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Review: All Zombies Must Die!

By
Magnus Risebro
– February 6, 2012Posted in: PS3, Reviews, Xbox 360

This game was played on the Xbox 360

All Zombies Must Die is an odd case of modern game design-tropes working to a game’s detriment. The oft-celebrated model of fusing RPG-structure with action-gameplay is spread a little too thick here, hurting what is an otherwise solid title.

As with most zombie-related titles nowadays, AZMD is very tongue-in-cheek about its story. This is something I’m often skeptical of, as certain games seem to use it only to escape the effort of a serious narrative. Luckily, the plot, which sees four comedy characters assemble to survive an unexplained zombie apocalypse, doles out sincere chuckles on a consistent basis. Specifically, the sub-plot involving the main characters’ conviction that he is in a videogame provides good laughs. Throw in some strong pop-culture references and you have a one of the funniest games to come along in a while.

As for the gameplay, anyone familiar with dual-stick shooters will quickly be at home with the controls – Top-down perspective, left stick to move, right stick to aim. Zombies will home in on you and you’ll navigate around them, lining up shots, and collecting pickups. Where the game differs from the basic formula is mainly in structure. Instead of a linear series of levels, the game is set in a mostly open world segregated into arena-like zones. To progress, you’ll complete a series of standard kill/fetch-quests, upgrading your stats and crafting new weapons on the way.

For a while, this spattering of RPG design has the desired effect; the carrot-on-a-stick of new weapons and better murdering-capabilities will motivate you to continue, making what is in reality well-trodden gameplay ground sparkle with new life. But it’s only after a few hours that fatigue kicks in: When running through the same 8 arenas, carrying out what is only a slight variation on an objective you’ll have done 15 times beforehand, the appeal starts to wither. It becomes a grind.

It’s a shame, because the moment-to-moment gameplay in AZMD is actually rather good: There’s a great, tactile feel to mowing down the zombie hordes, much thanks to some nifty and suitably cartoony animation. The weapons are all distinct enough in function and feel to warrant changing your inventory regularly. There’s a cool mechanic of zombies being affected by elements like fire, electricity or radiation, each with different effects, which also transfers to the crafting system, where you can modify weapons to apply those effects when fired.

The problem arises when this solid yet quite by-the-numbers gameplay is tasked with supporting the RPG-like structure. There’s simply not enough substance to it for it stay meaningful in the face of the six-hour series of treks through the same few environments the game has you endure. Playing the game in four-player co-op mode (local multiplayer only) or in shorter bursts remedies this problem somewhat, but still does not remove it outright: AZMD is simply too repetitive.

All Zombies Must Die asks too much of the basic dual-stick shooter formula and suffers for it, but it’s still a well-crafted game that will please fans of its genre. Play it in Co-op and pay attention to the jokes for maximum enjoyment.

Pros:

  • Good feel and some depth to the gameplay
  • Charming presentation
  • Funny

Cons:

  • Becomes far too monotonous
  • Occasional glitches

3 out of 5

0

Review: Madcatz MLG Pro Circuit Controller

By
Don Parsons
– February 6, 2012Posted in: Hardware, PS3, Reviews, Xbox 360

Meet Mad Catz Newest Controller

Note: This was tested on the Playstation 3. It is also available for the Xbox 360. 

We recently got our hands on the new Mad Catz MLG Pro Circuit controller for the Playstation 3, and from the moment it was unboxed, it was clear it trumped many aftermarket controllers. With any controller, really, you are stuck with whatever options you are given and have to hope for the best. For example, the PDP Afterglow controller is slightly smaller than the stock PS3 controller with the Xbox 360 analog stick layout. But the sticks were concave, so I trashed the controller. Mad Catz has an answer for that, but at a steep $99.99 US pricetag.

With a unique modular design, the Pro Circuit controller allows players a very customized experience. After you unbox this glorious controller and pick it up, you’ll immediately notice the extra weight and soft, velvety backing. The weight is added due to an interchangeable  weight cartridge with two 35 gram weights in it. You can remove one weight or replace the whole piece with a cover. Even without the weights, the controller is heavier than the standard Dualshock controller.

The back’s texture offers great grip during intense situations (ie. Major League Gaming), and when my hands started to sweat, there was no slipping off or re-gripping the controller, unlike my Dualshock. While the back surface can’t be replaced, the front can. The front plates can be swapped out between matte and gloss finishes. The middle, larger piece is easy to remove and attach, but also stays in place like it should thanks to small magnets. The small side pieces (the “legs” of the controller) were a little harder to swap off and on, but once you decide which finish you want, it shouldn’t be an issue. I preferred the matte finish just because it matched the rest of the controller, though the shiny finish didn’t actually feel any different during gameplay (as opposed to having the shiny finish on the back, which would have felt different).

