-
-
good read. for 30 bucks i will pick it up. i wasnt feeling the demo due to the climbing issues. but i imagine i could get around that during the gameComment
-
Heavenly Sword
Release Date: September 12th, 2007
Developer: Ninja Theory
Game Type: Hack-n-Slash
Price Paid: $25
Graphics: 8
Heavenly Sword is a very beautiful game that holds its ground as one of the best looking PS3 games despite being released over three years ago. The environments are colorful, full of countless detail, and part of a massive world. It’s a real treat to the eyes. The real problem is the simple matter of not being able to enjoy them to the fullest. The game is very linear and has strict invisible walls that withhold you from exploring and roaming around, which is a shame because it the world needs to be explored, not just some eye candy.
The other really impressive achievement they created was the character animations and appearances. They used a facial reconfiguration with the real life models, so when Andy Serkis as King Bohan is talking and taking up the screen, you catch a hint of him within the character. It obviously is more fascinating if you know what the actual model looks and sounds like. The wide cast of characters all were completely unique to themselves with outstanding apparel to suit there personalities.
The game had a few glitches, with animations being performed without the actual character doing the movement, but at one point in the game, to complete the sub-chapter, you have to kill 500 people, with about 1,000 actually being on-screen. It was a very impressive feat to have that much action on-screen and have just a little framer rate drop.
Sound: 9
The music is Heavenly Sword is great, but it tends to keep the same beat, so about two or three chapters in, the effect it has on you changes up a bit. No longer did it get you pumped and ready to move forward, but was just there instead.
The voice-acting is huge though. It has the feeling of a grade A Hollywood film without actually having any top notch names. Andy Serkis as King Bohan is the standout. Everything he says has meaning and value, and with every sentence rolls off the emotions he’s feeling. His voice echoes through your head and has commanding presence when he speaks. That’s not to say he was the only one though. Our heroine, Nariko, was great, along with her sidekick Kai, but the villains of the game just stood out. It probably had more to do with their personalities, but psychos/retards are always more interesting.
Gameplay: 7.5
Heavenly Sword has a wonderful story that plays out like one long memory parse. You play through chapters and after every chapter, a mini-cut scene between Nariko and the sword occurs. This binding relationship between her and this sword is the focal point of the story. Countless people have scarified themselves to protect the sword, and the King wants it to show his amount of power. In desperation Nariko uses the sword and that’s where the story really begins. It’s well played out, but has an ending that could teeter on the edge of being well-liked. Its all depends on the opinion of the player.
At its core, this is a hack and slash adventure with the most basic leveling system. Instead of leveling up, you earn points while fighting that unlocks more combos. The real problem is most of the combos never seemed to work for me. I stuck with four basic combos the whole time, but maybe that’s because I don’t play these types of games often. But the game does a great job of changing the game play for a bit when you control the sidekick, Kai. She uses a bow and arrow, and with that Ninja Theory probably created one of the only games that use the sixaxis to perfection. Playing her and controlling the arrow through the arrow with the controller is very fun. It was a great change and I wish there would have been more of it in the game.
The boss battles were a bit disappointing because they all felt like they were defeated the same way. Dodge whatever they threw at you, then run at them and slash twice, spin around, slash some more. Rinse and Repeat. Maybe I wouldn’t have had a problem with it if they were a bit harder, but other then the final battle with Bohan, all were kind of a cakewalk.
Lasting Appeal: 5
Hours Played: 7.5
Game Difficulty: 6
Trophy Difficulty: N/A
Heavenly Sword one true downfall is its replay value. The games single player, while good, was very short. It definitely needed a few more chapters, probably at the beginning of the game before she got the sword. I wouldn’t mind the short campaign though if it had any incentive to actually replay through it, but with a lack of trophies (because it came out before they existed) and the only collectables unlock game art, you’ll probably never touch it again unless its been awhile since your last play through.
Final Comments:
Heavenly Sword was a great launch game for the ps3, and really showcased how far gaming can go. It was the building block to many games, and gave Ninja Theory recognition as a top notch gaming company. Without Heavenly Sword, there is no Enslaved. Thank the gods, that never happened.
Right to the point:
+ Great Characters
+ Great Story
+ Great Gameplay
- Linearity
- Length
- Ending
Final Score: 6/10
Recommended Price: $15Comment
-
HS really needs trophies. Why NT never released a patch is beyond me. I think tons more people would go back and check it out if it had trophies.
