EA’s prized sport franchise returns with a new iteration producing more endless recreational football fun. Whilst some niggles and technical hitches prevent it from being a world cup winner, it’s quite possibly the greatest recreation of football to have ever existed.

The winning-formula of FIFA 11 has returned with some pretty useful and inventive changes, also known as the “holy trinity” which have completely revolutionised the dynamics of how a game of FIFA is played.

The first of said changes is the new precision dribbling, with the simple touch of a button your player can now turn on the spot which allows you to manoeuvre out of seemingly dead-end situations. Meaning that, true to life, if Iniesta finds himself hounded down by 3 markers with no room to move, then precision dribbling will let Iniesta turn and swivel to find that tiny pocket of space he needs to get the pass away. Maybe he can find that perfect opening to jink his way past 2 defenders and create a goal-scoring opportunity. I found myself at times just turning on a sixpence just weighing up all the different possibilities, sometimes I did it purely because it’s just so much fun to be blessed with this newfound freedom.

The second new feature is the new tactical defending which has removed the effortless manhunt you could do with the mere pressing of a button of past FIFA games. Instead you can now only jostle and contain your man waiting to choose the perfect moment to commit yourself to a tackle. If you succeed then you’ll win the ball with a good tackle, you can maybe pressurise your opponent enough so that he falls over or makes a bad pass. Conversely, if you’re up against Theo Walcott and you happen to mis-time your tackle then you’ll get barely a sniff of him as he’s already halfway up the wing leaving you in the dust. It’s certainly tough to get used to if you’re used to the previous iterations of FIFA (like myself initially), however once you’ve persevered and adapted to the learning curve, you’ll reap the glorious rewards and benefits. The joy of sticking to your man like glue for a long distance just to mentally break him and win the ball with an inch perfect interception; is like the feeling of having a cold beer after a long day of work in a stuffy office on a hot summer’s day…..satisfying!  It can be tempting at times to keep pressing the square button (X on Xbox) to quickly win the ball, but if you do you’ll give away a LOT of free-kicks and penalties. Also you’re allowed to pull on your opponent’s shirt to again pressurise them into a mistake, although depending on the strictness of the ref, you’ll wind up receiving a yellow card if you tear their shirt off through excessive pulling.

The final overhaul to the gameplay is the brand-spanking new impact engine which EA has been fine-tuning for the last 2 years. In place now is the ability for any of your 11 players to be on the receiving end of an unforeseen injury, again true to life. We’ve all seen a player sprinting on the pitch only to suddenly pull up with a pulled hamstring, FIFA tries its best to imitate this. The impact engine is designed to detect every single calculation of physics that would occur with the human body during a match; meaning every collision that occurs is different and reflective of a genuine collision in a real match. Also working in conjunction with your players stamina bar and fatigue, players will pull up with a hamstring strain, go down with a femur contusion or even break a rib in a collision. It adds so much depth to the game and is crucial in Manager Mode even more so. In one instance, I signed Adel Taraabt to Stoke City for an astronomical sum (for Stoke anyway) and agonizingly he got caught in a collision in only his second game leaving him injured for 4 months; truly brutal but annoyingly realistic!

On the other hand, it’s blatantly obvious that the engine is far from the finished article. If you’ve even so much as heard of the famed impact engine then you’ll be aware of the amusing scenarios it can throw up. Despite getting the physics implemented into the game, a player will frequently collide with another player and they will form an attachment (literally) as they’re stuck together like a Joey in its mother’s pouch. They can remain stuck for seconds at times which not only destroys the realism but it affects the gameplay as you may need to pass to that player. I’ve seen players be touched very faintly and be turned into a human break-dancing cyclone. It can also be poor at registering collisions too as I’ve won the ball on countless times, especially in the penalty area, yet the inch perfect tackle has been deemed to be a foul. Whilst conversely, you can commit a blatant foul and get away with it; consistency is horrifically lacking. In addition, injuries occur sporadically and occasionally the extent of injuries is completely overlooked and very unrealistic. I’ve had players sprain their knee which would hinder you to the extent of having to come off in a real match, yet in FIFA world you can shake it off within a few minutes and play like nothing happened. I’ve even had a player pickup 2 injuries within the same match and still continue, the injury system needs some amendments. Needless to say the engine is a work in process, but there is no doubting the concept is there. With some tweaks I fully expect it to be an accurate and prominent feature in Fifa 13.

Aside from the 3 major unique selling points of the game, FIFA has a few incremental changes to improve the game overall. Thrown-ins has been given a new animation which allows quick throw-ins to retain its fluid gameplay. Again though the physics sometimes prevent this from happening as a player attempts to pick the ball and up and ends up walking into it and kicking it away which makes the game look slightly unprofessional and rushed. A whole host of new shooting animations have thankfully been created which allows the greatest variety of goals seen yet in a game (my main gripe of previous FIFA games). Shooting is now more weighted and you no longer feel like you’re kicking a balloon that’s just burst. Volleying is as satisfying as ever with the new animations providing superb technique executed with volleys. I’ve always hated the fact you could only score from the same few positions and you couldn’t score with lesser players or defenders from range. Now I’m not saying that if you smash a 35 yarder with John Terry it’ll fly into the top corner but there is a general feeling of increased ability in terms of shooting which I think was sorely needed. Another minor niggle I have is with keepers is the fact that they will 10/10 times gather a shot that bounces just in front of them. Even Casillas, Julio Cesar, Buffon and Reina are incapable of holding these most difficult of shots and by spilling those every now and again it would provide an additional element of franticness to the gameplay.

In my eyes the primary area letting down this brilliant game is the two of the essential basics, sounds and graphics. Some people may call me a picky person who demands perfection and unparalleled realism, but in reality I don’t think I ask for much. The sound of keepers making a save is, and always has been, ugly and sounds too much like a thud; likewise with the woodwork being struck. But passes, the sounds of various crowd cultures are convincing and really add to the match atmosphere. If you’re winning (at home) and putting together 10 or more passes you can expect to hear the good ol “ole” from the home crowd. If you’re at home using Santos then you’ll be engulfed in a huge crowd of samba music. Some stadiums even have a spontaneous announcement of winner of an unspecified competition. It’s completely irrelevant but it’s so subtle that a true football supporter will be able to acknowledge this, making for a more familiar environment.

The soundtrack to the game is lively enough and features a prominent upbeat-selection ranging from English group Kasabian to the Spanish workings of El Guincho. You won’t be taking any more bows after EA made the big call of dropping the infamous Scottish commentator, Andy Gray, due to his recent controversial shenanigans. Instead, he’s replaced by former Arsenal striker Alan Smith who forms a decent partnership up front with the usual suspect, Martin Tyler. But you can switch formations and deploy the ITV commentary team of Clyde Tyldesley and Andy Townsend if you’re looking for something different. Veterans of the series will instantly recognised some recycled material from Martin Tyler and some lines are still used out of context or just don’t make sense. “Oh it’s a PENALTY”……………………….nope it’s actually a free-kick Clyde but it’s the programmers fault, not yours. The inclusion of the new “TV Broadcast” angle is one of the immediate things that will catch your eye as it’s more naturalistic of a live match and it gives EA a chance to show you their brilliantly captured character models. Too many times in the past I’ve had to look at the name indicator to know who I’m passing to/controlling; not now though as the camera angle is just about close enough to showcase players and display enough of the action happening.

