Gears of War- First Impressions

Recently, I spent some time with Gears of War; the first in a trilogy made exclusively for the 360 by Epic Games. Unfortunately, this time spent with the macho men of Gears was cut short due to me not actually having a 360; and therefore not being at home. None the less, i got far enough that I believe my opinion is worthwhile and fair, as I've had others collaborate with me on this review.

Gears of War is a third person shooter, developed by Epic Games for the X-Box 360. And before anyone says anything, yes i do realise this game came out ages ago, and the 3rd game of the trilogy is set to come out soon. For those people who are thinking that, just think of this as a special edition because Gears 3 looks fantastic. Or stop reading.

STORY
The story of Gears of War takes place on the planet Sera, 14 years after Emergence Day; the day marking the beginning of the Locust War against humanity. It begins as Marcus Fenix, a former COG soldier, is reinstated into the military after spending four years in prison for abandoning his military post in order to make a vain attempt to save his father, Adam Fenix.
Dominic Santiago successfully extracts him from the prison, and takes him to meet Delta Squad. The group seeks to obtain the "resonator", a device that will map "The Hollow", the underground caverns which the Locust inhabit.

The story isn't particularly well explained early on, though certain plot elements like Emergence Day and the resource of "Imulsion" are touched upon and quickly detailed. As far as I could gather, the story wasn't one of the deepest that I have ever seen in a game, but was adequate none the less.

PRESENTATION
Gears looks extremely good; the graphics are high quality and character models and landscapes are detailed. However, there isn't much of a colour scheme here, with colours normally ranging from boltgun metal to black; though what could you expect from a war torn, horrific world?
The settings for each act are fairly varied; though the ones I played through were quite similar, save for the time of day. Though I do know that levels can range from these destroyed city landscapes, to Imulsion mines, to a heavily armoured freight train.
The sound in Gears of War isn't as amazing as the rest of it. The music is great, setting the tone and mood for each section, but gunshots don't seem as powerful as they ought to. The voice acting is quite good, though I can't help but feel that the men of Delta Squad are trying a bit too hard to be macho. Macho and manly aren't the same thing boys; and I think they just missed the mark. By no means is the voice acting terrible, it just made it hard for me to truly like many of the characters.

GAMEPLAY
This is where Gears shines brighter than many games, though its not without its faults. Gameplay is mostly a lot of excellent 3rd person shootouts, revolving around battlefields littered with chest high walls to take cover behind. The gameplay has been referred to as Stop and Pop gameplay, and that's a fitting description as any.

You see, while you could stand and go completely Rambo at whoever you wanna kill, it probably won't work too well. Bullets hurt, and you'll soon discover that. The art to playing Gears comes from getting to cover, then picking your shot and ducking back; moving out of cover only to shoot, or run to different cover.
And the enemy knows this too. They'll use cover efficiently, even flanking you if your mind wanders, forcing you to watch the battle at all times.

My biggest problem with Gears comes with the context sensitive button. Alot of actions are tied to the A button, such as run, dodge, take cover or hurdle over obstacles. Now, running may seem simple, but not when you get sucked into cover whenever you sprint by it. Another problem i had with the running is that, despite it looking cool, and having a distinct "run for your life" feel to it, it was annoying to control,as you could never make tight, or even normal turns. If you, say, want to run to your left, you'd better be looking that way, or the best you can do is run straight, and veer left slowly.

Now that my minor complaints are out of the way, lets continue. Gears has quite a few weapons and attacks; including your standard SMG's and Sniper rifles. However, you also get cool weapons like the lancer; an Assault Rifle with a chainsaw on the end, and the Torque Bow, with bolts that explode when they connect to enemies. Oh, also; there is a close range attack with your grenades! This is a very welcome addition to melee attacking in shooter games.

Oh, and you can curb stomp. Gears of War is nothing if not gory, and most gamers will welcome that. I know I do. Though i didn't experience many different types of enemies to gore it up on. Sure, there were variations of the low level grubs that hold different weapons; but aside from that there were ceiling running Wretches, bat-like Kryll who swarm and kill you if you step into the night, and the Berserker; who more or less served as a boss fight.
Now, it goes without saying that I do want to play this game more; but i Hope to see more variation in the later levels.

Speaking of a lack of variation; its all well and good to add vehicle sections, but if you do, you should make it a core gameplay mechanic. Now, me saying this is a bit odd, as I didn't get to complete Gears; but I've heard it lacks vehicle sections to break up the slicey, shootey 3rd person action. That's ok, but i know theres at least one. So why bother with making just the one?

