Impressions: Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena

Tell you what, this is the best $10 gaming experience I’ve had in a while. As you may already know, Assault on Dark Athena is a current-gen FPS that received pretty solid (if mediocre-leaning) reviews, but it comes with the much-lauded last-gen Xbox game Escape from Butch Bay. I’ve only played about a third of Butcher Bay, but this game is worth its weight in gold, in and of itself.

Butcher Bay is a great mix of FPS and stealth, with some really interesting variety. You’d think that simply escaping from one prison would be a boring premise, but it’s executed really well. Even if Dark Athena is more of the same, I’m all for it. The controls are a little weird, much like they were in The Darkness (same team, Swedish developers Starbreeze Studios), but they fit much better in this game. There’s a stealth button which lets you know when you are undetectable or not, and it’s pretty interesting. Best of all, this is a stark, cramped, and dark game (which may have been part of using the OG-Xbox’s limited processing power) but it feels just right. When you do jump out of hiding and execute somebody silently (or take them out with an assault rifle), it’s really rewarding.

The Xbox 360 version of this game is still available on Gamefly for $10, and apparently you can trade it in for $9 credit when you’re done!

Impressions: last.fm on Xbox 360

As you may already be aware, some of us here at Threevue are big fans of Last.fm.  As some of you may also be aware, Last.fm is one of three new apps (joined by Facebook and Twitter) to be integrated into the Xbox 360 dashboard in an attempt to further blur the lines between games consoles and media centers.

For those who aren’t yet aware of Last.fm, it’s a music program which lets you listen to music of your choice, in full, online.  Not content with just doing that, Last.fm will also recommend music to you based on your selections, track your listening habits, provide pictures and biographies for the artists, as well as tour schedules for any touring artists, as well as having a burgeoning community.  On top of all of that, it’s also free!

As is, there are already a number of ways to use Last.fm; via the site, a desktop app, and an iPhone/iPod Touch app,  all of which vary greatly in their functionality; the website is the most feature-packed, whilst the iPhone app is extremely bare-boned.  As a result of this variance, I was naturally a little sceptical when I first heard that this service would be coming to the Xbox dashboard.

However, I finally got around to checking this out today (despite downloading it when it launched on the 17th), and I found myself pleasantly surprised at how robust this app really is.   This version of Last.fm allows you to perform the vast majority of tasks available on the website, plus a few more gamer related things that the site doesn’t offer.  It all works fairly well with the Xbox 360 controller too, though the ability to skip tracks with the triggers/bumpers would have been good.

There are some noticeable omissions though; whilst your listening habits are “scrobbled” to your website profile for tracking, there is no stat tracking functionality available on the dashboard app itself.  Also, the “on-tour” schedule is sadly missing from the dashboard app, as are all of the event planning functions available on the site.  I have personally found these to be really useful as a single-source way of finding out which bands are playing in my city, and when.  There also doesn’t seem to be any way of adding people to your Last.fm or Xbox friends lists through this app, which seems like a huge missed opportunity.

Regardless of these omissions, the Last.fm dashboard app still contains a host of worthwhile features, and is well worth checking out.  Of course, it’s debatable as to how much use you’ll get out of this if your Xbox and PC are set up in the same room, but if you do have them set up in different rooms then this could be well worth your time.

Impressions: God of War Collection

God of War Collection dropped into retail stores yesterday, and it dropped into my greasy little hands earlier today. It features Gods of War I & II and some bonus God of War II content that I’ll never check, all for $40.

The games have been remastered in high definition, sport 720p specs and 60 frames per second goodness, and comes with a God of War III demo. It looks really good on my TV, better than I thought it would. The cutscenes were not redone, and they actually look significantly worse than the in-game graphics. I played through the first game a couple of years ago, and I can’t wait to replay it and get my fingers into God of War II in anticipation of numero tres.

Impressions: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

We thought that instead of talking about a major release this week like Dragon Ball: Raging Blast, we’d talk about a game that was recently released under the radar. Our take on Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 begins now:

Russ:
I’m about halfway through the single player campaign and I’ve played two deathmatch levels. That may not seem like a lot, but it has given me a fair grasp on the game itself. I always tout Halo 3 as being a game that’s seriously worth your money just for its sheer amount of content; but what hinders that game is that it basically features a bunch of great (but not incredible) features. On the other hand, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2‘s multiplayer is so incredible that it alone pays for itself. And those are bold words coming from someone who spends most of his time in the single-player world.