On the graphical front, the major players on the pitch are virtually flawless, Messi (you’ve probably heard of him) looks like his real-life exceptional counter-part. If you take time to go to go to a replay you’ll be able to study the facial expressions of players as they evolve and progress with each move. Whether it’s an ecstatic player who’s just scored a beauty or the shocked expressions at Emile Heskey simply scoring any sort of goal! EA retain their ability to showcase an extensive range of official licenses from authentic kits, logo’s badges and full licensing of leagues from England, France, Spain, and Italy amongst others. They do so and they all look very accurate of their real-life counter-parts.

Despite having crisp and exquisite looking pitches, the general stadium look doesn’t convince me I’m afraid which does spoil some of the realism for me. For instance, my beloved Liverpool FC has the fortress known as Anfield (Liverpool’s stadium) licensed in the game like they do annually. But it doesn’t feel like Anfield because, any proper Liverpool fan would know, the stands at each end are almost touching the nets and the side stands can sniff the spray painted touchlines. Some other stadiums can be guilty of this but it’s not a major problem in the slightest. What is a major problem however the continued lack of detail to the dismal spectators is overlooked. AGAIN. You don’t even have to be a realism enthusiast to see that the fans are pixelated and move like they’re tied to a swinging metronome, destined to swing and move in a way that’s not believable and is also just plain stupid. You still get fans wearing the wrong colours in the wrong ends, fans don’t always cheer when you score and they also don’t react by putting their head in hands etc when the other team score. A big thing for me is that if you score a goal to go 1-0 in the cup final then the roar should be deafening. If you’ve just tapped in your 8^th goal in a meaningless pre-season friendly, then it should be greeted with very delicate cheers. In FIFA all the goals prompt the same generic goal-scoring cheer.

This year see’s an unhealthy wealth of things to do insinuating that you should never be bored with FIFA. Career Mode is divided into your main manager mode where you choose a team and build into your own bastion of invincibility. Whereas Be a Pro remains relatively unchanged in that you create a virtual pro who’s supposed to look like you but has 1,000 times the ability you do of course. I’m someone who feels that be a pro is an untapped gold mine and with some expansion it could be a gem of a mode with more in-depth development to your player e.g. training challenges. You improve your pro through completing challenges appropriate to your style of play and/or by lifetime accomplishments e.g “Score 100 career goals”

The actually career mode has also seen some refinement too with such changes as introducing a new drama based transfer deadline countdown. To recreate the tension of the final day of the transfer window, you can now see it unfold with hourly updates on the latest news; possibly including yourself as a rich team steps in with a last second bid to prise one of your assets away. I think they could also add a similar feature for the draws for each cup as well. The draw for the FA Cup 3^rd round is always massive and it’s not quite the same when you have to go and look at your fixtures to see if you’ve drawn one of the “Big 4”. Instead a screen randomly drawing out pairings could be much more fun. Unfortunately the mode is still not without its flaws though; fixture congestion can become normal as for some reason your fixtures will be re-scheduled closer together for no reason at all. Rarely have they ever been moved further apart which is irritating especially when in conjunction with injuries and fatigue. Fixtures such as League Cup matches will be scheduled for 8:00pm and yet be played in scorching sunshine.  The transfers, albeit are uncontrollable, are unrealistic and also pre-determined as well. As someone who can get bored after a while with a season, I find myself starting new career modes every now and again. In doing so I’ve had the opportunity to see the same few transfers happening at the beginning every time e.g Sneijder moving to Manchester City every time, Modric moving to Manchester United, Samuel moving to Liverpool EVERY time. Even still, the thrill of completing a season of football, trying to win that illusive silverware, luring the top players to your ever-increasing squad of top-notch talent; it’s still fulfilling. It’s got enough depth to satisfy anyone over-encumbered with information from the football manager games. New morale outbursts from players ensure that you have to make use of man-management skills to rotate players and keep them happy. If you’ve got a £20 million player sitting on the bench every week then he’ll eventually state his displeasure and demand to play. His situation will have to have either an amicable resolution or the player will earn his keep elsewhere.

On the other hand Ultimate Team is one of FIFA’s main offerings and simply put its engrossing, nostalgic and quite simply very addictive! If you’ve experienced the timeless classic of going down to your local shop to buy some football trading cards then you’ll understand the thrill of opening a pack in ultimate team. If not, then you’ll still find it grows on you and you’ll want to attain the best cards anyway. Through buying packs your objective is to basically assemble teams of high chemistry and high in ability to compete in tournaments with specific criteria. For example, one tournament inherently La Liga based or primarily players that have to be from the Premier League. It adds an extra dimension and more strategy in that you need a cohesive team that abides by strict tournament regulations allowing for variety and challenge. It’s highly unlikely you’ll open a gold pack and acquire  Messi or Ronaldo, but over time you’ll gain quality players and through the course of auctioning and careful purchasing, you can buy the players you desire. You earn coins through playing matches, you can buy packs with real money…..yes you may scoff at the idea of using your own hard-earned money, but you WILL use it.

There is no doubt in my mind that in all the years I’ve been playing games, FIFA 12 is the most accurate representation of the greatest sport in the world. It’s made small but significant strides since its predecessor and makes for more compelling and unpredictable contests on the green battlefield. True though the impact engine is a great starting block for human physics; it quite clearly needs a hefty upgrade job over the course of time till FIFA 12. Also amidst the extensive array of licenses, stadiums and teams are some awful presentational flaws. I may have singled out a few criticisms but I can assure you these are purely personal flaws of a minor level. The crowds are horribly pixelated and unchanged like they have been for years and some stadiums falsify the illusion of atmosphere. Should that detract from a game that’s continually generating momentum each year and spoiling football fans worldwide? Not a chance. This game is brilliant and provides multiple modes and platforms to act out your footballing fantasies. Want to sign Neymar and Hazard to create an untouchable dream team capable of lifting the top prizes? Then you’ll be able to do so with deft touches, precision dribbling and flowing football that would make the 1970 Brazil World Cup team proud.

Pros

+Unparalleled gameplay for a football game that leaves you wanting one more match
+The so-called Holy Trinity of changes is a masterful blessing
+Variety of modes with plenty of hours to keep you entertained until next season
+Plenty of new animations, accurate kits and designs along with superb facial capturing
+Varied and enjoyable soundtrack from all over the world

 Cons

-Impact engine is heavily advertised but is very much a flawed work in progress
-Virtual Pro mode left untouched when it could be so much more
-A few technical and realistic issues preventing FIFA from reaching perfection

9/10

- Andrew Highton

As some of you may be aware a few months ago I wrote a little news piece on the new Beenox title Spiderman: Edge of Time. I had some preconceptions that this had the potential to be even better than the studio’s pervious release Spiderman: Shattered Dimensions.  This was due to all the positive reports I had been reading off of the net. Was what I was reading on the net correct or your typical video game hype? Playing the game was the only way I was going to find out.

I was a fan of Spiderman: Shattered Dimensions, I felt the story was well thought out and had the graphics, BGM and SFX were good making Shattered Dimensions  a good game overall. Of course there were a few things I disliked in Shattered Dimensions but I don’t want to rant on about the predecessor, I want to rant on about the latest Spiderman release from Beenox.

