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Our old friend Ezio Auditore is back for one final romp, and this yearly dose of conspiratorial frolics is getting somewhat perplexing. Surely such a hasty turnaround should result in shoddy and rushed sequels? But I think it’s safe to say last year’s Brotherhood proved us all wrong, with a healthy measure of new content and logical improvements. The question is, as we close Ezio’s chapter of the story, has Ubisoft’s army of international studios pulled it off once again?

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Read my full review on Zath.co.uk…

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Just a quick post to encourage people to pledge even just a little bit of money to this awesome indie sci-fi project. The trailer really says it all. I decided to donate a little bit simply because this looks more interesting than many of the triple A games coming out, and it looks to be overflowing with atmosphere (or not as the case may be on the planet). It’s ruddy astonishing the things  indie developers can do nowadays, but the best thing about this project is I didn’t even need to convince myself that donating is good solely “for the cause of indie games”, because it’s something I genuinely want to come to fruition, so I can bloody well play it!

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DONATE HERE

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Check out this excellent Half-Life 2 fan-film. While I’m no expert on what must be an expansive selection of Half-Life inspired projects, I can say that I was stunned by the production values and cinematography in this particular one. A splendid job!

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Once again E3 attendees lined up and once again lines gave way to pandemonium as the doors opened up for the final day of E3. I myself took the time to make sure I’d seen every thing I wanted to, and of course, to take in the generally insane atmosphere.

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Read the full article I wrote for Zath.co.uk

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As soon as I awoke this Wednesday to an uncharacteristically cloudy LA day, I had but one priority: to get my hands on the still very oddly named Wii U, as well as the portable powerhouse that is the Playstation Vita. So that’s exactly what I did once the show floor opened to a now very purposeful, hot and busy press.

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Read the full article I wrote for Zath.co.uk

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Nintendo Press Conference

Nintendo kicked off the day with a conference that left many people confounded. I’m still not sure what to make of it myself, but nonetheless, we’ll try to make sense of the festivities. Project Café is dead, long live Wii U. The naming conventions continue to defy logic and suggest that this iteration isn’t in fact, a whole new console – which it actually is.

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Read the full article I wrote for Zath.co.uk

Well E3 is well and truly here, and on the day before the show floor opens up to a hungry press, two of the console companies along with EA and Ubisoft held press conferences to demonstrate their latest and (hopefully) greatest, and of course, to brag about copies/consoles sold.

Read the full article I wrote for Zath.co.uk

Platform: Xbox Live Arcade

Price: 1200 MS Points

Developer: Uber Entertainment

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Just hearing the title, Monday Night Combat, almost makes me want to invite all my neighbours over, even the weird ones, crack open some popular branded lagers and have a ruddy good time. Unfortunately my neighbours all hate me and I only have one controller but that’s beside the point; Uber Entertainment’s Monday Night Combat aims to deliver an online 3^rd person shooter experience wrapped in the shiny exterior of a futuristic game show or sporting event, more accurately characterised by the flare of something like a demolition derby, as opposed to an afternoon cricket match.

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Monday Night Combat is a class-based shooter with a bold, stylised aesthetic; so needless to say, some of Valve’s loyal Team Fortress 2 fans immediately jumped to claim it was a shameless rip-off. Not so; Valve didn’t invent class-based shooters nor originate cartoon-like graphics, and anyhow, that’s where the similarities end. To their credit, Uber Entertainment have attempted something quite novel, marrying regular multiplayer shooter conventions with the dynamics of a tower defence game.

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There are two solitary modes: Blitz which is essentially you, and your friends online if you wish, against waves of varying types of robots and Crossfire, which tasks you and your 5 team-mates with defending your ‘moneyball’ from the ‘Pros’ (players) on the other team and escorting your bots to attack their moneyball. During gameplay you earn cash for killing both bots and players, allowing you to upgrade your stats, which are divided in to 4 separate sections and build turrets to aid you in defence of your base. This is all happening while a brainless and desensitized future audience watch on in glee and a suitably cheesy commentator fills the airwaves.

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From a conceptual standpoint, Crossfire mode is a surprisingly fresh take on the online shooter. Whether you’re vehemently pursuing a newly found nemesis, tearing through hordes of bots or strengthening your bases’ defences you’ll find it difficult to cite boredom as a symptom. And thankfully, strategy is justly rewarded, meaning teams who fail work together, build turrets and successfully defend and attack, will fall by the wayside.

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For an XBLA game it’s also incredibly intricate in its classes and bot features. Every one of the six classes is generously endowed with unique skills ranging from cloaking to personal firebases. Unfortunately there are some fairly pronounced issues with balance in regards to the support class at present, who is able heal and drop virtually unavoidable nukes amongst other things. But with any luck those imbalances should be ironed out soon, provided Uber Entertainment plan to provide ongoing support for their game, and there’s no reason why they shouldn’t, given its success.

