Format: DS | Genre: RPG| Publisher: Nintendo | Developer: Nintendo | Release date: 04/03/2011 | Price: £29.99

Jennifer Allen has to catch them all thanks to POKEMON BLACK/WHITE.

IT’S A game for kids isn’t it? That’s what you might be thinking when you see the word Pokémon. After all, its appearance is rather childlike and it’s as far away from gory as you can possibly get. It’s not really a game for kids though, for one thing there’s a little too much depth to be seen here. While cynics could argue that recent Pokémon instalments have been more of the same and lacking in a few revolutionary innovations, Pokémon Black and White manages to be both feeling like a whole new game while maintaining its original sense of magic.

The storyline is rather familiar admittedly. You play a teenage dreamer, determined to turn their dull life around and become the greatest Pokémon trainer of them all. So off he/she goes to battle the gym trainers scattered around the land of Unova, in order to collect their badges and ultimately face the Elite Four. There’s even the ever familiar dilemma of choosing your starter Pokémon. Do you go with the fire based Tepig, the grass based Snivy or the water based Oshawatt? This is where the sense of shiny new goodness kicks in. The Pokémon on offer are all entirely new. Sure you’re playing the game in a very similar way but the Pokémon – the key component to ensure that this game is wondrous – are all new. You might notice that a few of these new creatures have borrowed ideas from older generation ones but there are still sufficient number that feel all new. Such as the ice cream based Baibanira. Yes, ice cream based. It’s perhaps not the most amazing of ideas for a Pokémon but it’s unique, I’ll give it that.

Insert predictable gotta catch em all gag

Traversing the world of Unova is no great hardship, offering a fairly linear structure to proceedings but it’s the variations within the Pokémon themselves that offer flexibility and of course the urge to collect them all. Each Pokémon has a bit more character too in the form of individual animations during battle. It’s unfortunate that the graphics within battles are still distinctly patchy but overall, the style is much improved. Indeed in the case of much of the exploration you’ll be conducting, you’ll be busy oohing and ahhing at the impressive sights of the pseudo 3D world you inhabit. Visiting huge cities actually feels like an accomplishment rather than the flat lands of the past. Further improvements are present in small but no less important things such as Pokemarts now being incorporated within Pokecentres, thus enabling you to heal and rest while also stocking up on items all within the one place. TMs, useful extra moves for Pokémon, can now be used multiple times on different Pokémon making it simpler to micro manage your abilities more efficiently.

Online functionality has also been improved with the C-Gear device enabling you to battle or trade with other players via infra-red, local and online Wi-Fi. Pokémon Dream World also offers the ability to communicate with other players via your PC too although this wasn’t available to test out just yet.

While you can spend tens of hours ploughing through the main game, the fun doesn’t end with the Elite Four. Like previous Pokémon titles, it’s the end game where things get truly excellent. Expanding your Pokedex to over 600 Pokémon is a joy and a series of new towns and areas to explore are unlocked. There’s even a new storyline to follow. There’s also enough of a difference between Black and White to encourage you to track down someone with the opposite colour to yours with both titles offering their own unique Pokémon as well as an unique area.

Pokémon Black and White won’t convert naysayers to the cause but regardless of this, it’s quite clearly the best title in the series yet. It’s a fantastic way to say goodbye to the DS in time for the launch of the 3DS. Familiar yet fresh, it’ll undoubtedly claim hundreds of hours from anyone who gives it a shot.

9/10

What does this score mean?

Format: Reading | Genre: Military | Publisher: Titan Books | Author: Raymond Benson and John Milius | Release date: 25/01/2011 | Price: £6.99

Jennifer Allen looks at a chilling glimpse of a plausible future (maybe) with HOMEFRONT; THE VOICE OF FREEDOM.

I’M THOROUGHLY conflicted with Homefront: The Voice of Freedom. While it tells a great story that offers some great opportunities to feel truly chilling, the writing reminds me too much of a popcorn blockbuster – explosive and brash but lacking in the finer nuances of the English language.

