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FIFA 17

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In some gamers’ minds, the yearly update of EA Sports games like FIFA is an indication of what’s wrong with Triple A games. Being asked year after year to pay for what they see as a roster update is akin to nothing but the worst form of corporate greed. However, every year EA Sports and FIFA try to do something new, something to give fans of the series a reason to buy the yearly update, and not simply stick with the year before, or whichever year the fans vehemently argue was the best. Sometimes that works, like the introduction of FUT a number of years ago. Sometimes that fails, like the upgrade of engines when we first went from Xbox to Xbox360. This year, EA Sports have taken a risk and not only upgraded the engine, but added a whole new way of playing.

The big engine change is upgrading to the Frostbyte engine. Whilst FIFA has always looked good, sometimes the players and reactions to the way the match was played seemed a little off. Like when all the players played the same animation before the kick off. Like when the players seemed to do inappropriate actions to one another when one fell over. Frostbyte seeks to change all that, and does a reasonable job at it too. What this means is the game feels more lifelike than ever. Players sweat. Player breath frosts in the cold air. Players move around like players should – for the most part. There are still some odd results of the physics engine, such as often it appears players will kiss and feel each other up, which can be hilarious if you have the mind of a 12 year old (which I have).

Animations, whist still canned, appear far more varied and lifelike. The way players twist their body away from free kicks, for example, is far more realistic than previous years. Player movement feels smoother overall, and whilst close ups of players still force you into the uncanny valley, the players look far less ghoulish than in previous years.

The impact on the way FIFA plays in general is harder to recognise at first. The ball play does feel a little zippier, and the bounce and movement feel a little more realistic, although there are times where the ball does still feels glued to player’s feet. Because of the physicality of the engine, the game feels more brutal than in past iterations. Players are grabbed off the ball and physically blocked from the path of the ball. They’ve even introduced handball! It doesn’t occur often and can be switched off, but I liked having it on, because it did up the realism.

There are small changes to the way penalties and corners are handled now. There’s a movable aiming spot which allows you to pick out your man. It is deliberately imprecise and I’m not entirely sure that’s a good thing, as my I used to be rely on corners to get goals more often. You can choose to be the receiver of a corner or throw-in, allowing for more tactical outcomes however. Penalties are prefaced with a controlled run up now as well, which makes them just a little more difficult to execute.

The other big reason they introduced the new engine is the new mode – The Journey. In this mode you play as young Alex Hunter, rising from humble lower class beginnings to rubbing shoulders with the upper echelons of the FIFA sporting code. In a very RPG light-ish fashion, you improve your skills via training and playing, face and overcome several ‘big’ challenges, and make a bunch of decisions which will change your life forever… or at least to the end of the 15 or so hours you’ll be playing it. There are several animated vignettes which push the story along, as well as reaction pieces where you can be fiery, cool, or balanced and these slightly influence the game in terms of how you are seen by your peers and fans.

I must admit I was extremely dubious about this when it was first announced. PES also had a career mode which was like an RPG, but it was pretty awful, predictable and tacky. FIFA went to the expense of getting “authenticity coaches” to help with the plausibility of the story, and I must say I’m impressed. Yes, the story is tacky and predictable, but it’s played with such conviction, I even started to get angry with fake twitter feed when they would riff on Alex’s performance! Alex himself, played by Adetomiwa Edun, is likable enough, and it’s his gruff Grandfather, asshole ex-best-mate-now-rival Gareth Walker, and comic relief Danny Williams who joins you when you’re slumming in the lower league who make the story shine.

You earn your spot in the team by doing well in training, which leverages the minigames to more than just loading screen shenanigans. The mode itself can be played as a team or solo in the “play as a pro” style. I preferred team, because as is usual with the Pro mode, if your team is a bit rubbish (I chose Burnley because Claret and Blue!) then you don’t get to see much of the ball, so your score doesn’t improve as much as playing as the whole team. Playing as a team does have its drawbacks though – you can’t control the team’s formation, subs, or attack / defence approach like you can in the other modes.

There are a few other annoying nags about the mode in general. Training feels a bit grindy, however if you skip it you tend to score D or F, which means you won’t qualify for the starting line-up. It’s frustrating particularly later in the mode, because you’re doing so well during the match, which is the most fun part of the game after all, but skipping a session means you don’t get to play. You can’t skip or restart a match, although there are times, either for story purposes or because you don’t qualify for a game, that a match is skipped, so it feels a little odd. And there are odd story moments too – like being told your team faces relegation although you have won the majority of the games you played.

FUT has had some minor changes, the impact of which will depend on how interested you are in the mode. The “Ones to Watch” and Holiday Specials (the latest is a Halloween flavoured one called “Scream Team”) are new ways for prices of certain players to be artificially raised. They’ve also introduced Squad Building Challenges, which offer rewards for doing certain things, like putting a back four together all from the same country. However, the rewards are non-tradable, and be aware that doing challenges will remove those players from your club, so choose to do these wisely, especially if you have traded high value cards or even spent money on packs and players.

The other modes such as Manager Mode and the International Women’s Tournament all remain pretty much the same. Japan has been introduced to the International Women’s Tournament, and the mode is still pretty strong, feeling different enough from the men’s game, and I’m fairly certain FIFA is the only sports game to feature a women’s league at all. It would be nicer if this wasn’t tucked away behind menus this year though. Manager Mode focuses a little more on your objectives as a manager, and these are tailored more to your team. Choosing a lower division team means you won’t be asked to win the FA Cup to survive in your role, for example. However, gaining a place in the cup will give your team a financial boost. It’s a more realistic approach, which is appreciated, but doesn’t substantially alter the mode.

Conclusion:
EA took a risk with FIFA this year and it’s paid off. The new Journey mode is ultimately silly, but it’s surprisingly engaging and a lot of fun. The new engine makes the game better, not in leaps and bounds, but subtly so, and it’s not until a few hours of playing whatever mode you prefer that you appreciate the differences and the sense of realism the changes bring.

Pros:
New Engine improves the way the players look as well as the way the game plays.
New mode is surprisingly engaging and fun, leveraging disparate parts into a whole.
Women’s football remains a strong part of the game and difference to other sports games.

Cons:
Changes to FUT can result in the loss of paid for content if you’re not paying attention.
Women’s football mode is hidden behind the menus.

80/100

Review, Video Games, Writing, XboxWorld

Mirror’s Edge Catalyst

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Mirror’s Edge was a breath of fresh air when it was released in 2008. Featuring an Asian female lead who was appropriately proportioned when most other games featured buff marine types or buxom wenches; a game world that was full of stark white splashed with bold colours amongst a sea of drab brown and grey game worlds; and featured a fluidity of movement in a world full of stop-start gun fighty games. It certainly wasn’t without its flaws and had many detractors throughout the game community, but it was bold, especially for a big publisher like EA, and full of promise for those of us who wanted something new.

Unfortunately, we had to wait 8 years for a sequel and 8 years is a long time in game development terms, and particularly with what has happened to the games industry lately. The games market has completely fragmented, with PC and the console market dominance being smashed by iPhone and Android games. The rise of the casual gamer and indie developer has pushed games in directions unheard of 8 years ago in terms of art and action. Diversity of representation, which has always been in the back of developer’s minds, has been pushed to the forefront of the conversation surrounding games.

With this context in mind, fans of Mirror’s Edge were excited to see what EA could come up with. With the story rebooted and an entire city open to explore, would Mirror’s Edge live up to its promise and could Catalyst become the next big thing ™? Well, in a word, no. Regrettably, Mirror’s Edge Catalyst tries hard, but when held up to its competitors it falls quite short.

