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GAME ON!
By Ian Bonds
November 18th, 2005
Holy Crap, That’s A Lot of Games, Part II Yes, friends, I’m sure you don’t envy my plight; having to wade through waves and waves of games to play and review. Sure, it may seem silly to complain about such things, but my schedule of late has been a hectic one with work and rehearsal (I’m an actor in my spare time, little fun fact) and my computer has recently gone belly up, so game time has been limited. However, fitting in where I could, we’ve got a buttload of games here, and I’ve opted to go with short and concise to hit all the key points for each, so I can clear the lot out and get a bunch of reviews done in one column. If ever there was one, this is the motherload, kids.
CONFLICT: GLOBAL TERROR – PS2, XBOX, PC
The fourth entry in the CONFLICT series takes a modern turn with terrorists and urban settings, while not basing itself wholly on a past war (or even real events…just close approximations). While the departure from America’s history to America’s present keeps things in the current mindset of world events, the gameplay also gets a bit of an upgrade to coincide with the newer locals and threats.
The Good: Improved AI for your teammates, better physics and ragdoll effects on your foes, and an overall graphic improvement to the look of the game. The squad-based elements are also much improved over
CONFLICT: VIETNAM’s need for third hand to issue orders.
The Bad: The gameplay is fairly stale, and better executed in other titles. Sluggish controls and a clunky interface drag an otherwise average adventure. The voice acting a cut scenes also seem sort of thrown together to tie the levels to each other, with no real rhyme or reason between them. Overall, just an average shooter, but fans of the series will dig it.
One Gamer’s Opinion:
WITHOUT WARNING – PS2, XBOX
For some similar shooter action comes WITHOUT WARNING, yet another example of 9/11 influenced gameplay. Here, a group of terrorists take over a pharmaceutical company and take hostages. You play the role of six different individuals (three trained troops, a security guard, a journalist, and a female hostage) as interconnecting storylines weave in and out of each character’s missions.
Sadly, with that kind of gameplay variety, the thing sure is linear. If you screw up in your mission, the game just stops and you replay it again. It’d be nice if it just continued, your actions influencing the other characters depending on the outcome of each particular mission, but they just didn’t script it that way.
The action is a bit garbled, however. Its a third person shooter that turns into an FPS, much as it’s title suggests, without warning. As the camera swings about wildly, you can lock onto a foe by pulling the left trigger as your crosshairs get closer to them (instead of the normal “click targeting” of other third person
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shooters). Because of this, the camera can often around, hiding your own character from view, giving it a pseudo-FPS perspective, and forcing you to use the lock feature whenever you actually want a bullet to connect with your foe.
If the control weren’t bad enough, it’s the actual monotony of the gameplay that’ll get you. Shooting is just about all you do, and the controls will really bring down the fun of even a average shooter. They try to break up the action with mini games to diffuse bombs or turn on power grids, but these are so tedious and simple, you almost feel cheated for having to play them. Then there’s the AI. While they may seem smart by hiding behind objects and seeking cover, they loose all brains as they pop out from behind their cover and stand out in the open, waiting to be shot. Conveniently, every enemy drops ammo for just the weapon you happen to be using, even if they themselves weren’t using it (nice how the submachine gun maniacs happened to be carrying shotgun shells, eh?) The graphics are another conundrum. While they appear rather crisp and sharp on the main heroes, the villains are all cookie-cutter, and there are absolutely NO lip animations for voice synch. Add to that the repetitive nature of the stages and the convoluted 24 -esque story rip-off, and you have a shooter that’s just plain bizarre all around.
One Gamer’s Opinion:
CRASH: TAG TEAM RACING – PS2, XBOX, GAMECUBE, PSP
The grinning bandicoot is back again in yet another kart racer. To keep things fresh this time, the developers have implemented a few tricks, that actually keep the flow of the game fun and exciting, but definitely secludes the game in the “for kiddies” section of the retail bins.
For starters, it’s not all kart racing. There’s actually some standard CRASH-style platforming. As you roam the levels, you can unlock different stages to race on, as well as costumes, and other fun mini games to break up the tedium of the “win the race” normalcy.
When it gets down to the actual races, though, the name of the game is “Clash”, not CRASH. The tag team portion of the racing is done fairly simply. As you drive and approach…well, ANY car, you hit a button to Clash with them. Your karts combine and both players (or you and a CPU controlled racer) man the new vehicular beast. One player races, the other mans a newly built gun turret at the top. Run out of ammo, and you can un-clash and clash with another racer to fill it again, or re-clash with the racer you just left. It
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sounds more complex than it is, as all is executed with a simple button press.
