My trepidation was somewhat relieved when I got my hands on the demo and found it to have great atmosphere, great pacing, and great voice acting. Now I’ve had my chance to play the full game, and in short, it far exceeds any expectations I had.

Arkham Asylum opens as Batman transports his arch-nemesis, The Joker, to Arkham Asylum. Soon after arriving there, the Joker breaks free of his restraints and takes over the asylum, leaving Batman to pursue him through a myriad of obstacles the Joker puts in his path.

One of the much ballyhooed features of the game prior to its release was the dynamic combat system, and it does not disappoint. The flow of melee combat is excellent, and the gadgets that one would expect Batman to be packing around become a major part of dispatching your enemies. Batarangs knock foes prone, explosive gel incapacitates enemies, and Batman can even pull foes to him with his grapple.

Chaining together long strings of combos gains you experience that can be spent to improve Batman’s abilities and to unlock new gadgets. Even more fun is the ‘Detective Mode,’ which allows Batman to see his enemies through walls, see their current heart rates and states, and even tell if they are armed or not. Watching a goon’s heart rate increase when he finds the unconscious body of his buddy is satisfying in and of itself. This mode helps tremendously if you’re trying to be very sneaky (my preferred method of playing). While staying completely stealthy is rarely required in the game, it’s more challenging if you try to be the true ‘Invisible Predator.’

Combat is excellent, but where Batman: Arkham Asylum really shines is in its presentation. Arkham is dark, creepy, and reflects the fact that the Joker and his goons have had their way inside its walls. While I don’t want to give away anything that you might encounter in the game, I’ll just say that the morgue scene is very well done, and reminds me a bit of parts of the original Max Payne.

Not only is the atmosphere well done, the voice acting is outstanding. The Joker’s paranoia and lunacy shine through as Mark Hamill brings years of experience in the role to the game, and Kevin Conroy’s Batman is quite fitting. Classic villains like Poison Ivy, Harley Quinn, and the Scarecrow bring their own unique personalities to life through the quality voice and visual presentations.

I also got a chance to try out the ‘Play as the Joker’ feature in the PlayStation 3 version of the game. While it’s only available on challenge maps, it’s not just a skin. The Joker has a full complement of personalized moves, and even packs a pistol for taking out those really tough guards. It’s enough to make the decision of which console to play this one on a pretty easy choice.

All in all, Batman: Arkham Asylum lives up to all the hype. To this point in 2009, nothing I have played surpasses this game. If I had to submit a vote for Game of the Year right now, there’s no question that Arkham Asylum would get that vote. RockSteady has grabbed ownership of this title, and made a strong case for more games in the same vein, and I have no doubt that Eidos will happily acquiesce.

If you haven’t played Arkham Asylum yet, you need to go out and at the very least grab the demo, and then the full game. Don’t miss out on the chance to play the best superhero game of the year.

Batman: Arkham Asylum receives a 9.5 out of 10 from me, and is definitely a title worth a purchase, even now when money is tighter than normal.

The work devoted to the architecture of the Hall of Mirrors which supplies reflected light for Moria and the waterworks is amazing. As you make your way through the Mirror Halls into the Water Wheels of Nala-dum you’ll find yourself in a three dimensional puzzle. Carefully work your way through keeping a sharp eye out for gears and levers that activate the water wheels and complete your path.

The labyrinthine network of Water Wheels that were used to feed and power Moria in it’s glory days are now filled with strange creatures, mushrooms and plants that that you’ll recall later in deeds. You’ll need to find your way through and be aware of your surroundings to defeat the foe that awaits you in the piston room, Caerlug. Players will be returning to this area later to recover artifacts for the epic quest line.

The Flaming Deeps is focused around weapons crafting lore and the Great Forge. Here you’ll encounter a challenge for a full fellowship. Swarms of goblins of the Ghash-Hai aim to stop you dead in your tracks. When I imagine what a goblin should look like, these ugly brutes are it. Yes, they do have their own cave trolls. You’ll have to solve more puzzles and reactivate the bellows before you can confront the boss. His minions give him strength so make sure to separate them from their master.

The pinnacle of the new content is a new twelve man raid. In the Foundations of Stone, Dar Narbugud, adventurous souls will have to face five bosses before confronting their mistress. Zholuga, the Troll twins, The Nameless, and The Blind One will present players with a variety of challenges. As you battle these guardians you’ll face hordes of goblins, the impressive world eaters and creatures that remind me of twisted versions of the creepy imagery of Pan’s Labyrinth. Vary your strategy to win through to confront The Mistress of Pestilence.

As we traveled Moria from top to bottom Adam filled us in on plans for Dungeons & Dragons Online: Eberron Unlimited. Stay tuned for the latest on the future of DDO and the method behind the madness of going free to play.

I’ll be honest: the name “Red Faction” brings up more memories of “meh” gameplay to me than most other series that have survived past one sequel. So nothing could have been a bigger surprise for me than when I was given a chance to play the new Red Faction Guerrilla at E3 and found myself completely blown away by it. Granted, my impression of it was probably helped along by the fact that the developers put me in a giant mech suit to trash the fully destructible environments with, but I was still left wanting more. Thankfully, now I’ve been given that chance with the multiplayer beta that launched on Monday. So does the multiplayer make as much of an impression as the single-player? In a word…er, “sweetjebusyesyesyes.”

Red Faction Guerrilla’s multiplayer has the potential for so many “holy crap, did I just do that?” moments that it’s hard to keep track of them all. In just a few days of play, I’ve done such things as turn on “Fleetfoot” to run up and smack a guy over a building with a sledgehammer, chase after an enemy by plowing through a wall, and — my personal, though rare, favorite — take out another player by bringing a building down on top of him. Much of the gameplay is your standard third-person shooter fare, but the destructible environments add a whole new dimension of strategy and frenzied action. The landscape never looks the same at the end of a match, and you find yourself having to accomadate to it.

Destructible craziness aside, there’s another aspect of the gameplay that sets this apart from other shooters: the backpacks. Each map contains several stations for players to pick up backpacks that give them special abilities. “Fleetfoot” for example, gives you super running speed for a short time, while “Firepower” lets you do more damage for awhile. The ones that are the most fun to use though are the backpacks that give you quick powers, like “Rhino,” which lets you charge through walls, and “Concussion,” which sends nearby enemies flying off their feet. Using these power ups well is really the key to success.

The weapons at your disposal though are the usual shooter fare — shotgun, machine gun, pistol — with a few notable exceptions. Anything that explodes — detonator charges, mines, rocket launcher — is of course way more entertaining than anything else. Really though, these weapons are only the most fun when used along with the backpacks or destructible buildings.

The two gameplay modes included in the beta are “Team Anarchy” (a.k.a. Team Deathmatch) and “Damage Control.” Damage Control mode functions like Battlefield’s traditional conquest mode, but with an added destructive twist. Each player is equipped with a “reconstructor,” which they must use to build structures on specific points of the map. Once you’ve captured a point though, the enemy must use their hammers or explosives to demolish those structures and build their own. Controlling more points gathers more tickets for your team, until one side wins.

The beta also contains three maps, which are virtually indistiguishable from each other, aside from a few landmarks. This is mostly because all of them are set on Martian surfaces, where everything takes on a reddish hue. A developer assured me at E3 that there would be some more colorful environments in the game, but apparently they left those out of this beta.

Sadly, the game in this state is also plagued with many of the same issues found in most betas: few people online to play with and sometimes laggy connections. You can’t even create your own custom matches, instead having to rely on a quick match or party system that don’t let you control what types of matches you’ll enter. For these reasons, even starting a match can take way, WAY too long, even during the peak evening hours. But of course, identifying these issues now is what a beta is for. The development team still has over six months to polish things up.

But all these issues are just more frustrating because the actual gameplay is a dream. This is the game we were promised years ago back when the term “destructible environments” was first uttered in gaming. Some of the basic aspects of the multiplayer, like toppling buildings and smacking people with a hammer, just never seem to get old. I’m happy to get a chance to take the multiplayer for a test drive, even though the remaining time till the game’s release is just going to seem that much longer now.

