Tag Archives: Games

IDL FEATURE – Day 8: Platfromers – Enslaved: Odyssey to the West

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The fourth category on my list of five is dedicated to platformer titles. Now this definition can be somewhat vague, but to clarify, I’m meaning games where the traversal of the game world takes precedent sometimes involving puzzles or obstacles. All the Mario iterations, Prince of Persia, even Assassin’s Creed utilize this gameplay mechanic. Mirror’s Edge did this from a first-person perspective, as well as Portal, thanks to the mechanic that gave the game its name. I’d even argue that Rocksteady’s Batman/Arkham series belongs here. Combat is heavily focused, yes, but the traversal of the city and arenas is of equal importance. Putting all these worthy contenders aside, I chose Enslaved.

Honourable mention goes to Batman: Arkham City and Assassin’s Creed 1. Arkham Origins nearly beat out its predecessor, but notable bugs and glitchy sequences nearly broke the game for me, as mentioned in my review.

Day 8 – Enslaved: Odyssey to the West

Developer: Ninja Theory
Publisher: Namco Bandai Games

Enslaved is a little known game from Ninja Theory and published by Namco Bandai Games. The story is a re-imagining of the novel Journey to the West and follows our heroes Monkey and Tripitaka, or simply “Trip”. Monkey, a beastly ape-like man with burned tattoos designs covering the majority of his body, and Trip, a lithe, lovely red head.

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The game takes place in a futuristic post-apocalyptic world, and as Monkey, we are charged with the task of protecting Trip. We’re connected through a digitally linked headband, and if she falls under harm or perishes, or even if our distance apart becomes too great, we’ll share a similar, deadly fate.

Released to critical acclaim, Enslaved showcased beautiful, colourful environments. The reviewers out there, myself included, also applauded the realistic and expertly performed motion capture and dialogue of Monkey and Trip. But no one bought it. Selling less than a million copies, Namco dismissed any notions of a sequel.

This is a big shame. The game may have suffered because of the title, or as an unfamiliar franchise in the Western world, but it deserved to be played. The combat was fluid, and while the story might not have been its strongest feature – it didn’t break any new grounds – the re-imagining and the emotionally engaged characters made up for any shortcomings. The platforming however, is the most deserving aspect worth mentioning.

As monkey we spend a lot of time climbing walls and poles alike, a lot of times with Trip on our back tagging along. With Andy Serkis as the artist behind the motion capture, every movement and interaction between Trip and her slave are masterfully realized and authentic.

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The game may seem forgettable at a glance (probably why it didn’t sell), but for many reasons its remained at the forefront on my verbal list of great 360 games, and I encourage all others to play it.  This game alone is the reason behind this Top 10 list, and I’ll likely play through it again when its backwards compatible.

<- Yesterday – Gears of War
Tomorrow – Story Category: Grand Theft Auto V ->

-iRogan

IDL FEATURE – Day 7: Gears of War

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For this category I had the hardest choices and sacrifices to make, but I chose: Spec Ops: The Line, Dead Space, and Gears of War.

Honourable Mention: Mass Effect 2 (An RPG, I know, but I don’t really like RPGs. And the only reason I played this trilogy was because it was a shooter, so deal with it.)

Day 7 – Gears of War

Developer: EPIC Games
Publisher: Microsoft Games Studio

From the creators of the Unreal Engine, and the Unreal and Unreal Tournament universe, Epic Games, or formerly Epic MegaGames, has been in the industry for a long. With their engine they’ve been constantly pushing the industry forward technologically, but aside from their Unreal Engine, hasn’t made many truly noteworthy games. That changed in 2006 with the release of Gears of War, the game that moved Xbox 360’s off the shelves and many felt from the opening sequence that a new franchise was born.

