*Note* As many of you might have noticed (okay, as everyone has noticed), the Sony PSN is down due to hackers. A large part of this game is the co-op portion. I could have reviewed the co-op via the split screen mode, but I would prefer to try out the online functionality (The PSN/Steam crossover is of particular interest). I say all this because Vagary will be doing the single player review separate so that we can give you, the reader, an accurate picture of the game while still coming in a timely matter. So, on to the review. *Note*
Hopefully by now everyone has played the unbelievable bargain that is the Orange Box. Besides having multiple games that wowed, it also had what became the gaming publics sweetheart. Garnishing excellent reviews on all accounts, by all accounts, the original Portal showed the industry that new genres can still be made. And Portal did not just exist as a new genre, it flourished. Anyone can mash up genres, but Valve made Portal something so distinctive and groundbreaking that it feels as if you are a kid, again, watching Star Wars for the first time. I could go on about the original Portal all day, but I’m not here to praise the first game, I’m here to see if the second game surpasses it.
I go back and forth on this, of course, the first of something will always be the most important, after all, you can only break the mold and create a new genre once. After you do that, you just have to keep pushing the envelope. And I have to say that Valve has pushed the envelope in all the right ways in this game. They made the game deeper, without making it too hard, they gave it more story without losing the originals personality and on and on.
I say we should kick this review off with the puzzles themselves. Unless you have not been paying attention to anything about this game or it predecessor, you should know that this game deals with portals, go in one > come out the other. It is simple really, but when you have the ability to shoot those portals onto specific surfaces in puzzle rooms designed to bend your brain, then it can become a little more complex. And that was just the first game, in the sequel they thought it would be fun to play even more with physics, for science. Eventually the game will have you using gels that give the surfaces they are sprayed onto different characteristics, there is a bouncy gel, an accelerant gel and portal conductive gel. When you take all these elements and mix them in a massive brain teaser stew you get some impressive results.
The puzzles start out easy and ramp up as expected, and then take dips in difficulty when introducing new variables. I was dead set on not looking up any hints while completing the game and I am happy to report that apart from a few minor setbacks and hold-ups which I had to rack my brain over, I was able to realize my goal. Even though I am not the smartest apple, I would say that somehow, Valve has managed to make a puzzle game for me and my genius nerd cousin. A one size fits all puzzle, or at least terribly close. For those desiring the brain-melting difficulty of an Einstein level sudoku puzzle, you might want to stick around for some more difficult DLC. As of now, Valve has announced that there will be some free downloadable levels and chapters forthcoming (late summer I believe). Hopefully they will keep this trend and continue to bring substantial content (for free), and maybe even some user generated content, as well.
It is honestly quite impressive how they were able to make a game that was difficult but never felt like the answer was not right in front of you when. I have talked to a number of people who have said the same thing, it is hard, but also just at that sweet spot, just focus and troubleshoot for twenty minutes or so and bingo, you will get it. They did omit some aspects of the first game, though, they got rid of physically difficult puzzles. So once you find the lynchpin out you will be able to pull it off with relative ease. There is very little messing with tiny windows of time where you have to shoot something at just the right moment in combination of some difficult aerial maneuver and so forth.
What is also highly refreshing about the game is the variation of environment. In the first game, there were essentially two, the test chambers and the not so friendly underbelly of the Aperture Laboratories. That was about it; in this game, however, you get to see much more of the bizarre facility, and trust me, it is immense. And what is delightful about the way they walk you through the history of Aperture Science is that they never ruin the mystique. They never give you all the answers. As much as I want to know more, I also want to keep it a mystery. They make the history so fascinating through the fantastic characters and little bits of the story that you can not help but be intrigued by this most unusual company. They spoon tidbits out just the right pace, and really leave you fulfilled yet wanting more at the end. So expect to learn about the beginnings of the company, and to see its evolution over the decades. And all this history makes for a beautiful, stark contrast to the cold, robotic entity that it becomes. I often found myself forgetting the puzzles sometimes to ponder about what happened in certain areas, what places might have been used for, and how all the insanity broke loose.
I simply can not say enough about the atmosphere this game creates, for something so intriguing and awing, it is incredibly funny. The ironic and tongue-in-cheek performances by the main characters are simply perfect, the writing is witty and pitch-perfect in every way. And as you see the unfolding of the company you see that the early Aperture Science heads were just as out of touch with humanity as their futuristic computer successors. The way that computers can not comprehend what it means to be human in this game is subtly poignant, while outrageously funny. The game hits similar subject matter to the Bioshock series, but in my mind, with infinitely superior handling. Bioshock can be a little to obvious when drawing its analogies, like its holding up a sign saying “hey, games can be serious and metaphorical, look here!”. Where as Portal 2 understands that, at its core, it is still a game that is meant to be fun, and thus, coats the philosophical boxing glove in some refreshing comedy marshmallows and uber-fun gameplay gum-drops.
I played Portal 2 on PS3 and am happy to report absolutely no issues whatsoever. No chugging, no screen-tearing, quick load times certainly no crashes. So have no reservations on that front, this game is technically stellar. Of course, the game engine is so old you can’t help but notice that things often look strangely angular, it is hard to put your finger on, but things just are not quite natural looking. Thankfully the human element almost does not exist, but when you do see yourself through the portal, animations plainly show the limitations of the engine. They more than make up for it in extraordinary animation of computer characters, though, if you have seen WALL-E then you have a close approximation of the caliber I am talking about, some times they seem remarkably alive. The sound fares the best technically, all the sound effects are spot on, and in lossless 7.1, they sound even better. The directionality is so strong it is scary. I would attribute part of this to the sparseness of audio, besides some ethereal scoring, the sounds are singular. As you can imagine when you are in a giant facility all by your lonesome, many times in a secluded test environment, things get quiet. So you can imagine, when you do hear something it is easy to pinpoint exactly where that sound came from on an exceptional surround sound system. It is remarkably similar to the experience you get while playing Dead Space. But do not be mislead, the game can get very loud, the music very intense and the action heart-pounding.
