The Question Block

Life's a Blur. Then You Level Up.

2010-03-15T18:48:00.001-06:00

I finally understand what all the fuss was about in Modern Warfare 2. Only, the realization came from playing a racing game.

After leaving an innocuous comment on a friend's blog about Blur, I suddenly found myself presented with a golden ticket in the form of a code to join the "beta demo" - a free pass to what I'm starting to think may be the greatest racer since Burnout Paradise.

Although saying "something plus something else equals this" is a lazy comparison, I can't help but use it when trying to explain Blur. It feels very much like Bizarre Creations' Project Gotham Racing series; rooted somewhere between realistic and arcadey - a lovely niche of accessibility sans the need to dumb things down. Add to that the carnage of weapon heavy Mario Kart and you get Blur. That's right: there are Audi's shooting what are basically blue, spiky shells. And I love it for that.

What makes it so addictive is that you can stockpile up to three power-ups, which opens the game to a much more strategic play style than you usually find while burning rubber. You've seen the attacks before: forward shooting projectiles, homing missiles, mines and shields are all par for the course. What's important is the timing you use when executing said screw-over. And I don't mean just taking into account where your opponents are, either. Your load-out is subtly shown on your bumper so you can pick and choose what you want to use. More importantly, you can see your fellow drivers load-outs as well. And don't forget that they can see yours, too.

I've never really been one to use my rear view mirror in games like this; now it's imperative lest you'd like to see yourself at the bottom of the leaderboards. However, there is a hook to Blur that transcends just zipping ahead of the competition - the leveling system.

At this point I think it's asinine and rote to say Blur has "RPG-like elements"; because really, games like this and the aforementioned Modern Warfare 2 only take one of their core elements and attaches it to their titles. However, that doesn't mean it's not an effective carrot to dangle in front of people to keep them playing. In this day and age, developers want their games to be evergreen. I won't hold that against them - in fact, I applaud it. It's kept me in it's grasp since I downloaded the thing, anyhow.

Being someone whose gaming career has largely been spent in the grind, just seeing my rank go up another number is often cathartic enough for me. So far, I've unlocked enough interesting bits to keep me going 'til...well, whenever the level cap hits. It's a no-brainer that they'd put new rides out there; but what I really got excited for was the prep load-outs you can have. Much like perks in Modern Warfare 2 (man, considering I haven't played this game, I sure use it as an example a lot), you can give yourself little advantages from the get go. Right now I randomly get a weapon at the start, negate an attack and have a boost to my ramming ability. And the idea of new and more potent perks feel more important to me than having a snazzier sports car at this point.

You earn your levels by doing various things on the course such as avoiding attacks, driving fancily and winning; all of which gain you fans. It sounds really arbitrary, but it's effective at keeping people playing. Most of the time, when you can't get the checkered flag to save your life, racing games tend to lose their luster. This way, you can keep the rest of the pack involved and interested. Along with that, there's also end-of-race awards that remain entertaining all the time.

I'm surprised at how excited I am for Blur considering how little I've spent with the beta. Going in, I wasn't expecting much because the name is generic and I've respected but never been a fan of Bizarre Creations. But that's all going to change now. My only concern is it's single-player component. Granted, like fighting games, nobody means to play racers by themselves; but sometimes you find yourself doing so to bide your time until your buddies are online. Not that it'll be a total game killer if it's not rock solid; I just like to know that if I'm investing sixty bucks towards a game that I'm confident I'll get a fully rounded experience.

If you see me online, don't hesitate to send me an invite. I'll be playing this one until they cut me off the teat and sucker me into buying it.

Angels Do In Fact Wait for Slowpokes

2010-03-09T07:55:00.001-07:00

Where the hell was I the first time I played BioShock!? I mean, I see the game saves from Point Prometheus and I have the achievements to prove it; but why wasn't I as impacted as I am now -- a few years after the fact, on my second play through?

I have to start out by saying that I'm impressed that I kept the promise to myself that I would journey through Rapture again; this time harvesting the cute little urchins with the big, big needles. I could have just as well watched the "bad" ending via YouTube; but I felt I owed it to this marvelous game to dig deeper in my second run. Which is obvious, because it ended up being a much more meaningful experience than my first go around. We can chalk it up to my maturation as a gamer--this time I was less worried about finishing it along with everyone else and bilking it for achievements, content with enjoying the sights, sounds and combat that I somewhat blatantly blasted through the first time around.

Lately I've been wondering why everyone calls out BioShock as a classic. Not that I disagree by any stretch of the imagination; instead, I question it because I felt the game play shined brighter than the plot, which is an unconventional opinion considering most people herald the story. Don't get me wrong--the power struggle between Ryan and Fontaine (it's been three years, I'm blowing the statute of limitations on this baby) is leaps and bounds better than most digital storytelling; however, I was soured by the end game in which they take Fontaine's power play and turn it into an unnecessary boss battle. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Why don't I take it from the top first?

BioShock has a lot in common with 30's and 40's pulp magazine stories. It pulls you in almost instantly with it's introductory plane crash and scenic bathysphere ride to Andrew Ryan's supposed utopia. It was common back then for writers to start their books off with a bang in the hopes that they could get a dime off of a wanting reader, and it's easy to see the parallel here as I can't think of anyone I know of who wasn't drawn in by the first fifteen minutes of the game.

Even more of a similarity is that the entire game takes place in an underwater city that's frozen in that time frame thanks to the fallout over ADAM. Irrational did an amazing job keeping it stylistically relevant to the 40's; a submerged historical note to the times. These days, I really like poking around the nooks and crannies in game worlds and Rapture easily scratches that itch with it's art deco vibe and architecture, and more importantly the little details that kept me addicted for a few weeks. You can tell there was a lot of thought put towards the environments, whether it's the layout of abandoned apartments or a bloodied corpse left crucified after the civil war. What's nice is that I was usually rewarded for my incessant snooping with an audio log detailing the background of Rapture, ammo or just another minute detail pulling me further into the rabbit hole. Considering most shooters are a glut of realistic military campaigns or epic space battles, BioShock is a breath of fresh, salty sea air.

When I wasn't waist deep in overflowing H2O, I found myself slowly warming up to taking on Splicers with what I think is one of the more customizable combat systems. Unfortunately, I'm one of those folks who takes the mindless approach of blasting first and remembering strategies after. Which might explain why no one ever wants me on their team during multiplayer in other shooting games. The firearms are traditional fare: pistols, shotguns and grenade launchers are all par for the course. What gives the fighting it's bite are those lovely plasmids: crazy mutant powers that can be all yours for the low, low price of unwavering addiction.

It's readily apparent that all the direct offense plasmids like Incinerate, Winter Blast and Insect Swarm are similar in use, even if they are visually distinct. It's a sound strategy to distract or incapacitate Splicers and Big Daddies -- in fact, I think I primarily used Electro Bolt almost exclusively during my first play through. They're all rock solid, to be honest; but the fun didn't begin until I started using some of the more quirky powers.

I began to envision my version of Jack as something of a magician or hypnotist; hiding behind the Natural Camouflage tonic and pulling the strings of Rapture's denizens. As much as I enjoyed the hacking mini-game (Pipe Mania FTW), I eventually souped up my gadgetry skills and photographed enough foes to where I just played by setting traps the whole time. I never usually get to see how AI works in first-person shooters because of my itchy trigger finger, but with this play style I was able to understand and enjoy what makes everyone tick. Setting up dummies, pissing off Splicers and having them attack each other, using cyclones as perimeter triggers and marking Big Daddies as targets for threatening turrets became a steadfast hobby of mine.

I rarely ran out of ammo because I rarely shot anything. It was awesome. Except for in that last fight against Frank Fontaine.

I digress; maybe calling out the plot wasn't a wise choice on my part. I just think people take it at face value and nothing more. I've read numerous articles citing Irrational as being inspired by Ayn Rand and her philosophy of objectivism, but really that's just the canvas that the painting is spread upon. Sure, Rapture was built because maybe Andrew Ryan read Atlas Shrugged; but the true heart of the proceedings are due to the fact that no ideology will truly work on it's own, and someone is willing to argue that point. In this case it was Frank Fontaine, whom decided to capitalize on the remote underwater city when ADAM was discovered and he chose to exploit it's potential rather than share it with everyone.

