Review: Brawl Busters (PC MMO)
On the surface it’s hard to forgo the obvious similarities of Brawl Busters to Valve’s popular Team Fortress 2 title. There’s no escaping the fact that the character models share the same whimsical charm, and that it’s red vs blue, but once you dig a little deeper and get a few games under your belt, it starts to show its true colours and proves to the world that it’s not just a simple knock off.
To kick things off in Brawl Busters, you’ll need to choose a class – The long ranging Slugger, The slow but durable Firefighter, the sluggish but heavy hitting Blitzer, the speedy but fragile Boxer and the all-rounder Rocker – to then head straight into online action, or engage in some single player missions to sharpen your skills.
Upon starting the game, you’re given a brief tutorial of the game’s controls which are simple but effective, though certain actions including dodging do make it feel that Brawl Busters could have benefited from gamepad support. They chose to opt for a third person camera, as opposed to the ever popular first person viewpoint, which can make playing with a keyboard and mouse a little more tricky than if it was a first-person shooter. However, these are minor issues and not deal breakers and you’re more likely to be less responsive due to ping rather then the controls. Overall you can say that the controls get the job done.
On the presentation front, Brawl Busters is very successful, even the menus have an “in your face!” attitude to them with the bright colours, extending to the stats screen with their funky charm. The level are very well designed, each one showcasing a theme and varying in size; with Pinball Avenue you’ll find yourself battling over a stage that’s laid out like a pinball machine, having to concentrate on dodging rolling balls and flying vehicles on top of both environmental hazards and your opponents themselves. Rumble Factory has you fighting in a small arena with everyone having to be careful they don’t fall to the ground below or else they will be quickly burned. The classes look pretty nifty and animate quite well and while the special attacks won’t have the anyone’s jaw’s dropping anytime soon, it’s still proves to be entertaining.
What’s great is that for a good looking game, you don’t need a powerful machine. In fact what you should be concerned with more is how good your connection is, as that will determine if you will have fun or just find the hectic experience that Brawl Buster provides frustrating.
For game modes, you have the classic Team Deathmatch, and while this may be familiar to any shooter fan, the main goal is to be the first team to achieve a certain score (in Brawl Buster’s case, nine points). There’s also Glow Rush, proving to be quite weird as it can be over quickly or very drawn out. The aim of the game is to get a certain amount of points (or have the most when time has run out) and each player begins with eight points. When you kill a player with points you take those points BUT also add to your own value. So killing someone with eight points gives you 16 points but if someone kills you they get those 16 points. It’s a mode where beginners will be punished more harshly by skilled players than any other mode and so you may find it either fun or very frustrating.
Free-For-All also makes an appearance, especially if you can’t stand being in a team and two co-op modes if you can’t stand fighting against human opposition; Zombie Survival and Boss Battle. It’s nice that Brawl Busters caters to all kinds of players, even if most will go for the Team Deathmatch or Free-For-All.
One of the more surprising postive elements about Brawl Busters is the music, providing a very funky backing track with different menu screens having their own distinctive tunes. While it’s not perfect, Brawl Buster’s soundtrack is probably one of the more enjoyable ones compared to other F2P’s (Free to Play), since it’s very catchy. Hopefully they’ll be adding more toe-tapping ditties and even have personal tunes for the classes themselves.
With being a F2P game, Brawl Busters does of course offer you the chance to gain an edge via a the ever popular micro-transaction item shop. There are two types of currency; Buster Points which you get through gameplay and allow you to buy permanent fashion clothes which have no affect on gameplay but allow you to look your best while kicking ass, and Rock Tokens which have to be brought with real cash and allow you to get weapons and armour that will give you a definitive advantage but only for a number of days. It is nice some of the stuff in Brawl Busters cash shop doesn’t require the process of spending actual money.
So what about the game itself? While some will play Brawl Busters for hours and hours (like you would any typical MMO game), getting to level 20 (required to play Ranked Matches) takes a lot of time. Brawl Busters seems to be more of a game that you’ll play between 30 minutes to a couple of hours each day. Having a good connection will see you play for longer and if you’re lacking skills or interest in this genre, Brawl Busters will not change your mind (though being a recent release means that it’s the best time to jump online).
Overall though, it’s a fun hectic game that has tons of personality and potential for growth. It’s not a Team Fortress 2 beater, but it looks like Brawl Busters isn’t trying to be. It’s just a fun arena based shooter with it’s own fun spin on the genre.
7/10
Note: Brawl Busters is a free-to-play Online Multiplayer Action video game developed by Korean developer SkeinGlobe, and published by Toronto-based publisher Rock Hippo Productions, and is available for the PC. The game was officially released on December 15, 2011.
You can download it here – http://www.brawlbusters.com/download
Film Review: Chronicle
It should be evident during this semi-found footage account of teenage superhuman exploits that this isn’t a superhero story, this isn’t even the angst of the X-Men. Chronicle hews hard and close to the bark of the seminal anime Akira, whose influence is writ-large across this release. The iconography of Katsuhiro Otomo’s opus is abundant in Chronicle. Whether it be a character flying out of an exploding hospital ward, an emotionally fraught outsider becomes a monster and the all too telling sight of a blood curdling scream shattering windows in an ever-expanding shockwave. Like Tetsuo in that film, Chronicle follows alienated teen Andrew’s burgeoning psychokinetic powers, but this is not a story of great power or greater responsibility. This is a tale of unbridled rage tearing through a susceptible teenage mind. In other words: mo’ powers, mo’ problems.
