It’s been nearly 10 years since we’ve seen Max Payne sulk through the New York alleys; he’s decided that he’s had his fill of the big apple and is moving to São Paulo, Brazil for the sun, babes, and gangs. With Remedy being too busy working on whatever it is they’re doing (please be Alan Wake 2) Rockstar decided to pick up the third entry in the series. With the trade of gloomy New York for sunny São Paulo don’t go thinking that things are any more cheerful; Max starts out in the shitter and slowly gets in deeper as the game continues that culminates in possibly Rockstar’s darkest game yet.

The game is quick to remind you that Max is still leaning on the booze and pills to keep him running, but things start to look up a bit for him when he moves to Brazil and gets a bodyguard position to protect a wealthy family. That lasts a good five minutes before things start to hit the fan and Max is thrown between protecting the family and controlling his own substance abuse issues. Besides the new cover mechanic not much has changed in how you play compared to the previous titles. You can take cover if you want, but be prepared for enemies to start flanking your position to deliver a healthy dose of ass whooping. It’s the Matrix styled shootdodge mechanic that’s going to be your main source of dealing out death. You’ll see a meter to the right that shows how much time you can spend in this mode and can be refilled quickly be simply scoring kills outside of shootdodge. With the added euphoria engine that powered Grand Theft Auto 4 and Red Dead Redemption, you’ll be greeted to some amazing moments from shooting enemies and seeing them stumble around to diving in the air over a desk, spinning around, and quickly sending a few thugs to meet their maker. Did I mention the physics? Almost everything can be smashed apart and it will with clean rooms looking like a wrecking crew drove through after gunfights. For fans worried about Rockstar dumbing down the game fret not because painkillers are still your only source of health in this game; only multiplayer has slowly regenerating health, not on hardcore though. I found Max to be stupidly brittle even on normal difficulty. I’m always up for a good challenge but later missions really punished you for using the shootdodge mechanic and I found myself starting to use cover more and more. Painkillers can be somewhat difficult to locate if they’re not in plain view, but the game thankfully refills your health each time you die so at least you can’t screw yourself by walking into a situation with little to no health. You’ll find ‘grinds’ to do through both the singleplayer and online. You’ll find a variety of menial tasks such as finding golden guns, and tougher ones such as shooting grenades in the air or scoring kills while on your back.

Besides the 10+ hour campaign and grinds to, excuse the pun, grind through you’ll also have New York Minute and Score Attack to keep you playing. Score Attack rewards you with points for kills, more points the more impressive the kill, with a focus on keeping your multiplier up. New York Minute on the other hand is meant more for speed-running players with each level starting you out with a timer that continually trickles down; the only way to get more time is to score kills.

So when you start up the playlist you’ll think Max Payne 3 has quite a lot of game modes to play, but in reality out of the either modes you see, there are only really 3 different ones. There’s Rookie Deathmatch/TDM, regular Deathmatch/TDM, large Deathmatch/TDM, Payne Killer, and Gang Wars; there are also hardcore variants you can unlock once you get 5000 kills. The idea behind Payne Killer is that two players will play as either Max or Passos while the other team has to work together to bring them down. The player who deals the most damage to either character is re-spawned as that character loaded to the teeth with painkillers, guns, and adrenaline. It’s a neat mode that has you bouncing between trying to deal the most damage to Max or Passos, or trying to let your teammates whittle down their health so you can score a final kill. You’ll get points for dealing damage/killing Max or Passos, but the real numbers start flowing in when you play as either character; winner at the end is the guy with the most points. The marquee mode here is Gang Wars though; in it you’ll take the role of one of the various factions and complete various staged objectives. Each map has its own little story that snugly fits with the main game and you’ll go through various objectives such as defending checkpoints, assassinating targets, straight up elimination, and more. The neat thing is that you’ll never get the same sequence of objectives twice with each game having a completely random set of objectives that change depending on whether you won or lost the previous one. It’s something I’ve loved since Killzone 2 and really hope more games start to implement it.

So you know I love me some customization in my multiplayer games; it’s not so much that I want other people to see how my character looks, it’s just that I’m so narcissistic that I enjoy seeing how I look. There are half a dozen factions, each with their own look/style, that you can change from head-to-toe with gear you’ll acquire by simply leveling up. You’ll also be able to select how you want to look for straight deathmatch modes and you can unlock story characters by achieving either a platinum in each level in score attack or prestiging. So as you kill other players or loot their bodies you’ll gain adrenaline which fuels both your bullet time and your bursts. Bursts are a sort of perk that grants you a special skill divided into three tiers as you fill your meter up. For example, equipping the heavy firepower burst will give you more damage for 20 seconds, the second tier will replace your guns with a powerful LMG, and the final tier gives you a grenade launcher. Players have to be quick to think if they want to spend what adrenaline they have on an extra kill in bullet time or with a burst. Just as in most shooters, you’ll be able to set up various loadouts that will allow you to change your tactics throughout a match. You’ll be able to equip up to three weapons, a head item that gives effects such as not being affected by flash grenades, body armor, your burst, your projectile/grenade, and three pieces of gear. Gear is a sort of passive skill that doesn’t run on adrenaline; with over a dozen pieces of gear you’ll see ones like a lucky coin that grants more cash from looting or a walkie-talkie that puts any enemy player your teammates see on your radar. The game can get quite unfair though, since it seems to not care who it matches you with and will throw you into games with people at level 50 (max rank). These guys will be rolling around with grenade/rocket launchers and bursts that let them appear as allies which makes fighting them some serious bullshit.

The graphics are damn impressive and the attention to detail in all the environments is just mind boggling. Rockstar also had the noise rock band Health to score the game which ended up being another smart move by Rockstar who have a smart taste for music. Rockstar really has a knack for bringing out the best of their voice-actors with James McCaffrey (the voice of Max) pulling in probably his best work here. The sound team should really get acknowledged for their work on the game because the way everything sounds, from the guns to the environment getting shredded during gunfights, is phenomenal.

The Final Word
Max Payne 3 is a great grab for newcomers to the series, but even more enjoyable to players of the previous two games. With a hefty amount of singleplayer modes and a pretty solid multiplayer component, besides the bit of unbalance, MP3 is definitely something that you won’t be trading in anytime soon.