Back to the modules, this is what truly sets this controller apart and puts it in the major leagues. The Pro Circuit controller comes with a pair of D-Pads, a pair of convex analog sticks and a pair of concave analog sticks. After lifting off the front plate, you turn the module counter-clockwise to unlock and remove it. The analog sticks (both styles) have little notches around the base, making the whole process a lot easier. The D-Pads, though, don’t, so you actually had to use the lifted button part to get a grip and lock/unlock it. I found that to be a small problem, and didn’t like switching D-Pads at all.

One of the D-Pads is a cross-style, while the other is button-style. I preferred the seperated, button-style as opposed to the other when playing shooters. But if I was using the button-style one to navigate menus, if I didn’t hit it just right it also moved in another direction. However, this could have been me not being used to the setup I was using (X360-style).

Both of the analog options have the same tension setting as the other. After going back and forth with the Dualshock and Pro Circuit controllers, the Mad Catz offering has a much stiffer analog stick. This is something that might be easier for X360 gamers to get used to, but someone who only plays on a PS3 might have some issues getting comfortable with the difference in tension.

The varying degrees of controller layout offer each individual player their own way to play. You can play with the standard Dualshock option, the standard X360 option, or any mix in between. For awhile, I played with a X360 layout that had a concave left stick, button-style D-Pad, and a convex right stick. But I eventually went back to my comfort zone of having dual convex sticks.

The controller is also considerably bulkier than my usual Dualshock controller. It has the X360 shape, and even the triggers resemble the X360. The Home, Start and Select buttons are all positioned towards the top of the controller which made certain things more difficult. I’m sure it keeps some people from accidentally hitting those buttons (I don’t run into that problem, myself), but when you are playing Battlefield 3, my shooter of choice, it made it much more difficult to spot people with the Select button.

If you are looking for a wireless option, look elsewhere. While the 9 foot cable has considerable length, certain home-gaming situations just don’t work well with me (and I’m sure some other people). That said, this is designed for competitive gamers, specifically MLG combatants. For those unfamiliar with their rules; you can’t take controllers that have a “turbo” or “macro” option, and controllers have to be wired if not stock controllers. Mad Catz was thoughtful and designed one sturdy cable that actually screws into place.

A last minute addition to the Pro Circuit controller is a “reverse trigger mode”. I saw this advertised and it wasn’t in the manual, though I have been told this will be fixed for future manual prints. Holding the Start and Select button (it should be noted this is a PS3-only feature) for around 5 seconds will reverse the L1/R1 and L2/R2 trigger functions. I played the first night with the standard setting and it just wasn’t comfortable at all. After enabling this mode, everything felt more natural with this particular controller.

All of these goodies, and the controllers still give you more. How about a nice little carrying bag? It fits nice and snugly, so you can take the ownage with you anywhere you go.

If you want to replace your standard controller, and want something more customizable, the Pro Circuit controller from Mad Catz has you covered. In the future, different colored modules and plates are going to be available too, so you can not only own the battlefield, but do it in style.

However, if you are not into competitive gaming, and just need a new controller, the high price-tag may be a big factor in your decision on purchasing or not.

Pros:

  • Modular design offers multiple controller configurations
  • Soft, velvety backing gives great grip
  • Ease of swapping parts on the fly, and a carrying case to keep everything together

Cons:

  • High price-tag
  • Re-positioning the Home, Start and Select buttons
  • Difference in tension between the Pro Circuit and Dualshock analog sticks

Score: 4/5

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PC Review: Unstoppable Gorg

By
Khristopher Reardon
– February 3, 2012Posted in: PC, Reviews

Unstoppable Gorg puts a new spin on the tower defense genre.

It’s a mishmash that brings old school black and white sci-fi serials like Buck Rogers or Flash Gordon to real time strategy.

You are the brave Captain Adam who is fending off aliens that look like runners up at some homemade costume junket and save his hot blonde girlfriend.

Coloured trails allow you to know the path of attacking aliens

The game is an overhead tower defense game using satellites instead of towers.

Unstoppable Gorg doesn’t necessarily reinvent the wheel, in fact, it’s more of a cross between two different types of tower defense games. The kind which allows you to have unlimited control over where your towers are placed and the kind that limits placement by giving you prescribed spots to build towers in.

Gorg isn’t letting you make a maze out of your satellites, but it will let you shimmy in a few satellites where you need them most.

It does this by letting you place satellites in orbits around the defense point. You can spin the different orbits around to put satellites near the invasion routes.

