June 2010

Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands

June 9, 2010

While the HD systems are receiving a new Prince of Persia title that fits into the narrative gap between last generation’s The Sands of Time and The Warrior Within, the Wii version of The Forgotten Sands is a stand-alone story with its own unique mechanics. Apparently the titular prince has somehow obtained a djinn companion, Zhara, who brings him to the kingdom of Izdihar. The young djinn bonds her immortal soul with the prince’s, allowing him to recover from certain death (since the game lacks the time-rewinding powers of the Sands of Time series) and later to manifest various powers that will help him to release the lost kingdom from its curse.

The kingdom is overrun by a malevolent plant-like entity called the Haoma, although the prince accidentally setting free an evil sorceress at the heart of the curse isn’t helping matters. Most of the quest is spent chasing after “the beast”, a misshapen creature who has run off with part of the only weapon that can defeat the sorceress. Once that has been reclaimed, the weapon must be reforged by the gods who created it, forcing the prince to prove his worth to them to earn their favor. Finally, the sorceress must be defeated and the Haoma vanquished.

All of this is naturally accomplished via the parkour-style gameplay made popular by The Sands of Time. The prince will run along and up walls, hang from ledges, swing from poles, and otherwise improvise his own path through puzzling mechanisms and among lethal traps. To make up somewhat for the inability to rewind, there is an indicator that will usually show you when the prince’s destination is within reach, which is handy but sometimes inadequate for some of the faster-paced sequences. Along the way the prince gains three magical powers to aid him: the spirit hook allows him to cling to special plates (or later almost any wall), the whirlwind lifts him above deadly obstacles and sometimes cushions his falls (this is also restricted to special plates at first), and the magic sphere allows the prince to hover in mid-air to either change directions in mid-leap, act as a pseudo-“double jump,” or just save him from what would normally be a lethal plummet. Bear in mind that by giving you the freedom to use these abilities at pretty much any time, the designers have also given themselves free reign to make courses that are mind-bogglingly impossible at first glance. Later on the prince will have to chain these abilities (especially the sphere and hooks) to traverse seemingly-impassible sections; the trick is that you cannot have more than one of a given power active at one time and there’s a slight lag before you can reactivate them, so you can’t just keep making spheres over and over or spirit hook your way up a crazy vertical climb. Additionally, once you let go of one of these constructs it disappears, so you better be sure of where you’re going.

Of course, this would be a lot easier if the camera weren’t so problematic. The game usually indicates a suggested path by the presence of Djinn’s Souls, which fill your Life Orbs as you collect them in addition to providing experience points towards new combat skills, but many times (especially later on) you have to figure out where to go next on your own. Holding the c button allows you to look around using the pointer… sometimes. Other times the camera is hindered by a wall or other obstacle, or it zooms in too close to be of any real use, or it won’t stay behind the prince to let you line up your jump/hook properly. The other danger with this mechanic is that the c button on the nunchuck is perilously close to the z button — which causes the prince to let go of his ledge, hook, sphere, or whatever, often into sudden death if you hit it accidentally. It really is something of a glaring flaw, as I died to camera-related issues about as often as I did to actual hazards and enemies.

The other flaw with the game is the combat, although that has been a recurring issue with the series for some time now. Combat in The Forgotten Sands isn’t terrible, but it is often an inconvenience, especially early on before you gain harder-hitting skills like the tried and true wall slash or when the game throws wave after wave of the tougher enemies (minotaurs, chthonic beasts) at you. Having to swing the remote or nunchuck to actually execute attacks is a nuisance but there isn’t much that can be done about that given the other controls and the need to use the pointer for your magical abilities (which also have combat uses). The game gives you the option to bypass a few enemies with the presence of “leaders”. Once you’ve defeated enough enemies in a given combat, a leader will appear, denoted by a blue glow. Defeating this enemy will end the combat early, at the expense of any extra experience you would have gained by defeating each individual opponent. Of course by that point you’ve already gone through a wave of two, so it’s not really all that helpful in the long run. Really the biggest problem with the combat is that it’s not the platforming action and puzzles that you would much rather be tackling.

