Gameplay - 8.5
Supergiant games’ releases their debut title “Bastion,” a story driven action RPG adventure available as part of XBL’s 2011 “Summer of Arcade.” In Bastion you take control of a post apocalyptic survivor known only as “The Kid.” As you trudge through the remains of Caelondia you’ll slowly piece together an arsenal of both melee and projectile combat weapons. After acquiring these tools of the trade you’re able to hack, slash, and shoot a path through anything standing in your way. Doing so will net you experience points as well as fragments which act as currency. You can use the fragments to purchase materials to upgrade your weapons at an “Forge,” or buy various perk granting spirits available at the “Lost and Found.” Your main purpose in all of this is to locate the “Cores” and “Shards” which enable you to re-build and upgrade the safe haven known as “Bastion.” Here you are able to erect your own distillery, armory, forge, and a variety of other buildings that can be put to use in your quest for survival. You will also have the option to evoke the wrath of one of the worlds many deities from within the “Shrine.” This will increase a enemy attributes, or grant them special perks that raise the game’s difficulty level. This doesn’t go without merit though as you will receive more experience points and fragments for defeating enemies than normally. It’s a smart feature that takes away the mundane task of navigating menus and interjects difficulty customization into the story. The gameplay as a whole is your typical hack and slash action/adventure RPG affair. However, it’s fast paced action and bevy of enemies and obstacles render the repetitive “beat-em-up” elements fresh and new every time you play. Bastion is certainly an enjoyable experience that forces your hand in the strategy department, but also keeps button mashers happy.
Story – 9.0
Bastion’s story element is unique, in that it’s being told as you progress further into the game. To an extent, what you do shapes the tale. It’s unique storytelling quality comes in the form of an in game narrator not bound exclusively to cut scenes. He narrates everything from getting up and walking around to killing enemies and destroying scenery. Despite suspicions that consistent narration might become annoying, players will find that it was done within reason. The person telling the story, who is little more then a voice from the start, becomes a character the kid interacts with further down the line. His character eventually identifies himself as Rucks and his spoken account of the kid’s adventure evolves as you move forward. More of the how and why is revealed by Rucks with the retrieval of each core and the discovery of wary survivors not taken by the calamity. The stories overall tone of sadness and regret is especially shown through with character backstories. This is central to the games success and embellishes the already solid gameplay.
Game Modes/Presentation – 8.5
Bastion boasts a very lush and colorful display showcasing stunning landscapes in the wake of destruction, flowing action sequences, and a melting pot of unique enemies. With that said, Bastion retains the feel of an old-school action RPG while maintaining an impressive environment. However, it does lack a separate mini game mode, but that’s neither here nor there because the developers seamlessly incorporate the mini game within the story. Bastions mini-game manifests itself in the form of “Proving Grounds” which require you to engage in various challenges for each weapon acquired. Eleven Proving Ground mini games are scattered throughout the world, each testing you in different ways, for example, one requires you to obtain a specific score with your pistol against stationary targets in a timely manner, another tests your ability to crush every inanimate object in sight with your hammer, each Proving Ground plays to the strengths of the specific weapon.. Your success rate determines if you will unlock one, two, or all three of the possible rewards.
Graphics – 8.5
Most graphics today are on point with the advancement of technology, unless your talking about “Duke Nukem: Forever. Bastion feels like playing a comic book painted on canvas, without any annoying glitches or slow loading screens. It’s a smooth ride from start to finish.
Sound - 8.5
In keeping up with it’s solid graphics, Bastion is also proficient in the sound department. Melee and ranged weapon attacks, gulping down health potions, grunts and dialogue (executed mostly by Rucks the narrator) are all covered here. What’s more though, the game’s music is an attractive element, making the frenzy of action even more fun and exciting then it would be with just a wall of sound.
