As I have said before, it is sad when a game is better than the movie it is based on. Needless to say, that Lego Indiana Jones 2: The Adventure Continues is better than the core story that it is based on, the story in question being that of 2008’s Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. I went into this game with much trepidation. The reason being that Traveler’s Tales has gotten away with the same thing too many times now with their repetition of in their Lego titles, with the possible exception of Lego Rock Band. I enjoyed it with the Lego Star Wars game and I loved it with Lego Indy 1. Then came Lego Batman which, yes, was a rehash of the same controls and game play but was able to incorporate its own original story to the proceedings, which was the saving grace to that game. Lego Indy 2 however, attempts to make a game out of an already paper thin plot that was in the fourth Indiana Jones movie.
Don’t get me wrong, I am one of the biggest Indiana Jones fans out there but Lego Indy 2 feels like we have already covered this ground.
The Good: The graphics as usual are really nice. The game play is really easy to learn and the levels are fun to look at. There are plenty or neat little surprises to find and out of all of them, flying a fighter jet is a really nice surprise. The music is good as it is the score by John Williams for the most part. The levels for Crystal Skull are fun and the humor that is a signature in the Lego games is, as always excellent. The level builder is interesting to say the least.
The Bad: Repetition is not a good thing and unfortunately this is the games’ big weakness. Did we really need to retread what had already been brilliantly handled in the first Lego Indy game? I get that one movie was not enough to make a game out of but honestly, something more original than revisiting the first three movies could have been done. It all feels too much like every other game in the Lego series. No new ground is covered here in terms of something new and challenging game play and unfortunately, that’s a huge shortcoming of this game.
I don’t blame Lucasarts. Traveler’s Tales is the one that should be taking the blame and while I am eagerly anticipating Lego Harry Potter, I fear that it too will be the same in regards to the puzzles and the game play and that kind of novelty can only last so long before things begin to stagnate and unfortunately these Lego games are starting to get a little stale.

Final Verdict (Out of 10): 6

PopCap Games brings us the latest craze of pestilence and plague comes in the form of brain-munching zombies. This time, it’s not up to you and your trusty twelve-gauge to stop them – you’ve enlisted the zombies’ mortal enemy to defend your home. Garden Plants!!! You’d better hope you have a green thumb if you’re going to make it through this zombie apocalypse…

The idea of Plants vs. Zombies is more than a little hilarious. Basically, by collecting sunshine (via the sun, or SUN-flowers) and planting awesomely destructive green vegetation in your steadily expanding lawn, you can hold back wave after wave of zombie invasion. With each success, you’re awarded some new pack of seeds or other important tool that aid you in your quest to end the un-dead plague.

Cherry Bombs and Potato Mines are certainly fun to use for a bit of fireworks, but Peashooters and their evolutions are the basic artilery for the early stages Sunflowers are crucial for increasing your sun intake, and defensive Walnuts run interference while you build up more defenses. You also improve your chances for survival by collecting coins throughout the level. Your “penny-pinching” will come in handy at the shop, where you can buy a few tricks to have up your sleeve such as a rake to trip up the gangly ghouls, or a machine gun upgrade to pump up your Peashooters.

As your garden grows, later including a pool, your plants develop ever-more-interesting abilities, but these feisty greens aren’t the only things that get tougher as the war over your lawn wages. Some zombies get faster, some can swim, and some even drive vehicles. A handy Almanac records your encounter with each new zombie and plant, including their game plan and tips to beat it. Good strategy can decide your fate from the very beginning; once you have enough seeds, you can only take a few types into battle. If you choose incorrectly, those brain-munchers might just plow right over you. Going into battle prepared is one of the few advantages you have in the war against the undead, so select your weapons carefully. If you get overwhelmed, each lane in your garden has one last line of defense against the zombies, so if they get the better of you all is not lost.As tempting as it is to celebrate once a wave of the undead is negated, your garden doesn’t reset until the end of that level, so be warned.

Even so, the game is pretty fast-paced, as you race to salvage enough sun for that one plant that just might save your house. The rush of adrenaline received from trying to keep your line of offensive defense intact is addicting, if a tad stressful. Of course, if you needed a break from the surviving the undead plague mid-level, there’s absolutely no problem. The game will save itself, so there’s no loss of progress, and then you have time to go play one of the mini games which are just as fun and just as challenging, if not more so, than the levels in the game itself.

The graphics, might I add, are excellent and easy on just about any PC on the market. Those adorably destructive plants and the ridiculously silly infected, not to mention the charming music, with its hint of haunted that adds just the right spice of terror, the game looks as fun as it really is. Every level was thoroughly different from the last, not because of the level design itself, but because of the challenges that come from confronting new enemies every level while at the same time trying to maximize your seed inventory. Exciting action and challenging levels work hand-in-hand to create a really great game.

Plants vs. Zombies: 8 out of 10

Fallout 3 is in it’s own right a fantastic game. Highly addicting and fun to play, seeing the little character nuances that you can bring out of your hero, whoever that may be. The game is epic in it’s own right. As I was reaching the end of the main story, I found myself wanting more. This certainly could not be it for the Capital Wasteland could it? Well, imagine my surprise when I realized that XBOX Live has several bits of downloadable content that not only enhance your character with incredible weapons, but take you to new locales and even have you fight new baddies.

That said, I would like to say that Mothership Zeta was at least a little more interesting.

