Tag Archives: Platformer

Review, Video Games, Writing, XboxWorld

Unravel

Leave a comment

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

De Blob 2

Leave a comment

A couple of years ago Australian developers Blue Tongue released De Blob on the Nintendo Wii. Featuring a lovable main character, a unique colourising mechanic, and awesome, complex soundtrack which grew in structure the more Chroma City became colourised, the game went on to sell more than 700,000 copies, becoming a smash hit on the console, and keeping Blue Tongue in business when so many other Australia companies crashed out. Its sequel has appeared on the real next generation consoles, and despite its “last gen” beginnings, its charm and sweetness make it ideal for any platform.

The plot of the first game had Comrade Black, evil leader of the INKT Corporation, remove the colour from Chroma City, and saw Blob and the Colour Underground restore the city to its colourful, vibrant self. The sequel sees Comrade Black and his INKT Corporation return to wreak havoc upon the population once more. A priest called Papa Blanc is controlling the minds of the populous, tricking them into voting for him, and those he can’t control he uses more nefarious means – electronic hands which push the button to vote for him! De Blob and the Colour Underground expose Papa Blanc as Comrade Black, and fight through the cities zones to wrest control from his INKT Corporation once again.

Blob is a unique creature in the world, able to absorb paint and splat it onto various surfaces. He holds points of colour, and every surface he touches leaps into colour when he comes into contact with it, removing a point. He can also mix paints, jumping into red and yellow to make orange. He also becomes transparent when he touches water. This not only cleans the dirty black ink which litters the landscape and can cover and hurt our hero, but also that which is fired from his enemies guns.

With these basic concepts learnt, the game adds layers upon the basic gameplay each mission. For example, in the first level there are no enemies, just Gradians, poor Chroma citizens locked in egg like suits. They roll out onto the streets once their buildings are colourised, and blob has to jump on them to free them. You target using the left Trigger, and jump on them using the A Button. Later on, this same mechanic is used to jump on paint bots who help Blob mix colours. From there, you learn that certain levers need to be activated in the same way. You combine colours, activate the lever, and it unlocks a certain part of the map.

It’s also used on the Inkies, the main enemies. As you move through the levels, the way to defeat the Inkies becomes more complicated. Some Inkies need to be squashed like the Gradians. Others need to be smashed, and this is done by pressing the Right Trigger instead of the A Button. Smashing always needs Blob to have a certain number of colour points. Some Inkies are colour coded, and you need to be the same colour to destroy them. However, the game is so well designed, the colour is always nearby. An additional trick you learn is when he’s transparent guards tend to ignore him, which is used almost as stealth in some sections.

There are also environmental obstacles. Some remove the colour, some zap paint off blob, some set him on fire, and others ink him. These can be avoided by jumping over them, or in some segments grabbing continently placed powerups which make Blob immune to the environment for a small amount of time. An addition to the sequel is gravity puzzles. By triggering a certain power-up, you go into gravity mode, where you can roll up walls and across the underside of roofs. It’s a little underused to be honest, but this shows the platforming was pretty much spot on the first time, and this simply enhances what is already there.

A new feature in De Blob 2 is Blob goes into buildings to transform them. The outside of these buildings doesn’t change colour when Blob lands on them, and require Blob to be a particular colour and have a certain number of colour points available to him before entering. One he’s the correct size and colour, you target a hole and move inside the building. Once inside, the actions flips the 3D action to a 2D platforming, and Blob has to fight through enemies, and press buttons and activate switches. These sections are equally as well designed and entertaining to play as the open world 3D sections.

There is a time limit, and a number of main objectives need to be done in that time to complete a given segment of the city. However, it’s a very generous time limit, and if you ever need more time you can get time boosts by doing a little exploring, freeing Gradians by colourising the buildings, or wiping out the Inkies which populate the level. Once you finish your main objective, you can complete side quests for the various residents, or move on to the next level. These side missions involve colouring buildings a certain colour, freeing all the Gradians, smashing INKT boxes, destroying all the Inkies, colourising all the trees, and wall rolling to graffiti Comrade Blacks’ propaganda billboards. You can also explore and collect all the power ups and colour atoms. The reward for doing these side quests is not only the usual unlocks and achievements, but also “inspirations” which allow Blob to become more powerful.

And it looks very polished – there’s never a moment when the Wii roots rear its ugly, lower specced head. Everything looks crisp, shiny, and beautiful. The sense of giving life back to the environment as you play is brilliantly executed. The movement of the freed Chroma residents, the bright colours, the funny and very cute cutscenes – I lost it with the one that apes the Tiananmen Square protests – and the squeaky, jibber-jabber voices of the main characters capture a mood that’s enticing and engaging for adults and children alike. A very powerful aspect of this is the music. At first, when the city streets are all grey and sad looking, the music is minimal and forlorn. As Blob rolls through the city, the pace picks up, the music becomes more layered, and by the time you’ve completed the level it is seriously party time.

