Any gaming Naruto fan will tell you that the history of Naruto spawned video games is a dark one, full of bitterness and heartbreak. It is with that weighty baggage in mind that I reassure you there’s no need to stock up on ice cream therapy, Naruto: Rise of a Ninja is the cute boyfriend you can bring home to mama.
Rise of a Ninja runs the course of the first Naruto plot arc, and is rife with the expected nostalgia as you get to game through the series’ highlights. This shouldn’t frighten off the ninja uninitiate, though, Rise of a Ninja can accommodate the most anime-ignorant. From the cell-shaded graphics to the easy-to-follow storyline, you may miss some of the nuance but hey, if you cared about that you would have watched the show. If, however, you are a subbed-anime devotee you’ll want to download the Japanese voices off Live before you begin (note: downloading the Japanese voices after downloading Shikamaru causes the audio bugs; the patch is in the Jiraya/Sarutobi DL) or the American voice actors will be ear poison.
An adventure and fighting game at its core, you play as Naruto, a delinquent orphan ninja with big plans to become the best ninja in the village. Your single player game will having you running fetch quests, completing timed races and collecting coins to win the love – er, smiley faces – of your fellow Konoha villagers. You will also have to commit to not giving up within the game’s first hour, it’s a slow one. By the time you’ve finished the Chuunin exam, there’s no turning back, you’re a ninja, dattebayo.
You’ll explore the remarkably platform oriented forest outside the village for a number of the quests, which feels a little redundant a little too quickly. Be sure to stock up on ramen anytime you leave the village as bandits (well, make that the same four or so bandits miraculously revived and ready for another round) will pop up at every opportunity to challenge your burgeoning ninja aptitude. Health resets after completing a mission and reporting to the individual that sent you into the death trap in the first place, so eat ramen at will.
In addition to ramen’s heretofore unprecedented healing powers, you’ll be able to store powerful memory clips, which you can use mid-fight should your enemy vanquish you. Following some vigorous button-tapping, these memo-clips restore your health and return you to the battle; consider it a really sentimental rally. The Hokage kindly refreshes these clips for a, er, small fee. Tightwad.
The main points of the battle system are combination moves and jutsu. As you progress through the game you’ll acquire moves and learn jutsu from walking on water and up walls to an enemy befuddling “sexy jutsu” (the latter also cheers up lonely villagers). The more your skills develop, the more of the environments you’ll have access to, and I would highly recommend exploring for some fun achievements.
Rise of a Ninja ultimately feels like a kids game, and if you can’t complete a quest you may find yourself questioning your gaming skills. About eight hours later the adventure will pretty much end, and your jutsu and combat skills should be perfected enough that you won’t look like a total noob in the multiplayer mode. Naruto fans hungering for more, or gamers that just can’t get enough of Konoha’s rambling, free-running friendly cityscape will eek out a few more hours in the remaining side missions and achievements.
Score: 7.5
Uncharted just might be the most fun you’ll have with a videogame. More hype? Not so much. The first installment of a franchise is always an unknown quantity; Uncharted delivers with an adventure so engaging you’ll have trouble putting down the controller.
You play as Nathan Drake, a treasure hunter that could give Indiana Jones a run for his money. The game (really an action-adventure-platforming-shooter amalgamation) pits you against hordes of treasure-hungry pirates as you traverse ruins and jungle in your quest to reveal the secrets of your ancestor Sir Francis Drake. Accompanying you on your journey are fellow treasure hunter Victor Sullivan (Sullie) and a sufficiently adventurous aspiring video journalist, Elena.
The mo-cap efforts and polished dialog pay off, making what might otherwise seem like a prefab story come alive in a captivating mixture of performance and gaming. Go ahead and compare it to a movie, Uncharted is the perfect example of how video games can keep those Hollywood studios on their toes. The characters are likable and entertaining, and we can all give a collective round of applause for secondary characters that can hold their own. You won’t find yourself screaming at your television as you try to complete any “protect the inept buddy” escort quests. Instead of hurting your cause, Elena and Sullie will actually make your progress easier. Unbelievable.
The puzzles you’ll encounter aren’t overly challenging, just another facet to a game founded on action. Similarly, even the platforming elements act as a backdrop to the fantastic gun play.
As you come under fire from pirates and other shady types looking to do you in on your way to the treasure, you’ll have to make use of the game’s stunning architecture taking cover behind arches, pillars, trees or any other handy objects. Get good at it, because much of the game you’ll find yourself pinned against a wall, popping out to pick off your reloading attackers. The enemy AI isn’t anything to sneeze at, either; they’ll try to flush you out with grenades, or flank you, or even attack head-on with guns blazing. This sort of unpredictable enemy AI really keeps the combat interesting.
In case you hadn’t learned this already from other games, temples and ruins are just riddled with ledges, platforms, and chasms. Naughty Dog handily deals with the “where next?” problem through subtle visual cues. This sort of attention keeps the game clear of both garishly illuminated environment components and those frustrating moments trying traverse the wrong gap for fifteen minutes. In fact, the whole game progresses very swiftly, and you’ll likely polish it off in under twelve hours. The replay value is in all the un-lockables, from headshots to treasures, all of which earn you points that you can use to unlock things like limitless ammo and more costumes.
Graphically it’s easy to fall in love with the art style, the beautiful lighting and touches like Nate’s water-logged clothes. However you will encounter some screen tearing and texture problems from time to time. Even mentioning it makes it seem like it’s a bigger issue than it is: it doesn’t add up to much of anything: it’s just noticeable.
