Phantom Reviews

Afterthoughts - Lara Croft and The Guardian of Light

2010-11-02T21:35:00.001-05:00

So I finally finished my first play through of Lara Croft and The Guardian of Light. I must say, though I played 90% of the game single-player, I was quite impressed with the final product. This is the first in what (hopefully) should be many downloadable games featuring the buxom heroine from the Tomb Raider series. Unlike all of Lara's last games this ditches the third-person view for a 3/4 perspective overhead camera. This makes the game feel more akin to the Champions series or the Diablo series. One thing that seperates this game from those is the amount of puzzles and platforming involved.

Though the viewpoint of the classic Tomb Raider game has changed the classic puzzles and platforming action has not. You still find yourself running around an ancient labarynth filled with elaborate puzzles and traps waiting to send you to your ultimate end. (Apparently, ancient civilizations had nothing better to do than think of perfectly orchestrated puzzles.) Often it is a trigger puzzle that, once solved opens the door to the next area and more challenges. These feel just the right amount of challenging, yet I never often found myself dieing much from them. There were a few in particular but with enough trial and error (and no real downside to death) I was able to get through it. In addition to the required puzzles that get you through a level there is also a series of challenge dungeons that give you a chance to solve some more complex puzzles to get some character stat boosting goodies (more about those later). While the puzzles are pretty great, it is when you jump into the multi-player mode that things really start to shine.

When you play single player Lara gets both her unlimited ammo pistols, and the spears which create new jumping spots to pass challenges. Lara can stick a spear into a wall, jump on the spear, and use those to reach new areas, but if you get a friend to jump into the game with you Lara now only gets her pistols. Your new partner Totec gets the spears but here is where things get interesting. Totec can throw spears, but only Lara can jump on them. Totec's weight will break them. Lara is also granted the use of a grappling hook that only she can use. Without any rings around to attach to Lara can use the grappling hook to attach to Totec and pull herself (or him) up a ledge that he can't reach. Totec can also tight rope walk across the grappling hook line if it is attached to a grapple ring. (As seen in the above picture.) Totec can also use his shield to deflect arrows, or hold it above his head so Lara can jump on it to reach higher spots. All of these things start to fit together in the multi-player and make for some interesting situations. After playing through the single player campaign I wondered how much this would really be used. Once I actually got another person to play with I was suprised how, even though the levels are fundamentally the same, certain things were moved or replaced to make you rely on your partner far more.

Every challenge becomes unsolvable with a single person. This was an amazing display and further pulled me into the experience. There were times where we were discussing strategies and, in some of the faster-paced situations, yelling and shouting, but doing a whole lot of dieing. It was one of the best local gameplay experiences I have had in a long time. You can really tell that the team behind this really put a lot of effort and thought into this game and the multi-player component. Even more addicting then the gameplay itself, is the power-up system.

For those of us that crave level ups and character building you will love the power-up aspect of this game. Hidden within the levels are challenges besides reaching the end of the level. These can including collecting 10 red skulls within a level, or completing the level on a speed run. With these challenges completed you will get artifacts, relics, and new weapons. Artifacts give you base stat boosts. These boost you in 4 key areas, Weapon, Defense, Bomb, and Speed. At first you will get artifacts that will boost one stat, but lower another, eventually you will collect ones that only give bonuses, and often to multiple stats. Relics give you certain character power-ups (super speed, super shot, spread shot, etc) that only activate if you have a full power meter (which you get through picking up gems and killing enemies without being hit), watch out though, one hit and you can lose the bonus. Finally besides the base weapon each character has (pistols and the spears) each character can have 3 secondary weapons. These weapons don't have an ammo count exactly, they instead drain different amounts from your ammo bar. This is refilled through pickups in the level or ammo cache locations. Even more than all these power-ups there are also health meter upgrades, ammo meter upgrades, and unlockable costumes for both characters. Needless to say this game is definitely one you will want to play again to finish more challenges to get more stuff.

My final thoughts are that this game is definitely worth the $15.00 price point and, although it doesn't have online multiplayer, if you get a friend to play with you, you will have a good time. I hope that they release more games along this line because this reinvigorated my love for the Lara Croft character and turned the old Tomb Raider formula on its head. Go get it, what are you waiting for?

Freeware Friday - An Untitled Story

2010-05-28T22:33:00.001-05:00

If you are a fan of Metroidvania games, or even know what that term means, have I got a treat for you. For this edition of Freeware Friday I present An Untitled Story. This is a side-scrolling platform adventure game with a subtle storyline that reveals itself as you progress, read more after the jump.

An Untitled Story starts with the player as an egg in a nest. You fall out of the nest and begin exploring. The game helps you find the first boss, but once you start to power-up and find more abilities, you get free reign to explore wherever you want. The story slowly reveals itself over time and I won't go into much detail so you can figure it out for yourself.