You can have a friend join the game anytime, and they take control of Pinky, Blobs flying companion, who shoots wads of colour everywhere. Unfortunately this is the extent of the multiplayer, and the only gripe I have with the game. It would have been nice to have seen some kind of live compatibility. A scoreboard, so you could compare your time and scores to other on the friends list, or even the ability to play together over live.

Conclusion:
De Blob 2 is a fantastic, fun game. Its cute characters will have you giggling throughout playing, and the clever game design will have you marvelling at how something pretty simple can be so engaging. There’s enough variety and challenge to never leave you bored, even with the lack of features such as leader boards and online play.

Pros:
FUN!
Cute Characters and engaging world
Simple yet engaging and clever gameplay
Lots to do throughout every level.
Excellent graphically and musically.

Cons:
No online features.

85/100

Review, Video Games, Writing, XboxWorld

Hydrophobia Pure

Leave a comment

Kate Wilson is a system engineer on the Queen of the World, a massive ship city which sails the world of the future. During a large celebration, the ship is attacked by terrorists. The Neo-Malthuseans, named after 18th century philosopher Thomas Malthus whose treatise on population first formulated ideas about infinite growth being unsustainable, believe that his theories are indeed correct and the only way to save the world is to kill yourself, with a little nudge from themselves, obviously. Kate gets trapped in an elevator, and as she escapes gets entangled in the larger plot, becoming involved in rescuing not only herself, but all on the ship.

Being based on a sinking ship, and obviously from the title, the game is all about water. Hydrophobia has an amazing water physics engine. Objects in the water bob realistically. When waves are created as new volumes of water are added to existing volumes, anything in the water reacts violently with it. Barrels floating on top are pulled under, and hapless terrorists are knocked off their feet. Shooting a crack of water to weaken the wall, and watching the water barge its way into a room is amazing. But often the game feels like a tech demo of that engine rather than a full game.

The game has real problems with control and navigation. Having played the demo before the “Pure” download I can see where problems were addressed with the patch, but I still think a lot of work was needed on these aspects of the game. The controls feel loose, especially when Kate is completely under water. As there is a breath meter so there’s always a sense of urgency and fear of drowning, but often it feels Kate doesn’t respond to movements fast enough. She’ll catch on geometry and butt into invisible walls. And Kate can get caught by water in areas she can’t get out of. I was caught under a set of stairs which were placed above a shipping container. Although I was in no danger of drowning, I was stuck and had to restart the level.

Navigation has improved greatly with the Pure patch, however it’s still a little confusing. Objectives will be shown through walls, and the urgency of finding a way around the wall to the object with the threat of drowning can cause some consternation. I get that in some parts this is actually exactly the feel the developer was going for, but in others it’s clear it’s just poor level and interface design that causes you to unwarrantedly drown.

In trying to escape, Kate ascertains the terrorist attack was well planned. As she explores, there are various items to pick up, documents to find, and encoded messages to discover. I’ve liked this way of telling stories in other games, but there is such a large amount of collectables that you can miss if you don’t explore thoroughly, and feeling of urgency and the constant threat of drowning seems counter-intuitive to the exploring aspect of the game. And I was a little disappointed none of these had any real application in the game, either. You find anxiety pills, for example, which give a sense of things not being completely right on board the ship, but you can’t use them to help you face the anxiety of being a mere engineer in a full on terrorist attack.

Another aspect of the game which needs work is combat. Kate gets a really low powered gun, and that’s fine as far as the story goes. She’s not a gung-ho space marine, she’s just an engineer. I get that. But why can’t she pick up enemy weapons? You have to charge up your weapon to fire, and it takes numerous hits to take down enemies. But that’s not even the main issue.

Kate’s main form of combat isn’t gung ho run and gun, but stealth takedowns using the environment – shooting barrels, shooting walls to allow water to flood rooms, and shooting electrical wires to fry enemies. However, the cover system doesn’t always work. You’ll hold the button to go to cover, and often end up going to the wrong place. This is especially annoying as if you go into cover on the wrong side of a hallway because the game can’t tell you want to go there, the guard sees you and you’re screwed.

Furthermore, combat underwater is simply annoying. There’s one section which is completely underwater and you’ve got to get to the objective to be able to breathe again. There are enemies who shoot at you from somewhere – but it’s not clear where from as there is a lot of debris which blocks your view, and you’re trying to find the way out before drowning. Again, the sense of urgency and fear here is fantastic, but the poor level design and poor combat conspire to make you fail again and again.

