While at PAX I made time to stop by the Nexon America booth – how could I not, when they had Dungeon Fighter Online, Dragon Nest and Combat Arms for me to play? Of course, that was the morning that Adam (a.k.a. photographer, camera guy and man in charge of recording) was down for the count, so I was bumming it as an old school reporter. Not only is it mighty hard to mouse and WASD while taking notes, it’s extra hard when the games are fun. Really fun.
The popular trivia series is back with its PS3 iteration and Buzz! Quiz TV gives enthusiasts and newbies alike everything to love about knowing way too much. Packed with four wireless buzzers and enough questions to last a few gaming lifetimes, Buzz! might even teach players a thing or two, at the very least about what makes a successful quiz game.
Gearbox’s latest addition to what someone must have told them was a drought of WWII games, Brothers in Arms: Hell’s Highway doesn’t bring much to the tactical table. A sub-par shooter with awkward controls and an under-developed strategy component, the title is only slightly more successful than Operation Market Garden.
Real men play Viva Piñata (and real women pwn them at it). A sugary sweet combination of gardening skills, defensive shovel maneuvers and interactive sim Viva Piñata: Trouble in Paradise is a pleasantly upgraded sequel with as much game play as a paper-maché pony has candy. Unfortunately, everything Trouble in Paradise has to shout about should have been there to begin with.
Mercenaries 2 is a case of great concept and poor execution. Not without its redeeming qualities – in truth, it can be really fun – there are just so many problems dragging the game down it can be hard to embrace the positives. Much of Mercenaries 2 feels like the same old Mercenaries game, only many aspects of gameplay that used to be fun now have the earmarks of calculation and its resultant tedium. The fun hangs almost entirely on explosions and the game’s open, destructible, world. Forget the lack of moral compass, there’s no need of it here, and I can certainly appreciate how free of agenda the game is.
From Hindustan Electronics Co., the quirky title The Last Guy’s Google Maps exterior only hints at the wacky fun inside. The story goes that Earth is attacked by a purple ray that transforms the populous into zombies, with the exception of the agoraphobic. Those survivors are holed up in the buildings of major cities awaiting rescue from you, the chosen one – The Last Guy!
Like a next-gen version of last-gen’s Deadlocked, Quest for Booty is clearly intended to tide Ratchet fans over for another year while expanding the franchise’s storyline and setting the stage for the 2009 release. As episodic content Booty explores some intriguing new turf for the series. Unfortunately, it also sacrifices some of the things that make Ratchet games shine.
1942: Joint Strike casts you into the middle of the Pacific Theater with a bird’s eye view as players battle wave after wave of land, sea and sky enemies. The title has a fair bit in common with Capcom’s recently released top-down shooter Wolf of the Battlefield, but delivers stronger visuals and tighter controls that will appeal to an audience broader than those just hungering for an old-school shooter.
Engineering stable viaducts for the populous not keeping you busy enough? Always dreamed of working with animals? 8Bit has the game for you. Elefunk combines the elements of bridge construction with plump, pink, elephant transport in a, dare I say, educational game.
A longtime fan of the Sid Meier’s oeuvre, I was more than a little bit eager to experience a curled up on the couch console version of of the game. Famed for intense, detailed and lengthy gameplay as civilizations battle for glory a successful console translation seemed improbable, and what Civilization Revolution makes clear from the get-go is that it is far from impossible. Building an empire to stand the test of time is different this time around, and largely successful.
Welcome to the curious village of St. Mystere, a perfect getaway for gamers hungering for a point-and-click brain bender of an adventure. Much like any other European town, St. Mystere is just head over heels for puzzles and the eclectic lot of village-folk won’t give up a scrap of info until you prove sufficient mastery over them, from math to logic to just plain riddling.
A classic revival of games of yore, Wolf of the Battlefield: Commando 3 is a nostalgia-heavy addition to the Commando series. Jam-packed with ammunition, the top-down shoot-em-up is woefully light on substance.
Feeling overwhelmed by so-called graphics powerhouses and tired visual effects? Why not try a game that’s pure gameplay. With remarkably pared down presentation, Echochrome makes it clear from the get-go that this perception-altering game is anything but ordinary. What it lacks in chroma, the game makes up for with depth as players are asked to change reality and forge new paths by alternately eliminating and using obstacles. Didn’t pay attention to the laws of perspective in high school art class? Good, hard and fast rules involving the third dimension will only hold you back.
If your mind is already numb and tower building thumb raw from the first iteration of this too-cute-to-be-harmless downloadable, then brace yourself: PixelJunk Monsters Encore is now available from the Playstation Store. Easily one of the best things available for under $10, Encore adds to the strategic tower building game with twice the levels and even a little price restructuring for those tower unlockables.
In case you missed the fun the first time around, think Desktop Tower Defense with trees you turn into forts, and then dance in; PixelJunk Monsters is real time strategy with its fair share of whimsy. You’ll feel like a kid again as you convert the local flora into surface to air defense towers all to protect the little creatures of the forest residing in your home base. No word yet on how all those creatures of the forest feel about you destroying their natural cover in favor of an arsenal, but I have to figure they prefer it to death by local monster. Each baddie that slips through your defenses takes down one hopping innocent, and if that isn’t enough to get your defensive juices flowing there’s always the money. It’s a simple, straightforward formula that doesn’t require much tinkering.
