F.3.A.R

Survival Horror is an interesting genre when it's done right. But so many so called "survival horror" games of this generation go more for the gore and pop out shock horror factor. F.3.A.R (FEAR 3) is the latest in one of these games, which seems to distance itself as far as possible from its fairly scary roots.

STORY
FEAR 3 follows up where the last game left off, the city of Fairport was being turned into a nightmarish world as Alma's power grew stronger and she finds herself pregnant after her rape of Sgt. Beckett. The game puts players in the shoes of the Pointman or his deceased, psychic brother Paxton Fettel, as they form an uneasy alliance to reach their powerful, pregnant mother.

The story works as a way to end the series, by tying up any major loose ends and dealing with any prominent surviving characters. However, theres a lot of ambiguity when regarding the brothers' motives for finding their mother. We know that the alliance is an uneasy one, but its never quite explained what each of them are there for. Having Pointman as a non speaking character doesn't help either, as we often have to read snippets of text to know how he's feeling.

PRESENTATION
F.3.A.R isn't a huge step up from the graphics of FEAR 2, which isn't to say they aren't adequate, it's just that there hasn't been much in the way over improvements. But, the character models and areas still look interesting, and that's all you could really ask for, isn't it?
Looking past the graphics, and we find a visual aesthetic that is both creepy and familiar. Locales such as department stores or standard family homes go from looking fairly normal to creepy as all hell with just a few flickering lights, a coatof blood red paint and some shadows lurking just outside your vision.

The soundtrack is also very similar to the previous game; hard rock guitar riffs during the action sequences, and ominous, deep string arrangements for the more eery sections. And let's not forget the signature violin stab as something pops out at you! The voice acting is pretty standar, but the voice for Paxton Fettel is just perfect. It oozes phsycotic malevolence, which is perfect for such a despicable character.

GAMEPLAY
When I think "Survival Horror", I often think of a lack of ammunition or weaponry, being alone against an unspeakable evil, with fleeing always being a more favourable option over combat. But F3AR seems to be trying to do everything it can to keep itself from being a horror game. The atmosphere is there, but when you realise you can just go into bullet time to take off a mutants head, then theres no real threat, is there?

As an action game, F3AR works superbly, with tight controls and a nice amount of oomph from each weapon.While the range of weaponry doesn't seem as vast as last time, they still feel just as good to use on all your squishy targets. If you've played a FEAR game before, this will be familiar, if not heres how I'd explain it. Fast paced cover based combat againts soldiers and occasionally a cosmic monstrosity. However, with the added bonus of co-op (or multiple playthroughs as different characters if you have no friends)in the form of Paxton Fettel, we get a break from bullet time shootey fun.

Paxton felt like alot more fun to me, if only because I was zooming around the battlefields to possess enemy soldiers while my co-op partner crouched behind a wall trying not to get shot. Possessing an enemy soldier at the back of a group provides extra tactical layers to the FPS formula, but in the end, I think the co-op feature hurts FEAR 3's reputation as a horror game more than anything. F3AR 3 is mildly scary at BEST, but with two people playing, any sense of hopelessness or tension goes out the window.

Putting the last nail in FEAR 3's horror coffin is the levelling system. While I did find it challenging me to play in different ways, having a challenge notification pop up certainly didn't help me lose myself in the creepy atmosphere of F.3.A.R's environments. So while the game works perfectly well as an action game with a creepy aesthetic, it fails to deliver on any decent scares.

REPLAYABILITY
Having two playable characters to use in the campaign mode will definitely provide some players with an excuse to go through the main story again. Paxton Fettel does play rather differently, and I had fun using both of the brothers.

The game also features some unique multiplayer modes, such as "Fucking Run" where 4 players work co-operatively to fend off enemies while escaping Alma's "Wall of Death". The Soul King and Soul Survivor games are also interesting, forcing players to possess Bots and gains souls for extra points. Lastly, there's a horde mode called Contractions, which is a fun little distraction.

OVERVIEW
There's a few things that make survival horror games, in my mind. You need the right atmosphere, a constant sense of danger lurking around every corner and the ability to pit the player against terrifying, unbeatable odds. While F.3.A.R delivers the atmosphere, the gameplay screams Action by giving you powerful weapons and a buddy to hold your hand. That all being said, the game does work well, and it i fun. If you're looking for a fun action FPS with a creepy aesthetic, look no further.