- MonsterVine Rating: 4 out of 5 – Good

If you’ve been living in some sort of ignorance all your life then I suppose I should tell you that Telltale Games focus on point/click adventure games, and they’re pretty damn good at their craft. After tackling two other previous licenses, Back to the Future & Jurassic Park, Telltale has decided to get their hands dirty (literally) with The Walking Dead.

The game opens up with Lee Everett who’s being given a friendly (or not so friendly depending on your conversation choices) trip in the back of a police cruiser. It’s heavily implied that Lee may have killed somebody, but he never confirms nor denies it, but your choices in the first episode clearly indicate that this information will become a major player in future episodes. You quickly meet up with the 8-year old Clementine and your fun adventures through a zombie infested Atlanta kicks off from there. The story plays simultaneously with the comics so while you play as new characters, you’ll meet and see some familiar locations whether you’re a reader of the comics or the show. You’ll be presented with choices to make throughout the story that will not only branch you into different directions in the story, but the characters you interact with will change depending on how you speak to them and what choices to make. Very rarely do I care about characters in a game (even in games I like) but I couldn’t help but like Lee and Clementine. Both characters provide an interesting dynamic that you rarely see in games and the game even gives you the option of either molding your Lee into a caring father figure for Clementine, or be a total dick to her. As a person who prides himself on trying to be the biggest dick possible in games, I just couldn’t take those options; for once I actually cared about what happened to these characters and didn’t want to fracture their relationship. Not you though Ducky, just know your time will come. The game will take you around two to three hours to finish which feels about right with the full game taking a good fifteen hours if this first episode is a good indication on the length of the following ones.

So you’ll control Lee with the left analog stick and move the cursor with the right; once you hover the cursor over an interactive object you’ll be given a prompt to either use it or have Lee talk about it. At certain times you’ll be given a QTE to perform, but these are done pretty well and come rarely so it’s not a troublesome inclusion. Conversations are handled in a Mass Effect style with some moments giving you a timer to quickly respond before it decides for you and you can’t go back to re-select previous options; I’ve noticed it tends to prefer the “…” option, I guess the game is shy. People who like to see all the options in a conversation might end up hating this, but this is what multiple runs are for. Things you pick decide how characters will react to you at that moment and later on in the game which is going to be interesting to see how they balance that through 5 episodes. The moments with zombies are done well enough with the cursor used to hover over any approaching walker and requiring a quick button hit for Lee to perform whatever action needed. The zombie kills aren’t as brutal as Telltale hyped up (besides one in the beginning with a hammer) which is a shame since they wouldn’t stop talking about how over the line they went with the kills, but hopefully they were talking about the other episodes.

One downside many adventure game veterans might frown at would be at the extreme lack of puzzles in the game. So far we’ve only seen Episode One, but I’d be surprised to see if anything changed. On one hand it does make some sense to not include puzzles in a *slightly* realistic setting where having a character try to find the pieces to a puzzle box wouldn’t really fit, while on the other hand the puzzles they actually have aren’t really puzzles and are more “Click on everything until you find the right item”. There’s one moment later in the game where Lee needs to reach through a gate to pick up a brick to use as a distraction but for some reason he simply couldn’t reach for it when it was right there. I figured I need something to break the lock on the door (still confused considering the remote was within arms length) and the objects you interacted earlier were all viable candidates to use in both breaking the lock and reaching out to get the brick. It probably took me around 20 minutes of walking around for Lee to finally say “Maybe I should go help [person] with her problem” and after finishing that objective I finally had an ax I could use to break the lock. Sure, I felt kinda stupid wasting my time when I could have gone to do this mission to get what I needed, but the game really set things up to imply I needed the objects I interacted with earlier; plus that remote was right fucking there. I just hope the next episodes don’t follow this trend of unclear ‘puzzles’.

So the game takes a more stylized look based off the comic book and it really was the best choice. Everything just has a very slick look to it and the way the characters animate has a bit more charm to it that I don’t think would’ve worked if the game was done in a more realistic graphic style. The sound itself takes many cues from the TV show which works well enough too. One thing that kept throwing me out of the game (figuratively, not literally) were the sudden drops in frame-rate. These would happen during hectic moments such as zombie attacks or even during areas such as walking around the farm. It’s noticeable enough to remind you that you’re playing a game and it surprises me considering it’s not a very intensive game to excuse having it.

The Final Word
If you’re a fan of previous Telltale Games’ works then there’s no reason why you should skip out of this game, but I still recommend new players to come join in on the fun. The first episode is a measly $5 so if you don’t end up liking it then it’s not like you invested a lot in it.

- MonsterVine Rating: 3.5 out of 5 – Fair

Incognito Entertainment released the addictively fun game Warhawk in 2007, five years later and that studio has split apart with most members going into either Eat Sleep Play or LightBox Interactive. It’s LightBox who have decided to give us a sort of spiritual successor by flinging Warhawk into the future with Starhawk. LightBox basically took the Warhawk formula, threw in some RTS elements, a little bit of tower defense, and came out with their golden egg. It’s hard to explain in words why this addition to the game changes so much in each game you’re in, but you really have to play it to see.

So the game opens up introducing you to Emmett Graves who has the lovely job of hunting down Outcasts, people who have been tainted by a new resource called Rift energy and turned into crazed creatures. Early on you find out your long dead brother isn’t really dead but is leading an army of Outcasts against regular humans and it’s your brotherly duty to put him down. The setting and story hits all the marks of catching interest, but playing through the actual campaign doesn’t really give any sort of satisfaction if you’re playing it for a story. Each mission is basically designed to ease you into how to use the many items you’ll encounter in multiplayer matches. It all ends up being a 5 or so hour tutorial which is nice of them to do a campaign instead of a half-assed tutorial, but it begs the question of if you’d rather have a 30 minute tutorial that quickly explained everything in return for more effort going into the multiplayer. The kind of stuff you can expect to drop down from space include bunkers, bikes, shield generators, jetpacks, tanks, buggies, and more. I’ve got to say, I think the Sideswipe bike has got to my both one of my top designed bikes and most fun to drive. That power-slide man, that fucking power-slide.

