[rokbox title=”Trinity Universe Review” thumb=”http://www.geeksofgaming.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/trinityuniversereview.png” size=”854 505″ ]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6trqc-1zziM&hd=1&autoplay=1[/rokbox]
Trinity Universe is an RPG created by three different companies that combines characters from each of their respective properties. So those familiar with the Disgaea and Atelier series will see a lot of familiar characters in Trinity Universe. Now if you’re easily put off by Anime games, I will go ahead and leave a disclaimer for you to avoid at all costs. If Anime is okay in your book or you’re an experienced otaku, then go ahead and continue with the rest of the review.
You can choose the Demon Dog King, Kanata… or the Valkyrie Rizelea. As Kanata you are passed the title of Demon God King, which means that he’ll have to follow the tradition of his people and become a Demon God Gem. Kanata, who only thirsts for adventure, escapes during the Ritual to see what the world has in store for him. While Valkyrie Rizelea wishes to find Kanata and force him into becoming a Demon God Gem.
Every portion of the story is told through animated cut-scenes similar to those found in Blazblue, or pretty much any Japanese visual novel. Trinity Universe is a comedy game and it shows throughout, especially since it constantly breaks the fourth wall any chance it gets. It’s a plus that the English cast is pretty good in their roles, but you can always switch to the Japanese language track if you don’t like it.
The randomness of the characters won’t be for everyone, but anyone that enjoyed the Disgaea series will definitely enjoy the wacky interactions here. The game opens up in chapters similar to something you would see in an Anime. With brand new characters to create even more wacky situations for the lead protagonist being used at the time.
When it comes to game play… let me tell you that you may actually turn this game off within thirty minutes of getting into combat. The reason why is because of one particular thing “beep… beep… beeeep”. For some god awful reason the game feels like it has to throw a tutorial in your face every 5 minutes at the beginning of the game. So within an hour of game play I’m sure you will have seen at least 10 tutorials. It really is one of the most annoying things I have ever had to deal with in a video game. Luckily you have me here to tell you to skip it, and use the in-game compendium if you need to know anything.
Then let’s get to the actual game play which consists of combining combos with the Square X and Triangle buttons. The Square button is used for a quick attack, while X is a heavy attack, and Triangle is a magical attack that can hit multiple opponents. Things can expand even more by using the R1 button to chain attacks together between characters. This even provides status boosts to the selected character, and if players build up enough orbs they can use a super attack or cure.
You can also use the circle button to cast various abilities, and the longer you hold the charge the more abilities available. This sounds like an intricate process involving lots of options, but most of the battles boil down to stringing together familiar combos through slow plodding combat. A good majority of the time you’ll watch the characters on screen slowly react to the buttons you pressed on the screen. This also goes for how long it takes for the enemy to actually attack, it takes awhile for them to switch turns and get off a move. If they do any sort of combination move, each attack will be about 2 seconds apart per enemy.
That’s not even mentioning how you actually get into combat, the world consists of debris that floats around in space. You select a dungeon from a menu and casually walk through searching for treasure, and being randomly attacked by invisible enemies in the most basic RPG fashion. So you’ll run around searching through large empty environments looking for the final boss in the end. Of course you could collect various items from enemies and chests to use to synthesize items with better bonuses. You can also create monsters that you can fight in the coliseum for experience and loot.
When I look at Trinity Universe’s beautifully colored cut-scenes that lack true animation, I expected to see some glorious in-game graphics to make up for it. Yet as soon as you enter the first dungeon and pan the camera around, you’ll immediately notice that this is barely a Playstation 3 title visually. This game reeks of something that was previously a PS2 title and ported to PS3. The surroundings of each dungeon lack any sort of artistic flair, and the dungeon exteriors look like something you’d see in a tourist shop.
The dead giveaway though is the character models, which on close inspection look like Antique Japanese dolls. The weapons and clothing don’t change with new itemization, and the special abilities lack any sort of pizzazz. There are also some draw distance issues that you can see like environment popping in. Sometimes there is a strange black texture flickering in the background in some battles. You’ll notice some odd slowdown in some of the dungeons you travel through also. That and every single time you get into a battle, the game will take about 3 seconds to load. That’s not counting the extra time added if one of your characters is talking as the battle starts.
Trinity Universe is a very mediocre Japanese RPG that seems like it was rushed out of the door for the Playstation 3. What seems like a game that could have been a very deep dungeon crawler, turns out to be plagued by slow, recycled, and boring mechanics. This game receives a D- from Half-Ass gaming, which is a shame because some of the voice work is pretty good. It’s a shame that the humorous story can’t really hold weight under the boring game play package.
Trinity Universe Review
Arc Rise Fantasia Review
[rokbox title=”Arc Rise Fantasia Review” thumb=”http://www.geeksofgaming.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/arcrisepreview.png” size=”854 505″ ]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3653PPR22g&hd=1&autoplay=1[/rokbox]
Arc Rise Fantasia follows the story of L’Arc Bright Lagoon, a Mercenary hired to fight off the destructive Feldragons. He’s saved from certain death by a strange woman named Ryfia, and with that meeting the two are bound together in a long journey. As soon as L’Arc discovers that he has a hidden power within him, his world immediately turns upside down as he begins his journey to discover the meaning of his gift.
Arc Rise Fantasia’s story is standard fare for RPG’s, you play as the destined hero who leads a group across the world. L’Arc is the Child of Eesa who is supposed to be lead by the Diva Ryfia to create a new country. He becomes embroiled in a war with the Empire versus the Republic… sounds familiar doesn’t it? You’ll discover more about your party while traveling through the over world as random dialogue events appear. This is similar to the skit system you would see in the Tales series, where the party will interact with each other at certain times.