Castlevania Judgement is a fighting game for the Wii that’s set in the Castlevania world…and that should be enough to give anyone pause. The game unfortunately falls into that annoying category of titles on the E3 showcase floor that I picked up out of curiosity, realized I didn’t like, and ended up feigning interest for several minutes while the presenter tried to tell me more about it. Then I usually scurried off the instant their attention went elsewhere. In this case though, even the presenter didn’t seem to care too much. It’s really too bad though, since the concept of the game and a few of the ideas presented in it are a little different and interesting, but the whole package is just terribly executed.

The demo allowed me to play as three characters: Maria, Simon Belmont, and Alucard. They all of course have their own special moves and such, not to mention a selection of extra weapons. As Simon, you can choose the knife or the cross, which work as a long-range projectile or a short-range boomerang, respectively. So of course, you simply choose your fighter and battle through the rest of the cast, all while the story is explained through expositional conversations between fights.

I’m sure that all sounds straightforward enough, but let me assure that it isn’t. Konami has been claiming that this isn’t a “fighting game,” but that doesn’t excuse that fact that the whole thing feels like a very stripped down Soul Calibur. About the only difference I could garner between this and any other fighting game is that you occasionally have a zombie or something wandering around the arena. Apparently, you can use them against your opponent, but mostly they just get in the way. You also have a very limited array of moves, meaning you’ll probably figure them all out in a couple of rounds, after which they’ll just get old. Eventually, you’ll just end up using the same one or two moves over and over. The fact that even the computer kept using the same exact moves on me repeatedly doesn’t speak well to the complexity of the fighting.

Having to play the game on the Wii doesn’t make things much better. Most games allow you to mash buttons until you get the hang of it. Castlevania Judgement makes you try different combinations of wild flailing, hoping you get a different result. All the moves involve basically holding one or two buttons and flicking the Wii-mote in a direction. Konami has claimed that they chose the Wii for this game so that players could really feel like they were using the different weapons in the game as they played. There are two facts working against this though: 1) a Wii-mote doesn’t feel like a whip and 2) the waggle just overcomplicates things. Even once I was flat out told how to pull off certain moves, just getting the damn Wii remote to register it proved to be a pain. It reminded me of playing a game on an old arcade cabinet with a busted joystick.

I can see how Konami might have thought this was a good idea; hell, it at least sounds like an interesting concept. Unfortunately, if there’s a Wii owner out there that’s really itching to play a fighting game, they’re going to pick up Smash Bros. I really just hope the next 3D Castlevania game they make is, well, and actual Castlevania game; a good one. Konami, you do this, and I’ll be willing to forget all about Castlevania 64.

Velvet Assassin ranks up there with one of the many happy surprises I had at E3. To be honest, I was a little hesitant about meeting up with Gamecock’s group, since they still linger in my mind as those guys who dress up in capes and chicken masks. As it turned out though, their setup was one of the most low-key at this year’s E3; it was just a discreet area in the Figueroa Hotel. And so I met up with Replay Studios to see their upcoming World War II stealth-action game, since it sounded the most interesting to me. I wasn’t really expecting much, but almost half an hour later, the developers practically had to rip the controller out of my hand to make room for another appointment. However, the whole time the producer and PR director were showing me the game, one word kept crossing my mind: “ballsy.”

Let me explain: the game takes place in Europe during World War II and is being made by a German developer. That’s gutsy enough, but they didn’t stop there. Velvet Assassin is one of the few video games — in fact, the only one I can think of right now — that actually depicts the Holocaust. The level I played through involved you infiltrating the Warsaw Ghetto, where Jews were sequestered after the Nazis invaded Poland, in order to assassinate a Nazi official. The producer was even telling me how he remembered stories his grandfather had told him about when all that happened, which helped him infuse the game with some realism. The more I saw of the game, the more I realized this was not your typical guts-and-glory World War II game.

What amazed me the most though was the subtlety the developers gave to the area. The buildings look dilapidated and such, but the real “something is very wrong here” feeling doesn’t quite hit home until you stumble upon various bodies and signs of executions. Later on, I entered an area where the streets were covered with broken down furniture that I had to sneak through like a maze, all while hearing gunshots echoing from the buildings. The producer explained to me that this signified a time when the Nazis ransacked Jewish homes for any valuables and then chucked furniture out the windows in case there was anyone hiding inside. This didn’t seem evident in the portion I played, but the developers said part of what they wanted to do with this game was show that not all Germans at that time were mindless killers who supported the war.

The story follows the tale of Violette Summer, who is based on a real-life spy named “Violette Szabo.” She becomes an agent for Great Britain’s MI6 after her husband dies in the war and is sent behind German lines to sabotage the German war machine. The game itself though actually begins with her comatose in the hospital with the full story of her past unfolding through her dreams. These of course take the form of different missions; some created specifically for the game, others based on the real Violette’s actual missions.

As for the gameplay, well, it’s pretty much as if Sam Fisher was stripped of his fancy gadgets and dumped into the 1940s. You sneak around in the shadows trying to avoid being seen, which is helped by the fact that your body is outlined in purple if you’re in complete darkness. Your main weapon is a knife, which you can use to sneak up on soldiers and silently take them out with a flashy kill sequence (the developers told me the final game will have dozens of different kill animations). Later you find some WWII-era guns and grenades, but you’re encouraged to only use these when absolutely necessary. Ammo is scarce for one thing, plus, unless you’re playing in easy mode, you have none of the usual aim assists present in most shooters. All this makes you time your shots for that perfect kill, rather than just unloading bullets at your leisure. About the only major difference from other stealth games is the presence of “morphine,” which slows down the world around you so you can take out enemies more easily. It’s kind of a “get out of trouble” button. This is actually worked into part of the story, since this is supposed to represent the nurses trying to calm her down (she even reverts to hospital clothing in this state).

Overall, Velvet Assassin is definitely on the ever-growing list of games that will be lightening my wallet later on this year. The stealth gameplay would be enough to entice me, but after the demo I played, I’m anxious to see Replay Studios’ take on the World War II setting. It’s wasy to write this one off as “just another WWII game,” but the unique viewpoint definitely makes this one stand out.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again.. if anyone ever invites you to visit a sleepy little lake town called Silent Hill, run  screaming in the other direction because you’re probably dead or have some serious baggage in your past that will soon come back to bite you.

While from the initial impressions I can’t give you an overall sense of the story in this latest version of Silent Hill, I can talk about some of the changes that Konami and its development partner Double Helix Games are making to freshen up the long running horror series.

Silent Hill: Homecoming features a bit of a different protagonist for the series. Previous games always focused on the “everyman” characters in horrible situations, a staple of the survival horror genre. This time out the main character, Alex Shepherd is a former Airborne Ranger who is returning home and apparently is looking to discover the fate of his younger brother Jacob.
First impressions are often based on appearance, and this game exhibits all the same trademark qualities of a Silent Hill game, its dark, grimy and bizzare. The settings are incredibly distressed and the monster designs are more than a little disturbing.

Unfortunately the game suffers a bit fromt he Uncanny Valley. The main character looks pretty realistic but many of the other human encounters suffer from a slack, doughy look and its a bit jarring when placed against the excellently rendered, realistic backgrounds.

The shift to a warrior protagonist also brings with it a change in the combat gameplay in Homecoming. Not that there was no combat before but this title feels far more like an action game at times when compared – a transition that also seemed to happen with Resident Evil between RE 3 and RE 4.

Don’t let the change bother you too much fans, the game still has a good mix of exploration and puzzle gameplay. The demo I played through required me to find pieces of an X-Ray print to get a door code, a wire puzzle to reconnect power and plenty of combat with busty zombie nurses and bizare head-crab monsters the size of a Yugo.

One surprising thing that felt good was the integration of the peeling paint effect from the Silent Hill film. No matter what your opinion of the film, the sequences when the characters transitioned between reality and the dark world still resonates, especially when you team that with the eerie fire siren.

I noticed a few minutes of gameplay where the camera didn’t quite work for the combat, either leaving the view obstructed by objects or zoomed too far in to make the swinging and stabbing a bit tricky.

Overall I spent about twenty minutes enraptured with the environment. I was wandering through a decrepit hospital chasing the spectre of Alex’s little brother and was distracted a bit because of the anatomical traits of the faceless nurses but once I saw the scalples coming at me I learned to refocus real quickly.

If the game continues on the path it appears to be on I think we might have another contender to the Silent Hill crown. Silent Hill 2 is still my favorite title and I got a slight glimpse at Homecomings potential and it bears worth watching.