Let’s start with the character Faith. I can excuse the developers for having her iconic sleave tattoo absent at the start of the game and turning it into a reward. As a player, it’s kind of cool to play through wondering how she gets it. But, without spoiling it too much, the when it’s rewarded is really too late in the story, and the way it’s rewarded is kind of lame. But that’s not the worst of it for Faith. Her strength of character has been greatly reduced by the weak story. The predictable plot and one dimensional villains strip her of agency, and instead of acting on her own and for her own sake, she gets pulled along inexorably and the player is simply there for the ride. It doesn’t help that Faith is still depicted as a teenager. I’m completely aware that I’m nowhere near being a teenager any more, but this doesn’t excuse the poor writing and plotting. We’ve all grown in 8 years, but Faith hasn’t and she seems wildly immature and predictably whinny.

Arguably, story comes after gameplay, and strong gameplay can erase the bad taste the story can leave in your mouth. Unfortunately here the game stumbles too. Quite often. Into an abyss. Where you wait an eternity for a loading screen to bring you back to the action. The first Mirror’s Edge was criticised for poor controls and 8 years on the developers haven’t figured it out yet either. Which is a shame because when it works, like games such as Sunset Overdrive, Dishonored, Assassin’s Creed, Batman’s Arkham and Infamous series, where exploration and movement are put in the forefront of design, the movement in the game brings an almost Zen-like sense of calm and achievement to the player.

And in a world where those games exist, it’s not like the makers of Catalyst had nothing to emulate. The Up/Down mechanic is a great idea – you hold the left bumper for contextual up movements like jump and climb, and squeeze the left trigger for contextual down movements like slide and drop. The idea is you get a rhythm going as you move through the world, stringing movements together and flowing through the game. Unfortunately, the poor execution results in Faith falling to her death constantly. The biggest issue is the amount of things the left bumper is used for – jumping, wall running, attaching your rope, jumping off the rope, grabbing a ladder – compared to the trigger which is simply slide down/under and land. Quite often you’ll want to do a standing jump but wall run, or want to leap from a wall run but continue in the direction without jumping. I suspect the bumper isn’t as reliable as the trigger, and fervently wish I could remap the up and down to the left and right triggers so I could get a better flow going when playing. Another idea would be to have the facebuttons mapped to contextual movements, so pressing the bumper and pressing A would make you wall run, pressing Y would make shoot your rope out for example.

Speaking of shooting, thankfully faith doesn’t ever use guns this time around. One of the biggest complaints about the original game was the weapon sections. This time, Faith exclusively uses her fists and legs to fight. You’re meant to use the environment and your speed overwhelm the game’s enemies – leap up the wall, fly kick off a flywire, and so forth. And yet again, the game underwhelms with tedious AI where it just bunches together so you can kick the enemies into one another. You can defeat all the enemies using the same move (Y and joystick back or to the side). Every. Single. Fight. Some fights you can pretty much ignore, though towards the end of the game you’re frequently locked in a room and have to fight all the guards to enable you to proceed which feels like shoddy game design.

What’s most frustrating about these issues is the open world City Of Glass is actually spectacular, and you really want to spend time here exploring. The world is sterile, stark, cold and beautiful. Although it’s pretty much non-interactive – people stand around and exist just for you to interact with them, you can’t knock chairs and tables and ornaments flying – like many open world games, there are a heap of secrets to find which fill in backstory and give you things to do. My favourite was the screen hacking. After doing missions or winning achievements you’re rewarded with runner packs, containing logos and backgrounds which you can put together on the Mirror’s Edge website and then hack billboards showing your logo across the city and in your friend’s worlds. The billboards are quite often difficult to get to, and it’s fun exploring how to activate them (but not constantly dying and seeing a reload screen). Also as in the previous game, you can also set up and complete with other players runs, trying to beat their time or infuriate them with near impossible paths to follow.

Conclusion
Mirror’s Edge Catalyst unfortunately misses its mark. Following on from the first game, the ambition and desire is present, and doesn’t completely fail but doesn’t quite succeed either. Maybe if it came out 5-6 years ago I could appreciate it more, but with some many other fabulous open-world games out there to compare it to, plus a very weak story which lets the series down, it’s mechanical flaws really stand out, and it feels like a let down.

Pros:
The World of Glass is fabulous and itches to be explored.
When you can string moves together the game really shines.

Cons:
Stringing moves together happens rarely. You die because of the controls, not because of the game’s intention or difficulty level.
The enemy AI is stupid and fights are always the same.
The loading screen takes too long to get you back into the action.
The story is predictable and Faith feels diminished as a character because of it.

70/100

Review, Video Games, Writing, XboxWorld

Unravel

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As a former game developer I can really sympathise with Coldwood Interactive, the developers of Unravel. As a middle tier developer, they spent many years developing games that were critically dismissed, but people enjoyed and more importantly, sold enough copies to keep them in business. But as time went on, the studio grew weary of making games where they had little creative control, and didn’t really say or mean anything. The sense that you’re working in a dream job starts to feel like a nightmare as you devolve into just going through the motions in a daily grind, constrained by the wills of others and not contributing to your own creative development.

On a camping trip in Sweden, Coldwood’s creative director Martin Sahlin found some discarded wire and fashioned a little man out of it. Later, he met some other campers, one who had a big yarn of red wool, which he borrowed to wrap around the wire. Thus Yarny, was born, and so too the desire to make something unique and profound surrounding this cute little invention.

Yarny is the protagonist of Unravel. It’s a 2.5 D side scrolling platform puzzle game whose uniqueness comes from the beautiful near photo realistic artwork and tethering game design. Yarny is made from yarn and as he moves across the screen he unravels, leaving a trail of bright fuzzy red yarn in his wake. Yarny can tether to sparkling points in the environment, and from this he can swing, tie knots, bounce and even push and pull environmental objects along the trail. You’ll use these mechanisms to solve the various puzzles in the level to avoid water, long drops, crushing gears and even wildlife. Yarny’s yarn is not endless, and as he unravels he becomes skinnier, and once you see the first knot in the yarn, you know it’s about to run out. Luckily there are places where you can restock your yarn to help complete levels. Whilst it’s not an earth shattering addition to regular side scrolling game mechanics, it does make a tired conceit feel refreshed.

What is also refreshing is the game never treats the player like an idiot. There’s not much handholding, and everything you need to complete the level is shown to you and it’s up to you to figure it out. It’s a game which invites you to explore and experiment. There’s no time limit to any of the levels, so you can play at your own pace. Although you’re constrained by the length of yarn, the checkpoints to refill are nearly always placed on screen, allowing contemplation and planning. You can always backtrack, although this uses your yarn, or respawn to the checkpoints and try a different route. Collectables are hidden throughout the level, often in plain sight, and quite often trying to reach them will reveal new tricks and multiple ways of solving the level.

There are issues with the platforming which mar the experience of Unravel. Often judging jumping distance and gaps often feels like Hail Marys, especially in later levels. Timing puzzles can be frustrating, and there are a couple of points where the respawn is too close to an insta-death situation, and you’ll repeat the same sequence over and over. The addition of a mechanic near the end of the game, whilst it’s interesting at first, changes the leisurely pace to glacial and the combination of having to hold too many buttons at once plus the difference in pace makes playing the level a tedious chore.

