Likes:

• Great design
• Hilarious story with interesting characters
• Competitive online leader boards

Dislikes:

• A little more content needed
• Replay ability isn't really there
• Short length, short story

Review Score

 / 

I hope to make these articles interesting for both newcomers to the game and those who have played through multiple times. But, I have one quick warning: in order to make this as detailed and informative as possible, there will be a large amount of spoilers. So, if you aren’t worried about learning the fates of the characters or having the ending ruined for you, keep reading. If you still plan to play this game for yourself and want to experience the plot twists firsthand, stop!

Target #03 – Encounter (Part 1)
“The guy in the main event is unlike any other!”

The first things we see as this chapter begins are rows of bullets. A few are carefully selected from the group and loaded into a handgun’s magazine. Classical music swells as the camera pans out a bit, exposing the interior of a classy limousine. The man loading the handgun slowly aims and opens fire on a scantily clad woman sitting across from him. We see the door of the limousine fly open and the man begins to make his way up the steps of a very large office building. His progress is shown through a first-person perspective. He eventually makes his way to spacious lobby, taking a good look around before opening fire on all those present. The last is a young woman who stares up at the man in horror. The screen cuts to red quickly before showing the man leave the building. He appears to be a bit older than middle age, with white hair on his head and face. As he approaches the camera, a small grin can be seen on his face.  A freeze frame captures his left eye for just a moment before fading out.

The scene shifts to Garcian in his trailerhouse. Like every other morning, he listens to a telemarketing message left by the Republic Party asking for his vote in an upcoming election. Like every other morning, Garcian ignores it and makes his way to Harman’s room. The man behind the locked door is still screaming his head off, but Garcian still doesn’t seem to care. When Garcian enters Harman’s room, he sees Samantha abusing Harman again. This time she is forcing him to eat and eventually gets so fed up that she slams the contents of the bowl onto his face. This is a far cry from the awakened Harman we are used to seeing. Garcian wakes him up using the televsion. They speak of a man named Curtis Blackburn, who Harman refers to as a “surge.” Garcian recognizes the name and mentions that he killed Dan Smith years ago. Harman says his arrival on the world scene is an act of fate and that he’ll soon make his move. Garcian offers to take care of Curtis personally, but Harman says Dan is more than Curtis can handle.

Garcian leaves the trailerhouse and meets up with Christopher on the overpass. Christopher says Curtis has been keeping his head down for fifteen years by working for the government. There’s a rumor going around that he’s involved with organ trafficking, which is then used in production of the Heaven Smile. Christopher hands Garcian a flyer for a nearby amusement park. It seems Curtis is going after children’s organs at the fairgrounds. Christopher urges Garcian to hurry and take Curtis out. “The blood of innocent children,” Garcian says, “is unnecessary.”

The Killer 7 head to the amusement park called Ishizaka Land, or ISZK-Land for short. The security camera at the front gate changes Garcian into Con Smith, the youngest member of the Killer 7. Iwazaru is also waiting for the group at the gate. He reiterates Christopher’s words, urging them to hurry and kill Curtis before he can harm more children. While Iwazaru is as cryptic as ever, Travis eventually appears to shed some more light on the park. He says it’s been abandoned recently and has become a great place to hide out if you’re in trouble. But it’s always been a pretty bad place that’s linked to an orphan trading syndicate.

Just like Travis said, Ishizaka Land is abandoned…except for the Heaven Smile, of course. The Killer 7 make their way to the String Quartet area of the park and search the four large auditoriums for clues on Curtis’ whereabouts. Cinema 4 contains a treasure chest. Inside is a new outfit for Mask de Smith that makes him the Main Event, powering his weapons up and making difficult barriers easier to bypass. Travis is waiting for the group in Cinema 3 and sheds a bit more light on Dan and Curtis’ relationship. There’s a lot of history between the two, and Dan supposedly goes crazy at the mere mention of Curtis’ name. Travis says his bloodlust is so powerful that not even Harman or Garcian would be able to hold Dan back. Garcian recovered Dan’s body after he was killed, but Travis can’t recall where that was. He questions how much the others in the group know about the situation.

As the Killer 7 approach Cinema 3′s stage, the ghosts of Kurahashi and Akiba appear before them. If you don’t remember, these two were the Japanese politicians killed by Matsuken at the beginning of Sunset. Their bodies refused to die, but they were soon killed again by the Killer 7. They don’t seem to notice the Killer 7 standing before them, and appear to be having a conversation. Akiba asks Kurahashi if he likes war. Kurahashi replies by saying Akiba should already know his answer, because he doesn’t consider it war. Akiba mentions that the missiles from the beginning of the story hit their target in Japan, killing over 80 million people in an instant. The whole country was destroyed and the whole world stood by in silence. Kurahashi laments Akiba’s idealism, saying that this is the age of power. Akiba disagrees and says the rest of the world watched on and did nothing because they were afraid of what could happen to them. “The maggots,” he says, “live on.” Future events should be interesting to watch, they say, because their will continues to live on even after their deaths.

Travis is waiting for the Killer 7 in Cinema 2 as well. His recent conversations with the Killer 7 seem to be only directed at Garcian, no matter who is in control at the time. He mentions that Garcian doesn’t show much interest in the rest of the group, questioning if they even exist at all outside of being small parts of multiple personalities. He segues directly from the cryptic questioning into more information on Dan and Curtis’ history together. Curtis was Dan’s mentor in the Seattle Self-Defense Force and taught him all he knows about killing. Dan was suspected of betraying the Force and then killed in a back alley. Garcian recovered his body soon after. Pedro, another man who had connections to the Self-Defense Force, was behind the whole thing.

Cinema 1 houses another treasure chest, but this one opens to reveal Susie’s head lying inside. She jokingly says she loves the amusement park, only to relay a traumatic event that happened to her there. She hates crowds, especially the rude dads, fat moms, and crazy kids who scuff up her shoes. All these factors caused her to throw up in the park, and she was soon crowded by onlookers who wouldn’t give her space to leave. Susie reveals that she wouldn’t hesitate to kill them all. The park, she says, is the birthplace of murder after all.

Iwazaru and Travis show up once again outside of the Freaky Fun House. Iwazaru says the park is a thing of the past, hence the fact it’s abandoned. Travis says the fun house has been turned into some sort of odd masquerade, and the only way to get in is by wearing a mask. Luckily, Mask is always wearing his luchador mask, so the Killer 7 get inside easily. The Freaky Fun House is just that…incredibly freaky. As they near the exit, the Killer 7 come in contact with a Fallen Angel. The Angel doesn’t say anything, but gives Dan the all-powerful Demon Gun.

The next part of the park the Killer 7 have to journey through is called the Killer Mansion. As the Killer 7 explores the inside of the mansion, Travis shows up with more information on Curtis. Rumors are going around that Curtis has a few odd hobbies to keep him busy. He trades organs on the black market but, hilariously enough, that’s his public face. In private, he lives with a group of orphans. Girl orphans, in fact. And it all happens to be sanctioned by the government in order to keep him happy. Pedro, from the Seattle Self-Defense Force, acts as the middleman and controls the organ trade routes. The ties formed in the Self-Defense Force remain strong, it seems. Even Travis is surprised by the nerve of the whole situation and the people involved.

A quick appearance by Kess Bloodysunday leaves the Killer 7 with a few odd, cryptic thoughts. There are monsters behind every beautiful facade. The truth, he says, is a monster. Travis appears again to bring things back to reality. It seems Pedro was siphoning money to a foreign syndicate and skimmed a bit off the top to put in his own pocket. The Seattle Self-Defense Force signed a pact of brotherhood in blood, so traitors were and still are punished by death. Pedro framed Dan with the embezzlement by hiring him to launder the dirty money. Curtis took this opportunity to take Dan out. Kess appears again with some more odd ideas for the Killer 7: they need to expose those that hide in the dark. Expose them and pick them off…one by one.

The Killer 7 finally make it out of the amusement park and into the parking lot. Curtis is nowhere to be found. Instead, a young woman by the name of Ayame Blackburn challenges the Killer 7 to battle. She dresses in a cliched school uniform and a large mask that makes her look like a very exaggerated anime character. Even her opening speech is reminiscent of old Japanese superhero shows and cartoons. She introduces herself as the Chairman of the Education Guidance Council, who seeks to destroy all the “vermin” who inhabit the country.

After losing to the Killer 7, Ayame saunters off like it’s no big deal. A large bus pulls into the parking lot to pick her up, and the noise of children can be heard from within as the doors open up. The bus is emblazoned with the Ishizaka Land logo, and seemingly carries the children off to the slaughter.

Encounter (Part 1) – Complete

A few more of our conflicts pop up in this chapter. Good vs. Evil, or rather Heaven vs. Hell, is touched upon slightly by the appearance of our Fallen Angel. While much of the Killer 7′s symbolism has to do with demonic or Hellish forces, Kun Lan and the apparent antagonists of the game all have very Heavenly sounding names. In Biblical terms a fallen angel, as most of you know, is an angel that left Heaven with Lucifer after their failed war against the creator: God. In killer7, the Fallen Angel provides the Killer 7 with some much needed firepower in the form of a Demon Gun. Dan Smith is also referred to as the Hellion many times in this chapter. A Hellion in this case is an out of control, rowdy individual who shares characteristics with lesser demons.

The second of our conflicts expanded upon slightly in this chapter is East vs. West. The two dead Japanese politicians, Kurahashi and Akiba, continue to push plans forward for Japan’s expansion. Japan, as you’ll remember, was recently flattened by nuclear weapons after the United States refused to help defend them. Were these missiles launched by the United States? If not the US, then who?

Another part of the East vs. West conflict is shown by the appearance of Ayame Blackburn. While her relative Curtis is in no way Japanese, she seems to idolize Japanese traditions and cliches. Her whole character and appearance is a play on oldschool Japanese television programs, as well as recent anime series. She stands in the way of the Killer 7′s progress, but is hastily defeated. Why is she trying to emulate the Japanese in such a hackneyed way?

So, will Dan and Curtis finally have their monumental showdown? Will Dan achieve his revenge, or become just another tick in the list of Curtis’ kills? How was Garcian able to revive Dan in the first place, and how much do the personalities know about each other? These questions probably won’t be answered any time soon, but feel free to tune in next week for the exciting conclusion of Encounter!

The game sets you in the role of a silent protagonist, as every Dragon Quest has. The difference here is that for the first time you are given free rein to customize what your hero looks like. Choosing your gender in Dragon Quest III and IV was one thing, but choosing your face, hair style, body proportions, and so forth is something totally new for the series and makes it more in line with what you may expect from a western RPG from the likes of Bioware.

In its story telling Dragon Quest IX has more in common with Dragon Quest III than its eighth chapter. Just like the NES classic you play as set of four blank slates. Rather than meeting new heroes to join your cause as you go about your adventure the player simply recruits three comrades at a major Inn near the start of the game. Just like your hero the player can custom-build their party-members to suit how they want, including a choice of six vocations (Dragon Quest IX's version of character classes) like warrior, thief or mage. As you play the game you earn the opportunity to unlock new vocations as well.

But would you believe me when I said the story is still interesting and regardless? Yes, you don’t get to really learn more about your characters and who they are (everyone but your hero mysteriously vanish during story scenes) but the story itself is wonderfully well written and even has a good number of mysteries that will keep you going. The trade-off is that the hero is accompanied by an irritating companion character named Stella. A bleach-blond, over-tan, obnoxious side-kick, she offers some light-hearted banter and the odd laugh, but overall tends to annoy rather than endear. Like Ocarina of Time's Navi, she will not ruin the overall story for you, but she has few likable qualities about her.

Unlike a good many other RPGs, Dragon Quest IX is told through a series of short stories. Whenever you arrive at a new township it is likely that it will trigger a new story featuring the cast of that particular town. One may have you saving a seemingly doomed town from a deadly disease while another will have you tacking down a missing resident. While each of these short stories are mostly self-contained, they all also fit into a grander scheme that will move you from one vignette to the next. It works well in a portable game to have bite-sized chunks of story and also makes it so that the player will want to hurry along to the next township to see what the next story will bring.

Dragon Quest IX has a striking visual style that does well in emulating the cell-shaded graphics of its Playstation 2 predecessor. Everything is bright and colourful and full of personality. The games graphical strengths lie in the fact that the game works within the limitations of the hardware. Rather than filling towns with 3D rendered townsfolk it uses 2D sprites for all but important story-related characters. It gets the job done and makes it so more characters can be present on screen at once.

The soundtrack is good, highlighting the upbeat nature of the game with a good amount of classic Dragon Quest music and sound effects for long-time fans. My only complaint is that while the music that is there is great, I wish there was a little more of it. Almost every town and dungeon has the same song so it does tend to get a little repetitive.

The gameplay is solid and addictive, sticking to the core Dragon Quest gameplay, but improving enough and adding enough new elements to keep the game feeling fresh. At its core Dragon Quest IX is a traditional turn-based RPG. But there are a few modern tweaks that keep the game feeling up to date and addictive. The skill tree system from Dragon Quest VIII has been expanded so now each vocation has a unique skill tree, rather than having them be character specific. What gives the game such deep customization is that all skills mastered in one vocation will carry over into any other. Want to have a battle mage? Just master the warrior’s sword skills and you can arm your mage with a sword.

Even the equipment has been updated, with each piece of armour and weapon you equip the appearance of your avatar will reflect the new gear, making it just that much more rewarding when you can finally equip that new axe or helmet.

Exploration has been improved a lot simply by virtue of the fact that Dragon Quest has finally done away with random battles. Players can now actively avoid combat or hunt specific monsters thanks to the fact that monsters will now randomly spawn on the field or in dungeons.

But one cannot ignore the number-one selling feature of Dragon Quest IX, the new multiplayer and wireless functionality. The game has two main modes of interaction with other players, passive and active.

The passive interaction is handled though the game’s tag mode. Basically you go into a passive wireless mode and put your DS into sleep mode. While your DS is asleep it sends out a wireless signal. If another player in tag mode happens to pass you by while you are both in tag mode the DS will automatically exchange data with them and both of you will each send a copy of a treasure map to each other. These treasure maps will lead to randomly generated dungeons containing randomly generated loot and monsters. By collecting these random maps the length of the game can literally be extended indefinitely.

