24/7 Player

By Ravi Sinha

If you haven’t seen the world premiere of Halo: Reach at the Spike TV Video Game Awards 2009, then, well, it doesn’t make much difference. It wasn’t the lackluster “That’s it?” of the E3 2K9 reveal but it wasn’t the awesome testosterone fest of Halo 2’s (ultimately watered down) New Mombasa gameplay reveal at E3 2003. That said, Halo: Reach looks far better than any Halo to date. Queries have been arising as to whether the game is running on a new engine or not, but we can confirm one thing: Yes, Reach is running in real time.

Well, at least after the 0:34 mark in the premiere trailer. Sorry fans but those parts, featuring a Warthog drive through a morose atmosphere with Pelicans overhead, are decidedly not real time. Kudos to Bungie for preparing a good transition to the actual graphics but it’s still noticeable. Many factors, as noticed in the high definition trailer, can be observed.

The character models all have a level of shading, almost shadow-like, which could be argued to offset the lack of proper shadows. It’s hard to believe, but Reach actually uses a lighting system seen in Guerrilla Games’ Killzone 2 for the Playstation 3.

Though ably melding hard light and soft light together, KZ 2’s lighting system had a flaw. Realistic lighting dictates that even if the light in front of you cannot be seen, the light itself is still somewhat visible when you’re looking away from it. Imagine a dark room with a single lit computer screen. If you turn away from the screen, you would still see the light from the screen on other objects. Killzone 2 and now Halo: Reach do not have that.

This could be a major reason why the models in Reach are more detailed than previous games in the franchise. Shadows take up a considerable amount of graphical processing, and by using this little “cheat” to a greater degree (since the 360 hardware is more limited), it’s possible to showcase greater detailed texture models and a good looking, though by no means perfectly realistic, lighting system.

The PS3 and Xbox 360 both have a common limiting factor in their texture quality, but being less powerful, it’s more noticeable on the 360 in one particular area: Environment, particularly ground, textures. The ground textures have a slightly blurred characteristic to them, not looking totally sharp, but still of acceptable quality and a huge-step up from previous Halo’s mundaneness.

Stay tuned for some more analysis on the latest premiere trailer. Who knew one piece of footage could showcase so much? Keep in mind however that the game is still a year off from release, and we’re yet to see any battles on the scale of franchise predecessors.

Posted on December 13th, 2009 at 12:22pm by Split-Screen
Filed Under: Game Reviews and Opinion

by gSathe

Bayonetta is not for me. It’s just too… much. I’m overwhelmed by it every time I play the game, and the music, and imagery all confuse me even now. Looking at the review scores from Famitsu and Edge, I think the game is supposed to be the second coming (which is quite appropriate considering the artistic themes in the game) but while it might score all the right tick marks on the checklists, I don’t think it was a better, more enjoyable experience than say Assassin’s Creed 2, or even Modern Warfare 2. It might not be a fair comparison, of course, since not only are all three games very different and therefore difficult to compare, but aside from that, both Assassin’s Creed and Modern Warfare are sequels which have had a fair amount of time to refine the original game, and build upon their strengths.

Bayonetta certainly comes from a good pedigree, but it doesn’t have a direct predecessor to build on, and taking that into consideration, there is a lot to be said for it. At the same time, the most important question to ask is – is the game fun? Do I want to play it?

The answer is definitely yes. It’s crazy. It’s strange and aesthetically bizzare, from the moment that the game first starts and takes you through the tutorial all the way till the very end. And I’ll admit, freely, that the highly Japanese aesthetics of the game don’t appeal to me unlike, say, the Greek mythology that forms the basis of God of War. And yes, I’m much more excited about God of War 3 than I was about Bayonetta, so maybe that bias comes into play when I’m thinking about this game, but honestly, some of it goes beyond my ability to explain away.

Lets get over the fact that her clothes are made of her hair. Okay, that’s really only sorta weird. Lets talk about the music for a minute. The only stranger gaming experience I ever had was once, long ago, when I ran Mika’s Lollipop in the background while playing Dead Space. That, right there, was weird. So is Bayonetta, with the guns in her heels. Then there’s the targetting reticule, when you’re facing a crowd of enemies. Floating, flaming, giant lips. On strangely seraphic enemies with haloes and wings. While the music is fluting and chirping cheerfully in the background and strange and honestly endlessly confusing things are happening on screen.

Now, my ranting might have given you the idea that I don’t like this game, right? Actually, I find myself oddly, drawn to the game, and I think that that’s largely because of the controls themselves. The action is admittedly slightly limited, and if you’re like me, then you’re probably going to settle into a favourite combo for all situations and then spam the hell out of it, but it’s all really smooth.