The world is a colorful one, with some impressive detail paid to a lot of the cities in the game. The art style can mostly be likened to Rune Factory: Frontier, but things take on a much larger scale in Arc Rise Fantasia. The character models won’t blow any minds, but they do have that anime character stylized feel to them. Though most of the time you’ll see animated stills of the characters talking inside of a dialogue box. The problem with the graphics would have to be the Aliasing issues in the over world and towns. Things are incredibly jagged in Arc Rise Fantasia and it is a bit of an eyesore. What makes things worse is the fact that the game will have occasional slow down issues. This could be from just running around in town, or right after a battle in one of the dungeon areas in the game. It’s odd how the game has slowdown in these areas where nothing is happening, but everything is fine during the combat sequences.
The most unforgiving of the problems though would have to be in voice-work. This is probably one of the worst English dubs since Resident Evil one. It is incredibly hard to take anyone serious in this game at all, it sounds like everything was done in one take when they recorded each character. You can’t care about a storyline when the characters themselves don’t sound into it. What makes matters worse is that there isn’t a Japanese language track to switch to. To add insult to injury, the English voice track isn’t aligned with the in-game models either. So it’s either endure the voices of the characters, or turn the volume for them down to zero and read text.
At least the combat in Arc Rise Fantasia is pretty good, it takes on the basic turn-based game play we’ve come to love from RPG’s. Most of your time is spent out in the open field areas of the game. You’ll run into enemies here for your grinding needs, this includes experience, weapons, and money. Each weapon you purchase has a chance to level up and open new skill slots. With this system you can swap out gems from other weapons into your newly acquired one.
You can also upgrade each characters magical ability, this consists of purchasing new gem slots, increasing mana, and upgrading magic levels. When in combat you have plenty of things to work with, from basic attacks to more powerful abilities like the Excel Acts. These can range from powerful buffs, special attacks, or even healing effects. Add in the ability to use Arm Forces, which are skills gained from leveling up various weapons in the game.
Finally we have the Rogress ability that L’Arc can use to summon a powerful creature to decimate his foes. The only way to use any of these abilities however is by having enough AP to actually use a skill, but players only get one AP bar to spread across multiple characters. So you have to decide how much AP is actually worth using for that turn. Now I know that sounds a bit complicated, but in most fights you can just hit the C button and choose adaptive tactics and win a battle. With this function the game becomes more RPG-Light, as most of the time instead of messing with the clunky combat menu. You will most likely just choose one of the 3 tactics and be done with it. It is only in boss fights where things will probably become more hands-on. Since a good majority of the bosses will use extremely powerful moves, and you’ll have to properly measure your heals and damage to win those fights.
Yet if your aim is to play a game where grinding isn’t much of a chore, Arc Rise Fantasia is it. Since there are various quests you can receive from the guild that sends you out into the world to fight monsters. Being that just spamming the C and A button while in combat versus mediocre monsters usually yields a win. This pretty much takes the strain out of all of the pain that comes with grinding. Now is any of this actually fun when you get down to it… probably not. I mean it’s good that I can automate everything, but the story is so dull that I don’t think it is worth it.
Especially when you realize there will be portions of the game where you have to walk back and forth constantly through a town. This usually entails listening to constant events of horrible voice acting… it really isn’t something that the game play can overcome. Even the music comes off as a bit uninspired… I mean there are some interesting songs here and there… but nothing that really comes off as a masterpiece. it’s a shame too… but even after playing this game for about 20 hours… I still couldn’t find a reason to continue playing. With that… the final grade for Arc Rise Fantasia is a D… the dull story accompanied by horrible voiceover really put this over the top.
Sin and Punishment: Star Successor Review
[rokbox title=”Star Successor Review” thumb=”http://www.geeksofgaming.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/sinandpunishment2review.png” size=”854 505″ ]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1Gcgd_Ry1g&hd=1&autoplay=1[/rokbox]
Sin and Punishment: Star Successor is the sequel to a game released on the N64 in Japan of 2000. It was then re-released back in 2007 on the virtual console for the Wii. It was a very simple rail shooter that followed the story of rebels fighting back against the Ruffians. It wasn’t exactly the best game on the market, but it is still a very enjoyable shooter. Now about 10 years later it finally has a sequel, so is the next Sin and Punishment a true successor?
Sin and Punishment was created by Treasure, who are also known for such games as Ikaruga and Gunstar Heroes. You play as either Isa or Kachi who are on the run from A group named Nebulox. Isa was tasked with killing Kachi an artificial being running loose on earth, but instead for reasons unknown he decides to protect her. So a majority of the story is basically you running from Nebulox and trying to keep Kachi from being killed. It’s a very straight-forward story that keeps you interested through cut-scenes when you’re not shooting things out of the sky.
The game play is very similar to that of classic on rail shooters like Panzer Dragoon and Space Harrier. So all the control is left up to the scrolling environment, while you use the analog stick to evade the various projectiles in your path. The Wii remote is used to target the countless enemies on the screen, while the B button is used to dispatch them with well placed fire. Holding down the B button will make sure that you keep up a steady rate of fire, while tapping it while make your character use a melee attack.
This attack is useful for knocking objects out of your path that you cannot shoot. While locked on with the A button, you can use the melee button to knock projectiles back into the faces of enemies for increased damage. The A button can also be held down to start a continuous lock sequence on multiple targets, or a heavy lock sequence when you need to take down something extremely big. The movement comes off very fluidly for the most part, the only problem is that the game can lock on to certain objects on its own when you wish to shoot something else. It’s not a big problem since releasing the B button and pressing it again will select your next target.