Well to start things off the story is very similar to what I originally posted in my new piece, but just to recap. In the year 2099, Walker Sloan is the head of a department in Alchemax, a  company is going to be taken over by the crafty Stark-fujikawa . So Sloan decides that he will travel back into the past and create Alchemax well before its original conception. This way Alchemax is created in Sloan’s image and would never be in a position to be taken over. Sloan jumps into the temporal portal (time machine) and Miguel O’Hara, AKA Spider man, swings in to stop him by jumping into the portal, thus changing history as they know it. Miguel is able to see all of what happens and also see the death of the original webslinger Peter Parker. As he is in the middle temporal flux whilst the timelines are changing Miguel’s memories of the original timeline are unaffected, but he has the memories of the new timeline and that Peters death was a major factor of the timelines changing. So it’s your job to not only undo what Sloan has done but also save Peter Parker from being killed. You switch between Miguel and Peter throughout the game and this allows you to follow the game on both sides of the story.

Something very unique happens the first time you play this game, unlike any other game I have played, when you first start the game you get the usual beginning sequence, but when you press the start button, there is no start menu, nor any start features the game just starts. You dive right into a fight with Anti-Venom, with no way of knowing what the controls are; I just pressed any button to see what happened. I found out that I had no reason to worry though as the controls were the same as Shattered Dimensions, which made things so much easier when fighting Anti-Venom. I got my ass kicked and that was obviously going to happen and as it was part of the story.

Once the short cut scene was over I found myself crawling after Sloan, at this point I noticed another unique element to the game. The opening credits and cast list was displayed on the walls and panels whilst I was moving, the amazing thing was that this did not take anything away from the story, in fact whilst you were crawling through Miguel speaks about Sloan as the credits roll on by.

When you reach the end of the vent you finally reach Sloan, which at this point you find out is voiced by none other than Val Kilmer, yes that’s right Val Kilmer. He talks to his A.I unit Joana about his plans and does a scan of the room for security, this is where you control Miguel to avoid the scans, if you choose too as the scans don’t really affect you if you are caught. This happens a couple of times as you find out all about Sloan’s plans and what he intends to do, after you have crawled through the last bit of tunnelling, you find yourself in a room where you can now freely control Spiderman and play through the story.

As I mentioned earlier the controls are the same as Shattered Dimensions, which means you have the same feel in this game as you did before when it comes to controlling Spiderman’s movements. I was able to get the hang of controlling Spiderman easily because I had played the previous title. The good news is you still get the little tutorials that explain about the movement and controls making it very welcoming for new comers. To obtain unlock new moves and combos you collect orbs, much like Shattered Dimensions, however if you wish to increase your health for both Spidys or shield for 2099 Spidy, you must collect golden spiders. A new feature has been added to make it easier to obtain these, every time you are close to one a little golden spider emblem flashes. The closer you get the more it flashes. This is a novel idea to help you find these special golden spiders and a great element for all you completionists out there.

Both Miguel and Peter have their own unique fighting moves and special abilities, but there are also a few moves that you can unlock for both of your web slinging character. This is something I haven’t seen in any pervious Spiderman games, which is starting to become a trait for this the Beenox Spiderman franchise. This is something I am quite happy to say, as not many action games have a lot of unique features such as these.

In edge of time you have the ability to kick butt in two different timelines, which sounds like it’s going to be a lot better than butt kicking in just one timeline. If your familiar with the Shattered Dimensions fighting mechanic then  can beat everyone up with ease, but if you haven’t played it before, then  don’t worry the game is about button mashing your opponents into submission. Eventually you unlock a new move that allows you to create a temporal paradox, this allows you to freeze all enemies within a certain distance making battles a lot easier, plus you can strategize on when the best time to use it.

Plus both Miguel and Peter have their own special ability to help improve their chances of winning battles, also some parts of levels require you to use these abilities so you can progress further in the game. Miguel’s ability is called Accelerated Vision, this is allows you to send a deco and cloak so you can get your enemy to attack that whilst you run behind them and then attack. Peter’s ability on the other hand is called Hyper Force, this allows Peter to move at a much faster speed then he could previously. This allows you to dodge almost any attack that comes your way, but more importantly allows you to attack your enemy  faster meaning you are able to land more hits and combos than usual. These abilities aren’t just limited to combat. Miguel’s Accelerated Vision can also be used to divert rockets to blow open certain doors and Peter’s Hyper Force can be used to run through lasers, or to avoid sensors that would usually lock onto him.

Again these abilities are something that brings alot to the way you fight and play the game, however there are quite a few things wrong with this game in my opinion. For me the biggest issue is the fact you never really had a place in the game where you could swing freely. It was an issue I had with Shattered Dimensions as well. There is some light relief at least, as some levels you do need to swing through areas to progress further. This game has some big open spaces to swing around but they are few and far between, as most of the levels you have to run around or crawl around, which for me does not feel like a Spiderman game.

In addition to all these game elements there are quite a few free fall levels. These are areas where Miguel dives down a shaft and you have control him while he is falling to avoid barriers and obstacles. I found these levels  annoying, although I understand that this was something that stood out in Shatter Dimensions which you only did a few times, in this game however I felt it was over used. In one level you dived through a vent four times in a row, and that is just a fraction of the amount of times you do this.

The game itself is also far too short, I completed this game in the space of a week, which doesn’t sound too bad, but I only played it for maybe two hours a day or less. So if I was to try to think how many hours it took me to complete I would say less than twelve hours, which for an action game is pretty average. It took me almost a month to complete Shattered Dimensions and that’s me calculating this in the amount of hours it took me and not days.

There is an unbelievably weak villain list in this game, I was very unimpressed by Anti-Venom but what ruined things completely for me is the fact you have very few true villains that you go up against. I mean I can count them on one hand and still have plenty of room for more, which was not what I read would be happening.

Then we have the BGM and SFX to take into account, one of the most important things when it comes to games spawned from a comic is the voices. If you don’t have the right voices the game could be amazing but you would always be annoyed by the voice, well I must admit Beenox used the same character voiceovers as they did in Shattered Dimensions, however there is something they did that seriously annoyed me and that was the overuse of the word “Shocking” by Miguel O’Hara. Now I know he uses it quite a bit in the comic and they want to portray him as accurately as possible, but after hearing it being said constantly and for most of the time at a completely unnecessary and out of context points. Usually I am able to let things like this go but it was so annoying that I would actually stop playing and walk away it annoyed me that much.

Other than that the SFX were spot on during fights or even during level, there were particular sound that made me aware of impending danger or where I was being attacked from, which is useful. The BGM was also on point which is something I was happy to hear, during battles with bosses or even during tasks the dramatic music made its point and gave a great feel to the game. Also the game is graphically impressive, the detail they used was amazing and was again along the same lines and concept they used in Shattered Dimensions.

With all this said there is one thing that I have left for last and that is the challenges, bonuses and other extras the game has to offer. I will start off with the bonuses, well you get the obvious concept art and bio’s as you go through the game, but there is also during the game you unlock news paper showing you the headlines of real timeline and then of the adjusted one, so you can see just how different they are. You also have different costumes for Miguel and Peter, you can choose to wear if you like, what is really nice is if you have played Shattered Dimensions you unlock some costumes. If you want to get the other costumes you have to complete a particular amount of challenges and get silver or higher.

