Posted by Matthew O'Mara on July 9, 2010 · Leave a Comment
The Nintendo 64 was a glorious console. One of the best ever made, and it has some of the best games of all time. Star Fox 64, Zelda 64 and Mario 64; they are all timeless classics, but there was another game that drew a lot of attention. Masato Maegawa’s Sin and Punishment: Star Successor is the sequel to Sin and Punishment: Hoshi no KeishÅsha (Sin and Punishment: Successor of the Earth) released in 2000 for the Nintendo 64, Treasure’s second shoot 'em up on the console. And ten years later, Sin and Punishment: Star Successor ushers in Masato Maegawa’s first foray onto the Wii, and his fourth on Nintendo home consoles since Ikaruga in 2004 and Bangai-O in 1999. I’d expect no less than an awesome shoot ‘em up experience from the creators of Ikaruga, Radiant Silvergun and Gunstar Heroes. And the game delivers. The package, however, may leave you wondering about the shipping cost.
The story goes like this: The universe is divided into dimensions, inner space and outer space. Inner space is populated by humans and the Creators, a shady group of beings who can—in an instant—wipe humanity off of the face of a planet. These creators use humans to populate habitable planets to be a frontline defence against invading forces from outer space.
Earth-4, a human colony, was recently devastated by the Creators, and the outer space forces sent a recon unit to the planet. Isa Jo, a relatively rookie operative working for the Creators—and the inner forces—was sent to investigate and to destroy the recon unit. Something happened along the way, the recon unit lost its memory, it assumed the form of a girl named Kachi and Isa’s mission caved. An enigmatic story, for sure. Is it well developed, no.
The game manual asks, “Who is the most worthy of being called human? The alien life-form with an insatiable curiosity about humans, the young fighter struggling to define his own humanity [or] the fighters who wish to end the oppression of humans on Earth-5.” Kachi has a dark secret revealed at the end of the game. For those who have played the first game of the series it might not come as too much of a surprise. And for those who haven’t, you might just ask, “Okay, why does that matter?” Isa is the son of—and this really isn't a spoiler—Saki, from Sin and Punishment, and he has inherited some of his father’s not quite so human traits. A number of the bosses in the game call him a “monster” but I’ll leave it to you to find out how far that description takes his character.
You can play as either Isa or Kachi in the single-player mode. Isa has melee attacks, a single-target lock-on mode and a charge shot that destroys most enemies. Kachi has a lock-on mode that can destroy several enemies at once and the same assortment of attacks as Isa. The Wii controls hold up their end of the gameplay. The game is compatible with any controller you can use with the Wii, including the Gamecube and classic controllers. Most players on the leaderboards seem to use the Wii Zapper attachment to get the highest scores. Who you select to play as has little to no affect on the story or the game’s progression. It’s simply a matter of preference and whether you like riding jet bikes or ostriches.
Sin and Punishment is a damn fine looking game. Bosses are huge and enemies are both colourful and plentiful. The game runs at a constant clip with little to no slowdown. Overall the game's presentation is well done and highly varied. You'll go from being in an underground facility coursing with lava to an under-the-sea tunnel travelling across Japan to an enemy's dreamscape. It's a varied experience, and though the Wii's hardware is limited when compared to the PS3 or Xbox 360, Sin and Punishment looks pretty nice and is fairly detailed.
You can’t play Sin and Punishment with someone through friend codes, but at the end of each level you are given a choice to add your high scores to both local and online leader boards. And because I’m so good at shoot ‘em ups, and I got an advance copy, I placed 16th on easy difficulty on the first level. That was a few days ago, and my score has since been obliterated by about 30 people. Yeah, there are a lot of people playing and most of them are probably way better at these games than I am.
This brings us then to the game’s faults.
I don’t really care about Isa or Kachi. Is that a bad thing? They’re okay characters, but neither engaged me in such a way that made me care about their struggle. I mentioned above that Sin and Punishment delivers an awesome shoot ‘em up experience, but that’s about all it does. It is a bad sign when you have to refer to the manual to find information about the story, and to get the full experience of this game it feels like you have to play the first game. As a stand-alone experience, Sin and Punishment: Star Successor will befuddle most and confuse the uninitiated, which included me.
A few reviews that I've read remarked that plot in most of Treasure’s games are indecipherable or secondary to the main experience and they ask, why bother thinking about them? That's an unfair stance. The story is weak, really weak, but it's still there for the player. For instance, you can make a connection between Isa and Kachi through their pasts. Isa wants to forget his and Kachi doesn’t have one, so they have a personal connection, which helps them transcend the unnatural nature of their friendship. But this development seen in their characters is far too brief to really effect the player. We aren't thinking too deeply when a bullet storm is coming our way is my point. There was ample opportunities throughout the game where direct exposition could have given you all the details. It’s really a matter of having a background with the original Sin and Punishment. Having that makes this narrative experience worthwhile. There is a story here and it’s worth exploring, I just found it difficult to enjoy it with Isa and Kachi in the way.