If you want a game that will give you some of the most riveting 6 hours of your life, then Portal 2 is your game. With first class gameplay, innovation, intrigue, performances and soul, Portal 2 certainly gets a…
5 out of 5
A brief look at the history of The Conduit would be somewhat of a roller-coaster ride. Initially hailed as the Wii’s savior, then scrutinized by nearly everyone leading up to its release in mid 2009. At release, it was actually successful, even garnishing some decent scores from the gaming media. But it was also nearly universally brushed by everyone as a mere distraction and at best, a rental. Looking back now at its meteoric rise to spotlight a few years ago and hindsight will tell us that it was a little absurd. On many levels the original Conduit succeeded, but it fell flat on even more. It was a freshman try from a developer who had not done something this ambitious. But regardless, when I played it back then, I saw potential, I saw it in the controls and the tech. I guess the real question is whether Conduit 2 succeeded where the first did not.
The answer in my opinion is a big, fat yes. This game may not be perfect, but compared to the ultra generic first game that took itself too seriously, Conduit 2 looks like a polished diamond. I’ll first start with the technical details of the game. The graphics are what many people were drawn to with the first game, and to be perfectly honest, it really didn’t quite deliver what everyone was hoping for. Of course we are talking about the Wii here, and though it is more powerful than people give it credit for, there are still a limited number of pixels for Conduit 2 to paint its picture with. But regardless, if you play this game on a plasma television (it seems to look considerably better on plasma) in 480P then you will catch yourself forgetting that it is a Wii game at all. From impressive lighting effects to richer textures and environments than just about any other game on the console, this game can dazzle. But of course, when put up to serious scrutiny you will find many flaws. The character models are a bit waxy looking and the lip-syncing can be pretty lousy. But like I said, if you just play the game and try not to focus on just the way it looks, there is a reasonable chance you will just forget that it is on the Wii at all. Which, let’s be honest, is about as good as you can get on the Wii.
The audio is similarly impressive, it is about as good as you can do with no digital output. It is loud, boomy, well balanced and even has a hint of true surround sound in it. I would say overall, this is the most impressive game I have heard on the Wii. Sadly, the soundtrack itself is not a complete winner. While some of the lower more moody stuff is impressive and fits well, it will often break into a more energetic pseudo orchestrated piece that actually just sounds cheap. There are other similar moments that use a more hard rock sound that works a lot better (think Falling Down with slow, deliberate drums and a clear, heavy guitar riff). So just expect to have some weird moments when it comes to the soundtrack.
As for glitches and slow down, there are almost none to speak of. I experienced a glitch in a boss battle where a character was walking about while hovering 2 feet off the ground; but that is a pretty minor issue, so I think they bug squashed pretty well in this game. But back to the slow down, there are a hand-full of moments where the game becomes slightly too much for the Wii, and when I say slightly I mean just that. It will be noticeable, but the game will adjust itself pretty quickly and really was never a factor. Surprisingly, my Wii had more slowdown while pulling up the game icon from the Wii menu!
As for the single player, I was actually genuinely into it. The first game was too serious, and the fact that it took itself that way and was too generic just left a bitter taste. The story progresses nicely from where the last game left off. The story eventually brings you to a hub world which makes it nice and easy to revisit to past levels to get collectibles (it specifies what items you are missing on each level) such as: weapon blueprints, unlockable bonus levels, upgrades and so forth. And on the note of collectibles, it is gratifying to not collect 100 random flags for no reason whatsoever. They do an admirable job of making it feel like you are actually unlocking stuff. In fact, some items that you scan just give you points to spend in the multi-player store so you can get a nice head-start with your online load-out.
You can tell that they knew there were problems with the first game, they dropped the bad and ran with the good. Gone are the mundane office buildings and hallways. Environments are now much more open and engaging. Instead of taking place exclusively in D.C., the hub world makes travelling easy and convenient story-wise, so prepare for wide open levels, and even more with lots of nooks and crannies. I’ve mentioned the seriousness of the first game several times, and I’m glad to report that this game is much more tongue in cheek. There are random pop-culture references (Ninja Turtles anyone?) in places where they thought they would be fitting comedically, and even some self-deprecating humor about video games. So it is an amusing change of attitude. As for the story, itself, it’s certainly better and clearer than the first game, though the quality of the story is nothing groundbreaking, just mildly stimulating. Of course, they kind of committed themselves to complete the story by leaving the first game open for a sequel. So I will be curious to see if they can come up with something a little more daring in their next property, once they wind up the Conduit series of course.
Now if you remember, the last game left us with the worlds cheapest cliffhanger. This games ending is much better, the story feels likes it gets wrapped up, even though it has an ending that undoubtedly makes you want to play the next game (assuming you liked this game of course). Like you might have heard, it is undeniably a WTF ending, but in a good way, at least for me. The first game was serious, the second tongue-in-cheek, and if this ending is any indication then the last one will be all out coo-coo for Cocoa Puffs! And with all this chatter about the next Nintendo console being “Signitificantly more powerful” than the current-gen systems, then I can not wait to see what HVS will do with some real hardware!
There are a few detractors in the game though. The worst is poor AI, and the less serious second are a few too many ankle biters which were particularly annoying, most of which require a considerable melee flogging. However, due to limitations of the Wii-mote, you can either have accurate grenades, or accurate melee. And having to choose one or the other is simply unacceptable, but frankly this is more Nintendos fault more than anything. You can always play with the classic controller if you want, but I found it much more inaccurate and clunky. You can take that as an endorsement for pointer-controls, or as an insult to the classic controller, but I’ll tell you, it is a little of both, but mostly the former. The pointer controls are, in fact, splendid (underused word of the month). In the last game, I had to tweak my controls a bit to get them to fit, which you can still do of course, but I found the default sensitivity remarkably close to perfect for my taste. You can also move around different buttons and HUD layouts, all of which are much appreciated (listening game industry?). You will also recognize a lot of the weapons from before, but with a little better tuning, and many additional weapons. My personal favorite being a weapon that runs either hot or cold. Hold the fire too many times and you’ll overheat. Or use the guns built in active-camo too long and it will freeze over. There are a number of different strategies you can use with this gun that I have never found my self doing before in a game. You might even find yourself going invisible to the limit so that you can fire longer without the gun overheating, or vice versa. Even my jaded brother perked up when he saw that gun!