REPLAYABILITY
Gears of War has a fun campaign (from what I've seen) and I personally want to play through it multiple times, not only by myself; but in the co-op mode provided. Not many games feel like a co-op mode is necessary, but in Gears, you're always with at least one other guy, so it makes sense. As well as that, there are online multiplayer modes for anyone brave enough to stick their head out into Xbox Live (only to get it cut off with a lancer).

OVERVIEW
In all, Gears of War is mostly what I expect from a game. It has excellent gameplay with solid controls and its own unique character and level style, that fits the not-entirely-serious tone of the game (for example, the soldiers who look like they've been taking bullshark testosterone since they were 6). To me, Gears is a game that can laugh at itself, but can also be rather serious; what with the game world being set in a war torn world over run with giant things that want to kill you.
Sure, it has its problems, but Gears of War is one of those titles that you want to keep playing, just cause its full of awesome.

That's all for this week, I'm not sure what I'll be reviewing next week... perhaps Super Smash Bros. Brawl? Or another wii title? I haven't reviewed a wii title yet, so that could be interesting.
Anyway, see you next time!

Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots

This week i felt compelled to play through Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots again; what with the Metal Gear series ranking up there in my all time favourites. The series has long been known for its longer than necessary cutscenes and codec conversations, as well as its solid stealth gameplay (no pun intended).

Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots is a stealth action video game developed by Kojima Productions for the PlayStation 3 console. The game was directed by Hideo Kojima and made its worldwide release on June 12, 2008, ten years after the release of Metal Gear Solid and twenty years after the North American release of Metal Gear. (interesting facts for you all)

STORY
Now, Metal Gear games have always been story heavy, at least, they have been since Metal Gear Solid. MGS4 is no exception, and it expects that the player has understood and accepted everything that has happened before it. To sum the story up; MGS4 is set 5 years after MGS2, in a time where the world economy relies on continuous war, fought by PMCs, which outnumber government military forces. PMC soldiers are outfitted with nanomachines to enhance their abilities and control the stress on the battlefield.
The control network created through these nanomachines is called Sons of the Patriots (SOP), and Liquid Ocelot is preparing to hijack the system. You play as Sold Snake (now known as Old Snake), who accepts a request from (Colonel) Roy Campbell to terminate Liquid. The story also revolves around Snake's accelerated aging, and the FOXDIE virus circulating within him.

The story, if a little convoluted, is intricate and fairly well written; with likeable characters and interesting situations to say the least. But as I said before, a lot of this story really depends on the players knoiwledge of previous MGS games.
If you're new to the serious, a lot of the little references and nods to previous games will go straight over your head, but if you enjoy the series, the story of MGS4 will not disappoint.

PRESENTATION
A well written and interesting story is only as good as the manner in which you tell it. Thankfully, the graphics in MGS4 are superb, and settings vary from The Middle East, to Eastern Europe; with each setting having its own unique gameplay feature. For example, you may be sneaking through gunfights in the Middle east, but in South America, you may attack the PMC companies to make the local militia friendly.
The soundtrack in Metal Gear Solid 4 fits in as well as any other MGS game, with epic tracks to accompany Hideo Kojima's epic story.

As well as this, Snake has his own iPod, so many songs from MGS past will become available to the player through exploration. Another thing that comes back from past Metal Gear Solid games, is the superb voice acting. Whats the point of having an hour long cutscene, if the person acting in it is shit, right?

My biggest problem with the presentation, is that many of the cutscenes are extremely long I'm quite sure on one occasion that it went past the hour mark. However, considering my adoration of the story, this problem doesnt seem like much of one in the end. At least there arent hour long codec conversations anymore.

GAMEPLAY
Guns of the patriots plays a little differently than previous games under the MGS banner. Controls are solid as usual, but instead of playing from a top down perspective, you control snake over the shoulder, like a 3rd person shooter. This can also be changed at any time to control Snake in 1st person. I found this to be extremely useful, seeing as many situations will force you to take the direct approach, and fight. The answer isnt always found inside a cardboard box.

While the gunfighting gameplay is tight, what with the Drebin Store allowing you to buy guns, ammo and upgrades; the stealth gameplay lives up to its reputation. You can procure many items to use, such as cardboard boxes or even Playboy magazines, to slip by the enemy unnoticed.
It's nice to know that if you do fuck up the stealth, you can fight your way out.

There are also many cool side gameplay features I'm gunna just allude to, but you wont know what I mean till you play the game. They're extremely unique in the MGS game style, but break up the sneaking/shooting gameplay nicely.

