The Death Of Single Player Gaming?

There is a general trend I am noticing with every game that is being released in recent times. It's the "lets make sure we have some sort of multiplayer or co-op component in our game".

Don't get me wrong, I like it when developers include multiplayer that is done correctly, however I am getting increasingly annoyed that multiplayer is the new focus on many of these games. Take Uncharted 2 on the PS3 for example. Why anyone would want to play multiplayer or co-op uncharted 2 is beyond me. Why does every game need to have a multiplayer or co-op component. Why not focus your energy in actually making the game GOOD!

I know for a fact that there is a big team over at Naughty Dog (the people behind uncharted) that is working soley on the multiplayer/co-op component of the game. Let's hope it doesn't take away from the single player experience.

Even our faithful BIOSHOCK 2 has fallen into the multiplayer trap. I mean do we really need to see Bioshock multiplayer? really?

I would like to see developers focusing on what makes their games great and if that is the single player experience then lets get that part right. Don't feel pressured into wacking on a multiplayer game and have it be a throwaway thing as we have seen in most cases over the last year or so.

Is single player gaming dead? I certainly hope not.

At the 4th Hour -- Red Faction Guerilla

OMG -- I believe we have a sleeper here, Red Faction Guerrilla is a game that will creep slowly on the store shelf, and it is worth a look.
The back story here is all about the colonisation of the planet Mars, you are a demolition expert turned resistance fighter against the usual large corporation goons. From the start you notice that Red Faction, do things differently.

Lets start with the game play, I have the mention the destructive environment, armed with a sledge hammer and explosive, you can level entire buildings. The detail on the demolition when you swing your sledge hammer, will make you go wow. This game takes driving a vehicle through a building to another level. Then to the driving, you feel every bump and jump it is so much fun. As I am only 4 hours into the game, I was able to take control of a large walking construction vehicle, again so much fun. They have nailed all aspect of the game play here, this includes the ability to set multiple charges (so far I can set 5). Shooting is fun and I have to mention that the difficulty is quite hard on normal, which takes the game to another level.

The level design is something different again, driving around on the planet Mars, is different and amazing. Ohh did I mention that this is a sandbox environment. You can go and do what you like.
The detail in the destruction is so hard to describe, you have to see it for yourself.

The sound, is very good, speech is a little soft, but you can it the wind howling and the enemy talk about you being your back, as you seek in for the swing away kill.

Overall this game needs to be seen to believe, I can see myself playing this for a long time. The open world, the destructibility and the mission selection makes my top 5 list for 2009 so far.

Gameplay = 9.1
Visuals = 8.9
Sound = 8.6
Game Now Score = 8.8/10

At the 4th Hour -- Bionic Commando

This is a new segment, where we review a game after playing for it 4 hours. After 4 hours of game play, we feel that you can understand the basic mechanics and direction the game is taking.

Today, we are talking about Bionic Commando. You start out as Nathan Spencer, an ex government operative, those services are required again, by the government that had imprisoned him. A bomb has been detonated in Ascension City, and Nathan need to find the cause.

The gameplay is actually quite good, with you bionic arm, you can traverse great lengths, and it actually feels good to chain a few of these together. The game isn't an open sandbox as first thought, you move from point to point. The shooting aspect isn't the main focus, and this shows when you use the automatic weapons, the heavy weapons are impressive. The main focus is your arm, which you can use as a weapon.

The level design, is well detailed and very impressive. You traverse through a city, sewer, forest and building structures.

The sound is great, with the voice acting of Mike Patton, (The Darkness -- Jackie Estacado). The sound affects are also good, this includes the bionic arm.

Overall the game, is well worth the play, just be prepared for loading screens, it is a must to install this to you 360, as the load screens become very annoying, between areas and when you die.

I will be finishing the game

Gameplay = 7.8
Visuals = 7.9
Sound = 7.5
Game Now Score = 7.7/10

X-Men Origins: Wolverine - Review

The usual trend these days, is an action or kids movie comes out, out comes a game. Wolverine can stand with it's head held high, as it rises above the standard movie game, released in the last few years.

Wolverine has delivered with an ultra violent fight scenes, and excellent game play. There is also a great variety of the enemy's and bosses to fight. The usual weak and strong attack combo's are here and well as a nice block/counter system, gives you a chance to see more ultra violent "quick kills". A very nice feature is the lunge attack, allows to move turn the fight on it's head. Then there is the special moves, once you build rage. All very nice ideas.

The level details are very good, from the jungle to the sentinel factory. You will need to hop/climb/push and fight your way through. There are sometimes clipping issues, and camera problems, but they quickly forgotten, when you come up against a fully functioning sentinel.

The sound is a problem here, often I would need to turn the volume up, during the voice acting. I also enjoyed that Hugh provided the voice acting for his own character.

Wolverine is great, if you are looking for a game which you can pick up and play. The entire game took me about 10 hours to play, but it may make it back into my console, to be completed on hard.

Gameplay = 8.5
Visuals = 8
Sound = 7
Game Now Score = 7.8/10

Motorstorm: Pacific Rift - Review

When the PS3 first launched a few years back, Motorstorm was a title that really showed the potential of the PS3 hardware. Although the game was drop dead gorgeous, to me it really just played like a tech demo and wasn't much of a game at all.

How things have changed with Pacific Rift! This game was released in November of 2008 and somehow got lost amongst some of the AAA titles that hit during that month. I blame developers and publishers for releasing everything during November, makes it very hard for the end consumer. Enough with my little rant.

Motorstorm Pacific Rift fixed all of the issues with the original game. You have double the tracks(16 unique) more cars, even better graphics, you will be pressed to find a better off road racer period. The races in Pacific Rift are spread accross some of the most beatiful rendered environments you have ever seen in a racer or in any game.

