Wheels of Destruction
Developer: Gelid Games
Price: $10/7.99 £
Platform: PS3 (PSN)

Remember my Smash N Survive review a couple weeks back? Remember how it sucked and it is a car combat game that shouldn’t be played? Well I’m glad to say that Wheels of Destruction is nothing like that. WoD is actually worth checking out.

After my run in with SNS I was a bit worried about reviewing another downloadable car combat game. However after starting it up and playing a few sessions, I quickly realized that Wheels of Destruction wasn’t a lazily designed mess, but actually a pretty fun little game.

To give a basic rundown, WoD is a car-combat game that focuses on firearms, meaning that you’ll be using long-range weapons to take your opponents down. It plays very much like an arcade game, the goal of the game modes is to get the highest score and win, nothing more, nothing less. It’s designed for competitive play, which is evidenced by the leaderboards and one other, very important thing: there’s no story mode.

Yes, if there was one thing that bothered me, it’s the fact that there’s only multiplayer in this game. Well, to be more accurate, you can play against bots alone offline, but there’s not a whole lot of point to that. This is essentially WoD’s biggest flaw, it’s strictly for players who like to play competitively online and doesn’t offer anything more. Whether this is a problem or not depends on the player: if you’re looking for a fun car combat game to play online with other people, you’ll like WoD. However, if you want some sort of campaign mode to play with actual storyline and objectives, you won’t find any of that here.

The game offers three different game modes: deathmatch, team deathmatch and capture the flag, with five different maps to play on. As far as modes go, this is pretty standard stuff and it left me wondering if there couldn’t have been more. There’s also other settings, such as firefight, which will leave you with only the starting weapon and random, which will start you off with a different car each time you spawn. Speaking of weapons and cars, there are four weapons (each with a secondary fire mode) and five cars to choose from. The cars themselves have different stats and ability and are built with different preferences in mind. The Heavy can take a lot of hits, the Engineer can jump higher, you get the idea. Also, all of them are destructible which is a very important asthetic for a car combat game. As for the weapons, I found myself using the rocket launcher as much as I could and ignoring the rest, as there isn’t a whole lot of point in using the weak gatling gun or the flamethrower, when you can use the heavy hitting rail gun or the homing rockets. I suppose the gatling gun is the starting weapon and has infinite ammo, but there are plenty of weapon pickups you can find to get your hands on better weapons.

The controls can take some time to get used to. Particularly the aiming. Oddly enough, the right analog stick doesn’t control the camera or lets you aim. Both steering and aiming has to be done with the left stick, which can take some time getting used to and can be very jarring at first. However it’s really not that big of a problem, thanks to the semi auto-aim.

As you have probably already figured out, Wheels of Destruction lacks variety and replay value. No campaign, three game modes, five maps, five cars, it’s small numbers all around. While some of it is understandable, (for example the cars are all unique and different) it still leaves you wanting a bit more. The gameplay is fun, you drive around, destroy other players cars, pick up weapons, shields and health wherever you find them, and just generally enjoy the fast-paced action the game brings. But how long can that last? If you like the genre and you’re looking for fast-paced, simple online play, this game is for you. However, if you’re not into that, you really shouldn’t bother, WoD’s simplicity is both its strength and its weakness: if you don’t enjoy the gameplay all that much after playing a session or two, you’ll have no reason to continue playing.

The Final Word
Wheels of Destruction is not a bad game, it can be quite fun for what it is, and one can see the effort that was put into the game. However its lack of variety and overall simplicity ends up becoming its biggest flaw, which keeps it from being anything more than a nice distraction to play when you’re bored and have nothing better to do. If you want a simple and cheap car combat game that is worth the price, Wheels of Destruction might just be for you. Just don’t expect it to hold your interest for more than a couple days.

MonsterVine Rating: 3 out of 5 – Average

I really like to review good games. Or at least decent ones. Whenever I find something I genuinely enjoy, it is always easy to write a review for it. It is as if the fun gameplay and well executed ideas jolt my creativity, and the review just writes itself.

Too bad Smash and Survive sucks, huh?

