» Reviews

Hydro Thunder Hurricane

Tracey McGarrigan — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 10:43:57 +0000

We’ve got Boost – let’s use it!

We’re into the second week of XBL’s Summer of Arcade and despite offering dynamic and exciting racing delights, Hydro Thunder Hurricane was always going to find the universally praised Limbo a tough act to follow. Not that there aren’t aquatic thrills and spills a plenty in this powerboat-racing sequel to the original arcade game Hydro Thunder, but it doesn’t have the same wow factor.

In the single player game, you can choose from race, ring master, gauntlet and championship modes which are all centred on the 8 courses available. The courses are impressive and lavish in design and location including the hanging gardens of Babylon, the sewers of Paris (minus the filth I remember seeing once on a school exchange trip) and the fabulous Asgard complete with ghostly Viking ships, gigantic swinging war hammers and Arnold Schwarzenegger brutes shouting “go back!” Each course in race and championship mode feels like it’s straight out of an action movie and are well designed to be a mixture of sharp twists, treacherous turns and incredibly high freefalls with waterfalls, swelling tidal waves, monsters and police boats to also contend with. The courses in the ring master and gauntlet modes are the same as in race mode but instead of battling against computer AI racers, it’s you against rings and the clock or explosive barrels and the clock – I’m pretty sure you can work out which is which. Alternatively, you can race up to four local players for split screen or race up to eight online for motorboat mayhem.

There are of course the classic Hydro Thunder shortcuts to hunt out that will shave an all-important couple of seconds off your race time plus lots of secret shiny emblems to collect and most importantly boost canisters to give your boat the edge. Whilst racing, your team (heard but never seen) will not only comment on your performance but will helpfully talk to you about your boost levels; “we’re low on boost”, “we need boost”, “boost is ready” and “we’ve got boost, lets use it” followed by “we could have made that jump if we had boost” or the alternative “betcha if we had boost we could make that jump”…. You get the idea. This commentary would be very useful and not at all annoying if this wasn’t a game that was built around using boost! In order to finish the race within the top three, you are gonna have to grab either a blue or red can of boost to fire up your onboard rocket and blast you over the winning line. As soon as you have a can, the boost comments kick in. The blue cans don’t last very long yet are just about spread out along the courses that you can hit another as soon as one runs out. Great. Constant chatter of needing boost, having boost, using boost then wanting boost, boost and yet more boost – this game should have been sponsored by Cadbury’s! For those of you that don’t mind the commentary, they have included a high-pitched peeping alarm that will also sound as your boost is beginning to run low. AAAGGGHHHHH!

However, the upside of boost means there are genuinely fierce and fantastic moments within each race as the scenery flips by as you hit the perfect line at almost 200mph! Coming in the top three means not only do you get a shiny trophy but are awarded credits which go towards unlocking other courses, boats and skins (with design names including the delicious “hot chips” or the rather saucy “hugs and kisses”), though be prepared to repeat each course a few times before you have enough credits to level up – a little humdrum but not as boring as it would seem because at the end of the day, you’re driving a rocket fuelled powerboat – and that’s fun! There are three classes of boats – normal, pro and “you’re crazy” expert. Each boat differs in acceleration, top speed, handling and air control and the differences are immediately obvious once you’re on the race route. These variations mean over time you can fully explore every nook and cranny of every course but aren’t essential to gaining credits. It took me just over 3 hours to unlock all the courses, simply by using the boat with the most balanced stats in each class. The difference between each class really comes down to handling rather than speed, as the boosts will comfortably get you to the chequered flag first. As you can go back and replay races, you could simply keep clocking up credits on the first normal race but wouldn’t suggest this, as it’s dull as ditchwater.

Overall, the transition from the original arcade game to this is great. It retains it’s repetitive arcade racing spirit mixed with fabulous courses and hidden surprises. Perhaps not the biggest splash this summer, more of a quick squirt from a hosepipe but still should go down a storm with racing fans everywhere.

★★★★★★½☆☆☆

Commander: Conquest of the Americas

GG Goblin — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 14:34:41 +0000

Like Christmas dinner with the entire family, keeping everyone happy in Commander is no mean feat.

Commander: Conquest of the Americas is the next title from the creators of East India Company, Nitro Games. In many ways Commander stands as the sequel to East India, in spirit at least, with both of the main aspects of the previous game being improved upon – trading and naval warfare.

The main course of Commander is the trading aspect, with the naval battles seeming to take a back seat. With the campaign running from 1500 to the mid 1800s, players are given the choice of six European factions and then charged with colonising the Americas and making their chosen faction a bucket load of cold, hard cash.

The player will begin with a small squadron of ships and a handful of colonists. They will then have the chance to scour the coastline, and a heck of a coastline it is, for possible sites to set up their first colony. The available sites are marked quite clearly, once the player gets close enough, and will give the player an idea of what resources are available in the surrounding area. This is of utmost importance as these resources are what the colony will be trading for much needed coin.

Once the first colony has been settled, there then comes the hard slog of building it up and possibly creating other colonies. This is going to consist of constantly sending ships back to the home port with goods to sell and the ships returning with more colonists. The second settlement is fairly simple to set up, but after that there will be a long wait as the requirements for a third settlement are that one of your settlements has at least 5,000 colonists. That will take a lot of ship loading and unloading to achieve.

However, there is still a fair amount to keep the player busy whilst trying to reach these milestones. Within each colony buildings can be constructed that will offer some small bonuses to the player. These may be as simple as raising the morale of your residents, which is another aspect of the game that must be monitored carefully, or as complex as refining resources. Certain buildings can take a raw resource that has been gathered, or traded for, and refine it into something that will sell for a higher price. A good example would be the tobacco leaf which can be refined, with the right building, into the more desirable tobacco, which can be further refined into much needed cigars.

The buildings all require money to start with and will cost the player a certain amount of upkeep. Maintaining that delicate balance between the available money and progression which leads to yet more money, is the secret to many empire building games, and Commander is no different in that respect. As already mentioned, the early years do have a tendency to drag as the trading of goods, alongside the shipping of colonists, is a slow process. It is possible to speed this up with the construction of new boats, but these do not come cheap and, as always, money is an issue.

Sending ships back and forth across the sea is not the be all and end all of Commander though. The player has people to answer to back in their home land, and their needs must be met. There are four advisors and the player must maintain a good relationship with them all, or face being replaced and the end of the game. They will make certain requests, missions if you like, and although not every one of these missions must be completed, ignore too many at your peril. They are mostly reasonably simple and serve the purpose of progressing the game, but the imposed time limit can sometimes be a cause for concern. If the mission asks that a certain building be provided and that building has requirements of its own, or if the mission requires a type of resource that the player has yet to find, then a time limit can be an issue.

Obtaining resources that are not immediately available will have to rely on trading, either with the natives or other colonies. It is here that diplomacy comes in handy and the player can become allies or even go to war with opposing countries. The naval battles that will take place between the player and other countries, or pirates, can either be automatically concluded or fought out in a manner similar to Empire: Total War.

These battles at sea are far less complicated than the previous example in East India, and in my mind this makes for far more interesting conflicts. They can be played out different speeds, depending on the players preferences, and offer quite a depth of strategy, without getting too bogged down with realism. A nice touch is that, as the game progresses, the commanders can level up and gain some rather useful skills which can aid the player in battle. Not only does this make for more variety in battle, but it also gives the player a more personal stake as good commanders need to be cherished and protected. There are a huge number of different ships available in the game, each with their own strengths and weaknesses, and the ships can be armed with various different cannon shot to further spice things up.

Once again Nitro Games have excelled themselves with the creation of what could be the most impressive water in any video game. It really is stunning. Whilst the rest of the games visuals may not be worthy of quite that much praise, the game still looks very good. As one would expect, the campaign part of the game has a low level of detail, but serves the purpose very well. The battles on the other hand look great, with very impressive ships and some really nice scenery.

If I had to fault the game, and I am afraid that I do, I could only offer two real criticisms. The first has been mentioned before, which is that the game is a “slow burner”. I can understand that Rome was not built in a day and such, but the pacing of the game in the early years is very slow and even a touch monotonous. This feeling does not last for ever and I personally still felt the desire to work through this period and build my colonies.

The second issue that I have with the game is that it really drops the player in at the deep end. There is no tutorial to speak of and the beginning of the game was filled with confusion. There is help, telling the player what to do and what each of the various screens are for. But it does not explain how to do these things. I took me a fair while to work out how to send my first ships home, laden with resources, and nearly as long to work out how to unload at the other end. There are a number of places within the interface that are not explained and the player will have to go through some trial and error in order to understand.

Even with these problems, Commander is quite a compelling game and will appeal to the Civilisation fans out there, as well as the East India players. The game marks quite the evolution from East India and offers some nice touches that move the game away from simply being a spiritual sequel. As I said a the very beginning, Commander is like Christmas dinner with the whole family. You will find yourself striving to keep the four advisors and your colonists happy, maintain your finances, and then there will be the fighting to contend with. Sounds like Christmas dinner at my house.

So the game is challenging and may not be for the feint-hearted, or for those looking to get a quick, adrenaline-fuelled hit of gaming goodness. But for those of you with patience, colonising the new world and creating a trading empire is a challenge worthy of your attention.

