Video Game Previews
Katamari's Vita Debut Continues to Miss the Point
One of the past decade's most inventive new series keeps retreading the same ground. But hey, it's pretty.
By Jeremy Parish, 12/30/2011 at 10:00
Remember Katamari Damacy? Remember how it caught our attention and earned our affection by being like nothing else we'd ever played? Remember how original and fresh it felt? Me, I'm having a tough time recalling. I've just spent five or six hours with Touch My Katamari for PS Vita, and suddenly those days of invention and newness feel like another lifetime.
Don't get me wrong; I still like Katamari Damacy a lot. The fundamental concept of rolling around cluttered homes and cities, agglomerating everything in sight into a massive ball of stuff to satisfy the whims of a callous cosmic monarch, is still fun. My complaint isn't with the concept at all; it's with the way Namco has done practically nothing to expand on that premise since the game's first sequel, almost seven years ago.
Uncharted: Golden Abyss Sets a New Standard For Portable Visuals, But Not Game Design
While it sometimes lacks as a game, Sony Bend's Vita debut impresses for its technical prowess.
By Jeremy Parish, 12/28/2011 at 11:25
This is not a review of Uncharted: Golden Abyss, though it could well be. The Japanese version of the game, which shipped with the PS Vita at launch, offers full English-language support, including dialogue, menus, and even Trophies. But this isn't a review, because -- despite having had the game in-hand for a week now -- it hasn't quite gelled with me enough for me to finish it off.
To Golden Abyss' credit, my failure to have completed it yet has a good deal to do with its length. Currently I'm about a quarter of the way through the adventure, if chapter count is anything to go by, but I'm guessing I've sunk at least four hours into the game. Given the production values on display here, that's a rather generous amount of content. See, if nothing else, Golden Abyss is an amazing-looking game.
Alan Wake's American Nightmare Plays Like a Flannel-filled Shooter
Remedy's upcoming stand-alone downloadable expansion to Alan Wake features more shooting, crazy enemies, and Alan Wake in flannel.
By Thierry Nguyen, 12/19/2011 at 08:00
Alan Wake's labyrinthine plot and teasing dialogue that answered simple questions with even weirder questions tended to do two things: intrigued or outright alienated players. In that regard, let me lay down the basic story premise for the upcoming stand-alone and downloadable (think inFamous: Festival of Blood) Alan Wake's American Nightmare, so that you can determine which kind of player you are: Barry Wheeler (now a manger for the band The Old Gods of Asgard) falls asleep in his hotel room one evening, and on the television is a re-run of the in-game show inspired by Twilight Zone, Night Springs -- an episode written by Alan Wake and featuring, well, Alan Wake as he explores the remote Arizonan town of the same name. So it's very possible that this stand-alone downloadable title (longer than an Episode from the original game, but shorter than the actual game) is a tv show in an alternate reality that forked from the main game's universe due to the events of said main game. Still with me?
Remedy Entertainment CEO Matias Myllyrinne and head of franchise development Oskari Häkkinen both describe American Nightmare as a pulp action-adventure -- more in the vein of Quentin Tarantino than Stephen King. Using the television show narrative device (down to featuring that show's internal narrator as the main voice you hear as opposed to how Alan used to narrate his adventures in the core game), the developers use this to shift from making a slower-paced psychological thriller into a faster-paced shooter.
Ni no Kuni Spreads Two Hours of Charm Over Forty Hours
There's just not enough here.
By Ryan Winterhalter, 12/14/2011 at 17:59
Take an animation studio beloved the world over, and pair them up with what just might be Japan's fastest growing game maker and publisher -- it sounds perfect. Level-5 (Professor Layton, Dragon Quest IX) teamed up with Studio Ghibli (Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away) to create two RPGs (same name, but different platforms) that feature Pokemon like monster catching mechanics. It's called Ni no Kuni and it sounds like an amazing game. Last year's Ni no Kuni: The Another World failed to set the world on fire after its release in Japan despite its impressive pedigree. Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch is a part follow-up, part remake for the PS3, and it sounds amazing, but the reality doesn't quite live up to expectations.
If Ni no Kuni seems so amazing on paper, why am I so bored when I actually sit down to play the game? I've put around four hours into the Japanese version, and despite an amazing art style, wonderful voice acting, and the game featuring a charming cast of characters that really would be at home in a film by Hayao Miyazaki (Ghibli's most famed director), the moment to moment gameplay of the game is dreadfully dull.
Gotham City Imposters is Fun And Unique, But is That Enough?