There are a few other issues with the Wii version as well, most notably where the sound is involved. While the voice acting is fine (especially with Yuri Lowenthal reprising his role as the prince) and the music sufficient, the sound levels are off to the point where it is very difficult to hear anything Zhara tells you even if you crank up the voice volume and turn down everything else. Subtitles are provided and I highly recommend them, or else you’re likely to miss some important plot information.

Beyond the main narrative, The Forgotten Sands features several bonuses like a Heroic Challenge achievement system (some of which are just story milestones), unlockable challenge courses, hidden costume changes, and even the original SNES Prince of Persia title that you can unlock early on (instructions on how to do so are actually provided with the manual). These provide some replay value if you really want to play through the game multiple times, but whether or not you’re willing to do that will largely depend on how tolerant you are of the camera and other issues.

Overall I found the Wii version of The Forgotten Sands to be a fine platformer, but not the ground-breaking must-have of The Sands of Time. While I suppose we should be thankful that these games weren’t just quick cash-ins for the recent movie release, and I do appreciate the fact that the Wii got a custom-made title rather than a shoddy port of the PS3/Xbox 360 titles, ultimately I couldn’t get past the fact that we clearly didn’t get the “A team” on this project. The camera, sound, and control issues really hurt my enjoyment of the game to the point where I really had to force myself to finish it. There are some nicely designed levels that are worth experiencing, but don’t feel like you should be in any rush to do so.

Plays like: other games in the recent Prince of Persia series

Pros: more innovative platforming action; custom-made for the Wii; SNES Prince of Persia contained on the disc as a bonus

Cons: serious camera issues; monotonous combat; over-reliance on chaining magical abilities seems forced at times

Snackbar Speculator: The Last Hu-rrah

June 6, 2010

Features / Speculator / by Shawn Vermette /

For our last edition before E3, we’ve got new rumors, new results, and a new staffer atop the standings.

Current score

Andrew Passafiume: +155

Graham Russell: +45

Eric Schabel: 0

Shawn Vermette: +145

Results

Red Faction 4 to be a prequel

Earlier this week, a teaser trailer for Red Faction: Armageddon was released, showing a Mars 50 years after Red Faction: Guerrilla. So while it is possible they may make a prequel someday, Red Faction 4 is definitely not it.

Andrew 20% = +30

Graham 50% = +0

Eric 50% = +0

Shawn 40% = +10

Hulu to join Xbox 360’s multimedia offerings

Over the past year or so, Microsoft has made a concerted effort to bring in more multimedia offerings to the Xbox 360, hoping to make it more attractive to the non-gamer scene. Recently there’s been talk of Microsoft even starting its own TV Channel for the 360. This may not be the same thing, but it’s a step in that direction if true. Rumor has it that Hulu, one of the best places to stream old TV shows, may be showing up on the Xbox 360 soon, with more details to come out during E3.

Andrew: This seems practically confirmed at this point. Microsoft always has something to announce regarding the 360 and something that isn’t exactly game related. Last year we had last.fm, Facebook, and Twitter. The year before? Netflix. Hulu definitely seems like a worthy successor to those services, and one that would become very popular. 90%

Graham: I think it’s totally confirmed that Microsoft wants this. My hesitation comes from the history of roadblocks put up by content providers whenever Hulu tries to expand. With all the subscription rumors going around…you just can’t be sure what Hulu will do these days. 80%

Eric: This is one of the rumors that I want to be true, but I really can’t tell how it will turn out. It certainly makes sense that Microsoft would try to get Hulu on their Xbox Live service; it would fit right in with Netflix and Last.fm, but other than that I’ve got nothing. 50%

Shawn: I hope this rumor is true, as I would vastly prefer to watch Hulu on my TV rather than my computer monitor. Luckily, history is on my side, as Microsoft makes a habit of having at least one big non-gaming announcement for the 360 at every E3 90%

Next Assassin’s Creed game to take place in Egypt

Assassin’s Creed 2 blew the socks off of gamers with its many improvements to the gameplay. Now, gamers wanting more may have just been told the location for the next Assassin’s Creed game. Ubisoft released a picture on their website this week that appears to depict an assassin in Egyptian garb, standing in front of two pyramids. Ubisoft has yet to comment on anything about this rumor, preferring to let us go nuts over the possibility, apparently.

