Who wins in a fist fight between Final Fantasy legends?
TOKYO--It's been a little over a year since Square Enix announced its all-star game featuring the heroes and villains of the Final Fantasy universe. While we've only seem CG trailers and very few in-game scenes up until now, we were finally able to get our hands on the game at Square Enix's DK Sigma 3713 Event.
To recap what's known so far, Dissidia is an all-star brawl game where you get to fight one-on-one with characters from the Final Fantasy series. The character designs are by Tetsuya Nomura who's been working on the series since FFVII, but the game includes many older characters starting from the first installment back in 1987. Though the complete roster hasn't been announced yet, it seems so far that the developers are releasing characters from almost every game. Here's a quick list of all the characters we could confirm at Square Enix's event:
FFI: Warrior of Light, Garland
FFII: Firion, The Emperor
FFIII: Onion Knight, Cloud of Darkness
FFVI: Kefka
FFVII: Cloud, Sephiroth
FFVIII: Squall, Ultimecia
FFIX: Zidane, Kuja
FFX: Tidus, Jecht
With Final Fantasy being Square Enix's most famous franchise, the developers are obviously paying a lot of attention to giving an authentic feel to the characters. In the new trailer, Squall and Sephiroth were quite calm even in battle, whereas Tidus seemed pretty heated up when he met his father Jecht for battle. Kefka was shown for the first time, and he's kept his infamous twisted personality from FFVI. While the Cloud of Darkness preferred to kill off her adversaries on the spot, Kefka stopped her so he could have "fun" with them.
The demo that we played allowed us to pick from four characters: Warrior of Light, Tidus, Onion Knight, and Garland. As you'd expect, each of them fights in different styles. For instance, Tidus from FFX is a well-rounded fighter who uses his sword and also fights with blitzballs; in fact, one of his moves is the Jecht shot. Garland, an armored antagonist from FFI, is bigger and more of a heavy-weighted fighter who's slow but powerful. The Onion Knight from FFIII may look dinky compared to the other fighters, but looks can be deceiving. Aside of being able to use magic, his sword attack hits multiple times in a brief second, very much like it did in FFIII. The game only uses two buttons for attacking, which we'll explain later, but you can perform different kinds of attacks by holding onto a direction when you press an attack button. The attacks also change depending on whether you're in the air or on the ground. We're told that you can gain new moves as you progress through the game and power up.
As is usual for a Square Enix game, you can grow your characters and make them stronger. Though the details weren't explained at today's sessions, we did see that our character would level up after battles and also gain ability points. We also saw that we earned a knife after beating one of the characters with Tidus, though we couldn't confirm if it was actually an equitable item because the menus were disabled.
Dissidia is essentially a head-to-head fighting game, but it's quite different from the traditional type, such as Tekken or Virtua Fighter. A better comparison would be Capcom's Power Stone; especially the way that you're constantly moving around in a 3D battlefield. However, the map is bigger and the characters are much more versatile when it comes to moving around. In fact, the way that you can float while in midair melee combat or run on walls and perform extremely high jumps or air dashes, feels like you're controlling the superhuman-like Cloud from the FFVII:AC movie.
Dissidia's battle system is pretty simple, albeit a bit unique. Each player has a life bar, and there's a number displayed on top of the bar called brave points that signify the player's attacking power. Similar to most fighting games, you win when you deplete all of your opponent's life. There are two buttons you can use for attacking, and they're both essential for winning. The square button (called the HP attack) does damage to your opponent's life and is based on your number of brave points. The circle button (called the subattack) does damage to your opponent's brave points and allows you to acquire your opponent's points.
The key to winning in Dissidia is to keep hitting your opponent with the circle button because that'll power you up and make your opponent's attacks weaker at the same time. What's more, there's a big bonus if you happen to drain all of your opponent's brave points. The game goes into "brave break" time, which is where your opponent's brave points don't recover for a short while. During the brave break, you get a massive bonus of additional brave points, which allows you to strike your opponent with a powerful hit.
When we played the demo, we were constantly trading brave points with our opponent in a seesaw fashion using the circle button. Once we got the upper hand, we'd attack with the square button to inflict damage. The battle was basically a repeat of that process because your brave points reset to default once you get a clean hit on your opponent with the square button (you don't lose any if you miss). However, the game is more than just simple button smashing. Some moves require precise timing to pull off, and you also have a number of methods to dodge them, such as guarding or quick evade.
Attacking your opponent also raises a meter on the side of the life bar called the EX gauge. While the EX gauge only builds up gradually when you attack, it can be accumulated faster by collecting items called the EX force, or even better, a huge item called the EX core that sometimes appears onscreen. When the EX gauge maxes, you can go into EX mode by pressing the R and square button together, which will make you more powerful. With the Onion Warrior, for instance, you can turn into a ninja, which powers up your sword attacks, or a sage, which makes your magic attacks more powerful. In the case of Garland, he'll become tougher and won't get knocked back by attacks while he's transformed.
What's more, if you make a clean hit with the square button while in EX mode, you can follow up with another move called the EX burst by pressing the square button again. The camera zooms in on your character, and you can execute a devastating special attack. In the case of Tidus (who didn't seem to change his looks during his transformation), his EX burst was an overdrive attack from FFX. Similar to FFX, the camera zoomed in on him and a timing meter was displayed onscreen, requiring a precise button input to have the move succeed.
The demo only featured about two stages, but we saw that they're going to be themed after the FF titles. One was a beautiful crystal-like plane with streaks of light flowing all around, which was somewhat reminiscent of the crystal rooms in FFIII. The streaks of light could be used for gliding from one area of the map to another. Another stage was based on the last area of FFX and featured a lava pit with rocky platforms. Given how easy it is to avoid falling because you can double-jump and run on walls, the lava pits felt more like an aesthetic than a penalty zone. But if you fell, you'd be brought back to safety in Final Fantasy style: Warp (Dejon) magic.
Dissidia: Final Fantasy already seemed pretty solid in its current state. The graphics were top-notch as you'd expect from Square Enix and up to par with Crisis Core or perhaps even better. The game is slated for release in December in Japan, so it won't be long before we can get our hands on the final product. Square Enix has also announced that there's going to be a PSP bundle for the game. Square Enix is also collaborating with beverage maker Suntory to release another lineup of Final Fantasy potions for Dissidia.
By Hirohiko Niizumi, GameSpot
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Dissidia: Final Fantasy Hands-On
Dragon Ball Z: Infinite World Review
DBZ: Infinite World fails to live up to the standard set by previous DBZ games on the PS2.