Fable III

This one's been a long time coming, and while I do also have F3AR to review, I figured that it's time I do another X-Box exclusive. And I think Fable III was the most recent one. Correct me if I'm wrong. Anywho, let's get to it.

STORY
Fable III is set in the world of Albion, a land where the age of industry has just begun, giving a steampunk feel to alot of the old standard fantasy settings that the Fable games have always been set in. After 50 years, your character from Fable 3 has had two children, yourself (a prince or princess) and your brother, Logan. Logan is loathed and feared by his subjects, and the main focus of the game is building up your forces in an effort to overthrow him.

The story is interesting, and some of the characters are genuinely likeable. The land of Albion, as portrayed in Fable III feels like a logical and believable change from what we had seen in the first two titles.

PRESENTATION
Albion feels more visually diverse than in its previous depictions, with the landscape ranging from snowy villages, to grassy fields, to misty swamplands. The inhabitants of Albion are about as annoying as ever, but still look visually interesting, with a cartoonish, exaggerated style.

While the game looks nice and all, the voice acting is, for the most part, repetitive and annoying. The NPC's have the same cockney accents as in previous installments in the franchise, which can get old fast. On the upside, John Cleese plays your ever faithful man-servant, Jasper. Hearing him deliver his lines with his trademark humour helped endear Jasper to me. Stephen Fry and Michael Fassbender also do some entertaining work as Reaver and Logan respectively.

The interface has also been streamlined, with the menu's of old being replaced by a physical place for you to check your inventory, store your weapons, and swap out spells, etc. It works in simplifying the more fiddly parts of customization, but at the same time seems to limit the customization (in contrast to previous games).


GAMEPLAY
The hack 'n slash gameplay familiar to the series returns in the third installment, and it's working about as well as it ever will. While swords and guns are fun to use, if you ever get overwhelmed, spamming area of effect spells will normally save your butt. It's just as unbalanced as the last games.

To stop you from just spamming magic, the developers have added in the feature to personalize your weapons by doing certain challenges. By killing a number of Hollow men, for instance, your gun may get a bone white barrel.

As mentioned earlier, alot of the menus have been given a physical form, by way of the sanctuary. Carrying on with this trend, the experience bar/levelling system has also been given a physical appearance, in the form of the road to rule. This contains all the XP unlocks, as well as customization unlocks and what would amount to a progress bar. The farther you are in the story, the farther along the road you are. It's an interesting mechanic, which I found to be really cool.

Now, with any Fable game comes the promise of "Freedom of Choice". But thats never really been the case. Good ol' Peter Molyneux has been writing cheques that his game can't cash. While "moral" choices are featured, they're the same old choices as always. They pretty much amount to "Build an orphanage" or "kill the orphans for unlimited youth" sort of thing. But this is made even worse due to the fact that Fable III could have been so much more... I'd explain, but I don't particularly want to spoil anything for you guys. Sorry.

REPLAYABILITY
With moral choices comes multiple playthroughs, but Fable III doesn't offer so much choice as to really warrant another playthrough. To save you the time just imagine doing everything you did, but acting as a jerk or a saint if you played as a good guy and bad guy respectively. Aside from that, Fable doesn't offer all that much. It has some side quests that can take up some time, but really, once you finish the main quest, it all seems a bit pointless.

OVERVIEW
Aesthetically, Fable III is as fun and colourful as ever, gameplaywise it works pretty well, and the story is solid and interesting. The customization seems to have dropped off a bit since Fable II and the moral choices are as cartoonishly good and evil as they'll ever be, until about halfway through, that is. Some of the characters are interesting, and some of the voice acting is really quite good, but if you loved Fable II, Fable III may disappoint you.

Next week, F3AR. The week after, I'm thinking I'll do my first movie adaptation game... uuurgh... Transformers: Dark Side of the Moon. Well, whatever happens, I'll be posting F3Ar on Sunday. Might do a Top 5 on Tuesday, we'll see. See you next time!!

Red Faction Armageddon

Hello again gamers! It's Sunday night, so that means it's time for another review. This week, it'll be Red Faction: Armageddon; devloped by Volition, and based primarily around some awesome full scale destruction mechanic. Sound good? Shut up and read the review!