The powers themselves are nothing new, we’ve seen a man fly but here you get to experience the thrill first hand as we take the perspective of Andrew’s trusty camcorder. If teenage boys had telekinesis they’d probably use it for Jackass-style pranks, that is a given fact. Certainly the life and times of Andrew’s repressed anger and domestic abuse and his decent into Frankenstein-like madness is a classic trope, but it’s effective enough and is wisely employed here. The cast of newcomers are game and clearly having a ball, and given how much fun their having you’ll be giggling too at their antics. Even when the Seattle-bound rampage brings the adolescent nihilism to a close, you’ll still be chuckling giddily.
Now let’s return to the notion of ‘found footage’, that is of course suggesting that the footage was indeed, found. This is perhaps the only glaring flaw to overshadow the giddily violent proceedings is the nature of the ‘document’ itself e.g. who is watching this? In Cloverfield we were under the impression that the video was confiscated and under analysis by shady government types, Blair Witch of course fooled viewers into believing what they saw as being real. Chronicle’s detachment from the style even distances itself from District 9, wherein the separation from documented footage and a narrative perspective was clear. Chronicle at times confuses given the quality of camera’s employed by the characters. MiniDV, HDV and iPhones are intercut with abandon, yet all of the footage cobbled from these sources looks better than what most prosumer cameras can achieve. At times it’s even harder to discern who’s camera is being used, as secondary characters (and their cameras) keep adding multiple perspectives and muddy the water further.
Chronicle can be taken as one of two things: Either the horror story of a deranged teenager or simply as a thrilling rollercoaster. The anime initiated will spot the Akira-inflected story and characterisation a mile off, above all of this however is the fact that you’re going to have a fabulous evening at the movies.
8/10
Review: Haunt (XBLA Kinect)
Haunt was debuted from NanaOn-Sha back at the Tokyo Game Show 2010 along with a number of other Kinect projects including Project Draco and Steel Battalion: Heavy Armour. Since then there hasn’t been much coverage of the title, and seemingly without fanfare it released rather subtly on the Xbox Live Arcade earlier last month. Is this haunted mansion worth exploring, or are you best leaving the ghosts to rest in peace?
Taking on the role of an unnamed adventurer, you’ll utilise full body motion and gestures to move through the Mansion encountering many puzzles and ghosts as you follow the lead of the rather eccentric Benjamin ‘benjy’ Muldoon (voiced by Double Fine’s Tim Shafer) who whilst stuck in a painting is able to hop between any frame allowing him to offer tips and advice wherever you go. Your quest for the Phantaflask’s will lead you all over the mansion as you help Benjy to reactivate his mysterious machine, and whilst the ending is hardly going to surprise you, there are some great twists and turns on the way.
One of the most important aspects when discussing a Kinect title are the controls. Rise of Nightmares also had a stab at full body motion last year, but Haunt opts for a simpler control scheme. Using either of your hands as the torch, you’ll direct both your view and turning. To move in the direction you are facing simply walk on the spot, whilst a jog will get you moving a little quicker. The aiming uses a bounding box, similar to a Wii first person shooter where to turn and look around you’ll need to move the flashlight to the edge of the screen. While admittedly this can be a slow process, you’re never required to react quickly to objects around you whilst in free movement. The flashlight itself controls very smoothly and is responsive, following your hand accurately, along the lines of Child Of Eden.
You can step backwards by placing a foot behind you, though this does not move you continuously, instead you’ll use this to get out of a corner. This method can be quicker than having to turn around fully, but you won’t end up using it a huge amount. When it comes to stairs and corners, the game does a lot of the work for you by guiding your movement, taking a lot of potential frustration out of the equation. Each object in the world requires you to perform a basic gesture such as opening a cupboard or drawer, and while these interactions generally require you to be quite large with your movements, you’ll get accustomed to them quickly.
After the initial tutorial, you’ll be able to choose between three doors; The Auditory Annex, Luminarium and the Motility Vaults. Don’t let the tutorial fool you into thinking that this is a linear adventure though, as many of the levels require both backtracking and puzzle solving, providing a varied experience to keep you interested. There’s some novel use of the gestures ranging from covering your nose to using both hands to operate a pulley system, and that’s just in the first stage. Each area has two stages, generally taking about 20 minutes or so to get through (depending on whether you are after the collectables). For a downloadable game, there’s quite a bit to this one. Overall it took me just over 3 hours to 100%. I decided to find every collectable and check every cupboard since I am quite the completionist at times.
The puzzles generally boil down to locating a particular item for use in the environment, and while I would have liked to have seen some more in-depth puzzles utilising all the methods which Kinect can track, there are a couple of more innovative interactions scattered around the mansion in the later levels which are worth seeing.