Dark Void is what you’d get if you somehow broke the laws of science and mated Gears of War, Crimson Skies, and The Rocketeer. And trust me, I mean that as a huge compliment. The demo on the showcase floor of E3 2008 was a very early build according to the presenter there, but I was still able to get a good feel of the game and the vision they’re going for. So far, it looks like they’re on track to make a game that should definitely make for a unique experience when it comes out.

The demo started out playing very much like Gears of War (hell, even the presenter told me they were basically “the same controls as Gears”). You basically take cover behind walls or corners and blast at the alien-robot things that are trying to shoot you. The parts I saw contained a couple different human weapons (i.e. “using bullets”) and a couple different alien ones (that use laser blasts). You can also take out anemies with special melee attacks if you get close enough to them. The game didn’t really seem like anything special until I jumped off a cliff and started hovering around with the jet pack. From there, I could rain down bullets on the enemies below, though I had to be careful to land in the right area.

Later I ended up in an area where I had to scale a cliff, which was part of something the developers are calling “vertical combat.” It’s pretty much the same as when you’re shooting from behind cover, except that your cover is now the underside of a rocky overhang. From there you can shoot at enemies or get close to them and pull them off to plunge to tehir deaths.

The game really didn’t hit the “awesome” level though until I got an upgrade to fly my jet pack through the air. The game is being developed by the same guys behind Crimson Skies, and it definitely shows. Flying around with the jet pack uses exactly the same controls; you can even pull off the same special tricks from that game. Unlike a solid airplane though, the main character’s body will react quite realistically to your movements, with his legs and arms moving around as if he’s trying to balance himself. It really did feel like I was playing as the Rocketeer; of course the shape of his helmet certainly helped that feeling. Also, as I tried out, you can hijack UFOs flying around by grabbing onto them and tossing out the pilot after some timed button presses. Then you can use that to take out other UFOs.

The build I saw definitely isn’t done. The presenter even said he had to be there to guide people around because they haven’t put in all the visual cues on where to go yet. At one point he got pulled away by someone and when he came back I was in an area he didn’t even know the player could get to. The aiming also felt a little jerky, but they’ve still got several months to polish it out. What I saw though did give me an impression of what they’re going for, and it definitely seems fun. As Shawn was saying when he saw it: “This is what the Iron Man game should have been.” Leave it to the guys behind Crimson Skies to actually get jet pack combat to feel right.

Last year Todd Howard, and the team fresh off of The Elder Scrolls Oblivion showed a very tight, controlled demonstration of the game in action, and this year I actually got 30 minutes of hands on time with the title. While the areas shown in the live demo area covered much the same content as last years presentation I didn’t care. This wasn’t my shot to gauge the story or the acting; this was about finding out if Fallout could translate to the 1st person RPG space and not lose its charm.

Well I have good and bad news for Fallout fans. Fallout 3 makes the transition well but only if you’re a fan of the Oblivion style of gaming (which I most definitely am). Controlling the character, implementing stat points and choosing perks using the Pip boy interface were all simple and intuitive.

Unlike Oblivion, Fallout 3 does not rely on a clunky interface. There is inventory management but its reminiscent of the older Fallout’s turn based grid with a few modern updates. The change of setting – from a medieval combat system to a modern gun-slinging wasteland works well also. I demo’d the game on the 360 and the title showed the same visual finesse of Bethesda’s earlier game. Those who found fault with the dialog interface or camera system of that title will find it virtually unchanged.

I spent a good deal of time navigating and interacting with NPCs. Dialog choices that could be influenced by skills were set apart – including the percentage chance of success, though the actual “roll” was hidden it was obvious when you succeeded or failed. This little tweak felt like a good reflection of the classic games and the content of the dialog also followed a more adult, humorous bent in the area of Megaton.

Wading into combat with some rabid scavengers in an old elementary school, I used every chance possible once engaged to test out the V.A.T.S. targeting system. This turn-based mode freezes combat momentarily and displays a digital overlay of a foe. The various target spots of the baddie glows and players can choose trick shots with likely success indicated by percentages based on skills and perks your character has.

All in all I’m just as excited about this game as I was last year. The hands on experience felt familiar in many good ways and with the game coming soon on the 360, PC and PS3 at least I won’t have to wait long to wander around at the end of the world nuking super mutants.

Like many older gamers I was a fan of the golden age of Sonic the Hedgehog. I still have fond memories of a certain New Years Eve party when I was younger and the challenge was issued amongst the rather inebriated guests to partake in a competition of skill.. namely to see who could get the furthest in Sonic the Hedgehog on the Genesis. I’d never been particularly good at the game, though I’d spent a lot of hours playing it but as the host I was obligated to try the best. Long story short, I got further in Sonic that night than any other time since and I credit that to my loose reflexes compensating for the game’s innate sense of speed.

Years have passed and Sonic’s seen better days. The last two games – Sonic the Hedgehog and Sonic and the Secret of the Rings were mediocre titles that lacked the certain charm and style of the earliest games, or event the excellent early 3D games.

Sega wants another shot at changing the impression that Sonic is old hat. Last year’s Mario & Sonic titles sold well but they were not true Sonic games. The announcement of Sonic Unleashed however caught the attention of Sonic fans and the limited screens and footage hinted that maybe Sega had finally found the right mix to recreate the Blue Hedgehog for the new consoles.

Earlier today at E3 I had the chance to sit through the media presentation and demonstration for the game and it left me with a number of uneasy feelings. Patrick Riley, who is the US producer for the title walked us through two sample levels and introduced the key shift in gameplay for this installment.

The new title is running on a totally new game engine that was custom designed to take advantage of the current hardware advances. He revealed that even Sonic the Hedgehog had been limited because it was effectively using the same engine as Sonic Adventures, its core capabilities were designed with the Dreamcast in mind and updated, but it was by no means efficient on the new platforms.

Visually, even in the rough form they showed here, Sonic Unleashed is striking. The crisp characters and vibrant colors fit the tone and the ability to add special effects to Sonic’s actions makes the game “feel” fast. When Sonic runs the screen adopts a sort of blurred speed vision. The effect was reminiscent of the Turbo effects in Burnout and really sold the sense of speed that has long been missing from 3D Sonic titles.

Not content to simply bring the speed back, Sonic Unleashed also introduces a speed meter that is powered by the rings Sonic collects on his jaunts. The meter reflects the overall velocity of the character and when fully charged allows Sonic to run across water and other liquids as if they were solid ground.

There was a concerted effort to address camera concerns as well. Fans of the old side perspective will be happy to see the game adopts this viewpoint as the level design necessitates and then moves back and forth freely to the over-the-shoulder view. The change in perspective was fairly seamless but there were moments in the demo when it was clear the camera might not always be on your side.

The biggest revelation for the title concerns the story of the title. It seems the evil Dr. Robotnik has yet another dastardly plan for Sonic, and as the game begins the Hedgehog is captured and subjected to an experiment that leaves him forever altered. Robotnik’s ploy strips Sonic of his speed powers and reduces him to a more brutish form at night – leading to a divided gameplay style: traditional Sonic at day, “WereHog” gameplay at night.

The night time levels, featuring a brutish “Hulk-like” fuzzy blue-gray Sonic looked and felt far more like a traditional action-platformer than a frenetic race through levels. There are action puzzle elements and other changes that will have to be played to be accepted I think. While its nice they are trying to mix up the gameplay and it comes from the core story I’m not sold it was necessary. I think I’d have preferred just a regular good time Sonic game.

The last big revelation of the demo was the reveal that the Wii and PS2 version’s content was not the same as the 360 and PS3. They rationalized that the older consoles’ limitations would gimp the design of the new title so Sega chose to split development and grant two dev teams with a story structure and let them design to fit the platforms. Not necessarilly a bad idea, but a risky proposition should things not work out for one or the other.

I think Sonic Unleashed bears some watching as it gets closer to its November launch. There is potential here, but we’ve been burned before with hope for a great new Sonic title.