Just when you’re getting sick of the waves of well-armed pirates Naughty Dog throws in a twist turning much of what you’ve learned on its head, and really making you work. With its breathtaking score, rich art style and lively storytelling, Uncharted will have you hooked on its varied game play from the start, and the open-ended conclusion will leave you hungry for the next chapter.
Score: 9/10
If Guitar Hero made you feel like a rock star wait until you play the latest musical love fest from Harmonix: Rock Band. From the legendary Ramones and Rolling Stones to Weezer and Fall Out Boy, the range is exceptional.
If you’ve played Guitar Hero III and like the sort of challenge that makes your fingers bleed you won’t find it here. That doesn’t mean you will be picking up the drums on expert your first go around, or even that you won’t run into difficulty, it’s just that the game isn’t made to leave you in a crumpled pile of defeated goo. For $166.99 you get a wireless guitar (dongle), wired mic (plenty of cord), wired drum kit and 45 licensed tracks plus an additional 13 bonus songs. While the higher initial cost may frighten the meek (and foolish, if I may), you get more bang for your buck on this game than most other titles out there.
The career mode is engaging (no bass career mode), however the multi-player is really where the beauty lies. Sure you can play online, but why do that when you can hand your friend a beer, the mic and get him to sing Mississippi Queen? For the Band World Tour component you’ll need at least two players, and remember, you are only as good as your weakest link. If you have an expert guitarist and a rhythm-less monkey for a drummer you will only be scored on the drummer’s level.
Unlike Guitar Hero, Rock Band is a cooperative effort competitive only with other bands. One facet of this is that each band member can accumulate star power – er, I mean “Overdrive” – which, when activated, causes a 2x multiplier. When activated at the same time as the rest of the band, the multiplier jumps to 8x. Overdrive can even restore a failed bandmate, though you’ll get booed right offstage if the band member isn’t saved or fails three times. One singular improved to the system is that energy can be accumulated even after Overdrive is activated.
Another teamwork element is the unison bit. During a song the guitarist(s) and drummer will have to nail a section for a bonus. Certain songs use the same idea at the end of the track: the guitarists, drummer and singer can freestyle but the former two have to hit the final notes of the song for a big finish. These seemingly small components all add up to a game that makes you feel more like a band, which is ultimately what makes Rock Band different from other music based games.
In BWT mode you will begin playing small clubs and limited sets. The number of fans accumulated springboards you to larger venues (40 total, all over the world) and new set options. Fail, however, and you will lose those precious fans and even access to larger venues. You will also acquire things like a manager and a tour bus, roadies and a jet, all in your efforts for induction into the Rock Band Hall of Fame, no easy task. For those still not sated, fear not, the Hall of Fame does not signal the end of your tour; there are still venues to play and songs to conquer. This all before you delve into the vast world of downloadable content!
In BWT you will have to replay a number of songs which can get tiresome if, say, you are not a fan of the Blue Oyster Cult. The downloadable content at $5.49 (3 songs) to $1.99 (one song) is an easy fix. Challenges also pop up on your BWT: things like forgoing a paycheck on a charity show in order to double your fanbase, or taking a gamble on getting five stars on a set for quadruple the fans (gambling your fans is definitely not for the faint of heart).
Singing in Rock Band is a novelty of a gaming experience. While you don’t have to be a great singer, you do have to match the pitch. For the average person this is achievable with varying levels of success through most songs on Hard. On Expert, however, you better have some sort of training, and in a party situation you will likely prefer to play on Medium. Instead of notes the singing component breaks the song into phrases measuring your performance based on how well you can match the pitch. You can track your progress through a phrase in the tiny meter below the lyrics; it fills as you do well. Fill it completely before the phrase is over for a rating of “Awesome”, and boost your multiplier. Songs like Sabotage, however, skip the pitch measure in favor of lyric accuracy. This adds some variety and is fun enough, especially if you are as big of a Beastie Boys fan as I am, but if you don’t know the song you are guaranteed to botch your multiplier. The tambourine and cowbell elements give the singer the chance to really look like the tool most frontmen are. While singing is tons of fun and often the easiest thing for non-gaming friends to pick up at a party, the singer is also most likely to be demoted to roadie: they’re just not as integrated into the band.
Phenom guitarists looking for the challenge that Guitar Hero offers might find something lacking. The songs are not designed to be difficult. Experts will find themselves in the role of savior, or just trying to play with the guitar behind their backs. The effects switch is neat, and fans of a smoother fret board will be pleased. That the fret buttons were flush drove me crazy at first, and you may frequently lose your place as you adjust.
The bass is for the friend that you might otherwise kick out of the band. Most songs seem over-simplified with fewer notes than everyone else and most of the job is rhythm based. On the Hard or Expert levels, however, the smoother sailing bass parts mean that the bassist is well-equipped to bail out struggling bandmates. Definitely the least-clamored for instrument, the bass is a safe bet for the drunk in the corner, it just doesn’t rock as hard as the other instruments.
The drums are easily the most true-to-life musical experience, and playing on Expert will actually teach you the real drum parts of the song. Unless you have a chair or table of just the right height, you will want to use your (or a friend’s) drum throne. The drums will be the most fought over, and barring the presence of a drummer in your midst they will be the most frequently failed instrument. The drummer is also pretty rowdy (outside of the game), thumping the foot pedal and banging away on the drum pads. Thus, playing with someone butchering the drum parts is wholly unpleasant, and their alternate version of the song will easily throw off other band members.
