Driver
I have never played Driver. Perhaps that's the wrong phraseology. I have never played the campaign mode of Driver, not seriously, not for more than a few minutes back in 1999 when the game first came out. It may well be a very good game, who knows? Driver comes with a number of gameplay modes out of the box, including a full story to play through that pits you as an undercover cop working as a wheelman for a gang, or something.
That is irrelevant, you will never select anything at the starting screen other than "Survival" mode.
Survival mode is a very, very simple game. You start out in a slow, poorly-handing beast of a '70s muscle car in the Art Deco district of Miami Beach, the Barnett Building viewable in the exceptional-for-1999 drawn distance. And every cop in the city is psychotic and out to kill you.
Not pit you out, or take down your car, but kill you. They fling their super-powered, slingshot-launched cars at you with reckless, Blues Brothers-like abandon. They spawn endlessly, accelerate, turn and ram much faster than you. You have no chance, and you will die. The only question is, how long can you survive?
The cops spawn with some regularity; one we've dubbed "Hell Cop" comes screaming in at your starting point every time from about the 2 o'clock position, and after endless hours of passing a controller back and forth, my roommates and I worked out a couple "best practices" to get your time up to about 1:20.
While the fun of ramming roadblocks and swerving at the last second so that the cops following you slam into and pile up on an invincible palm tree is fun enough to make this game a top pick, it has another feature that puts it over the top: a real, robust movie editor. The movie editor has a number of different cameras you can swap through on the fly and save the replay, and really get an idea of the carnage you cause (a personal favorite - after sliding along the shoulder past a roadblock on a bridge, the cops chasing me clipped the cars making up the roadblock, flying into the sky hundreds of feet before disappearing in the skybox).
Graphics: Great for 1999; humdrum compared even to today's PS2 games. Everything that matters is visible and clear, so no complaints. 3.
Sound: Funky '70s music, and great smashing sound effects, but a limited number of both. 2.
Controls: Floaty, arcadey driving that sends you spinning out of control the instant you clip anything - and I wouldn't have it any other way. 2.
Tilt: Handing a controller back and forth has never been better, mostly because you can't stop laughing at how hilariously your buddy just crashed. 5.
Overall (not an average): Top Pick.
Friday, March 5, 2010
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Go! Go! Break Steady
Go! Go! Break Steady
Zuma is a game. Bust-a-Groove is a game. Go! Go! Break Steady is both those games in one.
Being a huge fan of both the originals mentioned above, it is great to get both of them in one package. The music is catchy and unobtrusive (except for the obligatory disco-styled track, but that's par for the course for rhythm games), and the challenge gets intense as the game throws you all sorts of puzzles on top of puzzles, new ways of presenting the beatniks, and a new trinket to "collect" by knocking out coins on each stage.
The action centers around knocking out an ever-growing but finite ring of "beatniks" (little Dr. Mario-inpired looking guys) by getting 3 or more together, but instead of just being given beatniks, you'll have to earn them by matching musical button-pushes during a series of urban music numbers, while your crudely-animated Flash avatar dances and sways. The game utilizes a "visual pollution" handicap similar to Space Giraffe to make the game more challenging as you get closer to a perfect combo meter, but this actually adds to the ambiance of the game instead of making it unplayable as in the aformentioned shooter.
This is not a game that tries to be more than it is, and by playing within itself it is competent, but not especially memorable. Some of the ways the notes come swinging in make it exceedingly difficult to actually figure out when they are passing through the ring denoted when to time your button presses, and the learning curve is unrepentant in its obtuseness, failing to give you even cursory explanation when a new gameplay mode is sprung on you.
Online is a lot of fun, assuming you can convince a friend to buy this game and play it with you - like all Arcade games not named Uno, the multiplayer for this game is deader than Dillinger, but the co-op is great because while both players work on their own rings of beatniks, you can see your partner's ring and watch his moves... and of course yell at him when he screws up.