Often the environments will look very lush, though from the wrong angles you can see it looking rather flat.
Now the last thing to talk about is the multi-player, I, unfortunately, was not able to evaluate the split screen. Though I was able to play a little online. The modes are a combination of classic and new modes that will keep you interested for a while. And the upgrading system is similar to black-ops with an in-game store where you spend earned credits. I personally prefer the MW2 model, but to each his own. It is fun and encourages continued play. So I am alright with it. I never had a problem getting into a game quickly, and I was even trying the online out in the middle of a non-holiday workday! The experience was a mixed bag in terms of lag and choppiness, in one game, it was quite choppy until the player dropped out, it immediately became smooth after that, so obviously one lousy connection can have a significant negative impact. But, thankfully, Nintendo gave HVS the authority to issue firmware updates, a Wii first (I believe they had to severely twist Nintendos arm on this though) if I am correct. So you might even be able to expect new modes and levels (do not take this as any sort of confirmation, merely a possibility), and certainly expect them to issue updates smoothing out issues like I just described.
So overall, I would call Conduit 2 one of the most satisfying experiences I have had on the Wii, even close to the likes of Metroid Prime 3! Between a much better mood (thanks Jon St. John), better level design, better mechanics and just an overall more fun experience I wholeheartedly give this game a…
4 out of 5.
This might come as a surprise, but we here at vagary.tv are not really in the position to get a giant scoop on the next hot thing from Nintendo (yet). However, what we are adept at, is giving ideas and feedback to an idea, proposing theories and just all around down to earth views on the gaming industry. That being said, I have a rather unusual prediction for the Wii brand.
First, to cover what is coming out of seemingly every corner of the gaming news arena. Game Informer first broke the news a few days ago, citing it’s HD capabilities (duh). Then the floodgates broke open, sources like IGN, Kotaku, CVG and some French website called 01net , all started giving their two cents in. Rumors from a traditional controller with an enormous touchscreen on it, to being considerably more powerful than current-gen systems and even the codename “Project Cafe” popped up! Obviously all these sources had heard their own tidbits about the new console but had held their tongue up to this point for fear of being the first to break news that Nintendo might hold a grudge against them for. But as we all know, once someone else breaks the rules it is all fair game from that point on.
There are a few fascinating things I would really like to cover here. First is a clear breakdown of what Nintendo needs to do in order for this to succeed.
To me, this is surprisingly simple. I’m not going to say Nintendo needs to get all hardcore with their games and start making new hardcore properties (which would be nice), but rather that all they need is to re-secure their home console on the cross-platform circuit. There are countless games that are now cross-platform that they could capitalize on. There are fewer and fewer console exclusive games with each generation, and even the most sacred properties are now fleeing their traditional homes. If Nintendo can simply capture this, in addition to their prized IP’s, then they will be golden. Of course, things like online infrastructure, and social aspects will be crucial, but not nearly as much as third-party support. I honestly do not see it being too difficult to pull this task off anyway, developers love getting their hands on new hardware, unless of course that hardware happens to be “two Gamecubes taped together”. The real failure of the Wii was not the lack of power. The problem was the lack of being on par with other consoles so games could be easily co-developed alongside their 360 and PS3 counterparts. Of course, this is a direct result from the lack of power, but still, the effect is indirect.
IGN's Mock-up Controller
I do want to take this time to point out that a few months ago on the podcast I co-host (the n00bketeers), I said that I wouldn’t be surprised if Nintendo planned on making the Wii slightly underpowered on purpose to gain casual players. While, at the same time, the other consoles were planning a longer console life of up to ten years. Nintendo could then leapfrog five years later (aka, now) the other consoles with something more powerful, have the top-dog position for at least a few years and at the same time be competitively priced relative to everything else. A hugely risky yet brilliant move, but here is my problem, Nintendo is not going to just ignore the casual gamers they spent the last 5 years roping in.
This leads to my most radical statement. When I wrote Wii 2 thoughts as the title, I was not referring to the console we are all hearing about today. While reading some thoughts by the IGN editors on the new console codename, Peer Schneider (IGN’s SVP) made the statement that this could be Nintendo’s new third pillar! A strategy some long-time Nintendo fans will remember from the days of transitioning from the GBA to the DS. Of course, they certainly did not seem committed to the idea for very long, but I propose it didn’t work out because both of those consoles played into the same market at the time.
In reality, the Wii was still an attempt at the three-pillar strategy, DS for the handheld gamers, the Wii for the casual gamer, and the Wii for the hardcore. They tried consolidating the market with the Wii; and it didn’t work! So this entire article is in anticipation of the statement that I would bet that Nintendo now tries to keep the Wii brand separate from the console they are about to announce. Even to the point of releasing a Wii 2 maybe even sometime next year and marketing it specifically towards the young and casual audience. Still motion based, still cheap, still Wii.
Why try to balance on a tight rope when you can just walk across two completely separate planks. If PC manufactures can have a netbook for casual people who want to play solitaire and surf TMZ, and simultaneously have a war machine built for dominating alien species with your almighty gunships, then why can’t Nintendo?
Something has been striking me odd about the whole launch of the 3DS. I’m looking around me, on the net and otherwise, and awareness for this system is almost nil. I remember of course the original DS coming and not making a real splash, but lets face it, it was pretty much garbage. Things have changed since then. There have been numerous iterations of the DS, of which we all know, but the point stands that the DS is the best-selling system of all time. It is currently hovering around 140 Million units sold. That is incredible! However, it seems that Nintendo got cocky about it, just like what happened to the PS2.
The PS2 was outrageously successful (138 Million units sold), and was bested in sales by only… that’s right, the DS, and to follow the unbelievable success they released a real flop. Sure it was shiny and fast, but it was way too overpriced, and too many people said I’ll just stick with what I’ve got for now. Of course, the PS3 has moved on to be a fairly successful venture for Sony, but it has taken 5 years for goodness sake! Now, for whatever reason, the same problem is hitting the 3DS.