When Diego told me he had a car combat game to review, my first thought was „A car combat game? When Twisted Metal is coming out?” Right from the start, I wasn’t very optimistic about SNS. It felt like it was going to be nothing more than a poor man’s Twisted Metal. Upon actually playing it however, I realized that calling it a poor man’s Twisted Metal was much too flattering for SNS.

Initially, things seemed positive. Starting up the game, I was immediately hit with a fitting metal soundtrack. Then I soon realized there were lots of cars to unlock as well and the tutorial levels were also pretty decent, if simple. However this didn’t last very long. I would say that if I wasn’t obligated to play SNS, I would have quit after the third level or so.

The basic idea of SNS is simple. You’re a rookie trying to get into a gang called the Necromancers. In order to do so, you must become a master of vehicular combat and destroy enemy cars. Simple, right? So simply in fact, that if it wasn’t for the short briefing texts between each level, you wouldn’t notice, but I’m not going to hold that against a PSN car combat game of all things.

What I am going to hold against it is everything else. SNS may not being a triple A title and it may have low production values, but that doesn’t excuse it from being generally a bore to play. The missions are repetitive and there really isn’t much to do. You smash up cars and avoid getting yourself destroyed. It is pretty reminiscent of Destruction Derby on the PS1, except not nearly as enjoyable. Car customization is ultimately pointless as you can only alter the cars’ appearance to a very minor degree and all weapons are preset. You want a fast car with sawblades? Well you better find one in the shop, cause you can’t just put sawblades on whatever car you please. The customization option may as well not be in the game. And even with the stats of handling, strenght and acceleration, there doesn’t seem to be much difference. All cars feel clunky to control, all are fast and none of them can take many hits.

Speaking of weapons, most of the are close range. Fitting for a game called Smash and Survive I suppose, however it would have been great if these weapons weren’t so one dimensionals. You crash into things and you activate your weapon, and that’s all you need to know. There’s not much tactics involved and not having guns like in Twisted Metal only serves to make things even more simple and boring. Oddly enough the game can’t even be called an arcade-style derby game, because somehow it manages to be too slow for that. Enemies take far too much damage to kill, while the player’s car feels like it’s made out of glass. There’s also no health pickups or powerups, so your stuck with whatever you have.

So in short, the gameplay of SNS is just plain boring. It feels too empty and winning missions leaves you with no real sense of satisfaction. This is not helped by the fact that the soundtrack is terrible. The metal fits the game’s theme nicely, however it has few songs and they are constantly looping. The menu music is roughly 10 seconds of generic heavy metal, looping over and over again till your ears kill themselves.

The thing is, this could all be forgiven somewhat. Sure it’s repetitive and simple, but what if you’re really just looking to smash up cars? I’m sad to say that even then the game is not worth it. By far the most irritating function in this game is the slow motion that happens when you crash into a car or use your weapon. The camera angle during this is always horrible and disorientating. Every single time I found myself not knowing where I was heading or even where I was. Eventually I tried to stick to the pulsar weapon, because that fires in a circular arc around you and the slow motion camera shows the car from above, leaving you with at least some idea of what you’re doing. However this function makes the game incredibly annoying to play and the whole function itself just seems ridiculously counter-productive for the game’s genre. I mean honestly, when you make a derby game where the player would rather not hit an enemy car, you know you screwed up. And the kicker? The slow motion can’t be turned off.

Couple this with the fact that the music is terrible, the graphics are on the level of a PS2 game, the environments are small and bland and the long load times, and you’ll find that after playing a few levels of SNS, you’ll feel no sense of accomplishment and just turn off the game. The only somewhat fun thing in the game is the local multiplayer mode, but even that gets old very fast and there are so many better alternatives to play with friends instead of this.

The Final Word
Smash ’N’ Survive is a failure in every aspect. It is at least playable, but unless you have friends to play with it won’t be much fun. The price tag is high for the game’s value, the gameplay is boring and overall it doesn’t feel like any real effort went into it from the developers. You’d be better off saving your cash and buying Twisted Metal if you want a car combat game. Or hell, hunt down an old copy of Destruction Derby. You’re not missing out on anything by not playing this.