It’s not surprising really. Co-written by Raymond Benson and John Milius it was bound to be easy to read but not the most complex piece of writing. Benson has been responsible for numerous gaming tie in novels such as Splinter Cell and the Metal Gear Solid novelisation, while Milius co-wrote Apocalypse Now, Magnum Force and Conan the Barbarian. The cynic in me wonders if Milius wrote the gung ho parts of Apocalypse Now looking at the rest of his work. That sounds horribly snobby and it’s not meant to be by any means. Loving gung ho films as much as the next person, I can appreciate that The Voice of Freedom is a novelisation of a blockbuster of a title that while lacking in depth, makes up for it with a charm that means you keep reading. Even if you do find yourself occasionally cringing at the simplistic language, especially in terms of dialogue.

The setting is bleak indeed. America has been occupied by the Greater Korean Republic and it’s all really rather grim in the land of opportunity. The book looks at the lives of two residents from two very different backgrounds. There’s Ben Walker, a journalist who tries to escape the occupation and finds himself embroiled in the resistance efforts. The story uses part of Ben’s diary to elaborate on events that are often briefly discussed in the actual tale. Indeed, the book feels a little too rushed at times glossing over details that would have perhaps been more interesting if properly explained rather than mentioned in passing.

There’s also the perspective of Salmusa – a ruthless Korean agent who’s stayed hidden until now. His ruthlessness is quickly established when he kills his wife with barely a hint of humanity. The pacing throughout is pretty steady in this regard with action scenes appearing at a steady pace. Military acronyms are understandably used here to add an authentic touch but it’s not excessive. In fact, everything has a hint of chilling plausibility to it. Set only 16 years into the future, it feels a little too possible. The explanation given for everything is that the US has suffered an economic crisis and is languishing in a pit of despair with mass unemployment. Sound familiar? Not quite yet fortunately, but there’s certainly a hint of reality in there.

The cat and mouse type game that Salmusa and Ben play quickly draws you in, but why oh why does the dialogue have to feel so pedestrian? It feels too simplistic alongside a story that offers so much potential. It’s impossible to say how it ties into the game without having played the game but it has piqued my interest. It’s not a demanding book by any means but it does provide an interesting alternate universe – one that I enjoyed reading about.

Format: Xbox 360, PS3 | Genre: Side Scrolling Shooter| Publisher: Konami | Developer: Arc System Works | Release date: 16/02/2011 | Price:  1200 MS Points (£10.20)

The harsh running and gunning is just the kind exhilaration Greg Giddens has been looking for. All bundled together in HARD CORPS: UPRISING.

REMINDING US of the hardships of the 16bit era is Hard Corps: Uprising, which is as brutal and as frustrating as its Contra older brothers. This is not through the use of cheap deaths and sloppy platforming though. In fact Hard Corps: Uprising promotes tight level design and mechanics that truly test your reflexes and patience. And whilst frustration inevitably tags along paired with plenty of deaths, It’s very clearly intentional.

It hurts us because it loves us. It throws countless enemies at us through eight lengthy levels which run the gamut of environments. From running through a dusty desert to leaping on missiles in outer space, the variety of levels are exceptional and engaging. They’re beautifully presented as well. Hand-drawn sprites and 3D backgrounds with an anime style make everything look gorgeous and contemporary, helping to completely draw you in for those precious few minutes you’re alive.

So very hard

Of course being part of the Contra series means it comes with inherent difficulty curve overhang. But this harsh experience is part of its charm. It’s a reminder of a past generation of games where the challenge was part of the allure and the completion of such a title was a true mark of honour. However, this is where it will define its player-base. Hard Corps: Uprising is a hard game that many will find off-putting.

Rising mode aims to reduce the difficulty gradient by allowing you to customise your chosen character – Bahamut or Crystal – by spending points earned in a session. It’s similar to grinding for experience points, except your death doesn’t nullify your score. This allows you to play multiple times to collect as many points as you need to buy items such as additional lives or weapon upgrades. And trust me when I say you’ll need every advantage you can get to progress.