STORY
Red Faction: Armageddon takes place 50 years after the events of RF: Guerrilla. Mars has become uninhabitable since a group of cultists, led by Adam Hale, destroyed the terraformer, forcing all the surviving Mars colonists underground. Players take control of Darius Mason as he is fooled into unleashing a long buried menace and takes steps to make things right again.

The story is a lot more focused than Guerilla ever was, in part due to the linear progression of the game. Instead of giving you a huge sandbox to go nuts in, Volition have opted to keep the game more story focused, which you would think was a good thing. Unfortunately, very few of the characters are actually interesting, and the story plays out like a space horror movie.

The character "Frank Winters" was occasionally really funny, as was Darius' back-and-forth with his gears AI, "S.A.M", but more often than not, it would have been more bearable if the AI had stayed silent. Darius' relationship with Kara seems like a token effort, but takes a surprising twist near the end, which I was honestly rather surprised about.

PRESENTATION
Red Faction: Guerrilla had the notable problem of being set on mars, so the setting would be comprised of a multitude of different red/brown shades. While Red Faction Armageddon is also set on Mars, it doesn't seem to share this problem. At least, not all the time.
For the majority of the game, Darius will trudge through dark red or brown caverns while fighting off aliens that look like people in bug costumes. Occasionally, you'll make your way to caves with different coloured lighting, and they actually look really cool.

The sound presentation was overall pretty meh. I didn't find anything outstanding about the voice acting or soundtrack, so there really isn't a whole lot to dwell on here.
Not sure if this counts as presentation, but the destruction physics still look as amazing and fun as they did in Guerrilla.

GAMEPLAY
Red Faction: Armageddon is a third person shooter at its core, with destruction gameplay and occasional vehicle sections. The shooting works well enough, the guns are fun to fire and the enemies are fun to kill. No problems here.

The biggest problem with the gameplay is the fact that you're fighting aliens for the majority of the game. Aliens who have little need for bridges, and who aren't particularly hindered by walls. The tactical application for destructable and re-buildable environments go right out the window when you're fighting an enemy who isn't affect by the way that you change the landscape.

Thats not to say the destruction isn't fun. It just makes the gameplay associated with it feel very shallow and token. Volition would have done well to base the gameplay more around that gimmick, and make it have more of an impact on the way we engage our enemies.
There are some really fun weapons here, ranging from guns that shoot high powered grenades, to magnet guns, to Singularity cannons(think giant cyclone of exploding debris).

The vehicle sections are some of the most fun parts of the game, allowing you to pilot Mechs, Walkers and some kinda little Spaceship...thing. These assist in your attempts to destroy everything you can see, which ranges from buildings and signs to aliens and occasionally people. Theres no real challenge in these sections, but damned if it ain't fun.

REPLAYABILITY
The game features a New Game+ feature that allows you to play with the upgrades and weapons you unlocked in your previous playthrough, including a farting unicorn. I shit you not. But beyond that, the game features a variation on the horde mode, as well as ruin mode, which should sate our appetites for destruction because it's pretty much "BLOW SHIT UP".

OVERVIEW
While it does have a more focused stroyline, and significantly improved graphics and visuals, Red Faction: Armageddon just isn't as appealing as it's predecessor. I've been trying to pinpoint where the game goes wrong, and I keep coming back to the shallow applications of the destruction physics. If the ability to blow up a bridge, or reconstruct a wall helped in some tactical way during combat, it would seem like less of a gimmick. As it stands, Armageddon is an average third person shooter, saved only by the fact that you have a magnet gun that allows you to launch parts of building at aliens.

Ok, that bit of the game works pretty damn well.

Next week, A retrospective of Fable III I'm thinking. Unless I get my hands on something new between now and then. See you next time!

BRINK

Had an awesome weekend away, came back and the winner of my facebook poll was... BRINK. With one vote. Thanks guys, really. Well, it's already 2 days late, so let's get straight into it.

STORY
Brink takes place on the Ark, the worlds first self-sustaining floating city, after the Earth's oceans rise and flood the land masses. At first, life was pretty idyllic, but then more and more immigrants came to the Ark seeking refuge. Players take part in campaigns on each side of the conflict between the Ark Security and the immigrant Rebels, who want order and freedom respectively.