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There’s a distinct feeling that they’ve endeavoured to flesh out its combat features as much as possible, which is admirable, considering the title and the nature of the game, and therein lies its greatest merit. The array of options when it comes to attacking and killing your foes is almost daunting when every class is taken into account. Even though it’s primarily a shooter, all the classes have melee tackling options, showcasing the finest animations in the game. And let me tell you, there’s nothing quite so maniacally satisfying as hurling your opponent off the edge of the arena as he desperately tries to retaliate with gunfire in his last remaining seconds.

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Players are also able to spawn their own class-respective bots, at a cost, and annihilators that are as large and daunting as they sound. As you can imagine, with all these mechanical minions along with various explosions, the previously tactical battles can occasionally devolve into something of a cluster-fuck, not helped by the small maps, and may even lower the frame rate temporarily. Fortunately this isn’t too often the case and a little pandemonium doesn’t do anyone any harm!

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There appears to be a heavy focus on short-term progression, within each game, as you’ve plenty of skills to upgrade and ‘juice’ to collect (to allow for an ungodly rampage) as you go along, but alas, there’s very little in the way of advancement over any prolonged period. You can change your tag and eventually buy custom classes, but they only allow for minor alterations of stats and don’t affect weapons, skills or appearance whatsoever. I’m well aware that this is just an arcade game, but it seems that a little further development could have dramatically increased longevity and even immersion in the world of pro combat, perhaps allowing players to compete for sponsors and customize their armour etcetera.

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The thematic elements of the game present a bit of quirkiness; there’s some sort of obsession with bacon, which frankly, there’s nothing wrong with and the commentator has some horribly corny lines. This aspect would be bearable if there weren’t so few that you’re hearing the same forced jokes twice in one short game, and god help your ears if you plan to play for any prolonged period. I did really like that idea that your stat upgrades are like sponsorships from the drug companies, but some elaboration on the idea would have been well received, because as it stands it’s just a slightly more interesting skin on an age old feature.

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There are no complaints in the graphical department. The strong, bright colours embody and compliment the arcade-y atmosphere as well as fit in thematically with the futuristic game show. The sound design is slightly odd with seemingly random pieces of music beginning to play while you’re waiting to respawn from banjos to rock guitars but it certainly doesn’t detract from anything. My only complaint in regards to sound pertains to weapon noises, in that it’s often difficult to hear your own gun firing where there are other things going on which is a little off putting for me personally, but it’s a minor issue.

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Monday Night Combat is a whirlwind shooter experience, which I should mention, takes a little practice within each class, to get used to. The titular combat is brilliantly implemented and exceptionally creative, cleverly mashing classic tower defence with a chaotic shooter experience, even though it’s tarnished temporarily, by a few balance issues. If you’re looking for something to do while we wait for triple AAA titles, MNC is perfect fit, in a line of brilliant XBLA titles this summer. I could almost forgive the lack of progression if it wasn’t for the very few (and small) maps and so reluctantly I must cite those flaws. Right now it remains an enjoyable throwaway experience – you get the bang and the bots for your buck, but unless there are some serious updates or DLC in the works, don’t expect to be smelling the bacon once the holiday season sets in.

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7/10

Platform: Xbox Live Arcade

Price: 1200MS Points

Developer: Playdead Studios

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The Xbox Live Arcade ensemble isn’t widely recognised for its contributions to the horror genre, but then again neither are 2D sidescrollers. But then its often the atypical and unfamiliar that proves the best offering and in that spirit Limbo is born; the sidescrolling puzzle-platformer from Danish indie developer Playdead Studios. The first thing to point out about Limbo is it’s very minimalist, in terms of design and narrative, in fact there’s virtually no story at all. The description on XBLA offers a rudimentary outline, but I advise you to skip reading this, as I inadvertently did, because it plays out slightly better when you’ve literally no clue to begin with. It’s also in the interest of letting Limbo speak for itself, as once you open the game, you’ll see they’ve deliberately omitted a prologue or introduction.

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So it starts out simple enough, with the player, waking up as a young boy in this dusky forest, painted in gray-scale, with only your avatar’s bright white eyes to distinguish him from his surroundings. Right from the beginning and from there on, queries and questions as to the context and events that occur will engulf your mind. Limbo has but two actions: grab and jump. Yet with these manipulations, Playdead have concocted some of the most brilliant puzzles I’ve seen in a 2D game, from simple to the highly complex. But I must qualify that description because every single puzzle is, in essence, bearing in mind the basic laws of physics, simply constructed; but that doesn’t necessarily make them easy.

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I spent an eternity trying to fathom many of the puzzles, including the very first one, but discovered that in each and every one, the answer lay in just thinking laterally and not trying to think like a game designer or jump the gun. However, Limbo’s brilliance in puzzle design really shines through when you come to realise that the solutions, no matter how long it’s taken you to arrive at them, never seem frustrating or unfair and rarely involve looking for some object deceitfully hidden away – there’s almost always a logic to be followed. Thus the many inventive physics-based puzzles Limbo has to offer almost always grant a sense of accomplishment upon completion, as well as relief.