MonsterVine Rating: 1.5 out of 5 – Terribad

The website shows a teaser trailer with real life footage and from the trailer’s rather apocalyptic scenes and the game’s title, it doesn’t take a genius to figure out that the game will probably be set in a post-apocalyptic environment. However the exact details are still unknown at this point, the plot could deal with anything from the ever-popular zombie apocalypse to a global crisis related to hamburgers. We’ll just have to wait till Saturday to know for sure, until then, feel free to start guessing.

„It’s Code: Veronica in High Definition. Look up a review from 10 years ago. The end.”

That was my first thought when I was contemplating how to review the newest iteration of Code: Veronica. Despite how news headlines always say „old game to be remade in HD”, the recent HD conversions, such as the Sly Collection or our current subject Code: Veronica are nothing more than ports of old games with enhanced visuals. They are a simple and easy way to cash in on an old classic one more time.

However, I would be lying if I said that this didn’t have a good side. Obvious cash-in or not, these HD releases are a very good way of introducing new gamers to old games and are also great for older gamers who missed out on a certain game. I was in fact happy to see CV getting an HD release, if only because the Survival Horror genre is practically nonexistent today and it was good to see a game of said genre, even if it is just a port.

As far as new content goes, there’s not much to talk about. As you could guess from my first sentence, apart from cosmetic changes everything is the same as it was in the ’X’ versions on the Dreamcast, PS2 and Gamecube. What is new in CVX HD is the lighting and water effects. The water looks a good deal better than it did before, to the point where it looks a little out of place at first glance. As for the lighting, characters now have proper shadows. The visuals are also sharper and much less blurry than before. As such, CVX HD looks a lot better than its previous incarnations. Too bad I can’t say the same about the CG cutscenes – most of them suffer from frame rate issues. Considering this game is 10 years old, that is pretty disappointing.

To be honest, CVX HD is exactly what I expected it to be. That is why I am disappointed. You see of all the RE games, CV is the one that is most in need of an update. Not because it is so great or because of fan demand, but simply because it was always a lackluster installment, even when it was first released. It was a good game overall but take a look back to its predecessor, RE3. That game introduced a handful of new gameplay elements, had different paths to take, included a minigame and a good deal of unlockable weapons, costumes and an infinite ammo mode. Then you sit down, play through CV, and notice: this game has virtually no extra content or replay value. The only unlockable function is the Battle Game, where you pick one of the four main characters and go on a predetermined path, killing every enemy you come across with infinite ammo. So unless you’re going for an A rank, or playing as Wesker who only has a knife, there is virtually no challenge in it. Other than that, you can unlock a rocket launcher in the main game, but that’s it. There are no extra costumes, gameplay modes or any other extra weapons besides the rocket launcher.

The only truly new features are the trophies and the leaderboards. Now the trophies are kind of pointless. There are only two that aren’t related to plot events, meaning the rest you can all get by simply beating the game. The leaderboards are equally disappointing. First off, the Battle Game doesn’t have them, despite being much more competitive by nature than the main game. It has two boards: one with no restrictions and one that restricts the use of the rocket launcher. So basically, the leaderboards have two categories for speedrunners to compete in. This is not bad, but the developers missed a big opportunity here to make something more interesting. The RE games have many skillful fans around the world who can beat the games with ridiculously hard self-imposed restrictions, like using only the knife. Why not make leaderboards for these kinds of playthroughs?

Speaking of challenges, another reason I felt this game needed an update was because of the difficulty. The game has no difficulty levels to select, and CV is by far the easiest game in the series. It needs a higher difficulty setting to make it challenging for those who have already played it. Even after not having played it for a few years, I still managed to remember enough of it to beat the game in 5 hours, with enough ammo and healing items left over at the end to beat the game a second time. And no, this is not an exaggeration.

The Final Word
Resident Evil Code: Veronica X HD is the same game it was ten years ago. It still has all its good and bad qualities and still manages to be fun, even today. However the HD conversion is not perfect and the game lacks any sort of gameplay update that makes it worth buying again. Despite the fair price, if you already own a copy on an old console, don’t bother buying Code: Veronica a second time. I know I wouldn’t.

MonsterVine Rating: 3.5 out of 5 – Fair

As with pretty much every Sonic game nowadays, the main thought that crosses everyone’s mind when thinking about Sonic 4 is „does it suck?” Well, does it?