The active interaction is a 2-4 player cooperative multiplayer option in which you take your main hero into friends game (or vice versa) and complete quests together. An innovative option that is a first for the series.

To further extend the gameplay of Dragon Quest IX there are also weekly downloadable quests and content for no additional charge and an online shop that allows you to use in-game gold to purchase rare items. Square-Enix already has a full year of these weekly quests planned.

As a whole, Dragon Quest IX is one fantastically absorbing, addictive and overall fun role-playing experience. Witty writing, outstanding visuals, a charming soundtrack, deep customization options and smart wireless functionality mesh to make one of the very best games on the Nintendo DS. Period.

• Addictive character customization
• Charming story and characters
• Clever use of wireless conectivity

• Repetitive music
• No character development for party-members
• Stella

Review Score

 / 

DKC Returns does employ modern platforming design and technology, like 3D environments with playable foreground and background areas, but it does so without drastically changing the look or feel of the original series.  With the original having incorporated what is commonly known as 2.5D graphics, this upgrade to 3D does little but further excite the notion of a new DKC title.  DKC Returns is a total throwback to the originals, in every shape and form, and will certainly cater to both new and old gamers alike. 

Like its predecessors, DKC Returns is a platformer focused on collection, whether it be bananas, letters or various other items along the way.  If you're bent on collecting every single item in a level, get ready for a typically slower run-through, but the payoff is oh so rewarding. 

In single-player, the player takes the role of Donkey Kong but still has access to Diddy Kong's special moves –  his jet pack, which can give him a jump boost, and Peanut Pop Gun, which fires a bouncing peanut projectile. Two-player co-op is also an option, with one player playing as Donkey Kong and the other of course playing as Diddy.  This adds a nice touch to the game and allows for a fun experience if you don't feel like playing alone or have people over. 

Motion controls are also a new feature.  Drumming the Wii Remote and Nunchuk makes your character do a "ground slap", allowing access to new areas and items. In addition, a shake of the Wiimote while running will trigger Donkey Kong's signature roll attack.  Both motion-controls are extremely fluid and there was little to no lag in response time.  While a new addition to an old favourite, the use of motion-controls works well and efficiently. 

While I only got to explore a small portion of the game it looks as promising as ever.  Nintendo is certainly doing a great job at catering to the nostalgic fans with its upcoming Wii titles as well as the 3DS and its lineup.  However, DKC Returns is not just a cheap thrill, it's actually a well thought out and well executed return to one of the greatest series on the SNES.

Stay tuned for more details about DKC Returns when it's released this holiday season!

I hope to make these articles interesting for both newcomers to the game and those who have played through multiple times. But, I have one quick warning: in order to make this as detailed and informative as possible, there will be a large amount of spoilers. So, if you aren’t worried about learning the fates of the characters or having the ending ruined for you, keep reading. If you still plan to play this game for yourself and want to experience the plot twists firsthand, stop!

Target #02 – Cloudman
“We're talkin' guys who beat off four times a day!”

This chapter opens with a live television broadcast. A man named Andrei Ulmeyda introduces himself as “a man with a plan.” He says people will come to him with salvation. Motioning to a stadium behind him, Ulmeyda says he has a feeling that something very bad is going to happen at the concert taking place inside. Because of those inside, the stadium has become a sort of epicenter for the overflowing energy. Ulmeyda begins to lose it and the stadium explodes behind him, leaving nothing but rubble and smoke. The camera pans closer to Ulmeyda's face as he challenges Garcian and the Killer 7 to find him and his new faith. His whole meaning in life is to be found by the Killer 7.

Garcian turns off the television and heads to Harman's room in the back of the trailerhouse. The man behind the locked door continues to scream. Garcian walks in on Samantha and Harman having sex, but she stops when she notices Garcian. Samantha tells Garcian not to worry about Harman because he likes playing rough. Harman awakens to talk to Garcian, and they discuss the commotion Ulmeyda is making in the south. Neither believes he is of high enough caliber to be a revolutionary. Harman stays behind on this mission as Garcian sets off to accept Ulmeyda's challenge. Before leaving, Garcian meets with Christopher on the overpass. Christopher saw the television broadcast and wonders if Ulmeyda is some sort of stalker. Garcian shrugs it off and says he's heading to Texas, because Ulmeyda was wearing a shirt labeled Texas Bronco.

On his way into InterCity, Garcian has a short conversation with a farmer on the outskirts of town. The farmer mentions that they don't get many “black folk” coming through this area, which always struck me as odd because Ulmeyda is African-American. He asks what the purpose of Garcian's  visit is, guessing that he's probably there to see Ulmeyda. The farmer mentions that he sees Ulmeyda everyday in the form of posters and billboards scattered about the desert. They creep him out, but he warns Garcian to keep thoughts like that to himself if he values his life. The town is mean, and they'll do anything they can to protect Ulmeyda.

Before entering the city, Iwazaru and Travis both make separate appearances to weigh in on the situation. Iwazaru can't stand Ulmeyda or the members of his cult because of the afros they wear their hair in. Travis, on the other hand, just thinks Ulmeyda is crazy. He looks nothing like the “company president” position he's supposed to be portraying. And while Ulmeyda calls InterCity the “ideal” place to live, it's hardly perfect. The desert's raging heat sees to that.

A nearby security camera switches Garcian to Coyote, and the Killer 7 begin to investigate the town. The spirit of a deceased Ulmeyda cult member stops them on the way to the gas station, questioning their beliefs in God. Travis reveals a few more details on Ulmeyda's company. There's a rumor going around that Ulmeyda's company purchases magazines from all over the world. They call themselves the world's largest domestic trading company. Travis sees this facade for what it is, and scoffs at the idea that it's a “comprehensive company.”

The Killer 7 continue on to the gas station. A semi-truck is blocking the way, but it's easily moved by Mask and his incredible strength. Susie is revealed to be hiding in a gas pump once the truck is moved. She gives the Killer 7 the Stamina Ring item as well as expounding on some of the things she likes and dislikes. She reveals that she's mutilated tons of men over the course of her life, so much so that they can't even go out in public. With another odd piece of her story divulged, she tells the Killer 7 to leave her be and goes back into hiding.

As they continue making their way through the town, the Killer 7 find another carrier pigeon from Johnny Gagnon. While InterCity may be hailed by Ulmeyda as a perfect place to live, Johnny has dug up some interesting details that may prove otherwise. People living here often go missing. Some skip out of the city late at night, but most just plain disappear. Whole families will sometimes go missing at once. It's almost like they're all trapped in a horror story. But, those left behind in town have adapted, sometimes with surprising alacrity. Ulmeyda's company, First Life, is incredibly popular in the world market but also very competitive. Employees quit all the time due to the high stress they're subjected to. It was established three years ago, but only half of the original employees remain. The rest are recruits from all over the world, as well as recent graduates. The disappearances also contribute to the high employee turnover. The note also mentions investigations Johnny has begun on someone only referred to as “her,” but he needs more evidence before talking about it any more.

The city's obsession with Ulmeyda becomes readibly apparent as the Killer 7 continue their investigation. The entire city is filled with propaganda bearing Ulmeyda's image. He's even had special figurines of himself in different occupational outfits produced. Whoever collects all these figurines gets a chance to meet Ulmeyda face to face. The Cult Member's spirit makes frequent appearances, but much of his speech is garbled nonsense phrases. He believes miracles lie somewhere between the truth and fiction. The Cult Member also tells the Killer 7 not to believe anyone, not even God. Travis is the  only person they should trust. These interesting thoughts are soon followed by one that's more ambiguous: “God and pigeons are one.”

The group finds all but one of the figurines waiting for them in the diner's toy machine. The last one, a special edition given away in an auction by Ulmeyda himself, is found in a house in the residential district. A man's bloody silhouette appears on one wall near the figurine. After finding the figurine, the Cult Member's spirit makes one more important appearance. He tells the Killer 7 that he killed the man who won the special figurine, but could never find the prize. “The world is full of mysteries,” he finishes, pondering if maybe the man's soul hid the figurine from him.

Julia Kisugi, the assassin who was killed in the first part of the Sunset chapter, also makes an appearance. She details the life of an assassin, and laments that she was never living the way she wanted to. Being a hired killer gives you a small amount of freedom for the large amount they eventually take away from you. Her life was never her own. The Killer 7 freed her from that life the moment they killed her.

On their way to confronting Ulmeyda, the Killer 7 come into contact with two more residents of InterCity in the pharmacy and post office. A woman behind the counter at the drug store mistakes the Killer 7 for reporters. She appreciates the fact that Ulmeyda has helped the city flourish the way it has, but the “creeps with the weird smile” bother her. The city is big on tradition, so it's hard for them to accept newcomers. The post office acts as a gateway to a mountain path. The path leads up to First Life headquarters and Ulmeyda. An employee of the post office stops the Killer 7 as they pass through. He says he knows Ulmeyda and calls him a good man, but makes it clear to the assassins that he isn't part of the cult. It turns out that Ulmeyda actually worked at the post office before becoming head of First Life, but didn't really stand out. The post office worker says Ulmeyda was just lucky. As he remembers Ulmeyda's emergence, the worker works himself up to anger. He says Ulmeyda is a fake and that he only got that position by selling the town away…selling their souls away.

The Killer 7 make their way out of the post office and up the mountain path. Travis is waiting for them with more information on First Life. The company's profile is “the world's largest catalog retailer group.” They expand on this by also describing themselves as a “specialized revolutionary global distribution organization.” Travis says all these words don't add up to much, and that they don't really mean anything in the grand scheme of things. He appears further up the mountain to tell them more about the company's policies. The pamphlet they put out contains one hundred facts, comprised of ninety three lies and seven truths. And even the truths don't provide any answers. Just like every other corporation, First Life is built on lies.

Ulmeyda himself has hints of genius despite his lowly origins. He distracts the populace with smoke and mirrors while swooping down to clutch their hearts and minds with his claws. First Life has grown dramatically into a winning trading company that can purchase goods from all over the world. It is a truly gigantic organization. Unfortunately, Ulmeyda recognizes the genius brewing below his surface. The passage to First Life is only opened by answering a series of questions about the propaganda billboards that line the path up the mountain. They show Ulmeyda in a variety of situations, but all imply that First Life is on the verge of a global economic takeover.

Upon entering the first part of the First Life building, the Killer 7 encounter a road block. The security guard denies them access until a voice on the intercom relays an emergency message from Ulmeyda himself. The message says to let Mr. Smith into the building. The security guard complies, but also confides in the Killer 7 before they leave. He says the First Life corporation is very secretive, and most of the employees don't have any idea what goes on in there.

The Killer 7 finally reach the main building of the First Life corporation. But, upon stepping through the door, it's revealed to only be a huge disguise. The building itself was only a huge cardboard cutout, and it falls over to reveal an endless expanse of flat land desert with only a small trailer idling nearby. Inside the trailer's control room sits Ulmeyda, wearing what seems to be a simple astronaut's suit. He welcomes the Killer 7 into the room. His propaganda begins immediately as he describes InterCity as a paradise, a completely autonomous region that is the model of peace. First Life Inc., on the other hand, doesn't exist. They only produce and run commercials. People really do only judge books by their covers, so all they had to do was make people think they were an extremely successful company and it became so.

When the clock strikes 5:00 PM, Ulmeyda signals that the work day is over and says that they may be just in time to meet “today's lucky guy.” A line of cult members exits the trailer slowly, but Ulmeyda tells the Killer 7 not to be alarmed; these are good citizens, not Heaven Smile. The last cult member to exit is a teenage boy named Clemence. Ulmeyda snatches him immediately to congratulate him, and Clemence can't believe he had the good fortune of being chosen. Ulmeyda calms him down, saying that his job has only just begun. A rocket-propelled automobile pulls up, and Ulmeyda says that this is Clemence's new job. He tells the boy to take it for a spin, but yells an ominous warning after him as he speeds off: “Don't drive yourself to death!”

Multiple screens expand from the trailer, all showing Clemence's face in the car as he reaches top speed. While he seems to be enjoying himself immensely, the speed at which he is traveling is enough to kill him. Ulmeyda says there's only two endings to this story for Clemence: either he dies happy speeding across the desert, or he makes it to the finish line. If Clemence finishes, he wins. As the boy continues his deadly race through the flat land, Ulmeyda changes the subject to himself. He infected himself with a plethora of deadly viruses. This spurred him on in research of these diseases, and time after time he created vaccines and other medication to combat them. But, the one disease he is afraid of is Heaven Smile. He asks the Killer 7 to kill him if he ever becomes infected because they're the only ones that seem to know how.

The United States military descends on Ulmeyda's position, capturing him and infecting his body with the Heaven Smile virus. A man named General Lynch from the United States Emergency Counter-Measure Defense Department thanks the assassins for their cooperation in capturing Ulmeyda. InterCity is much more important than it seemed to be, because it serves as a vital instrument for determining the country's safety standards. Before they have the chance to destroy Ulmeyda, his new powers awaken. He can't control his sadistic urges to kill those around him, and he transforms into a new form. His blood rains down on the military personnel and kills them almost instantly. The Killer 7 chase him down through a series of connected ambulances and destroy him. His laughter echoes across the desert as his body disappears, and his blood once again rains from the sky.

Clemence finishes his race across the desert and, having survived, is poised to take Ulmeyda's position in InterCity. Ulmeyda's blood doesn't harm him, and paints the white rocket car a crimson color. Clemence recognizes the taste of Ulmeyda's blood. Ulmeyda's spirit appears to Clemence and grants him the power he once had. He says Clemence must stand strong and take the big risks to succeed in life. Clemence promises Ulmeyda that their way of life will continue and hails Ulmeyda as InterCity's messiah.

Cloudman –  Complete

This side story in the killer7 universe is slightly more complex than the last few chapters. The plot of the game begins to take an odd turn starting with Cloudman, and continues this trend on towards the conclusion. Andrei Ulmeyda is probably my favorite character in the game, and his influence spreads a bit from this chapter, even though he met with a rather tragic end.