Things can easily get very challenging in Star Successor, you’ll have to use all of your reflexes to get out of a mixture of situations. More than likely you’ll be using the evade button a lot, seeing as most of the bosses have rigorous patterns that you have to memorize. It’s been a long time since I’ve played a game with such classic boss battles, and on the higher difficulties it really puts your reflexes to the test. It’s good to see a shooter that is as fun as it is challenging. Not to mention that this game can be played with another player, it’s just sad that you can only play locally. Either way though, if you have a friend around… crank it to hardest level and have a great time.
The graphics in game are really well done, with very nice lighting effects, to some strange psychedelic water textures. The game is a delight to look at even with all of the glowing bullets flying at you constantly, from the various enemy types, to the over-the-top boss battles you’ll encounter in each stage. The only real issue with the graphics would have to be the cut-scene animations. With most of the models moving like robots being pulled by puppet strings, but luckily this doesn’t happen during actual game play.
The voiceover is simply passable if that, the only one that genuinely sounds like he is trying would be Isa. Everyone else is hamming it up, especially all of the enemies that you’ll fight throughout the game. Luckily the music makes up for all your sound problems, with vivid rock and electronic music that penetrates the senses and fuels the combat. When the bullets and explosions start to go off all around you, you’ll feel like you’re right in the heart of the battle.
At the end of the day Sin and Punishment: Star Successor is an amazing shooter, it brings back that classic feel of shooter that has been missing in games for awhile. The story won’t necessarily drag you in and the difficulty won’t appeal to everybody. But those that are interested in classic shoot-em ups, this is the one you’ve been waiting for. So Half-Ass Gaming gives Sin and Punishment a C-, and enjoy the game.
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[rokbox title=”Secret of Monkey Island 2 Review” thumb=”http://www.geeksofgaming.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/somi2review.png” size=”854 505″ ]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tPl9b1SEdSY&hd=1&autoplay=1[/rokbox]
I’m going to try not to get all fan-boy on this review, but this is the sequel to one of the greatest adventure games ever made.
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The Secret of Monkey Island 2 is another Remake by Lucasarts to bring one of the greatest series into the HD generation. So the simple question is… does this remake do the original game justice and more?
You play as the mighty pirate Guybrush Threepwood, who is found hanging upside down with a treasure chest inside a cave. He quickly goes into explanation about how he got into this situation, which leads to a flashback of him on Scabb Island in search of a treasure named Big Whoop. Guybrush soon finds out that there isn’t a single piece of treasure on the Island besides what he has. To make matters worse he’s soon robbed of all of his possessions and is left on the Island with no means of escape. So now Guybrush must find a way to get his items back, and find a way to find the hidden treasure “Big Whoop”.
Just like the Original Secret of Monkey Island, the story takes you through a hilarious adventure guided by Guybrush Threepwood. You’ll travel the world running into all sorts of amusing distractions, like meeting a couple of “Men of Low Moral Fiber”, or trying to win a spitting contest, to committing old fashion grave robbery. There are just tons of things that cannot be missed in Monkey Island 2, it’s always funny and unexpected to see what Guybrush will get into next.
The game play is easy to pickup even if you’ve never played a point and click adventure before, you’ll basically be talking, combining, and giving items to people with the greatest of ease. A lot of the game takes place through dialogue, so be prepared to listen to tons of talking. It also has some pretty challenging puzzles and item combinations, so there may be a couple of times where you end up scratching your head and wondering where to go. Luckily, you can ask for a hint at anytime during the game if you’re stumped. I wouldn’t recommend doing this though unless you really… really… need to get to the next part.
The art style is just amazing in comparison to the last Monkey Island remake. You’ll basically ignore the fact that the games animations are still exactly like the originals, when you notice the brightly colored and impressive world bestowed upon you. There are also a couple of options for the purists out there, with the option to switch to classic mode at anytime. Yet I doubt there will be many people that will do this, I love the classic Monkey Island look… but the remakes art is something that can’t be missed.
This also works in the sound department, with Guybrush being the standout by delivering his jokes perfectly. As a matter of fact the whole cast fit their roles pretty well, and just hearing them in certain situations will make you bust a gut laughing. The only real problem would have to be Elaine, she just comes off as very dry during most of her lines. Which is odd to me seeing as I’ve played all of the games, and don’t remember her sounding so much like a mother before. But beyond that one hiccup the sound in the game is amazing, with each and every song matching the Caribbean theme. It’s also awesome that when you switch from new to classic mode, the game changes from a remixed version of the music to the basic midi version.
This is a great game to review as my first Half-Ass Gaming Mini, seeing as this game only costs $10 for an amazing and hilarious romp. So if you’ve never played a Monkey Island game you should pick this one up immediately. It easily earns an A+ for doing such a classic game an extreme justice, now here is hoping that the Maniac Mansion and Indiana Jones games are being remade. HINT HINT, LUCASARTS I’M LOOKING AT YOU!
Ninety Nine Nights II Review
[rokbox title=”Ninety Nine Nights Review” thumb=”http://www.geeksofgaming.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/N3IIcoverNTSC.jpg” size=”854 505″ ]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6s-9piuNr3c&hd=1&autoplay=1[/rokbox]
The original Ninety Nine Nights, was a vibrant take on the stagnant Dynasty Warriors formula. The graphics were a force to be reckoned with for a game of its type, it’s just too bad that the game was held back by graphical slowdown and never deviated from the formula of the genre. So can Ninety Nine Nights II surpass the original and finally start the series on a legendary path?
Things open up with the main character Galen screaming in anger as he holds onto a deceased comrade. He immediately jumps headlong onto the battlefield against the forces of “The Lord of the Night”. Galen decimates his enemies and earns himself an audience with the Elven Princess herself. She entrusts Galen to fight along with her in this war against “The Lord of the Night”, but Galen only seeks vengeance and his long and bloody path to justice begins.
