Quantcast Tramell’s Blog | Vagary.TV

Tramell’s Blog Archive

1

Review: Trine 2 [PC]

By
VTV Staff
– December 10, 2011Posted in: PC, Reviews, Tramell's Blog

Trine 2 Header

Trine 2, like its predecessor is a sidescroller that utilizes brain smoking puzzles, wily platforming and intense combat sequences. Once again, the Trine, a mysterious powerful artifact has taken the three heroes, Zoya the Thief, Pontius the Knight, and Amadeus the Wizard on another fantasy book worthy adventure. With an all new engine, the game environments are absolutely gorgeous. Combine that with the platforming, physics-based puzzles and the interesting combat scenarios you know and love from Trine, this game hits all the right notes.

The three heroes each have their own unique talents and throughout the game you will be able level them up by collecting green bottles scattered across the levels to earn skill point; these points will also be paramount in unlocking additional skills that will help immensely in all aspects of the game.

Amadeus has the ability to create boxes that help you solve puzzles and help you get to places you can’t normally reach. As you level him up, he can create new shapes and will be able to conjure more boxes. Zoya has a grappling hook that allows her to get around, making her very mobile and able to cross long gaps if the prerequisites are met. Her bow you can leveled up to freeze enemies or set them on fire. She is a viable alternative fighter should Pontius kick the bucket. Pontius is your combat specialist. He uses a sword and shield as well as, a hammer to rock enemies who dare threaten the trio. As you level him up, you can upgrade his weapons to do additional damage and grants him the ability to charge at opponents.

Trine 2 Screenshot 01

The meat of the game, the puzzles,  are very satisfying. As your progress through a level, you run along across obstacles blocking your path. Some are simple to solve while others will leave your head smoking trying to figure out what in the world you need to do. As I said, the puzzles in Trine are physics based, so there are multiple solutions to a given challenge. For instance, you could use a plank to manipulate water with a block or use Pontius shield to interact with it and direct its flow.

In the single player campaign you can only use one character at a time providing an extra twist when solving puzzles, combating monsters and getting across a level that requires more than one particular hero’s abilities, it provides that extra hint of difficulty.

In multiplayer, problem solving is a bit more flexible. You will work with other players that play as the different heroes allowing you to create new solutions to the puzzles. For instance, if I was trying to open a gate that required some tricky use of Amadeus boxes to keep it open, I could have a friend use Pontius and partially open the gate so he could use his shield to hold it up so we could get through. Solutions like this makes co-op really enjoyable because the experience is very different than problem solving by yourself.

The second slice of the game involves combat. Combat is not the main focus of the game but they built it up really well. To mix it up you come across waves of enemies you will have to deal with; though you can ignore them if you are quick enough. Sometimes they play a part in some of the puzzles you have to solve. In one part of the game, a giant goblin appears, that has the ability to kill you with one hit and you have to maneuver around to get him stuck temporary so you can use a nearby lever to open the gates and bypass him. In multiplayer, you can strategize a bit more. You can have Pontius keep the enemies busy while you have Zoya pick off Archers from a distance and have Amadeus levitate enemies that get to close to Zoya. Overall combat is simple and solid.

Trine 2 Screenshot 02

Even with the main mechanics of the game revolving around solving puzzles and combat, the atmosphere still needs to be impressive and inspire. The environments of Trine 2 are varied and never fail to impress. Even though the game is a sidescroller each environments offers something unique and always has a three dimension feel. You will find yourself making your way through a forest with fireflies and plants floating in the background, inside a deep dank cave with plenty of spider webs to let you know it is not all sugar and rainbows.

Some of the environments really shine when they introduce weather to the equation. Going through a level during a heavy storm left me gawking at screen. The way they tell the story is also integral to the overall success of the game. In a storybook fashion, a narrator progresses the story between the stages and gives extra insight during certain key moments in the game. The heroes also talk to one another while you go through a stage. The whole feel achieves that fantasy storybook feel the game goes for.

Overall, the game is pretty polished and the only problems I had from a technical standpoint were the jumping mechanics. Double jumping off obstacles felt clunky and took a bit of effort to get it to work as it was intended. The game is beautiful, the puzzles are challenging, the combat provides a nice diversion, and the multiplayer was a nice touch to round out this very well done sequel.