In short, no. Sonic 4 is actually not bad. But to elaborate further, it’s not exactly a masterpiece either. In fact, far from it. It’s a very odd situation, for one thing, Sonic 4 has a lot of what made the Genesis/MegaDrive Sonic games good, plus some new things. However, on the other hand, it still suffers from the same flaws those games did and a couple of new problems that arise with the new homing attack.

The basics are simple, as usual for a 2D Sonic game. You run from left to right through the stages, avoiding obstacles and have the usual 10 minute time limit to do so. You still collect rings, you still have lives and you still have the classic special stages if you reach the end of the level with at least 50 rings and jump into a giant ring. Nothing special at all, but that’s how we like it. The only exceptions are some timed jumping puzzles, which honestly not do much good, they just slow down the fast pace of the game. Other than that, we got the homing attack from the 3D Sonic games, and it adds something new and fresh to the formula. The only problem, is that when there are no enemies, it works as a rebound-like move, used to gain a little bit of extra distance for your jump. Sonic does this while in the air, and if the game detects your not standing on anything, Sonic uses this move. This can be very annoying, when you try to jump off a platform right at its edge, but the game detects it as you already being in the air and uses the rebound. This causes many frustrations throughout platforming.

Going back to form was a nice thing for Sonic 4, but honestly it’s just not that impressive. We get some nice new features, like the Mega Man-esque stage selection and the homing attack, but not much else. It’s basically just Sonic again, and what’s more it doesn’t even have some of the nice features that even Sonic 2 had, like the competitive two player mode. Also, no other characters make an appearance either. I understand that the fans don’t want to see a lot of new characters, but what Sonic Team doesn’t realize, is that the characters are not what made games such as Shadow the Hedgehog or Sonic the Hedgehog 2006 bad – it was the gameplay. Heck, Shadow is one of the most hated characters among the fans, and even he was considered cool by many until Shadow the Hedgehog came out. In other words, as much as I dislike some characters as well because of their bad characterization in said awful Sonic games, I really wouldn’t mind playing as other Sonic characters from the series. It could even add extra dimensions to the gameplay: remember how Knuckles could climb walls and glide? Playing as Knuckles in Sonic 3 & Knuckles really added a whole new level of exploration.

Anyone playing should be prepared for some frustration along the way. Although the game is generally easy, in the sense that gathering lives and rings is really not as difficult as in previous games, the levels themselves still have a lot of „artificial difficulty” as we like to call it. There are a lot of trial-and-error parts with unpredictable bottomless pits to watch out for, most of which you’ll probably fall victim to at least once. Also, some bosses are just plain unfair. Eggman in the Lost Labyrinth zone is one of those, he just uses instant kill attacks over and over again, and you need to be incredible careful and precise to defeat him. I never thought I’d ever see the day when a Sonic game would go as far as to design a boss that just smashes the walls on you repeatedly and instantly kills you, but it’s here.

The Final Word
In the end, Sonic 4 is what it promises to be. It is the standard, fun 2D Sonic that we’ve come to expect from the series. If you like Sonic, you can safely give this game a try, but if you’re expecting something new, you’ll be disappointed. Newcomers can give it a go as well, although to be honest, you won’t be missing much if you don’t play this. Also be prepared to be frustrated quite a bit, though older gamers who grew up on the Genesis/MegaDrive games will probably feel right at home with the difficulty.

- MonsterVine Rating: 3 out of 5 – Average

Costume Quest is a Double Fine game, like Psychonauts and Brutal Legend. Does this mean it’s good? Will it share the fate of Psychonauts, becoming overlooked despite its quality? Well first off, lets backtrack a bit and start at the beginning. Double Fine’s latest game shows off the same charm and fun gameplay that made their previous games stand out.

Costume Quest is basically a standard adventure RPG. You select your character from the twins Reynold and Wren, and began your trick-or-treating on Halloween night. However, your sibling soon gets kidnapped by a monster living in one of the houses, because they dressed up as a big piece of candy. Someone the monsters are fooled into believing this, despite the candy talking and being alive. So Reynold or Wren set out to rescue their sibling via the power of costumes.