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Partnering with Microsoft to publish an exclusive game, Epic Games and game director Cliff Bleszinski, Gears of War was born into the world – the first in a series of sequels. A military science fiction third-person shooter, Gears of War follows a team of troops called Delta Squad on a fictional planet called Sera, as they take on an unrelenting subterranean enemy known as the Locust Horde. The player plays as the main protagonist, Marcus Fenix, and can be played cooperatively with the second player assuming the role of Dominic “Dom” Santiago.

The game’s environments are dark and dreary, and very gloomy. The war against the Horde is not going well, and the heroes have been losing family and friends alike. The levels are very dark and ominous, and the game utilizes the shadowed areas as danger zones where the Kryll, a bat-like enemy, rips the player apart if caught in the darkness for an extended period of time. There are many enemy types, large and small, and a lot of the burrow out of the ground as the player progresses from one section to the next.

Gears of War stood out because of its haunting and violent subject matter, but the gameplay and visuals set it apart from all predecessors and copy-cats.

Visually, the game set the bar for the 360, begging any competition to match it. As mentioned, Epic Games are the developers of one of the premiere game engines in the Unreal Engine, always pushing the tech forward, and Gears utilized it in a way only the creators of the tech would know how.

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The gameplay gave us a fresh take on the third-person shooter genre, granting us a new, unique cover mechanic. As the player we can crouch up against any wall in the game with a tap of a button, and we can strategically aim around the walls, blind fire, as well as vault over, or around any cover. All seamless and smooth.

The game also introduced Cliff Bleszinski’s much lauded Chainsaw Gun: an assault rifle with a chainsaw attached to the front, allowing for ranged gunplay, but deadly close encounter attacks.

Gears of War is one of the best all-around packages on the 360: gameplay, visual, story and multiplayer, and wraps up my top three third-person shooters on the platform. It has spawned 2 sequels, and a prequel, along with other stories and works crossing multiple mediums.

And lastly, announced earlier this year at E3, Microsoft, who now owns the Gears IP, along side a new development team in The Coalition, will be bringing a new story to us in Gears of War 4 later next year. You can check out my E3 impressions here.

<- Yesterday – Dead Space
Tomorrow – Platformer Category: Enslaved – Odyssey to the West ->

-iRogan

IDL FEATURE – Day 6: Dead Space

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For this category I had the hardest choices and sacrifices to make, but I chose: Spec Ops: The Line, Dead Space, and Gears of War.

Honourable Mention: Mass Effect 2 (An RPG, I know, but I don’t really like RPGs. And the only reason I played this trilogy was because it was a shooter, so deal with it.)

Day 6 – Dead Space

Developer: Visceral Games
Publisher: Electronic Arts

Dead Space was a real breath of fresh air (HAH. Get it? Cuz we’re in space?) out of a company that, for years, had been regarded as a soulless machine, pumping out only annual titles, not taking any risks. The company I’m referring to is Electronic Arts: king of the sports titles.

Dead Space was a risk, but it was a step in the right direction for EA. For a notable period of time EA was only pumping out Need for Speed titles, The Sims, and annual sports titles, or buying up other studios, and shutting them down and NOT gambling on any new IPs. Year after year they were winning the distinguished “Worst Video Game Company”. Not something to be proud of. But EA claimed that they heard our pleas, and in return, in 2008, published Dead Space, from Visceral Games – originally EA Redwood Studios.

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Dead Space is a science fiction survival horror game. We play as Isaac Clark, an engineer, and while responding to a distress call, land on a  mining ship looking for our girlfriend, and end up finding only necromorphs – or reanimated human corpses.

The game is slowly paced, with creepy dark corridors, heavy breathing, screeching music, and plenty of jump scares. The two notable parts of the game is its unique HUD design, and tactical shooting mechanic.

HUD first: The game has no HUD. We see Isaac from a 3rd person perspective, and can be either angled over the left or right shoulder. The weapons have their own ammunition read out, and the “HUD” is made up on a projected holographic display. This is broadcasted in front of the player’s suit upon command, and this is how we view the map, inventory, and any video messages.