But Galen is not the only playable character, as you complete missions you will unlock various companions. Each unlocked character comes with their own storyline pathway, so players can switch freely between each of them for a different taste of the war. The first being the Elf Princess Sephia, the second being a tattooed Warrior named Zazi, the third is a goblin assassin named Levv, and last but not least the demonic criminal Maggni.
The story isn’t really that interesting however, it’s actually a fairly simple “Banding together to defeat an evil foe” type of romp. It doesn’t help that the voice over is incredibly boring and stilted, most of the characters come off as cheesy. Especially Maggni… he comes off as over the top during most of his lines and his delivery falls flat each and every time. Luckily, you can switch the language tracks to Japanese if the English voices are too much to take.
You’ll see a good amount of the story by way of the cinematics before and after completing a level. While there are some story elements told in-game, you won’t exactly see much of things beyond the now common voiceover during combat. The story is also a lot less active on the ground, so you’ll receive a snippet of dialogue here and there but that’s about it.
Once you get into the thick of the fight, you’ll find things to be very simple to get into. Especially if you’ve had any experience with the Dynasty Warriors series. It’s pretty much the same kind of button mashing madness involved in Ninety Nine Nights 2. The only difference is that players will be able to use a wide assortment of special abilities at anytime. You can activate these by holding LB and pressing a corresponding face button. So you can pretty much make up your own dangerous combos as you earn more special abilities. This adds up to some insane on-screen madness especially if you include each characters finishing move.
The best thing about this game is how fast paced it is, and that it can keep a steady frame-rate with all the chaos going on. Sadly, this is also where one of the most glaring issues arises… the camera system. Players have to manually move the camera wherever they go, and most of the time this is impossible while you’re trying to string together a combo. Which leads to you being constantly blindsided by various enemies. Even the last far camera view can’t really save you from being bombarded by something outside of the screen.
Things only get worse when you get next to a wall, the camera will shift into transparency and most of the time you’ll have no idea what is going on around you. This can be one of the most frustrating issues in the game, especially since a good majority of levels will have you running down a corridor. So you’ll usually be blindsided and thrown up against a wall and pummeled before you can get back to your senses. It’s very jarring at first, but once you get used to evading regularly you’ll see this less and less.
N3 II also tries to mix it up a bit by adding in platforming and puzzle elements into the game. The jumping in-game isn’t the most precise I’ve played, but there are no make it or break it points for missing a platform so all is forgiven. The puzzles don’t exactly innovate either, but they do give you something else to think about while hacking and slashing your way through areas. There are also a few ailments that can be inflicted on players by enemies to make your job tougher. From typical things like stunning and knockdown ailments, to something more deadly like locking out your special abilities for a time.
You can also find various mini-bosses sprinkled throughout levels who have special abilities that you can add to your arsenal.
Just don’t expect these guys to be pushovers, most of the abilities they use are extremely powerful and can wipe you out in a few hits. This also goes for the boss battles, actually it is worse with a lot of the bosses in the game. Most of them will come off as cheap and will require a lot of evading and using your special abilities at the right time. Since a good majority of the bosses will utterly annihilate you in just a few swings. After you’ve completed a level, you’ll receive a grade on how you’ve done. So there is a bit of incentive to come back and try to get a triple A rating. You also receive points that can be used to upgrade your characters health, abilities, weapons, and accessories. It’s a simple system that doesn’t require much thought, since leveling up a character is as easy as confirming that you want to spend the points.
There are also a couple of online Co-Op modes that the players can get involved in. Unfortunately there isn’t exactly a mode to play through the story, but instead you get three different mode types. The first mode would be that of survival, which requires you to defeat waves of enemies until the mission ends. The second would be the most interesting of the modes, which is simply called Maze. In this mode you and your partner have to hit switches to free each other from rooms filled with monsters. While the last mode is a race to be the first to reach a certain amount of kills before the other player.
Each of these missions grants rewards for completing the different stages, and you can play through it multiple times to earn orbs to level up your character and items. These modes add a bit of variety and fun, but there aren’t many different levels, so hopefully some kind of DLC will come out to extend the stages.
Now on the graphical side of things the game can come off as impressive for the genre. The character models won’t exactly win any awards, there is a bit of pop in, and a lot of the environment textures can come off as muddy at best. Yet it’s all about the sheer amount of destruction and enemies that you’ll see on screen. This is most apparent when you’re using the special abilities, and slashing bits and pieces off of your opponents. It’s good to see that the combat speed can hold up well, while all sorts of special effects are on screen.
So what do I truly think of Ninety Nine Nights 2? It’s hard not to enjoy this game in honesty, and seeing that it is so much more of a fast paced game in comparison to the rest of the genre. I’ll have to recommend it to anyone that loves hacking and slashing enemies without thinking. Especially seeing as stages can take up to an hour to complete per character. The only real problems are the camera and the fact that all of the characters are really the same person with a different skin. Sure they have different attack animations, but they all share the same special abilities and overall combat damage. But I can see why things were done like this, seeing as to truly complete the story you have to play as each character.
So my final ruling on this game will have to be a B-, simply because this game spices things up for the genre. Add the fact that you can go online with two-players co-op to destroy the Lord of the Nights forces in unison, and you have a pretty solid deal on your hands. Now if they make it so that in the next Ninety Nine Nights you can block cancel during attacks, and spread the camera out a bit more.. then it can truly be a game changer for Dynasty Warrior fans.
Crackdown 2 Review
[rokbox title=”Crackdown 2 Review” thumb=”http://www.geeksofgaming.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/crackdown21-e1301306012473.jpg” size=”854 505″ ]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m81McrUWaIs&hd=1&autoplay=1[/rokbox]
Crackdown was a refreshing take on the open world scene when it was first released back in 2007. It introduced players to a world of superhuman cops versus criminals. It was in a league of its own and still is one of the most underrated games of this generation. Now after 3 years there is finally a sequel to this game, but does it do the series justice and improve over the original?