A generous expansion pack, Encore doesn’t change much from your first forays on Tiki Island. The new music, consistent with the original soundtrack, is a pleasant addition and unobtrusive enough that you won’t be humming it at work the next day. Toki Island is now available (and frankly, in desperate need of your help) offering a whole new array of maps. Okay, at least one of them is more than a teensy bit familiar. The Ice Tower has been added to your unlocked arsenal, though its still a bit costly for a tower that often barely manages to control the enemy onslaught. The cost of the Tesla Tower has been reduced, which is a welcome change given the strength of the tower. Each of these changes open up the possibility of new strategy early on and you’ll need to rethink the approach you perfected last time around because…
Downside? All those lovely perks you collected on Tiki (running, mines, running, oh and running!) are…gone. Completely gone. This makes the easy levels some of the hardest in the game as you readjust to your let’s-watch-paint-dry pace. Even the so-called easy levels will have you crying in a corner, begging for strategic advice and something to numb the pain of defeat. If you struggled with the first game, prepare to be beaten into a useless lump of bitterness. Just passing some of the levels is painstaking, forget about snagging the elusive rainbow delivered for a perfect round. If, however, you completely trounced the original or you’re really into self-loathing and harbor a fervent taste for suffering, have at it.
All that doom and gloom out of the way, I couldn’t get enough of the first game and the same holds true for Encore. Beastly difficult or not, Q-Games’ gets so much right, and packs it all neatly into an affordable package.
Score: 8/10
The follow-up to Q-Games’ PixelJunk Racers, PixelJunk Monsters now graces your Playstation Store for a mere $7.99 of strategic good times. The jist of it? Think Desktop Tower Defense with trees you turn into forts, and then dance in; PixelJunk Monsters is real time strategy with it’s fair share of whimsy. You’ll feel like a kid again as you convert the local flora into surface to air defense towers all to protect the little creatures of the forest residing in your home base. No word yet on how all those creatures of the forest feel about you destroying their natural cover in favor of an arsenal, but I have to figure they prefer it to death by local monster. Each baddie that slips through your defenses takes down one hopping innocent, and if that isn’t enough to get your defensive juices flowing there’s always the money.
Every tree you convert to a tower costs you shiny gold ones, from 100 coins upwards. Where’s a local mask-wearing tribesman of the woods getting all the cash? From defeating those renegade monsters, where else (haven’t we all learned by now that dead bodies turn into money, weapons, or food?). After completion of the tutorial you’ll have three different tower types unlocked for battle, and you’ll want to be quick about learning their capabilities.
The bottom of the screen indicates which enemy onslaught is expected next so you can choose your weapons accordingly, and as with any strategy game preparation is critical. A lethal variable is what path the fiends will take to get to your base. Quick assessment of key locations and which weapon will work best are essential. Each weapon has a different range, and you’ll be dismantling that canon tower lickity split when it’s sitting idle as monsters traipse by.
When the cash dries up and you can’t purchase towers, it’s time to dance. The glorious rump-shaking upgrades your towers, and the colored flags raised indicate each level (black is the max). If time management is an issue and dancing to an upgrade isn’t getting the job done, or you’re just hurting for more firepower, be sure to collect those blue gems from defeated enemies as they will purchase the upgrades (which include range, power, and speed).
The first few levels are pretty straightforward, but don’t let them lull you into a false sense of security. Ultimately, if thinking isn’t your game you may as well give up. As you progress through the map take note of the difficulty you are attempting as well as the petals beneath the options. The petals indicate a special ability you can acquire – the first is the ability to run, which you’ll quickly learn is a pretty satisfying reward. A perfect level (signaled by a rainbow) unlocks more levels, and with the acquisition of new talents you’ll find yourself replaying areas and perfecting your strategy.
A typical level has ten rounds of varying monsters and a final boss round. I struggled with the waves of nasties more than the big bad; as long as your towers are well upgraded you’re in good shape. The special levels have more than ten waves comprised of the same monster. This adds a nice variety to the gameplay if it simplifies the strategy a bit. In these rounds the focus lies even more with discerning which points on the map are essential to a strong defense.
Monsters’ two-player co-op is stellar; between the two of you collecting goodies and upgrading towers, defense is much smoother. Go ahead and rope your girlfriend into playing, she’ll love working on your communication skills. Don’t have friends? That’s too bad, because the game actually functions best as a multi-player experience, particularly if you find yourself stumped.
The mechanics are smooth, from scurrying around tree-to-tree to the simple action button and pop-up menu there’s no fumbling through bad controls to view your defense choices. Another plus is that the default audio avoids the mind-numbing qualities of Loco Roco, and while the soundtrack might be unremarkable it’s definitely not ear poison. Oh, and fear not, the game includes the now standard online leader board.
The fixed, isometrically viewed forest is, well, it’s pretty darn cute. Strong graphics aren’t really the point, but in case you’ve spent the past week glued to Call of Duty 4 and forgot what games used to look like let me gently ease you into PixelJunk Monsters 16-bit variety beauty. It’s simple, it’s gameplay driven, and it’s good. 20 levels in total may not sound like enough bang for your buck, but once you’re struggling to perfect your strategy and replaying levels for the third time you’ll realize you’re a PixelJunk junky.
Score: 8.5/10
I’m Community Manager and Admin for the N4G Network and write for ZTGD.
CatPlaysGames is a blog in its design infancy and under construction. Pardon my mess.