Notably, there have been hardware issues. Guitar loss didn’t ruin my life, but it did set the band back a week. If your guitar does go bust or your drunk friend falls through the drum kit, choose the expedited method of replacement, it’s worth it.
There is a character design aspect, which I was into for all of five minutes. Once I got a reasonable likeness going, the need to accessorize didn’t overcome me. Remarkably un-girly, I know, but the rest of the game is just too enticing. If you were to obsess over your character, though, you could change everything from clothes and makeup to design you own tattoos.
Graphically, Rock Band makes Guitar Hero look like its inbred cousin that got run over by a tractor. The band actually appears to be playing their instruments, and the singing is close enough to lip-synching to continue the illusion. Crowd interaction is great, and they will even sing along as band does well.
Online mode comes with some choices. Quickplay, which means your band is playing some songs but they are unrelated to career mode. Duel is a battle between two players for the highest score on the same song. Tug of War demands that two players on the same instruments play separate sections of the same song, with the more successful player gradually winning over the crowd. Online is nothing compared to BWT.
Rock Band truly raises the bar for the genre, and with continually updated downloadable content it’s no one night stand. Career mode will please casual and hardcore gamer alike, while the multiplayer makes this the best party game to date. This game is built to last, unless of course, you have no friends.
Score: 9.5/10
If you don’t already recognize the Ratchet and Clank series as a guaranteed bundle of good gaming times, there’s no hope for you and you will inevitably dismiss my declarations of Ratchet and Clank Future: Tools of Destruction’s awesomeness. I beg you, quit your whining about the lack of multi-player or the game’s dissimilarity from your favorite shooter long enough to give this next-gen addition to the franchise a try. Tools of Destruction is one of the prettiest games you’ll see on the PS3, and you’ll swear she must have been an ugly kid because it has got all the wit and humor you could dream up.
This time around the folks at Insomniac outdid themselves with the storytelling, and you just may feel like you’re playing through a Pixar movie and I don’t mean lengthy narrative. It’s not often that a video game plot comes with this kind of polish, so savor every moment (about 16 hours worth). For longtime fans, Tools of Destruction finally addresses the sorts of questions that keep Ratchet and Clank fans up at night, like where in this wild and wacky universe did all the Lombaxes go? Fans of the series will also like the subtle in-game references to past characters – be sure to keep your ears perked up to all those intercom announcements, you just may learn the fate of one Slim Cognito.
Additionally, Clank acquires a whole new layer of mystery (or robo-dementia) with the appearance of the mysterious Zoni, which only he can see, and the little modifications they equip him with. With the Zoni come the return of some Clank-only game play, and the tiny modders help along the way from levitating Clank across chasms to manipulating objects. Clank’s upgrades also put the Sixaxis to use with some environment-traversing flying segments. Though the flying is unquestionably the best use of the controller, there are mini-games that use the Sixaxis, from cracking locks to slicing through rock to dancing a pirate jig. Oh, yes, get ready to shake your robo-booty while dressed as a pirate, and please take note that during the most pirate-y of moments the music not so subtly references a particular slice of the Bloom/Depp oeuvre.
All you closet fans of Captain Quark can breathe easy, the self-proclaimed captain of awesomeness is in rare form and even a teensy bit helpful this go around. You can expect to see other familiar faces, too (the plumber, perhaps?). Meanwhile Tachyon, touted uber-villain of the game, is an amusing nemesis that really can’t stand up to the inherent pirate awesomeness of Captain Slag and his minions.
You’ll still get a chance to show your might in some Arena showdowns, but if that was your favorite part of past Ratchet games you might be a little disappointed. The game is largely platforming with a return to the “explore at will” philosophy of pre-Deadlocked incarnations and a reduced emphasis on the Arena – the Arena challenges even seem easier. Also downplayed are the inter-planetary space battles. Limited and brief, they add a nice diversity to the game without giving you the feeling they’re keeping you from the really fun stuff.
And the weapons, oh the weapons. I can’t be the only one that thinks Insomniac devs play with toys half the day just to achieve the spectacular weapons Ratchet fans have come to know and love. Topping my list are the Nano-Swarmers which release a stunning furor of buzzing attack bugs. Occasionally they’ll cloud your screen a bit and are definitely a passive weapon, though it’s fun to use them in conjunction with the close-combat Razor Claws. The Tornado Launcher is a bit of a novelty but the control over the launched tempest is so “meh” that it’s not a great weapon when you’re in a bind. There are also Devices, which come in small quantities and pack a punch. From the Transmorpher (Penguins!) to the Groovitron (each enemy has their own dance), it’s these sorts of touches that make Ratchet so much fun. In addition to collecting bolts you’ll want to be stocking up on Raritanium (conversely, not so rare), to purchase weapons upgrades. These upgrades will do everything from increase the guns ammo to up it’s firing speed to maximize the amount of Raritanium you can glean from vanquished baddies.
Complaints of returning to the “same old” Ratchet formula aren’t unfounded, just foolish. The well-paced action and superbly entertaining game play aren’t really the sorts of staples you want to go around messing with. Of course, if you’re the type of gamer that craves 120 hours of mind bending difficulty, Ratchet and Clank isn’t for you. While the difficulty is not so much, the hours of unrelenting fun are, and once you’re done there’s always Challenge Mode. The replay value? Infinite.