The first thing the art director for THQ’s Red Faction: Guerrilla told us when we entered the demo room was to just completely forget about Red Faction 2, which was perfectly fine with us. He then proceeded to show us a surprisingly polished demo that presented us with an open-world Mars to explore and, more importantly, destroy piece by piece. It may be because this is one of the first games at E3 I really got to spend some quality time with, but Red Faction: Guerrilla is already looking amazing. The demo we were shown (and later played) looked like a finished game already, but the art director assured us that they still had until at early 2009 to get the whole thing cleaned up. Our esteemed PR guy, Daniel, practically had to rip the controller out of my hand and remind me we had other appointments to get to; otherwise, I’d probably still be there now.

The game uses destructible environments in ways that have been touched on in past games, but never fully realized it seems. We were shown some examples of this as the main character used a sledgehammer and explosive charges to bring down a small storage shed (accidentally dropping the roof on himself in the process). Every chunk of metal and rubble looks very smooth as they tumbled in on each other, reducing some chunks of concrete to dust. The developers also demonstrated how each object has a specific weight that may even wear down a structure’s feeble supports over time. At one building located at the edge of a hill, he used some charges on the front line of support beams and then waited about ten seconds before the other supports started to topple and bring everything else down. Naturally, this can be used in missions to take out enemies — chunks of rubble that go flying will knock them down — or bring down specific structures in a more strategic way. Also impressive is the fact that these buildings will stay destroyed even if you come back to them far later in the game (excluding certain mission-specific structures of course).

Luckily, the wanton destruction is not without a purpose (other than looking really sweet of course). The story takes place 50 years after the events of the first Red Faction game. In that title, the EDF was the rebellious force you joined to fight against the oppressive mining corporations. Now the conflict has come full circle, as the EDF has grown into an oppressive corporation, and you’re now part of a guerrilla force trying to usurp their power. As the title suggests, your missions will have you weakening the EDF’s power and influence by making small, strategic strikes against them. This will have you destroying factories, stopping the spread of propaganda, stealing their vehicles, etc.

The whole game takes place in an open world that you’re free to explore at your leisure with no loading screens and plenty of space to move around in. This game moves the series into the third-person, which the art director explained was so players could have a better sense of space and avoid dropping buildings on themselves. Any vehicle you find can be stolen, and you’ll have a variety of miner and EDF weapons at your disposal. There will of course be missions to move the story along, but there will also be side missions, which you’ll receive randomly from other miners, asking for help in a raid and such. Completing these will build up morale points for the miners, and the more morale you have, the more miners you’ll get showing up to help you with your missions.

The highlight of the demo for me though was when they handed the controller over to me after they commandeered a special robotic mining suit (i.e. a big, freakin’ mech). The mech allows you to smash structures, flip rubble and vehicles into the air, or sweep out soldiers around your feet using the massive robotic arms. I knew my mission objectives for this part, but I kind of just ignored them. Instead I ended up just searching for buildings to destroy with glee. I could crush houses, sweep their supports out to topple them over, sweep out bridges from underneath them, or simply just walk straight through a structure, leaving a giant hole in your wake. All this also had enemy soldiers trying to fire upon me and scattering to avoid rubble. There are still a few AI kinks in the system — like soldiers that stand around like bowling pins waiting to be knocked over — but even this demo build had some better AI reactions than most full games. I also tried walking over a bridge, but the weight of the mech just caused me to fall through to the ground (the developers said they plan to implement an achievement into the game that has players walking straight across fast enough to not fall through). My favorite moment though had to be when I flipped an APV onto a group of soldiers that had just exited from it.

All in all, I’m convinced Red Faction: Guerrilla will be an extremely fun game, and I wasn’t expecting that. Just in the mech suit, I played for about 20 minutes and only left when Daniel reminded us we had to be somewhere else. I’ll definitely be keeping an eye out for this one next year.

I have always been enthralled with Nordic legends, and anything Viking related. Far be it to call myself a Nordiphile, I am hardly that – I just like mythology of all sorts. I have also thought that Vikings were too often ignored in video games, and I have never understood why they have been largely shunned by the industry, This is why I was so excited about Beowulf until it was announced that it would be a movie tie-in – and in my opinion, both sucked equally.

When Viking: Battle for Asgard was announced a few moths after Beowulf, my love of Nordic mythology took a back seat to the wariness in my brain. I decided it would be rented instead of purchased and while the waiting list for the game was long at my local Blockbuster – I am glad I waited. Whether Viking: Battle for Asgard was worth the wait or not is open to interpretation. On the one hand, I liked the visuals and some of the executions you could pull off, but the game had so many things wrong with it. It was repetitive, contained shallow swordplay, choppy framerates galore and so many other things wrong with it that by the time I was a quarter of the way finished with the game, I wanted my rental fee back. Of course, Blockbuster does not give refunds for unsatisfactory rental purchases.

In Viking: Battle for Asgard, you are Skarin – a warrior on the edge of death who is brought back from the brink by the Goddess Freya. In exchange for this life saving turn of events, you must do her bidding – and no, there are no sexual undertones to this despite the fact that she is a hottie. Her desire for you is only for you to prevent Hel, the Goddess of the Underworld from taking over Midgard. The plotline gives you the impression that the game would be full of hack and slash potential, and that is indeed true. The game was oozing with potential, and when playing I kept waiting for the goods to come to fruition but, alas, they never surfaced – probably because none were present to being with.

Being an open world game, Battle for Asgard has the prerequisite pots and whatnot that give you loot – standard RPG and adventure fare and totally uncreative. In this open world, you have your sword, throwing axes and bombs to kill your enemies with, and when fighting another combatant – you can press the X button to perform an execution style attack – which thankfully is indeed pretty gruesome, but here is where the repetitiveness starts to take over the game. You only have so many sword attacks; only so many execution attacks and the long animations start to grate on your nerves a bit. You will eventually be able to unlock new attacks, but the standard two moves you already have are the best ones to use. Once your enemy is dead, you gain the standard God of War red-orbs expect instead of health they are magic.

On your way to suppress Hel, you will build an army, which consists of other Vikings you have rescued from Hel’s horrible grasp. This may sound hard, but it isn’t because the denizens called up from the Underworld are like any inept guard in a Bond movie. Once freed, the Vikings are so thankful for their release that they become members of your army, but first you have to run a few errands for them – which reminded me of the boar meat and bear skin quests in LotRO. The good news is that once you have run a few errands and talked to a few grumpy Vikings, they all gather together to form your army and help you take back the city. These battles are huge and fantastic to look upon, and with dragons at your disposal you would think this would be sweet, delicious icing on an otherwise bland piece of cake. Not so – the repetitiveness comes charging at you again. While the areas in which you battle changes, the enemies and the fighting is the same time and time again. Giant bosses, shamans, creepy henchman – the same every time.The repetitiveness is a constant in everything, and while Battle for Asgard may be pleasing to look at, it gets old really quick. You will see the same Vikings and the same enemies constantly, and the same can be said for the sound. The sound effects seem to be on a constant loop and when you are not in battle the game is almost devoid of sound.

I really wanted to like Viking: Battle for Asgard despite the boring fighting sequences and the constant repetitive nature of the game, but everything about it just bored me to death. Even the good stuff was repeated over and over again which means that your initial excitement over something cool wanes after the third or fourth time. The game was great the first quarter of the way through, but just became a huge pile of “meh” after that. Each island you explore is more familiar than the last, seeing the same Vikings and enemies constantly and the same battle sequences being played out each time you take over a city just becomes overkill. This could have been a fantastic game and while the potential was indeed there, the game felt like more of a half-assed effort than anything.

Next time I need a fix of Nordic lore, I will pick up a book because the gaming industry apparently does not understand the depth and awesomeness that these legends can bring into our lives. Hopefully, someday, a developer will get it right but until then steer clear of this game.

I played Viking: Battle for Asgard on the Xbox 360, but it is also available for the PS3. For a more traditional review, check out Mike Nelson’s thoughts over on 1UP and I dare say, he was not very happy with it either.

This past weekend, I headed out to the New York Comic Con to see all of that latest and greatest in the Comic Book community. To my surprise, Komani was there showing off Metal Gear Online. Not only did I have to play it, but I made sure I got footage of myself completely sucking at… er.. I mean pwning the enemy! We all know that folks who play video games for a living must be good at all of them…right?!

I must say that I was completely surprised at how well the game handled. It stayed true to how Metal Gear Solid feels, while finally adding a multiplayer component to it. The game was setup as a local 4v4 LAN match. As you’ll see in the video above, this was the first time I ever played MGO, so I didn’t quite have a grasp on what the controls were yet. I did like how you can change weapons or accessories by simply press the R2/L2 buttons instead of having to hold it down in order to select what you want to use (even though I can’t recall at the moment if that was something previous Metal Gear Solid games did).

