(Xbox 360, PS3; $59.99; Rated M for Blood/Intense Violence/Sexual Content/Strong Language; www.assassinscreed.com)
(four and a half stars)
Players "relive" the life of an Italian Renaissance assassin in the much-improved follow-up to a title that was graphically and mechanically impressive, but stumbled with boring and repetitive gameplay. This time around, the story is better, the landscape is more enjoyable, and the gameplay is more varied- keeping everything that worked well in the original game, like fast parkour chases and sword combat, and rehauling everything that needed improvement. Plus, Leonardo DaVinci is to your character as Q is to James Bond- Bravo! Amico mio!
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Modern Warfare 2 Review
(Xbox 360, PS3; $59.99-$119.99; Rated M for Blood/Drug Reference/Intense Violence/Language; www.modernwarfare2.com)
(five stars)
Despite my feelings on a poorly-designed, controversy-laden level of the new "Modern Warfare 2" where players control an undercover CIA agent in bed with a Russian terrorist group as they commit a massacre at an airport, and the need for more responsible decisions from game developers releasing a title guaranteed to be played by impressionable teens, it's undeniable that the latest from the "Call of Duty" franchise, now spun-off under the "Modern Warfare" moniker, is an epic experience from a stellar developer at the top of their game. The bad taste that the infamous "No Russian" level left in my mouth was not enough to sour me on an, otherwise, exhilarating experience.
Developer, Infinity Ward, took a page out of the Jerry Bruckheimer/Michael Bay playbook of sequels- make everything bigger, louder, and more chaotic than before. Arguably in fact, some of the levels played out in "Modern Warfare 2" are directly lifted from Bruck-Bay films which clearly influenced the look and feel of the game. Like a Bruck-Bay sequel, familiar faces return, some never seem to stay dead, and flashy effects sequences distract from convoluted plot lines. In the end though, the "Modern Warfare 2" experience is rewarding and the chaos is well-used to envelop the player in the multiple roles of Army Rangers and Operatives in the super-secret, multi-national Taskforce 141.
And unlike most Bruckheimer/Bay extravaganzas, you won't feel you've wasted your money with "Modern Warfare 2."
In fact the infinite replayability of "MW2" is what makes it one of the most solid purchases a hardcore gamer could make this year. The relatively short, but solid single-player campaign makes room for the long legs of the phenomenal multiplayer mode that kept the original "Modern Warfare" at the top of the online charts for years after its initial release. Incredibly designed maps, improved perk/reward systems that allow players to outfit their soldiers to best suit their playstyle, and the continual desire to level-up your character to gain more experience and better rewards has all of the trappings to make "Modern Warfare 2" as big of a time-suck as any "World of Warcraft" out there. Despite the number of great games out on the market right now, once you are hooked into "Modern Warfare 2's" multiplayer, you will have to, and should, will yourself away in order to experience other games.
And I haven't even mentioned the 2-player, cooperative "Special Ops" missions that allow you to have the single-player experience with a friend either locally or online.
Likely your loved one already has a copy, since everyone and their mother is going to buy this game, but if it's on a wish list this year (and they are over 17 years old) be sure to pick it up for them- they'll be playing it until next December at the earliest.
(five stars)
Despite my feelings on a poorly-designed, controversy-laden level of the new "Modern Warfare 2" where players control an undercover CIA agent in bed with a Russian terrorist group as they commit a massacre at an airport, and the need for more responsible decisions from game developers releasing a title guaranteed to be played by impressionable teens, it's undeniable that the latest from the "Call of Duty" franchise, now spun-off under the "Modern Warfare" moniker, is an epic experience from a stellar developer at the top of their game. The bad taste that the infamous "No Russian" level left in my mouth was not enough to sour me on an, otherwise, exhilarating experience.
Developer, Infinity Ward, took a page out of the Jerry Bruckheimer/Michael Bay playbook of sequels- make everything bigger, louder, and more chaotic than before. Arguably in fact, some of the levels played out in "Modern Warfare 2" are directly lifted from Bruck-Bay films which clearly influenced the look and feel of the game. Like a Bruck-Bay sequel, familiar faces return, some never seem to stay dead, and flashy effects sequences distract from convoluted plot lines. In the end though, the "Modern Warfare 2" experience is rewarding and the chaos is well-used to envelop the player in the multiple roles of Army Rangers and Operatives in the super-secret, multi-national Taskforce 141.
