Catch the Wind - Flower review

Flower is an incredibly unique experience, something that could only exist in the downloadable space. It's received a lot of press in the run up to it's launch, a lot of it due to the debate over whether it is so-called 'interactive art' and whether, in fact, it is a game at all.

The first thing to clear up is that second point.  This is most definitely a game, though a rather relaxed and sedate one.  The actual progression through the game is a simple case of item collection, in this case of the titular flower, but it's in the implementation that Flower excels.  Sixaxis motion control has been very much an afterthought for the majority of games that use it, but in Flower it is implemented near perfectly.  Any button on the controller causes the wind to blow, and tilting the controller changes the pitch and direction of your collection of flower petals. Gusting over other flowers causes them to open and add petals to your collection.  And that's it. But the result is a gloriously free feeling of flight, great tactile wind physics combining with the excellent sixaxis mapping to help create the illusion of soaring and swooping across verdant meadows.  It doesn't hurt that the game is alarmingly beautiful, green grass and lush vegetation creating a wonderful atmosphere.

If it ended there, Flower would merely be a fine 'gimmick' game, a neat exercise in motion control.  But it's elevated beyond that by the narrative progression. Though the game has no real story, each there is definitely a trend that runs through the game, moving from the dappled meadows of the opening level to darker and sadder territory as time passes by.  Music and graphics conspire to create a real atmosphere, each level having a defined mood it tries to capture.  This culminates in an astonishing final level, which, without spoiling things, is a euphoric cap to everything that has come before.

That Flower is able to mix a clever and interesting mechanic with such an interesting attempt at imbuing the game with higher meaning and pull it off makes it a very unique experience.  It's uplifting, relaxing, and very beautiful and deserves the comparisons to the equally idiosyncratic Rez. Transcending expectations, it manages to both stake a reasonable claim to be the aforementioned 'interactive art' and also a very fine game indeed.

[9]

State of Play

So as I rather abruptly pointed out in my previous post, my Xbox 360 rather catastrophically failed. This was not a good state of affairs, what with the then impending release of Street Fighter IV. Rather than wait the month or so for the repair, I decided to pick up an Arcade unit, and hunted down one of the new 'Jasper' chipsets, which are hopefully less prone to this sort of thing.  I also recieved some bad but far more predictable news, namely that my Tournament Edition Fightstick was delayed, and won't be arriving for several weeks. These disappointments were offset by the arrival of Street Fighter IV two days early. My first impressions are that it's very very good indeed, and a full review will be forthcoming.  With my old Xbox safely ensconced in Germany, I'm also continuing my backlog play, making another run through MGS3, completing Rez HD and will probably grab Noby Noby Boy soon. Further updates soon.

So my Xbox red ringed....

Finish the Hype - Halo 3 retro review

Note: As anyone who's read this blog will know, I'm not a big multiplayer guy.  This review is therefore centred only on Halo 3's qualities as a singleplayer experience, with no multiplayer discussion or judgement.

18 months after its launch, Halo 3 is still a big noise in videogames.  Widely regarded as the defining title of the Xbox 360, the question is, how well has it held up in the time since launch?

Visually at least, the answer is 'not too bad'.  Technically it's clearly outshone by more recent titles, and the graphics can look a touch jaggy (remember the game is only rendered at 640p) with texture work often coming across as flat.  But this is compensated for by the strong design, the Covenant particularly remaining an aesthetic highpoint with their brightly coloured technology and sleekly organic design.   Sound too remains excellent, with some good voiceover work and plentiful explosions.

It's when we get to the gameplay that gaps begin to appear.  Halo's mantra has always been '30 seconds of fun' and that's still applicable here.  Combat remains satisfying, with enemies treading the fine line between smart and stupid well, and the weapons give satisfying feedback, with the option to dual-wield at the expense of grenades and melee returning from Halo 2 for a nice touch.  But why so many weapons? There are 20 different weapons in the game, and many are duplicates of each other, such as the human SMG and the covenant Spiker, both of which are standard machine pistols.  My opinion is that there's too many different varieties here, and a slimming down of the arsenal would have better balanced the various weapons.  As it is some are practically useless while others (most notably the energy sword) are god weapons.  To be fair, there are some standout additions here, most notably the scenery-wrecking gravity hammer.