This lets you have the best of both worlds, though the spots along the orbit are limited you’re allowed to spin the orbit however you like allowing you to make the most of the space and resources you have. You can even follow routes with towers for a few extra hits if it follows your orbit.

The orbit mechanic makes this tower defense game unique, the ability to switch tower positions on the fly without having to wholesale rid yourself of the tower and buy it back in another area.

This mechanic allows for a lot of flexibility, you can place fewer more powerful satellites and divide your attention more towards positioning them, or you can place more satellites which will drain your resources faster but won’t require as much ‘shimmy work’ from the player.

The decision is compounded by the fact that you’re given goals every round to acquire a certain amount of money or research. Reaching these goals allows the player to unlock newer satellites and grant them the ability to upgrade the older satellites by distributing research points before each round.

Research is a triple threat of bad game mojo. To acquire it you need to take up one of your available satellite slots at the beginning of the round with a research centre, then place that non-attacking satellite somewhere in one of your orbits essentially taking the spot of a more useful attacking unit and if you don’t bother with it, you lose that research point for future levels making it really hard for inexperienced players to move further into the game.

Three different alien races make you have to plan for different satellite strategies in order to capitalize on their separate weaknesses but the difference don’t go far enough to force the player to think differently about the satellites they’ll have to choose before a round starts. I found much success with the few towers I stuck to throughout the game, I didn’t really feel the need to switch up drastically at any point once I found that groove.

I really wish this guy sounded like C-3PO.

The space setting makes good use of archive footage and cg to create a story that reads and feels like old school sci-fi, it’ll make you feel the nostalgia whether you’re from that time or not.

The campy 50s serial sci-fi look really drove me through this game at top speeds. Actors in knick-knack costumes play up the cheesiness with cliché serial villains and a cliché serial plot.

This all works wonderfully with inserted archive footage and model work (spliced with some CG) to create this 50s aesthetic.

But watching all of these things on a screen inside a screen is a little bit meta, it makes me wonder if Xzibit lent a hand at working on this game. (I put a monitor in your monitor so you can watch while you watch) I’m not sure but this is probably a holdover from the mobile version but it feels distinctly out of place on the PC.

She's hot and heavy, giant brain in disguise or no.

Music and sound effects are great. The cut scenes are announced by someone who sounds like the voice of out old news reels being played in the 40s.

The alien lords have voice work, though if they flubbed a few lines or sounded terrible it wouldn’t be noticeable with the chosen aesthetic of the game in mind. And they look great, one is a garbage can, the other looks like he was lifted from Mars Attacks! and the other is hot.

Unstoppable Gorg has a great in game soundtrack that’s very boombastic. It’s something you’d expect to hear out of a movie like “Mars Attacks!”

The sound effects from the weapons all have that 50s sci-fi feel.

It’s actually quite a feat to carry me into a story I care about in a tower defense game, which more often than not the ‘story’ tends to be an afterthought.

My biggest gripe about the game is reaching the top of the climb so fast. There are 21 levels in story mode and each one will take you maybe five to 10 minutes if you do it in one try.

You’ll be retrying a few levels countless times because the difficultly will spike unexpectedly. It felt less like I was making mistakes and more like the game didn’t want me to progress further a few times and often after making it through those few patches I would be back to cleaning up levels no problem again.

I reached the end in maybe four to five hours and all of those hours I really enjoyed outside of the spiking difficulty. A challenge mode and arcade mode allow you to keep playing through additional content but none of it is as strong and compelling as the main stuff, I gave both a whirl and found myself not really squeezing any more fun out of the game that way.

It’s a relatively short game but a really good tower defense experience. I hope some kind of follow up or additional content is made for this game because that core experience was a blast.

Pros

  • Blends limited unit placement with unlimited field control
  • Great 50s sci-fi vibe with loads of humour
  • Easy to put down and pick-up again for people with limited playing time

Cons

  • Difficulty spiking can leave players frustrated replaying the same levels again and again
  • TV in TV view detract from the action in cut scenes
  • Research satellites put undo burden newer/inexperienced players

3/5

2

PC Review: Star Wars: The Old Republic

By
Jeremy Goodson
– February 2, 2012Posted in: Jeremy's Blog, PC, Reviews

A long time ag….ah, screw it. The iconic Star Wars opening text is too overdone.

It’s been about three years since the rumors of Bioware developing an MMO based on the Knights of the Old Republic franchise first found their way onto the Internet. Those rumors made me ecstatic from day one. The original Knights of the Old Republic was one of my favorite games of all time, and Star Wars is definitely my favorite IP. To add nerd cred to my profile on that, I actually read the books, graphic novels, and comics. So, for anyone that knows me, it shouldn’t be a surprise that I was eating up any juicy tidbits that developer Bioware and publisher EA threw my way over the past three years about the game.