Score: 10/10
With Okami due out on the Wii this year and the PS3′s backwards compatibility going the way of the dodo a review of Okami for the PS2 just seems right. For Zelda lovers looking to capture a Link adventure experience on the Playstation, Okami is like a Ho-Ho: it will leave you happy and sate the craving all without that pesky, full feeling. You play as a godly canine Amaterasu with a tiny bug companion Issun, known as the Wandering Artist. It quickly becomes clear, however, that Amaterasu’s godly brush techniques far outstrip Issun’s capabilities, so mostly the little speck is there for sass factor.
Nippon, like most locales in peril, is being thrust into dark evil badness. The Celestial Brush serves as your weapon, tool, and general magic-making device. From prompting trees to blossom to changing night into day, most gameplay of consequence is tied to the brush. Concerns about the control scheme are unfounded; the ease with which the game teaches and implements the brush techniques is remarkable.
The brush strokes are based on circles and lines, which will reassure those that were feeling a bit daunted by the painterly prospect of elaborate techniques, and pretty much disappoint the rest of us. It makes the fifteen techniques manageable, even easy, but it also means a definite lack of diversity. While holding down R1 you use the left analog to paint leaving the right analog free to pan the camera. Holding down square paints a simple line, or you can use the pressure-sensitive triangle button for a thicker line. Even better, time pauses while you paint which takes the pressure off more self-conscious artists.
The things you can accomplish with the brush are pretty darn satisfying. Nearly every action, whether it’s chopping things down or calling in the winds, results in goodies. What can sometimes feel not-so-satisfying is that the larger changes like creating a bridge or similar pathway only work in certain, very limited, places. This sort of predetermined specificity is a little bit prodding, but at least you don’t feel like you’re missing the boat and leaving areas of the already vast landscape unexplored. After all, for lack of a bridge just make yourself a lily pad and a nice breeze to move it along.
Just as noteworthy as the brush stroke innovation is the game’s unique and captivating style. The art direction is magnificent, and more than anything you will feel like you are moving through a work of art. Amaterasu’s animation is a pleasant surprise. It’s true, video games have a long legacy of creepy animals, and Okami is a gust of fresh doggy breath. Amaterasu has fluid movements and smooth controls. Also gratifying is that the longer you run the faster she goes leaving a veritable cloud of blossoming field in her wake.
Traveling through the game is a treat for the eyes as you progress from village to village with the option of returning to any prior location with relative ease. Side quests, per tradition, reward you with items, money or “praise” which is the game’s system for upgrading Amaterasu’s health and ink. In addition to quests from characters around town, you can find buried treasure, statues in want of offerings or restore cursed areas to bloom. If you are a play-every-inch gamer, you will be satisfied. If, however, you are a straight to the big baddie type rest easy; Okami is a no-grinding-required title.
Like many of Okami’s Japanese predecessors, some missions are a little hazy. Sure, you know what you need to accomplish, but the how of it can get muddied particularly when multiple missions must be in progress for the whole thing to resolve. These little overlaps are frustrating if you happen to miss the tiny link that connects the two. Handily enough, you can spot characters with useful information by the green arrows over their heads. You may still find yourself wandering around a prior village, looking for clues, but at least the view is nice. What places these confused quests in sharp contrast are the ones that get served to you half done. Puzzles are just less puzzling when you are told exactly what to do.
For those that loathe all things randomly generated I have good news: in Okami, random means spirit flags that can be spotted, and subsequently avoided, from quite a distance. Most of these enemies roll over pretty quickly. Once you know the best techniques for defeating them, they won’t take you any time at all. There’s so darn many of them that it’s just too bad they aren’t more interesting; the majority of enemies are so straightforward you won’t find yourself in mortal peril very often. Fortunately, The boss battle are diverse, offer more of a challenge and will really test your techniques. Adding another small strategy component to battle is your ink supply. It regenerates, but it is not infinite, which means you cannot ineffectually slash at an enemy successively without paying the price. You do have some brute force techniques at your disposal, but they pale in comparison to the brush techniques where both power and intrigue are concerned.
I know I will get a fair bit of disgruntled protesting on this point: where Okami suffers is the storyline. Giant goal, little quests, this is all standard adventure fare. The mission doesn’t lack importance, or even satisfaction for completing parts of the quest, it is all just…hard to care about. Saving Nippon seems good and right and all, but there isn’t that same Zelda fire of longing for conquest or exploration. As simple as it sounds, I think a fair bit of this can be attributed to playing as a dog. A compelling story needs characters you can identify with, and while everyone in the game has some fun dialog you will likely tire of it – especially since it’s all mumbly noises with text.
The flaws are few and far between, so it is really unfortunate that a lackluster storyline is among them. If, however, you happen to be keen on the story you will breeze through this title well chuffed. Overall, Okami really is a great game, and it is nothing short of mystifying that so many successful parts just don’t add up to a truly awesome whole.
Score: 8.5/10
Oblivion is a game to keep you up all night, and probably the next night, too. An engrossing RPG, this addition to the Elder Scrolls oeuvre offers you endless variables in a nearly endless environment. Take your time with the pre-game character composition, you’ll be clocking a life-shattering number of hours with that thing. You’ll choose everything from your race to your sign, each with their own unique characteristics, talents, and weaknesses. How you grow from there is really up to you.
