlevania game before him.  As a half-vampire, he’s far more powerful than any Belmont.  He can dash, leap to impressive heights, and change his form.  He has spells at his disposal, input like fighting game commands, and can be built up to god-like levels.  As he kills enemies, Alucard gains experience and levels up.  When the game first starts off he’s fairly weak and most of the player deaths experienced in the game will come in the first hour or so.  As the player “level grinds” and explores more weapons and abilities will be found.  Alucard does not use the traditional whip, but can use pretty much every other type of weapon one can think of.  Most will include various swords and spears but tough guys can also roll with just their fists if they wish.

And since Alucard is the son of the game’s main antagonist, many storyline possibilities are opened up.  While this game came before story became a major point of emphasis in video games, it manages to weave an interesting tale.  SotN sets out to finally bring all of the previous games together under one massive narrative.  Old questions are answered, and new ones born, and for longtime fans it’s a very satisfying experience.  The only drawback is with the voice acting.  Voice acting was ever growing in popularity at the time, but few did it well.  SotN is no exception in that regard and the original release features some atrocious acting.  It’s not used a lot, thankfully, but is pretty groan-inducing.  Ports of the game have improved upon it, though I can’t say how much since I’ve never bothered to play them (I still have my PSX copy).

Symphony of the Night takes a traditional visual approach for the series and even returns many familiar foes.

Visually, the game is a delight!  Alucard’s sprite has smooth animation and nice effects to go with it.  The game makes liberal use of all of the 2D tricks perfected in the 16 bit era and enhances them.  There are some polygons in the game, but they’re mostly used to dress up the background.  Because of this approach, the game holds up quite well to this day.  Some of those old Playstation and Nintendo 64 games that were much heralded in their day cannot say the same thing.  This is still a pretty game, by any standard.  And since it’s a Castlevania title, the soundtrack must be mentioned.  It contains many of the old tracks made famous by the series, but also has a ton of new compositions that all suit the game’s mood.  The synth-metal approach to many of them is a great deal of fun to listen to and there are numerous elements of techno, classical, and other genres blended in.  This is still my all-time favorite video game soundtrack.

The game controls tighter than any previous Castlevania title.  Perhaps it’s because of Alucard’s inhuman nature, but he is much more nimble than any Belmont before him.  This makes controlling him a more enjoyable experience, but also makes the game much easier.  As I mentioned before, the early part of the game can be a challenge as Alucard is de-powered early on, but as you level up and find new weapons and spells the game becomes increasingly easier.  There are a couple of items that practically break the game because of how over-powered they are.  You can, of course, choose not to use them but it’s hard to resist.  There are many boss battles though, and most are fun affairs and offer some of the game’s best challenges.  There are also multiple endings as this is one of those games where just when you think you’ve finished, more is revealed.  Get to 100% completion and the castle gets literally flipped upside down and the game practically starts over again!  There’s also a code to play the entire game as Richter, and later ports include a third character as well; Maria Renard.

Fans looking for a more traditional experience could take control of Richter Belmont in lieu of Alucard via code in the original release.

When I first set out to cover my favorite games I mentioned I was going to mostly stay away from the consensus classics.  Symphony of the Night is probably one of those classics, but to me it has always felt overlooked which is why I chose to include it.  It was largely ignored by audiences when it was first released but as time went on gamers went back to it.  I was one such gamer who first ignored it.  I don’t even remember there being much coverage for it at the time, but I eventually made the time for it and picked up a used copy.  And even though I grabbed that used copy a couple years later, I was still ahead of a lot of people to even be able to find a used copy for cheap money!  Now that black-label game is considered a collector’s item, and while it doesn’t go for huge money in the secondary market, it’s not likely to be found in a bargain bin.

Symphony of the Night, for me, represents Castlevania at its absolute best.  Some long-time fans think it’s too easy to be the best of the best, and since the main gameplay does not feature a whip of any kind it can turn off some traditionalists.  It’s still the most fun I’ve ever had with a Castlevania title and the one I remember most fondly.  Several of the new handheld games have copied the style of SotN but I’m not sure any have truly improved upon it.  Oh, those games are good, but the crown still belongs to the game almost no one played when it was first released nearly 15 years ago.

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February 19, 2012

Twisted Metal (2012)

By Joe
Twisted Metal (2012)

If you frequent this blog you may have noticed that I do not post many negative reviews.  That’s because, for the most part, I’d rather talk about things I like and enjoy and not things that irritate me or make me mad.  There have been some exceptions.  I set out to review all of the Danzig releases which meant reviewing the good and the bad.  I also reviewed the X-Men trilogy which meant having to review the less than stellar third film.  Otherwise, I think most reviews have been fairly positive, especially the video game ones.  I suppose there’s a first time for everything, but it does pain me that my first negative video game review on this blog is going to be about a franchise I adore; Twisted Metal.

Twisted Metal made its return to livingrooms across the globe this past Valentine’s Day.  I recently made an entry in my Greatest Games feature praising the last home entry in this series, Twisted Metal Black, which came out over 10 years ago.  The new game, simply titled Twisted Metal, was announced a couple of years ago at E3 in grand fashion complete with a live-action Sweet Tooth driving his famous ice cream truck onto the stage during Sony’s conference.  Long-time fans of the series had been nearly driven insane wondering when, if, Sony would return to one of its oldest franchises.  The wait was long, but it did have an end, unfortunately it wasn’t really worth the effort.

Twisted Metal is not a bad game in the strictest sense.  Visually it’s quite nice to look at though not breath-taking.  The textures on the scenery are minimalist but that’s because the game was built for speed and there’s little need for gorgeous textures when the player is going to spend the majority of the game zipping around the various levels.  The cars look great, though from an artistic standpoint they do seem to lack in personality when compared with the older games.  Perhaps that’s nostalgia getting the best of me and an over-compensation on my part considering the drivers are no longer unique (more on that to come), but it is the impression that I get.  The soundtrack features a mix of original compositions that mostly trend towards hard rock and some licensed tracks featuring a return of Rob Zombie (which is actually kind of odd, considering he was only featured on the much-maligned third and fourth entries in the series).  It’s been quite a long time since I’ve driven around a war zone with “Dragula” booming through my television speakers.

The game mechanics of Twisted Metal remain largely unchanged as well.  You still drive around blasting opponents with fire, power, homing, and all sorts of other missiles all the while relying on powered-up special attacks.  A lot of the vehicles have a familiar feel as well.  Sweet Tooth (the truck, not the character) still handles like a bath tub on wheels and Dark Side has a punishing ram attack.  Some vehicles return with new special attacks this time out, such as Roadkill’s mini gun and Junkyard Dog’s Taxi.  This one even includes a helicopter for the player to try out, something that was to be included in Black but had to scrapped at the eleventh hour.

Cut scenes are done with live actors. Also, Mr. Grimm isn’t dead.

If a lot of the game is more of the same, why am I threatening a negative review?  Well, a lot of reasons really.  While the gameplay is fairly consistent with prior games, there’s a different feel to the physics this time out.  It’s as if the development team decided the more chaotic the battles, the better.  Now it seems like only the slightest bump or the most insignificant weapon can send your vehicle bouncing around like a tennis ball.  This causes vehicles to get hung-up on walls and proves especially annoying during the games racing levels.  You read that correctly, there are racing levels this time around and they are atrocious.  Twisted Metal was never designed to be a racing game and that is more than evident when it tries to be one.  The levels are still wide open but force you to travel through gates or checkpoints along the course.  The thing is, there is no set course so the whole thing becomes an exercise of trial and error as you try to figure out which way the game wants you to drive.  The final race is particularly annoying as it has you speed over ramps and rooftops where one error spells doom.  And passing through all of the checkpoints first is something only required of you, the player, the AI controlled opponents are free from that restriction.  This is a pretty big deal for the final race because finishing in first is meaningless, it just reveals on your map where the final, mobile, checkpoint is.  Activating this final checkpoint causes all of the other cars to explode, which means if one of the AI cars activates it first, you lose.  And since they don’t have to pass through all of the checkpoints it really becomes a crap shoot.  If there’s one silver lining for the racing levels it’s that there are only three, but you’re likely going to hate all of them.

And that wasn’t the only way the team “spiced” things up with the single player, there’s also electric cage and endurance matches.  Electric cage match sounds pretty cool, but it’s not.  Again, it just turns into another gameplay tweak that’s annoying, not enjoyable.  In these levels a laser cage surrounds an area for a set amount of time.  While inside it, you’re fine but leave it and a timer is activated.  Once that timer reaches zero you begin to take damage.  Every minute or so, the cage vanishes and reappears at another part of the level setting off a mad dash to find it.  One of these levels occurs in an amusement park and the serpentine like roads make it a challenge to find the damn thing once it re-spawns.  It just doesn’t add anything enjoyable to the experience.  The endurance rounds are actually okay.  These require the player to kill a certain amount of enemies while keeping a large number of them on the map throughout.  This creates a more chaotic experience that actually works.  I still prefer the more traditional levels, but this one’s okay.

