Ye Olde School

As the cost for developing graphically stunning titles increases, the modern gaming industry is beginning to resemble the movie biz more and more. Publishers don’t want to pour a lot of time and resources in a new idea only to see it tank, so formulas and franchises are the norm.

That’s where downloadable content comes in. Cheap to buy and cheap to make, the fair offered on both Xbox Arcade and the Playstation Store can be quirky and fun because it can afford to take a few risks.
Another plus is that such bite-sized stimulation doesn’t require the heavy time investment that say, delving deeply into Metal Gear Solid 4 does. You can get your video game fix and quickly be on your way, allowing for the development of a fully functioning social life and career.

With that preamble in mind, I highly suggest investing $10 bucks in the downloadable remake of the NES classic “Bionic Commando,” dubbed “Bionic Commando: Rearmed.”

The game combines both old and new elements into something refreshingly different. For once, there are no invading alien species hellbent on the destruction of mankind, i.e. “Gears of War,” “Halo,” Resistance” and practically any other shooter in recent memory. Instead, your task is a simple “rescue this dude, kill the bad dude.” The game throws in plenty of snarky dialogue and other interactions, though, to compensate for the lack of dramatic depth.

The gameplay mechanics offer the kind of challenge almost completely forgotten in today’s convenient age of constant checkpoints and endless lives. The game’s titular hero possesses a bionic arm that can grapple onto any metal object or platform. Traversing of the levels is accomplished by using this ability to swing, grab and lift yourself up and across the many obstacles.

The modern update adds a wickedly (and often brutally) refined swing mechanic, a host of upgrades and weapons, challenging level design and numerable boss fights. For those thirsty for even more, the game also throws in over 50 special challenge rooms, which present the player with a virtual obstacle course to navigate in just 30 seconds.

A warning for those easily frustrated: The difficulty level of this game can be absolutely insane at times, with each swing requiring exact timing and a limited amount of lives allotted for each level (Trust me, the challenge rooms will test even the most mild-mannered). But hey, that’s all just part of the old school charm.

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed First Impressions

For those that don’t know, the demo for Star Wars: The Force Unleashed went live last night on XBOX Live’s game download service. At this point, you need a gold account to access the demo currently, but for everyone else, wait about a week and you’ll be able to grab it.

I’m incredibly impressed with this game, moreso than I thought that I would be. In fact, it may be the most fun Star Wars third person game that I’ve ever played. Shadows of the Emipre was amazing, but it’s been over ten years. We’re overdue for a great third person Star Wars game. You take the role of The Apprentice (some may recognize him as one of the worst characters to play in Soul Calibur 4), Darth Vader’s secret pupil and you’re really not on anyone’s side here. Your mission is to seek out and destroy the Jedi and annihilate anyone (Rebel or Imperial) that stands in your way. This is where the fun begins.

While I won’t give away anything that happens plotwise in the demo, you start out with a whole lot of force powers. You’ve got Force Push (which can be charged to repel objects and bend locked doors so that you can enter), Force Lightning (which can be chained to your lightsaber so that it becomes infused with deadly blue sparks), and Force Jump (…it’s exactly what it sounds like. You jump really high.). The objective of the demo is to get to a Jedi, destroy him, and bring Daddy Darth his lightsaber. That means destroy anything that gets in your way.

You can pick up and destroy pretty much any object in the game. The way that you choose to dispatch your enemies is entirely up to you. You can take a lightsaber to their body, shock them with force lightning, throw an exploding barrel at them, or crush them with a TIE Fighter (Yes, you can pick up a TIE Fighter.). The possibilities are endless, and that may be what makes the demo so much fun. At the end of the demo, you don’t get to fight the Jedi, but you do get to go up against a full squadron of Stormtroopers and an AT-ST walker. You whittle down its health and at the very end, deliver a finishing blow by inputting the correct button commands.

If the demo is any indication, this game is going to be incredibly fun. I just hope that there are going to be other force powers and combos that can be dealt in-game. As fun as shooting force lighting at your enemies is, it starts to get old after a while.

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed releases in September.

The Status of Batman Games

I am excited to play next-gen Batman games. In fact, I’ve been excited to play most every next-gen Batman game since Batman: Vengeance for the Playstation 2….

However, every installment following Vengeance has been a terrible disappointment for me both as a gamer and as a comic book fan.

Batman games traditionally have not been top tier games, never scoring higher than a 7 in most reviews. To be fair, most of Batman’s comic book compatriots have received much worse treatment than the Caped Crusader himself, (Remember Superman 64? [Shudders]) but Batman’s transition to the video game world has never been as smooth as fans would have liked. Bats has gone through several next-gen developers in his life on console, many of which have been criticized for their repetitive nature, or bad AI, or awful storyline…

Despite these previous setbacks, Batman has a chance to gain glory through video games in two upcoming titles: Lego Batman and Batman: Arkham Asylum.

The Lego series has already shown its appeal in a formula that has been proven time and time again to be a veritable gold mine for Traveler’s Tales come its release in September. After four LucasArts games, Warner Brothers has jumped on the bandwagon for a Lego Batman adaption. I have no doubt that the gameplay will be just as compelling and innovative as the other installments in the Lego franchise, but what I am most interested to see is the storyline. Previous Lego games have taken a previously constructed story, like Star Wars or Indiana Jones, and adapted it. Lego Batman is supposed to have an original story, so it may be time to see if a Lego game on a popular franchise can stack up to other titles with an original story.