It's all very interesting, from the back story given in audio logs to the bizarre twist in which you find yourself having played the entire game as a slave under Fontaine's guise of Atlas. My point of contention lies in the fact that the reality BioShock gets you to believe in is shattered because someone didn't dip their pen deep enough into the creativity well. The point where you chase Fontaine and he suddenly becomes a superhero is jarring, only to totally feel like "just a game" when it turns into a halfhearted boss battle. Not that I can think of a better premise for the end game personally; I just feel it could have been handled differently, just like the rest of the game was. The choice as to whether or not to harvest little sisters also didn't play out as strongly as it could of; I didn't feel bad about pulling the slugs from their stomachs until the very end. It was emotionally gripping and made me feel guilty--but not until it was too late.

Regardless of my personal gripe, BioShock stands as perhaps my favorite game of this generation. It made me care about the story, it made me care about the game play and every little thing I did felt like as big an accomplishment as any arbitrary achievement or level finish could. So much so that I'm already contemplating a third play through; this time on the hardest difficulty in order to get a 100% completion rate and to see if my play style is still a viable one.

And on that note, I now wait with bated breath for when I inevitably pick up BioShock 2. I've kept myself intentionally naive about it; having heard both good and bad things, in the end I'd like to just experience it for myself. Could BioShock simply been a singular experience? Absolutely. But as popular as it is, I'm not surprised that 2K chose to go back, and my curiosity is strong enough to bite that dangling carrot.

At least they didn't ask if I would kindly play it.

Not Even Scott Wolf Could Save This

2010-03-07T12:44:00.000-07:00

There are bad games, and then there's the arcade version of Double Dragon.

A few weeks back I had to re-license all my 360 content after it unceremoniously red ringed on me, and I came across an old remake of Double Dragon I had downloaded and had completely forgotten about. For a good reason. This version is something of a digital rarity because it was de-listed from Live thanks to it's publisher, Empire Interactive, going under. Or so Wikipedia says.

It's for the best, though. Unlike great games that were de-listed (Lost Cities, I wish you had found an audience), I don't think anyone should have to suffer through this under any circumstances. No, not even for historical study. I don' t think Double Dragon was the first side-scrolling beat 'em up, but it definitely popularized the genre. And that, kids, is all you really need to know.

Unfortunately, the reason it fails is because of it's lineage as a quarter munching arcade game. You never get to see the glaring flaws because twenty-five cents just didn't get you far enough in to experience them. Replaying it with my brother and an infinite well of coinage; we found ourselves on a thirty minute adventure of how games were made back in the day, and how not to make them today.

The word cheap comes to mind when I think of Double Dragon. I know the term was thrown around a lot in the eighties -- whether it was falling into a pit that you swear up and down the game wantonly tossed you into or you found yourself trapped against an impenetrable wall of flying bullets in a shmup -- but in this case it's true. But that's the nature of the beast when something is made for stealing money from unsuspecting kids and not for genuine enjoyment. The hit detection would be best described as loose, there's an excruciating part where you have to get the Lee brothers across a seemingly impossible one foot gap and the last boss brings a gun to a fist fight.

In the end, my brother and I invented our own fun; either from trashing it's shortcomings or role-playing that we were traveling in the steamy underbelly of Hollywood. Don't ask me why; there was a baddie who looked a bit like Steve Guttenberg and it felt cathartic to thump him, and it just steamrolled from there. Sometimes you just have to make your own fun; in this case it's the only way to have any. After the laughing subsided and one of us beat the other up after defeating the last boss for the chance at a one night stand with Marion, Double Dragon was summarily put to bed and forgotten about.

Normally I have issues about writing musings that put down anything (I'm obnoxiously nice like that, sometimes), but damn it -- Double Dragon deserves it. It's not as good as you remember it being kids. Or, if you're like me, you're actually thinking of the NES version that, for all it's technical shortcomings, was vastly superior to it's arcade progenitor. Not even Scott Wolf* could save this.

*Scott Wolf starred as Billy Lee in the unabashedly terrible film adaptation. I'm sure he'd rather be known for being in Party of Five.

When World Warriors and Avian Themed Superheroes Collide

2010-02-23T07:15:00.003-07:00

I've come to the stark realization that I'm not as big a fighting game fan as I like to think I am. I was an impressionable pre-teen (or tween, as they're called these days) when Street Fighter II took the world by storm; it was a cathartic release to what a twelve-year-old viewed as an oppressive world. I used to pour over the manual, studying the special moves harder than most devout Christians would the Bible. Even though the genre is rooted in competition, I was content with thrashing the computer opponents on the lowest settings. Those were happy times.

Nowadays the thought of novella sized move list scares me heartily and the lowest set AI can hand me my ass faster than you can pronounce "Shoryuken".

Even though fighting games have fallen into the endless abyss known as a niche and I'm about as skilled as your grandma, I can't help but become smitten when something new comes along that promises flaming uppercuts and the ability to do endless punch/kick combos. I don't pretend to know any of the minutiae involved, I just tend to stick with enjoying it to the extent of my admitted feeble abilities. What that means is they have a much shorter lifespan than they used to inside my consoles.

Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars unfortunately has even less of a shelf life because I'm just not as endeared to the cast of anime brawlers, especially in lieu of me downloading Marvel vs. Capcom 2 a while back. It's not that they don't look cool, because they do; it's just that there's no history behind it for me. Beyond having heard of Battle of the Planets and being forced to watch Neon Genesis Evangelion by my youngest brother - I know nothing of Tatsunoko. As if to assure this game polarizes me, Capcom also included some of their more obscure characters that are known to me but aren't as beloved in my eyes. Hi there blonde guy from Onimusha...where's Ken and those guys?

Usually I can look beyond my inability of being culturally conscientious so long as the game play can pull me in...but that didn't happen, either. In the grand scheme of things, I'm more inclined towards fighters are strictly one on one and a bit more on the technical side. Because the flashy, team-switching battles in Tatsunoko vs. Capcom overwhelmed my old man eyes and more often than not I found myself on the losing end every time. If I've learned anything since Street Fighter II ruled my world, it's that fighting games should be played with other humans, even when said people happens to be your little brother...who can hand me my ass without blinking. Which is, to say, the reason why it's merrily on it's way back to GameFly; because I had no interest in playing it by myself.

I'm sorry this pseudo-review didn't give you a lot of the information you might be looking for. But I wasn't interested in going online and having my soul crushed by fighting savants, and the endings and unlockables weren't compelling enough for me to trudge through the single player arcade mode either. Don't read into my views of Tatsunoko vs. Capcom as being negative towards the game; just that it wasn't my style. I appreciate that Capcom had the stones to bring this stateside, because I'm sure I'm not the only one who doesn't know what a Yatterman is. And something of this pedigree is just unheard of on the Wii; which is slightly sad because people will still look down on it regardless.

In the grand scheme of things, playing Tatsunoko vs. Capcom will probably make me appreciate the simplicity of Super Street Fighter IV when it releases. But it will also remind me that I seemingly can only get my fix with that series; making me the gaming equivalent of a meth addict. What a comforting thought as I close out this post. I don't shoot drugs, just fireballs.

The Game Show MMO

2010-02-10T07:00:00.001-07:00

When it comes to online gaming, there's many a flavor to be had. There's the incessant need to hoard "mad loot", level up and awkwardly attempt social interaction with a purple-skinned elf hottie that swears up and down that they are of the female persuasion. There's the cathartic need to shoot people in the head and crouch on the corpses of your enemy while asking if they'd like some crumpets with that tea while inventing new racial slurs. And of course there's the bombardment of public advertisement that comes from Facebook as you ask your friends whether they'd like to adopt a stray animal from your ranch or join you in the Mafia. Me? I play random trivia game shows that are supported by constant advertisements from Sprint while I stand next to a crowd of Avatars dressed as if they're mothers didn't raise them properly.

Such is the life of a 1 vs. 100 addict.

