Transformers: War for Cybertron Review

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Posted by Chris Stewart on 07-08-2010

Posted in Reviews

Transformers: War for Cybertron fell short on some of the expectations I had. While I really enjoyed the multiplayer beta and even the final multiplayer experience, the single player campaign wasn’t enough to keep me hooked to see it to the end.

Right at the beginning of the game I was slightly confused when presented with a screen to select the chapter I wanted to start with. You have the option to start at chapter 1 or a few chapters in, I think 5 or 6. I was more interested to play as an Autobot but that was a later chapter and I wasn’t sure if I could come back, if I’d miss any of the story, or what would really happen if I made that choice. So, I started off on the path of the Decepticons at chapter 1.

I really enjoyed the flow of the combat system in Transformers. It’s not something that’s going to blow you away but it’s enough to be enjoyable. The choice of weapons, the ability to transform to use those weapons, and the overall flow of enemies was good. One aspect that I think could have been a big help was some sense of danger, without feeling like you have to play on the hardest difficulty. I tend to play all of my games on the default difficulty setting. In Transformers, I never felt a sense of danger unless I was deliberately reckless. You can easily sit back in the safety of cover and space, and take out the enemies. The AI didn’t appear to be too involved in making the combat sequences a challenge.

I feel like the color and graphical impact of the game could use some attention. I understand that Transformers has three decades of story to respect and frankly aspire to. But the lack of defining color throughout the chapters I played was a big issue for me. The backgrounds and environments seemed to practically melt together and didn’t feel like they were used to create a fun environment. Perhaps I’m asking for too much deviation and maybe it wouldn’t have fit in the world of Cybertron, and I understand that point of view, but it hurt the game experience for me and I think that speaks more than some level of deviation.

There was some serious work put into the multiplayer experience and it shows. The game provides a number of multiplayer modes that you’ve seen in other titles and serves them well. For me, I’ll find many more hours in the multiplayer where I’ll have a hard time going back to the single player at this point. If you want some good, classic mode, multiplayer shooting with an homage to your favorite childhood cartoon, then you’ll get that with Transformers.

I can’t say that I loved Transformers, although it’s a good game. I think with everything that’s out right now it’s hard to compete for play time. Transformers falls a little short in it’s single player experience for me. If you’re a die-hard fan of the series and the lore, you’ll really enjoy this game I think. If you’re like me, and the idea of Transformers is something you hold in high regard but haven’t gone back to see if it holds up today, it might be a letdown. If that second statement sums you up, I think it’s certainly worth a rent to see if there’s enough there for you.

This review is based on an Xbox 360 retail version of the game which Skeptical Gamer received as a review copy.

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Blur Review

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Posted by Chris Stewart on 06-11-2010

Posted in Reviews

Blur is a complete thrill ride. Bizarre Creations took the combat of Mario Kart, the insanity of Modern Warfare 2’s multiplayer, and turned out one exciting action racing title.

In single player, the goal of Blur is to place in the top 3 of each event and acquire as many “fans” as possible. Fans are the games notion of experience points. As you progress through the game, you are doing so by acquiring fans. You can do a number of things to gain fans including winning races, disrupting your opponents, and completing mini goals during actual races.

The game looks great and plays exceedingly smooth. Blur has a very helpful and timely tutorial system that will provide cut scenes as you encounter new gameplay mechanics. The menu presentation gives off a very futuristic look and really provides a nice interface to the game. I found everything about the graphics, sound, and overall presentation to be really solid.

Blur has a very tight integration with Twitter, Facebook, and Xbox LIVE. Viewing a car in the showroom and want to tell your friends? You can. Just put up a crazy number of fans in the demolition event? Let your friends know instantly. It may seem like a novelty but for something that’s available but not in your face, I think it was implemented well.

A specific feature that I really enjoyed was the ability to see how your friends did on specific events. After a race, you can see how many fans your friends acquired, and challenge them to beat your new high score. It really gave me a feeling of competition with my friends — in the single-player mode. Trust me, I kept track of what scores Kevin had and worked to beat every one I could. That feature, while small, provided a lot of fun for me.