Cloudman brings a bit of the supernatural elements from the first chapter back into play. Ulmeyda is seen by his followers as a God, and they follow his words as if he really was one. He sits high atop the mountain overlooking InterCity and passes down his directions to his followers. The city itself has flourished under Ulmeyda's rule, but it seems rather odd that the United States government would let him have such a high level of control inside of the country. Later on in the chapter, you find out that the military was using it as a microcosm of defense throughout the entire nation. Were they experimenting with the Heaven Smile virus? Or were they just letting Ulmeyda control a small portion of Texas to appease his self-important personality? Ulmeyda's company First Life was on the verge of breaking out on the global economic scene, so maybe they provided him a bit too much leeway in the department.

Another question that was raised that remains unanswered in this chapter is the state of Ulmeyda's rise to power. Once just a lowly, unskilled worker at the local post office, he became the head of the world's most successful trading organization. What changed? His coworker spoke of Ulmeyda as someone who stayed in the background because he wasn't very good at his job. Where did the sudden genius come from to run a corporation? He somehow managed to learn a great deal in a very short span of time. Add to that his change in personality from shy office worker to charismatic cult leader and you're left with a huge hole in the time line that needs to be plugged.

The last interesting theme in this chapter is the role of corporations and advertisement in today's world. Advertisement is a huge business in our time, with companies paying millions and almost billions of dollars to run short ads during popular television programs. Ulmeyda's company was fake. It did nothing but run commercials. But because people were so easily swayed by promises of utopia and financial success, they invested heavily in Ulmeyda's “vision.” It's almost as if an outside force was giving Ulmeyda the tools to work with in order to craft his own success. Who or what could this mysterious force be? The questions and their subsequent answers only become harder and harder to understand as killer7 rushes on. Be sure to check back next week for some surprising revelations!

With his return from London, England, Michael and Nick have plenty of catching up to do. During the episode they talk about Tim Schafer’s recent comments about Activision CEO, Bobby Kotick. The duo also discuss Lady Gaga’s concert, The Sandman, Asterios Polyp and Transmetropolitan. To wrap things up Michael mentions two of Japanese pop singer, Namie Amuro’s songs, Wild and Do Me More.

Send us your thoughts to podcast@levelfortytwo.com.  You can direct download the episode here, or subscribe to the podcast in iTunes here.

Also, Michael’s interview with Nintendo Canada Representative Matt Ryan has been moved from last week’s podcast to this weeks.  Be sure to listen to it after our closing music!  We’d also like to apologize for this week’s sound quality.  We’ll fix this up in our next episodes!

Send us your thoughts to podcast@levelfortytwo.com.  You can direct download the episode here, or subscribe to the podcast in iTunes here.

I hope to make these articles interesting for both newcomers to the game and those who have played through multiple times. But, I have one quick warning: in order to make this as detailed and informative as possible, there will be a large amount of spoilers. So, if you aren’t worried about learning the fates of the characters or having the ending ruined for you, keep reading. If you still plan to play this game for yourself and want to experience the plot twists firsthand, stop!

Target #01 – Sunset (Part 2)
"Laughter is the countdown of devastation."

After the events that transpired at Restaurant Fukushima, Garcian returns to his trailer. While nothing of real importance happens here at this time, the man behind the locked door can still be heard screaming. The scene shifts to a coffeehouse in Washington, D.C. where Garcian is meeting with the informant mentioned last chapter, Hiro Kasai. He passes along the next mission from Christopher Mills. The target is actually another assassin by the name of Jean DePaul, the apprentice chef Mask de Smith met at Restaurant Fukushima. Kasai is certain that DePaul is a spy, as he's gained a name for himself as an elite operative by killing a few government officials. He points Garcian to the Kaku building, as it seems to be the hub for syndicates all over the world.

Inside the Kaku building, three men can be seen having a meeting. They mention that it is too late for the fireworks to be launched to save Japan. The two older men, Hiroyasu Kurahashi and Shinya Akiba, have spent 65 years trying to restore their country but all their efforts were meaningless as the United States leaves them to die. They blame the third man at the conference table, Kenjiro Matsuoka, and say that his youth and inexperience led them to this fate. His outrage at their accusations only furthers their mistrust of his generation, and Kurahashi passes him a gun. They antagonize him, telling him to kill himself. They realize that he may want to kill them with the gun but say that they've done it many times themselves in the past, killing their superiors in order to gain a better standing. They continue to belittle him until he can't take it anymore and he opens fire on two men.

But, before he can pull the trigger on himself, Kun Lan intervenes. Matsuoka is surprised at his sudden appearance and has no idea who he is. Across the table, the two dead men lean forward, their brains exposed but their bodies still functioning somehow. They lament the fact that elders are no longer treated with respect but as nuisances, and Kun Lan agrees. He uses his God Hand on Matsuoka's mind, and his surprise soon turns to acceptance. Kurahashi believes that Matsuoka is finally seeing things clearly. Kun Lan tells the three men that they will always be together and, as the camera spins to focus on Matsuoka leaving the conference, it reveals an empty room.

The Killer 7 soon arrive at the Kaku building, and enter through a secret entrance on the first floor. Travis is, like always, waiting for them on the inside. He informs them that the Kaku building is Information Terminal Central, where the world's background players have come to decide Japan's fate. Unfortunately, not a single country spoke up in Japan's favor, each wanting to gain a slice of the valuable territory Japan controls. As things are working out now, Japan is entirely on their own.

A few interesting things are noticed as the Killer 7 make their way through the various floors of the Kaku building. While it's supposed to be a secret meeting place for government officials, many of the rooms have been converted into small gambling parlors. Dice, poker, and horse racing all inhabit the rooms of the Kaku building, as well as a variety of ways to fix these games in one's favor. Iwazaru even goes as far as calling the building a gambler's paradise. Whether he means the actual games or gambling on the world stage is yet to be determined, but it offers a thought-provoking parallel when compared to how the world is controlled and risky actions are taken.

Travis reveals that these talks amount to a sort of proxy war for Fukushima. All talks are done through third-rate bureaucrats, so those seeking to assassinate them aren't the best either. The talks are nothing more than a charade, as the United States has given up on negotiations. Fukushima was the backbone of Japan's UN Party and much more important than anyone could have guessed. Without him, the UN Party is nothing but a toothless organization with no way to enforce their power.

Travis later warns the Killer 7 about heading to the basement. Jean DePaul, who turns out to be an agent of the International Ethics Committee, has already infiltrated the building. Through him, the Committee hopes to disrupt the secret final talks between the United States and Japan. By interrupting this secret meeting, the Committee hopes delay the destruction of Japan. It's imperative that the Killer 7 stop DePaul in time and let the events play out correctly.

Later, Mask de Smith comes into contact with DePaul, and they share a short conversation about wrestling. The battle is nothing much to note as Mask deals with DePaul quite easily. The Killer 7 continue on to the basement while the secret meeting continues as planned in the mah-jongg room. Four delegates sit around a small table, playing a game of mah-jongg. There are two representatives from the United States and two from Japan. The scene that plays out is an interesting one, as the delegates berate each other over the game and over their international affairs. To the Americans, the Japanese are nothing but monkeys who will soon be destroyed by their foolishness. To the Japanse, the Americans are bloodthirsty dogs who can't get enough conflict and destruction.

The game continues, the Americans certain that Japan has no chances left. They assure them that their knight in shining armor will fail. It's unclear who they are referring to here, but it's almost definitely either Kun Lan or Matsuoka, who plays a very important part in the story line later in the game. The game quickly turns sour as the last piece is played. The Americans realize the Japanese have been cheating the whole time and everyone draws their guns. The Japanese delegates realize it's all over and after a short standoff, they all fire on each other.

The Killer 7 arrive in the basement after the shootout to find all the delegates dead. The room is a mess with blood staining the walls and furniture strewn about. Calmly sitting in the corner is Travis, who expands some of the details. Obviously, the talks broke down between the United States and Japan, so the skies will soon rain down on Japan. While this was all according to plan, something doesn't seem right. It would be much easier for the United States to just destroy the UN Party and be done with it, but they seem intent on stopping the whole country. Someone behind the scenes seems to be pulling the strings, and it may be some remnant of Fukushima's power within the political party. Kenjiro Matsuoka, the man from the opening scene, is the Director of the Central Management Office. It's now up to Matsuoka to pick up from where Fukushima left off and lead Japan.

The Killer 7 leave the basement and backtrack to where DePaul was killed. His body is gone but his spirit remains, and speaks to them much like Travis. According to him, Matsuoko has the Yakumo, and seeks to prove Japan can rise from the ashes. He will soon be a force to be reckoned with, and there's no way the war will end while he is still alive. He must be dealt with if peace is to be preserved across the globe.

As they continue on towards the conference room, the Killer 7 come into contact with a frequent visitor of theirs called Kess Bloodysunday. Kess is a small, bloodied boy who shows up just before important battles with strong Heaven Smile or other bosses to offer his advice on how to defeat them. He seems to live inside of his own dreams and nightmares, where he encounters these strong creatures and finds out their weaknesses. An interesting idea he puts out during this encounter is a way to achieve world peace. Kess states that he will one day become the President of the United States and hopes to eradicate all the scum in the world. He thinks this is the only way to really spread peace throughout the world.

Iwazaru expresses some concerns over the actions of the United States. He thinks they are out of control and need to be reined in a bit. He poses a couple of questions to the Killer 7, wondering if a nation can have a collective will and how people can only be seen as units and not as living beings. The United States indiscretion with killing is getting out of hand, and the Killer 7 need to be careful with who they place their support behind. Travis offers a break from Iwazaru's philosophical ramblings, and lets the assassins know that this building is actually the headquarters for Japan's UN Party. The two old men that Mitsuoka tried to kill are still alive somehow. They are incarnations of the greed in the world, and are still as sly and corrupt as ever. Japan is as good as dead after the events that transpired here today.

The Killer 7 enter the board room where the old men were killed. The two Japanese politicians lament over the fact the United States is so large, saying that their voices and the voices of the people will never be heard. They're too old to be taken seriously anymore, and the people are only counted as units in the grand scheme of things. But, as long as they are alive Japan won't go down, at least not without a fight. An incredibly odd battle ensues, mainly involving flying brains. But the Killer 7 eventually stop the two old men and they finally die.

After completing the mission, Garcian meets up with Christopher Mills at the usual overpass. Chris says it's almost impossible to do anything with the eyes of the entire world trained on you, but Garcian disagrees. He says that even though world peace has been achieved, wiping a country or two off the map is an extremely easy task. He speaks of a promise made thirty years ago that started a countdown as missiles appear on the horizon behind them. They shoot across the sky to the opposite horizon, Chris and Garcian watching them with grim looks on their faces. As they speed off to hell, Chris is upset that they no longer fear the sight, that they've become used to events like this. Garcian agrees, but says that they're still human through it all.

The chapter ends with the sound of explosions.

Sunset – Complete

Being the second part of the second chapter, Sunset does a great job of wrapping up a few plot strings, but also leaves everything open ended for the most part. In this chapter we learned of a few new players behind the scenes, namely Kenjiro Matsuoka. A power vacuum was created after Fukushima's assassination, and the responsibility fell upon Matsuoka, as the holder of the Yakumo, to continue his legacy and lead Japan through this current crisis.

Much like the first part of this chapter, the storylines dealt with more real world things like political moves and espionage rather than cosmic forces and deities. We learned that Japan wasn't totally innocent in their dealings with the United States, and their two major political groups were constantly vying for control in the important peace talks. Unfortunately, the United States were already decided on what they wanted to do in the situation, making all the meetings at the Kaku building irrelevant.

This chapter also brought up a few interesting issues dealing with nations and their citizens. While most countries have open elections, the actions taken by those in power are not decided on a majority vote. They do what they want with the approval of others in power, caring less about the average citizen and what they say about what their government should be doing. Many times during war, citizens are nothing but units to be counted as casualties, taking the personal toll and emotions out of the equation so that the atrocious acts governments commit can be done with less guilt.

The other side is shown in an odd encounter with Kess. He wants to be President for the sole fact he'll be able to destroy the scum of the world. With these actions he hopes to create a type of peace across the globe…but is that really peace? If you simply kill the opposition instead of taking their motives into account, are you really making the world a safer place? Or are you only taking choices out of the hands of the citizens?

So, where were the missiles heading at the end of the chapter?  Are they being launched as a last futile attempt to save Japan, or are they only going to add to the destruction of the small island nation? If these questions are burning in your mind, come back next week for the answers! Sure, they may be cryptic as hell…but the journey is the important part. Until then, sayonara!

Kirby's Epic Yarn is presented in a world made entirely of textiles, even the character himself.  In the latest Kirby game, the pink puff has been stripped of his iconic swallowing ability, instead relying on yarn to unwind enemies, swing from platform to platform or grab zippers and flaps in order to unlock items and progress through the level.  This change in environment interaction and gameplay serves as a creative slant to a generally mediocre, side-scrolling platformer  and lets players explore every nook and cranny of their surrounding environment in order to find various secrets.   This concept feels new and refreshing and certainly adds some flair to the game as a whole. 

If that weren't enough, Kirby's Epic Yarn also incorporates a co-op system in the light of New Super Mario Bros. Wii.  While not nearly as competitive Epic Yarn still allows players to duke it out, even if in a more subtle fashion. Players still get in each other's way, however, which can prove to be annoying when intentions are misconstrued.  At the same time, characters will need to work together in order to progress.  At one point in the game, both characters morphed into a giant machine where one character punched with an enormous, gloved fist and the other shot missiles from the top.  At the end of the day, the co-op isn't nearly as good as in Kirby's Dream Land 3, but it's still a nice addition to an already enjoyable game.

Kirby's Epic Yarn has been noted as being one of E3 2010's biggest surprises and for good reason.  With the game being released on the Nintendo Wii this fall, it's definitely not worth missing. 

Combining old school Disney with modern day charm, Epic Mickey is the latest game to come from Warren Spector, creator of Deus Ex. The game is Disney’s attempt to reshape Mickey’s character and allow players to see his more mischievous side. And from what I’ve seen so far, the developers at Junction Point Studios certainly seem like they’re well on their way with this inventive platformer.

The game begins with Mickey being transported to “Wasteland”, an alternate world ruled by Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, Walt Disney’s first cartoon character. Wasteland holds many of Disney’s forgotten or unsuccessful characters. Mickey is also given the ability to wield paint and paint thinner to recreate or destroy certain parts of each world.