And unlike most Bruckheimer/Bay extravaganzas, you won't feel you've wasted your money with "Modern Warfare 2."
In fact the infinite replayability of "MW2" is what makes it one of the most solid purchases a hardcore gamer could make this year. The relatively short, but solid single-player campaign makes room for the long legs of the phenomenal multiplayer mode that kept the original "Modern Warfare" at the top of the online charts for years after its initial release. Incredibly designed maps, improved perk/reward systems that allow players to outfit their soldiers to best suit their playstyle, and the continual desire to level-up your character to gain more experience and better rewards has all of the trappings to make "Modern Warfare 2" as big of a time-suck as any "World of Warcraft" out there. Despite the number of great games out on the market right now, once you are hooked into "Modern Warfare 2's" multiplayer, you will have to, and should, will yourself away in order to experience other games.
And I haven't even mentioned the 2-player, cooperative "Special Ops" missions that allow you to have the single-player experience with a friend either locally or online.
Likely your loved one already has a copy, since everyone and their mother is going to buy this game, but if it's on a wish list this year (and they are over 17 years old) be sure to pick it up for them- they'll be playing it until next December at the earliest.
Tony Hawk: Ride Review
(Xbox 360, PS3, Wii; $119.99; Rated E10+ for Animated Blood/Lyrics/Mild Suggestive Themes)
(one star)
Speaking of games that are more fun to play than "Brütal Legend," the latest release by Tony Hawk is...
Not one of them.
In fact, "Tony Hawk's Ride" is pretty much the opposite of fun. In fact, the only time I really enjoyed the game was taking the included skateboard peripheral out of the box in anticipation of playing, and deciding it was time to turn the game off and do something- anything- else.
With occasional releases that slowed the descent, the "Tony Hawk" franchise has been plummeting from relevance and interest for so many years that, hopefully, "Ride" will kill the franchise until The Birdman and Activision can figure out a way to re-imagine the once-seminal series.
"Ride" was supposed to be that reimagining. Allegedly, Hawk brought the concept of using a wireless skateboard deck with motion sensors to control the game. Since motion control was all the rage, and Activision had made a boat-load of money from including expensive peripherals in a number of their other games ("Guitar Hero," "DJ Hero," and the night-vision goggles of "Modern Warfare 2"), a $120 skateboarding peripheral seemed to make good business sense at the time- despite the collective cocked eyebrow of the gaming media.
But even if the price of a peripheral-bundled game is exorbitant, it can be overcome by a unique, quality experience (ala, "Rock Band" and to a lesser extent "DJ Hero"). "Tony Hawk: Ride," however, is not a quality experience. In fact, "Ride" feels like a very rudimentary, broken, last-generation game. On "Beginner" mode, the steering is automatic, and the player only need concentrate on popping the tail or nose of the skateboard in order to perform a jump/ollie. Motion sensors on the board, theoretically, register whether the board is twisted or tilted in order to perform flip tricks, and if the board is being held in order to perform grab tricks.
In review, the number of correct maneuvers registered by the board was at about 50%, and because of the delay between performing a movement on the board and that movement being translated to the character on the screen, the game never feels like an extension of the player's movements. Nor are the movements representative of what real skateboarding is like- and let's not even go into how uncoordinated you will feel on the board as it slips out from underneath you. In harder difficulty settings, players can choose to steer their character on screen by tilting the board, but when the core trick functions of the game don't work adequately, who cares if you can steer over to where you want to trick?
I tried to divorce myself from the fact that I have played much more fun "Tony Hawk" games through the years, and tried to look at "Ride" from the perspective of a 10-12 year old boy on Christmas morning. The imprecision of controls from the board, and the inability to use a regular controller for a more traditional "Tony Hawk" experience, leaves me wishing that my parents had just spent the $120 on a real skateboard, helmet, and knee pads.
(one star)
Speaking of games that are more fun to play than "Brütal Legend," the latest release by Tony Hawk is...
Not one of them.