The central gameplay mechanic in Blur is to use power ups to destroy your opponents, or maintain your lead. Your car is equipped to hold up to 3 weapons at any one time. You can cycle through them and use them in any order you’d like. The decision to let you hold on to 3 weapons really created a feeling of strategy. When I’m towards the front of the pack, I’ll seek out the shield, repair, and mine power ups to be more defensive in my approach. Likewise, when I’m working my way up to the front, I’ll find missiles, lightning strikes, and other offensive weapons. I think Bizarre Creations did a wonderful job with the power ups.

The career mode is broken down into groups of races that culminate with a one-on-one battle. At specific fan counts, you will unlock more events with new challenges and “bosses” that need to be beaten. As I progressed, I chose to finish every race in each group before moving on to the next level of races.

Blur’s career mode is a deep journey that contains many hours of content to unlock and conquer. Throughout your journey up the ranks you’ll find various race types, much like what is presented in DiRT 2. I found the variety of race-types to be quite good and a nice balance for the game. I never felt bored with a specific type of event. Instead, it was refreshing to see the variety it felt well paced. In addition to gaining cars, tracks, upgraded tiers of cars (i.e., Forza 3), and event types, you’ll also unlock mods that will help you wreak more havoc.

Multiplayer is where the game shines the most. It’s a crazy experience to find yourself in a room of 20 racers. Things are happening so fast and you’re so focused on destroying everyone around you, that sometimes the driving aspect takes a backseat to the action around you. While you may balk at that last statement, it’s really not a bad thing. Think about old school games like Twisted Metal. Granted, Twisted Metal was not a racing title, but it provided such an immersive experience and Blur captures this really well I think. Especially in multiplayer. A traditional racing title loses a lot of appeal online because generally only the hardcore fans stick around. Blur provides a lot of depth that your average gamer will enjoy and find fulfilling.

As with the career mode, the multiplayer experience provides a number of treats to unlock for the dedicated few. Much like your average first-person shooter, Blur provides a rich leveling system that rewards your hours of play time. There are also mods available in multiplayer and you’ll unlock new cars as you progress through the 50 levels. If you stick with the game, it will reward you with many reasons to keep pushing forward.

Blur is a solid action racing title worthy of a purchase by anyone interested in combat or action racing titles. I’ve really enjoyed the game to this point and plan to continue playing it moving forward. If you’re not traditionally into racing games, or think it may not quite be for you, I would say give it a rent or check it out at a friend’s house. You might be really surprised by what you find in Blur.

Rating: 8

This review is based on an Xbox 360 retail version of the game which Skeptical Gamer received as a review copy.

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Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing Review

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Posted by Chris Stewart on 06-11-2010

Posted in Reviews

Right off the bat I will say this. Saying that Sonic racing is a rip-off of Mario Kart is like saying Virtua Fighter is a rip-off of Street Fighter or Forza is a rip-off of Gran Turismo or the 2K sports games are rip-offs of the EA sports games. Mario Kart is a kart racer and Sonic All-Stars is a kart racer.

So with that out of the way, I think Sega has gotten it right with this game. There are several things I really like more than Mario Kart. First off, the control of the karts is exactly the way I want it. I like the cars or karts in any racing game to stick to the road with just a little bit of drift. Some games have too much and all the tracks feel like a sheet of ice. So I really felt like I had control and could really make the kart do what I wanted it to do to be competitive. You could have someone bump into you and not get shot off the course or into a wall.

The weapons are fun and all useful. I love the all-star weapon/power-up. You never know when you are going to get it till you do. Let me stop for a minute. Like Mario Kart, as you race there are weapon/power-ups that you can pick up that then tell you the item you have and then you can trigger the power-up. The all-star power-up does major damage and can usually push you to the front of the pack if you are behind. It’s also easy to see what power-up you picked up and all of them respond well.

The game also has your standard boost pads that do the job well and seem to be placed in good spots. I think this game has a great sense of speed. Some games seem slow till you hit a boost. Sonic/Sega ASR feels fast and then almost out of control fast when you hit a boost pad.

The graphics look great and for being on the Wii, the game performs well with a solid frame rate. The track design is fresh and colorful and many tracks are themed toward a character in the game. All the modes you would suspect are here including a battle mode. I played my wife via split screen and I thought the game still looked and ran great.