Speaking to the presentation of the game, I was very impressed. You’ll find that the music, graphics and various sound effects culminate effectively to really set the mood of the game. It’s hardly a scary game though, feeling more akin to a first person Luigi’s Mansion as opposed to The Grudge. There’s some effective use of surround sound at times, especially when the bats swarm around you.
Objects that can be interacted with are highlighted, and by simply holding your flashlight over the object till it focuses you’ll be drawn in close to perform the required gesture. You’ll be checking a lot of cupboards and drawers in your adventure, most containing Vitality, Vitality Vials or a Newspaper Clipping. The Vitality pickups top up your heath meter, whilst the Vials give you a second chance if you run out. The Newspaper Clippings are the secret collectables, giving you some back-story on the character of Benjy, and the mansion itself, which may hold more secrets than you first thought.
In terms of the ghosts, there’s definitely a good variety, each with their specific weaknesses and methods for disposing of. You won’t have to worry about movement when you encounter a ghost however as the game locks you into combat, requiring timed gestures and careful use of the flashlight to rid yourself of the enemy.
Haunt is far from a hard game, and will remind you at each encounter which gesture is required, I ended up with 13 vitality vials by the end of the game, and didn’t have to use even one. Once you get accustomed to the various ghosts attacks you can better anticipate the motions to avoid attacks, though they do give you a lot of time to react. The only times you’re likely to get hit are when it doesn’t quite detect you correctly. This doesn’t happen for the full body motions, but it did occur a couple of times for me during sections when you would have to cover your eyes or ears, to achieve best results, have your elbows facing outwards from your body, really emphasising the motion, as opposed to just moving your hands directly up.
As you explore the mansion, you’ll encounter new gameplay mechanics from time to time, especially in the Auditory Annex as this introduces use of sound where you’ll have to both cover your ears and shout at enemies to destroy them. There’s also a nice little touch when you have to say your name to enter a door, and then later on…well, I won’t spoil it, I’ll just say that you should pick up the ringing phone. There’s a good mix of areas, from free moving to on rails segments where you’re riding a train cart through tunnels dodging skeletons and waving your arms to disperse the bats.
You’ll also gain various abilities throughout the game, allowing you to better fight back against the ghosts, ranging from deflecting projectiles back at your enemy, to waving your arm to trap the ghost. Each of these abilities are preset for each type of ghost, so you won’t be able to experiment with your attacks. It’s good to keep aware during the loading screens, as they can provide you with a number of helpful tips that the game doesn’t explain in the Instructions such as the ability to crouch and also the option to interact quicker by pushing your hand forward as the flashlight focuses.
Unlike nearly all other Kinect games, Haunt does not tell you when its taking pictures or recording you, leading to some funny moments when you spot yourself on various photos around the mansion, all I’ll say is, it’s worth exploring all the side rooms if you want a smile.
While this strictly single player adventure may be short, it’s a lot of fun while it lasts. I felt that they could have gone a step further in the puzzle solving areas, but I feel they give you your money’s worth. There’s not a huge amount of replay value, though each level is scored based on your ability to get through unscathed and the amount of collectables you uncover. If you have 800 Microsoft Points and want a new and interesting experience to play with Kinect, this is definitely a good buy, and is suitable for all ages.
8/10
Review: SoulCalibur V
SoulCalibur V is the latest installment to the popular fighting series, and it certainly has been a while since we’ve seen it last. The game is back though, and has taken a big leap into the future. Even though the story takes place 17 years after SoulCalibur IV, has the leap done the series any justice? Or has the battle of history come to an end? Find out in this review.
SoulCalibur as a series overall always has had a special place in my heart and was one of the first fighting games I played back on my Dreamcast. Over the past few years the series has both grown and evolved, adding new bits and pieces to the formula. The story has changed a fair bit since SoulCalibur IV as it is no longer a linear set of stages and you aren’t able to choose which character to partake in the story. The story is based around the main protagonist Patroklos (the son of Sophitia), while Sophitia’s daughter Pyrrha is the deuteragonist. Throughout the short 20 episode story you will take part in different roles of about 3-4 characters, mainly sticking on the primary story path revolving around Patroklos saving his sister Pyrrha from Soul Edge. It’s very simplistic, though presented quite well. There are many moments where you are gifted the beauty of the CGI cut scenes, which I have to say are by far the best looking of the series. You will notice though, that during the story, it doesn’t rely fully on CGI, and is told in the form of a book/scroll. The voice overs are still present, but are shown in a photographic slide-show form. It’s a shame that they couldn’t present the whole story mode in CGI as I feel the effect of the characters emotions and situation would of been a much better experience to see visually instead of through the more conventional and static drawings and text.
It’s nice to see that Namco focused a lot more on the single player story mode than in previous series entries, and it definitely shows. The story took me roughly 2 hours to complete, and even though this may sound short, it is by far the most indepth single player story in the series, and there’s much more here than you’ll find in many other fighting games. The overall experience of the story mode was very impressive, it could have been a lot longer and could of branched out to more characters, however it does a really good job of introducing the game’s characters and fighting styles by switching player control between a small chunk of the roster. It’s just a shame that some of the new characters don’t even get a mention in the story line, which previously in SoulCalibur IV you could choose any character and follow a linear story path for that character. It wasn’t much, but it was interesting learning about how each character fit into the SoulCalibur universe.
