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: 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 3^rd 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

Review: GTA III 10 Year Anniversary (iOS/Android)

When I heard that Rockstar Games were porting one of their all time greatest games over to the iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch, I was more than a little sceptical, and for good reason. Now, unless you’ve been hiding under a rock for the past ten years, then you’ll all be pretty familiar with the Grand Theft Auto franchise, but for those who aren’t, I’ll provide a quick rundown of the third instalment.

Originally released on October 1^st 2001 for the PlayStation 2, GTA III is set in the infamous Liberty City, a fictional metropolis loosely based on New York City. The game follows the story of the equally infamous Claude, a criminal who was betrayed by his girlfriend during a bank heist and who is now required to work his way up the crime ladder of the city before confronting her. Obviously, as this is a direct port, the portable edition hasn’t deviated from story, so you’ll experience the same plot points, missions and characters you did when you first played GTA III all those years ago.

Graphically, GTA III: 10 Year Anniversary is surprisingly good. The iOS port mirrors, if not betters the graphics of the original PlayStation 2. The cut scenes look and feel the same and really hit you with a nostalgia factor that very few games can provide these days. One of my initial concerns was that because of the smaller screen the graphics and general look of the game would feel limited, but I’m happy to say that I was wrong. At this point I should probably mention that I played GTA III on the iPhone 4S and would recommend that if you have the choice to play it on either an iPhone or an iPad then go for the latter, primarily due to the extra space that the bigger screen provides, so the onscreen controls don’t obscure the gameplay as much.

With regards to the controls of GTA III, it’s really a mixed bag. Sadly, I really struggled to get to grips with the way in which you manoeuvre Claude around Liberty City. It was simple enough to walk around on foot but when it came down to the fast car chases, drive-bys and races, it became just that little bit more… fiddly, for the lack of a better word. As you can see below, the on-screen buttons on the bottom left of the screen are used to manoeuvre your car around the city. You can also take advantage of the iPhone’s gyroscope controls, although these can sometimes interfere with your driving skills with the touch buttons if you’re not holding it exactly horizontal. When walking, you’re provided with an on-screen analogue stick, but these controls can be mixed and matched in the options menu. The part where the iOS version really does come unstuck is the Auto Aim function. When confronted by more than one or two enemies, which is often, you’re put at a serious disadvantage as you struggle to shoot at the correct person.

When it comes down to GTA III’s audio, I was left wanting. Using both the default iPhone headphones and the internal iPhone speakers, I felt that the audio of the cut scenes in particular sounded tinny. The ambient noise of the city, mixed in with the odd gunshot, didn’t seem as affected, which is one good thing. It may not be the most important aspect of a game like this, but it can certainly make a difference when playing for long periods of time.

Overall, I think that Rockstar’s iOS port didn’t quite live up to the masterpiece they delivered to the PlayStation 2 but in all honesty, who expected it to? Despite the controls, I believe that GTA III: 10 Year Anniversary is definitely worth your consideration.

GTA III 10 Year Anniversary Edition is currently available from the iOS AppStore and the Android Marketplace. Due to the game’s size and scope, it’s recommended that you play on one of the supported devices below -
Apple iOS Devices: iPad 1 & 2, iPhone 4 & 4S, iPod touch 4th Generation
Android Phones: HTC Rezound, LG Optimus 2x, Motorola Atrix 4G, Motorola Droid X2, Motorola Photon 4G, Samsung Galaxy R, Sony Ericsson Xperia Play, T-Mobile G2x 
Android Tablets: Acer Iconia, Asus Eee Pad Transformer, Dell Streak 7, LG Optimus Pad, Motorola Xoom, Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9 and 10.1, Sony Tablet S, Toshiba Thrive

Review – [Revisited] BioShock 2

With Bioshock Infinite due next year, I take a look back at the second title in the series.

Bioshock 2 features the same diverse art style, graphics and sound design of the original to create an amazing atmosphere as you roam the under water city of Rapture. With rich storytelling and enjoyable multiplayer, it’s a welcome return for one of the most interesting games of this generation.

Fans of the original will not be disappointed here. While the reigns of the series has been handed over to a multitude of other 2k game studios, the new team has clearly done their research into how Ken Levine with ‘Irrational games’ (System Shock, Freedom Force) created the original masterpiece, taking inspiration and also evolving the game into something that shows just how unique the world of Bioshock is.

Taking place in the underwater utopian turned dystopian world of Rapture, you traverse through many giant areas of the city attempting to rescue a girl, your ‘little sister’ as her Big Daddy. These terms may seem odd to those who are not aware of the universe this game occurs in, I shall fill you in; The world of Rapture was created by Andrew Ryan, fed up of the controlled communist world, he designed an underwater city where the brightest minds from science to literature could all live and work together productively. Soon, ‘Adam’ was discovered, a liquid of sorts, that could grant people superhuman abilities by literally rewriting their genetic code. ‘Plasmids’ were injections, hugely diverse in their applications. From cosmetics, to weapons that would allow you to throw fire or lighting from your fingertips, or even force your enemies to attack each other. Of course, addictions followed, and world took a dive into a broken society of deranged people known as ‘Splicers’. ‘Little sisters’ were created to harvest ‘Adam’ from corpses, and the ‘Big Daddy’s’ were designed as their protectors, depicted similarly to early 20th Century diving suits, huge hulking and menacing beings.