Pros

  • Very beautiful environments
  • The physics based puzzles are challenging
  • Combat provides beaks up the puzzle solving nicely
  • The storybook narration represents the spirit of the game

Cons

  • Puzzle solving is the focus of this game and puzzles may not be your thing
  • Jumping mechanic is a bit wonky especially using double jump

Rating: 4/5

0

James Ohlen Details Companions in Star Wars: The Old Republic

By
VTV Staff
– September 23, 2011Posted in: News, Tramell's Blog

Gamespot recently sat down with James Ohlen, Game Director for Star Wars: The Old Republic, to talk a bit about companions in their upcoming MMO.

Companions are computer-controlled NPCs that players will have along with them throughout the game. They will craft for you, fight with you, provide insight on various situations, and if you have the smooth moves of a jungle cat, you’ll be able to do the “tango” with them.

Talking with Gamespot, James highlighted that through feedback they added a lot of features for companions. Players will be able to customize their appearance, hair, skin color, and facial features. Another way players will be able to customize their companion is by item choice, players will have the option of selecting what their companion wears, what weapons they use; they even level with you throughout the game.

We wanted players to have more freedom than in any previous Bioware RPG when it came to companion customization.

Akin to the Dragon Age series, companions will have their own class and unique skills. Players will also be able to configure what skills their companions use in battle. James, admits that they were a bit hesitant to really flesh out companions at first because in a single-player RPG, players had the time to manage their team, but in a MMO, everything is done in real time and the task of micromanaging would overwhelm the players in intense encounters. The A.I they developed turned out to exceed expectations and they felt comfortable gives players that complex control.

Companion characters are going to be a significant innovation to MMORPGs. All of the testing feedback we’ve received so far on these characters has been extremely positive.

To supplement the interview Gamespot also released a new Developer Dispatch solely dedicated to companions. Be sure to give it a look.

Star Wars: The Old Republic is currently in Closed Beta and commenced beta weekends to ramp up the level of testing. Bioware and EA are still looking to release the game before year’s end.

0

Pax Prime 2011: Quantum Conundrum

By
VTV Staff
– September 5, 2011Posted in: News, PC/Mac, PlayStation 3, Previews, Tramell's Blog, Xbox 360

Airtight Games, creators of Dark Void with talent that stems from Portal and Left for Dead, along with publisher Square Enix presented their new IP at Pax, Quantum Conundrum. Quantum Conundrum is a first person platformer puzzle game where you play as a kid dropped off at your uncle’s house for ambiguous reasons and as soon as you arrive, he disappears. Apparently that Uncle is a crazy scientist who figured out how to manipulate various dimensions. Dimensions include realms that makes everything light weight, that slows down time or revert gravity. It’s up to the kid to use his Uncle’s technology to locate him within the house.

You receive an IDS device that allows you to manipulate the various dimensions. On a basic level during the demo the kid had to get up on ledge he couldn’t reach. Noticing a safe nearby he tried to pick up but alas the kid was to small too handle the safe. Using the ‘fluffy’ dimension to turn everything lightweight that allowed the kid to pick up the safe and move it into position. Reverting back to the real realm, he was easily able to climb up and progress through the door completing the level.

I should note here, that you’ll only be able to use certain dimensions per level, with some unlocking later on when you find the powersource that allows you to use that power within the level.

Continuing on they showed off some of the more complicated puzzles where they had to fetch safes that were being burped up by the machine into the pool of mystical liquid below. Using the inverted gravity dimension they were able to extend to distance the safes traveled to where they were. After gaining access to the safes, they activated fluffy mode, picked up the safes and chucked them to were they needed to go, using the inverted gravity dimension again to attend their traveling distance. On the last safe however, when they threw it, they immediately activated the slow-mo realm and jumped on the block they just threw to get to the switches and the other safes on the other side. After safely landing he placed the safes on switches that opened the door to allow him through to the end of the demo.