★★★★★★★★½☆

Commander: Conquest of the Americas will be available on July 30th and can be purchased from all good digital distribution portals.

Maestro! Green Groove

TurtleGirl — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 12:14:38 +0000

Do you love music and rhythm games? French developer Neko Entertainment brings the DS to life with its first DsiWare title, Maestro! Green Groove. If you love music and cute animation then Neko Entertainment provides all the right ingredients.

Each level contains a piece of string with musical notes attached to them. Your task is to guide Presto, your little pink fluffy bird, along the string, gathering up small pieces of fruit, and using your stylus or finger to strum the musical notes to the rhythm of the music that plays in the background. Each performance will grade you and you’ll have to gain a good grade to reach the next level. Jumping is simple as you make your way from the bottom notes to the top, players can strum anywhere on the string and it doesn’t have to be right under Presto. Some of the string will be on lower levels in which you have to fall onto the next set of string. It is very important to fall if you want presto to shoot into all the different musical items.

Timing is essential in this musical rhythm game as you guide your bird through the various levels. Once you have collected fruit and completed the level, you will then be graded. When I first started this game, it took me a little while to get the hang of it, mainly because it’s about learning and listening to the rhythm of the music, so my first grade with around a C. Defeating enemies is simply done by hitting them when the two circles meet and a thicker circle appears. Again, timing is essential to get this done to perfection. Also Red Notes come when you play something out of time. Five is the limit before they get angry. If you get this wrong, then it’s game over. If your rhythm skills are up to scratch, you may get a Star Note when you perform a streak of five golden notes on musical strings or enemies. This combo will remove all red notes or give you a Bonus Bird for extra points.

End of level bosses are defeated with a musical challenge in which you have to mimic the exact notes of the boss to defeat him. So if you don’t do it right the first time round, the only damage that you will be doing is to yourself.

Once you have completed Adventure Mode, you can return to the levels and play them through again using the special Track List section. This is an opportunity to improve your grades on each of the levels. In Free Play Mode, players can simply play the levels for fun and enjoyment as the player does not have to worry about encountering a penalty or scoring the most points. Sometimes the game can feel a little repetitive and it’s not always easy to hit the notes exactly, but after a while, once you’ve gained more confidence in strumming, the game is fun and extremely enjoyable to play. It’s so upbeat and easy going.

The game is responsive throughout as you strum your way through each level. Simply enjoying the music, watching the terrific graphics and collecting the fruit are all part of the fun in this DsiWare game. The graphics are vibrant and colourful and the game features various classical music tracks, such as ‘Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony’, Dvorak’s ‘New World Symphony’ and Chopin’s ‘Nocturne No 2 Opus 9’. For only 500 DsiWare points, this game is simply a bargain. Its well worth trying out this game if you’re a fan of rhythm games like Guitar Hero and Rock Band, and you fancy combining with platforming action.

★★★★★★★★☆☆

Sam and Max: The Devil’s Playhouse Episode 4

Tracey McGarrigan — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 16:47:18 +0000

Beyond the Alley of the Dolls.

Spoiler alert: If you haven’t played other episodes in the series and don’t want to know what happens next, stop reading right now.

“What in the name of Betty Crocker’s knickers do you want now?”

After finally slotting Max’s brain back into the brain shaped hole in his head at the end of the last episode, Sam and Max are now on the run from hoards of scantily clad, dangerously handsome yet slightly portly Samuelacras!

Made to be the spitting image of the body conscious canine, hundreds of Sam clones are storming the city in the search of Toys meaning someone else wants to get their hands on the Devil’s Toybox. What else can the Freelance Police do but barricade themselves up in Stinky’s diner and try to work out who is behind the creation of these gold hot-pants wearing dogglegangers.

Starting in the diner, Sam’s first duty is to find a way out without being groped to death by throngs of himself. As in the previous point and click episodes, a thorough searching of the scene for clues as to what you have to do next is in order, followed by more grilling of the fabulous characters, in this case, hard as nails Grandpa Stinky and the attitude fuelled girl Stinky. Once again the dialogue is tongue in cheek, observational and brilliantly laugh-out-loud funny with some exceptionally bizarre new words and phrases from Max plus more of Sam’s noir musings – some of the best out of the whole series so far “poking and buzzing impotently, just like she left my heart”. The good news about having Max’s brain being safely back where it should be means the relationship and conversations between the dog and the rabbity thingy and those they investigate is once again the focus and is the best element of this episode, plus having Max back means you can always talk to him for a hint as to what to do next if you get stumped.

As for navigating Sam, I occasionally had the same problems as I have in other series where the mouse option – although allowing him to move more freely in any direction – is sometimes unwieldy and tricky to use (especially when in confined spaces) so I tended to use the keyboard for getting about and the mouse for everything else. This time when it comes to investigating, there are three more toys at your disposal, though the novelty of this soon wears off as the more psychic powers Max has, especially the mind reading ability, the quicker and easier it is to solve puzzles or glean information and move on. I’m not saying I enjoy being frustratingly stuck on a game for hours on end but after the initial mix of challenges in previous episodes, this time the story rapidly unfolds simply by using the Toys in various combinations, followed by repeatedly visiting characters and scenes(though not as much as experienced in the opening of the last episode). I couldn’t help feeling that this episode just isn’t as thrilling or engaging as previous ones. Perhaps because we’re building up to an almighty climatic finale this is the calm before the storm and not because TellTale have run out of ideas.

The aesthetics on the whole are great and again, the detail and expressions of the characters in both the visual and vocal delivery are excellent. On a couple of occasions, I found that the dialogue soundtrack didn’t quite match up with the mouth formations when characters were talking but there were no other glitches or disappearing fingers this time.

Overall, despite the feeling that this episode is a little thin on real brain twisting puzzles or surprising storylines, you cannot escape the fact that a Sam and Max game is never dull. The script is awesomely clever and witty and it’s all heading towards what should be a fantastic finale in “The City That Dares Not Sleep”, out later this year.

★★★★★★★½☆☆

Coconut Dodge Review

TurtleGirl — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 16:23:32 +0000

Much like the majority of halfway decent iPhone games, the most enjoyable Mini games on PSP offer simplicity over complexity and quick hit fun over lengthy campaigns. FuturLabs seem to have identified this fact and their first console game, Coconut Dodge, is evidence of how well it can work.

Much like Chicken Little, the hero of this game must surely be afraid to leave his rock, for fear of the sky falling. He is a crab, hence the reason why he lives under a rock, and it would appear that his armoured shell offers very little protection from the huge number of objects that are falling from the sky. But rather than run off and hide, our six legged hero can see the bright side to any situation. Not only are their potentially shell cracking coconuts falling, but there are also coins, jewels and gold raining down upon him. Not one to miss an opportunity and with dreams of a jewel encrusted shell and indoor pool under his rock, crab sets out to gather as much of the riches as possible without being squished. The fact that all of this has happened in my imagination is proof that Coconut Dodge is all about the quick hit gameplay. Who needs a story to slow everything down. Make your own up, I did.

So, as the little crab, the player is charged with simply collecting as many worthy items as possible whilst avoiding any that could do harm. There are two main forms of gameplay here. The first is just a matter of nipping from left to right, catching the good stuff and avoiding the bad. The second, known as mazes, is more or less the same, but the items fall in formation, giving the impression of a top to bottom scrolling shooter from days gone by, without the shooting of course. Occasionally a beach ball may fall onto the screen and our crab will need to bounce the ball a set number of times.

There are a couple of modes of play to keep you entertained. The main emphasis is scoring as many points as possible, and this is achieved not only by catching goodies, but also by surviving. The standard mode gives the player three lives with which to last as long as they can. Maze Master mode offers just one life and is played with the Maze levels only. There are also hardcore and impossible modes for the elite crabs out there, and a fun little ball bouncing mode.

As I already mentioned, simplicity is the name of the game. Actually the game is called Coconut Dodge, but you know what I mean. The graphics are bright and pleasing to the eye, especially on the lovely PSP screen, and above all simple. The same can be said of the sound work. The game looks and sounds good, but is all about the gameplay.

And how much fun is it? Loads. Not to be confused with a game that the player will spend hours playing in one sitting, this game is to be picked up and played for short bursts of simple, unadulterated fun. It is easy to pick up and easy to understand, but the temptation to get a better score is implanted right from the beginning. There is very little to complain about here, although the simplicity of Coconut Dodge will probably be seen as a negative by some gamers.

But, for the casual gamer looking for that next quick hit fix of gaming fun, Coconut Dodge is well worth a look.

★★★★★★★☆☆☆

Limbo

Tracey McGarrigan — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 15:24:32 +0000

If you go down to the woods today, you might wake up alone.

It’s the third annual Summer of Arcade on XBL and if the first title on offer is anything to go by, we’re in for a scorchingly good time!

Not that there’s anything sunny or cheerful about Limbo but fret ye not because what you do get is one of the best puzzle-platformer games you’ll ever play. Waking up in the misty black and white forest, you play Boy who is nothing more than a silhouette with bright blinking eyes. Using the most basic of controls – left stick to move, A to jump and B to push/drag – off you set into the dark and eerily quiet landscape.

