Shawn Vermette

Madden NFL 10

September 23, 2009

Reviews / Xbox 360 / by Shawn Vermette Make a comment! / Tweet it!

Every year EA comes out with a new installment in their Madden series and every year gamers ask why they should purchase what might amount to just a roster upgrade for the previous edition. With EA going the extra mile in their attempt to make Madden NFL 2010 worth purchasing, things are different this year.

The biggest two additions to Madden this year provide a much more robust online experience. This time, in addition to being able to play single matches one-on-one online, you can also play cooperatively online with a friend against the AI. Madden also finally gives players the ability to play in an online franchise mode against up to 31 other players. Every player gets to pick a team and those not chosen by a person will be controlled by the AI for the duration of the franchise. Don’t worry if the rest of the league drops out, you can convert it from an online franchise to an offline franchise and continue where you left off.

While there were only a couple major additions to Madden this year, there were a host of other tweaks and changes that EA made to the Franchise and Superstar modes, most of them for the better. In Franchise mode the entire user interface has been altered, putting the focus squarely on each week’s game. The new interface also makes accessing the various windows and stats much easier and it just feels sleeker and less cluttered. Within the games the commentary is higher quality than it was the previous few years with less repetition from the broadcasters than you would normally expect to hear. One of the changes I appreciated most made it so you cannot just skip over an injury and not realize it happened. You will be given a message box telling you who was injured and letting you know your staff is determining how severe it is. Later in the game you will be informed how serious the injury is and given the option to put the player back in the game, despite his injury, with a corresponding risk of getting injured even worse. The nicest touch in this feature is the game will tell you who would replace him and what his overall rating is. This way you know exactly how much you need, or don’t need, to risk re-injury.

The gameplay is also improved in a major way compared to the last couple editions. Tackles are now more realistic than ever because they are no longer pre-animated and canned. They are calculated during the game so they now look realistic, gang tackles are finally possible, and dogpiles actually happen. Even breaking tackles works better than ever thanks to the new tackling system. Gameplay balance is significantly improved over previous years. Interceptions occurring on practically every possession are a thing of the past. You are no longer guaranteed to catch a pass even if your receiver is open. Running is more realistic- huge gains are less common than before and fighting for every inch you can get is the order of the day. Fumbles still happen a tad too often, but less often than in previous iterations. Even the team ratings seem more balanced. You will have a much tougher time beating the Steelers or Patriots with the Lions than you would have in the past. It is still possible because Madden is a game of skill, but it will take more skill to win with a bad team than usual.

Unfortunately, not all the changes EA made to Madden worked out as well. The Superstar mode has been panned yearly for being clichéd and shallow, but not this time. This year it feels incomplete, tacked on, and buggy. In the past you went through the motions of a college star: going to the NFL Combine; hiring an agent; and getting interviewed by the media. How you did in the minigames that make up the Combine determined your created player’s stats and abilities. All of that is gone now: you manually assign points to your superstar through sliders when you create him instead of going through the Combine; you do not select an agent; and even the email alert system from previous years is gone. While it was mostly used for spam emails from your “mother”, it did give you some useful information by keeping you up to date on the moves and decisions your coach and general manager made.

The gameplay in Superstar mode doesn’t feel up to par with the Franchise mode. It feels awkward and the improvements made to the tackling and balancing are nonexistent. To top it all off, there is no commentary or speaking of any kind during a game in Superstar mode. It almost feels as if you are playing the game with the volume off, except that you can hear the crowd and the sounds the players make. This makes actually playing a game in Superstar mode feel kind of eerie and off-putting. Considering the amount of detail and attention put into the Road to Glory mode in NCAA Football, it is disappointing to see the lack of quality in Superstar mode.

The graphics, as usual, are better than ever. The players look more realistic, the crowds feel more alive, and the new cinematic camera angles make it feel even more like the real thing. The soundtrack, however, is more of the same random generic rock and rap music.

Madden 10 is more than just a roster update thanks to the improvements in the balancing and gameplay. If you are a fan of professional football, and you love football games, then Madden 10 is a worthwhile purchase.

Pros: The gameplay is much improved over last year; the balance is much better; the franchise mode had some nice tweaks to it

Cons: The Superstar mode is incomplete and buggy; it is hard to actually finish a game online because more often than not, people quit when they start losing

Plays Like: Madden, NCAA Football

ESRB: Rated E- If you can watch football, you can play Madden

Red Faction: Guerrilla

September 10, 2009

Reviews / Xbox 360 / by Shawn Vermette Make a comment! / Tweet it!