Another thing that makes Quantum unique is it’s visual design, it’s very stylistic; just look at the header image above. The developers aren’t shy with humor as well. When you activate various dimensions your surroundings change. In the fluffy dimension everything has a white padded texture, giving off a very cutesy flavor. When you slow down time, the screen turns grainy like you’re watching an old movie.

Around the mansion there are self portraits of the Professor and his pets. When you activate the various dimensions, the pictures change. When you activate the fluffy dimension the professor is decked out in a bunny suit instead of his white trench coat. When you activate the slow-mo realm, the cat and the fish both look at their watches. These little details bring life to the house, where you’ll spend all of the game in.

The interesting art style and the genius use of dimensions as a tool will certainly satisfy anyone who loves these types of games, I, myself am looking forward to see how the game evolves as they approach their early 2012 release date.

Quantum Conundrum is currently being developed for XBLA, PSN and Steam.

1

Pax Prime 2011: Firefall Preview

By
VTV Staff
– September 4, 2011Posted in: PC/Mac, Previews, Tramell's Blog

Firefall made a major showing at Pax Prime this year, from banners on the escalators, the giant statue just outside the entrance to the Exhibitor Hall to the sheer amount of square feet they hogged on the show floor. Created by the up and coming Red 5 Studios, who house veteran developers who have worked on World of Warcraft and Tribes, FireFall is free-to-play massive online cooperative shooter and I had the opportunity to experience the PvE portion of the game.

Firefall takes place in a beautiful post apocalyptic world where mankind has discovered a new all-purpose resource called Crystite. As they mined this new resource, it consequently leads to the arrival of the Melding, a hostile energy storm that starts to engulf the planet. From that storm a new bred of species emerges, The Chosen, a bloodthirsty race hell-bent of destroying the human race.

As you combat the Chosen and find an answer to the Melding, you’ll have the option of choosing various battleframes – classes – on one character. So far, we have the Assault battleframe, an offensive juggernaut that has the ability to cause massive AoE damage, the Recon battleframe, specializes in long-range attacks as well as utilizes mines and special ammo. The Medic battleframe, the healer of the bunch, no slouch on their own, they have the ability to drain other players health as well as, excess to a grenade launcher, and lastly we have the Engineer battleframe, the mechanical genius, they can deploy turrets and energy shield that they can upgrade and repair on the fly. For my demo, I started out using a Recon Battleframe.

Read the rest of this entry »

1

Pax Prime 2011: Mass Effect 3 Preview

By
VTV Staff
– September 1, 2011Posted in: News, PC/Mac, PlayStation 3, Previews, Tramell's Blog, Xbox 360

In a nice closed off area, I had the chance to sit down and get some one on one time with Mass Effect 3.

Mass Effect 3 brings some new features to the table. They improved A.I tactics, introduced new enemy types, new melee combat mechanics, and re-tooled classes.

I started off having to choose my class, the Soldier, the Engineer, or the Sentinel. I choose the Engineer and it came with quite a few tricks to play with – some old, some new. The Engineer has always been known as a distraction class with the use of the combat drone that stunned enemies and made them susceptible to gunfire and the various tech and biotic powers. Now I have a turret that does the same thing in conjunction with the combat drone leaving enemies open and interrupting their tactics.

As I upgraded my Shepard, I had a chance to look at the new upgrade system. So far, there are three main upgrades you have to get before it branches out. After that, the remaining upgrades present you with a choice between two upgrades. Do you want to increase the damage further or reduce the cooldown time. The new system allows players to create a more unique tailored to what they need.

Starting my demo, I was on the Salarian homeworld assisting Mordin with Garrus and Liara, escorting a fertile female Krogan dubbed ‘The Krogan Princess’ to Urdnot Wrex, who may or may not be alive depending on your decisions in previous Mass Effect games. Safely escorting the princess off world would secure one of the must-needed alliances that you need to form throughout the game to combat the Reapers. My task was to kill off the indoctrinated Cerberus troops who were hell bent on disrupting my mission.

With Liara and Garrus, I had to form tactics of my own against new enemies. In one situation, I had Garrus engage a Cerberus troop outfitted with a shield that protected himself from frontal attacks. As I flanked him, I told Garrus to use his concussion shot that slammed into the Cerberus troop shield, knocking him off balance. Getting up close and personal, I finished him off with a new enhanced melee attack – as the engineer holding down the B button resulted in me whipping out my Omni blade that lit on fire when I swung it, quickly ending the life of the tropper.

