Archive for the 'Reviews' Category
Review: Star Wars: The Force Unleashed [Demo]
Oh. My. God.
The demo for Star Wars: The Force Unleashed launched today for the PS3 and Xbox 360 consoles in their respective online stores.
I had the opportunity to play this demo several times through already, and I must admit: this is (so far) one of the best Star Wars games I’ve seen to date. A hard title to make, considering in the arena with it are games like Knights of the Old Republic (I and II), Republic Commando, Jedi Knight II: Jedi Academy, and Masters of Teras Kasi. Of course, the last one in that list is a joke, for those of you who know about Masters of Teras Kasi.
The Force Unleashed demo is fantastic. The demo left me drooling for more. I wanted to be able to smash through the entirety of the very active, very filled TIE Fighter factory it placed me in. The combat system, huge amount of combos, the great animatics, the nice array of Force powers, and the sheer amount offun involved in just this little demo are enough to sell me on the game already.
My favorite aspect of the game has to be the combat system. It’s a hack ‘n’ slash-style system, with the lightsaber attack mapped to X, Force lightning mapped to Y, Force push mapped to B, jump mapped to A (you can double jump by tapping A twice), and Force grab mapped to the right trigger. The beauty of this is that you can chain your different abilities together. For example, tapping X-Y infuses your lightsaber with Force lightning, strengthening it’s attack. X-Y-Y does a more devastating saber attack with Force lightning involved. X-B attacks with the lightsaber, then with a Force push, launching your opponent far and high, usually into a nearby wall.
The controls are very tightly designed, and very responsive, so it was not frustrating at all to learn the commands needed to send Stormtroopers flying into explosive barrels or off the edge of platforms. The animation in the game is fantastic. A Stormtrooper being lifted by your Force grab near another Stormtrooper will often lead him to cling desperately to his nearby ally, causing both to be lifted off the ground and easily disposed of. The physics are impressive, and give quite a realistic feel to such an outlandish Sci-Fi game.
The only complaint of the demo I have thus far is that it’s too short! It takes me about ten to fifteen minutes (if even that) to complete the demo on Sith Warrior mode. Were it longer, though, I’d probably not be here writing this review, now would I?
My rating for this demo is 10/10. A rarity, but a necessity in this case. This demo is a must-try!
I will write a full review of The Force Unleashed when it launches in September!
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Review: Too Human (Demo) (Xbox 360)
Uninspired and uninspiring.
While there are many words to describe Too Human, “fantastic” or “awe-inspiring” are not ones that you’ll find in this review of the demo that was released on the Xbox Live Marketplace.
While the visual are okay, the combat system of Too Human feels too boring to even justify it being in a game. Couple the combat system with a wacky control scheme (my guy ended up facing the wrong way while firing more often than hitting the target) and you have a recipe for turning what could potentially be a grade-A title into another B-class shot of mediocrity.
The cut-scenes can be skipped, which definitely ups the points in my book, since most of the demo is showing off where you’re walking around (which I presume is supposed to be a gorgeous backdrop), which looks like an uninspired castle-cave mixture. The soldiers you’re with keep mentioning that the cold and barren-looking place you’re in is abandoned, even though you keep getting assaulted by waves of mechanized enemies.
What’s more, the troops I was with repeated themselves a couple times, something about “making every shot count.” This was an issue with the original Halo on the Xbox, where the repetition all but drove me insane. But I digress.
Let me get back to the issue at hand: the combat system. The system involves using the right thumbstick to hack and slash using your sword, and while holding the L and R triggers (each fires a separate weapon), using the right thumbstick targets whoever’s in front of you. This is great, when it works. But my issue was while firing guns, when I’d change my target to the left, my guy would lose target and start shooting at nothing. Even more irritating, the sword play is incredibly boring to watch, and when you try to slash at a distant enemy, you do this idiotic-looking glide/skating motion that is poorly designed, to say the least.
For a demo, it definitely is not worth the amount of time it took to download. I’d say if you were looking forward to this game, the demo will let you down severely.
I’m not going to give this a number score just yet, since the full version isn’t out. If the combat system of the actual release is the same, expect to see this turn into a review for the full version.
Edit: I’ve decided to give this one a number score, since the full game is almost no different than the demo, unfortunately. I give it a 6/10, mainly for the lack of a decent combat system and the terrible dialogue.
No commentsFFCC: My Life as a King review (WiiWare)
After much deliberation (and hesitance to drop the 1,500 Wii Points), I decided to pick up Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King, a WiiWare title exclusively on the Wii through the Wii Shop.
While I was certainly arguing with myself over whether to get this title or not, since MetaCritic reports that it rates only 76/100. For the rather hefty Wii Shop cost of 1,500 Wii Points ($15 USD), I decided to go with this title mainly because of the fact that the overall reviews it had received were pretty positive. I was a bit disappointed in GameSpot’s reviews for all the WiiWare titles, since they scored all these new titles mediocre by their standards and most other review sites gave them higher reviews than just average.
I will say straight off that I do not regret spending the 1,500 points for this title. Square Enix is always known for polish, and this game looks fantastic for its small size and quick download. It handles well (I’ve experienced no control issues thus far) and has an interesting story line.
You play a young king who inherits a barren kingdom from his father. You must rebuild your old kingdom which was broken by miasma. By using the power of architek bestowed upon you by a large crystal in the middle of your kingdom, you can restore it to its former glory.
While the mechanics sound a little odd for a Final Fantasy game, I feel that branching into different genres, such as city building mixed with RPG style, is just what this series needs. Square Enix has never been dry on innovation, and this just shows that they’re not afraid to try new things. I applaud the company on the attempt, which they pulled off surprisingly well.