The story of the original was a rollercoaster, and the ending was especially impressive, however what made the original so amazing was the sense of discovery, this broken society under the sea, hidden from view. The sequel doesn’t quite have the same feeling of discovery as you have already ventured through the world once, however, since you are traversing through new areas, all unique and beautiful, this is not a big issue.

The story of this sequel took me a little longer to get involved with, but a number of sequences through the mid and end points of the game, featuring large set pieces and emotional moments brought it all together. In this world, Sophia Lamb is the new Andrew Ryan as it takes place many years after the original. She has the same dominant overtones, with a large influence on the environment. With all the little touches including the writing on the walls, pictures and audio diaries, these all come together to create an amazing sense of what this world once was, and how far it has fallen. Every area is filled with a huge amount of unique objects, almost as if the world hit pause when the downfall occurred, giving you the chance to pick up the pieces and see the world as how it once would have been.

Gameplay wise, this will feel very similar to the fans of the original, using the same engine and control scheme. What gives this game something new is the aspect that you play as a Big Daddy, granting you much more power and tools to use in combat. One of which is the duel wielding abilities, where you can have a plasmid in one hand and a weapon in the other, operating both independently, allowing you to approach combat in a huge variety of ways. The drill is also a welcome addition, allowing you to literally rip people apart as well as charge to stun. The main situations you encounter in the game are directly opposite to those in the original. This time as a big daddy you are tasked with defending ‘Little Sisters’ as they gather ADAM, in contrast to the original where you were tasked with killing the big daddy to get to the ‘Little Sister’. A new enemy, the ‘Big Sister’ gives you a little more challenge in an impromptu fast paced boss fight from time to time.

Each level is huge and intricate, meaning you will want to explore every nook and cranny of the great open level design as you go from area to area. Of course, the water is back, creating some impressive set pieces where the environment crumbles under the power of the flooding water. As well as being hugely visually impressive, it creates a very panicked mood, as well as the sense of isolation and being trapped in a number of occasions. The underwater walking areas are new to the series, as you now occupy a diving suit, and while they may be linear paths, they serve as a nice break from the action, allowing you to slowly plod through the underbelly of the city.

Upgrading your abilities makes a return. Using the ADAM that you collect you can upgrade your plasmids, or purchase gene tonics which act as boosts to your non-active abilities, ranging from making you better at hacking turrets and cameras, or giving you more stealthily abilities to sneak up on your enemies. The research camera this time does video; giving you the chance to improve your damage to certain enemies of even grant you with new gene tonics.

By far, the biggest contrast to the single player centric design of the original is the new multiplayer in the sequel. Developed by Digital Extremes, they took all of the mainstays from the solo game into the multiplayer arena to create something very enjoyably, complete with XP and leveling system as seen in most online shooters. Creating a unique setup and story for this mode helps settle itself in the universe, taking place before the solo games with you playing as test subjects for the plasmids. The controls here are a little more responsive, but the shooting feels slightly weaker and less powerful. The uniqueness of the Bioshock world shows itself with the plasmid use as well as the research camera, allowing you to get damage boosts over foes. While this will never reach the same levels of popularity of mainstream shooters such as Call of Duty, it does offer something a little different in the overcrowded genre.

It’s very hard to do the game justice in a written review, but you owe it to yourself to play both of the Bioshock games. The sequel brings many new additions to the table, and successfully tells another tale in the world of Rapture, and you’ll find yourself itching for more when its over, with it’s stunning design and atmosphere, as well as the sense of isolation and decay, you won’t find anything this year like it.

Review: Saints Row: The Third (Xbox 360)

The Saints Row series wasn’t suppose to have come this far and yet, thanks to Saints Row 2 proving that not only could Volition, Inc make a open world game that was seen as more then just another Grand Theft Auto clone but also somehow make it more fun then Grand Theft Auto IV in the eyes of some gamers and critics.

So here we are, Saints Row: The Third, which has promised us – via trailers showing the use of a purple dildo, the Genki Leisure stunt suit (as part of the Hyper Ordinary Pack if you pre-ordered the game) and the “awesome” button – to be more outrageous, brash, crude, amusing and most importantly more fun then it’s predecessor. But does it live up to that promise?

Things get off to a hectic start as what should be a simple Bank Robbery for the Third Street Saints turns out to go up shit creek, landing the saints in jail and then escaping death from the main gang protagonist – The Syndicate – via a high octane parachute set-piece. This lands you in Steelport, a place where the saints are unwelcome. But the player will make sure that won’t be the case for very long.