Graphics: A half-dozen or so static, painted backgrounds and 3-frame animations of your avatar don't do this game any favors. 2.
Sound: Good song selection representing the B-Boy age of the late '80s in NYC. 4.
Controls: Moments of frustration when the notes come in a concentric pattern, but overall tight inputs. 4.
Tilt: If you're a fan of either of these type of games, you'll like this game. If you're a fan of both, you'll love it: 3
Overall (not an Average): 3
Zuma is a game. Bust-a-Groove is a game. Go! Go! Break Steady is both those games in one.
Being a huge fan of both the originals mentioned above, it is great to get both of them in one package. The music is catchy and unobtrusive (except for the obligatory disco-styled track, but that's par for the course for rhythm games), and the challenge gets intense as the game throws you all sorts of puzzles on top of puzzles, new ways of presenting the beatniks, and a new trinket to "collect" by knocking out coins on each stage.
The action centers around knocking out an ever-growing but finite ring of "beatniks" (little Dr. Mario-inpired looking guys) by getting 3 or more together, but instead of just being given beatniks, you'll have to earn them by matching musical button-pushes during a series of urban music numbers, while your crudely-animated Flash avatar dances and sways. The game utilizes a "visual pollution" handicap similar to Space Giraffe to make the game more challenging as you get closer to a perfect combo meter, but this actually adds to the ambiance of the game instead of making it unplayable as in the aformentioned shooter.
This is not a game that tries to be more than it is, and by playing within itself it is competent, but not especially memorable. Some of the ways the notes come swinging in make it exceedingly difficult to actually figure out when they are passing through the ring denoted when to time your button presses, and the learning curve is unrepentant in its obtuseness, failing to give you even cursory explanation when a new gameplay mode is sprung on you.
Online is a lot of fun, assuming you can convince a friend to buy this game and play it with you - like all Arcade games not named Uno, the multiplayer for this game is deader than Dillinger, but the co-op is great because while both players work on their own rings of beatniks, you can see your partner's ring and watch his moves... and of course yell at him when he screws up.
Graphics: A half-dozen or so static, painted backgrounds and 3-frame animations of your avatar don't do this game any favors. 2.
Sound: Good song selection representing the B-Boy age of the late '80s in NYC. 4.
Controls: Moments of frustration when the notes come in a concentric pattern, but overall tight inputs. 4.
Tilt: If you're a fan of either of these type of games, you'll like this game. If you're a fan of both, you'll love it: 3
Overall (not an Average): 3
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
LEGO Batman
LEGO Batman
At a certain point, kids have to grow up, and leave their toys behind, living on in their memories as they grow more distant and tinted the color rose. We all had a favorite toy growing up, but no matter your toy, everyone loved LEGO blocks and the cool stuff they built. Traveller's Tales has made a company out of harnessing that good will, coupling it with something else from your childhood, and selling it to you for $50.
LEGO Batman is no exception. It's the tried-and-true Traveller's Tales formula: action platforming, mild puzzle-solving elements, and shoddy driving stages. TT have something a lot of other developers don't, a sense of humor, and the super-severe attitude of modern Batman really lends itself to the LEGO style of wacky hijinks. A lot of the cut scenes and loading screen texts are genuinely funny, and that goes a long way to excusing the now-nearly-tired gameplay formula. You jump, punch, shoot and build your way through 30 stages, including frustrating non-puzzles that are obvious if you have the mindset for them and impossible if you don't.
The backgrounds are lush, and the music (mostly from the 1989 Batman movie's score) are great, and instead of standard grunts, there are over a dozen little effects giving each brick-shaped character a personality, from the Joker's goofy method of pulling levers to Catwoman sashaying instead of walking across a room. Surprises and easter eggs abound, and the achievements are a fun collection of goofy puns and fun side missions.