The original Motorstorm was also a hard game with many frustrating races to be found. This has also been addressed in Pacific Rift with a feeling of "yes, I can still win this race eventhough I have crashed twice" to it.

Overall I had a great time with Pacific Rift and highly recomend it.

Gameplay = 8.5
Visuals = 9
Sound = 8
Game Now Score = 8.5/10

Assassins Creed 2 - New Hero

Char name: Ezio Auditore de Firenze
(click on image for larger view)

The Godfather II - Review

After a short delay in it's release date Godfather II is taking over stores today. Godfather II follows events from the great film of the same name, released in 1974. It tells of a mob war amongst several families and is played out in 3 locations. New York City, Florida and Cuba.

Based on the source material, Godfather 2 has an interesting story to tell but whether or not you will stick around to hear it is another thing.

What Godfather 2 has to offer is a very satisfying sense of control of your entire mob family and introduces a very cool way to interact with the world called "Don's View". You as the Don of the family can bring up a map of the current city and target rival family business and made men. So this game is one part action shooter and one part crime strategy. Combined together you have a fairly satisfying experience, but the game isn't without its problems.

A few issues I had with the game revolved around the game world and how you interacted with it or lack off interaction in this case. The fact that I could not jump over a barrel or even up onto a gutter kinda take you out of the experience. I have no idea why these limitations are in the game besides the fact that they would need to animate that movement. This simple issue really bothered me whilst playing the game.

If you are into micro managing units, in this case mob members then you might find Godfather II entertaining, however after 3 to 4 hours of the same type of mission structure, it tends to get old fast. Godfather II had me super excited to begin with but the more I played it the more I started to really dislike it and find it hard to recommend.

Gameplay = 6.5
Visuals = 7
Sound = 7
Game Now Score = 6.8/10

The Dishwasher: Dead Samurai - Review

The Dishwasher: Dead Samurai is the creation from Ska Studio's James Silva. It is a 2D side scrolling beat em up with loads of flair. The Dishwasher was the winner of Microsoft's initial Dream-Build-Play game development contest in 2007. Silva received $10,000 and an Xbox Live Arcade publishing contract.

Over 2 years in the making, The Dishwasher finally hit XBLA last week. Let me start by suggesting that you play this game on the 'easy' difficulty to start with. The game will beat your ass on 'normal' and above. Once you finish the story on 'easy' you get to keep all your cool weapons and items for consecutive playthroughs on the harder difficulties.

You play as an under appreciated dishwasher fighting through waves of various enemy's until the final boss battle at the end of each level. Your not going to play The Dishwasher for its story but more for its brutally fun gameplay. You are equipped with 2 weapons to start with but have the ability to unlock some great additions to your arsenal such as a chainsaw and automatic riffle and shotgun. You can only equip 2 of these weapons at once but can swap between them pretty much on the fly.

The visual design in The Dishwasher is fantastic, with edgy, highly stylised graphics that make the whole world feel just perfect. Sound design also deserves much credit from its simple but cool 'guitar solo's' to the excellent song selections during some of the boss battles.

Besides the story mode, you have other cool modes to explore. Dish Challenge involves you surviving waves of enemy attacks while attempting to score combos for points. There is also Arcade mode which are single screen areas that change the criteria and weapon layout at the start of each level.

A lot of credit needs to be given to James Silva for creating a game that gamers will love to play. It is also a testament to the power of XNA and will hopefully inspire other develpers to stop making crap and rushing games to market. At only 800 Microsoft space bucks, do yourself a favour and the independent gaming at large, pick this one up you will not regret it.

Gameplay = 8.4
Visuals = 8
Sound = 7.5
Game Now Score = 7.9/10

Review Round Up

Wanted - Weapons of Fate: This game reminded me of Dark Sector and 50 Cent Blood on the Sand. Only thing is, the new fiddy game is more entertaining. Frustrating action sequences, gritty cut scenes and generic gameplay all lead to a pretty ordinary release. 4.6/10

Wheelman: This game is really trying to be GTA but falling way way short. You may think this game is pretty cool 30 minutes in but just keep playing it and you will be tempted to through your controller out the window. Total disappointment in my opinion, give it a miss. 5.0/10

Call Of Duty World At War: Major improvement from Trearch's attempt and failure in Call of Duty 3. This game actually uses the majority of the assets from Modern Warfare and is a good game in its own right. I for one am sick of the WW2 shooters so found it a little hard to play through, but I finished it and its pretty good. Nazi Zombie mode is the highlight here also props go out to the multiplayer component of the game. 7.7/10

Afro Samurai: The game's artistic design is fantastic and the in game music is brilliant. Too bad the game does it's utmost to make sure you hate it. Frustrating camera, boss fights and having to backpedal quite a bit, bring this game down. It's a shame. 6.2/10

Seemed Like a Good Idea - Episode 1

RESIDENT EVIL 5 - Unable to Shoot while moving

Welcome to the first episode of SLAGI, in slagi we look at what we think are pretty ordinary decisions made by game developers. We will be looking at mostly newish games and we begin with RE5. We are all aware that Resident Evil is the grandfather of survival horror games and that much respect goes out to the franchise for what it did many years ago.

The fact that the core gameplay hasn't changed is a little concerning. RE5 is essentially a action shooter with enemies coming from left right and center and in many cases are right up in your face. We are stuck with having to run away from an enemy do a quick turn(thank god that made it into the game) and then start shooting.

Not being able to run and shoot in RE5 is a total let down for many gamers. Lets make this clear, if this wasn't a Resident Evil game no one would stand for such a bad decision. To make things worse the developers were talking about the ability to be able to run and gun but had to pull it from the game late in its development.

RE5 is still a great game but you can bet your bottom dollar that RE6 will not have 1990's controls :)