I think sound in any game is important. In racing games it is even more so. The karts all had different sounds and power-ups had a very distinct sound. All the music is happy and cute. There is an in race announcer that does just enough without being annoying. It all blends together for an immersive experience that’s not just a continuous humming noise.

So let’s talk online. The Wii doesn’t get much love for its online network but I have never had a problem with it. It works great and I haven’t really experienced any lag. So this game does online racing really well. The problem is I never had a full grid of online competitors. So it’s hard to judge how well the online could be and how much fun you could have. I really believe that the future of racing games is online, just like other sports games. But racing against 1 or 2 other racers made me think this game really best served by its single player or split screen.

BOTTOM LINE
I think Sonic/Sega All-star Racing is a great kart racer that not enough people will pay attention too. That’s a shame because this game would certainly scratch an itch if you love kart racers but don’t have a Wii (available on xbox360 and PS3) or if you have played “the other kart racer on the Wii “ to death. This is a great family game. Kids can have a great time with this game, playing with friends or mom and dad. There are a lot of racing games out right now, but check out Sonic/Sega All-Stars Racing.

Rating: 8

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UFC 2010 Review

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Posted by Chris Stewart on 06-07-2010

Posted in Reviews

I sat down with the UFC 2010 demo when it was released and wasn’t very impressed. It felt so much like UFC 2009 to me that I had no intention of buying the game. I caved last weekend and ended up buying the game, and quite frankly, I’m glad I did.

I’ve spent a little over 10 hours with UFC 2010 in the last week. My initial instinct was to create a fighter in career mode and go from there. I really haven’t looked back since. I was sucked into the experience of career mode and have been really impressed with it. When your fighter is created you’ll start out as an amateur with an opportunity to compete in a few fights that don’t affect your record.

Between fights, you’re given a number of weeks to train in specific aspects of the MMA game. Each training session will consume a week of time. So the opportunity is there to craft and mold your character into the kind of fighter you want them to be. If you want your fighter to focus on their stand up, you can do that. Likewise, if you want a submission specialist, you can do that too.

In addition to training sessions that award points that you spend on specific attributes, you can attend a training camp with some of the top camps in mixed martial arts. The training camps will give you the chance to learn power moves for use in your fights. For example, I spent a few weeks training with Greg Jackson’s camp learning two specific power moves. These moves are real moves that fighters from that camp are known for.

Once you decide to turn pro, you’ll start in a promotion that’s minor league compared to the UFC. As you fight, gain experience and stats, you’ll hopefully work your way up and receive an invitation to fight in the UFC. Once in the UFC, you’ll fight on under cards for Ultimate Fight Nights. You’ll work your way to the main card, eventually the main event, into UFC pay-per-views, and so on. What’s important to note is that as you lose, you’ll really drop in the rankings and can lose real progress. It can be somewhat frustrating to go from a main event PPV fight to an under card UFN with just one loss.

After each fight, you’re given four options for your next fight. Deciding who to fight is a seriously important decision. If you take a fight simply too high above your skill, you’ll likely lose and fall even further down the rankings. Strategic fight choices are really important in UFC 2010. Remember, between fights you’ll get anywhere from 8-13 weeks to train. That’s a lot of time to use to improve your fighter’s statistics and have a better chance against the top fighters.

In my time playing the game, I have amassed a 29-12 record and was just recently the light-heavyweight champion. Like in the UFC, in UFC 2010, you’re not going to go undefeated and anyone can beat anyone given the right game plan and staying patient. UFC 2010 delivers a highly realistic experience in that regard. At the same time, it’s a video game, and people hate to lose. I think the fact that you’re simply going to lose will frustrate some people out there. But taking it for what it is will provide you with hours of enjoyment.

After the loss of my light heavyweight title, I decided to give multiplayer a try. My experience with the online system is quite limited, so please take it as such. I’ve fought a few matches and they all ended the same way. A quick take down by my opponent, followed by a ground and pound TKO. No attempts at stand up, no submissions, and really only an effort for a quick take down. My initial impression is that ground and pound is highly overpowered online and everyone knows that and takes advantage of it. I want to play more and would like to play with people interested in more of a simulation fight.