Lucky for me (and an estimated two million others who picked up the game on launch day), Dec. 20, 2011 marked the end of our wait. And worth it it was.

Now, you won’t be in for any big surprises with how the game controls. Bioware did a very good job mimicking the overall feel of most modern day MMOs. Everquest, World of Warcraft, Everquest 2, Vanguard, and countless others all use the standard “WASD” movement with “1 through =” for your hot keys. This makes it extremely easy for any MMO veteran to dive right into the game. The movements are very fluid and combat flows very well because of it. While the user interface may seem a bit clunky at first, it’s very easy to get used to. The main aspect that bothered me was the top-of-the-screen placement of the chat box, but it’s easily moved to the bottom where it feels more comfortable.

The lack of a full customization of the overall UI, though, really does hurt the game a bit. By the time you hit level 50 you have almost too many abilities, potions, and stims to fit on the maximum number of four hot bars. According to Bioware, there is a big UI customization update coming in the near future, so I do hold out hope that this will be fixed very soon.

Another guaranteed aspect of any MMORPG these days has to be the PvP, and SWTOR performs admirably. From level 10 on, players can compete in three different Warzones, similar to World of Warcraft’s Battlegrounds. These include Alderaan, which is a capture point system similar to Arathi Basin or League of Legends’ Dominion map; Voidstar, which is a Plant the Bomb and move to different objectives map; and a very unique mode called Huttball, which is basically an updated version of Mutant League Football.

The Warzones aside, there are also two areas in the game that are strictly for open world PvP: Ilum, a planet dedicated to the insanity of PvP, and Smuggler’s Den, a Free-for-All area on Tatooine where anything goes at any time of the day. Both of these areas help fuel a fairly health Open PvP environment that hardcore players are looking for.

A very neat addition to the MMORPG genre that is found in SWTOR is the implementation of Companion Characters. These NPCs are your brothers and sisters-in-arms that join your crew as you progress through your personal story arc. They can definitely hold their own on the battlefield and they bring a whole new perspective to solo leveling and even grouping without a full party.

Crafting is also dependent on your Companions. Instead of the normal MMO crafting system where you gather materials and spend time standing in front of a forge or loom to make your gear, SWTOR has you send your companions out to gather materials and making things for you. At the end-game, you can actually have five of your six companions all out working while you go out and quest or PvP. This takes a major stressor for some people and reduces it down to a couple of button clicks instead of a giant time sinck. As a person who absolutely loathes crafting in most other MMOs, I truly enjoy the system in SWTOR.

While all of the previous systems and gameplay mechanics makeup the basics of SWTOR, the real backbone that Bioware built the entire game around is its phenomenal story system. In most MMOs, you get a quest from an NPC and go out and kill things and return for your reward – never really reading what the quest giver had to say. In SWTOR, every single dialogue sequence is fully acted out for you in a cut scene (and yes, you can skip if you choose to). This really helps to make you feel like you have an impact on the world around you, and that your story matters.

Every class in the game has their own personal story. I have played completely through the Sith Warrior and Bounty Hunter stories, and am well on my way through the Sith Inquisitor story at this point and can say that each one has blown me away. They flow so well that I want to keep playing just to see what happens next. I cannot say that about any other MMORPG that I’ve experienced. On top of that, the actual voice acting is top notch. Bioware really spared no expense.

End-game is another spot that I feel the developers really nailed. Right out of the gates they had two Raid Zones (Operations as they’re called here) in place. The first is Eternity Vault, and the second is Karagga’s Palace. Both of these offer three modes of difficulty: normal, hard, and nightmare modes. As of right now, our guild is full clearing hard mode on both, and working our way through nightmare, so I have seen most of what these have to offer. We are having a total blast clearing these out, and the difficulty scales well, allowing for new raiders and veterans alike to experience the content at their own skill levels.

Many might argue that Star Wars: The Old Republic isn’t a breakthrough for the MMORPG genre. While I agree that the basic gameplay takes aspects from the other MMOs on the market, to say that it doesn’t change the way that gamers will look at MMOs from now on would be a lie. The superb story arcs, the changes to the generic crafting system, the updated PvP system,  companion characters, and voice acted questing all add new aspects to an aging subcategory in the gaming world.