REPLAYABILITY
For all the Metal Gear Solid fans, this game has a number of titles and secret items that should have you playing through this game over and over again. I'm already on my third play through. For those who aren't so interested in that, there is Metal Gear Online, for all you wannabe Solid Snakes out there. No trophies are available, however it is a solid title without them anyway.

OVERVIEW
Metal Gear Solid 4 is a must have game, not only for anyone who is familiar with Hideo Kojima's previous works, but for anyone who owns a PS3. No, even those who don't should get this, if only to look at it and imagine playing it. Ok, fans of the series will love this, those of whom who aren't will have hours of fun with the solid gameplay, but may choose to skip the detailed story entirely. It is one of those games that depends on backstory quite heavily.

So thats another review, and i hope people are reading this. Leave Feedback, somewhere, please! See you next time!

Brütal Legend: First Impressions

This week has been a slow gaming week for me; in that I havent been playing many new games that have NOT been reviewed on this blog site before. Mainly I've been chasing elusive trophies like Mario chasing that idiot princess of his.
However, today I picked up Brütal Legend; and I've decided that I will do a first impressions review of it.

Brütal Legend was created by Tim Schafer's developers at Double Fine, and was published by Electronic Arts. It is an open world Action/adventure/real time strategy game (if you can believe all that) with a huge heavy metal theme.

STORY
Brütal Legend follows the tale of Eddie Riggs, the worlds greatest Roadie; who is crushed by a falling peice of stage while working for a "wannabe" heavy metal band. He soon finds himself transported to a magical world where his guitar has superpowers, and the land looks like it was ripped straight from a heavy metal album cover.
While in this world, he partakes in a resistance movement against an evil force that controls the land; becoming a hero as he goes.

The story takes a while to get going; at the beginning, you are as clueless as Eddie is as to what is going on and why he's in this mystical world. Once it gets going, however, it is pretty interesting and has a lot of humour and charm to it.

PRESENTATION
As I mentioned above, the entire landscape looks as if it was ripped from a heavy metal album cover, or music video. There are mountains made of giant bones, cliffs made of thousands of Amplifiers, and rock formations in the shape of guitars! It is a metal lovers paradise, filled with characters and creatures that really embody this theme.
Along with the heavy metal style comes an awesome soundtrack that is going to appeal to most, if not all, head bangers. The set list ranges from songs by Motley Crue and Diamond Head, to Slayer and Anthrax.

The voice acting is also pretty strong, featuring many cameo appearances by rock gods like Lemmy Kilmeister (of Motorhead) and Ozzy Osbourne himself; as well as Tim Curry and Jack Black (as protagonist, Eddie Riggs)

GAMEPLAY
If only presentation and charm were enough to save this product of the Metal Gods. I'm not saying that Brütal Legend's gameplay is particularly bad; its just that Double Fine seem to have tried to cram too much into one game.
Here we have an action adventure game, with an open world to explore. Sounds pretty cool. But then we add in the genre of RTS, but you aren't some general watching from afar. No, sir, you are in the midst of the battle; so not only do you have to command your units and defend your bases, you also have to worry about your own ass.

On the action adventure basis, Brütal Legend works rather well; despite the lack of a jump button, which i found odd. You have guitar attacks (ranged) and Axe attacks (standard melee); as well as a bunch of Guitar Solos; acting as a rhythm based quick time event that work in a variety of ways.
These uses range from Face Melting, to summoning your dragster, "The Deuce".

On the RTS front, I'm not sure I'm one to comment well on it. I've never been a fan of rts, but I'm willing to give it a try. However, RTS seems to work best when viewing the entire battlefield, and having the accuracy to command certain squads to do your bidding. In Brütal Legend, this is difficult as your camera is constantly stuck behind Eddie in 3rd person view mode; and more often than not, you'll have multiple enemies attacking you.

Playing the game on Brütal difficulty probably doesn't help my opinion on it, but so be it. As much fun as Brütal Legend can be, it can also get frustrating.

REPLAYABILITY
In Brütal Legend, not only do you have the single player campaign, but you also have a multiplayer aspect; in the form of a Player vs Player RTS battle; with each player commanding the leader of their army in 3rd person view. There is also a multitude of side quests and collectibles to find, so compulsive gamers, or achievement/trophy whores will be at this one for a while.

OVERVIEW
Despite having charm and humour in bucket loads, Brütal Legend falls short in the gameplay department for me. Its as if the developers threw too much into the game, and p[rayed that it would work. Although, the presentation and theme are enough to keep me coming back, at least until it is finished.
If you're a metal fan, this may suit you; however the RTS gameplay might ruin the experience a bit.

Sorry about the first impressions review guys, but I was a bit pressed for time, as well as a game to review. So, enjoy it anyway, and keep coming back to read... please? See you next time!