Now that we’re done with that nonsense, let’s get on to the meat of the game, the online. You’ll be able to partake in 32 player battles across half a dozen maps that each contain totally different variations, so in truth it’s really a dozen maps. Fantastic news is that Lightbox revealed that all future map packs will be released for free so as to not fracture the community which is fantastic news considering Warhawk was split into 4 different ways because of the 3 DLC packs which was infuriating. The returning game modes for multiplayer include capture the flag, deathmatch, team deathmatch, and zones. The TDM and CTF modes are pretty standard, but with the added build & battle system the chances of you playing the same game twice are pretty slim. Each game I played had people building their defenses completely differently, they’d even adjust to how the other team played in the next round. Zones is sort of the marquee mode of Warhawk and it’s back in this game. The goal is to capture each zone and stay in the area long enough for it to grow into a level 3 zone; the more zones you have the more points are fed into your ticker, winner is the team with the most. These games are the most hectic with teams shifting control of the field constantly throughout matches with smart players able to pull ahead from a possible loss easily.

Just as in Warhawk there is a sort of crushing feeling you get when you play against the clearly better players. You’ll find them roaming servers in groups and utterly smash your disorganized squad with their building placements and beautiful hawk control. It’s a real annoyance when entire games can shift in favor of a team with just a small group of these guys, but thankfully Lightbox has made it so that even the players who aren’t doing much can still be rewarded. On both sides, if you simply build emplacements for your team, keep everything repaired, and kill the occasional enemy who wanders into your camp you’ll be earning support medals; this way players on teams with better players are still rewarded for helping out a little and the players going against these guys will still earn points for delaying their victory. Warhawk did have a massive difficulty curve, but I feel it’s been toned considerably down this time around. A friend of mine who was complete rubbish at Warhawk was able to pick this up quick and contribute more in one match than he did in days of playing Warhawk. There’s also a co-op mode called Prospector; this mode feels more like a defense game than the multiplayer because you’ll be alerted to the type of enemies incoming, their direction, and it’s up to you to decide which structures would work best to handle the next wave.

Warhawk veterans should be happy to know that the ridiculous requirements to rank up are completely gone and replaced with a simple XP system. You might not have that prestige of showing off you hit General, but you’ll be able to show off your weapon mastery instead in your player profile with ranks going from bronze to gold. As you level up you’ll unlock skill points and customization options for your character and vehicles. Skill points are used to purchase ‘perks’ you can equip (only one) to help you out; each perk is fully unlocked by completing a certain challenge like scoring 10 melee kills in a single match as well, once the challenge in met you can then purchase it. To those groaning about Call of Duty infecting your game don’t fret, these are very minor and are all support related perks. You’ll see things like viewing all enemies on your radar, slowly regenerate vehicles you’re in, reduced respawn time, bonus XP, and more. They can be switched whenever you want, but you can only have one active at a time. It is slightly annoying that you can’t access the skills page when you’re not playing in a game; sure it’s not a big deal once you’ve unlocked most of them, but it’s just a weird thing for Lightbox to have done. In the customization menu you’ll be able to pimp out your character, select the paint job you want other players to view on each vehicle you enter (you can equip separate paint jobs per vehicle which is a nice touch), and customize a decal that will appear on your character and vehicles. You’ll be able to change the pieces of clothing for each body part with quite a lot of options.

The graphics aren’t ground breaking, but everything has a very nice look to it. I’m not a fan of how the desert areas look, but the actual alien planets and space stages look brilliant and are well designed. One thing I do love is the way the buildings you drop begin to construct themselves; there’s just something incredibly satisfying about dropping a bunker down and watching as it quickly pulls itself together. If you didn’t bother preordering it because of Gamestop I’d highly recommend buying the soundtrack off PSN because it’s simply fantastic. It’s a damn shame they didn’t bother including a physical CD since that cover for the album is too good to waste.

The Final Word
The first thing you need to decide is whether you want to drop $60 on a multiplayer game. Sure, there’s a story to play, but it’s not really that interesting and mainly serves as a guide to elements you’ll experience online. Warhawk veterans should fall in love with this just as they did before and newcomers will be able to jump right in as well.

- MonsterVine Rating: 4 out of 5 – Good

Now I’m sure you’re all quite familiar with the Spike TV show ‘Deadliest Warrior’ where they bring in a group of experts who explain the basic tactics of the combatants they represent then toss all the info into this program called the ‘Bullshitter’ then call it a day. Besides the constant pain inducing feelings the show causes to anyone who’s read a history book, they decided to make a game because putting a Spartan in a 1v1 fight against a ninja makes more sense that way. Ancient Combat is a retail bundle of the two previous downloadable titles Deadliest Warrior and DW: Legends. Besides getting the joy of playing through both of those titles again, you’ll also be ‘treated’ to new weapons, all the DLC, a new map, and 6 episodes from the TV show.

When you start up the game you’ll notice that you’ll have to download both Deadliest Warrior and DW: Legends before you play. I checked and they’re both the same size as the downloadable version which makes me wonder why they didn’t just redesign the game to include everything on a single disc without the need for a download. You still need the disc to play the games even though you basically downloaded them which is odd. Players hoping to pit a pirate against Alexander the Great are going to be severely disappointed when they find out that’s it’s an actual true to words bundle and not a combined bundle like I’m sure many people will think.

You’ll find just over a dozen fighters in both titles ranging from the biggest hits from each season. While DW contains the more basic characters such as samurai or knight, Legends contains the more notable ones like Hannibal and Khan. In both games you’ll be able to unlock various weapons and outfits for each character that adds a nice degree of customization. The key feature developers need to nail in a fighting game is balance, without it players are basically forced to play as the stronger character or suffer constant defeat against players who do use them. Just like in the show, if you throw a ninja in against a knight you can pretty much expect that ninja to come out in a body bag. Unarmored characters will go down in as little as 5 hits at times with the tougher characters able to take quite a beating, especially if they have a shield. Anyone with a throwing weapon does have the potential to score a 1-hit kill if they nail a headshot, but those are few and far between that when they actually happen you don’t mind; expect you and your friends to have vocal “OH SHIT” moments when one of you manages to pull one off. It really doesn’t help matters when the controls are easily some of the worst in a fighting game. You’ll stumble around the fully 3D arenas while trying to clumsily try to refocus your character on your opponent. There’s a list of moves you can perform, but honestly they’re all a complete joke. There’s nothing complex to it and you’ll basically mash your way to victory. I suppose you could say “BUT DIEGO, THIS WASN’T MADE FOR FIGHTING FANS! IT’S MADE FOR FUN!” and I would reply with “Well then if you enjoy playing with shit, have fun”. I like my fighting games to have some actual effort put in their development and not run on a gimmick of limb removal.