The only drawback to this is that it can limit your control during a single player race. While you’re manning the turret, you computer controlled cohort is doing the driving. Granted, this usually ensures a swift victory, as they’ll cruise quite defensively, and all you’ll have to do is pick off your opponents from the track as you get drug across the finish line. Still, it’s sort of a hollow victory, as you didn’t win legitimately, only by shooting your opponents off the course. Still, how does that differ from any other kart racer, expect that you didn’t have to worry about hitting a wall or flying of course yourself?
It’s a nice diversion from your typical kart racers, and the platforming is minimal but still breaks up the action nicely, although it may offer TOO much of a diversion, as the game seems to not be sure which it is; a kart racer, or a platformer. It’s fun and silly, but the story and gameplay is definitely geared towards the younger gear-heads.
One Gamer’s Opinion:
MARIO KART DS – NINTENDO DS
Now, if you want some real kart challenge, as well as an all-around fun game, look no further than the latest entry in the MARIO KART series, out this week for the Nintendo DS. The originator of the kart racing phenomenon (can I actually call it that?) is back and, dare I say it, is at it’s absolute best here on the dual screen handheld.
For starters, fans of the series will have a lot to love about this title. 30 courses, including a few Retro Cup grand prix races with tracks from the four previous games in the series (SNES, N64, GBA and Gamecube), plus a new mission mode where you complete a set challenge to keep your skills refined for bizarre boss battles. The biggest appeal, however, is the ability to FINALLY play MARIO KART online via Nintendo’s new WiFi service. Just connect via a WiFi hotspot (or your own home wireless Internet connection) and you'll be able to race gamers the world 'round, right on your DS.
The old standard format of the gameplay returns, with just a handful of racers at the start and a selection of two karts for each racer, with more unlocked as you progress. There’re new weapons too, like the squids from SUPER MARIO SUNSHINE float above your racer and spray ink on the screen, clouding your vision. The bottom screen acts as a map, and is helpful here as you can still keep an eye on your course as you wait for the ink to fade away from your field of vision. The jump/drift move has returned as well, giving players a new burst of speed around tight turns.
This review is brief, but the gameplay really speaks for itself. Simple, addictive gameplay and awesome tracks for fans of the series, as well as general MARIO games (such as a race through LUIGI’S MANSION, or a cruise around one of the airships from SUPER MARIO BROS. 3) make this title a must have for the handheld. Oh, and that WiFi doesn’t hurt either.
One Gamer’s Opinion:
GHOST IN THE SHELL: STAND ALONE COMPLEX – PSP
As CODED ARMS showed, first person shooters are a tough genre to translate to handheld systems. Still, GITS: SAC for PSP tries to improve on the formula set by the aforementioned title by implementing one key element: a target lock. Surprisingly, this helps loads. Just pressing down on the d-pad after a targeting reticule appears near your target and you’ll lock onto them so you can wail away with gunfire and take them down.
Sadly, the rest of the game is as mediocre as that previously mentioned game. While the cut scenes are nice and retain the look and feel of the series (though a bit too heavily on CG rather than animation), the backgrounds are bland and all the miscellaneous thugs you pop a cap into look pretty similar. At least there’re the fujikoma think tanks that you can outfit and upgrade to liven things up. Still, there seems to be an overabundance of cut scenes versus gameplay, and wait times are tripled by not just waiting for a cut scene to finish (as there is a HUGE amount of wordy exposition) but also as you wait for the game to load
each next new room. It’s not MIDNIGHT CLUB 3 load lengths, but it is a hampering when you’re looking for frenetic FPS action.
The multiplayer options keep things fresh, however, and fans of the series will definitely find delight in this title. It’s not perfect, but out of the two FPS’ for the system this is the better with a good variety of characters, weapons, and multiplayer options. Not ground breaking yet, but we’re getting there.
One Gamer’s Opinion:
CALL OF DUTY 2: BIG RED ONE – PS2, XBOX, GAMECUBE
For WWII shooter fans the CALL OF DUTY series is an exercise in excellence…at least on the PC. Last year’s console effort FINEST HOUR left a little to be desired as parts were glitchy, and the action felt a little flat. This year’s entry, BIG RED ONE, however, is everything that game should have been and more, with dynamic FPS gameplay, superior graphics, and an excellent storyline and mission structure.