My best intuition says it is a combination of the price being far too expensive for parents to justify for their kids, and exceedingly poor awareness. Even here in my little bubble, no one knows about the 3DS. I asked some kids about it, and they said they had never even heard of it, and when I explained it to them, they had a hard time understanding that it was an altogether new system. I asked my Brother, and my office assistant at work, she had no clue, and my brother thought it was also just an iteration of the DS! This seems a remarkably poor launch indeed. Nintendo is claiming that it has been the most successful launch of a handheld for them. This strikes as rather dubious statement; the original DS did not have a fantastic launch, nor did the GBA or other iterations of the DS. I’m curious what the numbers are, but I will withhold judgement until then.
I think Nintendos best interests would have been to deliver the console at $199 in June. At that time, there would then have been more launch titles ready (not to mention having an online store at launch) to sink your teeth into. $250 is just too bitter a pill to swallow. We all saw that the PS3 did not begin its rally until it reached half of its launch price! Frankly, I would not have bought one myself if I did not conveniently have $200 in store credit at Best Buy.
After all of these mediocre review scores of both the hardware and software, the press is not getting any better for the system. I had seen a few commercials prior to launch, which would help the average consumer become aware of the 3DS, but they were not clear messages on what it was; there was no clear wording about the 3DS being the “Next Generation”. It is almost like Nintendo cried wolf too many times with all the different versions of the DS, and now parents who see the 3DS probably just roll their eyes thinking it’s all the same. Of course, kids will bring them to school, and all their friends will eventually start begging their parents. At that point (when the awareness finally does take hold in a few months by word of mouth) the high price tag will squelch the enthusiasm right out of parents desire to surprise their kids.
I know people keep drilling the “severe economic times” into your brain, but the fact is people now earn less money, spend more on gas, food, taxes and essentially everything else. In my mind, there is no chance that Nintendo will meet the target they announced of selling more units than the DS. However, there is no denying that when it comes to handhelds (and even the Wii this generation), Nintendo is the master of the “Slow Burn”. How often is there a product that has more sales year over year, in spite of the fact that with each passing year it is even further technologically outdated? The DS did just that, and even all the preceding Game Boys had the same effect. I just for some reason feel that Nintendo has bitten off just a little too much with this one. I don’t even want to get into the argument about the mobile phone aspect of why the 3DS might fail (I use the term loosely), but I do want to say that I for one quite like my 3DS so far. I had a lot of play time on the ol’ DS Lite. Between its long list of unique games, the dual screens and the unique combination of touch and button inputs, I found the DS to be a tremendously rewarding purchase. I look forward to a long relationship with my 3DS, and I have every reason to want it to succeed, but that does not stop me from having my doubts.
To say that the original portal was a hit would be a massive understatement. Of course it was sold along with a number of other Valve games in the Orange Box Collection, but I would be willing to bet that most people would agree on Portal as being the most groundbreaking game in that collection. Take your standard first-person game and mix it with dark humor and stunning original game-play (without killing, at least living organisms anyway) and you end up with Portal.
So when I had the chance to get a live demo and an interview with Joshua Weier (one of the project leads) I lept at the chance. The demo they were showing showcased the intro of the game which tied in fantastic humorous chatter from one of the AI personalities (fantastically voiced by Stephen Merchant) you’ll meet in the game, with the basic premise setup. Eventually the roughly 15 minute demo showed a lot of the new game-play elements that will be implemented, including the much anticipated (and requested) co-op. I was initially afraid of the game getting a little too complex for my teeny brain, but I have to say, with a little practice and thought, I believe the new mechanics will slide right into place without breaking my frontal lobe. Thankfully, Valve took their time introducing new mechanics in the last game, so I would be confident in saying that they will do the same for this.
I will without a doubt be picking this game up, and I definitely encourage that you do the same.
Now for the interview portion, like I mentioned earlier, this is with Joshua Weier (with an h). After the demo we walked over to a quiet corner (relatively speaking) of the show floor and we talked over a few questions I had put together.
Before you pick up the controller to play Gran Turismo 5 this Winter, you might want to take a few of these pointers to heart. Knowing some of these things right from the start might be really handy instead of getting supremely frustrated later on.
#1. Always remember to choose your first car from the used section: The infamous Mazda Miata is the way to go early on, find a used one on the cheap and it will upgrade a long way and it can enter a number events early on. And don’t forget, the first thing you do with any car, even new ones, is change the oil. You will get a good size increase in horsepower for a mere 250 credits!
#2. If you are devoted and you are patient, be sure to go get your licenses first: You will gain lots of valuable experience and cars for free if you take your time and are persistant.
#3. Learn to tune your cars: There are many times where you will have fully upgraded your car but it still seems to lack the control you need to win at the track. Go to a practice track and start toying around, see what certain settings do to your lap times and your liking of the cars new personality. This will really help you extend usability.
#4. Work hard at the special events from the get go: Every time a new special event is open for you to try out, go do it immediately. This is where the majority of your money will come from for upgrading and buying new cars early and midway through the game. If you ignore them you might find yourself grinding for a few thousand at a time.
#5. Invest time in your B-Spec Driver(s): If you have chores to do, you’re at work or you’re asleep, your B-Spec driver should be making you cash! The more you invest in your drivers the more easily you’ll be able to make money and double up on prize cars throughout the game. They suck early on, but they get better quick. Don’t tell me you want to try racing an actually 24 race without one of these guys.
#6. Keep your B-Spec and A-Spec level close together: If you keep you’re a-Spec level slightly ahead of your B-Spec then you will always have the right car to participate in the B-Spec version. Although it might need some further tuning, more often than not you won’t need to buy a completely new car.
#7. Learn the courses: If you have the right car for the right race, and you still can’t win, learn the course. After years of playing the Nurburgring I know it like the back of my hand. It will drastically improve your lap times if you know exactly what brake marker to look for, or if you know what speed you should be carrying through a turn.
#8. Play with the analog stick if a wheel isn’t an option: Wheels make a big difference in how much finesse you can deliver in your races. But if one of those pricey options is out of the question, use the analog sticks. You will get great precision and control using them and will be able to drive cars with more of the assists off.