It’s very clear in the first minutes of playing that SR3 looks very slick. The graphics are sharper with the colours really coming out, looking more cartoony then realistic, though with the Saints Row series being a parody on gang culture, this is to be expected and even welcomed. Character models look more defined and more animated to, aspects which you can see for yourself during the fun character creation screen. Specific places have also been given a makeover, meaning stores don’t look so generic and now stand out more and cribs feels more distinct.

More surprising though is the sound has also gotten a major upgrade. Weapons have a more impact to them, vehicle crashes have that crunch and Steelport sounds more busy and alive then Stilwater did. In a nifty small touch, shops now have their own background music as well. Friendly Fire – the infamous weapon retailer in the Saints Row series – has country music playing while other stores will have music reflecting on what they sell. Even your crib and garage has it’s own theme, a catchy dance/rave ensemble. While the radio station selection may not be very numerous (there is a total of eight) the song selections – along with mocking adverts and news stories – are very decent. Best is Adult Swim/Cartoon Network’s radio station. While the OST and sound effects of SR3 won’t be remembered after a while, at least Volition have made some effort to make it an important part of the game. This isn’t more evident then with the dialogue as it is fantastic; as in that while again there is nothing memorable or emotionally great, it does give you a few laugh out loud moments and many others that raise a smirk. You’ll find it impossible not to listen to a sing-along early in the game nor not listen to the whole thing.

After the first mission, you’re free to explore Steelport and upon first looking at the map (via the much improved interface) you’ll notice it looks smaller then Stilwater. This however is to SR3′s benefit as though expansive and impressively huge, the sandbox world in SR2 could lead to many dull journeys, as you would sometimes have to travel great distances to activate the next mission, activity or visit a store to purchase necessary items. Yes Steelport feels more compact but it’s still big enough to make travelling and exploring more fun yet not too big to make backtracking a pain in the ass. It’s a perfect compromise. It’s also nice to see roads being less likely to be barren and actually find cars parked on the roadside, something that was peculiarly missing in SR2 and makes carjacking that much easier.

That said, despite a whole lot of polish, there are still some bugs. Nothing game breaking but they can still be really irritating, like being killed by carjacking due to the car suddenly getting stuck in the ground, people disappearing then they leave your sight, seeing vehicles stuck in the ground and spasming like it’s possessed or all of a sudden getting a police star when you’ve done nothing at all. And SR3 inherits the pop-up and sudden graphical glitches that were common in SR2. It does show that SR3 may have seen the series evolve presentation wise, but it still has it’s rough moments.

As stated earlier, the interface is much more improved. By pressing select, you access your phone which now has all the menus (except saving and gameplay options). So you can now access missions, assassination and chop shop activity, receive your income and fiddle around with your playlist with less hassle. This a) eliminates needless travel and b) makes the gameplay much more smoother. The exception that the map screen doesn’t have it’s own button and instead must be access through your phone which is a hassle; would have been great if the save and gameplay options were in the phone screen and the map screen was assigned it’s own button (just like in SR2).

This all helps the gameplay to be that much more brilliant and Volition have made sure that you’ll be constantly having fun.

We’ll start with the heavily hyped feature which is the “Awesome Button” (which also functions as your sprint button). With it you can hijack vehicles faster and do special takedowns that stun the enemy enough to kill off quickly with a well placed headshot. While it’s limited in what you can do with the awesome button, it never gets tiring to use, in fact you’ll become heavily reliant upon it to get things done quicker or get you out of a tight jam quickly. It’s also fun to take out a bunch of gang members with just takedowns.

Activities – which offered some of the most fun in SR2 – make a return with many from the previous game being used in SR3. These include Trafficking, Insurance Fraud, Escort, Snatch, (the dreaded) Heli Assault and Mayhem. There are some new ones as well, though most of them are a spin on old activities, With Tiger Escort seeing you drive with a tiger and build up your courage meter before the tiger mauls you to death, Tank Mayham plays just like mayham but instead you use a tank and Guardian Angel is a on-rails version Heli Assault, with you using a sniper rifle to protect one of your homies from rival gang members. There are two brand new activities. The first one is Prof. Genki, and it is the fantastic. With this activity you become part of a Gameshow (‘Professor Genki’s Super Ethical Reality Climax‘) that is a mix of Takeshi’s castle and the deadly gameshow found in the Running Man film. It’s a great parody fusion of Japanese and American gameshows with some funny dialogue from the commentators. The second is one you’ll discover across Steelport and that is Gang Operations. These involve taking out rival gangs in a particular area. Once that’s done you gain control of that area, like you would if you completed an activity, mission or brought property. Assassination and Chop Shop return and they are more streamlined to make it a slightly less hassle to start and also find the vehicle.  Lastly, there are challenges, a new addition to the Saints Row series. These range from getting a number of head or nut shots to how many miles you’ve driven. They are varied and some take a lot longer to complete then others. But there is a sense of accomplishment in doing all of them and they do increase the longevity of the game.

While some may find it lazy that  Volition have recycled many of the activities and seemingly not put much effort into this aspect, at least they are still fun, with an incentive in that they are quite rewarding, tweaked so that the harder difficulties aren’t frustrating, don’t drag on for too long or just feel fun to complete.