Andrew: People are always speculating what the next major location will be in the new Assassin’s Creed game, and based on what we’ve seen, Egypt seems pretty likely. Although sometimes it’s hard to tell with Ubisoft, so you can never be absolutely certain. But Egypt definitely seems more likely than any other predictions I’ve heard so far. 65%

Graham: This could be a red herring. It’s probably not, though, and the entire Mediterranean area is suitable for the gameplay. Moving the location is a nice way to keep things fresh, and the only other logical location, the Middle East, may be just a bit too dicey for Ubi to want to touch right now. (Note to readers: we’re not talking about Brotherhood, as it’s a spinoff and not a true sequel.) 90%

Eric: You know what they say, a picture is worth a thousand words. Even though Ubisoft isn’t commenting on the rumor, I think the picture they posted says it all. Given how Assassin’s Creed II ended, I thought things might go in a different direction with the third game, but with a storyline has twisty as Assassin’s Creed’s, anything is possible. 80%

Shawn: I think many of us were hoping for an asian flavor to the next game(feudal Japan anyone?), but Egypt would fit right in, and the picture sure seems airtight, unless it is purposeful misinformation. I’m not sure Ubisoft would do that to us though. 85%

Richard Branson to make an announcement at E3

There’s really not much to say regarding this rumor. Richard Branson is the eccentric chairman of the Virgin Group. Virgin used to publish games in the 1980s and 90s, but sold off the entirety of their gaming presence in the late 1990s. Rumor has it though that he wants back into gaming and may use E3 to announce his intentions.

Andrew: I really have no idea what to make of this one. Sure, I could see it happening, but is there really room for another big game publisher? Probably, but will Virgin will be as big as it was back then? It seems a big doubtful. But if they do announce something, I expect they will have big titles to back it up. 50%

Graham: I could get burned by this, but I seriously doubt he’d take E3 as his opportunity, even if he did want back in. The Big Three dominate the show, and for Branson to stand out, he’d have to announce either (1) a console or (2) some major, major studio acquisitions. I don’t see either happening, and what’s more, he can get press together anytime if he ever wants to make the leap. He doesn’t need the platform of E3, and he won’t use it. 1%

Eric: I really don’t have any insight into this rumor, and even if it is true I don’t think it is something I would be excited about just yet. It’s certainly been a long time since Virgin has had their hands in the gaming business, but a new publisher is nothing without some good developers to back it up. 50%

Shawn: Richard Branson has his hand in many pies already, so it wouldn’t really be a surprise if he wanted back into games. After all, the industry is about 5 or 6 times bigger than it was when he left it. At the same time, it’ll be hard for any new publisher to make their way in an already very crowded publishing environment. I think this is unlikely simply due to the toughness of his competition. The industry has changed a lot since Virgin left it. 35%

Gaming Unplugged: Forbidden Island

June 6, 2010

Features / Unplugged / by Chris Ingersoll /

Game designer Matt Leacock impressed the worldwide gaming community a couple of years ago with the release of Pandemic, a cooperative game which pitted the players against four strains of ever-spreading diseases all over the globe. This year he has taken many of the great mechanics from Pandemic and produced a lighter, faster-playing cooperative game called Forbidden Island, published by Gamewright.

