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Mar

Heavy Rain

Categories: Review
Tags: david cage, Heavy Rain, ps3, qte, quantic dream, story

In the world of game storytelling, coming up with a good concept is one thing – telling it well is the other. I’m a sucker for a good story, and Heavy Rain focuses on just that. After seeing David Cage talking about it at Eurogamer 2009, I was anxious to get hold of a copy when it came out just recently. I preordered to make sure, and it turned up a day before release – excellent. After a fairly lengthy install (in which the game actually teaches you a little origami, cool!) the game was ready to play. So I sat down, turned off the lights and dove in.

The game follows four main characters. Ethan Mars, perhaps the “lead” character, is a fairly regular guy who finds himself torn as his son goes missing, presumably taken by the notorious Origami Killer – a mystery character who kidnaps children, and then dumps the bodies 5 days later, unexplained. Ethan will do almost anything to get him back, leading to the game’s tagline – “How far would you go to save someone you love?“. It really is that – the more Ethan works toward saving his son from the Origami Killer, the more difficult his choices become. And these choices become your choices – you can really find yourself wrapped up in the world, and I often found myself thinking.. “What would I do, given that choice to make?”. It’s very much about taking this into mind, and the more you invest yourself into it, the more enjoyable and tense the game becomes.

As for the other characters – there’s Madison Paige, a photographer who becomes closer to Ethan as she meets up with him during his quest, Norman Jayden, an FBI profiler working with the police to try and work out who the Origami Killer is, and Scott Shelby, a Private investigator looking to find out information about the murderer by seeking out and talking to people who’s lives were ruined by the Origami Killer and his previous victims. All of the characters suffer from their own personal problems – Ethan suffers blackouts leading him to question his own sanity, while Madison is an insomniac plagued by vivid nightmares. Jayden suffers an addiction to a drug “triptocane”, which is seemingly tied to his over-use of the “ARI”, a sort of ‘reality altering’ set of glasses that allow him to access virtual reality aspects and manipulate the way he sees the world around him – to aid his work, and help him focus. Shelby is an asthmatic, to complete the set!

The game generally works in two styles of play (Fahrenheit players will feel familiar with this) – the first being the more “exploratory” sections which involve walking around, interacting with people and objects at your own pace to a degree. This is where the bulk of the more “laid-back” scenes occur, such as walking around Ethan’s home at the beginning. The game uses a system with minimal HUD – where the only symbols you will see are the ones that tell you what you need to do in order to interact with the object in question – a Down arrow on a door handle indicates you must move the right analogue down to interact with it, or a curved arrow indicates a more rolling quarter-circle motion. Unlike Fahrenheit, however, the game makes much better use of these different actions, making them different depending on the action; getting a grip on something - such as taking hold of a huge bag of shopping with both arms - means holding several buttons at once, and releasing them too early or accidentally can result in dropping it. Some actions require you to do things slowly and carefully, or slamming the motion controller in a certain direction, to bang on a door for instance. Obviously its never 1:1 control, but it feels that theyve really tried to make each input relevant to the corresponding action. Also, in most cases the speed at which you perform the motion affects the speed at which the animation will work in game, which helps it even more.

The other main style of gameplay are action sequences – somewhat like really long QTE events. The characters will move by themselves in a more cinematic movie-like fashion, and you will have to react to the button prompts as they appear on-screen. The beauty of this, however, is that missing a button doesn’t necessarily result in failure, only the flow and outcome of the scene – missing a button one time may mean the enemy will get an upper hand in the fight, but get the following commands right and you could get some good punches in to reverse the state of affairs. Sometimes there will even be options – such as which way to turn or what action to do, meaning you have to make split second decisions that can affect the outcome of the event.

Often these sections have a couple of different outcomes, and it depends on your performance to how the scene commences. Sometimes this will affect the plot minimally, but other times it can be bigger things, such as character deaths. At some points, characters lives will be placed in your hands – at one point I actually killed a man by accident, and the character felt remorse for it later on. However, interestingly, some of the main characters can also die – if put in a life-threatening situation it’s possible to fail and for the character to meet their demise. The story will continue however, and in my playthrough of the game I did in fact lose one of my characters due to not acting fast enough. Don’t worry, however – these instances are fairly clear, and you won’t lose a character simply due to one slip of the hand on an action scene or anything like that. Usually you have a fair amount of chances to turn things around – but you can’t guarantee they’ll all survive if you don’t act!

There’s not a lot I can say about the story without spoiling anything – it’s very much a personal journey where you should take each moment as it comes. The events along the story are done particularly well, Quantic Dream managed to really capture the characters’ emotions and instilled a real sense of despair or confusion in characters’ like Ethan, including some of the non-playable characters who are done equally well. With more than one possible ending, which I’m pretty sure is not always guaranteed to be a happy one, your performance during the game can affect the final scenes and decide the fate of the cast. Thich means you’re never secure to come out on top if you don’t really go for it and think about your actions. Although the game does have some parts that can change, it’s not a totally open story - so some critical events will always occur in the same order, in one way or another. There are odd scenes that can be different, and of course the characters can “drop out” of the story and the ending can change, but generally there’s an overall plot that will be followed to a degree. Although this is a good feature, it doesn’t mean you can re-play the game and have a completely different experience each time, more than each person who plays will have the plot tailored to them, and the outcome will be a result of their own choices and actions. It’s certainly interesting to re-play – especially to change the fates of those who lived/died, but the first time you play it will always be the best.

There were a few plot holes/continuity errors in places, which were a shame yet not game-breaking, I think perhaps this is to do with the slightly different storyline possibilities perhaps getting a few elements confused. If you don’t think about it too hard it’s not bad, and believe me the story is still well worth playing – but there were one or two moments I thought “how did that character know that?” or in hindsight a few of their actions didn’t make total sense when I knew more about the characters’ histories and motivations.

Overall though, the game was an incredible experience and it’s quite hard to explain how much I enjoyed it without going into detail about certain scenes! The game really does throw you into an emotional journey, and so long as you really go for it, the game is gripping and it really does make you think about your own morals and ideals. Really, the ultimate question is, how far would you go to save someone you love?

-Leon

Mar

Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing

By Leon Leave a Comment

Categories: Review
Tags: all-stars racing, mario kart, ps3, sega, sonic, wii, Xbox 360

As many people will agree, Sonic games have been on a steady decline since they left the 2D roots – although I enjoyed Sonic Adventure, the games have seemingly gotten ever worse with SEGA trying everything they could to make him work on a 3D plane, and with each failed effort moving ever closer to his retirement. The latest installment, Sonic Unleashed, had me cringing at cheesy voices and boring gameplay, with some semi-enjoyable running scenes and a heck of a lot of awful “Were-hog” parts that separated the fun parts with some long, really boring rubbish. I quit the game soon enough, and finally accepted that Sonic was well overdue on his retirement, and had strayed too far.

However, I recently got hold of the demo of Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing. I don’t know why I did – I mean, I’m not a huge fan of racing games or 3D Sonic, so it didn’t have a lot going for it. Perhaps I was bored. Anyway – the single race the demo offered made me want to try a little more, being surprisingly decent and bursting with colour.

Come release day, I decided I’d buy it and give it a real shot – heck, I hadn’t bought a racing game since Mario Kart Wii, and I felt like picking up something casual to play between Heavy Rain and Final Fantasy XIII.

As Garv said in his demo review, S&SASR plays almost exactly like Mario Kart – with fast paced multiplayer kart-style racing set in colourful environments, with weapons, jumps and turbo pads. Almost everything feels like Mario Kart – but is this a bad thing? I don’t think so.

Thing is, I think Mario Kart is a real solid racer, especially good for casual fun with friends and equally good fun solo. However, since I’ve never been a fan of Mario, the cast was never something I really enjoyed – I picked my characters for their attributes since none of the characters appeal to me for who they were. So what have we got? Take the Mario Kart system and change all the levels and characters to that of Sonic and other SEGA titles – and pretty much what S&SASR is on a basic level. And that’s the end of the Mario Kart comparison (mostly) how does the game stand as a title of its own?