Both games share the same arcade mode where you’ll go through a dozen or so fights unlocking new weapons for your chosen character along the way. You’ll get the occasional diversion like slicing pigs like in the show to break things up. Legends adds a Generals mode (similar to Risk) where you work your way along a map capturing areas to eventually have the map under your control. It’s incredibly slow and boring, I honestly don’t see why they thought it was a good idea to put this in a fighting game. I suppose it’s nice for them to try to spice things up, but they could have done it in better ways. For multiplayer you’ve got your basic 1 on 1 fight and you can even do skirmish fights where both players pick up to 4 fighters instead of one. Legends does have a few tweaks you can do like slice and zombie, but that’s it and they’re not even that interesting. Besides the local multiplayer there’s also an online lobby you can join, but good luck finding any players in that ghost town.

I’d like to think the graphics look ugly on purpose to make up for the amount of gore spraying everywhere, but there’s hardly any gore when you want it. I think after a dozen matches against a friend, maybe 4 of those lead to a decapitation or removed limb. The zombie/slice mode in Legends does help this issue by making almost each attack slice something off. You might say I’m nitpicking because I want to see arms flying off all the time, well to that I say why the hell are you watching Deadliest Warrior for if not for the decapitations? What, are people really watching it for the historical accuracy? On the other hand, the gore is stupidly funny to look at. There’s no better feeling than slicing an arm off your opponent and watching as he fumbles around trying to take a swing at you only to be met with a decapitation.

The Final Word
I highly recommend that you stay away from this if you’re a fighting game fan and only purchase it if you’re a huge fan of the show. Hell, even then I’d only excuse you purchasing it if you were drunk, and by drunk I mean so drunk that the town drunk is telling you to put the drink down.

- MonsterVine Rating: 2 out of 5 – Poor

Silent Hill is known for its focus on delivering psychological horror rather than visceral horror. The series wields disturbing imagery and unpredictable scare tactics in order to take players on a horrific journey through the eerie, ill-fated town. The second title in the series delievered the most mature and possibly the best story in the series. However, the franchise was not consistent in terms of quality, and lost relevancy amongst the horror genre. We now find the series with a new developer and the result is Silent Hill: Downpour, a true return to the psychological horror introduced with the first Silent Hill.

Silent Hill: Downpour, developed by Vatra Games, is the latest entry in the series, and an ambitious attempt to bring the series back to a relevant spot in the horror genre. The team behind Downpour has done a wonderful job of creating a consistently creepy and dreary atmosphere throughout the game, accompanied by a dark and enticing story. However, the game suffers from a subpar combat system, and marred with technical issues that pulled me right out of the experience.

The story follows Murphy Pendleton; a convict with a past shrouded from the player a majority of the game. Pendleton’s psychological terror is unique to his own story much like the protagonist in Silent Hill 2; he encounters multiple metaphors in the form of monsters and environments unique to his plight.

I was enticed by the story the more it progressed. Its dark and mature tone complimented Vatra’s focus on psychological horror in Downpour. I became increasingly attached to Pendleton, only hoping for a happy end to a story of self-torture and guilt over a heartless act of cruelty on the part of Pendleton in the intro moments of the game.

The level design for a majority of the interior environments adds a uniqueness that is hard to come by in the horror genre these days, and that criticism stretches to other entertainment mediums, not just video games. I’m not necessarily saying Downpour’s environments are the best the horror genre has ever seen; it’s hard to say something that bold when games like Resident Evil 2, Dead Space, and even the original Silent Hill have established settings that define the horror genre. What I am saying is that Vatra gives the interior environments a sense of importance but also a greater sense of danger, something I find appealing and important in the horror genre. I found myself walking through rooms and hallways with an unwavering sense of tension that often times concluded with no threat. Downpour’s greatest scare tactic is leading players into a false sense of security.

The gameplay is where Downpour begins to show its flaws. Not all of the gameplay is rough, however; I really enjoyed exploring all of the environments thanks to a forensic light the character can carry to reveal clues and hints. The combat is where I found myself frustrated the most with Downpour.

In Silent Hill fashion, combat is focused mainly on melee weapons, with only two types of firearms, a pistol and shotgun, which are sparsely spread out in the game. Pendleton can store one firearm in his inventory at a time, but can’t store melee weapons. Players can find weapons just about anywhere in Downpour. The weapons come in various types ranging from bricks and knives for close range; shovels or pitchforks for longer range; and middle range weapons like axes. Each weapon has a durability factor to consider, however there was no way to tell when a weapon was about to break, which left me unarmed in a few encounters. However, my main issue with combat in Downpour is its unreliable and frantic controls.

There was really no tactic associated with combat, other than turning around and running away from a fight, which the game does encourage. The blocking mechanic allows some defense against the barrage of attacks from the enemies in Downpour, but it does little to keep the combat from falling apart.

I’m happy to see Vatra not create a character that is unstoppable and a complete badass when it comes to fighting. However, I wish there was a tighter focus on combat when more than one enemy entered the picture, and trust me, you’ll often run into more than one enemy at a time.

Downpour also suffered from some technical issues that marred much of my experience with the game. Frame-rate issues were most of the problems I ran into. I found myself bouncing around in rooms, especially in the alleyways while outside. I thought the game froze in a few instances, and these issues would only get worse as the game went on. Whatever the problem was for the constant frame-rate drops, it’s a shame that some of those moments that were meant to scare me, caused frustration instead.

Downpour features side missions that are uncovered by exploring Silent Hill. There are a variety of side missions players can check out to break up the story, and many of them serve to flesh out Silent Hill’s lore. Some of the side quests that I completed were as unsettling as the main story, and were great distractions that kept me interested in exploring the entire town.

The Final Word: Vatra Games attention to detail in the level design and mature story telling makes Silent Hill: Downpour a psychological and emotional roller coaster. Unfortunately, the sub-par combat and technical issues pulled me out of the experience far too often. I hope, however, Konami leaves Vatra at the reigns of Silent Hill for at least one more game, because I strongly believe, thanks to Vatra, that Silent Hill is a relevant force in the horror genre once again.