Let’s go ahead and get the graphics out of the way, it is hard to say this but the original Crackdown has superior character models. In the second Crackdown the Agents are pretty boring to look at in comparison to the old ones. The performance also suffers where the first Crackdown did not. Most notably at times when there is almost nothing going on, you’ll notice a good amount of performance lag. It’s somewhat confusing how a game made in 2007 of the same nature, is visually superior to a sequel of the same name.
The story is quite simple and its thrown into your lap just like the first Crackdown. You are a brand new clone fresh out of the test tube. The city has been taken over by a gang named “Cell” due to lack of Agents. To make matters worse there are mutated creatures named freaks running all around town. The only way to defeat the freaks for good is to search for beacons scattered across the city and activate them. So it’s your job to find all of the beacons while taking the streets back from Cell at the same time.
Most everything you learn about the story in-game will be through audio recordings, or from the Announcer in your ear the entire game. To be honest there is nothing that will really draw you into the story, you will most likely forget about it and end up following the map aimlessly to the next point.
If you’ve ever played Crackdown one for even a second, you’ve played Crackdown 2 already. The controls are exactly the same as its predecessor, and if you’ve never played the original things are fairly simple to get into. Most of the time you’ll only use four buttons, because you’ll be jumping, shooting, and kicking most of your enemies into oblivion. It’s still just as much fun to wreak havoc in Crackdown 2 as it was in Crackdown 1.
You’ll spend most of your time hunting for agility orbs, beating down mobs of freakish zombies, and wrecking cell strongholds. Each of your abilities can level up based on how much you use them. So if you’re spending most of your time in the car completing races and mowing down enemies… you’ll gain orbs that will increase your experience in driving. The same goes for using firearms, melee, and explosives.
Eventually you’ll become a superhero when you’ve maxed everything out. So you’ll be leaping tall buildings in a single bound, picking up cars and throwing them at your enemies, and taking explosives to the chest without flinching. This also ramps up the difficulty of your opponents too, as you gain upgrades so will they. So the Cell faction will start to use more dangerous weapons and come out in greater force, while the freaks will mutate into larger or more agile versions to chase you down. Making the game much more interesting even on the lower levels.
Add in the fact that you can play with three people over Xbox live, and you add even more fun to the mix. The game drastically changes when you’re bounding across rooftops with friends, hitting each other with melee attacks, or have one player flying a chopper while you take the ground. These moments are when Crackdown 2 are the most fun to play. In fact, I recommend playing with other players as much as possible while the game is in the system. That’s not saying that it isn’t perfectly fine while playing solo, but having other players adds much more satisfying and social element.
There are also some Player Vs. Player matches that players can participate in. From Rocket Tag which is basically what it sounds like, hitting players with rockets scores you points. To the standard fare Deathmatch and Team Deathmatch, these modes are really basic, but if you have the need for superhero combat against your friends it is there.
Now for the problems that I have with this game, which are things that you’d think would be fixed in a sequel. The number one problem would be that of the targeting system, a good amount of the time the lock-on system will target anything but what you want to actually shoot. So you’ll endlessly be tapping the lock-on button to try and hit an enemy right in front of you. The second issue I have with the game is that they’ve really added nothing to spice up getting around town. After playing games like Assassins Creed and Infamous, I just found myself annoyed with how much trouble it was to get around the city.
Even though the game hasn’t changed much from the first one, the gameplay still holds up very well 3 years later. I can’t actually recommend this game at a $60 price tag, unless you have 3 other players willing to leap around Pacific City with you. Though seeing as there have already been some deals with the game under $45, I would suggest grabbing at that price. If you can’t and just want to cause a little mayhem as a buffed up cop, I can recommend the game as a rent. So Crackdown 2 receives a C from Half-Ass Gaming, and let the good times roll.
Singularity Review
[rokbox title=”Singularity Review” thumb=”http://www.geeksofgaming.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Singularity_cover.jpg” size=”854 505″ ]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKL5WH9TIOk&hd=1&autoplay=1[/rokbox]
When I first got word of Singularity, I immediately thought back to the game “Timeshift”. In fact I originally thought this was some kind of sequel to that game, especially from the old screenshots scattered across the internet. Now it seems that Singularity is more like a first-person, time traveling, horror shooter instead. Yeah that is a lot to say, but the real question is… does Singularity bring anything new to an already flooded genre.
In Singularity you play a mute grunt who is tasked with surveying an island with a rare element called E99. Unfortunately during the trip an EMP blast sends your helicopter crashing to the ground. You survive the crash and are soon tasked with finding the rest of your squadmates, but during the search you are somehow thrust back in time into a smoldering version of the building you were once in. While trying not to become a flambé yourself, you end up saving a man from falling to his doom before being thrown back into your own time. When you return you find the man staring down at you, and your decision has completely changed the future… for the worst.
Now the Island is inhabited by ghoulish creatures that want nothing more but to feast on your bones, and to top things off the world is now in the grip of Russia. It’s up to Captain Nathaniel Renko to find a way to correct his mistakes and return things to its proper order. The story will have you leaping back and forth through time trying to save important people and correct paradoxes. Normally this would make for a great storyline, but I often found myself unable to relate to the characters or even care about the situation. Most of the companions come off as bland and uninteresting a majority of the time, and the story usually doesn’t do anything but lead your character down his straightforward path.
It doesn’t help that most of the voice over is uninspired, with the most appealing conversations occurring during flashbacks and tape recordings. While the supporting cast themselves just come off as boring and after awhile it’ll just seem like they’re droning on about nothing. There actually came a time where one of the important characters did something to endanger themselves, and I kind of shrugged it off like whatever let’s just get to the next area so I can kill stuff.