You’ll also get to fight in 20 different vibrant locations, differing in detail and scope, though all featuring an amazing score setting the atmosphere for each battle. If that’s not incentive enough to jump into the story mode, then you will also be happy to know that you unlock loads of bonus content including new fighters, locations and items for you own character.SoulCalibur V’s action is as extravagant and over-the-top as fans would expect, but its fighting system has been reworked to offer quicker and smoother combat, removing the sluggish gaps found between moves in previous installments. I felt before that the gameplay was arguably a bit too heavy, especially online, where I would not feel an instant reaction to the characters moves.
The gameplay in SoulCalibur feels like it has had a huge upgrade compared to SoulCalibur IV. The most noticeable aspect is the speed of the action, by this I mean that the fights never have a dull moment and are much more fast paced than they were previously. This could be due to the new characters and balancing, or the fact that they have re-booted the mechanics. It’s brilliant and feels fresh, but still familiar to the classic SoulCallibur formula.
Enemies have weapons which vary their playstyle, along with the different move sets and timing which you’ll need for the critical blow. Side stepping and dodging enemy attacks still play a huge role in this title and feel much more functional than they did in the previous games. The defensive side has also seen some upgrades, including a new quick side step move, while the basic guard button operates as it used to, with players needing to block incoming attacks at the correct height, and requiring precise timing to parry or counter moves.
For those familiar with the series, the Guard Impact feature will be familiar. This time though, it has been altered, as it now requires you to hold away from the opponent and the horizontal slash, vertical slash, and kick together (as opposed to forward and guard). This already has opened up a new defensive element into the fights, as the feature now allows the player to repel any attack regardless of height, of course ignoring the unblockable attacks.
Another defensive feature added to the game is the new Just Guard technique, replacing the old style Guard Impact feature. This time around if you use the Just Guard at the precise moment of an opponent’s attack, you’ll land a perfect guard. This means that the defensive move lessons the amount of delay that the character must wait before retaliating. Giving the great counter-attack option for a lot of players, this is something I took advantage of and will continue to do so.
They have also created a new character leveling system, working across the various game modes including Training and Arcade, allowing you to rank up your fighter while also unlocking customisation options and items. These can then be used in the character creation mode, giving you the chance to create your own SoulCalibur fighter. This feature has been present in previous entries, though this time it returns with many more options for you to adjust, not to mention the copious amount content, keeping the hardcore fans interested for some time. There’s a huge amount of varied content to unlock including a Devil Jin (Tekken) Fighting Style. You can also fiddle with the default characters as well as start from fresh. There’s quite a lot of options to mess around with and it goes to show how much customization they wanted to give to the player. SoulCalibur V wouldn’t be complete either if it didn’t feature a guest character from outside the franchise. Ezio from the Assassin’s Creed series makes his appearance to vary the playing field. He is actually a very interesting fighter to choose and has very good mid-air to long range attacks. Thankfully he doesn’t look out of place, so if you aren’t aware of the character’s background, he shouldn’t stand out too much.
Story mode isn’t the only mode available either, there’s the Legendary Souls, Arcade, Quick Battle, VS Battle, CPU vs CPU (Battle Theater), Training, PlayStation Network/Xbox Live modes and The Creation mode. The Legendary Souls mode is probably one of my favourite new modes, essentially boiling down to a boss rush, with the difficulty ramping up fast. Arcade is the same as previous arcade modes, just fight you way through different foes until you lose. Quick battle is just for a quick match with a CPU. CPU Vs CPU is a strange mode to put in but if you feel like watching the CPU fight, feel free. Training and online battles are pretty self explanatory as I’ll explain later on.
The design in SoulCalibur is by far the best in the series, the animation is very fluent and looks beautiful, not to mention how amazingly detailed the backdrops are during the fights. The classic Ring Outs are still present but now they can also add an extra layer of depth on certain stages, as knocking out an opponent from the ring will result in both characters falling down into a new arena to continue the fight ala Dead Of Alive/Tekken.
SoulCalibur has always had great graphics, even since the first title on the Dreamcast. There were many times where I have gone back to the story mode just to replay the parts featuring the cut scenes as I just can’t stop looking at how detailed each character is. Even during the fights, the characters look simply amazing.
The multiplayer mode is probably the best feature in the game. Throughout the whole time playing online while managing to fit a few hours of solid play, I can easily say that this is far better than SoulCalibur IV’s online offerings. You also have to put inconsideration the fact that I’m playing in the UK and the only available servers are currently the USA servers. I played many games and throughout playing online I experienced no lag and had an all-round great experience. Searching for a match is fairly quick, even though there’s hardly anyone online at this point. As soon as you find someone, it shows you their title and the rank information/location before you proceed. Player matches are also present, similar to Super Street Fighter Arcade Edition. You can have 8 players in a lobby at one time with the winner staying on. You can also now watch other players battle it out whilst waiting, this also means you can save replays and upload them. There’s no editing functionality however so every upload you save consists of the entire match and not just your best bits. It’s not to much of an issue however, though I would hope future fighting games to allow expanded replay functionality.
