2008
TMNT, To My Nostalgic Time
By: The Almighty Bobfish Category: TMNT, Wii
OKAY, BY NOW I would expect we are all, at least in some way, familiar with Leonardo, Michaelangelo, Donatello and Raphael. Arguably the four most skilled artists the world has yet seen. So skilled, in fact, that the four teamed up several hundred years after their deaths and banded together to fight crime and injustice under the tutelage of a little chip of wood they…
Uhm, sorry, I went completely somewhere else for a moment there. I was thinking of entirely the wrong people.
Okay, let’s start again.
Approximately twenty-four years ago a short series of comics was released featuring four man shaped turtles. They had, apparently, been mutated by some kind of strange, glowing green liquid which it as later revealed took the basic genetic makeup of the host and whichever animal had most recently touched it (in this case, four turtles and a ninja living in the sewers who spent most of his time around rats) and kind of spliced them together. Thus leading to four man-turtles and a man rat who took the babies as his own, training them in the arts of ninjutsu.
Later, it was altered slightly so that Splinter was a rat who had been a pet of a ninjutsu master who learned the arts by watching from his cage. Which, to be honest, I actually find to be just a little bit too silly. I’ve had pet rats and, whilst they are undeniably extremely intelligent animals, they simply do not have the capacity to learn something that complex. This may seem overly critical for something which is, essentially, a childrens cartoon, but I was there for the initial Ninja Turtles craze, and it feels a lot like the way Michael Bay Butchered the Transformers (though the change to the Turtles was much earlier).
However, this is mostly irrelevant to the review itself.
The game plays well, looks fantastic, and is superbly acted. It takes it’s story from the 2007 film entitled simply TMNT, and takes place in the form of flashbacks narrated by the four turtles and, on occasion, their Sensei Splinter. Spread across sixteen levels and a number of interesting and, though essentially repeated textures, surprisingly diverse environments. From the jungles of South America to the streets and rooftops of New York city.
Initially, you play as each of the turtles in sequence (Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello and Michaelangelo), with each of them telling something of what their lives were like in the aftermath of their defeat of the Shredder. But from the sixth level onwards (apart from a few points where the story shifts in favour of Raphael as The Nightwatcher) you have the ability to call on all four turtles. First by performing enough acrobatics to fill a “family” bar, and then from about level nine or ten (I forget exactly which) they are all there right from the outset.
You also have the ability to perform certain family moves, such as Michaelangelo using one of his brothers as a weapon by spinning in circles holding him at arms length, or by calling on one of your turtle brothers mid jump to propel your forwards across large gaps. The latter can be irritating at points, as I found whilst mid battle. I would press the B button to switch to another turtle, but be propelled forwards because I had just jumped to avoid an attack. But as this was entirely caused by my own trigger happy finger, we can’t really hold that against Ubisoft.
Something, however, that we can hold against Ubisoft is their attempt to do a little too much with the game. To highlight the superb agility and creativity of the four heroes, they have been given the ability cling to ledges, jump from wall to wall and run along walls (much in the same way the Prince has done in Ubisofts other franchise). It’s the latter which causes all the problems. Whereas, with the Prince of Persia games, you had to press a button to do so, with TMNT it happens automatically. Which, in itself, would be no major problem, if not for the fact that they seem to have had a severe case of hatecentredcameraitis whilst making the game. So that when jumping from ledge to ledge, keeping the analogue stick centered left or right (or whichever way you happen to be traveling at the time) will have you slowly drifting towards either the wall or the camera itself. Especially annoying as you tend to travel much further than the next platform whilst making the arch across the wall, thus falling to a lower level, or more often, death.
Despite this, however, the game is still an extremely fun one to play. With enough there to satisfy the more serious gamers (including map challenges and concept art and the like to unlock) as the more casual players alike. The combat system is simple and flows nicely, it’s fantastically well animated for a Wii game and the turtles in fight banter can be really amusing. Often helping to take the edge off during the more frustrating battles (of which there are some). Unfortunately, it’s rather short. The whole game being finished in only six hours on your first play-through. Though the extra content does add some replay value.
It’s unfortunate, however, that there were no attempts to make this a multi-player game. There are, after all, four turtles to choose from, and if the Ben 10 game allowed you to have two Ben’s on screen at the sane time, why could Ubi not allow two (or more) turtles even if the plot says they are not supposed to be there. Normally, I would let a lot of this slide due to the quality of the rest of the game, but as this is from Ubi, who really should know better by now, I’m going to have to lodge them as more serious complaints. Still, I enjoyed the game, and I would say that even people who are no fans of the Ninja Turtle franchise will also be able to find something to make the game worth playing.