Can Monolith's newest game take on its Free-to-Play competition?
By Ryan Winterhalter, 12/13/2011 at 14:31
Developers take a big risk implementing unconventional ideas in video games. History has shown that consumers are not exactly welcoming to anything too different from the norm. However, it's not the risks that Gotham City Imposters takes that makes me doubt its future success, but rather the risks it doesn't.
As you might guess, Gotham City Imposters takes place in Gotham City. Deciding that Batman shouldn't have all the fun, a group of aspiring super heroes and villains have sprung up. These newcomers, however, are not exactly what you'd call prime vigilante or criminal material. They wear ridiculous masks that look like a three-year-old's Halloween costume; some get around on roller skates; and all wield a deadly assortment of makeshift weapons. Underneath the humorous window dressing GCI is a pure multiplayer shooter and nothing more. This is actually quite refreshing -- it's nice to see a developer as talented as Monolith tackle a smaller, and more focused game. GCI lets you customize your character with a variety of outlandish outfits, gadgets, and weapons. My Batman wannabe was an obese nerd on roller skates with a cheap looking cowl, undersized T-shirt, assault rifle, and frag grenades. Meanwhile the get-up and kit sported by the rival "Jokerz" team was just as ridiculous.
Tales of the Abyss: Why You Shouldn't Ignore This 3DS RPG
We check out the European release to see how Luke fon Fabre rises again from the abyss of PS2 RPGs for the 3DS.
By Francesco Dagostino, 12/12/2011 at 16:55
It?s very likely that you overlooked Tales of the Abyss when it was launched in the U.S. back in 2006. The RPG had to compete with no less than Square Enix?s heavily anticipated Final Fantasy XII. Despite developing an affectionate niche, it failed to achieve mainstream success.
It?s therefore fortunate that Namco Bandai decided to revisit Tales of the Abyss on Nintendo?s young handheld; fortunate because it will give Abyss a second chance to impress players in the U.S. -- it was definitely well-received in Japan, where it even spawned an anime series and several manga spin-offs.
Dead or Alive 5 Adds Dynamic Environments With Familiar Gameplay
We go hands on with Team Ninja's next fighting game and get our first glimpse of "fighting entertainment."
By Jose Otero, 12/08/2011 at 17:05
Back in TGS 2011, Team Ninja confirmed the existence of Dead or Alive 5 through a one-minute teaser trailer, and it marked the first real sequel since the departure of former Team Ninja general manager Tobunobu Itagaki back in 2008. In said teaser, series brawlers Hayate and Ryu Hayabusa fight on the roof of a construction site in downtown Tokyo -- trading the kind of lightning-quick combos the series is best known for. While everything in the trailer at this point looks painfully familiar, it all changes the second Hayate kicks Hayabusa into a reactor. The resulting explosion hurls the black-clad ninja through the air, and knocks loose a crane that then sets a group of construction beams spinning wildly around the environment -- knocking over columns and other set pieces encircling the two combatants. The trailer closes on a dramatic cliffhanger, as Hayabusa desperately grabs the edge of the stage after almost being knocked off the rooftop.
While this manufactured drama felt a little ridiculous -- especially for a series like Dead or Alive where people shrug off being bounced into explosive surfaces like a pinball regularly -- I remained eager to see more. Yesterday I spent an hour playing a pre-alpha build of this Itagaki-less Dead or Alive game and I can tell you two definite things: First, that DOA5 feels as fast, fluid, and combo-driven as any other title in the series, and manages to add new simple mechanics that aren't immediately overpowering. And second, that the dynamic environment of the construction site makes arenas in the new DOA feel both chaotic and alive at the same time. Both the combat and environments lend themselves well to what developer Team Ninja calls "fighting entertainment," a concept that apparently emphasizes transforming fighting games into more of a spectacle while keeping player-driven actions simple.
Ninja Gaiden 3 Borrows a Lot From The West
Team Ninja's latest clearly plays like an attempt to fuse East and West sensibilities.
By Thierry Nguyen, 12/08/2011 at 14:45
By a completely bizarre coincidence (I actually do have enough faith to believe that this is the case; that Team Ninja did not brazenly lift this), Ninja Gaiden 3 takes place in the same place as Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception. That is, both games have setpiece moments taking place within the Rub'al Khali desert. Both heroes -- Ryu Hayabusa and Nathan Drake respectively -- find themselves walking into a seemingly abandoned desert village. The village, in both cases, turns out to host a bunch of bad dudes intent on taking out our heroes.