Rarely has a game that focuses so completely on a single design aspect been as much fun to play as Red Faction: Guerrilla. Volition takes the mayhem and destruction that is central to the Red Faction series and ratchets it up to a whole new level in Red faction: Guerrilla. The destruction is realistic, ever-present, and changes the game from just another open world action game into an extremely enjoyable venture into the world of a Martian revolutionary.

In Red Faction: Guerrilla, you play as Alec Mason, a new arrival to Mars with a grudge to settle. You start off with a short tutorial that ends with your brother Daniel Mason being killed by the Earth Defense Force, or EDF. Your brother was a member of Red Faction, a resistance group dedicated to freeing Mars from the tyrannical rule of the EDF. Now, because of your relation to him, you’ve been branded a terrorist as well. From this point, Red Faction becomes an open world sandbox of destruction. You can accept missions that will advance the game’s storyline, perform guerrilla actions, or simply drive around and destroy stuff to your heart’s content.

The storyline of Red Faction is somewhat bland and really doesn’t develop past the standard formula for this type of game, but the missions you’ll undertake to advance the game are varied and interesting. From setting ambushes for EDF forces to stealing large walkers to destroying communications towers, there’s plenty to destroy and plenty to enjoy in the missions. However, you won’t liberate Mars simply by going through the missions. Mars is divided into six sectors: Parker, Dust, Oasis, the Badlands, the Free Fire Zone, and Eos. You haven’t won until you’ve pushed the EDF out of all six zones. Each sector has its own set of gauges that track how much control EDF has over that sector and the morale of the people residing in them.

In order to liberate a sector you must lower EDF’s control to zero in addition to completing all the missions. Lowering their control can be done in a few ways: destroying key buildings, each of which will impact control by different amounts; killing lots of EDF troops; and performing the aforementioned guerrilla actions. Guerrilla actions can be one of eight different types ranging from rescuing hostages, to intercepting convoys, to destroying buildings as fast as you can. All of them are entertaining, although they will usually all devolve into a massive, death-laden firefight with EDF troops.

It isn’t a shock to find that destruction is the key to this game. You can destroy anything and everything in Red Faction: Guerrilla and it is every bit as satisfying as you would hope. Everything crumbles realistically, and thanks to your trusty sledgehammer, you can destroy everything by hand if you desire, no explosives needed. Of course, necessary or not, explosives are a blast and destroying buildings with them is even better. Since destruction is realistic, you do not have to destroy the entire base of a building to bring it down, merely the main supports for it. This can mean precision destruction, but it can also mean some surprising demolitions. I was taking down a three story building by driving a bulldozer through it, but it didn’t come down so I went inside to lay some explosives on the remaining support struts. While I was inside laying the explosives, it collapsed on top of me. I had, without realizing it, taken out every single important support for the building and then gone back in while it was in the process of falling in on itself. Needless to say, the roof did what the EDF couldn’t and killed me.

Beyond the single player game, Volition has included a robust and unique multiplayer experience. Red Faction: Guerrilla has six different multiplayer modes: Anarchy, Team Anarchy, Capture the Flag, Damage Control, Demolition, and Siege. Anarchy and Team Anarchy are the standard Deathmatch and Team Deathmatch modes, but with the twist you’d expect of Red Faction: Guerilla. Everything on the map can be destroyed and damaged- meaning camping is impossible, and sniping from heights does not mean you are safe. A new weapon called the Reconstruction Gun is included in the rest of the modes and, just as it sounds, it reconstructs damaged buildings. Damage Control pits two teams against each other in an attempt to control three towers. In order to control it, you must construct it, and the other team is attempting to do the same thing. This leads to a frenetic variation of king of the hill, where you construct one of the three towers, and attempt to defend it while the other team attempts to destroy it. Demolition is loosely similar to the VIP mode in Halo 3, as each team is assigned a Destructor-a role whose job is to destroy buildings. Your team gets points for damage done by your destructor, with more points awarded for bigger buildings, and by killing the other team’s destructor. Finally, Siege places one team in defense of a bunch of buildings while the other team attempts to demolish them. At the end of the round, the teams switch places and mayhem ensues again. The matches are lag free, and there is no problem finding people to play against in any mode. In all, the multiplayer modes are varied and take advantage of all the strengths of Red Faction: Guerrilla.