Graphic wise the game isn’t going to blow you out of the water, but it’s not terrible. The way Kate reacts to the world around her by covering her head as she runs under a gushing leak for example is pretty cool. The environments and enemies look a little too samey, though. It would have been nice to have seen a little more colour, defining different areas of the ship you’re in. Not everything has to be blue, brown and grey.

Conclusion
Hydrophobia Pure is a decent enough game for a downloadable title, but as mentioned feels more like a tech demo for water physics than a fully thought out game. You can see what the developers were aiming for, but it misses the mark in many places. The Pure patch has improved a lot of things, but not enough for the game to shine. However, given the way the developers released the patch, and the promise shown in the game engine, a sequel could be amazing.

Pros:
Excellent water physics and effects
Great main character animations
Lots of pick ups which create a backstory for the game
Interesting potential

Cons
The potential isn’t realised here
Controls that feel loose and awkward
Bad cover combat
Awkward level design and navigation system leads to frustration

68/100

Review, Video Games, Writing, XboxWorld

Blinx 2: Master of Time and Space

Leave a comment

I have to fess up – I never played the first Blinx. When it came out, although the idea of the action being recorded onto the Xbox’s harddrive, thus allowing you to manipulate time in the game world intrigued me; I simply wasn’t a fan of platformers.

I had been a PC gamer for many years prior, and I couldn’t get my head around the 3rd person perspective introduced in Super Mario 64. However, since getting an Xbox, I have become a convert of platform games, and enjoy the problem solving puzzles so common to platformers, and even the dreaded double jump.

Most reviews of the previous Blinx game comment negatively on the way Blinx and his time sweeper operate. The camera control was very clumsy, the level of difficulty very high with an arbitrary 10-minute limit on each and every level. Blinx was said to be slower than grass growing, causing one reviewer to exclaim “Couldn’t there be a run button? Or heck, just make him move a bit quicker. That vacuum can’t become a jet pack or something? Anything?!” There was no aiming mechanism, making aiming to shoot at Time Monsters and Tom Tom gang members incredibly hard. Furthermore, you had to collect time crystals in order to use Blinx’s time controls, with some people becoming frustrated at repeating certain parts of the game over and over because they didn’t have the right powers on hand.

Thankfully most of this has been corrected in Blinx 2: Master of Time and Space (from now on simply Blinx 2). I found very little to annoy me about the camera, and whilst not perfect, it’s more than up to the task of being able to guide you around the 10 different worlds you’ll visit. Aiming, which was apparently dodgy due to the unwieldy camera movements, has been infinitely improved with the ability to lock on using the Left Trigger. This makes killing enemies much easier, although it takes a lot of the skill out of the game as well. The 10-minute limit has been removed completely, replaced by a money bonus if you complete the mission in a small amount of time. The time crystal gathering has also been simplified; now Time Monsters will drop a number of different time crystals, and you can collect them in any order.

The level of difficulty has been reduced too, but it has been replaced by a degree of oversimplification. Every time you encounter something remotely out of the ordinary, a pop up box will appear and tell you what you have to do. This is fine for the first level, and acceptable for the second level as things in the game change, but it is just ridiculous when you’re up to the world number 4 or 5. Even more annoying is this halts the action, requiring you to press the A button to continue.

The difficulty isn’t the only thing that’s changed. Instead of playing Blinx, you play as a Time Sweeper, and you can customise the look of your character to quite a high degree. Name, ears, colour, eyes, height, it’s all customisable. Whilst it’s fun to do this, it detracts from the continuity of the game. Another criticism of the first game was that Blinx had no personality, and thus you didn’t care for him. By making a character you have greater attachment to that character, but it’s a double-edged sword, because now there is no personality to the overall game. Imagine if Mario changed every game – if one game he was skinny, another time was dark in skin colour, and another time wore a suit like James Bond – would he be the icon he is today? Of course not! Furthermore, now instead of an identifiable hero, even if he was a dull one, you now have a generic character that is dull. At no time did I feel engaged by my character, or the story.

Your Time Sweeper can perform the same time control moves as in the first game, such as slow, pause, rewind, fast forward and record time. For example, if a bridge is blown up, your Time Sweeper can rewind to a time before the bridge blew up. You can use pause to freeze time monsters, to use falling rocks to jump to a higher part of the level, or to expose an underwater button to air. Fast forward is used to run really fast, and jump through gates which lead to different parts of the level. Record is used to record your movements. Record yourself standing on a button, and then play that back whilst you go stand on another button to unlock a door. Slow slows all that is around you, while you continue at normal speed. These mechanisms are an interesting way to play a platform game, but they don’t extend the gameplay. You still feel as though you are playing a generic platform game, running about to collect this that and the other.