#9. Play with the assists off: This obviously ties in with the last tip, but you may wonder why. The more an on board computer is doing to help you drive, the less you will get out of your car. If you learn throttle control as opposed to just flooring it with the assists on, you will easily take a few seconds off your lap times. *note* The Force Skid Recovery option is not a real world assist, it may as well be the staples easy button.
#10. Make sure to take advantage of the Seasonal Events page: Released after one month of being out, version 1.05 includes a new Seasonal Events section. Here you will find some leaderboard events such as time trials and drift trials. However, you’ll also see new race events! And they really pay out, check them regularly and you will be a rich rich man in no time. It might take some money up front to get a car qualified, but the investment will be worth it.
Responsibility is something most people over the age of 14 have to deal with. You often have to balance time with friends versus time studying as a high-school or college student. Or once you reach adulthood you’ll have to figure out how to balance the responsibility of family, work and your own personal time.
Through my experience I’ve come to realize that gaming is able to fit in your life of responsible behavior, but not without compromises. If you have any combination of being married, young children or a full time job then there is most likely no chance that you can get 30+ hours of gaming per week. With such demands on your time, you might want to reconsider devoting such drastic blocks of time into gaming, or any other hobby for that matter.
I'm sure ol' Salvador was a gamer.
This is a stepping stone to my first real point: trim down your game time and assess conservatively how much you would like to play every week. So for me, going from teen, to adulthood, to married life, made a graph of my game time look more like the trajectory of Hummer sales rather than Pam Anderson’s bust size. But that doesn’t mean I no longer get my fill of the digital world. Going from about 40 hours per week down to around 13 really hasn’t been all that bad. When you really think about it, 13 hours is about the length of an average game these days. If you were determined and you budgeted your time correctly, you could potentially play and finish upwards of 40 games per year depending on what genre you prefer.
I personally don’t come close to this number because I (as somewhat of a “completionist”) typically take my time beating games, but regardless, the amount of time I spend gaming is still enough to beat 40 or so average games per year. So take my word, if you can’t find the time for the important things in life, figure out a plan to cut out what is unnecessary and live within your means (an idea Americans should take to heart in a certain other type of budgeting).
So that is step one, but what about other ways to maximize your time? Well, if you have a family and you don’t mind looking like an idiot, than I have the perfect idea for you! It’s called motion gaming, and yes, I realize you already knew what that was. Regardless of your stance on whether it is your preferred genre or not, you can absolutely have some fun doing this together with your family. It might even be worth your time investment just to get your wife (sorry to be sexist, but I have to speak from personal experience here) on board with video games so she understands more about how you can find value in videogames.
Having a family that is open about this is a valuable asset. Just ask someone who has a (for lack of a better term) “nag”. Anyone who gets beat down because they have a hobby is absurd. I’ll often see couples who are perfectly fine with the other person watching TV and “relaxing”, but for some reason, if they are playing games with the exact same chunk of time it suddenly becomes “wasting time”. The reason is simple; the “nag” has no experience and therefore can’t see a positive value. It’s like fishing; at first there seems to be no value, and to someone who doesn’t enjoy it, it might even seem pointless and boring. But beneath the surface, there is much more. Humans need something besides work and social life to focus on and devote time. I work fulltime running a senior oriented service, and I see first-hand what having nothing to live for will do to the soul. Hobbies (and therefore gaming) have an intrinsic value that is difficult for the non-gamer to grasp, but easy to experience. And that’s why it’s important to get family members to understand what you enjoy about games. All of this basically comes full circle to helping those close to you understand what you enjoy about games: fun. Motion games (good ones anyway) are a low barrier to entry method to experience the raw fun that gaming can provide.
Don't you want to be part of this eerily perfect family?
Now of course they might see you cursing your TV and throwing controllers around and ask how games can be fun, but after a while, they’ll get it. Also, here is a pro-tip: minimize that angry behavior. Either way, the benefits of getting loved ones into gaming will both net you extra time gaming (albeit with family) and the oh-so-important mutual understanding.
Luckily I found the perfect in with my wife: puzzle games. She loves any sort of puzzle game, and it was a no brainer to start her with Brain Age and Sudoku, then she “graduated” to Picross. Then I threw in the big curve ball: a puzzle game with story. Prof. Layton is to me the ultimate crossover. So this particular progression might actually be a great game plan if you are interested in getting someone into gaming, in addition to getting less frowny faces when you are playing by yourself.
Really, I find these two things are the greatest assets in getting as much out of the time you have. The last thing really only has to do with your attitude. Don’t be afraid of the pause button. The more ignorant and lazy you are while gaming, the more negative the view your significant other will have of your hobby. So take my advice, and try not to get sucked into a bubble. It’s not easy, and I struggle with it myself sometimes, but in the end, the benefits of being able to drop the controller and pay attention far outweigh the (if any) negatives.
To sum up this whole article, just remember to be logical, polite and outgoing with your hobby and you’ll be fine. Get your family involved, and you’ll find yourself with a fun hobby, maybe some new gaming buddies, and a whole lot fewer sneers and growls. Happy gaming.
Single Player:
How do you start a review to a game that is nearly as hyped as the second coming? Well I’d say just be straight forward from the start. This game is not the ten out of ten that everyone might have thought. However it certainly is the best sim racing game I’ve ever played. In a nutshell it’s the most advanced racing game in terms of physics to ever hit the home console market, It has a functional online network and beautifully rendered cars and tracks. But there isn’t just a list of positives to this title, in fact, there is a dark side to everything just listed.
The first thing that needs to be covered is the Single player and physics of the game; Please note that your opinion of how the game feels may vary depending on your set up, if you are using a high end wheel this game can offer some fantastic feedback to your driving experience. Regardless of your set up though the physics in this game are nothing short of jaw dropping, it has the weight and feel of the Gran Turismo’s of yore, yet the cars feel more unique and much more susceptible than the previous games. In the past the understeer and oversteer of the cars might have been understated, whereas in this game cars tend to have a personality and mind of their own.