To this point, I haven’t had an opportunity to experience the other game modes. I’ve heard good things and will see them at some point. Career mode alone is worth the price of admission for UFC 2010. Anyone with any interest in the UFC will simply love the experience that UFC 2010 provides. Those not into UFC and MMA may not have such an experience. The game is exceptionally deep when it comes to fight mechanics. So deep that after 10 hours and over 30 fights, I’m still learning. Your casual player will likely be too overwhelmed by that. UFC and MMA fans, well, it’s just damn good fun.

This review is based on the Xbox 360 retail version of the game purchased by Skeptical Gamer.

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Splinter Cell: Conviction Review

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Posted by Chris Stewart on 06-05-2010

Posted in Reviews

I really enjoyed the experience of Splinter Cell: Conviction. It felt like a season of the late, great TV show ‘24′.

I must state that I have not played any of the previous Splinter Cell titles. This was my first experience and therefore I cannot speak to the importance of stealth in this game compared with previous titles. What I can say about stealth in Conviction is that the game does a great job of mixing in enough to make the experience unique.

Conviction was a relatively short game. I finished in less than 10 hours, easily. Probably more like 7 or 8. But every one of those hours was fun and memorable. I think that matters so much more than attempting to meet some arbitrary quota for game length. Conviction will keep you involved from the start all the way through to the end, and for that alone I think it’s a must-play.

One of the best aspects to Conviction is how the game lets you pick your own path on how you take out a group of guys. You can run in, guns blazing, and wipe everyone out. Or, you can use some serious stealth and not be detected as you go from enemy to enemy performing take downs. Or, my personal favorite, rigging up the space with an explosive, marking a few enemies, and finding a spot to sit while you wait to pull the trigger on mayhem. The variety is seemingly endless at first, but as you progress you’ll find only a few real options. I don’t think it’s a problem, however, because the items you’re equipped with are plenty to carry you through the game.

The biggest downfall of Conviction would easily be the AI in the game. The enemies you’ll encounter are downright stupid and often spew the same quips over and over. For example, if your objective involves closing in on a room inside of a building, as many do, those enemies inside the room will hear what’s going on outside and inform you, annoyingly after awhile, how they’re not stupid and they’re not coming out there. This is a pretty common occurrence but not something that detracted from my enjoyment of the game.

Splinter Cell: Conviction is a great game. Even with the few minor gripes, there’s so much here to enjoy that the experience is just a must-play.

This review is based on the Xbox 360 retail version of the game purchased by Skeptical Gamer.

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Mass Effect 2 Review

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Posted by Chris Stewart on 05-04-2010

Posted in Reviews

It only took me 3 months but I’ve finally finished Mass Effect 2. I thought a lot about how to summarize how I felt about the game and how to put it into words. Put simply, Mass Effect 2 is the best game I’ve ever played. I loved every aspect of this game.

You are Commander Shepard, two years removed from the original Mass Effect, tasked with saving the galaxy from a mysterious new threat. You work with Cerberus to build a team with whom you’ll take on this threat against humans.

The story is as compelling as anything I’ve seen on a console and even rivals some of what has come out of Hollywood lately. As you venture across the galaxy to recruit your team, you’ll have various encounters that really add to the depth of the story. Opportunities arise often that give you choice on how your story progresses. During some of the more important phases of the game, I found myself truly pondering decisions, knowing that my action would seriously affect how my game played out.

Graphically, Mass Effect 2 is as stunning as they come. The character models are heavily detailed as are the environments. Cities across the galaxy have amazing detail. Some of the environments will leave you staring off into the distance for a minute to truly appreciate the level of detail put into them.

The combat sequences are a little lacking in that they don’t offer the level of detail present in other available titles. What’s important to note is that Mass Effect 2 is an RPG, not a first-person shooter. Compared to other RPGs, Mass Effect 2 is head and shoulders above the rest. You get a real first-person shooter experience here, but go into it understanding that it won’t be quite as polished as a Modern Warfare 2 or Battlefield: Bad Company 2. Those games only offer an FPS style of gameplay where Mass Effect 2 is so much more than just gun play.