A smattering of minigames allow you to experience cherished scenes from the anime such as guiding Goku along Snake Way, capturing Bubbles the monkey, and other memorable moments that don't involve outright combat. Unfortunately, these side minigames are poorly designed and overly simplistic. The mission on Snake Way, for instance, has you running along the winding path moving from checkpoint to checkpoint. Another minigame has you training Goku in your space capsule by hitting a series of button combinations. It may be nice fan service, but these minigames really only serve to bring the combat to a grinding halt without being entertaining enough to justify the interruption.
Dragon Duel is the two-player versus mode in Infinite World. You can fight a friend or computer opponent with any of the game's more than 40 warriors. You have the option of playing as any of the fighters, either without their more powerful skills and attacks or with customized power-ups you can purchase from the Warrior's Room shop. Fighter's Road is a secret mode you can unlock after playing Dragon Mission, pitting you against more than 100 opponents across four maps. It's similar to Dragon Mission mode in that you guide a character from fight to fight on an overworld map, but it also provides you with an opportunity to unlock new warriors and earn more Zeni.
Those compliments aside, there are a few issues with the battle system. The AI is exceedingly difficult, even at the "Easy" and "Very Easy" difficulty settings. The computer opponents are just as fast and bloodthirsty, no matter what difficulty setting the game is set at. The only differences between easy and hard are how quickly your health depletes, how long it takes to recharge your Ki, and how long you stay fatigued. Still, you will have many fights that challenge your patience and tempt you to chuck your Dual Shock at a nearby wall.
Battles become more manageable when you buy advanced skills and abilities from the Warrior's Room. For each battle in the game--even those that you lose--you will earn Zeni that can be used to buy stronger Ki attacks, items such as Senzu beans that recharge your health in battle, and attributes like Fighter's Body that increase your base health. The system works fine, as long as you edit your character before going into battle and assign those acquired abilities to your few allotted slots.
The problem comes in knowing how to do this and in what abilities to purchase. At one point, Infinite World alerts you that you can purchase things from the Warrior's Room, but it provides no tutorial explaining how the system works or how the abilities benefit you. The Warrior's Room is also located on the main menu, forcing you to leave Dragon Mission mode in order to use the Zeni you earn. At first glance, you wouldn't think the two are so dependent on each other; but when your opponents in Dragon Mission suddenly possess twice as much health and strength the Warrior's Room becomes invaluable.
Infinite World looks as good as any other DBZ game on the PS2. The overworld map is a bit bland, as is the level design in the minigames that are scattered through Dragon Mission. In that battles themselves, though, the colors of the characters, transformations, and Ki blasts are lush and vibrant. The soundtrack is a bit ordinary, but you can choose between the English and Japanese voice tracks that DBZ purists will surely appreciate.
While its budget price may make Infinite World a tempting purchase, previous DBZ games on the PS2 have tread this ground already, and have done so with much more robust fighting systems. You would be better off revisiting Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 3, a superior game where the series' fast-paced combat was used to much better effect.
WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2009 Review
SmackDown vs. Raw 2009 successfully returns to the fundamentals of intense, realistic WWE action and impressive, easy-to-use creation tools.
The other single-player mode, Road to Wrestlemania, features six unique story arcs that let you play as various WWE superstars (including The Undertaker and Triple H) and defeat numerous foes (and a few nemeses) on your quest for Wrestlemania glory. Matches are interspersed with story scenes packed with typical WWE action, so fans of outrageous melodrama will be pleased. In keeping with traditional SmackDown vs. RAW strengths, the superstar models and entrances are impressive, but these stand in stark contrast to the crowds that, though fine from a distance, look like Nintendo 64 rejects up close. Character animations are quite good, though they are prone to clipping and still lack fluidity when maneuvering around the ring. The audio remains a weak point, dampening the hard-hitting action, and though the dismal announcers from years past have been improved quite a bit, the sound design is still in need of an upgrade.
Despite how it may sound, the action is indeed hard-hitting. Flicking the remote executes punches, kicks, and the like, and doing so while holding A will trigger a simple grapple. Holding B and flicking the remote results in a strong grapple, one that requires you to move the remote when prompted to fully execute the move. Usually this can be accomplished by merely flailing the remote briefly (or sometimes doing nothing at all), but if you're more technically inclined, you can follow the onscreen prompts to do specific moves. These prompts also crop up when you perform a signature or finishing move. The camera adjusts to a cinematic angle and the action slows down as you grab, punch, elbow, kick, or slam your opponent by swinging the remote. Giving your foe Triple H's Pedigree is so much more satisfying when you can swing the remote up to lift him or her into the air, and then swing it down to send him or her crashing to the floor. The motion-sensitive controls also generate some extra excitement during character entrances, which are now interactive and let you throw up your arms in triumph or gesture to the crowd. There is still some imprecision to deal with, especially during uninterruptible animations, but overall the control scheme feels much improved and the motion controls spice things up nicely.
In addition to the Career and Road to Wrestlemania modes, the competent AI and unique wrestler abilities make playing single-player much more appealing in SmackDown vs. Raw 2009. No longer content to stand around drooling, computer opponents will actively attack you, tag their partners (you included), and use environmental elements reasonably well. Though the Road to Wrestlemania and early stages of the Career mode will seem easy to experienced players, it won't feel like you're playing against brainless apes. There are also new, unique wrestler abilities that existing superstars have and created superstars can earn. The effects range from attribute boosts (the ability to remove the belt in a ladder match more quickly) to enhanced abilities (the ability to regenerate a small amount of health). Although these abilities aren't particularly powerful, they can come in handy during tight matches.
You might not have tight matches against the computer, but you are sure to find tough competition online. You can use SmackDown, Raw, ECW, or created superstars as you face off against friends or strangers in any of the match types that support one to four players. (Six-man matches and Royal Rumbles are available locally only.) Against tougher players, any miscues due to bad position or odd animation are likely to cost you dearly, and once your opponent has you on the ropes, you'll be hard-pressed to reverse your way out of them. You'll also find yourself frantically spinning the analog stick a lot; it's the ill-conceived and thumb-fatiguing way to make you recover quickly. Impressively, the matches are generally lag-free, though you might have trouble filling a four-man match during odd hours.
WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2009 benefits greatly by increasing its scope. You can now participate in almost any type of match your heart desires, and even pull a wider variety of weapons from under the mat. The new single-player modes offer hours of entertainment, and online play further extends replayability. The tweaked motion controls add an extra bit of excitement to the proceedings, and though some elements still need improvement, SmackDown vs. Raw 2009 is ultimately successful because it embraces the dramatic fights and outrageous showmanship that are the heart and soul of the WWE.
Call of Duty: World at War Review
Impressive controls, exciting multiplayer, and a dramatic campaign make Call of Duty: World at War a great success.