The world of Singularity is pretty ugly for a next-gen title, and even on the PC the graphics don’t really improve much. Most of the locales you’ll visit are dreary rundown areas. So aside from some nice particle effects when manipulating time, you probably won’t be too impressed with anything you see here. That especially goes for the character models in the game, they lack emotional response and stare blankly at air during conversations. The upside is that it at least has some gory deaths for the enemies you’ll senselessly slaughter. There was also some weird texture pop-out at the oddest times, and the environments would almost completely lose polygons.
The combat in the game starts off very slow and it is kind of misleading. It takes a good hour before things start to pick up a bit, and then the game slips into very familiar territory. Very early on the game Renko receives a weapon called the TMD, it is used to manipulate objects ravaged by time, and open portals to different points in time. If you’ve ever played Bio-Shock, Half-Life 2, or Timeshift, you’ll be very familiar with the setup of things here.
The special abilities range from a time manipulation gun that can age and regenerate enemies and objects. To a gravity gun that can be used to pick up items to decimate foes. Then you have a slow motion grenade which can stop enemies in their tracks while you finish them off. While the final ability can be used to turn enemies into hungry ghouls to attack their friends. Now if that seems a bit familiar, the weapon upgrade system is basically straight out of Bio-Shock. It even uses the same vendor style storage chests scattered throughout the levels.
From here you can choose a wide array of upgrades that can boost your characters stats in different ways. You can find these upgrades by locating blueprints in each level. The weapons work in a similar way, with you having the choice of upgrading damage, reload speed, and ammo capacity. The weapons are also of the standard variety, ranging from your basic assault rifle to an insanely high damage cannon. The only problem is that most of the actual combat lacks the panache of the games that this one is mimicking. A lot of the gunfights don’t seem very challenging or interesting most of the time, and even with all the cool gadgets I found things to be a bit stale.
The cause might actually be that the A.I. does one of two things, they either charge head long at you. Or they just hide in cover and wait for you to run over to them. There were also times where I was standing in a room with a few enemies, and they’d shoot once and then do nothing for about 3seconds and take another shot. When other times they’ll just fire blindly at your position without a thought. Even the guys that looked like Issac from Dead Space were just rifling off at me without thinking. It made the experience uneventful and I felt like I was forcing myself to continue playing.
So with that said… I really wanted to give Singularity a chance. I played it for a fair amount of time after that moment where I felt like “Hey, this is probably where I should Half-Ass this”. But I deliberately forced myself onward to see if things picked up, and to my disappointment things only get more out of control. I will state that I love everything that has to do with time manipulation, but it isn’t really used that well in Singularity. I’d recommend this as a rent for the Hardcore, and a pass for someone casual. So Singularity receives a C- from us here at Half-Ass Gaming, and thank you for watching.
Naughty Bear Review
[rokbox title=”Transformers: War for Cybertron Review” thumb=”http://www.geeksofgaming.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/naughty-bear-review.jpg” size=”854 505″ ]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrhLRqcsLXQ&hd=1&autoplay=1[/rokbox]
Naughty Bear was developed by Artificial Mind and Movement, who created WET, Scene It, Indiana Jones: Staff of Kings, Iron Man, Twilight: Scene It, High School Musical, and Get on Da Mic. Yeah, I know those games don’t exactly titillate the senses… but maybe Naughty Bear will be the first breakout game for the company?
You play as Naughty Bear who is an outcast to all the rest of the bears on the island. Naughty lives on the outskirts of the place by his lonesome and is usually excluded from all Bear functions. In this particular case a Bear named Daddles is having a birthday party, while Naughty isn’t invited he did make a present for Daddles in the hopes that they could be friends. On the way to the party Naughty’s present is laughed at and he returns back home in shame. That shame however soon turns to murderous rage, as he goes out on a bear murdering rampage.
This is about all you need to know in the story department, basically Naughty Bear consists of slaughtering the bear citizens who have wronged him. In each episode there will be a new reason for Naughty to exterminate the bear population. Like a bear running for Mayor with the promise of ejecting Naughty from the Island, to killing off the Army because they’ve placed Spy-camera birds all around the village. So you’ll basically need a sense of humor to even step foot in the realm of Naughty Bear.
Yet beyond a sense of humor you will most definitely have to call forth the inner Jason Vorhees inside you. Because that is all that this game really is about, murdering bears in the most violent ways possible. And you know what? That portion of the game is actually… fun. When you’re running around slamming axes into bears heads, or burying their face into fire pits. This is where the game shines the most, it’s like a less bloody version of Manhunt.
The problems arise in a variety of ways that simply mar the fun of the game, the #1 issue would be that the performance in the game is just atrocious. During most levels you’ll experience heavy frame rate drops. This is most apparent whenever the action screens appear to show what another bear is doing. That’s not even mentioning the frame rate skip every time a bridge comes down at the end of a level. The second utmost problem would have to be with the basic camera control scheme, most of the time the camera will obstruct your view and force you to move it manually. Unless it is during one of the contextual scenes indoors, in which you will not be able to see anything until the kill is completed.
The third problem comes from Artificial Intelligence, during my game play experience I noticed that the other bears are just outright idiots. They can be right in front of Naughty and he can just jump into a bush and be completely invisible to their eyes instantly. At other times he’ll be bashing them in the back of the head and they’ll just stand there like nothing happened. Which makes the game incredibly easy in earlier levels, but in later levels they introduce special bears who are pretty much the same but take much more damage.
The final problem directly involves fighting the other bears, because most of the time you’ll end up attacking nothing but air. The lack of some kind of lock-on option for the opponent you’re trying to finish off is definitely annoying. Especially when you get to the portion where you’re fighting a series of uzi toting army bears, you’ll end up missing hits due to the performance lag, the camera, and not being able to fully position yourself to stay on a target. Which can quickly turn things into an utter disaster for Naughty.