Second is the shooting mechanic. The game, as mentioned, is slow placed. We’re wearing a heavy mining suit on a space ship with artificial gravity, so it makes sense. But the shooting mechanic is tactical in nature. The game calls it “Strategic Dismemberment”. Body shots, or head shots will not stop an enemy. The goal is to focus on the limbs. The plasma cutter is the primary weapon, and is used to slice off the legs and arms of the approaching enemies to stop them, and then you can stomp them to death when you’re done. The game showcases many enemy types, and many weapon types, inventory management, suit upgrades and crafting.

The game’s last notable mention is the Zero Gravity zones, where we get to float around a large environment, while being propelled around with our space boots. Sometimes even in space! SPAAACE!

Dead Space was a slow, creepy horror game that spawned two sequels. That said, the sequels sadly drifted away from the original creepy horror mechanics that made the game awesome. The third one did offer co-op though, which was an acceptable inclusion.

<– Last Week – Spec Ops: The Line
Tomorrow – Gears of War –>

-iRogan

IDL FEATURE – Day 5: 3rd Person Shooters – Spec Ops: The Line

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The third category in this list is dedicated to, coincidentally enough, Third Person Shooters. Countless games have utilized this camera perspective to build their game mechanics around, while still focusing on their main protagonist. Going as far back as Mario 64 or Zelda, to Prince of Persia and Tomb Raider, even Metal Gear Solid and Grand Theft Auto. For this list, however, I have chosen games that primarily feature shooting as the defining mechanic, as I have a fourth and fifth category for platformers and story.

Some developers have done it well, others haven’t. Developers like EPIC Games, who made Gears of War for example, redefined 3rd Person Shooters by implementing a quick and seamless cover mechanic, and single-handedly moved Xbox 360s. Grand Theft Auto made the jump to 3rd person with its third iteration, and rocketed the entire franchise to the lofty house-hold name it is today (for better or for worse, in some views). Some games even tried to meld the two like the Tom Clancy Rainbow Six Vegas series. Be it exploration or shooting, platforming or melee, you’ll find a title that suits your need.

For this category I had the hardest choices and sacrifices to make, but I chose: Spec Ops: The Line, Dead Space, and Gears of War.

Honourable Mention: Mass Effect 2 (An RPG, I know, but I don’t really like RPGs. And the only reason I played this trilogy was because it was a shooter, so deal with it.)

Day 5 – Spec Ops: The Line

Developer: Yager Development
Publisher: 2K Games

Spec Ops: The Line is understatedly fantastic, and barely anyone seems to know about it, or has played it. It’s a game that remained under the radar, and was released without much fan-fare. But the reviewers out there loved it. Even myself, I only played it a year after it had been out. That’s not really saying a lot though, since I am slow to get to games.

Spec Ops: The Line is the Apocalypse Now of video games. It’s a war story with no happy endings, with terrible atrocities, and a game that’ll make you feel just terrible when you’re through. Why do I suggest it then, you ask? I answer your question with a question. When was the last time a game made you feel anything? Happy? Sad? Exhilaration, maybe. Stressed or scared? Sure. What about grief or disgust? Regret? Has Call of Duty ever made you think twice about the people that you’re slaughtering? Spec Ops does. Is it maybe the innocuous title, that made people overlook it?

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The true horrors of what men can do are put on display, and it’s not a pretty picture. As the “hero”, we’re dropped into the deserts of Dubai, after most of the city has been wiped out by sand storms and war. We’re here because a distress beacon brought us here. Former military teams thought lost have called home, and we’re here to get them. But things go sideways as they always do, and we find ourselves on foot with our small team, trekking across the sand city to find them. A long the way we come across bandit teams, and former soldiers gone rogue or gone mad. We come across small civilian groupings scrounging for food and water.

