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Posts Tagged Game Review

GemCraft Is Evil

Dec 30

Posted by Matt Wigdahl in Computer, Games, Reviews, Websites | 2 Comments

All “tower defense” games are evil, compulsive time-suckers, but some are more evil than others.  My entire extended family has become addicted to PopCap’s Plants vs. Zombies, which is quite possibly the most perfectly-refined TD game in existence.

I’ve had brief relationships with several other TDs in the past, from Desktop Tower Defense to several space-themed variants.  The latest one I stumbled across is the nefarious GemCraft Chapter 0.  (I provide these links solely for educational value, of course).  I don’t know if its mechanics are a touch too subtle for me, or if its upper levels are fiendishly calculated to lie right on the razor’s edge of possible solvability, but I have very seldom been so frustrated by a computer game.  I can get through 18 or 19 of 20 levels, only to fail on the last one.  Replay after replay gets me a bit closer, Zeno’s Paradox style, but I’m walking away now.  It’s not worth the frustration, or the waste of precious free time.

Be warned.

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Game Review: Jade Empire

Dec 16

Posted by Matt Wigdahl in Computer, Games, Reviews | 3 Comments

Jade Empire, Bioware

4.5/5 stars

aa1_jade_empire[1]

Before Jonathan, before IFComp 2009 (how many years ago was that, anyway?), I was playing Jade Empire.  I’d gotten about halfway through it by the time I got sidetracked with interactive fiction development, and then really sidetracked by Jonathan.  Even after recovering a bit from that, I was reluctant to pick Jade Empire back up, as I’d forgotten some of the combat mechanics and didn’t really relish trying to come back up to speed and figure out where exactly I’d left off.

Finally, though, I did.  A half-hour here, an hour there, and I finally completed it last night.  It’s definitely in the top echelon of Bioware games, which are all consistently excellent.  I thought the writing was quite good, the plot was interesting, and the combat mechanics integrated very well with the mood of the game and the more conversational aspects of gameplay.

Like many Bioware games, Jade Empire gives you a choice of morality.  Unlike most Bioware games, however, the choice in Jade Empire is not along stark good/evil lines.  Instead you gravitate between the Way of the Open Palm — an altruistic, communalistic, almost paternalistic ethic — and the Way of the Closed Fist, which is a more individualist, borderline-Nietzschean philosophy (“solve your problems yourself, or you don’t deserve to live”).  This gives the moral choices a bit more subtlety and interest than the usual “give money to the poor child or cut her throat” options that are found in some of Bioware’s other titles.

Combat uses three resources — health, chi, and focus, and all of these are emphasized in different ways depending on what style of combat you favor.  If you use standard martial arts, you are limited in range, but don’t inherently deplete chi or focus to fight.  If you use weapons, your focus drains as you fight, and if you use magic or transformation styles, your chi depletes.  On top of these basic mechanics, you have several different types of martial arts, different weapon styles, and different schools of magic and transformations, and you can choose to amp up your damage by spending extra chi, or slow down your opponents by spending focus.  The end result is a very option-rich combat model that is very adaptable to the way you want to play.

The plot follows a Hero’s Journey-type structure.  You’ve been trained in combat at the beginning of the game, and then discover that you have a Mysterious Past™ that gives you a Great Destiny™.  You are forced out of the nest, meet companions, learn more about yourself as you gain strength, and then learn the full extent of what’s been going on for the last twenty years.

The way these revelations are handled in the context of the player’s progression, however, is what makes this game such a high quality experience.  You’re given enough information to make successively wrong conclusions at several points throughout the game, and the twist at the end is pretty unexpected.  Also, by the time you’ve figured everything out, the game linearizes a bit.  I think this was a great choice; you already know what to do, and at that point it’s just a question of doing it.  Putting in a big exploration section near the end would have compromised the flow of the game — and taken me extra weeks to finish it.

Also, your companions are pretty fully-realized, with distinctive personalities and goals of their own, which helps immersion.  There are romance plots available, and while some of the dialogue seems a bit forced, they’re doing romance better at Bioware these days than they did back in the era of Baldur’s Gate 2 and Neverwinter Nights.

