In this simple yet addictive little shooter you play as Jon Bambo, an angular looking chap who, you guessed it, looks like a little Rambo made out of Lego. Armed with an arsenal of different weapons and a red bandana, Bambo must gun-down the oncoming zombie horde as they attempt to surround him and rip him to shreds. If he is successful in his undead massacre Bambo is able to progress to a new, slightly harder level of zombie infestation containing multiple more challenging types of zombie. If he is unsuccessful, well the zombies eat him, game over. The game has 3 levels of difficulty ranging from Casual, to Hardcore and Nightmare mode for those who are more advanced at zombie eradication and takes place over 6 playable levels. Each of the six levels moves Bambo a little bit deeper into the depths of Hell and this is represented not only in the change in scenery but also by the difficulty level. Unlike other games in this genre however you do not have to play these levels in order, meaning that if you fancy taking a trip to Lucifer’s Den there is no need to take the scenic route via Death Alley, well unless you really want to.

As well as leaving behind a substantial puddle of blood defeated zombies also sometimes deposit small boxes containing various goodies for our boxy friend to collect. It is through these boxes that Bambo is able to regain some health and gain new weaponry to aid him in his quest for survival. Though the point and shoot mechanic of this game is relatively simple I was impressed by the amount of weapons that could be unlocked. Though you begin the game with only a pistol (unlimited rounds) you are quickly able to pick up everything from a Shotgun to an Uzi, Minigun, Rocket launcher, Grenades, C4 (iPhone and iPod touch exclusive) and even remote Mg Turrets. In addition to the artillery you are also able to pick up and place exploding barrels and spiked barricades to distract your zombie foes and build your defences adding an element of strategy to the game. Though the weaponry was quite good overall, the only thing which did disappoint me a little was the lack of a comedy melee weapon. Zombie games are usually survival based and one of the things I usually love about the zombie theme is the range of absurd unlikely weaponry picked up in a survival situation. Over the years we have seen zombies defeated with golf clubs, axes, frying pans and guitars as well as being effectively decapitated by the throwing of records and priceless ornaments. In contrast when out off all other weapons Bambo turns to a pistol. A creative choice? Disappointingly not but effective nonetheless.

Weapons aside the deliberately retro boxy styling of Boxhead does give the game a good dose of retro appeal. This retro styling gives the game a distinctly ‘old school’ arcade type feel which suits the simple point and shoot theme very well. The block colour characters also make it easy to introduce and identify how different types of zombie foe will behave, for example if a zombie is dressed in red you had better run as we all know those who wear red are speedier than their plain cousins. In addition to the fast and slow zombies, on his journey through Hell Boxhead will also encounter foes which have the power to become invisible and even the odd devil or two. Though these foes all have their own characteristics which can make them harder to defeat rest assured that none are immune to the Boxhead treatment, in short a shot to the face should do it.

One thing which surprised me about this game was the lack of a soundtrack. Though the game has multiple sound effects there is no in game music, and I must admit this caught me off guard. When the lack of music became apparent I quickly made the best of the situation by switching on my iPod and choosing a playlist which I felt was most appropriate for zombie slaying. To my surprise this worked quite well and I soon discovered that conducting a zombie massacre to your own music could be quite good fun. If you like the idea of playing to your own music or you mainly play in silence (perhaps on public transport or around others) then the lack of music should not be a problem, however if you think that the soundtrack adds atmosphere to the game then you may be disappointed.

One other thing that did slightly frustrate me about this game was that if you went back to the home screen of the iPhone to answer a message or change a song on your iPod the game quits out completely losing your current progress without saving. If you just want to play for fun and do not really care about your score or progress then this should not bother you too much but otherwise its “Goodbye high score, nice knowing you!”