If it sounds like this is a glowing endorsement of the game, it's because it is. The formula improves everything about the LEGO series: more jokes, less tedium, interesting puzzle and neat unlockables, coupled with a great respect of its source material. There are some balance issues (why ever use the Riddler or Scarecrow when the "mind-control character" Mad Hatter is better in every way?), and the most tiresome parts of free play are cycling through the endless goons/useless bat-suits in each stage to get to who you need. And the frustration of your buddy getting hung up or simply not staying put while you try and solve a puzzle is an annoyance they've never quite figured out, it's generally not enough to seriously detract from the game.
If you've never played a Traveller's Tales LEGO game before, I'd be hard-pressed to recommend any other one than this one, and if you're a long-time fan, this is a more-than-successful send-off to the LEGO series, as TT has said that they're sick of doing them and want to move on. While I love my little square superheroes, I can't say I disagree with the decision.
Graphics: Beautiful backgrounds and unique animations, but doesn't push the system to its limits. 3.
Sound: Great effects and grunts from the characters, and a fine selection of the Burton score. 3
Controls: Platforming can be tricky, and your AI's pathfinding is as wonky as ever. The driving stages are improved, but still counter-intuitive. 2
Tilt: Fun, and more importantly funny game riffing on Batman. Evokes childhood delight and is just a joy to play. 5
Overall (not an average): 4
At a certain point, kids have to grow up, and leave their toys behind, living on in their memories as they grow more distant and tinted the color rose. We all had a favorite toy growing up, but no matter your toy, everyone loved LEGO blocks and the cool stuff they built. Traveller's Tales has made a company out of harnessing that good will, coupling it with something else from your childhood, and selling it to you for $50.
LEGO Batman is no exception. It's the tried-and-true Traveller's Tales formula: action platforming, mild puzzle-solving elements, and shoddy driving stages. TT have something a lot of other developers don't, a sense of humor, and the super-severe attitude of modern Batman really lends itself to the LEGO style of wacky hijinks. A lot of the cut scenes and loading screen texts are genuinely funny, and that goes a long way to excusing the now-nearly-tired gameplay formula. You jump, punch, shoot and build your way through 30 stages, including frustrating non-puzzles that are obvious if you have the mindset for them and impossible if you don't.
The backgrounds are lush, and the music (mostly from the 1989 Batman movie's score) are great, and instead of standard grunts, there are over a dozen little effects giving each brick-shaped character a personality, from the Joker's goofy method of pulling levers to Catwoman sashaying instead of walking across a room. Surprises and easter eggs abound, and the achievements are a fun collection of goofy puns and fun side missions.
If it sounds like this is a glowing endorsement of the game, it's because it is. The formula improves everything about the LEGO series: more jokes, less tedium, interesting puzzle and neat unlockables, coupled with a great respect of its source material. There are some balance issues (why ever use the Riddler or Scarecrow when the "mind-control character" Mad Hatter is better in every way?), and the most tiresome parts of free play are cycling through the endless goons/useless bat-suits in each stage to get to who you need. And the frustration of your buddy getting hung up or simply not staying put while you try and solve a puzzle is an annoyance they've never quite figured out, it's generally not enough to seriously detract from the game.
If you've never played a Traveller's Tales LEGO game before, I'd be hard-pressed to recommend any other one than this one, and if you're a long-time fan, this is a more-than-successful send-off to the LEGO series, as TT has said that they're sick of doing them and want to move on. While I love my little square superheroes, I can't say I disagree with the decision.
Graphics: Beautiful backgrounds and unique animations, but doesn't push the system to its limits. 3.
Sound: Great effects and grunts from the characters, and a fine selection of the Burton score. 3
Controls: Platforming can be tricky, and your AI's pathfinding is as wonky as ever. The driving stages are improved, but still counter-intuitive. 2
Tilt: Fun, and more importantly funny game riffing on Batman. Evokes childhood delight and is just a joy to play. 5
Overall (not an average): 4
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Yaris
Yaris
Yaris is an interesting proof-of-concept: Can we completely subvertise a product in a game, and convince gamers to play it? Answer: No, not with this game at least.