Playing Metal Gear Online was fun for the short time I got to try it out. Thanks to this hands-on impression, not only am I looking forward to MGS4, but I’ll also probably be checking out MGO whenever I have the chance.

Rainbow Six Vegas 2
Developer

Someone once said “What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas” (and an advertising firm soon trademarked it). I doubt whoever said that was talking about terrorist cells and international conspiracies, but man those seem to flock to Sin City in the new Rainbow Six Vegas 2. This being the sequel to the smash hit Tom Clancy title, expectations are understandably high for this follow-up. Even more so since the team behind this game has said this is their final excursion, because they’re tired of working with Vegas. Well frankly their apathy shows through at times, particularly since this feels like the same old Rainbow Six Vegas, just with a few changes. But still, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. My full impressions after the break.

I’d explain the storyline, but I have a hard time following these Tom Clancy games and an even harder time caring. Something about terrorists and some bombs; you know the drill. But the story will take you to some of the less traditional locations in Vegas this time around. Sure, you’ll pop into a couple casinos and a strip club, but most of the game will have you running through the residential areas and back alleys. I can understand that the development team wanted a change of scenery from the glittering casinos and sprawling hotels, but personally I liked the flash. That felt more like Vegas. Plenty of shooters have you fighting through decrepit old neighborhoods, but not many have you on a flashy casino floor.

The AI is spotty all around. When it comes to your AI teammates, it seems they’ll either perform as the most efficient killing machines since the Black Plague, or they’ll act like wayward puppy dogs sitting down in the middle of a firefight and waiting to get shot. The same could be said of the terrorists, as they’ll sometimes either sit in the corner patiently while you shoot them and other times coordinate and flank you ruthlessly. I suppose you could chalk this up to realism in a way, but you’d think there’d be a mid-point between “target practice” and “kamikaze.”

All that said, the game improves drastically once you find another human being to play with. Me and a friend first sat down with this game over the weekend and had a blast. Sadly, it was kind of a short-lived blast, as we finished it in around five hours without even trying and then sat around wondering what the hell else we were going to do with our afternoon (we eventually turned to that great bastion of entertainment known as RockBand). This same friend and I had spent a great deal of time in the first game, and so we were really disappointed that we got through this one so fast. Looking back on the experience, it seems like the changes the developers made to the story mode have made the game more accessible, but also less challenging.

Now that you can have AI teammates to command in co-op, they quickly become the guinea pigs for areas you aren’t sure about. They’re like the ultimate terrorist detection tool as you can simply send them into a room and watch if they get shot. There’s also significantly more checkpoints this time around. That’s nice, because you rarely have to retrace your steps too far; but there seems to be so many of them that dying is virtually meaningless. Since you’ll just restart only a minute or so behind, you don’t really feel the need to be overly tactical. It’s a fun ride from start to finish; it just ends rather abrubtly.

The thing that pushes this game from a “rental” to a “buy” though would have to be the online multiplayer modes. There’s so many maps and gameplay options that you’ll rarely sit down and play for “just one round.” If you get bored with Team Deathmatch, then you can just move onto another mode; my personal favorite is Team Conquest since it tends to last the longest. And if you get bored of fighting other players entirely, then you can team up with other players in Terrorist Hunt matches or just jump in and out of a story campaign. It will all net you some more XP to unlock more weapons and gear, so it’s easy to say to yourself, “Well, I should go to bed, but I’m only a few more kills away from ranking up” (not unlike Call of Duty 4).

I’ve heard people complain (because that’s apparently what the Xbox Live headset is for) that the ability to gain XP and unlock items this easily has made it so there’s no reward for being expertly good. Personally, since my first memory of the online multiplayer in the previous game involved me dressed in long underwear and getting killed over and over by a guy decked out in a tiger-striped pimp suit while he laughed and called me a “noob,” I really like the new system. It levels the playing field a lot more since you can actually have a variety of weapons and armor to choose from. Besides, if you’re really good at the game, everyone will know it after one match where you absolutely decimate them.

However, the new “Team Leader,” is the most frustrating addition to the multiplayer. The way it works is each team has a person designated the “team leader,” who must get to an extraction point on the map to win. As long as he’s alive, his teammates will keep respawning. Once he’s dead though, the respawns stop, and the team is left on their own to try and take out the other team. That’s all well and good…unless you’re the team leader. Then you spend the match feebly trying to get your cohorts to protect you on the way to the objective (I have yet to have that happen), trying not to get shot, and then hearing your team get angry at you for dying. I’m sure this would be fun with a well organized and sensible group of people, but that’s not exactly what Xbox Live is known for.

Overall, Rainbow Six Vegas 2 is really not made for a single-player experience. The story mode can be fun, but the real meat of the game lies in playing with or against others in the various online modes. Not much has changed in Vegas since the first game, but that’s not really a bad thing; since it feels like the developers basically took what was already there and tweaked it to be a bit more accessible to newcomers. This leaves players with a game that feels familiar to veterans, while not being completely unwelcoming to the more casual gamer. I look forward to seeing what the development team comes up with next, now that they’ve moved out of Vegas.

When I first heard that the folks over at Monolith were making a sequel to Condemned: Criminal Origins, I was both excited and leery at the same time, because let’s face it, sequels are not usually up to par with the original. Granted, the God of War titles seem to do justice to our favorite Spartan, but that cannot be said of the majority of sequels sitting on shelves. My initial disquiet over another offering of Ethan Thomas and the maimed world in which he resides seemed to mitigate slightly when I viewed the first set of screenshots from the game, and the more I saw, better I felt. The trailers looked great, the weapon selection was both pacifying and hilarious at the same time, and the overall ambiance the trailers portrayed finally allowed me to let my guard down completely for Condemned 2: Bloodshot. However, before I get too far ahead of myself, I would like to point out that while this was indeed a very fun and entertaining game, it was far from perfect. So far, to be quite honest, that afterwards when I had played through it a second time, I started to feel extremely let down.

The storyline for Condemned 2: Bloodshot takes place a few months after Ethan’s harrowing ordeal at the hands of the serial killer SKX. He has left the SCU and is nothing more than a shell of what he used to be and spends his time in a drunken stupor trying to escape the demons living within his tortured soul. Just when he thinks the SCU is finished with him, they pull him back in because, although a drunk, he still needs to tie up a few loose ends and help them find his buddy Van Horn who has gone missing. This is when things start to get a little strange, and my initial excitement over the game left me feeling slightly silly for being excited in the first place.

My high expectations for Condemned 2: Bloodshot were not wholly in vain mind you, but were also unrealistic. First off, the changes they made to the game, while interesting to say the least, were not necessary. When you can rip a toilet seat off and beat an assailant to death with it, there is no need to use different fisticuff combos to thwart a meth-head’s plans at bashing your head in. While some gamers may find hand-to-hand combat in this game fun, personally I was more interested in the environmental and man-made weapons, but that is just a player preference, therefore it did not ruin the game entirely for me like I originally thought that it would. Secondly, the other change was the forensic gadgetry that is at your disposal, and it is much more high-tech than Ethan’s last foray which means either the SCU was holding out on him the first time around or they were given a bigger budget within the past few months. These gadgets were very cool, but not only were they not put to use often enough, they were also a bit dodgy at times. To get the forensic evidence you need, you have to be in investigative mode and the slightest movement will pull you out if it with out you realizing it. Thirdly, the change that irritated me more than anything was Ethan Thomas himself. I stated in a previous post that he looks like a drunken Glen Danzig on a shower strike and I was not kidding. He is a hulking, pale, greasy looking guy, and while I understand that he is indeed a drunk and people with issues like that tend to forgo the occasional shower – his appearance is so very altered that he looks like a different character altogether. I could have understood this more if the storyline took place years later instead of mere months, so the total revamping of his appearance annoyed me and felt unrealistic.

