Review: The Bourne Conspiracy (X360)

Pros: Feels like the movies; great combat; presentation; quality

Cons: Not much to do once the story has been completed; you need to like cut-scene events; driving level is a bit of a mess.

The Bourne Conspiracy is a character action game, based on the book & film series and is probably one of the best tie-ins since GoldenEye on the N64. High Moon studios have created quality product with superb presentation and production values that really gives you the feeling of playing Jason Bourne.

Released in the summer of 2008, the Bourne Conspiracy will probably have been overlooked by many, or rejected as another cheesy movie tie-in. It is a real shame as no game has captured the action film aesthetic as successfully as this. The game plays like a combination of "God of War" or "Conan" melee action and "Gears of War" cover-based firearm combat.

What really makes the game stand-out, however, is the use of destructible environments and finishing moves. Build up enough "adrenaline" and you can initiate a melee or gun finishing move. This often results in your character slamming the enemy into chairs, tables, windows, pipes or other scenery with spectacular results. You really feel like you are bashing the shit out of someone and making full use of the environment to hand. It is just awesome!

The presentation, music and level design is lifted straight from the movies and books. The quality of the presentation is top notch, and is supported by full THX 5.1 support. It 10 hours of play, I never encountered a single glitch or graphical anomaly.

The game carefully blends the present day story with assassination missions during Bourne's Treadstone years. These provide additional back-story, not found in the movies, and add to the Bourne universe. Not many games can claim to add something valuable to a movie or book
franchise, but The Bourne Conspiracy certainly does. If there is one criticism however, it is that the game can be completed (on easy) in under 10 hours. It doesn't offer much replay either, other than achievement collecting.

Such a high quality and enjoyable game should really have got more attention on release. Short? Yes. But also immensely satisfying and fun. Fans of the books or films will get even more from the game, and for them The Bourne Conspiracy should be a must buy.

A full demo, taken from one of the few escape missions in the game, can be found on XBL Marketplace and PSN.

5/5

Review: Lego Batman (X360)

Pros: It's Batman; Lego characters are cute; the villains

Cons: Platforming hampered by camera; vehicle levels are poor; hub world has instant death; no online co-op; dodgy AI again!

Lego Batman continues with the same formula used in Lego Starwars and Lego Indy. It is the usual mixture of 3D platforming and item collecting -studs, mini-kits & red power bricks- that have been hallmarks of the series. Where Lego Batman does differ is that we now have an original story and context that is not based on existing movies alone. Lego Batman is an welcome addition to the family but ultimately highlights the usual complaints about the Lego titles.

The Lego games are really the last bastion of traditional 3D platforming left in the current generation of video game consoles. For that we should be truly thankful. However, the cracks are starting to show, and the issues in the previous Lego games have still not been addressed: poor camera, instant death jumps, screen tearing, and unpredictable AI are still here and just as
annoying as in the last 3 games.

The switch to an original story, based around the various movie, comic book and TV interpretations of Batman, works well. It has allowed the developers to include some interesting new gameplay mechanics, specifically with the villain characters (always the best characters in the Batman canon). It does, however, make this Lego game even more fragmented when playing through on Free Play (where you can use any characters). You often have to toggle through 20 different characters to find the one skill you need to unlock a
particular door or object.

The sound effects are lifted from previous Lego titles, and the music has been licensed from the Batman movies. The music blends well with the "Burton-sequel" level design aesthetics. This is also probably the best looking Lego game to date, with lots of cool next-gen water and smoke
effects thrown into the environments.

Lego Batman is a good game but it feels like it should be the last in the current Lego series. Whilst maintaining the fun and whimsy of the previous games, the gameplay mechanics are starting to become tiresome. Adding more skills and characters doesn't completely make up for the poor AI and often unfair level design that continue to be a problem. Wherever the Lego series goes next, it must reinvent and resolve these issues or risk undermining the
good will it has generated so far.

3/5

Review: Too Human (X360)

Too Human is worth exploring if you have enjoyed action RPGs in the past, but you will have to look beyond flawed game mechanics and design.

Pros: Sci-Fi twist on Norse mythology; plenty of action
Cons: Broken RPG class & item system; no sense of empowerment; weak level design; many small annoyances; below par graphics and character design

Too Human attempts to blend elements from multiple video genres and concepts: including, Diablo, Halo, Devil May Cry, God of War, Legacy of Kane and Shadowman. However, for each neat idea that has been borrowed, there is flawed execution and questionable design decisions.