In fact, "Tony Hawk's Ride" is pretty much the opposite of fun. In fact, the only time I really enjoyed the game was taking the included skateboard peripheral out of the box in anticipation of playing, and deciding it was time to turn the game off and do something- anything- else.
With occasional releases that slowed the descent, the "Tony Hawk" franchise has been plummeting from relevance and interest for so many years that, hopefully, "Ride" will kill the franchise until The Birdman and Activision can figure out a way to re-imagine the once-seminal series.
"Ride" was supposed to be that reimagining. Allegedly, Hawk brought the concept of using a wireless skateboard deck with motion sensors to control the game. Since motion control was all the rage, and Activision had made a boat-load of money from including expensive peripherals in a number of their other games ("Guitar Hero," "DJ Hero," and the night-vision goggles of "Modern Warfare 2"), a $120 skateboarding peripheral seemed to make good business sense at the time- despite the collective cocked eyebrow of the gaming media.
But even if the price of a peripheral-bundled game is exorbitant, it can be overcome by a unique, quality experience (ala, "Rock Band" and to a lesser extent "DJ Hero"). "Tony Hawk: Ride," however, is not a quality experience. In fact, "Ride" feels like a very rudimentary, broken, last-generation game. On "Beginner" mode, the steering is automatic, and the player only need concentrate on popping the tail or nose of the skateboard in order to perform a jump/ollie. Motion sensors on the board, theoretically, register whether the board is twisted or tilted in order to perform flip tricks, and if the board is being held in order to perform grab tricks.
In review, the number of correct maneuvers registered by the board was at about 50%, and because of the delay between performing a movement on the board and that movement being translated to the character on the screen, the game never feels like an extension of the player's movements. Nor are the movements representative of what real skateboarding is like- and let's not even go into how uncoordinated you will feel on the board as it slips out from underneath you. In harder difficulty settings, players can choose to steer their character on screen by tilting the board, but when the core trick functions of the game don't work adequately, who cares if you can steer over to where you want to trick?
I tried to divorce myself from the fact that I have played much more fun "Tony Hawk" games through the years, and tried to look at "Ride" from the perspective of a 10-12 year old boy on Christmas morning. The imprecision of controls from the board, and the inability to use a regular controller for a more traditional "Tony Hawk" experience, leaves me wishing that my parents had just spent the $120 on a real skateboard, helmet, and knee pads.
Brütal Legend Review
(Xbox 360, PS3; $59.99; Rated M for Blood/Gore/Intense Violence/Partial Nudity/Strong Language/Suggestive Themes; www.brutallegend.com)
(three and a half stars)
Tim Schafer is one of the most creative minds in game design. The Susan Lucci of videogames, Schafer has never had a break-out commercial hit, despite his past games- "Monkey Island," "Grim Fandango," and "Psychonauts" to name a few- being beloved by critics and fans alike.
With the marketing power of EA games co-publishing the Heavy Metal action-adventure of "Brütal Legend," and the casting of Jack Black in the lead role of super-roadie, Eddie Riggs, one would think that Schafer and his team might finally get the hit they deserve.
Unfortunately though, while the acting, graphics, and trademark Schafer wit are top-notch in "Brütal Legend," the fun of the gameplay is only so rewarding. "Legend" becomes a victim of including too many good ideas, without any real cohesion between any of them.
The story involves Riggs who is transported a fantasy world inspired by Heavy Metal tropes and album covers. A small band of humans live in fear of leather-clad Doviculus (voiced by Tim Curry), the Emperor of the Tainted Coil, who has enslaved humanity with the help of the traitorous, glam-tastic Lionwhyte (voiced by Judas Priest's Rob Halford). Riggs inspires the small band of resistance fighters by using his other-worldly roadie-knowledge of stage construction and mechanics, along with his enchanted guitar, "Clementine," and battle axe, "The Separator," to lead the humans against the forces of the Tainted Coil and the goth-inspired Drowning Doom.
The richness of the story and background of the world of "Legend" is classic Schafer, the amount of detail behind the "Legend" mythology is the reason to keep playing the game. However, in what looks to be an open-world, Hack-and-Slash adventure game (which would have been thoroughly enjoyable if left there), "Legend's" main focus of gameplay is in the Real-Time Strategy events known as "Stage Battles" where players guide Eddie to gather resources, build and manage troops, and direct the flow of battle against the enemy. In addition to being able to pull back and get a birds-eye view of the action, players have the option of dropping to the ground as Eddie and taking on enemies to help ground forces.