That didn’t remedy any of the pressure I was experiencing due to a lot more reinforcements showing up. As I fired at them, some of them took cover and while another handful tried to approach me from the side. Luckily, I took notice and threw my combat turret behind them to keep them busy while I repositioned myself to combat them more effectively.

As I repositioned I order Liara to use her singularity ability and the group who tried to flank me were lifted and suspended in the air, making them easy picking with the combined fire of all three of us. As we pushed ahead, I notice a workbench where we could change out our weapons as well as customize them to our tastes.

When you use the bench, you have the option of customizing your weapon: changing the barrel, the scope, magazine size etc. I was using the ‘matlock’ assault rifle and I was able to change out the barrel for a much longer one that provided additional damage. The upgrades so far don’t seem to provide any negative effects, however there are very specific in what they do and I only had two upgrade slots.

Progressing through the demo, I noticed that they have introduced more elevation in their design. As I moved into the next area, I had the opportunity to go up the stairs to fight those below; being the optimist I took it but I was shocked to find out that they could jet pack upstairs to fight me. Ruining my initial plans, I took the fight to them with my combat drone and turret, while using Garrus and Liara’s abilities to finish them off.

Near the end when I almost delivered the female to Wrex, Cerberus sent down a gigantic Atlus Mech – which I found out I could pilot it if I was crafty enough to kill the tropper inside. The Mech is a lot more threatening than the Mechs in Mass Effect 2 as they can travel over cover and terrain. Whereas before you could just game the system by moving over to the next piece of cover if it got to close. Now the mechs will just step over cover and get right on top of you if you just sit there. With good use of tactics and movement, I was able to take down the mech and avoid getting myself blown to pieces.

At the end of the demo, I was very satisfied with what I played. The game was familiar yet foreign with all the new moves and improvements made. Shepard feels a bit heavier as I moved around the area. The melee attacks feel like melee attacks – when I hit someone I really feels as if I’m trying to knock their heads as opposed to just jabbing them. I could roll, maneuver in between cover, as well as sprint whenever I wanted instead of power walking. I can’t wait to see more of the game as it progresses to its March 6, 2012 release date.

0

Gamescom 2011: Carbine Studios Announces WildStar

By
VTV Staff
– August 18, 2011Posted in: News, Staff Blogs, Tramell's Blog

A few years ago, veteran designers who worked on World of Warcraft, Everquest 1 and 2, and Warhammer Online joined forces and formed Carbine Studios. Since then they have been toiling away at creating their rendition of a MMO and finally early this morning they officially revealed their game to the public.

WildStar is a stylistic sci-fi/fantasy that will take players to the world of Nexus, a long forgotten land littered with ancient technology and magic. There players will traverse its beautiful lands to unveils it mysteries. The big question however, is what makes this MMO stand out from the rest; it doesn’t have the clout of Star Wars and doesn’t have the revolutionary ideas of Guild Wars 2. Carbine is seeking to differ itself through what they call ‘paths’, a special calling if you will that players will have to choose when they pick their race and a class. Paths will offer unique experiences catered to four distinct types of gamers The Explorer, The Soldier, The Scientist, and The Settler.

The Explorer’s Path is for those who love to explore the world. This path will offer extra quests that involve finding points of interest using a tracking device. It won’t just be a go here, go there experience, players can expect to have to maneuver over difficult terrain, even using gravity like lifts to get to hard to reach places. From there you’ll have to find the sweet spot and plant a beacon where you’ll chart out the land as well as, provide addition Intel about some of the creatures in that area in the process netting you additional rewards and exp.

The Soldier’s Path is a bit more straight forward, as players who choose this path will be able to activate public quests that breakdown as the tradition kill X quests that involve defending a position or protecting an NPC from waves of monsters. Most of these quests will happen in public areas so other players will be able to participate in them as well. The Soldier’s Path brings the party with them no matter where they go.