Overall this is a relatively basic but quite addictive little shooter. The game is easy to play and the various difficulty levels make it accessible to many players. The deliberately retro styling is reminiscent of early arcade gaming and the simple point and shoot game mechanic makes it perfect for kicking back for five minutes which otherwise would have been wasted. The fact that the game quits when using other features of the phone could do with fixing but lets face it, score or no score who doesn’t like a little bit of boxy virtual bloodshed to brighten up their day.

Boxhead, The Zombie Wars 7/10

Pro’s
- There are multiple weapons to unlock and multiple difficulty levels
- The gameplay is simple and easy to master
- Your character looks like a mini Rambo made out of Lego

Cons

- There is no music
- The game quits without saving if you have to answer a call or send a message

Until next time,

24

x

Boxhead, The Zombie Wars
Available now for download now from the iTunes store for iPhone and iPod Touch.
MEDL Mobile inc.

I am a sucker for level design, I loved the amount of thought that went into things like Devil May Cry 3, Portal and F.E.A.R. Quantum Theory looks like its going to take level design to the next level, as the whole game is based around a living tower, meaning that the levels in this game are going to be organic and will more than likely take the player by surprise. With the 3rd person genre opting to use cover more and more now, the game boasts that it has level morphing technology, meaning that the levels will be morphing when you least expect it. Will this make the replay value of this game well worth it? I hope so. That and bring a new element to covering and shooting.

The story of the game revolves around Syd a fearless remnant warrior who must reach the summit of the tower to unlock the terrors within himself and the world. Not much is known about the story itself but I like the amount of mystery that is coming with this game, leaves more to be revealed when I actually get stuck into the game.

So what other new features can we see from Quantum Theory? Well there is something that has interested me since I first laid eyes on this game, and that is the ability to throw your AI partner into enemies. Syd has an accomplice called Fillena a battle hungry woman whose melee attacks are second to none on the battle field. You can throw her at enemies and se will stun a pack of demons or knock down a single demon with just one slice of her melee weapons. Sounds like a lot of fun.

Quantum Theory is coming out September 24th for Xbox 360 and PS3, and it brought to you by Tecmo Koei. Stay Tuned to Plus XP for more info as I get it.

Garv.

Halo 3 brought us something that console fans had been yearning for in one shape or form since Halo: Combat Evolved, and that was a level editor of sorts. Dubbed Forge, this basic level editor would let players customise some of their favorite maps with a variety of weapons, props and vehicles.

Later on in Halo 3′s life Bungie released some unique DLC expand forge further, 2 maps came out over the months the first of which was Foundry, where keen level editors were given a small blank space to play with and a lot more terrian objects to play with, such as bridges, shipping containers etc, this got gamers such as myself pretty excited at the amount of freedom you had in such a small area. But when Sandbox came out for Halo Forge this took map editing for Halo 3 to a whole new level. You could create pretty much anything you wanted within reason, you were given 2 tiers to customise with a wealth of terrain and landscaping tools. With Sandbox I created my own game pretty much, which never really took off, but I may bring it back.

With Halo Reach just round the corner (about a month and a bit by my watch) what has Bungie done with the forge for the next game? Just to let you guys know, its worth noting here that this is the last Halo game Bungie will be creating. Also do you remember the Blood Gultch video I showed you on the last Reach post, with Sarge from Red Vs Blue asking what was beyond the mountains (or words to that effect) well your about to find out.

Forge World, as it has been dubbed for Halo Reach is this single biggest editable landscape that Bungie have ever created for the Forge Universe, just so you know how huge this is, Bungie have pre made 3 whole multiplayer maps in this world at the same time, in one place you have Blood Gultch, which has now been dubbed Hemorrhage, in another you have Pinnicle which is another remake of the classic map Ascension and in the 3rd proverbial corner you have Cage which is a map suspended in mid-are with a variety of ramps and walk ways designed for close quarters and sniper ranged combat.

Just a snipit of forge world. Taken from IGN.com

The awesome thing here is you can delete all of this and run free in the Halo World. You will be able to tell from the get go that this World is back on the ring planet itself. As a blank canvas the world is split up into five areas called Canyon, Island, “The Rock,” Quarry, and Coliseum. Each of these are big enough to house a full on playable level, that’s again another taster of how stupidly big this map is and it is all yours to edit.