Sure, you know about the crashed spaceship in the wasteland. Well, you get to see what happens when you get to close too it aside from some radiation poisoning. You end up beamed aboard a ship that is orbiting Earth. You get to fight aliens, and you can get such weapons like the super awesome Alien Disintegrator. There is nothing more satisfying than watching your enemies be reduced into a minuscule pile of goo before your eyes. You also get the chance to unlock some interesting costumes in this particular add on, including a cowboy outfit, and even a Samurai suit!

How can this be? That would be spoiling but the surprise is rather nice.

The action is intense in Mothership Zeta. Fights erupt between you and the aliens at any point and when they do, expect some fierce resistance. Especially from the aliens that are in adaptive force fields.

As far as what I didn’t like, the chapters were too short. Also the corridors of the ship can get a little too repetetive to the point that you end up going in circles quite a bit. Also, for some inexplicable reason, the alien scientists are good. What I mean is that if you kill them, you lose karma. Apparently in this case, the only good alien is an alien that doesn’t shoot at you.

Ultimately, I enjoyed Mothership Zeta but not as much as the other two expansions that I also downloaded which were Point Lookout, and Broken Steel but more on those soon.

Is Mothership Zeta worth your while? Sure. You get some killer weapons and some neat upgrades but be warned, you can expect it to end before you really start enjoying it.

Final Rating out of 10: 7.5

When I fired up Dark Void I had no real notion of what the game was about. I knew there was flying and that the game was a cover-based shooter. With the birth of my son in December, I was glad of an excuse to really sit down and play through a game. The list of unfinished games for both 360 and PC is growing ever so steadily.

But I digress – Dark Void, developed by Airtight Games and published by the good people at Capcom is an experience that has a distinct feel. And that feel is unfinished.Riddled with small annoyances and loose controls, and a story that has more holes than Star Wars (I say that with love), I would have loved to see this game in 6 months or more when it would have been finished. With no singular direction, the game suffers but still manages to pull off a passable 8-10 hour single player experience that has some satisfying moments. However, with a distinct lack of multiplayer

Read on to know the whole story…

Dark Void starts off with a taste of what’s to come by getting you used to the flying mechanic. Now, for those playing on PC as I am, you should be warned that this is a joystick-shooter. If you don’t already have your favorite console controller for PC then you will find the mouse/keyboard controls frustrating. The game was meant to be played with a controller. Anyways, it goes through a short flight tutorial, and then drops you into the shoes of Will (voiced by Nolan North), the game’s main protagonist and introduces Ava (voiced by Polly Walker), the inevitable love interest who has a complicated past and relationship with our hero. A short cut-scene later, you’re in the Void, and robots are trying to kill you.

You pick up a gun and the game shows you how to shoot and survive by hiding behind cover. The ruins of an old civilization provide ample coverage for a soft-skin such as yourself. It was heavily inspired by the likes of Gear of War, but never achieved the satisfying feel of it. Most of the time, I saved ammo by running and shooting in bursts, then just mashing the melee button until the bad guy died. There are only a few ground enemies that this cannot be done to and I took full advantage of it. The shooting was alright, if a little loose. I never felt fully in control of my aiming reticule, even near the end of the game when I was “used to it.” The heavier the action got, the more squirrelly the controls felt. Headshots seemed to be at random, which was frustrating because I am big on saving ammo when I can. The gun upgrade mechanic seemed almost like a throwaway. Each gun only had two upgrades, and you get far fewer points than you have options for upgrading guns. I just upgraded the main rifle (most ammo) and the disintegration gun to max which gave them more ammo and blew stuff up better.

With the annoyances of the ground combat and control, the air battles were fun and crazy. Unlimited ammo and the ability to upgrade your jetpack to shoot missiles was a nice touch that made the combat satisfying. It was at this point of the game that I realized that I didn’t see any options for multiplayer. Playing 8 or 16 person aerial deathmatch or aerial firefight/horde mode would be an incredible amount of fun, taking me back to the days of Starfox 64. The controls were tight and the physics were not too game-y to be ridiculous. This was the best part of the game by far. The lack of multiplayer is an enormous oversight and a downright shame for a game so short. I am hard pressed to say the game merits the $60 price tag for consoles, but the $40 price for PC is much more reasonable. Airtight and Capcom missed a huge opportunity to capitalize on the lack of aerial combat shooters.

With a strong performance by Nolan North (Will, the protagonist) you feel like you’re playing something of a Nathan Drake spin-off. With competent one-liners and an overall interesting take on the anti-hero Will is not really endearing but likable. Ava, voiced by Polly Walker is mostly good but Tesla and the rest of the voice acting crew were greatly overshadowed by North’s work – sometimes to the game’s detriment. The performances were so far apart in quality sometimes that it made you cringe.

The story was somewhat contrived and lacked finesse. There’s only a tiny bit of backstory for Will and Ava, but the rest of the game’s characters are, essentially, red shirts. Tesla seems like he was thrown in just to explain their technology (the jetpack, ships, etc) and there was almost no explanation of how anyone else came to be there. It makes a small effort to explain the “bermuda triangle” disappearances as saying ships and planes fell into the Void.

To get a bit mushy, the game is very pretty for the most part. The character models and scenery were done very well and I think the PhysX were a nice touch. This game, more than others I’ve played, looks better with the extra particles and such that it adds. It adds a bit of grime and dirt to the scenery which makes it look at feel more genuine and real. I actually like the character animations and facial expressions better than certain current games. *coughAssassin’s Creed 2cough*

To top it off, there were times during the game that the music made me stop, reload an earlier save and play through the section again just to hear some of the best music in a video game I’ve heard in a long time. Its no wonder, because Battlestar Galactica composer Bear McCreary was the composer – his liberal use of heavy drums and exciting passages add an almost immesurable ammount of joy to the flying parts. The last battle in particular is one of my favorite musical moments in the game. Also, for those who are patient enough to sit through the credits there is a nice musical treat near the end. McCreary has some interesting things to say about his involvement in Dark Void on his blog. Warning – there are some plot spoilers ahead – Bear McCreary’s Blog.