However, these minor issues don’t detract too much from the joy playing the game, much of which comes from the spectacular environments. Set amongst the forests and plains of Sweden, the game is full of beauty and colour. Although the levels are essentially flat, the combination of photorealism, dreamy lighting, and background movement is designed to make them feel alive and give an amazing sense of playing in real places. It’s helped by the fabulous animation of Yarny himself, as he gazes around in astonishment, flees in panic, shivers in the cold, and gets heavy in the wet rain.

Colour also plays an important part in helping creating the mood of an environment, with the colour cues helping present a feeling to the player. The sun dappled fields are alive with colourful flowers and softly move in the unseen breeze invoke joy. The industrial wastelands with the murky yellows, drab greens and dirty browns associated with toxic wastelands arouse disquiet and disgust. The frozen forest with its crisp, white snow hanging from deep green branches feel calm and pristine.

There’s not much of a story told to you, but you learn about what the game is imparting to you through the mis en scene (fancy word for environment). Throughout all the levels, there is something happening in the background with a story told through the mis en scene, from the set dressing and the props to animals and insects and even the weather, and it’s absolutely delightful to see developers use something integral to the nature of the visual medium in such a way. There’s no need for dialogue as everything you need to know is presented in the frame you move through. Unlike of what so many other games (and movies and TV shows) do and literally spell out what they want you to think, Unravel encourages you to think and wonder and come to your own conclusions.

Conclusion
Unravel sits in that space between indie game and “game as art”, whilst not being either. It’s clever, not wanky. It’s contemplative, not prescriptive. This is from an established if not truly successful studio, and published by one of the biggest publishers in the world. However, if nothing else, it shows that the most imaginative, beautiful and fun games can still come from anywhere, and there’s still a place for middle tier studios and even publishers.

Pros:
Absolutely beautiful game
Very cute character.
The string mechanic is a nice addition to the side scrolling platform genre

Cons:
Sometimes the platforming can let you down
Could be considered a little short.

90/100

Review, Video Games, Writing, XboxWorld

Need For Speed (2015)

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As someone who doesn’t drive nor own a car in real life, I feel like I’m probably missing something when I play most driving games. I certainly don’t get into the whole tweak this setting to make the car run at 1 horse power over its registered limit so the car goes 3 km/h faster than it normally would. I don’t get making the car look like it’s been thrown up on by an artist with a fetish for plastic airplane wings. What I do like is the sound of the engine and the feel of speed generated by the game. If there is a cop car chase and a cool soundtrack thrown in, then I’m happy.

So I should be delighted with the new Need For Speed. After taking a year off to develop for the new consoles, the Ghost crew working with the Frostbyte Engine have put together a really nice looking game. It’s quite possibly one of the nicest looking games I’ve played in this generation. The environments you drive around are beautiful, although most of the time you’re travelling too fast to notice. The only disappointment is you’re always driving at night. There is a moment where the sky brightens as if it’s going to be dawn, and then dawn never comes, but it’s still beautiful.

The cars themselves are spectacular. There are moments when the FMV cuts from the actors to your car, and it’s near impossible to tell the car is rendered in 3D and not actually there on set. And sound wise, this game pushes all my buttons. The cars sound as good as they look, with the V8s being particularly growly. The music is a cool blend of EDM, newer DnB and some rock, and thankfully not a dubstep track in earshot.

“Wait!?” I hear you cry. “Did you say FMV?” Yes, yes I did. And yes, I mean Full Motion Video, like Night Trap and Mad Dog Mcree, games that came out on Arcade or CD Rom in the early 1990s. And no, this isn’t any better 25 years later. Well, ok, that’s not very fair – they certainly look better as the 3D integration between the actors and non-physical assets is now seamless. This would have been completely shot on green screen, and much like modern movies, it is near impossible to tell what’s real and what’s rendered.

The actors do a valiant job, talking into the camera at “you”, but it feels very amateurish. The script is nonsensical and doesn’t actually contain any coherent story, which means any connection between you and these actors is difficult to form and maintain. There is no plot, no usual story elements, no “bad guys” to battle against. There’s this crew of misfit road racers, and you decide to drive around with them, and there’s kind of a love triangle or hexagon that’s hinted at, and then you meet someone’s idol (who is apparently a real life racing identity – who knew? *shrug*) and race with them, and that’s kind of it. Oh, and fist bumping. So much fist bumping. Every time there is a new scene, there is a fist bump. Every time someone leaves a scene, there is a fist bump. This game should have been called “Need for Fist Bump”.

It seriously baffles me why they decided to go with FMV. I imagine, however, the conversation went a little like this:
Mike: (Management Type Dude) “Holy Fuck, we forgot to include a story! We have Monster product placement but forgot to write a goddamn story for that product placement! John, run out and make some people and scenes for us! Dan, write a story”
Dan: (Lead Designer who once studied English/Journalism) “My job is try to make games fun, not write the story. I don’t know anything about the underground racer scene. I haven’t even seen “Fast and Furious”!
Mike: “It doesn’t need to be War and Peace, Dan, it’s a game about driving fucking fast cars at night. Just copy the F&F synopsis online, but take out the sex and violence… this game needs to be PG. Write it now or we’ll put you back on the match 4 mobile games team.”
Mike: “And put fist bumps in it. Kids love the fist bump.”
John: (Lead Art Producer Type dude) “Mike, we make cars, not people, and you’ve promised another 150 cars for DLC. We don’t have the time nor the team. But we are working with EA, so go get an animation team from another studio to help out.”
Mike: “Shit, we don’t have any animators free – everyone is tied up making Madden 16, Sims 4 and FIFA 16 – it has women in it now you know! Remember what Activision said… it’s TRUE!!”
John: “Damn the FIFA team. Well, shit, I don’t know, get some voice actors or something, and some real car dudes, but we’ll film them on green screen.”
Mike: “Fantastic idea! You’re promoted to Studio Head! Fist bump?”

The driving itself is rather fun, which is good, because at the end of the day, this a driving game, not a fist bump simulator. But let’s get something out of the way first – Need For Speed is an arcade racer. The driving is ‘loose’ and ‘unrealistic’. Your car will slip and slide and turn and do things it probably wouldn’t do in real life or in other car games. It’s meant to be that way and is not, and hopefully never will be, a simulator. Having said this, overall there is a little unresponsiveness when turning that is apparent in all cars. It feels like there is a lag between moving the joystick and the car reacting, and it’s not fixed through tuning the car. It is, however, a minor annoyance that will become less noticeable as you play the game.

Similar to other Need For Speed games, you rack up points when driving, and need these points to pass missions and unlock levels to upgrade your cars. There are a variety of skills which you can score against when driving: Speed, Style, Crew, Build, and Outlaw. Speed is self-explanatory – pull off speed tricks like 0-100 and maintaining your top speed. Style is maintaining good driving lines and drifts around corners. Crew is earned when you drive in concert with your AI opponents, like chain a drift around corners. Build is based on your build, and it’s suitability to the type of race and manoeuvres you pull off. Outlaw is about causing destruction and how long cops will chase you. I really like this system, as it’s fairer to drivers like myself who aren’t always the best drivers, but do enjoy silly things like knocking down street signs.

Points aren’t the only currency to earn in races though. You also earn cash, which is used to purchase new parts or new cars once they’re unlocked by points. It’s important to own at least two cars and get them early, upgrading and tuning them to different specs – one as a drifter to help you slip and slide around corners, and one built for pure speed. I initially wanted to “save” money by only having one car and modding it, but you end up spending more money on tuning and retuning rather than just having two different cars, and there are races which simply cannot be won with the wrong specced car.