The cars in the game aren’t Karts, rather they’re vehicles specific to each character – Sonic drives a personalised blue sports car, Eggman (or Robotnik as he should be known) drives his traditional Egg Mobile kitted out with some monster-truck wheels, and Billy Hatcher drives an egg-styled car. Some characters, such as Ulala and Tails, have vehicles that don’t even have wheels, but they all play evenly and balanced - though they have different stats with some characters with better acceleration, while others are better at manoeuvering or have better turbo boosts. There are 20 characters in total (plus one or two extra depending on console), with racers from wide range of source games both old and new.

The game offers 24 tracks in total, which are separated into 6 Grand Prix’s for the main solo mode. There are eight main level themes including Sonic “grassland/beach” style, Sonic “Casino” style, Billy Hatcher themed courses, House of the Dead and Samba De Amigo themes. Each of these themes has three courses, but they’re all individual in their own right – such as the HotD stages which include an outdoor course, a sewer run and an indoor/rooftop course. There’s a good mix of different arenas, from the snowy Icicle Valley (of the Billy Hatcher set), the psychedelic Samba De Amigo stages, and the urban Shibuya Downtown city course (as one of three Jet-Set Radio courses). The selection is quite vast, and it feels as though it encompasses a wide range of different areas and elements.

As you progress through the game, you earn “Sega Miles” which act as credits to unlock new characters (since only some are available to start), courses to play in the modes outside of Grand Prix, and alternate music tracks which can be selected to play when you race. Unlocking new characters is always good, and the other items feel worth unlocking rather than just garbage gallery content, too. Each character only has one car each, which at first disappointed me – until I realised that they all have their own unique vehicles, unlike the Mario Kart’s simple Light, Medium or Heavy class Karts – and all of their unique vehicles are actually well modelled and often intricate, which is quite impressive really.

As with a certain Kart game I’m no longer mentioning, the game has a variety of weapons, obtained from pickups around the course. There’s a good selection of weapons such as homing missiles, proximity mines, nitro shoes, and disorienting abilities such as the “Confusing Star” which flips the target’s screen upside down, and the “Pocket Rainbow” which temporarily obscures the vision of whoever is unlucky enough to hit it. There’s a decent selection, and they don’t feel too overpowered, either. There is one super-weapon, though – the All-Star move. Each character has a specific attack that they can access at random, usually when toward the back of the pack, and it gives them a temporary but huge advantage – such as driving at super speed for a while, or being able to fire barrages of missiles at anyone who gets in their way. The moves are really fun, and it’s quite exciting to see what each character does – Sonic turns into Super Sonic and speeds up the road, while Billy Hatcher runs on a giant egg and crushes anyone he rolls over. Although the moves are powerful and can make a big difference, they don’t feel overpowered so in the end skill is the main deciding factor to who wins the race rather than chance - it just gives a bit of extra fun and a helping hand to whoever falls behind.

The game has a decent challenge to it - the Beginner mode is easy enough that a skilled player should be able to win 99% of the time. However, once you progress to the Advanced level, the AI really ups it’s game and it’s a lot more challenging to pull out ahead of the pack. I have yet to attempt Expert, but I can safely say it will definitely need some skill to master – it’s required to learn how to drift and score extra turbo boosts if you want to keep up with the AI on the later levels, since they’ll be making use of it all the time.

The game has a solid base to it with a good cast and a decent selection of tracks, but one thing that does make it shine is the inclusion of optional extras. The time trial mode is included as with most racers, and allows you to race against the leaderboards, yourself, and also a Staff Ghost to give yourself a sort of par to set yourself to. One of the bigger modes is Mission Mode, which gives an assortment of different challenges with set rules, such as winning one-on-one race as Tails against Sonic, collecting rings and chaos emeralds down a course within a time limit as Eggman, or crushing as many birds as you can using Billy Hatcher’s special. This mode really adds some extra enjoyment, feeling like a real full mode rather than simply filler material, giving the game some extra depth.

Obviously with a game like this, Multiplayer is a big factor - and it goes just as well as it should. Offering up to four-player local split-screen, the game allows you to play all the courses against your friends, and also allows you to toggle weapons and AI opponents to tailor the matches to your needs. Sadly there’s no “multiplayer Grand Prix” mode, but the game does keep track of who wins each game so all that’s really missing is an end-of-set award ceremony of sorts.

Of course with today’s standards online modes are included, allowing for 8-player matches. This is great for playing against friends, and is also fun in random matchups, although I must say the lobby system might need some tweaking – I found myself waiting for over 15 minutes to get into a session before, but this may just be early-release kinks that will be fixed when there are more people playing. Still, when it works, its great fun and you can keep playing so long as there are people left in the lobby after each race.

Although the game is available on all three major consoles, I personally went with the Xbox 360 version which is arguably the best, with the most characters. The 360 version includes Banjo-Kazooie as an extra character, alongside the ability to play as your Xbox Live Avatar – which works really well given the game’s graphical style. The Wii version includes Mii capability, and the PS3 has no extras (no idea why it got the short end of the straw).

The game is solid, and although it’s almost impossible not to compare it to Mario Kart it seems to be using the ideas to great potential rather than simply making a sub-par clone. The game is bright and exciting, and is really good fun with lots to do. Personally, I think that the courses, racers and modes elevate the game to a level even more enjoyable than Mario Kart, but then I am a little biased. Let’s just say, I own both – and I know which one I’ll be sticking to in future.

Although the game is fleshed out and definitely doesn’t feel lacking, it’s been said that DLC is also a possibility in the future – if the coming year finds us having access to an even wider selection of racers and courses to expand the game even further, this could easily be one of the best kart-style racers ever made. With Sonic 4 on the way, perhaps Sonic’s got something more to give us yet.

-Leon

Mar

Plus XP Exclusive: Perfect Dark (XBLA) Interview

By Leon 7 Comments

Categories: Interview and Preview
Tags: interview, joanna dark, nick ferguson, perfect dark, XBLA, Xbox 360

After the announcement concerning the Xbox Live Arcade port of Perfect Dark, previously on Nintendo 64, I was excited to know more. So with a little bit of work, I managed to score an exclusive Plus XP interview with producer Nick Ferguson, who is involved in it’s port to the re-release on Xbox 360.

Leon: Thank you for taking the time to answer questions with Plus XP, Nick. After seeing the recent news on Perfect Dark on Xbox Live Arcade, we’re excited to know more. So, on with the interview!

The game has been given a fairly big overhaul, looking a lot cleaner than the original. Have there been any modifications to the game’s engine at all, or is it mostly aesthetic changes?

Nick: The original Perfect Dark codebase has been ported over to the Xbox 360, which means that the game benefits from higher resolution textures, geometry and performance whilst retaining the original game’s unique look and feel. Under the hood there have been a lot of changes to the game engine to keep it looking and feeling like Perfect Dark on N64, and the overall effect has been to improve the aesthetic experience to something that looks fantastic in 1080p HD.

Leon: The original Perfect Dark featured bots that would allow players to play deathmatch modes with AI characters to make up numbers and allow solo play on the multiplayer modes – a good feature that is sadly rare nowadays. Will we be seeing a return of this feature in the XBLA version?

Nick: Yes, I am pleased to confirm that the simulants will return in all their glory. Multiplayer games are still capped at 12 entities, but this can now comprise eight human players and four simulants (the original game was capped at four human players and eight simulants). Of course, if you want to play as a single human against 11 DarkSims, be our guest!

Leon: Great to hear that! Will this option be available in the online mode, or local only?

Nick: Online

Leon: With an improved multiplayer engine compatible with online play, I assume this will be a bigger focus than in the original version. Will there be any new features we can look forward to?

Nick: In the original N64 game, the classic weapons (based on GoldenEye guns) could only be used in single player. We’ve brought them into multiplayer as a series of Classic weapon sets, so players can now use the GoldenEye weapons on GoldenEye levels for the first time since, er, GoldenEye.

It’s no good supporting LIVE if you can’t find someone to play against, so the game supports a variety of matchmaking scenarios across both Solo and Team modes. In addition, Private Custom Games are supported so you can set up that painfully obscure game scenario you used to play with your friends all those years ago.