Overall, the game does a great job of bringing us some good air combat and an incredible music score, however the ground combat and story leave much to be desired. If you have a chance, at least rent the game to hear some decent Nolan North and have a lot of fun flying around shooting things. The game lays the potential for a sequel, however I don’t know if that project will ever get the green light.

Dark Void (PC) Final Score: 6.5

X-Men Origins: Wolverine was one of the many box office hits from last summer that was an ultimately hollow movie, deviod of any nuance, a good plot, and, with the exception of Hugh Jackman and Liev Schreiber, just generally awful acting.  So how is the video game based on the movie?

I am quite pleased to say that the game is way better than the movie.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine Uncaged Edition is easily the best Wolverine video game ever made.  This game has everything you want out of a game starring our favorite bezerker raging mutant.  You follow the events from the movie with additional material from RAVEN, linking specific events from the film seamlessly to an overarching storyline that involves several flashbacks to Africa, as well as a visit to Project Wideawake, which for your non comic geeks, is the project that unleashed these three story tall robots that hunt mutants on the X-Men.  You play as Wolverine, as you hack, stab, maim, slash, and kill anything and everything in your path. I think it’s safe to say that  this is by far the goriest game that has come out with an X-men character.

Don’t get me wrong, this is a good thing.   A really good thing.

I was surprised at just how much gore there is specifically from the amount of damage that you take as Wolverine.  That said, because Wolverine is a mutant, one of his abilities includes a healing factor where essentially your life bar restores itself slowly and you get the treat of seeing Wolverine’s wounds heal themselves.  You can get stripped down to a near skeleton and still recover from that thanks to the two life bars that you have if your first life bar is depleted, then that means Wolverine’s vitals are exposed, therefore renderng you vulnerable.  At this point, it’s best to take some cover from your opponents or expect to be killed.  The kills that you get to deliver on the bad guys are incredible.  One of my favorites is where Wolverine stabs the victim in the stomach, and pulls up, thereby decapitating and leaving the poor bastard so shredded up that he won’t be getting up even if he could.

The boss battles are epic.  One battle has you going up against a Sentinel and that one alone is worth making the game worthy of a play through.  The fight with Gambit spans an entire hour of game play, taking place all over a casino, and even outside.  That fight is one of my favorite parts of this game.  The final fight with Weapon 11 is interesting and it actually challenges you to vary your moves against the enemy more than you have up to this point.

If I have any complaints with the game, it will be about the repetition.  The gameplay is as follows, lunge, hack, slash, rinse, repeat.  The repetition in this game is a major issue especially when you return to areas that introduce one new villain to fight.  When I say new, I mean in looks only.  The boss fight with The Blob is also a disappointment in that you have already fought big guys like him and the strategy for fighting him is nothing new by the time you get around to him.   (Spoiler) Also the fact that the idea of the magical memory erasing adamantium bullet is in the game just infuriates me to no end.  I hated that aspect of the movie and I hate it here as well. (Spoiler end)

The extras are minimal but neat.  You are able to find Wolverine action figures in different costumes from every aspect of the character’s history in the various stages of the game and when you get three of the same one, you unlock a challenge.  The challenge involves you fighting the Wolverine in that costume.  If you defeat him, then you unlock that costume and it’s instantly a selectable costume in the game.  Otherwise, you are playing ad Hugh Jackman in a  wife beater and jeans and let’s face it, it’s not the most interesting costume in the game.

My final verdict: If you want a good, solid action game that won’t take too long to finish, then X-Men Origins: Wolverine is not a bad choice.  I might even say it’s one of the best comic book based video games out this year after Batman: Arkham Asylum.  There’s nothing more satisfying than being able to cut loose with Wolverine and finally give some much needed gore to this already violent character.  While the repetition can get a little tedious, it’s definitely a guilty pleasure of a game and worth your time.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine Uncaged Edition: 7 out of 10

In this jam-packed holiday release season there are some obvious next-gen titles that are must-haves: Modern Warfare 2, Brutal Legend, Dragon Age: Origins, Assassin’s Creed 2.  Historically, hand-held ports released simultaneously with their console-cousins have been sad attempts to convert on the huge numbers of gamers that own a DS. Marketing meetings had people applying what would seem to be sound logic, citing the number of DS’s is circulation and saying they need to capitalize on their big-name title. The name alone should guarantee at least moderate sales numbers and justify its development.

These decisions had to have been made without the slightest consideration if, in any competent way, it can be transferred to the handheld medium. Then, the developer is given half of the regular dev cycle to crank it out. Sadness ensues, and poor reviews follow.

Assassin’s Creed 2: Discovery, however does its best to break this stereotype. With quick action, varied kill methods, and challenging level design the game brings some entertaining action to quickly maturing DS. I was pleasantly surprised by some of the fun mechanics in the game, allowing me to relish in some of the more badass moments of Assassin’s creed while still feeling a Mario-esque connection to the gameplay.

Read on for more…

Having only recently fallen into the deep pool of entertainment that is the DS that I have resisted for so long, I was plagued with memories of bad Game Boy and Game Boy Advance (SP) games that tried to emulate console games. When I picked up Assassin’s Creed 2: Discovery, I told myself I wasn’t going to judge a game by my former experiences. So, with an open mind, I booted it up.