In concept, this sounds promising, but Real-Time Strategies rarely work well on a console that is constrained by the limited buttons of a controller. "Legend" doesn't solve this problem, and so managing and commanding troops gets frustrating and often results in amassing forces into a huge blob and storming the enemy with little, actual, strategy. Learning the intricacies of the "Stage Battles" take the entirety of the single-player campaign, making the story a lengthy tutorial for "Legend's" multiplayer mode that focuses on the "Stage Battles" entirely.
For a game that has so much potential for wide commercial appeal because of the source material, humor, star-studded voice cast, incredible heavy-metal soundtrack, and great visuals, "Brütal Legend" is likely to lose its target audience because of the awkward and niche Real-Time Strategy element. If left to an open-world adventure, "Legend" could have finally become the break-out hit that Schafer's amazing mind is owed. But in a sea of top-teir titles these months, this game will ultimately be left in the dust of other games that are just more fun to play.
Still, for the Metal-Head in your family, it's a worth-while gift, even if it's not as great as it should have been.
(three and a half stars)
Tim Schafer is one of the most creative minds in game design. The Susan Lucci of videogames, Schafer has never had a break-out commercial hit, despite his past games- "Monkey Island," "Grim Fandango," and "Psychonauts" to name a few- being beloved by critics and fans alike.
With the marketing power of EA games co-publishing the Heavy Metal action-adventure of "Brütal Legend," and the casting of Jack Black in the lead role of super-roadie, Eddie Riggs, one would think that Schafer and his team might finally get the hit they deserve.
Unfortunately though, while the acting, graphics, and trademark Schafer wit are top-notch in "Brütal Legend," the fun of the gameplay is only so rewarding. "Legend" becomes a victim of including too many good ideas, without any real cohesion between any of them.
The story involves Riggs who is transported a fantasy world inspired by Heavy Metal tropes and album covers. A small band of humans live in fear of leather-clad Doviculus (voiced by Tim Curry), the Emperor of the Tainted Coil, who has enslaved humanity with the help of the traitorous, glam-tastic Lionwhyte (voiced by Judas Priest's Rob Halford). Riggs inspires the small band of resistance fighters by using his other-worldly roadie-knowledge of stage construction and mechanics, along with his enchanted guitar, "Clementine," and battle axe, "The Separator," to lead the humans against the forces of the Tainted Coil and the goth-inspired Drowning Doom.
The richness of the story and background of the world of "Legend" is classic Schafer, the amount of detail behind the "Legend" mythology is the reason to keep playing the game. However, in what looks to be an open-world, Hack-and-Slash adventure game (which would have been thoroughly enjoyable if left there), "Legend's" main focus of gameplay is in the Real-Time Strategy events known as "Stage Battles" where players guide Eddie to gather resources, build and manage troops, and direct the flow of battle against the enemy. In addition to being able to pull back and get a birds-eye view of the action, players have the option of dropping to the ground as Eddie and taking on enemies to help ground forces.
In concept, this sounds promising, but Real-Time Strategies rarely work well on a console that is constrained by the limited buttons of a controller. "Legend" doesn't solve this problem, and so managing and commanding troops gets frustrating and often results in amassing forces into a huge blob and storming the enemy with little, actual, strategy. Learning the intricacies of the "Stage Battles" take the entirety of the single-player campaign, making the story a lengthy tutorial for "Legend's" multiplayer mode that focuses on the "Stage Battles" entirely.
For a game that has so much potential for wide commercial appeal because of the source material, humor, star-studded voice cast, incredible heavy-metal soundtrack, and great visuals, "Brütal Legend" is likely to lose its target audience because of the awkward and niche Real-Time Strategy element. If left to an open-world adventure, "Legend" could have finally become the break-out hit that Schafer's amazing mind is owed. But in a sea of top-teir titles these months, this game will ultimately be left in the dust of other games that are just more fun to play.
Still, for the Metal-Head in your family, it's a worth-while gift, even if it's not as great as it should have been.
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