The main part of the game, the missions themselves, are varied in their set-ups. While it mostly involves killing whoever is in your way, they are done in such a way that it doesn’t get repetitive and there are some exciting moments. You also get the bizarre happens, such as taking on zombies, participating in a wrestling match were “Your the best” (yes THAT infamous Karate Kid theme) plays in the backgrouind while you butcher luchadores with chainsaws. and going to mars. Yes the planet mars.

Completing missions and activities sees respect being earned. But in respect isn’t just a semi-useless thing, as it’s used to unlock bonuses such as upgrade your character, vheicles, weapons and guns and even your own gang members. This gives you an incentive to not rushing through the game. With some good playing and completing activities, you can gain maximum respect and become a near invulnerable gangsta death machine before your even halfway through the game! That may make SR3 less challenging to some but then that would be missing the point.

Combat is just like it was in SR2; Not great but perfectly acceptable. You get even funkier weapons this time round which does make it a bit more fun to get into firefights and melee combat and speaking of melee, it’s slightly more meaty. Also you can do melee attacks to the private regions to anyone – even females – which is a bonus and as stated, doing takedowns is always good fun when a battle isn’t too serious. Also enemies are more varied as each rival faction has their own special units, alongside the typical grunts. These range from the fast yet fragile Decker Rollergirl to the the pain in the ass Brutes, who require hit and run tactics to take down.

There have also been some nice gameplay tweaks. Your noriety can be gone just by simply going to any building you own, thus not having to rely on the sparse “Forgive and Forget” places in SR2, needless shops have been eliminated, Large neon arrows now also point your way to your chosen destination, which means less time looking at the minimap and taking your eyes off the road. It generally makes the gameplay flow that much more better.

After you’ve finished with the main campaign, there is Whored mode and Co-Op campaign. As you’d imagine Whored mode is a parody of Gears of War’s “Horde mode”, where you can choose from three different levels, each with thirty waves of enemies to get through with pre-selected weapons. It’s fine as a time waster but no more. The game dosen’t provide you any single player bonuses nor unlock anything else, so you won’t be playing it for long. Co-op allows you to blast through the campaign missions (and activities) with another person, similar to SR2. It’s another great way to extend the longevity of the game and even help you complete missions and activities you’re having trouble with.

SR3 isn’t perfect; it’s still rough around the edges and could do with a bit more polish, you wish there were more songs, more weapons… Just more of everything and it lacks a lot of truly memorable parts nor has a story that is important in the grand scheme of things. It’s not that long either if you just rush through the game, clocking in at around eight hours. But it is a very fun game that does have great moments.

Also. Burt F***ing Reynolds.

Review: Mario Kart 7

Mario and friends are back on the track for another entry in their ever popular go-karting series. If you’re a Mario Kart fan like myself and have been playing since the SNES, then you’ll immediately notice that Mario Kart 3DS has been labeled with the number 7. None of the other Mario Kart tiles have ever had a number behind it and normally were given a name relating to the platform, for example Mario Kart Wii.  Nintendo have stated the number 7 means it’s lucky, but has their luck ran out, or does it head straight to first place? Find out in this review.

The Mario Kart gameplay still follows the traditional styling of previous titles, keeping a lot of the same features seen before, but this time there are a number of newly added gameplay mechanics. This includes several new playable characters such as; Wiggler, Queen Bee, Lakitu and Metal Mario, and even the ability to play as your Mii. It’s a weird choice of added characters in my opinion, and it’s a shame that a lot of the other characters have disappeared. Character such as Bowser JR, Dry Bones, Toadette, Funky, Dry Bowers and Waluigi are nowhere to be found. It’s not a big issue for me, but if they had included these characters, alongside the new additions, the roster would’ve been even greater than ever before. With the new characters comes a big new customisation feature, allowing you to modify your kart before each cup/online race. You can choose from different vehicle bodies, tyres, hang-gliders and parachutes. When selecting between bodies and tyres, the choice you make will affect the kart stats, including handling on certain surfaces, acceleration and other aspects that can affect your race. With the new added hang-gliders and parachutes, it now possible for players to glide through the air after hitting certain ramps, collecting coins in flight or finding new routes that can only be reached while airnourne. You can now also dive underwater for the first time in the series, opening up alternative routes on a number of the race tracks.

Just like any other Mario Kart title, you’ll have to participate in multiple different cups to unlock more race tracks and characters. There are 32 courses to progress through, including many fan favourites from previous games.

During each race, you’ll come across items that can be used to your advantage. While the item boxes may appear to be random, they are infact influenced by what position you are in. If you’re in last place, you will often gain items that will help you boost or progress back up the field, these can include mushrooms or, more drasically, a blue shell, allowing you to hit the player in first place. The reverse occurs when you’re further up the field. For exmaple, if you’re in first place, you will often be given defensive items such as bananas, and you can use these to hold your place at the head of the pack. This hasn’t changed since the previous titles, and still remains as a good formula, but for me, the Blue Shell can become a little tiresome, especially on the last lap of a race which you may have been leading for some time.