Now besides your standard, ranked and player matches there is also a new mode called the Global Colosseo. This mode offers many functions, including a form of chat room, tournaments, normal matches and you can start lobbies and hold you own mini tournaments. It looks like it will be a great and popular mode, especially the tournament mode. You can also choose which country/ server you wish to fight in, so if you feel the need to take the challenge across the boarder the option is there.
Now lastly, the Soundtrack. I personally feel that over the past two SoulCalibur titles the soundtracks haven’t been outstanding, personally my favourite soundtrack of the whole series came from the second title. I wasn’t shocked however, as with the amount of work they have put in to making this one of the best SoulCalibur games, the soundtrack doesn’t fall short either, as the soundtrack is truly amazing. It feels like the team went back to their roots to re-master and reboot the music side in the franchise, adding many touches from the previous songs in the series. The musical score is just a masterpiece. Each stage has an amazing score and so do the characters. My personal favourite in the series, and it’s hard not to love all the songs but it has to be Sword of Resolution (Patroklos’ Theme) that does it for me. There are just so many amazing original pieces in this game it is just really outstanding. I would even recommend purchasing the soundtrack even if you’re not into the series.
Overall 9.5/10 – Editors Choice
SoulCalibur V is the best SoulCalibur title since SoulCalibur 2. The team has worked exceptionally hard by putting the series back on form. It has had a lot of work put into the balancing of the characters and the overall feel of the gameplay. The package feels more complete than ever before and fans of the series will be happy to know that it seems SoulCalibur is back on track. There are many added features that sold it for me. The new take on the story mode was a great touch, even though it’s short and not fully animated it still was interesting and very fun to play through, and I’m sure I will play certain episodes again in the near future. The overall disappointment is how the story doesn’t give room to introduce all the new characters, or even a separate story for the new characters. Hopefully with some upcoming updates/DLC we may be able to venture with the newer characters. The design and soundtrack alone are the best in the series since SoulCalibur 2. The updated creation zone as well as new characters have added much more depth to the gameplay, especially on the defensive side. The multiplayer is near enough perfect, though there could be a few tweaks here and there but nothing too major that caused me to stop playing. It’s addictive, fun and the Global Colosseo mode will be very popular for hardcore fighters. I feel that with all the major changes, upgrades and new systems in-place that the game could deserve a 10/10. There are some minor flaws, mainly in the story section of the game but the overall experience of the title is one I will never forget and will continue playing for a very long time.
Review: Quarrel (XBLA)
Quarrel is a word orientated strategy game developed by Denki, and is by far one of the best word games to date on any system. The best way to describe Quarrel would be to say that it plays something along the lines of a strategic battle game of Scrabble, where everybody is gunning for your territory and words are the best defence in your arsenal. If you weren’t already aware, Quarrel was originally an iOS title and, having played both versions, it’s safe to say that a game like Quarrel is more suited to a touch screen. However, the Xbox Live Arcade version of Quarrel is by no means less enjoyable, if you’re a fan of word games in general this is a must have. But let’s break Quarrel down shall we?
The way in which Quarrel is played is simple enough. To win, a player must capture all enemy territories by changing them to their colour. To take over a territory you must create a high scoring word from an anagram, or be able to spell the whole jumbled up word. Each letter is given a numerical value, for example the letter “J” is the highest and worth 15 points. The capture of any territory is shown through the use of your own personal minions, though sadly said minions are not customisable. The player is assigned a minion design for the game; Ninjas, Ginger Scotsmen in kilts, Robots, Pirates and many more are up for the choosing. If your attack prevails, your little minions bombard enemy minions with the words tiles, resulting in little ghostly angel figures ascending to heaven. If you earn enough points during a game you’ll be awarded with the ability to call in extra minions to back-up your forces when attacking or defending a territory. One thing worth mentioning is that when backup is called for, it’s signaled by a cavalry-esc fan-fare. When the fanfare is initiated the sound quality drops, arguably something small but it’s also something a little bit annoying.
There are many aspects that set the Xbox Live Arcade port apart from its iOS sibling. For one, Quarrel incorporates the use of Xbox Live Avatars. This adds a sense of personalisation to the game and increases the level of competitiveness through the emotive responses provided when winning or losing a quarrel. Despite having similar art styles, Quarrel on the Arcade is simply nice to look at. Yes, looks aren’t everything but it sure helps. The art style in question is very child friendly and emanates an inviting vibe. The visuals aren’t childish enough to deter the older generation of gamer however, it is a game to be enjoyed by all if word games are your thing.
For the solo gamers, the Single Player aspect of Quarrel offers a variety of game modes to choose from. First off, you have the bog standard Quick Match, no real explanation needed there. As with most games, a tutorial is also made available for those who need a better grasp of the game. The Domination mode gives you the chance to “conquer all 12 islands to dominate the Known Quarrel World”, with each individual island offering a different theme or setting. If a head-to-head play style is more your cup of tea then you’ll want the Showdown mode, beat all nine AI opponents to be crowned Quarrel Master. Prefer objective based play? The Challenge mode offers twelve unique challenges to be completed by only the best Quarrel players. Regardless of what you decide to play, all of Quarrel’s game modes were very enjoyable. If you play enough of them you will even receive a Word IQ level, practice makes perfect and speed can often be the key.