I was first surprised with how good and smooth the movement was. The game begins with the typical training simulator, showing you the ropes of how things are going to roll with the controls and movement. Then it drops you in with some basic killing to be done. Also, some basic platforming has you running as fast as you can along the rooftops and doing some fun aerobatics which actually feel pretty good.

The game is supposed to be a diversion from the main storyline on the console, but I was bored to tears within minutes and skipped practically every cut scene without feeling like I missed out on anything. It’s supposed to surround the events leading up to the discovery of America – I know I should care but I’m not terribly interested in story when I’m playing in 15-20 minute spans. I just want to kill people, and fortunately the story doesn’t really get in the way. It’s there if you want it or you can skip through it like I did.

The mechanics of the game are a little odd, telling you that you need to be in the “stealth mode” to perform assassinations, but as long as the enemy is facing the other way, you can walk up and hit the attack button and it takes them down. I stumbled upon this, thankfully, near the beginning of the game and was able to capitalize on it throughout.

Now, here’s the part that bugs me a bit – it has no touch functionality. The game could have been just fine on the PSP which has no touch and stronger graphics with no complaints. However, the great thing about the DS is that it allows developers to put interesting mini-games in that break up some of the repetition of the platforming. I was expecting some pickpocket touch games, assassination touch games, and, at the very least, some sort of “the truth” puzzles from the console to make that more robust. I was disappointed on all accounts, sadly. With these small additions, this game would have been a gem, but without them the game felt a little repetitious and mundane. The touchpad for the entire game is regulated to your “radar” and where you see your objectives.

The game cycles between three modes – Normal, stealth, and escape (sometimes the latter is timed). In the first you are encouraged to explore, finding wanted posters and removing them to increase your health. You may explore, fight and climb to your heart’s content. However, when you finish the level you are rated on your performance. Basically it rates your stealth kills, damage taken, and time taken to get through the level. What bothered me is that the expected time limit is ridiculously low. It seems like they expect you to dash through every level, not collecting anything. Stealth allows you to be seen three times by the guards or archers. On the fourth spotting, you are sent back to the level start/checkpoint. The escape levels are just that, you run as fast as you can to escape a constant barrage of arrows and sometimes to beat the clock. These are honestly my favorites because they create a sense of urgency and an excuse to burn through a level as fast as possible, only killing when it’s convenient.

If you do not enjoy timing-based combat some of the fights can get frustrating. To survive sometimes you’re expected to have lightning quick reflexes to block or parry enemy’s sword blows, or even to block an arrow. These were timing issues that could have been worked out but some of the game seems like it had a short QA pass to make sure the game came out on time. There were two platforming puzzles that saw me die to excess – sometimes 10 or 11 times before the timing worked out that I didn’t get shot or hit by magically respawning enemies. Overall, however I did enjoy the platforming in a Sonic the Hedgehog kind of way.

Assassin’s Creed 2: Discovery is an entertaining jaunt that gets repetitive at times, and sometimes frustrating due to some timing issues that seem near impossible to get the hang of. But, as far as handheld versions of big titles go, it’s a strong start to what could eventually be tweaked and perfected into a fun DS franchise. Will it get that treatment? Only Ubisoft knows. Should you pick this game up? I would say yes if you like the Assassin’s Creed brand and can’t get enough of stabbing people with concealed blades. If you enjoy the console version and own a DS, you should at least drop it on your Gamefly queue. It’s good for long rides and makes for a good bit of quick fun.

Assassin’s Creed 2: Discovery Score: 6.5

As someone who once hosted a Star Wars themed podcast, I am predisposed to give SW licensed products a chance. I mean look how great Republic Commando was – a diamond in the rough of bad Star Wars games. Even The Force Unleashed was a lot of fun, if a little frustrating at times. I am a big fan of the new Clone Wars cartoon, as well. They have taken a lot of characters and added meaning to their existence in a good way.

Unfortunately, Star Wars The Clone Wars: Republic Heroes is not a gem, but more coal in our Christmas stocking this year. I can’t help but think that Krome was not given enough time to finish the project, or possibly set their sights too high for this venture.

Republic Heroes, other than having far too long of a name, places you in the roles of big name Jedi’s and clone troopers and expects that to make up for infuriatingly erratic controls, horrible level design, and possibly the worst AI since… well, ever.

Read on for more…

With all of the great games out this holiday season, I figured that Lucasarts would bring out its big guns to compete with the likes of Modern Warefare 2, Dragon Age, Left 4 Dead 2, etc. With so many games to play and so little time, my gaming time is very limited.

I haven’t thrown my Wiimote in a while. I now have a sign that says

“0 days without Wiimote incident”

I tell you all of that to tell you this – I am very disappointed with Star Wars The Clone Wars: Republic Heroes, and even more disappointed with George Lucas and Lucasarts for letting this game out before it was done. I honestly see the makings of a fun game if it weren’t so broken.

Drop in/out 3rd person action/adventure co-op – something poorly lacking in the Wii’s (and everyone else’s) lineup. This is a game that the family could play together. My wife and I play these games together and get a great amount of enjoyment out of them. Usually. This type of game is one that, if it worked well, would encourage multiple play-throughs because of the upgradeable skills. The story isn’t that important because fighting stuff as a jedi should be fun enough.

The graphics on the Wii aren’t always the best, especially when playing in Hi-Def. However, most of the time the developer changes the art style or at least make some accommodations for the different strengths of the Wii, but comparing from 360 to Wii Republic Heroes looks like a hasty port. Its darker, and much harder to see when playing. The geometry trips you up at every turn, and many times your allies are as much a threat to you in terms of avoiding pitfalls as the enemies are.