That's not the only weird Western coincidence I notice in my recent demo of NG3. As Ryu enters the village, he puts his hand up to his ear, and walks slowly as he exchanges dialogue and story exposition with another character. It's jarring that something like Ninja Gaiden, with an emphasis on fast, precise, and brutal combat, has a moment that feels drippingly slow.
Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning Struggles to Find Its Own Identity
Despite its all-star creative team, Reckoning cribs a little too obviously from other games' playbooks.
By Jeremy Parish, 12/08/2011 at 12:00
Describing a new game entirely in terms of other games is unfair to the game, to its creators, and to readers alike. In the case of something like Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, though, it would be unfair not to discuss it in terms of other games. It openly borrows ideas and draws inspiration from several popular franchises, and after spending four hours with the game I'm having a hard time pinning down exactly what sets Reckoning apart from its source material. It's Elder Scrolls meets Fable meets God of War combat bearing World of Warcraft's aesthetics, and there's no pretending otherwise.
That being said, Reckoning doesn't look to be a bad game by any means. Still, after playing through a key story event, freely roaming the area surrounding that skirmish, and jumping back and forth across the world map to dabble in different towns, dungeons, and environs, I find myself very ambivalent about this collaboration. Reckoning has quite the pedigree -- acclaimed fantasy author R.A. Salvatore, comics big shot Todd McFarlane, and former Elder Scrolls designer Ken Rolston have all played roles in its development -- but its individual components don't blend quite as smoothly as I'd like.
Three Reasons Why Binary Domain's Robots Are More Interesting Than Everyone Else' Zombies
In this zombie-obsessed medium, Sega's upcoming third-person shooter shows why robots deserve some love too.
By Kat Bailey, 12/07/2011 at 18:15
I've found myself unfazed by the zombie mania of the past few years. Yes, Dead Nation and Left 4 Dead are fine games in their own right; but as videogame villains go, I feel like the living dead might be played out. I don't want to fight anymore space zombies, pirate zombies, or garden zombies.
But robots are a different matter. True, they've been around since the dawn of the medium, but I'm not sure anyone has given much thought into what makes them a compelling villain. Robots are scary because they're strong, inhuman, and most importantly, relentless. And unlike zombies, they're also incredibly durable.
Import Play Test: Rocket Slime Brings Happiness to the Third Dimension
The most cheerful game ever enjoys small but significant improvements in its 3DS sequel.
By Jeremy Parish, 12/02/2011 at 17:15
Rocket Slime! Not everyone played that little DS masterpiece, but everyone who did has one thing in common: They loved it. (If you somehow managed to dislike Rocket Slime, please let us know; rarely does one have the opportunity to see the living incarnation of misanthropy.) A simple sprite-based game in the style of old-school Zelda adventures, Rocket Slime focused on the exploits of Dragon Quest's iconic sprites. You know, those little smiling blue dudes with few enough hit points to count on one hand, whose death is worth all of one EXP and two gold. An unlikely hero for a game to be sure, but it worked: The protagonist, the eponymous Rocket, used his gelatinous elasticity to take on a horde of much more powerful creatures, rescuing his fellow slimes from a gang of Mafioso platypuses, the Plob. This involved reciprocal abductions and occasionally driving a giant slime-shaped tank-fortress into massive pitched battles. The end result wasn't anything mind-blowing, but it was so fun and earnestly good-natured that no one cared. To know Rocket was to love Rocket.
For the sequel -- Slime Mori Mori Dragon Quest 3 in Japan, which we'll call Rocket Slime 3DS for convenience -- the Dragon Quest crew isn't exactly reinventing the wheel. At first glance, Rocket Slime 3DS doesn't look particularly different from its previous-generation predecessor. The most notable change is that the backgrounds (but not the characters) are rendered with polygons. These look pretty barfy in still images, but they're quite nice once you turn the 3D slider up. Besides that, though, Rocket Slime 3DS is pretty much business as usual. Rocket possesses the exactly same repertoire of skills: He snaps into foes and objects to send them flying, and he can snag and carry up to three stunned foes or other kinds of debris at a time. He jumps, floats to a rest, and can perform a super attack by charging up briefly. And that's about it!
NeverDead Amuses us With Its Head-rolling, But Concerns us With Its Shooting
The innovative quirks of not dying already clash with its questionable moment-to-moment gunplay
By Thierry Nguyen, 12/02/2011 at 10:30
At one point in NeverDead, I'm told to go against every instinct in my video game playing life by actually touching the electricity. That is, I'm explicitly told to grasp onto an electrical panel to shock myself into death. Well, death for a traditional character -- the trick with NeverDead is that your character, Bryce Boltzmann, is an immortal fellow who simply can't die. Whether blown up, torn in half, or in this case shocked with massive amounts of electricity, Bryce keeps on going with only mild impairment -- well, as mild as, "lacking in limbs or perhaps even an entire body."