Depending on your particular tuning ability you can alter, correct or downright screw up your cars behavior. Luckily for those not accustomed to tuning there are detailed explanations for what each alteration will do to your cars on track behavior. As much customization as the tuning features offer there is one notable option that is missing. That of course is the ability to tune each individual gear ratio, while not a huge issue, when tuning a car to a specific track, it will be missed.
But back to the analysis, real-time tire physics are a must in a sim racer, and GT5 delivers. Previous GT games only reported your tires wear and life span, while in this game, it will also report and greatly change handling of your car depending on the heat of the tire. Slam the gas pedal with 800 horses and your tires will heat up, making your car slide all over the place (great for drifting). But if you are using racing tires that are cold then you better get them warm to really keep your gripping potential at its peak.
As for the single player progression, it is the games weakest point. As in previous GT games, you will need to progress through various stages of competition, and under each stage is a set of 9 events that you will have to complete. In order unlock higher stages you will need to gain XP and levels, similar to the License concept from previous games. Speaking of the license tests, they are no longer required to advance, but are more like a booster pack for those experienced enough to get through them quickly. Completing these is by far the fastest way to gain XP early on, not to mention you can gain valuable cars for racing. If you have the patience for it, focusing on the license section of the game for a while might be wise.
The progression system, while functional, is only fractionally different from the games freshmen attempt. This series should be in its college years, yet it seems to be holding itself back a couple grades. When looking at a game like Forza 3 and its progression, you are suggested races, you have to follow a calendar and its progression is just more fun and dare I say, up to date. Whereas in GT5 you feel like you have hand cuffs that are continuously loosened instead of actually building a career. I hope Polyphony Digital has the foresight to take notes on their competition for their future releases if they want their series to stay relevant after GT5.
An example of the stunning results photo-mode can achieve.
Besides the standard career in GT5, there are also some much appreciated features to be found. The first is the “Special Events” section. Here you will find a mixed bag of events. Some highlights are the NASCAR, Sebastien Loeb and the Grand Tour Special events. While NASCAR may not be to everyone’s taste, this game will really give you a look into how stressful said type of racing can be. Some of these challenges can be downright brutal but at the same time very rewarding. Nothing quite compares to finally being able to draft around the Daytona Speedway in order to pass eleven opponents in just two laps for the gold.
The king of the special events is the Grand Tour, which essentially puts players on a cross country tour across the heart of Europe, stopping at notable tracks and cities along the way to do various events. Don’t get me wrong though, this is no walk in the park on a beautiful day. While it is the most beautiful part of the game, it is also where I had some of my hardest problems getting gold. In the future, I hope many, many more events likes this, with even more fleshed out locales and stops will be in GT’s future. More like this would really set them apart from other games.
Not all of the Special Events are great though. For example, the Top Gear Challenge, which (In the voice of Jeremy Clarkson) is the worst special event… In the world. Simply put, this has almost nothing to do with Top Gear and the one connection it does have is the track, that’s it. Obviously the show is humorous, so why not have a race with a samba bus? That sounds funny, right? No, maybe if you had to jump the samba bus through multiple hoops of fire whilst being directed over an earpiece and wearing a blindfold with a color commentary by the three hosts would be more in the Top Gear spirit. But alas, you only drive a selection of three boring to drive cars in three boring events. It’s a shame, this really could have been one of the coolest sections of the game.
The second feature in single player besides the Special Events is the B-Spec mode. Much like you might remember from GT4, less the fast forward capability (for better or worse). In B-Spec, you essentially create a team of your own drivers and “train” them to become money raking slaves in what is essentially a mirror image of the A-Spec career mode. You get to pick a personality for your driver, is he hot or cold tempered, is he good at braking, turning, endurance etc… You also can choose his outfit (not that it really matters) and his name. Although, by some strange decision, you can only randomly generate you name, first initial, last name (Example, S. Loeb). Even if it is initially baffling and annoying, it is fun trying your luck to get some funny names or celebrities. But still, it doesn’t make up for the omission.
So how does he drive? Well pretty lousily to start. In order to win early on you will need a vastly superior car to your A/I opponents. He will drive slow, sloppy and most frustratingly, he will almost never pass given a golden opportunity. He will however greatly improve if you put the time in. Thankfully if you play A-Spec and then are slightly behind in B-Spec you should have cars that are already capable of taking the gold with a little tuning. I quite often use the B-Spec feature to unlock even more bonus cars and pocket some extra spending money at the same time that I’m doing dishes and house work. Needless to say, I kind of like that idea. But of course managing a virtual doppelganger while doing chores might not be your thing, in which case, you should just skip right over B-Spec. Although you might want to reconsider if you ever plan on making serious money in the endurance races, having a crack team of race drivers at your disposal will be quite handy in a 24 hour event.
If you look close at the back of the car you can see the negative affects that weather can put on the look of the game.
Polyphony has always been at the top when it comes to technical standards, but much like the rest of the game, GT5 is a mixed bag. The A/I is much improved from GT4. Instead of being complete drones, the computer controlled racers will make mistakes, they will have surges where they get on a hot streak for a couple laps and they will make some great moves to pass you. However, in traditional GT fashion, they will also completely ignore your existence in some cases. For example, when you are leading a race and there is an A/I driver behind you, swerve out of the best driving line on a straight and see what happens. He won’t swerve like he should to keep in your draft. Or even worse, go to pass one of these guys around a curve and he might stick to his cookie cutter line forcing you off the track. There are many examples of poor A/I scripting, too many to bother going deeper into.
The games look is fantastic though. The majority of the courses have detail so rich it’s harder to tell apart from the real thing than some of the cars. Just watch a cinematic replay at the Nurburgring and look at all the peripheral buildings and side roads. They are correct to a T. My favorite example of photo realism is the extremely recognizable SANYO sign in London. Unfortunately not every course got the same treatment; some of the GT original tracks aren’t as detailed as they could be.
Cars on the other hand are a reciprocal story. Where the majority of tracks are stunning with a few that lack complete detail, the opposite is true with the cars. With just at 200 Premium cars that feature full interior/exterior/underside modeling and damage, GT5 has plenty of premium goodness to boast. However, if interior view is your thing (it isn’t in my case, I use bumper cam) then you are all out of luck. Over 800 of the games 1000+ garage are “standard”; this means no interior, no underside, and damage is minimal.