- MonsterVine Rating: 3.5 – Fair

Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning is loooong. Purported to be a game of an extraordinary 200 hours in length and a blend of action and RPG, Amalur certainly seems to rival the likes of The Elder Scrolls at first glance; this shouldn’t be surprising, given support on the project from lead designer of Morrowind and Oblivion fame, Ken Rolston. Indeed, Amalur’s inspiration draws from many great games and ideas that we’ve seen over the years – but is that enough?

Story

In Amalur, you take the role of the “The Fateless One”, a recently resurrected being who, because of his/her death, is no longer tied to the threads of Fate, and is thus able to change the world around them. Shortly after being revived, you are soon attacked by the Tuatha, a group of rebel Fae (read: elves) who seek to conquer the world through the worship of their new God. It’s then up to you to venture out into the world and gather together an army to rebel against the Tuatha and restore peace to the land. However, this is but only one of the many narrative threads that come together to form a fully-realized world.

It’s a shame that despite how well developed this world is, most of the questlines are hit or miss. The main storyline in particular doesn’t seem to pick up until near the last third or so of the game. In fact, as hard as the game tries to build you up as this all-powerful first-of-his/her-kind being that can change, you do relatively little in the ways of meaningful choice. For being “The Fateless One”, all you seem to do is run errands for all the important NPCs that you deal with, rather than be a real leader. Events will play out the same way, and any major choices you might make don’t have consequences beyond what stat bonus you will gain as a reward.

This is not to say that all plotlines are bad – in fact, many of the faction-specific questlines have a greater emotional punch, and you’ll meet characters that have more depth, which really helps the world feel more alive. It’s too bad they’re short, and there aren’t many of them in relation to the other quests of the game.

Gameplay

Gameplay in Amalur follows many of the open-world RPG tropes you’ve come to love from franchises such as Fable and The Elder Scrolls. After a short introduction sequence where you are taught the ropes, you are released in the world to explore as you please, completing the main story at your leisure. Of course, along the way, you’ll stumble upon many a side quest, and the sheer amount of them is staggering. You’ll see golden exclamation marks popping up on your minimap just about everywhere, letting you know there’s yet another adventure to partake.

Apart from the narrative provided, many quests consist of “fetch this”, “kill that” or “walk there” variety. There are also hidden item caches, shrines that grant you temporary stat bonuses and “lorestones” that impart a bit of world wisdom on you and can even grant you permanent bonuses for finding them all. Thankfully, the game’s extensive customizability and combat keep things from ever becoming a grind.

Charater progression in Amalur is separated into combat-based abilities and profession-related skills. Each time you level up, you gain 3 points to place in your abilities, and 1 point for your skills. Abilities are divided into the regular three themes: Might, Sorcery and Finesse. Rather than force you into a role for the rest of the game, Amalur allows you to choose abilities and skills based on your playstyle. By placing points in one of the three styles, you’ll unlock “Destiny” cards that give your character bonuses based on how invested you are in a given tree. Place all your points in Might (the Warrior tree) and you’ll gain bonuses that help you stun enemies more often and make you more resilient to damage. Or you could split points down the Finesse (Thief) and Sorcery and become a Shadowcaster. There are literally cards for every given build and you’re allowed to “respec” at almost anytime so you can experiment to your hearts content.

On top of all the combat abilities you get access to, there are also a wide variety of specialty skills that you can train in, varying from lockpicking and hidden item detection to blacksmithing and crafting gems that can augment your gear. There are quite of few of them, each requiring 10 skill points to master, giving you a lot of choice here. Some skills however, feel like necessities – for instance, Find Hidden, when maxed, will show you the location of ALL treasure chests, hidden doors and caches and lorestones on your minimap in addition to giving you extra gold when looting enemies. While some may choose to forgo this ability, it’s pretty damn powerful and hard to give up in relation to the other skills on offer here.

Where the open-world exploration feels akin to The Elder Scrolls, combat in Amalur feels more like God of War: fast, vicious and action-packed. You can equip two weapons at any one time, varying from an arsenal of 9: longswords, bows, greatswords and hammers—they’re all here. There’s even a new one, Chakrams, a mage-specific weapon that act like dual spinning boomerangs of death. Each weapon has it’s own style and you can unlock new types of moves and combos pending how you build your character. Combat is quick and weapons (especially the larger ones) give a satisfying crunch as they bowl over your enemies. For the magically-inclined, there is also an ability bar than can be accessed by holding the right trigger (this is a hotbar for those of you on the PC) that allows you to quickly equip and sling spells in an easy motion. Finally, as “The Fateless One”, dealing damage to enemies will fill up your fate meter, that, when full, can be released into a “Fate Shift”. Enemies slow down and you’re given a huge boost to damage and a limited amount of time to defeat as many foes as you can and then execute them with a quick-time event for extra experience. It’s nothing new, but the animations are appropriately badass and make you feel powerful.

If there are a few caveats about the combat system the first is that, on consoles, the abilities tab can only hold four spells at any given time and swapping them is painfully slow, as you need to pause the game, scroll down to the ability trees, find your ability and then map it. This can be a real drag on the fast-paced combat, especially for sorcerers, who get access to a good 6 or 7 spells by game’s end. The implementation of this is puzzling, as there is a separate radial menu that hotkeys your items; you can access this by tapping the bumper. It would have made more sense if you could have also mapped spells to these slots to avoid losing the heat of battle.

The second caveat is that sometimes, combat can feel cheap. Amalur makes you feel quite powerful with the array of abilities that it gives you access to, however it seems the game’s only answer to difficulty is to throw more enemies at you that can interrupt your attacks. Some attack animations can take several seconds to play out, in which you can be chain-attacked by a group of monsters before you get a chance to retaliate. In fact, there were several times that I died due to a string of unlucky hits that I couldn’t avoid because I was stuck in recovery animations. I would be more forgiving of the system if it weren’t for every enemy being able to disrupt your attacks, but in it’s current state, it was definitely frustrating at times.