Another change is that you get to play a member of the Tom Tom gang. As the Tom Tom pigs don’t have time controls, they use space controls instead. These are found in crates, or can be purchased at the Club shop, and include things like Warp Tunnel, which rip a hole in space and allow you to pop up elsewhere; The Hypercloak which makes you invisible, but you’re unable to jump or shoot; the Space Bubble which traps anything in it’s radius, and a number of other tools. The Tom Tom Gang parts are much more stealth based, and here the camera can become a bit more of a problem, especially when you are underground in a Warp Tunnel. Your Tom Tom Gang member is also very customisable in the same way as your Time Sweeper, but again, there’s no real sense of character to the game.

There’s a multiplayer component this time as well – you can play the game through with a friend in a co-operative mode, or play 4 player free for all battle. These are nice additions, but felt somewhat lacking. Co-operative mode is much more exciting than the deathmatch portion, although it is funny to use your time skills to reduce your enemy to a kitten or piglet. Maybe I’ve just been spoilt by Xbox live.

The art direction is pretty standard for a platformer – it’s very colourful and over the top. Things like explosion, water, smoke effects look great, and all the characters are animated well. There’s some weird goings on in the cut scenes though – it’s as if the cuts are in the wrong place at times, especially when it’s showing an item you just recovered. However, if you’ve played some of the other great platform games on the Xbox, such as Voodoo Vince or Dr Muto, you really see that Blinx lacks that element of style that makes other games in this genre stand out. The sound effects are adequate, and the cats are rather cute when they meow, but the repetitive music will drive you insane. As there’s no option to load your own music, go into the set up and turn it off, and shove something in your stereo.

Conclusion:
Blinx 2 suffers from a real distinctive lack of style. Nothing about it stands out, even the fancy hard disk recording Time Control mechanism. There’s nothing about the game that really grabs you and keeps you engaged. I can imagine that kids might like it for the cutesy characters and platforming elements, but I think that even then they might grow bored of it. There’s not much of a story, you can’t get attached to the characters, and the gameplay, even with time controls, is pretty generic.

Pros
Time controls are an interesting gameplay device
Many improvements over the last game
Ability to play as either Time Sweepers or Tom Toms

Cons
Generic gameplay across the board.
Annoying handholding throughout the game
Characters have no personality – and you don’t get to play as Blinx
Repetitive, infuriating music

70/100

Review, Video Games, Writing, XboxWorld

Spy Vs Spy

Leave a comment

The concept of Spy vs Spy comes from the mind of Antonio Prohias, a refugee from the Cuban Cultural Revolution who arrived at the doorstep of Mad Comics and proceeded to wow everybody with his comical take on two opposing spies trying to outdo one another. The masked spies became a beacon of popular culture, and synonymous with Mad Magazines’ quirky and off the wall humour.

So it is surprising that this game seems to ditch that humour and present us with a really average, uninspired and boring single player platform game, along with a somewhat fun, but ultimately flawed multiplayer game.

The single player component sets you up against your opposing spy, black or white depending on whom you choose. There are various henchmen to deal with as well as your opponent spy, and you proceed through the levels completing a bunch of goals and then fighting a boss battle at the end of the level. In all there are 8 levels, and these are the same 8 levels you will be playing in Multiplayer.

The problem isn’t the game play so much in itself – it is really just the same old thing over and over. Go through this door, shoot those guys, collect the coins – after all, it IS a platform action game – and then move on to jumping puzzle, open the next door and do it all over again, then kill the big boss at the end. Essentially it is the same as every other platform action game, and adds absolutely nothing new to the genre. That damn Italian plumber certainly has a lot to answer for!

A great part of the problem is the game is just not funny. The humour in the game makes Rove McManus seem like a comic genius comparable with the likes of Barry Humphries. The potential of humour in games is more than readily apparent in games like Voodoo Vince (XBW: 83) or Armed and Dangerous (XBW: 82) and it’s a great shame that Spy Vs Spy misses the boat altogether. Given the source material, there is so much potential for something side-splittingly funny, but to use a cliché as tired as the game, there are more laughs at a funeral.

Part of the wacky appeal of the comic series was the crazy traps the spies laid out for one another, and the fact that these ingenious and deadly traps would backfire with hilarious results. You can lay traps for your hapless foe in the game, but there is no real satisfaction in it, because for the most part it is simply pressing a button and waiting for the scripted AI to trigger it. And although it can backfire, it’s normally because you’ve forgotten that you’ve pressed the button to set the trap, and backtracked into the trap by accident. It just seems all rather useless, especially when most of the time you encounter the dreaded opposite spy outside the scripted events, you can club them to death or simply shoot them.