Online - N/A
Final Score: 9.0
Every year that XBL cranks out “Summer of Arcade” titles, there is always one game that stands above the rest. This years diamond in the rough is “Bastion” hands down. It takes repetitive RPG elements and keeps it interesting with difficulty customization and multiple enemies that make you think before rushing blindly into battle. It’s graphics and sound are also admirable for a downloadable title. If anything though, you should play this game for it’s story. It allows you to create your own tale through cause and effect which will then be narrated as if you handed Rucks the script yourself. One of the few games that’s worth 1200 Microsoft points.
Reviewed by Mondo
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Showing posts with label Quick Review. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Quick Review. Show all posts
Friday, August 5, 2011
Monday, August 1, 2011
Quick Review: From Dust
Gameplay - 7.5
Ubisoft takes a crack at attempting to revive the “God-game” genre with it’s latest XBL release “From Dust.” In From Dust you play as a God-like figure, “The Breath,” that must assist a tribe in exploring new areas of a desolate world and populating it. As “The Breath” you are exactly that, an invisible figure that can manipulate most of the environments of the world. On screen “The Breath” is presented as a cursor, which can be moved over sand, water, and lava with the ability to absorb and drop the aforementioned substances anywhere on the map. If there is a river that your tribe must cross, for example, you may build a bridge made out of lava or sand in order to allow safe passage. The only major complaint with this style of gameplay is, many times you will be stuck in a dire situation where time is of the essence, you build a bridge to have your tribe cross to a different section of the map and, low and behold, you’re one pixel of lava off! Adding to the lava makes the bridge taller so they still can’t move across it, and there is no way to take the lava away. So your tribe dies - time to start over. Throughout the game your tribe will gain memories. Collecting all the memories will not only give you a history of your tribe but you will also be rewarded with an achievement. Adding sand close to your tribes will add grasslands that spread to every piece of sand on the map as long as they are connected. Filling half of the map and the entire map with greenery will reward more tribe memories but will also put your tribes in danger of wild fires if a volcano is near by. Each totem pole you find will create village on the map, making multitasking a must. The tribe is also very music oriented and finding “knowledge of…” stones will teach the tribe compositions to hold off natural disasters such as tsunamis and wildfires. Overall, the game play is tedious at points, but overall enjoyable.
Story – 5.0
Sadly, From Dust is lacking any kind of compelling story. The tribe is a musically oriented tribe that worships “The Breath,” whom you control, in hopes of populating the lands and controlling the various elements. The idea is pretty straightforward, and extremely repetitive. The game is so repetitive that at the conclusion of each stage the same cut scene replays again, and again, just in case you missed it the first time. Worst of all a narrator speaks in an unknown language that is translated into English subtitles, why? The narrator reveals that the tribe is following the path of their ancestors who have left totems and stones of power throughout the land. What happened to the ancestors, and how they gained these powers is very unclear and you will quickly find yourself ignoring the story all together.
Game Modes/Presentation – 7.5
Aside from the story mode, From Dust offers up challenge modes with a variety of different environmental disasters that you must work around while being timed. This adds to the game-time but is not compelling enough to play more than a few times. Unless you completely loved the story mode, this may be a mode that is skipped all together.
Graphics – 8.5
The environments of From Dust are beautiful and the sand, water, and lava movements all look life-like. It’s graphical downfall is when the map is filled with activity. The game will continue to clip and chop leaving you worried of the possibility of the game freezing and losing all your current progress.
Sound - 6.0
Not much to say in the sound department, airy breezes, rushing water, and erupting volcano fill the sound scape with an occasional tribal beat. I can see how the developers wanted to be realistic, but there is a fine line between realism and boredom.
Online - N/A
Final Score: 7.0
For a downloadable title at a value of on $15, From Dust is worth a shot, but is definitely not the “must have” title of this Summer of Arcade.