It’s hard to say what will have the greatest impact on you first, the mood or the actual gameplay? There’s the distinct lack of a soundtrack, only the sound effects of the wind, Boy’s footsteps through the long grass that swishes as you scamper by and there’s the occasional bird crowing as you walk through the charcoal smudged scenery. There’s a fabulous sense of depth to the environment, which seemingly has no real beginning or end, whilst the attention to detail is incredible.

It’s also hard to write about this game as most of the pleasure in playing comes from the startling macabre surprises that lie in wait for the Boy or from enjoying the sheer ingenuity of the puzzles. To describe them here in any detail would ruin that element. The first few obstacles Boy comes across are pretty easy to overcome but are hugely inventive and very clever. As you progress the puzzles become increasingly tricky and take longer to work out but when you do, you can’t help but be delighted and impressed with the solutions, many of which require you use physics, gravity or sheer bravery. Part of this titles unique charm and brilliant satisfaction is the shock element, which doesn’t come from a deliberately disturbing storyline but from a forbidding world in which Boy must traverse. Reluctant exploration will sometime reward the courageous but be warned, there are plenty of creatures awaiting you in the dark.

Of course, as the answers to so many of the conundrums aren’t immediately obvious, you will die countless times. In fact one of the achievements on offer is for completing the game with fewer than 5 deaths but once again, developers Playdead have been unpretentious in their design. They know that when playing this game for the first time you will die many times and instead of making a song and dance about it the game simply fades to black and you’re back to a point just before the puzzle started to try again. This instantly evaporates any frustrations that could build when attempting the same section over and over and allows you to fully immerse yourself into the game – no long winded breaks of momentum here, no breach in tone or atmosphere, just a welcome focus on great game playing that works.

As you move from the woods to a more industrial area, the potential for death increases and it often comes with a jump! Dare I say it but sometimes you can even enjoy dying. Even in death, Boy remains silent and all you’ll hear is the splatting of his crushed/chopped/spiked/electrocuted body unless you’re drowning when you’ll hear nothing at all. Even when his death is horrendously violent and the shadows of mutated limbs and mashed innards slump to the floor, Boy doesn’t utter a peep. It’s creepy but often strangely graceful and beautiful.

There are exceptional audio moments (low rumblings or water rising) that slowly build up tension and drama as you try to get the timing right on some of the puzzles or are pursued through the monochrome world. It’s only when you get through and the silence returns that you’ll realise that you were holding your breath or you’re knuckles are white and this is what this game is really about – psychological thrills. It’s what you don’t see or hear that brings a shiver to your spine. It shows you where you need to go next then hints at what kind of death awaits you if you get the puzzle wrong or don’t make it in time.

A wonderful combination of the Boy’s muted but relentless determination with simple yet masterful techniques (lighting, scenery and sound effects) make Limbo a tense, surreal and shadowy place definitely worth exploring on your own with the lights off…

★★★★★★★★★☆

Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies Review

TurtleGirl — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 15:17:35 +0000

Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies is the ninth instalment in the acclaimed Dragon Quest series by Yuji Horii, developed by Level-5 and published by Square Enix. If you’ve been missing out on the traditional JRPG of late, then Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies fills, satisfies and indulges you in everything you need from this type of game. The main character begins as a guardian angel who has just undertaken protection of a human village. These angels have been trying for some time to move into the God’s Land. The villagers of this small town need proof of your devotion and cause to the village and you need to help them to gain back peace and tranquillity.

The idea behind this truly amazing game is to gain enough Benevolessence. This is the crystallisation of the mortal’s gratitude. As a celestrian, your duty is the offering of this very sacred substance into the mighty Yagdrasil which is the great world tree. When the mighty Yagdrasil receives sufficient amount of Benevolessence, she will at long last bear fruit. The fruits she will bear are named Fyggs and these have untold powers. Celestrians are forbidden to show themselves to mortals – as long as the halo remains about your head, you will remain invisible.

Apus Major makes you into an apprentice and he appoints Aquila to deem you fit as the guardian of Angel Falls. Aquila makes you very aware of the evil creatures that seem to ambush innocent lives of your flock. As guardian of Angel falls, your objective is to fulfil your duty as a celestrian. As you wander around the small towns in the game, you’ll come across local folk to chat to who will have a selection of quests for you to participate in and these side quests are shown as blue speech bubbles beside each villager. You’ll be asked to do a number of tasks from collecting tanglewebs to showing off your party tricks. Yes, your character can perform certain party tricks which can be assigned including such things as air punch, jump and pirouette. The quests can be done at any time, so don’t feel the need to do them right there and then. Some quests come part and parcel with the storyline in which case these will need to be attended to.

Creating your character is simple as you can choose from gender, body type, hairstyle, hair colour, face, skin, colour. Customization is easy enabling players to choose whatever colour they want their eyes, to the colour of their hair. Players can choose which class from Hero, which is the best rounded, to Warrior, who can handle the more heavy type weapons. There is a good selection to choose from, but choose wisely. Players also get the opportunity to create new weapons and armour through alchemy, which can be performed with the various recipe ingredients you can find in treasure chests.

The enemies of the land are the coolest and chibiest characters I’ve ever encountered in an RPG, Mainly because they had some rather strange names and extremely funny bodies. During my battles I encountered a selection of large Green Cruel Cucumbers waddling before me and some blue slimes which are accompanied by a Sacksquatch and Teeny Sanguini. They all looked amazing in all of their sprite splendour. This is not to say that the game is not a serious one, just the fact that some of the enemies are completely comical. You’ll find yourself smiling without even realizing it until later. Visually, you can see the enemies in the grass plains and choose whether you wish to battle them, which means no random battles. Yay, I hear you cry. If there’s one thing I dislike it’s random encounters. That’s what I love about this game, it’s made battling a new concept for me, where I am the one in control for a change. The battle mode allows you to attack, cast spells, defend, use your abilities or various items in your bag. Or run like hell and flee. The more battles you participate in, the more experience and gold coins you will earn and what do gold coins mean?….goodies for you to purchase. Some enemies even drop treasures chests after battles which contain valuable items. It’s worth investing the time to find as many enemies across the vast land, because the more battles means levelling up, which in return will gives you the chance to gain new spells and abilities.

Talk to everyone in the towns because they all hold valuable pieces of information. Initially the storyline was a little slow for me, but once I had invested in enough hours I found that everything came together quite nicely. Put your life on hold if you really want to play this game to its full potential. It means business in a big way. The storyline unfolds into a world of mystery and intrigue. You’ll get to find out about past residents of the town and even see wandering dead souls who need your help to finish their unfinished business before they can be returned to the light.

There are plenty of shops to keep you stocked up in weapons, armour, medicines and herbs and the Inn provides rest and recuperation when you’re getting too tired and you’ll be introduced to the Planning party place. Yeah, I didn’t quite understand that at first. Basically this is where you can get other party members who have skills to join you on your travels. Each of them has their own set skills and can be levelled up. You can choose which character you wish and even when you’ve had enough of them you can return the character back to the inn.

The church in each village allows gamers to save their game and also offers other services such as divination, resurrection, purification and benediction. So if you or one of your party members has been poisoned or, dare I say it, died, then this is the place they can be healed or resurrected. Death is a serious matter, but I couldn’t help smiling when one of my party members passed away and we were being strangely followed by a purple coffin behind us throughout our journey.
During your travels you’ll encounter ‘Stella’ who looks after the sparkly and shiny Star Flight Express, which is a train. The Starlight has been unusually active just lately. It’s down to you to find out what’s going on.

The storyline is incredible and you feel like you’ve been sucked into another world. The game manages to capture everything amazing from traditional JRPG and adds a touch of magic to it. For some time now I had doubted that these type of JRPGs still existed, due to the fact that most of these types of games are filled with aimlessly wandering around vast amounts of lands to random encounters. But Dragon Quest IX has changed the dynamics and replaced my doubt with satisfaction. I’ve found it quite hard to put the game down. The game keeps you entertained and I felt that there was always something to do that required my attention. Dragon Quest IX allows players to feel in more control of their destiny. If you want the magic and if you love JRPGs then savour the goodness of Dragon Quest IX, because it’s the best candy you’re ever going to taste.

★★★★★★★★★½

Star Wars: Trench Run

Bazaboy — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 11:32:32 +0000

As a huge Star Wars fan back in 1983, like many other fans of the movies I got hooked on Atari’s Star Wars arcade game. If you are a fan of the movies and around the same age, you will know the game I mean. The graphics were of the vector type, lines making up geometrical shapes, it was and still is a great game.

But now this new game on the iPhone revisits the same gameplay, with updated graphics of course. The game centres around the last scenes of Star Wars: A New Hope, as you take control of Luke and his X-Wing as the rebels mount their attack on the Death Star. The game has both a mission mode which follows the story of the movie pretty accurately, or arcade mode which has you playing a progressively tougher version of the game in search of a high score.

The story mode begins with a small stage of the turret scene on board the Millennium Falcon as our heroes escape the Death Star which, upon completion, leads directly to Luke making his attack run on the battle station itself, with dogfights and of course the trench run as you blast TIE Fighters and turrets before switching up to the Falcon once again to provide cover for a flight of Y-Wings. You then switch back and battle to save the rebellion and planet Yavin from being destroyed.