Aside from the boost to eight players, the game engine now runs at a solid 60 frames per second at 1080p. This makes a big difference, particularly in four-player split-screen where players can now have more resolution in their split-screen game window than they did in the original N64 single player game!

Leon: It has been said that there is to be new support for online co-op and counter operative modes. Can you tell us anything more about this addition?

Nick: The game supports two players over Xbox LIVE, in addition to the classic split-screen experience. Players will be able to search for games on any mission, and we hope it opens up the excellent Co-Op and Counter-Ops modes to many more players.

Leon: I’ve heard that maps from GoldenEye will be included in the game’s multiplayer modes – is this perhaps a sign that we won’t be seeing a similar port of the popular Bond FPS in the near future?

Nick: The Felicity, Temple and Complex maps which were included in the original N64 Perfect Dark are available in the XBLA version. No other maps from GoldenEye have been added to the game, and we have nothing to announce regarding DLC at this time.

Leon: Xbox Live gives us a lot of options for competing aside from online play – are we likely to see any leaderboards or similar features included?

Nick: Yes, the game has full support for Leaderboards on every mission from Agent to Perfect Agent. In addition, there is an Overall Leaderboard based on Percentage Completion. We also have 20 Achievements, which is a first for an XBLA title.

Leon: Another modern feature is the option for DLC to be added to games. Do you know whether it’s likely there will be any additional content available for download at a later date?

Nick: 4J have only just begun to recover from finishing the game, and you’re already asking for DLC? Well, that’s a good sign… but the honest answer is that we are going to wait and see how Perfect Dark performs on Xbox LIVE Marketplace before making any decisions. We should probably wait until at least one person gets 201% complete before making a decision.

Leon: Do we have an official release date for the UK? I need to set a date for my calendar!

Nick: Perfect Dark launches in the UK on 17th March 2010 – the same day as the USA. That’s right… no need to import the NTSC version this time around!

Leon: Excellent! Do you have anything else you would like to let us know?

Nick: Everyone involved has been working extremely, EXTREMELY hard to get Perfect Dark for Xbox LIVE Arcade finished and we really hope you enjoy the final result.

We know Perfect Dark fans were told the game was coming “this winter” back at E3 in 2009 and didn’t get much more information than that until X10 a few weeks ago. We managed to get some screenshots out in the interim, but for the most part everyone involved has been heads-down for the last six months getting the game done.

We appreciate that people wanted to know more about release dates and the like but (contrary to popular belief on t’internet) the game was only finished recently and we didn’t want to pluck a date out of thin air and then miss it.

My point being: Sorry for the wait, PD fans – we honestly didn’t have an official date till a few weeks ago!

Leon: Thank you again for your time, Nick. It was a pleasure hearing from you.

So there you have it – it sounds like all good news, with plenty to look forward to. Make a note in your calendars – 17th of March will see the UK release of Perfect Dark on Xbox Live Arcade – definitely something worth getting excited about.

-Leon

Feb

Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children Complete (Blu-Ray)

By Leon Leave a Comment

Categories: Review
Tags: advent children, blu-ray, cloud, complete, denzel, Final Fantasy, hdtv

Of course Plus XP usually reviews games – but seeing as it’s game related, for the first time ever I’ll be reviewing a Blu-Ray DVD instead. Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children Complete.

It’s been a while since the original version of Advent Children came to Europe in DVD format – sadly coming straight to DVD rather than hitting cinemas, it was arguably one of the best pieces of CGI animation I’d ever seen. Set two years after the end of Final Fantasy VII, Advent Children saw Cloud once again fighting to save the world and his companions against the evil that threatened them – chock full of fanservice, fantastic fight scenes and motorcycle chases. I figured it probably couldn’t get much better than that.

However, I was wrong. It turns out that one film that could beat Advent Children was, well, Advent Children. Re-released in Blu-Ray format, I expected it to be improved – higher resolution, a few extended scenes here and there – but it turned out to be even better than I thought it would be. ACC comprises of an extra 25 minutes of footage, extending the running time to just over 2 hours of full CG goodness, and some special features to boot.

If you’ve watched the film already – you’ll probably have a good idea of what the plot was all about. However, I did feel that a few parts were a little unclear or confusing – such as the origins of Denzel living with Cloud and Tifa, and the exact causes and effects of Geostigma. ACC has expanded upon the storyline, with some extended dialogue, and some extra scenes that cover more of these issues, as well as generally fleshing it out a bit more. This gives a bit more insight into characters such as the Turks – Elena managed to even be in the film long enough to actually see her!

But it’s not just dialogue and backstory – there are extended fight scenes, such as the motorcycle chase which has been fairly expanded, with more crazy bike-back stunts and collapsing bridges, and also the all-important “final battle” of the film. At some points, the scenes have even changed slightly – but don’t worry, it’s all well done and I didn’t feel as though any decisions were made for the worse – all of it just made it feel even more exciting than the original cut.

Good news for fans of FFVII: Crisis Core as well – there’s some flashbacks to some of the most memorable scenes of the game, and Zack gets a bit more screen time than before. It really helps tie his influences into the film and FFVII, and explains Cloud’s motivations and thoughts a little more in-depth.

But seeing as the film is a CG production – it’s not just like a normal movie with some new scenes, some of the existing parts have been improved, with cleaner effects, some really nice touches to the original CGI, and is really finished off with more detail to blood and dirt on the characters skin and faces. Obviously, the musical score remains much the same – but there are one or two extra bits of music to fit the new length – and it’s all kept up to the awesome standard of the original.

The bonus features are quite good, not too different from the original – including some retrospective looks at the original plot of FFVII, as well as some edited footage of the FFVII saga as a whole – including clips from Before Crisis, Crisis Core, and Dirge of Cerberus. One of my favourite features, however, was “On the Way to a Smile: Episode Denzel“, which is a short animated film covering Denzel’s past before AC. As well as filling in some missing backstory (which was partly also included in the re-cut main feature of the film), it’s actually a nicely written piece of work with a few laughs and some touching moments that made it enjoyable to watch. Denzel is now one of my favourite characters in the film, with my newfound understanding of his roots.

Overall, if you liked AC – this is improved in pretty much every way. The pace is slightly slower to start, but it takes the story to a new level with extended plot and deeper look into the storyline. As the film progresses, the action-packed scenes have been improved with longer, better battles and plenty of extra special effects and impressive re-touches. Obviously, it all looks beautiful scaled up to full-HD as well – I’m pretty sure they added in a lot of wide shots of Edge City simply to show this off to it’s potential.

Definitely worth a buy if you liked the original, and if you haven’t seen it yet – go straight for this version! The HD has been used well, although sadly that means you need a Blu-Ray player or PS3 in order to watch it.

-Leon

Feb

Half-Minute Hero demo review

By Leon Leave a Comment

Categories: Review
Tags: half-minute hero, PSP, puzzle, rising star games, RPG

The PSP has a few odd games amongst it’s minature versions of Playstation home console titles and ports of older games – Half-Minute Hero being one of them, produced by Rising Star games. A demo is available on the PlayStation Network, and I urge you to try it yourself. But to give you an idea of what it entails, read my half-minute review instead.

The game is a sort of tongue-in-cheek mini take on the classic RPG, such as the original Final Fantasy, with a graphical style to match. The story – you are a wandering hero, and the evil bad-guy is casting a spell of destruction upon the world… the catch: the spell only takes 30 seconds to cast. So you must do everything to defeat him with only 30 seconds to do so.

It sounds strange, and it is – but once you get the hang of it, it’s more of a time-management game relying on your use of strategy and forward thinking to do everything in time. Like a classic Final Fantasy game, there are random battles with which you gain experience and level up, but these battles are performed automatically – with both sides running head-on to each other with the stronger emerging victorious in a couple of seconds. Obviously you level up to match the speed of the game, so you can easily reach level 15 or so by the end of the time limit.