Checkpoints are a scare gift, with only a couple in each level. With each level consisting of multiple stages and boss fights, it’s not uncommon to get killed shortly after a major encounter or platforming section and to find yourself having to do it all over again. It’s teeth-grindingly frustrating but the excellent design of the levels and the imaginative bosses compels you to try again. After a quick upgrade purchase you’ll likely find yourself back in the fray, as your subconscious takes over to get you back amongst the action. Although the slow loading times between each level breaks this immersion considerably.

Arcade mode keeps the experience pure with no upgrades beyond the power-ups you can collect in-game. It’s therefore much harder but with this mode or Rising you can bring a friend along for the ride through local or online coop. This is where Hard Corps: Uprising shines. The difficulty is far more manageable with an extra gun by your side and it allows you to make small mistakes without compromising yourself to the enemy, as long as your partner has your back. The later levels require some gentle and precise platforming that is tricky with two players but the controls are as smooth as the animation and brilliantly responsive. Failure is down to your timing more than anything else. Lose your partner, however, and you’ll be whisked straight back to the main menu, regardless of the survivor’s life gauge, so the breakdown of friendships is a likely consequence.

Despite being an exceptional arcade run n’ gun platformer, it‘s from a generation past, or if you’re feeling mean – old fashioned. It simply won’t satisfy the majority. But for those jonesing for some Metal Slug or Contra action, Hard Corps: Uprising could be just what you’re looking for.

8/10

What does this score mean?

Format: Wii | Genre: Platformer | Publisher: Nintendo | Developer: Nintendo | Release Date: 25/02/2011 | Price: £39.99

She can’t knit but Jennifer Allen has plenty of fun with KIRBY’S EPIC YARN.

SOME GAMES offer a huge challenge, tormenting you with a vicious difficulty curve or a control system that needs hundreds of hours invested before you finally master it. It’s all well and good. There should be games for everyone and there’s certainly a market for the masochistic gamer. In recent years, Demon’s Souls and the Ninja Gaiden series have ably demonstrated this. For the Wii, Donkey Kong Country Returns reminded gamers just what an old school challenge could feel like. Kirby’s Epic Yarn is the antithesis of this offering hardly any hardship whatsoever. There’s no sign of the experience being degraded in any way though, instead Kirby’s Epic Yarn is as gleefully wondrous as Donkey Kong Country Returns. Even if it is a comparatively brief experience.

Poor Kirby has lost his abilities to inhale or swallow enemies thanks to being turned into yarn by the evil Yin-Yarn. Told via a kindly voiceover and a storybook, it’s immediately apparent that Kirby’s Epic Yarn is an ideal game to play alongside children. That’s not to say that it isn’t extremely entertaining for fans of 2D platformers of old though. There’s no sign of arguably gimmicky motion controls here with the Wii remote held sideways and functioning as a NES style controller. Older gamers will feel immediately in their element.

What a yarn

The main mechanics within the game focus on yarn and unravelling things. A tap of one button allows you to whip your foes thus unravelling them, or you can hold the button down turning the enemy into a ball of yarn ready to fling at anything you want. Otherwise you’ll mostly be jumping around, using your whip attack to grab onto things to swing across or to unleash new items to collect. The sheer ingenuity of Kirby’s Epic Yarn emerges when it comes to the various breaks between the conventional platforming action. At numerous points in the game, there’s the opportunity to transform into something entirely different. Sometimes you’ll be a UFO flying through the air, or a surfing penguin or a tank. It’s varied indeed and so is the action that you undertake in these roles. The tank is a simple matter of blowing up everything in your path, but then there’s the space ship that invokes a Kirby themed Space Invaders game and the racing sequence in which you have to outdrive your opponents. Some of these levels require the use of the motion controller such as to tilt a firehose from the fire truck to douse fire. It’s always understated though and now feels obtrusive to the traditional action throughout the rest of the game.