So the challenges are shown on a web (like Shattered Dimensions) and you can see what the challenges are and what you need to do to complete them, you unlock challenges as you progress through the game. Pretty simple but during the game when you unlock a challenge you do not get told what it is and that was annoying too. The other bonuses are the cheat codes, well the game has a website you go to which has V.I.P cheat codes for you to use which I feel is unfair and just spoils the games feel.

So all in all this game is ok but is nowhere near as good as I expected, I am disappointed that they went through all this trouble only to put out a mediocre game. There is a lot of unique content but with the game being so short I didn’t really feel happy when it all ended.

Pros
+Easy to pick up even if a first time player
+Unique aspects in the game and gameplay
+SFX and BGM work very well with the game

Cons
-Game was far too short
-No real place in the game to websling
-Too much freefall gameplay

6/10

-Random Man

Well I’m sure you get my point; a new franchise needs to have that chemical that hasn’t been discovered before and more importantly, a chemical that gamers will embrace with open arms. Some have tried and some have most certainly failed: Damnation was just a gut-wrenching mess of epic proportions as it failed to establish a convincing western  setting and failed to achieve even the most basic elements of Gaming 101. Naughty Bear was an interesting vision that conceptualised murder and tactical espionage in the form of cuddly bears; however poor mechanics couldn’t make the vision a fitting reality. The most recent attempt to drop a bombshell in the rivalry of football dominance between Fifa and Pro Evolution Soccer was Pure Football. Ubisoft’s effort to grab a part of this EA and Konami dominated market was unsuccessful as it publicised street orientated environments whilst delivering the classy football that Barcelona deliver on a regular basis. The belated gameplay suffers through terrible gauges that often slow the gameplay with irrational gameplay occurrences making for a plethora of random moments and an indifferent session of “football”.

I’ve dug deep and saved my most notable game (from my own stand point)  that was hyped to the max, and was delayed in an attempt to create THE defining game of its genre. It even had the unfortunate tagline, like so many, of being the Halo killer. Free Radical had quite a prestigious reputation following the success of the comedic alien shooter series, Timesplitters. Nevertheless, hype alone is not enough and despite investment of time and money, Haze was not up to the part. I myself had waited for months constantly homing on every tidbit of information I could get my excited palms on, I’d even been made to suffer the rare disappointment of a Christmas delay….ouch. Regardless of my biased affiliation for Haze, to the extent of buying it! I confess that it was half of what it should have been. The story was just not engaging and was confusing, the graphics were fraudulent of their initial screenshot counter-parts and the AI was child-like in that it was more than likely designed b a child. These examples just go to show that a new IP needs to only climb the walls of what’s accepted as being a top game but also break them down Chris Jericho style.

Ahhh! Halo still reigns supreme!

Conversely, many many games HAVE been able to shatter those walls by delivering on their promise and hype of being the new game in the market. But in this modern age where new titles have to deliver otherwise the established market titles will eat them up and spit them out before they even get a sniff of success. If a new FPS enters the arena of shooters then they have to be prepared to try to, maybe not dethrone the top dogs such as Call of Duty and Battlefield, but certainly put up a reasonable enough fight to make themselves heard. Epic Games adventurous game, Bulletstorm, was an innovative new title that captured the hearts of many. Its straight up ridiculous nonchalant attitude towards the willingness to manipulate gamers minds to want you to kill your enemy in the most skill and imaginative way possible. It was successful and will probably warrant a follow-up. On the other hand, Homefront took the rather boring and trendy route for their game by delivering a plot set in the near future with US forces fighting the Middle-East *yawn*. Ok if you’re going to do what everyone else does then at least make it mind-blowingly good; oh wait you didn’t and therefore had an above average FPS which doesn’t make your new IP so successful. My point can be traced back to the very roots of this article with my reference to the uniqueness of Mario and it proved to be a success, I’m aware it deals with different periods of time but I feel the principle is still valid. There is nothing remotely unique about Homefront and it offers nothing new to the genre or anything new at all really except the worst grenade animation to have ever existed.

Dead Space, infamous, LittleBigPlanet, Dead Rising among others have been some of the successful titles in recent years to have attracted that large fan base. All are different and all have their own factors to make them a very memorable experience which is what invites a gamer to sample its well thought-out qualities. To this very day they’ve all spawned numerous sequels and DLC episodes which have been made possible because they’re terrific titles. However due to the unfair nature of the world, some games that are brilliant or highly enjoyable end up not only falling second-best to inferior games, but they end up being so neglected by the community that another game is never made in that particular series as a result of its lack of success.

It's ok Sackboy, your IP is one of the lucky ones.

 Similar to the poor IP’s I have discussed, I will now begin to discuss 4 more IP’s that were, in my opinion and the opinion of many recognised reviewers, very good games but failed to capture enough people’s hearts to warrant another title in the franchise. The first game in question is one of my favourite games ever and is called XIII; a cel-shaded spy shooter. I’ll always remember how entertained I was by the game as it introduced new elements into an ever interesting story that slowly unravelled. But poor sales saw this hidden gem packed with variety get cast asunder when it definitely warranted a sequel. Moving onto game number 2 and we have a western shooter that DID get things right and it was quite simply called GUN. This game drew comparisons to its fellow western counter-part over a year after Read Dead Revolver’s release as they shared similar characteristics but I confidentially say that GUN was a superior game. Its mini-games and side quests such as the hunting were a great distraction and overall it was a much better package. Sales for the game were acceptable at around 1 million but it should’ve sold more and I can’t help but feel that if the Rockstar brand was attached to GUN then it certainly would’ve fared better and I wouldn’t be introducing you to this fine game now.

My beloved father introduced me to a most amusing and very strategic game entitled “Herdy Gerdy”. The objective is to take control of our odd-looking protagonist, Gerdy, and to herd creatures into pens to unlock the next level. While the principle seems basic enough, the game is varied with different creatures requiring different methods of capture; my personal favourite being the big pink bear known as a Gromp. A beautifully varied game in terms of scenic appeal along with solid gameplay makes for a great game and despite moderate success; it wasn’t enough and a sequel could’ve really expanded on the mechanics and comedy to create a truly artistic and satisfying sequel.

Now my inspiration for this article was one game in particular that I received going on 5 years ago at Christmas; I’d played the demo of it and quite enjoyed it and must’ve mentioned it to my father who presumably bought it as a surprise for the coming Christmas. Needless to say it was a brilliant surprise and I immediately fell in love with the game as its blend of western and horror was so unusual but genuinely appealing. It had a memorable array of weapons, scary and (in a good way) detestable foes, a half-decent story, chilling music and was an overall completely fascinating and unexpected delight from start to finish. I’ve always showcased the game to people wherever possible to do my part of publicising the game, even 5 years later in the age of consoles we live in. It’s always been in my mind the most under-rated title to have existed and a several hundred games later my mind has not changed once bit. Jericho Cross may not be the most influential or dare I say it the most LIKABLE protagonist, but goddamnit the man has the honour and distinction of gracing such a fine game. Darkwatch 2 only faintly saw the light of day back in 2006 when a 1 minute video was shown at E3 showing it with the new technology of more powerful consoles; plus the new thrills it could bring. Sadly it’s 5 years later and this sad soul still mourns the loss of Darkwatch 2’s development and I have accepted that it’s successor is now a charred heap of preliminary sketches and designs never to be resurfaced again. *sigh*

What does the gaming future hold? Sequels galore? To be honest that was a rhetorical question as we all know that as long as the top selling titles (and we all know who they are) are aplenty then most game titles will be ending in a number. But with constant research and development and a boardroom full of creative minds, then we can always guarantee that a new and promising IP will be on the production line eventually. If not then a future journalist wannabe will still be using Mario has his reference to games as COD 26 will be dominating virtual reality consoles.