One their quest, the hero will encounter a lot of NPCs who will help them out and give them quests. As any modern RPG, the game has a journal to help the player memorize what they need to do, and to check various important things from costume powers to stats. The quests themselves can be mandatory and optional, although for the most part they are all easy to find and complete. Even without a walkthrough, I managed to complete the game to 100% on my first playthrough. As long as you keep your eyes open, you’ll find all the quests and costumes easily, but considering that the game was made with children in mind, this makes sense. While Costume Quest is enjoyable for it humour, charm and gameplay by adults, it is a game that primarily targets children, which shows through in its simplicity. It can serve as a good introduction to the RPG genre for younger audiences.

All this talk of costumes, and I still haven’t mentioned their role? First off, in the world of Costume Quest, costumes grant power to those who wear it. Much like in a child’s imagination, the costumes are just costumes, made out of cloth or cardboard, but they are actually superpowered outfits, that transform you and grant you power. When faced with enemies, you transform into a real robot, ninja, vampire, and a handful of others, depending on the costume you are currently wearing. Some costumes also have special abilities on the field, but most of them are just situational and rarely used. The only one that you will use frequently is the robot’s, which allows you to move faster. Others, like the knight’s ability to shield yourself from falling debris will only come into play two or three times maximum in the game. This is understandable considering the games length, though it doesn’t help that switching costumes in these situations is kind of a pain. It would have been easier if you could just switch party leader with the press of a button and use the character who is equipped with the correct costume. Switching costumes is still easy and efficient enough, but having to put on a costume just to avoid an enviromental hazard, then switch back to the robot one because it runs fast can get a little annoying after a while.

The game’s combat is simple and fun. You enter a battle, and you see a typical turn-based system. Each character has one attack, and one special move that charges up over time. You can also assign special attacks by buying battle stamps, which can power up your characters by boosting stats or giving them special attacks. For the most part you just select your attack and perform a type of Quick Time Event to execute it, and if successful you deal a critical hit. Defense works the same way, except you only need to press buttons, while attacking can require you to time the button press, rotate the analog stick, and other actions depending on which costume your using. Special attacks also range from dealing heavy damage to healing a party member, depending on the costume. The combat system is fairly simple and fun, although it can be difficult at first while lacking a healer. However, I haven’t died a single time in the game, which is easy to do as long as you pay attention to the QTEs. However, messing up a QTE while defending can really turn the tide of battle against you. To be quite honest, the biggest draw of the game’s combat is its simplicity, but it can also be its biggest flaw. Depending on what kind of player you are, you may grow tired of the simple battle system after a while, as you can play through the whole game using just regular attacks and special attacks/healing when they are charged up, and it doesn’t require much strategy. Of course given that this is a downloadable title, and also made for kids, this is somewhat understandable.

Luckily enough, the game’s length is short overall, but perfect for the game. I’d say it doesn’t take more than 6-8 hours to beat the game even to 100%. The game is simple, the quests are simple and sometimes similar, the combat is simple, and due to this it can get boring after a while, however the lenght of the game is just good enough so that it doesn’t outlast its welcome. By the time I started getting bored with it, I found myself at the last boss. This coupled with the game’s charm, and its humour, which is often made for older audiences as well with it’s ironic and sarcastic jokes make it just fun enough to warrant a playthrough and keep it entertaining. The game’s music and sound effects are also quite fitting for the game’s Halloween theme, though there is no voice acting, be it for better or worse. Sadly though, the game doesn’t offer much, if any, replayability. I don’t see myself playing through it again anytime soon.

The Final Word
Costume Quest is a fun and well made game. It provides good entertainment for both children and older audiences and has that Double Fine/Tim Schafer feel to it that makes it stand out. It’s quality makes the price tag seem worth it, although I’d recommend you play the trial version first and decide for yourself if the price is worth it for you, seeing as the game doesn’t offer any real replay value once you are finished with its 6-8 hour story and its simplicity can drag it down to where it becomes a one-time-only ride.

- MonsterVine Rating: 3 out of 5 – Average

Mafia was one of my favourite gangster games of all time, so I was really looking forward to the sequel. Though a lot of people labeled it as a GTA clone it was actually a very original, very good game. And to be fair, everything that had gangsters in it was labeled a GTA clone back when GTA was still new. However, Mafia was one of the first to use a GTA-style open world to tell a linear story. That’s right, though there was free roam, the main game of Mafia was linear and told a tragic, well written and believable story of a taxi driver who became a gangster, with a good cast of characters, and an atmosphere that was incredible at the time. The very reason I bought the game was because of a screenshot I saw. Yes, a single screenshot that was just filled to the brim with that 1930′s gangster atmosphere convinced me to buy the game.