The combat is a very good example. The game is designed to mirror the point and click top-down PC RPGs, by using a twin stick mechanic where you point towards enemies to engage them. It is a nice idea, but you are actually left with a very loose feeling experience and limited camera control as the right stick usually assigned camera control in 3D games. Unfortunately the automatic camera doesn’t work too well so there can be some really frustrating moments. The lack of camera control also makes exploring the game world, for secrets and hidden items, needlessly tiresome.

Too Human features an extremely comprehensive item system with many nuances and customization options. However, again, the good idea is ruined by the game forcing you to use weapons within a level or two. You never, therefore, feel any benefit from the new item, as the enemies level up at exactly the same rate. Other RPGs and action RPGs successfully allow the player to use a powerful weapon - to give the feeling of awesomeness from the reward. Unfortunately, Too Human never lets you experience empowerment, and removes one of the key features that make action RPGs fun and satisfying.

Too Human also attempts to blend Sci-Fi with Norse mythology. It should be fantastic but it is less than successful. The narrative is clumsy and crude, whilst the characters are not established such that you feel anything for them. The Norse Mythology was so badly handled that I had to resort to Wikipedia to actually work out what was going on! The game ends with a rather limp cliffhanger too. So much for Dyack’s priority in storytelling?

The biggest problem with Too Human, by far, are the fundamental design issues; particularly the class system. On my play-through, I chose the Berserker class who’s strengths reside in combos and dual welding. However, these strengths are balanced with very weak ranged attack and no real defense. This would be fine except that nearly all the the game’s larger enemies and bosses require ranged attacks in order to expose their weak spots. Creating a game that plays to the strengths of some classes, but makes it almost impossible for others, is a serious oversight. It can make for some very long and tedious battles that could only be accomplished by the (fairly) penalty free reincarnation - provided you can put up with the 30 second death animation..clipping and all.

Every time I felt I was starting to enjoy my play-through of Too Human, another serious flaw would rob me of my enjoyment. Despite that, it is worth playing though the game to experience some of the better scripted moments and occasional sense of accomplishment. I did enjoy the game in places. If only it had another 12 months of development to fix some of the design flaws.

3/5

First Impressions: Guitar Hero - On Tour (DS)

My copy of GH On Tour arrived this morning, and I am about 25% though the set list.

The Good
- It really is Guitar Hero! (see my photo)
- 3D Animation is very good for the DS
- Touch Screen controls
- Blow to activate Star Power
- New characters

The Bad
- The controller is slightly loose when plugged in
- It is a little awkward to see what is going on behind your strumming hand

The Ugly
- It takes a while to get a comfortable position
- You can only really play 5-6 songs without having to take rest

Telling Niko's Story

Originally posted for the Cranky Gamers UK

About six months ago I wrote an article on why Bioshock was the most important game of this generation. In my opinion it was the first video game to successfully implement a genuine interactive narrative. Until that point, video games had relied on emulating cinematic techniques using non-interactive cutscenes to deliver the story. Even the mighty Metal Gear Solid, often lauded for its complex story and cinematic quality, relied on non-interactive methods: remember the codec!

The latest edition of the GTA series includes many new features: such as, multiplayer, improved combat and cutting-edge physics. But it has also subtly changed the way in which the narrative is delivered. You might not notice when you are playing, but the cut scenes only set-up each mission. Just like Bioshock, the real detail and plot are revealed through more interactive events - your relationships with other characters.

If you blast through the game without engaging in the relationships, by taking out friends and dating, you will only reveal a tiny proportion of Niko’s story. Like the “tapes” in Bioshock, exploration and interacting with the environment are just as important to the story as the cutscenes and missions themselves. Even after completing the game, you can find out more about Niko and the other characters, by continuing to socialise and interact with them; particularly Roman and Packie.

The current generation of video games are setting new standards for technology: such as graphics, physics and scope. But as someone who has played and thought about games for 25 years, the big change I have seen is the birth of a genuine interactive art form. One where the boundaries on non-interactive cinema no longer constrain the game design. I think we can look forward to games that don’t just deliver fun, but also emotional and thought provoking stories for those who seek it as they play.

Bioshock is the most important game of this generation

Let me explain why.

For many years, video games have been seen as a childish pursuit, something the the “mainstream” looks down on as being immature and unworthy. It all feeds into the debate about whether a video game can be judged as an art form.

This point of view upsets me and degrades our hobby. We are constantly tarnished with accusations that all games involve killing and violence. Alright, so does Bioshock, but it is balanced with emotion and alternative play mechanics.

We all know this perception that we are all immature and blood thirsty morons is wrong. I’m pleased, in some small way, that consoles like the Wii & DS are starting to dispel this myth.