- Andrew Highton

So as you know at Eurogamer they show off all the yet to be released titles, but they also put in titles that have just been released. One of these titles was Resistance 3, which is a FPS game from Insomniac games. I was a fan of the previous two games and I really enjoyed playing them, so when I heard that Resistance 3 was to be playable at Eurogamer I jumped at the chance to give it a go.

As with its predecessors this game has an 18 cirtificate and man does it deserve that rating. It has alot of blood and has gratuitous violence, which is the perfect combination for an eighteen rated game. This game was stuck just behind the Battlefront section so it wasn’t busy at all, I was able to get a seat and start playing straight away. Insomniac was kind enough to send the complete game to Eurogamer, so this gave me the opportunity to see all the game had to offer.

It starts off where the last game finished, so if you haven’t played the pervious games I’m not going to spoil it for you. You start the game in an underground city and as usual there is a little tutorial, after that you get attacked and the fun begins. As you go outside you are being attacked by the alien invasion, the game mechanics are the same as the previous games, so this makes it so much easier to play for veterans of the Resistance series.

The graphics have been updated to give the game a different look and feel and this was done with expert skill. Some of the creatures have had a makeover to make them look much more sinister; they even added new creatures to  add something new to the game. They have not just added new creatures, but they have also added new weapons and grenades. They have also made some great modifications to the weapons that were in the previous games, so this means that they have done everything possible to make Resistance 3 better than the previous titles.

I won’t bore you and tell you about what the new weapons Insomniac added or the modifications they made to the previous weapons, but what I will tell you is that unlike the previous games, you hold all of the weapons at once. This is the first time any FPS game has done this since the Quake gameswhich is a nice departure from the FPS games nowa days that only let you carry two guns, so this as you can see it puts Resistance 3 on another level compared to the Battlefront and Call of Duty series.

When it comes to the game itself, it is yet another triumph. The controls are very responsive and the game seems to flow seamlessly between the gameplay and cut the sequences. This wasn’t just the only thing that made this game good, the Sound Effect (SFX) and the Background Music (BGM) work really well in this game. You can really hear the sound of the weapons being fired, the creatures snarls and of their machinery as it tries to kill you.

All of these additions added with the smooth controls and updated graphics makes this the best of the Resistance series.

- Random Man

As you already know, at Eurogamer they had yet to be released titles that we could play. Among these games was a release by Namco, Ace Combat: Assault Horizon. This is the next game in a long series, which has spanned over many years and consoles. Typically the Ace Combat series in known for its fast paced fighter jet battles, this version however has a new addition, the ability to fly a Helicopter.

This Ace Combat booth had eight screens and the expo, with gamers queuing up to get a piece of the action, so it was quite a popular game to play. I didn’t need wait long before I got my hands on the Playstation 3 controller and started flying a jet. The demo version we had, gave us no story at all, all I knew was I was flying over Miami and the enemy was flying in.

The fighter jet I was flying was a standard F-22 fighter, which you always get in any flight simulation game. The first thing I noticed was the amazing graphics, both the plane and the buildings had a lot of detail built into them, hell even the map had a great amount of detail. When in combat the games gives you the option to show a close up of the plane as it fires a missile, this close up shows you just how much detail went into the game and the detail is amazing.

Then there was the controls, Oh my god were they sensitive. If you gave the analogue sticks the slightest touch, the plane responded perfectly, this made manoeuvring to get into firing position so much easier, but don’t think for a second this game is easy. They have added Dog Fighting mode, which means you need to fly into a certain position, then by pressing the R1 and L1 buttons at the same time you enter this mode where you automatically follow the enemy plane in front of you.

Graphically the game looks amazing in Dog Fighting mode, and since this mode is only to destroy any lead planes, this also means you need to use a lot of strategy to get good at this game. You might get motion sickness from playing the fighter jet section of this game for extended periods of time, but I can tell you it is worth being ill.

Now onto the Helicopter section of this game. The helo (The airforce slang for helicopter and is what I am going to call it from now on) in the demo I got to play was a Apache Helicopter, but I can guess that isn’t going to be the only helo that you can play (much like the F-22 will not be the only fighter jet you will be able to use, just thought I should slip that in here).

The stage is set in the desert and you are to attack a terrorist base, a pretty simple, standard mission set up nowadays. Again Namco has done an amazing job on the graphics; I was in awe of their attention to detail in this game. The controls however are not, they felt very unresponsive and rusty. When I tried to aim at a target it was difficult, also the helo was not as manoeuvrable as I thought it should be.

The dodging mechanic was cool, but other than that the controls made this part of the game not as entertaining as flying the F-22. With all of that said, whether it was in the F-22 or Helo the sound effects and background music was just simply amazing. The music was perfectly designed for the game, plus the sound effects are so realistic you honestly feel like your right in that plane or helo trying to destroy an enemy target.

Overall the graphics, sound effects, background music and the game overall is brilliant. The only thing that has let it down is the helo part of the game, but to be honest even with that being said I still really enjoyed playing this game.

Ace Combat: Assault Horizon is out on the 14th of October for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

- Random Man

This was my first Eurogamer Expo and can I say that it was an amazing one to start with. As you have read in previous post, there were a lot of great titles that you could play. As always with expos, there are games that haven’t been released yet.

One of these titles was House of the Dead:  Overkill Extended Cut for the Playstation 3. This was an extended version of a previously realised game. I have played all the arcade versions of HOTD (I’m just going to call it that to make this easier to read) and have enjoyed them immensely. All the blood, guts and gore make for a perfect zombie, so I was excited to try this out the game to see if it had what it takes.

The game was tucked away in a corner of the 18 section, from an onlooker’s perspective, the games graphics are up to the usual HOTD standard. sharp graphics with really grainy overtones, what I like to call, arcade style of graphics. The BGM and SFX are what any arcade fan would come to expect with a HOTD game, very dark and ominous music coupled with the some perfect SFX, you can really hear the zombie moans and the body squelch as your bullets blow their heads off.

The game requires you to play via PlayStation move, you can get a plastic rifle that you plug the move controller into in order to play the game, but the move controller is just fine by itself. Since the controller I was using was needed to charge at the time I used just the controller on its own.

You didn’t get much of the story with this as it was just a demo. All that was said story wise was that an incident happened at a location and I needed to check it out. Oh and what did we find? Zombies and they are looking very nasty.

As with all the HOTD games you have little bonuses and power ups through the game, one of the latest power ups they have added to this game is slow motion. This is an awesome addition as can not only kill a butt load of zombies in slow-mo, but you also get to see zombies explode and their body parts fly off as you shoot them with your shotgun all in glorious slow motion.

Now you would suspect that after I have said all of that, that the game would be brilliant. Well sadly you would be wrong, but this isn’t because of anything in the game, it’s well designed and everything around it has been well thought out. The problem however lies with the Playstation Move controller and rifle that you use to play the game with, there are multiple reasons why the PlayStation move isn’t that great for this game, but the main reasons are:  The controller is not as responsive and accurate as you would like it to be, when you do try to calibrate it, the targeting feels off so you can not accurately calibrate the move. Even standing about a foot away from the screen I was still missing, this just shows how bad the move controller is when trying to calibrate it. The other reason is that plastic rifle you get with this game breaks quite easily.