I've written about this game before; how it became this obsession with my wife and I, hoping we'd somehow use our collective vault of useless knowledge for fame and glory. Even with the odds playing against us, we thought surely we'd either join the mob or become the one; what with her sick knowledge of mathematics and cell phone etiquette and my love of history and Kevin Smith films. Sensing that maybe the gaming collective might get bored with simply answering questions about which actor was in both Dune and Wing Commander III: Heart of the Tiger, they did what any good developer worth their weight in gold would: add a rudimentary leveling system that would put its barbs so far into you that you have no choice but to be hooked.

I may joke about it, but the ability to progress, even if only numerically, adds enough structure to keep people playing for a really, really long time. I don't think the multiplayer in Call of Duty would feel as unique without it. And it turns 1 vs. 100 into less a novelty and more a national obsession. Only instead of getting perks, you get dance moves. There's also medals for immediate consumption such as being speedy and correct or scoring better than the one. The game also keeps track of all you stats, egging you to keep playing just to beat yourself. There are now achievements as well, boosting your gamer score as well as your pride. Everything shines and sparkles just enough to get your attention, hoping to do it again. Just one more round.

It's pulled me in with what I imagine is the same kind of sleepless fervor a World of WarCraft player would have. Every day I scan the schedule to see what kind of themes the games will have that evening. Fortunately, my addiction will be kept in check; the game runs as a season, which'll force me to go without eventually, cold turkey.

Maybe it's for the best; no one needs to dream about Chris Cashman that much. Not even Chris Cashman.

Dead Space: The Animated Rollercoaster Ride

2010-02-08T07:00:00.001-07:00

I have a very curious relationship with the Dead Space series; ever since the original game I've grown excited about it's concept, quality and execution...but I never buy one. Usually that kind of fervor always turns into a purchase; but I'm content with just renting them, enjoying the hell out of it and then summarily writing them off as a disposable experience. I think it's an age thing; I can appreciate and have a good time with something and not feel the need to own it.

Maybe disposable wasn't an appropriate term, I think everyone who owns a Wii should play Dead Space: Extraction; not just because it's an interesting evolution in what we think a light gun game is, but because it takes the term "guided experience" in a direction that doesn't make the use of quotations seem like it has a negative connotation.

What's awesome is that Extraction is a Dead Space game through and through. When you get past the fact that you can't control your character, you begin to realize that through its themes, its strategic combat and its ability to use the same visual style without losing any fidelity that this is meant to be as respected as it's graphically superior forbearer. It's a deliberate design decision that uses the type of care I wish more developers would use when making games for the Wii.

As lovingly crafted as it is, I have a hard time digging into the Dead Space mythology in the way that the developers want me to; which may be the root as to why these games are rentals and not purchases in my book. There's a whole history behind the Marker and the necromorphs, the religion behind it and the true scientific reasonings for it all; unfortunately I just see it as the videogame equivalent to a slasher flick...in space. While I can appreciate the various logs you can pick up (I especially liked the audio ones that played through the remotes speakers)...I just don't care. I know enough that I enjoy going from beginning to end and that's all that's really needed.

It's funny to write that because so much of Extraction is about the interplay between your character and the band of misfits he accrues as they try to make their escape from an overrun planetside colony to the what they think is the safety of the U.S.G. Ishimura, the iconic mining ship that's turning into the games' defining mark. Like any good slasher, each member of your entourage comes from different walks of life and social castes, each contributing in some way to the overall story arch and helping progress the game. By progress I mean helping open doors or giving you boosts into vents; you're on your own with the combat. Barring the "it's just a game" moments like that, it definitely gives off a foreboding vibe and a healthy fear of being alone. Assuming you let the game move you in that way, anyways.

The fact that I was the only one bothering to save our hides by blasting alien scum didn't bother me because the combat is so, for a lack of a better term and a undying need to add a pun in this post somewhere, visceral. When levels weren't being moved along by verbal repartee, you're gratifyingly dismembering necromorphs for fun and survival. Granted, you don't have the ability to back away or find cover in any form, but the combat from the original game has carried over verbatim. Dismembering monsters isn't particularly innovative and it's definitely not rocket science, but it is extremely satisfying to freeze them in mid-lunge with your stasis power and calculatedly remove each limb before they come back. Which, in some cases, still isn't the end for them. That's kind of why I'm loathe to call this a light gun game, because there's a lot of ways to tackle battles than the usual "shoot them in the head and ask questions later" motif they usually carry.

Further removing it from that genre is the variety of weapons in your arsenal and the fact that you can upgrade in ways that feel substantial. Granted, you only get power boosts and larger clips; but it's felt through game play and doesn't feel superficial. I wish that the majority of the guns showed up earlier; after about level 5 I didn't care about what was introduced because I was afraid that they weren't as powerful as the ones I'd been carrying since the beginning. That wasn't a deal-breaker though; I came across a similar issue with the original game, that being I tended to stick with the default armament from beginning to end. While I still think the plasma cutter is the more symbolic six shooter, Extraction decided to one-up it's mundanity by giving you a rivet gun. Although, on second thought, it would have been amazing had you been able to staple baddies to walls.

Another layer of depth comes from the fact that there's an abundance of resource management as you move through the levels. Considering the game is basically an on-rails set piece rollercoaster, it could be distracting at times. Besides ammo and health, you also track down the ubiquitous logs I mentioned earlier. While an interesting idea, it removes you from the story being told because you're too busy trying to grab things rather than look at the NPCs emotive faces. I could see the logs as being a good excuse to replay the game; but unless they were convenient, I wouldn't grab them. Which, now that I think about it, is probably the reason I stuck with the unlimited ammo rivet gun from beginning to end.

I had a great time with Dead Space: Extraction, but at the same time it makes me sad because this brilliant experience has, as of now, gone mostly unnoticed. It fell into that same trap Beyond Good & Evil did; where it gets critical acclaim and a lot of blogger buzz...but nobody buys a single copy of the damn. It's made me feel a bit guilty for having just rented it and never intending on picking it up. I may end up doing so the next time I see it; it's bound for the bargain bin, and we should all save it when we sit it sitting there, all lonely like.

Because, you know, those necromorphs heads aren't going to cut themselves off, you know.

The Catharsis of Vegetable Grooming

2010-02-07T07:00:00.002-07:00

As punny as it sounds, it took a while before Bonsai Barber grew on me. It starts off as a one trick pony, but I grew to appreciate it the more I played (That one was intentional). It's one of those games that are totally and unabashedly relaxing, something that's not explored in videogames often enough. This review also holds special meaning because it got me in contact with Martin Hollis; a true visionary in games creation. Someday I might grow a pair and see if I can get an interview with him just to see what makes him tick and why this game is so good. Oh, and why the banana is so devious.

Even I found it befuddling that I found myself compelled to play a game whose prime directive was to finely manicure the hedges of talking flora. It's all thanks to a very convincing interview that Martin Hollis (director of seminal classic GoldenEye) gave on the Nintendo Channel during E3. He touched on the subject that he was getting to a point in his life where he's become more open-minded about what he plays and experiences. He talked about how having children and getting older had changed his tastes; something I find myself reflecting on more often than not as I approach thirty at a rapid pace. Anyways, to make a long insightful rant short and turn it into a proper game critique; he conceived Bonsai Barber to be something of a chaser to more serious fare, convinced me to download it to my Wii and suddenly become interested in giving a carrot the space buns hairdo.

The entire concept of Bonsai Barber sounds nothing more than something that should be, and probably is, a mini-game in say a WarioWare title. You take up shop in a nameless village with leafy denizens, and your prime directive is to give them the hair style of their choosing. They hop in the chair, an outline appears across their luscious bush-fro and you have at it. And that's really just about it. Besides cutting, you have access to clippers and a comb and you're also given the ability to color when the need arises (hot dogs are red and the bun is yellow, for example). But I'd be lying if that fact gave this game an amazing amount of depth. In all reality, you only get five clients a day and a single run is around the ten to fifteen minute range.

While I could bemoan that Bonsai Barber should have been released after Wii Motion Plus because there's a definite lack of finesse; what it gives you in return is something that most of us wouldn't find as rewarding: patience. Much like taking care of an actual bonsai tree, there's something gratifying and even reflective when it comes to meticulously trimming twigs. Believe me, that's as weird a sentence to write as it probably is to read. But it's true. There's something calming about that simplicity. But I could have had that with WMP too.