SWTOR is one of my favorite games released in the past few years by far, and is definitely my favorite MMORPG since I first picked up Everquest back in 1999. There are some bugs in the game that need to be worked out (and actually lead me to lower the score of the game a bit), but the overall feel of SWTOR is that it is an MMO that is here to stay, and sets a new bar for what other companies need to aim for.

Pros

  • Story that is the best of any other MMORPG
  • Companion characters
  • Re-worked crafting system
  • Fun Ggameplay
  • Great replayability with different classes
  • PvP is well balanced

Cons

  • Lack of UI customization
  • Annoying post-launch bugs
  • No guild bank
  • Inexcusably clunky guild and auction house tools

Overall Score: 4/5

0

Microsoft & Sony: No Console Announcements at E3 2012

By
Kyle Baron
– January 31, 2012Posted in: News, PS3, Xbox 360

Announced at E3? Probably not. Also, this terrible name won't be used.

Don’t listen to all of the rumors about the next generation of Microsoft and Sony home consoles being announced at E3 2012.

Cedrick Delmax, director of marketing for Microsoft France, said in an interview with Le Point that “Xbox 360′s cycle is not at all finished. The proof is that we don’t see the logic in cutting the price this year.” Referencing the presence of the Nintendo Wii U at E3 2011 and 2012, he added that “we [Microsoft] are not here to counter Nintendo and they’re not here to fight the other manufacturers.”

Delmax also said that Microsoft isn’t concerned with Sony’s supposed decision not to showcase the next Playstation console this year.

Kaz Hirai, CEO of Sony, has already said that there are no “plans” to announce another Playstation at E3 of this year. In another interview with Le Point, Philippe Cardon, president of Sony France, said that Sony was the last to release a console in the current generation and “will probably be the last to announce something.”

It’s important not to misinterpret the elusiveness of the responses from both console manufacturers. That caginess is likely to serve to cover the tracks of each company with respect to how their competitors and shareholders are closely monitering them. Delmax said it best when he pointed out that Xbox 360s are still selling. Playstation 3 units are still selling as well, so any announcement of a future console will undercut current sales for both consoles.

The abysmal software sales of Wii titles, combined with the continued decline of Wii sales after it hit its stride, certainly add to the reasons for Sony and Microsoft not to be intimidated. Add that to the fact that a lot of the announced titles for the Wii U are multiplatform titles available on existing consoles and you should feel happy with the console you already own for a good while longer.

0

XBLA Review: Puddle

By
Jeff Derrickson
– January 30, 2012Posted in: Reviews, Xbox 360

Puddle could be titled after the tears you’ll shed playing it. It’s a clever physics based platformer in which you must guide various liquids from point A to B through increasingly devious levels. The game goes from challenging to frustratingly difficult within its first set of stages and never looks back. Most gamers will move onto something less painful before they beat the game, which is too bad because the concept is interesting and the fundamental gameplay is enjoyable. It had the potential to be better.

Ironically, Puddle has the simplest of control schemes. With the left and right trigger, you tilt the level and move the liquid. Those are the only two buttons you’ll ever use. The difficulty comes from punishing trial and error level design and the fact that you don’t have direct control over the liquid. If you tilt the level too much and the liquid goes off a ramp with too much momentum, it will fly into a conveniently placed patch of fire or something that will destroy the liquid. If you don’t tilt the level enough, most of the liquid won’t make it off the ramp. You have to get each step along the way just right in order to reach the exit. This involves lots of learning and memorization, as well as a bit of luck.

The goal is to reach the exit in the shortest time possible with the most amount of liquid still left over. Liquid is lost along the way due to hazards in the environment and the liquid getting split up and some getting left behind. A meter shows the minimum amount of liquid required to beat the level. Dip below that line and you have to start over from the beginning of the level. There are no checkpoints. At the end of the level, you receive a copper, silver, or gold medal based on speed and remaining liquid.

There is no story, nor does the game need one, but there should be some coherence and sense of what’s going on. The levels are tangentially linked by simple cutscenes and a general scientific theme, but none of it makes much sense. For instance, at the end of a set of stages titled Laboratory, you mix together a liquid and there is a brief cutscene that shows a silhouette of a human drinking it. The next set of stages takes place in the human body. The lack of a story is fine, but the game often forgets to relate essential information, such as what type of liquid you’re dealing with; I didn’t know I was working with nitroglycerine in the Laboratory levels until I was told in one of the all-too-frequent loading screens that nitroglycerine makes a sound when it’s about to explode. For that matter, does nitroglycerine make a sound as it’s about to explode? And why do Venus fly traps present a danger to lava???