The world you inhabit is Ventura Bay, which is apparently based on Los Angeles. I’ve never been to LA, so can’t compare. It does feel very similar to Los Santos though. It’s an always online world, much like Burnout: Paradise City, and you’ll see other players driving about, usually on the map or parked at the garage. We’ll get to more into that in a moment, but apparently a lot of people were bitching about this when it was announced. I don’t understand why, I’ve never had any issues with connection nor drop outs and only once was my experience negatively impacted, when Xbox decided it was time to update in the middle of a race, but that was ultimately my fault.

The entire map is unlocked at the start of the game, so you can drive around to your hearts content. Driving around earns you points just the same as the missions, and although you can always teleport to the missions, I suggest driving to the missions at first to give you some much needed level advancement. The game story is where you earn cash, and designed around five main characters who will fist bump you in the FMV story scenes to give you missions, corresponding to the five styles of driving. For example, Spike is usually represented by a green icon, which is Speed, so most of his missions will be races. Yellow represents Style races. Purple is Build races, so usually you need a specific type of car or motor or mod. Blue is Crew, so these always involve racing in teams, and Red is Outlaw, so usually mean racing causing destruction or with cops chasing you. The characters sometimes shift in what they want you to do, so there’s plenty of variety in the story missions.

Some missions you need to come first in either the race or by amount of points earned, whilst some are there just to further the story and placement doesn’t matter. The ones where you have to earn the highest points are usually quite fun, because it’s all about how well you drive. You make more points drifting in a pack than alone and feel more inclined to take unusual risks, like jump ramps, drive into on-coming traffic, and hand break turns.

The races where you have to win outright are downright annoying, because the rubber banding is extreme. You can be winning by a huge lead and then slow down to avoid a collision, and then be overtaken by not only the second place, but third and fourth. It’s controller throwing frustrating. There’s one race in particular which I’ve found impossible to win, and looking online I’m not the only one. Another annoyance is the other road traffic. There’s not much on the road, which is good, because it’s moronic. It deliberately veers into you and it also glitches – it can appear one moment and disappear the next, meaning you can swerve to miss something which is essentially not there.

I mentioned cop car chases, and they’re quite annoying too. As you break more laws, you rack up a higher fine which you pay on getting caught. The cops will set up road blocks and so on to stop you, which you can normally get away from, until they drop tire spikes, meaning you lose speed and control if you run over them. In free mode, this is fine, because you normally don’t spend a lot of time near the cops to warrant tire spikes, and the cops are stupidly easy to get away from. However, during an Outlaw race, where you have to do the race whilst being chased and rack up lots of Outlaw points, the degree of Outlaw-ness continues after the race. So whilst it’s rare to get tire spikes dropped during the race, after the race when you want to go to the next mission or whatever, there are tire spikes everywhere and you will lose any cash you earned from the race in fines.

I’ve only done one race in multiplayer, and the player took the first turn and glitched out, taking the opponents out with him. I was incredibly grateful to that player, as it was the race I have not won yet… however the extreme rubber banding meant the AI cars came and overtook me at the last corner. If you’re in a story mode race and haven’t opted to race with another player, you appear on the map to them, but you can’t see them. So on the map you’ll see what is clearly a race with the little arrows going around a course, but if you’re in the locality won’t see any cars or players. I guess this is to stop players trolling each other and parking cars along the route, but it’s very odd situation and creates a lack of cohesion between single and multiplayer. If you’re going to do this, why not make a single player and multi-player version of the maps, and allow one to be offline?

Conclusion:
Need For Speed lost its footing some time ago, and is still trying to find it. Whilst the game looks and sounds amazing, and the driving is fun for the most part, there were a lot of odd decisions made with this one – the FMV, the Always Online, Driving at Night, No Weather – which would have been expensive in terms of time and money but don’t really add any value to the game. My advice for the developers is to scale back the game, focus on what made Need For Speed so good back in the day, and forget trying to shoehorn in this and that to appease the masses.

Pros:
Amazing looking game
Great car sounds and good soundtrack.
The points system is far fairer than other driving games
Good variety in types of races / missions

Cons:
Car turning is a little unresponsive / sticky.
Rubber banding is ridiculous
Glitches of cars vanishing
Glitches in multiplayer races

60/100

Review, Video Games, Writing, XboxWorld

Dragon Age Inquisition Preview

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A day before PAX Aus, Xboxworld was invited to a preview of Dragon Age Inquisition at the very cool venue of Rutherglen House in Melbourne, down one of the city’s many laneways. Decked out like a hunting lodge with wood panelling walls and paintings covering every available surface and toilets and other rooms hidden behind seemingly innocuous panels, the portraits of the characters of the game blended in well with the surrounds.

My first shock was there wasn’t an Xbox One version of Dragon Age Inquisition playable. So this preview is based on the PS 4 / PC version. My second shock was just how nice the Playstation 4 controller was to use. This is why I don’t have either incidentally – every time I make up my mind to buy one or the other another reason crops up to change my mind. I’ll probably save up and get both during the inevitable Boxing Day stocktake sales.

Diving into the game, I was impressed by the depth of the character creator. I could have spent hours sculpting my Qunari Warrior, but instead I just pressed random because I wanted to jump straight into the game. And starting the game, it felt instantly familiar. The familiar ancillary characters from other games look better than ever thanks to the Frostbyte Engine, the sweeping orchestral sound track, and the wonderful environments took me to a place I have wanted to explore and learn more about since first setting foot many years ago.

But Dragon Age Inquisition didn’t grab me like it should have. Nothing immediately leapt out at me, shook me by the shoulders and said “you must rush out and pre-order this game”! Maybe I’ve spent too long in the mobile /indie space, where the market is so competitive you need to be grabbed by the balls right from the get go, otherwise you’re likely to wander off.

Maybe it’s because I chose to play a warrior, when my usual class is mage. I did this to get through the preview tutorial as quickly as possible, but now I kind of regret it. Don’t get me wrong, the combat felt nice, and I loved switching between real time and tactical battles so smoothly, but I found that I was sticking with my party caster more than my main character, with the melee combat not feeling as visceral as I would have liked. Magic has always been a far better mechanism in these games, and I’m definitely going to roll a mage when the game comes out.

And maybe it’s because I’m tired of the “Misunderstood Hero Trope” fantasy games so often use to tell their stories. Not giving too much away, you start out as a prisoner with a mystical ability and at the end of the tutorial wind up a hero, but then have to continue to prove yourself again and again and again. You know, just once I’d like to play a fantasy game where everyone realises, after I do something bloody awesome that no one else has been able to do, that I am actually bloody awesome, and everyone should love me, and stop double guessing me.

However, this criticism was short lived, because after the tutorial portion, the game opens up immensely and I got a glimpse of the variety of missions available, the fairly comprehensive crafting system, and a small hint at something darker within the storyline through some of the characters I met. It feels like there is great depth to the game, and it’s clear with the slow start this is a slow burn kind of game, as I do keep thinking about things I experienced during my brief time with the game, and I’m keen to get back to it.

I absolutely loved Dragon Age Origins. I’m one of the few people who enjoyed Dragon Age 2 for what it was. Hell, I even liked the Facebook game Dragon Age Legends! And from the small amount of time I spent with Dragon Age Inquisition, I know I’m going to be spending a lot of time with the game.

Review, Video Games, Writing, XboxWorld

FIFA 14

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Every time I tell people I’m writing a review of FIFA, I get the same joke “why don’t you just cut and paste last year’s version?” This year, this joke pretty much hits home. FIFA is at that point where it can only improve in incremental steps, or due to something like a next gen engine change, fall drastically from grace.