Inconveniently enough, Cyrodiil is in peril and daedra are invading; it is for you to stop the Mythic Dawn cult from plunging you and all the cute romping deer from being overtaken by dark nastiness and things like “Blood Corridors”. Or you could just kill the deer and rob them of their venison.
In addition to the main quest (finding the king’s heir, saving the world, all that rot) you can join up to four guilds. Completing missions for the main quest, Fighters Guild and Mages Guild will earn you fame, while work performed for the Thieves and Assassins Guilds will garner you some respectable infamy. While profitable, the Fighters Guild quests lacked intrigue, and I much preferred the Thieves and Assassins Guild quests. Sadly, the worst quests of all are from the main storyline. The Plane of Oblivion is so redundant you will find yourself just plowing through as fast as you can, with little regard to the goodies along the way.
In addition to the guild and main quests the citizens of Cyrodiil need help with all sorts of tasks, from finding their children to reclaiming their home from ogres. They’re like that really irresponsible friend. At its heart, what is a good RPG but glorified fetch quests? Every good deed – as well as some downright nasty ones – has its reward. The guild quests will be the most profitable, materially anyway. Word to the wise: save often, Cyrodiil is perilous and missteps such as getting caught stealing can be a real pain.
Leveling up will be a source of amusement, since everything you do contributes to your various skills. For example, jumping from place to place will increase your acrobatics, and casting spells while you jump will improve the corresponding schools of magic. Your overall skill level will increase as you develop your Major Skills (determined by race, sign, et cetera). Word of advice: I leapt from Chorrol to Leyawin and back again to gain the ability to jump on water; this was a complete waste of time. Not only was jumping on water the lamest animation in the game, it’s pretty useless. By the time you’re a master of acrobatics you can outrun, outfight or out-magic anything in the game.
The AI is quirky, and rife with amusing blips. Fortunately, none of it dealt a critical blow to game play. One mind numbing downside is that while characters may all be unique in appearance there are about four different voices that you will hear over and over. And over. Since the game is so addicting you can count on clocking long hours, which is why I appreciated Bethesda including potty and snack breaks (intermissions, if you will) in the game. For example, you wish to reenter a town: go ahead, make yourself a sandwich and crack open a beer, it’ll take awhile. Seriously, the load times are epic. In spite of these quirky negatives, Oblivion neatly earns a spot on my OMG, Most Fun Games Ever list and is well worth the next-gen price tag.
Score: 9/10
Think of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass as Wind Waker: Episode 2 for your DS, right down to the sailing through cell-shaded prettiness. Don’t be hasty and write off Phantom Hourglass because of its accessibility. Where hardcore gameplay is shaved off, pleasing diversity replaces it. A pocket-sized adventure it lives up to the captivating quality of its predecessors. There’s remarkable scope for a handheld in this game, and the fifteen or so hours of gameplay are layered with fun. A completely touch-based, 3-D world, this portable addition to the saga is a success in spite of some quirks.
You will once again don the green garb of your favorite questionably pubescent hero as the game opens on you and Tetra, sailing in search of the mysteriously threatening Ghost Ship. Tetra, an otherwise admirably hardy heroine type promptly lands herself in the middle of some damsel distress, and the young gent we’ll call Link must retrieve her. Classic. Next on the traditional Zelda plot arc is the obligatory helper meet-up, this time with a sassy fairy creature called Ciela, and useless future-role-for-Hugh-Grant Linnebeck, a lazy treasure hunter in dapper garb.
There’s a lot of graphical punch packed into this pocket-sized game, and very little cinematic neglect. Shots are framed nicely, and you get just as much attention to character as in prior console versions. If you don’t like all the chatter of Link’s expanding social circle, you may find your life as Link cluttered up by all the companions. They stick with you through the game, which adds to the game’s depth while taxing the patience of Zelda traditionalists who just want to get on with their quest. You might start to wish they would just get left behind on one of the islands.
The stylus-based controls made me grumpy for the first ten minutes, and then I got over it. When you drag the stylus across the screen you move Ciela, and Link then obediently follows the fairy. Don’t question it. Link will always run from his current position to the tip of the stylus. How far you pull Ciela from Link determines how quickly Link moves. A good swipe of the stylus or a direct tap on an enemy will do the trick, or you can draw a circle around Link to cue the spinning attack. The least successful maneuver is the roll with about a 50/50 success rate. Righty or lefty, there is just no avoiding that your hand will cover the screen at some point, leaving me grateful for my dainty lady hands. The system isn’t broken, just not quite so gamer-intuitive as the d-pad. Once my d-pad grumblings were over I found myself on the receiving end of a pot shot from the ghost of a fallen warrior who declared his longing for d-pad controls was his “only regret” in life. Otherwise, those ghosts are pretty un-helpful for folks with unfinished business.
The use of the stylus-based control is a good innovation, though it’s no Wii-Stick. The course-charting feature and handy item usage are big pluses, and once you get adept at it there is a definite precision advantage. Things like drawing the path of the boomerang are really fantastic little tricks, and you’ll be solving puzzles by chucking your boomerang around items, across chasms, and down hallways.
The adventure packed into this relatively short game in is great; though, call me greedy, I still found myself wishing for the depth of exploration found in console versions. Each labyrinth focuses on a single item and then tests your skills against one boss. The items acquired in tandem with the stylus controls mean that no two labyrinths or bosses are dealt with quite the same way, and they all make good use of the dual screens. The boss battles are a bit short-lived, and if any give you any trouble it will only take you one try to figure them out. It isn’t until late in the game when there are any boss battle casualties and the fights start to last longer than a minute.