Mafia II so far…looks good. The atmosphere is still there and the action looks fun, but other than that I saw few remarkable things. There are some improvements to the gameplay and the now standard cover system is implemented. To be fair, I haven’t seen anything from a gameplay perspective that really stood out. If the game manages to have unique missions like the first one, then everything should be fine. The first Mafia had a very nice selection of missions. Unlike GTA, every mission had a unique goal, scenes and story, though they were much fewer in number. Still it was this that made it different, that we could get an accurate look at all the activites a 1930′s mob did. We need more gameplay to determine this however.

As for the story, the game seems to be less original than the first, this time we’re playing an italian immigrant called Vito, who turns to crime to escape the poverty of his childhood. Basically, Vito joins to make money, which isn’t exactly unique. In Mafia, Tommy Angelo ended up with the mob after an incident beyond his control, and ultimately had little choice but to join the mob, as it was the only way to protect himself. However, 2k has stated that this will be a darker, grittier, more real story. Mafia was more of a tribute than a true story according to them, which is surprising when looking at how dark the original Mafia already was, although admittedly it was still a more or less positive story. However, the story does hold a lot of promise. Mafia II despite starting with a typical scenario does have a lot in its favor. For one thing, the game is set between 1940-1950, spanning multiple years just like the original, which seems to hint at the similar format. Also, this has interesting possibilites as we’ll see the mob during and after World War II. The characters we saw in trailers also seemed interesting, so all in all, despite the somewhat cliché start, Mafia II has a lot of promise.

Everything considered, Mafia II looks good. A lot of what made the original great is still there, most importantly the atmosphere and the accurate representation of the era. The gameplay and story seem okay, and as long as the developers deliver the same that made Mafia great, there’s no reason why Mafia II should be a great sequel. Keep an eye out for it, the release date is August 24th for North America and August 27th for the rest of the world, and being a multiplatform title, owners of PCs, PS3s and Xbox 360s will all get to enjoy it.

Deus Ex has always been a first-person action RPG, and that hasn’t changed. Although this game will also use the third-person viewpoint in some situations, for example when using the new cover system, the game is still primarily a first-person RPG. The key elements are the same, the main character Adam Jensen will be able to approach situations the way the player sees fit. You can be an expert in sneaking, a hacker, a charmer who can persuade people to do anything for them or even just a combat-loving killing machine. Every problem in the game can be solved in different ways depending on how you build Adam’s abilities. According to the developers this won’t be easy however, as players will not be able to do anything they want, they will need to rely on the necessary skills. In other words, sneaking won’t be a reliable option for you, if you can’t use it properly.

Speaking of machines, we saw that this game has robotics in it as augmentations. As a prequel to Deus Ex, this game features mechanical augmentations instead of the nanotech augments of the first two games. These will be divied into four types (combat, stealth, technology and social) which allow you to customize your character. As always, the Adam’s in game decisions will be decided by the player. In particular, we found the social aspect to be very interesting, the characters’ emotions and personalities were spot-on in the demo. Also we saw some very creative ideas, such as hacking a security camera to access a remote computer and cause disarray.

The game has a nice sci-fi atmosphere to it reminiscent of Blade Runner and some very good character designs. The robotics look very “realistic” so to speak, it made me believe that this is how robotic weapons would look like in real life. This is partly thanks to Square Enix who are in charge of the cinematics in the game and responsible for the very nice trailer we saw at E3.

Though the developers have said in interviews that they wanted to make the game feel as Deus Ex as much as possible, they did try to add a handful of new things. There are now stealth kills, which are not scripted and can be used at anytime, a cover system, upgradeable weapons, the ability to see through walls and invisibility for your character, and enemy squads’ having leaders, who can be killed to cause confusion among the enemy.