Being an action RPG, Amalur also provides much in the way of loot – so much so, in fact, that you’ll find your backpack stuffed to the brim with all the colourful and epic items that you can’t bid yourself to part with. Thankfully, the inventory interface is easy to manage, if a bit tedious at times when you have too many items. Items that you have no need for can be placed in a junk list at the tap of a button and easily sold at shops whenever you’re stopping by towns. For those specializing in Blacksmithing, items can also be salvaged for parts and the materials used to build new items. Furthering the theme of customization, some items come with sockets as well, allowing you to socket gems for additional status effects.

It’s a little weird that the best gear in the game is crafted, since there are many epic sets of gear with their own unique design that look much better than anything you could craft. I feel like it was a bit of a missed opportunity, however none of the armor pieces in this game don’t actually look bad, it’s just the difference between great and greater.

Presentation

When it comes to presentation, you can really tell that this game has had a touch from Todd McFarlane. The world is full of vivid colour and unique landscapes that emanate a graphic-novel style and look simply astounding at times. It’s a constant delight to explore, as there is so much to see. Item design looks great as well, particularly the armor sets, where even the most basic piece looks more like what many MMO’s would offer in their end-game pieces, and it only gets better from there. Weapons also appropriately make you feel badass and the artistic design is truly one of the most enjoyable aspects of Amalur. Music is whimsical and really helps propel the exploration aspect of the complete, supplementing combat with dramatic horns and aggressive fanfare to help get your blood pumping.

Presentation falters on NPC conversations however, as facial animations are extremely stiff, and many times it doesn’t even look as if characters are making eye contact with you or are cross-eyed. It’s a bit off-putting, and the hit-or-miss voice acting doesn’t help things. While there certainly some characters that pass muster for having a personality, there are others whose vocal tones feel flat and extremely boring. If the situation is so dire, why do you not make it sound like it’s so important? Some energy, please!

Facial movement issues aside, it feels so wonderful to get lost in a world with so much artistic variety – not only in the settings, but the enemies, the weapons, the armor, the people, all of it. Art style obviously isn’t everything when it comes to a game, but the team at Big Huge Games did a damn good job of creating Amalur’s world.

Too Long; Didn’t Read

Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning offers a wealth of variety and intense customizability set is a huge, wonderfully styled open world. The world thrives on rich colour and unique design that looks simply gorgeous and is an absolute joy for those who love to explore. It also helps that every weapon or piece of armour, no matter how low in quality, makes you look amazing. The breadth of character customization allows you to play how you like to play, from being a spell-slinger to a cutthroat to a massive tank, or even everything all at once. Combat is fast-paced and makes you feel powerful, even though it can be a bit cheap at times. Really, Kingdoms of Amalur tries to be a Jack-of-All-Trades, with an exceptional amount of breadth in the things that you can do but unfortunately ends up with not as much depth.

MonsterVine Rating: 3.5 / 5

Now the last Armored Core game I played was the first or second, so it’s been a while for me which puts me in two situations for reviewing this. On one hand I get the opportunity to view the game from the perspective of a newcomer to judge how someone not familiar to the series could approach it; on the other hand I end up not having a clue about many things and having to spend time on message boards asking questions. If players new to the series have the patience to play through the game and understand its mechanics they’ll find a treat to play.

Before you start playing you’ll be prompted to create a pilot and a team. The pilot itself is nothing important and just gives your AC a name, but the team part is incredibly important. This is the team (if you choose to stick with the one you make) that you will lead into online battles for territory against other players. The more matches your team wins the more prominence it’ll have. Teams can contain up to 20 players and if you decide to ditch your team in favor of another it’s as simple as either disbanding the team or transferring leadership. You’ll be able to also show off your team emblem for the world to see using one of the default emblems, or create your own. If working as a team isn’t really your style you can register yourself as a mercenary and get hired by other players to help out during missions in exchange for cold hard cash.

Now the main tab in the menu has all your modes. It’s here where you’ll drop instantly into the campaign, go online for some robot death matches, or compete in conquest games. There’s a story in here, but honestly it felt so bland I stopped bothering to pay any attention to it. The campaign itself is composed of 10 missions that all last from 30 minutes to an hour depending on your skill, so expect to get a small amount of time out of it. These missions involve going from point A to point B until you either clear all the enemies or reach a boss which are usually pretty hectic fights; there are however dozens of side missions that all basically involve ‘Kill Everyone’. This unfortunantly bleeds into the 10 story missions with each mission being a straight path full of the same tanks, flying mobile AC’s, riot shield AC’s, & helicopters you’ll fight in each mission. I did enjoy that I could bring along another player to help me out (which was a smart move considering some of the later missions get downright brutal) and if no friend is online then you can also hire a mercenary. My main complaint for this mode is that the tutorial fails to explain anything to you. It was a while before I realized my health bar was part of the reticle and I still have no clue what the top right corner piece is for. The only thing it covers are the basic controls; it fails to go into detail what the parts your AC has equipped mean. There’s no explanation on how the different categories of armor/weapons differ from each other and most players who aren’t series veterans are going to come into this more confused than Lost.

The other two tabs in the main menu is the assembly and team tabs. The team tab lets you keep track of your team’s progress, check who’s online, and set messages. The assembly tab is where you’re going to spend your time fine tuning your AC into the perfect death dealing machine. You’ll be able to choose each piece from the legs, torso, head, arms, weapons and more. With dozens of options I’m sure many people are going to put their AC through the revising process multiple times. You can also paint your AC here with a vast assortment of color options, patterns, and decals to throw on your AC. There’s even a custom emblem creator similar to Call of Duty Black Ops, but with much more depth to it.

The conquest mode is definitely the multiplayer highlight for this game. In it you’ll take 5 members of your team to battle against other player teams to take control of their territory. The map you see in the main menu/campaign screen will have the emblem of the team that’s currently in control of that area; you can stick your team’s name on that spot by jumping into conquest and showing everyone up. Invasion throws your team against the AI with various objectives, but it’s the Conquest mode that actually allows you to take over the areas. One of the biggest features is the Operator mode where one *qualified* player on the team takes the battles from the backseat by issuing orders from a map screen, locating incoming enemies, and guiding their team to victory. A competent operator is just as important as the best guy on your team sometimes. Unfortunately these missions are just as bland as the single player, the only real enjoyment I got out of it was knowing that I was doing it with other players.