While Mario Kart 7′s gameplay won’t be suprisingly to long time fans since it hasn’t changed dramatically, in my opinion it doesn’t really need to. The 3DS version does however implement some new features which utilise the system itself. For a start, the 3D effect does make the experience a little more interesting, and I noticed the best use of this while drifting round corners or gliding. If driving in 3rd person isn’t ideal, you can now opt for a first person view, a first for the series. This also gives you the opportunity to use the 3DS as a steering wheel, working surprisingly well with the gyroscope functionality, however when playing with the 3D turned on it does cause a lot of issues and makes it very hard to play due to the 3D being all over the place.  The controls overall are tight. The gameplay may looks simple, but it’s had some extra depth added to it. These new additions are quite varied, but a couple of noticeable ones include the ability to drag items behind you to use as shields, and also you can tap the right bumper mid air to gain extra speed when you land. Overall though, it does feel quite similar to the previous 2005 Mario Kart DS, but this time with upgraded visuals and 3D.

The multiplayer is back but it seems that Nintendo haven’t changed much of what was already there in previous titles. You still can’t speak online or even write messages to your friends in lobbies. This won’t be a big issue for some, but I personally like to communicate with friends or other players during the races as it makes it more of a social gaming experience instead of more of a competitive one. Again, it’s not a major issue just something I am quite picky about.

If you get bored of just racing online then you’ll be happy to know that Nintendo have brought the Battle Mode from the Wii version into Mario Kart 7. The areas are very similar, featuring big open maps, giving you the opportunity to take on your friends and take them down. The life/balloon system has changed however. Oringially players were only allowed 3 balloons before being knocked out of the race, but this is now different as everyone gets to play for the entire match. This has changed the mode quite drasitically, as it’s now more of a point scoring system than a survival game mode. It’s a good change though and works well, but I would of liked the option to choose between either gameplay variant. Coin Runners is another battle mode in the arena, reminding me of something similar in the previous Wii title.  The aim is to race around the battlefield collecting coins, but be careful, as they can also be lost if you are hit by other players, and the winner is determined by the number of coins collected.

Overall

Mario Kart 7 is a great addition to the series, as it’s one of the best Mario Kart titles out there even with its few flaws. I found the change of characters fresh, but a bigger roster would have been nice. The 3D effect works really well when using the standard controls, but as seen in other games, when using the gyroscope, it can break the 3D effect somewhat. What I liked most about the title was the number and overall variety of race tracks. The customisation is great and hopefully will return in future releases, though I am sure the multiplayer will keep players busy until then, especially given the replay value that this title offers to 3DS owners.

Review: Skyrim

Bethesda Softworks are finally back with the epic arrival of their fifth instalment of the iconic and critically acclaimed franchise; The Elder Scrolls, and with such an extensive amount of brilliant and fantastical content found within, I wouldn’t so easily count on a simple walk in the park… or even a run in the park for that matter.

200 long years have passed since the horrific events of Oblivion and still remnants of instability can be found all across the empire. The heroic and secretive Blades have all but faded into legend and the High King of Skyrim has been assassinated bringing about a new age of civil war between two fearless enemies that has continually raged throughout the land causing all manner of blood-shed and social fallout. With almost no contact from the surrounding kingdoms, cities stand alone and their people step lightly not daring to make any rash decisions in fear of deadly retaliation. But amongst the pandemonium lies a larger threat that has awoken from its fiery slumber. The ancient dragons of old have once again mysteriously returned to the frozen peaks of Skyrim bringing with them a viscous shroud of fire and ash that has engulfed the farthest reaches of the kingdom renewing the fear and hostility within its people and ultimately entangling their own fates with that of your own.

But the deathly arrival of the dragons has also given life to a speck of light upon the darkening landscape – a ray of hope which may be the answer that the world has been looking for. The mythical Dragonborne whose hearts beat with the courageous blood of the dragons are an equally ancient people who harness the true power of the dragon language after Akatosh; the high deity of the Nine Divines instilled his blood within Tamriels greatest known Emperor over seven centuries ago. As the last remaining Dragonborne, you are Skyrim’s only hope in solving the mystery behind the return of the dragons and halting the age-old prophecy foreseeing a colossal winged shadow soaring above the smouldering ruins of the empire.

Like its predecessors, Skyrim is host to a monumentally large open world which is just begging to be explored in any way you see fit. Along your way however you quickly pick up a number of quests (story, faction or miscellaneous) that will no doubt soon build up in your quest log which you can freely journey through at your leisure. This simplistic yet intricate style implemented within the game opens up a huge amount of customisation options for the player from the moment you start the game since you’ll naturally play the way you want and because there are no linear restrictions holding you back you are free to be who you want to be and do… you guessed it… exactly what you want to do. You will also notice that certain quests (namely story and faction related quests) will react to your play style and act accordingly which will actively alter your progression through the game making it so you’re not always making the same choices and receiving the same outcomes.