It’s all simple to figure out and as you’d expect from a Nintendo title, the level design is spot on, easing you in gently. It’s never a hard game by any means but Kirby’s Epic Yarn is clearly a game designed for those who haven’t really played a platformer before. For the more experienced player however, there’s more point to it than just completing the level. There’s a plethora of treasures and unlockables to attain, such as furniture and musical tracks for each stage. You can also gain gold medals for collecting plenty of beads (akin to Sonic’s rings) in each level. It’s a small bonus but when you’re busy smiling throughout the game, you’ll want to go back and perfect it all. The musical tracks are a particular delight to attain as the score throughout Kirby’s Epic Yarn is something special. Charming is an overused word but it’s the perfect word to describe this music.

Continues…

Format: PC | Genre: Management | Publisher: Paradox | Developer: Colossal Order | Release date: 22/02/2011 | Price: £14.99

Greg Giddens loves this game; he can’t get enough of it. Will CITIES IN MOTION move you?

ITS BEEN a while since I’ve seen such a strong transport management title. The cities breathe as if they were real, the interface and mechanics are intuitive, it promotes replay with its addictive experience and it’s visually gorgeous. Sure, it has a few problems which dampen the experience slightly but against the ageing competition it stands proud and strong.

It does however suffer slightly from niche appeal. Management simulation fans are the mostly likely to be taken in, especially those from the school of city management titles. It’s about balancing the budget and expanding, and keeping the populous content; the usual premise for the genre. Cities in Motion however, concentrates on the transportation system alone and even the biggest management fan may be put off by such focus.

Narrow minded?

With the focus being so narrow it’s understandable to fear a lack of content, or simply not having many options in-game, but this couldn’t be further from the truth. The campaign has you deal with multiple issues throughout each of the four cities – Amsterdam, Helsinki, Berlin and Vienna – across 100 years of history. You will visit each during eras of significant change in their development. It offers interesting and varied challenges, dependent on the technology and economical state of the city at that time in history, and it keeps you engaged as a result.

Additionally, Sandbox mode allows you to play either city – including the tutorial city – starting in any year from 1920 – 2020, with no pre-built transport links but a hefty bank balance to start you off. The scenario mode allows you to play through some more specific challenges in Berlin, although only having the one scenario is disappointing.

Then there’s the map editor which allows you to build a city of your design with the building aesthetic from any of the four included cities. It’s intuitive and entertaining to create your own city, village or anything in-between but it lacks the scope to pull off your dream metropolis.

In-game, the available options and scope continues to impress. Bus, tram, metro, waterbus and helicopter make up the transport infrastructure, each with their fleets of vehicles. At its simplest levels, it’s just a matter of using these transport links to allow easy movement across the city for the population, but in practice it’s a matter of dealing with multiple factors. For example the cost of the more effective transport against the cheaper ineffective options, or maintaining a fleet of vehicles, adapting stops and lines to accommodate people getting to high concentrations of shops, services and work areas, and even tweaking staff salaries and ticket prices to match expectations and the economic state. There are many elements to monitor and management under the umbrella of transport management and it’s all in order to make a profit and improve the infrastructure.

Features and failures

With the decent quantity of game types, cities, and in-game options, it’s hard to get bored. Helsinki’s colder climate is a very different environment to Vienna for example. Each city has a unique look and feel about them, not hugely so but subtle nuances make a difference if you stick with it long enough to sense it. And for the enthusiast sticking with it, it won’t be a problem. For newcomers though, a few slight issues may put them off.

The populous aren’t the brightest bunch and will ignore empty bus stops that are only a short walk away that travel the same route. They also rely far too heavily on the metro system. The zoom function doesn’t allow you to zoom out as far as you may like, making it difficult to get a good idea of your city’s layout and issues. And whilst the mini maps helps with this, it can get busy and tricky to read when you have multiple lines or any of the information overlays activated which try to aid you in determining the busiest parts of the city. It’s also a shame there’s no undo command and setting up transport links means making payment in stages rather than all at once, which often leaves you halfway through setting one up when you realise you’re out of money.