Racking up high style points from split-second combos is not difficult, without being so easy as to provide no challenge either. You can just brawl your way through the game but to be properly rewarded with the smooth and wonderfully written action, you need to spend a little time learning the controls. It’s all fairly intuitive, flowing from one step to the next, and so after just a little time, you are controlling one of the most enjoyable death dealing characters out there today.

People who loved the more “Japanese” variants of such games are going to love Bayonetta as well. There’s little doubt in my mind on that score – if you like Ninja Gaiden and DMC, then please, buy Bayonetta. You won’t regret it. On the other hand, if you think that God of War is the greatest expression of the genre (and I won’t disagree with you there) then wait for GoW 3 instead.

Posted on December 10th, 2009 at 10:27am by Split-Screen
Filed Under: Game Reviews and Opinion

by Nike Okami

The first Halo Legends episode, titled “The Babysitter“, is a pretty decently animated set piece for the entire series. Interestingly, while it features a cameo by Dutch from Halo 3: ODST, it also contains a very clever homage to Samus Aran’s ultimate reveal in the first Metroid game for the NES.

As most of you are aware of, Samus Aran was revealed in the first Metroid game as an intergalactic bounty hunter who tasked herself with retrieving alien Metroid samples from evil Space Pirates who sought to use them as biological weapons against her (since bounty hunters and pirates haven’t had a decent relationship since One Piece). Samus finally defeats the Mother Brain and as the credits roll, our protagonist – long thought of as a male, and also finding mention in the manual as such – takes off “his” helmet to reveal a beautiful woman with long golden hair.

In “The Babysitter“, Cal-141 is a SPARTAN-II assigned to take over as sniper for the ODSTs as they seek to assassinate a Prophet of the Covenant. One thing leads to another (no spoilers, sorry), and this is the result:

Let’s do a checklist here:

- Thought of as a man initially (Cal-141 doesn’t speak until her helmet is off)? Check.
- Equipped in heavy duty cybernetic armour? Check.
- Fighting against aliens? Check.
- Soft delicate blond fibers that flow like golden waterfalls from their heads? (Er…Check. – Ravi) As a side note, the red streaks in Cal’s hair are blood stains.

Of course, the main difference lies in the fate of the two, but I won’t spoil that for you. You can’t deny that it indeed is a clever piece of homage, and though more muted and sombre as Cal-141’s reveal is, there’s no denying the qualities it shares with Metroid’s Samus Aran.

Posted on December 5th, 2009 at 12:21pm by Split-Screen
Filed Under: Game Reviews and Opinion

By Ravi Sinha

If you’re a role-player looking for in-depth strategizing to go with your bulbous plot development, with side-quests that take hours to complete apiece, you’ll find Borderlands a diversion. Which doesn’t diminish its standing one bit – it’s a most entertaining diversion that just about anyone can get into. Shooter fans (as long as they’re not looking for Call of Duty-like realism), multiplayer fans, gimpers – Gearbox Software’s latest oddity cares to almost any one who’s been the least bit taken in by Diablo.

A deep story and a progressive cast of protagonists are the trade-off, however. You’re filled in on the diamond-in-the-rough that is the Vault upon the badlands of Pandora and choose from one of four main character classes (Soldier, Sniper, Hunter and Berserker). The Guardian Angel, an enigmatic beauty who looks high on blue filters, then guides you forth on your quest. The ultimate payoff is obvious at all times, but to get there you’ll be fulfilling a smattering of missions and side-quests.

The back-story behind each, at the very least, offers some freshness but you’re still killing ‘X’ number of enemies or collecting ‘Y’ number of items. The side-characters and their quirky, Wild West-meets-Redneck mannerisms paint the atmosphere a humorous black – “Who needs a real doctor when you got my machines and their scary needles?” says Dr. Zed. Let’s not forget scientist Patricia Tanning and her tumultuous relationship with the tape recorder which documents her findings.

A “procedural content generator” juggles dozens of variables to randomly generate weapons, grenades, class mods and enemies, thus ensuring you’ll rarely fight the same foes or gain the same loot again and again. This generator extends not through a single playthrough but many. You’ll have the same stats and weapons but your enemies will be stronger, and missions will worth more experience. Adding more players also makes enemies tougher (watch Skags fly. Fly, Skags, fly), so there’s plenty of incentive, even after friends have finished the game in solidarity, to play again.

The numerous challenges to be completed when the missions are finished is also a nice diversion. It’s also a great reward mechanism for when you go out of your way to commit additional man-/Skag-slaughter. An odd glitch exists in co-op; if you start the game with two characters but one decides later that he wants a different character, then go ahead, by all means. However, that new character can’t complete story quests. This means being excluded from a lot of upgrades within the storyline, and even impossibility in buying a shield unless another character drops you one. It’s a small gripe, but make sure you wipe out any second thoughts before starting a co-op game.