Level design is something of an issue as well.  With an upgrade to a next gen platform you'd expect a vast leap in scope, and while the game occasionally wows you, most notably in the battles against the colossal Scarab walking tanks, the truth is an awful lot of it feels underwhelming.  Haven't I seen this underground base before? Haven't I driven along this beach before? Haven't I attacked this control room down these corridors before?  Deja vu sets in quite early, and there's little real spectacle for the eye to feast on.  Some might argue that this isn't the point of a Halo game, but considering that one of the draws of the original was its sense of scale and outstanding art design, this falls a little flat.  The same goes for the story, so taut and well paced in Halo 1 but now expanded to a confusing mess of alliances and betrayals.  One of the game's main villains never actually appears onscreen, the other is killed well before the end of the game, and the strange pseudo love story between Cortana and practically every other character is laughable.  There's little sense of pacing and although there is a clever twist near the finish the finale ends up being another lame retread, lacking the intensity of its celebrated forebear (though it's better than the non-ending of Halo 2).  The game feels rushed, not helped by the fact that this is a very very short experience.  I finished it in a day, and I'm very bad at console FPS's. 

 And that's when it struck me - this entire singleplayer campaign feels phoned in, like it was very much a secondary concern.  It lacks polish, pacing and the major setpieces needed for a truly Triple-A game and compared to efforts like Bioshock and the masterful Half-Life 2 feels very immature and inconsequential.  The core strengths of Halo are as good as they have always been, the great feel of the weapons, the smart enemies and clever combat design.  They should have been the bones on which a much greater experience could have been fleshed out.  Instead, they're the bright sparks in a sea of average.  This is not a bad game, in fact, it's a good game. But, crucially, it is not a great game.  Which is a shame.

[7]

In these challenging economic times...

So, long story short, I don't have a great deal of money this month, due to a mistake involving my own rampant stupidity.  This subsequently means that new games are pretty much off of my list of purchases this month, which in turn affects what I'll be writing about on this blog.  There's still going to be some up to date stuff, as I shold have a copy of the Street Fighter IV collector's edition winging it's way here which I'll review, alongside the most indulgent thing I've ever purchased.  Also, provided it ever arrives, there'll be a Chrono Trigger DS review as well, although that depends on how long it takes to complete.

Howeve, the vast majority of this month will therefore be spent playing games from my 'pile of shame' and sbsequently writing them up on here.  I've already finished up Halo 3, and a review shold be up later, and there's some big hitters in there, such as Lost Odyssey, Dead Rising and Motorstorm: Pacific Rift as well as some older quirky stuff like Odin Sphere, Persona 3 and a real gem I dug out of the local GAME's preowned bin, Gregory Horror Show.  All of this stuff will hopefully be played and/or written up at some point, so that's what lies ahead.

Demo impressions triple tag team! - Killzone 2, FEAR 2, Halo Wars

Killzone 2

The first thing that's worth saying is that Killzone 2 is probably the best looking thing ever to appear on a console from a purely technical standpoint.  The high level of detail genuinely brings atmosphere to the world, particularly the grit and grime, with dust in the air and surfaces realistically worn and chpped away. It lends the game a very brutalistic fell that's matched by the gameplay.  The chunky, realistic weapons, the decidedly non sci-fi settings and the slow paced combat, complete with a nicely clunky cover system conspire to make the pace of the game quite slow and the feeling very far away from the 'one man army' approach of supposed competitors like Halo.  Overall, it's fun to play but the whitewash of genericism, plus the reports coming in that the story is utter rubbish probably means I'll put off grabbing this one for some time.

FEAR 2: Project Origin

I was a huge fan of the first FEAR (full stops omitted because I'm lazy). I loved its spooky premise, its insane weapons and the gorgeous slow-mo combat that saw enemies pirouetting away in a hail of bullets, blood and masonry.  From this brief demo all those things seem intact, but there are a few caveats.  The graphics are certainly shinier, and the scares more sophisticated, but the truly outlandish aspects of the first game have been played down.  The shotgun, which was a god weapon in the first game, seems nerfed, which is probably a good thing if you're sensible, but I miss being able to dismember people with it.  And why have all the enemies suddenly turned into space marines? The mech section also feels hopelessly out of place to me, and overall although it's scary I miss the grim gritty tone that made the first FEAR (and the underrated Condemned) so compelling.  That being said, there was still lot's of good stuff in here, so I'll probably pick this one up in the late spring drought.

Halo Wars

I've always been a firm believer that the RTS is one of the genres that has no place on anything that doesn't have a mouse and keyboard.  Halo Wars has partially solved these problems howeever, by eliminating a great deal of the depth.  This is very much RTS lite, with base building stripped back to an absolute minimum, and the prevailing tactic once again being the rush (something which is acknowledged by the existance of a 'select all units' button).  But these are actually all good things, with the trade of instead being an emphasis on action and spectacle that fits nicely with the console platform and Halo license.  The two levels in this demo, are nicely packed with spectacle, hammy cutscenes and neat map design, and since I do tend to like my RTS's less complicated I think this one might be on my radar also.

The world's latest best of 2008 post

I know this is very late.  Apologies, I'm trying to get back on the blogging train.