Wii Version

360 Version

Controls on the Wii are good when playing as the clones. Basically you use your Wiimote to replicate the absence of a 2nd analog stick by pointing it at the screen where you want to shoot. The controls feel pretty simple and natural. When playing as the Jedi, however, it feels very chaotic. You can either waggle your control or push B to swing your sword in whatever direction you’re facing. With the Jedi’s acrobatics, however sometimes they jump right off cliffs or into enemy fire or some other inconvenient place. Being as RH is a platformer, you can see where this would become problematic, especially when you’re fighting on small ledges or cliffs.

Speaking of platforming, this is the reason, along with AI, that my Wiimote incident count is now back at zero. When jumping from platform to platform, when you push the analog stick towards where you want to jump, many times a small icon will appear, confirming your selection, and then you hit jump.. and then you die. You either jump over your targeted tiny piece of floating rock, not jump far enough or miss it entirely. Sometimes this happens, oh, two or three or eleven times. When playing co-op, many times my partner would drop out on platforming sections because sometimes there are not enough platforms for both of us to survive. This is just a failure to QA the game completely. With the amount of people willing to give away their free time to test games, you would figure Lucasarts would tap into this at least a little and pay them a little something to help avoid the these kinds of problems. Such as the one that actually froze my character in mid-air while fighting a boss battle. Unfortunately I was invulnerable while frozen, which made sure that I did not move and my AI companion went happily to their death over and over again.

Then, all of a sudden, my Wiimote and Nunchuck were across the room. I’m not sure how it got there as I’m a bit hazy of the whole event. I’m pretty sure the force was involved somehow. But I figured I should, as a reminder, change my 2+years of Wiimote safety back to 0 days. Fortunately, I picked up the other Wiimote and played as the 2nd player and killed the boss and the game level completed. That apparently was the trick to unfreezing me.

Then, to really top it all off, the AI of the game was nonexistent. The game frequently checkpoints your progress as you move along and this seems like a neat idea so that if you die you don’t have to go back very far. Actually this is not for you most of the time – your AI companion falls to their death at least 2-3 times per checkpoint and this allows them to come back to you somewhat nearby. However, this does not always happen. Once, when platforming, my buddy kept running off the cliff immediately after they respawned. I sat there a moment thinking – “I’m pretty sure a Jedi should be smarter than that.”  The AI of the enemies is just as bad, as they tend to group together in small pods, allowing you to annihilate them with one charged up force-push. Boss battles aren’t even gimicky, as running up to them and just mashing on the attack is usually enough to wipe them out quickly. There are staged bosses, in which you have to do one thing to do the next, but its so buggy that it took me a while to realize what I had to do.

Honestly, there isn’t much more to say regarding Star Wars The Clone Wars: Republic Heroes. It is a sad attempt to get people to buy a game based on the name and hope they don’t notice how bad it is. It seems like the game is targeted at small children who may not notice some of the problems, but I think our kids are smarter than that these days. we’re on the 3rd or 4th generation of kids who have grown up with games in the home and even they will realize that this game is just not fun. Outside of the novelty of being a Jedi, the game never really lives up to its epic potential as a fun arcade-style action/adventure game.

Star Wars The Clone Wars: Republic Heroes Review Score: 4/10

As of Friday (11/20), almost all of the features of first time Publisher and Developer Riot Games, the original DotA creators, are available and live, and I can finally give you the 4-1-1 on what Riot has been up to. They have taken their concept of playing the pivotal role in a battle to new heights and put their money where their mouth is with League of Legends. Oh, and did I mention – they’re giving it away for free. A risky move to take, when some developers and publishers try to bank off of licensed names to catch the consumer unaware for a quick buck this holiday season.

Riot is sure you’ll like the game, and with good reason. For those of you unaware, there are international competitions for the now legendary Defence of the Ancients, a full Warcraft II conversion mod. If you haven’t played DotA, now there is little reason to bother other than nostalgia. Riot has put together, in my opinion, the best free game to be released in 2009.

I was only recently acquainted with Defence of the Ancients, or DotA (pronounced doh-tuh). Being only moderately skilled in RTS games, they are not often on my list of games that I must buy. Outside of Blizzard’s `Crafts (Star and War) and the relentless Command and Conquer entries that feature a story, the rinse and repeat nature of RTS games don’t really grab and hold me for long periods of time. You build a base and kill the enemy in increasingly difficult situations. While challenging, its not the most refreshing of gameplay.

Apparently Riot was thinking the same thing.

League of Legends, or LoL, has a lot of things going for it. A strong community pre-built in through DotA, as well as an influx of new blood through a very long beta process, as well as seeking input from some of DotA’s top players guaranteed that they were asking the right questions of the right people. They kept the game in development until it was presentable to the masses as a polished gem of balanced gameplay and graphics. Riot is trying to create a new term for this type of gameplay called MOBA, or Multiplayer Online Battle Arena. Its probably better than referring to it as “that game like DotA.” I think that this is a catchy name, and with the industry’s love of acronyms that are phonetically said, it will fit right in.

The game begins with a very accessible tutorial, and for those who can be bothered to read, a new players guide is posted on their website. Riot greatly encourages new players to read it, as without it you can be quickly stomped in comparison. I can personally attest to this.

At its core LoL is a hero-based RTS game. When beginning any game, you pick your hero, which is your representation for that game, who has a unique set of abilities that can be earned through leveling throughout the match. Every champion starts at level 1, and can grow to as high as 18 if the match goes long enough. Most do, especially when you’re just beginning. You also select two global abilities that all players have access to based on their summoner level, which is increased through playing real and training matches (more on this later). After this, you pick a page of runes, which are minor enhancements that can be purchased (with in-game currency) at the store.