But these odd quirks are forgivable. Again, Puddle’s biggest sin is extreme difficulty that is amplified by inexcusable technical shortcomings and design choices. The game knows it’s hard. If you fail a level, you’re given the option to “whine and skip” it. Unfortunately, you’re only allowed to skip a level twice throughout the entire game. To earn the privilege of skipping another level, you must first go back and beat one of the levels you previously skipped. A few more skips and checkpoints and perhaps the option to tackle levels out of order would have gone a long way toward making Puddle more approachable and less frustrating.

Worse, every time you fail a level, you’re forced to sit through a loading screen. Although these loading screens are brief, you are going to fail and see them a lot. I’m no programmer, but it doesn’t seem like Puddle is so complex a game that levels should have to be reloaded every time you fail. The levels are short enough and failure is so frequent that the loading screens become annoying and disrupt the flow of the game. And if you decide to restart a level before you officially fail, you’re inexplicably kicked out to the main menu and have to restart the game completely – with a loading screen in between, of course.

There are roughly 50 levels spread across eight sets of stages with different liquids and themes and very little to extend longevity. Only the truly bored and masochistic will go back to find hidden levels and earn gold medals and Achievements. Most people will give up long before even reaching the end. There are leaderboards, but no multiplayer or other online features. There is a mode actually titled Laboratory, which allows you to change the wallpaper of the main menu. Nobody will ever use it.

For something that started as a student project and evolved into an XBLA/PSN release, Puddle is impressive, but more frustrating than fun. The fundamental gameplay is a pretty cool idea, but the developers gleefully embraced sadistic level design and neglected to make simple choices that could help alleviate the pain. Puddle could be improved in a sequel with checkpoints, fewer loading screens, and a more gradual difficulty curve. This first effort is hard to recommend, even at $10. Listen to my whining and skip it.

Pros

• Simple control scheme means anyone can play.

• Interesting concept.

Cons

• Extreme difficulty means most people won’t want to play.

• Constant, inexcusable loading screens.

2/5

0

XBLA Review: Quarrel

By
Tony Odett
– January 30, 2012Posted in: Reviews, Xbox 360

Dwayne may not be bright, but he makes up for it with... no, he doesn't make up for it.

I hate Risk.  As Vagary’s resident hardcore strategy gamer, you might think that this is because it’s too simple, but that’s not actually the reason. My objection is that too often, the battles come down to luck rather than skill. If I assemble an army of 20 to attack an army of three, I should win quickly and decisively. Thankfully, Quarrel has an elegant solution to this problem: instead of rolling dice, make the winner determined by a word game.

Quarrel consists of a map, on which you and up to three other players hold a bunch of territories. Each of your armies will consist of two to eight bouncing minions, be they ninjas, Vikings, soldiers, or what have you.  The cute aesthetic is one of the game’s best attributes. Defeated troops will cry, and final victory will get you a huge victory block party.  You attack adjacent territories, in an effort to conquer them all and win the game. Battles begin with a word scramble of eight letters. For each unit in your army, you can use one letter to make a word. Different letters have different values (like in Scrabble), and the highest value word wins.

You can play with a timer or without. I recommend playing with a countdown every time, though, as with infinite time, a larger army can take its time and win every single battle. The timer also makes the battles quite frantic, as you scroll back and forth, trying to get in your words, and come up with something before the time hits zero and you auto-lose. In addition, the case of word value ties, the quicker player wins, so speed counts. Typically, I spent most matches trying to build an army of 8 (the maximum), but you have to be quick: at the end of each turn, the game system will load reinforcements onto the map through a variety of methods. Wait too long, and your enemies will grow very powerful.

Vikings are expert words smiths.

The game includes multiplayer (though no local co-op, because you  could see each other’s words). I tried the multiplayer, but I found that since I was unwilling to cheat (word unscramblers are everywhere) and I had no chat pad (the game in chat pad compatible) I was destroyed. Sticking with single player, there were a couple of different modes, but all boiled down to the same game (conquer territory by making words).  Though I enjoyed the gameplay mechanic very much, I eventually grew bored from the repetitions. It would have been nice to have letters cycle through, or disappear as time went on (use the high value Z before it vanishes!). I can’t help but thinking that the concepts here are ripe for expansion with future releases. I know I was left wanting more, not simply in terms of more play, but also more depth and variety.

Quarrel’s biggest asset is its price point. In an era where even $10 releases are becoming few and far between, $5 US at release is an absolute steal.  This game is worth far more than that (though its previous release on iOS may have forced lower pricing), providing addicting gameplay and several different game modes. There aren’t enough brand bending word games on XBLA, and this one adds strategy and conquest to that equation.  For a few evenings of wordtastic fun, it’s tough to quarrel with Quarrel.