In the end though, these issues are minor; slight annoyances that are easy to look past if you allow yourself to be taken in but City in Motion’s addictive and entertaining management experience. I love it and If you have the slightest interest in management games, if you can remember the sheer joy of games of yore like Sim City and Theme Park, then this could be the game for you.

9/10

What does this score mean?

Format: PS3/Xbox 360/Wii | Genre: Platformer | Publisher: THQ | Developer: Blue Tongue | Release Date: 25/02/2011 | Price: £39.99

Brendan Caldwell gets colourful with DE BLOB 2.

AND LO, on the eighth day, Blob said, “Let there be colour.” And the world filled with a vibrant mix of reds, blues and yellows. And Blob saw it, and he deemed it better than average.

That’s a quote from the Blobspel. I hope you don’t doubt it, dear reader. It’s mostly accurate. This here de Blob 2 is delightful for the most part. Let me break it down for you. Straight outta the mouth of Funkmaster B. That’s right, I’m talking like this. Don’t try and stop me. I have momentum, biznitch.

After defeating Comrade Black in the first game, Blob and friendly “sass-bot” Pinky (yes, I know) are called on to do it all over again.

Comrade Black is a monochrome ink-stain ‘pon the planet. A tiny, ruthless dictator. He wants everything in black and white. It is not explained why. Perhaps because profile pictures look more stylish that way. It’s up to Blob and his friends in the Colour Underground to paint everything and return colour to Prisma City.

Artistry

You do this by dipping into pools of colour and smearing yourself all over buildings. In any civilised society, such behaviour would not be encouraged. And in fact, in Prisma City, it is equally unlawful. Guards of various power and ability, called Inkies, will try to stop you from doing so, squinting and swinging their truncheons around. The adorable Israeli border guards to your gelatinous, multicoloured Banksy.

By slamming into paintbots – spider-like containers of colour that scurry around – you can mix red, blue and yellow into secondary colours. Any basic colour combination you didn’t learn in art and design class will soon be firmly plastered to your brain.

The platforming itself is very basic. Jump from one place to the other, brightening the world up and stomping on baddies as you go. The joy comes not through progression, not through jumping from one futuristic cruise ship to another. It comes through the sound of jumping. The notes of a flat surface. The music of progress.

Each colour has an instrument mapped to it, you see. Every time you touch something as a certain colour and paint it in, the instrument plays a little ditty. It is the philosophy of synaesthesia based twin stick shmups like Everyday Shooter, applied to the platforming genre.

Mr Blobby

The result is a bewildered and smile-raising mix. Jazz and funk and action and colour. You hurtle over bridges as a yellow ball of trumpet. You reel across rooftops as a red spatter of saxophone. You scratch along walls as a brown blob of turntable. With such free-form music, you’d expect it to sometimes sound jarring. Oddly, it rarely does.

The backing track and style of music shift with each level. Some are more interesting and catchy than others. But it usually adheres to a particular genre. The genre of Funking Awesome.

The movement of Blob (and in particular his unenthusiastic jump) is not always as fluid. You can “wall-run” for a small amount of time but it is mapped to the same button as jump. The same button is also used for activating side missions. This makes Blob a sad Blob. With some extra streamlining de Blob 2 could have been the perfect mix of Sonic Adventure blue and Jet Set Radio red. A sort of Jet Sonic Radio purple. At the moment there is slightly too much blue. Not enough funky, funky red.

What? Hey listen, if you don’t enjoy the feel of Jet Set Radio, then you and I are going to be having some creative differences right up in heah. So, yeah. Quietness or whatever.

Continues…

Format: Reading | Genre: Horror | Publisher: Titan Books | Author: B.K. Evenson | Release date: 28/01/2011 | Price: £7.99

Steve K Peacock steps away from the glare of the screen and settles into a nice horror book by the name of DEAD SPACE: MARTYR.

DEAD SPACE: Martyr is one of those books that annoy me so very much. It is, as best I can tell, the sort of novel that manages to get published precisely because EA are rich enough to basically buy whatever industry they need at any particular time. Film studios, publishing houses, diamond mines, cloning vats, if EA think that one of these will help them exploit a premier franchise then they’ll deem it worth the investment. But taking this route means that they bypass a lot of the checks imposed by the publishing industry proper, and this shows in Martyr.