Labyrinths are more linear and a bit abbreviated. The puzzles are pretty contained and you will typically only find yourself retracing one section instead of the labyrinth in its entirety. You will, however, be replaying a certain temple over and over. I find time-based challenges irritating in general, so when I was forced to replay the Temple of the Ocean King ten times, grumpiness set in. Fortunately, if you take good notes the time trials aren’t overly taxing. This temple runs throughout the game and keeps everything contiguous; at the time, I as bugged by the repetition but in retrospect it was a good convention. You will be replaying the same sections (with only one halfway point) pretty regularly, so just resign yourself to perfecting your technique.
One of my favorite stylus-driven additions was the ability to take notes, which you’ll do anytime you come across maps, levers, tablets, or other significant features that not so crypitcally point you in the right direction for puzzle solving. Additionally, the stylus resolves the sailing monotony of Wind Waker by using a point A to point B course plot method. Your map also tracks other seaborne vessels from pirate ships to Beedle and his shop of wares to a hot headed pirate chick that really likes to duel. Treasure hunting returns with a stylus-centered spin, a handful of mini-games for rupees and prizes, and there are plenty of uncharted islands to sate that hunger for exploration. An interesting change to the treasure scheme is the ability to sell goodies you uncover as well as unlock pieces for ship customization. In addition to acquiring the latest in nautical trends, ship customization improves your ship’s strength.
The music is memorable and worthy of the Zelda ouevre, and if you play while wearing headphones you will notice some location-specific adjustments to the sound. There is a multiplayer mode with a one-on-one battle aspect through which users can connect in a Link vs. Phantoms mini games that are basically tri-force stealing capture the flags. It’s no four-swords. You can keep track of your win/loss record, though, and choose between battling friends or someone random. The online mode is also used for the trading of treasure and ship parts: neat, but a bit superfluous.
Phantom Hourglass not only capitalizes on the potential of a Zelda game, it taps into the oft neglected talents of the DS, from great graphics, to touch controls, to the casual appeal of the handheld. The game is satisfying to both longtime Zelda fans and casual gamers alike.
Score: 8/10
Super Rub a Dub may be one of the weirder gaming experiences to make it Stateside. Armed with your Sixaxis, you tilt bathtubs to steer a Mama Duck around in order to retrieve little ducks while avoiding wind-up sharks and infinity pool edges – all this to send them directly down the drain. Never mind the painfully pared down gameplay, I had serious issues with sending my little ducklings into tub water oblivion.
As you navigate the cerulean waters you pop bubbles containing tiny ducklings to form a chain. You are rewarded for doing this quickly and in one long single file. Bonuses are awarded for keeping a continuous chain, and penalties for losing one of your brood. Your scores are added to an online leader-board, but you only see your ranking upon completion of a level, you can’t go back. Lame.
The mazes, if you could even call them that, are really straightforward. They number sixty in all, and the biggest challenge is fighting your nerdy competitive streak. In this way the gameplay is strangely addictive and you will find yourself fighting to claim the number one spot in time trial. Otherwise, Rub a Dub isn’t worth fighting over the controller for, it’s just not that engaging.
Tubs may become more challenging as they add enemies (wind up sharks), currents and remove the tubs borders. One fun trick is to pop the controller and make the whole thing hop which launches your duck and turns your enemies belly-up for a period of time. Longer puzzles won’t frustrate you because of the complexity of the maze, rather because the controls are a mind boggling kind of crazy. For steering a duck around a pool the adjustments are awfully fussy, and – lacking surgical precision – no good can come of this.
Visually the game looks, well, clean. It’s 1080p of pretty blue water and saturated colors: very pretty and very simple. “Simple” also applies to the music, which is homogeneous throughout. The water sounds are fun, however, and enhance the environment.
Super Rub a Dub claims the category “multiplayer”, but it’s the lamest kind: first player goes, second player goes. The end. Granted, it couldn’t really function well with cooperative play, but a more versus style could have held up (think shark v. duck!).
In the end, the experience is best described as underdeveloped. While the game is pretty successful in what it does do, it just seems like it should do more. Even as a download, you can’t help but feel a little shorted and when you’re only shelling out $6.99, and that’s no good. Ultimately, Super Rub a Dub functions best as an answer to the Jack Thompsons of the world who think that gaming is all about nurturing a violent streak. Just hope he doesn’t ask what happens to all the little duckies that go overboard.
Score: 6/10
A raucous good time, Calling All Cars is an original counter to the library of the Live Arcade. It truly is multi-player buckets of fun, and even with dwindling online participation Calling All Cars it still holds its own as a fantastic party game.
You play as a copper against up to three opponents with the very narrow goal of nabbing the criminal and transporting him to the local jail. All but one of the levels has a handful of ways to achieve this, from a straightforward jail drive-through to transferring him to a paddy wagon to even getting him picked up by helicopter. The jail has multiple entrances as well, and the more difficult the criminal disposal is the more points you get. Certain entrances to the jail may open, close or even freeze over leaving players with only the speedy paddy wagon or helicopter to deposit the goon in before time runs up and he is forcibly removed from your care.