Comment
-
Enslaved: Odyssey to the West
Release Date: October 5th, 2010
Developer: Ninja Theory
Game Type: Hack-n-Slash Platformer
Price Paid: $35
Graphics: 9
Enslaved is one truly good looking game. It may be the best looking game to use the unreal engine. Most games that use the post apocalyptic setting have crumbled buildings that were the only evidence of a once huge city, use very dark colors, and have very contained signs of life. Enslaved breaks away from those rules and creates a wonderful world just waiting to be played in. America was left lifeless and the cities have once again become a jungle with plant life anywhere and everywhere. Bright colors such as red and green dominate the screen and it looks wonderful. Not up to par, but it reminded me a lot of Uncharted.
That wasn’t the only way Enslaved was similar to Uncharted. Not since Nathan Drake and Elena Fisher have you seen motion capturing look this good. Monkey looks exactly like his name, shirtless and with a belt that looks like a tail and Trip constantly has her emotions shown upon herself as if you were watching as movie. Andy Serkis, the one recognizable voice actor in the game, plays Monkey and what is great about that is you can see part of Andy’s face recreated into Monkeys. It’s truly a great and underappreciated achievement in the scheme of the actual game.
That is to say the game is not with its flaws though. While playing I encounter two things that effected my time with the game. The first thing that annoyed me was during some cutscenes, Monkey would become frozen and not move yet the cutscene would continue as if nothing was wrong, taking away anything the scene tried to accomplish. The other was the world itself. It was great, but by game’s end we only got to play in four different environments, so it felt like a waste we didn’t get to actually see more of this world.
Sound: 10
The voice acting is some of the best in the business. They stuck with Andy Serkis, who voiced King Bohan in Heavenly Sword, and once again he was great. Monkey, by sheer default, should have been a boring character. Instead, he brought emotions to Monkey. His screams put you in a state of worry and he’s actually pretty funny in a doesn’t know he actually is type of way. His enslaver, Trip, pulled you in even more. Her fear is expressed through her voice. She screams, breathes heavily, and struggles to speak when something goes wrong, and because it’s so well done, you actually want to protect her. The only other true character, Pigsy, is good. Through his name, he has a deep voice, snorts like a pig, and cracks jokes that put him in awkward situations. Only three characters in the game, but they find the right voices for all three of them.
The other great thing is the soundtrack. Before you even start the game, a nice melody starts playing that gets you rolling to play the game. They do a nice job of playing the right music to set up the tone of the scene. It creates a wonderful atmosphere that makes you want to move forward to the next chapter.
Gameplay: 8
The story of Enslaved is good; nothing truly ground breaking, but good none the less. You play as Monkey, a lone scrapper, who ends up being Enslaved through a mechanical headband put on by a scared survivor, Trip. She didn’t want to have to do it, but it was the only way she could make it back home alive. It starts off with the two bickering and being mistrustful of each other, but as the game goes on you realize it’s not about the story it’s about the characters.
Monkey and Trip are two wonderful characters because they are stuck together and complete opposites of each other. Monkey is a smart fighter, taking down mechs with his staff. Trip on the other hand, relies on technology and tries to outsmart the mechs with that skill of hers. The two alone aren’t a threat, but together they can take down anything. It takes awhile for them to figure that out, but when they do, things start clicking.
The combat in the game is stripped down to the most basic hack-n-slash. You have a heavy attack, a quick one, a stunned, and a charged attack. You use different attacks no different mechs, but it’s all very simple. You can ask Trip to upgrade them, but never do you get into any real trouble. Alone with the hand to hand, you can shoot “sticks” for ranged attacks, but they are limited supply and can only get them when they want you to use them.
You can upgrade your weapons/health by collecting mini orbs spread throughout the game or when killing enemies. It’s Enslaved’s version of a collection trophy, and they can are very easy to find, but I can see you overlooking a few that are put in areas where you have to go out of your way to find. I wish they would have had some sort of tracker to help you see how close you are, but unfortunately they do not.
The enemies you faced were a bit repetitive. In a world full of mechs you only had 4-5 total types actually come attack you. I would have loved to see more diversity in them. Towards the end I got bored of fighting them. The boss fights were well done, but they were more bark then bite. It’s hard to imagine Monkey was the first one to kill a dog. The last boss fight was great, but it was rinse and repeat three times, annoying me into thinking when I would actually kill it.