The arcade mode is just as much fun as you try to build up a high score with gameplay that is more of the same. You engage in dogfights with waves of shapes against the clock to get your name as high up the online scoreboards as possible. One nice feature of the arcade mode is the fact that you are not limited to the X-Wing or the Falcon. Along with those you are also given the chance to fly the Y-wing, TIE Fighter and Darth Vader’s Advanced TIE. Although your ship choice does not really have an effect on the game play, it is nice, especially for fans like myself, to have that choice.

The game can be played from one of two views, either from the cockpit of the ships or, as I prefer, a chase view from a few feet behind your ship. The controls are an easy to use combination of the tilt feature and touch screen. Acceleration is constant in whichever ship you are controlling, leaving you to concentrate on direction and combat itself. You tilt the phone left and right for steering and forward and back for climbing and diving. With your cross-hairs locked in the centre of the screen, these tilting controls also serve as your aiming with smaller movements required for lining up your shots. The tilt function works surprisingly well in this game, more so than any other game I have played on the phone to date. The touch screen handles the rest of the controls with the screen being separated into four with each corner of the screen having its own function. Top right being pause for your options menus and such, top left switching between cockpit and chase cameras, bottom left activates a bullet time of sorts, slowing the action down for a few seconds allowing the player to line up their shots with more accuracy, and bottom right being the most important of all – your fire control. All these controls work perfectly together and are actually reminiscent of the arcade machines, if you can imagine your iPhone as the flight yoke that was used to control the game.

But where everything is changed from the old 1983 arcade version is in the form of both the looks and sound. The arcade game was made up of vector graphics, in laymen’s terms created using lines with no textures involved. You used your imagination. Although it was pretty well done – a TIE fighter looked like a TIE fighter and so on. But with this version the ships are properly done models with the proper textures and they all look surprisingly good for an iPhone game. It still surprises me that nowadays a phone is capable of graphics as good as these. Good old technology. The explosions when you destroy enemy ships and turrets are well done, looking and sounding exactly as you would expect them to.

The sound again has been vastly improved over the years, with both ship engines, blasters and music all taken directly from the movies, giving it a much more up to date feel and, lets be honest, who does not want to hear Star Wars music blasting in their ears as they shoot down TIE Fighters? Maybe that’s just me, although somehow I doubt it. Something else that makes it feel more like the movies is the inclusion of movie cut scenes – the rebel fleet moving in to attack the station and upon failing the mission the Death star Gunner firing the super laser.

All in all what you get here is a basic but fun space based dogfighting game. But when you add the whole Star Wars thing into the mix, like many things, it becomes infinitely more enjoyable, at least to fans of the movies and of the old arcade game around which this was obviously based. If you are in ether of those two groups of people, you should definitely check this out. Even if you are not, it is still well worth checking out as it’s a fun time filler.

Giving this one a score is difficult. If I were scoring it as a non Star Wars fan, I would probably go with six and a half out of ten. But as a star wars fan I will give it an extra full mark meaning it gets…

★★★★★★★½☆☆

Star Wars: Trench Run, from THQ, is available here on the App Store for just £2.99

Blacklight: Tango Down

GG Goblin — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 10:55:13 +0000

Fluffy dice hanging from your gun. It’s the next big thing.

Blacklight: Tango Down, developed by Zombie Studios and published by ignition Entertainment, is a first-person shooter that can be found for download on XBLA (it is also now available on Pc and will soon be on PSN) But this does not make the game an arcade game, not by a long shot.

Blacklight has taken what a lot of players consider to be the most important part of games like Modern Warfare 2 and Battlefield: Bad Company 2, the online component, and packaged it up as a game in its own right. Some may consider this to be a touch lazy, but for the price that they are asking and the amount of content you get for that price, I wonder why there are not more games like this?

The game is set in a fictional, near-future universe that is promised to be the setting for all sorts of entertainment. There is a movie in the works, books, graphic novels and the hope of other games, all based within the Blacklight universe. What may seem to be unfamiliar at the moment has the potential to become a well known setting for all kinds of future gaming fun.

Anyway, the story line for Tango Down is largely irelevant, as the game is based mostly around a formula that we have all come to know in recent years. Enter a match, shoot your friends and people you don’t know, earn experience and rank up. In this respect Tango Down is fairly generic in its execution.

I am no expert on FPS games, but that is not to say that I did not enjoy this title. There are the standard bunch of different game types and the usual equipment pre-sets that you would expect to find. Leveling up allows the player to unlock new weapons and armour, as well as various little items with which to customise your online persona.

These items are one of the much hyped selling points of the game. It is suggested that, once they are all available, there are millions of variations that can be achieved. Whilst this is a bold claim and an impressive selling point, the reality is rather less impressive. Indeed, the choices can become cumbersome and difficult to make. Do I really need that much choice?

Another selling point are the Hyper Reality Visors that are equipped, allowing the player to see the locations of others through walls and the like. This ability can be countered using special grenades that obscure the players vision to a degree. All of this allows for a certain level of strategy and extra care needs to be taken by those who are prone to camping.

For those missing any kind of single player mode, there are the Black Ops missions. These can be played alone, or in co-op, and pitch the player against hordes of computer controlled adversaries they try and complete simple objectives. Whilst not exactly deep and meaningful, they are a handy first stop for players wanting to get used to the game before humiliating themselves online, and are a fun distraction.

It is not all rosy though. There are a few failings in the game. Graphically, Tango Down is not overly impressive. The gritty setting does nothing to aid this, but it does seem to be substantially behind what we have come to expect from our shooters. The complete absence of any kind of tutorial, which I guess is because the game is aimed at people who know their way around an FPS, is actually more of a big deal than you would imagine. Aside from dropping newcomers in at the deep end, there is no explanation for some of the more unique modes, or information regarding the improving of weapons.

Perhaps the games biggest problem though, is its lack of innovation.It has an interesting setting, there are a huge number of customisation options and there are a couple of interesting ideas to be found. But, with that lot taken into account, the game is simply a clone of today’s most popular shooters.

Is that a bad thing though. Yeah, it would have been nice to have a more unique experience. But if it has to be more of the same, then why not copy the hugely popular online shooter genre?

And there you have it. The one defining factor that makes Blacklight: Tango Down a great game. The cost is a mere £10, or 1200 MSPoints. That’s £10 for the long lasting fun of a premium shooter at four times the price, minus the often ignored single player campaign. No is saying that Tango Down is as polished as these premium shooters, but I repeat – £10. To my mind, the game is a bargain.

Blacklight: Tango Down may not have all of the bells and whistles of the far more expensive, premium shooters from which it takes it’s inspiration, but it offers a damn good shooter experience for a damn good price.

★★★★★★★★☆☆

Pro Zombie Soccer

Bazaboy — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 10:41:12 +0000

Kicking a football at a bunch of shuffling zombies. Reminds me of school.

Argh, zombie attack and all our hero has to protect himself and save the world is his soccer ball, sorry we are in the UK, his football and his skills in playing the game. At the start of the game our hero Jax, a semipro soccer, sorry football, player, is bitten by a zombie. But before he becomes one of the brain munchers himself, he decides he is going to do his best to take out as many of the mumbling undead.

Along the way the story takes some twists and turns, such as deciding whether or not to waste your best friend who has also become a stumbling, mumbling maniac and a girlfriend who, in the middle of a zombie attack, stops to search for a dropped contact lens as you try to keep the closing in ranks of Romero flesh rippers at bay. The story itself is, like the majority of iPhone games, kept to a minimum and simple like the gameplay, making it perfect for small bite sized chunks of game play. And so that pretty much wraps up the story for the game. Use football, kill zombies.

The game play again keeps things in the fun but simple field. It’s all done with one finger on the phones touch screen. Jax the hero stands on the left of the screen with a small circle on screen behind him. Then, as the zombies shuffle, stumble and at times sprint towards you from the right, with your football at your feet, it is a simple case of pressing a finger on the circle behind Jax. The longer you keep your finger pressed, the more power behind your kick. You also aim your kicks from here by sliding your finger up and down and then releasing it to kick the ball towards your target. Speaking of the targets, they do come in all shapes and sizes, each with their own weaknesses. Your run of the mill lumbering brain sucker can be taken out with a single head shot or a couple of body blows. But as the game progresses you will encounter zombies wearing hard hats which you need to knock off with a head shot and then hit them with another for the kill, zombies that need to be hit in certain areas for the kill which leads to “nutshot” occasionally flashing up on the screen, and riot shield carrying zombies where things get a little trickier as you have to bank your shots off the walls along the top and bottom of the screen in search of the head shot. There are also other zombie types which use different tactics and ways of killing them.

>insert pic 3<

Although the football kick is your main attack, if you can chain a number of kills together with head shot combos and such a meter fills up and once it reaches the top you can activate one of three special attacks; a powered up version of your normal attack, a spike ball that cuts through any zombie in its way taking out crowds of the mumbling morons with a couple of kicks and finally the laser satellite shot where you kick your ball into orbit, hitting a satellite, activating a laser and obliterating any zombie that is targeted. The game play like everything else in the game is kept as simple as can possibly be like a lot of other iPhone games. But like those others it works in favour of the game, keeping the game fun and perfect for time filling when you have a few minutes to spare and feel like messing up some brain munching zombies.

Looks wise all the levels are pretty much the same single screen, only dressed differently, be it on a street, junkyard, stormy night or a snow covered Town. Both the scenery and all the characters are all well done and look really cool. The sound in the game is equally as nice, with music and zombie groaning about all that is called for and they are both present and correct, doing their job admirably.