Somehow the graphics were improved, which goes a long way in a game like this. Some of the graphics are so good that it tricks my mind into thinking that the environment is real, and it creates a level of immersion that I’ve yet to experience in a multiplayer FPS. The single player campaign seems to have cropped out all non-110% moments, leaving the whole experience feeling like more of a “best of” compilation than a full-fleshed out game. But really, the multiplayer is good enough that I can almost forgive it, and to simply consider it practice for playing online.

Oh, and I figured out what the Russians are saying at the beginning of the airport level (seen in the first trailer): “S nami Bog” = “God is with us”.

Steve:
One of the elements that made the COD4: Modern Warfare single player campaign so memorable was its jaw-dropping set-pieces, which were used to great effect in delivering the game’s narrative in an explosive, cinematic style. Without a doubt, the same can be said for Modern Warfare 2, and thankfully most of the set-pieces hit their mark: I say most of the set-pieces, as I couldn’t help but feel that the infamous airport scene seemed really tacked on; it’s only real purpose to inject some shock value into the game. However, I defy anyone to finish this game without at least cracking a huge grin or a small chuckle over some of the game’s scripted events – Infinity Ward have definitely succeeded in crafting a game which is as tight, polished, and expertly crafted as COD4.

You really don’t have to put in much playing time to realise just how similar Modern Warfare 2 is to COD4; though I would say this is to the game’s detriment at times. As the two games look and play very similarly, it doesn’t seem like there is enough variation in the story to set the two apart. There also seems to be a section in the middle of the solo campaign which feels strangely flat.

Solo campaign aside, the multiplayer seems as solid as you would expect it to be, though I haven’t been able to put in as much time with this as I would have liked as I’ve been having real problems finding matches online. However, I don’t know if this is due to problems with the UK servers, my router, or because my Xbox is on the verge of going supernova, so it seems unfair to criticise the game for this.

Giang:
It’s plainly obvious to see how this will be the best selling game ever. Its myriad of bombastic explosions and set pieces rival any blockbuster action movie. And its multiplayer segment is best in its class. They seemed to have ticked all the right boxes in creating a game that is both gorgeous and fun to play. So why am I coming out feeling a little muddled about it?

I always thought if a developer was going to bring the FPS genre forward in the narrative sense, it would be Infinity Ward. I slightly disappointed to see that they’re focused on upping the visual fidelity and not so much the emotional experience. They trot you around the globe, from crazy ass mission to crazy ass mission and not letting the narrative have any space to develop. What they do give you are those mission briefing screens filled with futuristic vector graphics that feel very removed from the war and terror of the battlefield.

Multiplayer is what we all know and love. A few tweaks including kill streaks and death perks will go a long way into making it even more addictive than the original. The new game mode Spec Ops lays somewhere between single player and multiplayer, where you’re playing side missions with a co-op partner. It definitely feels like the levels have been built with co-op in mind, and I imagine Spec Ops will become a new hook for players wanting something more compact than single player but with that team experience.

All the people going to the midnight launch of COD:MW2 say YEEAAHH!

Unless you’ve been living under a rock or in Bradfordsville, Kentucky, you know that Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is being released at midnight at most local gaming facilities. What you may not know is that I have to work all day tomorrow, so I’m probably not getting it for a couple days.

But that doesn’t mean I don’t want to hear about how awesome it is. So, leave us some comments and I’ll live vicariously through you. Deal?

Impressions: Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising

Every gamer has said at one point or another, “They should really make a realistic shooter, where just one or two bullets would kill a guy.” Operation Flashpoint: Dragon RIsing is that game.

Surely to be one of the most divisive games in a long time, OFDR is all about the realistic-’em-ups. It reminds me of the Simpsons episode, “30 Minutes Over Tokyo,” where the game show host says, “We don’t reward knowledge, we punish ignorance.” There aren’t planes crashing into clock towers right above you, there are no nuclear weapons going off, there is no main Russian/terrorist/bad guy (quite the opposite, in fact), and there sure as hell aren’t any characters wearing just a flak jacket with no shirt underneath yelling “Take that, bitches!”

Here, you find you and your squad on a Russo-Chinese disputed island called Skira (kinda real, but not really). You take command of different types of Marines, such as spec-ops, or Force Recon, and you do missions like taking out SAM sites and disabling radars; stuff we’ve all seen before. The thing about this game, though, is that is brutally punishing. If you find yourself out of place for just a split second, you can get killed with just one or two shots, and you’ll be running the entire two kilometers back to where you were before you know it, just to have it happen again.