A unique, but very simple concept, by using paint, Mickey recreates parts of the level that have disappeared (these objects are always shadowed) or by utilizing paint thinner, Mickey can eliminate different parts of the world to open up new paths or get rid of enemies.

Warren Spector has also said that he is very big on choice and consequence, and to that end the game allows multiple paths to get from point A to point B in every level. For instance, at all times there are branching paths that allow players to decide what they want to do, while never getting that feeling of “What do I do next?”.

As I played through the demo, the gameplay mechanics felt  natural. There were obvious instances where I had to use paint or paint thinner, but there were also plenty of times where I had my choice in how I wanted to complete the task at hand. Also, what kind of Disney game would it be if there wasn’t a familiar face or two along the way?

Epic Mickey takes 80 years of Disney history that reaches beyond their movies and into attractions from their theme parks. In fact, almost everything in the game is based on something found in a Disney license. For example, a treehouse I saw in the demo was actually based on the one from Swiss Family Robinson. This treehouse was in Adventureland in the Disney theme parks, before being replaced by the Tarzan exhibit. This just goes to show how dedicated the team is to having replaced, retired or forgotten properties in Wasteland. When speaking to Adam Creighton, one of the game’s producers, about whether or not we could expect Donald and Goofy in the game he replied, “The pals do show up in form or another, just not in the way you would expect.”

As if the thought of playing as a more mischievous Mickey wasn’t enough, Epic Mickey also features gorgeous storyboard-like cutscenes similar to those found as a bonus feature on a Disney DVD. This motif works exceptionally well to tie together the game’s overall aesthetic and only adds to the overall experience. While I might not own a Wii for personal use at this point, Epic Mickey will certainly have me reconsidering my choice when it launches this Holiday season.

Seven years after the last installment, Golden Sun finally returns. With the original two entries on the GameBoy Advance, Golden Sun: Dark Dawn makes a leap onto a new platform that allows players a new way to play the game.

Golden Sun and Golden Sun: The Last Age featured some of the best sprite work on the GBA, although now that the series is being brought over to the DS everything is being made 3D. When I first saw screenshots of the Summon abilities, I found them to be a little lack-luster compared to the originals (weird, huh?). Although, once I had the game in my hands it was clear that the move to 3D graphics actually makes the series more visually stunning than ever.

The game is controlled entirely on the touch screen, although Dark Dawn still allows players to use the D-Pad whenever they feel like it. This means that all psynergy moves can be performed with the stylus, or with the controls from the original two entries. In fact, the stylus-heavy controls are reminiscent of the DS Zelda games (Phantom Hourglass and Spirit Tracks). While this is a great new option, as a fan of the GBA controls I found it best to stick to what I already knew.

During my demo, there were moments when using the stylus to control psynergy moves became cumbersome, as the game didn’t understand direction I was pointing to. Overall, the gameplay still feels very familiar and strikes a nice balance between implementing new controls and letting fans of the series stick with what feels comfortable.

Nintendo has been quite tight-lipped about the story, but I’ve included a few tidbits below that help to provide a basis for Golden Sun: Dark Dawn when it launches this Holiday season.

• Story takes place 30 years after Golden Sun: The Lost Age
• Main characters are the children of the previous game’s heroes
• Although the Golden Sun was restored it is now changing everything: continents have shifted, as well as new countries and species emerging
• Psynergy Vortexes, which suck Psynergy from the land and Adepts, are spreading across the world

Here it is, the continuation of my killer7 analysis. While the first chapter (Angel) was pretty short in length and story, this second chapter is much longer. Luckily, it has a two very distinct parts that comprise the whole, so I’ll be dividing this chapter into two separate articles. Be sure to look out for the second part of this chapter next week!

For anyone willing to openly award themselves the status of “gamer” during the NES era, Blaster Master is a game that requires no introduction.  Boasting some of the most progressive game design for its time, together with a brilliant audio score and visuals that tested the limits of the 8-bit hardware, it has become a “must play” title for later generations of gamers as well in order to be properly educated and cultured in classic gaming.

Send us your thoughts to podcast@levelfortytwo.com.  You can direct download the episode here, or subscribe to the podcast in iTunes here.

When game developers grab onto a popular franchise like Transformers, you think they would be careful with the product they release. But most of the time this hasn’t been the case. While the early cartoons were just a ploy to sell more of the action figures, it grew into a worldwide phenomenon that still remains incredibly popular today. Maybe it’s because of these high expectations that no game before has been able to live up to the fans’ standards. Luckily, developers High Moon Studios may have finally created the first great Transformers game with their latest release, War for Cybertron.

The story in War for Cybertron takes place on, you guessed it, Cybertron. The Transformers’ homeworld is in turmoil as the civil war between Autobots and Decepticons rages on. The game contains two very distinct campaigns, one for each faction. Both campaigns are open from the start, but the Decepticon missions take place before those of the Autobots. As the Decepticons, you’ll follow Megatron’s lead in the fight on Cybertron, hoping to gain control of the mechanical planet so that his more nefarious plans can be undertaken without interference from the Autobots. There’s an interesting contrast in the missions, as your goals in the first campaign are mainly destructive in nature. Then later, as the Autobots, it’s your job to stop the Decepticons and fix the damage they’ve done to your homeworld.

The amount of fan service in this game is off the charts. No, the Transformers won’t be wearing skimpy outfits; rather, the sheer number of Transformers characters they were able to fit into the story is nothing less than impressive. And even with the large amount of characters involved in various story lines, the plot never becomes confusing or convoluted. It’s easy to see that the people behind this game’s development and writing have a ton of respect for the source material. Plus, any Transformers game that allows you to play as Soundwave is doing something right in my book.

My favorite part of the campaigns were the interactions between the different Transformers. While the Autobots were rather boring in the dialogue department, the Decepticon conversations were top notch. A mix of witty banter and cheesy one-liners, it epitomizes everything that’s awesome about the old-school Transformers series. Everything about these campaigns is over the top and silly, which is how it should be in my opinion. The moment hair metal starts blaring in the background you will be amazed.

In the gameplay department, War for Cybertron takes a pretty unoriginal genre and throws in enough bells and whistles to get you excited again. The traditional third-person shooter game mechanics work well, placing the camera slightly over the shoulder of your chosen character to offer a wider view of the battlefields. The typical guns and grenades gameplay is augmented with character-specific powers like deployable shields and sentries, changing the experience a tiny bit depending on which Transformer you choose. These powers are mainly decided on which of the four classes your character fits into. Leaders, Scouts, Scientists, and Soldiers all have different play styles and different loadouts at the start of the mission that determine their battle tactics. Leaders and Soldiers are the tanks, with Scouts offering speedy and stealthy attacks and Scientists providing healing. These roles are only really prevalent in co-op as, unfortunately, the teammate AI isn’t really up to snuff.

The real difference War for Cybertron throws into the mix is the transforming. Each Transformer has a vehicle mode in addition to their robot mode. The vehicle mode offers added speed and different weaponry, and some parts of the game require the vehicle mode to get through unscathed. While it’s nothing revolutionary, this small gameplay tweak is incredibly fun and easy to use. Interestingly enough, the highlights and the low points of this mechanic both come in the flying missions. Flying outside can be a pain sometimes, as the plethora of enemies and missiles in the air can be a huge nuisance that isn’t easily avoidable with the poor dodge controls. But, once the flying heads inside through tiny ventilation shafts and service ports, it becomes fast and frenetic as you try to avoid obstacles that obstruct your path as well as dispatch enemies that are hot on your tail.

Multiplayer takes the class system from the offline mode and expands it, allowing you to create your own Transformer with custom loadouts and abilities. Oddly enough, the aesthetic customization isn’t as varied as they made it out to be in early press trailers. For most classes there are only two chassis selections for each faction, and some class/faction combinations only have one. More are unlocked as you finish campaigns offline, but the choices still remain rather limited. The most customization you can do is basically changing your primary and secondary colors, which isn’t really anything to write home about when most games offer this sort of thing.

The ability and loadout choices, however, are very fun to mess around with. Like most online multiplayer games, you’ll earn experience as you fight through the various online modes. The more powerful abilities and weapons can only be unlocked after reaching higher levels, which gives you incentive to play the game to reach them and also helps you become acquainted with some of the weaker powers. Each class has their own set of abilities to choose from, which makes sticking to your role much more important than it is in the offline campaigns.

Transformers: War for Cybertron is fantastic for the sole fact it didn’t disappoint me. The creative team behind its development have an obvious respect for the original characters and storylines, and do a great job introducing them to a wider audience. The gameplay is tight and responsive, if a little uninspired. The abilities that the Transformers characters bring to the table expand upon the combat a little bit, but not in any mind-blowing or revolutionary way. While not all of the voices are original, they do a great job of keeping the same Transformers feel in the music and sound effect design. If you are in any way a Transformers fan or are looking to get a little taste of the universe, dive right into this game and don’t look back.

Likes

• Excellent story that does right by the Transformers universe.
• Multiplayer is fun and interesting due to class system.
• The game practically oozes Transformers, from the amount of characters to the sound design.
• Soundwave. That’s all that needs to be said.

Dislikes

• Gameplay has a few surprises, but doesn’t offer anything spectacular.
• Class system is almost entirely unimportant in single-player.
• Tough flying sections can frustrate even veteran gamers.

Review Score

/

The review scale at LevelFortyTwo is between 1 and 5. A score of 5 is considered an amazing game, 4 is a well-done game with only minor issues, 3 is in the middle; not great, but not bad, 2 is a very problematic game, and 1 is absolutely terrible.

This week on What’s New on Lv42 is Ian’s New Game+ retrospective on the underground fan favourite, Killer 7, as well as NIck’s review of the updated Shattered Horizon.  On Indie Compendium the gang briefly discusses Super Meat Boy at E3 and LeVar Burton’s (the dude from Star Trek and Reading Rainbow) MCing at this year’s IndieCade Showcase.  On Reviewer’s Rant and Rave the guys talk about Matt’s review for Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker.  For the discussion, Bristow tells the gang about his work experience and how he ended up where he is today, Team Carney.  To wrap things up, the guys talk about Doctor Who, Torchwood, girls in gaming and tons more.

Send us your thoughts to podcast@levelfortytwo.com.  You can direct download the episode , or subscribe to the podcast in iTunes here.

Likes:

• Streamlined combat and sneaking systems
• Interesting story tie-ins to the Metal Gear series
• Having Hideo Kojima on my team

Dislikes:

• Anachronistic design of the bipedal mechs, though still cool
• Sticky controls not suited for the PSP
• Private militerization as Big Boss's answer to nuclear deterrence
• Multiplayer is good with friends, not strangers

Review Score

 / 

It's a pretty well known fact that famed video game director Suda Goichi, better known as Suda51, is a crazy person. After creating a slew of sleeper hits, his vision was finally accepted on a wider scale with the release of No More Heroes in 2008. While his unique style of creating games has become familiar in today's video game community, many of his earlier releases remain cult classics. Like Suda's more popular franchises, these games value style, presentation, and story above all else. He is probably my favorite voice in the scene today, as well as being the chief creative influence behind my favorite game, killer7.

Released in 2005, killer7 instantly sparked a very polarized debate. Some found the game too odd and graphically underwhelming. Others found it easy to look past these small faults because the story behind the gameplay was so intriguing. It quickly took its role as a cult classic, much of its success spreading by word-of-mouth. This quick spotlight on Suda51 and his development studio Grasshopper Manufacture raised interest significantly in later releases like Contact and No More Heroes.

From a gameplay standpoint, killer7 is rather simplistic. All movement is on rails, where a single button makes your character move forward and another causes them to turn around. When you hear or see the outline of an enemy, you use the trigger button to aim and the other to scan for the invisible opponent. All of the enemies are variations of a single entity called Heaven Smile. As you progress further in the game, new variations are introduced that require specific strategies to defeat. Puzzles also play a large part in the gameplay and hinder your progress to new areas.

As far as I'm concerned, the story is killer7's main draw. A mixture of god-like entities, supernatural forces, and political backstabbing makes it a pretty confusing trip. And even though it includes a dash of unique Suda51 silliness and intense violence, killer7 raises a few important questions regarding the high price of maintaining peace and the steps government may take without our knowledge. In the coming weeks, I'll be detailing a few of these themes in a chapter-by-chapter analysis of the plot, so be sure to keep a look out if you're a fan of the game.

On Indie Compendium Erika talks about the Shank E3 2010 Revenge Trailer (and soon to be released on XBLA and PSN). She also talks about the indie equivalent of Shadow of the Colossus, Heir.  Make sure to follow the link to try out this interesting adaptation. 

For the Discussion, they talk about some more Pre-E3 speculations and games they are most excited about. As well as an update on Alfe's visual novel, Fading Hearts. 

Wrapping things up, the guys talk about adventure game The Last Express (which you can download here), Dr. Who, Lady Gaga's Alejandro video, and whether or not Glee redeemed itself in its season finale. 

Send us your thoughts to podcast@levelfortytwo.com.  You can direct download the episode here, or subscribe to the podcast in iTunes here.

I’ve often described games as having “dynamic” and “living” worlds. In most instances, these realistic worlds silently work in your favor, providing valuable back story or special insight into the people and places you’ll eventually visit. These worlds are incredibly fun, but rarely feel as if they are out to get you. Soldak Entertainment kept that same premise, but went an entirely different direction when creating their newest game. Full of random events and surprises, the world of Din’s Curse is a harsh one that will keep you constantly alert to the perils of its underground dungeons and also to those that plague the human settlements you are forced to protect.

The game begins by asking you to select a class. The choices are fairly standard for a fantasy RPG, but one in particular is very interesting. Upon choosing the Hybrid class, you are allowed to choose two specialties out of the 18 skill trees of the other classes. While your Hybrid character will only have two trees to spend skill points in instead of three, you’ll have greater control over what skills your character learns and can actually streamline the leveling a bit for newer players. You are also given a few other options to choose from before starting the game, such as setting monster levels and a few difficulty modifiers for more experienced players.