Despite not being a particularly story-centric game, BRINK does have an interesting plot. Being able to see both sides of the conflict allow us to have a better view of the big picture, which isn't as cut and dry as each faction's leader would have us believe. It's a shame then, that BRINK didn't have a single player campaign long enough or varied enough to do the interesting plot justice.

There are cinematics to clue us in on how our missions relate to the story, but there are only two named characters who appear, and the rest are uninteresting grunts who:
a) have second thoughts about participating in the conflict
b) whole heartedly agree with their chosen side or
c) don't add much to the conversation, if anything

PRESENTATION
BRINK has a lot of tough competition in the multiplayer shooter market, but few shooters have the distinct visual style that BRINK offers. The exaggerated facial features and visually distinct clothing offer thousands of customization options, and they all look really cool. They're extremely colourful too, but sometimes this can be a problem.

In games like CoD or Team Fortress 2, the teams are visually distinct, whereas in BRINK, the outfits and characters all look very similar during gameplay, despite the customization options.

The sound design is pretty mediocre, with the high point being the laughably racist voice acting that almost all the characters communicate with. Aside from that, not much to comment on apart from the level of customization that still somehow starts to look the same from character to character.
Fortunately, the levels fair a little bit better, ranging from bright, white utopian shopping malls, to dark, rusty cargo ship container shanty towns.

GAMEPLAY
The gameplay of BRINK is fast paced, competitive multiplayer FPS action, but it isn't all awesome. The single player is just the same multiplayer games with bots standing in for human opponents. I feel that an entirely seperate single player campaign would have done the plot the justice I feel it deserved, but whatever.

The mechanics work well enough; the shooting is quick and easy, with a similar feel to CoD. The problem with this is that BRINK lacks the variety that CoD, or other competitive First Person Shooters. Almost every gun handles the same, with difference solely between Sniper rifles, assault rifles, pistols and shotguns. There are multiple varieties of each type of gun, but they all feel exactly the same, and I haven't noticed much in the way of damage differences.

The SMART (Smooth Movement Across Random Terrain) movement system implemented in BRINK is a fun way to get around the maps, but I feel it was under-utilized. The maps are hardly big enough to need a parkour system to traverse them. That's not to say it isn't fun. Picking a light body type and wall jumping past enemies while shooting them is certainly fun, as is sliding under barricades while unloading into the opposition.
What we learnt from Mirrors Edge is that First Person Platorming doesn't work too well, simply because we can't see our feet. BRINK uses the parkour mechanic quite well though, if only because failing a jump won't send you plummeting to your death.

Since the game is a primarily multiplayer shooter, it should be said that I found it extremely difficult to find a match online. That may just be me, but I'd like to give that warning anyway. If you can get a game with humans, it's certainly preferable over the AI alternative.
The AI in BRINK is a little schizophrenic; sometimes dominating a match, other times more or less laying down their arms and curling up into the fetal position. It's always glaringly obvious though, because when the enemy AI is acting brilliantly, your teammates start to suck a big fat one. And when your teammates actually help you take on the objectives, the opposition can't seem to aim or do anything right. Still, I ended up having to do most of the objectives myself.

REPLAYABILITY
If you're blessed enough to find a decent connection, and actual people playing the game properly, then a good time can be had with BRINK. Hell, you can have a good time playing BRINK by yourself, but it won't last very long.

Otherwise, BRINK has heaps of customization items, as well as unlockable perks for each class. That should take quite a while to do, so yea. BRINK at least has some stuff to unlock. Past that, there isn't a whole lot to do on the Ark.

OVERVIEW
The mechanics of BRINK work fine, the problem is there's a lack of variety when it comes down to it. You'll always be running somewhere to mash the action button against one thing or another, killing anyone who gets in your way. While this is fun for a while, it's not really enough to warrant a full price buy. If you'll play online alot, then I can whole heartedly recommend this to you, but with the warning that you may have trouble connecting with others.

It looks cool, and it plays well, but there isn't enough of it here to keep it interesting. Thats the final point I really need to hammer home here.

So, next week will probably be Red Faction: Armageddon. Not doing a top 5 this week, as BRINK really doesn't have a whole lot to countdown. See you next time! That's Sunday, by the way.