The old adage "no such thing as bad press" is proven wrong, as the horrific controls of this game make it a nearly-unplayable mess, and make me want to not buy a Toyota Yaris, especially if giant green sumos on mini-bikes are going to wave their arms at me as iPods with angel wings fire concentric blue rings at me.
And that's the problem with Yaris: There's certainly a fantastic game there, hiding underneath. But it isn't underneath shameless and blatant product plugging; for all its maligned "adverware" titling, the Toyota tie-in is the least of this game's problems.Set in a gray, featureless tube you must roll down, shooting at enemies with your gun that is held by a freakish tendril affixed to the roof of your car. And the enemies are creative, varied and esoteric (the aformentioned sumos-on-minibikes, angel iPods, spiders made of gas station hoses), but ultimately with the aim-assisted tendril-cannon, you end up just racing in a straight line, holding down fire.There's certainly a market for a trippy futuristic halfpipe racer on XBox Live, along the lines of WipeOut, and Yaris is deeply disappointing just because it could have been that game, but it lacks the sense of speed that future racers are known for, and the muddy, unresponsive controls detract further from that sense of movement. And if I thought I could *zoom* down alien corridors in my Yaris, maybe when I was looking for new cars, I might swing by the Toyota dealership, which would be the ultimate goal of the game, anyway.
In the end, Yaris is a great concept, but with *deeply* flawed execution. I cannot stress enough how un-fun the game is to play, and it isn't because of the adverware roots of the game; the gameplay is bad and slow, with no sense of actually "racing" so much as just barely rolling. It's a shame because the relative failure of Yaris will probably steer other companies away from releasing Adverware, which is a net loss for gamers, most of whom are (hopefully) too savvy to be swayed by viral marketing such as this, but would certainly play and enjoy a good game that was free and plastered with ads.
Composite Rating (not an average) : 1
Graphics: 2
Sound: 3
Controls: 1
Tilt: 2
Yaris is an interesting proof-of-concept: Can we completely subvertise a product in a game, and convince gamers to play it? Answer: No, not with this game at least.
The old adage "no such thing as bad press" is proven wrong, as the horrific controls of this game make it a nearly-unplayable mess, and make me want to not buy a Toyota Yaris, especially if giant green sumos on mini-bikes are going to wave their arms at me as iPods with angel wings fire concentric blue rings at me.
And that's the problem with Yaris: There's certainly a fantastic game there, hiding underneath. But it isn't underneath shameless and blatant product plugging; for all its maligned "adverware" titling, the Toyota tie-in is the least of this game's problems.Set in a gray, featureless tube you must roll down, shooting at enemies with your gun that is held by a freakish tendril affixed to the roof of your car. And the enemies are creative, varied and esoteric (the aformentioned sumos-on-minibikes, angel iPods, spiders made of gas station hoses), but ultimately with the aim-assisted tendril-cannon, you end up just racing in a straight line, holding down fire.There's certainly a market for a trippy futuristic halfpipe racer on XBox Live, along the lines of WipeOut, and Yaris is deeply disappointing just because it could have been that game, but it lacks the sense of speed that future racers are known for, and the muddy, unresponsive controls detract further from that sense of movement. And if I thought I could *zoom* down alien corridors in my Yaris, maybe when I was looking for new cars, I might swing by the Toyota dealership, which would be the ultimate goal of the game, anyway.
In the end, Yaris is a great concept, but with *deeply* flawed execution. I cannot stress enough how un-fun the game is to play, and it isn't because of the adverware roots of the game; the gameplay is bad and slow, with no sense of actually "racing" so much as just barely rolling. It's a shame because the relative failure of Yaris will probably steer other companies away from releasing Adverware, which is a net loss for gamers, most of whom are (hopefully) too savvy to be swayed by viral marketing such as this, but would certainly play and enjoy a good game that was free and plastered with ads.