The graphical style of An Untitled Story is something that looks drawn in MS paint, but when you see the full world that Matt Thorson has created, it will put you in awe with its beauty. Each room you pass through was hand drawn for the game. The art style is unique and not something you see everyday. Even without HD graphics and bump mapping, this game still manages to create a unique look, and for that it should be congratulated.

The gameplay features amazing depth. Although this starts as a simple jumping platformers you soon become involved in a world with branches and secrets to explore. There are new challenges to attempt, puzzles to be solved, and items to be purchased. You even have the ability to buy a small house and buy items for it. It is all these little things that put this game from an average adventure game to something truly special.

I highly recommend this game and will provide you with links. I would also like to plug Matt Thorson's site because he has made some great games. Find it all right here:

Matt Makes Games - Matt Thorson's site.
An Untitled Story - Download link for the game.

First Impressions - Split/Second

2010-05-18T22:47:00.000-05:00

Disney Interactive recently released the demo for Split/Second, if you own a PS3 or Xbox 360 I recommend you give it a try. This game looks to mix the high-energy fast-paced racing of Burnout with the battling fun of a Mario Kart game. Players speed around a track in beautifully rendered sports cars, drifting around corners and drafting behind each other. These actions accumulate power which can be used to set off environmental traps to destroy other racers. Find out more after the jump.

After playing through the demo a few times I am convinced this will be a love it or hate it type game for many. The people that will hate it are either simulation driving fans, or people expecting to launch missiles at the other cars or tote machine guns on their car hoods. People that will love it will take it for what it is; a fun car battling game that has an interesting mechanic that works well.

The driving is important to know about and I compare it closely to Burnout in terms of realism. The cars handle easily and you definitely won't have to learn how to shift your car to get ahead of opponents. Drifting is straight out of Mario Kart, all you have to do is tap the brake button as you go around a corner and ride the slide through the corner. This works well and, after the first few turns, it was a natural move. This brings me to the combat system.

Essentially a racing game at its core, this game encourages a good amount of sabotage which is of course the main lesson to good sportsmanship. As you drift around corners and draft behind (follow closely behind) other vehicles you will fill a power bar shown right behind your car. When you charge enough you will fill one of three sections. Filling the first two offers you two charges for traps, while saving up to fill all three will allow you to alter large portions of the course itself, changing the entire map layout. Traps are varied, and often, on the levels and can be anything from an exploding barrel dropped from a nearby helicopter, to an explosive rigged bus that will fly out into the road (and hopefully on to a few enemies). As your enemies ahead of you pass by these dangers you see a symbol appear over their heads, which lets you know that you can trigger an explosive to take them out. Timing these well will give you multiple take downs. Be wary though, even you aren't safe from the wrath of these traps and they can instantly destroy you, or screw up your steering for a bit (which has killed me in itself multiple times).

Power can also be used to open shortcuts or, when fully charged, open up new portions of the track. With the power of the current generation consoles behind it these events are fun to watch and very mesmerizing. In the demo I managed to destroy an entire airfield radio tower to open up a new section of the track. I felt a sense of satisfaction from this event, sad as that may seem.

The graphics are very nice to look at as they whiz by and the cars themselves are beautifully rendered. The graphics of course remind me of something straight out of Burnout but the environmental effects set this far apart. The game is filled with explosions and large scale flashy environmental destruction. All of the effects flow very smoothly and I was surprised by the work that Disney Interactive has put into this.

The only gripe I had with the demo was the collisions and impacts, not caused by explosions or traps, seemed hit or miss. I could fly around a corner, drifting, and slam in to the wall and keep going, but if I clip the side of an overturned bus wrong it counts as a crash. Other than that I had a blast playing this demo which to me should show true to the final product. Split/Second is available in stores now and offers online and Split/Screen (haha) gameplay. Go get you some.

Plants vs. Zombies now in the App Store

2010-02-16T15:43:00.000-06:00

Pop Cap games, maker of casual classics such as Peggle and Luxor, released a game a while back that mixed fort defense gameplay with vegetation and the recently undead. The resulting mash-up is a game known as Plants vs. Zombies. This game became an instant hit on the PC and word started circulating quickly that this game may have an iPhone companion soon enough. If you own an iPhone or iPod touch then today is your lucky day. Plants vs. Zombies has brought its own brand of humor and mayhem to the App Store for the low low price of $2.99. If you don't pick this up I guarantee you will regret it.

As a quick recap for those who haven't played Plants vs. Zombies before, this game pits you as a human trying to survive in your house as Zombies overwhelm your neighborhood. Your only defense against these risen undead is a bunch of seed packets. Fortunately for you these are no ordinary seeds. With enough sun you can be planting pea shooters to take down those pesky corpses and throwing up wall-nuts to keep them at bay. Unfortunately these zombies, apart from brains, have also built up an apatite of the vegetarian variety and will happily much through your plants as they work their way across your yard in an attempt to devour you. The game quickly turns into a strategic balance of collecting suns to create more plants to protect you during large waves of enemies.