After creating your character, the game world is randomly generated and you, the noble hero, is plopped down right in the middle of a small human town. You soon realize you might be the best choice to save the world, as your first conversation with Din, the God of Honor, begins with him detailing your despicable life. Because you refused to serve any gods during your first life, you’ve been bound to Din and must do his bidding to redeem yourself. With this small intro out of the way, the first of the game’s dungeons is opened to you. From there you’ll slay ferocious monsters, collect ancient and powerful weaponry, and conquer the underworld in an attempt to make life better for those that live on the surface.

Most games in this genre have a pretty generic and open story, so it was no surprise to me when the game basically set me out on my own. Throughout the first hour or so of gameplay you’ll be bombarded with tips and helpful directions on how to control your character, equip armor, use items, and so on and so forth. For newbies jumping into this game, those tips are a godsend. Every little action or event comes with a pop up you can click on for more info, and it was refreshing to see a game with such a huge world and extensive list of features take the time to acclimate those that may have a bit less experience. The gameplay is pretty standard fare, though, with most of the commands being made through clicking the mouse.

I’ll admit, the sound and visual directions taken by Din’s Curse were a bit off putting initially. The 3D models are definitely not as pretty as those found in Torchlight, and the voice acting and background ambiance come nowhere close to the Diablo series. It was hard to not think of these games as I worked my way through the early dungeons Din’s Curse, until I reached my first random event. I wasn’t aware Din’s Curse was going to be implementing this sort of feature during my adventure, so it came was quite a shock when it happened. As I was demolishing a few imps and trolls, the dungeon walls around me suddenly began to shake. Debris fell around me and the monsters I was fighting scattered into the darkness. I immediately made my way out of the dungeon and just sat there, still surprised by what had occurred. As I continued through the game, I was met with a multitude of these events, some mundane like the cave in I experienced early on, some life threatening like an invasion of the surface I experienced later.

Unfortunately, I soon realized some of these events weren’t so random, but rather stemmed from my own ignorance. Quests play a huge part in keeping the delicate line between the town and the hordes of monsters waiting to destroy it in check. Some quests are incredibly important to the well being of the townsfolk. If you don’t complete them in a timely manner, the monsters inhabiting the dungeons may see a growth in their power. Miss enough of these quests, and they’ll lead an attack on the town above the dungeon, slaughtering innocents until you stop them. But, if you manage to complete enough of these important quests and stem the attacks of the evil creatures, Din will reward you handsomely with experience, reputation, and valuable items. You’ll do this from town to town until Din sees fit and allows you the redemption you’ve been seeking.

Din’s Curse really threw me for a loop. While it isn’t much of a looker, it hides a surprising depth. Not content to just piggyback on the successes of other dungeon crawlers, Soldak Entertainment added a few new components to keep the genre fresh and interesting. Playing Din’s Curse for any amount of time is equal parts frustrating and exhilarating, as the game is constantly throwing new events and challenges your way. The developers have found a very flexible world generating system that makes it feel very alive and important. I can’t wait to see what these folks cook up next.

Likes

• Creates a living, breathing, and incredibly engaging game world.
• Takes the danger out of the dungeon and makes it imperative that you also protect the towns.
• The expanse character class creation is something I’ll be experimenting with for a long time.

Dislikes

• The graphics are incredibly dated and are a bit off putting at first.
• The sound direction is somewhat dull.

Review Score

/

The review scale at LevelFortyTwo is between 1 and 5. A score of 5 is considered an amazing game, 4 is a well-done game with only minor issues, 3 is in the middle; not great, but not bad, 2 is a very problematic game, and 1 is absolutely terrible.

On Indie Compendium Erika talks about MESSHOF's latest works, Nidhogg and Cream Wolf.  Make sure to visit MESSHOF's site so you can play all of his amazing titles!  For discussion the gang talks about the importance of RPGs, their defining traits and how RPGs can vary between cultures.  To wrap things up, Michael talks about Waltz with Bashir, Get Him To The Greek and Invincible as well as his disappointment in the tv show Glee; while Travis talks about a zombie show called Dead Set.  Definitely not your typical zombie flick as it blends in reality show elements, a la Big Brother, into the mix.

Send us your thoughts to podcast@levelfortytwo.com.  You can direct download the episode here, or subscribe to the podcast in iTunes here.

Think Mario Kart meets LittleBigPlanet. Pretty cool, right? Whenever I’ve had to describe ModNation Racers to any of my friends I typically use that description, and to be honest, it couldn’t be more accurate. ModNation Racers is the latest game in Sony’s line of “Play Create Share” games, or in MNR‘s case, “Race Create Share”.

Developed by Vancouver’s own United Front Games, MNR is a brilliant showcase that demonstrates just how a user generated content game should be done, but that’s also not to say that the game is without its faults. ModNation Racers gives you the option to create your own characters (or ‘Mods’), karts and tracks and then put them use either online or via the game’s career mode.

Overall, the play mechanics are good – you accelerate using R2, steer with the Left Stick, drift with X, boost with L1 and dispatch items with Square. However, sometimes it feels as if the steering won’t stay straight unless you are really forcing the left analog stick forward. The drifting mechanic works well most of the time, but does go in the wrong direction from time to time. It would have been better if you could control the direction of drifting through a button press (a la Mario Kart Double Dash), instead of the game trying to guess what direction you’re trying to drift. While not a huge issue, it can lead to frustration from every now and then.

With that said, the biggest source of frustration from MNR comes from the game’s exceptionally long loading times. When I originally tried the game’s public beta I felt that the loading times were also long but played it down due to the fact that it wasn’t a finished product. It’s not like the loading times affect the game or it’s playability in any significant way, but to have to wait 1 minute plus for a race track to load seems a little excessive.

My qualm with MNR is the sometimes brutal enemy AI and career mode difficulty. Unlike other kart racing games, you cannot select your difficulty on the racing circuit, while the initial few races might seem easy enough, the AI quickly learns its lesson and is hell bent on beating you. One of the things I also found surprising was how close the AI is behind you at all times. Basically it takes one slip up or fall of the course to go from 1^st place to last.

However, with all this said, ModNation Racers is still a superb game. All of the flaws I’ve outlined are relatively minor, in fact the AI issues go away as soon as you race online against other players. The online play is very smooth and offers plenty of options to customize the difficulty, track type (game made or user generated) and more. Within seconds you’ll be racing against other players and hopefully exploring new tracks created by the MNR community.

The best part of ModNation Racers is the ability to create your own tracks, karts and Mods, but it’s not just being able to create them, it’s being able to create them with such ease that makes it great. When creating a track the game sets you up with a steam roller, you control it as if you were driving a kart and begin to lay down your track. When that is all said and done you can than choose to have the game auto-populate your track with prop items such as houses, signs and more, or simply lay it all out yourself.

If diving right in is too complicated or you are a creator looking to explore more advanced options, the game offers many different tutorial videos all of which walk you through step by step on how to create a killer user-generated track. One thing I found interesting was that there weren’t really any terrible courses that can be made with the tool set, just some annoying ones – such as a course designed to allow unlimited drifting so that players can unlock a trophy. It’s fine when there’s just one or two, but when the keep popping up in online races in can become frustrating.

Overall, ModNation Racers is a game I would highly recommend, if only so you can experience how amazing the level creator is. Like my earlier description stated, MNR is like Mario Kart meets LittleBigPlanet, and while there might be some areas for improvement you’d be a fool to miss out on such a fun experience.

Likes:

• Ease of all creation tools
• Ability to play split screen and race online at the same time
• Ability to download other’s creations and remix them your own way

Dislikes:

• Loading times
• Mild drifting issues
• Racer AI always seemed way to perfect

Review Score

Send us your thoughts to podcast@levelfortytwo.com.  You can direct download the episode, or subscribe to the podcast in iTunes here.

Looksley’s Line Up is a downloadable DSiWare game that is one of the few games on the service that takes full advantage of the hardware. Some may remember seeing a few short videos of it a few months back as the 3D Japanese DSi game that allowed players to adjust perspective by tilting the DS. The game does this by using the in-ward facing camera to keep track of the player’s head to emulate a realistic perspective as though they are looking through a window into a tiny little paper craft world.
The visual style in Looksley’s Line Up is charming and colourful. Each scene, of which there is an impressive variety, has a distinct look to it. All of them are based off famous nursery rhymes or fairy tales making them all instantly recognisable to just about anyone. The game uses clean 3D visuals to build these elaborate scenes. The result is always interesting to look at and explore.

The problem comes up with the awkward calibration problems. When you start playing the game takes a picture of your face so it can judge where your perspective is. However a number of factors can throw off the calibration. If the room is not well lit the simple DSi camera may have trouble judging your face from your background. If the light suddenly changes in the room it may throw off the calibration. I found myself periodically having to recalibrate my camera every so often. Sometimes I would be fine for a level or two, other times I would have to recalibrate up to three times in one level. This is not a game that can be comfortably played on the go.

The game itself is a hidden picture puzzle game. You are given a large roster of elaborate set pieces, each with a set of hidden images and letters. When you find all the letters in a level you’re done, but for an extra challenge you can try finding the hidden images as well. The words you collect are used to progress though the game’s Mario-like over world map that leads to new puzzle boards.

Each board’s composition is a feat unto itself. Everything is very deliberately placed and has a purpose on the board. It is all about getting perspective on things. What looks like a jumble of hanging ivy from one angle will become a coiled snake from another. The way that images will just pop out at you as you get into just the right perspective is truly impressive. If you ever get stuck the game also has a number of hidden coins places around the environment that you can collect and spend on hints, akin to the Professor Layton series.

Lookley’s Line Up is a mix-bag of incredible level designs, rewarding puzzles and frustrating technical limitations that only some of the time held back the quality puzzler. For the 500 points it costs, it features some impressive technology. Looksley’s Line Up is a very well developed game and the technical flaws are more a limitation of the DSi hardware than a fault of the developer. But if this is a sign of things to come with the 3DS, I say bring it on!

Likes

• Brilliant level composition for some clever puzzle designs.
  
• Lots of bang for your buck, lots of content for only $5.
  
• Charming visual style and music. 
  

Dislikes

• Some issues with camera calibration can be irritating.
  
• Not ideal for gaming on the go. 
  

Review Score

 /

The review scale at LevelFortyTwo is between 1 and 5. A score of 5 is considered an amazing game, 4 is a well-done game with only minor issues, 3 is in the middle; not great, but not bad, 2 is a very problematic game, and 1 is absolutely terrible.

Crackdown 2 proves to be no different.  Set 10 years after the events in the first game, the sequel is a new take on the sandbox genre by incorporating darker elements, a horror genre if you will.  The Freaks, which are basically mutant brutes, provide an extra challenge to a game that is otherwise unbalanced.  While having an over-powered, god-like super soldier can be fun at first, the first Crackdown taught players that such an unbalanced system also makes for little to no challenge.  By including the Freaks, there is more to look forward to in terms of challenge, regardless of how little that may be.

So aside from this slight increase in challenge, Crackdown 2 is essentially Crackdown, Zombie Edition.  For someone looking for a game with plenty of freedom, Crackdown 2 should be a welcome addition, but anyone looking to have a more controlled experience might think differently.  Ruffian Games has certainly created an entertaining game, but one that is all too relative to personal preference.  Even so, let's hope that Crackdown 2 gets the praise it deserves!

Fans or newcomers curious about Crackdown 2 won't have to wait long.  The Xbox exclusive is scheduled for release July 6th.  Also be sure to visit Ruffian Games' website at http://www.ruffiangames.com/.

Please note that this is a review for the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions of the game

Just in time for the movie, Ubisoft has released the latest installment in the Prince of Persia series. Back on track with the Sands of Time storyline, Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands takes place between the original Sands of Time and Warrior Within.

You start off entering your brother Malik’s domain, shown through an almost life-like cutscene (the likes of which are never matched throughout the rest of the game) and begin to chase him down. Malik’s kingdom is being invaded, and thus he’s decided that the only way he can come out victorious is to unleash Soloman’s Army. Unfortunately, this only leads to disastrous results and now a vicious army of sand skeletons are on the hunt.

The game sticks to its tried and true platforming mechanics, which have been exceptionally polished in The Forgotten Sands. It’s funny; the opening tutorials from The Forgotten Sands and Sands of Time are almost identical. In fact The Forgotten Sands overall feels like an HD remake of the Sands of Time. This allows for a great entry point for new fans of the series, but still allows for die-hards to experience some of the platforming they know and love.

Unlike the 2008 game, simply titled Prince of Persia, Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands follows a more linear style of gameplay, and also features more combat than the aforementioned title. 2008’s game turned out to be one of my unexpected favorites, and Forgotten Sands manages to top that in almost every way. The ability to use the Sands of Time is great, and the new mechanic of freezing water makes for great new challenges that test your dexterity while platforming. Just about the only thing I am not a fan of inThe Forgotten Sands is the combat. In Prince of Persia you were able to string together combos for days on end with the help of your partner, Elika. Here, all you can do is press the Square button to attack. Sure, you can pole vault over the enemies and use an aerial slash, but for the most part you just end up mashing the Square button.

Overall, The Forgotten Sands is a great game that provides a perfect entry point for new players in the Prince of Persia series. The platforming starts off easy and quickly adds on layers that with challenge even the most dexterous players, however with this said it never becomes quite annoying as to make you throw your controller. For fans of the series, Ubisoft has provided an all-new outing in the original Sands of Time storyline, however, if you’ve never played a Prince of Persia game, now is your time to get on board.

Likes:

• Use of your ability to freeze water
• Easy to get trophies/achievements
• Platforming is top-notch

Dislikes:

• The Prince looks nothing like Jake Gylennhaal (which does make a difference when you are trying to tie in a movie with a game)
• Combat is repetitive

Review Score

• One of the most exceptionally crafted suspense narratives in gaming
• Solid combat and mechanics are more a subtle vehicle than a distracting focus
• Episodic format is perfectly used for the genre

• Occasionally cliché or expected
• Tedious, but rarely

It's a LevelFortyTwo reunion!  Join Joel, Nick, Erika and Michael (yes, he's back!) as they talk about tons of things including the ModNation Racers launch party (also be sure to check out our interview with Sony Representative Matt Levitan after the closing music!), Nick's Lost Planet 2 review, Erika's Split/Second review, Michael's Prince of Persia: Forgotten Sands review, Joel's Alan Wake review, Ian's Red Dead Redemptionreview.