Fortunately the current generation engine hasn’t been changed, but with the next gen being provided essentially for free with the Xbox One, it’s a big ask to get even the most ardent fans to buy something which isn’t drastically different from last year’s iteration.

This is not to say EA hasn’t tried to spruce things up. This year the presentation is much cleaner, feeling as though it’s been made with swiping and touch screens in mind, and to that end it works very well, even with the controller. There’s very little going backwards and forwards through menus, with the interface being constructed more like the Xbox360 tabbed interface than the previous menu and button clicks. And now you can simply press X to save on any screen in the Career mode, which makes things for an obsessive saver like me so much better.

As to the game itself, slight adjustments have been made to make the game play smoother too. The AI has been smartened up, making use of space and runs more than any other version. And this doesn’t just apply to attacking – the back line works better and more realistically than in this FIFA than any other game to date. It does tend to cause far more off-sides from ambitious forwards in lower starred teams, however, which can get tedious.

Players tend to react more realistically to the ball, flicking passes and making subtle back heels without as much player intervention – a few flicks of the sticks will have the more fancy players doing moves which would in previous incarnations require a button dexterity only a few dedicated fighting gamers can match. There can still be issues with the ball physics and player reactions – I’ve seen a ball stop dead after hitting a player in midfield which just seemed odd, but I think it stood out because it was so unusual. More often, the more mid-rated players can step clumsily and overshoot runs, but it adds a level of realism which is not often seen in soccer games. Compare a top draw Man U vs Arsenal game to say Melbourne Heart and Adelaide United, and there is a gulf of difference, with far more clumsy action in the latter type of match, and this is reflected in FIFA well.

Speaking of rating players, this year the trading in Career mode has had a bit of an overhaul. The focus is now on hiring scouts and selecting skills and positions you’re interested in rather than overall attribute scores. At first I found this extremely frustrating as I only know a few names of stars, so didn’t know who to scout and if they were worth the money they asked or the time I was putting into scounting. But then I learned how to use the scouts – Villa (my usual side) need a pacy forward, so you can search the world for a pacy forward with an attack orientation, rather than just go for Messi who, let’s face it, will never slum for the likes of Villa. With a bit of luck and a bit of money, you can find the players you want and develop them, giving longevity to the career mode.

Ultimate team gets a bit of a shake up too. Being able to find classic players like Pele makes opening the packs far more exciting, and being able to search for players and consumables is much more refined making the process much easier. A new kind of consumable called Chemistry Styles which changes aspects of player’s playing style. For example, applying Brick Wall to a defender adds to defence and strength, whilst adding Sniper to a forward adds precision and range.

One thing I am very, very happy to see return is a more gameplay focused achievement list. Rather than Achievements like “play a game online” or “win 10 games” we see a return to “Score with a Dipping Volley”, and “Straight Arm a Defender to Protect the Ball”. It’s a subtle change, but awarding people for skill rather than persistence is always good game design. It makes me think about trying to chip a goal keeper, or running my defenders forward more often.

Speaking of skills, the new skill games are great although are much harder than previous in previous games. However, even more discouraging is the load times. In what may be a first, it’s not a criticism that it’s too slow; conversely, sometimes it feels the game loads even before the skill game has even started, and being keen to jump into a game means you often skip the skill games!

I’ve never been a fan of FIFA online, as the match making has always pitted me against a gun playing Barcelona whilst I stupidly chose Villa or Adelaide, and it’s humiliating being beaten 7 nil by a lad whose voice has yet to break. This year though I had no trouble finding a game, matched with a fellow Aussie so lag was minimal, and I think it matched us well as we drew 2-2. It probably helps that I’ve finally overcome the “Moderate NAT” issue that’s plagued me for over a year though.

I’ve always liked the soundtracks in FIFA, and this year is no different. The addition of Nine Inch Nails was a welcome surprise, although admittedly the track “Copy of A” is no “Closer” as Trent is a little older and wiser and has realised not swearing can be just as powerful a statement.

Commentary wise I was a little disappointed and confused. Last year during some matches, there was another commentator team of Clive Tyldesley & Andy Townsend for cup matches to complement Martin Tyler & Alan Smith, but this year they’re gone. Tyler and Smith do as good job as always, but when a player is retiring they constantly repeat the same thing over and over. Which is confusing, because at other times I hear completely unique commentary about players, coaches or teams, and if they talk over each other, or miss something, the commentary seems to react rather smartly, with Tyldesley apologising, for example.

Conclusion:
FIFA 14 can be seen as a refinement of a game which was pretty near perfect. It’s a refinement which grows on you after repeated playing, but is rather too subtle for even the biggest FIFA fan, especially with the anticipation of the next gen version with the potential power the new generation offers to everything from graphics to AI, combined with EA’s fancy new Ignite engine. Then again, it’s better to be mildly disappointed with a great game than to see a good series suffer, as happened with the transition from Xbox to Xbox360.

Pros:
Smoother interface
Great animations which leads to subtle gameplay improvements
Being able to save with a single button press
Chemistry styles adding more depth to Ultimate Team

Cons:
Frequent offsides
Repeating commentary

80 / 100

Review, Video Games, Writing, XboxWorld

Fight Night Round 3

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I’ve always enjoyed EA’s Fight Night series. The ‘Total Punch Control’ system was an instant hit (no pun intended) with fighting game fans and it was this feature of the series, even more so than the graphics that drew me and many other gamers in. Fight Night 2004 introduced us to this brand new and alternate style of control that successfully ended the reign of the ‘button masher’ and replaced luck with actual skill if you were to get the most out of the game.

Unfortunately it was light on in the Career Mode and this was addressed to some extent in the sequel, Fight Night Round 2 which added options to choose trainers, select intro music and lighting effects for your fighters ring entrances. More options in games are usually welcome, but these new features were mostly a matter of style over substance and resulted in little replay value for the game once complete. In my previous review I said the career mode took a bit of a step back. Unfortunately this is the case in the Xbox 360 version, so while we have a game that showcases some of the most amazing graphics ever seen in a sports game on any platform, is that enough to warrant the $100 + purchase price?

It has to be said, the graphics in the Xbox 360 version are amazing, I mean like ‘Holy Shit’ amazing. We’re always looking for that ‘WOW’ factor in new games and when you see the first knock down replay with your victims drool splurting out, the glazed look in his eyes and the skin of his cheeks rippling from the impact of your punch in super sexy slow motion you’d be forgiven if you climbed up onto your roof shouting “YES, next-gen is here!”… or something like that. The truth is that this version of Fight Night 3 looks absolutely amazing and the team at EA Sports have created the most lifelike characters outside a pre-rendered cut scene ever to grace a video game. Most of the time before a games release we’re shown trailers and screenshots that are rarely indicative of the final version, and we all know how damn annoying that is right? But this time around everything you’ve seen is exactly how good Fight Night 3 looks.

The artwork on the Fight Night boxers is so detailed that it’s possible to see every pore plus every bead of sweat on their bodies and in 720p on a nice sharp widescreen, giant television it’s amazing how great everything looks. The lighting is also extremely realistic with reflections and highlights glistening on the boxers’ sweaty skin and it’s also used effectively in each of the stadiums that your fights take place in. Throughout the bouts your fighter will also suffer cuts and bruises but the animations of the blood dripping down the faces aren’t really that smooth as I was expecting. It’s a small point but with the amazing detail packed in everywhere else it does stand out when you see it.