The game adds in a good mix of humor as well. When slow shuffling zombies become easy targets you will soon see them adapt their own "unique" defenses. Zombies with construction cones on their heads, in full football gear, pole-vaulting over walls, riding zambonies, even a Micheal Jackson zombie that will summon other zombies to try and dance to your death.

Luckily you get upgrades as well every time you complete a level. You will get potato mines, frozen pea shooters that slow enemies, as well as large pirahnna plants that will swallow a single zombie whole. That's not even counting when you get into the night time levels.

The game itself is great but the best part is how well it all handles on the iPod or iPhone. You can quickly select your available plants by picking one from the left hand side and then tapping right where you want to plant it on the field. You collect suns by tapping on them when they appear. This all feels very natural and I have no problems with taps not registering right. This is a perfect port at an unbelievable price and to not get this is to make a GRAVE error. Hehe. Grave.

Review - Modern Warfare 2

2010-02-06T13:09:00.000-06:00

For those of you who have been living under a rock for the past few years you may not have heard of the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare lineage of games. These are of course some of the best army-based first-person shooters around. I think that goes without saying. Well with the latest version Infinity Ward has basically dropped the Call of Duty from the name and re-branded this game with just Modern Warfare. A useless fact, yes, but I thought I would mention it anyway.

If you are unfamiliar with the series these games take place in the modern day battlefield and feature some of the greatest online mutliplayer battles you will ever take part in. Not only that but they have managed to add in their own leveling and upgrading system for weapons and 'perks'. We'll talk about 'perks' in a bit. What you have to know is this game, though set in a modern war zone is much more action based then you may think. This includes akimbo weapons, stylized shotguns to look cool with, as well as one-hit melee kills and sticky grenades. That isn't to say this is an over the top quake style shooter, far from it. This game will have you fearing any amount of bullets because your health is low and a well placed burst fire can take you down with ease. I find it the perfect balance between simulation and action.

When you hop online you have the option of setting up classes. Classes are a specific layout of weapons and perks that give your character abilities over their competition. Perks are things like unlimited sprint, longer melee distance, as well as increased bullet or grenade damage. You can only have 3 perks max and they are picked from three different categories that help to balance what you can use. You also get a primary and secondary weapon plus an equipment item (usually grenades). As well as this time around you can pick a death-streak perk that helps you out when you are losing a bit too much. Needless to say you have a lot of options. Yet to get the most out of the game you have to level up and unlock new weapons. Your leveling won't stop there though as you will also be working with individual weapons to unlock attachments and upgrades such as akimbo for certain SMGs and pistols, a different scope types for most rifles as well as undermount attachments for rifles such as shotguns or grenade launchers. These combined with the new Bling perk, which allows you to have two primary (and eventually two secondary) attachments for your weapons, means you will be spending a lot of your life upgrading weapons now. Have fun.

Not only that but now you have the option of editing a call sign as well. Your call sign consists of your Gamertag as well as an emblem and a title. Titles and Emblems are unlocked through leveling up as well as completing challenges as shown in the Barracks section. The more you play the more you unlock and can customize this to really fit yourself. There are hundreds of each to unlock and you will be going forever if you're trying to get them all. My favorite title is just a wooden paddle that just says No.

I can't neglect to talk about the story mode. With the previous Modern Warfare I never actually played through the story mode. I played it for a mission or two and quickly went back to online play. I am kind of kicking myself now for not having played it after I went all the way through this new campaign. This game is all about betrayal, large scale war, and action. Did I mention action? Well there is a lot of it to be had here. The action is intense, the battles are tense, and you will be dodging gunfire from EVERYWHERE. Needless to say you will die. You will probably die often actually. The enemy AI is strong and great at flanking your positions as well as knowing that they can shoot through surfaces. Taking cover behind a vehicle is a bad idea because the enemies will know to blow that vehicle up and kill you in the blast. The story itself starts off asking you if you are Ok with graphic scenes of violence and bloodshed. To me thats a good start to a war game. Yet I didn't even understand how much this game is really about dirty warfare.

The scene I had a bit of a hard time playing through is an airport massacre scene where you character is trying to get close to an enemy extremist and is undercover with the group. You literately start the mission mowing down a bunch of civilians standing in line at the airport and as a group you work your way around the airport killing anything that moves. The game gets a little intense as you walk around shooting people already crawling around on the ground and hiding for their lives. In the end it's a strong turning point in the story, and it's a very graphic one at that. Definitely don't let your little kids play this game.

I enjoyed the single player experience way more than I ever thought I would because of the intense action, as well as the variations in gameplay. There were straight forward missions that were "kill all enemies" as well as mission that you had to use stealth and breech doors to rescue hostages. You also get to drive snowmobiles like something straight out of James Bond. I also enjoyed a stage where you walk through a neighborhood in the US being attacked by enemy soldiers and you have a large anti-personal vehicle next to you that you can laser paint targets for it to attack. The gameplay changed enough for it to never become stale and if you skip on this story, you will be kicking yourself later for sure.