So overall Pro Zombie Soccer like many iPhone games is best played as a small time filler on the train to work, waiting in a queue or sitting on the toilet. The gameplay, although fun, would not really hold your attention for long game play sessions. But if you have a few minutes spare, are looking for something to fill some time and love splattering the undead brain munching lumbering dead folks, then this could be the time filler you are after.

★★★★★★½☆☆☆

Pro Zombie Soccer, from Chillingo, is available here on the App Store for just £1.79

Crackdown 2

GG Goblin — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 09:24:04 +0000

What are you waiting for agent? Take down those freaks.

The original Crackdown was a bit of a surprise hit. It would seem that the majority of the people who bought it did so simply for the included access to the Halo 3 beta. It was almost an added bonus to find that the game was actually rather good as well. Not me though. I remember standing in the store, umming and arring over the game. The sales assistant tried to convince me to buy it solely on the inclusion of the Halo 3 beta. But I am not a Halo fan, so that was not of interest to me.

I ended up buying the game and was over the moon to find that it was good. Really good. Playing as an Agent, I was tasked with taking down various criminal gangs that had pretty much taken over Pacific City, the open world setting. This was really only a side quest to the much more interesting, fun and slightly compelling collecting of Orbs. These Orbs were hidden throughout the city and collecting them made me faster, stronger and able to jump higher, turning me into some kind of super soldier.

Now we have the recently released Crackdown 2 offering more of the same. Whilst I was excited at the prospect of returning to Pacific City, I was also a bit dubious. There were issues with the first game that were largely overshadowed by the shock of the game actually being rather good. I was hoping that these issues would be addresses and that the result would be a near perfect game. It seems that was not to be.

Everything that made the first game good has returned pretty much unchanged. The wonderful open world setting of Pacific City is back and still offers a playground in which to leap and climb. But the city looks a bit more worn now, as if it has been overrun by teenagers after dark. The collecting of the Orbs is still present and as compulsive as ever. The superpowers that are gradually gained through collecting the Orbs and allow the player to take advantage of the massive structures in the city, they are still there for the taking.

But it seems like the originals games faults have not only returned, but have been amplified. The little things, that were just niggles the first time around, are more evident and more irritating in this sequel.

Climbing buildings and collecting Orbs is all well and good, but the story, which should really be the focus of the game, was slightly lacking in Crackdown. This time around it is all but non-existent. The criminal gangs are gone, only to be replaced by the less imaginative terrorist organisation during the daylight hours, and the zombies at night. The missions consist quite simply of taking strategic points from the terrorists and then destroying nests of zombies. To say that there is a lack of variety would be like suggesting that there are a few video games with zombies in.

Another fault would be the difficulty. Whilst taking out the terrorists is relatively simple at any point in the game, the zombies are another story. Heading into one of their lairs and being charged with protecting a machine as it charges up to vaporise the freaks is incredibly hard to begin with. Then, once the player becomes more powerful, the zombies become nothing but a mere nuisance to be swatted away like flies. In fact the entire game becomes far too easy once the player has gained some power.

There are a myriad of other little things that can be frustrating in Crackdown 2. The auto aim never seems able to target the one enemy who is closest and about to pound you. The inability to recover after being knocked down, before being knocked down again. You can never be quite sure where you can grab hold in order to climb the side of a building. Renegade Orbs that run away when you try to get them! And the list goes on.

But for all of its faults, it still offers a damn good time. This is thanks mostly to the four player co-op which is now available. Crackdown offered the player a chance to team up with a friend in the playground of Pacific City, Crackdown 2 doubles the fun with four players. Although the majority of the faults are still evident in the co-op mode, the amount of fun to be had seriously overshadows them.

Crackdown 2 is not the game that I was hoping for. Rather than an evolution, it is more like a reskinning of the first game with a few tweaks, some successful, some not. It is still enjoyable and the ever present compulsion to collect Orbs will keep the player coming back for more. But it is not a game that will be as fondly thought of as the original.

★★★★★★★☆☆☆

Naughty Bear

GG Goblin — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 09:12:06 +0000

If you go down to the woods today…It won’t be pretty.

Naughty Bear from 505 Games was highly anticipated. This is mostly down to the aggressive web marketing campaign which saw video after video being released in which the hero of the game cleverly, or more often violently, dispatched his fur covered rivals. And therein lay the main draw of this game. Offering supreme violence is nothing we have not seen before, but making the main hero a rather sad, slightly psychotic looking teddy bear amongst a community of teddy bears was something new. I, for one, was chomping at the bit to explore strange, new ways of defluffing these annoyingly cute bears.

Then the game arrived and it became apparent that the reality was not going to be as much fun as my slightly warped mind had imagined.

The core objective of Naughty Bear is to score points. This is done by being naughty through the games small number of episodes. There are a number of different ways to be naughty, ranging from a little touch of vandalism to all out murder. The score a player achieves is dependant not only on how naughty they are, but also on the variety of ways they use to be naughty, with repetitive actions scoring less points.

There are missions within each of the games episodes that need to be completed in order to get the big scores and progress in the game. These missions mostly revolve around revenge, in one way or another, on the local bears that have caused our hero so much anguish.

The concept is good, great in fact. It was the concept alone that managed to make the game sell like hotcakes at launch and launch my imagination into teddy bear homicidal bliss. But where the game fails is in the execution.

The first problem lies with the setting. Don’t get me wrong, the island is great. We just don’t see enough of it. There are four key areas in which Naughty Bear can go on his homicidal rampage. These areas are repeated again and again through the various episodes, to the point that it became boring.

Whilst on the subject of boring, the relative lack of mission types are also a problem. One could forgive seeing the same scenery over and over again, if there was a variety of things to do within this scenery. But there is not. After having played for a couple of hours, the player will have seen and done pretty much all that Naughty Bear has to offer.

The biggest culprit in the games failure to live up to expectation, is the camera. Time and again I found myself getting stuck on door frames, not being able to see where my prey had run off to, or simply not getting to where I wanted to be. It prevents the game from running fluidly and became simply frustrating as I lose points, or even lives, due to the camera not doing its job.

There is a lot to love about Naughty Bear. The game looks great and will no doubt raise many cries of “aww, cute”, at least until the violence starts. The narration is top notch and seems to drip with sarcasm and over enthusiastic talking down to Naughty Bear himself. A lot of thought has gone into the various ways that the player can be “naughty” in the game and some of the kill animations are hilarious, if slightly disturbing. In fact, due to the generally disturbing nature of the whole game, I would recommend that the developers go and seek some help. Quickly.

Here is the thing. Naughty Bear revolves around fluffy teddy bears being psychopathic towards each other. Fluffy Teddy Bears that walk and talk. They are not real, they are not even realistic. yet the game left me with a sense of unease that I have yet to feel from any other violent video game, even ones containing humans. Is that right? Should I be enjoying things such as scaring teddy Bears into committing suicide or beating bears to death with baseball bats, only to be racked with guilt after?

For all of its great concepts, laugh out loud moments and ability to make the player question the rights of Teddy Bears, there is just too much wrong with the game to enjoy it for any length of time. The lack of variety, repetition and seriously dodgy camera control all let the game down. I love the idea behind Naughty Bear and I hope to see a sequel that fixes the main problems. But not until my conscience has recovered.

★★★★★★☆☆☆☆

LEGO Harry Potter Years 1-4 (PS3)

GG Goblin — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 12:00:52 +0000

Bricks and Wizardry. Has there ever been a better combination? Other than bricks and Star Wars of course.

I have a problem with the LEGO games. The thing is, I like LEGO and I like video games. I also like Star Wars, Batman, Indiana Jones and even Harry Potter. So, in theory, I should have the time of my life with any of the recent LEGO video games, right? Well, wrong. Why? Because everyone else in my house also likes all of the above. Do you think I get the chance to play more than the occasional level of a LEGO game? Sure, I get called in for a bit of co-op action whenever the game gets tricky. But then I am left not wanting to play the game myself simply because I have already seen it all and the mystery has gone.

And that is why the LEGO games are so successful, universal appeal. There really is something for everyone. The developers have taken one of the most successful toys in history and combined it with a collection of equally successful franchises. Each new game that has been released has tried to build on the formula whilst keeping the core gameplay the same.

So we come to the latest entry in the LEGO franchise. LEGO Harry Potter Years 1-4 covers the events from the first four years of Harry attending the Hogwarts school of wizardry and thus the first four movies. This means that there will in all likelihood be a second game released at some point covering the final years and final movies. It would be no surprise to also see a complete saga released in the not too distant future, containing all of the games in one.

Anyone who has played any of the previous LEGO games will already know what to expect. Bright and colourful environments lovingly replicated from the movies, all of the major characters recreated with a LEGO style and bricks by the bucket load. There is also the now obligatory humour, poking fun at the movies and the major events that happen within them.

So, the Leaky Cauldron is the main hub of the game, from which the player can gain access to the story mode and to the delights of Diagon Alley. It is within the alley that all manner of goodies can be found, such as the stores offering new characters, new spells, funny little ways to tweak the game and an abundance of bonus levels. As with all of the LEGO games, the main objective is the collection of studs that act as the in game currency and allow the player to buy the goodies found in the stores. Almost as important is the collection of gold bricks which unlock the bonus levels. There is plenty to keep collectors happy then.

