Assassins Creed 2

Since I'm waaaay to excited about the Assassins Creed multiplayer footage I've seen, i decided to go back and play through both previous games. Kept me busy for a few days, and I figured I may as well do a review of one of the 2; and I chose AC2.
Assassins Creed 2 is an action adventure game developed by Ubisoft Montreal for the PS3, X-Box 360 and PC.

STORY
Although being a sequel, Assassins Creed 2's story doesn't follow immediately on from the first game. Well, it does and it doesn't. The Assassins Creed games follow Desmond Miles, though most of the action follows the memories of his ancestors, through the use of the Animus.
You see, the Assassins and the Knights Templar have been waging a secret war for ages, and to get an edge over their adversaries, Desmond searches his ancestors memories for any information that is particularly valuable to the cause.

The story is definitely an interesting one; providing players with an alternate history where many of history's great leaders were in fact Templar's, and their exploits can be traced back to artifacts known as pieces of Eden. Convenient little plot devices created for this story that sounds like its written by a team of conspiracy theorists. Still interesting though.

PRESENTATION
The Graphics of Assassins Creed 2 are quite fantastic, even by today's high standards; and lighting/ water effects really make the environments seem realistic. However, you're soon reminded that you are in fact in a machine; by way of graphical glitches and the HUD. I like the presentation, but at times, the Animus lacks personality (for example, during loading screens).

Voice acting is pretty impressive, with the majority of characters sporting an Italian accent that doesn't go over the top. A lot of the lines are also delivered in Italian which certainly add to the immersion. (The English is explained, as the Animus auto translates memories apparently).

GAMEPLAY
Gameplay in Assassins Creed 2 focuses mainly around fighting and free running, both of which work extremely well. The missions you get sent on are pretty varied (or extremely varied when compared to the first game) but at the expense of the freedom to plan your assassinations.
While this isn't a huge loss, it does take away from the feeling of being an assassin, that the first game did so well, despite being extremely repetitive.

Apparently, the Renaissance was a time for great achievements in the field of murder, among many other things. New assassination techniques, as well as a variety of weapons make the combat truly fun. The free running is also a lot faster and more fluid than the first title in the series, and the addition of a notoriety system (albeit an imperfect one) make this game a stellar improvement over the previous game.

The biggest downfall from Assassins Creed 1 is the massive drop in difficulty. Although enemy AI is more intelligent, they simply aren't vicious enough to be able to take your character down. And most fights can be won with patience and counter attacks.

REPLAYABILITY
Being an open world game, Assassins Creed 2 offers the players a massive sandbox to explore, including Italian cities such as Venice or Florence. Found in these cities are side missions (assassinations, courier etc) as well as collectibles to find. There are a ton of feathers to find in the game, as well as "The Truth" files to look out for. Trophy Hunters and Achievement Whores will have alot of fun with this one.

OVERVIEW
With an interesting and deep storyline, well executed game mechanics and a lot of things to do and find; Assassins Creed 2 truly was one of last years better games. It was far from perfect however, as the low difficulty level and often repetitive gameplay stood in its way. Oh, and I fucking hate the random Lute playing douchebags. I swear, they hunt in packs. (Although they aren't AS annoying as the beggar women and super strong lepers from the first game.)

In summary, if you haven't played this game, i suggest you do. It's fun, and is bound to keep you entertained for quite some time.

Next week, my Dead Rising 2 review. Thank god the Australian Ratings Board let this one through with little/no modifications.

New Super Mario Bros. Wii

A few weeks back, I had a chance to sit down with a classic Nintendo game, with a current day make-over. This game is "New" Super Mario Bros. for the Wii. I figured I may as well review it, seeing as it is quite a rarity; A wii game I truly enjoyed.
Again, could be due to the minimal use of motion controls.

New Super Mario Bros. Wii is is a side-scrolling platformer, published and developed by Nintendo for the Wii video game console. The game was released on November 12, 2009 in Australia.

STORY
This review will be starting with one of my least favourite things about this game; and in fact, many games. The story begins at Princess Peach's birthday, where Mario, Luigi and two differently coloured Toad characters are celebrating with the birthday girl. All seems well until a large cake rolls in; out pops Bowser Jr. and "The Koopalings" (that's right, Bowsers children pop out of a cake like a stripper) and guess what they do.
That's right! They kidnap Princess Peach. Again. Once again proving that the Mario series, much like the Zelda series, are just ONE game in a number of different dresses.

Seriously, are Nintendo writers just not trying anymore?

PRESENTATION
Crappy story aside, the game looks and sounds really cool; from the 3D graphics on a 2D plane, to the retro sound effects that resonate from the wii-mote.
The 2.5D graphics are really cool, and hit home on the retro front of the game, as do the sound effects. The soundtrack was also ripped from previous games; however, unlike the story, will never get old.

...Until of course, you hear it over and over again. As awesome as the classic Mario music is, it doesn't hurt to make some new additions.
Really, what more can I say about this games look and sound... Its just like a classic Mario game, though perhaps too much like one.