Another new addition this time around is the co-op mission set. I was originally hoping that the entire campaign would be co-op available and this is one of my few gripes with the game. Through the new co-op missions you and a buddy tackle certain portions of missions from the game. Either seeing who can make the fastest snowmobile run, or seeing how long you two can survive waves of enemy soldiers attacking your position. The only thing I thought odd was that you can do missions from the story, but you can't do the story itself. It's a fun mode, but I still find most of my fun online.

Graphically this game is leaps and bounds above most anything else on the console. I would compare it to something else but there really isn't anything like it yet. This is a game that when you see someone on a console playing it, you instantly recognize it. Then you want to join in and play it. Needless to say it's a beautiful game.

Ok, I could go on and on but I like to keep my reviews short so I'm going to wrap this up. The game is a visceral experience that caters to both the strategy minded and the action minded players. Characters online are customizable to the point of ridiculous. It's basically if an MMORPG and FPS had a love child this would be it. Not to mention how great and amazing the single player experience is, if you miss that you might as well not even play the game. The co-op is a nice addition but I feel they could have done better. It's fun, but why can't I co-op the whole campaign? If you don't buy this game you're missing out on life so go buy it. Now. Why is this page even still open? Why are you reading these words? I told you to go buy it!

Indie Review - ro9

2010-01-21T16:47:00.000-06:00

Many of us grew up with turn based dungeon crawlers. Searching around for bad guys to take down so you can level-up and go to new and tougher dungeons. Scavenging for treasure amongst the dank dark caverns. It drew us into a whole new world of adventure. It's hard in todays era of gaming to find a game like that to play. The closest I have come is Wolfenstein RPG for the iPod Touch. Yet recently I played a game looking to bring that level of nostalgia back in a bite size format. ro9 by Justin Smith is a great homage to the classic dungeon crawler.

Lovingly Recreated in 8-bit glory.

ro9 is the equivilent of a dungeon crawler in a half-hour. It takes the classic gameplay and turns it into a great, fast-playing, version that adds a new level of challenge. As you work your way through this quick 9 level dungeon, each unique visually so you know which level you're on at any given time, you are controlling a party of 9 characters. Each represented as a box on the screen. You want to make it down to the 9th level and find the blinking artifact to complete the game. The interesting and challenging part is that you control every character at the same time with the same controls. Plus they are all randomly placed so you must make it to the end with as many as possible. You only use the arrow keys to turn, go forward, and attack (by moving into enemies). This moves every character at the same time and at first it seems a very daunting task but it actually works pretty well. You also deal with the same challenges along the way, monsters and limited health. Creatures come in 3 types, humanoids which are generally a pretty easy but low experience kill, animals which take more hits but can gain you more experience, and bosses. Bosses area good thing because they drop an Ankh when they die, they are much harder to kill but if you do manage to down the boss you can pick up the ankh and it will instantly heal a hero that died on that same dungeon level. This will come in handy because as hard as you try, you will lose people to their fates.

Now your people do have some characteristics that do change and help you keep your little adventurers alive. Each one has an individual health bar, while not a bar specifically, you can see by how red the border of each characters window how close to death they are. If you see one getting too close chances are you want to try and steer them around to look for a potion which will instantly restore the health of the character that picks it up. You also can level your characters in a super simplistic fashion. After killing enough monsters, your characters may have gained enough experience to level up, indicated by the amount of small yellow squares at the top of each characters screen. Leveling up is also a great thing because it gives that character full health again and makes subsequent monsters easier to kill. All in all the real challenge is not making it to the end, but seeing how many you can end with.

Get used to seeing skulls of the dead characters. It happens very often.

The game uses a base set of sound effects that bring a little bit of humor to the game. Simple hit sounds and the satisfying Ah! of picking up a potion. They won't separate this game as super original but they do give you input as to when something is happening, which when you're trying to watch 9 different screens at once, is very nice. The one complaint I do have is I would have enjoyed some retro chiptune music to go with the very classic looking experience.

The one thing that really made me love this game was the super chunky 8-bit look and all of the super simplified creatures and rooms. I'm on of the biggest fan of the retro look and this game really did make me think I was playing an old NES dungeon crawl adventure game. I think that Justin Smith really managed to work with a limited pallet to make a world that looked and played very smooth and he didn't end up loosing anything with his art style.

Creatures are pixelly and can almost be considered 'cute'.

Overall the game is a very fun game that takes a little to get used to. Moving all of your characters at the same time seems daunting but it adds a new level of challenge to the game. I liked the sound effects and loved the graphics I only wish they had some music to match the retro look. This game works to be a bit-size portion of dungeon crawlers that you can play for as little as a half-hour and be done, plus you will have had some fun along the way. What more can you ask for?

Review - N.O.V.A.