Since the game only has three characters, each one can drive whatever vehicle he or she chooses.

Then there’s the Juggernaut levels.  The Juggernaut is a semi with a full trailer armed to the teeth.  It also spawns a new enemy every thirty seconds.  In these levels you have to kill the Juggernaut as well as all other combatants.  Later levels introduce a second Juggernaut and a more powerful version at that.  These levels are okay and do prove challenging and serve as a sort-of mid-point boss fight for the three single player scenarios.  The true boss battles comprise their own level, though usually play out in stages.  The first one was pretty cool and pits the player against two over-sized monster trucks. The second, a battle against a mech-like enemy, was annoying.  Part of the reason for its annoyance is the inclusion of the dreaded electric cage for a portion.  The final boss, a Sweet Tooth themed one, is much better.  It’s both over-the-top and inventive and a good way to close out the third and final story.

And yes, that is also correct, there are only three single player stories.  This has been known for awhile and dreaded by me.  My hope was that since only three existed they would be more involved and longer than before.  Instead, they’re shorter than what was in Black and can be completed in less than an hour a piece.  They kind of form one long story and have to be played in succession from Sweet Tooth, to Mr. Grimm, and to Dollface.  Sweet Tooth is pretty much the same Sweet Tooth from Black.  In his scenario we get to see the origins of this Sweet Tooth and what he hopes to get from Calypso when he wins.  The story unfolds in three parts, an intro movie, a middle, and an end.  These are done with live actors instead of CGi.  It’s actually not bad, and Sweet Tooth’s story, while predictable, was entertaining.  Grimm’s was less so, and Dollface’s more like Grimm’s.  There are a couple of ending movies that serve as epilogues that bring the focus back to Sweet Tooth, which proves to be a good thing.  This game’s Calypso is also very different from previous ones.  He kind of looks like Jack Black from The White Stripes and is some sort of entrepreneur and has his own company.  He still bestows wishes on the victors but I found him less entertaining this time around.  The twists were all very predictable and thus less amusing.

The single-player was a tack-on thing and definitely feels that way.  It’s a shame, because I loved playing through each one in Black.  Sure the writing wasn’t anything fantastic in that game but it was entertaining.  This game’s primary focus is on multi-player, something I rarely engage in.  I’ve never touched the online component of most of my games including Red Dead Redemption, Uncharted 2, Mortal Kombat, Smackdown vs Raw, and so on.  Because this one includes such a small amount of content, I’ll pretty much have to give it a shot.  It could be good, but right now the servers are all messed up leading to numerous network connection errors.  This appears to be a wide-spread issue and a patch is set for release next week.  Online is still playable for the truly determined, I’m just not among them.

I suppose that makes this verdict incomplete, but in truth, no amount of multi-player action can change my mind at this point.  Online matches may help alleviate the notion that I just wasted sixty bucks but it won’t change the fact that, as a single player game, Twisted Metal isn’t very good.  There’s not much content and the gameplay engine just isn’t up to par with past efforts.  I looked forward to the return of this franchise more than any other and I’m really disappointed it could not meet my expectations.  Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m gonna go fire up Twisted Metal Black and try to recapture those glory days long since passed.

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February 12, 2012

Greatest Games: Twisted Metal Black

By Joe

Twisted Metal Black (2001)

The vehicular combat genre of games has been around for almost as long as video games have.  They either take the form of a more traditional tank battle or a more outlandish game of chicken with machine guns and rocket launchers.  As such, tracing its origins proves quite difficult.  For me, the vehicular combat genre as I know it originated with a surprising title; Super Mario Kart.

Super Mario Kart was primarily a go-kart racing game with characters from Nintendo’s Super Mario series of games.  It was a wacky take on the genre, but it also was more than just a racing game.  Around the time it came out, competitive gaming was becoming more and more popular.  Either at the arcades with fighting games or on the computer with death match modes in first-person shooters.  Nintendo, recognizing this, implemented a battle mode in Super Mario Kart that dropped the racers into an arena with the goal of being the last man standing.  Players used the various power-ups to target their opponents with turtle shells and banana peels in an effort to incapacitate their opponents.  Three strikes and you were out.  This mode proved highly addictive and whenever I got together with friends to play Super Mario Kart we pretty much always played battle mode and hardly ever touched the main game.

Other publishers must have taken note, because it wasn’t long until games started showing up that relied almost entirely on this battle mode concept introduced by Super Mario Kart.  It especially exploded during the Playstation era.  By the time that era came to a close the market was saturated with games of varying quality including licensed games like WWE Crush Hour, which was the breaking point for the genre.  It has been de-emphasized by publishers and developers alike and it remains to be seen if it can ever become a major genre again.

Super Mario Kart may have been the originator, but the title most cite as the launching point for the modern genre of car combat is Twisted Metal.  Twisted Metal was one of Sony’s earliest first-party titles for the Playstation, arriving in stores roughly two months after the system’s launch in North America.  Original launch units of the Playstation included a video demo of the game as part of the pack-in demo disc along with games like Tekken and Warhawk.  Critically, it wasn’t well received for the most part but gamers seemed to enjoy it well enough.  For me, it was the first game I ever bought for my brand new Playstation game console and an early favorite.

The original Twisted Metal, in its original case too. Sony would eventually ditch these cases in favor of standard jewel ones.

Had I seen the initial reviews I may have never purchased it.  My introduction to the Playstation seemed to happen fast and came out of no where.  My grandmother on my mother’s side lived for Christmas when I was younger.  She would get all of those gigantic wish catalogs put out by the major department stores and have me and my sister pick through them to make our Christmas list.  She always wanted to be the one to get us that gift we wanted most.  That year I remember picking through one such catalog with her and pointing out things I wanted.  They must have been all little things like action figures and movies and I remember her almost getting frustrated.  She asked me if there was something big I wanted and I turned the page and saw “Sony Playstation $299.99” on the bottom right-hand corner.  I pointed to that, almost as a joke because to an 11 year old a $300 system seems way too big.  My mom had a similar reaction but then my grandmother started to reason it.  She more or less agreed to get it for me with the caveat that it would be the only thing I’d get.  I knew next to nothing about the Playstation, only that it was new and seemed exotic compared to my Genesis and Super Nintendo and was more than happy to concede other gifts in exchange for a hot new console.  Little did I know, my grandmother had been notified that my nana (dad’s mother) had told my mom she was giving me a television for Christmas which was like declaring war with grandma.  I got caught in the cross-hairs of a grandmother battle and reaped the benefits.

Because I really knew nothing about the Playstation, I had no idea what games to get.  For Christmas that year my parents gave me Doom, a familiar title to me since I had played it on my friend’s PC a few times.  There was no Mario or Sonic though to fall back on, all I had was that demo disc.  Twisted Metal looked pretty cool, so I bought it with some Christmas money.  Not long after I got Street Fighter Alpha, but all I would really play for the next six months (until my birthday) was Twisted Metal.  I would end up beating it with every character, I’d play my friends in death match, and just enjoyed the Hell out of it.  Twisted Metal 2 would arrive the following year and improve upon the original in almost every way.  Then something terrible would happen.

Singletrac, the developer of Twisted Metal, would leave Sony over a contract dispute.  Twisted Metal was owned by Sony though, so they just handed it off to internal studio 989 who was best known for crafting Sony’s licensed sports games.  989 would release the next two Twisted Metal games and both were disasters.  Singletrac put out the acceptable Rogue Trip and other studios were putting out car combat games that now surpassed the Twisted Metal brand.

This was unacceptable.  When Singletrac folded and some of the key members went on to form Incognito, Sony gobbled them up and immediately handed them the Twisted Metal franchise in an effort to bring it back.  And bring it back they did, for that team basically erased everything 989 had done with one game; Twisted Metal Black.

Levels became more expansive in Twisted Metal Black.

Released on the Playstation 2 in the summer of 2001, Twisted Metal Black returned the series to the more gritty atmosphere present in the original game.  The cartoonish antics of the sequel were gone and few righteous characters remained.  All of the drivers of the various cars were now mental patients.  Some were noble, like the driver of the police SUV Outlaw, but even the noble ones were twisted somehow.  The levels throughout the game depicted a bleak and desolate world on the brink of ruin.  Calypso was still the ring-leader and organizer of the Twisted Metal competition, but it was unclear if he still possessed super natural powers in most of the story modes (he did) and he came across as just some sick freak looking to get off on the misfortunes of others.  All of the characters had their own tragic back-story.  Each would narrate it him or herself with an opening video, a mid-point video revealing what led them to a mental institution, and an ending.  Calypso was never given a voice.