What I enjoyed far more than the traditional gun play was the use of biotics, which are energy based powers you have access to. The level of which you can use them is dependent on the class you choose at the start. I played as a Vanguard and made good use of the Shockwave ability, allowing me to send biotic energy across the room throwing nearby enemies into the air.

One thing I think about often is the hype factor surrounding new releases. So many times you’ll see new titles getting great reviews, lots of coverage on the popular sites, and just a large amount of general hype. And sometimes those games don’t hold up to the test of time, even when measured in weeks. Interestingly enough, I had a direct opportunity to test this theory with Mass Effect 2.

When it came out in late January, it couldn’t have received more hype. People into following industry news were inundated with Mass Effect 2. Even if you weren’t, there were plenty of commercials on TV for it. Knowing that Mass Effect 2 was coming out in late January was hard to miss. Like everyone else, I was all sorts of excited for the release. I played for hours nearly every night and really got sucked into the epic storytelling BioWare is so famous for. With only a few hours invested I was ready to say it was the best game I had ever played.

About 20 hours into the game my WoW fix had to be addressed and I spent the next two months captivated by progression in WoW. After a two month break from console games, and with two newish releases in my hands (Splinter Cell: Conviction and Battlefield: Bad Company 2), would I even go back to finish Mass Effect 2? Well, even with two great games to play, I still went back to Mass Effect 2 and it was just as epic at hour 27 as it was at hour 5.

I spent 27 hours from start to finish and completed the loyalty missions for all but 1 of my squad. I won’t spoil how my game ended, but know that every decision you make along the way matters and will change your experience drastically. Oh, and people can die. Will you save everyone on the Suicide Mission?

If you’re reading this, you’ve likely already played Mass Effect 2. If you haven’t, stop reading this, steal $60 from the person beside you (unless it’s me), and physically run to your nearest Gamestop. You won’t find a better experience on any platform.

This review is based on the Xbox 360 retail version of the game purchased by Skeptical Gamer.

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Dirt 2 Review

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Posted by Chris Stewart on 02-04-2010

Posted in Reviews

Colin McRae: Dirt was an unexpected thrill ride for me. From the beautiful menu system to the exceptional feel of rally racing on the edge, I couldn’t get enough of Dirt. I had not experienced a rally game prior to Dirt and I really just soaked everything up about that game. When I heard a sequel was on the way, I was very excited, and I was extremely surprised by the result.

Dirt 2 has been one of my most cherished experiences for as long as I’ve been playing video games. I absolutely love this game. It’s not perfect but as a fan of racing, in any style or capacity, you’ll be hard pressed to find another title that exceeds the racing experience you get in Dirt 2.

Career Mode employs a progression experience through the single player campaign that takes you to various locations across the globe to compete. As you complete events, you gain experience points that unlock more events and locations as you level up. There are a variety of event modes to compete in along the way, from traditional rally racing to buggies and trophy trucks to lap-based races around short circuits. Unfortunately, there’s not as much traditional rally racing as I would have liked. I certainly appreciate the variety, and a game of only rally racing events would not have had the replay value Dirt 2 does, but giving it a more prominent focus would have been more interesting to me.

Throughout the campaign you’ll travel from location to location in your RV, which is where the navigation takes place. In one corner you’ll find the events you can participate in, in another you’ll find access to multiplayer. Step outside of your RV and you’ll see the sights of the country you happen to be in at the moment. Codemasters provided another innovative menu system with Dirt 2 and this one really gives you a sense of traveling the world while racing for the win.

As you progress through the ranks, you’ll be constantly rewarded with bonus money and liveries. Dirt 2 does a good job of rewarding you early and often. I didn’t feel the rewards were all that interesting. Sure, the bonus money was great as it afforded me the opportunity to buy new cars and outfit them with the required upgrades to compete in higher level events. The rest felt like novelty items that were there just to be there, not really to effect the racing or give you purpose to work to collect them.

The visual appeal of this title is nearly perfect. The environments are as detailed as anything you’ve seen. It’s hard to appreciate the detail put into the game as you fly by it, but if you take a moment to look at the stadiums and towns you race through you’ll see the stunning detail put into each one. The lighting and shadows in the game really add a nice touch of realism, as does the motion of the puddles of water along the trails.