2010-01-02T00:57:00.000-06:00

If you are an avid iPod gamer like me, I know we are the few, you have already heard about N.O.V.A. You may have heard that it has some of the nicest 3D graphics, that it has online and local wi-fi multiplayer. You have probably also heard that it is very similar in look to Halo. These are all correct and at the same time, I don't feel it does the game itself any justice to hear.

First off I have to say this game in look is very similar to Halo. This is about the equivilent of saying that most first-person space shooters look like Halo. There are a very similar amount of similarities, a fully armored protaganist who has an attitude. An A.I. controlled companion on your missions. This is really as far as the similarities go if you actually play through the game. Oh, and the pistol, the pistol you start with is the same damn pistol as Halo.

The visuals are beautiful, it really shows what an iPod is capable of.

The story starts off with your character sipping a drink and being forcefully recruited back into the army to pull off some missions. Reluctantly you accept and meet your A.I. companion (cough Cortana cough) and she assists you as you make your way through a ship that has been taken over by hostile alien forces. Near the end you get an interesting communication from Prometheous. He is a strange being who seems to know something you don't about your leaders. After you escape your ship you have to find a way to the alien home world to end this. So your journey of the universe starts. This is all pretty generic but I think it does well for the game itself. This is also added to by all the fact that the whole games dialog is voiced over. The voice work is good, nothing amazing, but it definitely does improve the experience.

The visuals in N.O.V.A. are some of the best for the iPod currently. The game is fully 3D rendered and like all great looking games it will kill your battery quickly. This is one downfall of iPod gaming and not anything against the game. The places you go are all varied in look and you never find yourself running through generic corridors. I was very surprised as well at how detailed the environments and textures are. Everything looks great and I would more expect this out of a PSP or similar. Particle effects are great and enemies are, though limited in types, are very detailed and are very smoothly animated.

Aliens and a shotgun, do you need anything else for a good game?

The controls are something that I think gameloft has been getting very good at. They don't make gimmicky use out of the accelerometer and keep their touch controls to good ol' FPS goodness. You can swipe your finger around the bulk of the screen to look around which works very well and is very smooth. You have a digital control stick in the left bottom corner, if you can't already see it in the screenshots, which controls your forward, backward, and strafing. These two, once you get the hang of, are a very good combo. There is also the red circle on the right side that is your firing. The nice thing is with the automatic weapons one you hit the button you keep firing until you lift your finger. This allows you to sweep your fire around the screen as well to track enemies in your sites. The game also allows you to use the little lightning bolt symbol (check the screenshots) to freeze and enemy in place for a few seconds. I made it through the entire game and only used it about twice, once successfully. This is obviously a tacked on feature that I feel the game should have been without. Possibly replace with a melee attack would be nice.

The multiplayer experience, which again gameloft has been getting good at. Is very much like playing the old halo online. You can play online and shoot the crap out of all your buddies and if you have any friends around you who also have an iPod and N.O.V.A. you can also link up locally and then you get to trash talk as well. The nice thing is gameloft has implemented a new service called gameloft LIVE. (Sounds familiar again, right?). This holds all your scores and trophies in the multiplayer game and is a cool new feature. I hope they update a lot of their older games to use this as well so you can have it all in your profile. I also hope this means we will see a lot more multiplayer games from gameloft in the future.

So to sum it all up this is a beautiful game with a decent story and plenty of good action. Pull that in with tight controls and online multiplayer and I think you have a hit. Some may say it is a Halo-knock-off. To them I say, if you played the game you would know the difference, and I would ask, is it really so bad if it was? The iPod has been screaming for nicer better games and gameloft is delivering in full force. They games have become nicer looking and larger with each new release. Once gameloft makes a game in the same style as another great game, and it DOESN'T sell, then we have a problem. If you like to game on the iPod, buy this. Just go buy it already.

Review - Borderlands

2009-11-22T13:53:00.000-06:00

Borderlands is a game that is the brainchild of every idea that starts with “Wouldn’t it be cool if…”. The most amazing part is that it actually ends up being fun. This game tries to be a mash-up of similar games like Fallout 3, Diablo II, World of Warcraft, and Halo 3. Normally this much diversity would cause a game to spill out in mediocrity in all areas. Yet once you start playing everything seems to tie in well and the final product feels so solid and playable it seems to create its own genre of game.

Yeah, you have to kill it.

The game starts off in, of all places, a bus ride. You are a particular type of treasure hunter that is looking for a place known as the ‘vault’. This vault is situated somewhere on the deserted wastelands of a planet known as Pandora. This deserted land is like something straight out of Mad Max. Inside the ‘vault’ is apparently a vast amount of alien technology that will bring with it power, money, and women. You choose between four characters at the start, these characters also act as the four classes for the game. You have the large brute named Brick, the invisible rouge like femme fatale Lilith, Mordecai the sniper with a hawk pet, and Roland the well rounded soldier with a deployable turret.