A cursory look at NeverDead reveals what looks like a pretty typical third-person shooter. There's a dash of Max Payne, in that time occasionally slows down (if you purchase that specific ability), but overall, the game alternates between walking, talking, jumping, and shooting. But rather than die, Bryce just falls apart. Bad guy chop his arm off? It lays on the floor while he switches from firing guns akimbo to using a gun singlehandedly. A different demon blows a leg off? Now he's hopping to-and-fro on one foot. Get caught in an explosion that blows his entire body apart? Now you control just his head as it rolls on by in an attempt to re-combine with the rest of his body. It's like if Katamari Damacy starred The Black Knight from Monty Python and the Holy Grail rather than the Prince of All Cosmos.
EverQuest II: Still Alive And Getting a New Expansion Next Week
Seven years and eleven expansions later, the now free-to-play EverQuest II keeps on truckin' with new classes, big revamps, and player-created dungeons.
By Scott Sharkey, 11/30/2011 at 11:30
EverQuest II kind of reminds me of a town I lived in for a few months and then never expected to come back to. Returning after this much time it's disorienting to see both how much and how little has changed. Most notably, EQII recently joined the ever-growing club of semi-free MMOs, and now relies on sales of expansion content and non-essential perks to make rent. It's even got one of those nifty streaming clients that allow you to start playing before the full download is finished, so if you've ever harbored even the slightest hint of curiosity about the game, there's really no excuse not to at least pop your head in there for a few minutes.
Next week, December 6 specifically, EQII will be getting its 11th expansion: Age of Discovery. Among other things, this one adds a Beastlord class from the first EverQuest that players have been begging for pretty much since EQ2's release. As one might expect from a "Beast Master" type class, they can tame cats, wolves, birds, and other critters found all over the world. One animal (or "warder") at a time joins its master in combat, where in addition to making standard attacks they can notice enemy weaknesses and open up opportunities for more debilitating strikes. It's a class that offers more complexity than most along with providing an imaginary friend for solo players to talk to. Speaking of, NPC mercenaries are being added in this update. For a regular salary, hirelings can fill a tank, healer, support, melee DPS, or caster DPS role just like a regular member of a party. They take up a group spot and even insist on a share of the loot. On the plus side, they're less annoying to play with than the average pick up group, and can be given silly names if you don't like the one they have by default.
Why Dota 2's Golden Age May be Over Before it Begins
What effect will Valve's Defense of the Ancients sequel have on the MOBA landscape?
By Ryan Scott, 11/29/2011 at 16:55
Hang around in any sizable MOBA (that's "multiplayer online battle arena") community these days, and prepare to witness a lot of angst over what Dota 2 -- Valve Software's standalone successor to the wildly popular Defense of the Ancients freeware mod for Warcraft III -- could mean for this growing real-time strategy subgenre. Over the past two years, Riot Games has handily carved its own little MOBA empire with the uber-successful League of Legends (which currently stands at 11.5 million active players), and smaller fish like S2 Games and Petroglyph Games have captured audiences with Heroes of Newerth and Rise of Immortals, respectively. But the still-in-beta Dota 2 stands as the ultimate wildcard... and I think I've got a good guess on what's going to happen when those floodgates finally open.
In short: a lot less than you might think.
Tony Hawk Ride's Developer Wants You to Fund its Next Game
And it's nothing like Tony Hawk -- check out the game and their plans.
By Andrew Hayward, 11/28/2011 at 11:45
Launched in 2009, Kickstarter.com allows anyone to generate crowd-funding campaigns, which appeal to the public to amass funds for whatever project is on the page. Since then, more than $100 million has been successfully raised for a wide array of projects, including tech gadgets, records, films, and more; last winter, a design firm raised more than $940,000 to create wristband holders for the iPod nano, while 2 Player Productions' documentary film on Minecraft topped $210,000 this past spring.
When it comes to indie game development, the sums haven't been quite as high, but they're growing, with recent success stories including the nearly $37,000 generated by iOS/Android game Star Command, as well as $24,000+ pulled in by Octodad 2, a PC game about an octopus secretly posing as a suburban dad. Prior to today, Kickstarter had yet to host a funding campaign for a game explicitly designed for a console system. That's no longer the case, but the studio behind the project may surprise you.