The multiplayer aspect of the game is marginally better, in that you run about attacking black or white or red or blue spies in a Deathmatch style fight. There are two modes Classic and Modern. Classic is an all out Deathmatch, where the winner has to collect all 4 pieces of a special item to win. These items are located in safes, so you have to open the safes – but other spies can trap them, and if you’re killed you lose your items. You can find ways to disarm traps, and use decoys to confuse your foes. Modern is essentially the same as classic, except you have the option of a safe house in the level. But beware, there are extra ways the opposing spies can get into your base and steal your items, so there is a little bit more strategy going on.

With 4 people split screen the game is quite fun, and there is a lot of customisation and additions you can add to make the game more fun. For example, in Classic mode you can choose to have the Briefcase modifier, which allows you only to carry only one item at a time until you grab the briefcase. When this item is obtained you can carry more, but of course if you die your opponent can grab the case and all the items. Unlike single player, it is kind of funny when you press a button to set off the scripted traps, or even better they fall for one of your safe or anvil traps.

Unfortunately the maps seem too big on less than 4 players and you can spend a long time not seeing another spy, but luckily you can add bots to the game and play with a full complement of players. However, fun as it may be, the laughs don’t last long. The game grows tired rather quickly, and even though there’s a Xbox Live! component, there’s simply no one playing.

Graphics for the game are quite respectable. Your spy can be customised with different outfits that are unlocked during single player, and these all look pretty cool. The iconic spies are realised quite well in 3 dimensions, and the levels are very colourful and have a comic feel to them. The weapons and effects are very over the top, and fit in very well with the source material. The sounds of the weapons and squeals of your injured spy are also very appropriate, although I found the loonytunes style cartoon music to become rather grating after a while.

Conclusion:
Spy Vs Spy suffers from a very pedestrian single player game that lacks the humour of the comic on which it’s based, which is very disappointing considering how funny and clever they often were. Multiplayer is more fun, and is a good game for weekend hire – maybe to play with young teens or possibly with some mates and some beers, but at the end of the day there are better, more humorous, more exciting multiplayer games available.

Pros:
Good 3D realisation of the original 2D cartoon
Fun Multiplayer with lots of options

Cons:
Single player seems like a bad afterthought.
Very repetitive
Nowhere near the hilarity of the source material.

60/100

Review, Video Games, Writing, XboxWorld

Tak 2: The Staff of Dreams

Leave a comment

THQ has teamed up with Nickelodeon to bring us Tak 2, The Staff Of Dreams. Now before you groan about the fact that this is a sequel, or based on intellectual property which is made to sell kids toys, give the game a go – I was pleasantly surprised and discovered a great game for kids and grown ups alike. It’s got all the fun stuff that kids love doing, such as running, double jumping, floating, and of course fighting, as well as some very clever puzzles to solve which may stump even the brightest “kid”, but with perseverance and correct timing, can be solved.

The original Tak was never made available for Xbox, so I don’t really know the back story, but from what I can gather Tak is a “chosen one” type warrior of the Papanunu tribe, and he and his friends saved a Moon Goddess’ stones from the evil Tlaloc in the previous game. In this adventure, Tak starts off in the Dreamworld, and he’s asked by a Dream JuJu (JuJu’s are the gods of this world) to rescue a princess who’s locked in a distant and dark tower. Clichéd it may be, but it sets up the other game world action nicely, as you journey through the “real world” in order to see your shaman friend Jilboba’s brother, known as JB (gedit? Jilboba’s Brother… JB).

The Dreamworld is brightly coloured, and kind of soft and spongy. As you jump and glide through the world, you make plopping noises every time you land on a surface. It’s filled will all manner of nightmare creatures, but the JuJu, the mystical floating star thing guides you through the world, telling you how to combat the monsters. At the end of every dreamworld level there is usually some kind of boss that is easy enough to dispatch with your staff and bolas. But as well as find the princess, you have to figure out who or what the JuJu is and why they’re being so helpful.

The “Real World” is much like what you’ve seen in the updated version of Pitfall – lush green forest environments with streams and hazardous cliffs. The fauna residents of the real world, ranging from bears to skunks to boars and crocodiles all have a part to play in getting you to your goal, whether that is to help or hinder you. Tak is well equipped to fight with his staff and bola and JuJu magic. But in spots of real bother Jilboba’s flea form can help by throwing him at animals and either biting them to get them to do some action, or put them to sleep so they no longer bother you. In addition to fighting or avoiding animals, there are some puzzles that you have to solve with each type of animal. For example, with a bear, you’ve got to lead it to honey so you can use his belly as a trampoline.

On top of the animals are you’ve also got to deal with the evil inhabitants of the forests that the Papanunu people call home – the Woodies. These inhabitants will try to stop you from getting to JB’s by setting nefarious puzzle traps that you have to solve, as well as simply just pummel you. There are various types of Woody, from the foot soldiers that are easy to dispatch, to the Shaman that can bring other Woodies back to life, and the brutish soldiers wielding massive clubs.