Pros

  • Interesting blend of strategy and puzzle solving
  • Frantic fun
  • XBL matches
  • $5 price

Cons

  • Occasional framerate hitches
  • Could use more gameplay variety

4 / 5

0

Review: Scarygirl

By
Don Parsons
– January 30, 2012Posted in: PS3, Reviews, Xbox 360

Scarygirl, meet dragon-machine-thing.

Note: This game was reviewed on the Playstation 3 platform. It is also available on the Xbox 360.

Scarygirl, originally a free-to-play web game, takes you on a journey through a vast set of environments and will make you remember just how much rage old-school platformers can cause.

Scarygirl, the protagonist, mixes platforming and combat with the use of her whip-arm. For transportation, the whip-arm is used to cross gaps by holding the jump button. This lets you to helicopter across and outside of this fundamental reason, it also serves as “jump correction”. The floaty physics of Scarygirl can be forgiven because you can just hold the jump button to perfect an otherwise awkward jump. 

The game relies heavily on its simple combat. That’s not a bad thing, but there are some frustrating parts later on in the game that are sure to provoke yelling and (possibly) throwing things. Sometimes i’s frustrating because of some moments that feel busted, but other times it’s a matter of design; Between a bad checkpoint system and trying to figure out what moves to use against what enemy, I was at wits-end during certain portions of the game.

One of the many pretty environments.

The 21 levels vary in length. Each level has enough of a varied design and theme to keep you intrigued as to what you will come across next. The few water stages, for example, were simply beautiful. The graphics in general are a little on the bland side and don’t pop as much as I had expected, but the neon seaweed was quite mesmerizing. Checkpoints, however, are a different story. Sometimes, they are well placed, but other times they are spread so far apart I wondered why they even bothered. Clearing four waves of incredibly difficult enemies time-after-time just to die on the fifth wave made me want to pull my hair out. Other times I’d be greeted by a checkpoint a few platform jumps later and I’d be greeted by a checkpoint.

The quirky level design, with fun little camera shifts, is something that immediately stood out.  Skipping along through a stage, the level will suddenly shift to a different angle and you just keep on skipping. It may or may not rotate back, but it was little additions like this that made the game different than others in its genre.

By collecting gems in the game, you occasionally come across a weird Octopus shopkeeper where you can buy new moves, equipment and vinyls. The latter is simply a collectible to get a trophy/achievement, and I spent most of my gems on the moves as they unlocked. Most of the equipment didn’t seem to affect gameplay in a significant way.

It's a scaryworld if owls are out during the day.

The single biggest fault Scarygirl has is its grappling mechanic. I am no stranger to whip-across-the-chasm gameplay, but it gets a little frustrating when you release from one point and can’t grasp the next point easily. Wall-climbing is the same; climbing across a wall, jumping over an obstacle, and hitting up on your controller’s d-pad should make you re-grapple the wall. It didn’t all the time, and it was inconsistent things like that which totally killed my joy of strong platforming sections that should otherwise be fun. You can also grapple onto rocks or stunned enemies in order to throw them at targets, but I had the same issue of it not aiming in the direction I had it pointed at.

Couch co-op fans will be pleased. While there is no online play available, you can partner up with a local friend and tackle the levels together. From the little bit of co-op that I played, it didn’t change anything drastically, but it can be fun if you have a significant-other or family member who enjoys platformers.

For people who enjoy a decent platforming experience (especially with an old-school frustration element), and are looking for something new, this game is a perfect addition to your digital library. But casual fans of the genre may steer clear; the grappling and difficulty of certain sections can be a little too much at times.

Pros:

  • great level design and shifts in perspective
  • quite lengthy for a platformer
  • upgrades give you a sense of progression

Cons:

  • bad grapple mechanics (aiming, swinging, wall climbing) can add unneeded frustration
  • inconsistent checkpoint system

Score: 3/5

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Playstation 3 Review: Zack Zero

By
Chris Scott
– January 29, 2012Posted in: PS3, Reviews

In a world where games are endlessly marketed and every little detail is known about them months in advance of their release, it is nice when a game can just appear on the scene and surprise you. Zack Zero, the Crocodile Entertainment developed platformer, kind of does this. The game delivers a solid first impression visually, but unfortunately most of the other reasons it is surprising are less than stellar.

Zack Zero centers on the quest of Zack to rescue the love of his life, Marlene, from the clutches of the evil Zurlog. Zurlog has taken over the universe by kidnapping Marlene in an effort to trick Zack into creating a time paradox. This story is conveyed to the player via some less than inspired cartoonish stills complete with an overly dramatic voice over. It is obvious the game is attempting to emulate early sci-fi pulp adventures but it does not quite hit the mark. However, regardless of how mediocre the delivery of the story may come across, platformers live and die by their gameplay and Zack Zero is no different.