After getting passed over by 2007's stellar Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Wii owners get their first shot at the revitalized series with Call of Duty: World at War. Though World at War treads the familiar ground of World War II, the detailed, realistic locations and dramatic story elements make this trip to the past feel fresh. The remote and Nunchuk perform admirably in combat, despite a few missteps, and the well-tuned weapons make firefights intense and satisfying. Add in the engaging multiplayer system that made Modern Warfare a smash hit, and you've got one of the best shooters available for the Wii.
There are a number of great components in Call of Duty: World at War, but none of them would work without the fully capable control scheme. You move with the analog stick and aim by pointing the remote. As a handy aid to newcomers and veterans alike, there are plenty of options to tweak various sensitivities and movement speeds. In the default control scheme, you pull the B trigger to fire and use the Z button to look down your sights, which is a crucially important ability, especially in multiplayer. The C button toggles your stance, and the A button lets you sprint or, when stationary or strafing, lock the camera for steadier aiming. There are a number of slightly tweaked alternate control schemes, including a Wii Zapper mode that, if you can endure the frequent twisting it requires, is actually pretty fun.
The default controls feel balanced and well-mapped, but there are a few hang-ups. The fast and deadly melee attack is performed by shaking the Wii Remote or hitting down on the D pad. Unfortunately, shaking will shift your aim abruptly, often causing you to miss your target. The D pad is the better option, but melee attacks will still tend to go astray more often than they should. The D pad is also used for switching weapons, so resting your thumb in the A-button/D-pad area is generally advisable. Unfortunately, grenades are mapped to the + button, and shifting your thumb halfway down the remote can be awkward. It's a minor inconvenience, though, and all things considered, World at War's control scheme is well-suited for the rigors of war.
In the campaign, you split time between two soldiers in two offensive theaters: the Russian push out of their homeland and into the heart of Germany, and the American struggle to wrest Pacific islands from the Japanese. Though you'll alternate between them every few levels, the campaign feels like one solid progression thanks to the adept pacing. Each soldier's journey begins at a low point. Weaponless and surrounded by the enemy, you get a taste of the despair that many soldiers are never rescued from. Though the emotional tone eventually rises toward triumph, you never quite forget the fate you nearly met. The first few levels are a hard scrabble as you and your fellow soldiers try to gain a foothold for your country, whereas later levels are suffused with a sense of hard-won momentum as you fight bigger battles and push closer to your enemies' capitals. On your journey, you'll traverse a number of diverse, well-detailed environments that set an impressive and immersive backdrop for the action.
Throughout each level, you are accompanied by a superior officer who sets the emotional tone through well-acted dialogue. The vengeful, spitfire Russian pumps up your adrenaline to intoxicating levels, whereas the grim, determined American provides a sobering influence. This grim sobriety is further enforced by the actual WII videos, photos, and statistics presented in stylish interchapter cutscenes. The message is, by nature, a conflicted one: Though you may feel like an action hero, you are actually participating in the most horrid of human endeavors. How you ultimately feel about this message will depend on your personal disposition, but suffice it to say that the elevated emotional timbre makes for an exciting campaign.
Also exciting? Bayonets and flamethrowers, the two standout weapons in World at War. You wield both in the American campaign, using them to enthusiastically dispatch enemies in trenches and fend off the aggressive banzai raiders. These raiders snipe from the treetops, or pop out of holes and charge you with merciless determination, and this aggression makes the American campaign feel uniquely tense. The Russian campaign is slightly more predictable, but it remains vigorous throughout and ends in a spectacularly satisfying way. Though you'll spend a good amount of time hiding behind cover and picking off enemies, you'll find it somewhat tricky to snipe far-off foes. You may have the patience to become an ace sniper, or you may resort to bold charges shielded by smoke grenades; either way, the campaign is so exciting and well-paced that you're bound to have a blast.
Playing with other folks is a blast as well, and Call of Duty: World at War offers two ways to do this. The first is to play the campaign in cooperative mode. Instead of splitting the screen for two players, World at War relegates the second player to piggyback status. The first player does everything he or she would normally do: move, crouch, aim, shoot, throw grenades, melee attack, and so on. The second player is merely a second target reticle: He or she can shoot, reload, and switch between two guns, but can't control camera or movement. This offers a fun, casual way for a friend to join in the action (with the ability to drop in or out at any time), but it can be a bit disorienting to have your view controlled by someone else.
The other option is to take your skills online and dive into World at War's excellent and engaging multiplayer system. The hook here is experience points, which you gain by winning matches or completing one of the many in-game challenges (such as getting a certain amount of headshots with a certain weapon). As you earn these points, you'll rank up and earn access to new weapons, new accessories (such as sights and suppressors), and new perks. Perks are special abilities that grant you a wide variety of bonuses, but you can choose only three. This introduces an engaging element of customization: Will you choose to toughen up by increasing your health and bullet damage, or will you go the stealth route and increase your sprint speed while becoming invisible to enemy recon planes? Perks are well balanced, and you have multiple save slots that enable you to easily switch between your various pretweaked loadouts and fully take advantage of this deep, engaging system. There are eight maps, but only two game types: Free for All and Team Deathmatch. There are different lobbies based on player skill, and you can travel around from game to game in a party if you exchange friend codes with another player. Matches are fast-paced and rarely hindered by lag, and despite the limited mode options, this is one of the best online multiplayer experiences available to Wii owners.
All told, Call of Duty: World at War is a great first-person shooter and undoubtedly among the best that the Wii has to offer. The controls are smooth, responsive, and immersive, despite a few sundry hang-ups. The lengthy campaign is dramatic and exciting, and it's fun to replay levels with a friend along for the ride. The icing on the cake, the online multiplayer, is a great success despite its somewhat limited scope. So if you're looking for a reason to try a first-person shooter on the Wii, or you're a veteran remote-wielder looking for a new battlefield, look no further than Call of Duty: World at War.
By Chris Watters, GameSpot
Ghostbusters: The Video Game Updated Hands-On
We came, we saw, we played a new level of Atari's new ghostbusting adventure.
Spengler. Stantz. Zeddemore. Venkman. And you. Welcome to your new job as the fifth Ghostbuster in Atari's upcoming video game adaption of the hit '80s movie series, Ghostbusters: The Video Game. The publisher, who acquired publishing rights to the game after it was sold off by Activision, showed off the latest build of the game at a recent press event. It was the first time we'd seen the game since E3, and, based on our time with the game, it seems like developers at Terminal Reality (and Red Fly Studio, which is handling the Wii version) have been keeping their heads down and focused on the ghosts, despite the game's publishing turmoil.
Unofficially billed by producers as the "third Ghostbusters movie," Ghostbusters: The Video Game is set two years after Ghostbusters II and finds the four original Ghostbusters in pretty good standing with New York City and its citizens. However, because catching ghosts isn't cheap, the city government decides to bring in some oversight to the 'busters operation in the form of Walter Peck, the quartet's bureaucratic nemesis in the original movie. Peck will be in charge of Ghostbusters oversight, constantly keeping the heroes aware of the ever-increasing costs of doing their particular form of business.