The levels are varied enough to keep even the most ADD stricken child entertained, ranging from simple platform jumping and problem solving, to sailing down rivers in barrels. There’s even a nod to Donkey Kong as you have to avoid falling barrels in one section. To add spice to the game, some arena and vehicle scenarios have been thrown in. The arena combat is simple enough, but the vehicle combat involves doing jumps at speed, shooting and avoiding enemy fire all at once and is quite challenging. There are some rather nefarious puzzles that will tax your brain more so than other platform games, but it’s never too hard, keeping you hooked with a desire to beat the game just that little bit more.

Like most platformers, there is a stack of things to collect, and these can be used in the pause menu to unlock various minigames, which can be played one or two player, extending the fun after the fairly lengthy single player levels have been completed. To unlock the various minigames, you collect magic gold scrolls on your journey through both the Dream and Real worlds, plus you can simply mix ingredients and hope for the best.
The characters in Tak 2 are all very colourful and cartoony, and the levels are bright an expansive, although they’re very linear as like most other platform games there’s only one real path to completing your goals. The Xbox isn’t pushed to its limits with regards to the graphics, and at times it’s mutliplatform heritage does shine through, but it’s never glaringly ugly. There are issues with the camera not being able to show you what you need to see at times, although these are encountered with any platform game, so can be overlooked.

The music in the game is all original, and suits the action well, although it’s no where near the quality of Voodoo Vince for instance. The voice acting is superb however. One of the coolest things about Tak2 is its humour. Patrick Warburton (Seinfield, the Dish) wonderfully portrays Tak’s half-witted friend Lok, and the scenes with Lok are absolutely hilarious. There’s all manner of wacky silliness going on throughout the whole game, but it never devolves into being too childish or demeaning. Even such an obvious joke with the bad guys being called “Woodies” is not acted upon, and this restraint is refreshing as it shows the designers are aware that penis puns aren’t the only things that make people laugh.
The game is unapologetically aimed at kids, and some may find the hand holding a little tedious earlier in the game, but it does drop off towards the later stages. However, despite the handholding, there is something wrong in that the game doesn’t save at checkpoints or anything, so if you forget to save and then quite your game, you will lose all your progress! This oversight can lead to frustration if the game isn’t saved often.

Conclusion
All in all Tak2: Staff of Dreams is an enjoyable romp through a bright and colourful world with some really likable characters and enough variance in the gameplay to keep you playing for a good few days. It stands above the other platform based games by refusing to bow to the lowest common denominator – sure it’s made for kids, but the puzzles and levels are designed to give a challenge. Through the humour you grow to like the characters, and because of this the game feels a lot more solid than other titles aimed at the younger market.

Pros
– Funny and well conceived characters and game universe
– Challenging and varied gameplay to suit children and adults alike
– Lots of unlockables for multiplayer

Cons
– Doesn’t automatically save your progress
– Can have camera issues
– Handholding is a little too much in earlier levels

80/100

Review, Video Games, Writing, XboxWorld

The Hobbit

Leave a comment

The Hobbit is the first novel of JRR Tolkien to be set in the milieu of Middle Earth. It was originally intended as simply a story for Tolkien’s children, but the publishers of his translation of the famous English poem Beowulf read it, and although it wasn’t completed, enjoyed it so much they asked him to submit it for publication. The rest is as they say, history.

Over 50 years later, riding high on the success of Peter Jackson’s wonderful film version of the Lord of the Rings, comes the prequel in game format. Those hardcore fans who criticise every nook and cranny of the film, and even point out the inconsistencies in Tolkien’s own writing should be well advised to keep clear of this game, as like the film version of LOTR, the Hobbit game takes a great deal of liberty with the novel of the Hobbit. Yet like the films, it doesn’t lose sense of the story of the Hobbit, nor of Middle Earth.

The Hobbit begins with a dream sequence that serves as a tutorial. The controls are fairly straightforward – move with the left joystick, attack with the X button, and jump with the A button. The B button cycles through weapons, and Y buttons puts you in 1st person perspective, which is essential for aiming your rock throws. The left trigger is used to sneak, and the right trigger is used to “lock on” to enemies. Whilst the tutorial and first level help you get a hang of the controls, there is a lack of instruction to achieve certain objectives. For example, you can use your walking stick to lever yourself and jump further, and to collect certain items even in the first level you need to be able to do this, but you aren’t told how to do this “pole vault jump” until a later level in the game. Whilst the collectable item is not vital to completing the level, it is if you’re one of those who like to collect everything and get 100% for every level.