The graphics in Armored Core V won’t exactly get any praise from anywhere. The buildings are all the same model, the environments themselves aren’t super impressive, I’m not a fan of the color palette used, and the effects look really dirty. I will compliment the game on the attention to detail on the mechs though because changing through all the different pieces in the assembly mode is worth it just to see all the little details put into it.

The Final Word
Armored Core V is definitely a solid game, but it wasn’t something that I’m going to sit around and play again next week with its repetitive missions both online and offline. I’m certain AC fans will be all over it (evident from my friend, a big series fan, spending most of the week at my place playing it with me), but I’m not too certain if newcomers will be able to jump the high curve required for fully enjoying the game.

- MonsterVine Rating: 3.5 out of 5 – Fair

The problem that has always plagued video games that take their lead from popular TV shows or movies is that they often lack substance and depend solely on fan base hype and loyalty to win them the day, but Namco’s latest iteration of their beloved Ultimate Ninja Storm series shows that it’s more than just a pledge to the Naruto fanboy/girl, but a fighting game that offers a lot more depth than it lets on. With an expansive roster, and exclusive side stories that can’t be found anywhere else, Naruto Shippuden Ultimate Ninja Storm Generations grabs players with crisp animations and explosive visuals that offer a new mix in the way 3D fighters are handled.

UNSG attempts to change pace by merging characters from both timelines of the Naruto series (Part 1 and Part 2 of the manga). The Story mode has been streamlined this time around, with mostly spoken narrative over top of still images to get you through the experience. While Ultimate Ninja Storm 2′s story mode had its fair share of tedium, the ability to walk around Konohagakure and its surrounding forestry is certainly missed in this title. The brevity of this new system of storytelling also serves to further alienate gamers who are strangers to the franchise–a problem that has always been present since the original Ultimate Ninja Storm, but this drawback is now more noticeable than ever. It gets the job done for fans, and it’s hard to believe CyberConnect2 had any real intention to do anything more than that.

Combat remains to be the meat and potatoes of the game, and it definitely continues to shine in UNSG. Like before, players choose three fighters to fight with: one for fighting with, and two others who serve as assists for the point character from the sidelines. Think of Marvel vs Capcom 3 minus the ability to actually call these two other fighters in. The wide range of abilities that can be employed per assist character, all with diverse properties, drenched in a huge roster of fighters allow for an incredible variety of combinations to choose from. Actual move sets are simple and easy to pick up, making the nature of the game much more about tactics, and less about execution. This watered-down system may not win the hearts of the hardcore fighting enthusiast, but for UNSG, I feel the simplicity is fitting given everything else that the game has to offer. Another noticeable (and welcomed) change to UNSG is the modification made to the substitution system. The number of times players can use this over a period of time is much more finite, bringing more balance and tactics to both its use and implementation during a match. It’s a good switch that breathes better life into the one-on-one (or one-on-two… or one-on-three.. or..) fighting experience.

Online multiplayer also sees a considerable upgrade. With ever increasing quality as a fighting game, it is clear CyberConnect2 and Namco Bandai invested some time in making sure that quality remains when taken to the online sphere. My online experience has been fairly solid with very little lag. Two of the biggest pluses for online this time around is the ability to spectate matches when gaming in larger groups, and the ability to watch and save replays of other matches. It did make me frown to find there was no way to filter replays, but this is a minor blemish in light of the improvements made overall.

The Final Word: Naruto Shippuden Ultimate Ninja Storm Generations is the most quintessential Naruto game to date, with improvements all around the sphere. While not the most complicated fighter to pick up, there is some considerable depth to be found for those who seek to maximize their potential. Like previous iterations, UNSG remains to be a game for fans, and is not a good starting point for those who are interested in learning more about the lore of the Naruto universe. If you’re a fan of Naruto, there’s absolutely no reason not to pick this up.

MonsterVine Rating: 4.5 out of 5 – Great

With a noticeable influx of ‘reboot’ titles this generation such as Duke Nukem and Twisted metal, perhaps EA’s newest SSX title doesn’t come as too much of a surprise. Though the game stays true to the roots of the extreme snowboarding experience, EA shows that it still found ways to breathe new life into a well-loved series without straying too far from its roots.

SSX has always distinguished itself among other snowboarding titles for its over-the-top tricks and impossibly-huge airtime as players snake their way down treacherous terrain in hopes of crossing the finish line first, or coming out with the highest score. Veterans of the series can find comfort in knowing that this feeling has not disappeared from the game’s core gameplay. Familiar faces like Kaori and Mac return, and jumps remain to be incredibly high in scale. There is no shortage of variety in the number of things to grind throughout each level, from snowy edges, snaky red pipes, stone railings to even power cables! The ability to choose how to descend down each mountain path gives players the freedom to explore different ways to complete each track, offering incentives for multiple playthroughs until the absolute best route is found. Colors are vibrant and inviting, and the clever blending of trees, bridges, tunnels and other vistas offer visceral experiences during every race. It’s hard to know what’s coming up ahead at times, but that’s what also makes it so exciting.

Pulling off tricks will also feel familiar to those who’ve played a SSX game before, with the left stick controlling spin direction and the right stick controlling grabs. Players are also given the option to use the face buttons to handle grabs if they prefer. Successfully completing tricks will gradually begin to increase a player’s trick meter, which can be slowly depleted by pressing RT/R2 in exchange for a speed boost. After fully maxing out the trick meter, players will enter a state called Tricky, which will offer unlimited boost for a certain amount of time before returning the trick meter back to zero. Entering tricky mode as often as possible provides a distinct advantage during races where speed and time are important. Tricks in SSX are quite easy to pull off, and even easier to land since your character will automatically fix their position as long as you stop pressing buttons right before you land. This makes spamming buttons (and/or the right stick) a fairly good strategy since it’s usually enough to pull off some beefy points for the trick mater. However, there are point penalties for duplicating a trick–a costly mistake if your goal is to obtain the highest score–so being purposeful with your tricks and knowing which ones you’ve already done will become integral to doing well in higher levels of play.