I suppose the lesson here is.. You can have too much of a good thing.

GAMEPLAY
Just like everything else in this review so far, the gameplay is more or less ripped straight from the Nintendo Archives of Mario. Sidescrolling platformer gameplay is the core of this game, and I'm struggling to think of anything else this game gave me.
As little variety as there is in this title, its done extremely well. Though that should be expected, since New Super Mario Bros. Wii has been done many, many times before.

Its amazing how little there is to really comment on, yet i still found it fun. Of course, this game has a large focus on multiplayer; as many areas require the aid of at least one other player, but some of the biggest problems I found with the gameplay occurred because I was playing with a friend.

Multiplayer platforming in NSMBW is like putting cricket balls in a washing machine, and watching the madness unfold. Characters just bounce off of each other if they get particularly close, and are in the air; and I often found myself accidentally picking my friend up... then throwing her down a pit. Completely unintentional. I swear.

Oh, and the game is easy. REALLY EASY. And I'm pretty sure you have the ability to just watch Luigi perform a walkthrough of the level, before you even take a try.

REPLAYABILITY
Theres a lot of hidden stuff to find in this game, and getting 100% will include multiple level run throughs, with more than one player. The game is still really easy, and you'll breeze through it.
Also, without the incentive of achievements or trophies, most players won't bother going back through the game.

OVERVIEW
This was an extremely short review, simply because theres not enough to comment on. What little there is, however, is done quite well; fans of the original games are definitely in for a treat, whereas newcomers will probably enjoy this too. Although, for newcomers, the retro soundtrack and sound effects might get a bit boring after a while.
In all, an enjoyable platforming experience (so long as its in single player) and one of the better reasons for buying a wii in my opinion.

So... that was shorter than I thought it was going to be. Next week, Assassins Creed 2; because I'm just so excited for Assassins Creed: Brotherhood. See you guys next time.

Halo 3

In celebration of the release of the final Bungie addition to the Halo series, I've decided to review Halo 3; one of the most popular games on the Xbox 360 to date. Halo 3 is a first-person shooter video game developed by Bungie for Xbox 360, and was released back in September of 2007.

STORY
Halo 3 follows on from Halo: Combat Evolved, and Halo 2; which tell the story of a SPARTAN super soldier, known as Master Chief, and humanity's struggle against the alien force known as the Covenant.
In Halo 3, Master Chief and the human forces try to stop the Covenant from activating all of the Universes Halo Rings, which would destroy all sentient life in the universe.
If you've never played the game series before, its a fairly simple storyline; though many things aren't really explained for newcomers. Characters such as Cortana would need explaining for someone who had not played through a Halo campaign before, but as its the third in the series, i wouldn't expect much explanation as it is.

The story as a whole is rather deep, though not the deepest I've experienced. It involves some excellent character development through Master Chief, and his Cortana flashbacks; and has some fairly unforeseen twists.

PRESENTATION
During gameplay, the graphics are quite impressive, with a wide range of colours that sets Halo 3 apart from so many other shooters these days. Chapters are fairly short which means environments don't get too repetitive, and there is quite a large amount of variation.
Cut-scenes, on the other hand, don't look as impressive; and the leap from gameplay graphics to CG cut-scenes isn't a noticeable one. This may be intended; though, i for one prefer my cutscenes to look good.

In game music sets the tone of each level quite well, especially during the huge, climactic battles that will be encountered. Along with this, the voice acting is fairly above average; although Master Chief himself sounded rather bland.

My biggest problem with the sound design, is that almost all the guns sound like shitty Mattel toys. If I'm firing an alien weapon that can explode a man, I want to hear how powerful it is! Kudos go to the gravity hammer for its powerful sound.

The dialogue is actually better than I expected, what with the Covenant sounding all high and mighty and biblical, while the humans are all quite boring; which is strange, because they're on the verge of annihilation.

GAMEPLAY
Halo 3 is your typical, non realistic, first person shooter; guns are over the top, jumping is like you're on the moon, and you have regenerating armour. Controls work well, and there are a variety of guns, melee weapons, grenades and equipment that can be utilized to take down your opponent. Alot of these guns are, frankly, kind of lame; but for every few of these, theres a gravity hammer or spartan laser ready for you to kick ass with.

Enemy AI is smart, to a degree, however enemies often neglect cover and charge your position. In fact, one of my biggest problems with Halo 3 is that the gunplay requires little, to no thought.
Cover is fairly useless, since enemies will charge you all the time, and your armour takes enough damage then regenerates fast enough, that you can just hide for a few seconds before killing everyone else.

That said, at the end of the day, halo 3's gameplay is still really fun. It's not the tactical shooter you may be looking for, but damn it's awesome to stick plasma grenades to what would appear to be midgets.

OH! And vehicle sections. Theres lots of cool vehicles to mess around with, from tanks, to the Warthog; Ghosts and Banshees, to the Mongoose and what would appear to be a VTOL (Helicopter thing). They're all cool, and mix up gameplay slightly, however the controls for these are a bit sloppy. Handling on the warthog is particularly bad, though they're apparently made out of cardboard, due to the ease of flipping it over.