Overall the game is good and has all the quality of its predecessors, but the only thing that lets this game down is the move controller. Get rid of that and you have the potential for an awesome arcade game for the PlayStation 3.

House of the Dead:  Overkill Extended Cut is released on the 28^th of October for PlayStation 3

-Random Man

Let me start off by saying I was a massive fan of Spiderman Shattered Dimensions. I was impressed with what Beenox had done with the game design and the gameplay itself. So I when I found out that Beenox had announced that they will be making another Spiderman game, I was excited to see what they would do this time. Garvaos wrote about the announcement and gave us what they had at the time about the game and now I’m here to tell you the latest news. Oh and believe me, this is something to look forward too. So first things first and I cannot stress this enough, this is NOT a sequel to Spiderman Shattered Dimension and is a game in its own right. They have created a brand new story just for this game and my God, is it an awesome one.

Walker Sloan, who is basically a mad scientist from the Alchemax in the year 2099, goes back in time to the present day to build the evil Alchemax company years before it was meant to be created. To do this however he must kill Peter Parker aka Spiderman, so he can change the present altering the future drastically in order to become incredibly rich and powerful. Oh and here is something to make you even more interested in this game. Anti-Venom is a villain, and a major one too.

Now for those who don’t know about Anti-Venom here is the short version. Anti-Venom is as another symbiote suit and is worn by Eddie Brock. Eddie Brock wore the original Venom symboite suit and due to this he was a bad guy. The Anti-Venom suit however is the complete opposite of the Venom suit. This is for many different reasons but two of them are more significant than the rest. Firstly Anti-Venom is a good guy. This is because Eddie Brock no longer wants to hurt anyone after the Venom symbiote suit left him. Secondly, he has the ability to cure ANY illness or disease, this means that he is an Anti-Venom to everything, hence the name.

So going back to the plot, the only person who remembers what it was like before Walker Sloan changed the future is 2099’s very own webslinger Miguel O’Hara. Alchemax rules the new future with absolute control, and it is your job to team up with the Peter Parker in the past and change the future. With this being the storyline the game, I personally think Spiderman Edge of Time has the potential to be even better than Shattered Dimensions.

As I mentioned earlier Anti-Venom is a bad guy in this game. I know I said he is a good guy in the comics, but Walker Sloan is somehow controlling him. As he can cure any aliment, Sloan uses him to cure Spiderman’s radioactive blood. Now since doing that would make Peter Parker lose his powers, Anti-Venom can kill him with ease.

In an interview at E3 associate producer Kevin Umbricht also announced that of course there will be other villains in the game. Amazingly some villains are being created purely for this game, but of course there will also be classic Spiderman baddies. During the demonstration at E3 they showed off their brand new gaming system for Edge of Time, they called it the Cause and Effect system.

What this means is that they designed it so every action taken in the game has an opposite and equal reaction somewhere else. So what this means, is that if you were to blow up a building in the present time (that’s the Peter Parker timeline), in the future (2099 Miguel O’Hara timeline) that building would either change completely or not even exist.

The potential for this system in this game is unbelievable, as they have thought about every little detail. Plus they are using the same team at Beenox that gave us Shattered Dimensions, which for me means that they have the chance to produce yet another great game. I think that this is a game to follow and when it is released, defiantly one to buy.

- Random Man

Over the last few years there have been only a few fighting games that have interested me when I heard of there pending creation. When I heard that Midway Games were going to team up with DC Comics to produce Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe I was interested in this game. The prospect of fighting with not just my favourite Mortal Kombat characters, but also a chance to fight with some of my favourite DC Comic characters and perform their own unique special moves and fatalities made me smile a little on the inside.

I was very happy when I finally got the game and had the chance to fight in this new and exciting world. The title screen was awesome showing what looked like Scorpion hunting Batman. Every time you went to a different part of the title screen it showed the next part of the event unfolding. I had a massive smile on my face when I saw this sequence but little did I know that this would be the one of the last times this game would make me smile.

When I saw the character list I was a little confused with a couple of their choices. When I looked at the rostra there were certain characters that in my opinion are not so important in the Dc universe, such as Shazam and Deathstroke. On the other hand this is to be expected as you always get a couple of characters that are rubbish or you just don’t like in a fighting game. Now I know some people are going to disagree with that but it is just the opinion I have got from playing fighting games over the years.

As with every fighting game I play, I always do the training or have a practice battle to learn the controls before diving into the main game. This is because I feel that this is the best way to learn the fighting mechanics for any fighting game. I picked a character I had fought with before in Mortal Kombat. I was familiar with their moves and on how to do their combos and when I looked at the move lists I saw that they used a mixture of moves from a variety of different of Mortal Kombat games .It is my belief they did this to make the game more playable for people who have played the later games and not just the original three.

So far so good for the positives on this game.  Midway have thought about the age gap between each version of the game and tried to use that as an advantage. Unfortunately what they also did was to use the same type fighting mechanics from one of the earlier generations of the game i.e. Mortal Kombat Deception onwards. I feel that they again did this to make the game feel more familiar to people who have played previous Mortal Kombat games, however the problem with the Mortal Kombat games that came after Mortal Kombat 3 was that they made the game more about the story and all the extras rather than about the actual fighting moves and fatalities. With this being something I was worried about, I decided to keep an open mind and kept practicing.

I tried every character to see what they were all like. With some characters after about a week I was able to string large combos together without really having much trouble, but there were other characters where I would spend hours upon hours practicing with them and I still couldn’t get their special moves and combo’s right. Normally in any fighting game I have one, maybe two fighters with which this would apply, to but with this game I could only use a hand full of the fighters and all bar one of them was from Mortal Kombat.

Even the characters I could use felt slow and uncontrolled. They were not very fluid or easy to use but with that being said I was still slightly impressed with some of the special moves and fatalities they gave the DC and Mortal Kombat characters. I won’t say who does the best moves or what the moves are, I will leave that for you to see for yourselves. With the fighting mechanics leaving something to be desired and the character list being a bit iffy, I thought I would enjoy the finer points such as the subtle touches to the game.

So to start with, the biggest thing about this game is how they tried so very hard to get the characters looks correct. The details they put in the graphics to make all the DC characters look just like they do in the comics are pretty good. They went a little too far with some characters, changing their costumes just for the game or making them look far too cartoonish I.E. Catwomen, they made her main costume purple and also made it very revealing. You could practically see most of her bare skin and I have never seen Catwomen wear a costume like that in any DC comics. This was obviously because Midway was trying to repeat the “Sonya Blade sex symbol” in this game, but with a DC character instead. They did a little of that with the other female fighters, so why do that with just one and not follow the trend with the rest?

Bit Risque.....see what I mean?

I’m not a pervert so please don’t think that from my last comment, it’s just that in certain games you have female characters that are just used to make gamers drool and a massive example of this is D.O.A. Its a fighting game made up entirely of hot female fighters and that is the first thing people think of when you mention this game. When you mention Mortal Kombat however the first thing that springs to mind is fatalities, blood and gore and THEN its the female fighters.  Some of the male characters looked really good as they were true to the comic’s, but then again there were others such as Deadstroke, Jax and Shazam that just felt far too cartoonish.