The game, and our “headset” commander, asks us to destroy certain points of interests, or groupings of enemies ahead with a little weapon called white phosphorous. And we play along, as the good soldier would, following commands. But then the game begs the question: Why did you just do that? As we then have to trudge through the smoking, screaming humanity. Was that really our only option? Were you sure those were even soldiers?

The mechanics of the game are like Gears of War. 3rd person view – obviously – with chest high cover. It’s the same game engine after all. And the level of destruction is a key point to mention, as certain destructible walls will unleash a wave of sand, taking out nearby enemies.

This game IS my #1 game of last generation, and would have almost been better served in the Story category, due to the lasting, haunting feelings. But it’s here, to kick off this one instead, and close out this week. Come Backwards Compatibility, I will re-play this game, and will do it better justice with a full Review, as I don’t think I really can in this format.

<– Yesterday – Colin McRae’s Dirt 2
Tomorrow – Dead Space –>

-iRogan

IDL FEATURE – Day 4: Driving – DIRT 2

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The second category is Driving Games. Driving Games is another category with a plethora of games to choose from, and one that can share games with other categories. For this example however, I wanted games that were strictly driving, and what better companies to look towards but Codemasters, EA, and Turn 10. Even Rockstar has thrown their hat in from time to time with their Midnight Club series. There are the Forza’s, and Need For Speed’s, F1’s and Rally. Driving games, like first person shooters, can make you feel different emotions while playing, but these are mainly just different levels of exhilaration, and sometimes relief. Hitting the tarmac with tires screeching can feel glorious if done well, and fish-tailing around bends while climbing as thin dirt path can be terrifying. Some teams have managed to do it better than others.

For the driving category, for lack of more space, I was only able to choose one game: Codemasters’ Colin McRae DIRT 2.

With the Honorable mention going to Forza Horizons.

Day 4 – Colin McRae: DIRT 2

Developer: Codemasters
Publisher: Codemasters

When Colin McRae Dirt came out, it wasn’t by any stretch, the first of its kind. At its most fundamental, you’ll find a rally driving game. It wasn’t even the first rally game by Codemasters, as they had done Colin McRae Rally games prior. But they had taken a break from the series, and come back to the next generation a little more invigorated.

Dirt 1 was raw and dirty. It was also true to the sport. The cars were beautifully rendered and realized, and sounded real. Almost guttural. When doing the hill climbs, you felt the speed and the desperation of the vehicles as you expertly corner the next bend, dirt scattering everywhere behind the tires.

At the end of each segment or portion of the race, knowing you were leading the pack, felt like an achievement, as the game wasn’t easy. The main difficulty was the damage mechanic. The realism and realization that your car was literally falling apart around you was its selling point. Each rock, poorly landed jump or tree ripped components of your car away and with some of the rally segments – and damage – carrying over to the next day or 3, each car component is vital. A poorly judged corner and subsequent smashed rear brake might make the different between 1st and 10th tomorrow.

Rally wasn’t the only mode either; there were buggies, trucks hill climbs, and rival races.

Now, Dirt 2 took all this, added a festival feel to the campaign, and tacked on Gymkhana modes and tournaments.

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Dirt 2 understandably had to make some sacrifices with the sequel by toning down the damage a bit, but adding a rewind feature and some water physics with matching windshield wipers. OH! They also added the option of hanging your own Xbox Avatar as a rear-view mirror ornament, to my child-like amazement – me, stupidly clapping and laughing dumbly as little iRogan hangs on, upside-down, for his life. A feature that no other game – to my knowledge, has replicated. Not even subsequent DIRT or GRID games sadly…

Dirt 2 was a cleaner, sportier version of Dirt 1, but this made it more fun all the same. It stepped up the visuals by making everything brighter and more colourful, but the rewind function did take away some of the difficulty curve that the first one had no problem reminding us of.

<– Yesterday – RAGE
Tomorrow – Third-Person Category: Spec Ops – The Line –>

-iRogan