The game pretty much follows the novel of the Hobbit, and the locations are as per the chapters in the original story; well, at least some part of them. The Shire is a beautiful sprawling level, and a great introduction to the gameplay – as you learn to take jobs from the other Hobbits, collect gold, courage crystals (which add to your health) and learn how to pick locks, which is a kind of side puzzle involving pressing buttons when a meter reaches the green area, but before the time runs out. Mirkwood is eerie and dark, with twisted trees much like how you would imagine them from the story. Another level of note is Riddles in the Dark, which plays through the Orcish mines in the Misty Mountains. This ia very well conceived, but it misses out on introducing Gollum to players of the game! Instead we get a cut scene that presents narration over 2-D drawings and then moves into 3D animation worthy of a Disney movie, but this is a defining moment of the book, if not the entire Lord of the Rings Story, and it’s left me feeling more than a little cheated that I couldn’t interact with Gollum.

Although it has been a while since I read the book, I don’t recall Bilbo having to do so much jumping and climbing. Good thing he’s a fit little hobbit, because that’s what makes up the majority of the game – jumping from platform to platform, and climbing ropes and then jumping from them onto platforms. Whilst this is ok for the most part – it is a platformer after all – it’s made frustrating by the camera that never seems to be exactly where you need it to be. Sometimes objects such as trees and ropes obscure your view, and other times the camera is fixed in a position where it is impossible to accurately position yourself for a jump. The game is rather unforgiving too, as if you miss a jump, you will fall to your death and start at the last save point. Although these occur frequently, it’s never frequently enough, and the game gets bogged down by repeatedly having to do the same part of a level over and over.

Sneaking areas are placed here and there to break up the gameplay a little, but it is similarly unforgiving. Leave yourself hanging out of the corner of a box too near a goblin, and wham – caught! But later in the game you acquire the Ring, and pressing the Black button makes you invisible. However, you can’t stay visible for long, and some of the ‘eviler’ creatures can still see you. Furthermore, the sneaking button also is the button that slides Bilbo, so sometimes you slide right into view of the enemy when you’ve meant to sneak. While this is no doubt hilarious to the orcs, it’s damn frustrating for the player.

Thankfully the fighting is good enough to give the game some positives. I liked the fighting the most, as Bilbo can find pickups that strengthen his attacks, and allow combos that look cool and are easy to execute. Yet, sometimes when fighting multiple enemies, the camera is in such a position that you can’t see what’s attacking you. Also, blocking is handled by using the D-pad, which is a nice idea considering all the other buttons are in use, yet all but useless in practicality. Also in the heat of battle, you may accidentally press the “use potion” button that is mapped to the D-pad, instead of block, which is a pain.

One thing that strikes you about the Hobbit is its graphics. They are obviously designed to appeal to a younger audience, so they are bold and vibrant. The levels are quite sprawling, and feature a rich tapestry of colour throughout. They don’t push the Xbox to its limits, but there are some nice water effects, and Bilbo’s cape has a nice sheen to it. The soundtrack is also very pleasant, being atmospheric and medieval, and picks up in the heat of the battle. The voice acting has been done adequately, although naturally not by any of the cast members of the film. Sounds and effects are pretty standard for a platformer, a nice chink when you get prisms and gold, nice bashing sounds for fighting, but it’s nothing spectacular, while the ambient sounds add to the mood of the levels – crickets and birds in the lands around The Shire, and howling wolves in the Misty Mountains, and spooky noises in Mirkwood Forrest.

Conclusion:
The level of frustration and difficulty make me wonder why they aimed The Hobbit at a younger audience. I’m no spring chicken by any means, but I can’t recall any other platformer being this hard, and I really can’t see younger players becoming engaged enough to keep going. It’s not a bad game, just hard, and made more frustrating by a camera which should be implemented better.

Pros:
+ Large and colourful levels
+ Excellent use of music
+ fun at first

Cons:
– great degree of difficulty
– repetitive gameplay, even for a platform
– Camera that is never where you need it to be

65/100

Review, Video Games, Writing, XboxWorld

Dr Muto

Leave a comment
Dr Muto Xbox cover image

I don’t often play platform games. Last time I played one was Abe’s Odyssey on PC about 2 years ago. I’ve played the demo of Blinx, and Whacked, and a couple of games on PS2 a while ago, but that’s about it. So I’ve got a very limited view of what I can compare this game to. Having said that, Dr Muto is an incredibly fun and humorous game that has enough variety in it to have you wanting to keep playing.

The game starts off with a cinematic that has Dr Muto dozing on the couch, dreaming of his crazy conquests. He dreams that he blows up the Planet Midway in an attempt to solve it’s growing energy problems. He wakes with a start and finds that it wasn’t a dream after all, and that the Planet Midway is destroyed. With the help of his computer Al, the good doctor has to go and steal parts for the Genitor 9000 from the 4 worlds he hasn’t blown up, as well as collect terra and isotopes to power the Genitor.