This sounds boring and tedious, but it’s actually a breath of fresh air. The game is quiet, calm, and methodical, and just a little pre-planning can go a very long way. It has an incredible amount of detail, all the way from commanding your squadmates, to calling in artillery, to the map’s realistic grid system, which you will rely on if you play it on anything other than the normal (easiest) difficulty setting (which I don’t).

It’s not all good, though. The driving is the worst I’ve ever seen in any game, but luckily it’s mostly just for transportation, not for action. It doesn’t look that good. The character are bland and blocky, and the environment is (mostly intentionally) barren. However, with a game that has this much detail and realism, it’s what’s on the inside the inside that counts. I wouldn’t recommend this OFDR to everybody, but for those of you that this sounds like it might be your thing (you know who you are), give a shot.

Impressions (Outsourced Edition): Borderlands

We here at Threevue have been super busy with work, school, and women (hoards of them), so we asked our friend Blacktail to do a quick writeup on his initial impressions with Borderlands, a game that we all want to play but haven’t had a chance to get into yet.

Picture the scene: you’re playing an FPS, and an opponent wanders into frame spraying bullets wildly in your general direction. You lean into your weapons sights, take aim, and return fire; a scenario most of us are probably pretty used to. What most of us probably aren’t used to in or FPS’s though, is the sight of numbers floating gently up from your opponents head as your shots meet their target – a sight which is initially a little bit disconcerting, though this is a feeling which passes remarkably quickly.

After spending a little bit of time with the game, I can safely say I feel the same way about most of the other concerns I initially had with the game. Perhaps my biggest concern was that, as the game places such a heavy emphasis on co-op play, the single-player component of the game would feel a little soulless. Thankfully, this isn’t the case; missions are varied and fast paced, and the core shooting mechanic works well once you start to level up and get better equipment. Developers Gearbox have also done a great job in developing a fully formed game world; the art style is clean and crisp, and helps to create an environment which is both barren and strangely full of life, whilst the RPG elements bring an extra dimension to the shooting, without weighing it down unduly. Talking of the shooting, the in-game weapons feel reassuringly tactile, and the fact that you find new weapons so regularly, combined with the fact that enemies level up alongside you, means that you never feel overpowered or underpowered for very long; a dynamic which helps to keep things feeling fresh whilst remaining challenging.

However, I did have a few minor gripes with the game: as with Mass Effect, the frequency with which you acquire new items means that you often find yourself having to tweak your load-out. Combine this with the fact that, initially, the capacity of your inventory is quite limited, and you find yourself having to do a lot of micro-management from an early stage. Also, whilst I admittedly didn’t get to spend a lot of time playing the games
online co-op mode, the time I did spend with it served to highlight the need to play in a private match with friends, rather than with strangers.

These problems aside, I had a lot of fun during my time with Borderlands. In fact, the more I played it, the more it felt like a bizarre hybrid of Fallout 3 and Mass Effect – though thankfully with less dialogue and more shooting than both of those – which just leaves me with one further thought to share: why am I still writing when I could, nay, should be playing this game?

Impressions: Quantum of Solace

With vomit-filled memories of TimeShift behind me, I took a chance with another unlauded laud-free FPS the other day: last year’s Quantum of Solace, which was on sale for $10. Considering that I’ve had beers that cost more than that (thanks a lot, Singapore), I figured it was worth a shot.

Quantum of Solace has three things going for it: I tend to like Bond games (even the not-so-great ones), it’s built on the Call of Duty 4 engine, and it was developed by Treyarch, who can throw together a decent (if not life-changing) FPS from time to time. Quantum of Solace also uses a cover system which throws the camera into third person, and it actually works pretty well. The game itself feels much more linear than the already-linear Call of Duty 4, because the predetermined cover areas (seriously, someone should clean up all these wooden boxes everywhere) force you to head in certain directions for every firefight. That being said, there are some actually neat sequences, including chase scenes, “sneaking missions”, and sniping.

When it comes down to it, I’m just happy to be playing a solid FPS on the Xbox 360 again, and earning achievements in a game that just feels good to play. I’m not looking to change my life here, I just wanted something to pump me up before Modern Warfare 2 arrives next month. And lawdy me, it’s working.