From the start of the game you will almost instantly start gaining skills in various divisions depending on your play style. If you’re more of a warrior type, you will likely earn skills in heavy armour and one or two-handed weapons where as if you prefer the arcane you will level up certain skills such as destruction, conjuration and restoration etc. However, while previous titles forced you to make certain choices that would forever alter your character throughout the course of game, choosing certain styles ingame won’t limit your capacity to experiment with each skill as you are free to use different techniques and abilities to fit your preferences without being held back by contradicting perks. The main levelling system works in a similar fashion but will ask you to choose from three governing perks that each dictate certain skills in order to mature your character into the way you want them, mage, warrior or otherwise.

The population of Skyrim can easily be described as the personality behind the game for the reason that such a hugely diverse and colourful palette of characters and races provide such a genuine and memorable experience that can be found throughout the game, be it from casually walking through a town marketplace listening to the banter that fills the air to eavesdropping in on some unknowing necromancers plotting their next foul experiment. But being the surly and hardened people they are, the weather beaten inhabitants of the frozen landscape won’t always greet you with the welcoming remarks Oblivion fans would come to expect. Instead you are host to a variety of mean, humorous and darn right strange social reactions from the people you meet in your travels which always helps in adding that extra bit of realism especially with such a huge amount of voice actors that have each perfectly brought with them a number of demeanours that they have infused with various characters throughout Skyrim.

With such a massive selection of spells, weapons and armour to choose from, you may find yourself endlessly fiddling about trying to find your favourite combinations depending on their stats, enhancements or even just looks. While past titles limited your adventurous endeavours with restricting combat choices that made little room for varying fighting styles, Skyrim however offers up and endless amount of customisation options giving you the ability to not only now duel wield weapons and magic but combine both the limitlessness of the arcane with the deadliness of blades, hammers and war-axes giving you the ultimate edge over the battlefield. The same also applies for the many armour and clothing types found throughout, offering up a number of bonuses and enhancements that can boost magica, defence or any of your skills.

That said, you won’t have to endlessly search around for these perks and enchantments as Bethesda has made a great job of implementing a vast amount of intricate crafting, enchanting and alchemic abilities into the game that open up a huge array of options and paths in order to improve your character in any and every way you want. Whilst crafting you’re able to perform a number of actions such as creating armours and weapons with certain metals and even improving them through a series of stages from their original state all the way to legendary. While these basic augmentations are all well and good, you can always go a step further by enchanting them with the infinite amount of improvements ranging anywhere from better combat or stealth abilities all the way to heightened stamina, magica or health. While not so directly involved in combat as the others, Alchemy plays an equally large role within the game as you are able to create a huge amount of potions and poisons serving you in many different ways such as regeneration to improved abilities and even to helpful perks like water breathing or detect life.

Another great addition to Skyrim is the introduction of the intriguing Dragon Speak commonly known as a Thu’um allowing you to utilize a range of special abilities such as force push, fire breath, familiar summon etc, in the form of a shout similar to the mighty roar of the dragons. The so-called World Walls that teach you of these shouts can be found throughout Skyrim each with a new helpful and alluring ability. However, being a Dragonborne won’t simply allow you to snatch them up as you please as you must first consume the souls of the dragons that soar across the landscape which will undoubtedly provide you with some epic battles throughout your adventures.

With more than double the amount of locations in Skyrim as there are quests, you will no doubt find yourself  travelling through a number of varying environments, such as vast open fields to rich green forests to blizzard ridden mountain peaks with each perfectly detailing real life environmental conditions in stunning authenticity. And whether you are travelling on foot or on the back of a horse you’ll always be able to gaze upon the endless landscape (unless you fast travel of course) before you unknowingly stumble upon a derelict ruin or small town or maybe even an entire kingdom depending on if you have become unknowingly bewitched by the sheer beauty found throughout.

The enchanting visuals Bethesda have injected upon the lands of Skyrim have come a long way from the simplistic and primitive design methods of Morrowind and Oblivion and so in this day and age have been given a lot more freedom to deliver a great deal of imaginative and ingenious ideas that they have been able to intertwine within the game’s epic narrative. The many sights of Skyrim are truly a thing of beauty as you travel within the various dynamic settings through sun, snow and rain whilst gazing upon the rich endlessness of the landscape and picking up on the many details that dot the scenery filling you with pure wonder and amazement as each environment actively plays a monumental role in the game as everywhere from the misty snowbound peaks of High Hrothgar to the sunny grasslands of Whiterun Hold provide you with an alluring and exiting experience that will drive you to scour the lands in search of the infinite beauty that oozes from every inch of the game.

Nevertheless, with so much going on visually, the game can sometimes struggle to keep up as you may experience some slight lagging here and there especially for you PS3 gamers which is due to the massive amount of information being processed at that time. You may also find that the player menu, while looking fairly simplistic and easy to use, equally uses a fair bit of processing power and can sometime lag for a very small time. Hopefully these small but unavoidable errors will be fixed with the next update but for now we must simply endure.