Reviewed by David Tadros
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Ubisoft takes a crack at attempting to revive the “God-game” genre with it’s latest XBL release “From Dust.” In From Dust you play as a God-like figure, “The Breath,” that must assist a tribe in exploring new areas of a desolate world and populating it. As “The Breath” you are exactly that, an invisible figure that can manipulate most of the environments of the world. On screen “The Breath” is presented as a cursor, which can be moved over sand, water, and lava with the ability to absorb and drop the aforementioned substances anywhere on the map. If there is a river that your tribe must cross, for example, you may build a bridge made out of lava or sand in order to allow safe passage. The only major complaint with this style of gameplay is, many times you will be stuck in a dire situation where time is of the essence, you build a bridge to have your tribe cross to a different section of the map and, low and behold, you’re one pixel of lava off! Adding to the lava makes the bridge taller so they still can’t move across it, and there is no way to take the lava away. So your tribe dies - time to start over. Throughout the game your tribe will gain memories. Collecting all the memories will not only give you a history of your tribe but you will also be rewarded with an achievement. Adding sand close to your tribes will add grasslands that spread to every piece of sand on the map as long as they are connected. Filling half of the map and the entire map with greenery will reward more tribe memories but will also put your tribes in danger of wild fires if a volcano is near by. Each totem pole you find will create village on the map, making multitasking a must. The tribe is also very music oriented and finding “knowledge of…” stones will teach the tribe compositions to hold off natural disasters such as tsunamis and wildfires. Overall, the game play is tedious at points, but overall enjoyable.
Story – 5.0
Sadly, From Dust is lacking any kind of compelling story. The tribe is a musically oriented tribe that worships “The Breath,” whom you control, in hopes of populating the lands and controlling the various elements. The idea is pretty straightforward, and extremely repetitive. The game is so repetitive that at the conclusion of each stage the same cut scene replays again, and again, just in case you missed it the first time. Worst of all a narrator speaks in an unknown language that is translated into English subtitles, why? The narrator reveals that the tribe is following the path of their ancestors who have left totems and stones of power throughout the land. What happened to the ancestors, and how they gained these powers is very unclear and you will quickly find yourself ignoring the story all together.
Game Modes/Presentation – 7.5
Aside from the story mode, From Dust offers up challenge modes with a variety of different environmental disasters that you must work around while being timed. This adds to the game-time but is not compelling enough to play more than a few times. Unless you completely loved the story mode, this may be a mode that is skipped all together.
Graphics – 8.5
The environments of From Dust are beautiful and the sand, water, and lava movements all look life-like. It’s graphical downfall is when the map is filled with activity. The game will continue to clip and chop leaving you worried of the possibility of the game freezing and losing all your current progress.
Sound - 6.0
Not much to say in the sound department, airy breezes, rushing water, and erupting volcano fill the sound scape with an occasional tribal beat. I can see how the developers wanted to be realistic, but there is a fine line between realism and boredom.
Online - N/A
Final Score: 7.0
For a downloadable title at a value of on $15, From Dust is worth a shot, but is definitely not the “must have” title of this Summer of Arcade.
Reviewed by David Tadros
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Monday, July 25, 2011
Quick Review: Fallout: New Vegas DLC - Old World Blues
Gameplay - 9.0
Old World Blues brings some new elements to the table such as the Sneaking suit and the emitter gun, but for the most part it is the same gameplay found in Fallout: New Vegas - which isn’t a bad thing! Players will find themselves scavenging, picking locks, hacking computers, and fighting a few new enemies unique to the Big MT. There are some new simulation type activities that require you to use some of the equipment found for your mission, but nothing as tedious as the radio collars found in the Dead Money DLC. You will also be attacked by some new enemies, such as skeletons in space suits, robotic scorpions, cybernetic dogs, and more. If you explore enough of the Big MT you may even find some interesting holotapes which give some insight on the Big MT as well as it’s aggressive inhabitants.