This is not to say that the game was not enjoyable on some level. For instance, one particular area in which you are investigating is an abandoned doll factory, where all the little demented-baby dolls are ticking time bombs that laugh and gurgle as they crawl or waddle towards you. If one gets too close, it will pull its own string and -kaboom – you are nothing more than a mess for someone to sponge off of the walls. The good thing about these dolls though, is that you can use them as a weapon to fight this scrawny psychopathic female who fancies herself a clown and carries around a huge lollipop saw blade. There are also a couple of other different areas of the game that made me jump out of my gaming chair, but not near as many as the original. I do not know if this is because the heightened sense of urgency I felt in the first one was completely expected this time around, or this installment was just lacking in that department. Either way, it was not as scary as Criminal Origins, although the two times I was scared giddy were pretty cool; I refuse to spoil them for you here.

Weapons are whatever you make of them whether they are the aforementioned toilet seat, a 2×4 with nails, a pipe, bedpost or an empty bottle. Guns are present in the game, more so than the last one, but they are goal oriented, so basically if you are in need of a gun for a certain “mission” they magically appear in a lockbox or a locker. Ethan’s aim when using a gun is shaky though because, after all, he is a drunk. Thankfully, this little annoyance can be remedied because there is booze everywhere for you to chug when you feel the DT’s coming on. Eventually, you will have to fight your alcohol demon and the hallucinations it has spawned to reclaim your sanity and ultimately finish the game. Once you have finished Condemned 2, you can replay the game with only guns if you like, but be forewarned that this makes for a much shorter game that is also less environmentally immersive.

Replaying the game with guns is not the only thing you can do once you have beaten the game. There is also the multiplayer aspect of the game, which personally I did not play, but I watched my boyfriend run amuck with some others in what appeared to be an unorganized melee frenzy with up to 8-players who seemed more hell-bent on shooting anything and everything than actually playing the game strategically. I think this is because the multiplayer seemed to lack a certain finesse and honestly looked more tacked-on than anything. I think this was the main reason that within fifteen minutes of playing, most of the online players quit and so did he. While the other online aspect of the game looked a heck of a lot more interesting, and definitely more fun, there was still nothing worth writing home to Mum about except maybe one. Called “Crime Scene”, it is basically a bunch of miscreants trying to keep the SCU from finding a head hidden in a box. While this was amusing to say the least, the newness wore off pretty soon. There is also “Bloodshot Fight Club” for you to try, which is nothing more than small missions where you have to complete a specific goal, beat up on some sickos in the arena and see how well you stack up to other players in the online leaderboards. None of these online games seem like they will win over anyone for a long period of time.

Condemned 2: Bloodshot posed a bit of a conundrum for me. On the one hand, I enjoyed some of the interesting changes to the game that made it feel fresh and different, but on the other hand I was disappointed. Between some of the tacked on storylines, some of which I did not divulge because I do not wish to spoil it for you, and a few slight changes to the game that I felt were unwarranted, made this one a perfect 50/50 for me. The gameplay mechanics have not changed too much, which is a good thing, and they may even be a bit smoother this time around, but at the same time the difficulty seemed dumbed-down a bit. I played the original game again the week before Bloodshot came out just to get back into the mindset, and maybe that was one of the reasons I was disappointed with this installment. The graphics, though, are fantastic, the NPCs add a depth to the storyline and are not annoying in the slightest, the music and other sound effects are perfect for the mood of the game, and the numerous areas in which Ethan goes in search of evidence add a nice change of scenery to the game which is both lush and interesting. Yet all of the good did not outweigh my feelings of being slighted somehow. I cannot quite pinpoint exactly why I felt this way, but I can only attribute it to the fact that I went in with too high of expectations, which as we all know, always leaves you feeling let down in the end mo matter what the situation. The lesson I learned with Condemned 2: Bloodshot was to keep both my excitement and disdain to a minimum – which is a nice 50/50 just like the game. You know, now that I think about it, you could say that Condemned 2 is brunch. Its not quite breakfast, its not quite lunch, but you get a decent meal.

I played Condemned 2: Bloodshot on the Xbox 360, but it is also available for the PS3. If you would like to read a more traditional review, head on over to 1UP and read Greg Ford’s thoughts on Ethan’s latest nightmare.

Dragon Quest Swords: The Masked Queen and the Tower of Mirrors takes place in a town that lies at the foot of Avalonia Castle. There, a young man enjoys a peaceful life with his lecherous father until his sixteenth birthday approaches and he must take the Walk of the Worthy. This is a trial of strength, which all young Avalonian males must undergo upon coming of age. As the main character, you will need to put all of your training in the ways of the sword into practice if you are to pass the test, and take your rightful place amongst Avalonia’s warriors. Sounds like your typical RPG doesn’t it? Unfortunately the storyline is the only thing typical about Dragon Quest Swords.

Normally when I pop an RPG into whatever gaming system it is designed for, I do so with trepidation because lately, in my humble opinion, the RPG market has two things very wrong with it. One, is that the ideas surrounding RPG’s have become stagnate in the area of original storylines and two is that some try so hard to be a Diablo or Elder Scrolls clone that they end up looking like a ridiculous poser. This time though, when I popped in Dragon Quest Swords, it was neither and instead seemed to hearken back to the days of yore and bring a bit of fun and misty-eyed nostalgia to my day. Unfortunately, a mere thirty minutes of gameplay changed my mind.

Dragon Quest Swords contains the strangest and most frustrating mix of old-school first-person RPG elements combined with the innovation of the Wii and while one would think this could be a good thing, it’s not. Granted, you get to use your Wii controller as a sword which is suppose to give you the “feel” of actual battle, but instead it is nothing more than a hit or miss mess that makes you look and feel like a moron. While your slashing motions are accurately displayed on the screen via a red blade that appears when you battle, it just lacks not only in visual simulation, it lacks in fun. The most frustrating part of the battle is that not only is your sword the controller, so is your shield because the game does not make use of the nunchuck. Yes, that’s right no nunchuck to steer your way through the game, you use the d-pad instead. In this game; however, it makes sense, and I will get to that next.

The reason that the nunchuck is not included is because you do not need it. You are basically on a rail system that takes you through each dungeon and area where said battles occur. When you are out in the world, oh say to purchase more upgrades or to play the most annoying mini-game on the planet (trombola), you feel like you at least have some control as to where you are going. If you like, you can even talk to your womanizing Father who likes his drink, and plays around with a “tasty little number” until your mother comes home. Nice. The worst part about the game, be it while you are in combat or visiting an NPC that you have to talk to get more quests and advance, is that the rail system makes it so you cannot look around at all. All you can so is look forward and slightly side-to-side, which is a shame because the bright colors of the landscapes and cartoonish characters are a delight to look at.

Being that you play the game via a first-person perspective, you miss out on so much. First of all, you have no idea what you look like, you cannot see how comical you appear while wearing your “dog” armor or holding your “cat” shield and secondly, like I said, you miss out on exploring the really neat landscape that Square Enix has created. I am not saying that all RPGs have to have an open world, but to not be at the mercy of the rail system is a wonderful thing, and I will be very happy the day developers decide that this is a dead fish that must be flushed down the sewer. The only saving grace, if you could call it that, is the ability to revisit completed dungeons to level up and get more cool stuff. The only problem with this is that you will encounter the same monsters, in the same battle formations and this lack of variety is nothing short of a snoozefest.

It does not take much effort to beat your enemies either and before you know it, you have moved on to the next area and without even realizing it, you are at the final stage. This was the hardest part of the game, and while it was in no way shape or form extremely difficult, it was nice to finally be faced with a challenge, although this challenge came way too late in the game to save it.

While I may have painted a grim picture of Dragon Quest Swords for you, trust me when I say that it could have been worse. It is reminiscent of past Dragon Quest games, so the nostalgia factor is high, and if it was not rated “T” for Teen, this could be a great game to get younger kids interested in RPGs. I am assuming it was not rated “E” for Everyone because of the lothario dialogue of your character’s father and his drinking habit, therefore it may be better suited to pre-teens who have not played around with role playing too much. However, if you are an adult or someone with vast experience playing RPGs you will want to stay clear of this one unless you just love to punish yourself, and far be it from me to try and quell any masochistic tendencies you may harbor.

For a more traditional review of the game, along with a score, go to 1Up.