Keen forgers out there will be very pleased to know that actual level creation has been improved and re-tweaked. It is now way more user-friendly than it was back on Halo 3. For hours at a time I would get easily frustrated trying stand a block up in Sandbox, or aligning a walk way correctly so there were no gaps. Now in Forge world every object has 3 settings, you can make each object realistic like in Halo 3, or suspended in mid-air meaning they won’t drop to the ground as soon as you let go, and my favorite, you can make each object phased, meaning you can merge objects together to make one huge thing. There are 150 objects to choose from, including massive stair cases, huge platforms, all sorts really.

Here is some of the stuff you can use, only some mind. Taken form IGN.com

The world is yours to customise, you can section things bits off for small maps, or just make the biggest multiplayer map ever, all in all Forge world is amazing, and with another 3 forge built maps coming with the release of Halo Reach, I can safely say that Bungie have not skimped out on this one.

Garv

Sin and Punishment 2 is an odd one for most. A sequel to a cult game for the hardcore N64 fans that never saw release in the UK (though was recently released for the Wii’s Virtual Console), it’s suprising that Nintendo were advertising and showing this off at the Expo.

Sin and Punishment 2 is a quirky on-rails shooter set many years after the original game, and from there on in, I know very little, and the cut scenes I’ve seen of the game do nothing more than confuse me, so the story will at least be interesting for those playing.

I will say now, Sin and Punishment 2 is hard. It took me a while to get into it, and even then, I had to get help from the guy running the stand to better learn the controls and what to do. There is a lot of action and shooting going on at any one time, and if you’re not expecting it, it’s very easy to be overwhelmed by what’s going on onscreen. At times, you’ll be swamped with enemies, with bullets and attacks flying all over the screen which you’ll have to avoid and counter by moving about the screen and either shooting your foes or slashing them with a sword. As you destroy your enemies, a score multiplier will come up too, meaning that on top of having to kill everything on-screen and trying to avoid all the attacks, there’s also the element of replaying each level to try to max out your high score and gain a bigger multiplier (which will go down if you don’t kill anything for a certain amount of time, or get hit by attacks).

This is one of the clearer, sensical images I could find. And even so, I still have no idea what's going on.

My time on the game was slightly less enjoyable than it should have been, because the stand forced us to use the Wii Zapper. You remember the Wii Zapper, right? No? Well, the only thing you really need to know about the Wii Zapper is that any game that it’s ideally used for (ie, on rails shooters) is easier to play if you don’t use the Wii Zapper. So, as it stood, using the Wii Zapper was pretty difficult, but not completely useless, seeing as the only motion control was aiming at the screen. However, there are multiple control systems for the game, including Classic Controller and Gamecube controller, so you don’t have to use the Wii Zapper. Just don’t expect a barrel of fun if you do.

The Wii Zapper. Slightly less useful than playing blindfolded with the controller behind your back, but way more cumbersome.

Thanks to the intense and score attack nature of the game, it looks to have a much bigger sense of replayability than you’d think of at first, and it’s allegedly short nature would be compromised by its high replay value and online leaderboards, meaning if you’re into that sort of thing, you could be here a long time, and so Sin and Punishment 2 seems to be a title that’ll truly appeal to the hardcore gamer.

Sin and Punishment 2 was released 7th May in Europe. Sadly, it looks like it’s going to languish and not sell very well over here, despite the high amount of positive reviews the game has gotten. Hopefully, it’ll sell well enough for Nintendo to be able to justify its creation and the future creation of other more hardcore games.

Plus, this is the cover art. How could you not want to pick up a game with a cover that awesome? Seriously.