InFamous

This week, I've been watching and hearing a lot of things concerning the PS3's upcoming sequel to their 2009 smash hit, InFamous. And to be completely honest, I'm extremely excited about it. Despite the main character makeoiver (which has apparantly been dioscarded), InFamous 2 looks like a solid sequel to a truly enjoyable game. So, capitalizing on my InFamous 2 excitement, I've decided to do a Restrospective of the original.

Also, before I start, I want to take note of something quickly. In the days of the PSXand PS2, sony had 3 "Mascot" characters to help set them above the competition. These were Crash Bandicoot and Jak (& Daxter) from Naughty Dog studios; Spyro and Ratchet (& Clank) from Insomniac; and Sly Cooper from Sucker Punch.
Is it only me who has noticed that these studios have moved onto more mature games; such as Uncharted, Resistance and InFamous; respectively?

Anyway, ON WITH THE REVIEW!

InFamous is a 3rd person, open world, action game; developed by Sucker Punch Studios for the PS3. It was released in 2009 and it's sequel is scheduled for release in 2011.

STORY
InFamous puts players in the shoes of Cole McGrath, an average man working as a Bike Messenger in Empire City. It is the events of one of his deliveries that sets the destruction of Empire City and the empowerment of Cole in motion. The story follows Cole's journey to fix the crisis that he has seemingly brought upon the City.

This game is well written and interesting; with plenty of plot twists to keep players wanting to see what happens next. An easy way to describe the story is to say that it plays out just like a Comic Book; full of villains, heroics and epic plot twists.

PRESENTATION

The graphics of Infamous are quite amazing, whether you're looking at destroyed buildings, people dying in the streets, or the effects of one of Cole's many electric powers. My only problem with the look of the game is the repetitive feeling i get from playing through dozens of city blocks that look really similar. It's not a huge problem, as there are many more unique locations, but it does tend to cheapen the experience for me.

Another great visual point for InFamous is the cutscenes. The cinematic cutscenes are still images that look like they've been ripped from an extremely cool graphic novel; except that certain effects are happening in and around the images. However, in-game "Cinematics" (if you want to call them that) seem rather sketchy in comparison, and the characters seem pretty lifeless at times.

The dialogue is well written, and the voice acting is quite well done, with interesting voices for Cole and his best friend Zeke in particular. Some may find Cole to have a voice that is too gritty to be a good hero, but i found it refreshing from the sarcastic pretty boys that are normally voiced by Nolan North (see Prince of Persia, or Nathan Drake).

While I'm on the subject of Infamous' presentation, i wanna say that while the city feels alive, its not to the extent of, say, Grand Theft Auto. While you will see pedestrians, and cars being driven, it just seems that a bit more variety could have been added. What I mean by this, is that sometimes, a pedestrian will run up to you and ask you to heal theiur friend. WShile this is pretty cool, it happens far too often for it to stay fresh.

GAMEPLAY

At its core, InFamous plays like your standard 3rd person action game; L1 brings up the aiming reticule, R1 to Fire; but its Cole McGraths climbing and urban exploration skills that really differentiate this game to others of the genre. SuckerPunch have successfully created a world in which almost EVERYTHING is climbable. If you see a ledge, you can be damb sure that its safe to grab. Wanna climb that pipe? Go right ahead! Anything that you see that may give Cole a steady hold, probably will.

This is all well and good, however, it sometimes leads to Cole getting bogged down trying to reach the rooftops, then making his way across this destroyed landscape. This is mainly a problem in the first few hours of the game, though; as you soon get access to Thruster powers, and the power to zip along powerlines and traintracks using coles electric powers.

Besides reclaiming Empire City from 3 violent gangs with superpowered leaders, much of the game is centred around restoring the city; which at its most basic for, is returning the power to individual city sections. Each time Cole does this, he earns a new power; which can range from shock grenades, all the way up to summoning a mega lightning bolt which is controllable with the six-axis motion controller.

Now, I just mentioned 3 gangs of Crazies and their superpowered leaders, all of whom Cole must stop, so that life may return to normal. There are also 3 islands to explore. This means one gang to each island, which works fairly well; but a little bit of variety never hurt anyone.

Thats not to say the gangs are boring. Each has its standard troops, but the also have unique "Conduits" (superpowered soldiers); such as the Reaper Conduit who can teleport and send shockwaves at Cole, or the Dustmen conduit who telekineticly forms a Mech Suit out of grabage, that can destroy Cole if he isn't careful.

Although the enemies definitley do become more of a challenge as players progress, it is somewhat OVER countered by the powers that Cole recieves; sometimes making InFamous seem rather easy.