Stylistically, the game is akin to Animal Crossing; you start getting to know the citizens of the burg and getting attached. I suppose that's similar to when you go into a barber yourself; eventually you get to chatting and sometimes begin to build rapport, which usually results in return business. You never get to stroll around town, which is disappointing, but that's just a minor grievance. Beyond personality and look, you begin to find variances in the way that each character's leaves grow. It's in this that the game reveals it's challenge. Some folks have a large branch and many twigs which makes them easier; some have larger forks that makes it more meticulous. There's even a secret agent banana who's hair grows in the opposite direction of everyone else, totally changing your style. I like to think of him as a boss. If the moment of zen isn't your idea of a game winning prize, the neighbors also send postcards, give out doo-hickeys and a variety of achievements and goals to keep you plugging away.

Is this a game I'd recommend unequivocally? Probably not. It's an acquired taste and it does admittedly take a long time to warm up to, if you do at all. But for ten dollars, it was an experiment I was willing to take part in. So congratulations Mr. Hollis; you've managed to successfully veer off the beaten path and create something that's original, entertaining and a complete contrast of what we'd expect from an originator of console's first superb FPS. You've also managed to avoid putting the mullet as a style choice. To that I say thank you.

How a Man in a Pointy-Eared Cowl Found Redemption

2010-01-31T07:00:00.000-07:00

Like my Rock Band 2 review from a couple weeks back, this one always manages to elicit a smile; it looks all professional and everything! The game is a still a proof of concept that amazing stuff can be done with even the usually restricted licensed title.

When it comes to the legacy of Batman in regards to videogames, it's safe to say that even our mothers probably know of his tainted reputation. Not that other superheroes don't have issues (see: Superman); but if any of them would, in theory, translate into the realm of interactive entertainment perfectly, it would have be the Dark Knight.

Just like filmmakers before them, development studios are finally getting that epiphany that maybe there's more to caped crusaders than big muscles and the obvious super powers. Most of the time, they're tossed into a brawler game of some sort; which is a travesty for poor Batman, because to me he's always been more about the detective work and analytical skills than fisticuffs. While a game about inner monologues and waiting to apprehend foes would not make for the most exciting plays, Batman: Arkham Asylum does an admirable job of blending the thirty seconds of action gamers crave with the sensible and thoughtful approach that Batman takes going about his business.

The deliberateness of how he does things is driven home right at the beginning: Batman walks everywhere. If you hold down a button, you have the option to run (and in certain situations you'll need to); but more often than not, you're supposed to study your surroundings and think about the best way to tackle a situation. To further prove the point, Batman also has what's called detective vision, a screen filter that shows you points of interest, escape routes and enemies within a room. I loved the fact that when I entered a new area, I'd have to stop and think about how I traveled across it. There's some obvious finger pointing as to where your next objective is, but there's an organic openness as to how you get there. There was many times where I'd successfully meander my way to a goal while taking out prisoners and have my pride of accomplishment taken away when I saw multiple possibilities on the way back. It's a marvel in both game and level design.

Dont' get me wrong, Arkham Asylum has brawling (which is pretty fluid), but that's not usually your best option. In another wonderful nod to the character of Batman, you often play the part of the hunter rather than the prey. As you slowly pick away at large groups one at a time, enemies start to panic and go paranoid; often avoiding helping each other in a sad attempt at salvaging their own worthless lives. I wanted to make a joke about the ungodly amount of gargoyles you can climb on in Arkham, but it's a concession I'm willing to make for more strategic combat.

Also helping build mystique are those wonderful gadgets Bats keeps stocked in his utility belt. The batarang moves beyond being a mere distance attack and can also be used to hit switches, cut loose people hanging from a rope (often times of your own volition) and disorient baddies. There's other gadgets as well including explosive gel, a grapple gun and decoder; each that sound simple in usage but become increasingly versatile the further into the game you get. It's one thing to add an experience system to your game; it's another to get it right by making said upgrades something more substantial and less superfluous.

Perhaps the biggest endorsement I can give to Arkham Asylum is the fact that it delves deeper into Batman's menagerie of foes than any other form of media beyond the comics. Each one is carefully re-imagined to live in a much darker interpretation of Gotham City; replete with solid voice acting (which I'm sure you've all heard about), interesting use of their gimmicks and creepy interview tapes that take a lot of them from goofy and colorful to homicidal and psychologically damaged. My favorite by far was Scarecrow, whom changes the way you play the game as he drugs you up and digs into what makes Batman who he is. Most of them follow the same pattern-based tropes you've seen since the 8-bit days; but that doesn't make them any less satisfying. As interesting as Bruce Wayne is as a damaged character, we all know his motivation; it's nice to see someone go further into what makes his villains tick.

The only thing that didn't sit well with me was the fact that the darker characters are set-up in a plot that sticks to it's comic book roots. Not that that's a total fun-killer; but it started out as promisingly sinister as the characters involved, so I was disappointed when the twist happened that revealed the Joker's reasoning as to why he lured Batman into Arkham and then staged a coup. Even up until the end game, conversations gave me the willies...and then you get a weird, cop-out of a boss battle that left me wondering what the hell just happened. I'll chalk it up to a personal preference; looking at it a bit more subjectively, it's probably just their way of paying homage to Batman's roots and comics in general. I was just hoping for something a little more classy; the steroidal shenanigans at the end smell of Todd McFarlane.

I began to wonder if I was playing the same game as other people; I've noticed a lot of comparisons to the now officially over-cliched "Metroidvania" genre, but I felt that game was more like Ocarina of Time, albeit with sadistic asylum escapees and eleven-foot crocodiliasapiens. The grounds of Arkham serve as the hub, and it's dungeons are places like intensive care, the mansion and the oddly placed botanical gardens. I suppose the comparisons come in with all the nick-knack gathering you can do such as the aforementioned interview tapes and the Riddler's ungodly amount of riddles and collectibles to find. It's not something I want to over-analyze, it's just a funny semantical observation I saw. How about we just call this type of gaming structure an "adventure" from now on?

It's rare in this day and age for a game to capture my attention so much so that I ignore other games and life priorities in general just so I can get a little bit further into it, but Batman: Arkham Asylum does it and with aplomb, no less. It's easy to see that it does a great service for games based on comic books; but I think it does gaming at large that same service as well. Even the biggest of cynics would grin maniacally as the played out their gray shirt and Underoo fantasies. And just remember, it could be worse: they could have always included rubber nipples. It's a crazy thing to say, but this is a good, nay great, Batman game.

Encyclopedia Spartannica

2010-01-27T08:29:00.001-07:00

It's amazing how much you don't realize you've missed a console until you haven't had it for a few months. I've been just fine with my Wii in the meantime, but I'd be remiss if I didn't admit that I'm also glad my 360 is back. I'm highly convinced that gamers skew time in a way that's similar to the way many animals age; what's really a short span seems like eons to the average thumb twiddler. It definitely feels that way when I realize what I've missed in the world of Xbox Live: Twitter(worthless if you can't access it from the guide), Last.fm(while cooler, refer to parentheses on Twitter), Facebook (I'm over the site, but even if I wasn't the interface is busted) and the Rock Band Store (which I love because I can listen to new tracks without having to insert a disc).

But the one thing I've heard the least about actually happens to be the one thing that got me really excited: Halo Waypoint.

I guess I should get this bit of information out of the way: I am a fan of Halo. Mind you, I didn't say fanboy; I'm well aware of it's warts and realize that more ardent gamers dislike it's broader appeal. Regardless, I've fallen into the rabbit hole that is it's overarching storyline; believe it or not, it's actually some very solid science fiction. Which is why Waypoint has grabbed me so; it is at it's core the bible of all things Halo.

The app is separated into two distinct sections, one based on game play and the other a cache of lore. The game play portion keeps track of your achievements throughout the 360 titles, rewarding you with avatar gear the further you get. It's a cool idea; unfortunately I'm not the achievement hound I used to be, so I've only scoped it out a few times. The verbose encyclopedia is amazing, even if they only parcel off information at a slow rate. You can't blame them; it's a way to keep us coming back periodically, and it works quite well. I keep showing up, anyhow. I'll spare you any further babbling, except to say that it's really nice to have a solid chronology to keep up with.