The main title menu opened with a still image of exploding cars with the opening notes of The Rolling Stones’ “Paint it Black” playing.  It was creepy and the song suited the game’s mood quite well (the full song played over the ending credits making this one of the few games where I always watch the ending credits).  Graphically, the game was exceptional.  Up until that point, few games had really done a good job of showing off what the Playstation 2 could do.  The best we had at that point was a demo for Metal Gear Solid 2 that came bundled with the game Zone of the Enders.  Twisted Metal Black had smooth visuals with lots of detail.  The levels were huge and expansive.  Each car had lots of little touches sprinkled on them as well be it riveted plates or bullet holes.  Missile launchers would roll out when equipped and any first-time player was wowed when Sweet Tooth’s ice cream truck transformed into a mech-like killer clown.  Gameplay was fast and the controls tight.  A twin analog stick approach made quick turns easy to pull off and arcade physics meant cars weren’t flipping over constantly.  Each car handled differently giving the game a great deal of variety and just about all of the special weapons had their uses.

Sweet Tooth's re-vamped special attack remains as the stand-out visual image from Twisted Metal Black.

The cast included a nice amount of familiar faces and new entrants.  Some old cars, like Outlaw, were completely different from the car that had preceded it.  Some of the returning ones also had new special attacks like Darkside’s ram attack, a great improvement over the old laser weapon.  My favorite was Roadkill, who now sported a charge-up homing missile weapon.  All of the special weapons had two methods of deployment, a standard one and a more technical one.  The technical one was harder to pull off, but dealt more damage and figuring them out was part of the fun.  Every car also had an energy bar for special attacks like freeze balls and shields that could easily change the tide of battle when deployed properly.  A lot of the levels also had hidden areas or visual gags that were fun to exploit.  There were hidden characters too that had to be found throughout the game, some were harder than others.

While the game is head and shoulders above all others in its genre, it did have a couple minor short-comings.  One thing none of the Twisted Metal games ever got right was enemy AI.  Each level is supposed to be a free-for-all but it always felt like the AI was programmed to go after the player and not each other.  While this does enhance the game’s difficulty, it always felt a little cheap.  The game’s final boss also wasn’t the best.  While he was difficult, he didn’t seem to really test the player’s skills.  I have always felt that a good boss battle is like a final exam meant to test how much the player has learned over the course of the game.  This game’s final boss is a helicopter and the approach to beating him is completely different from the approach taken to go after virtually every other enemy.  Vehicles that do not have some kind of missile attack as a special weapon are at an extreme disadvantage too as they have to rely mostly on weak homing missile pick-ups.  And since vehicles can’t really adjust their aim it makes targeting the final boss a pain.  Every encounter just ends up being a case of driving around waiting for either the special weapon to regenerate or for some homing missiles to appear.

Twisted Metal's mascot Sweet Tooth now finds his head permanently aflame.

Aside from that though, I really have few complaints with Twisted Metal Black.  The gameplay is so tight and so fun that I’ve never truly gotten sick of it.  The storylines for each car are also interesting in their own right which lead me to beating it with every single driver.  Death match was just as fun as ever too, though it would have been nice if all of the single player levels were available.  An online edition of Twisted Metal Black was released later on for free for early adopters of Sony’s online network.  I never played it but it always made sense to bring Twisted Metal to the internet.  This Tuesday, the latest game in the series arrives.  Simply titled Twisted Metal, it actually puts more emphasis on the online component.  It was initially conceived as an online only game but Sony was impressed with it so much they decided to make it a full game and had developer Eat, Sleep, Play (made up of ex Incognito/Singletrac members) craft a story mode.  It sounds like the story mode will mostly be an after-thought and only focus on three participants which has me feeling rather disappointed.  I hope to be pleasantly surprised though.  Twisted Metal also appears to be taking the Mario Kart approach of letting the player pick the car’s driver and then choose the vehicle.  This must be how the game can supply all of the old favorites while only having three storylines.

Regardless of how the new Twisted Metal turns out, I can’t imagine it topping Twisted Metal Black.  Sure it will look better, it might even control better, but if the total package exceeds Black’s I’ll be shocked.  This Greatest Games feature I’m doing is not in any particular order, but if it was, Twisted Metal Black would be a strong number two.  I love this game and I’ll never get rid of my copy.  For those who missed out, the new Twisted Metal is being released with a download code to get the original Twisted Metal Black which is one of the best bonus features in gaming history.  You now have no excuse for missing this one.

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February 11, 2012

SNK’s Multi-Video System

By Joe

Remember going to the arcade as a kid?  Man, that was a blast!  Whenever a friend was having a birthday party I would always hope it would be at Chuck E Cheese’s or a similar establishment.  The roller skating party was also pretty common and there were always a few arcade cabinets in those places, same with bowling alleys.  Most of the time the most popular game would be the latest licensed beat ’em up such as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles or The Simpsons.  If enough quarters were on hand it was possible for four buddies to battle it out to the game’s end (or in the case of the awesome X-Men game, six friends) and then move onto the next one.

Aside from the brawlers of the day, fighting games were really popular as well.  There was Capcom with Street Fighter 2 and its various incarnations.  Midway really took hold of the scene when Mortal Kombat arrived with its copious amounts of blood and gore.  There was always one other cabinet though that usually featured not one, but as many as six games on it.  I’m talking about that red cabinet with SNK emblazoned on the sides.  These cabinets usually included multiple fighters like Fatal Fury, The Art of Fighting, The King of Fighters as well as the popular Bust-A-Move puzzle game.  SNK was not entirely well known in the US, mostly because its games usually remained in the arcade while others were ported to the Super Nintendo and so on.  SNK was quite popular in its native Japan though and it has developed the reputation as being one of the finest publishers of 2D arcade games.

SNK games actually were available for home play, it’s just few could afford them.  SNK put out its own console called the Neo Geo (later dubbed the Advanced Entertainment System, or AES for short).  It was a cartridge based system that had perfect arcade ports.  It was basically the company’s arcade cabinet crammed into a console.  The games were huge in actual size to accommodate this demand for perfection.  While most companies use boards for arcade games, SNK’s cabinets took cartridges, which made porting to the home console relatively easy.  That’s also why it was common to see an SNK cabinet with multiple games on it as they just built multiple cartridge slots into the cabinet’s motherboard.  Because of their size, this made the games really expensive.  Some new titles cost as much as $300 alone, and with the system running for around twice that at retail, it put the Neo Geo out of reach for many consumers.

Just how big is an MVS game cart? Here's how it compares with some well-known cartridge and disc-based games.

The Neo Geo was basically there to serve a niche market.  For those dying for SNK at home it was available, just costly.  When it first came out in 1990, it was far and away the most powerful home console on the market and would remain so really until the Playstation era.  And even then, many argued those later systems couldn’t out-do the Neo Geo at what it did best, 2D sprites.  It has obviously been surpassed at this point by titles like BlazBlue but the visuals still hold up well, especially later titles (the last official title was released in 2004).  Because the Neo Geo was never really popular, it’s still an expensive piece of hardware to acquire today.  Even more expensive though are the games.  The most popular titles, like Samurai Shodown II, can be found for under $100 but the later and more obscure titles can total well over $500 on online auction sites.  Collecting Neo Geo AES games is an expensive hobby, but some people are only interested in playing the games and not collecting them, so they’ve found a cheaper alternative.

The home console was later termed the AES, while the arcade hardware was referred to as the Multi-Video System (MVS).  This distinguishing was necessary because even though the hardware was the same, the cartridges were not.  Probably to prevent arcade owners from buying the cheaper AES games, SNK made the AES and MVS cartridges a different size.  Physically, they’re actually very close in size but the pin-out is different making it impossible to play an AES game on an MVS board and vice versa.  The AES games were originally cheaper, but have become the more desirable collector’s item over the years due to them being physically more appealing and were often produced in smaller numbers.  AES games came in a large box and were decorated nicely while MVC games usually just have a label on the spine.  They’re also rectangular and visually kind of ugly as they were never meant to be seen.  Because the hardware that runs each system is essentially the same, some people have started taking arcade motherboards and have converted them into home consoles.  This has been dubbed consolizing.

A "consolized" MVS system.

I fit into the crowd that just wanted to play some SNK games.  While my inner collector would love to amass a collection of AES hardware and software, I’ve resisted the temptation (I have enough stuff anyways).  There are devices out there that can allow the playing of an MVS cart on an AES system.  Similar to a Game Genie, it plugs into the AES and then the MVS cart is plugged in on top.  I researched it though and found few worked flawlessly.  There is a third option, the Neo Geo CD, but being an early CD console it has some atrocious load times.  The ports for it also aren’t quite arcade perfect, which kind of defeats the purpose.  I’m not a tech savy person and consolizing my own system was not an option so I kept my eyes open on eBay.  I was pretty close to getting an AES machine but a consolized MVS popped up one day for an acceptable price and I jumped on it.

Since acquiring this machine late last summer, I’ve acquired three games:  King of Fighters ’98, Metal Slug 3, and The Last Blade.  The machine works exceptionally well.  All three carts work fine and all three controllers I have also work.  The system was soldered with component cable hook-ups and is fairly small.  It’s also pretty light, but feels sturdy.  Still, I take great care when plugging in a controller or something as I don’t want to break anything.  Because this is arcade hardware all of the games function like an arcade game.  There’s a bios installed on the hardware that lets me access the normal arcade functions like free play.  The machine seems to work with all Neo Geo accessories as well.  I was initially concerned the later paddles that came with the Neo Geo CD wouldn’t work as they require a different electrical current than the joysticks but the one I bought works fine.