In the graphical department the execution animations are deadly and to the point, there are some that could have used a bit more brutality. But most of them prove that Naughty has no love for these bears, and will eviscerate them in the most destructive fashion possible. The actual problem with the game comes from the level design, or lack thereof . Other than a few changes to the scale of morning, evening, and night… you’ll pretty much be fighting in the same little village over… and over… and over again. There seems to be a total lack of variety in the environments here, and things will start to get boring very quickly.
I’ll also tell you my personal gripe and what almost made me cut the game off in about an hour or so. It’s the announcer that you have to hear through the entire game. He’s the voice that’s inside of Naughty Bear’s head, and he’ll spout out the ridiculous names for every kill… every single time you do one. Not only is it annoying after the first five minutes, it’s even more annoying after you realize he’s doing it half-heartedly. To make things even more awkward in the sound design, most of the music sounds like it belongs in a Monkey Island game. I looked around in anticipation hoping that Guybrush Threepwood would hop out and tell me a hilarious joke… but it never came to fruition.
In a Nutshell this game could have really been fun, in fact I found it to be fun in the first two episodes. Then I realized that it is only 7 episodes long, and to hide the fact that it is so short… it instead forces you to complete challenges in the same levels you’ve completed in different ways just to unlock the next episode. So it makes you play through stuff that you’d rather have done after beating a game, instead of just letting you reach the end and completing those tasks at your own discretion.
I wouldn’t even complain so much about this game if it wasn’t a fifty dollar title, this is actually a game that should have come out as a download on PSN or Xbox Live. I’d never recommend this as a buy to anyone, unless you’re really… really hard up for playing a game similar to Manhunt. I also can’t advise renting this in its current state. Because bugs plague this game the entire way through and it destroys the fun. Which goes along with the four multi-player modes, which are pretty basic and uneventful. So this game receives a D- from Half-Ass Gaming, and please don’t feed the bears.
Transformers: War for Cybertron Review
Transformers and games seem to have a bad mojo to them, I can’t remember off the top of my head if there are any good ones at all. If there are I haven’t played them and didn’t really care to. Now with the rapid escalation of Transformer popularity, it seems that Activision is pumping out games to match. This game was developed by High Moon Studios, which is known for making The Bourne Conspiracy and Darkwatch. Could Transformers: War for Cybertron be the breakout game for this studio and a rejuvenation for the series?
War for Cybertron starts with the Decepticons battling through space to reach a station with a rare and dangerous resource named “Dark Energon”. When Megatron arrives he is warned by the guardian of the station that the substance cannot be controlled. Megatron not being a big listener decides to continue on his tirade of reaching the Energon and destroying anyone who gets in his way. When he finally reaches his goal, Megatron comes into direct contact with the Dark Energon and absorbs it into his body. He becomes more powerful than ever, but still seeks to gather the resources with the help of Starscream. Now the Auto-Bots must defeat Megatron, and stop him from creating more Dark Energon.
The story is split between ten chapters, with the first 5 chapters played as the Decepticons and the final five played as the Auto-bots. You are not pigeon-holed into playing either of the factions, you can switch between them freely at any time. The only difference is that you’ll see things a lot later in the game, if you choose the Auto-bots before the Decepticons.
The voicework is pretty top-notch too, especially in the way that the Decepticons seem to banter back and forth with each other, you’ll think you’re watching the cartoon come to life at some points. In fact this game has a pretty star studded cast, Peter Cullen as Optimus Prime, James Remar as Megatron, Steve Blum as Barricade, Crispin Freeman, Nolan North, and Johnny Yong Bosch… it’s the kings of voiceover all in one place.
This also goes for the sound work of the weapons and ambience in the game. Most notably the transforming sounds will have you shifting back and forth just to hear it. At least if you’re a geek like me about that kind of stuff.
Now the visuals in this game are actually gorgeous, and it owes it all to the Unreal engine. The Auto-Bots and Decepticons look amazing, and have small details like scratches on their plated bodies. This also goes with the environments in the game, aside from a few indoor avenues that can get repetitive. A good assortment of the environments are enthralling to see, and that’s not even mention the transforming from vehicle to robot and back again. It’s always awesome to see your jet fly in shooting, transform and immediately hammer someone in the face in a smooth transition.
But the game truly shines during the massive boss battles scattered throughout the game, almost every single boss is fought in a gigantic battleground. Which ranges from Godzilla size mechs, to oh my god is that a huge robot scorpion? You’ll fight gigantic robot, after robot, after robot… and it’ll never really look as repetitive as it sounds. The only downside with the visuals would be that there are a few small performance hits scattered throughout the game, it is mostly noticeable during the action packed vehicle sequences. There are also a few pop-in textures in some areas, and some downright ugly textures in others. But I haven’t seen much of an issue beyond that.
Which leads us to the controls, which can be summed up as Gears of Cybertron. While you may not be able to actually use cover, the gameplay will be instantly familiar and easy to get into. Each Transformer has two special abilities that they can use during combat. For Example: Megatron has the ability to hover in the air and fire down on his enemies, while Optimus Prime can dash and use a battlecry that can boost his damage output. And then at anytime you can press in the left-analog stick and transform into a vehicle which can move faster and fires its own weapon type.
There are also multitude of weapons scattered through the game, they range from sniper rifles, plasma cannons, and even turrets. The main issue I had with the guns is the lack of actual ammunition to go inside them. Especially during the boss fights, I’d find myself scrambling all over the place looking for bullets because my Transformers gun can hold less bullets than most humans in similar games. I also have a personal gripe for lack of Aerial combat missions, because they were so awesome that it sucked to find out there were so few of them. I found the aerial combat sections to be the most appealing part, with the player shifting into flight shooter situations before jumping onto platforms and transforming to take out enemies. These and the racing portions of the game where the highlight of things for me, I just wished there were more flying sections spread throughout the game.