At launch there are 40 champions, 10 of which are available to free players. To get more champions there are multiple options depending on how you want to proceed.  You can either purchase the heroes piecemeal that you want to play outside of those 10 with either real money (Riot Points) or in-game currency (Influence Points). On real games, you get around 300 experience for a win and 100+ experience if you lose. Currently new champions cost anywhere from 450 to 6500 influence points, so depending on your skill level and what champions you want, you can purchase them relatively quickly for free.

Riot points are roughly 130 = $1 if you buy in $5 increments. However, the more you buy at one time, the less they cost. Here’s the breakdown as of publication:

$5    = 650 ($1 = 130)
$10 = 1380 ($1 = 138)
$20 = 2800 ($1 = 140)
$35 = 5000 ($1 =142 )

The cost of champions in Riot Points is significantly less than influence point, ranging from 260 (~$2) to 975 (~$7). They have a champion bundle available in the store for 3410 (~$24) Riot Points that unlocks 20 champions permanently, and you can get the other twenty unlocked by buying the LoL Collector’s Pack which comes with the $10 Riot points card as well as some other perks.

I don’t want to spend too much time on the store, but the system is so good that I want to really illustrate how fair the system is to those who want to just play versus those who want to pay for convenience. If it affects how fast you level or the experience that you gain per match, your only option is Riot Points. However, all gameplay mechanics and bonuses such as runes, always have an influence points option.

The way that you really will get to customize your advancement is through the PvP.net’s  persistent summoner level that you increase with experience gained from each round played. You gain experience for every round, even if you lose. Also, your game record doesn’t show a total loss count, but a leave count. This fixes two issues mainly – people have no real need to create account after account to go for that “perfect” record. Also, it discourages people disconnecting from the game if they’re losing. Having a high “game left” count is now much worse than losing a round. The foresight and ability for Riot to work around two of Battle.net’s biggest annoyances is one of the more impressive pieces of LoL.

Moving on, the basic gameplay style is that of an RTS. You move and/or attack by right-clicking, and the Q, W, E and R are your four champion-specific powers. T and G are your spells, and B is a return spell that takes you back to your own base. You can also click them if you wish, but I found that learning the keyboard shortcuts made for much faster killing. The map has a number of “lanes” in which minions are automatically sent to fight over. The exact same number of minions are created for each lane for each side. If you just created a game by yourself and watched the minions go at it, there is slight variation in how far each side gets, but its largely even. You, as a champion, are the wild card in this mix. However, the other side has champions, too. Your goals are to defend your minions, destroy the enemy turrets, champions, and eventually their home base.

This is easier said than done, however, as the other side’s champions are unknown to you until the match actually begins. Sometimes your team just picks a mix that is perfectly countered by the other team’s choices. Most of the time the teams end up fairly spread among defensive and offensive champions and it really comes down to how you play. Your skill level affects the outcome of the round more than your champion selection most of the time. However you want to play, there is likely a champion to fit your needs. Each champion (and I played with almost all 40 at one point or another) is truly unique – there are no two alike with just a different character model. They vary in many different ways from their attack type to even if they use mana or not for their powers.Some of the champions use their own health to fuel their skills, allowing you to forsake mana but at times have to decide if that uber skill you’re about to deploy is going to leave you too weak to get away from the inevitable ambush that comes after.

No two rounds I have played are the same, and with the exception of bot games, there is currently a lack of satisfying non-pvp gameplay. Riot plans to add a single player campaign that includes a story to allow newer players a more gradual advancement in skill towards playing with the already affluent pool of “sharks” as they are referred to in the LoL community. However, in essence, LoL is all about PvP play and if you’re coming to the game without an enjoyment of that style of gameplay you may find yourself losing interest quickly. At the time of publication, you cannot create a bot game with opponents that are above Easy difficulty nor pick any champions to play with or against outside of 6 beginner champions. The only way to increase the difficulty is to either shorthand yourself against bots, or to play against other people.

There is a large gap between the bots and other players – the matchmaking system seems to be fair, however at times I did get matched up against people that were WELL above my skill level and summarily got handed my ass with a bow on top. There is a learning curve, and a bit of patience that is needed if you want to really get into LoL for the long haul. You still have the d-bags that are going to harass you about your play style, especially if your team is losing. On more than one occasion I played with people that had choice words about my distinct lack of skill and recommended quite fervently that I never play the game again. I, of course, told them that I would take it under advisement.

The question of graphics and sound design were not left to lesser hands, either – LoL runs on just about anything and still looks great. I never once saw frame-rate take a hit even with all 10 champions on screen plus minions with particle effects and everything. I played it on a mid-high end desktop, decent laptop and even an older laptop with some of the specs lowered. The internet requirement isn’t even that heavy. Obviously high-speed is a must, but you don’t have to be pushing fiber speeds to have a good game.  Sound and music are good, if a little repetitive. I sometimes had my own music playing during matches but that is how I play most RTS style games these days. Or, I guess I should say MOBA’s too.

To wrap things up, I really enjoy League of Legends. It is a game that I can pick up and drop an hour and feel like I did something. The learning curve is tough, and ignoring the jerks and crass people sometimes is tough. But if you can push through to learn a few champions and start to get some wins under your belt, you really do feel accomplished. The tide of battle can turn at any moment and no round is completely lost until your base is destroyed. The excitement you feel in those last minutes before winning or losing is a rush that I have not felt in many games lately. To add in that the game is being given away for FREE… well that gives you absolutely no excuse but to give it a try. I said it earlier and I’ll say it again now – League of Legends is the best free game of 2009. Its also one of the best and addictive games of the year as well. It doesn’t have the epic scale of some of the blockbuster titles coming out now, but LoL will be played for a long time yet. And rightly so.