Best analog thumb pad ever!

In addition to the Neo Geo CD controller, I have two Neo Geo CD era joysticks.  The quality is fairly high on both with arcade-like buttons and responsive joysticks.  I bought the controller mostly as a curiosity piece.  It came out in 1994, well before the Nintendo 64, and features an analog directional pad.  I know Atari had an analog pad back in the day, but for me (and I assume most people) I didn’t encounter one until the Nintendo 64 and wanted to see how SNK’s earlier design compared to that one as well as the current ones.  Not surprisingly, it’s awesome.  SNK just seems to put out quality hardware and their analog thumb-pad may be the best one I’ve ever used.  It has some resistance to it and even a satisfying “click” when used.  While the joystick pads are preferable, this controller is actually usable for fighting games unlike most analog pads which are just atrocious when used that way.

Despite only having four face buttons, SNK fighters prove quite complex in their controls.  This just points out how redundant modern fighters are with their six button layouts.  I have especially enjoyed my time with The Last Blade.  The Last Blade is the spiritual successor to the Samurai Shodown series and arrived late in the Neo Geo life cycle.  It had one sequel, and both are extremely expensive to acquire for AES owners but the MVS cart is less so.  The sprites are large and the color palette is vibrant.  The gameplay focuses on weapon-based combat and each fighter has two modes; speed and power.  This gives the game tremendous variety and it’s a must play for fans of 2D fighters. By comparison, King of Fighters ’98 is a more traditional fighter and one most people have likely experienced in the arcades.  It’s basically an all-star game with characters from the Fatal Fury and Art of Fighting series.

Metal Slug 3 is arguably the best in the Metal Slug series.  It’s just a side-scrolling shooter like Contra but it’s even more relentless with the enemies.  The sprites are especially enjoyable for this one and a lot of the levels feature an amusing gimmick like vehicles of some kind or the ability to become a zombie.  The boss battles are intense as this game was designed to devour quarters.  I can’t imagine beating this game on one set of credits.  As it stands, I can usually only make it to level 3 without free play on.

This game is sweet.

I’m not sure how many games I’ll eventually get for this machine.  There are several other series of games put out by SNK that I’ve never experienced that may be worth visiting.  I wish  I had a buddy close by who was really into SNK’s fighters so I’d have someone to duel with.  The fact that I don’t is why I never really entertained the idea of getting a full-fledged cabinet (though the kid in me would have loved to) as it would have become a space occupier after six months or so.  I may one day dabble a bit in the AES market, but for those just wanting to experience the games, a consolized MVS is a pretty attractive option.  They’re not cheap and the initial investment will easily dwarf the cost of getting an AES, but if all you have is an AES you’ll likely never experience a game like The Last Blade.  And in the end, getting my hands on some of these forgotten gems is the whole purpose of getting an SNK system.

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February 7, 2012

Circle Pad Pro: Revelation or Ruination?

By Joe

Today Nintendo released a new peripheral for its handheld system, the 3DS.  Dubbed the Circle Pad Pro, this attachment adds additional buttons to the 3DS along with an additional circle pad.  To make things slightly more annoying for gamers, it’s only available through Gamestop and will set you back $20.  Me, being the curious person I am (and since I received a gift card to Gamestop for Christmas), I hit the store and picked one up for myself.

The Circle Pad Pro, the best friend of the 3DS or hungry parasite? You decide.

An additional analog stick, or circle pad, is something many gamers wanted on the 3DS from the start.  While it certainly wasn’t a make or break feature, it’s nice to have.  Ever since Sony released its first version of the Dual Shock controller for the Playstation, the dual analog setup has become commonplace on controllers.  Often one stick controls player movement and the other manipulates the camera.  Other games, like first-person shooters, use one stick for movement and the other to aim.  A genre that was once cumbersome with a controller now has gamers feeling right at home.  And going from that setup to a non dual analog setup can be a bit odd, which is probably why upcoming Playstation Vita sports two analog “nubs.”  As I played through Ocarina of Time 3D I sometimes would find myself feeling for another analog stick out of habit to move the camera, and finding none.

Even though an additional analog input is something I would like to have, my initial reaction to the Circle Pad Pro was muted.  Peripherals often never work out well for consumers.  They’re often expensive, cumbersome, and lacking in support beyond an initial batch of games.  Very few end up being worthwhile.  Then again, no one has really tried to release something like this for a portable.  I’m trying to come up with something similar and the best I can come up with is the Gameboy Printer and Camera.  Neither was worth owning.

It looks like it's trying to swallow the 3DS.

The Circle Pad Pro almost looks like it could be a stand-alone device.  It’s much bigger than the 3DS as it’s meant to house the system like a cradle.  The 3DS fits into it snugly without any locking mechanism that could scratch the system or wind up broken.  The fit is tight enough that there’s really no worry about the system sliding out, but just in case Nintendo did include a wrist strap.  The Circle Pad Pro runs off a single AAA battery (included) which is a good thing because the battery life on the 3DS is bad enough as is. For some reason Nintendo decided to fasten the battery cover in place with a non-removable screw.  It’s good that the screw can’t fall out and get lost, but why was that even necessary?  It’s annoying.  The Circle Pad Pro does add considerable weight to the system, making it weigh just about as much as a first generation PSP.  It’s also quite bulky and definitely detracts from the portability of the system. This isn’t something that fits in most pockets.  And as far as I know, the Circle Pad Pro only comes in matte black, so if you have a blue or a pink 3DS it’s going to be quite the eye sore.

The peripheral may be bulky, but how does it feel?  Pretty nice, actually.  The 3DS is small and the rectangular shape may be efficient but it’s far from comfortable.  Often my hands are pretty tired and cramp after 45 minutes with the system, especially after some Mario Kart.  I’ve spent roughly the same amount of time with my first play session with the Circle Pad Pro and can report little to no discomfort.  The attachment makes the system feel more like a controller and the added weight is actually a welcome thing when it comes to the ergonomics of the device.  The second circle pad feels just like the one on the system, which means it’s a tad loose for my taste but it certainly gets the job done.  In addition to the additional circle pad, the Circle Pad Pro also adds two additional shoulder buttons to the 3DS.  They’re clicky buttons, not triggers, but feel fine.

Rear view, for those who like that sort of thing.

It’s not all gravy though.  The peripheral does cover up the game card slot so the 3DS needs to be removed from the Circle Pad Pro to switch out games.  It also covers up the wireless switch and stylus port, which is kind of annoying.  The added plastic on the right side of the system also makes reaching the face buttons a little awkward.  That will definitely take some getting used to.  Nintendo at least wisely left space for the AC input so you can use the Circle Pad Pro while the 3DS is plugged into a wall outlet.

The Circle Pad Pro could be a flawless addition to the 3DS but it would be terribly useless without software that supports it.  That’s why Nintendo held it back for today which just so happens to be the day Resident Evil: Revelations arrived in stores.  Some of you may have already read about that one and how Capcom released it with an embarrassing typo on the game case’s spin, and if you’re wondering, yes it appears every copy is like that.  Apparently anyone who picks up a copy of the game with the typo can get a free replacement insert but I have no idea why anyone would be bothered to go through the trouble.

Oops.

I picked up a copy of Revelaitons (sic) alongside the Circle Pad Pro.  I was surprised to see that there’s no mention of the device on the game’s packaging.  I figured there would be a tell-tale graphic of some kind alerting would-be consumers that the software supports the Circle Pad Pro but I guess not.  Worry not gamers, Revelations does indeed support the Circle Pad Pro and firing up the game with the Circle Pad Pro attached will cause the game to ask if you wish to make use of it.  I obviously haven’t played enough of the game to render a verdict on how good or bad it is, but I can report that the Circle Pad Pro works, for the most part.

The left circle pad controls your character, Jill, and the right circle pad pivots the camera and makes her turn, pretty much just like a first-person shooter.  When a baddie appears on the screen, pressing the new ZL button causes Jill to draw her firearm and the ZR button shoots.  The regular old R button (actually, that’s kind of new too as the Circle Pad Pro replaces the R button on the 3DS with a new button) causes Jill to bust out her knife or other equipped secondary weapon.  When running around, the ZR button appears to function as the action button which feels kind of odd but I imagine I’ll get used to it.  The face buttons do not appear to be used much though one uses herbs to restore Jill’s health when prompted.  I actually didn’t try the game without the Circle Pad Pro, but I can’t imagine the control scheme working better.

Ready for action!