There is no soundtrack to speak of in Red Faction: Guerrilla, but that’s really more of a plus than a negative. Any kind of music would really detract from the atmosphere and feeling of being on Mars. The sound effects are top notch. Every weapon sounds powerful and accurate, especially the sledgehammer. Every swing of the sledgehammer sounds and feels authentic and satisfying. Graphically, everything looks impressive. The terrain and character models are detailed, the cutscenes look fantastic, and the color palette is authentic.

Red Faction: Guerrilla is an excellent game, but it does have its flaws. A few times, upon finishing a guerrilla action, my character froze in place and I had to load my most recent save in order to continue playing. Also, while the controls for vehicles are tight and responsive, the physics feel off when driving a vehicle as they turn over very easily.

While it does have its minor flaws, Red Faction: Guerrilla’s thrilling multiplayer and vast single player campaign are pure fun. Whether you are a fan of open world games or of destroying stuff, this is definitely a game you should get, as it is a highly enjoyable experience you’ll want to play over and over again.

Pros: Destruction, destruction, and more destruction; sledgehammer is the new wrench; multiplayer is unique and fun

Cons: Random, rare game freezes; vehicle physics feel off; storyline is lackluster and cookie cutter

Plays Like: The Mercenaries series

ESRB: Rated Mature for Blood, Violence, and Strong Language

Prototype

August 20, 2009

Reviews / Xbox 360 / by Shawn Vermette Make a comment! / Tweet it!

There have been a glut of superhero games that have come out in the past few years, so for any game to stand out from the crowd it needs to either have a really great license, such as X-Men and Spiderman, or needs to do something in a way that no other game has successfully done. Prototype is one of the latter.

Prototype lets you loose in an open-world sandbox, located on Manhatten Island.  This in itself is not very unique, as many superhero games have been open-world.  However, you’ll learn in the opening moments of the game that this will not be just any superhero game.  You are Alex Mercer, a nearly unstoppable menace to society, the cause of a massive plague that has consumed the entirety of New York City, and able to kill off entire platoons of infantry with wanton abandon.

Of course, this is just the prologue, and you quickly go to the beginning of the story, where you no longer have all the massively destructive powers you had at first, but you are still a force to be reckoned with. Once you get past the prologue, you find out that your character has amnesia. Now he must find out who turned him into the monster that he is, and exact revenge on them in any way he can. This lays the basis for all the decisions Alex will make as more of the story is revealed, and shows exactly why Alex is a complete antihero. Yes, he has superpowers. No, he is not a bad person, but he is driven by revenge, and, as you’ll see throughout the game, doesn’t really care what happens to nearly anyone else in New York, as long as he gets his revenge in the end. There are two aspects of finding out what happened and who is responsible: going through the story-line missions and killing specific individuals throughout the game world. When you kill a person who is marked as an important person, you actually see the story through that person’s eyes for a few moments. Killing a person will reveal to you other people related to what has happened, thus enabling a web of connections and memories that will lead you to the ultimate truth.

Probably the most well-made aspects of Prototype are the combat system, and the controls in general. The combat system is very slick, with a lock-on to concentrate on a specific enemy in mass melees, or to use any of the large variety of long distance attacks or throws you have access to. Aside from that, the combat is just fun.  Its highly enjoyable to wade through dozens upon dozens of troops, citizens, and assorted other bodies, all the while gaining experience points and health for each person you kill. The experience points you get can be spent upgrading your various abilities and purchasing new ones. The controls also feel very responsive, with combos being very easy to do, and the many special moves that require multile button presses responding better than I can recall in almost any other game I’ve played. Controlling Alex feels effortless right from the beginning, and greatly contributes to the feel of the game.

Another aspect that was completely nailed was the whole feel of being a superhero.  You feel like you are nearly invincible as you storm through crowds of infantry, all shooting at you with machine guns. You see the bullets hitting you, but you can also see that they barely hurt you at all. By no means are you invincible though, and as you get farther into the game, the crowds of infantry will grow, and they’ll start sporting rocket launchers rather than machine guns. The other enemies you face also grow tougher, giving you a constantly increasing difficulty throughout the game.

The graphics of the game are crisp, but don’t really stand out from the pack. The music is nonexistent, but the sound effects and voice acting are about equal to the majority of games out right now.

Prototype is in no way the best game out there right now, but it is one of the funnest games in a while, and is definitely worth a purchase by anyone who enjoys open-world, superhero, or action games.

Pros: Great combat, great controls, enjoyable story, really feels like being a superhero

Cons: Graphics are crisp but average, as is the audio, difficulty is sometimes rough

ESRB: Rated M for Blood and Gore, Intense Violence and Strong Language

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