Matt Hazard: Blood Bath & Beyond Review

The original Matt Hazard had the potential to be a great game, good voice work with the likes of Neil Patrick Harris and Will Arnett. A brilliant backstory and marketing campaign which broke the fourth wall entirely, and the story while thin was entertaining and amusing. The sole problem came in the gameplay department which ultimately almost ruined the game, frustrating controls made the game annoying hard on a normal difficultly even with frighteningly dumb AI. Now comes another in the series titled Blood Bath & Beyond a 2.5D based shooter. Is it Hazard’s Time? … Continue Reading

Shadow Complex Review

The developers of Advent Rising have released, Shadow Complex, a two point five dimensional side scrolling shooter that tributes its Metroidvania predecessors. Many will remark that this is the modern evolution of its genre. What happens when Chair Entertainment releases a stunning quality game on the Xbox Live Arcade? … Continue Reading

Wallace & Gromit Grand Adventures: Fright of the Bumblebees Review

Wallace & Gromit Grand Adventures: Fright of the Bumblebees Review

Wallace & Gromit Grand Adventures: Fright of the Bumblebees is the first of four episodic games from Telltale games based on the much – loved Wallace & Gromit series. Wallace, the loveable, bumbling inventor and his faithful dog (who can knit, drive vans and fly planes) Gromit have set about creating a business based around selling honey. As you can expect things quickly turn bad and it’s up to the affable duo to put things right using their wit and ingenuity.

One thing that should have been vital in the development process of this game is to capture the charm of the original series. And they have done just that.

Gromit is confused by the exsistance of cheese

Graphically, the game looks very similar to the stop motion TV shows. There are a few corners cut in terms of graphical quality for background items, but the objects that matter look like they have been pulled straight out of one of the shows. The lip – sync is slightly off the majority of times which closely mirrors the way that the characters speak. There are both old and new characters introduced in the game and they all look as if they were made by the original artists. The two lead characters both move in their signature styles with Gromit’s high – leg movement and Wallace’s ‘limp wristed trot’ that will delight many a fan when wandering around.

You know something is wrong when someone exclaims this much

The music suits the visual style almost to perfection. Its jaunty upbeat tunes coincide with the happy – go – lucky style of the characters. When working on the same stage for long periods of time the music can beginning to wear on you a bit as they are slightly on the repetitive side. The voice acting is generally very good, and one character who spends most of the time shouting out of a window really steals the show. In the original episodes, there are little to no recurring characters so the only main voice actor is that of Wallace. The voice actor sounds different to the one from the TV episodes but does a fairly good job of impersonating the bumbling tones.

In terms of gameplay, Fright of the Bumblebees is a fairly standard adventure in which the main goal is usually to collect objects to obtain other objects in order to make something else work, thus completing the goal. There is nothing that really stands out about the gameplay in that sense but it works well enough mechanically but it may not be engaging enough for serious adventure game players. The controls are fairly ordinary although actual character movement can be a little clunky at times and turning around can be a somewhat laborious task in certain situations. Objects are examined / obtained by clicking on them and the same happens with initiating actions.

This lady REALLY likes purple flowers. Also, her chest gets a teabag. No really.

The game is mainly set around the area surrounding the home of Wallace and Gromit with a simple map system to easily jump between areas. These areas are well designed and they fit in well with the rest of the visual style. There are some great cutscenes in the game as well including a fantastic egg – frying mechanism involving a badger on a thin wire and a giant mallet.

The difficulty level is about regular for an adventure game with some puzzles a lot more obvious than others. There is a hint system integrated but it is not really much of a help. Your character will usually just repeat their goals with no indication of how to go about completing them. This can lead to situations where the player may have missed something but then have no idea of how to go about rectifying the problem. The lack of supportive hints can wind up being frustrating and leading the player to investigate objects randomly in order to try and progress.

This bee just stole your vinyl record. How do you feel about that?

The game lasts for a few hours which is about par for an episodic, downloadable game but there is no real replay value given the nature of episodic titles. For what the player gets out of the game though it is definitely worth the money and well worth the fairly short amount of time that the player will invest to complete it.

The story is the typical Wallace & Gromit storyline of things going wrong and the two having to solve the issues that Wallace has created, with Gromit pulling most of the strings and cleaning up his owners mess. This is very much in line with the distinctive style of the previous episodes of the series and is a great way to start of the episodic series. That said, the rest of the series will most likely have a different main quest but there is sure to be some sort of over – arcing storyline of some sort.