The Scientist’s Path is for those who love lore and collecting things. Tasks will be scanning various objects, creature, and monuments that will reveal secrets. The quests in this path will tie in with the story quests so they feel integral to the experience in contrast to being additional fluff.

The Settler’s Path is meant the players who like to socialize with friends. Little is known about this path, but it is being built towards helping NPCs around town and helping other’s paths achieve path-oriented goals.

Aside from the extra flavor that paths provide, Wildstar functions like your basic MMO with the exception of a few tweaks. At the moment, you have your classic warrior class that using AoEs and special follow-up skills to mow down groups of enemies. The Spellslinger, a rogue that utilizes dual pistols and magic to combat foes in a fast and visually impressive manner and lastly you have the Esper, a mage that utilizes various magic to combat foes including dropping a fist from the sky to wipe out a group of mobs.

In terms of combat, you’ll be rewarded by properly dodging and interrupting enemy attacks with the Momentum Meter that builds the more you achieve those actions. In turn, it will offer an experience bonus to those skillful enough to build the meter.

Carbine has stated that WildStar will have standard MMO features such as auction houses, trade skills, public quests, and more. No release has been set but you can register for beta over at their newly launched site. Check out their new cinematic trailer and gameplay footage.

0

Gorgeous Skyrim Character Models

By
VTV Staff
– August 16, 2011Posted in: Blogs, News, Tramell's Blog

Recently, the press had a chance to experience a new demo of Skyrim at Quakecon. They were able to experiment with character creation this time around, as well as being able to fully explore the world to their heart’s desire. With all the gorgeous scenery being produced by the new Creation Engine, it comes as no surprise the character models are extremely impressive in their fidelity.

Below you’ll find a plethora of races on display from Bosmors(wood elves), Nord(Viking-like) Redguards(dark-skined warriors), to Argonians(Lizard people).

Enjoy!
4

Mass Effect 3: Reveal or Conceal

By
VTV Staff
– July 13, 2011Posted in: Tramell's Blog

It all started with a light interview over at CVG with Casey Hudson, Mass Effect’s Executive Producer, and Derek Watts, Art Director. When asked the question, “All the characters have been given a redesign for Mass Effect 3. Do you ever worry about fan reaction?”

They responded:

“You know, they’ve been pretty receptive to the changes we’ve made. We haven’t really had much negative feedback from them. We changed Tali – that was tough because people were very passionate about her. A lot of people want to have her face revealed and obviously people are going to be pissed off either way.

Like ‘I thought she was going to look beautiful!’ or “I thought she was going to be the most hideous thing ever!’ So we’ve had a lot of debate over Tali’s face, but that’s the one we kind of dread a lot. We’re always ‘well, let’s talk about something else for a while!’ That’s something we’re going to have to decide.”

Immediately countless news outlets picked up this bit of information and ran with it sparking a great debate on whether or not BioWare should unmask Tali and assign a face to the mysterious Quarian race, or should they keep their mystery intact forever.

To understand, according to the Mass Effect universe, Quarian wear full bodied suits because of their unique immune system. Their immune system is naturally weak due to the lack of harmful diseases on their homeworld. Furthermore, what few virus that did exist were actually somewhat beneficial to them. In the game Tali states that their immune system is adaptive rather then a steel wall of defense. The Quarians created the Geth, the hive mind protagonist of the first game. They were run off their homeworld after losing a bloody war trying to eradicate their forsaken creations. After fleeing and being stripped of support, they were forced to live within their colony of ships ‘The Migrant Fleet’. Forced to keep a sterile environment within the fleet deteriorated their immune systems even further resulting Quarians always wearing a suit even in the safest of environment.

This forms the base players use to argue why BioWare shouldn’t reveal Tali’s face because they personally feel it will bastardize their lore and remove that sense of mystery Tali and by extension the Quarians have. Players got to know Tali through her personality and story, creating this strong bond with her and feel it should stay that way; that by removing her mask or any others will make the Quarians just another alien species in a world filled with them. Then there is the question of what would she look like if they choose to remove her mask. Everyone has their own idea as the quote above states they won’t be able to satisfy everyone no matter what they do.