Back to Bioshock.... Every few years a game comes along that revolutionises the game design: Mario Brothers established platform gaming rules, Tomb Raider did the same for adventure gaming; Mario 64 shocked the gaming world with a virtual three dimensional world; Metal Gear Solid 2 pioneered cinematic story telling; and Grand Theft Auto III released the shackles of linear game design, creating a new sense of “exploration and fun”.

To this epic list, you should now add Bioshock.

When people look back in a few years time, it will be Bioshock that defines the key landmark in the current generation of video games. Not because of its gameplay, or how fun it is, but because it is the first game to establish video games as the fourth storytelling art form, after books, comics and film. The first video game that can be considered art. I shall try to explain why....

Until now, video games have used cinematic techniques to tell stories: through cut scenes, dialog, or flash backs. Metal Gear Solid 2 was the first game to establish many of the techniques we see used today in hit games like Uncharted, COD4, Halo 3 etc. All of these techniques, while original for video games, are borrowed from the cinema. The trend has been to make games more like movies, in order to tell a dramatic story.

Bioshock completely re-writes the rule book; rather than follow the established convention it has actually defined a new form of “interactive story telling” which no movie, game, book or comic has previously achieved. Bioshock has a genuine claim to present video games as a new art form.

Let me give you a definition of art: “Generally art is a (product of) human activity, made with the intention of stimulating the human senses as well as the human mind; by transmitting emotions and/or ideas.”

If you have played through this game, you would be hard pressed to say that it did not stir an emotional reaction when you decided the fate of a little sister, or when you discover the reasons for you linear actions.

At no time during the game are you spoon fed what to think (other than the “motivation” to move forward). In fact, the games power is in turning an established norm in video game design into a key part of the plot and narrative.

The story itself is not “watched” like a movie, or “read” like comic but interactively discovered and revealed through interaction and exploration. The audio diaries are cleverly distributed so that they reveal character stories and plot in reverse, or out of sync, so that you constantly question the motivations and wrestle with your own ideas. Anyone who has seen the film Memento will know what a powerful and unsettling experience that can be.

Finally, the subject matter itself: Ryan’s objectivist-dystopian city of Rapture; is an ingenious comment on the conventions established in modern video games. Once again, you are left to decide for yourself: Is Rapture was a flawed and evil concept? Or the unlucky result of a failed genius’ big idea. The developers leave hints to their opinions through the audio diaries, but ultimately the player makes up their own mind.

I’ve being reading and listening to the various “games of the year” awards that the internet is saturated with at this time of year. I’ve becoming increasingly cranky about the short-sighted views of some of the mass media, and one or two sites in particular (not this one I hasten to add). They all moan and complain about the reputation that video games has, and how it is not taken seriously. Now, when presented with the clearest evidence yet that we have reach a new high, they fail to see the significance and resort back to handing out awards to the best looking games, or the most recent, or (worse) the most hyped.

I felt I had to make this point because I probably won’t get a chance in the Cranky Gamer’s Xmas Podcast...plus I would probably go on, and on, like an intellectual idiot anyway.

I would be interested to know what other people think?

I am not talking about how “fun” Bioshock was (although it was a lot of fun), but how significant and important you think it will be in years to come?

[Orginally posted on www.crankygamersuk.com]

First Impressions: Wii Fit

The first thing you notice is the weight. The board is heavy, solid and large. The build quality is excellent and the plastics are tough. 4AA batteries sit in the base, as does the WiFi sync button to hook it up to the Wii.

On starting the game you are asked to select a Mii, perform a balance test (something to do with posture) and then enter your age and height. Wii Fit then weighs you and gives you a BMI rating. Just to rub salt into the wound, your Mii then morphs comically according to your BMI. In my case this resulted in a humiliating and depressing expansion.

You are then asked to set your fitness goal -lowering the BMI in my case- and how long you want to set the goal for. The game then suggests the type of games to play and gives you a Wii Fit age; again, depressingly I was 20% over. At this point I was starting to see how Wii Fit works, it humiliates you into loosing weight…it certainly put me off my tea.

The two most interesting games I tried were Skiing (a balance game) and Jogging (aerobic). The Skiing was a lot of fun, whilst the Jogging worked a lot better than I thought. The Jogging doesn’t use the board. Instead you put the Wiimote in your back pocket and jog on the spot. On screen, your jogging Mii follows the trainer around a park filled with all your other Mii characters. Not only was it a good work-out (I did get out of breath), there was enough on screen to make it interesting too. Your fellow Mii’s wave and cheer you on, which improves ones mood a little after the depressing weigh-in.

Overall, I have actually been impressed with Wii Fit. My Wife has been looking forward to getting the game and gizmo for some time. Time will tell if it actually works or just becomes another peripheral collecting dust.