Let me be clear from the get go, however, and say that Martyr is not a bad book. This is not one of those wrinkled and weather-worn paperbacks that you first hear about on a late night Wikipedia binge, EA have actually gone to some lengths to try to make this a worthy addition to the Dead Space canon.

As a prequel, Martyr is concerned primarily with the big historical event that the Dead Space games like to hammer down your throat whenever they get the chance: Altman and the inspiring of Unitology. I won’t go into too great a deal for fear of spoilers, but it manages to do this reasonably well. Sections of the plot are somewhat bland, true, but if you’re invested in the Dead Space universe then this won’t really be an issue for you. You get a glimpse of the sort of world that requires the construction of planet-cracker ships, the frantic scrabbling of a race that’s only just realised quite how much damage they’ve done to their world.

And yet, in contrast to what so many writers do in this situation, the world doesn’t descend into an imposing Aesop. Yes, we’re running out of fuel, but that’s no reason for the normal people to stop going about their business. In fact, Martyr has quite a few refreshing breaks from stereotypes. I think my favourite, perhaps, is the shady organisation that wants to study a newly discovered marker at the bottom of the sea. Typical horror conventions dictate that these men be ice cold and completely unscrupulous, and they are, but once things start getting spooky there is actually a moment where they step back. These little breaks from tradition are, rather interestingly, somewhat humanising for the characters. You can tell that it’s a world where horror films exist and have seeped into po culture just as they have here, unlike in so many other horror genre tales.

Conversely, however, this goodwill can be hard to maintain once you remember that a few chapters near the start of the book detail a community of poverty stricken Brazilians performing a tribal folk dance to exorcise a necromorph. I’m pretty sure I felt that stereotype reach out and slap me across the face when I read it.

Still, you can get past that if you want to. The biggest hurdle when it comes to wanting to, however, is the author’s voice. Again, it’s not bad, but it is decidedly dry. There are some jarring repetitions at times, and certain dialogues and descriptions that just don’t quite engage correctly. The prose is very functional, I suppose, but not particularly joyous to read.

This would be the best way to describe the book as a whole. It’s not particularly memorable, but it does do its job well. I think it could have done with some more editing, but it would be hypocritical of me to judge it too hardly on that front. If, however, you enjoyed your time in the Dead Space universe when it was on a screen, you may want to avail yourself of a bit of the backstory.

Format: Xbox 360 | Genre: Puzzle | Publisher: PopCap | Developer: Torpex Games | Release date: 23/02/2011 | Price: 800 MS points (£6.80)

A sea of gems, glistening and begging to be matched-up and destroyed is all Greg Giddens sees when he closes his eyes. All thanks to BEJEWELED BLITZ.

SIMPLE PUZZLE games like Bejeweled capture huge audiences due to their easy to learn and hard to master mechanics and the addictive design of making optimum use of such simplicities. Hours upon hours can be lost in puzzle solving, often to the compulsion to beat personal high scores. Bejeweled Blitz Live maintains this but instead focuses on its more competitive nature. And this is achieved through one simple change in the fundamentals; adding a 60 second timer.

It’s still a matter of matching same colour gems in rows of three or more – horizontally or vertically – to destroy the rows and collect points, but the timer forces you to play at a far quicker pace than previous versions. It also adds depth to the simple design. Special gems can still be created through matching certain quantities of gems in a row, for example four in a row creates a flame jewel which explodes when matched up. And a few combinations from the PC only Bejeweled 3 make an appearance like the supernova jewel which explodes with tremendous force, and the lightning jewel which takes out the entire length and width of a row. The increased pace means you’re looking to make the best use of the pattern of gems you’re provided with, actively searching for opportunities to create these special gems and chain match-ups.