League of Legends Review: 9.00 out of 10

Star Wars Battlefront I and II were epic creations, meant to be fast paced and played with friends. You had many classes that tailored to many different play styles. Earning the right to pick a Jedi as your class showed a strong ability to play the game well. You played against your friends and enjoyed epic battles on what seemed a grand scale. They weren’t the prettiest game you’ve ever played, but they were fun.

As fans, we’ve waited for the next iteration of Star Wars Battlefront for over 4 years now. We were all crestfallen when we heard Free Radical had been taken off the project, and even more bummed when we saw the footage of the game that could have been.

Star Wars Battlefront: Elite Squadron is, unfortunately, not the game we’ve been waiting for. Before you go jumping in thinking this is going to be the what the Sith ordered to satisfy your Battlefront craving, there are a few things you will want to know…

First off, remember that this is a DS game. Secondly, remember Nintendo’s stance on online play, and the wifi/internet abilities of the DS/DS Lite. Or, I should say, the fact that they don’t have any online capability. But I’m getting a little ahead of myself – Let me start at the beginning.

Star Wars Battlefront: Elite Squadron is a game that has very big shoes to fill. By carrying the Battlefront name, it is following up the best selling Star Wars game of all time. With that name comes high expectations – sadly it misses the mark on many counts.

You begin the game during the Clone Wars, as Clone brothers X1 and  X2. I understand that the clones had designations, but I really could have done with some better names, or nicknames. You are not typical clones, but special ones given more free will than the rest. You play a couple training missions, and then whammy, Order 66 comes down. Your bro, X1 has no problem following orders, but you question the order to kill your Jedi friend.

The game then takes you on a ride that includes both land and space arenas. However one key difference is that you may do both within the same mission. Its not completely seamless, the taking off/landing are all cut scenes but its a neat transition. You basically have 3 main combat modes:

1) Ground
2) Space
3) Speeder

All three are pretty fast paced, if a little repetitive. As you continue on, you find out that X2 was there at all the major battles throughout the Star Wars franchise, but just in the background. They wisely don’t have you actually come face to face with any of the main cast during the timeframe that covers the movie but you have radio contact on several occasions with Anakin, Obi-Wan, Han, Leia, Lando and Ackbar. Once the classic trilogy story has ended you have one more act, in which you actually become a Jedi and become a student of Luke’s.

The biggest problem I have with the story is most of the dialogue. I know the game is 10+, but they could have made it slightly more intriguing and original. They basically took the Star Wars storyline and just shoved these guys in. I’m shocked that Sansweet allowed this to happen, being the keeper of the timeline.

The gameplay while on the ground is focused around 4 classes plus Jedi – Assault, Heavy, Engineer and Spy. Each class has a primary and secondary gun, along with either a grenade or auto-turret. Plus, your lightsaber and force powers, which are available during Act 3 of single player only.

Graphically, I’m not going to really delve too far. The capabilities of the DS aren’t given to cinematic 3D graphics. The game looks pretty good – the artwork is very Star Wars-y and creates the right atmosphere. However, when there are more than 5 models on the screen, the game takes about a 20% speed hit. Its most noticeable when you’re playing the Spy, when he’s firing so quickly.

Controls bothered me a LOT. With little to no control over where I’m firing I found just running in a big circle around the room holding down B. Plus, the game did not feel like a DS game should. There was absolutely no use for the touch screen outside of looking at it as a radar. You could slightly zoom in if you tapped it, but for 99% of the game I left my stylus in the hideaway. The other 1% was the menus at the beginning, however I could have just used the d-pad. It felt very much like a lo-res port of the PSP version, just to try and tap into the bazillion DS owner market.

Sound was good – I love the SW music so that was a joy to me. Lightsabers sounded like they’re supposed to. Blasters sounded like they’re supposed to. Good stuff.

The overall fun of the game? Its not in the single player. The single player campaign was, overall, way too easy. When there were parts that were actually difficult they seemed, in contract, to be out of place. There were two points in the game where I got flat out frustrated and had to walk away for a bit. As for the instant action, I had only one opportunity to play with someone over the DS wifi and it was pretty stable, but still a little laggy. The instant action strategy is mostly just run up to someone and press B. They’ll die or you will and then you’ll pick again and respawn. There wasn’t much strategy in it or really that much excitement.The single player isn’t really worth playing again, and the instant action wears out after a few hours unless you have friends to play with. The best parts for me were the space battles. They seemed to flow pretty well and I found myself wishing I were in space when I got on the ground.

To conclude – if you’re really craving some good Battlefront action, you’d be better served by going back and playing 1 or 2 to get your fix. Online for both games still works well and there are a lot of people still playing. The DS game would be good for a select few who just cannot get enough Battlefront, but please – give it a rent before you sink $30 into it to make sure its what you’re looking for. The mobile Star Wars Battlefront games haven’t been stellar yet, but there’s hope for the DSi to maybe fix that. In the meantime, we’ll be watching the YouTube video of what could have been Battlefront III. And crying in the corner because it no longer is.

Overall, I give this game a 6 out of 10 – there were enjoyable parts of the game, for certain. Mostly they came because of either a neat musical effects, and like I said before: in space. It is by no means a terrible game. However for one who bears the Battlefront name, it missed the mark of greatness.