The Final Word

Wallace & Gromit Grand Adventures: Fright of the Bumblebees is a great game in its own right and it is also a good way to begin an episodic series. The game is packed with all the charm and originality of the original Aardman classics, which will no doubt please fans of Wallace & Gromit. The only problem with this is that people who are not overly familiar with the series will probably not enjoy the game as much without that prior knowledge of the series. That being said, the game presents the player with a decent amount of content. The game is a great way to start the series and the future looks promising for the upcoming series.

- MonsterVine Rating: Good

By Andy Jackson

The Maw Review

The Maw – Review

January 21, 2008 January 21, 2008

TwistedPixel’s The Maw sees you control Frank, some sort of Pixar-esq creature that has been captured and locked up on a spaceship. After the ship crashes onto an unknown planet, Frank and his new friend / pet Maw around the new planet eating various cute and not-so-cute creatures to fatten Maw up escape their captors for once and for all.

The gameplay in The Maw consists of the player (Frank) guiding his new purple friend Maw around with him on some sort of laser leash, and taking him to various sources of supplement. Whether they be fluffy balls with eyes, or fire-breathing reptiles, Maw will (at least try to) gobble them up. The challenge (or lack thereof) comes from Maw needing to possess the skills of certain creatures, obtained momentarily by eating creatures. As an example, if there are plants obscuring your path to advance, Maw will need to find some way to burn them down. The game does a very good job of telling you where to go and what to do, but it gets to the point where you are still being spoon fed this information even at the very end of the game.

The Maw’s main drawing point however, is it’s charm. And it’s brimming with it. Levels are filled with lush, colourful environments and bright, vibrant creatures inhabit the lands. The game is fully 3D and looks incredibly sharp considering it is a downloadable title. The artistic design is unique which helps set it apart from other downloadable platformers. The visual element of The Maw is bolstered by the equally impressive audio. The jaunty, upbeat tunes complement the cheery visual presentation with great accuracy and precision, as well as invoking a sense of joyfulness rarely found outside of the general field of narcotics and kittens.

The creature models just as interesting and pretty to look at as the environment that surrounds them. Cute little furballs will hop around the land minding their own business, and will shriek in terror as Frank guides Maw’s ever-growing jaws towards them. Maw himself / herself / itself is the most endearing part of the adventure though. A fat purple blob with a mouth / hole full of razor sharp teeth and one giant eye and a long purple tongue, Maw is as cowardly as he is hungry. The relationship between Frank and Maw is a peculiar one and is more of an owner-pet dynamic than an actual friendship. Nevertheless, Frank will guide Maw to certain creatures to eat and, depending on the creature, Maw can gain a special ability for a period of time which, more often than not, will allow Frank and Maw to progress to the next stage. Watching Maw grow and seeing his actions change is really fascinating and really engaging for a while, but you never really progress to any higher level of difficulty than you are presented with at the start.

And that’s really the big problem with The Maw. Clocking in at around 3 hours, maybe more if you decide to eat every creature in every level, the game doesn’t have a lot of longevity. It has very little replayability either which makes it almost a one-time play game. The younger audience may wish to return to it seeing how friendly it is to younger, perhaps less experienced, gamers but the older crowd will be hard pressed to find any real reason to return to it. (Ed note: Since the game was released, DLC packs have been announced but this content shall not be included in the review as it was not available at launch.)

The game’s price point of 800MSP ($10, £6.50) is probably a little steep when considering how much time will actually be put into playing the game, but it is not too high to completely disregard the game at all as the the general charm will undoubtedly capture the hearts of the player.

The Final Word
The Maw is certainly a great game in terms of it’s charm and it’s presentation, but falls short in both longevity and content. It is certainly worth a download in it’s own right, but do not expect to be playing this game again any time soon.

- MonsterVine Rating: Good

By Andy Jackson

A Conglomeration of XBLA Reviews

XBLA: October 22nd 2008
XBLA: October 22nd 2008

Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain Slick Precipice of Darkness is not only the greatest name of a video game series ever, it is also a four-part episodic series that mixes adventure and RPG elements. However, the humour of the series is far and away the best selling point of the series. The second episode is really no different than the first in this sense as it is still rather light on the adventure and RPG elements, yet there is an inordinate amount of jokes scattered around that almost do enough to keep the player happy for the duration of the game.