Along the way there are traditional RPG things you can/must do, such as buying new weapons and armour, recruiting allies (to join the 2 second headbutting contests), and doing quests for civilians. By doing so, you can become strong enough to progress, meet the bad guy at his castle and take him down to end the stage. Although it’s said the levels take 30 seconds, that’s not entirely true – in some cases time freezes while you are inside towns (which are simple one-screen areas with people to talk to), and you can also pay a high price at towns to pay the Time Goddess to reset the timer and give you a fresh 30 seconds. Most levels really take about 2-3 minutes, average for a simple puzzle game.

It’s really quite hard to explain without actually playing it, but it really does work – sort of like each level is a super-condensed mini-RPG with automatic battles and an aim on time management. The demo consists of two levels, the first being the simpler of the two, sort of showing you how the game works. The second of the two levels available in the demo took me a couple of attempts – the first one going awry when the Time Goddess gave me a ‘loan’ on a time-reversal since I couldn’t afford it, then chose to appear and take all my equipment when I was being attacked by a huge monster to settle the debt. Nice of her…

It doesn’t take itself seriously, though – the whole game is done in a cheeky way, starting with lines such as “Oh noes! The world will be destroyed on a whim!”, with generic bad guys titled “Evil Lords” and the pixellated characters being the epitomy of in-jokes.

It’s really quite a charming little game, and is quite challenging as more of a puzzle game than an actual RPG. Although it purposely looks dated, there are some nice little touches, like the Hero’s weapon and armour changing his appearance respectively. The music sounded also like a sped up remix of typical old FF world-map music, which was a nice little bit of homage (assuming that was intentional!). I must say I hadn’t played anything quite like it before, and once I got used to the concept it was quite addictive.

The full game apparently includes three other modes where you play as different characters in different styles of gameplay – just utilising the similar 2D style and 30 second time-frame.

Half-Minute Hero is perhaps mostly aimed at older gamers who have played the old NES RPG’s and such, but even without the style its a fun little puzzle game, perfect for quick games if you only have a few minutes. If you have access to a PSP and PSN, give the demo a shot – it’s really the best way to understand it. But if you like a little bit of thinking, simple puzzles, some cute graphics and a little bit of RPG nostalgia, this game could be perfect for you.

-Leon

Feb

Tatsunoko VS Capcom: Ultimate-All Stars

By Leon Leave a Comment

Categories: Review
Tags: capcom, fighter, tatsunoko, Tatsunoko vs. Capcom, wii

A while back, Tatsunoko vs Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars was a Wii game I was sure would never hit shores outside of Japan; but come Eurogamer we were told otherwise – somehow someone managed to convince the bigwigs that people outside of asia would actually like to see the new Capcom fighter, regardless if they didn’t recognise half of the cast. With a little help from Tatsunoko themselves, Capcom got past liscencing issues and granted us a chance to get our hands on their latest fighter. Personally, I’d only heard of Casshan and Karas, but I was eager to play a new style of Capcom Vs title, with some new fighters to play with bundled in.

As with Street Fighter IV, Tatsunoko vs Capcom has taken a step away from the traditional 2D style fighter, this time opting for a sort of 2.5D style with a cell-shaded 3D design working with a 2D engine. Although I’m always sceptical with Capcom’s fighter’s going 3D, they’ve once again managed to rehaul the graphic design whilst keeping the game feeling like it should.

People who are mostly unfamiliar with Tatsunoko (probably more than 90% of gamers) should feel right at home with this game – as with all VS titles half the cast consists of Street Fighter characters and various other members of the Capcom roster – Ryu, Chun Li, Alex and Darkstalkers’ Morrigan hold the flag of the Capcom fighters, joined with some more unsual entries such as Soki (Onimusha 4), Viewtiful Joe, Megaman Volnutt (Megaman 64) and Frank West (Dead Rising). Sadly the Capcom VS series is still unaquainted with Devil May Cry’s Dante, but we can’t have everything we want, can we? The classic fighters all retain the majority of their signature moves, and all of the new cast have been converted well to the fighter format.

The Tatsunoko side, however unfamiliar, offer a good selection of characters to the cast – although I was a little biased toward the Capcom cast to begin with, I soon found myself getting aquainted with Casshan (with a lot of rocket-boot style moves and supported by his cyber-dog Friender), Jun the Swan (who uses a lot of stylish teleportation and explosive moves), Karas (with plenty of katana-spinning slicing moves), and Tekkaman (aided by a Scopion-esque grapple and quick lance attacks). Although one or two of the Tatsunoko characters look a bit samey to a reviewer unfamiliar to their backgrounds, there are some genuinely good characters amongst their ranks and I frequently find myself using them.

The game operates on a 2-on-2 basis, with the ability to switch characters on the fly, and chain moves together. Unlike most Capcom fighter titles, there are no seperate Punch and Kick buttons, simply Light, Medium and Heavy. This does make the game feel a little simpler to start with, but in all truth it doesn’t take much away from the experience – there are plenty of moves and it doesn’t even occur that anything’s not there, and it’s possible to chain combos by linking them in order from Light up to Heavy (such as LL,MM,HH or L,M,HHH). Special moves generally consist of traditional Street Fighter inputs, such as Down, Down-right, Forward, Attack for Ryu’s signature Hadoken, or charge attacks such as Chun-Li’s spinning bird kick.

As with most VS games (most specifically Marvel Vs Capcom), TvC is a lot more hectic than Street Fighter IV, with plenty of leaping around, huge beams and aerial supers. The inputs for supers are fairly simple generally, often with more of an emphasis on how you use the moves, rather than actually being able to pull them off. Many of them are performed in the same way as specials, simply by pressing all three attack buttons at once (such as Ryu’s Shinku Hadoken which is pulled off by pressing Down, Down-right, Forward, L+M+K). This may seem a little easy to veterans, but it actually evens the playing field quite well, giving most players full access to the majority of characters’ moves and allows them to really focus on the fight itself. The game operates with a 5-bar Super guage, with each character having 2 Supers that require a single bar each, and an Ultra that requires three. This results in a massive 70+ super attacks, which can make some battles quite spectacular.

Aside from that, the game does offer some extra, more in-depth abilities such as Baroque mode (in which a player sacrifices health regeneration for a burst in attack speed), and chaining moves via tagging. The game really fits the ideal of “easy to play, difficult to master”, but I personally haven’t really gotten good enough to really use this to it’s full potential as of yet.

The game’s arcade mode features 8 rounds – mainly of random 2-on-2 matchups. However, the game also offers special fights at rounds 4 and 8 in the form of bosses. This brings me to my next point – giant characters. Tatsunoko and Capcom each have one “giant” character in their roster, which serve as the Round 4 ’sub-bosses’, and each count as two characters in one – so solo battles only with these guys. Capcom’s ‘giant’ is PTX-40A, a mech from Lost Planet, and Tatsunoko has Gold Lightan, a sort of giant golden transformer/lighter hybrid. A similar “giant” unplayable 3-round boss in the form of Yami (from Okami) takes the position of Final Boss in Arcade mode. Now, I quite enjoy the concept of these characters, and they look great; however I can’t really decide if they feel as though they balance very well with the game. Most of the time when fighting them they either feel like punching bags which are easy to pummel with screen-filling supers and energy blasts, and other times they can be frustrating with their own screen-wide swipes and barrages of attacks. Yami in particular is a bit of a pain – if you lose one of the three rounds against him (in which your health only recovers a little between rounds), you must start again from the first stage of the boss. Not too bad at times, frustrating at others. As for the playable giants – they feel a little novel to play a couple of times, before I end up returning to the regular characters who feel a bit more balanced.

Aside from Arcade and Vs modes, the game offers a shop that allows you to unlock art and alternate colours for each character, gallery modes for viewing art, character models and sounds. Six of the characters in the roster need to be unlocked, so there’s also some incentive to playing it a lot if the fun alone isn’t enough for you.

Also included on the disc is an unlockable game which involves using one of four characters in a sort of arcade top-down mini game. Sadly, it seems the Japanese version of the game included a whole selection of other mini games that weren’t ported to the international versions - no idea why they removed them, which is a little bit of a shame. However, although the one we have is a little bit of cheesy fun, I personally found myself returning to the main game soon after having a go; so I doubt we’ve missed out on too much.