Dirt 2 provides a progression system for the multiplayer experience as well. What you do in each the single player and multiplayer modes are exclusive. That feeling of starting over in terms of experience points really put me off. I’ve put in some significant time in single player where I’m currently a level 46. I’ve raced a few times in multiplayer, but only enough to be in the single digits for my level. While the multiplayer mode offers a great experience, practically seamless from the single player experience, I’ll probably reserve putting any real time into it unless a friend or CRR reader wants to jump into a game.

Dirt 2 is a great racing experience, regardless of the style of racing you’re primarily interested in. I was never much of a rally fan until Dirt, and Dirt 2 only further strengthened that stance. The Career Mode will provide many hours of fast paced, wheel to wheel, racing excitement and is easily worth the purchase. Couple that with a deep and finely tuned multiplayer experience and you’ve got a racing title sure to provide countless hours of fun.

Rating: 9.2

This review is based on the Xbox 360 retail version of the game purchased by Skeptical Gamer.

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Forza 3 Review

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Posted by Chris Stewart on 01-27-2010

Posted in Reviews

Forza 3 was one of my most anticipated games of 2009. I’ve always been a fan of simulation racing experiences, such as the previous titles and the Gran Turismo series. I was looking forward to a refresh of the Forza series and this game didn’t disappoint.

Forza 3 is what you expect it to be. It comes with over 400 cars, all recreated in stunning detail. It is packed with over 100 track variations of all styles. It offers an exceptional career mode of progression and a multiplayer experience matched by few others.

Stepping into career mode will offer you dozens of hours of gameplay. Each season is measured by the length of a weekend series that is associated with the current season. Between each weekend race, which is often every other weekend, you choose shorter series to compete in. As you progress through these races you earn experience points as a driver and in each specific car, which entitles you to discounted upgrades in the upgrade shop. Along with the experience points, you earn credits which allow you to purchase and upgrade your cars for competition.

I’ve enjoyed my experience through the career mode to this point. There is a lot of variety in the cars you acquire and race with. At each driver level, you are given a car by a manufacturer. Unlike past titles to incorporate a similar feature, you’re not being given something from the mid ‘70s. For example, as you progress through the mid to upper 20s, you’ll receive a Ferrari or two and a very nice Lamborghini. I was pleasantly surprised that you’re often given cars that you can immediately jump into and use in your next race. Again, unlike other titles that have had a similar mechanic.

A complaint I have with the career mode is that sometimes it feels tedious. The weekend series are where the action is, without question. Sometimes the races in-between those events feels like an unnecessary filler. I’m not sure what you do to combat this and Forza 3 is certainly not the first racing title to have this problem, but it’s worth mentioning.

At face value, Forza 3 is what you would expect from a triple-A racing title on a modern console. Where the game truly shines is in the details. Turn 10 Studios has done an exceptional job in creating a true driving experience. Too often, racing titles lack variety in the way the various cars feel while driving them to their limits. You’ll really feel the difference between driving the Audi R8 and Corvette Z06. Forza 3 brings that experience to life.

Another major advancement Forza 3 brings to the table is the accessibility of playing with the standard controller. While I have used the Microsoft Wheel, I more often opt for the controller. I was really impressed by the default settings for how the controller input translates to how your car acts on the track. I’ve played a lot of racers and sometimes the default settings for the standard controller just simply don’t work (I’m looking at you Need for Speed: SHIFT). It feels like Turn 10 Studios put some serious effort into making the standard controller a viable input device for enjoying the game.

Accessibility seems to have been a focal point with Forza 3. There are a number of features available that will give even the most novice of racers an enjoyable experience. You have the standard assists, such as braking, traction control, and so forth. The racing line, colored specifically to whether you should be accelerating, maintaining speed, or braking, makes an appearance. All of these options can be disabled if you’d like.

The biggest assist that aides in accessibility would be the rewind feature. The feature itself has been in other games, with a similar implementation in DiRT 2. However, in Forza 3 the feature is prominently available throughout your driving experience, not just when you’ve completely destroyed your car. Hit a car in front of you? Rewind. Took a ride in the grass coming out of a turn? Rewind. I think you get the picture. While I agree the feature is useful, as I’ve used it a number of times myself, I think there should be some form of penalty or limitation with using it. I do think it can help a driver learn the track and become effective in that case. However, I can easily see it becoming a crutch for many novice drivers out there. I’d like to see the feature disappear as your progression moves forward.