Atari was showing off both the 360 and Wii versions of Ghostbusters, and each version of the game featured a slightly different take on the same level. In the level, the Ghostbusters are in the familiar setting of the New York Public Library, investigating the elderly paranormal librarian (who happens to be the first ghost encountered in the original movie). Just as in the movie, it's only a matter of time before the ghost's calm demeanor turns ugly in a big way.
Before the librarian blew her top, however, we got chance to check out the basics of gameplay and combat. Ghostbusters is a third-person action game, with a camera that sits just over the shoulder of your character, giving you a view not just of the action happening in front of you, but also your proton pack, the nuclear-powered high-tech gizmo that serves as your weapons arsenal. As in the movies, the proton pack is used to fire a stream of energy with which you can wrangle rogue ghosts into a trap. The proton pack in the games is more flexible than the one used in the film, and you'll be able to upgrade your pack as you make your way through the game. These different weapon types include a stasis stream that you can use to freeze a ghost, or a shock blast you can use to defeat them. Your proton pack will also clue you in to your character's remaining health and other vital information.
You'll need to make full use of the proton pack in Ghostbusters because in addition to trapping ghosts, you'll also be fighting enemies as you make your way through the levels. As we made our way through the library level, we fought several spirits that took on physical presence by forming makeshift bodies with the many books scattered on shelves; a quick blast of the proton pack was all it took to bring them down.
Destroying ghosts is fun but your main goal in the game will be trapping certain spirits that are causing trouble. In the both the 360/PS3 and the Wii version, you'll first need to capture your ghost in the stream emanating from your proton pack. You can also stun the ghosts once they're caught by slamming them to the ground. The mechanics for trapping ghosts differes depending on the version you're playing. In the 360/PS3 game, you'll use a combination of the analog sticks and the triggers; over on the Wii, things get a bit more complicated. Aiming the stream is as simple as pointing your Wii Remote--but once a ghost is caught, an arrow will appear on either side of the aiming reticule, indicating which way you need to move the remote to wrangle your ghostly target. It took us several tries to get it right, and while it might get easier with practice, we wouldn't mind if the developer went back and re-examined this aspect of the controls.
Controls are the big differentiator between the 360/PS3 versions of Ghostbusters and the Wii game, but it isn't the only difference. Unlike the 360/PS3 game, which is going for an exaggerated realism, the Wii version has a more cartoonish presentation, with stylized characters and slightly less menacing-looking monsters. Even though both games cover largely the same territory in terms of levels and dialogue, the Wii game is obviously being aimed at a younger crowd. Both versions will also feature the impressive damage effects, where seemingly every wall, column, or piece of furniture you blast with your proton pack will suffer accordingly.
With full involvement from the original cast members Dan Akroyd (The Blues Brothers, Earth vs. the Spider), Bill Murray Lost in Translation, Garfield: The Movie, Ernie Hudson (Oz, Best of the Best: Without Warning), and Harold Ramis (Stripes, Orange County), there's little doubt that this game has the Ghostbusters cred. What remains to be seen is if the game makes busting ghosts as much fun as it seemed in the original movies. We'll know when the game makes its release in 2009, likely just in time to coincide with the 25th anniversary of the original movie.
By Brian Ekberg, GameSpot
Disaster: Day of Crisis Review
Wielding more Wii Remote-waggling moves than you can shake a quake at, Disaster's lack of clear gameplay focus has resulted in a game that is competent at best and never compelling.
In Disaster: Day of Crisis, spiky-haired protagonist Ray has to overcome floods, fires, a hurricane, an earthquake, a tsunami, two volcanic eruptions, and even an attack from a bear. And there are as many different gameplay styles in Disaster as there are natural calamities. Practically every Wii Remote-waggling gimmick dreamed up for the Wii (so far) has been thrown into the mix, resulting in a game that's unfocused and scatterbrained.
If you think the laundry list of natural disasters Ray faces in Disaster sounds like a pastiche of bad Hollywood movies, you'd be spot-on. The game certainly has cinematic aspirations, with its over-the-top story told through long and frequent cutscenes interspersed amongst the action. And not only are there enough calamities to send Roland Emmerich into fits of ecstasy, but there's also a terrorist threat: Ex-Marine and now rescue team member Ray has to deal with a group of disgruntled army veterans who have stolen two nuclear warheads. Not that our heroic Ray cares much about that. His main motivation throughout Disaster is to rescue the sister of his dead rescue team partner from the terrorists. The game's dialogue is cheesier than a wheel of cheddar, and the big set pieces are straight-up Michael Bay fever dreams, but it is this relentless absurdity that lifts Disaster's story to "so bad it's good" material. After all, if you don't think an attack chopper getting taken down by a tsunami or our hero getting attacked by a bear as he's trying to escape a volcanic explosion is cool, then you need to redefine your sense of awesome.
What's not so awesome is the constant chopping and changing when it comes to gameplay. Part on-rails shooter, part arcade racer, and part a collection of Wii Remote-based minigames, Disaster is a disjointed experience that has some competent sections but no compelling ones. There are several good concepts here that are woefully underutilised--victims of Disaster's everything-and-the-kitchen-sink approach. The most apparent one is Ray's health system. In addition to having the typical hit points and stamina bar, the system features a heart-rate meter and a lung indicator. If you run too much, Ray's heart rate increases, forcing him to stop. Hanging around in smoky environments will cause Ray's lungs to gradually degrade, and you'll have to find an area with clear air or risk having Ray collapse. Neither of these features is used to any effect in the game; the only time you'll need to be mindful of the lung indicator is late in the game in a level that's set in a smoky forest. The heart rate meter is even less relevant, because at no time will you need to worry about Ray running out of puff.
Most of your time in Disaster is dedicated to its on-rails shooter side, which has a Time Crisis vibe to it thanks to the ability to take cover from enemy fire. Taking cover by pressing the Z button on the Nunchuk makes you invulnerable to enemy fire, although large explosions (such as those from RPG-wielding baddies) can still hurt because of their splash damage. Aiming is as simple as pointing the Wii Remote at the screen, while reloading is done by shaking the Nunchuk. You can carry four different weapons into battle, which can be selected on the fly using the remote's D-pad. Weapon variety isn't a strong point--while there are more than 15 to choose from, many of those are just slight variations (such as firing speed) of the same weapon. Shooting sections are easy for the most part since red reticles will appear on enemies when they're about to fire (once again, like in Time Crisis). And just like in every other light-gun-based on-rails shooter, enemies don't seem to care much about self-preservation and will often stand in the open waiting for you to pop out and shoot them.