Presentation wise there isn’t much on the screen to clutter things, you mostly get your weapons and special abilities in the upper corners of the screen. And instead of some sort of mini-map you get an in-game checkpoint arrow that leads you to the next area. Now if you’re worried about the exclusion of the map, it really isn’t an issue in single-player. Mostly because you have two Transformers with you at all times, and they will generally lead the way to the next location.
It also helps that the A.I. is usually on its A Game With the regular soldiers that can be dispatched with two or more shots, to brutes, stealthers, etcetera. The enemies will properly try to flank you, bomb you, or try to snipe you from above. They do a good job of being aggressive and keeping you on your toes, and on higher levels of difficulty you can find yourself a pretty good challenge of just trying to stay alive. So they bring a good amount of challenge to the game in all.
But what really shines in War of Cybertron is that the entire campaign can be played with two other players online. That’s not including the standard multi-player modes, or the “Escalation mode” which is the Transformers version of “Horde Mode”. So you get a fun single-player experience to go along with some nice Multi-player. Which bumps this game up as a buy for ANYONE and not just fans of the series. The Campaign should take about 10 – 12 hours for casual players, and about 6 – 8 for a hardcore player. So all in all Transformers has exceeded expectations of this gamer, and earns a grade of a B+ from Half-Ass Gaming.
Alpha Protocol Review
[rokbox title=”Alpha Protocol Review” thumb=”http://www.geeksofgaming.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/alphaprotocolreview.jpg” size=”854 505″ ]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZhM3WjeCJb8&hd=1&autoplay=1[/rokbox]
Mass Effect is an outstand… oh wait I’m sorry, wrong game. Alpha Protocol is a game brought to you from the team behind, Knights of the Old Republic 2, Neverwinter Nights 2, and the upcoming Fallout: New Vegas. But this is one of the first times they don’t have big shoes to fill, instead they are sending players into the world of Espionage. Would this game make James Bond happy, or should this agent be disavowed?
The storyline in Alpha Protocol is the best part of the game, the way you treat people will positively or negatively impact the storyline. Your actions as Michael Thorton have real impact on the world, make an enemy of someone you meet and it will have an impact on other important characters. The dialogue is well done in the game, even if the voices don’t come off as interesting at first. You’ll start to feel the impact of the government conspiracy surrounding Thorton, as you delve deeper into the storyline. Not to mention that when you purchase Intel, it actually factors into dialogue and can give you an upper hand in most cases.
The only real problem comes with the actual game play mechanics. Almost everything that has to do with killing an enemy with a gun is just flawed. I understand the fact that it’s an Roleplaying Game under the hood, but guns missing people that you’re targeting perfectly is just unacceptable. You don’t feel much like an agent if you have steady aim on an enemy, and hit everything but what you’re actually trying to shoot. The sad part of all of it is that it takes far too long for you to be able to shoot even slightly accurately, you’ll be about 25 hours into the game before bullets will take out enemies in a swift manner.
That’s not counting the Pistol into this equation, because the pistol is virtually worthless even with all points spent in it. The damage is entirely too low, and even with a silencer on you can’t get an instant kill and will eventually call guards to your position as they shoot back. The Shotgun is actually accurate but I think the Assault Rifle has a better damage overall, due to the fact that you can use it to shoot long range targets. The submachine gun is probably the best weapon in the beginning, because you can blindfire more accurately than aiming through the scope… yet as soon as you progress later into the game it doesn’t have the stopping power of the Assault Rifle.
Eventually, I decided that the path of Martial Arts was the best for me. It’s the most visually appealing out of all the damage dealing skills, and if you stack it with toughness and stealth… you can pretty much do what you want to anybody but bosses. When it comes to bosses not having a gun is a bad thing, and it gets extremely tiresome when you have to kill a boss and you can’t connect with your shots. Because they will continue to regenerate armor over their health, and some bosses will do annoying things like vanish out of range while their minions attack you. It’s just a very bad decision for a game that doesn’t have proper firing mechanics. My personal issue with the game is the fact that you cannot jump over cover, this means you’ll be running around everything in your path that would be simple to slide over. I don’t know how many times James Bond would have died a horrible death, if he couldn’t jump over something simple like a barricade. This issue will probably get you killed a great deal, due to the fact that the enemies like to throw endless grenades.
Visually, Alpha Protocol isn’t what one would call a pretty game. The models could use a couple of more textures, especially the main character who doesn’t really stand out of the lineup. The Environments are probably the best thing about the game, with a wide or range of different areas and decor to keep the player interested. You won’t be seeing any eye candy here, but you won’t be bored by an uninspired play area either. The game is also plagued with tons of performance and AI issues, like NPC’s popping out of cover then sliding slowly back into their place. Reloading a checkpoint only to have the enemies in the area disappear from the area. AI running into walls, crates, or just standing around during heated gun battles. In the PC version the frame rate was almost unplayable, with long load times and extremely staggering frame drops. The PC version is in need of an immediate patch, because I have a pretty high-end card and I could barely play on most levels.
Now when it comes to actually buying Alpha Protocol, I can only say that it’s a tossup between what you like. In reality it’s a bug ridden Mass Effect clone that fails in the game play department, on the other side of the coin the story is intriguing and worth a follow. So I give Alpha Protocol a D+ due to the fact that if they can patch some of the game play issues and bugs, the storyline could keep a person intrigued to reach the end of the game. I just can’t recommend this as a buy for anyone looking for a solid game-play experience.