In Forbidden Island, two to four players take on the roles of an adventuring team seeking to claim the treasures of a cursed isle (solo play is also possible, as it’s fairly easy to manage multiple “players” on your own). There are six possible roles, each with its own special ability that will be vital to success. On a player’s turn he can take up to three actions; the possible choices for each action are: 1) move to the next adjacent island tile (the Explorer can move diagonally, the Diver can move through flooded or sunken tiles, and the Pilot can hop to any tile he wishes once per turn), 2) shore up a sunken tile if you are on or adjacent to it (the Engineer can shore up two such tiles with one action), 3) pass a treasure card to a teammate if you are on the same space (the Messenger can do this no matter where he is), or 4) claim one of the treasures. The final role, the Navigator, can move any other player up to two adjacent tiles for one action. You claim the treasure by moving to one of the two tiles dedicated to that treasure and discarding four treasure cards (there are five of each in the deck) with that treasure on it. Additionally, there are two special treasure cards that can be played as any time and do not count as an action. After taking his actions, a player draws two treasure cards, discarding down to five if necessary, and then reveals flood cards equal to the current water level before passing the turn to the next player. If one of the three “Waters Rise!” cards is drawn, the water level increases one tick on the meter, then all of the revealed flood cards are shuffled and placed back on top of the flood deck, guaranteeing that those same cards will come up again soon.

Each of the twenty-four nicely illustrated island tiles are represented once in the flood deck. When a given card is revealed from that deck, the corresponding tile is flipped over to its “flooded” side. If a tile is already flooded when its card is revealed, that tile sinks beneath the waves and is removed from play along with its card; any players that happen to be on that tile must move to an adjacent tile (or the nearest tile in the case of the Diver) or the players lose the game. The players can also lose the game if Fools’ Landing sinks, if both of a given treasure’s tiles sink before that treasure is claimed, or if the waters rise to the “skull” level. The only way for the players to win is for all four treasures to be claimed, all players make it to Fools’ Landing, and then someone plays a “Helicopter Lift” treasure card. A lot has to go right for this to happen, obviously, but it’s far from impossible. Of course, it’s also possible for the players to be so unlucky to be dealt a “first turn kill”: six tiles are flooded at set up, and if one of them is Fools’ Landing an early “Waters Rise!” card drawn without being able to shore up the tile could result in their only escape route vanishing immediately!

Careful management of flooded tiles is key to surviving Forbidden Island. Priority should obviously be given to Fools’ Landing and the various treasure-related tiles, but you also have to remember to keep a path back to the escape point or you’ll lose everything. In addition to the three “Waters Rise!” cards lurking in the treasure deck, the flood deck will become reshuffled when it is exhausted, and since cards are eliminated as tiles disappear that turnover could be quite fast towards the end stages of the game. In a similar vein, don’t think that you’re in the clear once you’ve drawn all the “Waters Rise!” cards, as the treasure deck will have to be reshuffled eventually as well.

Forbidden Island rests somewhere on the border between filler and full game, with some sessions being playable in under 20 minutes. There isn’t much room for making that longer, although you can certainly make it shorter by increasing the difficulty level (starting water level) if you want to increase the challenge. While Forbidden Island may not have have the depth or weight as its older sibling Pandemic, you get a lot of game for your money. Contained in a neat little tin case are the 24 island tiles, 50ish cards (28 treasure, 24 flood, and 6 role), 6 player pawns, a water level meter (with plastic slide clip), and four really cool plastic treasure tokens. The best part is that all of this comes with the crazy bargain price of only $16; with that MSRP, there really isn’t a good reason to not have Forbidden Island in your game collection.

Red Dead Redemption

June 2, 2010

Reviews / Xbox 360 / by Eric Schabel /

Have you ever wanted to be a cowboy vigilante, hunting beasts and people alike in the untamed deserts of the Wild West? If so, you’re in luck, because Rockstar’s Red Dead Redemption allows you to do just that. And even if being a cowboy doesn’t happen to be your thing, Rockstar’s latest epic endeavor is still one hell of a ride. Redemption is the spiritual successor to 2004’s Red Dead Revolver, but unlike Revolver it is an open-ended sandbox style action adventure game in the same vein as the GTA titles. In Redemption, you play a character named John Marston who has a troubled past that he is being forced to atone for. Marston will embark on numerous adventures both large and small throughout the game, and all of them are thoroughly entertaining.