The multiplayer experience in Forza 3 is solid. It’s not game changing, which is something I want to see in a racing title, but it does provide extended enjoyment once you’ve mastered the single player experience. A gripe I have with Forza 3’s multiplayer, among many other titles, is that the game caters to those who want to run time trials in order to find themselves on a leaderboard. I want to reward racing times, wins, and other metrics that involve more than one car on the track. That’s an absolute need in my opinion, and Forza 3 doesn’t deliver in that regard.

Overall, I’m really enjoying this game. I’ve already put in dozens of hours and will likely put in hundreds over time. I’m roughly half way through the single player career, with only a few hundred XP until driver level 30. With some minor quirks I hope get addressed in a future title, Forza 3 is easily the best racing experience available today. If you enjoy simulation racing, you’ve already got this game. Even if you’re not a huge fan of simulation racing, you owe it to yourself to give it a spin.

Rating: 9.5

This review is based on the Xbox 360 retail version of the game purchased by Skeptical Gamer.

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Bayonetta Review

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Posted by Chris Stewart on 01-22-2010

Posted in Reviews

Bayonetta has been getting some amazing reviews throughout the gaming industry. I spent some time playing the demo and really enjoyed the combat sequences. I ended up getting Bayonetta through Gamefly about a day or so after release. I was pretty excited to get started as the reviews were glowing, the combat from the demo was fun, and it was essentially one of the first big releases since Modern Warfare 2 or Assassin’s Creed 2.

The first thirty minutes of the game was complete confusion for me. You’ll sit through long and uninspiring cut-scenes only to be confused about what the purpose of your adventure is. I didn’t measure it, but I would guess that of the first hour and a half, you’re watching a cut-scene half of the time. That wouldn’t bother me if there was a purposeful story being told.

Once you get past the introduction of the game and into the combat, you’ll find a gem of a game. I really enjoyed the combat mechanics. Everything was smooth and just flowed exceptionally well. The combat felt like less of a button masher and more like a game that required strategic combinations. In combat, there’s a mode called witch time where everything around you slows down and gives you an opportunity to do some serious damage. You can active this mode by dodging incoming attacks at just the last moment. That mechanic adds a nice little extra something and can really come in handy during some of the tougher fights.

The game looks amazing graphically and runs very fluid even in intense combat sequences. I didn’t notice any screen tearing or graphical issues to note. They really got the framerate nailed down and that’s important in an action game where timing is key.

What ruins the game for me personally is the over the top presentation. Some of the sequences can be aptly referred to as soft-core pornography. It’s such an unnecessary step to take in an otherwise interesting game. For example, instead of wearing clothing, Bayonetta’s “outfit” is her hair. During finishing moves she’ll summon a demon to destroy your enemy by using her hair. During which time, she’s partially exposed. It’s unnecessary decisions like this that take the game to a mature level and out of the hands of younger gamers who may appreciate and enjoy the real meat of the game.

You’ll also find that Bayonetta is very Japanese inspired, which isn’t something I’m a fan of personally. I was never someone interested in games targeted towards the Japanese market, such as Final Fantasy. Those games just never interested me. The music, the action cut-scenes, and even the humor will remind you of a stereotypical Japanese video game. Some reviewers out there love this about the game because they either enjoy JRPGs or don’t feel like Bayonetta is taking itself too seriously. I can appreciate those points but for me it just doesn’t work.

I put in a handful of hours with Bayonetta and was enjoying it when I was destroying enemies. The rest of the experience just was not interesting to me. Once I had an issue with a save, where I lost an hour of gameplay, it was time to go back to Gamefly. I think the game is worth a rent and most likely a buy if you’re a fan of Devil May Cry. For me, I’m glad it was a rental.

This review is based on the Xbox 360 retail version of the game delivered by GameFly as a rental for Skeptical Gamer.