- Jokesound

Now seven years later. The third installment in the Deus Ex franchise has been unleashed, with news now making its way across in internet. Deus Ex Human Revolution will again see us playing from the first person perspective and will have the role-playing elements we are used to from the franchises first outing back in 2000. With weapon and player customisation promised, this will be a game that holds true variety. It has also been said that the game will also have a multi solution approach to its obstacles, meaning, whatever your gaming style is, You will find an enjoyable way of playing Human Revolution.

The beauty about this game is that it is a prequel to Deus Ex 1. Meaning new comers to the franchise will not be left out or thinking ‘what the hell is going on here?’ the game starts a whole 25 years before the first game, but what I do appreciate here is that it won’t leave Deus Ex fans in the dark either, as familiar characters from the previous games will be popping up every now and again. It has also been said that the end of the game will flow pretty much perfectly into Deus Ex 1, which I think is a nice touch also.

If you played any Deus Ex titles you know that the gameplay is very open-ended. For example, if for instance you wanted to go and murder a main character, you could do so, they may be too powerful for you to kill, but hey you can still try. Human Revolution brings that style of open-ended game play back, quite literally giving you the freedom to do pretty much anything you want gameplay and story wise. Mind you some RPG dialogues have to be mandatory to keep the game together but other than that it is up to you, this in turn gives the game some pretty epic replay value, which will have any Deus EX fan salivating.

I am personally looking forward too how the game’s story line deals with Argumented people this time round. In previous titles there have been people in the Deus Ex world who have been argument, which means they have manipulated their body and changed their genetics for the better, weather is getting a reinforced bone structure or the ability of using a sniper rifle without the need of a scope there are people in the dues ex universe who want to make themselves better (and before you say OMG! BIOSHOCK! Deus Ex used the idea first.). There are also the non-argumented humans who think this is absolutely wrong and people shouldn’t ‘play god’ This in turn makes for some interesting political views within the game’s story line. That said, we know that arguments will be making a return in Deus Ex so it will be interesting to see how it will play a part in this story line.

Not much else is known about Deus Ex: Human Revolution as yet, I forgot to mention that this will strictly be a single player game, No multi-player for this title. Which is good really, gives me a chance to max out the achievements.

More will be revealed at this years E3 expo. Stay tuned to Plus XP for more info as we get it.

I shall now leave you with the latest trailer

Garv

*somewhere over the Ukraine*

I sat back and drank the last of my brand of El president Rum. Leaving Tropico was hard. The beach, the sun, the women…
I leaned over to where Garv was playing on his DS.

“How-much longer until we’re in London?” I slurred.

“Uhhh, yeah, about that…” he said, putting Professor Leighton down.
“You’re not going to London Beanie, you’re ah, no longer recognised as a UK citizen. Sorry…”

“Bwuh!? But, I was born there! I can’t be cast off like some manky kleanex!”

“…You were a dictator on a Caribbean island. The foreign office wasn’t too keen on your policies so revoked your citizenship.”

“Awww come on! I only tested ONE nuke there!”

“Unlucky buddy. The good news is we found a country that’ll take you AND is a segway to your next review!” he said grabbing an AK and parachute.

“…I’m not going to Paris am I?”

“Nope! Hope your Russians good, yer going to Pripyat!” he said tossing them to me.

“But Pripyat is in the Ukraine…”

“So? They still speak Russian there! Now get yer arse over to the door!”

“Wow, we at the airport already?”

Garv gave me a look. “Oh yeah, we’re almost there, all ya gotta do is step out the door…” he said snidely.

“Right-o boss! You’ll lemme know when my papers come through right?” I said hopefully.

“Uh huh, yeah, sure. Now fly you beanie wearing freak! Fly!”

Then I fell…

Luckily I knew how to work my parachute…unfortunately I hadn’t factored in how hard I would hit the ground…

When I woke, there was the sound of the wind in the trees, the patter of light rain on my face and an alien wailing in the far distance. There was a man standing just in front of me seemingly motionless. He smelled of death and decay mixed with rotten vinegar.