As before, you bounce around different battles as different soldiers as American and Allied troops during WWII. Here, however, the level structure is better defined, as new objectives are easily spelled out for you and can be accessed via an on-screen pop-up accessed by a button press on the controller. The action is just as frenetic as before, but control has been tightened, making shooting and laying down fire a breeze, and as realistic as possible. Foes even get up if you strike them in a non-lethal area, attempting to kill you before you finish them off.
The graphics are possibly one of the biggest draws here, as this is hands-down one of the best-looking WWII shooters out for consoles today. The single player missions stand alone as some excellent missions, and the multiplayer modes offer good online combat as well (on PS2 and Xbox). There’s really not much more I can say other than the game is fantastic, and if you’re a fan of WWII first person shooters, this title is a must own.
One Gamer’s Opinion:
MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM SEED: NEVER ENDING TOMORROW – PS2
Well, what can I say about the latest entry in the almost never-ending series of GUNDAM games (as well as their never ending titles)? Well, I can say that it is the best of the series yet, offering some excellent CG cut scenes and clips of the series to move the multiple storylines along, as well as some impressive character models of the Mobile Suits that fans will surely swoon over. You can play the game as one of two main characters from the series, ones that those familiar with the series will surely know the names of, but that I can barely remember even though I just played the damn thing a half an hour ago. There’s even some multiplayer fights for two players to blast away at each other.
Those are the good things. The bad things unfortunately are just about everything else in the game. The action is so chaotic and frenzied that I had absolutely NO IDEA what the hell I was doing. I was mashing on buttons, hoping that was me on screen slashing and shooting the hell out of the other mech, and somehow, I ended up winning and coming out on top. The camera makes you dizzy, though, as it swings
about wildly, despite any lock-on features or right-analog nudging. If I play a level, enter a battle and win, and yet have no idea if what I was doing was yielding any results, let alone if I was winning, losing, or even playing the stage at all, that is not a good sign. It may be the best of the series, but that’s not saying much given their track record, and the way this title makes you feel after playing. Confused, disoriented and just a little bewildered as you try to put together just what the fuck just happened. At least it looks nice. It’s sort of like ZONE OF THE ENDERS: THE SECOND RUNNER with less control and more psychotropic hallucinogens.
One Gamer’s Opinion:
VIEWTIFUL JOE: RED HOT RUMBLE – GAMECUBE
Of course, if you wanna talk about gameplay that appears to be on crack, look no further than the latest entry in the VIEWTIFUL JOE series. RED HOT RUMBLE poses the question, what would it be like if Captain Blue were casting for his newest movie, and all the heroes were vying for a spot, even a cameo? Well, they would apparently engage in SUPER SMASH BROS.-like events, with multiple characters on screen attempting to collect items, defeat enemies, and win various challenges.
The game has a bit of multiple personality disorder. At once, it’s a VEIWTIFUL JOE game, with cool fighting action, and the signature VFX powers of slow-down, mach speed and the new sound effect power, where you can send a blast of audio to defeat your foes. Then, throw in a little MARIO PARTY to the mix, with characters competing in different challenges, and add a splash of 4-player SMASH BROS. Mayhem to
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mix things up. Add sugar to taste and you have RED HOT RUMBLE. Sadly, there’s a bit TOO much sugar here, as the more players you add, the more chaotic and confusing the action can get.
The single player game offers some fun challenges in short simple stages. The multiplayer version, however, makes it impossible to tell what the crap is going on. Too much action happening all around. Foreground, background and even mid-ground action with your characters makes for one big headache. Most folks will want to peak at one-on-one gameplay for multiplayer, or just go in alone if you’re a fan of the series. Some characters make an appearance from the new TV series, and the character selection is wide and varied, but the series standard cut scenes are at a minimum, with lame dialogue boxes used to move the limited story action along.
Most of this is probably due to the title being cross-made for the handheld PSP as well (due next year). There’s such a mish-mash of things going on, it’s hard to find things to appreciate. If you’re not a VJ fan before this, it won’t bring you into the fold, but the hardcore may find something to enjoy, at least solo. For multiplayer, stick to SMASH.
One Gamer’s Opinion:
Whew. That’s gotta be some kind of record for me, as far as number of reviews per column (at least a standard column…special EXTRAS don’t count). Speaking of which, don’t think I’ve forgotten about the CASTLEVANIA and GTA columns…they’re still forth coming, and will probably make their appearance at the beginning of next week (at least one of them anyway). Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go faint. See you next week.
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