When you're not shooting, you'll be navigating disaster-ruined locales, avoiding dangers and helping out any survivors you find in your path. It's here that Disaster's mountain of mixed gameplay comes in, throwing in new controls seemingly every few minutes, many of which get used only once in the entire game. Running away from a raging fire in a subway, for example, requires you to rapidly waggle the remote and Nunchuk. Avoiding obstacles while being swept away in a flash flood sees you having to quickly wave the remote left or right. Using a parachute has the remote and Nunchuk acting as steering toggles to change the angle of descent. There are plenty of these events in Disaster, and none of them are tough. Dealing with survivors is handled in the same minigame style--running across a stranded person in Disaster starts one of several different games. One requires you to wash away dirt from wounds by pointing the remote at the affected areas and then to wrap the injuries in bandages by rapidly twirling the Nunchuk joystick. Another sees you mimicking CPR by rapidly waving the remote down in time with a person's heartbeat. Some are as simple as waving the remote once to reach out to people hanging from ledges or rapidly pressing the A button to lift a heavy object off a victim. All of these actions have to be performed within a set time limit, but the game is extremely forgiving, and you can simply try again if time runs out. The only challenge is in finding the survivors, because some are more difficult to reach than others.
Finally, Disaster also dips its toes into arcade driving. In several instances Ray commandeers a vehicle in order to catch or avoid bad guys or to flee from natural hazards, such as the blast wave from a volcano's explosion. These driving scenes are controlled by holding the remote sideways and using it to steer--the 2 button is for accelerating, 1 is for braking, and A is for handbrake turns. This control scheme doesn't allow for much finesse, so most driving sections are either too easy or too frustrating (particularly since the cars Ray drives have a laughable tendency to flip over at the slightest bump).
Disaster is not a great-looking game, even for the Wii. Textures and environments are rather bland, which is a pity since the game could have looked much more vibrant with all the explosions you'll encounter. Character models are fairly lacklustre and are more reminiscent of late-era PlayStation 2-quality graphics than the sharper, more vibrant visuals of many Wii games. Sound is also poor, particularly when it comes to the unconvincing effects you'll hear. The sound of Ray's shoes is particularly annoying--it sounds as though he's wearing tap shoes most of the time, and the awful clacking noise when his boots hit concrete is certain to drive you batty.
That's not to say the game is all bad in the looks department. Some scenes of immense destruction--such as buildings collapsing practically on top of Ray--are impressive. But that's the problem with Disaster: Day of Crisis. The good is generally overshadowed by the mediocre, leaving you with a game that has potential but never comes close to realising it. It's fun in parts, but as a whole, Disaster is no earth-shattering experience.
By Randolph Ramsay, GameSpot
Rise of the Argonauts Review
Jason spends too much time talking and not nearly enough time fighting in this Greek mythology-inspired action-RPG.
Loosely based on the same Greek myth that inspired the 1963 movie Jason and the Argonauts, Rise of the Argonauts is an action-oriented role-playing game in which you assume the role of King Jason of Iolcus and go in search of the legendary Golden Fleece. All manner of monsters stand between you and your prize, and doing battle with them is a lot of fun. The same can't be said for all of the time you have to spend wandering around and talking to other characters, unfortunately, and the wildly inconsistent frame rate makes even the stop-motion special effects in the aforementioned movie look silky smooth by comparison.
Rise of the Argonauts gets off to a shaky start. The assassination of Jason's bride on their wedding day in the intro sequence ensure that the story is instantly compelling, but poor voice acting, awkward camera angles, questionable animation (Jason negotiating stairs is a must-see for all the wrong reasons), and numerous visual quirks waste no time in conspiring against it. Furthermore, there's not much combat early on, so much of your time is spent trying to navigate Jason's labyrinthine palace and conversing with guards who, save for their different-colored uniforms, all look identical. Iolcus, like the handful of other locations you'll visit after acquiring the Argo, affords very few opportunities for exploration, but it still manages to be confusing enough in its design that you need to refer to the crudely drawn map to locate mission objectives in a timely fashion.
The high point of Rise of the Argonauts is undoubtedly the combat; Jason is skilled in the use of swords, spears, and maces, and he carries one of each as well as a shield at all times. The controls are uncomplicated and responsive, and it's good that they're the same no matter which weapon you're wielding, because you're encouraged to switch between them on the fly. None of the enemies are particularly intelligent, but they're varied enough that you need to employ different weapons and strategies to get the better of them. Your spear can be used to keep overly aggressive enemies at a distance, while your mace is a good choice for destroying the shields of enemies attempting to hide behind them, for example. Putting your own indestructible shield to good use is crucial early on, but as you progress you become much more powerful and can spend more time on the offensive.
Interestingly, you need to go into the options menu if you want any kind of heads-up display for your health during combat. By default, you're supposed to look for visual clues such as blood on the clothing of Jason and his allies to know when they're in trouble, but the combat is so fast-paced that this isn't always possible. Adding the HUD makes it much easier to know when Jason's health is low, though it's not always important because, in keeping with his mythological status, he's a tough guy to keep down. When your health drops to zero you don't die; rather, you enter a "state of grace" in which the screen blurs and you have 10 seconds or so to avoid taking any more damage before you regenerate around half of your health. You'll die if you sustain a single hit during that time, but there are very few enemies who can keep up as you frantically run and roll around.
There are a number of ways in which you become a more formidable fighter as the story progresses. You'll be joined by a handful of allies who will fight alongside you two at a time, you'll be able to add more powerful weapons and armor to your arsenal, and you'll learn new abilities by gaining favor with the gods Ares, Apollo, Athena, and Hermes. Each of the four gods has a skill tree composed of around 25 different "aspects" arranged into tiers so that more powerful ones become available only late in the game. The aspects vary a great deal and include both passive abilities and god powers that must be triggered manually in combat. Passive abilities include things like regenerating health anytime you kill an enemy, doing more damage to shields, and making your allies more powerful. God powers, which are fun but rarely needed outside of the most challenging difficulty mode, include temporary effects such as increased damage, explosions, and the ability to turn enemies into stone.
To purchase any given aspect you need to earn enough favor with the appropriate god to unlock it, which can be an interesting challenge in itself. The most obvious way to earn favor with gods is by dedicating to them any deeds you've accomplished. You can do this at shrines scattered throughout the world or, less elegantly, via an option in the pause menu. When you dedicate a deed to one of the gods, you earn an amount of favor proportional to the scale of your accomplishment. Settling a dispute among two traders is unlikely to impress in the same way that lopping off the heads of 25 enemies is, for example. The second way to curry favor with a god is by selecting dialogue choices that are clearly labeled as being appreciated by them. This can make the act of choosing dialogue a mechanical one if you care more about pleasing a specific god than you do about your interaction with whomever you're talking to, but the conversations feel so unnatural anyway that this is as good a way as any to get through them quickly.