The biggest change is that this game uses the health regeneration that is commonplace in FPS games nowadays. The developers have stated that this won’t make the game too easy and that the game will still require strategy. However, seeing that your health regenerates and that the developers tried to make the game in a way that even those who want just want to kill everyone can play through it, it is a little worrying that perhaps this combination will mean that there won’t be a reason to play as anything else but a fighter. Only time will tell, but for now, Deus Ex: Human Revolution has the potential to be one of the best FPS-RPG games that we’ve seen in a while. Keep an eye out for it as it hits store shelves in Spring 2011 for the PC, PS3 and Xbox 360.

From what we saw and heard of TOR, we can safely say that it will be a unique experience. Bioware’s main ambition is to create an MMORPG that is different from all the rest, with a heavy focus on story. Bioware has shown that they are very good when it comes to storytelling with games like KotOR, Mass Effect and Dragon Age, and they are hoping to implement their style into the game, offering a solid single-player experience in addition to the multiplayer experience we expect from an MMO world. That’s right, just like in KotOR, players will make their own choices, form their own personalities and alignments, gather their own NPC companions and experience their own story. Players will all get their own starship to serve as their base, similar to KotOR and will visit more worlds than in any Star Wars game before.

This alone is enough to catch the attention of all gamers. I, like many other people, dislike MMORPGs. The grinding, the fact that you can play for ten hours without feeling any accomplishment and not feeling like you are a part of the world is what drives me (and a lot of other RPG fans) away from MMOs. We can’t say for certain yet, but it does look like TOR could bring some much needed innovation into the MMORPG formula. You see with eight classes, all with their individual storylines and with the ability to shape your characters personality as you see fit, it does look like TOR will have what non-MMO gamers are looking for. This is backed up by fully voiced NPCs which add to the immersion. Of course being an MMO, you probably won’t be the messiah of the universe, but you will still feel that you’re actions matter in the conflict between the Republic and the Empire.

However that is not all. We saw a dialogue system similar to that of Mass Effect, which allows you to interact with NPCs how you want, and is a part of how you develop your character’s personality. Thankfully, Bioware knows how to move away from traditional characters and improve them: players will be able to customize their abilites on-the-fly as they see fit, allowing them to fit any role they want and not have to rely on luck finding the right companions. Not only that, but their is some overlap between classes as well. Currently we do not know much, and we can’t confirm the more extreme options (like a smuggler gaining Jedi ablities) but the developers have said that even if you are playing a Sith Warrior who focuses on lightsaber combat, you will still be able to develop powerful force abilities just like a “real” Sith if you want to. This coupled with the fact that you make your own personality (thus being able to create Jedi who are not completely good guys or Sith who don’t find pleasure in unnecessary violence) ensures that players will truly be able to play in a way that they want. Not just by making their character the way they want them to be, but also by allowing the player to play effectively both in groups or just alone as a lone wolf.

So far the combat itself seems to be the least remarkable, however it is still fun and does in fact have new features, such as the cover system which adds some realism to gunfights. Also, the players can mix their equipment how they want, meaning that you can wear light armor on your body and heavy armor on your legs if you so wish, but the developers are keeping an eye out for players who want to be fashionable while playing, and as such each armor type has it’s own set of boots, armor, etc. that fit with each other.

The only thing that we do not know of yet, is whether or not there will be space battles. If Bioware managed to include that effectively, then TOR may be even better, but as it stands now, TOR is already looking to be one of the most promising games of 2011. I definitely recommend keeping an eye out for it as it is released sometime next spring, exclusively for the PC.

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Save…and quit for what now?

For those who don’t know, Ace Attorney is a series of point and click adventure games, staring a defense attorney, who’s job is to defend their client in court by proving their innocence. The game is separated into two parts: the investigation and the trial. Like any adventure game, you’ll be looking around for clues, talking to people and gathering information. Unlike most adventure games though, items obtained only serve as evidence to present during the trial. You will very rarely need to do anything more with the items than examine them, as such the items themselves are hardly ever used to solve puzzles. Each case only has one puzzle, namely “who is the killer?”. You only need to use your evidence to find contradictions in statements and to prove your own theories, thus revealing the killer’s true identity.