To me, no settings are better than space horror and spaghetti western, be it film or video game. The latter is the main focus of Rockstar Games' newest release, Red Dead Redemption. A collaboration between Rockstar San Diego and Rockstar North, Red Dead Redemption serves as a spiritual successor to an older Rockstar release, Red Dead Revolver, which was released in 2004. Rather than being a straight-forward third-person shooter, however, Red Dead Redemption features a living, sandbox world for you to explore, as well as a variety of missions and side stories for you tackle at your leisure. But, can Rockstar's tried and true gameplay mechanics translate well to such a different time period?

The game begins with the introduction of John Marston. A former outlaw, John is charged by the U.S. Government with the mission to eliminate the remaining members of his old gang. In order to return to his peaceful family life, John accepts and heads to an abandoned fort named Fort Mercer to deal with a a man who has the most redundant name I've ever heard: Bill Williamson. A former rider in John's old gang, Bill is now the leader of a new gang, and taunts John before having him shot and left outside the fort to die. Bonnie MacFarlane, daughter of a rancher who operates nearby, finds him and helps recuperate from his wounds. Moved by their kindness, John stays on the ranch to help them with various issues that arise, until he moves on to his main goal: killing Bill Williamson.

After this first bit of story and tutorial, the world becomes your oyster. Like other sandbox worlds, the main story missions are only a small part of the overall game. During your travels you'll be introduced to an almost overwhelming amount of side stories and background characters, as well as tons of guns and horses that can be purchased. But, every event isn't confined to structured missions and games, as the barren, dusty landscape will often contain small events you can choose to take part in or ignore. The world of Red Dead Redemption is the best definition of “living,” as numerous types of animal and plant life decorate the rolling hills. Some of the best moments in the game are when these two worlds, the human and animal, collide in situations that are frightening, suspenseful, hilarious, or all of the above at once.

The amount of things the developer is able to shove into the game's world is always the main draw with games of this genre, and Red Dead Redemption never disappoints. But it doesn't stop there, going one step further to breath life into a game world. This is a world in every sense of the word. As you accept missions from various strangers and work your way through the personal challenges the game throws your way, you'll become totally immersed in the reality Rockstar has created for you. One of the greatest things is they know the genre and don't take themselves too seriously. John Marston, the main character, spends almost the whole first third of the game threatening every man he meets with a bullet to the head, but you'll understand after just a few minutes of spending time with these individuals. Most of the characters you meet, important or otherwise, have various defects that make them as believable as they are entertaining.

That isn't to say the amount of things to do in this game is lacking in any way. The aforementioned stranger missions span various locales and stories as you help random folks with their problems, everyday or otherwise. These run the gamut from helping an old man gather flowers for his wife to stopping a cannibal living in the hills outside a town from satiating his hunger with more victims. Personal challenges open up as soon as you peform a certain task, such as picking a desert flower or shooting an animal. Finishing these lines of challenges reward you with stat bonuses, such as a higher ammo capacity or weapon range, and give you a great sense of accomplishment after the time it took to complete them. Much like the challenges, outfit pieces are revealed as soon as you complete one of the prerequisites for creating them. Some of these outfits give you special abilities like cheating at cards or longer Dead Eye time, a kind of slow motion aiming system.

Although I've long been a fan of another Rockstar series, Grand Theft Auto, it's always been held back by loose controls and a somewhat sloppy aiming system. Intense gun fights were made frustrating just because it was difficult to get a decent lock on enemies, and seriously detracted from the greatness hidden within those games. Luckily, Red Dead Redemption shakes off those chains and offers amazing controls and game mechanics to match the story and setting. I've always had a love/hate relationship with auto-aim in games, but it works wonders in this one. Everything, from huge gun battles to one-on-one dueling, is smooth and fluid. Even things that sound complicated, such as steering a horse or wagon while fending off attackers, flow naturally with a few simple gameplay mechanics. The controls and aiming were the one thing I was very worried about when jumping into this game, but Rockstar finally found a formula that worked and implemented it wonderfully.

Another deviation from some of Rockstar's older series, Red Dead Redemption looks just as good as it plays. The cutscenes offer some of the most realistic facial animations I've ever seen in a video game, and not much is lost in the transition to gameplay. Dust kicks up realistically with each beating of your horse's hooves, while brush and tumbleweeds react accordingly to changing wind directions and speed. While it does suffer from the occasional floating character model or glitchy animation, Red Dead Redemption is fantastic in motion, and I found myself on more than one occasion blown away by the spectacular scenery they somehow managed to fit into this game with the other content. Matching the aesthetics in quality is the sound design. While the world itself is incredibly engaging alone, musical cues and background ambiance really drive the atmosphere home. The voice acting is, of course, top notch. Even the most eccentric characters, while sometimes a bit over the top, never step over the edge into downright stupidity.

Red Dead Redemption is immense, and I mean this in a few different ways. Probably the most tangible would be in the sheer amount of gameplay they managed to fit onto the disc. The wild west is riddled with side missions, saloon games, and secrets as far as the eye can see. Even then, some of the most compelling gameplay moments come from experiencing the randomness and spontaneity of the living world Rockstar has managed to create. Red Dead Redemption is also immense in that it's the first open-world, sand box type game to truly have it all; a huge, living game world with just the right mix of incredible graphics and dynamic atmosphere. It raises the bar for every game to come after it. While I'm excited to see how other developers hope to top this monumental gaming achievement, I'm sure they're going to have a tough time doing so.

Likes

• Presents a living, breathing world in an incredible way.
• Builds off great gameplay with gorgeous visuals and incredible sound and voice acting.
• Contains such an enormous amount of things to do, it would almost be impossible to list them all.

Dislikes

• Starts off pretty slow in terms of story.
• Has a few graphical hiccups here and there, but nothing major.
• Tends to make me ramble when I talk or write about it because it's simply fantastic.

Review Score

/

The review scale at LevelFortyTwo is between 1 and 5. A score of 5 is considered an amazing game, 4 is a well-done game with only minor issues, 3 is in the middle; not great, but not bad, 2 is a very problematic game, and 1 is absolutely terrible.

Upon first glance, Split/Second was yet another one of those typical racing games.  Sure, the cars looked cool (mesmerizing even) and the graphics looked almost too perfect, but the key aspect of a racing game is the gameplay and, at the time, I had no experience with that.  Now does that give me a reason to judge?  No, not in the least, and what I've learned from this experience is that you should never judge by looks alone because you might miss out on a real gem. 

Split/Second is just that. Imagine a racing game with the fundamental racing game elements such as intense speeds and drift-heavy cars but no speedometer or mini-map.  In place of these presumably necessary additions we have more explosives than you can muster.  Explosives (generally known as the Power Play mechanic)  can be triggered after drifting, drafting, and jumping enough to charge the gauge below your car.  Once fully or partially charged (the fuller the gauge, the more powerful the attack), you wait till an icon appears over top your opponent/s car and you let 'er rip.  At this point, all hell has broken lose: cars, buildings and planes detonate on the track, wrecking balls swing freely into cars and helicopters drop explosive barrels left and right. Maniacally annihilating opponents has never felt quite so rewarding. 

In between this action-packed mayhem is a pseudo-reality TV show in which your driver takes part in a 12-episode racing competition.  These transitions, specifically the enthusiastic announcer quips, definitely livens the mood and provides an interesting and exciting edge that other racing games, console titles in particular, strive to achieve.  With that said, Split/Second shares all the qualities of an arcade racing game, but is portable enough to be played in your living room.  Now isn't that convenient! 

Split/Second is not your traditional racing game.  Visuals are saturated in colour and breathtakingly sharp while gameplay is intense and ridiculous.  Black Rock Studios has fashioned a racing game that is not afraid to take risks and, most importantly, have fun.  Split/Second is ADD and proud of it; however, underneath the reality TV gimmicks and explosions lies a genuine racing game, and a good one at that. 

Likes

• Split/Second is equal parts console racing game and arcade racing game.
  
• Visuals are vibrant, breathtaking and original.
  
• Gameplay is intense and addictive, some of the best yet. 
  

Dislikes

• Split/Second is a relatively short game.
  
• I don't want to have to knit-pick, but I guess the game is a little on the shallow side.  A little.
  

Review Score

 / 

The review scale at LevelFortyTwo is between 1 and 5. A score of 5 is considered an amazing game, 4 is a well-done game with only minor issues, 3 is in the middle; not great, but not bad, 2 is a very problematic game, and 1 is absolutely terrible.

I enjoyed the first Lost Planet. Mechs (or the in game name, a Vital Suit or VS), thermal energy to keep you alive, forbidding environments and terrifying creatures, it all came together nicely despite its flaws. Not so in Lost Planet 2. Its somewhat hard to see where things went wrong, but somewhere along the path of making everything bigger and more of it, LP2 makes a lot of mistakes. 

There are good things to be found in LP2. Co-op play takes center stage, both off and online, and is enhanced by multi-person VS suits. You are always accompanied by three AI partners, and I'm pleased to report both the friendly and enemy AI is fairly competent. There's room for improvement, but overall it almost feels like playing with four other people, albeit a few occasional quirks. Environments are also fantastically detailed and varied. While the original Lost Planet did what it could with a snowed over planet, E.D.N. III has changed since then, bringing about cities, jungles, and deserts. 

Thermal energy makes a return, but it feels a bit useless this time around. It made perfect sense when the planet was covered in ice, but venturing around deserts and jungles doesn't require a constant supply of heat to survive. In Lost Planet, your thermal energy was constantly lowering to keep your body alive, and if you needed to repair yourself or a VS suit, it used up more. In LP2 this all applies sans the constant lowering. Thermal energy is really only kept around if you need to heal yourself. 

Even then, the Thermal Energy doesn't have much impact. When you die, you simply spawn back at any of the data posts (read: checkpoints) you've activated along the way; you come back with a fresh chunk of ammo and thermal energy into a persistent world. So any real threat of losing your Thermal Energy evaporates when it becomes easier to die. After a specific amount of respawns you will be forced to restart the chapter however. 

The entire game is split up into six episodes, each with three missions, each of those divided by three again into chapters. Chapters are sometimes bewilderingly short; one is just a few hallways, some mooks and thats it. A boss battle will fill up a chapter, and some of these are frustratingly long. Its not helped by constant reviving, either. The worst are the bosses that continually regenerate limbs no matter how many times you blow them apart. Normally players are inclined to take out limbs so they aren't getting swiped at. Its also a natural indication of how long until the boss is killed. But when limbs are perpetually regrown, the process of taking down a boss is extended both mentally and in-game. 

The pacing of the missions is skewed a bit too. I try to stay away from topics like level design and pacing, but when I fight two massive Category G Akrid in back to back chapters, something is wrong. Another very apparent flaw is there is no main character, and barely anything of a story. The organizations are still the same, Nevec, the Snow Pirates, and a few new ones, but if you haven't played LP then you'll have no idea who these people are. Each episode is played from a different point of view and a few are more compelling, and anything resembling a story doesn't come into view until about the fourth episode, when all of a sudden 'the entire world is in danger of being destroyed.' 

So is LP2 still fun? It has its moments. If you make it past the boring and unoriginal first few levels, there are some great backdrops and missions to be found. But it comes with a heavy price.

The review scale at LevelFortyTwo is between 1 and 5. A score of 5 is considered an amazing game, 4 is a well-done game with only minor issues, 3 is in the middle; not great, but not bad, 2 is a very problematic game, and 1 is absolutely terrible.

To wrap things up, we also mentioned several games, teasers and sales on Indie Compendium including Chaos Faction 2, the new Limbo in-game teaser, Greek & Wicked and the Steam Play Indie Pack.  Remember the Steam Pack will only be available until May 19th so get it while you can.  Also don't forget to pick up a free copy of Portal before the 24th!

Also on Comic Compendium Joel mentions web comic "Manly Guys Doing Manly Things" which can be found at thepunchlineismachismo.com.

Send us your thoughts to podcast@levelfortytwo.com. You can direct download the episode here, or subscribe to the podcast in iTunes here.

Time travel has been used pretty widely in games. From platformers like Prince of Persia or puzzles like Braid, traveling around in time offers a unique experience only truly accessible in games. But most of these games have been limited in their handling of time travel in order to preserve gameplay. But now, Hazardous Software brings us Achron, a real time strategy game that allows players to go back in time and freely erase their previous actions and wage wars in the past.

Achron is equipped with a time map, which shows a linear progress of time, up until the past few minutes. The map shows your position in the timeline, other players in the timeline, any battles from the past or present, units, resources, and chronoports, the devices that allow you to send troops back and forth in time. When a player returns to the past an carries out an action, you can't simply jump to the future to witness its results. Philosophically speaking, no one actually watched the events in the past happen, so in actuality they never did. The time waves set up in Achron act as an observer, carrying all of the actions made in the past to the present. This frees players from having to watch all of their actions in order to make sure they really do happen. 

Achron allows you to view the past freely, but in order to alter the past and issue new commands, it will cost chronoenergy. The farther back in time you make your changes, the more chronoenergy is spent. Chronoenergy is recharged at a fixed rate and is independent of other traditional resources. Chronoenergy takes center stage in strategy, as all of your movements in the past require it. 

This leads to a new dynamic when waging a war. A typical skirmish might take place like this: Player A sends an army to Player B's base. In retaliation, Player B sends his army back in time until before Player A's army was even built, to attack his base. Player A will then go even further back in time, sending previous troops to meet Player B's army in the past. And so it goes on, until either one's chrono energy is spent and the changes are carried into the future. As anyone who has touched an RTS knows, this adds several layers of strategy to a fairly normal real time strategy game. Every traditional concept of the RTS genre gets turned on its head, from resource gathering to forming alliances. 

Achron is also being released with a score of mod tools for the community. At the moment Achron can import 3D art into the game, along with scripts to customize levels, units, and AI. The terrain and environment can also be changed. Future plans for mod tools include an interface and menu editor; and a level editor to tie in all of the other tools together. Hazardous Software is also releasing the engine behind Achron as well, allowing anyone to utilize the time travel mechanics they've developed and implemented in Achron. 

Achron can be found here, and pre-ordering it will give you instant access to the alpha, along with any updates and the full game upon release. You can also listen to our interview with Chris Hazard, the president of Hazardous Software and lead designer on Achron, to get more information.