For those with a more competitive streak, Quarrel’s multiplayer aspect is nothing to be sniffed at. The benefit of Xbox Live Arcade over iOS is that the Xbox Live service provides a much better online experience. Like most games, you’re given the choice to play either a more competitive Ranked Match or a friendlier Player Match. You have the choice to play with a maximum of three friends online or simply hop into a random game; it’s a fun experience whichever way you decide to play and for 400 Microsoft Points you really can’t go wrong.
In short, Quarrel is a great game. If you like word based games or you’re simply looking for a game to relax with then this is the game for you, hats off to Denki!
Overall score: 9/10
Film Review: The Grey
Liam Neeson’s career trajectory has always been one in a perpetual state of genre gymnastics. Dancing between critic pleasing fare (Schindler’s List, Nell) and schlocky action-packed diversions of varying quality (Taken, Rob Roy and the less said about The Phantom Menace, the better). His post-Taken ‘punches everyone’ rap has seen him rechristened as something of a born again action star. In fact, Neeson all but passed up the opportunity to fill the size 13s of the 16th President of the USA in Spielberg’s upcoming biopic ‘Lincoln’ (a central role now occupied by Daniel Day Lewis). The Grey sits oddly on the fence of Neeson’s recent output, its DNA most reminiscent of the tough-guy bonding pictures that put Walter Hill on the map.
Obviously the genre switcheroo is a little on the nose (Deliverance via Jaws etc). The film itself embeds itself within the 70’s wilderness survival trappings right down to the quasi-philosophy (‘once more into the fray’…) and the moral ambiguity that permeated the post-Nam psyche. After directing 2010’s limp A-Team adaptation, it was clear that Joe Carnahan needed to get back on his feet and sharpish. Setting course for the B-movie route never fails, foolproof thrills that are only screwed up by the man at the helm.
As a whole, The Grey suffers from droll pacing and a surplus of interchangeable, bickering roughnecks who all seem lucky enough to have either families, kids or that special someone to yearn for. Neeson’s character Ottway is plagued by flashbacks of his beau of a lady, shot in idyllic sunset hues bathed adoringly in angelic-blah blah blah. So far so cliché, so cliché in fact that the Ottway’s homebound predicament seems overly clinical in relation to his professional one (a wolf poacher contracted for population control, once he’s trapped in the wilderness it’s no wonder the wolves are pissed). Ottway needed a greater and tangible sense of desperation; the closest we get to genuine inner turmoil is mostly wrapped in unhelpfully enigmatic voiceover. The supporting cast gradually become more identifiable the plot thickens, but they too are saddled with worn out character tropes. As characters themselves, they are not much more than a blur of rugged machismo (wait, Dermot Mulroney was in this?!).
Other than its other faults (hokey CGI wolves, frantic wolf attacks comprised of dudes getting razzled by frantically thrashing wolves and frantically thrashing camera shakes, the result being rather frantic) The Grey certainly has more smarts behind it than would be expected after Liam Neeson’s recent role choices, but the film lacks true emotional heft due to an inherent emptiness in its core philosophy (‘keep fighting on’ yeesh). There is the appearance of substance, but none to truly speak of.
6/10.
Jammy’s Archive #03 – San Francisco Rush 2049 (Dreamcast)
Picking some of my favourite, unique and just plain strange games in my collection, Jammy’s Archive aims to give you a perspective on some lost gems of gaming, and some others thrown in for good measure…..
Game – San Francisco Rush 2049
Developer – Midway
Console – Dreamcast
Released – 2000
Review: Lord Of The Rings: War In The North
It’s been a while since a decent Lord Of The Rings title hit our consoles. The recent release of Lord Of The Rings: War In The North ventures into a new area in the saga which has yet been touched upon before. Warner Bros. has taken the plunge with this title, so how does it shape up? Find out in this review.
LOTR: War In The North takes place during “The War Of the Ring” and is told through three characters: Eradan: Dunedain Ranger, Andriel: Loremaster of Rivendell, and Farin: Champion of Erebor. The narrative is not particularly in-depth, but it expands on the already big universe that encompasses the previous films and games. The story can at times have some very interesting dialogue, but most if falls short on achieving what the pervious entries in the LOTR franchise produced. This doesn’t mean it’s bad however, and will keep you interested throughout as you venture through Middle-Earth and discover what the three warriors did to stop Sauron from getting back the Ring of Power.
Throughout the campaign you’ll stumble upon many different locations and environments which will feel familiar to any fan of the series. This includes places like Bree where the game opens up at The Prancing Pony to visit with Aragon who gives you your first mission. The opening cutscenes and gameplay does feature some dialogue which can drag on as the first incentive for me was seeing what the combat was like. This didn’t take long however, as the swords start swinging as you head to Fornost and save Beleram (one of the great eagles), along with the sons of Elrond: Elladan and Elrohir. As the game progresses, you’ll head to Rivendell and meet many of the main players of the Fellowship: Elrond, Arwen, Bilbo, and Gloin. During this you’ll get your next mission, a couple of side quests and some achievements for those who are interested. The story and missions are all set in beautiful locations, which is probably one of my highlights of the game along with the fact that you get to go to Rivendall and speak to the Fellowship characters. The game’s story may not interest everyone however, if you are not a fan of LOTR then this game won’t change your mind or make you want to watch the films. The story’s appeal is aimed squarely at fans of the films and many locations relate directly to those.