It is in the story that you find one of the games major changes. This time around there is far less emphasis on combat. No more running around shooting anything that moves and laughing hysterically as they burst into a pile of bricks. It is all about the magic now.

As the player progresses through the game, they will unlock a variety of different spells. These spells can be selected quickly using a wheel selector, allowing the player to change spells on the fly depending what they need to accomplish. Some of the characters also have there own special abilities, similar to other LEGO games, such as Ron using his rat, Scabbers, to reach places that the characters cannot, or Harry and his invisibility cloak allowing him to sneak past Filch the caretaker unseen.

With less emphasis on combat, the game relies more on the completion of puzzles in order to progress. Lego Harry Potter is by far the most complex of the LEGO games in this respect, with what seems like a lot more wandering around and thinking. I cannot say that this is a bad thing. But more often than not I found that solving the puzzles came down to just dumb luck, rather than any kind of epiphany on my part.

It is not all rainbows and unicorns in the world of LEGO Harry Potter though. There are a fair number of glitches in the game that, whilst not game breaking, can be a touch annoying. Also I found that the navigation of the game was not as fluid as the previous LEGO games, leaving me often getting lost in the halls of Hogwarts and only being able to continue thanks again to my dumb luck.

Mind you, it is not like there was not plenty to see whilst I was wandering aimlessly. The game is filled to the brim with life. Everywhere you look there is something going on, usually inducing a slight chuckle from me. I think it is safe to say that this is the most lively of the LEGO games, if not one of the most lively games ever.

Even with the glitches and confusion, I can’t help but love LEGO Harry Potter. It really offers so much to see and do that the chances of getting bored, even if you do get lost, are very slim. For fans of the movie franchise, it really is a no brainer. But even amongst the non Harry Potter fans, they would need to have a heart of stone not to fall in love with this game. Or a heart of LEGO perhaps?

★★★★★★★★½☆

Ancients of Ooga

GG Goblin — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 11:41:18 +0000

Vomiting on demand.

The Ooganis have it rough. Besides the fact that they have some serious dietary problems and that they have been repeatedly hit with the ugly stick, they have been enslaved by the larger, more powerful Boolis. As the ancestral spirit, it is up to you to possess the bodies of various Ooganis, re-unite the tribes and lead them to overthrow their oppressors. Sounds simple enough.

NinjaBee and J. Kenworthy Entertainment, creators of previous XBLA hit Cloning Clyde, bring Ancients of Ooga to the Xbox Live Arcade. Offering a classic dose of platform puzzle-solving fun, Ancients of Ooga has more than fifty levels of slightly bizarre fun.

Each level consists of various levers, buttons, switches, ladders and creatures that want nothing more than to harm your Oogani. To get through all of these levels, the player will have to employ the powers of each different type of Oogani. There are seven tribes in total to find and use, with each tribe having their own special ability. Reminiscent of the minions from Overlord, these abilities are wide ranging and required for progressing through the levels. For example, the Harvester Ooganis can travel unharmed through thorny brambles that block the way, whereas the fire based Ooganis can travel across lava.

Perhaps the biggest feature of the game is the already mentioned Oogani diet. These guys can, and do, eat anything. But, rather than just eating for the sake of it, there is method to all of this feasting madness. Throughout the game, certain items will be needed for progression, beyond the abilities of the different tribes. Your Oogani is able to not only swallow these items, but can also regurgitate them on request. Again I have to question the sense of their diet. Anyway, this keeps their hands free for doing other stuff, such as climbing ladders. The player is even able to swallow other Ooganis in order to carry them to where they are needed.

Some of the edible items actually imbue the Oogani with special abilities, such as the Chilli Pepper allowing them to predicatably breath fire. As with almost everything in this game, these abilities are a requirement to proceeding through a level.

Not required for advancement, however, are the collectibles that can be found on each level. These random items can be gathered for points and online leaderboard places, allowing for a bit of healthy competition with friends.

The graphics and visual style of this game are all well done and finished to a high standard. But the Ooganis, and the world in which they live to a degree, are ugly and far from pleasing to the eye. Whilst I can understand that this is simply the style that the developers decided to go with, I would have preferred something a bit cuter. Maybe then I would have felt something other than pity for these poor creatures. Also, they don’t really do themselves any favours with their disgusting habits. but this is all just personal taste. I can’t deny that the game looks good, but it is just not to my taste.

The same can be said of the level design and the puzzles found within. I can understand that there will be plenty of gamers out there who get a lot of entertainment from the game. But I found that the levels and the puzzles lacked variety. The puzzles also suffer from a lack of complexity and offered very little challenge. The challenge in Ancients of Ooga comes from simply gathering the required components to proceed, rather than working out how to use them.

Ancients of Ooga is an enjoyable romp. But, for the reasons I mention above, this game offers only a small distraction for the serious gamer. However, the younger players out there will certainly get a lot from the relative easiness and the disgusting humour found in the game.

★★★★★★½☆☆☆

LEGO Harry Potter Years 1-4 Review

TurtleGirl — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 10:27:56 +0000

If you’re a big Harry Potter fan and have followed J K Rowlings book series, you’ll find it hard pressed to find fault with the latest edition to the LEGO franchise, LEGO Harry Potter Years 1-4. This follows Harry and his adventures from the first four movies. Each LEGO chapter follows the fine detail of the series which all Harry Potter fans will identify with and is filled with pure LEGO goodness. You’ll have to collect a zillion LEGO studs, unblock passages, solve puzzles and get the chance to try out each of the Harry Potter characters.

There will be wandering back and forth through corridors, waving at wizards inside picture frames and drinking special potions. Some wizards will reward you with gifts, while others may just ignore you if you’re not the right character. Some potions will allow you to become powerful and strong enabling you to pull levers, while other potions will cause characters heads to grow humongous and bulbus.

Your starting place is The Leaky Cauldron, the center point from which Harry begins his adventures in the wizarding world. Wandering into Diagon Alley you’ll encounter all the wonderful stores that were in the original Harry Potter movie, such as Madam Malkin’s Robes where you can purchase Harry Potter characters and even customize your own character upstairs in the fitting room. There’s a great collection of costumes to give your character some style and finesse.

Inside Eeylops Owl Emporium, where owls can be seen perched on their stands, is a great place for purchasing Gold Bricks, but be warned as they are very expensive. Upstairs you can purchase more wacky items such as silly disguises that don’t always quite fit and an ice rink where you can have your character sliding all over the place. I would only purchase these at the end of the game for a bit of fun.

Wiseacre’s Wizarding supplies gives players the opportunity to buy spells and upstairs in the store allows you to insert LEGO codes to unlock special features within the game.

During your journey you’ll travel in a mine cart into the deep dark depths of the famous Gringotts bank, which is operated by funny looking Goblins. Here you’ll find 10 vaults which are locked. Each vault can only be opened by collecting the required number of gold bricks. Players will need to invest a fair amount of time to gather the gold bricks, because the further you go on along the vaults the more gold bricks are required. Each of the vaults contain valuable lessons in the world of LEGO and bonus gameplay.

Most of the time the game play is about manipulating your environment in order to progress, such as opening blocked passageways and locked doors. I spent a vast amount of time just zapping everything and destroying anything. Most of the appeal of LEGO is experimenting and that’s what LEGO Harry Potter tries to encourage in this game. You’ll be taught new spells in lessons and shown how to use them. Something that made me laugh was when you can handle screaming Mandrakes within the game. Not only can the wailing screams of a Mandrake give you a serious nervous deposition, if you don’t find some earplugs the only thing you’ll be hearing is the echo of those bloody whinny things in your mind. Find a wardrobe as they each contain funny oversized ear protection to reward you with silence while you insert the blasted screaming Mandrakes into their pots. Screaming Mandrakes can be used to break the glass, but this is another lesson you will have to eventually learn.

Each of the characters have special features. One example is Ron’s faithful rat, ‘Scabbers’. This furry rodent was enabled by pressing the B button and then, under your control, he was able to go into certain transparent pipes which in turn give access to switches or unreachable areas. Another example is the fun and friendly Hagrid, whose ability is to move heavy items or pull certain levers.

Each chapter of the game is closely based on the movies, while adding a fun element using the power of LEGO. Fine detail and comedic cutscenes constantly had me in stitches. It’s hilarious to watch all of the time. You couldn’t want for a better game to be honest.The game offers so many surprises throughout. There were a few occasions when trying to lift certain items with my wand, I would end up catapulting another character across the scenery as sometimes casting spells was not as precise as I would have liked. The mechanics of the game are still the same if you’ve played the LEGO series before, such as Star Wars or Indiana jones. Collect studs, unlock special features, find and accumulate as many gold bricks as you can possibly find and basically zap everything in sight. I did find that the game didn’t always offer a straightforward path through the story. I found myself wandering aimlessly sometimes until either the next cutscene or I had accidentally stumbled upon something that helped my progress. The layout is not as clear or concise as the previous LEGO games.

Overall I love LEGO Harry Potter years 1-4 years. It lives up to all of my expectations, if leaving me a little lost at times. There are some great characters to play, new lessons to be learnt, funny cutscenes to be watched and a gazillion LEGO studs to collect. You’ll have great fun with Harry and his great adventures. If you’re a Harry Potter fan you’ll love it and it will entertain you for hours. If you’re new to the LEGO franchise, I suggest giving it a try. It was studtastic.