A few instances where the game seemed glitchy was when you needed to have Trip move something through the computer for you. A lot of times she wouldn’t move it when I commanded and it took several times to get the game to register that I commanded her. It was very annoying. The other was when the camera would go through a wall accidentally and the screen would get stuck causing you to have to restart from a checkpoint.
Regards to the ending
Lasting Appeal: 5
Hours Played: 9
Game Difficulty: 5
Trophy Difficulty: 7
Enslaved is a very short game. Did its length downgrade the story and quality? No, but it does make you wonder if it’s worth your cash. The campaign will run you at most 10 hours, but if you fly through it, it could be done in 5 hours. Even if you replay the campaign, it won’t last very long. The one thing the game has going for it was the orb collecting, but even those will be hard to track down because there is no way of telling how many you have missed or where they are, unless you have an internet guide. The difficulty is way too easy for its length. At least if they made it harder, it would have made the game a longer experience. Hopefully the DLC comes at a good length and price because the game needs it for two reasons, its length and the world needs to be explored more.
Final Comments:
Enslaved was easily one of my most anticipated games of the year. Unfortunately with those high expectations came disappointment. By no means was it a bad game, but it wasn’t the game I expected. They built something that could be great if they fix some of there mistakes if they happen to make a sequel, but if this is all there will be, it will never be what it could have been.
Right to the point:
+ The story
+ The characters
+ The basic gameplay
- The enemies
- The replay value
- The difficulty
Final Score: 7.5/10
Recommended Price: $35Comment
-
Enslaved definitely needed more boss fights, more characters, less predictability, and a not-so-cliffhanger ending.
Comment
-
Comment
-
Alien Breed: Evolution
Release Date: December 16, 2009
Developer: Team 17
Game Type: Isometric Shooter
Price Paid: $5
Graphics: 4
Alien Breed looks very similar to Gears of War, but obviously different due to the isometric view, but when you see a close up of the main character, he could pass off as Marcus Fenix’s brother. The environments, despite being limited to one ship, actually have a lot of variety and look great. Some areas are very dark with only the flashlight from your gun; others are filled with poisonous gas; and others are in lockdown with flashing red lights consuming the screen. The game really mastered the lighting, which gave them the opportunity to create such vastly different playgrounds.
The games little story is presented before each level through a graphic novel view similar to the one used in inFAMOUS. It is starting to become a popular choice for games, and it really seems easier for developers to present a story through them, rather then cutscenes that are limited to the present. The novel way can jump from time to time, getting to the point and covering more ground at a better pace.
Sound: 4
The voice acting once again reminds me of Marcus Fenix. The main character, Conrad, is a space marine, and what a surprise, he has a deep rusty voice. Even if you find that repetitive, there is little talking in the game so it’s not something you need to worry a whole lot about.
The games only musical score fits the game perfectly. Whenever something dreadful is about to happen, a jaws-type pops up and really gets your blood boiling. Its very satisfying, and when you see that first wave of aliens, just hold the trigger down and go to town on their asses.
Gameplay: 5
The story is one of the most basic ones that has been told countless times. Your ship has crashed into another one, but little did they know aliens were no the other one and you must fight your way through both ships to try and escape. While it’s nothing amazing, it’ll hold your attention enough. It’s more about the gameplay.
The game is from isometric view (helicopter) and you shoot with the right trigger and aim with right analog. They have great balance between each other, very similar to Shadow Complex. The game is also very old school in that it uses ammo kits lying around, health bars, and health packs. It’s very refreshing to see things of the past still in our current games.
The alien’s in this game are really cool. The minute you see them you will think of the movie Alien. They practically ripped them from there and put them in the game. You have the some big ones that spit acid or just straight up attack, and then you have the little crawlers that are more of a nuisance then a foe. The game features a whopping 1400+ enemies. That is a great accomplishment for a little arcade title. The few boss fights and could go either way in terms of likeness. On one hand, they are huge and cool, but on the other hand they a little bit repetitive. Defeating the last boss on the hardest difficulty is a challene and accomplishment.