It's unfortunate that so much of your time in Rise of the Argonauts is spent in conversation, because much of the dialogue is poorly written and the voice acting is even worse. It's conceivable that one is the victim of the other, but certainly neither deserves any credit for keeping the story compelling. Even on the rare occasions that the script and the actors work well together, poor sound design results in unnatural pauses and in volume levels that compete with background noise or have you reaching for your TV remote. The lack of believable expressions on characters' faces doesn't help matters, nor do the load screens that frequently appear at the most inopportune times--occasionally so quickly after a piece of dialogue that there's some doubt as to whether or not the character talking was even allowed to finish.
To say that Rise of the Argonauts has pacing issues would be an understatement of Olympian proportions; so much of your time is spent running around and talking to people that combat feels like a rare treat rather than a focus of the game. It's a real shame that getting to the end of this adventure is as much a test of patience as it is a test of skill, because the combat gets increasingly satisfying as your arsenal of moves and equipment grows. It's true that only boss encounters will pose any real challenge on the default difficulty setting toward the end, but by then that feels appropriate because you're wielding godlike weapons and powers that can literally call down lightning from the heavens. With a greater emphasis on combat and fewer technical shortcomings, Rise of the Argonauts could have been easy to recommend. As it is, though, this is a great story poorly told.
By Justin Calvert, GameSpot
Destroy All Humans! Path of the Furon Review
If you enjoy tedious objectives, racially insensitive humor, and ugly graphics, the latest Destroy All Humans is right up your alley.
Developer Sandbox Games was shut down by THQ nearly a full month before Destroy All Humans: Path of the Furon hit retail shelves, and the PlayStation 3 version of the game was canceled shortly thereafter. After a short time with the Xbox 360 version of the game you'll probably wish THQ had put it out of its misery, too. The game's visuals are dated, and its insensitive, stereotypical portrayal of the Chinese (among other ethnicities) is appalling. Add in repetitive objectives and played-out humor and there's no reason to waste your time with this shoddy excuse for a game.
As in previous DAH games, you play as Crypto, a curmudgeonly, smart-alecky alien with a dislike for the human race. The game takes place in the 1970s, and Crypto has his hands full dealing with the Mob in what's supposed to be Las Vegas. After a few unexpected attackers try to off him, he realizes someone or something other than the Mob wants him out of the way. Crypto sets off across five open-world environments that include faux Vegas, a poor man's Hollywood, and a pseudo China, among others.
While you're free to run or hover around the game's large worlds, there's not a whole lot that's exciting to do. If you're in your flying saucer you can destroy buildings, but rather than them crumbling to the ground after a huge explosion, they melt like a stick of butter left in the hot sun. You can zap humans and bad guys with a number of weapons including the not-funny-anymore anal probe. You can take control of peoples' bodies, make them dance, and use telekinesis to grab and throw them, but you're best off sticking with your default weapon and powering it up with the DNA you earn for finishing missions. Likewise, the many weapon options available to you while in your flying saucer are generally less useful than the default ray. You might have a bit of fun messing around with a few of the tools of destruction made available to you, but the large number of options is little more than a novelty.
It feels that rather than come up with interesting objectives, the developer made a bunch of weapons and occasionally forces you to use them in artificially constrained ways. Rather than allowing you to land your saucer anywhere, the game gives you only a few landing spots, most of which have to be unlocked by playing a minigame, which in turn forces you to use a gun or skill you likely wouldn't use. This is so contrived that the game even makes a joke about it. Yes, making the people who were foolish enough to buy your game perform unnecessary, cumbersome tasks is really funny. Mission objectives start off simple: shoot some guys, protect someone or something, blow up a building, use telekinesis to carry a person to a different location, and so on. As you progress, the game will lengthen these objectives and then chain them together. This means that halfway through the game--and for the rest of the game--you'll be suffering through long missions with objectives you've long since tired of.
The first few Destroy All Humans were amusing and relied heavily on parody and tongue-in-cheek dialogue, but Crypto's act has grown old. He rarely shuts up, and his incessant yapping and bickering grates the nerves. Thankfully, mission objectives are usually clearly displayed, so there's no penalty for skipping the game's painfully frequent and agonizingly long cutscenes. It's bad enough that the cutscenes are frequent and the dialogue constant; what's worse is that much of the game's humor relies on racial stereotypes. The dialogue and accents of many of the characters and citizens in the game's Chinese levels might have been "acceptable" 30 or 40 years ago, but today they're downright offensive and reason enough to avoid this game.
Path of Furon's visuals are also offensive, but in a different way. The game proudly proclaims to use the Unreal Engine, but you'd be hard-pressed to see the results in the finished product. Perhaps they licensed the original Unreal Engine and not Unreal 3. There's not much of the game that looks like it belongs on the Xbox 360. The frame rate is mediocre at best, textures are low-res, huge buildings will pop in right in front of you, and the backgrounds look blurry, as if there were Vaseline on the lens. It gets worse: many of the cutscenes have no lip-synching, camera transitions during cutscenes (which often feel unfinished) are choppy, characters are poorly animated, citizens skate around the city, and explosions are pitiful. Even Crypto looks terrible.
A few multiplayer minigames are available, but they add no value to this already miserable game. If you've somehow stuck with this tired series since its inception, you'll probably have some fun with Destroy All Humans: Path of the Furon, but it offers nothing to anyone with a reasonable amount of taste.
By Aaron Thomas, GameSpot
Skate 2 Updated Hands-On
EA Black Box draws inspiration from Burnout Paradise for Skate 2's new online features.
Now that EA has confirmed Skate 2 for a January 21 release, it feels like the sequel to last year's surprise critical hit is just around the corner. It's a good thing, then, that we've already covered the basic gameplay enhancements, from all the new tricks you can do, to your ability to get off the board and move obstacles around you. Last week EA took the time to show off some of Skate 2's new online features. These include an ambitiously Burnout Paradise-inspired collection of freeskate activities and an improved content-sharing service to make finding friends' videos much less painful than it was in the first game. In the process of checking these out, we also had our first chance to skate through the game's entire setting, the newly rebuilt San Vanelona.
The focus of EA's showcase was Skate 2's freeskate activities, the new bag of challenges you and five other online skaters can take part in by simply pulling up a menu while freeskating and electing to join. We spoke with several members of the Black Box development team, and they made no bones about the fact that fellow EA property Burnout Paradise was a big source of inspiration in this department. It makes sense when you think about it: Burnout Paradise made the idea of spontaneous multiplayer challenges work in a genre--open world racer--where most people would be inclined to fly around and do their own thing.