All tracks in SSX are categorized in one of three ways: “Race It”, “Trick It”, and “Survive It”. Race It simply requires players to advance down the slopes in the fastest time possible to win, while Trick It has players compete for the highest score obtained through completion of tricks. “Survive It” is SSX’s newest mode, one that pits various environmental hazards (such as avalanches, zero visibility, oxygen deprivation and more) against the player in their quest to make it down to the bottom alive. Each of these hazards presents different challenges to the player, and require special equipment in order to complete. In the single player campaign, each of the “Deadly Descents” (9 in total must be conquered for its completion) pose one of these environmental hazards to the player, and are great introductions to the types of Survive It scenarios available in the game.

Multiplayer in SSX sees some notable changes, with new features such as Global Events and Geotags providing new ways for players to approach the series. Global Events are time-slotted events that allow all players to compete for the best time or score down the mountain whenever they choose, so long as they complete it before the event’s time duration runs out. Players earn credits for qualifying in 5 different brackets, and payouts are determined by the number of entrants.

This system allows player to play at their own pace, and around their own schedules. The caveat, however, is the fact that the traditional multiplayer experience is remarkably absent from the game. It seems impossible to hook up with friends and compete on the same track at precisely the same time. There are no lobbies or matchmaking systems in place, leaving players to find themselves often racing solely against ghosts of other competitors, and not an actual player riding in their game with them.

Geotags are orbs that players can place anywhere on the map during their runs down the slopes, and leave for other players to try to find. While active, the originating player continues to collect credits (even when offline!) which they can then use to purchase new geotags, boards, armour and other equipment. Geotags add to the flare of social gaming, a construct that has slowly begun to take deeper root in video games.

SSX is overall, a great reboot to a series that has been long since overdue a return. The game’s graphical uplift is also accompanied by an entertaining soundtrack, if not also forgettable. There is no “Unfinished Symphony” this time around, but with a custom music option, this can easily be overlooked.

The Final Word: SSX strikes an immediate chord with series fans, while still providing a more than welcoming feel for people new to the franchise. With both new and familiar mechanics, SSX is a refreshing reboot that does the job of reinventing itself while not alienating its core identity. The absence of any conventional multiplayer matchmaking definitely will turn a few heads, but if you’ve been dying to play a game that tosses you high into the sky, and landing some of the most outrageous physical feats of the human person on a snowboard, then this game is certainly worth a look.

MonsterVine Rating: 4 – Good

Thatgamecompany is known for making relaxing games that try to bring out an emotional response from the player. They’ve previously mentioned how they could make big blockbuster action oriented games, but as Journey shows they’re still adamant about keeping a sort of simplistic feeling just like they did with Flow and Flower. Journey is an odd title in that it definitely looks more like a game than their previous titles, but it feels more like a film. As you play through the game you’ll slowly start from wondering who you are, why you’re here, and what happened to a discovery that’s only as deep as you want it to be.

Just as Flower and Flow before it, Journey continues to give us a sort of minimalist approach to gameplay that has finally bordered on the line between being a game and a movie. I’ll say it right now, I don’t consider Journey a game; the only similarities it shares with a game would be that you can jump and find collectibles. I would liken this closer to an interactive art house film. If somebody took the game, pulled a perfect run (that is by doing minimal exploring, or none at all, and no failing) and somehow got some interesting camera angles worked in I could see this being played in movie theaters. I sat and played this multiple times (in one playthrough each time) with around a total of 10 different people and each person commented on how much of a movie it felt. Some people were into games others weren’t, both the same reactions. This just isn’t the same as cracking jokes about Uncharted being a movie because it’s cinematic; Journey doesn’t just have a few cinematic moments, it borders on movies in visual quality. When I play a game I think “Shoot that guy, complete the objective”, when I played Journey I felt immersed just as if I was watching a movie

Each area (or level if you want to call it that) has one objective and that’s to just keep going straight. Journey is a very linear game, but it does have surprisingly large environments that you can explore for hidden upgrades to your scarf or hieroglyphic. The puzzles just amount to reactivating clothes that will allow you to turn them into bridges to cross or help you float up higher platforms. Journey doesn’t have a jump button, it instead has a sort of flying glide that needs to be recharged by walking near floating pieces of cloth that will refill your scarf with energy. At first I felt a bit off about having to actually walk around these big areas when I just wanted to glide around, but later on you’ll find that you can travel fairly quickly by sliding down hills and there’s always a fresh supply of torn carpets to refill your scarf’s energy. As I said above you can find hidden collectibles that will increase the length of your scarf and in turn allow you to stay in the air for a longer period of time. It’s not necessary to pick any of these up since there was never a big jump I needed to make, they’re simply there for anyone who wants to take their time exploring each nook & cranny as a reward.

The thing I love about the scarf is that it doesn’t clip through your character like most cloth physics in games; once you get that baby long enough it becomes incredibly fun to see it in motion. The other thing you can find are hieroglyphics that you can activate to see an image. These don’t really do anything other than slightly contribute to the already minimal story. Each area ends in your character witnessing a wordless vision and the story basically amounts to your character being a journey (see what they did there?). Whether you want to attribute it to a spiritual journey or the journey we all make in life is all up to you; I’ve heard several different conversations on it already. There is multiplayer but all it amounts to is playing the game with another player. You can’t interact with them physically other than performing a sort of chirping sound and there isn’t any voice chat function either. The only entertainment you get from it is playing through certain parts with another person such a thrilling ride through the desert in the third stage. It does make an overall lonely journey one you can embark on with a companion. Overall the game should last you around 2 hours of straight playtime with 3-4 if you want to try to get all the trophies.

The visuals in Journey are nothing short of amazing. Thatgamecompany took an art style that worked and pulled it together with some tricks to make a game that looks absolutely gorgeous. Don’t be surprised when you get a Prince of Persia, Aladdin, or Lawrence of Arabia vibe from the game, and I’m not saying that just because they all take place in desert environments. Thatgamecompany’s art team pulled together some spectacular segments later in the game that I won’t spoil besides mentioning that they put an underwater level in there without water. The musical score is also worth mentioning with the entire final act of the game a beautiful sight to behold.

The Final Word
Journey is a hard game to describe, but I can safely say it’s going to be the only game out this year to give you the experience it delivers. From gorgeous visuals to perfectly timed musical cues Journey is a beautiful thing to view from beginning to end. If you still find it hard to drop $15 on a 2 hour ‘game’ then I urge you to at least go to Youtube and watch an HD walkthrough (without commentary).

- MonsterVine Rating: 5 out of 5 – Excellent