Impressions: Uncharted 2

Spent an hour or two with this fall’s first big release. As far as I can tell, Uncharted 2 shouldn’t have a “2″ after it, because there hasn’t been any reference to the first game at all yet. I like that, because new players can jump right into it without missing a thing.

The gameplay is nearly identical to the first game, but feels more polished. The storytelling is great, and feels much more epic. The enemies are much easier to take down (one of my biggest complaints about the original) but that may be because I’m playing it on the easiest setting. One quick observation is that I feel that the game is heading into a MGS4-esque territory: some of the larger moments in the game happen during cutscenes, leaving me to only control some super easy “puzzles” and shooting scenes. Hell, I’d rather have a quick-time event than just a bunch of cutscenes.

Despite some slight annoyances (the opening train scene moved so slowly that I felt it took away from the pacing, and the unfair “stealth” scenes in Turkey) I’m looking forward to getting more into it.

Impressions: The Beatles Rock Band

I’ve only had about an hour with the game, but I wanted to give you my initial impressions as both a gaming and music snob.

My only history with a band-specific music game was a demo of Guitar Hero: Metallica, but I’m confident that this is 100x better than any “tribute” music game out there (with the exception of Revolution X). The overall look and feel of this game pays tribute to The Beatles in a way that seems fresh but respectable. Everything has its own sense of polish, down to the still-mildly-annoying guitar riffs or drum fills (now instrument specific) when going from one screen to the next. As you probably already know, the game follows specific instances in the band’s career, which is done really well. It’s great to see the band age throughout the story mode, unlike the constant 2009 version (aka jock rock version) of Metallica you see in their game.

I’ve only played the drums, which seem a little easier than usual. I don’t fault the game for it, because Ringo’s beats weren’t known for being unconventional – just colorful. Another reason that these songs may feel easier is because I already know them inside out.

On the down side, the way you activate “Beatlemania” (star power, overdrive, etc) on the drums isn’t like in the other Rock Band games; instead of making your own drum fill, you only hit the green pad once. This forces you to stay 100% true to the original content, which is understandable because my fills probably aren’t going to improve a Beatles song. Regardless, I was looking forward to adding a bit of my own flair. Also, there is no chime when you get a star in the song, which makes me constantly eyeball the top-right of the screen to see if I’m going to five-star it (there’s an achievement to five-star every song in the game, and I have my sights set firmly on it).

If you’re a Beatles fan, this is totally worth the $60. It’s not just a slapped-on regurgitation of the franchise, and you can tell that every aspect has been thought out intelligently. However, the game experience itself isn’t wholly different from what we’ve played (and enjoyed) already. Considering the fact that I’m still not sick of this franchise, I’m happy with my purchase.

Impressions: Shadow Complex

This afternoon I sat down with the trial version of Shadow Complex. Immediately, it made me do a quick software update, and I thought nothing about it. As I played through the trial, three reminders came up that told me that if I was playing the full game, I’d have just received an achievement, so why don’t you get the full game? By the time the third reminder popped up, I was ready to lay down $15 in space money and get the full game, so I did. But then, because I had updated my trial version earlier, my Xbox 360 didn’t realize that my trial game is the same as the full game, and made me re-download the entire game (never happened with an XBLA game for me before), and I lost my save game as well as those achievements I was supposed to get.

And that’s my only real gripe so far.

This game is great. It’s a mix of Contra, Metal Gear Solid, and Super Metroid, but you play as the guy from Uncharted (or maybe his first cousin). The exploring elements are straight out of Super Metroid, which is fine by me, because I’ve always meant to go back and play through that game and this one makes me feel like I don’t have to. Your character traverses through some really scenic 3D areas, but you can only move in 2D, which I like a lot. Initially, I was afraid Shadow Complex would try to make a quasi-3D environment like LittleBigPlanet, but such is not the case. The controls take a while to get used to, but afterwards they feel perfect. The aiming is a little messy sometimes.

I’m about 20% through (I’m just making that number up, I could be 5% through for all I know) and I don’t know much about the story yet. I’ve read enough on Wikipedia to know that apparently Liberals are the bad guys. And their home base is in Washington, my home state. I can’t wait to play through the rest of the game.

Impressions: LittleBigPlanet

I sat down with LittleBigPlanet a few times over the weekend, but even after that, I’m not sure I can accurately describe this game.