Waypoint has me hoping that more games have a hub for fans to go to. I miss the days when we weren't constantly inundated with new titles weekly and we held tightly to the games we loved and praised them to the point of near worship. Publishers are more worried about pushing more product instead of fostering a desire to enjoy the worlds they create and the minutiae within. While I appreciate fan sites and wikis, there's something to be said for when the creators show the same amount of care and admiration. It may start becoming a trend; the aforementioned Rock Band Store and the forthcoming Rock Band Network are promising, and Irrational Games has rebuilt their homepage from the ground up with community in mind.

But before that happens, I think publishers need to stop worrying about the short term and start digging in for the long haul. I think the medium tries too hard to emulate film; but it fails from the get go because there is no equivalent to going to the theater. If they start to realize that they have a different kind of market, one that has the potential to be "evergreen", the better off we'll all be.

Well, I won't until Nintendo gives the Mother series it's due. But that's another story for another day.

What Happens in the Dark Should Stay in the Dark

2010-01-24T07:00:00.001-07:00

Alone in the Dark has the distinction of being the first and only game that I was actually sent a review copy of, making me feel all professional and stuff. I have to give kudos to Sam Beck of the now defunct Phase 1 Phaser for the opportunity; although in all honesty the game was a sloppy mess, despite having good ideas and looking pretty. But really, it's was a great way to practice objective writing when you don't like what you're playing. And I'll let you in on a little secret: if I saw that I had to drive, I used the fast-forward option. If you knew how bad that is; you'd have done it too!

Call me David Duchovny, because damn it; I wanted to believe. I wanted to believe that Atari’s Alone in the Dark redux was going to be what I, and more importantly long time fans, have been hoping it would be. That being a seedy and evil monster mystery set in the already scary in the light Central Park of New York City. Add to the disaster meets zombies idea with fresh and innovative DVD-like options that let you fast-forward, scene select and get recaps a la a television drama and you have the trappings of what could be a beautiful rebirth of a much neglected franchise. If only Eden’s execution was half as good as their ambition.

I want to tell you about the intriguing plot that revolves around Edward Carnby trying to figure out what the hell is going on; but no matter what good would slip from my mind and onto this review will quickly get eclipsed by the nonsense I had to deal with to find it. Apparently French people think we American’s say fuck a lot; every two sentences spoke contained it. If Carnby came circa the 1930’s, would he really use that type of language? Did it even exist!? Maybe he caught a few reruns of Deadwood before the world collapsed around him. Even though the games vernacular was quite small, at least it was easy on the eyes; graphically and stylistically Alone in the Dark is sound.

Literally ripping pages from Resident Evil 4, the controls totally smack of Capcom’s work. Taking their plagiarism one step further, they at least saw fit to add an admittedly neat inventory selection that has you looking down into your coat to fumble for things. Unfortunately this isn’t an option to pause; enemies whose names end in “z” will still give you the one-two when you’re busy looking for a lighter. Easily remedied when you realize you can press the left or right bumper to quick pick; but then you realized that the inventory system is yet another innovation pissed down the drain by uselessness.

Not that getting hit is exclusively an issue when you’re digging into your jacket. The hit detection in Alone in the Dark is atrocious. I can’t even count the times I was hit by hands that didn’t come close to touching me, or falling off edges or into electric water when I shouldn’t have or the disconnect between anything I swung around at anything I was swinging at. And then there’s the numerous driving portions that were so painful I’d rather get titty twisters with pliers than be forced to play them again. It’s no wonder there’s a fast-forward function. And the coup de grace of disgrace goes to the fact that the majority of the achievements are null and void if you use any of the DVD features. Not a game breaking bug less than a personal annoyance; it just feels like salt to the wound in an already torturous experience.

Alone in the Dark is a prime example of promise over execution. I can applaud Eden for going out on a limb and trying something different with a genre that gets regurgitated often. But for every commendation I want to give them for their game, I have take twice as many stabs pointing out that no matter how noble your cause, it means nothing if you don’t deliver. Better luck next time.

The Glorified Scale

2010-01-22T08:02:00.000-07:00

Oh, internet, is there anything your constant supply of anonymity can't offer us anymore? I know that I've found safety in discussing my health and weight knowing that very few people visit my blog; and out of those that do, only a handful know me personally. Even with that safety net hung up, there's comfort in knowing that I'm keeping myself honest by exposing these embarrassing facts to someone.

My reasons for getting healthy are many: that doughy gut that jiggles just enough to annoy me, a genetic predisposition for heart problems down the road, a physical need to keep up with my kids. I don't lead an entirely sedentary life, but I'm also not one that's inclined to set an exercise routine to keep myself active either. But like Bob Dylan once said, "the times, they are a-changin'."

Considering this is a blog expressing my views and feelings about videogames, I won't inundate it with the minutiae usually involved in such an undertaking. However, there are moments where the two intersect. Hell, now that I think about it, I've kind of turned the whole process into one of those alternate reality games anyhow. I wanted to balk at that notion, but really, what better way to get a gamer in shape then by turning exercise into a game? Regardless, the most that will every come of this whole ordeal (maybe not the best word to use there?) is a daily Twitter update which I'll describe in just a moment.

Since I've burned any bridges that would lead to a good segue, I'll just jump into it by saying my first step towards being healthy is stepping onto the glorified scale that is my balance board. As far as exercise equipment goes, it gets quite a bit of use at my house. The treadmill in my garage says hello, by the way. When I get up in the morning, I hit the Wii Fit Plus channel and weigh myself. I've read from a lot of sources you should only weigh yourself weekly; but I look at it as something of a leader board, thus I have to keep my score in check. I've totally disregarded the body mass index (BMI) readings, because there's just no way I'm hitting my "ideal" weight of 150 lbs. And as entertaining as the Wii Fit Age is, it's even less an indicator of fitness as your Brain Age is to mental acuity. Sure, I've got wonderful balance; but is that really indicative to how in shape I am? Actually, I just lied there; I lean a bit to the left, for some odd reason. I then summarily post my weight and the variance on Twitter to satisfy my need to let someone know while letting it get lost in a sea of online noise.

I've been consistent with this practice for a week, supposedly another and it becomes a bona fide "habit". Which, for once, is a good thing. My next step is to start a light exercise routine to get my body used to the notion that it's going to be doing more than walking and soft labor. The next time I post anything exercise related here will be when I finally put Wii Fit Plus through it's paces. It'll be a comedy piece, as I see myself falling while attempting yoga poses or straining to steer a virtual Segway.

Until then, then.

If You Want the Sweet Taste of Victory Mac, It's Through Practice...Not Chocolate

2010-01-18T07:00:00.000-07:00

Remember the scene from A Christmas Story when Ralphie finally get's his Little Orphan Annie decoder ring and finds his palpable anticipation dissipate when that week's secret message is to "make sure you drink your Ovaltine®"? That's the way I felt about Doc Louis's Punch-Out!! at first; I put a lot of time and money into gratuitous Nintendo product spending and all I got was what amounted to a glorified demo. Not one to usually look a gift horse in the mouth, I took it with a grain of salt and a realization that had I gotten the alternate Mario hat, my children would have surely decimated it and all that it stands for. But once I got into the ring with who I think is the best character in the series, all was quickly forgiven. Ding, ding!

Even though you only spar with Doc in an empty gym, there's this wonderful sense of camaraderie with Mac as he shows him the ropes by secretly becoming an opponent. Hell, he didn't even have to fight, as his colloquialisms are worth the price of admission alone. It boggles my mind that folks find the Punch-Out!! games a second tier series in comparison to say Metroid or Zelda; I think that the pugilists' personalities are as much if not more memorable, even if they don't show up as often. I think I could just fill this entire post with quotes from Doc and it would be entertaining; but I'll stick to using my favorite one for the title.