The game also offers online support, which is a nice feature for competing with friends (provided you actually know someone who owns it) and random players if that’s your thing.

I really do like the game, however there is one big flaw with it that does put me off a little – the controls. The game can be played with several different controllers – from Wii remote, Wii remote + Nunchuk, GameCube Controller, Classic Controller or Arcade stick. However, I only have access to the Wii and Cube controllers – neither of which feel particularly comfortable, the Wii remote with it’s un-intuitive button layout (which can’t be changed), and the Cube controller’s analogue stick paling in comparison to the comfortableness of the PS3 and Xbox counterparts used for Street Fighter IV. The game works well with an Arcade Stick – having used one at Eurogamer before it’s release – but it’s a big expense for a controller you’ll only be using for one title on the console at the moment.

Overall, I really think Tatsunoko vs Capcom: Ultimate All Stars is a game worth buying. As with Marvel vs Capcom it’s a more flashy and hectic style of Capcom Fighter, sort of a lighthearted crazy little brother to the challenging and technical Street Fighter IV, complementing it as an alternative rather than a rival. The game has a few minor flaws, and sadly it’s best with an Arcade Stick (never thought I’d hear me say that about a fighting game); but the beauty of it, good roster and vast assortment of Super attacks make it a great addition to the VS series. Sadly it won’t be released on consoles other than the Wii – so PS3 and 360 owners may miss out on this – but it’s said that a potential seques could be going multi-platform in future depending on sales and reception to this.

-Leon

Feb

God of War: The Story So Far…

By Leon Leave a Comment

Categories: General Gaming
Tags: chains of olympus, god of war, god of war II, God Of war III

Since God of War was first released on the PS2, Kratos has become an iconic figure in action gaming, offering a more adult, violent alternative to the Prince of Persias and Tomb Raiders of the world – with no-holds-barred brutality, rage and gripping action in his epic battles fighting whatever and whoever stands in his way. Next month sees the release of God of War III – Kratos’ first outing on the current generation. With God of War II stretching the PS2 to it’s true potential, the new title should see the scale of his adventures being taken to a whole new level of spectacularity.

However, if you haven’t played the old games, there’s a fair amount of plot to catch up on – with the two PS2 titles, and the PSP title as well. Of course, I would probably suggest to you that it would be worth getting hold of them and playing them all – but it’s likely that some people simply won’t have the time, money or simply would rather just have a bit of a sum-up or review (if they’ve played it before).

Therefore, I decided to write this article to do exactly that – to sum up and cover the God of War story so far, covering all the important points you’ll need to know before you pick up the fourth installment in the dark series.

Obviously this will be riddled with SPOILERS, so read onward at your own risk…

CHAPTER 1: BEFORE THE GAMES

Well, these parts are covered during the course of the three current games, but for the sake of clarity I’ll cover them first.

In ancient times, the Titans ruled the earth – huge creatures that controlled the elements and dominated the land. One such Titan was Cronos. Prophecy foretold that he would one day be overthrown by his own son – and when he bore children with the titaness Rhea, he devoured them all in order to avoid his fate. However, overcome by motherly love, Rhea tricked Cronos – saving their child Zeus and feeding Cronos a rock wrapped in a blanket as a decoy. Zeus was raised by the Titan Gaia, and once reaching manhood – returned to Cronos. He freed his siblings from Cronos’ stomach, including his brothers Hades and Poseidon, and forced Cronos to forever hold Pandora’s temple upon his back as punishment. He then proceeded to imprison and punish each and every other Titan, and thus began the reign of the gods.

Around a decade before the start of the series, Kratos was once a proud captain within the Spartan army. His brutal but effective tactics gained him respect very quickly, gaining a small army under his command. Despite warnings from his wife, Kratos continued on his warpath, eventually leading him to a fateful battle; overconfident, Kratos waged war against a huge army of barbarians and vastly underestimated them – leading to the fall of his army, the Barbarian King towering above the defeated Spartan, poised to land the final blow.

However, Kratos’ pride was too much, and no price would be too high for him – he called upon Ares, the God of War, and pledged his life and soul to him in order to win the battle. Accepting the opportunity, Ares turned upon the barbarians, destroying them without mercy. Granted great power, the hell-forged Blades of Chaos burned into his very flesh, Kratos beheaded the Barbarian King and emerged victorious. However, he was doomed to spend his life in servitude to the God of War. He served Ares for years, growing armies ever larger, slaughtering in the name of Ares without mercy. He was willing to pay any price for victory – all, but one. whilst razing a village to the ground, Kratos’ blind violence had him tricked into slaughtering his own wife and child, not realising who his victims were until it was too late. Ares hoped to sever Kratos’ ties to the mortal world and turn him into the perfect killer – but to Kratos, this was too much pain to bear. The ashes of his wife and child bound to his very skin, the “Ghost of Sparta” was born, and Kratos was haunted by dreams of his actions from that day forth.

CHAPTER 2: CHAINS OF OLYMPUS

Kratos continued to work in service of the gods, his battles attempting to appease the gods, whilst keeping his mind as far from his haunted past, Kratos had just fought off an army of invading Persians and the mighty Basilisk when an ominous event occured – the Sun sinking from the sky casting a dark shadow over the world. Athena warned Kratos that this was the actions of a titan – Atlas – who had captured the sun god Helios and the sun along with him, the darkness allowing Morpheus, god of dreams, to sink the world into a dark mist and send the gods into slumber. Sent on a new mission, Kratos set out to recover Helios from his captor, and stop the titan’s dark plans. As he set off, Kratos was haunted by a haunting melody which felt somehow familiar. He continues to Helios’ temple, and is urged by the sun god’s sister, Eos, to continue upon his quest, granted artifacts to help him along his way. Awakening Helios’ flying steeds, Kratos allows them to lead them toward their master.

Heading down into Hades, their power is lost and Kratos finds himself hurled into the depths of the underworld. Charon, the ferryman of the Styx, tells Kratos that he recognises similarities between Kratos and himself, both in servitude of the gods. However, Charon denies Kratos passage, and defeats him – throwing his unconcious body down into the depths of the Styx. Ever resiliant, Kratos battles his way out of the styx once more, witnessing the broken chains that had once bound Atlas, questioning who would release such evil upon the world.

Returning to Charon, he exacts his revenge and seizes the ferry, riding it to the light of Helios that illuminates the furthest regions of the underworld. However, he is haunted by the eerie melody once before, and then recognises it as the music of his own daughter, Calliope, playing a flute that Kratos himself had given her in life. Following her, chasing an opportunity for forgiveness and happiness, he is lead to the temple of Persephone - where he meets the goddess herself, the unwilling wife of Hades who had been tricked into joining him in the underworld. She tells Kratos that Calliope had gone to the fields of Elysium, a sort of ‘heaven’, where he could join her by relinquishing his power into the Forsaken Tree to gain entry.

His greatest wishes to be re-united with his family, Kratos feeds his power into the tree; and enters Elysium as a mortal to join Calliope. However, Persephone enters and reveals her true aspirations – she had tricked Kratos into rendering himself harmless in order to allow her to exact her revenge upon Zeus who had failed to raise any objection to Hades’ actions in abducting her. She had unleashed Atlas, and planned to destroy the world – and Olympus with it – by using the power of the Sun to destroy the pillar that supported the world. Realising his mistake, Kratos made one of the hardest decisions of his life and left Calliope, retrieving his powers to stop Persephone. He defeated the goddess, but her demise brought the pillar crashing down. However, Kratos took immediate action and chained Atlas to the base of the world, forcing him to hold the world on his shoulders for the rest of eternity, a greater punishment than even Zeus had subjected him to. He leaves Kratos with the ominous words that he would one day come to regret his actions upon this day.

Leaving the underworld, his mission complete, Kratos ends up unconcious on the cliffs overlooking the Aegean Sea. Athena and Helios stand by him, and remove the powerful artifacts he had acquired during his journey (the Sun Shield and the Gauntlet of Zeus), leaving him to awaken alone, Athena stating that Kratos shall live.