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Borderlands Review

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Posted by Chris Stewart on 01-19-2010

Posted in Reviews

When Borderlands came out this past fall, I was still heavily into World of Warcraft. In the various chat channels there were dozens of people talking about and singing the praises of Borderlands. They cited the RPG elements they enjoy with World of Warcraft being coupled a modern first-person shooter. My interest was peaked as I enjoy those aspects of gameplay. Later in the fall, once I had dropped World of Warcraft, I picked up Borderlands and was pretty excited to get into the game.

The first thing you’ll notice about Borderlands is the art style. It’s a very unique presentation and I appreciated it for that. It’s not a realistic looking game such as Modern Warfare 2, and for that reason, I didn’t find myself being as critical on the graphics as I would have had it looked realistic. I’m a fan of the art style for various reasons. I appreciate that the developer went away from the norm and tried something new. It felt more like a comic book than your modern RPG or shooter. I suspect some gamers did not like the art style and will criticize the game for it. I can understand that point of view but I think it worked in this case. That’s not to say I want to see every game turn into a comic book, because I certainly don’t, but seeing a developer take a chance and make it work is refreshing.

I guess what I want to really focus on are the two main genres Borderlands pulls from; role-playing games and first-person shooters.

I’m more familiar and comfortable with the FPS genre, so I feel more confident in speaking to that. As a first-person shooter, Borderlands really falls short. With the saturation of superb shooters on the market today, it’s hard to look at a game like Borderlands and applaud the work done there. It’s a mediocre shooter at best and considering how much of the game you’ll spend firing your weapon, that’s not enough. Many of the enemies you’ll face will not be armed, or human (or even analogous to humans), and so they’ll fight you in close combat. With a gun and the camera angle, I found it difficult to adjust the camera quickly to perform a melee attack or fire on the enemy. There’s a lot of this early in the game and it’s just not that entertaining. It can get frustrating and it definitely was for me.

As a alluded to above, I’m not a huge role-playing game aficionado as a few of my friends are. I don’t really look at Borderlands and think of it being an RPG. It has a few RPG elements such as leveling, weapon upgrades, and a talent tree. However, it’s missing what many feel are core aspects to an RPG title such as story progression through choices, full gear progression (armor, weapons, abilities, etc), and a crafting system among other things. To me, Borderlands is an FPS with some very minor RPG elements. If you’re looking for an RPG and thought Borderlands might be that game, it’s definitely not. I don’t necessarily think the developer wanted Borderlands thought of as an RPG but it’s gotten that notion post-release by gamers in the community.

One thing that I really have disliked about Borderlands is the pace in which you receive weapon upgrades. The game prides itself on having a bajillion, or some such figure, of weapons. I can safely say it does, but I don’t think that it’s a good thing. The game is like a loot pinata. Every time you turn around there’s a new and improved weapon sitting on the ground. It’s to the point that I felt no significance when I received a weapon. Now, lets compare that to the experience of obtaining a new weapon in World of Warcraft. You could literally spend months working on getting that 2% upgrade in World of Warcraft, and when you finally get it, it’s a great sense of accomplishment. I appreciate that experience and the extremely oppose found in Borderlands really put me off.

Borderlands has gotten most of its critical acclaim for it’s co-op experience. You can seamlessly hop into a 4 player co-op and progress through the single player experience. Granted, I haven’t done a lot of this as I’m not interested in playing co-op with people I don’t know and none of my friends were playing Borderlands when I was. I have tried it just to experience it and it’s definitely the most seamless co-op experience I’ve ever seen. The game is tougher and the loot is better as you have more people playing together to accomplish the objectives. Even with the flaws I’ve seen, if you have a group of friends who you can play Borderlands with I can definitely see a lot of fun being had with this game.

Borderlands is a title I put down after the first 15 levels or so. From a single player perspective, I found the game repetitive and lacking in the core gameplay areas it is trying to represent. As a multiplayer title, I think Borderlands has a much higher upside. I would pick it up again to play through with other people just because of the co-op experience. If you’re on the fence about this game, I would say look to those on your Xbox LIVE friends list. If you have some people who are still playing it, I would say give it a rent and see what you think. If you’re only anticipating on playing this solo, I would say there are far better titles out there that deliver a more interesting experience.

This review is based on the Xbox 360 retail version of the game purchased by Skeptical Gamer.

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