It isn’t likely you will run into the time limit problem very often, though, with three other people desperately trying to nab the fiend right from your car. Ignoring creator David Jaffe’s expletive-laden defenses, multi-player is what the game is about. With online participation not at its heartiest right now, you will want to enlist those real life friends of yours. Don’t fret, it’s more fun anyway.
Your opponents are just as eager to snag the jailbird as you are, and by using tactics most akin to a brutal round of bumper cars they will knock the criminal right out of your car. Then, the vehicle nearest to the target zone beneath the falling convict nabs him, and off you go again. These sort of handoffs can happen mere pixels from the Jail entrance, with some truly maddening collision-based exchanges even occurring as two players collide with-in the Jail entry.
There are also offensive tools at your disposal which you can pick up around the map, but only one at a time. The hammer, magnetic ray or a torpedo enable plays from a relative distance, though the success rate varies. Once you have the criminal you forfeit your weapon and are left only with evasive tactics. It all sounds so simple, but when you add three other players to the mix all racing for the same objective things get tricky fast.
The four available maps are fun, but definitely limiting. While environments aren’t what makes the game, they could certainly make the game better. Well designed and in 1080p Cars is easy on the eyes, however minimalist. The cars look and feel like wind-ups on crack, and that is a compliment. Cartoon styling at its best, gameplay is most like demolition derby with Irish narration.
Tournament mode actually works by forcing you to win each successive round in order to advance. If you love Arcade style progression, you won’t be nearly so troubled by this system as, say, I was. There’s a few car unlockables for you to snag, the downside is you need to play in single-player to get them. The AI is beastly talented, and will handle all the weapons perfectly which will have you screaming “No fair!” lightning quick.
Map limitations aside, Calling All Cars delivers some truly great multi-player. With four levels, a handful of car equip-able weaponry, and ten vehicles to pursue your bounty you are guaranteed many hours of fun. A worthy download, Calling All Cars is an excellent addition to the PSN library.
Score: 8.5/10
If you haven’t given into the music game genre yet and played Guitar Hero, then skip the exercise in franchise milking and go buy Rock Band. If, however, you are a Guitar Hero enthusiast then please, pull out the leather pants and read on. The Guitar Hero fan base is practically insatiable, and I more than love the addition to the party game genre. There really is something magical about a game with plastic peripherals that makes you feel like a rock star.
Like any good rhythm game, Guitar Hero III relies heavily on a good soundtrack, and delivers. After the success of previous Guitar Hero games I can easily imagine that some bands were just a little more willing to license their music, and from Metallica and the Rolling Stones to Aerosmith and the Sex Pistols you won’t be disappointed. Unless of course you wanted original recordings, because as usual, most are covers.
If you were as disheartened by Rocks the ’80′s as I was, take heart, Guitar Hero III introduces some much needed improvements. Among them are cooperative career mode with songs geared toward bass and rhythm parts, and battle mode in which players duel against each other in order to win the crowd over. The co-op career mode is missing from online, though perhaps a worse grievance against co-op is the inability to play the battle songs from career mode with a friend.
The online does include the aforementioned battle mode as well as non-career co-op play, and a face-off mode. Unlike the 360 version in which you can invite a friend, the PS3 version will likely leave you playing mostly strangers. I didn’t really take issue with this, as most of my co-op gameplay happens when friends are over; the single-player mode is plenty consuming. All versions have an online compilation of statistics, tournament management and clans, which is nice but so expected it doesn’t really garner Guitar Hero any favor.
The Les Paul guitar is one of the best improvements to the game, but if you would rather just play with your wired guitars you won’t suffer for it. After all, how many guitar peripherals does the average gamer need? If you do spring for it, be warned, earlier Guitar Hero games are not compatible and apparently we can pretty much forget about using it with Rock Band.
I guess I’m supposed to be impressed that I can play as Slash or Tom Morello. I’m not, and the lack of character creation capability is pretty pronounced. The character models don’t exactly raise the bar, and while mo-cap was done for the licensed avatars there are no next gen worhty improvement, particularly when you consider the crowd or band members. With this in mind, I was downright livid when the screen chugged during star power. Frame rate issues in a rhythm game? That is not rock and roll.
Neversoft’s work on the game is pretty consistent with prior iterations. I know some of my Guitar Hero veteran friends were concerned about the length of time given to hit a note, but rest assured Guitar Hero III will make your fingers bleed. Quick changes are par for the course and you had better master your hammer-ons and pull-offs. If, however, you have no aspirations to the Expert level you can happily strum along on Medium. The more difficult note distribution will make you feel like you rock harder, anyway.
One loathsome addition to the campaign are boss battles. These fights are like the new battle mode, only intensely frustrating, ultimately serving like roadblocks to game progression. Another strange choice was inclusion of some story elements. They are so inconsequential that it is hard to have much of an opinion at all of them, only I wish they had been at least marginally self-aware: One snippet portrays the band being accused of selling out. Having to stomach the sold-out pitch from Activision is a bit much, particularly with an Axe Body Spray guitar in the game.
Guitar Hero III is the first of the franchise developed by Neversoft following the Harmonix departure to better, if not yet bigger, things and while they deliver on music a good soundtrack does not a great game make. Overall, the Guitar Hero presentation just looks tired, and while some may argue that the gameplay still holds strong I think the artificially difficult songs stamp the fun right out. After a couple hours this version just felt like a chore, and one that cannot help but be passed over in favor of a certain Harmonix title.