Much like the Little Big Planet series, Zack Zero is a 2D platformer that inhabits a 3D world. The 3D world is bright, colorful and quite pleasing to the eyes. Unlike Little Big Planet where everything in it operates on the same rule set, only Zack is forced to abide by the rules of 2D platforming in his world. This discrepancy has the effect of allowing for enemies to come from both the foreground and background . It can look cool but it also has the unkind effect of allowing enemies to attack Zack without recourse. This fact caused my Zack to die more than one untimely death, frustrating me quite a bit.

Even more frustrating than getting attacked with no genuine way to defend myself was the overall design of many of the boss and mini boss encounters. Taking a cue from retro platformer design, Zack Zero pits the player against bosses that attack with a simple pattern. Figuring out the pattern and navigating around it to score attacks is the base of all these encounters. Unfortunately, many of them happen in awkward locales that put Zack against attacks coming from off the screen or needing to jump with no room to do so. The final boss in particular was extremely frustrating with the boss’ rocket attacks coming from off screen.

Combat takes up a good portion of the game, and sadly a lot of the combat is less than stellar, but the combat does not define Zack Zero as a game. It is called a platformer for a reason and the best parts of the game revolve around Zack running, jumping, and figuring out puzzles. The platforming in Zack Zero is far from a perfect experience; I suffered from recurring input lag while timing jumps but the design is solid, and more importantly, quite fun for most of the game.

Zack is not your ordinary space ranger, he comes equipped with three different suit powers and, much to the game’s credit, these powers are available from the get go and they never get taken away. Use of each suit is tempered by a power gauge and can be easily selected on the controller’s directional pad. While each power does have a combat effect, they are mostly put to use in the environmental puzzles scattered throughout the world and the best puzzles effectively use all of Zack’s powers to solve.

Few games have ever had me swinging on either side of the fence quite like Zack Zero did. There are some truly great gaming moments in the game but they often overshadowed by its mediocre presentation and incredibly flawed design choices. Additionally, I ran in to a situation where the game hard froze my system, forcing me to uninstall the game from my PS3 and re-download and install it – twice. Because of these factors it is hard to recommend Zack Zero without a host of reservations. However for fans of platformers, that have finished with last year’s biggest and best releases, the game can offer a solid and fun, albeit frustrating at times, four to five hour diversion.

Pros

  • Visually vibrant game world
  • Solid platforming action

Cons

  • Combat is a major weak point
  • Narrative presentation leaves a lot to be desired
  • More than a few technical glitches

3 / 5

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Film Review: Contraband

By
Chris Scott
– January 29, 2012Posted in: Movie Reviews, Reviews

There are good movies, there are bad movies and then there are the entirely watchable but ultimately forgettable movies. Mark Wahlberg’s latest thriller, Contraband, sadly falls into the third camp.

Contraband is, at its core, a simple heist movie. Wahlberg plays Chris Farraday, a retired smuggler who is pulled back into the game when his brother-in-law runs afoul of a local drug runner after botching a job. Farraday’s plan to set things right is to smuggle large shipment of counterfeit currency out of Panama. He assembles his crew, a motley cast of characters that are given far too little screen time, and lays out his plan. Of course things of this nature never go quite as they are planned.

All of this would work if there was an ounce of tension in any of the scenes involving Farraday and his team but Contraband plays like a paint by numbers heist film. The situations Farraday finds himself in are so overly contrived that it kills any potential tension the film may have had.

Fortunately, the film does deliver some solid tension away from the heist itself. Farraday’s wife, played by Kate Beckinsale, and kids are stalked and terrorized by drug runner Tim Briggs (Giovanni Ribisi). This forces Farraday to call in his best friend Sebastian (Ben Foster) to watch over his family resulting in quite a few plot twists and tense scenes. The performances by Foster and Ribisi are the shining spots in the film, with Ribisi in particular delivering something that is borderline absurd but perfect for his role.

The biggest problem with Contraband is that as a heist film, it cheats the audience the satisfaction of seeing everything executed. Farraday’s plan changes in the last act but the audience is never filled in on the new plan and the final piece of the heist’s execution is completely glossed over. This is a standard trope of the genre but normally the film lets the viewer see the execution after the fact, this never takes place in Contraband, leaving audience to just accept it all which ultimately may leave some viewers unsatisfied.

Contraband is entirely enjoyable as a time waster but it is also not anything more than that. Like many new releases in January, the film is just a forgettable piece of cinema.

3/5

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