Visually, Revelations appears to be a stunner.  It’s comparable to Resident Evil 4 or some of the best looking games on the PSP.  A lot of time was definitely invested in Jill as she looks noticeably better than some of the scenery.  The backgrounds I’ve seen have been a little drab but there was some nice lighting on the first scenario which takes place on a darkened ship.  The game immediately places the player in some close quarters which is an uncomfortable feeling, a good thing for a survival horror game.  There’s a lot to take in on the 3DS’s rather small screen and I did experience some minor eye strain after a little while.  And if you’re curious, most of that was spent with the 3D featured turned off (I mostly hate 3D).

I’m pretty optimistic for Revelations.  It feels like Resident Evil and it’s pretty nice looking.  I do find aiming kind of cumbersome as hitting the ZL button immediately brings you into a first-person perspective.  Jill feels kind of slow but the enemies seem pretty quick.  I’ll have to see if that becomes frustrating or not further into the game.  As for the Circle Pad Pro, it does get the job done but if no one supports it then it will just collect dust.  Metal Gear Solid 3D figures to make use of it, and there’s rumors Kid Icarus might as well.  We’ll just have to wait and see.  If it doesn’t bother you to spend the extra dough to get a little more out of Revelations, then I say go for it.  At least it’s not as expensive as the 32X.

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February 4, 2012

Requiem for the PSP

By Joe

The Sony Playstation Portable was first released in the US in 2005.

I was shocked when I realized that Sony’s Playstation Portable (PSP) has been on the market for nearly 7 years.  That’s quite a long time for any hardware to remain relevant, but then again portables have always had a longer shelf life than their console cousins.  The original Gameboy was around for a decade or so before Nintendo finally added color to it, and longer still before a true successor was released.  Handhelds do benefit from redesigns though.  The original bulky Gameboy was originally replaced by the Gameboy Pocket just as the PSP received multiple updates, including one radical re-design in the form of the PSP Go.  This post wouldn’t exist though if it wasn’t for the Playstation Vita, which is set to replace the PSP in less than two weeks.

I have always felt like the PSP was viewed as a failure by the gaming community, or at least only a minor hit.  It was crushed in sales when compared with its nearest competitor, the Nintendo DS.  The two systems have always been intertwined, and even though the DS beat the PSP to market it felt like Nintendo’s retaliation towards Sony.  Nintendo has always dominated the portable landscape.  While systems like Sega’s Game Gear and Atari’s Lynx failed to win over consumers Ninendo’s Gameboy steadily found homes in the back pocket of gamers across the world.  The Gameboy was not a technological marvel by any stretch of the imagination.  Even when it was first released it seemed little better than one of those Tiger handheld games.  When I was a kid, the only people who had Gameboys were those who had parents that weren’t willing to spend a bunch of money on a Nintendo Entertainment System or Super Nintendo once that came out.  It really didn’t become a truly viable system for me until Pokemon in 1998 and the Gameboy Color.  That’s when I jumped on board and I’ve owned every Nintendo portable since.

The PSP has not been a failure, but the redesigned UMD-less PSP Go sure as Hell was.

Sony has been the only real threat to Nintendo’s portable dominance.  Even though it failed to beat out Nintendo’s handheld, it’s actually done fairly well for itself.  Sony has sold approximately 17 million units in North America since 2005, but it’s in Japan where the system really did well as its sold 15 million units there.  It goes without saying, that Japan is much smaller than North America and its rare to see sales figures that are so close when comparing the two territories.  For the sake of comparison, the Nintendo DS has moved nearly 58 million units in North America, and around 33 million in Japan.  It’s those staggerring numbers for the DS that make the PSP seem like a failure.  The PSP has always been the more expensive piece of hardware, debuting at around $100 higher than the cost of the DS in the US, and it has mostly appealed to traditional gamers.  The DS also appealed to gamers, but Nintendo also had great success reaching the non gamers and children as well.  That and the Nintendo brand definitely helped move units.  And for the sake of objectivity, I’ll even go out on a limb and say the DS has the better software as well.  While I actually didn’t get a ton of milage out of either handheld, I did get considerably more out of my DS.

Despite that, I still have great affection for the PSP.  Technologically speaking, it’s the most impressive handheld I’ve ever owned, even more so than the 3DS.  Visually it’s quite the looker, and the weight and feel of the device just give it a aura of high quality.  And I have the original model, now referred to as the PSP-1000.  The subsequent redesigns have slimmed the unit down some and even increased the power of the screen, which to me is borderline shocking as the screen on this thing is beautiful.  Even when I fired it up for the first time in years last week to play Tactics Ogre I was impressed by the clarity of the image.  I never did watch a UMD movie on my PSP, but I imagine they looked just fine.  Sony wisely incorporated analog control for the PSP in the form of the analogy “nub” located under the D-Pad.  If there is one design flaw though, it’s that the nub wasn’t placed in the more prominent position as most games make use of it as the primary means of control.  Nonetheless, it’s textured and grips your thumb as you play and there’s plenty of resistance.  Because of its size and placement, I do consider the circle pad of the 3DS superior but this one gets the job done.

Pretty much the reason why I got a PSP to begin with, Twisted Metal: Head-On, which was basically a remake of the super popular Twisted Metal 2: World Tour.

The medium that the PSP used for games is one not likely to be seen or heard from ever again.  While Nintendo has always stuck with cartridges of some kind for its handhelds, the PSP used an optical disc format that Sony dubbed the Universal Media Disc.  UMD actually worked better than expected.  Yes there are load times, but aside from a handful of early titles, they’re not that bad.  Sony tried to get production companies to put movies out on UMD which mostly failed.  While a UMD disc can hold nearly 2 GB of data, that’s still far short of what a DVD can hold.  This meant most UMD movies came with fewer special features and yet still cost about the same as a DVD version.  Most studios abandoned the UMD format within the first year of the system’s life and never returned.  Utilizing UMD also meant that games lacked a save function and owners were forced to purchase memory sticks for game saves and any other media they wished to put on their PSP.  And since Sony loves going rogue with its devices, it forced gamers to use its own brand of memory sticks called the Memory Stick Pro Duo, instead of allowing gamers to just use any flash card.  Not surprisingly, Sony’s memory sticks were always more expensive than traditional cards which made the entry price of the PSP quite steep.

The UMD format proved adequate for games but never caught on as a film medium.

Short-comings aside, I still love my PSP.  I never acquired much of a gaming library on it, mostly because it just came at a bad time for me.  I really got into portable gaming in the last couple of years, and even though I’ve had a PSP since 2006, I rarely found a reason to play it.  Because the system was so powerful most developers just spent time porting their console games to the device as opposed to making new titles.  There was definitely a lack of truly compelling software to pull me back in.  Square-Enix tried pretty hard though with Crisis Core and the Dissidia franchise.  I have both, but never got into Dissidia’s frantic style.  I did play a lot of MLB The Show on my PSP, and though it wasn’t as good as the PS2 version, it was certainly playable.  I also never took advantage of Sony’s download service that allowed you to download PSOne games and put them on the PSP, though I was tempted to do so with Final Fantasy VII.

The Playstation Vita will arrive on February 15th for those who want the bundle version out there, and a week later for those interested in the stand-alone unit.  Like the PSP, it’s going to cost a lot.  When Sony first unveiled the $250 price point (the same price the PSP debuted at) most were actually pretty happy as that’s the same price the 3DS came out at.  And just like how the PSP far outclassed the DS in terms of raw power, the Vita wipes the floor with the 3DS.  The Vita should be a technological beast and the games we’ll see on it should be comparable in terms of visual quality with what we’re seeing on the PS3 and 360.  The Vita also adds a second analog nub, something gamers were disappointed the 3DS didn’t include, and even has a gimmicky touch pad on the back.  The Vita has also ditched the UMD medium and is opting for flash cards instead.  Prices range from $30 to $50 for games, with most looking like they’ll settle in the middle at $40 a piece.  The memory issue though is the big kick to the crotch that most gamers hate.  Just like how they did with the PSP, Sony has opted to use its own memory card device with the Vita and the prices are outrageous when compared with a standard SD card.  A 4GB card for the Vita will set you back $25.  I have no idea how big a game save figures to be, but 4GB seems awfully tiny considering my PS3 at 60GB is far too small.  A 16GB card will set you back $60 and a 32GB card a whipping $100!  Again, I have no idea what the ideal size will end up being, but if you’re looking to get a Vita with a 16GB card and one game in a couple of weeks that will set you back $350 which is a pretty step entry fee.

The Playstation Vita has obviously adopted the "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" approach in terms of its general design.

And since it’s going to cost so much to be an early adopter, it’s a damn good thing that the launch games actually look pretty awesome.  There’s some first-party favorites like a brand new Uncharted game and the latest Hot Shots Golf game.  The following month Little Big Planet and MLB 12 The Show arrive with a new Resistance game following in May.  On the third party front, ports of Ultimate Marvel Vs Capcom 3 and Ninja Gaiden Sigma Plus arrive alongside new titles like Army Corps of Hell and Ridge Racer.  The Vita is basically the opposite of the 3DS when it launched, as the immediate future looks awesome but I don’t see anything truly compelling on the horizon (not that I expect future software to suck, there’s just nothing comparable to Super Mario 3D Land set for the fall) and I expect a lot of the game’s software to consist of ports.  That’s not the worst thing in the world as ports of sports games are worth owning alongside their console counterparts and some games, like Rayman Origins, almost feel better suited for on the go gaming.  The Vita will also (finally!) incorporate more cross platform features allowing players of The Show to take their franchise from the PS3 to the Vita when leaving the house.  For me, this is something I’ve always wanted out of a portable making it basically a new way to interact with my console.  I also want original content too, and hope the Vita can deliver.