Lost: Via Domus
Developer:

I am a complete sucker when it comes to video games based on my favorite TV shows. It’s for that reason that I’ve suffered through both The Sopranos: Road to Respect and 24: The Game. So when I heard that there was going to be a game coming out based on Lost, I already knew I would be playing it. It didn’t matter how the developers approached the title or even if it were declared unanimously to be the worst video game adaptation ever, I’d still be drawn to it like a mosquito to a bug zapper. Thankfully, this is probably the best game based on a TV show that I have ever played. Of course, that’s not saying much. Full review after the break.

I’m going to get this important note out of the way first: if you want to play Lost: Via Domus, RENT it, do NOT buy it. I say this because the game’s main flaw is that it is woefully short. I beat the game in six hours, and that was with accomplishing most of the side tasks. It really feels like one episode in a much larger game, but future Lost games have not been announced at all. At any rate, it is certainly not worth the full $60 retail price.

The game casts you in the role of Elliot, another survivor of the ill-fated Oceanic flight 815, who awakens on the island with amnesia (incredibly original, I know). As the game progresses, Elliot’s main task is to put the pieces of his memory together to figure out who he is and, more importantly, why another survivor is out to kill him. To do this, he’ll interact with a number of familiar cast members and explore some areas of the island for clues. Occasionally, you’ll enter a flashback section which is pretty routine unless you’re out to recover several “hidden memories” which unlock concept art (and achievement points on the Xbox 360 version).

The developers certainly made good use of the “Lost” license and really captured the feel of the show — a feat in itself, given the failure of past TV show games to do the same. You get a sense of panic when a familiar beeping starts echoing from the hatch, Locke’s ramblings still make very little sense, and the “monster” is scary as hell. The whole title is surprisingly polished, if highly limited. The environments are incredibly detailed, but you’ll mostly visit the same areas over and over again. This may be similar to the show, but I was really hoping for something new to discover. Before the game’s release, the developer’s painted a picture of almost an open world for the player to explore.

Oddly, the game feels hindered by its license. I’m a huge fan of the show, but it felt like the developers were trying almost too hard to fit this game into the main storyline somehow. If I hadn’t been keeping up with the show from the beginning, I would have no idea what was going on at all. You talk with cast members who briefly mention the raft and suddenly opening a hatch, but they just seem to assume that Elliot already knows what’s going on. But if the main audience is hardcore Lost fans (such as myself) then, there’s still not much to entice people into this game, as it hardly sheds any light on the island’s mysteries. Sure, you get to explore some areas more deeply and the ending may bring up new questions (or not, depending on how you look at it). At best, the game acts a companion piece to the TV show. Mostly though, you’re trying to dig into the personal past of a character that has no impact on the overall story — like that one murder mystery episode with two castaways who magically appeared out of nowhere. As a mystery-solving game by itself though, it’s executed very well. I might actually play a game structured in a similar way if it had an original (and longer) story behind it.

Ultimately, Lost: Via Domus is a suprisingly well-executed TV show game that will only appeal to die-hard fans of the show and possibly achievement whores (I got 860 points added to my Gamerscore without even trying). Casual viewers/gamers would probably be better off spending their time elsewhere. Seriously, you could whittle away more hours just trying to figure out what the hell is going on in the series up to this point.

Also be sure to check out 1Up’s official review of Lost: Via Domus here.

These days, I approach anything dealing with the “Bomberman” franchise with apprehension. As far as I’m concerned, the more recent games have been kind of “hit or miss,” and few have really stacked up to the ones from the NES days. I tend to approach collections of mini-games for the Wii in much the same manner. So basically, before I even sat down to play it, the new Wii game, Bomberman Land, already had two strikes against it. Is there anything to redeem this latest adventure involving Bomberpeople? My full impressions after the break.

Bomberman Land brings something new to the Bomberverse that I’m sure we’ve all been desperately craving on the Wii: mini-games. As usual with these sorts of games, some of the mini-games are fun for a few minutes, while others are just a chore. And as usual, the few good games are actually rip-offs of older classics. What was noticeably odd about this collection though was a severe lack of motion-controlled games. Most of the mini-games were about timed button presses than any actual movement, and the ones that were mostly required you to just aim at something on the screen.

I’ll contend that a handful of mini-game collections on Nintendo’s system have actually been quite enjoyable, and I’m actually okay with playing through a series of short matches that string together a flimsy storyline. What I’m not okay with though is being forced to become an expert at a few mini-games just so I can move on and unlock some more. You see, though there are 40 mini-games on the disc, you can only play a few of them right off the bat. To unlock the rest, you’ll have to play through the game’s Story Mode, which has you competing in a tournament to get a higher score than a few dozen computer opponents. If you want to move on to the next round of mini-games, you’re forced to play each round over and over again until you get a high enough score. I’m sorry, but I refuse to become especially skilled at a virtual jump rope. Plus, as an added insult, if you get a low score in any round, you actually move back down to the last set of mini-games to try for a high score all over again. Oh yeah, and only a handful of these games are for more than one player. For the most part, you can only play these mini-games by yourself, essentially taking most of the fun away from your average Wii game.

The Story Mode in Bomberman Land — which comprises the majority of the full game — unfortunately suffers from something I call “why-the-hell-am-I-playing-this disease.” It’s only distinctive symptom is constantly asking yourself the question “why the hell am I playing this?” Usually this is followed by removing the game disc and never touching it again until you start sweeping your home for things to auction off on eBay. Right from the start, it’s just incredibly difficult to shake the feeling that you’re playing an ultra-cute collection of uninspired mini-games that you already grew tired of years ago.

However, there is one redeeming feature of the latest Bomberman exploit. Two words: Battle Mode. This is the section that fans of the series are sure to enjoy. This mode features the classic top-down bombing action that’s allowed the series to survive this long. It’s the usual drill: you run around a small map, planting bombs and grabbing power-ups, while trying not to get blown up yourself. You and up to four friends (or CPUs) can compete in various maps to try and blast each other to smithereens. Unfortunately, the action starts to wear thin after you’ve sampled each of the different modes and maps. However, as with the Bomberman games of yesteryear, if you get a few other people in on the action, you’re sure to have several hours of fun.

In the end, this game is only worth the $30 price tag if you usually have a several people over for some gaming, and then only for the classic Battle Modes. Bomberman Land is yet another example of how a cavalcade of mini-games is no substitute for classic competitive gameplay.

Also be sure to check out 1Up’s official review of Bomberman Land.

When I first heard about The Club and it’s concept of combo-fueled killing, I was actually a little refreshed. In these times where video games are seemingly under constant scrutiny by the public for their violent content, here was a game that decided to ignore all that and make the gameplay about nothing but the killing. It sounded like a great way to take the third-person shooter genre back to basics and focus on nothing but the action. Unfortunately, I soon realized just why few games these days take such a simple approach. My full impressions after the break.

For a game like The Club — where I hear mixed reviews and am not overly excited about it — I generally rent before deciding whether to buy; so that’s what I did. Within two days, I was happy with that decision, because I’d already grown quite bored with the game. Granted, when I first began playing, I sat down for hours and was completely enthralled. But unfortunately, it doesn’t take too terribly long before the repetitiveness starts to set in.

The game was developed by Bizarre Creations, who are best known for their Project Gotham Racing series, so it should come as no surprise that The Club feels oddly similar to a racing title. Picking a character to play with feels just like selecting a car. Do I want the guy that’s super-fast, but generally weak? Do I want the guy who strong, but slow? Or do I want the guy that just looks cool? After this, you’re off to the tournament, where you run through different modes — which are essentially tracks — while trying to score as many points as possible. Getting a higher score requires killing all sorts of thugs as quickly as possible, while trying to pull of some stylish moves for bonus points. The combo system of the game requires you to continually kill people, lest your score starts to diminish.

On paper, it sounds like a great, no, make that awesome idea. So why isn’t the gameplay as fun in practice? For starters, there is barely a story to speak of; and i never realized how much a missed a cheesy storyline until it was gone. For various reasons that aren’t elaborated upon, eight different cars…er, characters are competing for an organization called simply “The Club,” which carries enough clout to hold a bloodsport in different exotic locales. And that’s pretty much it. Each character has short little back stories, but you won’t get to find them out unless you complete the full tournament with each character. Even then though, you won’t find much to make you push on from the story side of things.