EA secured the rights to all things ESPN last year and this is one of the first rounds of EA Sports games to make use of the licence. Fight Night 3 sports a number of different game modes with the ESPN classic one being the newest addition to the series. Classic matches from the annals of boxing history are selectable so if you’ve ever wanted to relive Ali versus Frazier you’ll be in your element. To continue the fine form of the graphics, even the historical boxers such as Ali look the best that they ever have and once you retire your normal Career mode fighter, you can even go up against him.

The Career mode is where you will spend most of your time and creating your Boxer and building him in to a lean mean fighting machine is plenty of fun. The training modes aka mini-games return with the Combo Dummy, Heavy Bag and Weight Lifting all contributing in their own way to different areas of your fighters’ skills. The option to ‘auto-train’ is there if you’re in a hurry but the performance increase will be almost negligible at best so it pays to spend a bit of time going through them, and unfortunately, while something different to the bouts, repetition is the killer here as after signing a contract, training, fighting a match, signing a contract, training and fighting a match gets old fairly quickly and this is the biggest complaint I have about Fight Night 3. Except for fighting and training, there just isn’t much else to do.

Yes, I realise, it is a fighting game but the Career mode has no story as such and is just you taking your created fighter to the top. With more use of the ESPN licence, the ability to perhaps pick sponsors, take part in promotional events (at least some choices to make) and a little bit of narrative with some story moments between you and your rivals, Fight Night 3 would have even more interesting to actually play through and possibly helped to create more of a bond between you and your character. As it stands though, the excellent graphics keep drawing you back in and you probably won’t stop until you have all the Live Achievements and have retired at least one or two fighters.

If the Career mode does eventually get boring you’re able to jump online and punch on with your Live buddies in either ranked or non ranked matches. In a number of matches against Deathgod there was no lag and knocking the snot out of your mates, and then getting the snot knocked right back out of yourself is loads of fun, especially when those slow motion, skin rippling replays kick in with their over the top, bone crunching sound effects. With winter coming up Fight Night 3 will be one of those games dragged out on cold rainy days for plenty of online action because with the great graphics and the ‘Total Control’ system, smacking down your mates becomes even more enjoyable than ever before. The lack of lag was a nice surprise, especially after some negative experiences with other online fighting, and some other recent EA Sports games.

There are also a couple of new moves thrown in this year as well. The Flash KO has the ability to put your opponent into a daze giving you the opportunity to throw in a few quick punches and knock him down before he can react. It’s one of the longest punches to make so in return leaves your defences open but is pretty effective if you can pull it off. The other new move, the Stun Punch immediately puts your opponent on the defensive requiring only one more solid punch from you to put him down and forces him to block or parry while he regains his composure. They’re both effective moves, but even more so if used after a parry from yourself and the final training mode, Sparring, is the perfect spot to practice them. I think a couple of the matches that I’ve played online (against strangers) and been slaughtered in were due to being on the receiving end of these new moves so I can speak for how effective they can be when used properly.

The audio in Fight Night 3 does a good job in the fights with blows sounding full of bass and oomph. In the slow motion replays the impacts sound awfully painful, even (it must be said) a little over the top. The commentary gets repetitive but this is fairly indicative of most EA Sports games so while a slight let down, wasn’t unexpected. It reacts well to the onscreen action though so it does a great job in that area. The music is the standard hip-hop stuff that EA must have purchased in bulk a few years back and is still trying to use up. While it suits the game it’s a bit light on this time with only 12 music tracks included, but as it’s only on during the menus it’s not a real issue.

Final Thoughts and Score
This is the first EA Sports game for the Xbox 360 that we’ve reviewed so far. We’ve played a few of the rest (with reviews coming soon) and Fight Night 3 is easily the best looking out of the bunch. It shares a bit in common with other EA Sports Xbox 360 titles though being that it’s a bit light on in the features department which is a bit of a letdown, especially in the online modes. I’ve gone on about the graphics but it’s got to be mentioned again just to drive the point home that this is one damn sexy looking game. Everything is photo realistic and EA have really delivered the goods here, when you see it in motion it looks amazing.

The only complaints that can be levelled at Fight Night 3 are the points already raised. The Career mode needs to be built upon, especially with the heavy duty ESPN licence attached to the game. A bit of story telling wouldn’t go astray either, especially to help create a tighter bond between you and your self created on-screen character, but other than that, the amazing graphics and fighting engine hold everything together creating the best looking boxing game ever and a real showcase for the 360’s power.

Pros
Amazingly realistic looking fighers
Lag free online play
Fun training games
‘Total Control’ beats button mashing
Bone crunching sound effects

Cons
Career mode gets repetitive
Some more online modes wouldn’t hurt

90/100

Review, Video Games, Writing, XboxWorld

FIFA 13

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It’s far too tempting to write off the yearly update to FIFA as an easy money spinner for EA. After all, how different is each yearly game, really? Yes, different players, a few new or different teams, a few new stadiums, different leagues, different modes all make the game different from last year on paper at least, but ultimately, isn’t it just the same game?

Well, yes and no. If you think of FIFA as a simulation of soccer, not just a game to play, as a simulation each change – no matter how small that brings the game closer to feeling like a real game of soccer can be seen as an achievement and worthy of an upgrade. Last year I said the player physics were good, but to be brilliant they probably needed more time. This year they’re much closer to brilliant. It seems that in FIFA 13, everything that started to come together last year has actually come together.

We’ll start with the physics. The ball is completely its own entity, and players react to this entity in the way real world players would act. So, for example, if the ball is dropping to a player’s head, he will header it or chest it down onto his feet. When the ball is at his feet, he will move the ball left and right, rolling it behind him if attacked from the front. And all of this is natural, as in the player knows what to do and when to do it without any extra controls needed – no need for manual dexterity on the controller as much any longer.

This physics based approach also makes things such as slide tackles viable options for players, as the player will curl around to get at a ball. Yes, sometimes the player will tangle up legs and draw a foul, but that’s soccer. It goes the other way too – being rough in defence with continual jostling for the ball will result in fouls, and I’ve found being far too aggressive in the box will give away stupid penalties, entirely of your own making.

Players feel noticeably sluggish when tired and appear prone to more relevant injuries. A fall from leaping up to intercept a corner may see the player fall and injure his arm, a slide may crunch an ankle, and an ill-timed lunge may pull a calf muscle. And yes, these physics additions were introduced last year, but the refinements to it are wonderfully subtle. There’s very little accidental collision between members of the same team unlike last year, and no odd falling on top on one another and doing the hump.

Switching player positions within teams feels different as well – a forward feels different from a midfielder which feels different from a defender. The AI has been improved significantly with through passes and runs being far more dangerous than ever before. Having said that, FIFA has moved the game back to being a team sport, where all the players are valuable, so you don’t have to simply play the well known teams and feed the ball to the big star players to have fun with the game and opportunities to strike and score. Battles can occur in midfield, and bringing on fresh players at the right time feels finally like a useful tactic.

There are still things which break this sense of simulation, of course. The free kicks, penalties and corners still feel like pressing the button and hoping for the best. And I still have no friggin’ idea of how to make my keeper dive for a penalty. The lack of certain teams and certain divisions always annoys fans, although personally I find my favourite teams are always there and couldn’t care less about some Eastern European team I’ve never heard of and likely never will being missed out. There’s still a lack of stadiums, and it’s disappointing the A-League stadiums still aren’t there although the team’s have been in the game for a few years now. Surely EA have a few grand to throw at various Australian Sporting organisations so something like Hindmarsh Stadium (or Melbourne Rectangular Stadium) could be made available to play in. I mean, it’s not like the Reds don’t need the money.