★★★★★★★★☆☆

Demon’s Souls

GG Goblin — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 09:27:35 +0000

It will take your soul, chew it up, spit it out and hand it back to you on a plate…with garnish.

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. If it’s worth doing it’s worth doing well. Nothing good comes easily. These are all phrases that I strongly disagree with. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it? Everything can be improved and of course I am going to take apart my perfectly working PC and try to make it even better. If it’s worth doing it’s worth doing well? Hmmm, the washing up is worth doing so there are clean bowls for my cereal. But I will do an adequate job and then get back to my gaming. Nothing good comes easily? I always feel good when I watch my favorite TV shows. That comes fairly easily.

However, this last phrase is the one that is causing me the most trouble just lately. I am, for the most part, a quitter. Don’t get me wrong, I will put a halfway decent effort into most of the things I do. But, generally, if things get too difficult, I walk away. Take my garden for example. It now has weeds that can be seen from Space. Cutting the grass was no problem. Removing the little weeds was a bit more effort, but doable. But now the weeds are taller than me and certainly more aggressive. I have played enough games involving jungles to know that no good will come out of my venturing into the garden. I know that sorting out my garden will be difficult, but the satisfaction of being able to sit in the garden and drink iced tea again will be a good thing. But I would rather leave my garden until the government declares it hazardous to the public and sends in the guys with hazmat suits and flamethrowers.

This all leads me neatly on to Demon’s Souls. Coming from Namco Bandai on the PS3, it is also the perfect example of the phrase “nothing good comes easily”. I was lucky enough to try the game out when a friend had it imported. After a week with it, I thrust the game back into my friends hands and demanded that we never talk of it again. I then cried for three days and three nights. It was with mixed emotions that I found that the game was officially being released in the UK.

Demon’s Souls is an action-RPG that has all of the bases for that genre covered. There are multiple classes for the gamer to play as, equipment to buy and loot to find. There are meanies to vanquish and epic battles a-plenty. There is an engaging storyline and leveling up to be had.

This is all standard fare and indeed there is a lot about demon’s Souls that could be said to be standard. The game looks good, but not to the high standard that can be achieved on the PS3. The same can be said of the sound work within the game. The voice actors do a good job and the music and sound effects are of a high, but not notable, standard. The games controls are perhaps not as fluid as they could be, but they are easy to use and can be mastered without much trouble. Nothing particularly notable there then. But there are a few things that raise Demon’s Souls above the humdrum and into the realms of legend.

Providing that your PS3 is connected to the net, as soon as you start up the game you will be connected to a server and there you will stay. Although the game can be played without this function, it is from here that one of the games greatest innovations come. As you begin to play through the game, you will notice blood stains and helpful messages in certain places. This is one aspect of the online connection. Players are able to leave messages, helping other players with warnings of things to come. These messages will then appear in other peoples games. Also, when you die you can leave a bloodstain that other players can see in their games. They can also see how you died, giving them a heads up to any potential dangers. For reasons that I will get to later, this is a good thing.

Dying is not the end of the game, or even a blast back to a respawn point. You come back as a spirit, with limited health, and given the chance to reclaim your body by a number of different means. However, whilst in this spirit form, you can be summoned into other peoples games to aid them. This continuation after death is one of the things that make the game so interesting. Lending aid to a fellow gamer, either with messages or in spirit form, is not necessarily everyone’s idea of fun. Sometimes you just want to fight with other players and dash their hopes and dreams (you meanies!) Maybe you can’t be bothered to work to get back your body? Well, how about jumping into someone else’s game, murdering them and stealing their body? Does that take your fancy? It may not be nice, but I am sure that they would do the same to you.

For all of the innovative use of the online function, the one simple fact that makes Demon’s Souls stand out from all other games of this genre, is the difficulty. The game is hard, real hard. Dying will become a way of life to the players of this game. In fact, it will happen so often that you kinda get used to it. Sit down for an extended gaming session and the first few hours will be spent swearing profusely at the game, but by the end you will be giggling like a schoolgirl at the silly mistakes you have made.

Difficult the game is, but unfair it is not. Even the most accomplished gamer will have trouble with this game. But if you follow common sense and do not take stupid risks (I will not even tell you how many times I fell to my death), then victory will come, eventually.

Demon’s souls is a mature game. By mature I don’t mean filled with boobies and the like. I mean that kiddies need not apply. It will take a certain amount of maturity to deal with the mental fallout of having your gaming hopes and dreams crushed so many times.

It is also a hardcore game and will act as a gauge of your gaming prowess. Complete the game, if you can, and then head down to your local video game store on a Saturday afternoon. You will see the store assistant trying desperately to convince a mother that little Suzie will enjoy the latest Dora game on the Wii. There will be a dad and his son arguing over which Xbox game to buy. And there will be two gamers loitering in the corner, discussing the previous nights gaming session. Now, raise your arms to the heavens and declare in your deepest, most booming voice “I completed Demon’s Souls”. All of the people in the store will drop to their knees and praise you like a god. It’s ok, you can bask in the glory. You deserved it.

Demon’s Souls will not suit everyone. The level of difficulty will put off a lot of the more casual of gamers. Yet everyone with a passing interest in RPGs should at least give the game a try, just so that they can say they have experienced it. But any gamer out there who thinks that they are a bit special should step up and prove it. This is a game well suited to special people. Just don’t expect your life to be the same afterwards. Nothing good comes easily? Never a truer word.

Have I completed the game? No, but my back garden is looking great now.

★★★★★★★★★☆

Landit Bandit

GG Goblin — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 09:45:09 +0000

Would you turn to the works of DaVinci to escape from a desert island?

I would imagine that being a high level art thief offers a wide range of perks and pitfalls. However, being stranded on a desert island is probably not one of the most pressing concerns when deciding if this is the career choice for you.

However, in Landit Bandit from The Bearded Ladies on PSN, that is exactly the predicament that our mumbling art thief finds himself in. But at least he is not alone. Fortunately there is also a rather industrious, loin cloth wearing guy also on the island. Upon discovering that there is no airport that can whisk our thief back to the big city, he and his new found companion come up with a plan to escape the island. Using blueprints that happen to be in the possession of the thief, they construct themselves a DaVinci style, pedal-powered helicopter. Makes perfect sense to me.

It is at this point that the player comes in, given the task of flying the helicopter contraction and aiding our heroes in their escape. It is just not that simple though. In a strange twist of events, which fit in quite well with the overall oddness of the story, leaving the island (or islands as there are more than one) will involve performing all manner of tasks.

The majority of these tasks revolve around collecting and dropping off passengers, in a Crazy Taxi style way. There are time limits imposed, so it is up to the player to plan in advance and work out the shortest route to accomplish this goal. It is suggested early on that, in order to achieve success, the player should plan a route that involves dropping one passenger and picking up another in close proximity.

As the player progresses, the pedal powered chopper will be upgraded and they will be able to take on “co-pilots”. These helpers come with specific skills that are designed to make it easier to get all of the passengers within the ever decreasing time limits. Believe me, the time limits become so tight that any help should be appreciated.

There is plenty more going on besides the collecting and depositing of islanders. Although collecting and depositing other things, such as barrels of Rum, offer variety, the core gameplay remains the same.

But that is no bad thing. Once the player gets used to controlling their ramshackle helicopter, which may take a little while, then the gameplay becomes great fun. Zipping around the well thought out island maps, whilst strategically planning pick ups and drop offs, and avoiding hazards such as sharks and bats, is very enjoyable.

The game looks nice and colourful. It may not be ground-breaking in the graphics department, but if you are playing the game properly, then you should have no time to spend picking faults with the view. The story is told through a comic strip style which complements and builds on the humour of the game.

With six islands to work through, there is plenty here to keep the player entertained. But the fun does not stop there. Landit Bandit has a full featured multiplayer mode which offers a nice variety of different ways to prove your aviation based superiority over your buddies.

Landit Bandit offers players something a bit different, as you would expect from The Bearded Ladies. Different does not always work. But in this case, with fairly simple controls, a nice smooth learning curve and a fair dose of humour, it works incredibly well. The result is a game that is both fun and engaging, whilst challenging enough to keep the player busy. Arcade fun at its best.

★★★★★★★★★☆

Puzzle Agent

GG Goblin — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 16:25:25 +0000

Welcome to Scoggins, Minnesota, population 754 and home to the Scoggins Eraser factory. This factory provides erasers for the White House, or it did until recently. Now, as Agent Nelson Tethers of the FBI Department of Puzzle Research, it is up to you to investigate a mysterious explosion, a missing foreman and a factory that is locked up more tightly than Fort Knox. Get the factory running again or the president may never be able to correct his written mistakes.

So there you have the most unlikely setting for the latest game from TellTale Games. No pirates or dog and rabbit-like creature combos, and no point and click adventuring here. Instead we are treated to a game that is not too dissimilar to the Professor Layton series, albeit smaller.

There is a mystery to be solved in Scoggins. Gameplay takes the form of travelling from one area to the next and questioning the slightly odd locals, whilst helping them to solve their own puzzles along with the puzzles presented by your investigation. There are in excess of 30 puzzles in teh game of varying difficulty. Realistically, the puzzles did not offer much challenge. There were a couple that presented more of a problem understanding what the objective was, rather than any problems solving them.