The depiction of the characters was not the only graphics issue I saw when I started to play the main story for the game. The graphics felt out dated and the game felt disjointed.  It was like they had used up to date graphic software, but the game just didn’t look very clean or like they tried to improve on the graphics. One of the main things was that during a cut sequence you normally get a little extra touch to make it look better, but with this they just left it all the same .Now you could argue that this was to make the game flow better from cut sequence to battle, but instead this makes the game look cheap and like it was lacking something. Not only this but the story also just felt poorly constructed. I’m not going to mention about the story as I don’t want to ruin anything for anyone, plus I only got a little way in and stopped.

There was something that did impress me greatly and that was the way they constructed the arenas you fought in. The backgrounds looked well constructed, and in certain arenas you have the ability to knock your opponent out of the ring and follow them down to the next floor punching or kicking them on the way down. Obviously your opponent can counter this, otherwise this would be unfair but other than that for me the graphics feel like they need a little something extra. Now I’m not saying that it needed to be made with CGI graphics and more realistic, I am just saying that it left me feeling as it was lacking something. I am not sure on what it was but I just felt that the game was missing something  with the rusty gameplay and Ok graphics.

I decided turn my attention to the BGM (Background Music) and SFX (Sound Effects) to try and redeem this game for me. Now to be completely honest the BGM and SFX was something I barely noticed and not because I wasn’t paying attention to it. It was due to the fact that it was just background noise. I didn’t really connect with the music or sound effects and because of this it was yet another thing that made the game feel less immersive and less enjoyable.

I will be completely honest after saying all of this. I play this game quite a bit for about two weeks, trying to find something about this game I liked and something that would keep me playing it. After two weeks however I personally couldn’t find anything that would make me play this game any longer, there were one or two fatalities that I liked, but how can you play a game for just two small things? This game left me feeling like I was let down by Midway and not only Midway but by DC Comics also. They had the opportunity to make a truly great game that would be loved by not only gamers but also by comic fans. Unfortunately what they did was make a game that was just ok and would be enjoyed by only some gamers and comic fans and not all. For me is something that has let not just Midway Games and DC Comics down but also the fans who were looking forward to this release.

Pro’s:

+The Main title sequence is really good
+Level design works well
+There were some brilliant Fatalities

Cons:

- The gameplay was rustic and did not flow well
- The Background music and sound effects were lacklustre
-  Story mode. Fail.
-  Character list and costumes leave a something to be desired

3/10

- Random Man

[Scene: The PlusXP Headquarters. Leon, Garvaos, GuitarGirl and That Bloke in the Beanie are all present. It's en media res, because if I do stuff like that then I'll look like a better writer]
Garvaos: That’s when I said “That’s not my ban-hammer, so stop trying to swing it!”
[Okay, maybe not]
Garvaos: Ah, it’s so good to relax on a sunny day like the one we had.
Beanie: Not for me; I failed my stat check earlier and got sunburnt.
Garvaos: Well, that sucks. Good thing it’s such a nice evening then, isn’t it?
[There is a loud bang. Pause. A wall falls down, and Jokesound appears.]
GuitarGirl: Just had to jinx it, didn’t you?
Jokesound: Hey guys! No one was answering the door so I thought I’d knock a bit louder…
Garvaos: What are you doing here? I banned you from the HQ after last time!
Jokesound: That’s why I’m standing just outside. Come out here, I have a surprise for you!
Garvaos: No! You just destroyed a wall!
Jokesound: Well, I thought you’d say no, so I made your windows bigger so you could see it from inside!
Garvaos: I’m sure there’s something very, very wrong with that logic, somehow.
Jokesound: Look, are you coming outside or not?
Garvaos: Will you stop destroying things if we do?
Jokesound: I literally cannot begin to tell you why I won’t guarantee such a thing.
[There is a short pause. Reluctantly, the rest of the PlusXP crew join him outside]
Leon: Okay, I’ll bite. Why are we out here?
Jokesound: Good question. One I choose to answer in the form of explosions.
[Some fireworks go off, exploding to read "Happy Birthday!"]
Jokesound: Happy birthday, Garv!
Garvaos: …You’re fired.
[Leon, Beanie and GuitarGirl cheer]
Jokesound: What? Why?
Garvaos: Ed, since you’ve been part of the writing team you’ve been kidnapped by GLaDOS, broken out of a mental institution under the care of Gordon Freeman, caused us to be attacked by zombies after trying to interview the corpse of Bill from Left 4 Dead, and ruined Christmas! You just destroyed my wall and my birthday was in February! What are you going to do next?
Jokesound: I’m going to Disneyland! …Oh, wait. I can’t. I’m banned after what I did to Goofy. Besides, you can’t ban me, for I have this!
[He produces his Reinstate hammer]
GuitarGirl: That’s not a real hammer.
Jokesound: Is so!
GuitarGirl: No, it’s not. Real hammers aren’t made out of Papier-mâché and decorated with macaroni elbows. You know you’re not supposed to cook them in the sauce before you put them on, right?
Jokesound: Well, I-
GuitarGirl: You’ve written “I.O.Me A Real Hammer” on the handle.
Jokesound: That’s just to confuse you from how very real and dangerous it is!
Garvaos: Stop it, you two.
Jokesound: But she’s being mean!
Leon: It’s not like you don’t deserve it.
Jokesound: What’s that supposed to mean?
Leon: You spent most of your articles criticising something, or explaining why you don’t like something! If you’re not alienating Halo fans, then it’s Call of Duty fans or Sony fanboys!
Jokesound: Hey, it’s not my fault Sony fanboys are mostly whiny idiots who view any opinion that even vaguely criticises their beloved console as flamebait!
[Hey N4G!]
Leon: I’m just saying, it’s not all about you!
Jokesound: Now that’s just rude. What have I done that gives you that impression?
Garvaos: Probably that giant billboard you have behind you that’s just you giving a cheesy grin and a thumbs up.
Jokesound: But that’s my seal of Ed-proval!
[There is a short moment of awkward silence]
Garvaos: For that pun alone, I should fire you.
Jokesound: I’m just saying, we needed an awesome image that everyone would remember, like Twitter’s Fail Whale!
Fail Whale [From Behind The Billboard]: Did ttthhhumbuddy call me?
Jokesound: No, Fail Whale! Nobody called you!
Fail Whale: Ne’ohhhh!
Jokesound: Just keep holding up that billboard! I don’t even know why I let you hang out with me when you just embarrass me like that. Jeez.
Garvaos: I have many questions about this.
Jokesound: We mascots have to stick together!
Garvaos: You’re not our mascot!
Jokesound: Okay, okay. Fine. Hey! Fail Whale! They didn’t like the billboard! Get out of here, and take it with you!
[He takes the billboard and is carried away by the Twitter birds]
Jokesound: See? That was pretty cool, right?
GuitarGirl: If not a bit random and unnecessary.
Garvaos: You know, I realised a long time ago that none of this ever made any sense to begin with. You just kind of shrug and roll with it in the end.
Jokesound: Okay, so I take it you guys aren’t very happy with me, but I know the other Ed loves me!
Beanie: No I don’t.
Jokesound: See what I me- Wait, what?
Beanie: You’ve reduced me to a background character who misrolls his dice to derive comic situations! You loaded my dice so all my decisions would favour you!
Jokesound: Okay, okay. I get it. You guys are all mad at me, and I guess I’ve probably done something wrong.
Beanie: A lot wrong.
Jokesound: Alright, jeez! I preferred it when you were rolling dice.
Garvaos: I think it’s just for the best if we fire you.
Jokesound: Well, before you do, I have something for you.
Garvaos: Not another signed copy of everything you’ve written, is it?
Jokesound: Nope.
Leon: Nothing wall-destroying?
Jokesound: Nothing like that.
GuitarGirl: Nothing hammer-like?
Jokesound: Not even the MC.
Garvaos: Okay, I’ll bite. What is it?
Jokesound: Your birthday cake!
Garvaos: Well, it’s not my birthday, but I guess I can’t say no to cake.
Beanie: Wait! It’s not a lie, is it?
Jokesound: No, it’s right here!
[He reveals said confectionery]
Garvaos: There are two… three problems with this.
Jokesound: Like what?
Garvaos: One, this cake is a pie.
Jokesound: Hey, you’re the one who said it.
Garvaos: Two, you’ve used dynamite for the candles.
Jokesound: You said you wanted the party to go out with a bang!
Garvaos: If I didn’t know you were going to do this, how could I have ever said that? However, that neatly brings me onto my final problem. Said “candles” are alight.
Jokesound: So we can sing Happy Birthday! Come on, everybody with me! Happy birthday to you! This cake’ll explode into goo! If you…
Garvaos: I’m going to stop you there, for one last thing.
Jokesound: Oh yeah? What?
[Garvaos produces his shiny ban-hammer one final time]
Garvaos: You’re banned. Permanently.
[He hits Jokesound with the ban-hammer and sends him flying into the fireworks behind him. The explosion from the cake sets off the fireworks, which explode in the shape of Jokesound giving one last cheesy grin and a thumbs-up before fading away]
Garvaos: Well, I guess he had an explosive finale.
GuitarGirl: Really, Garv? That’s the one liner you went with?
Garvaos: Hey, one of our writers just exploded into smithereens, give me a break.
[Beanie rolls a dice]
Beanie: I’m very… cat about this?
Leon: Well, what do we do now?
Garvaos: Same thing we do every time one of our writers explodes. We go play some videogames and find another one afterwards. Let’s go, gang!
[They walk back into the PlusXP HQ. End]