Graphics: 8.5/10
Gameplay: 8/10
Audio/Music: 8.5/10
Plot/Scripting: 8.5/10
Overall: 7.5/10
This game also earns the Bobfish award for bringing a nostalgic tear to the eye.
2008
Far Cry 2, rusty weapons anyone?
By: Jedireaper Category: Far Cry 2, PS3
Hello folks, here is another review from your friendly neighbourhood Jedireaper. The object of scrutiny today is TimeSplitters 4 for the PS3 home console…
Uhh, oops sorry I mean Far Cry 2, and I have a confession to state out first before we get down to the wilderness of Africa so to speak.
To begin with, my confession: I have not been playing FC2 as much as I should have been, rather I’ve been bashing away at GTA online as it is soo much fun, and during times when I’ve had no internet I’ve been playing Half Life 2 & Portal (The Orange Box). For some strange reason I have been avoiding FC2. Do not ask me why as I can give no reason- unless it was the daunting task of writing this review, then I still can give no true reason… Enough said, and now to get to the reason of a review- namely, the review.
Far Cry 2 is a very good- I hesitate to say amazing -game. It certainly delivers a punch to the gut of other shooters of the First Person shooter, and Sand-box genres, this game delivering 50 kilometers square of lush jungles, hazy savannah, and dry desert, and a few small villages and exactly two full towns or settlements if you feel like being accurate.
The Far Cry 2 engine certainly can pump out some impressive environments, from the highly detailed and beautifully animated plant-life, the perfect environmental lighting, and rather good enemy and friendly AI, though usually you are on your own- I was mostly because I killed one of ‘em by blowing him up with a grenade, and got another captured by the UFLL who were my immediate enemies at the time, since I was doing missions for the APR, not that there is any differance between the factions, but APR sounded cooler -you will be driven through the game being used as a Mercenary, or a ‘gun for hire’, doing the dirty jobs that the factions cannot be seen doing.
One of the few downpoints about this game being free roaming, and on so large a map, is that there is a lot of journeying about this fictional African state, sometimes by boats, cars, jeeps, and trucks, but more ofter you will find yourself walking.
This can be forgiven as Ubisoft Montreal have tried to do the GTA thing with the FPS while throwing in elements of the game Mercenaries and some COD4. This has made for quite a shooter, with the general game mechanics such as the control layout being totally fluid and easily accessable to even newbies to the FPS genre, or the hectic shoot-outs, or the ‘being able to set things on fire’ whitch has been coded nicely to co-inside with the pysics engine- my favorite part -lends itself to ceate a dynamic and unique experiance, both visually and gameplay wise. Before I move on to what is perhaps the games best feature, a special mention should go to the weapons of FC2, both being varied and meaty. They even get jammed and dirty through continued use, then break apart in your hands which is certainly a unique feature. Make sure to always have fresh weapons, as being caught short with your pants down isn’t going to do anything but get you killed. Fast.
The map-maker is one of the best yet seen in a video game, allowing you to do and create anything and everything, from floating platforms, Normandy Beach-heads, and COD4 level recreations- and why not -to the Eiffel Tower, to huge city sized maps and vast jungle valleys. Everything can be tweaked and to be honest, it is all relatively easy to do however if you are attempting to do the Eiffel- I’ll see you in a few weeks. It will take a while and although it can be done, its ambitious.
The score, is it really worth my pecious money?
Graphics: 8.5
Gameplay:9
Sound: 8
Plot: 8
Replayability: 8.5
Overall: 8.4
This game is not for everyone mind, and may even be daunting to those who own it, like me. But it is a good solid game, with lag free online multiplayer. Well worth owning.
This game also gets the “Jedireaper Innovation Award” for the excellent map-maker.
This is certainly worth the time to play even just for the online experiance- excellent main game aside -as it certainly rivals COD4 though I can’t vouch for World at War yet, but if you need a game to keep you going till Killzone 2 arrives for your PS3, then this is it, especially for the map-maker.
Join www.killermovies.com/forums/ and discover a new world of online socialising. From discussions about comics, books and films to Role Playing in any manner of variety. There is something for everybody.
Hope to see you there.
2008
Dead Space “make us whole again”
By: The Almighty Bobfish Category: Dead Space, PC
ELECTRONIC ARTS, FOR many years the laughing stock of the gaming world. Pointless sports title after ever more pointless sports title. Many of us wondered how the company that brought us Desert Strike, Road Rash and the Buck Rogers games could have sunk so low in such a short period of time. And, somehow, still stay in business.