While the game is slow to get started on a new game, it quickly ramps up and you’re in full-blown city building/management mode, dealing with finances and elementium, the material needed to build. It’s kind of funny - in this game, you play the ruler of a city who sends people out to play the dungeon-crawling aspect of Final Fantasy games. This is an interesting twist, and it gives you a nice perspective on the entire series of games.
The depth and power of this game is surprising for its cost. For a game they easily could placed onto a disc and put on shelves, a downloadable game (with extras you can purchase with more Wii Points, such as new buildings, different clothing for the king or for the advisor Chime and the like) is a very interesting way for Square Enix to get their name known by the more casual crowd that seems to be the majority of Wii gamers.
If you’re interested in a different, yet refreshing, mix of city-building and RPG, this game is definitely right up your alley. The graphics are mildly kiddish, but if you’re at all familiar with Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles for the GameCube, you’ll understand what I mean. The audio’s fantastic, the graphics are polished, and the gameplay’s tuned, just like any other Square Enix title I’ve come across.
The Good: Solid, polished graphics, great sound, fun gameplay and a great story line, all contained in one tiny package. Several hours of gameplay for a small pricetag. Lots of depth, especially the ability to recruit adventurers and change their classes. Interesting mix of genres: city-building and roleplay. Refreshing and perfect for casual gamers and veteran gamers alike.
The Bad: Camera gets wacky sometimes. Beginning a new game consumes about a half-hour to an hour to become fully fun.
The Bottom Line: Get this game. For a slight cost, this fantastic game offers a rich and rewarding gameplay experience. Square Enix has definitely hit the mark with this title, and I hope that, in spite of some minor flaws, everyone will take the chance and get this game.
I rate this game a solid 9 out of 10.
1 commentSwitchBlade for World of Warcraft released.
SwitchBlade is an application that enables you to use your Xbox 360 controller (wired or wireless) to control World of Warcraft.
SwitchBlade is intended to make the typical “hunched over the keyboard” style of gaming World of Warcraft induces a more laid back experience, enabling one to relax with just a controller. I sat down for about an hour or two today and started playing on my little level 11 Undead warlock to give this app a try (no way in hell am I going to subject my other characters to the risk of such high repair bills).
It starts out simply enough. You download the program through Xfire (Xfire is required to get this application) and install it. A quick install that updates your 360 controller drivers should they need it, updates your .NET framework 2.0, and updates your DirectX 9.0c installs. Then it brings you to a wizard for quick setup to double-check that your drivers and the SwitchBlade app are up to date. Easy enough. The application then shows you the window for options.
The “Ready to Play! (Default)” option sets up the controls in an ingenious way - the right bumps is right-click, the left bumper is left-click. A is used as pressing the button 1, X is mapped as 2, Y is mapped as 3, and B is mapped as 4. Holding the right or left trigger enables the face buttons (A,X,Y,B) to use different keypresses. For example, holding left trigger while pressing A maps it to the “5″ key in-game as opposed to the “1″ key when the left trigger is not being held.
The controls by default are great. I made some minor modifications, like increasing mouse sensitivity because I like to be able to whip around my surroundings as quickly as possible. I also mapped the “Up-Arrow” on the controller to be a Shift-Right Click for full auto-looting, and the “Down-Arrow” to Control-1 to make my pet (my Voidwalker) attack my target.
In-game, this works surprisingly well. The commands are lightning responsive. I noticed no delays or issues from button press to reaction on-screen. I was quite pleased with the results. I did a few quests on my warlock using the controller (the majority of the Agamand Mills quests, for those of you who are familiar), and it worked pretty well.
Definitely a cool idea, but in reality it makes the process a lot less efficient. The quests I did do on my warlock took me about double the time they would’ve taken without the controller (using my mouse and keyboard). The learning curve for the controls is quite simple, so don’t get me wrong on that. It took me about ten to fifteen minutes to get totally comfortable with the controls. But after actually getting to where I needed to be, the killing was not as effective as it could’ve been. Granted, when I ran towards the town Brill, I stopped at a farm littered with zombies that were just asking to be annihilated. I was able to clear the farm in a matter of minutes, which leads me to believe that farming is pretty effective (and really laid-back) with the controller.
To sum up this review, while SwitchBlade is definitely a cool application (and makes handy use of the Xbox 360 controller on the PC), it truly wouldn’t be the best choice for a high-end World of Warcraft player to use. I can only imagine the nightmare this limited control scheme (I say limited because reaction times to events wouldn’t be nearly as quick, especially getting to potions and stuff unless you have them mapped on to your bars) would cause in a raid for a DPS. I shudder to think how healing would be done. I would recommend this application for a casual player, or one who farms frequently, as it makes the casual side of the game (solo questing, grinding, and farming) relatively easy and a little bit lower stress.
Pros:
- Very responsive
- Learning curve’s not too bad
- Great for soloing/farming
- Easy setup
- Totally free
- Customizable controls
- Updates .NET 2.0, DirectX 9.0c, and the 360 controller drivers for you
Cons:
- Wouldn’t be the best for high-end raids/dungeons
- Requires Xfire to install
- Less efficient for questing (looting takes more time without mapping auto-loot to controller)
My rating: 8/10
Links:
SwitchBlade release notes
SwitchBlade download page on Xfire
Final notes:
I would download it and give it a try. If it’s something you like, dive right in. But it’s not worth getting excited and changing your bar layout for it right away until you know if it behaves to your liking. It’s free, so there’s no real risk to you as a user for trying it. Happy gaming!
Image from http://www.switchbladegaming.com/whatis.cfm.