Each character is made unique with their proficiency in specific weapons, but their skill trees are heavily dependent on their Action Skills. For example, Roland, the Soldier, gets a Scorpio Turret that provides covering besides a small shield of its own to take cover behind. Subsequent upgrades allow this turret to fire more rounds with each burst, revive and regenerate ammo for team mates next to it, and fire rockets. Otherwise, everyone has their standard “Increase Health”, “Regenerate Shields Faster” skills that can be upgraded to make them tougher. Gearbox kept the focus on the loot and questing, so in a way, not having to micro-manage your character too much is a plus. As it is, tactics diversify as players get added to combat the tougher enemies, so it’s a fine balance to follow.

The music doesn’t present much variety, catering to a Mad Max tone at almost all times. The graphics, on the other hand, are beautifully rendered. The decision to go fully cel-shaded fits the game’s cartoonish dark humour perfectly. The cartoony never over-shadows the freakish or overwhelming, with the exception of the end-boss whose looks and abilities cater to any number of clichés. For a game not too heavy on plot, the ending felt very underwhelming, taken together with the tense end-game that played up to that point. I mean, you’re fighting across landscapes, into subterranean alien depths and finally confront the centre of all mystery – only to discover that the devs went with the “Gotcha!” route on the Vault’s true purpose.

Life on Pandora doesn’t deviate much from life in Sanctuary – and Borderlands sadly makes very little effort to do the same. Unlike Torchlight’s many small yet significant changes, you’ll still lug loot from vending machine to vending machine, selling off what you don’t need. Though achievements and weapons equipped carry over into the next playthrough, this only applies if you choose the same character. This decreases the incentive of replaying the game with a different class, a problem Torchlight solved with its shared stash system. Though the class mods grant you interesting proficiencies and bonuses, you’ll be carrying the same Action Skill throughout the entire game – and you only have one. It gets stronger, but that’s it. The AI faces some severe hiccups too: Enemies are oblivious to their friends dying at times, and entering within a specific range has entire crowds, peppered across different positions (some not able to see you) alert to your presence. There’s quite a few collision detection issues, which doesn’t happen a lot (more in car then on foot, in fact) but is still annoying, especially when enemies are shooting you from closed doors.

Borderlands makes no bones about what it wants to be, and how it wants to play. This simplicity is the basis for much its charm and is certainly entertaining for either an hour’s play or three. It can truly be called this generation’s Diablo, and for all the revolutionary changes it could have incorporated but didn’t, it gets by just fine.

Rating: 8/10

Posted on November 29th, 2009 at 8:01am by Split-Screen
Filed Under: Game Reviews and Opinion

By Ravi Sinha

Despite spending an entire early morning whiling away on Firefight at the official worldwide launch of Halo 3: ODST, I was in equal lengths appalled, distraught and just plain high on what to review it for. On one hand, the quick, vanilla action portions of the franchise were intact, albeit with a few tactical features – the dominant one was sadly “Run for your life when low on health” from the absence of regenerating health. On the other hand, it was the same Halo. Granted it had it’s plot holes and technicalities, but the real kicker was it’s core gameplay that was still the same repetitive action and ugly graphics from the previous titles. All the new additions – the new pistol and SMG, the VISR, the world hub – meant, for lack of a kinder euphemism, jack.

Not that it mattered. No one walked into a store to buy Halo expecting an in-depth action-RPG hybrid with a complex story and 100 hours of unique missions. The specific audience was there. It was large. Bugger me silly if I could define it, but I knew, despite my humongous “meh” to the final product, I wasn’t in it.

Is Halo: Reach just more of the same Halo? Upon viewing the leaked screenshots, that’s the impression I got. The Rocket Launcher is there, yes. Not to mention some snazzy new weaponry. Does that Battle Rifle have one mean ass scope or what? And has the Chief returned? Very nice. However, despite these new environments and the so-called improved graphics, the sneaking suspicion still haunts me: This will be more of the same Halo. Aside from the hype that bears all too much in common with the ODST ad blitzkieg, why is that? Because that’s what’s sold the series.

I know that once the game is released, a discussion will arise on the subtle differences between Halo Reach and other Halo games. When Halo 3: ODST came out, some of us were hung up on false views that the game was nothing but the same Halo. Mind you, this came from early fake reviews who’s facts were all over the place but it was jarring nonetheless. Equally jarring was that, in an essence, they were right. I hope in some ways Halo: Reach is indeed not the same Halo – that it sends off the franchise with not so much a bang, but a title I’ll actually be able to play without looking at the controller in my hand, and asking ashamedly, “Why?” And maybe, just maybe, good enough to make people forget this was Bungie’s last Halo title. Until then, there is much, much work to do.

To view more leaked shots of Halo: Reach, head here.

Posted on November 6th, 2009 at 5:05am by Split-Screen
Filed Under: Game Reviews and Opinion