When I was a kid, I had only one true love in the world: Star Wars. My dad sat me down to watch them as soon as I could understand what was going on, and we rewatched them countless times over the years as I grew up. Most of what I was interested in from that point on was Star Wars related. Books, video games, comics…I couldn't get enough. But one area I never really jumped into was the Expanded Universe, further stories that chronicled adventures outside of the main plot. This all changed when I was introduced to a game called Shadows of the Empire for the Nintendo 64.

Set between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, Shadows of the Empire details the adventures of the mercenary Dash Rendar, a friend of the Rebel Alliance. From my recollection, he is also part of the Han Solo fan club. His demeanor is almost exactly the same as his more famous counterpart, and he dresses about the same too. His transportation furthers my suspicions, as it's basically a later model of Han's famous Millennium Falcon. But, I digress. Dash's adventures take him all over the galaxy, from Hoth during the Empire's invasion to the junkyard planet of Ord Mantell to deal with the bounty hunter IG-88. His story in the game eventually culminates in a battle against the Prince Xizor, who hopes to eliminate Luke Skywalker in an attempt to become the Emperor's apprentice.

While having a fair amount of backstory to the original trilogy was amazing in its own right, the game really shone with the varied stages that comprised it. Quite a bit of them were generic on-foot, third person perspective shooters, but they controlled extremely well. Others were space battle affairs, as well as a very interesting one involving a speeder bike race. At the time, the graphics were far superior to anything I had seen before it, but haven't aged gracefully after a recent playthrough. The music, on the other hand, was and still is exceptional. While many of its pieces were taken straight from the movie soundtrack, the originals still carried an epic and graceful quality to them that would fit perfectly in any of the films.

Shadows of the Empire was also a game with a ton of secrets. Scattered across all the levels were hidden Rebel insignias that would unlock special concept art, scenery, and cheat codes after you gathered enough of them. Add onto that varying difficulty levels, and you have a game with a ton of replay potential. The game also becomes surprisingly tough in the last few stages, which makes it that much more satisfying when you reach the conclusion. No spoilers here, but try beating the game at the hardest difficulty (called Jedi, naturally) and marvel at the fantastic plot twists that abound after the credits.

This game is my childhood. While I never had a chance to actually own it myself, I would play it for hours on end whenever I visited my extended family. The day I finally beat it will probably stand in my mind as one of the best video game moments I have ever had for quite some time. The graphics and gameplay haven't really stood the test of time over the years, but it's still a pretty fun game to mess around with when you have a few spare minutes. If you can get your hands on a copy, blow the dust off that old Nintendo 64 you have slowly dying in the corner of your room and check it out. You won't be disappointed.

New Game+ is LevelFortyTwo.com's blog not just looking back at older games, but also the effort and work that was put into them, as well as the joy of reliving old gaming experiences. Read more about the goal of this blog here.

If you were to randomly ask people on the street to name a fighting game series, most of them would probably give you weird looks and walk away as fast as they could. But those that stuck around to answer your question would more than likely answer, “Street Fighter.” Ever since the release of Street Fighter II in 1991, Capcom has owned the market on the fighting game genre. Street Fighter III introduced a totally new fighting system and a cast almost entirely made up of new characters. It was a radical departure from the normal Street Fighter formula, but was critically acclaimed up on release and a staple in the fighting game community during Capcom's nine year break from the main Street Fighter series. But then, in 2008, Street Fighter IV was distributed to fighting game enthusiasts and casual players alike. An interesting mix of new graphic design and decidedly old school fighting mechanics, Street Fighter IV was exactly what fans had been waiting for.

Send us your thoughts to podcast@levelfortytwo.com.  You can direct download the episode here, or subscribe to the podcast in iTunes here.

Checking out one team's survival/horror multi-player game (there's me in the black/white dress).

From April 23 – 25th, people got to experience game production first hand at The Toronto Independent Game Development Jam (or TOJam for short), a free, annual game-making event open to the public (this year held at George Brown College).  Here's the goal: Finish a good, small indie game in 3 days.  TOJam isn't a competition, it's a chance for devs to harness their knowledge and talent and make the best game possible.

For the fifth year in a row, TOJam has welcomed devs from all over North America to make games of all genres.  Each year, the event has been growing steadily, this time with over 180 participants.  Whether created by a one-man team or elaborate groups, each game (70 in all) had a unique look and feel. 

 The devs tried out several of the games as well.

Although everyone, whether participant or guest, was able to test out each team's game, there's still a lot of polishing to do before TOJam Arcade.  TOJam Arcade will be a casual pub event in which each game will be showcased for 30 minutes each on 9 projectors.  It's free, open to the public, and will be held late May. The games from TOJam 5 will eventually be posted on the official TOJam website, but until then, you can always check out ones from previous years. 

Until then, check out these photos from TOJam:

Photos courtesy of Matthew O'Mara

Who says games can't teach you stuff?! I think it's safe to say your average strategy gamer can tell you more about world history, economics and military tactics than your average college student. Making History II is one of those brilliant examples of an experience that's a blast to play at whatever level of "core" you like, while leaving you quite eager to chat with friends about the finer points of the political stage in Brazil in the 1930s or the economic subtleties of Monaco in the 1940s.

Though the time span of MH2 is relatively short (early 1930s through late 1940s), the scope is monumental. You choose just one specific country to represent, but if the country existed during this time period, you can play it. From South Africa to Monaco to Thailand, you're not restricted to the popular countries like Japan or the US. Thus, the goal of the game is quite different than the majority of strategy games. Don't just try to turn the map your color, 'cause playing as Luxembourg, you're quite unlikely to wind up invading Russia. Rather, consider your options while playing as Egypt and run with what you've got. Each turn is a week, so the pace at which you make your decisions is somewhat more delicate. As your end goal will differ greatly with your choice of country and how history plays out (e.g., you can't rely on Japan to bomb Pearl Harbor on December 7th, though their economic and military status certainly makes them prone to that decision), so will the myriad "winning" conditions. The game sets each of the 100+ countries as they were in the early 1930s, simulating their actual economic, military and cultural settings. So when you pick Germany, you'll be set to begin your rampage through Europe, but perhaps this time they'll do things through diplomacy instead.

During your turn, your options extend far further than "attack, defend or build". As the screen above shows, the depth to which you can barter, trade, infiltrate, exercise diplomacy or invade means you can play the game at many levels. If you want to expand the American empire to all reaches of the globe in a few hours, you can just build up your army, sacrificing your people, culture and economy, and go to war. At the same time, you can spend hours deploying troops to destroy an enemy territory's arms factories, planning your diplomatic future with an ally, or creating puppet states or colonies out of recently captured countries, all in just a single turn. To deepen things even further, countries are divided into smaller territories or regions, meaning you can't invade New York City and capture that along with the entire Midwest. Similarly, cities are also separated into districts, so you can choose to infiltrate specific production or culture centers of each city, for the intended effect..

A big problem with strategy games this deep is the fact that most people can't set aside 18 hours straight to finish a game. Thus, the turn timer. Player turns all take place simultaneously, meaning you all make your plans, end the turn, and watch history unfold. To ease everyone's time constraints, simply set the turn timer to any increment (i.e. 24 hours).  Make sure you log in and take your turn before the timer expires, and you can all keep up with history without having to hang out at your friend's house all weekend. This means one game can last for months, perhaps sped up a bit when you all can sit down for a few hours, then returning to a longer turn timer. The fact that you will be able to take your turn playing the full game in a browser allows even more accessibility and ease of play.

The origin of the first Making History was an educational tool. Eventually, so much progress was made that a fully fledged strategy game emerged. The sequel is even more refined; this is a deep as strategy gets. Fortunately, you don't need to be a history professor to make proper decisions regarding the future of your nation. Although, keeping Wikipedia handy wouldn't be a bad idea. For an in-depth look at the game with Muzzy Lane's product manager Chris Parsons, check out his guest appearance on our podcast from 4/26/2010! You can pre-order the game here or check the trailer here. Launch day is May 25th, 2010 with a price point of $39.99.

It’s not very often that you’ll come across an industry wide promotion, and even less likely that you’ll get something for free, but that’s just what Free Comic Book Day is. Every year on the first Saturday in May the masses flock to their local comic to choose from a few select issues provided by the various publishers (Marvel, DC, Boom, Image, etc.). It’s something unseen in any other industry, and provides a great entry point for newcomers in the comic universe. Most of the free comics are either issue #1 or 0 so those who attend don’t have to worry about copious amounts of backlog (as is frequently the case). Ian Walker and I decided to tag-team this article and provide different perspectives on what we think of Free Comic Book Day and what other industries can learn from it.

Puzzle games are huge culprits in this arena. Tetris, which all of you should know about by now, contains only one simple objective: don't fail. But with this objective come a slew of player-imposed goals, e.g. beating a high score, only scoring points with Tetrises, reaching the highest difficulty, etc. Tetris is a game you can literally play for hours if you become good enough, but getting there requires incredible reflexes and an extensive knowledge of where and when to place the game's seven different puzzle pieces, as well as what positions work in what situations. Tetris is probably the best example of this phenomenon, but let's take a look at some other franchises.

Mr. Driller is a series of games that continues where Dig Dug left off. Originally conceived as Dig Dug 3, Mr. Driller follows the exploits of Susumu Hori, the son of Dig Dug's hero, Taizou Hori. Susumu shares his father's love for digging, but does so instead with the eponymous drill. But, unlike Dig Dug, Mr. Driller has no enemies for you to destroy. The main focus of the game is to drill deeper and deeper through various countries, while maintaining your air supply and trying to to get squished by the unstable rock walls you can't help creating. Each level has a depth goal that you have to reach in order to complete the stage, which of course increases as the levels become more difficult.

For the most part, the Mr. Driller games are pretty simple. Drill down, gather air tanks, don't die. The real challenge comes with how you score points. As you begin to drill, you'll notice that there are different colored blocks. If four of the same-colored blocks manage to touch, they disappear and net you a score bonus. Along with the breakable blocks come more durable ones that decrease the amount of air you have left upon breaking them. These gain even more points upon being matched up, and usually surround valuable air tanks that extend your play time. Add to these factors multiple characters with different abilities, and you're going to be hooked or quite a long time, no matter which version of the game you play.

Mr. Driller begins with an extremely easy goal: make it to the bottom of the stage. But adding to this a puzzle system that nets more points and the added goal of matching colored blocks, you begin to see the complex core of the game that makes it truly memorable.

A very well known series that also exhibits this type of complexity against initial simplicity is Pokemon. Every game in the series is pretty easy from beginning to end. Besides the weakest of the weak, you can basically grab any team of Pokemon you want and stick with them through the whole game. But Nintendo, insidious as ever, included a few odd gameplay mechanics even in the earliest incarnations of the Pokemon franchise. Individual values and effort values, abbreviated as IV and EV respectively, are two sets of special stats that make each Pokemon unique on a very base level. Most fans of the series have no idea of their existence, as the values of both are hidden.

As fans became aware of these hidden values, various programs were utilized in an attempt to find out how they work and what effect they had on the Pokemon they were training. Over time, IVs and EVs became an important part of Pokemon tournaments. It's become so prevalent that one cannot hope to advance far into a tournament unless you've done a good job EV training your Pokemon. You can read more about IV and EV training at Bulbapedia by following these links:

http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/IV |  http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/EV

While puzzle games hide their complexity with simple rules and others do so with extremely lax difficulty, there's a select few that keep the most elaborate parts of their gameplay hidden behind decidedly archaic graphics. Sometimes, these graphics make the game more confusing than it has to be.

(click on the images for the larger versions)

The biggest culprit of this is an indie game called Dwarf Fortress. A game with a complete ASCII graphics interface, much of the complexity comes from sitting down and learning what each letter, number, and symbol stands for in relation to the Dwarf Fortress world. After getting that in order, you are introduced to the actual gameplay, which is even more elaborate than the graphics. Fans of the game find much satisfaction in constructing a self-sufficient fortress after extensive research into the in-depth gameplay mechanics. In my humble opinion, Dwarf Fortress is probably the most complex game out there at the moment, and the programmers continually amaze me with the little details they've accounted for within the game's code.

One problem I had with Dwarf Fortress upon first playing it was the graphics. You eventually get used to them, but I was worried the only difficulty the game offered was trying to decipher what you were seeing and getting used to such a low-tech way of presenting a video game world. Luckily, various tilesets are available for download that make the game much easier on the eyes, and actually show that the game has much more depth to offer. The pictures above show the difference in graphics, from the original on the left to one with a tileset on the right. Feel free to check out Dwarf Fortress in all its frustrating awesomeness by following this link:

http://www.bay12games.com/dwarves/

So there you have it, a few malicious game series that choose to reel you in with simple gameplay mechanics and graphics, only to latch onto you and never let go upon revealing the true depth beneath the surface. While each one does so in completely different ways, they'll surprise you when you finally dig in and try out the more complex gameplay mechanics.

Endless Ocean: Blue World is not your typical game.  In fact, it plays more like an interactive nature program.  The second title in the Endless Ocean series, Blue World is essentially a return to the original adventure/exploration title, but has added several improvements along the way.  Known by many as being yet another example of a Wii "non-game", Blue World has differentiated itself  from its predecessor by offering far more vast environments as well as more believable dangers.

Unlike its predecessor, Blue World now offers more expansive, natural habitats to explore.  Whether swimming through the Antarctic’s Wendell Ocean or South American channels, the game educates players by introducing them to the environment's sea life.  From here, players can read their log to find out more about the species as well as touch and feed them.  Occasionally, the player will come across more dangerous animals which, unlike before, have to be pacified with a new item called the Pulsar gun.  If that weren't enough, the gun can also be used to heal sick animals (probably one of my favourite features in the game).  Another new item in the Endless Ocean series is the Multi-Sensor, a tool used to find hidden treasures.  Both items definitely add an extra element to the gameplay (or lack thereof in this case) and provide an addicting experience. 

Blue World never intends to be what it's not.  The game definitely takes a risk by offering as little gameplay as possible, but still encourages players to explore and learn about their surroundings — just like any good nature program.  Environments are vibrant and lush, offering players much more variation in their playtime.  In addition, an added sense of challenge has been added with the use of the Pulsar gun even if this challenge is close to miniscule.  However that's not the point.  The point is to relax and enjoy the ride.  With so many combat-heavy games being released, Endless Ocean: Blue World is clearly a welcome change.