But the intricate detail found throughout not only shines through the scenery and varying interfaces but also in its inhabitants, and in the knowledge that Skyrim is an unrelenting and brutal wilderness where survival of the fittest truly comes into play, the people that have civilized the kingdom look exactly how you would expect them to. You’ll soon find that this bunch of burly and mostly muscle-bound people covered in animal furs and heavy armours are perfectly acclimatised to the environment ultimately making them feel like another great addition into this living environment. And so combining the masterfully crafted character models with the elaborate personality’s and backgrounds that embody each and every one of them – the people of Skyrim are clearly a force not to mess with.

Known widely across the world for the many brilliantly crafted and awe-inspiring pieces of music found throughout the franchise, The Elder Scrolls name could have easily built its own success from the illustrious music alone, and Skyrim is no different. Continuing to complement the franchises legendary themes with its dynamic and engaging scores, Skyrim’s massive soundtrack acts as the life-blood of the game that flows unfaltering through every dungeon, forest, mountain and city providing you with a greatly immersive experience that can turn a simple stroll in the woods into an intense battle of wits and courage as you come face to face with a monstrous werewolf. Very few games today can provide such a variety of feelings portrayed through the music as Skyrim can since every second spend adventuring the land makes you truly feel like a part of the world around you. Each soundtrack that plays throughout has been perfectly integrated within every event and scenario which works to bring out your feelings and emotions in the best possible manor ultimately immersing you further into the game.

With around 5 years in development and the legendary name of its predecessors to live up to, the ingenious minds at Bethesda have well and truly gone to no end in filling Skyrim to the point of insanity with its unimaginable amount of quests, characters, items and locations to interact with that will undoubtedly keep your adventurous flame burning bright for months and even years to come. The few slight errors ingame were a little disappointing given the amount of time in development but are soon lost in thought due to the sheer amount of thrilling and engorssing content that shines throughout. Each and every aspect of the game be it from the thrilling narrative, stunning visuals or huge sense of freedom, does a staggering job of bringing pure life to the lands of Skyrim by providing you with a living breathing environment to interact with and in by doing so helps to create an unbelievably immersive experience that will no doubt continue long after finishing the game.

Review: Rayman Origins

It’s been a while since Rayman has appeared on a home console. The last time we saw the fist swinging hero on our TV screens was in Rayman 3: Hoodlum Havoc which appeared on a whole host of platforms including the PS2, Xbox, Gamecube and PC; his last title releasing on the Gameboy Advance in 2005. As the 6 years have flown by, has the wait been worth it? Find out in this review.

Rayman’s storyline has always been pretty straight forward, even going back to the original PS1 title, where the plot revolved around saving the Electoons, captured in cages by Mr Dark. Save some captured friends and save the day. As the games have progressed in the series, I’ve found the story lines to get a little more muddled, especially the games that appeared on the PS2, Xbox and Gamecube. Now, when players talk about Rayman you will rarely hear any one say “that was a great story” because frankly it wasn’t, but the PS1 titles focused all on gameplay. When development shifted to the PS2, Gamecube and Xbox, Ubisoft seamed to focus more on the storyline instead of the gameplay. This has changed in Origins, and it is a change for the better. The plot is very simplistic and suits what Rayman is best know for… Gameplay.  It starts a little like this, Rayman is in the Glade of Dreams, a world created by the mysterious Bubble Dreamer….

Rayman and his beloved friend Globox, along with a collection of other characters, manage to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. Rayman and his pals manage to be attacked by an Old Granny?! (..I know an old Granny!). The Old Granny sends an army of the nastiest creatures, bringing some Darktoons to the fight as well. It’s time once again for Rayman and his friends to rescue the Electoons, defeat the evil creatures and set everything right. The plot is as I said ‘simplistic’, just like the original. No ridiculous twists or random occurrences that ruin the experience, just classic Rayman platforming action. It seems that Ubisoft have taken the correct route and listened to fans of the series. It’s a shame Rayman’s competitor Crash Bandicoot hasn’t also followed in Rayman’s footsteps.

Looking to the gameplay side of things, Rayman is back on form with some charming humour and is back in a side-scrolling platformer. A feature that I didn’t except was the ability to team up with local players for four player co-op, featuring drop in and out capabilities at any time. Whle I don’t feel that this is the main focus of the game….. It doesn’t ruin the gameplay experience either. If anything, it’s a nice alternative to 2009′s New Super Mario Bros Wii, which saw the same feature set implemented into the gameplay. It’s surprisingly nice to see couch co-op featured in the game, as many recent titles rely on the Internet for Multiplayer experiences, though this will mean you’ll need four controllers and a big couch, as opposed to just a headset, adding to it’s retro flavour. The Co-Op gives players more options when playing, allowing for a gameplay experience which fits everyone’s preferences. If you do decide to drop into the four player experience you can choose from four playable characters; Rayman, Globox or two Teensies, and s you progress, you’ll begin to unlock additional costumes.