Besides that, it just becomes routine after a few rounds. Enemies pop up, you shoot them, move on to the next batch of enemies, and repeat. It’s like an elaborate version of Hogan’s Alley. This can certainly hold your interest for awhile, but the thrill wears off once you realize there’s nothing new to encounter in the next round. You’ll still face the same punks while following a bunch of arrows to the exit. I suppose your motivation is to boost your skills in the game to a higher level, but getting good at the game becomes more about remembering where enemies pop out than anything else. It really feels like a third-person shooter at its very core.

I read a few reviews for the game before it came out that praised the multiplayer, but I don’t really see anything special about it. It’s basically your standard run-around-and-shoot-anything-that-moves gameplay. The only difference from time to time is whether you’re trying to get a certain amount of kills or a certain score to win. Like the single-player, this too can be entertaining for a short time until you realize there’s really no strategy except to just find another player to shoot at until one of you dies.

The Club would be more than a rental at a reduced price, but it’s definitely not worth $60. You might want to pick it up if it drops down to around $30-$40 or simply rent it. It’s certainly a great concept, but the game pretty much exhausts its creativity within a couple hours. Personally, I’m returning The Club today, and I doubt I’ll ever pick it up again. There’s just not enough substance to make me want more.

You can also check out 1Up’s official review here.

For me, just being within earshot of the term “card battles” is enough to make me break out in a rash. That’s why I was even surprised in myself when I started to become interested in a game like Culdcept Saga. I never played its PS2 precursor, but the idea of card battles mixed with a board game intrigued me enough to try out the demo. Sadly, the demo only fueled my interest in this game, practically forcing me to seek out a copy — probably the only one within ten miles of my house, I might add. So does this game’s charm still hold up after several hours of card/board gaming action? Well, yes and no. My full impressions after the break.

The story of Culdcept Saga is your usual Japanese fantasy RPG fare. You know the drill: a young boy lives as a peasant (or slave in this case) until he discovers he’s “the chosen one” from a female character that he meets up with. Of course, she’s a princess and convinces him to travel with her to her father’s kingdom, so he can fight the forces of evil and meet up with all manner of strange people whose primary form of conversing is through card battles. The story is all revealed through extremely boring cut scenes with overly philosophical dialogue delivered through absolutely terrible voice-acting. The only saving grace for this is that it’s all skippable; trust me, you won’t miss much.

The gameplay is like Magic: The Gathering fused with Monopoly. And no, I’m not trying to grasp at two games to loosely compare it to. I’m saying it’s obvious that the developers had both these classic tabletop games (or at the very least, Monopoly) in mind when they started piecing together this game. Tell me if this sounds familiar: you roll a die to move around a board, you take control of spaces on the board, other people who land on those spaces have to pay a toll, you can purchase upgrades to these spaces to increase their toll, and completing a lap around the board nets you a reward. See what I mean? Of course what changes the whole system up is the inclusion of different cards which can summon monsters, items, and spells. Rather than buying up a space on the board, you place a creature there to defend it. If an opponent lands on that space, they can either summon a creature to fight you for your territory or pay the toll. There are also items you can use to give your monsters an edge in battle and spells that conjure up different effects. These all cost “Magic Power,” which you gain through various means on the board. Your objective is to acquire a certain “Total Magic Power” over the course of the game before your opponents. I know this all sounds rather complicated — and it really is — but you get the hang of it after a few rounds.

So here’s what’s good in this game: the gameplay is absorbing and addictive. I’m not one to usually get into these sorts of things, but even I found myself spending a fair amount of time pondering which cards to put in my deck, which would work well with other cards, and so on. It is very easy get lost in the game for hours as you try to plan your next course of action, while simulatneously praying for a good roll of the die. Though there’s an element of randomness to it, the game does require some strategy to ensure you come out ahead of your opponents. As you continue playing, you’ll feel yourself adapting more readily to your enemy’s strategies while honing your own. In seamlessly fusing card battling with a tabletop board game, the developers have created an entirely new play experience that allows you to build your skills at your own pace. That and you can dress your character up in a pirate hat.

Unfortunately, there’s a main flaw to this innovative gameplay, and it’s a big one: the rounds are looooooong. Playing just one battle will take as long as an average game of Monopoly, and I am not exaggerating. The very first battle of the whole game takes over half an hour, and the last round I played — my tenth, I believe — took almost two hours. And if you lose, you have to start that match all over. While I do find myself getting absorbed into each round, there eventually comes a point where I focus more on just finishing up the match so I can move on to another board. Luckily, you can save mid-round and come back to it later, but I usually find myself dreading the thought of coming back to the same scenario more than once. You’re also compelled to finish each game even if you think you’re going to lose, because you can still gain cards that way. For its part, the computer is pretty speedy with its turns, so you won’t spend a lot of time waiting for to make your moves. Of course, you don’t have to focus all your attention on the game for every second. Honestly, I’ve written half of this article in between my turns, while the CPU does its business.

Culdcept Saga is to the game world like a novella is to the literary world. It’s not small enough to be a downloadable game, but it’s not fleshed out enough to be a full-priced retail title. Thus, it costs about $40: a price that it’s definitely worth, but just barely. If you’re a patient sort of person that normally enjoys either card battles or board games, you’re sure to find some fun here. Otherwise, feel free to move right along, because this is one game that is definitely geared to a specific clientele.

Also be sure to check out 1Up’s official review of Culdcept Saga.

I’ve been a fan of racing games for some time now. Everything from the Gran Turismo Series to Project Gotham Racing 4 is on my shelf. I have been sticking to simulation style racing for years and was never really interested in an arcade style racing game. I was speaking with Daniel, our marketing guru and he told me that he loved the instant action he was experiencing with Burnout Paradise. I paused for a while and realized that this was the first time Daniel had said something exciting about a racing game. He normally hates racing games. I knew that I had to go ahead and check out Burnout Paradise. Over 800 miles of racing later, I am completely hooked.

Burnout Paradise has completely changed my mind about arcade style racing games on home consoles. Unlike many other games, there really is no learning curve. The controls are simple and you learn all the more complicated moves as you go. You pretty much dictate exactly how fast you want to get good at this game. If you do decide to pick up this title, make sure you crank your stereo all the way up before inserting the disc. The opening track will certainly get anyone in the mood for some racing. This is the first next-gen racing title that stands way above the crowd.

Paradise City was well designed. There’s over 250 miles of road for you to explore. You can also explore those 250 miles at whatever pace you desire. In the city there are 120 unique events that you can take part in. Each event will reset as you get a better license. In addition to that, there are plenty of side activities to take part in. If playing online is your thing, there are over 300 challenges to be completed in the multiplayer arena. I can tell you that the challenges get crazier and crazier as you work your way towards 300. You might have to complete a set number of flat spins with a partner or you may have to jump off a bridge and crash into your partner in mid-air. The challenges are all unique and lots of fun. The game includes 75 cars that you have to unlock. This will take an incredible amount of time to achieve, but I assure you that you completely lose track of the time while playing this game. I played it for about 7 hours straight yesterday and it seemed like only a couple. There are three different categories of cars; ‘Aggression’, ‘Stunt’ and ‘Speed’ are your options. Unlike many other racing games, you really don’t have to worry too much about making mistakes and wrecking your cars. There are plenty of drive-through repair shops in the city that will take care of that. Another thing to note is that crashing is actually a lot of fun in this game.

Basically, this is one of those games that you pop in and the action immediately starts. You will be on the road and exploring Paradise City within a couple minutes of loading the game. It’s hard to describe what you will experience, but if you like speed, crashes and great special effects, this is the game for you. Personally, I like running other people off the road. Take downs are a big part of Paradise City driving.

Unfortunately, not everything is positive about this game. Fortunately, the negatives are so small, that it really doesn’t matter. This game is certainly my favorite title so far in 2008. The only complaints I have about the game are extremely minor. I wish the game had a built-in speedometer on the screen so you would know exactly how fast you are driving. The map and compass feature is awesome, but it’s visually difficult to see at times. There should have been an option to adjust the position of the on-screen map while driving. None of the cars in the game are real models. If they continue the series, I’d love to see some real cars in it. Finally, there needs to be an ability to record instant replays. The crashes and stunts you can pull off in this game are out of this world. It’s a shame there’s no way to capture these moments in the game.

All in all, Burnout Paradise is a complete blast. It’s one of the few games that’s great offline and great online. I hope you enjoyed my thoughts on Burnout Paradise. The official network review of the game can be found at 1Up.com.