I pulled myself to my feet, pulled my AK to my side, safety off. As I did so the man turned, his flesh pallid his eyes glazed over, his arms hanging limply by his side with a 9mm clenched in one hand. I brought my rifle to bear and pulled the trigger…with a worrying *click*.
The zombie stumbled forward, raising its gun as I fumbled to re-load my weapon. Then came the shot. The zombie fell back, twitching in its death throws as a STALKER appeared through the brush. He walked straight past me and put a knife through the zombies sternum.

“Thankyou! Thankyou so much!”

He didn’t respond, going through the dead man’s pockets.
I got to my feet. The droning siren wail still permeated the air.
“What is that…”

The STALKER finished his business and stood up. “It is the sound of the wind through the greatest anomaly. All day and night it never stops. It is calling to us. It is calling us…to Pripyat.”

And now, to the review.

Call of Pripyat (COP) is the third game in the Stalker series, continuing the events from Shadow of Chernobyl and is by far the best game in the series. It takes place in 3 areas, the Zanton old riverbed, the Jupiter rail station and industrial district and the suburban city of Pripyat.

To those of you who are unfamiliar with the STALKER series, lemme give you the cliff notes: Alternative universe where the 1986 Chernobyl meltdown causes strange anomalies within the radiation Zones to create artefacts which are worth a lot of money attracting treasure hunters called STALKERS who fight each other’s and the mutated animals while avoiding the daily emitions that are lethal if caught in.

Yes the premise is silly, but the end product is excellent. GSC GAMEWORLD have clearly learned from the previous 2 games and given us a wonderfully atmospheric shooter.

The plot this time is that you play Major Alexander Degtyarev, but I like to call him Al. He works with the Ukrainian secret service or USS. You’ve been sent into the zone to investigate why several helicopters in Operation Fairway were suddenly down upon entering the zone with no apparent explanation. Although you are fairly well equipped at the begging as opposed to the last two games, your weapon is only fully useful once it is upgraded and customized to your style of fighting. You can mix it up between using a pistol and sniper rifle or, my favourite, a machine gun and shotgun combo. However, weapons can only be upgraded by the relevant tools you find within the zone. Why the inhabitants had the tools for customizing SMG’s in their houses I don’t know, but it adds a nice challenge and reason to go exploring.

So what else does COP improve over its predecessors? Well, the factions for a start. While they exist, they are not permanently at war and peace and the zone is not divided up the most common stalkers you will see will be operating as independent stalkers of Bandits. This makes the game much more streamlined as you’re not worrying about who controls what area and you’re free to follow the plot missions or side quests.

Now, I’m about to make a statement some may consider controversial, but I say it with confidence: COP’s side quests, are better than Fallout 3’s side quests. A FPS shooter, has better quest in it, then an RPG. Wow. I did not see that coming. Why are they better? Let me count the ways. You earn USEFUL in-game achievements when you complete them, they are varied and interesting enough to make you explore every corner of the Zone instead of just the plot locations and they actually have a bearing on what happens when the game ends!

The weather and lighting effects are top-notch and the melodious sound of the wind in the trees to the howling of the pseudo dogs will keep you checking your back to make sure nothing is creeping up on you and believe me, they will creep up on you…

I’m not going to talk about the monsters you face too much because it will spoil the surprise, but you’ll be seeing some new faces and some old ones to send shivers down your spine. You can go from hunter to hunted in a matter of seconds if you don’t have your wits about you.
The surrounding environments especially that of Pripyat itself have been lovingly recreated by the team to be as realistic to the actual location as possible. The desolate wastes, the empty buildings add to the tense feeling of loneliness before you get, jumped, shot eaten or hit by an anomaly. The artefacts that you find while risking your life in anomalies are much more worthwhile than in the previous game as they are integral to surviving radiation and attacks on the harder difficulties and later on in the game.

The daily emitions from the Chernobyl power plant have to be sheltered from at all costs, if yer out when the sky turns red yer gonna be dead. I know, it’s a bad rhyme but it’s true. You’ll find yourself ditching your stuff just to make it to a tunnel or bunker so your goose isn’t cooked.