CHAPTER 3: GOD OF WAR

Ever haunted by the nightmares of his past deeds, Kratos heads to Athens on a new mission – defeating the mighty Hydra that attacks his ship along the way, in a favour to Poseidon, God of the Sea. His sleep once again ruined by his horrific memories, Kratos pleads to Athena to finally repay him for his deeds and stop his nightmares. Athena promises him that soon, the gods will forgive him, so long as he carries out his next task. Ares, the god of war, had turned upon his fellow gods and was causing terrible destruction to the world, at that time rampaging through Athena’s city of Athens. By Zeus’ decree, the gods were unable to directly battle each other, so Athena believed the only way to defeat Ares would be to sent a mortal trained by the gods themselves to do the deed.

Kratos fought his way through Athens, which was under assault by Ares himself. He soon met the city’s Oracle, who told Kratos of Pandora’s Box, a powerful relic held within Pandora’s temple, that could grant him the power to defeat a god. Kratos travelled to the Desert of Lost Souls, where Cronos was doomed to wander eternally chained to the temple. He fought his way up to the temple, and through various trials set out for challengers who would attempt to lay claim to the box. Eventually perservering, Kratos found the box, but at that moment, Ares knew that Kratos had succeeded – and killed him before he had an opportunity to unleash its power.

However, not even death would stop Kratos. Fighting his way out of Hades, he returned to the world, where Ares had claimed Pandora’s Box for himself, and had declared victory upon the gods. Kratos caught him off-guard, and broke open the box – it’s power making Kratos grow to the size of a god. On a more equal footing, the two did battle – Ares proceeding to try and break Kratos’ spirit by sending him to a strange reality where he had to protect his family from clones of himself that were sent to kill them. Victorious, Ares seized control of Kratos’ blades, stripping them from him and killing his family before him for a second time. Returning to reality, a broken Kratos is given new hope as he finds the Blade of the Gods within his grasp – which had previously served as a giant bridge when he had been the size of a mortal. He took the blade, and after a final battle, killed Ares once and for all.

His mission complete, Kratos returned to Athena. The goddess offered the forgiveness of the gods as they had promised – yet informed Kratos that they could never relieve him of his memories; they would be his to bear for the rest of his existence. Believing he had lost all hope, Kratos attempted to commit suicide by hurling himself into the Aegean sea. However, the gods had other plans – and saved him from the fall, rising him back to the cliffside where Athena awaited him.

She informed Kratos that with Ares dead, a new throne was open on Olympus – and offered him the role of the new God of War. He took up the role, and gained many followers, his brutality and combat skills knowing no equal. Athena granted him new weapons as a replacement to the one’s Ares had given him: The Blades of Athena.

CHAPTER 4: GOD OF WAR II

As the new God of War, Kratos was brutal – his new role feeling less like power, rather just another method of the gods leaving him in servitude under their watchful eye. Frustrated and angry, Kratos waged violent war against all, his armies merciless, attacking the cities of the other gods in an effort to conquer Greece. Athena warned him that Olympus would not tolerate his actions much longer, yet he angrily continued, the city of Helios his next target.

The gods could not stand idly by, however – and used their power to reduce Kratos back to the size of a mortal, bringing life to a colossal statue of Helios to defend the city from his assault. Still maintaining his godly powers, and believing the betrayal to be that of Athena alone, Kratos fought his way through the city, and is sent the Blade of Olympus from Zeus – apparently able to gain great power if Kratos is to drain his power into the blade itself. Foolishly he does so – using the blade’s great power to destroy the Colossus from within. Victorious, Kratos emerges, only to be wounded by the falling ruins of the statue. The sword flung from his hand, Kratos tried to retrieve it, but Zeus emerged and took the blade himself. Rebellious to the end, and unwilling to bow to Olympus, Kratos fought a losing battle before Zeus finally impaled Kratos on the blade, killing him for ‘the good of Olympus’ – before decimating the Spartan army with a godly slash.

Taken by the hands of Hades, Kratos is saved by the Titan Gaia, who had been watching over him for years. She proposed an alliance, the Titans wanting revenge against Zeus for his punishment, every Titan having been condemned for the actions of a sole individual – Zeus’ father, Cronos. Seeing an opportunity for another chance and a shot at vengeance, Kratos agreed; leaving Hades for the third time.

Kratos rode Pegasus, a gift from Gaia, and intended to head straight to Olympus to take down Zeus. However, Gaia knew better, and instructed Kratos that he would have to beseech the Sisters of Fate; in order to go back and change the events before his death at the hands of Zeus. Along the way, Pegasus was trapped by the Titan Typhon, and Kratos lacked the strength to release his grip from the horse. Kratos encountered Prometheus – an ex-Titan bound in human form by Zeus, his punishment to be eternally pecked to death by a giant bird, chained in torment for eternity. He pleaded for Kratos to end his suffering - but Kratos lacked the means to do so. Venturing back to Typhon, he ripped Typhon’s Bow from the eye of the Titan, and returned to Prometheus where he used the power to cast the ex-Titan into the Flame of Olympus, which ended him once and for all. In return, Prometheus’ ashes were bound to Kratos, granting him some of the Titan’s strength – allowing him to free Pegasus and continue his journey.

He soon arrived at the temple of the sisters, and on his journey encountered various figures. He first encountered Theseus, who fought for the gods to stop Kratos – but was defeated in a dramatic battle, beaten to a pulp, his key stolen and granting Kratos passage. Cronos talked to Kratos by means of a magica hologram, giving him a gift of magical power to aid him. Upon progressing deeper into the greener areas of the sisters’ land, Kratos found himself assaulted by a familiar enemy – the Barbarian King, the first victim of Kratos’ Blades of Chaos, returned from Hades to exact revenge upon Kratos. His vengeance went unsatisfied, however, Kratos beating him to death with his own hammer, and claiming it for himself.

Jason was also in the sisters’ territory, but is devoured by Cerberus. Kratos fought the beast to the death and retrieved Jason’s Golden Fleece, a valuable item of protection. Kratos next met Eurayle, a gorgon who seeked vengeance for Medusa (whom Kratos killed previously), but ended up suffering the same fate – her head ripped off, and kept to be used as a weapon that could turn enemies to stone. He continued, his next victim Perseus – on a personal quest to save the fate of his beloved, and believing Kratos to be a challenge sent to him by the gods. Next came Icarus – who claimed he would use his wings to reach the sisters; Kratos however had other ideas, lauching into Icarus and engaging in airborne combat. He ripped the wings from Icarus’ back, but they had fallen a long way – Icarus fell into the depths of Hades, and Kratos used the wings to save himself at the last moment.

He found himself face to face with Atlus – still bound and angry at Kratos for having chained him there years ago. He attempted to crush Kratos in vengeance – before Kratos convinced Atlus that he has left the service of the gods, and seeked to destroy Zeus. Atlus granted Kratos a gift of his remaining magical power, and allowed Kratos passage back to the Temple of the Fates, where Kratos continued his quest to reach the sisters.

Enagaged in a battle in the darkness against an unseen opponent, Kratos finds himself accidentally killing one of the last remaining Spartans, who warns Kratos that Zeus had destroyed Sparta – and had come to seek the sisters himself to change the fate of his city and people. Enraged and full of loss, Kratos is attacked by the Kraken but refused to fight – screaming out to the gods to challenge them, and was almost killed as the Kraken constricted him, awaiting his own demise. Gaia intervened, however, warning Kratos that losing will leave him in an eternity of torment – promising him that he will have the opportunity to kill Zeus.

Slaying the Kraken, and fighting his way to the sisters, Kratos finally met Lakhesis. However, she told Kratos that the sisters would not help him – and Kratos proceeded to attack her. A gruelling battle ensued, interrupted by the second sister Atropos who attempted to stop Kratos by sucking him into a mirror to the past, where she could destroy the blade that Kratos would use to kill Ares – leaving him vulnerable and unable to win the fight against the God of War in the first place. She failed however, and Kratos murdered both of the sisters before heading to the remaining sister - Clotho, in the chamber of the Loom of Fate - finally driving a blade through her head.