REPLAYABILITY
Halo 3's campaign is extremely short. Like, so short, i finished it in less than a day; without finding it too much of a challenge.
The replayability of Halo 3 lies mostly in its multiplayer; however that's not to say that multiplayer is all there is. As well as multiplayer, there are the forge and theatre modes; which allow for some fun down time between fighting.

Forge is basically a level editor, and Theatre mode allows you to replay moments from both multiplayer, and the single player campaign. This is an excellent tool for Machinima directors, though I'm pretty sure the best already use it.

Along with that, there are a multitude of Achievements to be earned; and they range from simple, to frustrating; including Finishing the campaign on Legendary.

OVERVIEW
In summary, Halo 3 isn't the most complex game around. In fact, its one of the simplest shooters to just pick up and play. Couple that with a detailed story and somewhat believable characters, and you have a fairly good game. Not exactly the perfect game that so many fanboys rant about; but definitely a decent play.

I honestly had fun with this title, and I can't wait to try out Halo: Reach for myself, as it looks vastly better than this entry to the series.

So theres my Halo review. Pretty fun, but far from perfect. Next week I'll be reviewing New Super Mario Bros. Wii... granted, its not really New anymore.
Anyways, see you next time!

Super Smash Bros. Brawl

Tonight I wanna post a review of one of my favourite Wii games. Wanna know why it's one of my favourites? It doesn't use the motion controls! Hurray!!!.... Well.. aside from the character selection screens, but shuttup! I just want to set this straight, motion gaming is not cool in my eyes; immersion in a game requires your thoughts to be transferred into precise actions, which can be far better done with a button press instead of an actual movement.

Now, on to the review!

Super Smash Bros. Brawl is the third installment in a series of fighting games featuring an all star roster of Nintendos most popular characters. It was published by Nintendo for the Wii in 2008.

STORY
The story mode of SSBB introduces a group of antagonists called the Subspace Army, who are led by the Ancient Minister, and follows each individual characters attempts to stop them from taking over. Its a fairly weak story, lacking in dialogue, but featuring well rendered cutscenes. There isn't much (or any) character development, since players know most of (if not all) the Nintendo characters already. The story is really a weak wrapping for the gameplay in this case.

PRESENTATION
As i said before, the cutscenes in this game look stunning, and are one of my favourite parts of this game. Alongside that are the excellent in game graphics, coupled with the catchy/familiar tunes played on each stage, giving each location its unique feel.
There are also points where characters will talk during gameplay (i.e. taunts) and the voice acting here sounds spot on, especially for Sonic and Solid Snake. Its really a Nintendo fan boys wet dream, although non nintendoids may be able to appreciate its looks and sounds as well.

GAMEPLAY
Super Smash Bro.s Brawl isn't your standard fighting game, by any means. Players control 1 of 35 playable characters over 41 selectable stages; where the objective in most game types is to knock your opponent off of the stage. This may be off either side, off the bottom of the screen, or out of the ceiling. This gets easier the higher your opponents damage goes, and its all a fairly simple interface to understand.
Controls work fairly well, and nothing really bothers me about this game in the way of glitches or bugs; but SSBB strikes me as the kind of game you want to play with friends. Strangely then, you are forced to unlock the majority of the character roster; meaning that if you take it to a friends party, guess who won't be playing as Solid Snake!

Gameplay gets a tad repetitive after a while, and the variations on game type do very little to avoid this. Every match will consist of you beating the crap out of a beloved Nintendo character; and while that is acceptable, it will get boring to most gamers.

Before I forget, there is a single player campaign of sorts, which takes the form of a side scrolling platformer/beat em up; which plays like a normal match, except all the maps are basically the same and the screen scrolls along with your character. Would have been more fun if it weren't so lengthy.

REPLAYABILITY
SSBB is a decent game, with lots of characters and levels to unlock. As well as that, their are in game awards to win by completing certain tasks, along with online multiplayer if you feel so inclined.
But the real draw for Super Smash Bros. is that it creates immense amounts of retarded fun when multiple people gather around the Wii and start beating the shit out of each other. As Nintendo characters of course.

I assure you, if you're doing it right, you wont be able to tell who the fuck is doing what until the final bell rings.

OVERVIEW
Overall, Super Smash Bros. Brawl is a decent game. It looks pretty, sounds amazing and is addictive as all hell. Add friends into the mix and you may never put it down.
But then again, even soccer can be fun with more than one person. Come to think of it, soccer with one person is very sad....
But, yea, as I was saying, a non existent story and long boring single player campaign drag this fun fighter down a bit, but not too much. I'm just happy I got to beat the stupid out of Princess Peach using Solid Snake.

That's my 22nd review down, i hope people are reading this. If not, oh well, I'm having fun. While I'm here, I think everyone should take a listen to ww.beeradio.podbean.com, do it; it'll mean alot to me. See you next time!