Score: 7/10
Even with its sights set on a younger generation there is no denying that Viva Pinata has some sort of Harry Potter spell over older folks, too. An engaging sim with a good dose of Animal Crossing, it is hard to resist the candy filled contents of Viva Pinata.
The game’s objective is a bit elusive, though if you are my nephew it’s to whack “bad guys” (sour pinatas) with the shovel. If you are part of the older set, however, it is probably the systematic improvement of your garden with the aim of acquiring each pinata and, of course, eking out every pretty little achievement point.
At the start of the game you are given a garden that has fallen into disrepair with the task of restoring it to its former glory. You quickly discover that improving your garden lures pinatas and even convinces them to become residents. Equipped with a busted up shovel, some grass seed and a watering can you aim to please the myriad pinata of Pinata Island.
As your garden becomes less refugee camp and more green initiative new black and white pinata will visit. Each pinata is unique, with specific needs that your garden must fulfill for them to even appear, and additional ones for them to visit and take up residency. If your garden has the necessary components they become residents and morph into colored pinata. Once a pinata goes local you will want to keep them happy, and even better, romance them.
Romancing pinatas is pretty much the G version of some more lewd Discovery Channel activities, replete with a mini game. Getting your pinatas in the mood for some sweet, sweet truly saccharine lovin’ can be as simple as building a home for them in the garden, or as complex as buying accessories and making sure they eat certain foods. Once you have spawned enough pinata progeny that your garden is overrun, you can make a neat profit off their sale (for parties of course) or beat them into candy with your shovel. As for romancing the offspring of pinata with their parent pinata, let’s just say hello, Appalachia.
Like over-breeding and selling of pinata, certain game elements are best left unquestioned: a broken pinata leaves all its candy contents behind…which other pinatas eat. Viva Pinata, bringing cannibalism to children everywhere. Feel free to monitor your kid’s violent tendencies, too; any child ruthless enough to whack Seedos over the head for a few extra seeds warrants some therapy.
Achievements are gleaned and gardening skills improved primarily by growing new things, attracting new pinatas, and romancing. You will be amply rewarded, if grudgingly, with tool upgrades and additional garden space. The leveling system is gratifying, and will probably drive the gameplay of the more experienced gamer. Leveling up also attracts more elusive pinata, who will snobbishly only associate with the gardening elite. Luckily, some pinatas have low standards.
Purchases for your garden range from seeds and homes, to garden helpers who can water for you or collect fruit or even scare off sour pinata. These helpers have varying levels of success, and from time to time I got annoyed with my gathering helpers’ inefficiency and just chased them out of the garden with a sound beating.
You can watch pinata and plants alike grow, as well as pinatas consume one another (sadly, a requisite practice in the pinata kingdom). Each pinata has a voice, its own array of sounds, and you will be able to hear each one with varying clarity from any point in the garden. The lively space can get full, though, and you will have to make decisions on what to keep, including pinata. Don’t be shocked when you find yourself attached to that gamboling, wide-eyed Cinnamonkey; make a choice, Sophie.
The pinatas are unique in personality which means that while some of them will coexist quite harmoniously, others will fight at the slightest provocation. Fights are a frustrating part of garden life and will result in sick pinatas if you fail to break up the battles. The only danger more fearsome to your garden are sour pinatas, which will destroy things in your garden, make your pinatas sick or just kill some stuff. The higher your level, the more challenging the sour pinata. There are ways to turn the nasties sweet, but the path to good isn’t always clear or easy. Sour pinata conversion is, however, totally worth it as once you have turned one Sour you can repel all others of its kind.
My greatest sadness with Viva Pinata was how limited the space was. Once you have maxed your garden, that is it, no more turf. I couldn’t curb the desire to expand my empire, and further the discovery. Another tiny negative is that during auto saves the game will struggle and bring you down from your candy buzz. Otherwise, the visuals are bright and engaging. Controls are kid-friendly with a few too many safeguards against gaming oopsies.
The XBox Live experience with Viva Pinata is pretty tame. There are Leaderboards if you hunt for them, and basic comparisons between gardens and pinata values. The comparison feature ends there, though, and doesn’t extend to the ability to visit other gardens (a la Animal Crossing). What is fun is the ability to ship and receive pinata crates to friends. Crates can hold five of the same thing, and the contents are a surprise to the recipient. It’s great for getting pinatas you haven’t acquired, as they will automatically become residents. Sending sour pinatas, though (even ones you’ve turned sweet), is reserved for those special enemies as they will go sour once the crate is opened.
If you are considering picking up the game for your kid recognize that their gameplay time will likely be much shorter than yours, unless they just like running around and planting stuff. The elements they have to grasp in order to really advance the game will likely elude the younger set. I recommend starting your own garden and sending your kid some of the cooler pinata, as it is probable they will never get to see them otherwise. Also, there is a watered down story element to the game through the Journal. I never really took much interest in it, but it would definitely appeal to kids.
With no ultimate goal, how you approach the game is very open and replay value is pretty high as tiny decisions and random occurrences make every garden unique. Viva Pinata is an easy choice for lovers of Animal Crossing, and it is just as suited to any gamer looking for an interactive, fun-filled sim. Go ahead and judge the game by its saccharine exterior, the insides are just as gooey and delicious.
Score: 8/10
I’m Community Manager and Admin for the NewsBoiler Network, home to N4G, TechSpy, AnimeShinbun, FilmWatch and 11×2. I also write for network editorial site, ZTGD.