Free to manipulate the loom of fate for himself, Kratos used it’s power to create a portal back to the time where Zeus drove the Blade of Olympus through his chest. Taking back the blade and using it against Zeus, a long battle took place with Zeus seemingly winning – Kratos laying down his blade as a gesture of surrender. Zeus took the opportunity to try and finish Kratos, attacking him from behind with the Blade of Olympus, but Kratos reacted quickly; grasping the blade, pinning Zeus down with the Blades of Athena, and driving the sword through Zeus’ chest.

Athena interrupted, though, saving Zeus and giving him an opportunity to run. Kratos drove the sword at a fleeing Zeus – but Athena took the blow, saving him. When questioned of her actions, Athena tells Kratos that she fights to save Olympus. In her dying words, she reveals that Kratos is actually Zeus’ son (and therefore her brother), and Zeus aimed to kill Kratos to end a cycle whereby the son would always overthrow the father, as he had done to his own father, Cronos. When Kratos told Athena he seeks only Zeus, not to topple Olympus itself, she claimed that Zeus is Olympus, and that to kill Zeus would be to oppose Olympus itself. Full of rage, Kratos declared war upon the Gods, with the words “If all on Olympus will deny me my vengeance, then all on Olympus will die!”

Travelling back to the Loom of Fate, he used it to travel back to the Great War between the Gods and the Titans, where Gaia stood amidst a losing battle. She claimed that she had been expecting him, but the Titans were not strong enough to win the war. With the power of the loom in his hands, Kratos shouts to Gaia: “All on Olympus tremble at my name! Zeus is weak, Ares and Athena are dead, and I wield the blade. We can win the Great War, but not in this time! Together, we can destroy the petty gods and we will see Olympus crumble before us! Come with me Gaia, return to my time…Victory awaits!”

In the present, Zeus and his followers – Hades, Poseidon, Hermes, Apollo and Helios are meeting on Olympus – with Zeus urging them to unite against Kratos, rallying them as a single force. Olympus began to shake, and Zeus looked down over the balcony to see the Titans brought to the present day by Kratos, climing up toward Olympus itself. Kratos shouted up to his father from the back of Gaia:

“Zeus! Your son has returned! I bring the destruction of Olympus!”

And that is where the series currently ends… to be continued in God of War III.

It’s truly an epic tale, and I can’t wait to see what happens next. I hope this has been informative to anyone who wanted a summary, or recap, of the series so far!

-Leon

Feb

Plus XP Interview: David P Gray

By Leon Leave a Comment

Categories: General Gaming and Interview
Tags: david p gray, hhh, hugo's house of horrors, leisure suit larry, retro gaming

Gaming has come a long way in the last few decades – it’s come a long way since the days of TV advertising and the Internet. But like most things, it’s an idea that has evolved, from the minds of individuals who had the will and creativity to create projects of their own before the large companies really took hold of things. One game that was big in my childhood was a clever title called Hugo’s House of Horrors, a sort of point-and-click type adventure, although the actual interactions were performed via text input commands, like “Pick up [X]“, or “Stick head in toilet”, resulting in progression, or a witty response. What a fantastic time that was. So, I was happy to find that David P Gray - creator of the title – would give me a bit of his time to answer some questions about his experiences in the days of early game development.

Leon: Thank you for agreeing to answer these questions, David. Hugo’s House of Horrors was one of my first childhood games, and more than likely influenced my choice of games for the years to come. As game design has changed radically in the last couple of decades, I was wondering if you could tell us more about your personal experiences.

Firstly, I was wondering if you could tell us where you picked up your knack for game design – was it related to your career, or something you picked up on your own?

David: I think it was more a love of mystery and adventure stories. As a youngster I remember being a fan of Agatha Christie (Hercule Poirot, Miss Marple books) and this came out big time in the Hugo Whodunit? episode. Generally the villain was more often than not someone who was mentioned early on and then mostly sidelined until the big denouement and I think I followed this idea. The initial spark for this episode came after finishing Hugo’s House of Horrors and then for the sequel trying to find some clever rhyme or alliteration for the name Hugo and it was a toss up between Hugo Whodunit? and Hugo’s There? I thought that pun was too awful so chose the first. The plot followed from that choice.

In terms of career, although I was working in underwater military defence at the time it’s true to say I saw computers merely as a great way to write games. Games tended to be way more challenging (and therefore more fun) to write than the scientific applications so I think my bosses tended to indulge me, up to a point. Writing a game is also a fantastic way to learn programming as you really stretch the language, the computer and your own abilities.

Leon: Were you a big fan of gaming before you started making HHH?

David: Of course! Although we’re talking 1980’s and it was a tiny fledgling industry compared to today. I was really drawn to the early Sierra graphics adventures which were an inspiration for the Hugo game.

Leon: How many people worked on the first Hugo game? Was it a solo project, or were there any other people involved?

David: Nope, just me. I recall being astounded at the seemingly endless list of credits at the end of Leisure Suit Larry and thinking I could do it all myself. Let’s see, the programming was Microsoft Quick C, the graphics were Z-Soft Paint and the music (well, series of beeps) was transcribed by hand.

Leisure Suit Larry in the land of the Lounge Lizards

Leisure Suit Larry was aimed less at children, though

I also did the second episode (Hugo Whodunit?) myself but after that I realized that I needed help with the graphics. I found Gary Sirois who lived near me in Massachusetts and asked him what he was good at drawing. He said leaves or trees or something so I decided to set the third episode in a jungle. It was supposed to be the Amazon jungle although Gary pointed out some major inconsistencies (something to do with elephants I think). Geography was never my strong point so I wasn’t too bothered.

Leon: How has HHH influenced your life? Did it earn you a living, or was it more of a side-project that earned you a little extra?

David: Utterly changed it. At its peak it was making twice my day job (coding networks) so I quit it and have been self employed ever since. I deliberately started writing games to become self employed. The reason was that in a big company you could be doing a great job and still the whole department could get canned. This lack of control over my own destiny was the driving factor.

Leon: Seeing as the Internet wasn’t a major source of advertising and distribution to the general public at that time, how did you go about getting Hugo seen and played by the masses?

David: I didn’t really do anything other than upload the game to some local bulletin boards, the equivalent of today’s web sites. Then, mail-order catalog companies found it and started selling the games on diskettes. Then other companies sprang up and started selling these games in stores, on diskette and then CD. These distributors basically found the games they wanted to sell.

Leon: I have heard that HHH was largely influenced by the Leisure Suit Larry games, picking up on it’s text based style and humorous feel – however, were there any other games that were particular influences to your game’s design?

David: Yes, Captain Comic by Michael Denio. This was the first computer game I saw with large cartoon like characters that moved fluidly and I tried to emulate it. Prior to this all the computer games seemed to have such tiny sprites. I think having larger characters on the screen helped the original game’s popularity as it appealed more to younger players. When I did the Windows point and click port, I was influenced by Beneath a Steel Sky.

Captain Comic

Leon: For it’s time, Hugo had quite a lot of possibilities – many a time I found myself typing in strange ideas to see how Hugo would react to my suggestions – and there’s quite a lot of humorous dialogue that isn’t necessary to the game’s progression – how long did it take you to complete every possible response people could possibly find?

David: I don’t remember, I think the whole game took only three months from start to finish. I can tell you that it was the most fun to second guess what people would type in and I really enjoyed that. A big inspiration for this was remembering having played the Adventure and Dungeon games at work, where some of us used to disassemble it and look at all the phrases the designers had put in.

Leon: Out of interest, are there any areas or puzzles in the game that particularly stand out as your favourite, and worst parts?

David: I think some of the bugs stick in my mind. For example, the bat on the opening screen in front of the moon seems to flap its wings but that’s actually a bug, I have no idea why it does that. Inside in the meal room the waiter sometimes gets on top of the table and gets stuck there. That was due to the awful boundary design that tries to keep characters in certain areas. The waiter sometimes finds a way to break through his boundary. I enjoyed the “Throw chop” puzzle where the doggy eats you if you get it wrong. There was another bug there as well. I think if you repeatedly “get chop” “throw chop” you can get infinite points. I also enjoyed setting a trap with the dog whistle. I imagine a lot of people blew the whistle as soon as they got it. The number 333 on the mirror came from our PO Box address. The number was going to be 666 but my neighbor advised me not to use that number in a children’s game. I was very naive then.