And of course the focus on teamwork has the downside of making the Play As A Pro feel far less exciting as previous years. Playing as a forward, I felt a little less like the hero, and resorted to more passing and tackling and teamwork and less one on one showboating than previous years. And the fact you can’t start as a Player-Manager in the Career mode really disappointed me, especially when I began in Barcelona and was put up for trade after my first match. Why allow the player to play for a team when you’re going to be traded? It’s worse though playing in the lower division or minor league teams – you can’t organise your backline, switch tactics, or trade weak players for better ones.

Of course, to do all that you need to play the regular campaign, so although you can import your pro and play as the pro, it still doesn’t feel as personal as the last few years. The campaign has been improved though with more options, more off field drama such as players begging to be played, injuries, but it’s still pretty much the same as previous years. And trading can seem a little odd, with players going to teams which they probably wouldn’t go to in real life.

The online play is still much the same and there are tons of online modes – Seasons, a revamp of the Head to Head mode, which sees you have to play and win 10 online games to rise to the next division tier. You can play the usual one on one matches, the online Be A Pro returns where you join a friends team, and FIFA Ultimate Team also returns online. To be honest though, because I’m not great at online, I haven’t delved into the game as full on as others may have. I’ve played 4 games and found it smooth for the most part, and full of young kids with foreign dialects who delight in kicking your arse.

This year more than previous years, I’ve found the FIFA Ultimate Team far more appealing than other modes. It is still trading cards/players and purchasing and applying consumables to keep your team competitive, and ultimately it feels like it is nickel and dimeing you in order to have the best possible, especially when playing online. However, maybe because I opted to pre-order and get a new set of gold cards every week, I feel more engaged with it. Because I don’t have to go to much effort because cards are handed out free, and I don’t have to spend much money to adjust my team to participate in the various cup challenges, I’m rewarded more coin which I don’t care so much about spending 150 coins on a health card to fix an injured player, or bidding 500 coins on a gold contract card.

And something must be said of the mini-games which replace the arena mode loading screen. These are fantastic at teaching and improving playing, and are much like real world training simulations. One of the FIFA’s once offered achievements for doing certain moves during the game, like scoring with a bicycle kick, and whilst I still think that’s a great idea, this might just make up for removing those. The different tiers of bronze, silver and gold mean you’ve got a lot of mini-games to encounter and participate in when waiting for a game to load, and often I’ve found myself replaying these instead of pressing start to play the game.

Lastly, I have to commend the commentary and the way it adds to the idea of a simulation. Although it does tend to repeat itself a little and you hear the more common comments repeated earlier in a play through of a season or competition, the throw away to commentary on other matches, the cup/league wrap up after a match, and the sideline report on injured players gives you a greater sense of participating in a competition with other teams in a real sport, or at least watching it on the television. It’s just a little touch, and one could argue they could concentrate on the commentating more, but I think it’s great.

Conclusion:
There is just so much to like about this year’s FIFA and the series is still making important improvements that justify the annual purchase. It’s finally the game last year should have been, and although there are some niggling little issues, overall it feels like a solid simulation of the wonderful world game of soccer.

Pros:
Best FIFA ever, best soccer game of this generation
Physics simulation is superb.
A massive load of modes to keep fans happy

Cons:
A little lag in some online games.
Matchmaking in online games still not perfect

90/100

Review, Video Games, Writing, XboxWorld

FIFA 12

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Complaints levelled at EA and FIFA for just rehashing the same game have been fewer in recent years, and the game has gone from strength to strength, providing soccer lovers with a reason to upgrade from each previous year with not only the usual roster updates, but solid and worthwhile adjustments and advancements throughout the core game. This year it stumbles however, and whilst the advancements never feel like a misstep, it’s one of the times that yearly iterations must be called into question as more polishing could have made this the best FIFA yet.

It all starts with defence. Tactical Defending is what EA calls it, and it’s quite different to previous games. Rather than simply focussing on applying pressure on the ball barer, FIFA 2012’s defence system aims at being more realistic. The focus is now on jockeying, containing and positioning; forcing the player with the ball into positions where passing is impossible or will concede possession. Although there are tutorials showing you the new controls, it still takes a lot of getting used to, and I’m not entirely convinced it’s better.

It certainly changes the rhythm of the game, but, I found as I usually play as lesser ranked mid table teams, I get beaten far too often. The problem is computers don’t do errors very well, and this is all about forcing errors. It just feels though at times errors aren’t coming naturally, and you have slightly less control over the game than you should. It’s not so bad when you’re attacking; it never feels like it’s cheating, it just feels slightly off, and with more time they could have got this perfect. It can be turned off however, and reverted back to last year’s methods, but that kind of defeats the whole purpose of buying a new game.

Another new adjustment is the Player Impact Engine, which is the most noticeable change to the game, and also the one which seems to have the biggest need for more polish. Players are now complete physics representations, and when players collide with each other and the ball, this is taken into account. This allows for a far more realistic jostling and impacts and play, which when it works is an absolute joy to experience. Slight nudges to players can knock them off the ball, and dribbling becomes the art it should be.

This also affects tackling. Now tackling with the X button throws the player’s leg forward, and causes the player to halt their run in a much more realistic manner. It forces you to tackle less as otherwise you’ll lose momentum, and concede many frees. It becomes especially hairy in the box. Whereas previously it was simply stupid to slide in the box, now even tackling from behind can cause penalties to be called.
But like noticing a flaw in a diamond, when it goes wrong it’s really noticeable. I had my two forwards trip over each other at kick off, leaving the ball stranded on the kickoff spot as they flailed about. It pulls you out of the fiction of the game, like when noticing a jet trail in the background of a medieval fantasy film. It’s no game breaker though, but with a little more time and polish it could have been flawless and skyrocketed FIFA into the history books as most realistic soccer game ever.

The game features all the usual modes –Be A Pro, Tournaments, Manger, Player Manager all return, as expected. They’ve had the usual yearly tweaks to make them a little different from previous years, but honestly it hasn’t changed much. Be a Pro still works in the exact same manner, except now you have to work harder to keep your player’s performance high. The Manager Career mode transfer window feels more dramatic with countdown timers and AI teams constantly trying to poach your players, and morale seems to play a bigger part in this year’s series.

Ultimate Team is now included in the game from the get go, and I found this to be quite a fun little experience. Formally a downloadable and purchasable add on, Ultimate Mode gives you the ability to trade player cards with other people, buying player packs, and competing in the Ultimate Tourneys. Ultimately it’s a pay-to-win experience, especially if you want to be competitive online, but it’s nice to have it right on the disc rather than a separate download this year.

A new addition to the game’s modes is “EA Sports Football club”, featuring “Support Your Team” As you play FIFA, you earn XP, and this is used not only to unlock strips and balls and arenas, but also adds points to the team you designate as “yours”. Each week, the scores are tabulated and shown as a soccer season. It’s interesting that the “big teams” like Arsenal and Chelsea aren’t always at the top, but I have no idea if this is because supporters of those teams are just bad FIFA players, or if there is some huge organised movement for teams like Wycombe to get a little more free advertising.

There’s also the weekly challenge, where real-world events are recreated in FIFA so you can see if you can recreate them. Scenarios like Dortmund being 1 player and one goal down at half time, or Real Madrid winning 7 goals to 1. It’s a fun and often challenging distraction and one that acknowledges the wider enjoyment of the sport.

Online the game is as great as single player is, and free of lag for the most part. Again, I felt let down by the matchmaking, as I never felt able to seriously challenge any of the random players I was matched with. I admit I’m not the greatest player, but after a succession of being beaten by more than 5 goals, I’m left wondering is it just me, or is something else broken.