Duking it out with Doc isn't one of the more challenging matches; I'd stick him somewhere in the middle devision, if that helps you get an understanding. He yells out all of his tells, which makes him sound like a cake walk; but if you aren't focused he will give you the beat down. His coup de grace is that when his health reaches the midway point, he busts out a candy bar and triumphantly let's you know that it's "choctastic" as he regains all of his health. It's definitely worth knocking the treat out of his hand; but I'm not one to spoil what happens next. There are three goes at Doc; an intro, a practice and than actual sparring that changes things up in the same way that the Wii game does when you have to defend your title.

The more I thought on it, the more I realized that Doc Louis's Punch-Out!! should be taken as downloadable content or a deleted scene from the full title. And although I spent an arm and a leg to get the game, I still have a metric ton of points to use at the Club Nintendo store. Hopefully someday they'll realize that we here in the U.S. want some of that super swag that Japan gets so I can use said hoard on it. Until then, I'm content with having Doc pull out his old school leather gloves and showing me why taking him on is so chocolicious

A Photo Blog of a Game I'm Not Sure I Played

2010-01-13T10:39:00.004-07:00

To say I had some high expectations for Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers may be the biggest understatement of the year. Perhaps it's because my 360 has been M.I.A. for a few months and this looked to scratch that role-playing itch that Microsoft's box usually scratched; or maybe it's because I was smitten by My Life as a King, which was a great use for a mythology Square Enix refuses to acknowledge as it's own thing by slapping the Final Fantasy name on. Actually, now that I think about it, it's because it made such a damn good first impression; easily something that looked like the Wii could hang it's hat next to the other consoles. Right here is where I insert that cliche about "looks being deceiving".

I won't deny that, on a technical level, Crystal Bearers is a graphical powerhouse; on the Wii or anywhere else. But in this day and age, it takes a bit more than flashy good looks to keep someone playing. I was most looking forward to the mysterious plot involving the Yukes tribe (the pointy helmeted fellows) returning to the world after supposedly disappearing for a long while. What I got was a rote, nonsensical story that lacked even less substantial progression than the games structure. Which, by the way, is just you going through a variety of corridors while you ignore the floaty and unsatisfying battles on your way to the next perplexing cut scene. It never really felt as if I was in control; hell, I'm not sure I was really playing anything at all, really.

However, I did find a redeemable quality in your ability to snap photos. Like a lot of things going on in Crystal Bearers, I completely found it on accident when I hit 2 instead of 1 to get into my inventory. While most of the meta games within had tangible rewards for the player, I latched onto the one that only took memory out of my SD card. Quite frankly though; it was worth it. So instead of going on and rambling about the many irritating things about Crystal Bearers, I'll just present you with some of my favorite shots that make the game look more exciting than it really is.

This scene is sort of like the moment you step out of the sewers in Oblivion; only Crystal Bearers taught me nothing except contempt for gratuitous cut scenes and bland quick time events. Much to my dismay, this ended up being the only moment in the game where I ever got excited.

Here's another great vista shot that, upon first glance, would make you think that the game had wonderful level design. And while aesthetically that might be true; they were actually well concealed corridors.

Easily my favorite photo. I'm a sucker for places that remind me of my home here in the Black Hills: rollicking mountains, flowery fauna and strange cow/bantha hybrids that profess their love with hearts floating above their heads.

Yet another shot from the same area, the name escapes me which is a shame, as it's my favorite. That's a rope ladder in the middle there, hanging from an amazing zeppelin. I couldn't figure out how to get on the bugger, though.

At this point I had figured out that I could take shots in a first person view. I fail as a photographer, as I should have focused on that butterfly.

This is a really cool town that resides on a gigantic, shipwrecked boat.

If the Crystal Bearers will be known for anything, it's for this butt bumping segment. As to whether or not this is a good thing, I'm not sure. You're supposed to use your telekineses to help Belle (the gal on the right) knock the other girl off in some weird, turf earning ritual. I failed because the game gave no hint as to what you're supposed to affect. Interesting side note, the developers have a fascination with Belle's boobs; there's constant close ups of them, as she hides things in the cleavage. I'm not putting that out there to be perverse, it just became really funny later in the game as they did this every time. Proof that game developers need girlfriends.

I'll use these last two shots as a metaphor: this was the point where I hopped off the Crystal Bearers gravy train. That awesome field with the windmills? Couldn't explore it; the train took me back to the opening city to...I don't remember, because I really stopped caring at that point. I feel guilty for not finishing the game; but if something doesn't grab you, what's the point in just pushing through? Oh well, at least I made a cool photo blog out of it...

It's Nerf or Nothing, Apparently

2010-01-06T07:00:00.001-07:00

In the annals of peripheral history, no system has more one-offs and duds like the Wii. The saddest part is, most of them are made by Nintendo themselves. While I enjoy my Wii Wheel, Wii Zapper and Wii Speak in an odd, kitschy kind of way; they are, in reality, random oddities that quickly get shelved when they reveal their lack of true function. Hell, I've never even used that microphone as of yet.

By far the biggest disappointment in my mind is the Zapper; I can live without the other stuff, but there's a visceral satisfaction to holding something that looks like a gun while you're blasting zombies, aliens or whatever other scourge has landed in your game. Sure, light gun games probably work better when you're just holding the remote; but it lacks the catharsis that only cheap plastic can provide.

If the picture above hasn't given it away, I've found a champion towards my cause to feel like a bad ass in the virtual shooting range, and it's made by those infamous purveyors or foam dart combat, Nerf.

My oldest got the gun and game combo for Christmas, and while I can't vouch for the title that came with it, I can tell you that the Switchshot EX is my new favorite rubber-ended firearm. Nintendo's doohickey, while aesthetically appealing in a way, seems a bit too...epic. It reminds me of the Super Scope; it eschews practicality in order to look awesome. Nerf's gun looks like a, well, Nerf gun; but during play it feels like Nintendo's old orange wonder.

Which means, in summation, that I've suddenly gotten an itch to play light gun games again. I've got Dead Space: Extraction in my GameFly queue with the possibility of adding Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles as well, plus I may even go pick up The House of the Dead: Overkill and milk it for all it's worth. Bang bang, indeed.

By Odin's Burnt Burrito...This Game's OK!

2010-01-04T07:00:00.002-07:00

Remember when you where little and you'd pull all your action figures together for an all-out brawl to prove their plastic mettle in a war to end all wars? That's Marvel Super Hero Squad. It needs to be played with a grain of salt; there is no such thing as continuity here and the deepest the plot gets is "Dr. Doom wants to create a super sword, the end." It's just an excuse to get a random bunch of Marvel's superheroes and villains together and brawl.

The wannabe reviewer in me wants to knock the game for it's simplicity and shallowness; but I think that's missing the point. As hard as it is to wrap around one's head, sometimes it's just enough to be entertaining. I disregarded it's flaws because it's something I could play with my oldest son and not have him get overwhelmed. As awesome as he thinks something like Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 is, he doesn't have the patience to comprehend the mechanics and strategies involved in playing it. I'm not saying he's dumb and can't do it, mind you; just that he doesn't have the desire (or the play time alloted by his mother) to really dig his heels in and figure it out. That time will come someday; but for now he's content with punching Doombots around.

Beyond the cathartic joy of ripping apart armies of enemies with superheroic powers, I can't give enough praise to the sense of humor that Marvel Super Hero Squad has. It's all stemmed from the fact that the characters are stereotypes of the Punch-Out!! kind; enough for you to notice and get a laugh out of, but they don't go so far as to come off as offensive. The Silver Surfer talks like a beach bum with a desire to be a zen master and Captain America carries himself like a war hero, regaling the other Squaddies (the games term, not mine) with old stories to the point that he bores them. By far the best is Thor, who talks in 'thines' and 'thous' and uses exclamatory remarks involving taking his own father's name in vein. Robin would be proud.

Overlooking it's puddle-deep complexity, both my son and I found issues that we just couldn't look past. For me, it was the failed attempt at adding platforming in the hopes that it would break up the occasional monotony. I'd be remiss if I didn't mention how hard it is to get a 10-year-old to coordinate leaps with you; but Blue Tongue put the co-op on the wayside, readily apparent by the fact that the camera doesn't care where the second player is nor does it bother to split when you're apart. While it made for some frustrating moments, it also induced a lot of laughs, too. My son didn't care for the fact that the 'coolest' heroes where locked away and took more work than we were willing to put in to have. With Captain America and Spider-Man being as big as they are in the elementary school community; it's a shame. What's insulting is that they are both on the cover prominently to boot.