Once you choose your character and get your general overall goal to the game, find the vault, you get off the bus and are greeted by your guide through the game, unfortunately named Claptrap. This chipper robot walks you through an introduction of movement and combat with some of the roaming bandits of the world. The gameplay starts out as your typical first-person shooter (FPS) fare. You have a gun depending on your starting class and you must view down the sights and try to gun down your enemies, be they bandits or skags, a particularly nasty sort of alien wolf. This is where similarities may start to meld. As you unload into your enemies you will see numbers come flying out of them. These are the hit point damage you are doing and once dead the enemy will also drop some loot and you will gain some experience points (XP). Get enough XP and you will achieve a new level. This gains you skills points which you can use to customize your characters abilities and this offers a slightly different way to play each of the four classes.

The world is an amazingly beautiful wasteland. Try and figure that out.

The world of Pandora, though a deserted wasteland, is beautifully rendered with a comic outline style, more commonly known as cell shading. This gives the game an artistic flair, yet the game keeps its serious edge, and definitely earns its M rating. Every building, grave, or rocky outcrop is perfectly rendered and textured, you never once find yourself running through generic buildings, or walking into badly done outdoor environments. The characters you run into all have a distinctive personality and there are feuds between many characters before you ever even arrived on planet. This world not only looks real enough to live in, but the atmosphere created sucks you in and won’t let you go. I have often found myself attempting to play for an hour and looking out the window to the rising sun six hours later.

The real draw that will keep you going for days is the multi-player experience. It's a little annoying with random people on Xbox LIVE because greediness will always get the better of people, but get 4 of your good friends together and this will be an RPG experience like none other. You will be working well to coordinate a working supportive team that will keep each other going. Your skills will base around others weaknesses and strengths and you will form an unstoppable raiding party. Plus the best part of the four player difficulty jump, more big enemies, more good loot. This is an experience you have to play to fully understand, but it will be well worth it. Plus with new DLC already announced for the game, you can be assured that you will have plenty of places to go in the future with your raiding team.

What if your the type of guy who likes a PvP experience? What does this team based, friendly share fest have to offer you, well at any time, any place, you may melee a friend who you have a grudge with and challenge them to a one-on-one duel. To show who's really the better player. So even you jerks out there can still get your 'I'm better than you' fix.

The audio of the game is standard FPS fare; you have gun sounds, character voices, and such. The sound is enough to keep the game going, and never once did it ruin the experience. The sound as a whole was a solid part of the game and I don’t really have a negative comment for it.

So overall, great graphics, solid and familiar controls, an amazingly addicting gameplay experience, plus you can do it with friends. This game fits in everything plus the kitchen sink, yet offers it to you in a very polished final product that just feels, right. Buy this game, 'nuff said. Just buy it.

Freeware Friday - Perfect World

2009-11-06T18:51:00.000-06:00

Back again with a new edition of Freeware Friday, this time, its MMO edition. My wife recently got a new laptop (well its supposedly ours but I don't seem to be in posession of it most of the time) and we wanted to have a fun MMO to play together. We used to love playing Ragnorak and World of Warcraft on free servers, but its always a hassle to setup and the servers are not as nice or reliable. This mixed with the fact that there is like a bazillion and one free MMORPGS out there you really can't go wrong looking for one to fit your needs. Really between all of these games there isn't much of a difference. Generic RPG with cash shop to dress up your character. They might offer a few races of creatures to be or a few customization options to set themselves apart. So how do you go about finding a decent one to play. Well that's where I come in, I have played this one and will review it so you know what your getting into before even having to download the large installer. (ProTip: The larger the installer for an MMO, the better)

The graphics are very nice if your computer can handle it.

The first thing you do in every online MMO is go to the site, download the client, and setup an account. This process was super easy for Perfect World and the installer is a small download but that means that your going to be downloading 2 gigs worth of files when you run it. So be prepared. Setting up an account is easy and doesn't require you to go through a five page form for a free game. Overall I found it easy to get ready and play.

Next you have to wonder what your getting yourself into. You can see a video when the site opens but who ever knows if its really even showing any in game footage. Well to sum it up this game takes place in an alternate world known as Perfect World (cheesy yes, but who really cares about the setting) which is basically in a mystical world set in the middle ages where swords and sorcery rule. There is a story line about a world and three races and, well, it really doesn't matter either. Who plays a free MMO for the story? So if you like the more fantasy world setting this will be for you. If not, then go play something else.

So you got an easy setup and a decent setting that we may have seen a dozen times before, but probably for a good reason. Well after you get past that you get into the game, which is where the fun starts. The first thing you get to do is create your character, which for some free MMOs means picking a generic look with about 40 different hair styles. This game is a little different, and for that I give it kudos. This games character creation, as far as the face goes, is very in depth, you can adjust nearly ever aspect of your face, from width and height, to the structure of your facial features, the style of your eyes, the slant and openness. Its very similar to the character creation of Oblivion. Then for the body you can only adjust general size proportions but this is still quite a bit of options. The only complaint I have is that if you make an Untamed character (think a humanoid lion, tiger, wolf, or panda) you have very little you can edit besides eye color. Its unfortunate, but I didn't find it a big turn off of the game.