Lastly, these are little niggles which have no real impact overall, but demonstrate what I mean by needing more polish. Some menus are very slow to react to input. Sometimes the players don’t load in the Arena when loading a game. Overall loading across the entire title feel longer. Nothing which is really upsetting or detrimental to the experience, just that compared to previous iterations it seems a little worse.

Conclusion:
The additions this year make this a worthwhile pick up, but this year more than ever I wish the game wasn’t a yearly event. Although nothing new breaks the game, and with practice you’ll develop an appreciation and even fondness for the new changes, it’s the little flaws which indicate that perhaps EA didn’t get enough time to do everything they wanted. If the game was given more time for polish on the new features, this would easily be the best FIFA since 2010.

Pros:
New additions to tackling, player movement and so on make the game much more realistic
Ultimate Team included right on the disc
EAS Football Club is a great new addition

Cons:
The Player Impact Engine can cause things to look and feel wrong.
Overall the game needs polish
Online Matchmaking needs improvement

85/100

Review, Video Games, Writing, XboxWorld

Dante’s Inferno

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Dante Alighieri’s La Divina Commedia, of which Inferno is the first part, is considered amongst the world’s greatest pieces of literature. It codified the medieval concept of Heaven and Hell into human understanding and cast Satan as a victim of his betrayal of God, a very powerful theme picked up by Renaissance art. The phrase “abandon hope all ye who enter here” and a host of other well known phrases are taken from Dante’s poem, and he inspired and has been quoted and paraphrased by countless others from Chaucer to Pope Benedict XVI. The imagery and allegory of the poem lend itself to interpretation, so it is of no real surprise that eventually it would become the basis of a video game.

In the poem Dante simply takes a stroll through Hell with the Roman poet Vigil, fainting quite often and then coming face to face with Satan who is represented in his ugliest form steadfastly refusing to stop flapping his wings and hence frozen in ice unable to move because of his own pride (as the poem is about Contrapasso, or poetic justice).

Which when you think about it doesn’t really inspire a confident story for a videogame so developer Visceral Games have taken some liberties with the original text. Instead of a poet, Dante becomes a Crusader who decides to fight Death to rescue his beloved Beatrice, whom he betrayed. Beating Death and taking his scythe as his own, Dante descends into Hell in order to win the soul of his loved one back.

Dante’s descent into Hell starts off well. Kicking the crap out of the Grim Reaper, you gain his mystical scythe and learn one of the neat things about Dante’s Inferno – punishing or absolving the souls of those who reside there. When in combat, pressing the left trigger will grab enemies, and you’ll have the option of punishing or absolving smaller combatants. Bigger enemies, like the Minotaurs, required a bit of beating up before a prompt to squeeze the Right Trigger appears to punish or absolve. Punishing souls upgrades the Unholy path concerned with the scythe, whereas absolving upgrades Beatrice’s cross.

The rest of the gameplay of Dante’s Inferno is exactly like God Of War on the Playstation. You have a fixed camera for each scene. There’s a light and heavy attack with a main weapon on the X and Y buttons respectively, and a ranged weapon using the B button. You avoid attacks using the left stick. You gain health from containers, and can upgrade your attacks with items. There are environmental puzzles to overcome by pushing objects and during boss fights and in some cinematic moments you’ll be forced into quick time events – timed button presses.
Not being the hugest fan of God of War, I found the same frustrations with that game here. Sometimes you’d miss something attacking you because of the camera angles. The button presses in the QTEs were never intuitive, and if you weren’t on the ball you’d fail and have to repeat the sequence. You’d walk or puzzle through to an arena which would become locked off, and you’d have to fight a number of bad guys until it became unlocked. To me it’s just doing the same thing over and over.

It’s confounded in Dante’s Inferno because you are doing the same thing over and over. Although there are many enemies to fight at one time, there are only about 5 different types of enemies, and once you learn their attack sequence and upgrade your weapons to about 5th level, you just end up going through the motions to get through the game. I honestly finished the game simply by mashing B to fire off Dante’s Cross attack.

And this is really disappointing because the enemy design is fantastic. The unbaptised babies are awesome with their horrendous knife arms and big heads. The gluttons are disgusting with multiple faces in layers of fat. The lust demons are just the right combination of sexy and horrible. Some of the set piece design is highly reminiscent of HR Geiger, the mash of organic and material, the grotesque and erotic.

Adding to the clever creature design is fantastic sound design. The screams and howls of the damned constantly echo through Hell. Each level has its specific yells when you climb on the walls of souls (which you do every freaking level!) – Greed has people demanding you give them your cross, whilst in Anger you’ll hear all kinds of threats of violence. The rest of the voice acting is less impressive, with Dante himself being damn whiny, although Satan is suitably smarmy.

The environmental puzzles throughout the levels are never too challenging, involving locating switches and moving and jumping on boxes, with environmental exploration rather predictable – you see where you have to go, and simply go. Worst of all is the rope swinging and chasm jumping areas. So many times, due mostly to bad camera angles, you’d make a leap of faith from rope to rope or chasm to chasm, and more often than not that faith was misplaced.

Another problem with Dante’s Inferno is God Of War made you want to experience the world of Ancient Greece. Although we know about it through school and television, GoW has a unique and interesting twist on that understanding which made us want to explore their take on it, with Kratos himself being an intriguing character. Dante on the other hand has no redeeming features. He’s whiny and his motivation seems shallow and trite. Even though he mentions it every chance he gets, you never really feel he’s motivated by his love for Beatrice. And Beatrice doesn’t seem worth saving either – she just bitches at Dante the entire time for betraying her.

To make matters worse, Hell is so repetitive. This is Dante’s Inferno, an amazing poem describing the nine levels of Hell as they descend away from God! There’s a feeling of descent as you trapeze down rope and fall down holes, but then you simply go into corridor after corridor, room after room. You never feel as though it’s all a complete, intertwined universe. The game never really gives you any sense of the scale of the Inferno, except in the set pieces. And admittedly everything is meant to be drab and dreary in the underworld, but the colour scheme of next gen red, brown and black gets so tedious that you just begin to ignore it all after a while.

But I think the greatest injustice is there are levels called Greed, Lust, Anger, and they’re just backdrops to button mashing. Dante’s Inferno is a Contrapasso, a symbolic instance of poetic justice, wherein the punishment fits the crime. False prophets have their heads on backwards. Satan’s pride keeps him frozen. How cool would it be to have some kind of gameplay device that incorporated being tempted to give into anger and have you punished for it, or tempted you with shiny items in Greed that made the game extremely difficult if you pursued them? Instead we have the same button mashing enemies to kill. Sure, in Lust the backdrop is a giant Cleopatra with tongues as nipples, but apart from a short environmental puzzle to solve to get rid of her, it’s simply mashing buttons and killing tonnes of enemies like the rest of the game.

Conclusion:
Dante’s Inferno could have offered more. It’s heavily influenced by God Of War, but never seeks to do anything to differentiate itself from its influence beyond a superficial weapon development tree that has ultimately no impact on the game or the story. The enemy design, whilst interesting, was subsumed by the repetitiveness of the game and level design. La Divina Commedia is such a great source to stage a game from, but the writers clearly didn’t understand the material deeply enough to make the best use of it for gameplay purposes. In short, Dante’s Inferno could have been a fantastic new IP for EA, but when it comes down to it; it’s just a generic GoW clone.

Pros:
Excellent character and set piece design
Nice skill development
Excellent sound

Cons:
Bland level design
Very repetitive combat
Poor use of static cameras
Poor use of the source material

70/100