Strong arguments and many issues they would have to contend with, but I personally would love to see them take on the challenge to reveal her face. If you speak with Tali, she mentions at the possibility that she could only remove her suit on their homeworld. Whether that was a statement made out of wishful thinking or fact it’s no coincidence that we will have to deal with the conflict between the Geth and the Quarians in Mass Effect 3. I believe that they have the potential of setting up a really powerful and meaningful scene. It has to have a strong impact if they’re going to remove the mystery.

Even though I do have an image of what Tali looks like, I wouldn’t mind settling with whatever BioWare comes up with. Apparently, she’s pleasing to look at, since male Shepard smiles when he takes off her mask during their love scene, and I know countless number of people romanced her with the hope of finally seeing what’s behind the mask. To me, revealing her face will fill in the missing chapter. They do in fact have a plan in motion already, whether or not they reveal their face or not is something to look forward to March 6, 2011. Until then, what do you guys think? Should they reveal what Tali’s face or they should they keep it under wraps?
2

Preliminary Highlight: Bioshock Infinite

By
VTV Staff
– July 11, 2011Posted in: PC/Mac, PlayStation 3, Previews, Tramell's Blog, Xbox 360

The FPS genre is no doubt dominated by military shooters with a huge rivalry playing out between the current king of the genre, Call of Duty, and the surprising upcoming contender, Battlefield. The genre offers more than beautiful action set pieces that make up a the single player campaign and a robust multiplayer. Sometimes, FPS titles offer a compelling story, a beautiful rich environment, and unique mechanics condensed in a nice well-rounded package.

Irrational Games, creators of Bioshock franchise, are back at it after temporary handing over the reins for the sequel to their game. Once again, they intend on delivering another iconic set piece with a very interesting back-story while getting creative and putting twists and knots into the combat system with Bioshock Infinite.

The title takes place on a beautiful floating steampunk-like city built on multiple airships called Columbia, a signature piece of American technological advancement. In the game, Booker DeWitt (the protagonist) is sent on a search and rescue for a young women named Elizabeth.  When he arrives, he notices the place has seen better days and soon meets two dominate factions: The Founders and The Vox Populi, who at war with each other and tearing the place apart. As he progresses, he’ll figure out the reason Elizabeth been locked up and the role she’ll play in the conflict.

BioShock’s Columbia is a testament to America technological boom at the turn of the 20th Century and was created as a form of American exceptionalism. In turn this is connected to the current conflict plaguing Columbia with the Founders adhering to that ideology in the strictest sense by disavowing all immigrants and trying to create a walled off garden Utopia only for the elite. The Vox Populi on the other hand can be seen as the good guys fighting for freedom for everyone on Columbia but after many struggles they turn increasingly violent even going as far as executing state workers such as mailmen and doctors.

This is where Booker and Elizabeth come in. You can think of Elizabeth as the “x” factor in the conflict. Both sides want her because of her abilities. She can manipulate tears found throughout Columbia. These tears are rips in the fabric of time and she can bring in various objects into existence. The tears can help or harm Booker and Elizabeth in the conflicts they face as they traverse through Columbia.

As important as Elizabeth is, Booker has his own tools of the trade and with the help of American ingenuity he can utilize bottles of Vigors and Nostrums. A spinoff of Bioshock‘s Plasmids and Tonics, Vigors bestow Booker with a number of abilities like the shock ability that electrocutes and stuns enemies, while Nostrums function as permanent boosts to Bookers abilities like increasing his health. That is a familiar mix of powers and guns, but this is the new generation of Bioshock and there is more still.

In a floating city, there must have some way of getting around. Initially there were skylines built around the city that were said to transport cargo, but people have learned to get around on them with a skyhook. With said skyhook, Booker can traverse around a level either to get where he needs to go or he can use them tactically in combat.

Imagine a classic FPS encounter — you are presented with enemies in front of you with various objects in-between to give you cover. Then it’s a basic point and shoot until you drop all the enemies and move on. Keep imagining, but that you now have these skylines that you can use to get above, below or to the side of them. Instead of hiding behind cover and methodically taking out enemies, you can choose to hop on the skyline, move to a platform where the enemies are out in the open, and take them all out at once with a handy grenade. This mechanic allows for you to be smart and allows level designers to build interesting levels by constructing encounters to be more dynamic. In one example from the E3 2011 demo, Booker has to use the skylines to board an airship to destroy it from the inside and the scene finishes with him dive bombing out praying to catch a skyline before hitting the platform.