The world is quite detailed and the effects are on par with a retail game.

Now you can choose from three races, the Humans, the Untamed (who acquire a beast form early on), and the Winged Elves (who can fly from level 1). Each race has two classes that are only in that race. There are no common classes which I think is to play into the three races working together aspect of the story. I do sort of find this as a small annoyance but really it again hasn't turned me off from the game. So for the Untamed you have barbarians (male) and Venomancer (female) who are the brute force, and the spell lobber, for their race. The Venomancer deals in poison damage, not just general spell casting. The Humans have the Swordsman and the Wizard. The Winged Elves have the cleric and the archer. This means making lots of friends with other races will get you a balanced raiding party later on. Each races starts in their own part of the world but you can eventually wander (or teleport) to other towns and start to mingle with the locals.

Fear the panda.

Now in game there is the normal general fare such as beginner quests, tutorials, and low level enemies to grind on for a while. You also have skill trainers to learn your new spells for, and special outfits you can purchase for an extra fee (the free MMOs always have the cash shop option somewhere). The thing I started to enjoy was the more polished look to the game, as well as the differences of the quests. You have your standard 'find and kill 10 of said creature and get some junk as a reward', but you also can find some more detailed missions, such as looking for a Blacksmith's lost daughter, or even just helping townies find lost items. This adds a break up from the monoteny of killing creatures and staring at your XP meter slowly fill up, and you will get good chunks of XP and some nice items in reward.

Overall the game is a very polished example of a Free MMORPG which manages to separate itself form the countless other games in the same genre. Its got just about everything you can ask for, without spending a penny. It may not have the large advertising campaign or the massive fan base of something more like World of Warcraft, but its still a good solid title none the less. I would definitely recommend this if your looking for a way to get your MMO on without paying a ridiculous monthly fee.

And yes, I do have a panda barbarian.

Freeware Friday - Cave Story

2009-10-30T14:32:00.000-05:00

If you know me well you know that I love free games. I'm generally broke a lot of the time and love nothing more than a good freeware game. Its not only the price point but its that these games are crafted by a single person or small team and are given away because they do it for the game, not for the fame. There are a few sites dedicated to these games but sifting through the pages of Breakout clones or Tetris remakes is a bit of an off putting task. This is probably why more people aren't freeware junkies like me. Well I'm going to try and bring some of my world of gaming to you every Friday in the new segment I call Freeware Fridays.

First on my list I have to give a shout out to Cave Story (or Doukutsu Monogatari) because it is the peak of freeware gaming. If you play any freeware game in your life, make it this one. This is a game made by Studio Pixel. Originally released as a Japanese freeware game it was translated with a patch by Aeon Genesis Translations. This game is all about an amnesiac android who is awaken in a cave. The story unfolds in front of your face in bits and pieces. You wander around and find a helpful health upgrade (think energy tanks from Metroid) and eventually stumble into a village. You hear tales from the local creatures about a missing girl, tensions within the group, and a mysterious villain who is abducting the locals and doing who knows what with them.

The graphics are reminiscent of an old NES game.

The first thing that really stood out in this game to me was the art style. It is very retro. This game looks like it should be a DOS release turned freeware. All the graphics are pixelated yet amazingly detailed. Again I'm reminded of old NES games which had a limited color set and resolution, yet you get enough variety where it doesn't feel like your running through the same repetitive environment. The side scroller view also makes me feel like I'm back in a space station running around as a space suit-wearing bounty hunter.

The next thing that really stands out is the gameplay. It is similar to a Metroid game where you start with no abilities and a very piddly gun. The interesting twist is you don't get your weapon upgrades through bosses or pick-ups, but instead level up with small little yellow triangles dropped by everything you kill. These go into your current weapons XP stores and the more you kill the more you level up your weapons. This then gives you more punch to your shots. You also start with very little health but acquire health tanks along the way just like good ol' Samus. The thing this game has that Metroid has yet to do is a level of charm and character depth seen in only the best games out there.

This game oozes charm.

I guarantee if you pick up this game you will not be at a loss. This is a very well done game and is what I love about freeware games. The story is deep, the controls are tight and well done, the characters are memorable, and the RPG elements blend well into the game. I also can't help but love the classically retro look to the game. So check out the links at the bottom of the article and pick this one up. Just remember since it was a Japanese game you have to download the English patch as well, but trust me, it is worth the time to install.

Alright join us next Friday for another one of my favorite freeware games summarized and linked so you can easily download it.

LINKS

Cave Story (Japanese) - The installer for Cave Story. This is a Japanese text game so make sure to get...

English Cave Story Patch - This will translate the game to English. After this enjoy your game.