Composite Rating (not an average) : 1
Graphics: 2
Sound: 3
Controls: 1
Tilt: 2
Monday, March 1, 2010
Shadowrun
Shadowrun
Shadowrun is an interesting case study in why the "Holy Grail" of PC vs Console gaming is a fraud. As one of a few titles that supports cross-platform play (and incidentally, one of the same few titles that allows online play using an XBL silver account), Shadowrun steps into almost every pitfall of the experiment, and is worse for it.
The idea is solid - take PC darling Counterstrike, add in the mythos of a popular cyberpunk RPG/franchise, and make something unique. It certainly is. The game looks great, even by today's standards, and has all the quirks that blending a "trolls and machineguns" RPG with everyone's favorite vent blocking simulator should have. The "powers" you can get in your loadout are awesome and several are really unique and haven't been done since. It has a (rather ingenious) way of getting around Counterstrike's "Welp, you're dead, wait 6 minutes doing nothing until next round" issue.
The problem, as with most things, is the players. Shadowrun as a gameplay experience has a learning curve like a brick wall, and it appeals in conceit to a very small subset of very hardcore players, who have in the two years since this game's release, become very, very good at it. Combine this with an unforgiving damage system and the fact that half of the players effectively have aimbots on due to the increased accuracy of KB+M versus a gamepad, and it quickly becomes apparent why this game was unsuccessful.
Which isn't to say it's an unfun game, far from it. It's a lot of fun, you just have to set yourself up for it - which means not joining pubbie games or trying to play in "the community." This game is inexpensive enough that all your friends either have or can easily acquire a copy, at which point playing 5v5 or more with all humans vs all AI bots on "Very Hard" is great fun. You can even contribute to a team without a headset, thanks to another bit of subtle brilliance in using the D-Pad to issue status updates and requests.
Graphics: Very good. Stylized character models and a great eye for interesting level design. 4.
Sound: The weapons and spells all sound great, but the characters could have more personality. 3.
Controls: Intuitive, with tons of nice touches. 4.
Tilt: Impossible to play with the public at large, but a fun distraction or "time-killer" game with friends. 2.
Overall (not an average): 2.
Shadowrun is an interesting case study in why the "Holy Grail" of PC vs Console gaming is a fraud. As one of a few titles that supports cross-platform play (and incidentally, one of the same few titles that allows online play using an XBL silver account), Shadowrun steps into almost every pitfall of the experiment, and is worse for it.
The idea is solid - take PC darling Counterstrike, add in the mythos of a popular cyberpunk RPG/franchise, and make something unique. It certainly is. The game looks great, even by today's standards, and has all the quirks that blending a "trolls and machineguns" RPG with everyone's favorite vent blocking simulator should have. The "powers" you can get in your loadout are awesome and several are really unique and haven't been done since. It has a (rather ingenious) way of getting around Counterstrike's "Welp, you're dead, wait 6 minutes doing nothing until next round" issue.
The problem, as with most things, is the players. Shadowrun as a gameplay experience has a learning curve like a brick wall, and it appeals in conceit to a very small subset of very hardcore players, who have in the two years since this game's release, become very, very good at it. Combine this with an unforgiving damage system and the fact that half of the players effectively have aimbots on due to the increased accuracy of KB+M versus a gamepad, and it quickly becomes apparent why this game was unsuccessful.
Which isn't to say it's an unfun game, far from it. It's a lot of fun, you just have to set yourself up for it - which means not joining pubbie games or trying to play in "the community." This game is inexpensive enough that all your friends either have or can easily acquire a copy, at which point playing 5v5 or more with all humans vs all AI bots on "Very Hard" is great fun. You can even contribute to a team without a headset, thanks to another bit of subtle brilliance in using the D-Pad to issue status updates and requests.
Graphics: Very good. Stylized character models and a great eye for interesting level design. 4.
Sound: The weapons and spells all sound great, but the characters could have more personality. 3.
Controls: Intuitive, with tons of nice touches. 4.
Tilt: Impossible to play with the public at large, but a fun distraction or "time-killer" game with friends. 2.
Overall (not an average): 2.
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