Honestly, the Ace Attorney games are pretty much my favourite adventure games since the DS entered the market. Most of their functions aren’t new, but the game’s setting makes it feel new and fresh. The Japanese audience has known the series since the 2001 Gameboy Advance game, but everyone else got their first look into the world of attorneys in 2005, on the DS. I think it’s among the best point n click games of the current generation. Not like there is much of a competition.

So what was it that annoyed me? Well, if you haven’t guesses from the title above, it was the save function. It’s actually very user-friendly. The player can save anywhere with the exception of the inventory screen and then continue the game exactly from where he left off. The problem is that you are forced to quit every time you do this. There is a save & quit option and that’s understandable, given that the DS is a handheld, but honestly, it makes no sense that there isn’t a simple save option. Most of the time I’m saving because I made progress, or because I’m at a critical point in the game and I don’t want to mess up. What’s more, this isn’t a quicksave function like in Final Fantasy Advance, where you could save and quit, then come back and continue at the cost of your quicksave getting erased. The saving in PW was clearly made to be a normal save function that creates permanent saves, so why you have to quit to the title screen everytime you save is beyond me.

Final Fantasy IX – Run Zidane, run!

FFIX is of course, a part of the Final Fantasy franchise. It was also a game that tried to go back to the old traditions of the series by having a fantasy setting after the modern worlds of FFVII and FFVIII. For some reason it’s not as popular as some other games in the series, even though it has everything a FF game needs. The game may have started out slow, but the pace eventually picked up and FFIX was just as good an RPG as any other game in the franchise.

FFIX also holds the trophy of “most ridiculous sidequest in an RPG”. Some of you may have heard of the legendary “Excalibur II” sidequest, but if you haven’t, then don’t worry because that’s why I’m here. This certain sword is the strongest weapon for the character Steiner. It’s not something that you actually need, but it is still something worth obtaining. So why is it then, that most FFIX players never got their hands on it? Because of the requirement: you have to reach the sword’s room at the end of the game in eleven hours. That’s right, you have to reach that point, which is normally a 50-hour long task in eleven hours. You have to speedrun a game. I guess Square wanted to put in something for those who do speedruns, but I just find it stupid. The majority of gamers don’t do speedruns and they sure as hell won’t start doing it in a Final Fantasy game. RPGs on the whole are not meant for speedruns. When a sidequest ruins the main aspect of the game – exploring the rich world around you – you know you did something wrong.

Resident Evil 5 – Pocket Armor

When RE4 came out, it shocked the gaming world. It was a game of much controversy for the gaming community, creating a never ending debate of whether or not RE4 changed the series for the better. Regardless, RE4 was a hit and it left it’s mark. RE5 moved even further away from the old RE formula, but ironically, what few mechanics it chose to reuse from the survival horror formula were the ones that worked the least with the new gameplay style.

Enter the inventory management. RE4′s inventory was new and revolutionary, despite the fact that it made the main character into a human killing machine. Sure you somehow had eight different firearms, hundreds of bullets, a dozen grenades and medical kits on your person, but at least in size an egg was an egg and a rifle was a rifle, in other words they space they took to carry in your inventory depended on their overall size. RE5 which is even more action oriented and would be perfect for this system instead relies on the old inventory system. You once again have slots that hold one item each. I suppose this makes the multiplayer easier, but even if I accept that, I still can’t accept how small the inventory is. Nine slots may seem enough for old RE players at first, who are used to the 6-10 slots from the old RE games, but for an action game like RE5 it’s just not enough. There are just way too many different items to gather and you’ll always find your inventory to be full of stuff you need or at least want to keep around. However since there is no way to unload your items – except for restarting from the last checkpoint – you’ll find yourself throwing away valuable items just so you can carry other valuable items.

However, this isn’t even the worst thing. Not by a long shot. Here comes what truly makes the inventory system annoying, the armor. Unlike in RE4, the bulletproof and melee vests take up space in your inventory. What’s more, you can’t combine the two. So if you want to use these, not only will you have to sacrifice quite a bit of money, you’ll also have to sacrifice two item slots. It’s bad enough that you already use up around four slots just by carrying two weapons and their ammo with you, but the vests take up an additional two slots, leaving you with only three slots for various other things like grenades, healing herbs and more ammo. I understand that they wanted to add some penalty for using the vests but damn, unless you’re using infinite ammo, your items will pile up faster than the enemy’s bodies.