I subscribe to a slightly different perspective than most on this issue. I look at GT2 that has over 600 cars on the original Playstation, and then I look at GT3 that only had 180 something cars. That is a serious decrease, but GT3 never really got dinged for that fact, it was near universally praised. The leap from GT4 to GT5 is very similar, except that instead of leaving out all those cars that they hadn’t been able to model for the ps2 yet, they just threw them in as bonus’ (IMO). So from that perspective, combined with me not using interior view, it doesn’t really bother me. I almost wonder if they had left out the 800 standard cars would the game have come out quicker and been received better. Either way comparing the game to past iterations is only half the story. Forza 3 has 400 cars fully modeled with interior and full damage in the game. Which is pretty much 100% more than GT5. Of course, if you compare the detail level of identical cars cross game GT5 definitely takes the cake in both interior and exterior. But that really doesn’t make up for the fact that it has half as many as Forza 3.
As for the standard cars themselves, they fare quite well for the most part. Exterior view will show a good bit of attention went into most of them. I’d say roughly 80% of the standard cars are decent, and some of them even look great. Of course there are some that did not get the “decent” treatment. When you buy or win a car and it drives under the light in the car delivery section of the game you can spot the really ugly ones right off the bat. It’s a shame that they even bothered including such horrendous models in the first place.
GT5 is also the first Gran Turismo game to feature damage but it may as well not be in the game. Standard cars really don’t have damage, premium cars can eventually get to an un-recognizable state. But it just doesn’t fit, it’s just minimally implemented, and I would have preferred if it just wasn’t in the game at all.
Weather and Time lapse were made into sort of a big deal pre-release, and it turns out, for good reason. The time lapse and dynamic lighting are fantastic to look at, and driving at night with only your high beams is incredibly stressful and difficult. The only problem is, like the cars, only select tracks have time change, which is a shame. The same goes for the weather, not in every level, but where it is, it’s awesome (although the rain from the interior of a car is underwhelming looking). Driving at the Nurburgring while it’s foggy is amazing, especially when it just suddenly starts to dissipate over the course of a lap. But not to sound like a broken record, but remember, it isn’t on every course.
I know this shot looks similar, but it's too hard to resist these gratuitous interior views.
Sound has always been an annoyance in racing games for me. Sound always seems so hard to get right. But the sound in GT5 really delivers, of course to fully realize the sound field you might want a full surround 7.1 or 5.1 system (thankfully I have the former). Cars sound life like from any view, and the Doppler effect is impressive. So when it comes to sound crank it up. And if you like cheesy lounge jazz, then crank up the menu screen too, because you’re in luck. Just as in all GT games, Kazunori Yamauchi pushes his love of lounge on us. But of course for me, I’ve come to have a strange affinity for it (it helps that some of the menu songs are actually pretty good). It should be mentioned that there are custom soundtracks, but the implementation is so convoluted that you shouldn’t even bother trying.
There are almost no glitch issues, but there is one semi-glitch will annoy. Shadows in the game (depending on the situation) can be quite jarring. Polyphony has acknowledged the issue of the shadows being sub-par, and hopefully will be releasing a patch sometime, just don’t hold your breath.
GT5 implements an interesting social community aspect. You can scan through your friends to see what they have done recently, where they are in the game, or even leave them emails or short twitter like messages. Gifting cars back and forth between friends has become a common occurrence for those who are having a little trouble progressing. Of course this might counter all the work that Polyphony did in order to keep the game in balance. You can also download tracks that people have created via the track generator; which brings to mind a big user generated content question.
If Polyphony was so interested in making their game accessible that they included go karts for just that, then why didn’t they break down the barrier to their toughest hurtle for newcomers? Tuning is a difficult process, and for people new to the series who aren’t skilled in it, why isn’t they a feature to search and download car tuning settings just like you can download courses? Forza already has great user content like the cars auction block, featuring custom painted cars. Hopefully Sony will endorse user content in GT6 as much as they have with other Sony properties like Little Big Planet or Modnation Racers.
Carting might have been intended for beginners, but it can still be quite difficult.
Apart from the main career mode, there is also an arcade mode. There is almost no point looking here for a single player experience. The time trials, and drift trials (which are both great fun, though desperately need leaderboards) are already in the career mode, as well as the one make races. So I’m not really sure what function arcade mode has besides offering 2 player split screen, which under my observation is the only reason you would ever visit this section of the game.
There are also a handful of awesome extra features in the game. One being photo travel, here you can take incredibly detailed pictures in awesome locales (Premium cars only) and export them in multiple formats, including 3d(all the screens in this review are provided through this feature). You can adjust settings out the wazoo to get exactly the picture you want, those familiar with manual settings on a camera will be much more comfortable off the bat. You can also visit old replays that you’ve save to take photos as well or just watch your greatest achievement over again. I am actually kind of disappointed that the replay theater isn’t more than it has been in the past. If there is one thing GT5 has excelled at, it’s making great trailers. There should definitely be much more in terms of editing here, I’d like to see a mode where you can essentially make your own sizzle reel. But no, just rather standard replay fare. One serious annoyance I have is switching from car to car in past games was as easy as clicking the up or down button, here it takes too many menus and too much time (this applies to B-Spec as well).
One of my crowing achievements captured on screen.
The last things I’m going to touch on are the Museum and Gran Turismo TV features. Both are awesome, the Museum just gives you peeks at historic cars and times throughout history from different manufactures via a few paragraphs and a picture. I love reading history, so automotive history included in the game is a no brainer. This is also a good time to mention that for every single car included in the games roster there is a great brief description of said cars. I’m glad they decided to do this, it definitely adds a lot when it comes to appreciating the cars.
GTTV is as of now, a completely free service. You can stream or download awesome looks into the history of cars (in crystal clear HD I might add), and events all across the automotive landscape. You can watch videos about the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, or watch videos on the birth of the Nissan GT-R. There is a wide variety of movies, usually in the 8 minute range, and they have been updated numerous times. There are going to be some paid for videos eventually, so be warned, Top Gear might cost you a dollar or two when it start being distributed through the service. But if you don’t have BBC America, this might be a money smart way to get your Top Gear on.