Story – 9.0
Old World Blues begins much like most Fallout DLCs of the past, a radio transmission is intercepted, the courier finds the source location, and something crazy happens to only the courier while the companions AIs get away without a scratch. This time the courier is led to a creepy drive-in theater where, at 12 o’clock each night, a movie of an eyeball plays on its screen. Of course the courier ends up tinkering with something that shouldn’t have been tinkered with and ends up passing out, and waking up in a new area - The Big MT. Here the courier is surrounded by robots unlike any others in the Mojave. These robots make up “The Think Tank” and are former scientists of the Big MT that have long ago replaced their bodies with SCIENCE! Unfortunately, these robot scientists have also taken the liberty to replace some of the couriers body parts with mechanics as well, one such body part being the brain. Unfortunately the couriers brain has been stolen by an evil robot scientist, Dr. Mobius! This places the courier in the middle of a war between The Think Tank and Dr. Mobious. To retrieve the brain the courier needs to explore the Big MTs many scientific labs to collect three pieces of equipment, a sneaking suit with an AI built in, an antenna, and a emitter gun, to take down Dr. Mobious, get his brain back, and have the Think Tank re-attach it to his body. Though the story of this DLC slightly resembles the helplessness start of Dead Money, it is definitely fun, full of twists, and contains more character development which the first two Fallout: New Vegas DLCs were lacking in. The developers really chose a great style of story telling that reminiscences films from Sci-Fi’s beginning.
Game Modes/Presentation - 9.5
Big MT is, well, BIG. Players will find many new areas to explore for hours of Fallout gameplay. Though most of these areas are scientific labs. If you loved the environments of Fallout: New Vegas, you will not be disappointed. The story is presented brilliantly as well with robots and appliances actually talking and giving side quests that add, not only more game-time but also, backstories for each individual character.
Graphics – 7.0
As expected from a DLC, the graphics of Old World Blues are entirely working off the engine already put in place in Fallout: New Vegas, though I am extremely happy to say that the game did run smoothly with no real clipping or glitches.
Sound - 9.0
Though most of the sound space of the Fallout universe is wind blowing through the wastes, one can not ignore the voice acting for Old World Blues which is nothing short of fantastic. Most of the characters you interact with are robots, but their voices definitely breath life into their mechanical bodies. Each robot has their own personality and the comical way they interact with the courier, and each other, is very entertaining.
Online - N/A
Final Score: 9.0
Old World Blues is definitely worth the $10 for hours of added fun in the wastes.
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Old World Blues brings some new elements to the table such as the Sneaking suit and the emitter gun, but for the most part it is the same gameplay found in Fallout: New Vegas - which isn’t a bad thing! Players will find themselves scavenging, picking locks, hacking computers, and fighting a few new enemies unique to the Big MT. There are some new simulation type activities that require you to use some of the equipment found for your mission, but nothing as tedious as the radio collars found in the Dead Money DLC. You will also be attacked by some new enemies, such as skeletons in space suits, robotic scorpions, cybernetic dogs, and more. If you explore enough of the Big MT you may even find some interesting holotapes which give some insight on the Big MT as well as it’s aggressive inhabitants.
Story – 9.0
Old World Blues begins much like most Fallout DLCs of the past, a radio transmission is intercepted, the courier finds the source location, and something crazy happens to only the courier while the companions AIs get away without a scratch. This time the courier is led to a creepy drive-in theater where, at 12 o’clock each night, a movie of an eyeball plays on its screen. Of course the courier ends up tinkering with something that shouldn’t have been tinkered with and ends up passing out, and waking up in a new area - The Big MT. Here the courier is surrounded by robots unlike any others in the Mojave. These robots make up “The Think Tank” and are former scientists of the Big MT that have long ago replaced their bodies with SCIENCE! Unfortunately, these robot scientists have also taken the liberty to replace some of the couriers body parts with mechanics as well, one such body part being the brain. Unfortunately the couriers brain has been stolen by an evil robot scientist, Dr. Mobius! This places the courier in the middle of a war between The Think Tank and Dr. Mobious. To retrieve the brain the courier needs to explore the Big MTs many scientific labs to collect three pieces of equipment, a sneaking suit with an AI built in, an antenna, and a emitter gun, to take down Dr. Mobious, get his brain back, and have the Think Tank re-attach it to his body. Though the story of this DLC slightly resembles the helplessness start of Dead Money, it is definitely fun, full of twists, and contains more character development which the first two Fallout: New Vegas DLCs were lacking in. The developers really chose a great style of story telling that reminiscences films from Sci-Fi’s beginning.