Leon: I have already mentioned your personal influences to the original Hugo – but are you aware of your creations influencing any other games in particular?

David: There have been some fan inspired re-writes of both the Hugo and Nitemare games. I request that the developers do not sell them commercially as we are still selling the original games and the re-writes would create confusion. I’m not aware of any influences on mainstream games. I do get a continuous trickle of requests to write more games in both series but my stock answer is that it’s not viable today without a Hollywood budget.

Leon: Aside from your latest project, Jigsaws Galore, do you have any particular gaming interests nowadays? Are there any major titles that you play, or anything you would recommend?

David: I get addicted to games so badly so my policy now is to not allow myself to get hooked into them and use my leisure time otherwise. As a result my influences are now totally driven by my children’s! So my son is into things like Empire Total War, Age of Empires, Imperial Glory on the PC and Call of Duty, Medal of Honor on consoles. My daughter is into The Sims and all kinds of stuff and has recently started taking an interest in game design.

Leon: Thank you for your time, David. It’s been a pleasure talking to you.

David currently hosts a website where he sells his most recent project, Jigsaw’s Galore, and you can try Hugo for yourself if you check out the retro gaming section of his site.

I hope you’ve enjoyed reading, this was somewhat one of those “childhood hero” things for me!

-Leon

Jan

Arkham has moved…

By Leon 2 Comments

Categories: Game News and Preview
Tags: arkham asylum, batman, dc, gotham, harley quinn, joker, rocksteady, WB Games

Batman: Arkham Asylum was one of last year’s biggest games – taking a fresh look at the Dark Knight’s world and building up a game from scratch – a dark and atmospheric title with the psychopathic Joker entering the halls of Gotham’s Psychiatric Ward and letting loose the madness within. A sort of semi free-roaming title, perhaps in a similar vein to Bioshock, Arkham Asylum had it all – fun combat, plenty of gadgets, exploration, beautiful graphics, your own Batcave and a fun story. The only downside really was that at some point, it had to end.

But where could they go from there? Arkham Asylum was perhaps the Batman title, and it made me wonder – who could possibly follow as a villain after the Joker, Batman’s most renowned villain? And how could they possibly beat Arkham Asylum for a setting?

Well, the answers have now become clear – in the form of a new teaser site. At the moment, it’s little more than a short trailer, but the video gives us some answers, while leaving us with ever more questions.

The teaser begins with a view over Arkham Asylum – the battlefield where the last game took place, where the Bat conquered his foes in an insane war against the Joker and his henchmen, the place now looking quiet after the events of the first title. However, as the camera pans past the gates of the Asylum and into Gotham itself – it’s apparent that something is wrong.

People are fighting in the streets, fires and explosions are going off every few minutes. What’s going on here? Are these people civilians, or ex-Arkham inmates? The camera pans through the wreckage, and through some doors into some sort of dilapidated amusement arcade, the body of a lifeless person carted around by an old car on the tracks. The place has a creepy clown-like feel to it…

And then we go up, to the upper floor of the building. The recognisable figure of the scantilly clad Harley Quinn appears before us, walking toward a hidden figure sitting in a chair before us. She turns to him, as if nursing him, or easing his pain. Of course, that hair does look rather green, doesn’t it?

And then we see him, at last. The Joker – weary but as crazy as ever, cackling to himself as he looks over Gotham, before his insane laughter leaves him in a coughing fit. Clearly the last battle damaged him, but he’s well and truly alive. Of course, who could ever follow the Joker, but the Joker himself?

After his spluttering is over, the Joker’s face fills with evil resolve, and we are greeted with the symbol of a crumbling Bat, before finally the ominous words… “ARKHAM. HAS. MOVED.”

So that’s it – you can take the Joker out of Arkham, but you can’t take the Arkham out of the Joker. Rather than returning to Arkham, it looks as though the Joker has come to Gotham itself, in some sort of scheme to unleash his madness upon the dark city.

There’s been little else in terms of news for Batman: Arkham Asylum 2, but I think it’s safe to say we’ll be seeing more Bat/Joker rivalry, this time taken to Gotham’s dark streets. What effect this will have in terms of scale of the game we will have to wait and see – but I think it’s safe to assume that the sequel will sport a similar free-roaming gameplay style – since that is perhaps what embodies Batman: Arkham Asylum itself. And if Joker and Quinn are alive – perhaps that means we’ll be seeing the likes of some of the other great bad guys from the original, such as the hallucinogenic Scarecrow, the monstrous Killer Croc, and the venomous Poison Ivy. I, for one, am excited.

But for now, that’s all we have to give you – stay tuned for new info in the next few months. I know the teaser’s got me salivating for more.

-Leon

Jan

The Perfect Revival

By Leon Leave a Comment

Categories: Game News and Preview
Tags: n64, perfect dark, rare, XBLA, Xbox 360, zero

I never really think of myself as much of an FPS fan, but in truth a large portion of my earlier gaming revolved around the genre – with titles such as Wolfenstein and Doom leading my way in the early years. As I moved to the Mega Drive and the Playstation my vision widened a lot, discovering the joys of RPG and action titles. However, when I got my hands on a Nintendo 64 (perhaps one of the best consoles for the FPS genre in those days, if not even now), I rediscovered the genre with GoldenEye, one of the most loved FPS games of all time.

Now, as much as I enjoyed GoldenEye, there was one game that I enjoyed so much more – Perfect Dark. Sporting perhaps one of the coolest heroines I’d seen since Lara, Joanna Dark, the title blew me away and had me hooked for a long time.

Created by Rare, the same company that brought GoldenEye to the N64, Perfect Dark featured a large focus on solo gameplay – something that’s always suited me. Sure, I love a bit of multiplayer, but in the end a game’s gotta be able to keep me entertained all by itself. With seventeen missions, the game featured lush visuals for its time, with a good range of weapons and some interesting gadgets, akin to a certain Mr Bond. While these missions were good in themselves, the game featured something quite unique – and surprisingly something that’s rarely been done since – multiplayer bots. In this way, the game allowed you to do standard deathmatches with only one player, or allow co-op play against a team of AI opponents. To be honest I was fairly young (about 13), so I can’t vouch for the AI completely, but I remember it being fun and never had a problem with it so I can only assume it was more or less done rather well.

One of the game’s best features was its weaponry. As well as having a large quantity, the game introduced the concept of secondary functions – almost every gun featured a second firing mode, which meant for double the fun, and some interesting abilities. Specific ones I have in mind are the Laptop Gun - which had a decent machine gun mode, doubling up as a portable turret - and the strongest gun in the game was able to activate infra-red vision, and could shoot through walls at a long distance. Insane. On top of that, a firing range accessible to Joanna in her headquarters allowed the player to unlock special versions of all of the weapons – renamed copies of weapons taken from the older GoldenEye title – a fun challenge and rewarding.

So naturally, when I heard about the release of Perfect Dark Zero on the Xbox 360, I was excited. However, perhaps the company hadn’t moved with the times, or they simply didn’t put enough care into the title, but for whatever reason it resulted in a semi-decent bargain bin title that was hardly a worthy sequel, even with the younger Joanna sporting an image rehaul.

Now, although I did play the original quite a lot, sadly I never owned a copy of my own, and I have since longed to get my hands on a copy to relive those old days – but alas, so far I have had no joy. Tracking down a decent quality copy, as well as an N64 Expansion Pak, is quite expensive even in today’s gaming market.

However, today I learned this great news – Perfect Dark is set to be released for download on Xbox Live Arcade within a month or so! According to Rare’s twitter, the title will be seeing a release in Q1, most likely February. There’s been no mention of a PS3 release, so we can assume it won’t be going multiplatform.

The port will include retouched visuals (i.e. slightly better textures and less pointy bits), and full multiplayer support both offline and online. If you’ve played the original, rejoice – and if you haven’t, it might very well be worth a shot, assuming it hasn’t dated too badly. I for one look forward to it eagerly, and will be downloading it upon release.