However, the game is far from perfect. While the voice over’s have improved, the voice doesn’t always match up with the text and is still the grinding eastern European accent which makes it hard to discriminate one character from another. While the game has fewer bugs than its predecessors it still suffers from clipping issues and occasional messy A.I. For example, when I travelled between the areas all of a sudden all of the STALKERS in the safe area ran out as if someone had done a toxic fart in there!

But these are minor gripes. Ultimately COP is an enjoyable atmospheric shooter with a good 15-20 hours of game play and a satisfying ending. While it’s not perfect I’d definitely recommend it to fans and newbie’s alike.

- That Bloke In The Beanie

Love him or hate him, Snake is a well established and respected figure in gaming, despite the twisting, turning, near incomprehensible storyline around him. But seeing as the next big game in the series is set around the character of Raiden, a guy I could take or leave, even with his all new ninja-badassery; I’ll be concentrating on the upcoming PSP release: MGS Peace Walker.

OK, so its Solid Snakes father Big Boss, but you know you’re just playing another incarnation of Snake. The game is set after Big Boss’s last outing inSouth America where he saved the world again! Now a free agent, he’s decided to use his soldier stealing skills from Portable Ops to make his very own mercenary group named called ‘Militaires Sans Frontières’, or Soldiers Without Borders. They’ve been called into Costa Rica in ’74 because a mysterious armed group has sprung up. This is a problem for the government because their constitution bans the creation of an armed force; meaning the country is up for grabs if you have the firepower. So far so standard, but the character development is gonna be where it’s at, finding out what made a former government agent into a ruthless mercenary leader bent on changing the world through military means!

A key feature in Peace Walker will be the new co-op mode with 2-4 players involved on infiltration missions. As has been shown in trailers, Snake will be working with…clones of himself to exploit the enemy’s weakness, even going so far as to share a cardboard box. This is perhaps the most ambiguously gay duo since Batman and Robin, although the box now has more practical uses like using it to get the cookies down from the top shelf or to get over that wall which is just a tad too high to hop over.

The combat interface has been changed too with MGS4’s over the shoulder camera replacing the static FPS mode, allowing you to fire while moving and be more flexible in a fire fight. You can also bring back incapacitated allies by performing CPR on them, though how that cures bullet wounds I’ve yet to fathom. Not forgetting the thinly veiled mecha Metal Gear bots you’ll be bringing down.

Still, the graphics look improved from Snakes last outing and it looks like the PSPs power is being fully utilised. So despite my sarcastic comments, I’m looking forward to Peace Walker and finding out what happened to Big Boss.

Earlier in the year, my family turned to what some Xbox fanboys might call ‘the dark side’ and got a PlayStation 3. Now my mum surprisingly love arcade shooters such as Time Crisis (+5 cool points there) and she went and got Time Crisis 4 for the new shiny Japanese console. While my first reaction was some thing along the lines of ‘How damn cool is that!?’ I then took a step back and thought, is this such a great idea? But me being me, I don’t like to judge books by their covers. So grab a cuppa and take a seat as I will tell you about my time with the PS3 port of Time Crisis 4.

This version of the 4^th Time Crisis title doesn’t stray too much from the original arcade machine outing, in that you have the same cheesy over-the-top American storyline and characters that the original arcade game had; this is your typical Time Crisis game, whatever platform you choose to play it on. The low-down story wise is some terrorists have launched a biological weapon, known as ‘Terror Bite’. In a nut shell this weapon is just a load of genetically engineered bugs that will chew through any human being alive, So in true arcade style shooter fashion, your mission is to shoot your way through the game to stop these terrorists.

This is classic Time Crisis really, the PlayStation 3 version however is missing the pedal, which the Time Crisis series is really famous for, being one of those things that makes the Time Crisis series differ from your average arcade shooter.