Starting in the Doc’s lab, you are given a brief introduction to the way the game plays. You have to run around the lab, collecting isotopes before the lab blows up. After this, you have to morph into a mouse and then crawl down a whole and retrieve Al’s guidance chip. This powers the telescope that allows you to travel to the four planets to retrieve the needed isotopes, terra and Genitor parts to repair the world of Midway. This is a neat way to introduce the basics of the game, and gets you used to the controls, which are fairly straight forward, and the camera, which is exceedingly annoying.

Each of the different worlds has 3 different areas, each divided into 3 again. There are a number of things you have to collect on each world, and pressing the back button can access the “master plan” which shows you which things you’ve completed and what you need to collect. Each world has it’s own dangers, mostly in the form of robot guards, various animals that you can get DNA for morphs from, and dangerous surfaces like goo and poisoned water. Using the X button sends out a blast from your Splizz Gun that stuns robots and gains DNA from animals, and using the B button blasts the robots and animals into oblivion. The A button is used to jump, and pressing this twice gives you a higher jump, used to jump over obstacles. As you travel around the world, there are boxes to blast open, which contain isotopes or “magic red bubbly”, or health potion. Robots also drop health when you kill them.

DNA is used for Morphs, which change the good Doctor into various animals, like fish, gorilla, mouse, bird, spider, etc. Each morph has different abilities, and these are needed in different sections of the game. For example, on the second world there is a lot of water, so you need the fish morph to swim. There are a lot of places that you are too big for, so the mouse morph is used to crawl through small holes. Sometimes Al will inform you of what you need to change into, sometimes it’s obvious, and other times it’s not quite so clear, and you really need to pay attention to your surroundings. If there is a grate with a hole in it, you generally need to change into a mouse. If there is a web, you need to change into a spider. Each morph has different attacks as well, some of which are quite humorous to watch.

Another part of the game involves catching a certain type of creature, called a Gomer, with your stun ray and flinging it across a room into crates and generators. These in turn open locks, secret areas or contain special items. They’re also effective against enemy robots. If you miss with your aim, or accidentally kill a Gomer, it will respawn, so there are no missing out on things because you’re a bad shot, or, more often, you can’t get the camera to do what it needs to do so you stuff up your shot.

The good thing about this game is that you can repeat a section of the levels if you think you’ve missed something. Generally the “master plan” is organised in order of what to find where, but as the game is kind of open ended, you can totally miss what you need. You can go back to previous areas once you are home, but sometimes it’s hard to remember where exactly in the world you need to go to obtain the missing Terra or Genitor piece. Going home is simply a matter of finding “transloaders”, located near the start of each area, that teleport you home and allow you to save your game. Also, when you die you go back to a certain part of the game, and not necessarily the start, so you don’t get too frustrated doing the whole level over and over again.

Graphic wise the game is fairly good. It’s a cartoon type game, so there’s nothing fantastic about it, but there’s nothing bad about it either. I can’t say if it looks like the PS2 version or not, although I would have to say it does look better than average. Sometimes the game can glitch, like a robot can get caught on the terrain and be hard to shoot or kill, but this has only happened twice for me. The sound is adequate too, but sometimes an annoying glitch occurs when you go into the transloaders and save your game where it continually plays the Splizz Gun’s capture sound until you save. The most annoying thing about the game, however, is the camera. It changes to the most annoying angles at the worst possible times. Sometimes it will move into a position where you miss out on seeing enemies, or miss gaps you must jump, and you’ll find yourself cursing at the screen on more than a few occasions.

The best part of this game is the humour. It’s aimed at a teen audience, but it is genuinely funny, with lots of puns and clever interaction with the different characters. For example, Al is obviously based on Hal from the movie “2001, A Space Odyssey”, and constantly gives you glib replies and attitude. The animations of the different morphs are sometimes hilarious, especially the mouse as he chomps the enemies and spits them out. The cute factor is also apparent, as the mouse hops around, and whenever the Doctor finds a piece of terra or Genitor he does a little dance. It’s a game that kids can play, although it’s aimed at an older audience that gets jokes about “white sticky stuff” and the like.

All in all Dr Muto is a very fun game. It’s challenging, especially the end of level bosses, and finding all the pieces you need to collect can be frustrating, but it’s not impossible. The most bothersome thing in the game is the camera, and although the black button resets the camera to “look forward”, the amount of times you end up using it makes you wonder why they didn’t lock the camera in that position in the first place. It detracts enough from the game to make me give the game a lower score, although it’s not nearly as bad as other games.

Pros:

Fun and genuinely humorous.
Big levels with lots to do that will keep you playing for a while.
Lots of variety in gameplay to keep you interested.

Cons:

That *^&!!#@! camera.
Some graphic and sound glitches that are really annoying.

Score 75 /100