The process works like this: You can skate around the city at your leisure during the game's Career mode, but if you feel like getting into a session with a few other live players, you just hit the D pad and pull up a menu that lets you select the "freeskate here" option. Once you select it, you'll hop into a quick online match with room for up to six players. From there, anyone can use the D pad to pull up a list of freeskate activities unique to the parking lot or skatepark you find yourself in. Once a player proposes an activity, the rest of the players can then choose to take part or to sit it out and keep freeskating until the next suggestion pops up.
These freeskate activities vary from being as simple as collecting the most points while gapping between fallen street signs in a parking lot, to nailing all five massive gaps in Danny Way's mega ramp compound. Some have you working as a team to grind a set distance, like 1,000 feet, while some are more competitive, like a Hall of Meat challenge that awards you for receiving the most gruesome injury. Like in Burnout, these challenges will scale depending on the number of players, so you won't be stuck trying to grind for six if it's just the two of you.
One of the other new features we tried out was the sharing feature of the new Create-a-Spot ability. We've previously discussed how you can hop off your board and grab on to small objects, such as picnic tables, benches, and grind rails, and arrange them to your liking. What you might not have known, though, is that you can save these arrangements, assign a score objective, and upload them for other players to enjoy. Once that's done, you can go see the spots that your friends have uploaded or sift through the work of the public at large with the help of a five-star rating system. A similar system will be used for shared multimedia, like the videos you've edited in-game, the still images you've pulled from said clips, and the custom graphics you've created for your gear. The idea is to help you quickly find material your friends have made, the best stuff from the public, and featured videos that might not be getting the love they deserve--all through an intuitive in-game browser. We've also been told that a new skate.reel Web site will be launched along with the game, but we haven't seen that yet. However, anyone who tried uploading a video at the launch of the first game knows that the means of sharing can only stand to improve--it's just a matter of how much.
This was also our first opportunity to spend some quality time with the game in a nearly complete state--at least in terms of its overall layout. The new setting, a post-disaster San Vanelona that has been massively rebuilt, should feel both familiar and different all at once. Several of the neighborhoods are brand new, but a few, like the Res, are being carried over from the first game. However, it's mainly the street plan that has made the transition, because almost all of the objects are new. So there's a slight feeling of deja vu on certain roads, but everything you're skating on, from the benches to the ledges, is very much different. That's just the case for a couple of areas, though. Most of the city is new and far more diverse in terms of its landscape.
Skate 2 is looking a lot more polished since the last time we saw it. The animations for new moves, such as bonelesses, handplants, and wipeout-avoiding jumps off the board, all look a lot more natural. And the game is sounding great, too, especially when you're flying downhill--the sense of speed in this game already feels far better than in the first one, which was pretty darn good. There should be a lot to look forward to when Skate 2's release date rolls around.
By Shaun McInnis, GameSpot
Afro Samurai Hands-On
We sever limbs with great panache in this exclusive look at Namco Bandai's upcoming action game.
It's hard not to notice Afro Samurai, the game in which the main character of the same name sticks out like a sore thumb in feudal Japan with his enormous hair and tattered clothes. Even harder to miss are the well-choreographed moves, copious amounts of blood, colorful commentary by Samuel L. Jackson, and never-ending number of enemies to slice through. We had the opportunity to play through several levels of a preview build and are impressed by the beautiful visuals, hilarious dialogue, and over-the-top limb-chopping violence.
If you haven't been following our coverage, we've been able to see and play through several demos, so for more details you can check out our other previews here. This is the first time we've been able to spend some quality time with Afro, the tortured samurai out to avenge his father's death. The titular character is actually rather quiet and stoic, and it's Ninja Ninja--Afro's imaginary antithesis, a perfect embodiment of Jackson--that livens up this bloodfest with expletives that flow naturally. Not only does Ninja Ninja provide humor with his obscenities, but he also acts as your guide if you're not sure where you need to go next. He talks a great deal, so consider yourself warned. When you press down on the D pad, he'll appear in the direction you need to head and then vanish in a puff of brown smoke. If you call on him often, he'll say things like "I ain't your GPS b****!" or find other delightful ways of expressing himself.
Afro Samurai is a button masher--a very elegant one in which you can pull off sweeping flourishes and acrobatic flips. Combos unlock as you progress through the game so that you don't grow tired of mashing the same combination of buttons over and over again. There are some moves you'll learn that are aptly named: Where's My Money, Pimp Hand, Hardwood Thrust, Oh That Hurt, and Dayam That Really Hurt. Using the left trigger, you can briefly enter a focus mode where Afro can charge up his katana and dismember with deadly precision. A line will appear so you can determine if you want to take off a particular limb, cut the person clean in half through the midsection, or perhaps just slice straight down the middle between the eyes. You'll eventually get a feel for how long you can stay in this mode and use it to optimize your attacks. In the early stages, you'll be able to instantly kill opponents by neatly slicing them in two in this mode. Against tougher enemies and bosses, the focused move will do additional damage, but it won't be a one-slice kill. Because the game is visually stunning and the moves are fluid and graceful, it's always a blast to watch your character do his deadly ballet routine. What wasn't so smooth, however, was the camera, which we hope will be fixed by the time the game ships. There were a few instances when we'd get a close-up of a wall or the side of a cliff face and couldn't see Afro unless we went into our focus mode.
In between the slicing and dicing, there is some light platforming. Running wall jumps can be performed with ease, and even if you slip and fall, you won't be bumped back very far. Afro generally won't fall off a cliff unless it's part of the platforming sequence, so you don't have to worry about tumbling over in the heat of battle. The game consistently provides you with hints on where to go, even though it's already straightforward and linear. In addition to Ninja Ninja's friendly guidance, points of interest will sparkle and the cutscene focuses on what you need to do next. Afro Samurai is relatively easy and accessible by anyone, though the profanity and gore will probably mean that only an age-appropriate audience will be able to enjoy the game.
One noticeable change from what we saw at Namco Bandai's pre-Tokyo Game Show event is that your health is no longer indicated by the dark tunnel-vision lines on the screen. The amount of blood on your clothes will indicate how much damage you have taken. Your opponent's health is also measured this way, and after you deal the finishing blow, the sound of gushing liquid also indicates whether or not you did a good job. Hint: The more blood the better. Statistics from the main menu will tally how many gallons of blood you've spilled if you want to get really specific--which is rather morbid. Achievement junkies should note that as long as you continue to brandish your sword and lay waste to your enemies in style, points will be earned.
The cel-shaded art style is gorgeous, and there's nothing like slashing through bodies like they're tofu, with the glow of the setting sun at your back and the deep blue ocean that bleeds out into the horizon. One of the new environments that we got to play through included a lush bamboo grove with cascading waterfalls, which was very different from the village rooftops that we originally started off in. The score is inspired by Wu-Tang Clan member, The RZA, which includes hip-hop mixed with some authentic-sounding Asian instruments. This interesting combination works well and complements the action and story.