Game Modes/Presentation - 9.5
Big MT is, well, BIG. Players will find many new areas to explore for hours of Fallout gameplay. Though most of these areas are scientific labs. If you loved the environments of Fallout: New Vegas, you will not be disappointed. The story is presented brilliantly as well with robots and appliances actually talking and giving side quests that add, not only more game-time but also, backstories for each individual character.
Graphics – 7.0
As expected from a DLC, the graphics of Old World Blues are entirely working off the engine already put in place in Fallout: New Vegas, though I am extremely happy to say that the game did run smoothly with no real clipping or glitches.
Sound - 9.0
Though most of the sound space of the Fallout universe is wind blowing through the wastes, one can not ignore the voice acting for Old World Blues which is nothing short of fantastic. Most of the characters you interact with are robots, but their voices definitely breath life into their mechanical bodies. Each robot has their own personality and the comical way they interact with the courier, and each other, is very entertaining.
Online - N/A
Final Score: 9.0
Old World Blues is definitely worth the $10 for hours of added fun in the wastes.
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Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Alice: Madness Returns
By David Tadros
Gameplay - 7.0
Alice Madness Returns attempts to replicate gameplay found in most 3D Mario and Zelda games, but it lacks in certain key elements that hold the gameplay back. Camera angles constantly change on you, forcing a change in the direction you’re moving. This usually happens at the worst times and often leads to a death. At random points your weapon will cease to work, or while walking along a path Alice will get hung up on what looks like nothing. Though the game does have different weapons to choose from for different enemies, the gameplay barely ever changes. The enemies may look different, but almost all of them are killed the same way. The different environments could have been a great opportunity to add different styles of gameplay to the mix, but you will be quickly disappointed when you realize that each level is just a different skin of the last. Alice: Madness Returns adds a few moments of change here and there with some side-scrolling scenes, sliding sections, and sliding puzzles, but these changes feel more like a hindrance more than an addition. Alice: Madness Returns clocks in at around 20 hours of gameplay depending on if you are a collectable hunter or not, but this may not be a good thing. Most of the chapters seem to drag on with the same repeating gameplay over and over leaving you wishing for the chapters end.
Story – 6
The story of Alice: Madness Returns follows a now older, and still quite troubled, Alice as she falls in and out of reality. While in Wonderland Alice finds memories of her past which she tries to sort through in her quest for answers. Though it seems as if this story would play a major role in the game, Alice: Madness Returns feels more like clusters of mini games placed together that have little to do with the overall story. New story elements do not occur often enough to even care about. The game adds too many hours of gameplay, so much so that by the time any story elements start to come through you’ve already forgotten that the game had a story to begin with. Some story elements do add to the games environments and are interesting enough to keep you playing, but these revelations mostly occur after the halfway mark of the game. Overall the story is predictable, lackluster and can be summed up in a few short sentences.
Game Modes/Presentation - 7.5
With each location within Wonderland, from the industrial era influenced “Hatters Domain” to the “Card Castle In the Sky,” you will be amazed by the beautiful artwork and detail placed into the backdrops and foreground, but at some points the backdrops are too detailed so much so that some areas look to be enterable, and turn out not to be. In stark contrast to the imaginative environments of 'Alice' are the lackluster designs of the enemies, who more often than not appear to be nothing more than black blobs.
Graphics – 6.0
Between subpar character movement and objects popping in and out, the graphics in Alice: Madness Returns are a disappointment to say the least. The only graphical moments to look forward to are cut scenes and, of course, Alice’s hair! In fact, Alice’s hair movement is one of the most detailed I’ve seen in a game. Madness Returns graphics aren’t quite up to this console generation’s standards, but they aren’t completely terrible.
Sound - 6.0
Musically Alice: Madness Returns is ignorable. The background music is just what it is – background music. It seems as though the game only has music as if to avoid silence. Some of Alice: Madness Returns does rely on its sound space, but this really only pertains to listening for flying pig snouts which lead to certain collectables and items.
Online - N/A
Final Score: 6.5
Aside from Alice: Madness Returns lackluster plot and repetitive plat former gameplay, it is a decent experience if you can overcome the annoyingly long chapters and constant glitches.
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