Gameplay shot of Army Corps of Hell on the Vita, a Square-Enix strategy-action hybrid that figures to be interesting, if nothing else.

Because of the cost to be an early adopter though, and the fact that I currently have plenty of gaming to do on my 3DS and PSP, I won’t be getting a Vita this month.  I’ll hold off for now and maybe benefit from a future price drop or something as the Vita has failed to gain much traction so far in Japan and may meet a similar reception in the US.  With the economy the way it is I can’t see the Vita getting off to a great start here.  It will move some units, but probably won’t have a better launch than the 3DS which was pretty slow to start off (again, probably because of cost though the lack of games certainly didn’t help).  When I do eventually get a Vita, I’ll be a little sad to say goodbye to my PSP.  Even though it probably has been a commercial success for Sony, I feel like the PSP has been the most under-appreciated gaming device of the last 7 years, maybe even the most under-appreciated ever!  The device, in its original release, still holds up from a technological standpoint when compared with the 3DS and I think it was a great thing that Sony entered the handheld market and forced Nintendo’s hand.  Sony raised the bar and brought console gaming to a portable device, something even Nintendo and other developers have been more willing to adopt recently.  The soon to be released Resident Evil Revelations for the 3DS is basically a console experience on a handheld, and I find that awesome.  For a long time portable gaming did not interest me because it just seemed like a watered down version of what I could experience in my living room.  I didn’t care to do that and wanted a truly rich experience.  Portable gaming has finally caught up with consoles and it’s no surprise I’m playing more portable games now than I ever have before.  I plan to treat Tactics Ogre like a great encore for my PSP, and I’ll enjoy every minute of it.

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January 29, 2012

Greatest Games: Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars

By Joe

Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars (1996)

In the early to mid 90’s Nintendo was still king.  Sega had carved out a very nice, and in some parts of the world larger, fan-base but Nintendo was still the first word that came mind when video games were brought up.  By the end of the 90’s Sony would establish itself as the new leader of the pack, but that didn’t really weaken the Nintendo brand too much.  At the same time, Squaresoft was killing it with the Final Fantasy franchise and beyond.  When it was announced that Nintendo and Square were working together on a role-playing game expectations could not have been set higher.

That collaboration would give birth to Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, one of the Super Nintendo’s final acts of brilliance.  I, to this day, still feel like I missed out a bit on how great the SNES was.  I had one, like just about everybody.  When I first heard that a Super Nintendo was coming to market I wanted it without ever having seen it.  I didn’t have a subscription to a game magazine or anything, and not many of my friends did either.  I think the first time I saw what the SNES even looked like was at a cousin’s house.  I begged for one but would have to wait a little while until one Christmas where I had my Ralphie moment to find it hidden behind a kitchen chair.  It was awesome, but by next Christmas I wanted a Genesis because it had Mortal Kombat with blood.  Pixelated red stuff was really important to a 9 year old.  I received a Genesis the very next Christmas, one year after I got my SNES.  From there I never received another SNES game.  I think my mother and grandmother (the two most likely to buy me Christmas and birthday presents) assumed the Genesis was superior or something and would just buy me Genesis games.  As a result, most of my SNES play was through rentals or much later on through ports on the Playstation or other means.

Mario was able to jump and avoid enemies on the "world map" areas. Contact with an enemy would take the player into battle mode.

Super Mario RPG was a game I experienced in a limited fashion when it was first released.  On the surface, it was kind of an absurd title.  Mario, the plumber, in an epic Final Fantasy style adventure?  It had an interesting visual style though, a pseudo 3D engine that kind of looked like claymation, and an isometric 3 quarters perspective.  I rented it with a friend, multiple times I think, though we understandably could never beat it in one night.  I had another friend who owned it and showed me the ending since he beat it.  I never thought to borrow it and play through it myself, probably because by then I had a Playstation and was at that age where it didn’t make sense to go backwards from the more powerful console to the lesser.  When emulation started to rise in popularity on the internet I downloaded it and played through it.  And then once the Wii and its Virtual Console came along I downloaded it again and played through it from start to finish, this time seeing everything the game had to offer.

The antagonist for Super Mario RPG; Smithy!

Super Mario RPG is one of those games that’s just plain fun to play.  It would be easy to credit that to the Mario charm but I give most of the credit to Square.  Square could have taken the easy way out and just palette swapped Final Fantasy VI with Nintendo characters and called it a day.  Instead, they took the essence of what made a Mario game a Mario game and incorporated that into an RPG formula.  Mario is the premier platform hero, and Square wisely identified that and incorporated something that’s fundamental in most games into a genre where it’s completely foreign:  the jump button.  Mario could jump, which added a new amount of depth to the world.  Mario traverses a world not completely unlike his usual Nintendo adventures.  As he encounters enemies he can jump on them which brings the game into battle with Mario scoring an early hit.  He also has platforms to traverse and jump across.  These challenges are fairly limited and there’s nothing as challenging as the hardest Super Mario Bros. levels were accustomed to, but it does add to the experience and help make it decidedly “Mario.”

The battle system also received an overhaul to best suit the plumber and his pals.  It’s still turn-based like the majority of RPGs at that time, but it incorporates more button presses.  These commands take the form of either button mashing or timing based.  Hit the attack button at the proper time for just about every attack and the character will score an additional hit up to a certain point.  It’s possible to ignore these extra commands if one is so inclined, but it’s far more rewarding to make use of them.  The more powerful attacks were suitably more difficult to pull off but also more rewarding.  This also worked on defense as well, as characters could avoid taking full damage on some attacks with a well-timed button press.  The game does a good job of changing things up at the right time as well so that just when you’re getting comfortable dodging the para-kooopa’s attack or timing Mario’s mallet strikes just right, a new enemy comes along or a new weapon.

The weapons and skills also have a lot of Mario charm incorporated into them.  Mario has his fire power to make use of and his jump attack.  He can also wield a mallet at times like he did way back in his debut in Donkey Kong.  My favorite weapon is probably Bowser’s chain chomp which he wields like a bolas by spinning it over his head and then tossing it.  Oh yeah, this game also pairs up Mario and Bowser!  Such a pairing would repeat itself, but this is the first time it happened in a game and it was pretty cool.  Not only was it fun to pair Mario and Bowser, but it’s also nice to give Mario a different antagonist.  And since the Princess joins the party as well, this makes Super Mario RPG the rare Mario game where the plumber isn’t out to rescue the Princess from Bowser.

The "star" of Super Mario RPG? Geno certainly was a hit with fans, and many would like to see a return engagement with Mario.

Square would jointly create additional characters with Nintendo to flesh out Mario’s party.  In battle, only 3 characters can be used at once but up to 5 were selectable by the game’s end.  In addition to the 3 mentioned before, Mario was also teamed up with a cloud kid named Mallow (who thinks he’s a frog) and the toy come to life Geno.  Geno has since become a fan-favorite and often comes up whenever a new Smash Bros. game is mentioned as a potential player character.  Despite the fan reaction to him, he’s yet to make another appearance in any Nintendo game.  Square actually holds the copyright on Geno (or at least holds it jointly with Nintendo) which is why he is unlikely to ever surface again as a playable character (he does have an item cameo in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga).  The party Mario ends up forming contains the usual assortment of offensive-minded characters, healers, and so on.  It’s nothing too deep, but the variety is solid enough.

If there’s room for improvement it’s with the story-line and difficulty of the game.  It’s standard fare for an RPG to have a big, dramatic plot, which is something Mario has never been known for.  The story here is rather simplistic and not a driving force of the game.  Square wisely interjects humor wherever it can giving this title a different feel from most of the genre.  And considering Nintendo didn’t give Square much to work with in terms of plot depth based on older Super Mario Bros. games, they did a pretty admirable job.  And while the gameplay is complex enough to separate the title from introductory RPGs such as Mystic Quest, it still feels like Square made it as accessible as possible for Nintendo’s audience.  There’s some challenge to the game but nothing crazy.  There’s no point in the game which requires the player to go out and level grind to get through a certain dungeon or any white knuckle boss encounters.  Even the optional, hidden boss Culex (a Final Fantasy themed boss) isn’t very difficult to best.