Why do they look like crazed muppet-children? It’s a small qualm to make, but Isa and Kachi look like children. Children with hover boards and jetpacks. Well, I guess they are kids and one is an aliens, but still. Wouldn’t a story about adult-minded individuals help engage the older demographic of players? They don’t even really develop through the course of the story.
There’s this amazing sequence at the end of the game to which I reacted, “Oh my God.” But the characters weren't as impressed. They just slowly float back down to Earth like nothing really happened. You went into space, destroyed a whole armada of ships and saved the planet. What’s more you found out about your past and connected with an alien in a way that few others of your kind will ever experience. Isa touches down, stretches and things go back to normal. Like he does this everyday. It would have made for a better story telling experience if Isa or Kachi were more human. But like the manual asked, that detail is in question.
There are good stories to be found in shoot ‘em ups, for sure. Is Sin and Punishment one of them? Maybe, if played from an experienced point of view. For the uninitiated, like me, I found the story more or less tacked on to create continuity between a series I haven’t any nostalgia for. It’s always a bad sign when reviewers tell players to ignore the bad and focus on the good. I’ve done that a few times, but it has always been the opposite for me. A good story can hold a game together. An experience held together by gameplay is more of a toy than a videogame. The story isn’t bad—like Star Fox Assault bad—it’s just undeveloped. And for a sequel, which is meant to expand upon all facets of the first experience, that’s a step in the wrong direction.
Play Sin and Punishment: Star Successor for the competitive leader boards, stunning visuals and hectic gameplay. Play it for the nostalgia, Treasure’s legacy and for the difficulty. If you’re looking for a riveting story filled with excitement, or a story that will expand on the original Sin and Punishment, look elsewhere. I mentioned above that there are some references to the first game and that there are some definite connections to be made. I can only hope that Sin and Punishment 3 will develop Isa and Kachi’s characters and bring some story to this amazing shoot ‘em up.
Likes:
- Stunning visuals, great boss fights
- Wii controls work, no flailing around
- Competitive online leaderboards
- Nice environments
Dislikes:
- Isa and Kachi are about as human as the game's case
- The story is a shallow pass at what could be an epic tale
- No character development
- Difficulty at times can be brutal, but it's a shoot 'em up
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.
Posted by Nick Tringali on November 23, 2009 · Leave a Comment
It's not very often a competitive online shooter will make you rethink how you look at the entire genre. Shattered Horizon, on the other hand, forces it upon you. Set in the near future, all of the battles take place in zero gravity, around space stations, mining facilities, and asteroid belts. Since there is no 'up' in space, everything is relative, and thus combat tactics become almost limitless.
A lot of unique elements have been incorporated into a game like this for it to function properly. Players can land and walk around on any surface (in any direction). This is a necessity to be able to have accurate aim, especially when sniping. Simply floating around, the recoil will cause problems. Normally sound cannot travel through space, but since audio cues of gunfire or explosions are so important in a game like this, the developers have sidestepped the problem with your suit's 'audio simulation' which effectively gives you sound.
However you can engage in a 'Silent Running' mode. This shuts down your entire suit, your audio simulation and major maneuvering abilities, along with your HUD. This allows for a lot of stealth abilities, especially if you stay in shadows, but without your suit powered on recoil is brutal. With the audio simulation turned off, all you hear is your breathing, blood pumping, and vibrations of your gun firing. This adds an eerie level of realism, and when used properly you can sneak around anywhere.
All of this combines into a very enjoyable game that really takes some time to get used to. There is only one weapon, the assault rifle, which converts into a sniper once you are zoomed in and doesn't need extra ammunition, just reloading. The use of grenades are also done well, seeing as they don't do direct damage but have more tactical uses, such as smoke, EMP (which shuts down anyone's suit in the blast radius) and the MPR which sends out a shockwave pushing everyone further into outer space.
Instead of a skirmish depending on the weapons used, they rely more on the player's skill. While this was intended to provide a more strategic approach to combat, it doesn't expand up to the entire team. Without voice chat, most players simply strike off on their own, and the entire team suffers. When a team does pull things together, miracles can happen, and battles are intense. Until that though, battles that are intended to be coordinated are naturally messy.
Shattered Horizon excels in its simplicity. It's easier than it looks to pick up and play, and the sheer uniqueness of it will keep you coming back for more. More maps are promised to the four that come with the game, and the entire game is well balanced. Once you get used to the idea of zero gravity combat, it suddenly feels quite natural. At a price tag of only $20, Shattered Horizon worth getting.
Likes
- Beautiful visuals and sound
- Well planned out maps and locales
- Unique gameplay
Dislikes
- Mean system requirements may lead to crashing
- Slight learning curve
- Long loading times to join games
Level 42 Review Score
/
You can also win a free copy of Shattered Horizon. Find out more here.
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.