And then, last year, out of nowhere, the old EA suddenly came back. Announcing a plethora of new, and extremely inventive titles for the following (now current) year. Amongst them being Dead Space. Originally it seemed to be a Playstation 3 exclusive, though this ultimately proved not to be the case as it was simultaneously released both on the X-Box 360 and a week later for the PC as well. Though it was originally intended for a worldwide release on October 31st, it was put forward (likely due to a rather significant demand from the eagerly waiting players) to the 14th.
So, that begs the question, was it worthy of all the fuss?
Well, I can’t speak for the console version of the game, but the PC release certainly kept me entertained. It’s somewhat clichéd and formulaic, but unlike many such experiences, does not suffer from such as it was clearly intended to be so. From the initial, unarmed mad dash to escape from the first Necromorph, who almost catches you, but is crushed in the closing of an elevator door, to the “shock” twist in the closing cinematic, there is little that could be hailed as truly original. But it at no point ever really tries to be. EA have taken a tried and tested formula, thrown in some new characters (the protagonist taking after Gordon Freeman and never speaking) an impressive array of environments (especially considering almost the entire game takes place aboard a self-contained space craft) and some top-notch scripting and voice work.
It’s a combination of each of those things, along with the understated score by Jason Graves, the constantly oppressive atmosphere and the outstanding quality of the visuals which are all the more impressive considering the surprisingly low requirements for the game. Even on my decidedly sub-par rig it ran at a smooth 25+ frames per second with the settings maxed out at a 1024×768. I could even run at full 16×12 without noticing any significant slowdown, but I prefer the latter resolution for some reason. Though, it’s worth noting, that in some of the areas where there was a lot going on, such as environments with mist or lots of particulate matter in the air, my framerate took a bit of a dive. But even at it’s worst if never dropped below 16. Which is really, really impressive since I’m only just exceeding the minimum requirements.
The basic premise of the game is straightforward enough. Our erstwhile hero, Isaac Clark (a lowly repair tech) is sent to the USG Ishimura, a planet cracker (which does mean what you think it means, the planet crackers literally blast planets into asteroid chunks which can then be mined for raw materials) after all communication is cut off. Even before they dock with the ship the problems start as an impact from space debris forces an emergency landing. And then inside the space dock the crew are set upon by the Necromorphs, the pilot co-pilot is killed, and Isaac is separated from his crew mates Kendra Daniels (a tech expert) and Sergeant Zach Hammond.
Unarmed and alone, thinks don’t look so good for our friend the technician. But fear not, he quickly procures a plasma cutter for himself, and steels himself for a slaughter fest of suitably and satisfyingly gruesome proportions. The game is even designed to encourage dismemberment of your opponents, unlike those which have such features included for the sake of a little gore, with Dead Space you are actively encouraged to shoot off the Necromorph’s legs, arms, heads and…other appendages rather than just pumping a stream of bullets into them. This actually makes your initial weapon, whilst slow and theoretically weak, your most useful tool as it is designed, as the name implies, for cutting and features two firing modes. One for vertical cutting, and one for horizontal. Each of the weapons you will procure feature alternate firing methods, but the cutter, in my opinion, has the most useful as ammo is plentiful, and it can be adjusted for maximum efficiency in any environment. Such as when traversing a zero gravity environment where up and down are subjective to where you want them to be.
Overall, the game was pretty straightforward and didn’t really feature any groundbreaking ideas or new concepts in gameplay. It simply stuck to a refined, well rehearsed method of tense wanderings and intense bouts of action, with a few bits and pieces of mild puzzle solving along the way. But it is clear from the outset that the atmosphere of the game is the most important thing, and in this regard it succeeds magnificently. Easily elevating a truthly quite plain game into a thoroughly enjoyable survival horror, one of the few that actually succeeds in finding a good balance between the two. There was only one problem I could find with the game, and this came in the form of the aiming controls. A bane I usually associate only with console games (showing that this was clearly moved to the PC second) but it would at times be either much too slow, or far too fast, resulting in a number of irritating deaths when I found myself blasting the wall, or the floor at my feet instead of the slavering un-dead alien/human/monster thing only two feet away.
Simply put, Dead Space is an entertaining, replayable and cheesy as all hell (seriously, you can see the plot twists coming hours in advance) zombie romp with an, actually almost completely unimportant, alien flavour. And it’s a combination of all these things which makes it so much fun, because it never claims to be anything else. I would recommend before you do play the game that you track down and watch the six video comics that give details of the events directly leading up to and causing the problems aboard the Ishimura. They are all available for download on the Playstation Network, and I would assume on the X-Box Marketplace as well. They are not really integral to the plot, but they do add some interesting backstory, and will avoid those little moments where you sit wondering exactly what everyone is talking about.