Speaking of hardware, I have to outline the huge FAIL Namco have done here with the PlayStation 3 port of the game. Now I don’t know if it’s my family getting a gargantuan sized TV, or Namco themselves not taking into account that people like to buy gargantuan TVs (bet you can see where I am kinda going here) but when you buy Time Crisis 4 for your PS3 you will have a nice day-glow orange light gun controller and two receivers for the gun, which are joined together by some wiring. The idea being you have to put each receiver on each end of the TV. The problem I had with it though is that the main HD TV I was playing it on is a whopping 55 inches, meaning the receiver could not reach each corner because the wire joining them together wasn’t long enough. It was still playable…till about half way through my play time. There is a bit in the game where you have to turn, by aiming the gun to the left or right hand side of the screen. I physically couldn’t move and was getting a lead pummeling from both sides, while I just stood there and watched a ceiling-mounted water sprinkler trying to put out a non-existent fire… awesome.

This isn't a shot of my actual TV, but you get the idea...

Hardware fails aside, something still lacks here, and I really cannot put my finger on it, I mean the gameplay is still the same-ish (minus the pedal, it’s just a lot of moving the gun about). Maybe it’s because you have to be in a room the size of a small town hall to really play it; or at least dismantle all your furniture in the living room. Die Hard Trilogy on the PSone never had this much trouble.

To be frank I am disappointed. I wanna pick up a game and play it. Not pick up a game and have to assemble it like Ikea furniture before I get a chance to play, there is a time and a place for assembling things, and playing a video game isn’t that time or place. So take it from me, hitting the arcade and playing Time Crisis 4 is a lot less frustrating.

-Garvaos

Things have evolved a bit in the RE universe – as opposed to the mysterious events of zombies in a mansion – Resi 1′s “Mansion Incident”, and the events of Racoon City, biological weapons have been unveiled from the shadows, and theyre everywhere. Multiple viruses now exist, including the “Las Plagas”, a type of infection that takes control of a person’s mind, making them a lot smarter and more agile than zombies. Countries are selling various biological weapons in black market deals, and Chris Redfield is now a member of the BSAA, a group dedicated to the eradication of said “B.O.W.s” (Biorganic Weapons). It is this which brings him to Africa, although there is much more at stake than it may initially seem.

The game’s setting is the first to have levels in daylight – usually the night time setting is simply to give the game a more horror-like feel. Continuing RE4′s use of the smart, agile Las Plagas (known as Majini in Africa) - its very much about the fear of being outnumbered rather than suspense. Although not as scary as its predecessors, it works well with the game’s plotline. Chris now has a partner, Sheva Alomar, who accompanies him through the entire game. In single player, she is controlled by AI; otherwise the game includes a full co-op experience, available both offline and online.

The gameplay works very much the same as Resi 4, a third person game with the camera situated behind the player’s back. The controls actually similar to the original RE titles – pressing up and down on the L Stick make you step forward or back, while you can turn left and right using the R Stick, and you can also perform a quick 180 turn by pressing down and A together. However, as opposed to the pre-4 games, you can also strafe by moving the L stick left and right. This control style keeps the game feeling like a Resi title, while updating it to feel more fluid and responsive. Shooting works in the same way as Resi 4, you hold the LT to raise your gun, and then use the LS to aim, and RT to shoot. Although the game is often criticised for the inability to shoot while running, it gives it more of a true RE feeling, and soon becomes second nature.