Afro Samurai is not all blood and violence; it's about loss, revenge, betrayal, and even love. The game's events unfold as though you're watching a movie--from the cinematic opening to the cutscenes, gameplay, and voice-overs. Be prepared to wield Afro's blade with finesse, because the game is set to be released on January 27, 2009, on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.
By Sophia Tong, GameSpot
Sonic Unleashed Review
Terrible level design, unresponsive controls, and a poor camera are just the beginning of the problems in this awful adventure.
Every new Sonic release carries a hope that Sega's blue hedgehog will be able to regain the form that made him a star in the early '90s. And most every venture into the third dimension has resulted in various degrees of failure. Sonic Unleashed was supposed to provide the unrelenting speed fans have been clamoring for, and it does finally offer a healthy dose of turbo-charged levels to burn through. Unfortunately, even with Sonic's trademark speed finally on full display, Unleashed lacks one very important element: fun. The imprecise platforming, absentminded camera, and poor level design make Sonic's levels an unplayable mess, while his baffling transformation into lumbering werehog comes with a whole new slew of problems. Put simply, there is no reason to play Sonic Unleashed.
The story begins with Dr. Eggman shooting the world with a giant ray gun. Predictably, the planet breaks apart, but there is an unexpected side effect as well. Innocuous Sonic gets transformed into a giant, mean-looking creature called a werehog. This abomination emerges only when the sun goes down, and the game allows you to play stages during the day and at night to make full use of your dual personalities. Even though there are an equal number of hedgehog and werehog stages, most of your time in Sonic Unleashed will be spent at night, since the arduous combat levels take far longer to complete than the sprint-to-the-finish-line hedgehog races.
The werehog levels are extremely tedious. The levels are evenly divided between platforming and fighting, but both elements offer more frustration than excitement. Even though you can unlock more combos as you progress through the journey, your combat strategy never evolves beyond mindlessly tapping two attack buttons with an occasional jump thrown in for good measure. You're given a shield for when things get too hectic, but it's hardly ever necessary. The enemies are stupid, blithely standing around until you take the fight to them, and their lack of variety becomes oppressively obvious after just a few hours. You’ll be given a few checkpoints in each level, but these are awkwardly placed, so you'll have to repeatedly mash through the same battalion of enemies if you can't properly navigate the woeful platforming sections.
As a werehog you're equipped with stretchable arms and the ability to grab onto ledges. This should come in handy when venturing around these stages, but a few arbitrary restrictions have been tossed in to make even simple navigation annoying. First of all, you can only grab onto certain surfaces. If you mistime a jump, you often won't be able to grab a nearby ledge to save yourself, resulting in a quick death. Second, your arms' stretchiness varies at random, so while it may be possible to grab a ledge from a certain distance at one point, from that same distance later on in the level, you'll find your reach stunted. The camera also hinders your progress. You are given free control over your view when standing in the middle of a large plot of land. But when placed on a precarious walkway where a perfect line of sight is necessary, your camera control will be severely restricted, allowing only slight shifts to either side of your character. Because the punishment system is so immediate and severe (falling in water results in instant death), these miscues will quickly steal away your precious lives, leaving only frustration in their wake.
The Sonic levels don't fare any better than the lousy werehog parts. Your goal is to run as quickly as possible to the finish line, but the camera is rarely able to give you an optimal view and the controls are far too loose to provide the pinpoint accuracy you'll need. These technical problems mean you'll have to memorize stages before you can breeze through them. The game is not responsive enough to allow you to consistently avoid obstacles the first time you encounter them, so you'll find yourself repeatedly plowing headfirst into spikes and falling down countless bottomless pits before you finally know where each obstacle lays ahead of time. Extra lives--something you’re usually happy to see in a game--actually serve as a warning in Sonic Unleashed. Particularly cheap sections are often adorned by these markers, ensuring you can play them repeatedly to memorize their cruel layout and hope luck is on your side.
Even after you commit these stages to memory, though, you'll still die over and over again because of the unresponsive controls. A few levels take place on the water, making you sprint at top speeds to keep from sinking below the surface. Moving laterally while blazing through waves is sluggish, but you'll still have to swerve to and fro to complete the missions. In other stages, you'll have to perform wall jumps to succeed. This ability only works on certain surfaces, but even when you find an ideal place to ricochet from, the finicky timing means you'll try and fail until you do it perfectly. Certain sections require you to slow down and perform precise jumps across tiny platforms. The controls are built for speed, though, so a slight push on the analog stick will send Sonic sprinting to his death. The game also tosses in quicktime events at random moments. Some of these will catapult you to different parts of the level, but other times you'll be hit with an instant death if you can't meet their strict deadlines.
Even the between-stage hub is a total drag. Though the professor is supposed to guide you to the next goal, he does little more than point you in a general direction and send you on your way. You'll have to talk to specific citizens to open some levels, and trying to track down the one person with pertinent information is an out-of-place burden. The level entrances are often hidden in random locations and hunting them down can be maddening. Worse, when you finally find one of these entrances, you'll often be kept from entering it until you collect a certain number of moon and sun pieces from previous levels. Collecting items in platformers is expected, but the loose controls and obstinate camera make searching for missing pieces grueling.
The boss fights follow the theme of the other elements in Sonic Unleashed. These battles are long and tedious, forcing you to play the waiting game for minutes on end until the giant beasts open themselves up for attack. The sheer length of these ordeals makes the fights far more aggravating than they would otherwise be. The attack patterns are easy to learn, so you'll spend more time standing around waiting for them to let their guard down than actually attacking them. Even worse, their attack patterns don't drastically change through the fight, so you'll be repeating the same basic dodge maneuvers until you can finally vanquish these oversized annoyances.
The lone bright spot in this otherwise painful mess are some cheery, bright visuals. The graphics are far from cutting-edge, but the frame rate stays high even when you're sprinting at top speeds, and the levels are pleasantly colorful. The game is at its best when your interaction with it is minimal and you're able to simply admire the view. The camera adjusts for cinematic impact while you tear through loops and grind rails as Sonic, and though you're doing little more than pushing right on the analog stick during these sections, it is entertaining to watch Sonic swoop by. It's sad that Sonic Unleashed is only enjoyable during the moments when you're hardly in control of it.
Pretty pictures aren't enough to make up for the miserable gameplay. Almost nothing else in this game even reaches the level of mediocrity. The Sonic levels are poorly laid out and have unresponsive controls, the werehog portions have monotonous combat and a wonky camera, and even the hub world is so difficult to navigate, you'll spend way too much time searching for the next level. There just isn't any fun to be had in Sonic Unleashed.
By Tom Mc Shea, GameSpot
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