The game is by no means perfect, but it offered a fun and refreshing take on the RPG genre when it was first released.  The charm of the title was infectious, and it’s approach to battle would show up in both future Nintendo titles and future Squaresoft games.  Because the relationship between the two companies soured shortly after the release of Super Mario RPG, a true sequel has never been created.  Instead fans have received several spiritual sequels in the form of the Paper Mario series and the handheld Mario & Luigi games.  Both franchises borrow heavily from Super Mario RPG, but neither is a copy and paste affair.  For the most part, the humor has been carried over and made an essential part of the game’s story-telling.  Bowser is also rarely the ultimate foe and is sometimes a playable character as well.  Timing based attacks are the norm for the battles and for the most part the games have been a lot of fun.  Turning Mario into an RPG star seemed like a pretty crazy idea in 1996, but it worked out better than probably anyone could have hoped for.  The current games have been fun, but I still think the original Super Mario RPG is the best.

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January 28, 2012

Overwhelmed by Games

By Joe

The last 6 months have been pretty spectacular for gamers.  It’s safe to say, if you have even a passing interest in video games you’ve been pretty busy.  I’m not sure I can recall such a period ever occurring before.  There’s been some excellent falls before where several quality titles were released, but I can’t recall one like this where that epic fall carried over into the new year so strongly.  I’m looking at the upcoming releases and looking at the games I have that I’ve yet to play and wondering how I’m going to get to everything.  I suppose it’s a good problem to have, but some things are going to go missing.  There’s already been one casualty for me, WWE 12, as I just didn’t have the time.  I very nearly bought it anyways as I wanted to do a follow-up on a post I did last year but the reviews I were reading just did not excite me.  I passed on it, better luck next year THQ.

I have begun organizing, in my head, the games I have yet to play.  This is what I’ve come up with:

Games I own But Have Yet to Play

I’ll probably finally finish my adventure in the land of Skyrim this weekend.  I’ve played through every

Soon, my friend, soon.

major quest, save the final one, and even acquired every trophy on the Playstation Network which is something I never do.  When I do finish with that I have a decision to make.  Two other games have been sitting on my coffee table since Christmas unplayed; Batman: Arkham City and The Legend of Zelda:  Skyward Sword.  My plan has been to dust off my much neglected Wii and settle into the land of Hyrule once again but I am wavering a bit.  Skyward Sword may be a very different adventure/RPG type of game than Skyrim but the same sense of grandeur still applies.  I also just finished The Minish Cap on my 3DS, and combine that with several other Zelda games that I played through in 2011, and I’m bordering on Zelda exhaustion.  I don’t want an over-exposure to Zelda to impact my impressions of Skyward Sword any, so a break may be in order.  Plus the alternative is Batman, and Batman kicks ass.  On the other hand, It’s likely to be a long adventure and maybe I should just get it started.  I also bought a new Wii remote and am eager to test out Wii Motion Plus.  I also have Infamous 2 from last summer that I’ve only played once.  Even though I really liked the first one, and the second is pretty much more of the same, I’ve had a really hard time finding the motivation to play it.  I’m not sure if I’ll ever go back to it.

Following my write-up on Final Fantasy Tactics, I found myself really eager to go check out the original Tactics Ogre.  I recently was able to find a used copy of the PSP edition and have that for play during my morning and evening commute.  I’m currently spending that time playing Mario Kart 7, but I just finished unlocking everything in that so I may be ready to make the switch from 3DS to PSP soon.  If not this week, then probably next.  I still have a bunch of those Gameboy Advance downloads as part of Nintendo’s Ambassador Program.  I really want to play through Fire Emblem at some point, but it looks like that will have to wait.

Games Set for Release Soon

This is where things get complicated.  February and March are loaded with new game releases.  It’s almost to the point where I’m rooting against some of these titles and hoping the review scores come in low so I can just skip them with little regard.  That seems unlikely though.

Tight corridors and zombie-like creatures, now THIS is Resident Evil!

First up on February 7th is Resident Evil Revelations on the 3DS.  Revelations represents a return to the more survival horror roots of the franchise as opposed to the run and gun mechanics of Resident Evil 5.  This is a welcome development for me and it’s been a long time since I’ve played through a true RE game.  The first reviews are starting pop up and they’re pretty positive, though not exemplary. Released alongside Revelations will be the Circle Pad Pro, an attachment for the 3DS that adds additional shoulder buttons and a second circle pad.  It’s being sold exclusively through Gamestop.  I hate Gamestop and as a result never shop there, but someone gave me a gift card to there for Christmas so I’ll just use that on the Circle Pad Pro.  That attachment should also enhance the gameplay experience of another February release, Metal Gear Solid 3D: Snake Eater.  This is a port of MGS 3, my favorite of the Solid series, for the 3DS.  It looks every bit as good as the original and is actually a port of the Subsistence version of that title which added a better camera angle amongst other additional content.  I never played that version which just makes me even more interested in this title.  My handheld gaming is looking quite busy!

Not to be undone, the home consoles are fixing for a crowded release schedule as well.  I made an entry on the Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning demo last week, and that gets released in February.  I wasn’t blown away by the demo, but the various gaming media outlets seem pretty high on it.  Regardless, it’s looking like I’ll pass it over for now and maybe pick it up at a later date when things have settled down (if they ever do).  Also being released in February is the latest entry in the Twisted Metal series, simply titled Twisted Metal.  This is the first true TM game since 2001’s Twisted Metal Black, one of the best games released for the Playstation 2.  I was an early adopter of the TM franchise, and save for the shoddy 989 releases, have long loved the series.  This one has me a bit concerned though as it sounds like the developers have focused more on the multi-player aspect at the expense of the single player one.  The various stories in TM Black were what made the game for me, and it’s really disappointing to know that only 3 characters are receiving such treatment.  They’ve also, for the first time, allowed the various drivers to be paired with different vehicles, kind of like the latest entries in the Mario Kart franchise.  This should add more customization to the experience, but it just sounds lazy to me.  I should be super excited for this game, but I’m not.  If it wasn’t called Twisted Metal, I wouldn’t be making a post on it.  We shall see.

March and Beyond

I'm not sure how I feel about this development.

There’s potentially two big console releases in February, combined with two 3DS releases and the games I already own but haven’t played.  March is proving to be no kinder.  The 3DS will continue to get new software including a first-party release; Kid Icarus Uprising.  Kid Icarus has long been neglected by Nintendo since his first and only console experience from way back on the original Nintendo Entertainment System.  He showed up on in the last Smash Bros. game but Uprising will be his first solo title in over 20 years.  Early returns show promise, as Uprising combines on-rail shooting with conventional platforming elements.  The controls are what has garnered the most attention as aiming is controlled with the stylus and has received mixed reviews.  It’s possible the game will support the Circle Pad Pro as an alternative intended for left-handed gamers, but that may be preferred by all.  To help combat the cumbersome controls, Nintendo is including some kind of stand for the 3DS that’s supposed to help alleviate cramping.  This kind of detracts from the portable nature of the system, but whatever.  I’ll be checking in on this one to see how it fares in reviews.

Looming large for console gamers is perhaps the early favorite for Game of the Year: Mass Effect 3.  This is a must play title for me.  Anything less than amazing will be a disappointment.  All of my gaming in the interim will be done with the idea of having a clean slate for when this game hits.  There’s no way I can get through Zelda and Batman before then, let alone any games released in February, so I have no idea how I’ll fit this one in.  I like to only have one game going at a time, and it’s possible the games I have are so good that I’ll be okay with putting ME3 on hold for awhile, but that seems unlikely at this point in time.

Less than a month after ME3 is released Xenoblade Chronicles arrives on Wii.  This figures to be my final Wii purchase but if early indications are to be believed, it should be a memorable final outing.  The struggles to get this one released in the US have been well-documented, and for that reason alone I almost feel obligated to purchase it.  Hopefully the game ends up being worth the wait.

Oh Hell yeah!

Those are just the big titles, the ones I expect to be must buys.  I didn’t even mention the others, the ones that may prove worthy of both my time and money.  I’m talking about games such as Soul Caliber V, Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City, MLB 12, Street Fighter x Tekken, Final Fantasy XIII-2, and more!  Those are all games I’m interested in, but may be forced to bypass.  MLB 12: The Show seems like the most likely to be purchased because I love MLB and haven’t bought a new game since 2009.  I just hope the new game finally makes the changes I’ve long wanted to see from the franchise.  And just to amke things even more crowded and uncertain, Sony is launching the PSP successor at the end of February as well.  Called the Vita, it very much resembles the PSP but with a ton more power.  This thing is practically a portable PS3 and the launch games actually look pretty damn good.  I’ll have a hard time resisting the urge to check it out, though I know I should.  What is absolutely guaranteed is that I’ll have no shortage of games to play.  If I ever find myself sitting on my couch with nothing to do I’ll be sure to scold myself.  Happy gaming everyone!

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January 22, 2012

Kingdoms of Amalur Demo Impressions

By Joe

Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning (2012)

As a Red Sox fan, I was made aware of future Hall of Fame pitcher Curt Schilling’s video game obsession early on.  Perhaps not as early on as Diamondbacks or Phillies fans, but certainly well before the formation of 38 Studios (at one point, Green Monster Games), the developer behind the latest RPG Kingdoms of Amalur:  Reckoning.