Star Wars Battlefront: Elite Squadron

Rating: 6.0/10

Not since Marvel Ultimate Alliance have I truly enjoyed a comic licensed game. Then came Batman: Arkham Asylum.

And all is good.

The one-man show that is B:AA absolutely reeks with authenticity. From Kevin Conroy as Batman to Mark Hamil as Joker to Arleen Sorkin as Harley Quinn I was literally thrown back to after-school cartoons where I literally raced home to watch Batman: The Animated Series. I am a bit behind the times only just finishing it, but, being one of my favorite games of 2009, it was worth the wait.

Batman: Arkham Asylum is a very dark game, pulling more from a Frank Miller-esque world than even the the last two Batman movies. Yes they could be dark, especially Dark Knight, but neither come close to Miller’s Dark Knight Returns. You begin the game by returning the infamous Joker to Arkham Asylum. You make it clear to the warden and to Gordon that something isn’t right. Lo and behold, ten minutes later you’re already starting to fight the Joker’s goons after he’s escaped and beginning the crazy ride that is Batman: Arkham Asylum.

I’m not going to delve too much into the story here, because that is one of the best things about this game. Suffice it to say, the story and storytelling include you in their interactions. Think Half-Life 2 camera control in certain parts, and 3rd person storytelling in others. You battle against a full gamut of Batman baddies including Zsas, Bane, Poison Ivy, Harley Quinn, Scarecrow, Killer Croc and, of course, Joker. You match wits against The Riddler performing a somewhat interesting collection game throughout your quest to stop the Joker. The game is very interesting as the riddles are true to form, however if you have a knowledge of the DC comic universe, Batman specifically, you may have an easier time. This was one of the few games where I went back to play the collection part because it was actually interesting and fun.

The gameplay was absolutely phenomenal – there is a saying in life that should be applied to video games: Less is More. B:AA takes a few good concepts, for example free-flow battles, and does them extremely well. I found myself looking for trouble more often than not just to feel like a badass fighting anywhere from six to twenty thugs. The combat just works so WELL. The boss fights were simple, yet satisfying.  The platforming was no-fail in almost every part, so if you fell off a cliff, in true Batman form, you pull out your grapple and save yourself. The game is very forgiving of stupid mistakes out of battle, which makes for a very stress-free platforming experience.

The battle focus primarily resides around two types: stealth and brawl.  The stealth mechanic… well it was a bit heavy-handed. I know Batman is a nina and is practically silent, but when I drop right behind a guy from a few hundred feet up, something is going to move. Whether it be the walkway shivering or a sound, the guy should have at least a clue. Plus, hiding on gargoyles is one of the main escape tactics and it seems a little gamey to me, but I actually find it a bit funny that they are clueless at the beginning, but later on in the game they have some surprises waiting for you on your gargoyle friends. That’s all I will say. The Brawl battles are just all out fistfights that, if you’re quick enough, can link together in one long series of thug-crunching blows. The key is to learn when to defend and when to attack. Practice in the challenge rooms if you’re having trouble, because that is one of the coolest parts of this game. The combat flows so smoothly and is relatively simple to be proficient in. Mastering it takes some time, but the process is so fun anyway that it doesn’t matter.

The visuals in the game are also amazing – I personally enjoyed the big reveals of the cityscape when you’re on a cliff overlooking Arkham near the beginning of the game the most because it gave you such a daunting feeling. The entire island is crawling with thugs and super villains just waiting to punish you. The art and presentation of the game is spot-on with creating exactly the mood and representing the DC Hero’s world. Hell for Batman probably includes 90% of what he has to deal with in this game. The way that Batman’s suit get progressively more torn up as the game goes on is neat, if a little canned. Its not really based on how much you get beat up, but more of a progress meter. You really only get your suit damaged in cut-scenes, and it looks cooler and cooler as you continue on. By the end your suit is in pretty rough shape. It would have been cool if it was a bit more interactive, but it was a cool storytelling device. The look of the villains and thugs were great. I’ve not seen such a sexy Harley Quinn since the comics – they almost went a little anime with her and the uh… well rounded… figure she has up top. Poison Ivy was a beauty to behold, and Croc was an actual terror. Joker looked amazing as well. They all did. Top notch visuals here.

The PhysX were a great addition to the PC version – the way you interacted with the environment’s less obtrusive elements such as smoke or mist, spider webs, and breaking building was amazing. There is a part where you are battling the Scarecrow’s toxins, and the building breaking effects are amazing. The way everything moves makes it feel more like an interactive movie than a game. My wife actually sat down and watched me play this game for a few hours, just enjoying watching it because of this.

The music and ambient sounds are extremely good at setting the mood and the desperate odds that Batman faces. It does a good job of sucking you in and creates a level of immersion that really helped me feel part of the game. So many studios don’t really put the time needed into sound creation and scoring. Eidos and Rocksteady scored a win with me, a musician, on the score on this game. It wasn’t always present, but it was when it needed to be and created the appropriate vibe for the scene.

Overall, B:AA is one of the best games of the year as far as I’m concerned. Its arguably my favorite comic book game of all time as well. Its up there with Marvel Ultimate Alliance. Its done a good job of setting a new bar for comic book games, telling the world that they can be great, and that the public will respond if they are. Apparently, so with the Guiness Book of World Records, who awarded B:AA the ‘Most Critically Acclaimed Superhero Game Ever’ world record. Not too shabby, gents. Not too shabby at all!

Overall I give the game a 9.75 out of 10 – the games small annoyances in stealth and gamey approach can’t be ignored, but the rest of the game is stellar. Best game of ’09 so far for me.