The gameplay is exactly the same as the first instalment but that was to be expected due to the very nature of an episodic series. You take control of a custom character (or you can import your own character from the first game and modify them) and team up with Tycho and Gabe (who destroy your partly rebuilt home) to track down the giant robot who was responsible for you having to re-build your home in the first place. The story is once again set in the fictional New Arcadia in 1922 with six maps to explore (four brand new, two returning) as you complete tasks for various people in order to track down parts needed to take on the giant fruit-fornicator robot. You are not really told as to why certain parts are needed or even what they are going towards building until the very end of the game, but this helps inject a lot of jokes into the game so it’s not too detrimental to the individual story, or the overall story arc that will encompass all four games.

The story is told in 2D comic strip format when speaking with other character and it really captures the essence of the web comic; and your character is able to choose different things to say in the speech bubbles but the story remains the same regardless. These 2D scenes are broken up by Flash movies that highlight the most important happenings in the game and there are nearly triple the amount of these scenes than the previous episode.

The gameplay has remained exactly the same with each of the three playable having the ability to use an item, use a regular attack or use a special attack (which initiate some timing-based minigames that lead to the amount of damage done) but the more powerful the attack, the longer it will take you to charge it, so you cannot just mash the special attacks. The difficulty of these battles is somewhat questionable. Despite there being three difficulty levels (plus a bonus insane mode once the game has been completed) the battles get insanely easy when you can flee at any time and recover all of your health by doing so before trying again.

The game is focused mainly on the humour, which is readily available everywhere you turn. The adventure elements, such as examining items and collecting evidence are substituted for jokes. This is very much in the Penny Arcade style yet it ends up detracting from the game and makes it seem like an animated comic more than an adventure game. That said though, there is something quite spectacular about getting an achievement for examining a binoceroses’ withered pair of testicles with ‘genuine interest’.

Penny Arcade’s On the Rain Slick Precipice of Darkness: Episode Two does a good job of expanding on the first episode in areas like cut scenes and being more open-ended but it still falls short of being a true adventure game as it often substitutes these instances for humour which, while funny, is detrimental to an otherwise great game.

- MonsterVine Rating: Good

XBLA: December 3rd 2008
XBLA: December 3rd 2008

Banjo – Kazooie tells the heart-warming story of a bear named Banjo and a bird named Kazooie in a collectathon battle against the evil witch Gruntilda (or Grunty) in order to save Banjo’s little sister, Tooty, from her clutches. Throughout the game you collect Jiggy’s to unlock new levels, in these levels you collect more Jiggy’s to unlock other levels and there are musical notes in the levels that unlock new areas and eventually get to fight Grunty.

The game has received hardly any changes since it’s original release over a decade ago which is great in nostalgic terms especially since anything new added would most likely have been slated. The colours are still vibrant and contrasting enough to make your retinas’ bleed and the sound effects are still goofy enough that everytime Banjo does his ‘I just got a Jiggy’ dance you will join in with his Goofy-esq laugh. The game proves itself to be just as charming and as fascinating as it ever was.

Due to the lack of major changes, the game still suffers from the occasional camera problems that occur when in tight corners and underwater which can be very frustrating when running low on air and trying to get to the surface even though you have no idea where the surface is.

The main difference between the N64 release and the XBLA release is the replayability. The addition of achievements and leader boards increase the longevity of the game substantially as people will want to see how quickly they can complete the game compared to friends and randoms over Xbox Live. This feature is sure to get players going for multiple playthroughs to perfect their times and to look for shortcuts in order to get the best score.

Overall, the re-release of one of the classic platformers of all time shows that the game has held up extremely well given the considerable amount of time that has passed since it was first released. The only problem that some people may have is the 1200MS Space Dollars, but this game is recommendable to both new and old players.

- MonsterVine Rating: Excellent

PSN: 25th September, XBLA: October 1st 2008, Wii Shop: 22nd September 2008
PSN: 25th September, XBLA: October 1st 2008, Wii Shop: 22nd September 2008
PSN: 25th September, Wii Shop: 29th September 2008

The Megaman franchise is one of the longest running franchises in the history of video games and has seen a number of spin-offs based on the original series simply entitled Megaman. The last game in the original series, the aptly-named Megaman 8 was released on the Playstation in 1996, so it may seem strange that the next game in the series is released nearly twelve years afterwards. Despite the incredulous amount of detail that is now implemented into most video game releases, Capcom decided to go back to the glory days of the Blue Bomber and use the original 8-bit style of gameplay that veteran gamers know and love today.