There’s just so much content. In the same way that I felt Halo 3 or Rock Band 2 gives you an incredible amount of bang for your buck, LBP has enough here that I don’t need a new PS3 game for a long time to come (provided that the game remains compelling). What impresses me most are the developer-created levels, which work perfectly. Beyond that, the community levels are hit-and-miss, although I did find the Michael Jackson tribute and the Fallout 3-themed levels to be pretty fun. And I haven’t even started making my OWN levels, which is probably the coolest thing about this game.

On the downside, the controls are a little looser than I hoped, and I don’t like having to use the thumbstick to control my sackboy, although this may be adjustable in the settings. Also, I played online with reader Giang and we had some major connection issues. Frankly, every time I played online it was laggy as hell. Hopefully that was just a fluke and doesn’t happen every time.

All in all, I find myself drawn to my PS3 more now than ever before, thanks to this charming little game.

Impressions: Wii Sports Resort

Picked up Wii Sports Resort yesterday, and decided to spend some waggle time with my most underplayed gaming system.

There are 12 different events, and while some of them feel just plain broken from the get-go (wakeboarding, canoeing), others are pretty fun. Best events?: frisbee (surprisingly accurate, plus it has a frisbee golf!), swordplay (which has a fun, Dynasty Warriors-esque mode, pictured above), table tennis (probably better than its predecessor’s tennis event) and basketball (only the 3pt contest, the “pick up game” just doesn’t work). There are some that are nice demonstrations of the Wiimote’s accuracy (skydiving, airplane flying), but are not worth playing more than once, and really they just frustrate me because this is how accurate I thought the Wiimote was going to be when the Wii came out THREE YEARS AGO.

In all honesty, I haven’t played every little section yet. I’ve only had two short sessions with the game, and frankly, with only one remote it’s hard to get excited at all. I mean, how often do people play the original Wii Sports alone? Same goes with this one. So, until I get another Wii MotionPlus I may not be able to fairly gauge how fun this game is. But I can say with some confidence that if you liked the first Wii Sports overall, you’ll find enough for you to enjoy here, too.

Impressions: Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion

I’m about 10 hours in.

It’s buggy as all hell (see pic above). I’ve had so many incidents where the characters are definitely not where they are supposed to be. For instance, there was one point where I was drugged and woke up at a friend’s house. He wasn’t there in the house, and the map had a marker indicating that I was supposed to go to the other end of the continent, which I did, only to find my friend sitting in the middle of a field. When I go to talk to him, he starts talking to me like we’re both still in his house. This kind of thing happens more often than I thought, which takes me from being immersed in the game to trying to keep the damn game from breaking itself.

There is a TON of content. So far, I’ve completed one of the four major side-quests (Fighter’s Guild), and that took me about eight hours. I can’t imagine being able to finish the other three without going crazy, so I think I’m just going to go straight for the main storyline next. I’ll finish up the other three sometime in the future when I’m really bored.

All in all, this is shaping up to what I figured it would be: a inferior version of Fallout 3 with annoying flute music in the background. There’s way more dungeon-crawling than I was expecting, too, and they’re worse than Fallout 3‘s subways/sewers. Oh, and the horse riding isn’t as fun as I was hoping it would be. Twilight Princess puts it to shame.

Impressions: Battlefield 1943

I figured out how to get rid of the “failed connection” screen that kept popping up – I just went ahead and bought the XBLA title ($15) and I was able to connect after only a few tries. I’m assuming they’re prioritizing their servers based on who actually paid money for the title, which makes sense, but it was quite a gamble for me to shell out money on something I hadn’t tried out yet.

The game plays a lot like what I remember Battlefield 1942 being like (I played the demo of that back in the dizzay on the PC): semi-large maps of WWII battlefields with capture-the-flag games. You can be one of three fighters (short, medium, and long range = infantry, rifleman, and scout), and I prefer the rifleman so far. You can get on mounted guns, ride vehicles, fly planes, or just be a ground-pounder. The respawn isn’t as fast as I’d like, but I felt myself getting the pace down pretty well, even after one round. There is a EXP leveling system (awesome) as well as modern controls that were configured intuitively.

Make no mistake about it, it’s a Battlefield game, but it feels good, looks good, and is now permanently on my hard drive. I think it has a right balance of pick-up-and-play and challenge that I will probably find myself jumping into these matches fairly regularly. I just can’t believe that this is an XBLA game. I mean, UNO is an XBLA game, too, right? It’s like comparing a chihuahua to a bull mastiff. Well worth $15.