I'm slowly learning to forget about what the online community deems "cool" and instead focus on what I like to call "fun". It's easier to do when playing with my son; I can disregard my preconceived notions then. Besides, it's hard to hate on a game that actually has the chutzpah to include Modok and mock the infamous "fastball" so openly.

This Animal Life: Where Everbody Knows Your Name

2010-01-01T10:40:00.000-07:00

Writing the great, American novel can really make a person parched. Well, thirsty enough to go out and drink something beyond the holistic approach of only downing water in the hopes of staying healthy, anyways. While I often take little jaunts into the village proper in order to study the people and their culture; sometimes I selfishly need a cup of joe to warm up my mind, my fingers and occasionally my bladder too. Being the societal oddity that it is, the best hang-out for caffeine imbibment is the Roost; which is tucked away underneath the local museum. Luckily the curator is something of a night owl, so even when the mood strikes in the evening I can stagger down to the basement and enjoy a cup of Brewster's finest.

Of everyone in town, I seem to find the strongest connection with our fine feathered barkeep. He strikes me as someone who hopped into H.G. Wells' time machine during the raging twenties and somehow crash landed in this little burg. He definitely looks the part, what with his glorious handlebar mustache and curiously small spectacles. The stereotype is held convincingly by the fact that he's quiet and observant while he constantly polishes glasses to a sheen. Or maybe I've just seen one too many black-and-white films from the era. I have an inkling, considering his profession and muteness, that he probably knows more of the going-ons around here than even the mayor-cum-don Tom Nook does. Which is why I like to hang out with him on Saturday nights; to pick up on stories and troubles in town. But also for the music...

Being part of an indie scene myself, I've come to appreciate what acoustic guitarist and folk singer K.K. Slider represents. He's able to seamlessly blend his live compositions into well-produced singles that he graciously shares with me after his set; partially to get the word out but silently because we get each other. He's a valiant troubadour; some even liken him to Santa Claus, capable of playing multiple gigs a night. It seems like a lot of work, but when you play for the joy of music rather than the commercialism of it all; it's probably anything but.

Having made the Roost a regular destination on the weekends, K.K. has gotten to the point where he asks me what I want to hear, or even just tell him my mood and he'll play off of it. There is a definite catchiness to the way he warbles, at once exposing his personality yet hiding his true feelings withing alliterations and rhymes. What's also interesting is that he seems to strum and move his hand across the neck to produce a lovely sound; but without it looking as if he's playing. It lends an eerie facetiousness to it; but I'm sure what we can't see is him masterfully picking at the strings with his claws. Either way, I leave the Roost as happy as a clam as well as refreshed and rejuvenated for another week. Or maybe I'm just buzzing from that extra shot of pigeon milk Brewster stirs in for me.

Defending Your Castle on Pennies a Day

2010-01-01T07:00:00.009-07:00

Ah, Defend Your Castle; you've given me way more quality for five dollars than a lot of others do for sixty. Even though sitting down and trying to play through the game is impossible, it's equally daunting to not want to play a wave or two before starting up something else. Which is probably the way this game was meant to be played. I know it's been done to death on the PC; but I prefer the aesthetics in this one.

When was the last time you found a game to be worth the money you spent on it? With videogame pricing generally at $60 a pop in this generation, I find it takes a lot to justify shilling out that kind of money unless I'm going to be completely fulfilled and able to gorge myself on it later. In the world I live in, I have to provide things to my family like food, shelter, diapers and the almighty petrol. The best description of the way my wife looks at me when I ask if I can plunk down two tanks of gas for fun in disc form would be painful disdain. So, does that mean that if a game costs far less than that; should it be held in just as high a regard? If it were a greatest hits title that sells at the still absurd thirty bones mark; than yes, probably. But what if said game started out at a price point equivalent to your kids' Happy Meal? Such is the pickle I found myself in with XGen Studios WiiWare title, Defend Your Castle.

I'm fully aware that this game is available for free in Flash form on about a million websites; but I paid five dollars solely on atmosphere. Defend Your Castle takes the aesthetic approach of looking like a kindergartner's art project. Your castle is made of cut-out cardboard, your attackers are button-faced stick men and bottle cap-headed brutes who lay siege with Popsicle sticks and snap gun rounds in a very bare-boned world with cotton swab clouds. Ridiculously charming? Check that. And all the game play you really need to know is pressing A or B while aiming your bread tie cursor to pick enemies up, and all you have to do is toss them high enough to make them plummet to their deaths. Their screams of fear never get old.

You can deck out your fortress by spending points that you earned, starting with a way to convert enemies to your cause in towers that hold archers, ballistic experts, magicians and stone masons. In this your strategies lie in stealing enough stick men to fuel you defense campaign. It's entertaining...for the first thirty levels or so. It's then that I realized that the meat on them bones are suspiciously loose. Cooperative play can stem this problem for a while, but even this ends up getting boring after a while. I don't even think the devoted fans can keep going on this game, it runs strictly on fumes after a bit.

But I'm OK with that; it's fun while it lasts. And I answered that price versus content debate for myself. I could have poisoned my cardiac system with a greasy hamburger and an obscene amount of salt for the price I payed for Defend Your Castle. And while said combo meal will eventually run through me like no body's business; at least I can come back to DYC when I have an unnatural urge to punish stick people...

A Wonderful Wind This Way Blows

2010-01-01T07:00:00.008-07:00

LostWinds is, hands down, my favorite WiiWare and quite possibly best downloadable title I've ever played. More than once. My expectations of what I want out of videogames has evolved over the past few years, and I take solace in knowing that this was the trigger. As fun as triple-A blockbusters can be, I get a warm feeling in the cockles of my heart at hidden gems such as this. I'm still waiting for Frontier to put out the sequel that the ending practically begged for. Maybe this unadulterated love for a silly boy in a goofy hat will be their impetus.

Sometimes the biggest breath of fresh air comes from the unlikeliest of places. Quality Wii software is hard to come by; developers and publishers go for the biggest cash-in by making simple mini-game collections that don't innovate beyond the point and click game play that is currently taking the lions share of sales on the PC as well. We were promised new and inventive games, and yet the only thing we see is the inclusion of a scant few genres that were not represented on consoles before. In contrast, that might be why LostWinds comes across as the polar opposite of the money making train of thought. But I quickly found out that's not the case; LostWinds is a great game on it's own merits, and something that should find it's way into every Wii owner's library.

Although probably not as impactful, LostWinds takes a page from the classic title Bionic Commando. Rad Spencer didn't have the ability to jump; he was forced to swing off of ceilings and spotlights with his retractable arm. Toku, the protagonist in LostWinds, also can't hop a platform if his life depended on it. He relies on Enril, a wind spirit that happened to come across the young waif and con him into saving Mistralis from a demon; to help him make his merry way. Toku is controlled with the analog stick and Enril is basically your cursor; essentially giving you control of two characters at the same time. When moving Enril across Toku, it gives him a boost across the myriad gaps littering the land. That's just the beginning to what you can accomplish with the wind; you'll eventually learn to move things with it, wave it underneath Toku to soften long landings, have it launch the boy in the air with a later acquired cape (visions of Super Mario World come to mind) and so many other things to solve puzzles that I don't even want to mention in fear of spoiling the experience for you. What's especially nice is that it all works without a hitch; the only times I found myself goofing up was because I made the error and not the game.

Equal to the euphoric game play is the world and it's pastoral settings. Mistralis is a wonder to look at, seamlessly linking together puzzles in a way that doesn't stick out at you as forced for the sake that it's a videogame. The art style is whimsical, given a soft filter to not only help blur the low resolution textures but to give it a gentle and relaxed vibe. Also helpful is calm, Japanese styled songs that lend itself to pacing the game a little slower so that players can enjoy LostWinds. Gamers don't often stop to smell the roses; but it'd be in your best interest if you did here.