Batman: Arkham Asylum was just announced for Playstation 3 and XBOX 360, and I have to admit that I’m skeptical. Rocksteady Studios, the developer of the title, have only published a Playstation 2 game called Urban Chaos. While the title got higher reviews than most Batman games, it still lays in the mediocre range of a 6 to 8 score. At the very least, the story has a great chance of being excellent due to Detective Comics’ Paul Dini being involved in the scripting. However, a great (even excellent) story cannot mitigate mediocre gameplay in a title, and Arkham Asylum needs to bring their A-Game for Batman’s first real solo outing on current generation consoles. Don’t get me wrong, I’m excited to play it, especially since Dini will be writing the story, but with the track record that Batman’s had in video games, it’s hard to get as excited for the game when we know next to nothing about it.

Hopefully, Arkham Asylum will be the game that fans have been waiting for. Otherwise, fans are probably going to be disappointed for another generation of consoles before another developer takes a crack at making a good Batman game.

Notes from the Field

Sorry, dear readers, for my extended absence here on the blog, but my Korean teaching gig has been demanding of late. It’s vacation season here, and I’ve been filling in for a couple of instructors who took a holiday (and taking a trip or two of my own). Since I’m on the subject of my erstwhile home, I thought I would dispel some myths and reinforce some stereotypes about the gaming culture here in Korealand.

The image on everybody’s mind when South Korea comes up is a legion “Starcraft”-obsessed pros who can Zerg rush you in no less than five separate ways. While it is true that there is a television channel which broadcasts professional S’craft matches 24-7 (complete with over-enthusiastic announcers), its place in Korean culture is hardly monolithic.

Among the younger set, the game de jour is the “free” online MMORPG “Maple Story.” Its popularity is due to the fact that most Koreans play PC Games (no one here plays video games) away from the comfort of their own home. Instead, in an effort to escape the watchful eye of strict mothers, they congregate at the ubiquitous PC Rooms that occupy most Korean buildings. The owners of these businesses are cheap bastards, so they don’t splurge on the computing equipment. Therefore, 10-year-old games like “Starcraft” and simple downloadable affairs such as “Maple Story” feature prominently. In addition, the friendly and colorful design lures them in.

Among teenagers, there might be one game that actually surpasses “Starcraft” in popularity. The game pops on the PC Game channel every once in a while and, from what I can tell, seems to be a cheap-looking “Counterstrike” ripoff. Called “Sudden Attack,” the mere mention of it can sometimes cause students to start reeling off a list of the game’s available weapons (”AK-47, M16, Sniper!”), which is kinda disturbing when it’s coming from a sixth grader. If you ever meet any young Koreans, mention “Sudden Attack” and I guarantee it will earn you instant credibility.

In closing, I’d like to come to the defense of the Koreans. While it is true they like to play computer games, there simply isn’t much time available between the 10-12 hours of school they attend six days a week. The average U.S. teen easily matches their fervor. Just check out the Youtube video of the guy getting a 100 percent on “Through the Fire and the Flame” or all those damn-near impossible achievements for Xbox 360 games. It’s clear, we love to waste our time in front of the screen, too.

-Frank

WiiWare and Virtual Console Releases - 8/11/08

This week, we’ve got a real treasure coming to WiiWare. Telltale Games has finally released Strong Bad’s Cool Game For Attractive People (or SBCG4AP if you’re web-savvy) for Nintendo’s download service. Here is the full list of releases for this week!

WiiWare
Strong Bad Episode 1: Homestar Ruiner (Telltale Games, 1 player, 1,000 Wii Points): Strong Bad and Homestar Runner come to the third dimension! A point and click adventure from the makers of Sam and Max, this game is sure to provide laughs and puzzles galore.

Virtual Console
Break In (TurboGrafx16, 1-4 players, 700 Wii Points): A billiards game with many different modes of play, it’s really the only way to experience pool on the TurboGrafx16.

Star Parodier (TurboGrafx16 CD-ROM, 1 player, 900 Wii Points): A parody of the classic Hudson game Star Soldier, Star Parodier (See what they did there?) provides much of the same great gameplay found in Star Soldier with a humorous twist.

Ghostbusters to be published!

This just in! Ghostbusters will be published, confirmed by Mark Randel of Terminal Reality. While he couldn’t give a tentative release date, he did indeed confirm that Ghostbusters is not on the chopping block!

Myst DS Giveaway!

Hey there, Slash Played readers! August is a slow game month this year, so we’ve got copies of Myst DS that are going straight into the hands of three lucky Wizard Universe readers! All you have to do is answer this question:

Which video game world would you build a vacation home in and why?

Send your answers to slashplayedblog [at] gmail [dot] com. The top three winners will receive a free copy of Myst DS and will be featured here on the ‘blog.

Good luck!

WiiWare and Virtual Console Releases - 8/04/08

Hey SlashPlayed readers! It’s Virtual Console Monday, which means there are whole new ways to spend Wii Points on WiiWare and Virtual Console games. Here are this week’s releases:

WiiWare
West Wild Guns (Gameloft, 1-2 players, 1,000 Wii Points): An arcade style shooting game set in the old West where you point and shoot to earn points.

Virtual Console
Splatterhouse 2 (Sega Genesis, 1 player, 800 Wii Points): The sequel to Splatterhouse, apparently this one takes place a few months after the main character Rick’s escape from the first evil mansion. The sidescroller’s concept is that he need to save the girl from certain doom.

Sonic the Hedgehog (Sega Master System, 1 player, 500): Simply a remake of the Sega Genesis original with a couple new bosses and extra zones thrown in for good measure.