Playing either alone or with friends, you’ll have to complete each level to progress through the game. Throughout each level, you’ll be up against a variety of different enemies, all while having to save captured Electoons. Your progression is also tied to your range of abilities that you can use, and these new tools add to the gameplay, keeping it fresh and interesting. The abilities you can unlock include being able to run up walls, gliding in midair after jumping and shrinking in size, allowing you to reach hidden areas. This isn’t all though, as the variety in each level, as well as across the entire game is a huge plus for the game, allowing you to jump on a mosquito and fly through some segments in-between the standard platforming gameplay. I was impressed by how well these different levels fit together, and when I was nearing completion of the game, I never got bored and actually wanted more even after the credits rolled. You will face many different obstacles and gameplay mechanics in the levels, inclduding some old Rayman tropes with spikes, floating platforms, platforms that disappear, platforms that move, platforms that fade in and out, and even some trampolines to bounce you around. Many of these platforms will catch players off guard and will require some practice, otherwise you may often be heading down many of the games bottomless pit.

Now, if you’re like me and tend to die a lot in the game, expect to see Rayman turn into a bubble and float away. As you may have guessed from the basic plot, Rayman is in the “Bubble Dream World”, and this bubble world dictates a lot of the elements in the game. Enemies also turn into bubbles and can be used to jump to higher places as they don’t pop until you jump on them, though be quick, or else they veer of screen and you will be out of luck with your 100% attempt. If you can’t handle this one hit death situation, you’re in luck, as there are random hearts placed through out the levels which allows you to take an extra hit. You can only carry one heart at a time though, and if you loose your heart and end up still getting hit again then you will be returned to the nearest checkpoint. During each level you will also want to be the lookout for  gold-coloured Lums. Lums affect your overall ranking at the end of each level, rewarding you with a medal according to how many lums you have collected. If you manage to find a King Lum you will earn double points during a short period of time, forcing you to collect the floating Lums before they disappear.

If you’re familiar with the Rayman games, the general progression will be what you expect, since the more Electoons you save, the more of the story you will unlock. This is much easier said that done however, as some of the Electoons are hidden away and can only be freed by completing a puzzle. Some of the puzzles were a little frustrating to complete though, definately giving a challenge to veterans of platforming titles, but will be a little too tough for some. As you save Electoons, you will be able to unlock special treasure levels that give you the opportunity to earn “teeth” rubies. The gameplay has so much going on in it’s 2D environment, styled very much to the art of the original, and the platforming gameplay also bears a close resemblence, though there are of course a whole lot of upgrades and changes which work really well, so well in fact, that I have to say that this is the best Platformer title I have played this year. Sorry Mario.

The art design of the game is stunning, and is definitely one of the best looking games to come out this year. The 2D platforming with the layered 3D backdrops look beautiful and vibrant. The colours are mesmerising and stand out, elevating it above its competitors. Even the animations in the scenery looks extraordinary, and I was very shocked to see how many colours could ever be put into a game and work cohesively together. The levels themselves are amazing, from the icy mountains to the sandy deserts, implementing so many different shades of colours, making the game look rich.  If you’re looking for a game that is oozing with colours and amazing 2D design then this is perfect for you. However, if you are easily distracted by pretty colours and ‘rainbow-like’ objects, then the design may lead to many deaths. There are some minor design elements that cause some issues, especially where the obstacles and backgrounds can blend together a little too well, again leading to some lost lives. This could also be caused by the fact that there is a lot going on in the levels, though sometimes maybe a little too much.

So far, with all the talk of the art style and platforming mechanics, I haven’t even touched on the soundtrack. Again, just like the other elements, it adds greatly to the game, slotting in nicely to enhance the already stunning looking (and sounding) title. I have nothing bad to say about the music at all, especially since I fell in love with its charming jazz themed songs instantly. The music is exhilarating and the combination of art and sound is top notch, overall, it’s an amazing mix and fits beautifully.

Overall

Rayman Origins is one of the best platforming titles I have played since Super Mario Bros 2. The gameplay features a lot of interesting elements which feel fresh and unique, and even though the local multiplayer feels a lot like Super Mario Bros Wii, there are many fundamental differences. The overall experience of the game was one which I won’t forget. Ubisoft choose four player local co-op instead of online functionality and it works really well. The design and sound are also worth picking up the game for. It seems Rayman is back, and let’s hope Ubisoft keep Rayman in this amazing form.

Game was reviewed on the Xbox 360.

Retro Review: Luigi’s Mansion Video Review

Daniel, James, and cjszero01 aka Cameron (who edited the video) give you their thoughts on Luigi’s Mansion for it’s 10th anniversary. Luigi gets his first big lead role (not counting Mario is Missing because no one cares about that) and is used to launch what was Nintendo’s new amazing console back then. People were rather shocked that Mario didn’t appear instead. Is Luigi’s Mansion a worthy substitute or did they really need Mario for this one?

Find out in our review.

Average Score: 4/5 = 9/10 In The Push-Start ratings.

Let us know what you thought about Luigi’s Mansion in the comments below.