But, for those that are having difficulty coming up with the answers, there is a hint function available. Agent tethers has found that he can concentrate better when he is chewing gum, but sadly the local shops are all sold out. Luckily there are bits of gum hidden around the environments that you visit and these can be collected and exchanged for hints. Not exactly sanitary, but never mind. Each puzzle has three hints available, with the third hint pretty much solving the puzzle for the most part. Not ideal, but at least it will prevent people from getting stuck.

The game has an art style that is unlike the other games from TellTale. Everything is pretty much 2D and appears to be hand drawn in a style that reminded me of kids TV from my youth. The person responsible for this is Graeme Annable, a cartoonist and creator of the graphic novel, Grickle. This, in part, explains the almost cartoon strip feeling to the graphics.

A special mention must also be made of the background music. So far Puzzle Agent may have sounded like a cute little puzzle game. But the music manages to convey a feeling of suspense and slight creepiness. Combined with the almost unsettling story, this raises the game from a Professor Layton wannabe to a puzzle riddled journey to Twin Peaks.

Which brings us to the story. The town of Scoggins is inhabited by a rather bizarre bunch of characters that would be perfectly at home in one of those movies where everything starts of normal and by the end the hero is fleeing for their life, generally being persued by axe weilding maniacs. Not that anything that drastic happens here, but the suggestion that things may take a turn for the worse is constantly apparent. I don’t want to ruin the story, but there are at least a couple of times that had me exclaiming “wtf” out loud. Although the game is only short, fitting comfortably into one afternoon, memories of the story will stay with me for a fair time. At least until the sequel arrives. And the story ends in such a way that invites a sequel, so I would be disappointed not to see one.

The puzzles contained within this game may not be exactly inspiring, but the setting and the story more than make up for it. If you enjoy a good story and fancy a bit of puzzle solving to get the brain working, this game should be top of your list. I look forward to Nelson Tethers next case.

★★★★★★★★☆☆

Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11 (Xbox360)

GG Goblin — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 15:48:04 +0000

Hitting a little ball with a stick, again.

Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11 is something that I personally have been looking forward to since, well, Tiger Woods 10. It is not that I am a Golfing fanatic or anything. Before Tiger Woods 10 I was going through a bit of a Golf video game break. Then Tiger 10 reignited my love for a virtual round of Golf. So I was really excited to see what the game had to offer.

But then I made the mistake of trying the Wii version of Tiger Woods 11. The level of immersion in that version certainly left the Xbox version feeling a little silly. Don’t get me wrong, in many ways the latest version far out performs the previous Xbox version. But for lovers of Golf, the Wii version really is the only way to go.

I have already gushed over the Wii version, so let’s concentrate on the Xbox360 entry. After so many versions of the game, I would imagine that most of you out there will know what to expect from this latest installment. But, as with the majority of sequels, new features are added, some successful, some not.

First up, I want to talk about the True Aim system. This is basically a new way of playing the game. Don’t panic, you will not have to make a transition to a new control method, like the change from the three tap to waggling the stick method of hitting the ball. This mode is more about adding yet more realism to the game. It also shows why it takes so long to become a good golfer.

True Aim takes the player into a first person perspective. Gone are all of the aids that help the player to line up their perfect shot. Like the real game, players are left to their own judgement and more than just a sprinkling of luck. Whilst I can see the appeal of this mode, it makes the game much more authentic, it really ramps up the difficulty and without actually being there on the golf course and feeling the wind on your face, the kind of judgement calls required to succeed with this mode are hard to pull off.

Yet again, the inclusion of this new mode will require hours and hours of practice to achieve the level of golfing that the player has without this mode turned on. Decent real life golfers will find this mode easier to deal with than those who have never picked up a golf club. But the mode can be turned on or off at will, so it is not essential.

Another new inclusion that is designed to make the player work that little bit harder is the Focus meter. There are a variety of little tweaks that can be employed in order to simply improve your game, such as adding boost to your drive or the most important putt preview that allows the player to gauge the success of a putt before performing the shot. Whilst not especially realistic, these are an important part of the game for most players. But now the use of these tweaks are limited. There is a focus meter that will diminish as the player uses focus based abilities. The only way to fill the meter is to not use focus abilities during a shot. This method makes the player a lot more careful about how often these abilities are used, ensuring that there is enough focus for when it is really needed.

Players are able to create their own character, as always, and build up that characters golfing abilities by earning experience and upgrading various attributes. Whilst this can make for a very frustrating first few tournaments in the career, due to the relative rubbishness of your character, the tutorial on offer can help to take the edge off. By simply working through a rather good tutorial, the player will earn some experience to get them started, whilst also learning the basics of the game. Everyone’s a winner.

The inclusion of The Ryder Cup in Tiger Woods 11 is also likely to be a big selling point. The tournament pits a team of 12 Europeans against 12 Americans in an attempt to win the much coveted cup. It is not like there was a shortage of different modes to begin with, but this is a nice inclusion to the game and offers something a little bit different.

All of this is good stuff. The game looks great, as you would expect, and offers a full featured golfing experience. There are plenty of modes, options and even a new way to play. What could go wrong with that?

How about a code for online play? As part of what seems to be a growing trend, the game comes packaged with a code that must be used to enjoy all of the online goodness that Tiger Woods 11 has to offer. Without that code, the player will have to pay a fee and buy another code, or just stay offline. No big deal, you may think. People can just buy the game new and get a code. But what about the gamers out there who cannot afford a brand new game and buy their games used, or the players who rent these games out from their local video game rental store?

Tiger Woods 11 is a great game. There are some really interesting new features and the game is packed with golfing goodness. Is it an essential purchase? I am not sure. Obviously the Tiger fanboys will be running out to pick up this latest installment. But I can’t help feeling that the more casual Tiger players would be better off sticking with last years offering. Paying out for a new installment each year is a bit much anyway, but not being able to enjoy the online modes if you try to save some cash by getting your game used feels cheap. What is wrong with offering an incentive to gamers that buy new, rather than punishing gamers who don’t?

Well, the online code is an issue, but it doesn’t stop the game from being very good. The new stuff that has been added makes the game a worthwhile purchase (as long as it is purchased new), but perhaps only for those who passed on Tiger Woods 10. Then there is also the competition from the new Tiger Woods online game, which I have heard is great. It is worth thinking carefully before making the purchase.

★★★★★★★★☆☆

RISK: Factions

Tracey McGarrigan — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 09:36:12 +0000

Peace is a sprinkled doughnut on a bed of flapjacks laid on a table set by our enemies!

Xbox Arcade is currently offering a range of ‘Family Game Night’ classic board games including Connect 4, Jenga and a version of the often-lengthy strategy game Risk. For those who have played the board game version, you’ll know you have to be willing to live off multi-packs of biscuits and Redbull for hours, nay days on end repeatedly rolling dice, chasing your dreams of world domination before someone actually wins.

Happily, Stainless Games and EA have tinkered slightly with the rules and have brilliantly made a quicker yet undiluted version of the classic calculated combat contest.

With fabulous cartoon animated cut scenes (think PowerPuff girls etc), there are five chapters to the single player campaign during which you can play as different factions including cats, robots, zombies, yetis and of course humans, led by the brilliantly named General William P. “Fatty” McGutterpants (who I’m sure must be a distant relative of mine)!

For all you die-hards out there, you can still play the original Risk game with the real world map but I’d recommend delving into the updated fictional map game where all you have to do to win is be the first to complete 3 objectives! Easy peasy! Well not quite as lots of surprises and twists await your eager army and you do still have to have your tactical wits about you. There are temperamental, erupting volcanoes and flooding dams to take into account as you try progress over the map – gain territory in these areas and you might find your troops are swept away. Gaining objectives leads to rewards, which can help you in gaining control of certain areas of land, but this can all change on the roll of a dice.

The dice element is still the most important element of the game. If you’re lucky, you can earn bonus dice to help you in either attacking or defending but as it’s all left to chance, it often doesn’t matter anyway. I had an army of 17 robots cut down to size by 3 cats just because the furry dice went their way – but that’s the nature of Risk. The design of the dice depends on which faction you represent which is a nice touch in a game full of nice touches. Though it’s frustrating to loose ground so quickly and to have no control whatsoever over is happening, the animated fight scenes make the loss a little easier to bear – seeing a cat cough up a gooey furball over a zombie is very funny.

Each turn forces you to think carefully about your next move. You get to draft new troops at the start of every turn and this number is determined by how much territory, cities and continents you hold onto plus any other bonuses you’ve picked up on the way. You can then deploy your troops before planning your attack. You can keep on attacking if you’ve got the numbers and luck to do so then you wrap up your turn with one final manoeuvre and tweaking of troops.

If you’re a savvy strategy single player, you can complete the campaign in around 2-3 hours. Each chapter finished unlocks more maps in the custom map mode but it’s the multiplayer is where this game shines (a one player board game is always, well, boring). You can play local or online multiplayer. Local is easier as you can always study your opponents face to get a hint of what their tactics might be and online is great fun as it lengthens the game.

Overall, this is a classic board game brought to life for the console market. Good to look at and even better to play. Cheeky humour, with some excellent additions to the original game that should appeal to everyone!

★★★★★★★★½☆