The art design for War in the North is pretty good overall. There are a few nice details added throughout the game, especially the effects on the armour depending on the weather condition. It’s the small details that just make the game look appealing to the eye. There are some locations however than just seem rushed, there are also many things that look really outdated and mashed together. A number of locations that involve water all add to variety, especially when they appear beautiful and crisp in contrast to the others looking terrible and unrealistic. The design does have many flaws which a lot of people will notice throughout playing and the textures do look a bit grainy, but it does have its fair share of polished locations, so overall a 50/50 balance between the two. Another good design feature is the combat system, since when you kill an enemy in a certain way you get to see their arms, heads and legs fling all over the place. It’s a nice added feature and is rewarding after you brutally take down the poor little orcs.
The gameplay in War in the North follows the generic role of an action RPG, opening up more ways to take on the different parts of the game. This also helps with the fact that you can play with up to 3 people online at one time, levelling up and completing the game together. The RPG element is balanced quite well, especially given the focus on Co-Op. Levelling up is based on the amount of enemies you kill and how you kill them. For example if you take down and enemy with a Final Blow you will gain more XP than if you just used your basic sword attacks. The quests are all story related, other than the few side quests. This may put some people off as the length of the game isn’t very long and took me and two friends around 16 hours to complete the game, minus side quests. Even though there isn’t a large amount of side quests, they do help with the levelling system. What is interesting is how well balanced the RPG and combat elements are. I didn’t feel at all bored throughout out the game and the RPG parts were very simple to learn and use effectively. Every time you level up you gain 3 skill points to attribute, and an ability point, to which you can unlock more attacks, combos, spells to use whilst in combat. I also spent a ridiculous amount of time on making sure I got the best armour for my character, hunting down treasure chest and secret caves to gain more items. When in combat, you are able to choose three ways to attack. If you choose the Ranger and Champion you can have a bow equipped to take down enemies at long distances. The Loremaster is able to shoot at enemies with her staff, however it doesn’t have amazing range. In terms of their other specialisations, the Ranger is able to duel wield two primary weapons, the Champion prefers handling two handed weapons or a shield with a one handed weapon, and the Loremaster has ability to shield players from attacks. It’s well balanced between the three characters and gives a lot of replay incentive to try out the different characters. You can also achieve heavy strikes, as well as the standard strikes with your hand to hand combat weapons. Characters can combine that with special abilities that each character possesses. The game is very button mash friendly, but isn’t too repetitive to annoy you. I found it great mashing buttons and seeing enemies fall to my feet in slow-motion.
Overall 7.5/10
The Lord Of The Rings: War In The North is very fun to play, both solo and in its great three player co-op system. It’s nice being able to see a different side of the story, as I did wonder what was going on whilst Frodo went to destroy the ring. The game does have its flaws however, mainly in the design side of things. The length of the game may put some people off, but I don’t think it should as if you’re looking for a fun RPG then the length of the game will no longer be an issue. There is also the incentive to replay the game due to the different difficulty modes that unlock achievements. If you’re not of a fan of LOTR then this RPG may not suit you, but if you are interested in finding items and unlocking new abilities then this would be great for you.
Review: Crush3D
Nintendo handhelds have always been the place to go for puzzle games, the genre lending itself well to portable gaming, especially when Nintendo decided to add a touchscreen to its devices. However, mobile gaming has exploded in recent years, allowing for an onslaught of cheap, disposable puzzle games, so the question now is why should anyone pay full price for these kind of games? Crush3D goes a long way to answering this question.
Crush3D is one of the more original puzzle games I’ve played in a long time. Rather than the standard “Professor Layton” type of game, or the puzzlingly popular hidden item games, Crush3D instead plays more like a traditional platformer, the twist coming from the titular ability to “crush” the 3D environments into 2D.
While not as refined as a certain plumbers latest handheld entry, the controls for both the 3D and 2D gameplay in crush perform their duty adequately, with the thumbstick allowing for accurate movement, and the camera being limited to 5 set positions in 3D, disposing of any potential viewing angle issues. This is more than just a control design thought however, as the position of the camera in 3D determines how the level will crush into 2D.
Crushing isn’t just as simple as selecting your angle and pressing a button though. Instead, different surface types need to be considered before the transition. Brick walls will become solid impassable objects (even crushing you against the screen should you be stood in the wrong place during a crush), while clear white blocks will allow you to fall right through them.
Expanding back into the Z-axis is just as complex as well, with all the separate sections of the level moving back to their original 3rd dimensional position, thus where you stand can transport you to a completely different area. This is crucial in the puzzle solving as jumping alone cannot carry you far enough, instead causing you to position yourself correctly, crush the environment to 2D to bring a far platform onto the same plane, and then expand and allowing it to carry you were you need to be.