If you like cars, get Gran Turismo 5. It most definitely has its issues, but in my humble opinion, they don’t nearly outweigh what Polyphony has accomplished. As it stands now, I’m having a blast, though it is sad to see that after 5 years of development and awesome vision, it only feels partially completed.
4 out of 5. William Milby
Online:
Who knew a Cappacino could look so good?
While most of Gran Turismo 5 has a solid if somewhat flawed foundation, the competitive multiplayer aspect of the game is a sloppy mess in nearly every aspect. Games like Forza 3 and Need for Speed: Shift have defined the standards of competitive multiplayer and Gran Turismo 5 fails to hit even the most rudimentary of them, like matchmaking or leaderboards. Technically the racing itself is fantastic, with the driving being just as good as it is in the game proper. Lag is minimal and hardly factors into any of the races, something that is especially important in a racing title. And when one hits a race where everyone is into playing the game properly Gran Turismo 5 can be exquisite to play. Unfortunately most of the time it proves to be too much of a crap shoot to find these races.
The biggest issue with all of this is obviously the lack of multiplayer matchmaking. Considering the fact that Gran Turismo 5: Prologue did have online event matchmaking that worked quite well, it is quite the perplexing question as to why it was excluded in the final game. Without matchmaking the only way to race is to either create a lobby and hope someone will stumble into your room or to join a lobby pulled from the server list. While this can at times work perfectly, the lack of proper descriptions for many lobbies can result in players entering rooms and quickly leaving when they discover that the race is not exactly what has been described. This format also enables those that take pleasure in griefing their fellow players an easy way to do it. More than once I entered into a race that seemed legitimate enough only to have the competition decide that the game should actually be a virtual game of bumper cars.
Many of these issues stem from the fact that there is no accountability in the online races, with no true matchmaking system and nothing at stake, the races feel soulless. This could be fixed with the implementation of leaderboards and some sort of career progression for participating in online races but at this time there is more frustration than the game is worth. It is quite possible that Polyphony will support the title just as well as Zipper Interactive did with MAG, however the game has to be played in the here and now, so potential, no matter how promising, should not factor into our review. With that said if you are coming to Gran Turismo 5 with the promise of realistic online racing then you may want to look elsewhere.
Chris Scott
*note* As of 12/20/10 (the day after completion of this review) update 1.05 has been released with multiple online and single player modifications that would play into our review. However, seeing as we don’t want to give this review as many delays as the game we are reviewing the game as we experienced it. For a list up the new features and updates, please reference http://www.gtplanet.net/gran-turismo-5-v1-05-update-brings-new-events-more-available-now/.
Ghost Recon is something that was in many ways doomed from the start. First off, an attempt at a realistic shooter on a console that has left a wake of failed such games behind it was a bad omen. Take that and add that it was given the “it’s the Wii, so let’s make it as simple and repetitive treatment” and you get a very poor recipe indeed. Don’t take those statements as a disdain for this type of game, I would normally be quite excited to hear that one of Ubisofts flagship franchises was going to try its hand on the little console that could. However, what I found ended up being quite different than the surprisingly fun experience I got from Ubisofts last shooter outing on the Wii, Red Steel 2.
A rundown of this game will show you where they started to go wrong, it’s an on rails pop n’ stop shooter, much like you would have found in many arcades circa 1999. While if nothing else, this type of game does lend itself to mindless, “no strategy required” fun. Not to mention when everything about the game is pre-decided you would at least think the possibilities for scripted events would be endless. But quite to the contrary, the game is literally a shooting gallery; in fact it presents war in much the same way I perceived it when I was 8. Enemies pop out from cover and you shoot them whilst taking bullets likes a sponge. And the cheesy dialogue, the macho high-fives and one liner quips that any fan of Top Gun would be familiar with pervade the serious nature of war to make you feel as if the game is trying to be something Ghost Recon should never be, giddy.
Previous Ghost Recon games are methodical and very strategic; they have a plausible plot and a very serious demeanor. Here the plot (if you can pay attention) is as shallow as my pockets, Russian ultranationalists invade Norway, and all TWO of the American soldiers at the ready come to save it with the help of a Russian defector. That’s all I’ll spend talking about the plot, because that’s about how much I cared to take note of while playing the game.
Hmm, a strikingly similar pose to every other screenshot from this game.
But about the game play, it actually can be fun for a while. You’ll be equipped with various real world guns which may or may not be represented accurately (I’m told reloading an M249 takes upwards of 15 seconds, not 3 as the game would have you believe). You will run from cover point to cover point unloading copious amounts of unlimited ammo at AI that can only be described as being about as witty as a stump, about as equally nimble too. But of course an entire army of mindless drones does equate to some fun online leader boards in an arcade mode, but if you’re like me, leader boards only make me want to play more of a good game, not a bad one. Even co-op multiplayer is only fun for a few levels at most. I should mention that there is a built in achievement system (mention acheivements in review: check). Even played on normal there will be frustrating one hit kill attacks from enemies that really make things difficult. In fact, at one point I had to retry fifteen times in order to pass one checkpoint, the only reason I made it through is because I had two uses of a slow motion feature the game calls focus. I had to use both to finally get passed, but if I only had one, I surely would have had to restart the entire level.
I'm not sure how strategically sound bright yellow lights are.
From a technical standpoint the controls work quite well and only has a few detractors (minus the oft ill-fated Wii sniper). Of course the graphical side of things is about as impressive as the games voice acting, abysmal. The sound isn’t much better, lacking pop and the much needed submersion of good sound-effects. The score seems to have eaten up a good chunk of the budget since it seems to be very generic and poorly written but well produced.
I know I ragged on it, but it is actually something a 10 year old would probably enjoy. It does have some fun elements, but in the end they are not enough to lift this game out of mediocrity. If you’re interested in a fun shooter where you can actually control your character look towards Ubi’s own Red Steel 2 or if you’re stuck on the on rails thing, go for Dead Space: Extraction instead.
2 out of 5.
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