Sheva’s AI involves her following you everywhere – you can set her between Attack and Cover modes, which essentially make her either Aggressive or Passive. Its fairly simple, but probably for the best as you don’t want to be wading through several menus as a Majini wants to eat your face. Her AI isn’t terrible, although it does have flaws. On the good side, she seems capable to shoot enemies fairly well, and tends not to get stuck in silly places. She also has the intelligence to pass you ammunition for weapons you are holding, and can heal you when necessary. However, she can have the occasional ‘dumb’ moment, where she will use items that probably could have been otherwise conserved, or get caught in a one-hit kill attack by one of the stronger enemies – which causes you t0 fail in the same way that dying yourself would. However, both of these issues are generally avoidable, by keeping a check on what inventory she has held, and by using the few AI controls you have (changing aggressiveness, or calling her to you). Overall, I think the AI has been done pretty well – AI partners can become a real burden in games, whereas Sheva is fairly intuitive, and only causes a little frustration. In both single player and co-op, you must learn to share ammunition and supplies between the two characters.

Obviously the co-op mode is a different matter – this mode is done perfectly – both players have full control over their characters, and both have access to all game features. When you play with a friend, you also have complete access to your own game’s inventory, so you can continue to build on your own supplies and equipment, and use the guns you have been upgrading yourself.

This brings me to the inventory.  This has been changed a bit since before, with all items taking up single square slots, rather than different size spaces in an attache case. Both Chris and Sheva have a 3×3 grid of 9 slots of their own personal inventory, in which they can hold any 9 items they wish – weapons, herbs, ammunition etc. The four middle slots around the edges are designated to D-Pad shortcuts, (for instance the top middle slot represents the Up D-Pad command) and allows you to assign items to these for fast access. During misisons you can trade items with Sheva easily, so organising things is easy. Outside of missions you have a large store where you can place items you wish to keep but not hold at the current time, so you can build up a collection without having to hold everything at once. Most guns can be upgraded in this inventory screen, by paying gold to upgrade various aspects such as Firepower, Ammo Capacity and other bonuses such as Piercing and Critical Hits for headshots. This system is very useful, allowing you to improve your guns as you progress, so that they don’t just become weak and redundant over time. You can also purchase new weapons and items using this gold. Also, you can find various treasures during the game, such as gold artifacts and the like, which can all be sold for good money.

The game has a fairly good range of different levels and settings, after the shanty towns and savannas of the first few missions you’ll find yourself in other areas which are all look great, and offer new themes. Graphically, the game is amazing. Capcom have done a great job at both character design and level design, and it all blends perfectly. I won’t say too much as I don’t want to spoil it, but the missions get even better over time. Also, the game features a chapter select mode, allowing you to replay levels with your current supplies, allowing you to build on your inventory and attempt better times and ranks for the different stages.

Sadly, there is a fairly big lack of puzzles – there are only 1 or 2 in the game. However, I suspect this is because the game is made with good replay value, and puzzles could get tedious having to repeat them every time you do certain levels.

This title has a fairly large amount of bosses, although generally this is a great thing – they all have different strategies, look great and are challenging yet not impossible. Some of the stronger enemies feel like ‘sub-bosses’ such as the Chainsaw Majini, which seems to have quite a lot more HP than its RE4 counterpart. All the main bosses are fairly different, so there is a nice range and they’re all satisfying to defeat. You may find a little frustration on one or two, but where’s the fun without a little challenge?

The game features a system where you are awarded points after missions, which can be used to unlock bonus features. Although to begin with you’ll see nothing but statues of characters and enemies to buy, once the game is complete you can get some alternate costumes, and a couple of other decent features which are worth saving for.

Multiplayer wise, this game seems pretty good. Obviously the co-op mode is brilliant, but Mercenaries mode acts as a two player survival mode, scoring points by killing zombies and keeping yourselves alive. Capcom are also releasing a couple of DLC multiplayer modes – including a Versus mode – although at 800MSP a piece I’ve yet to see if these will be worth the price tag.

Overall, Resident Evil has changed. Gone are the jumpy-horror parts, the puzzles, and the slow flesh-eating undead. But with the game’s general plot, it has become a worthy sequel to a great story, and the gameplay compliments this. This is possibly the best co-op game on the 360, and has plenty of replay value. The single player is good also, I personally have completed it with the AI, but am only half way in co-op mode. The game is very satisfying and well worth a purchase – just don’t expect to be afraid.

-Leon