Likes:

• There's tons to see and collect in this game.
• The game's environments are expansive and incredibly lush.
• Endless Ocean: Blue World offers a relaxing experience few games do nowadays.

Dislikes:

• Endless Ocean: Blue World doesn't offer nearly enough challenges.
• While at first interesting, the game's story slowly becomes more and more uninteresting.

Review Score

Send us your thoughts to podcast@levelfortytwo.com.  You can direct download the episode here, or subscribe to the podcast in iTunes here.

Monster Hunter is one of those series.

The series' newest release, Monster Hunter Tri for the Wii, marks its first appearance on a Nintendo console. A series long heralded for its crushing difficulty, it makes use of an interesting set of weapons and a varied amount of wild game to hunt with them. And while the single player experience is satisfying in itself, the real fun comes when you jump online with three fellow hunters, combining different strategies and weapon sets to take down the most dangerous prey.

The game begins with your arrival in the small coastal settlement called Moga Village. The village is in a crisis with the sudden appearance of all sorts of monsters, rivaling the already dangerous wildlife they have to deal with on an everyday basis. The village chief commissions you as the town's newest monster hunter, and asks you to deal with basically every problem they'll have from here on out. Help comes in the form of the chief's son, as well as various other locals. After a bit of a tutorial, the bare bones story is kicked into the backseat, and you're given free reign to explore, take on quests, and get to know the surrounding areas and their wildlife.

Like I mentioned before, the game has a new addition in the form of the tutorial. The first few quests all involve learning a bit of the gameplay, and it takes up a decent chunk of the early game. While it doesn't explain all the small intricacies of the game or battle system, it gives newer players (like myself) a chance to jump in without leaving frustrated. Veterans of the franchise may find it tedious, but it soon opens up the same exciting gameplay they know and love.

One of the most interesting things in the Monster Hunter series is the varied types of weapons you can choose from when you go on hunts. Choosing a weapon type that suits you well is an incredibly important decision, not only because of the punishing nature of the game but also because you'll spend a lot of the time upgrading that weapon. You can jump from one weapon to another without a penalty, but the cost of upgrading multiple weapon types will eventually add up, when it could have been more viable to focus on one type and stuck with it. You gain the materials necessary to upgrade your armor and weapons from, you guessed it, the monsters. After defeating one, you can carve its remains for spoils such as bones or hides. The harder the monster is to fell, the better materials you'll get. You can also gain materials from the environment, and sometimes the way monsters interact with the environment around them affects the spoils you can carve from their bodies. The constancy of the ecological system is just one of the small details that makes this game so engrossing.

Unfortunately, not all of the difficulty is fair. Some of it comes from the game's clunky combat controls. Not that they aren't responsive, because they are, but it sometimes feels like your character should be doing more for the amount of effort you put into controlling him/her. You'll eventually get the hang of fighting and the nuances associated with the different monsters you have to hunt, but it still feels like something could have been tightened up when the battle system was being created.

While the Wii is much less powerful than the PS3 or Xbox 360, the graphics Capcom managed to churn out on a weaker system are nothing short of impressive. The cutscenes that play out before each new region are gorgeous, with sweeping sand and water effects that haven't been seen on the system before. They do take a step down when actual gameplay is in effect, but are still very good for all the Wii's shortcomings. The animations are incredibly fluid and the weapon designs are top notch. You'll never be confused as to what weapon you have equipped as each one has been crafted wonderfully by the designers over at Capcom.

Monster Hunter Tri may have been the first game in the series that I sunk a lot of time into, but the strange niche that it seems to occupy in the game market hasn't been lost on me. The strategy and preparation that go into each important hunt is what truly makes the game shine, as well as the multiple weapon type and the separate tactics that go along with them. While the combat may be a bit clunky compared to other third-person games of this nature, the rest of the game more than makes up for the few simple shortcomings. You've got me hooked, Capcom. I can't wait for more.

Likes

• Crushing difficulty forces you to think and create strategies without being cheap.
• Pushes the Wii to its limits graphics-wise, which totally pays off.
• Fun singleplayer, but the multiplayer is where its at. Hunting with friends is so fun its scary.

Dislikes

• The tutorial, while helpful to newbies, will frustrate veterans to no end.
• Combat controls are clunky, even after you get used to them.
• The game is definitely not for everyone, and will probably be very polarizing.

Review Score

/

The review scale at LevelFortyTwo is between 1 and 5. A score of 5 is considered an amazing game, 4 is a well-done game with only minor issues, 3 is in the middle; not great, but not bad, 2 is a very problematic game, and 1 is absolutely terrible.

Part of being a super stealthy spy is having the superior training that lets you act quickly and with deadly efficiency. Too many espionage games fail at providing this because of troublesome cameras, unpredictable AI, poorly built aiming mechanisms, etc. Luckily, Conviction avoids most of these issues with ease. “Mark and  Execute” technique allows you to pick a number of targets (based on your currently equipped firearm) within line of sight and swiftly and silently pwn them with the push of a button. Earn this ability by performing a hand-to-hand takedown, and use it as you see fit. The other big mechanic is “Last Known Position”, a basic marker for the player showing where the enemies assume you are, allowing for you to flank with ease. These two additions plus the otherwise solid mechanics make for some brilliant espionage executions. Despite Sam’s occasional inability to jump onto a ledge or hide behind the proper cover, the controls are quite fluid. Also, the “interactive” interrogation scenes are handsome enough, but are a step down from the likes of 2005′s The Punisher.

Although the combat techniques at your disposal have deepened considerably, your arsenal isn’t quite what it was. You’re given a wide array of pistols, assault rifles, shotguns and equipment (EMPs, flash bangs, cameras, etc), but as you spend most of your time creeping through the shadows trying to be quiet, you tend to avoid any non-silenced weapons (75% of your weapons). Additionally, your various kinds of vision and ammo have been removed. This seems more like a decision to concentrate on the narrative and combat, instead of hinder the player’s capacity, and it works well.

The story unfolds like the best of classic espionage fiction. Anyone with a knowledge of the Splinter Cell saga will be instantly rapt, while a newcomer will find simply another great spy experience. However, the experience is not a long one, clocking in at just over six hours, but that’s okay. It’s quite rare to be able to sit down with a game and a high quality narrative and finish it in a sitting or two. Sure, it may leave you wanting more after a few hours, but that’s what the multiplayer is for. The multiplayer Co-op modes are quite excellent, but make sure you’re playing with a friend. A fairly high level of coordination is required to get into the latter difficulties, and trying to pull it off by yourself or with someone you just met can be spotty at best. Co-op doesn’t feature the leveling systems we’re now used to in our multiplayer, but that doesn’t keep it from being seriously addictive.

Splinter Cell has progressed by leaps and bounds. Like past games in the series, each encounter is something like a puzzle. Read the situation, detect the patterns, account for unforeseen liabilities, and execute with ease. What has changed is how much more fast paced and fluid the combat is. Expect the best Jack Bauer James Bond Sam Fisher game so far, and plenty of quality multiplayer to keep you playing.

Likes:

• Top tier espionage gaming.
• Well paced, not overdrawn and engrossing (enough) narrative.
• Fluid controls and combat.

Dislikes:

• No versus mode
• Occasional inability to perform a simple physical task can be frustrating

Review Score

Released in 2004, Cave Story astounded gamers because of its nostalgic gameplay (the amount of inspirations is literally never-ending, but some games that come to mind include: Metroid, Castlevania, Gunstar Heroes and tons more), charming characters and compelling (even disturbing) story.  Personally, Cave Story grabbed me in a way few games did before.  Yes, it is a random piece of freeware designed and written by a random Japanese guy, but you'd never be able to tell just by looking at it.  Not only did it remind me of my childhood, but it offered me an experience I knew I couldn't find elsewhere.  While familiar, Cave Story managed to differentiate itself, individualize itself from its inspirations. 

Without surprise, indie game developer Nicalis has taken on the challenge of updating this game for Nintendo WiiWare.  While now sporting a price tag (a paltry 12 bucks) several features have been added to the already stellar game including remastered graphics and music, as well as exclusive gameplay modes, including Boss Rush, a Sanctuary Time Attack mode, and the ability to play through the game as Curly Brace, a female robot character representing Quote's partner.  While the time and dedication put into this game, both original and remastered, is reason enough to purchase this title the additional features definitely add to the appeal. 

Cave Story is, first and foremost, an action-exploration-platformer. Most of the time will be spent running, jumping and shooting your way through its many areas. Exploration is also heavily emphasized and oftentimes you’ll be faced with the many mysteries this game has to offer including alternate endings and secret weapons. With that said, Cave Story has great replay value. No matter how many times you play this game, there are always new things to unlock – now even more so with the remake’s added features.

Musically and graphically, Cave Story for WiiWare offers some slight variations from the original but retains its 8-bit qualities at the same time.  Personally, I found the graphics to be appealing as they added an extra layer of depth to an already minimalist game.  If there's any reason to gripe about it's the remastered music.  While enthralling, no percussion tracks makes for a bland experience — keep in mind, as a standalone it's amazing, but compared to the original score it's just not up to par.  In addition, there are some playback issues in which the music loops incorrectly.  These might sound tedious, but it's amazing how the score can do wonders to a game, I often found myself switching between the original and remastered music so I could find those subtle nuances.  So, I can't say the remastered music is a welcome change, but it's certainly not bad. 

Cave Story is an incredible game — it's impossible to convey the amount of emotion put into it.   The game's world draws you in the moment you begin playing and the charming characters keep you there.  It is exactly the type of game that more people should be playing.   For many, it has become a lasting experience, making its way to the top all while still being that small indie game with big ideas.  Cave Story is a good example of just how much one can do with so few resources.  The WiiWare port proves to be no different. 

Likes

• Cave Story for WiiWare still maintains it's pseudo-retro charm. 
• The game features just enough extra content without feeling rehashed.
• Slight graphical variations adds an extra layer of depth.

Dislikes

• The map proves itself to be about as useless as before. 
• There are slight music glitches when listening to the remastered soundtrack. 

Review Score

/

The review scale at LevelFortyTwo is between 1 and 5. A score of 5 is considered an amazing game, 4 is a well-done game with only minor issues, 3 is in the middle; not great, but not bad, 2 is a very problematic game, and 1 is absolutely terrible.

The story of Strange Journey begins with a crisis. A huge, negative energy area called the Schwarzwelt appears at the South Pole. The area is continually growing larger, and will soon spread across the entire face of the Earth. The United Nations sends a small team of scientists and soldiers into the area to investigate the cause of the Schwarzwelt's sudden appearance, and to possibly find a way to stop its growth. You are a strike team member within this group, and it's your job to actually leave the safety of your support vehicle and enter the Schwarzwelt. Of course, the best laid plans go awry, and your team is soon stranded within the negative energy area. Adding another layer of tension to the mission is the sudden appearance of Demons within the Schwarzwelt, but you soon find a way to win these Demons over through conversation and bribery.

Like earlier entries in the series, Strange Journey is a first-person dungeon crawler. It's just you, your party members, and immense dungeons with varying landscapes and creatures. The battle system is also pretty straight forward, with bars for HP and MP, as well as the usual restoring and defensive items. Again, like other Megami Tensei games, Strange Journey places a special incentive on hitting enemies with their weakness. Upon hitting an enemy's weakness, any party members you have with you that are aligned to the same ideology as you (i.e. Law, Neutral, Chaos) will join you in an organized attack that deals a considerable amount of damage. Because of this, it's important to gather Demons that are aligned the same as you. Your own alignment is decided throughout conversations you have with other characters, where your choices in dialogue affect your alignment. Side with holy and totalitarian characters and you will find yourself aligned with Law. Choose to go the route of anarchy and freedom, and Chaos Demons will be the best choice. You can also remain Neutral through careful dialogue choices. Your alignment also decides which ending you get, making multiple playthroughs a must for completionists like myself.

Besides the multiple endings, there are a few other factors that make this game hell for people looking to fully complete everything it has to offer. The Demonic Compendium in Strange Journey contains a little over 300 unique Demons. The tricky part is finding all of them, whether in the dungeons or through fusion, which can be a chore in itself. Fusion takes two, or in some special cases three, separate Demons and combines them into a new one, which will retain a move or two from the Demons it was fused from. As you encounter and level up Demons in your party, you'll be able to analyze them to see their weaknesses, stats, and move set. Once they're fully analyzed, capturing and leveling that Demon will net you their Source, which can be use in conjunction with fusing to add additional moves to a Demon that it might not learn naturally. This allows you quite a bit of customization in Demon creating if you dedicate some time to gaining a good number of Sources. And with a unique Source available for each of the huge number of Demons, that in itself will take a good deal of time.

My favorite part of Strange Journey is the way it presents itself. As you progress through the story, you'll come across varying areas that contain different dungeons. Each area has a particular motif attached to it so that each time you enter it's different than the other dungeons before it. Nothing feels rehashed or recycled, and it shows just how much time was spent crafting an amazing game experience on a console a bit less powerful than these games are known to be developed for. Another huge part of the presentation is the music. Almost as varied as the dungeons you traverse, the music ranges from soft, haunting orchestral tones to fast percussion and tribal chants. And as the song you're going to hear the most, the basic encounter and boss battle themes are some of the best I've heard in any genre of game.

If I were to choose one word to sum up Strange Journey and the experience of playing it, that word would probably be immense. There is just a ton of things to do in this game, from gather the over 300 Demons through conversation and fusion, to complete the map for every single dungeon, as well as conquering the myriad of side quests. Multiple endings also build on the games replayability, as each one takes time and effort to reach. Being on the Nintendo DS didn't hinder this release a single bit, and although it wasn't numbered upon its English release, it totally deserves to be called Shin Megami Tensei IV. This game is also a great example of how games should be presented to their audience. The subtle battle between Law and Chaos, the religious and mythological motifs behind it all, and an amazing philosophical questioning of what good and evil truly are make for a fantastic experience. If you're a fan of dungeon crawlers, huge RPGs that will eat up all of your time, or maybe a curious observer, dive into Strange Journey with an open mind. You won't regret it.