Lasting Appeal: 5
Hours Played: 8
Game Difficulty: 8
Achievement Difficulty: 6
For an arcade game it has a lot to offer. The single player has five levels and each one will run you at least 40+ minutes. It’s fun to play and I can see myself going back to it someday. On top of that, it has a completely separate co-op experience with new characters that is even longer in length then the single player. What even makes it better is that it’s actually a big challenge with co-op. Your partner and you have to work together because ammo is scarce and they have even more aliens to kill.
As far as the achievements go, you can get more then half of them in one playthrough on single player and you can get the other half by playing the co-op with a buddy. They are not hard, it’s just a matter of finding a good co-op partner that is the challenge.
Final Comments:
Alien Breed really flew under the radar upon release. If it were not for being one of the Deals of the Week, it would probably still be unheard-of to me. I paid $5 for it but would gladly pay $10. It offers a lot in its package and the sequel just recently came out, so you don’t have to wait to finish the story. If you ever are looking for an arcade game and have 800 points to spare, you’ll be hard to find a better package then this.
Right to the point:
+ The gameplay
+ The aliens
+ The replay value
- Weak story
- Lack of dialogue
- Weapon equipment is useless
Final Score: 5/5
Recommended Price: $10Comment
-
The Misadventures of PB Winterbottom
Release Date: February 17, 2010
Developer: The Odd Gentlemen
Game Type: Puzzle-Platformer
Price Paid: $5
Graphics: 4
The presentation of PB Winterbottom is a dandy, which is probably much overlooked while playing. Most of the game is presented in a black and white form similar to old movies, but they use colors to enhance the objects they want you to notice, mostly the pies. The background of the levels looks as if they are paper cut outs hanging from a wire. They entire game just feels like a very cheap old school movie that had no budget. It seems to work perfectly despite graphics always being one of the higher priorities.
Sound: 5
In a game that features almost no sound and absolutely no spoken dialogue, it has a great theme song that plays throughout the game that just fits. It sounds similar to piano music playing when someone is getting chased in a 40s movie.
In between the levels, they had a unique approach to loading screens by simply putting up a short rhyming scheme that relates to the simple story that it has. They are fun to read because you can put your own voice to the character since he never says anything. He has a top hat, big French mustache and is a bad guy, so I always imagined him having a high pitched voice like the ones in the Wild West right after he lays the tied up woman on the tracks and forces the cowboy to make a choice. You’d never have that if they had him say the lines for you and would have been a downgrade for the game.
Gameplay: 4
The story in Misadventures is very simple, but is also one of those awkward ones that some of the better platformers have like Mario, Braid, and Limbo. PB Winterbottom loves pie and he’ll run through anybody to get it. The game has you eating all the pies, letting no one else have one. It’s a bit dumb, but the rhymes that come from it are catchy, and it was better then something boring.
The gameplay is simple once you understand it. The objective to each level is to step on a button and the collect all the pies that light up before they dim down again. The catch is they are all over the place so you have to use clones to help you. You have a set limit of them and once you get deeper into the levels it’s a bit trickier because you can’t touch your clones or you have to have a light shined on you. The puzzles are complex and actually require thinking, this isn’t for the dumbfounded.
After you beat the game, you can go onto their bonus levels, which is more of an arcade version of pie collecting. They have leaderboards to see how fast you collect them and how many clones you use to judge your score. It’s not as fun as the single player, but it does add more time to the game.
Lasting Appeal: 3
Hours Played: 5
Game Difficulty: 9
Trophy Difficulty: 4
The single player will take sometime because the game is pretty hard and unless you look on youtube, finding the solutions will take some trial and error. They did a great job in using the clones. They work perfectly and have easy controls. The bonus modes are just as long as the single player and with time limits and trial and error, you look to find faster ways to collect the pies, it can be fun. But once your satisfied with game, you’ll be done with it, unless of course you forget how to complete the puzzle. The achievement difficulty is rather simple. You should have no problem getting them all.
Final Comments:
PB Winterbottom is a fun puzzle game that was definitely overlooked upon release. It’s nothing truly amazing, but the gameplay is very unique the same way braid was, except instead of rewinding time, you used clones. If your into Braid and thinking based puzzles that require trial and error, Winterbottom is a must buy.
Right to the point:
+ The puzzles and difficulty
+ The silent film approach
+ Rhyme scheme
- The bonus rounds
- The length
- Clones hitting you
Final Score: 4/5
Recommended Price: $5Comment
-
MoH review please?Comment
Tweet
Comment