First Impressions - Left 4 Dead 2 Demo

2009-10-29T02:25:00.000-05:00

With the looming release of some great games I had a decision to make. Do I go with Modern Warfare 2? Do I go with Left 4 Dead 2? Or do I start saving for things like Bioshock 2? After much debating I shelled out my hard earned duckets for a full pre-order of Left 4 Dead 2 and I soon realized it came with a free code to get an early play of the demo on Xbox LIVE. This was my impression of the product I sampled for the next few hours.

After hopping into the first online play I hopped in just after the start and from what I could tell I was definitely playing Left 4 Dead. I instantly noticed I had a new gun, a silenced SMG very much like the starting Uzi from the first game. I noticed the new characters, which really are new skins on the same old characters, but hey, why change what isn't broken. I start playing and can tell instantly that the gameplay is the same. Again, why would they change the formula that has done them so much good. Its not until I have done playing through for an hour or so (multiple play throughs of the all-to-short demo) that I notice that this game is better in just about every way.

Weapons are the first thing I notice. There are quite a selection this time around. I notice AK-47s, at least 3 different types of shotguns, the starting pistol is even a lot better modeled. The more I play I can also tell a lot was done with the sounds of the weapons. Every weapon has a different distinct sound. Shotgun blasts aren't all the same generic sound. The Chrome Shotgun I start with has a distinctive metal clang whereas the tactical shotgun I pick up later has a very chunky sound. Apart from this I also quickly find one of the most common melee weapons, the frying pan. Of course since I've been following the game for a while I want to give this baby a test spin and whack away at the nearest zombie. With each connect is a satisfying metal clang and another dead zombie. Later on when surrounded I figure out that these are best used in certain situations as I'm quickly overrun and have to start my push and shotgun technique. I noticed in my playtime a good variety of these weapons too, machete, billy club, pan, and guitar. They all handle a bit the same though. Overall the selection of weapons has increased drastically.

Enemies are the next point of interest. Again the type of special zombies has also grown, along with the addition of "common uncommon" zombies. Making their debut are the new specials, the Spitter with her corrosive acidic spit, the manic Jockey waiting to hop on your back and steer you into any nearby hazard or right off a cliff, and the Charger who will shoulder tackle you into a solid object and then repeatedly slam you into the ground. These show up with the returning classics the Boomer, the Smoker, the Hunter, the Tank, and the Witch. The notable difference is the updated models and new redone sounds which really make their grotesque noises just that much more grotesque. Another change which I think was a good addition is that Witches no longer just sit in one spot on the ground, they actually wander around aimlessly with a, in my opinion, creepier sob. Startle one though and you will learn that they can still be just as lethal. The last change to the enemy is mission specific "common uncommon" zombies which have different movement and attack tactics. The ones shown in this demo are the Riot Police Infected. They are fully covered in body armor but have a weak spot in the back, so meleeing to stagger these zombies is necessary. All in all they keep you changing up your tactics just enough to stay on your toes.

Music and sound is something I slowly started to notice throughout the playing. Of course the Director is back taking care of gameplay, music, and this time the weather, and it throws out those audio cues when special infected are around. The one thing I started to notice though was everything had a slightly more southern vibe to it. Whether it was the intro music turned to more of a southern rock, or the witches vocally done music versus instrumental sound. Even when the horde shows up the music has a much more ska/jazz sound to it. Its a very subtle effect that really shifts your thinking into, this is the south, versus just thinking, this is the same game but with a south inspired level design. My personal favorite sound is the new audio hint for a Jockey being near. It has a slightly sporadic free form jazz feel which really adds to the Jockey's manic personality. It just shows that Valve still knows that subtle music is important to changing the whole gameplay experience. I absolutely love what they have done with the music and sound in this demo. I am pretty confident that this will carry over to the full game.

Characters and Voices are the last thing I really started to notice. Overall, like I said to start, these characters are basically skin replacements on the original characters. New voices try and separate them but really the characters, much like the story, are generic. What I did like about the voices where all the new conversation spots. The game really seems to make the characters interact more with random dialogs. One character will say something sparked by the level or a particular situation, and it seems like all the characters will join into the conversation and you hear some interesting and funny, albeit cheesy, dialogs.

The last thing to talk about is the levels. These again are pretty generic but remade with a southern style. These could have easily been tacked on to the last game and seemed the same. There isn't much more in the way of interacting with the level itself or new challenges. I would have liked to see maybe some environmental dangers or traps to catch the zombies in. Or possibly more dangers for the plays, instead of just the regular "cars with alarms" bit. As this is only a short demo I hope to see these when the game releases next month.

To wrap this all up with a neat bow, the new weapons are many and well done, the melee weapons are effective at very close range, but overall kind of handle the same, the enemies are more and more varied, the music and sounds are top notch and varied, your characters and the environment though are sadly generic replacements for the first game. That last one really isn't a complaint so much as an observation, the game wasn't meant to be story or character intensive this is a multi player joyride at its core and that shows through still. Look forward to seeing this on shelves November 17.