One great aspect to the game is the inclusion of several homages to the great Barry Hughart, author of the Master Li and Number Ten Ox series of novels.  I greatly enjoy these books, and was very excited every time a reference (and there were many) came up.  If you enjoy the game, you’ll definitely enjoy the books — they’re some of the best fantasy writing I’ve ever encountered.

All in all, Jade Empire is definitely in my top 5 Bioware and Bioware-derived games.  It doesn’t quite equal the Planescape: Torment or Baldur’s Gate 2 experiences, but it’s right at the level of other top titles like Knights of the Old Republic (the first one) and Mass Effect.  I recommend it to all who enjoy Bioware titles or fantasy with an oriental flavor.  You won’t be disappointed.

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Game Review — Batman: Arkham Asylum

Nov 20

Posted by Matt Wigdahl in Computer, Games, Reviews | No Comments

batman_begins[1]Batman:  Arkham Asylum — Rocksteady Games

Rating:  4.5/5

I’ve played a lot of FPS-type games (including tight over-the-shoulder 3rd person games) over the years, starting with the original Doom.  It’s not my favorite genre — I tend more towards role-playing games, interactive fiction, and turn-based strategy.  It takes quite a bit for an FPS to impress me these days, but Batman:  Arkham Asylum has what it takes.

The premise is fairly simple.  You’ve just captured the Joker and are carting him into Arkham Asylum for the usual ineffective treatment.  Unbeknownst to you, however, the Joker has already salted Arkham with inmates that are actually his goons from a nearby prison, and has a plan in motion to bust out and take over the island.

You, as Batman, must stop him.

The game gives you a very impressive range of gadgets with which to play.  From the Batarang and Batgrapple to the late-game Batline and Batclaw, you always have tools to support what you want to accomplish.  These gadgets support not only different movement options, but also give you great tactical flexibility in combat.  Explosive gel can be used to set traps for enemies or blow open thin walls.  A cryptographic analyzer can short out security nodes and allow access to otherwise-inaccessible areas.  The Batclaw can disarm enemies and pull them toward you, and the Batarang can knock them out.  You can fly with the Batcape, as well as stun enemies with it.  And, of course, you can beat the crud out of enemies with the good old Batfist.

Speaking of combat, the game does an excellent job of hybridizing the “shooter” and “sneaker” genres.  Batman can simply wade in, fists flying, and take out almost unlimited numbers of unarmed goons.  However, armed enemies give Batman more trouble, and for these he is often better off swinging between gargoyles up in the rafters, maneuvering behind the guards in order to take them down silently, in gameplay that’s like an amped-up version of Thief.

Another facet of gameplay leverages Batman’s legendary detective skills.  You can enter “detective mode” at any point, which highlights objects you can interact with, lets you see through walls, and distinguishes between armed and unarmed enemies.  In detective mode you can also use environmental analysis, which allows you to detect, say, a trail of Harley Quinn’s fingerprints or trace levels of alcohol breathed into the air by a treacherous guard.  My only real complaint about detective mode is that it was so useful that I spent the whole game using it, which means that I didn’t see enough of the beautiful environs of Arkham.  If they do a sequel, I’d suggest integrating detective mode more with the natural view of the environment.

Of course, no Batman game would be complete without a selection of big-name enemies for Batman to fight.  This game’s big baddie is the Joker, supported by a host of classic Batman villains including Bane, Szasz, Killer Croc, Harley Quinn, the Sandman, and Poison Ivy.  The Riddler also makes a cameo, having littered the grounds of Arkham with secrets for Batman to find.

These supercriminals usually fall into one of two categories — big bruisers that Batman has to defeat using superior agility and tactics, or more traditional “bosses” that must be defeated in a particular, scripted scenario.  Both these types of fight are done well, although the “Batarang-and-dodge-the-charging-brute” tactic tends to get old by the end of the game.

The environments are very well-rendered, and most areas are visited more than once, since the additional mobility options you get later in the game serve to open up areas you couldn’t get to on the first run-through.  The result is a game that feels open while it subtly guides you, and where you get to learn the lay of the land early on so you can use it to your advantage in the endgame.

I was a bit let down by the final battle, particularly after the high bar set by the rest of the game.  But really, this is a very good title if you are a fan of Batman or like tactical or sneaky combat games.  I’d have no qualms recommending it.

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