I’ve had some amazing times writing for PlusXP, but it’s time for me to move on. It’s been an absolute pleasure writing for you all, and I want to thank Rob for giving me a chance and (along with the other writers) for being such an amazing friend.

If you need me, I’ll be found on Twitter, Gaminglives or my blog.

So long, and thanks for all the fish.

Edward Price/Jokesound

It’s finally here. It’s all over. Telltale Games’ finale to their series of Back to the Future is finally here, and in style. After a story that’s spanned several alternative timelines and even alternative versions of characters fans of the series have come to know and love, it all ends with OUTATIME!

Warning: Spoilers for this and previous episodes follows.

Beginning the morning after the previous episode, it’s finally the big day of the science expo that’ll help cement young Emmett Brown’s passage into science. However, upon arrival you discover that Citizen Brown has convinced Miss Strickland that you’re not really Harry Callahan at all, but actually Yakov Smirnoff; an activist whose ideas could steer young Emmett from the path of justice. As such, his exhibit has been shut down and Marty is forced into a race against time to find both Emmett and get the shutdown lifted so the timestream can be fixed. The introduction to this episode is better than episode four’s by leaps and bounds, as while it’s set at a slower pace and it’s lighter on puzzles, this isn’t a negative and it’s used to great effect.

The puzzles themselves are vastly improved over the previous episode as well, as this time around they make sense and don’t rely on developer logic to challenge and frustrate you. This time around, while there are fewer puzzles, they all make a lot more sense and while some will challenge you, they’re by no means frustrating and solving them feels more natural than in any other episode in the series. It’s so refreshing to see puzzles that don’t rely on being overcomplicated or tasking the player with doing the same thing over and over again, and the episode is so much better for it. It helps ease the player a lot more into everything that’s happening and doesn’t take the player out of the game as much as the previous episode did. There’s one puzzle later on that involves restoring memory that’s worthy of mention, as it’s so brilliantly put together and explains what I’ve been saying about the puzzles eloquently. While there’s little difficulty curve, even during the crescendo events, you don’t feel cheated or that you’re breezing through the episode as well, as it’s so well balanced.

One of the shock announcements for this episode was the fact that Michael J Fox himself was providing the voices of two of the characters, and this is the best way to talk about how fantastic the voice-acting is as a whole. While I’ve been saying all season long that the voice acting is deserving of special mention, and I’ve made sure to talk about it every chance I get, it’s really because it’s absolutely one of the greatest voice-acted games I’ve ever had the pleasure of playing. Everyone is spot on, and Michael J Fox fits in so seemlessly to the proceedings as well that you’re not just going “Oh my god, it’s Michael J Fox!” every time his character graces the screen. In fact, the scenes between him and AJ Locasio (who has been voicing Marty McFly for the game) are actually quite heartwarming as it feels like Fox is passing the torch. Christopher Lloyd, AJ Locasio, and James Arnold Taylor (who voices young Emmett Brown) all deserve awards for their performances just for this episode alone, let alone the season. There are loads of amazing moments throughout the episode that are made all the greater by their amazing voice-work, and I really don’t know how much more I can sing their praises.

The writing for this episode is incredible, and I’d dare say that the writing alone elevates OUTATIME as the greatest season finale Telltale Games have ever made. It’s all there, and while you could argue that Sam and Max: The Devil’s Playhouse and Tales of Monkey Island had their own share of heart-breaking and heart-warming moments in their finales, OUTATIME manages to be more well-rounded with great examples of both. Before exiting 1931, the game went from a puzzle-related moment involving Citizen Brown that was heartbreaking to cause and watch, to a brilliantly heartwarming moment to another heartbreaking moment within ten minutes, and it all fit into place masterfully. Telltale Games are truly the masters of storytelling in games, and this episode is the greatest culimation of that fact. There’s one twist or event after another, and it’s all so incredibly well-held together. The season’s had fantastic writing on the whole, but no other episode showcases it as well as OUTATIME does. My notes from playing the game use the word “incredible” to describe the writing repeatedly, and half of my notes are just me gushing about how either specific moments or the game itself were brilliantly written. It’s a perfect example of how far storytelling and writing in games has come.

So, should you buy Back to the Future? If you know me at all, you should know that answer is a resounding “YES”. Telltale Games have absolutely outshone themselves this time around and provided a stellar season of episodic gaming that provides a greater experience than anything they’ve provided before. They’ve managed to step above and beyond and create a game that not only does one of the greatest trilogies in cinematic history justice, but can stand aside them in it’s own right as part of the Back to the Future story. The way the story has played out with the running themes its contained, the characters it introduces and fleshes out, and the voice-work and writing do everything they can to outshine what else is out there. Sure, the puzzles aren’t always amazing, and episode four is a veritable low point, it’d take a lot to dissuade me from recommending Telltale Game’s Back to the Future to everyone I know.

Do yourself a favour and get this game. The future may depend on it.

Oh, and you’ll never see the ending coming.

-Jokesound

OUTATIME and the rest of the season are available on PC now.