Graphics: 9/10
Gameplay: 8.5/10
Audio/Music: 9/10
Plot/Scripting: 9/10
Overall: 8.5/10
2008
Gears of War 2, them Locusts eh?
By: Hupples Category: Games, Gears of War 2, xBox360
I loved the first game, and this game only improved on everything that i loved in the original. The guns all track better than in the first making it easier to hit enemies, they are more balanced and some arent ridiculously overpowered anymore as well as adding a few more guns into the mix. The cover system still works great but is improved and more refined over the original. The story mode reminds me of a good action movie with lots of explosions and big monsters.
The old and new multiplayer modes are fun and will keep you going for a long time after the story if you are into the game play. My favorite part of this game has to be the new Horde mode where you just fight wave after wave of Locust enemies that progressively get more powerful testing to see how long you can survive.
The graphics are better than in the first adding more color and life into the game over the original drab brown and grey color pallete and over all more detail. the swarming effects that the unreal engine added were cool to see as well because it put around 100 or so enemies on screen at once in certain parts.
Anyways to cap it off this game is a must have for shooter fans or action fans, if you’re only into games for the story or level ups i’d stay far away though, but i will be playing this game for a long time into the future just because the gameplay is so fun and the awesome new horde mode.
2008
Code Lyoko : Quest for Infinity (and cake)
By: The Almighty Bobfish Category: Code Lyoko, Quest for Infinity, Wii
>ORIGINALLY ONLY A moderately successful anime style series produced by the French company Antefilms some five years ago, Code Lyoko nevertheless made enough of an impact to warrant this swishdy little action platformer. Now, I haven’t actually seen the cartoon series myself (keep meaning to if that counts?) so I can’t comment on the relevance on a plot level, but I gather it takes place either between one season and the next, or some time shortly after the final episode. However, as the plot of the game seems to be entirely self-contained that shouldn’t spoil your enjoyment in any way. It certainly had no impact on mine.
I’ve never really been a fan of platform games myself (with the exception of some of the newer action/adventure types such as Tomb Raider which still feature elements of a platform game) but this one kept me entertained for many an hour. It’s very simple to play, with some straightforward use of the Wii’s motion sensing capabilities. Unlike some games which have you performing odd and unnatural contortions simply to show how “innovative” they are, this one keeps it really straightforward. A flick here, a wiggle there, nothing major.
This ease of access is continued in the difficulty of the game as a whole. Clearly, not one that was intended to be a huge, epic battle of wits and patience between you and your console, the whole thing can be run through fairly easily in a day or two. Though there is plenty of incentive to revisit previous locations (all of which are available from the scanner upon “completion” of the game) as you will notice that there are a number of obstacles along the way. Each of which you will ultimately find solutions for at later points as you find digital upgrade packages for your four heroes such as jumping from wall to wall, telekinesis and flight.
Basically, you play a bunch of high school students (five in total, though only four are actively playable as characters) that somehow or other have discovered a virtual world called Lyoko, which they have for whatever reason chosen to designate themselves as protectors to. Foiling the plans for world domination of a sentient computer program called X.A.N.A. All of this is explained in more detail in the cartoons so I apologise for my sketchy knowledge on the subject.
And that’s pretty much the long and the short of it.
During the progression of the game you visit (and often re-visit) a series of digital areas spread across a variety of environments, from forests to a volcano plateau. Initially, you can only reach one of them (a desert) but during the course of the first two or three levels you come across a vehicle which allows you to cross the digital sea and unlock more. This leads to a sort of sub-game where you control a funky little nav-skid type thing which offers a nice change of pace from the running around jumping on moving platforms and blasting the crap out of everything. Though, uhm, you have to shoot aquatic digital creatures or they’ll destroy your skid. But anyway, it adds some variety to the game. And between missions, you can head back to the Kadic school to catch up on the latest gossip with both teachers and other pupils alike.
It’s doubtful that the game will have much appeal to anyone other than fans of the series (and people like me who are suckers for cutesy, but grossly deformed, anime graphics). And that’s a shame, because it’s a much simpler game than the majority of the big titles and lacks the cloying intensity and sense of epic events. It’s a nice, simple, fun to play game, designed purely with entertainment in mind. Though it does also have a well scripted and involved plot as well. But hey, maybe you could at least buy it for your kids and sneak a little playing time for yourself when no-one’s looking. That way you get to play a great game and keep your hardcore gaming cred at the same time.
Graphics: 8/10
Gameplay: 8.5/10
Audio/Music: 8.5/10
Plot/Scripting: 8.5/10
Overall: 8/10
Hey, I like cake alright? I never said there was any in the game
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