Schilling was a noted EverQuest junkie.  For those unfamiliar, EverQuest was World of Warcraft before WoW.  It wasn’t the first massively multi-player online RPG, but it was certainly the first one to reach a large audience.  Schilling was not at all embarrassed by his nerdy obsession, and why would he be?  He was a multi-millionaire athlete with a hot wife.

It’s been a good, long while since Schilling decided to stop just being a fan and decided to create games for himself.  When that announcement was made I wasn’t sure what to expect.  I thought maybe he’d get into developing on a small scale with iPhone type games, and if he got into the big boy stuff, it would be a MMORPG for the PC, which seemed to be the only game he was into.  Or, as is often the case with this kind of wishful thinking announcement, I figured I’d never hear about 38 Studios again and the company would be dissolved before Schilling lost too much money.  When the first trailer for Kingdoms of Amalur surfaced over a year ago I was both surprised and officially intrigued.

In 2009, 38 Studios made a big acquisition when it acquired small developer Big Huge Games.  Big Huge Games is mostly known for its work with the RTS game Rise of Nations, but it was allocated to Reckoning in an effort to create a single-player experience.  Schilling also brought on board noted fantasy scribe R.A. Salvatore to help design the game world and create a robust history.  Todd McFarlane was also brought in for character designs giving 38 Studios an almost all-star quality.

Suddenly, Reckoning had a lot going for it and the first reveal only made fans more interested getting their paws on a finished product.  Just this past week a playable demo was released for PC, Xbox 360, and PS3 and I gave it a test run.

First of all, Reckoning is a third-person western style RPG.  If you don’t know what that means (you must not read this blog regularly) it just means the game is more like Skyrim than Final Fantasy.  You’re given control of one character and right away you get to customize him to your liking.  You can be as detail oriented as you wish or go with a randomly generated character produced by the game.  There are four base races to choose from that each are more suited towards a particular play style (one makes for an obvious mage, the other warrior, and so on).  The game then lets you pick a deity for your character to follow which incurs some bonuses to certain stats, or you can go atheist if you wish.  The level of customization is pretty much on par with recent entries into this genre such as Dragon Age and Skyrim.

Reckoning places a lot of emphasis on combat, and mostly succeeds in crafting some fun gameplay mechanics.

The demo has you play through an introductory level of sorts.  It gives you some context and, as expected, lets you know that your character is unique and somehow really important to this game’s world.  It’s pretty standard stuff.  From what I gathered from the giant opening cinematic, is that the game is focused on war between mortals and immortals.  These immortals (they have a special name that I forgot) are not immortal in the literal sense, it would be seem.  They die when you fight them, and during the cinematic one gets stabbed through the chest and appears as dead as anything else.  I’m going to assume their immortality comes into play after “death” and that they’re resurrected or something.  Regardless, the story has potential but doesn’t seem all together different from the first Dragon Age when you get right down to it.  It’s good vs evil and the evil guys are way cooler and more ferocious looking.

The introductory dungeon does a good job of giving you a chance to try out seemingly everything.  It encourages you to give melee a try and even throws in some stealth and magic play.  When it comes to an end you select your character class and start customizing it the way you want to play.  The game breaks everything down into three parts where character class is concerned:  warrior, rogue, and mage.  They have their own unique heading instead of that, I know the rogue abilities are called finesse and the warrior ones might be maul or something.  Each one has its own tech tree and at each level up you get 3 points to spend however you wish.  Even if you’re playing a mostly warrior type character you can invest points in the other two schools.  Considering you get 3 points at each level, it seems like it won’t take that long to fill-out a tree but we shall see.  As you spend points in each one the game keeps track which allows you to open up class advancements in each one.  For example, the base finesse class can become a thief or an assassin as more points are invested in it.  You can also dual and triple class if you like variety, which definitely has me intrigued.  I suspect few will play one dimensional characters.  Apparently, as part of the game, you’ll be able to meet characters that (for a fee, I assume) will wipe away all of your point allocations and let you reallocate them from scratch.  This means if you’ve played the game for 30 hours as a warrior but decide you want to switch it up and be a mage/thief, you can!  That seems pretty cool to me and is a good way to let your players experience everything the game has to offer without starting over.

While Bethesda tries to make their creatures seem plausible, Reckoning just wants them to look cool.

Visually, the game is a pretty solid looking title.  It reminds me a lot of EA’s (the publisher for Reckoning) other RPG series Dragon Age.  Both go for a clean look with a rich color palette, which is in contrast to Bethesda’s Skyrim which has a gritty feel with a muted, gray palette.  The character designs also follow a similar philosophy in that they’re straight-up fantasy fare.  Where Skyrim tries to take these creatures and make them seem realistic, Reckoning just throws them in.  This gives some characters, like the gnomes, an almost toon quality to them.  Structurally, the game is also similar to Dragon Age in its approach to the environment.  The map is huge, though in the demo I was obviously restricted to a small piece, but it looks like Reckoning will favor condensed but connected areas as opposed to Skyrim’s wide-open terrain.  This makes sense considering the game’s focus on combat.

How is that combat?  Quite good actually.  At first, it feels like Reckoning may be another button masher like Dragon Age 2 or (gulp) Dynasty Warriors.  Instead, there is importance placed on blocking or parrying and there are time-sensitive special moves you unlock as you advance in levels.  I was concerned when I first started playing that combat would be too simple but the longer I got in the more varied the opponents became.  I could probably approach it like a Diablo and just keep attacking and spamming potions but I found myself dodging and weaving amongst my enemies always trying to avoid being ganged up on.  There’s also a special slow motion type attack that’s triggered by a meter.  When activated, it slows everyone down but your character and you can deal out some serious damage.  It’s player activated so you’ll find yourself saving a fully charged meter for a tough encounter, at least I did.  Main attacks are done with one button, while special abilities and spells are mapped to a trigger.  The game makes liberal use of the radial menu popularised by BioWare for easy access to potions.  There’s also always a secondary weapon mapped to another face button on the controller letting you change things up on the fly.  And like with Skyrim, you can also enter a stealth mode and try to sneak up on enemies to deal massive damage.

Reckoning looks pretty nice, and the combat seems fun, but I’m not sure where I stand on the product as a whole.  I like its ambition, I like pretty much everything I talked about, but there’s stuff I don’t like.  For one, the game’s camera is way too loose.  I liken it to the inFamous series as it has a similar feel.  The camera also feels like it’s too close to my character.  I found myself constantly spinning it around with the right analog stick to get a look at something.  The character also has a floaty feel and landing hits on enemies just lacks something that I can’t quite place my finger on.  The game just doesn’t feel as fun to play as it should, given all that’s gone into it and all that it gets right.

Downloading this demo will also score you some sweet armor in Mass Effect 3.

This game is ultimately going to be compared to Skyrim because both fit into the same genre and will be released relatively close together (Reckoning hits stores February 7th).  The experience of the two is vastly different though.  Skyrim is more an exploration, sandbox kind of title.  Reckoning has a large map, but exploration seems like it will be more tedious than wondrous.  There’s some emphasis placed on free will in Reckoning as well (you can pick pocket, target civilians for attacks and so on) but some of the world’s real feel is dampened by archaic video game conventions like breakable boxes strewn about.  I can run into some guy’s house and just start smashing things for loot and he doesn’t give a shit, which is disappointing.  This game reminds me more of Microsoft’s Fable series than Skyrim, though I think the finished product will be superior.

In the end, I feel like I can’t offer a fair assessment of Kingdoms of Amalur because I’ve just been playing too much Skyrim.  I’m nearing 150 hours with that beast and playing something different just feels too foreign right now.  I have legitimate concerns about Reckoning, enough that I know I won’t be a day 1 purchaser.  That was unlikely anyways as I have too many games I have yet to play as is, but I’m definitely holding out for some full reviews.  And after my experience with Skyrim and its stability (terrible) I’m a little gun-shy to jump right into a new, massive game before knowing how well it runs.  I do recommend that people try this demo out.  It’s quite generous and after the tutorial dungeon you’re given 45 minutes to do whatever you want.  They closed off some areas and I think they removed a lot of the NPC audio to make the download smaller, but you get a good test run.  What will make this game a success or not is how well player’s enjoy the gameplay mechanics and quest variety.  Skyrim offers the same quest over and over but gives it unique context, plus the world is just fun to explore and I’m not sure Reckoning’s will have that same feel.  The story-telling and NPC audio in Skyrim is often times less then stellar but if the quest has me doing something interesting I can overlook it.  If Reckoning just has the player fetching items and clearing dungeons endlessly it may get boring pretty quickly.  We’ll just have to wait and see.  My expectations after playing the demo though are that it probably won’t eclipse Skyrim as the definitive fantasy RPG experience, but should at least top my pick for 2011’s most disappointing release, Dragon Age 2.  And if so, that’s a pretty nice spot to occupy.

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