Elizabeth brings the second part of the unique first-person experience found in Infinite. There is a sense of mystery when working with a tear. For instance, at another point in the demo there was a Door that could be brought in. When questioned about the purpose of the door, Creative Director Ken Levine said that it could have either been an escape route or brought in enemy reinforcements.  That means that there is a element of risk when manipulating tears. Combine that with what you had in previous Bioshock titles and the Skylines, and that should make for some very intriguing core gameplay.

For a game like this to work, there needs to be a compelling story to work from, or else it would be  ”just go here and there, shoot this and that” — all of which results in a forgettable experience. Though, with a breathtaking world and fascinating back story, combined with the various of elements that are sure to offer more than a standard FPS, Bioshock Infinite is one to watch and believe in. Who knows what will be added in and refined with a release date of sometime in 2012? See you on the Skylines.

0

Puzzle Agent 2 Review

By
VTV Staff
– July 11, 2011Posted in: Mobile Gaming, PC, Reviews, Tramell's Blog

Platform: PC, iPad, iPod Developer: Teletale Games

 

Once again, we fill the shoes of the mild mannered Special Agent, Nelson Tethers of the FBI’s Puzzle Research Division. After a foray into Scoggins, Minnesota investigating the shutdown of the eraser factory that supplies the White House, Tethers discovers things aren’t quite right in the town. With their obsession with puzzles and these gnome like creatures, some inhabitants worship the ‘Hidden People’. After unraveling the mystery, Tethers manages to get the factory up and running again, but things aren’t quite finished. People are still missing, and the “Hidden People’ are still out there. In Puzzle Quest 2, we head back to Scoggins in search of the truth and finishing the case one and for all.

Puzzle Agent 2 functions less like point-and-click adventures it borrows its mechanics from, and it truly embodies the puzzle experience. Puzzles range from furniture reorganization, where players have to organize furniture to make a patch while blocking opposition; lock slicing, where players must  draw a line that will cut through all object barricading a door, to a fast paced match sequences.

When starting a puzzle, a description of the situation and rules associated with the puzzle is presented. It is paramount they be read, because the game can be a bit unforgiving when scrambling for the perimeters of the puzzle. In one puzzle, I had to make sure I got exactly fifty flyers across branching streets where a bandit could steal the papers on any three of the five routes. I came up with a flawed and uneducated solution. Since I didn’t read the rules thoroughly, I ended up doing quite poorly.

The game actually requires the player to be intelligent and intuitive, making the game challenging in the best ways. Some puzzles are built around mathematics and formula, as well as properly dissecting pictures to determine their order, and on one occasion, guiding three objects to three different destinations all at once via an intricate strategy. The various puzzles kept the experience fairly fresh with the exception of a few repetitive ‘arrange the room’ bits. And though the game seeks to challenge its players, there is an accessible hint system that is paid for with “gum” found in game.

The environment contributes greatly to the setting of Scoggins, a seemingly unimportant mountain town that is a ripe hot-bed for long kept secrets. The characters that make up the town bring it to life: the dutiful yet unhelpful Sheriff Bahg, the mysterious repairman Randy Scruffman, the charming  Korka, and the motherly Mrs. Garret all set the tone. With the corky dialogue, the mysterious sightings and unique discoveries constantly has that “something isn’t quite right here” feel that brings the story to life.

The game isn’t completely genius, though. I would have loved to see them do something with the replay feature for the puzzles. At any point in the game, players can go back and review a puzzle they’ve completed, but I would have loved it if they adding in some randomization and extra challenge. This could even spell out a great system for “100-percenting” the game.

In any case, Teletale Games creates another gem with Puzzle Agent 2. It stays true to what it is — a quirky, entertaining puzzle solving adventure. If you like puzzle play or if you’re just a fan of point-and-clicks, this game does not disappoint.

4 out of 5

Older Entries