Red Dead Redemption is an epic game; the combined map size of the three regions John Marston will travel through is twice the size of San Andreas—it is massive. Unlike the GTA titles, Redemption’s environment hardly contains any large buildings or crowded streets at all, but thanks to an abundance of side quests, animals, and gorgeous terrain, traversing on horseback through the Wild West is every bit as engaging as cruising around Liberty City, if not even more so. Redemption’s dynamic game engine makes sure that there is never a dull moment as you travel from town to town; be it a bear attack, a hanging, or a good old fashioned shoot-out, you are never idle for long. When you combine the story missions with all of the side missions and challenges, the amount of time it takes to complete Redemption is far into the double digits, and while you will definitely see some mission types repeating themselves fairly often, the game as a whole never gets stale.

Redemption’s story also shines. John Marston is an interesting, morally ambiguous fellow with a dark past and an even darker future. All of the voice acting in the game is top-notch and many of the scenarios and characters are as interesting and entertaining as any you will find in the movies the game was inspired by. Players will be able to gain both fame and honor for Marston as they travel the land, and both of these stats work in tandem to govern the way people react to Marston. More honor means more respect from lawmen and less trouble for committing minor offenses, while fame translates into more chances for side quests as people recognize Marston and ask for his help. The honor system feels a bit like the morality scale found in games like Mass Effect, though it is less pronounced. Capturing a criminal and hauling them in for cash is worth more honor than killing them, while committing evil deeds will earn you negative honor. None of this influences the game’s story directly, but it does make for variable gameplay all the same.

Combat in Redemption is fun and plentiful. Marston has dozens of different guns at his disposable, from six shooters and double-barreled shotguns to sniper rifles, and they all pack a punch. The enemy AI is decent at finding cover and a good shot too, so Marston must also take cover in order to survive any prolonged gunfight. That said, Marston does have one thing his enemies do not: the Dead Eye. Early on in the game, triggering Dead Eye mode will slow down anything moving around Marston to a crawl, allowing him to aim and take out his opponents before they have time to blink. As the game progresses, the Dead Eye will change slightly in functionality, and it can be a life saver in a fierce gunfight, allowing Marston to take out multiple bad guys in one fell swoop when the odds are stacked against him.

Graphically, Red Dead Redemption is about as good as it can possibly be. While character models aren’t terribly impressive, the environment is gorgeous and expansive. Considering how much stuff is going on at any one moment, Rockstar has done an admirable job of pushing the consoles to their limits. Parking your horse on the edge of a cliff and watching the sunset is a beautiful sight that Rockstar pulled off perfectly. The framerate does dip noticeably on rare occasion, especially when there are a lot of particle effects going on, but this almost never takes away from the fun. Something should also be said of the sound design, which is handled perfectly.

The online multiplayer aspect of Red Dead Redemption is fairly robust; featuring a free roaming online hub with up to 16 players as well as more traditional deathmatch and capture the flag style affairs. In Free Roam, players can level up their online personas and join up with other players to form posses which can then take part in events such as raiding gang strongholds to rank up, or launching into competitive online play. Getting a group of friends to join your posse in free roaming mode is a great way to spend a few hours. Alternatively, players can choose to go it alone and just cause mayhem, which isn’t quite as fun. Although there is not much cooperative play to be found outside of Free Roam posses and team-based matches, Rockstar will be releasing a free downloadable co-op pack in the near future.

Some may be tempted to label Redemption as a GTA game in a different skin, but that is not really the case. While there are certainly similarities between the two franchises, the world Rockstar has created for this game is so unique and alive that players will invariably find themselves lost in the simple joy of riding a horse through beautiful backdrops, and that is not something you would find in crime-ridden urban sprawl of Rockstar’s famous fictional cities. I can’t really say enough good things about Red Dead Redemption; it is a thoroughly enjoyable adventure into the Wild West of the early twentieth century that must be played to be appreciated. If you enjoy epic action adventure titles, Redemption is the game for you.

Pros: Huge beautiful open world, entertaining story and characters, numerous side quests and challenges, superb sound design

Cons: Occasional framerate drops

Plays like: Some kind of mix between GTA and the overworld elements of Zelda games

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