Later levels introduce additional hazards such as low gravity glyphs, bugs and movable debris. The low gravity glyphs are basically logos on a certain wall of the level, and are only active while fully viewable in 2D. While active they allow you to jump higher and further, but are often hidden behind something which needs moving out of the way, or require the level to be crushed from a certain area, amplifying the challenge. Bugs are the enemies of the game, and need to be squashed via crushing them against a brick wall, or by rolling one of the movable objects on top of them. The movable objects themselves are mostly used as additional platforms, with a series of 3D and 2D movement required to position them correctly.
Crush3D features 40 levels or multi-dimensional brain benders, but clearing the levels is not where the challenge lies. To complete a level, all that is required is that half the marbles in a level be collected before making your way to exit, but trying to collect all the marbles really forces you to think hard and plan your crushes. As a reward for your hard work you will be rewarded with additional dressing gowns (costume changes), but marbles aren’t the only collectables to watch out for. Each level also contains a trophy and a book, both of which can be truly devious to collect.
Books are found floating in often hard to reach places, but trophies take it a step further requiring a logo similar to the low gravity one to cause it to appear. This means having the level crushed in a certain way just to be able to see it, and then a bit of mental dexterity to figure out how to collect it. These unlock extras such as artwork, and the trophies allow for the levels to be replayed in a new challenge mode which amps the difficulty up considerably. In trophy mode a time limit is applied as well as a limit on the amount of crushes available in your quest to collect everything in the level.
Graphically Crush3D features distinct styles for both its dimensions, with 3D featuring the usual polygons we’re used to on the 3DS, and with 2D featuring a more traditional style reminiscent of the 2D platforms of the 16-bit generation. They’re clean and functional and never get in the way of the gameplay. The 3D effect is also subtle, but overall adds to the experience, giving a sense of depth to the environments that can help plan a crush while surveying the area. The environments themselves start off slightly bland and empty, but eventually gain more colour as the game goes on, but never become memorable. Cutscenes are a static affair, with the dialogue presented by speech bubbles in a comic book manner.
The story itself, while not going to win any awards, does a good job in providing context to the goings on and the writing is often light hearted and did elicit a chuckle or two, never taking itself too seriously but doing enough to make you care a little about pushing on.
Pushing on, however, is the greatest downfall of the game, as playing for extended periods can really cause the repetitive nature of the puzzles to become apparent, and possibly even provide a sense of mental fatigue should you be trying to perfect the levels one after another. However, the relevant shortness of the individual levels lend Crush3D to portable gaming very well. As a game to play in bouts on a bus journey it does its job very well indeed, and should last you a good few journeys.
Overall 7.5/10
While not breaking any boundaries in the platform department, the unique nature of the puzzles in Crush3D make it a very good game, but is held back by a repetitive nature from becoming a must own. For fans of puzzle games with a commute though, it should definitely appear on their radar.
Crush3D is available now for the Nintendo 3DS
Film Review: Haywire
After apparently turning his back on mainstream filmmaking (and briefly flirting with retirement) Steven Soderberg is –for the moment – still churning them out. Contagion barely opened four months ago, Haywire is released this weekend and the man is working on a semi-biography of Channing Tatum’s stint as a Chippendale with ‘Magic Mike’ , due for release in June. Despite the variety of movies under his belt however, Soderberg isn’t one to adapt to new (or indeed exisiting) rules. If The Bourne Identity is pumping techno, then Haywire is smooth jazz. Futhering the musical analogy, jazz has the power to captivate for the first ten minutes. That’s until you begin wishing that it’d just bloody well get on with it. Soderberg’s action scenes aim for 60’s era spy-hijinks, but they’re just too mellow. An experience akin to defusing a time bomb when the bomb squad is high on reefer.
Certainly Gina Carano (aka ‘Crush” on American Gladiators) has the prowess and the fighting chops, from a filmmaking perspective Soderberg is obviously taking the Robert Bresson perspective of casting a ‘model’ as opposed to an actor e.g. a non-performer required to be ‘blocked’ through a scene with little to no introspective reflection, the result illustrating some kind of disconnect from ‘performance’. Soderberg previously used this premise when he roped in hardcore porn star Sasha Grey to play an escort in the artsy-fartsy bore The Girlfriend Experience, the difference here –with Soderberg casting expert Muay Thai fighter Carano to play a stone cold killer- is that Sasha Grey was a better actress.
Carano simply isn’t charismatic, this is exacerbated when she’s paired up with the infinitely more magnetic likes of Michael Fassbender and Ewan McGregor. Even the (unfairly) derided Channing Tatum commands greater screen cred than her, indeed Soderberg’s choice to populate the supporting cast with such a recognisable line up backfires, he only succeeds in pointing out Carano’s inexperience. But even the supporting cast (including Bill Paxton, Mathieu Kassovitz and Michael Douglas et al) struggle to remain interested with a script that was somehow granted the mercy not to have landed on Steven Seagal’s desk.
Soderberg’s future is in limbo, Fassbender is on his way to superstardom and Gina Carano will probably be next seen the next time you visit Blockbuster, in-between Billy Blanks and Kevin Sorbo. A sad state of affairs, sadder still when you consider that this could have been the next Bourne. A flimsy, inconsequential story bundled with slack pacing and a director too smooth for his own good.
5/10.