But for all the gushing I've done up to this point, you knew there'd have to be something amiss here; and you'd be right. As is the nature of the beast known as episodic gaming; it feels like LostWinds stops it's moment right when it hits its stride. Even at a casual pace I was able to finish the game in under three hours. And the ending was very unsatisfying; even though I saved the proverbial day, they definitely beat around the bush and tease at more. Which definitely works in making me want the next episode; I'm eager to see new areas of Mistralis, unearth new moves and continue my adventure in beating Balasar.

Don't let the length deter you; even though it ends before you know it, LostWinds is worth the price of entry. It's masterful in all that it should and is a shining beacon for those that think the Wii is an inferior console. But most importantly, play it because it's insanely fun. And so that I can get my sequel sooner!

It's Good to be King

2010-01-01T07:00:00.006-07:00

I intend to, at some point, follow up on this post by using the New Game + feature and really tricking my town out. For your viewing pleasure, I'll add some context to that upcoming (no promises as to when) post. -- M.H.

Having just finished My Life as a King; I've come to realize that I've been subliminally tricked into enjoying adding numbers and other such mathematical equations in the myriad role-playing games I've played for well over two decades. I never thought myself a closet statistician; then again I never thought I'd keep an online diary of my videogame playing habits, either. That reality is OK with me; whether it's weighing the stats of an old axe versus a new one or getting a poo-eating grin when I see those blue numbers pop up letting me know what a success my level up was, I derive simple kind of pleasure from it. Which then eased me into being alright with liking My Life as a King; because in essence the best part of this royalty simulator is the various progress reports and tithe round-ups that you read before you even set foot in your kingdom.

The plot comes straight from the RPG cookie cutter mold set; the Dark Lord (no beating around the bush here, he's just called the Dark Lord) destroys a kingdom and supposedly it's king with it. A few year later, his spunky, 10-year old spawn strolls in with a midget bodyguard and a consul who suspiciously acts like your nanny in the hopes of rebuilding the kingdom into grand form. And maybe along the way, give that Mr. Dark Lord a good old what's-for! Square Enix surprisingly didn't add much more back story than that; and everything that goes on plot-wise afterwards doesn't excite either. They could at least pretend that things are more epic than they might truly be. Before I move on to talking about the game itself, I wanted to air my grievances at SE literally tacking on the Final Fantasy name onto pretty much everything they publish anymore. Crystal Chronicles is a beautiful and intriguing setting; it's sad that they seem so scared of it failing that the need to add a moogle here and a few familiar name drops there to keep the wheels greased.

Anyways.

At first, being the king kind of blows; it's not particularly proactive when you're playing, because you want to be the one going into dungeons acing monsters, not the guy that sends the heroes to do the smiting for you. Your claim to fame is having the ability to use architek, "the magical ability to build homes, businesses and schools!" Ahem. Yeah. For a world building game, it would seem a bit more structured than you might expect; the blank canvas of a kingdom always has the same landscaping, you merely put buildings up on certain plots of land. The layout is just fine though, and you quickly forget when you're so busy customizing the city to fit your needs. Strategy starts playing a part further in when you realize that people who live by certain places (i.e. a black mage training center) tend to have better stats in spell-casting, for example. It's very clever, and pulled me much more than I first thought it would. Maybe we could call it an interactive study in culture.

As your town begins to bustle, it falls on you to hire adventurers to keep it safe. I've always gotten a charge out of keeping tabs on my party, but the thought of keeping up with an entire gaggle of them seemed a bit overwhelming. It wasn't as bad as I thought, so long as I just kept updated on their overall level and left the nitpicking to when I got to award medals when they completed one of my behests. Things got complicated when my wards went from all being warriors to wanting to change classes, such as thieves and white mages. Even more perplexing was when you weigh things like where your soldiers live, what they're stats are and even their race can play factor on what job best suits them. Heady stuff, to be sure, but also entertaining when you begin wiping the map clean of evil with your troupe of well-trained adventurers.

The two game play types (city building and adventurer management) work well together; I eventually formed a routine in which I'd weight stats and money in reports in the morning and possibly give medals to the worthy, then send my parties out looting quickly followed by me walking around town chatting with locals and building new things on occasion. It's a very rewarding system...until you get about halfway in. At that mysterious point in the game, things start do drag and feel like...work. Cue dramatic music in your head after having just read that. Just like a standard RPG, you want some kind of prize for all the effort you put into leveling up and such, and it's here where the well starts to run dry. The completionist in me hates this aspect; I began to run out of room for my newest building acquisitions and I had already maxed the cap for elementite (used to build) and cash, making anything other than hunting down the Dark Lord a moot quest. I don't want to juggle different buildings around...I wanted to put them all up. It's a nice touch to add a new game plus feature, but playing all the dungeons on higher difficulty levels just didn't get me excited because there wasn't anything else to do once your town is built.

But before I ever got to the point of boredom, I logged in many hours crafting my empire. Many enjoyable hours, at that. My Life as a King is the type of game that should be looked upon as that bridge between the invisible gap between what makes a downloadable game just as quality as a disc based one. It's huge, it's pretty and it's most definitely not a weekend dalliance. Much like Braid, the lack of replayability is made up in kind by the impression I got from it the first go around. Maybe when I'm a little low on new games to play I'll come back to my burg and press on through the few dungeons left unexplored; especially the one I payed for via DLC so my village could have an awe-inspiring library. Libraries...bane of hardcore gamers everywhere or gift from the heavens to one player stuck on playing an arbitrary game of numbers? The world may never know.

Big Me

2010-01-01T06:30:00.000-07:00

I love, love A Kingdom for Keflings. There's something to be said for games that offer a more relaxing experience. I'm a fan of NinjaBee through and through, and this is their best offering yet.

My oldest son summed up A Kingdom for Keflings best by saying, "it's a game about doing chores...that's fun." I've learned to never question the genius of a nine-year-old. I've found my tastes swaying more and more towards the more non-traditional gaming tropes these days. It's not that I don't occasionally enjoy killing terrorists or space aliens, but rather that I have found equal enjoyment when a game challenges me to think differently or expand game play beyond popping a cap in something.

Although my son makes Keflings sound like a devious hard labor simulator, the gaming avant garde would call it a resource management title, distilled to it's core principles. There's no beating around the bush when it comes to Keflings goals; it is to simply build a town for your little neighbors to inhabit. You don't need to fortify your village in defense of stereotypical fantasy monsters or crush a rival kingdom with your economic might; you just build work shops for cobblers and secondary schools, and that's it. It's simplistic, sure; but also refreshing in the fact that it just leaves you to your own devices and embraces creativity.

You're still guided to a degree; the kingdom evolves gradually through the methods in which you build and the materials needed to do so. For instance, you start off using logs primarily which advances to carved wood. You're always using the basic provisions of wool, wood, crystal and stone; you just use more complex versions of it the further you get. When you first bump to the next "level" it feels a bit daunting; but it fades quickly. And that's the extent of what little difficulty curve there is. This isn't the type of game that goes about challenging you per say; unless, of course, you lack patience of any kind.

What's interesting is that, even though you play a giant, you're actually portrayed as the underling. You direct the Keflings in gathering resources; but the majority of the work is done by you. Even with that much sway, you never lay claim as ruler; in fact, you pick one of the little people to move up the rank from mayor to eventual king. There's perspective to be had in knowing you're the most powerful person in the land, and yet you're content with just helping out. There's also a nice sense of accomplishment in finishing a new building, which is a bit strange considering it honestly doesn't take very long to build anything; a few minutes tops. What's even better is that, once you've put the last tower in on your burgeoning castle, you can keep extending your kingdom; land permitting. Which I felt like doing the minute we stopped dancing in triumph. Something I rarely feel compelled to do these days in videogames period.

None of my gushing comes as a big surprise personally; NinjaBee has quickly become one of the top developers on my short list of favorites. There's a certain feel and style to their games that just screams for me to pick them up. And I have yet to be disappointed. A Kingdom for Keflings is one of those titles that relaxes; something that games just don't do often enough. Which is a strange thing to say about a game whose sole game play mechanic is essentially doing work. My son would agree.