Gets the blood pumping

Indeed the timer changes the feel of the game completely. It’s no longer a relaxing time sink. It’s tighter and more frantic and this twist in the fundamentals easily justifies owning both this and other versions of the game. Speaking of twists nicely brings me to the new mode also available in Bejewelled Blitz Live, Twist mode. Rather than switching the position of jewels one by one, Twist has you turn four jewels at a time – clockwise or anticlockwise – in order to match up colours. It’s a pleasantly different twist – if you’ll forgive the pun – on the standard, classic mode. And with the addition of the 60 second timer, it too benefits from the same shift in pace.

The competitiveness is also emphasised by the new additions. 60 seconds is no time at all to rack up a high score and the ability of foresight to plan your combinations and acquirement of special gems, not to mention a fair share of luck, both come into play to help you score a place on the global and friends leaderboards. Pre-release play gives me a chance to revel in my spot in the top 30 players position with deluded pride, however once realising  I’m certain to be demoted.

Further emphasis is placed on competition with the addition of the online and local Battle modes for both game variants, pitting you against another human for the high scores. Additionally, Party Mode allows for you to play against your friends in a dynamic party leaderboard, adding further competition to the proceedings.

For the Xbox 360 crowd Bejeweled Blitz Live introduces a few of the improvements seen in Bejeweled 3, in particular the special gems, that raised the experience offered by the second instalment to a tighter more entertaining level. The introduction of the timer shifts the focus to competitive play and offers a completely new experience on top of the familiar premise. What it all results in is the same addictiveness and a new, even more enjoyable, sense of achievement on hitting those ridiculous scores. Say goodbye to your loved ones and brace yourself for a title that could very well keep you amused throughout the year.

9/10

What does this score mean?

Format: PC | Genre: RPG | Publisher: Failbetter Games | Developer: Failbetter Games | Release Date: TBA in open Beta | Price: Free

Cory Zanoni delves into the free to play browser game ECHO BAZAAR and has yet to resurface.

AS AN avid gamer, I routinely become obsessed with particular games. As a person with a tendency to be working on lots of different things at any given point, the video game slice of my Life Pie is rather small and often months old. I only recently bought Red Dead Redemption – making it a slice that’s mouldy yet delicious. As such, a game that can be played in short bursts is ideal for an intellectual vagabond like myself. This is where my current obsession enters the fray, web-based RPG Echo Bazaar. A game with a simple presentation and an abundance of charm, Echo Bazaar is slowly turning into a quick bout here and there, to a malicious yet dapper time stealer.

At its core, Echo Bazaar is a simple game, like many of its ilk. You make your character and name them – a male, a female or a thing of indiscriminate gender – and begin your life in the world of Fallen London. A large part of which is figuring out what Fallen London is, how it fell and just who the mysterious Masters that rules over the Bazaar are. To do that and carve your own path. You have a certain amount of actions per day – 70 at the moment, but that may drop soon – with a pile of ten available. You use these actions on storylets – actions that have to do with the Grand Scheme of Things – and opportunity cards – adventures or sub plots to the narrative. You have a set of attributes – Dangerous (strength), Watchful (intelligence), Persuasive (charisma) and Shadowy (stealth) – that you increase by partaking in tasks that focus on that attribute. Doing so unlocks particular paths and scenarios. Like so many other games of this type, you accrue special points – called Fate – that allow you to do things such as refresh your actions or even unlock new storyarchs. You can buy additional Fate with human dollars if you want but I’ve never felt the need to.

The benefits of flare

So, Echo Bazaar keeps to a familiar mould seen elsewhere but I loathe those games and verily enjoy this one. So what makes it different? Like all things, true beauty lies in the details. The game is presented extremely well, from the pictures that go with each action to the items one may collect, to the words on the screen. To describe it simply, I would call the game “terribly English”. The logo is a top hat with teeth. Terrific. If you need more than that to let the game gnaw its way into your brain, the literature bent that gilds all the text in game is also both refreshing and charming enough to draw you in. How many games can you think of that can be called truly literate? Bioshock may have made me want to write video game scripts, Echo Bazaar has made me want to write for Echo Bazaar.