As well as the aforementioned gameplay features; InFamous also makes use of a Moral Choice System. Many of these choices culminate in what the game calls "Kharma Moments", where Cole weighs out the pros and cons of each action that can be taken; which both lets the player know what their options are, as well as making the evil option seem reasonable, yet still evil.

All that a players Kharma level means, however, is that Cole looks a little different, and has access to slightly different powers. For example, play as Infamous Cole, and your attacks will cause more damage; whereas good Cole willg ain abilities that make his attacks more precise, so as to limit collateral damage.

REPLAYABILITY

InFamous is packed with things to keep players interested in it; such as collectable hunts (such as searching for blast shards and dead drops) as well as an alternate story, for players to choose the opposite choice they had in their first playthrough. Though there is no online feature for InFamous, the collectables and second playthrough will rack up some more time that you can spend with this game.

OVERVIEW

InFamous is an extremely strong game, with an excellent visual style, great voice acting and fun/solid gameplay. However, players may get bogged down and fed up with the travel system in the early hours of play; and some in-game cutscenes look rather shabby. A lack of variety on locations also affects this title, but only a little bit. Despite these minor gripes, InFamous 2 is definitely worth playing.
I totally can't wait for its sequel; I'm really looking forward to zapping bad guys in the nads again. Anyways, until next time, i would like feedback, but no one seems to listen, so whatever. See you next time!

Modnation Racers

I've been looking forward to this game for a while, because i was such a big fan of both Mario Kart and LittleBigPlanet. Modnation Racers is a kart racing game, exclusive to the PS3, developed by United Front Games to follow the motto of LittleBigPlanet; "Play, Create, Share". This combines the user creativity of LBP with the kart racing goodness of Mario kart, but does it work? Lets find out...

STORY
The story of Modnation Racers follows young racer "Tag" as he rises through the ranks of the MRC; all the while standing up for the creative, and against bland corporate sellouts.
This tale is presented through a sports show, hosted by commentators Biff and Gary Reasons; who sum up the happenings of each round of competition. Though it isn't the best story around, it has a lot of heart, and an good amount of humour that fits the game perfectly.
The lack of a notable story means there isn't much to comment on. Its not a work of written art, but its enjoyable for what it is.

PRESENTATION
The graphic style and presentation of modnation racers is extremely cartoony; and unrealistic. The "Mods", or characters, all have exaggerated heads, detailed with cartoonish facial features (all of which, the player can choose and customize).

The sound effects of Modnation follow suit, and are very cartoony; featuring explosions, lightning strikes and the screech of tires sliding around the corners. The voice acting in modnation is enjoyable; and fits the style so perfectly, with each character having their own personality conveyed through their voice and dialogue.

GAMEPLAY
At its core, Modnation Racers is a strong Kart Racing game; following the likes of mariokart or crash team racing. Players race through a number of themed circuits against multiple racers.
The controls for Modnation are extremely familiar; which may be due to the familiarity of the gameplay.

At the disposal of players are various power ups, in the form of weapons and speed boosts. Weapons are picked up off the road, and boost pads are laid out around all the tracks; just like many other kart racing games. However, racing with style also rewards players with BOOST which can be used for both speed boosts, and Shields to defend against incoming projectiles.

While the gameplay is solid, the main selling point for this game is its Creation features. Players are able to not only create custom characters, but also custom karts and tracks. The editors for each of these allow extreme amounts of detail, meaning that if you can dream it, chances are you can make it. After creating these masterpieces, they can be uploaded to the system, where other players can download them.
This also means that thousands of karts, mods and tracks are available to players, for free.

While not as detailed as the littlebigplanet system of creation, the Modnation Creation Station is simple to use, and allows for extensive modification to existing mods, as well as creation of new ones.

REPLAYABILITY
Due to the user generated content of this title, theres always a limitless amount of mods and karts to get your hands on; as well as millions of tracks to race through, both online and in splitscreen. I can guarantee that you'll sit for hours just customizing your racers.
However, there comes a point when you realize that it is still JUST a kart racing game, however it does what it needs to; and it does it extremely well.

OVERVIEW
Under the "Play, Create, Share" coat that modnation wears, is an extremely solid kart racing game; with endless possibilities, as far as racer, vehicle and track customization is concerned. Though the creation aspect isn't as deep as LBP, and the kart racing isn't as polished as Mario kart; Modnation is a solid combination of both and is worth a look.
I kind of rushed this one out, but i think it turned out pretty good. I'm gunna keep playing this for a while, so i can figure out what next weeks review holds. FEEDBACK PLEASE!!!!!!! See you next time!