10 - Apollo Justice:Ace Attorney

No, it's not a notable evolution on the previous games.  But the Ace Attorney series has always delivered great gameplay and terrific soap opera storylines, and this is no exception.  And it is a Phoenix Wright game no matter what the title says, the trademark everything-and-the-kitchen-sink plotline returning and delving back into the storyline of our favourite spiky haired practitioner of the law.  As a franchise evolution, this needs serious work for its next instalment, but even without a major step onwards this is still one of the best interactive yarns you'll see this year.

9 - Super Smash Bros. Brawl

Yes, it's just a glorified fan game, but what fans and what a game.  Takes the anarchic sumo of Smash Bros. past and cranks up the insanity factor, which may or may not suit your taste.  Regardless, with an expanded roster, better level design and a raft of gameplay tweaks, including the new final smash attacks made this an outrageous, fast and heady experience.  The much touted singleplayer story mode was a letdown, and online play was totally broken, but a keen eye for detail and a great sense of free-for-all fun keeps this in here.

8 - Devil May Cry 4

This is one of the most stupid games ever released, an anachronistic throwback to a bygone age.  Fortunately, it knows this.  Instead, it chooses to put its efforts into its super slick graphics and a balanced and highly entertaining combat system.  The guns 'n' swords action is more balletic than ever before, new character Nero brings the action to the masses, while Dante provides depth and difficulty that the hardcore crave.  Combined with some striking level design and dialogue so horrifying it's hilarious, it produces a game which is no masterpiece, but is a fantastically enjoyable old school romp.

7 - Rock Band 2

The sequel gets the nod here, but really this is an endorsement for the whole rock band experience, regardless of platform or guise.  Harmonix took everything that made Guitar Hero so great and slipped it into a slicker, more grown up shell.  Adding in a superb song selection and friendly interface made the entire experience that much better, and there's still no better game to be played at a party.

6 - Burnout Paradise

I'm no big fan of driving games, but Criterion's latest is impossible to resist.  A huge, shiny mass of twisted metal and nitrous oxide, this is by far the best of the open-world racers, blending a hugley impressive city full of backstreets, junctions and improbable jumps with Burnout's trademark smash and crash racing.  Seamless online integration completed an excellent package, and generous downloadable content expanded the appeal and rightfully kept the game in the public eye.

5- No More Heroes

This could go 5 places either way and it would still polarise opinion.  There'll always be those who say that the abundant technical errors, grainy graphics and poorly realised open world break the immersion, and the repeated and repititive jobs and missions are simply no fun.  They'd probably be right.  There are also those who would proclaim that the outstanding characters, super sharp dialogue and irrepressible sense of style are enough to carry the game.  They're also right, since this is a game of deep flaws which you choose to ignore.  And if you can, there's a funny and clever experience like no other in here.  For better or worse, Suda51 at the height of his powers.

4 - Braid

The arguments that it is pretentious, that it is over-wordy and that it is deliberately and frustratingly impenetrable all hold true.  But it is so unlike anything else, and holds your attention and your interest far beyond its much talked about ending.  Beautiful and mechanically clever and deep, it deserves its much heralded status as the gem in a year of superb downloadable titles.

3 - Gears of War 2

I loathed the first GOW, so the fact that this ended up this high is a testament to its high quality.  Taking the stop-and-pop gameplay of the original, every single aspect is then scaled up to produce a gargantuan epic the scale of which has barely ever been seen in videogames.  Like the world's most expensive B-movie, giant worms, risible dialogue and some sledgehammer storytelling combine with endless spectacle to produce a rollercoaster ride of a game.  As far as third-person shooters go, this is the biggest, dumbest and best of them all.

2 - Prince of Persia

In any other year this would have won.  A game of endless polish and innovation, its revamped parkour makes it flow like no other platformer, while the new combat system suits well, neatly splitting the two parts of the game.  The much vaunted 'no death' mechanic slots in so well you'll wonder why it isn't in every game, and the plot reboot produces a pair of very different and but very likeable new protagonists, while the plot they're dropped into is clever and ambitious.  Add to that the fact that it's possibly the most beautiful videogame ever made, its fantastic environments and painterly backdrops creating a world of unparalleled visual glory, and you have a game that will go down as an instant classic.  The best game of the year.  Almost.

1 - Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots

Some would argue this isn't even a game.  They're wrong.  But they may have a point in the sense that it isn't the game parts of this experience that make it so special.  The revamped combat, the enhanced weapon loadout, the revamped controls, the repositioned camera, these all help, and they bump the purely game parts of it up to a very high standard indeed.  But really, it's the chance to immerse yourself in Kojima's world one last time, to see his beloved cast end their adventure together.  Long, pretentious and unwieldy, it is also a game of deep sorrow, a sad and tired game almost unique amongst all the games ever made.  Supplemented by astonishing production values, including amazing graphics, superb voices and outstanding music, this is less of a game, more of an experience.  And as experiences go, it is unmatched.