This charm does have its limitations. The issue that this kind of game inevitably runs into is the grind factor. This tedium can be emphasised when the main staying point is the text, how many times can one read the same thing? And how easy it can be to ignore flavour text because you need to bump your Watchful stat up a few levels? This is a reality of the medium more than anything else, and not something I can hold against Failbetter Games. However, they appear to be aware of this flaw. My latest bout with the game revealed a second successful outcome to action I had committed many a time. More of these rare, surprise wins would be a blessing even if they only show up occasionally. Even without new ways to succeed, grind issues are only a significant hindrance if you allow them to be. Explore more than one path and you will find it difficult to grow weary. If your Ambition requires a higher Persuasive skill, don’t squander your time on one action. Follow the stats path in earnest and fight your way into High Society. Alternatively, get to the bottom of those nightmares you’ve been having. If all else fails, invite a friend to dinner.

Continues…

Format: PC | Genre: Point and Click Adventure | Publisher: Iceberg Interactive | Developer: Wax Lyrical Games | Release date: 18/02/2011 | Price: £19.99

Mike Yeoman feels his head explode deciphering BARON WITTARD; NEMESIS OF RAGNAROK.

CERTAIN TYPES of games are ideal for certain types of gamers.  Let’s all agree that this statement is both mind numbingly obvious and true. Undeniably so, especially when it comes to games with puzzles. Early on in playing Baron Wittard you may feel like the wrong type of gamer in the wrong type of game.

Unless, of course, you are one of the special people who realised straight away that the first letter of every sentence in the first paragraph of this review spells ‘CLUE’, in which case well done! You have found the magic password that enables you to skip this review, buy the game and smugly solve it in half a day whilst us normal people continue scratching our heads and/or shouting at the screen. Goodbye and well done to you special puzzle solvers – the rest of this review is dedicated to us poor regular folks, who want challenge, entertainment and an engaging plotline.

And now for the rest of us…

At its simplest level Baron Wittard is a point and click adventure game where progression is entirely dependent on solving puzzles that range from the fiendishly complex to the oh-too infrequently easy. Sometimes a puzzle will have a helpful hint hidden away further along in the game and other times you are very much left on your own. I say on your own but you’ll always have your frustration – it will pretty much accompany you throughout the whole game.

The game pretty much delivers this in the first two puzzles. You arrive at the mysterious Baron Wittard estate called Utopia as an ‘urban photographer’ assigned to a shoot. Upon arrival your ‘helpful’ editor tells you the first thing you have to do is break into the estate. To do this involves solving two puzzles. The first solution is almost laid out for you. It’s not entirely obvious but it’s enough that you eventually realise that there can only be one solution. So it’s odd that once you are feeling confident enough to think this will be a mildly enjoyable game without much stretch it suddenly delivers a logic puzzle of enough harshness to take any confidence away.

There’s no learning curve throughout Baron Wittard. Solutions come because it’s either a puzzle you have seen before (both the Towers Of Hanoi and the magic square both make an appearance in the game), or one you can figure out just through sheer mental dexterity or, for example, because the game has given a gentle tip in a room several screens away hidden away in a magazine amongst lots of random noise. And random noise abounds in Baron Wittard.

Take for example how you interact with the game. Navigation is through a slide show point and click system. Significant objects are shown by a magnifying glass that tells you that further interaction is possible. Both systems have the same problem. Navigation can be hit and miss with graphical cues leading you to believe that you can go a certain way when in fact you can’t. It becomes even worse with being aware of significant objects/points of interest leading you to wonder what can actually be investigated. In the end I resorted to a sweeping of the mouse across the screen in the vague hope that a magnifying glass would appear. It is that bad.

It’s a real shame that Baron Wittard does not make the grade. There is something ultimately engaging about the world of Baron Wittard that I almost feel I should be apologetic for spending so long talking about its puzzles and awkward interface, rather than its relatively few positive aspects. But at the end of the day these are the central features that should drive the game onwards – that should make it enjoyable. And to put it bluntly they simply don’t.

5/10

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