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One thing the player has to accept is that dying is a part of the world of Limbo, and dying gruesomely at that. There are a few parts that will almost undoubtedly end in your prompt dissection or crushing, but they’re like that for a reason, and are often a result of a misjudgement within the platforming aspect of the game. It’s not so much for trial and error, rather an emphasis of the dark world you’re trapped in. Playdead have though, managed to make sure the threat of death is terrifying and very much round every corner. [mild spoiler ahead: skip the rest of this paragraph if you want to be completely and utterly oblivious to your fate in the early sections of the game] Bear traps litter the opening puzzles and snap you up at a lightening-fast pace, if set off, and perhaps most notably testicle-retractingly petrifying, at least for me, was the giant spider, who blocks your path fairly early on and is able to skewer you with sinister precision. Equally, the world itself evidences its harshness with corpses and carcasses forebodingly cluttering your path, and occasionally becoming part of the solutions to your puzzles. Indisputably, Limbo’s world is savage and callous, but if that sort of thing puts you off, try turning the gore off or just give it a miss.

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If there’s one word that comprehensively sums up the feel of Limbo, it’s atmospheric. The striking monochrome visuals set Limbo apart from not only other games, but from any semblance of dateability because there’s no way it could ever look or indeed need to look any better with higher graphical capability. The fact that you can often only place your character on the screen on account of his eyes establishes a grave sense of being irrevocably lost, and struggling for contact or companionship. The sound design also draws from the minimalist theme, sounding only your footsteps and the traps you come across. As you can well imagine, the marriage of this bleak aesthetic and choicely interrupted silence, masterfully creates a unique and deftly menacing world.

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Limbo is also excellently animated, perfectly mimicking the way in which a small boy would move along and dangle from ropes. As I mentioned earlier, the deaths are unrelentingly grisly, which is an impressive achievement given the very limited colour palette. The rag-doll nature of the body and its various parts do a great job at showcasing both internal organs and solid physics.

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The first half of the game purposefully begs many questions and presents some harrowing, frustrating (from the point of view of the character) and mysterious moments, shocking and scaring you, interweaving each scene with engaging gameplay, that has you on the precipice of death continually. Unfortunately, Limbo’s major flaw lies in its pacing, as the surprising little encounters that are dotted through the first half dissipate quickly into endless puzzles and little else. I suspect Playdead are trying represent the increasingly difficult struggle for our protagonist, but sadly and ironically, it begins to become a little colourless. This doesn’t, however, detract from the fun had from solving these puzzles.

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The great thing about Limbo is you can take it at any level you wish to; as creepy and captivating puzzle-platformer or as a shadowy tale of struggle and confusion. You can ponder over the context and as to why the boy is there, and attempt to extrapolate what you will, or take it for what it is. I noticed a number of reviewers complaining that there’s no big reveal or explanation, but there’s no dogma that dictates a game, or any book or movie for that matter, is obliged to expand upon and explain every detail. The unknown is where the intrigue is and leaves room for plenty of conversation, and it undeniably has got people talking.

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As far as games go, Limbo is definitely on the artsy side, but I implore you to not let it put you off. That label is often synonymous with pretentious and over-complicated which is not what Limbo needs to be, it’s enough to simply enjoy the experience. So call it artsy fartsy if you must, but any pretensions to some convoluted allegory are purely the result of player conjecture.

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[mild spoilers ahead: skip this paragraph to avoid fairly mild spoilers] There are certainly some interesting questions to be asked about the nature of the boy’s quest and his motives. On the surface, the spider is vicious and terrifying, yet you’re the one who’s attempting to get past it, pulling it limb from limb – at first it has no intentions of chasing you. Equally questionable is the moment when you run over to what appears to be another boy sitting, and inadvertently cave the floor in, causing the body to hang from a noose – there’s no indication if the boy was alive or not. Did you kill him? It’s a haunting thought.

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Limbo is a remarkable and unmistakably unique experience that clocks in at a modest 4 hours, perhaps less if you’re not mentally challenged by puzzles like yours truly, but costing 1200MS points and with an experience of this quality, I would classify it as a ‘must-buy’ without hesitation. The graceful simplicity of the gameplay works superbly with the atmosphere of strange cathartic terror, thanks to the 1920s archive film-esque visuals and Lord of the Flies vibes. It’s difficult to find games with this level of thought, flawless game design and style in general, let alone on Xbox Live Arcade. I’ll end this review with an excellent quote from the review of John Teti of Eurgamer, because I couldn’t have put it more accurately: “[Limbo is] a game that has very few humans, but a surplus of humanity”.

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9/10