Megaman 9 in many ways is just another Megaman game. Dr Wily has loosed evil robots against the world, only this time he is blaming it on Dr Light, which prompts Megaman into action in order to rid the world of the robots and prove Dr Lights’ innocence.

The game is split into eight levels each culminating in a boss battle which, when victorious, grants the player with the boss’ weapon to use in any other level they wish. As is the Megaman tradition, each boss has a certain weapon that they are weak against but it is up to the player’s own trial and error gameplay to figure which of the bosses are weak against which weapons. Once these 8 bosses are defeated, the player travels to Wily’s castle to do battle with the nefarious Doctor once again.

The action in Megaman 9 is almost identical to that of the very first Megaman games. It is a very simple platforming shooter in which the player must destroy enemies whilst avoiding dangerous traps such as spikes and bottomless pits, both of which are of course instant kills.

Megaman 9 is a game that fans of the series will love, with it’s irresistibly catchy yet infuriatingly annoyingly 8-bit music, it’s seemingly impossible challenges and the brand spanking new implementation of leader boards and time attacks, Megaman 9 is definitely a game that Megaman lovers simply can not turn away. Having said this, newcomers to the series will most likely feel overwhelmed by the difficulty of certain parts and may not be suited to the classic trial and error gameplay.

- MonsterVine Rating: Good

XBLA: 19th November 2008
XBLA: 19th November 2008

One of the main features of the NXE (New Xbox Experience) came avatars. These Mii imposters have found their way onto our dashboards and our Gamer Cards and have now seemingly found their way onto XBLA titles. The first new release to have avatar support is A Kingdom for Keflings, a bizarre city building game created by Ninja-Bee.

In A Kingdom for Keflings you control your avatar (or one of a set few stock avatars if you are having internet connectivity problems) and assist the few Keflings (really small people) that have gathered around your humble village and attempt to turn it into a thriving city, as thriving as a medieval city can be of course. You will be collecting resources, depositing them into various construction related buildings before building the individual parts required for a building, and then literally taking those parts and form them in a manner specified by blueprints before the building is complete. Gathering enough resources will take a while, so you will have to utilize the help of your Keflings and attract more of them to your soon-to-be mega-city by completing small favours for the mayor in order to receive ‘love’ which is the main attraction for Keflings apparently.

The main addiction of AKFK is that you can take everything is taken at your own pace. You could spend three hours collecting wood if you so wished and you would not so much as get a complaint from your fellow workers. This could however, have a damaging effect on the game as some players may feel that such tasks are pointless as the player is often rewarded with nothing more than some new blueprints and some cheering Keflings. It is very dependant on the player however, and personally I found the game very relaxing but I rarely played it for more than an hour at a time.

The artistic style of AKFK is as you would expect from such a player-friendly game with bright visuals and the ability to paint the rooftops of your buildings different colours adds to the sense that the city is entirely yours and there are no restrictions as to what you build or where you want to build it. The avatars also look great doing something other than standing on your dashboard looking bored.

The game is a perfect game to show to family members due to the complete lack of punishment or time-constraints that the player has put on them, and it’s easy to pick up and play mentality will no doubt bring delight and joy to many a player. With this said, be warned before you buy this as anyone who feels the need to try and burn through and build all of the buildings as quickly as possible will not get the same delightful experience that one could get from making the city their own.

With online co-op supporting up to four players in one city and online leaderboards that tally up all of your scores and just your score for the week, A Kingdom For Keflings is most certainly a game that you should buy IF you are in the market for a calm, relaxing game that you can enjoy without the pressures of a zombie outbreak or another alien invasion.

- MonsterVine Rating: Good

Castle Crashers Review

Hello all, Zack of… here. It has come to my attention I do very little Xbox 360 news and alot of criticizing of games, news, articles, life, politics, and pretty much everything I can get a laugh at. So thanks to Will, I have accepted my place as a critic. And since I am the only one with a capture card, games, a microphone, and a pocket full of people’s crushed dreams, why not make a video review!