Killin' Rebs -- Darkest Of Days Review

8monkey Labs' Darkest of Days was quite an ambitious project, aiming to use time travel to place players in a number of historical settings, each with a unique feel. The concept is intriguing, but the execution in Darkest of Days falls short of its potential amid control, AI, and other gameplay issues. It can't equal the standards set by modern top tier shooters, but it is still a fairly solid and different first-person shooter experience that is worth checking out for those who are interested in a more historically accurate, slower-paced, free-roaming game of war.

Darkest of Days is about an organization called KronoteK, formed after the invention of time travel to ensure that history is not tampered with, and if it is, that the integrity of time is quickly restored. The player assumes the role of Alexander Morris, a soldier from the ill-fated Battle of Little Big Horn, rescued from certain death to become an agent of KronoteK and do its Quantum Leap-esque hands-on work. I found it strange that the fictional organization would select someone who they'd have to send forward through time to fight with increasingly advanced weaponry, and even stranger that he had absolutely no resistance to doing so, marching merrily into the Battle of Antietam. Darkest of Days covers the Civil War, WWI, WWII, and Roman eras, bouncing players from one time period to another throughout the story.

Players should know, right up front, that Darkest of Days is visually inferior to most of what they've seen from the first-person shooter genre this generation. Low quality textures, flat foliage, aliasing, screen tearing, pop-in, and flicker are all served up in generous helpings, and when large numbers of soldiers or effects are on the screen at once, frame rate dips become frequent, affecting players' aim and movement. Additionally, the game suffers from lengthy load times, even when installed on the Xbox 360 hard drive, as well as a dark, dingy color palette. In general, there is a low-budget, last-gen look about Darkest of Days. Gamers who are unable to look past these flaws will simply not be able to enjoy this game; despite what it does well, the weak technical foundation will leave many dissatisfied with the experience as a whole. If you are this type of gamer, then you should consider passing it up.

Darkest of Days does do some things very well. The designers clearly aimed to create an authentic atmosphere, and from the tactics employed by the AI (when it works), to the maps plotting out the wide-open levels, to the weapons available in each time period, the ambiance definitely feels right. There are a number of "period weapons" in the game, such as the single-shot Springfield musket from the Civil War era or the "Broomhandle" c96 of the WWI era. There is something extremely satisfying about using a musket or 19th-century revolver sidearm. Iron-sighting targets makes the weapons feel very tangible, and the smoke effects from older weapons realistically obscure players' vision. These weapons are limited in their capabilities, but are not realistic to the point of being just no fun to use (in fact, they may very well be too accurate). They do, however, force an approach more closely approximating what one might do if they were actually in battle; rather than invincibly running and gunning through the enemy lines, players will have to use caution, cover, and fellow soldiers in order to be successful. Often, taking up a position and holding it is the best strategy until it is safe to move forward. Players who enjoy quietly picking off enemies with a rifle will have an especially good time moving through many of the game's scenarios because of this. Additionally, a few advanced weapons are thrown in intermittently to give players the upper hand, and using them to saw through the battlefield is immensely empowering.

8monkey Labs wanted players to feel as though they were on these battlefields, in very dangerous situations. The game succeeds in making war a deadly place to be. Taking a more realistic approach to gunfights, only a few shots are necessary to put down an enemy, but similar rules apply to Morris, and rash players will see the "restart from last save" option (luckily, the game autosaves frequently) many, many times. Players are forced to make critical choices throughout the game, although these choices are never explicitly spelled out. Observing the battlefield and considering the current situation, the player will see that he or she is almost always presented with varying options: Do I fight this group of soldiers or do I back off and wait for them to pass? Do I follow the road or do I cut across that field? Do I hole up in a house and ride out an attack or do I hide in the trees along the perimeter? Do I rush out into no-man's-land, or do I man a gun emplacement? These decisions can mean the difference between survival and death, and playing out those decisions is very engaging as a result of the game's atmosphere.

Although Darkest of Days is not a completely wide-open, go-anywhere game, it gives a good illusion of being so. The player is directed only by objective locations marked on the map, but getting there is up to them. It is a point-to-point, progressive mission structure, but without boundaries... except for the invisible walls. Yes, this game is not only about time travel, but it seems to have travelled back through the generations of gaming to retrieve invisible walls for use in the modern day. A focused player may not run into more than one throughout the whole game, but they have a most jarring effect when they are discovered. Also breaking the sense of immersion the game struggles so valiantly to maintain is the on-again, off-again AI. Sometimes enemy and ally behaviors, movements, and formations make great sense, and even match tactics from the particular time period in question. At other times, soldiers from both sides of the conflict run about like chickens with their heads cut off, shoot in the wrong direction, or become completely oblivious to the player's presence. Still more frustrating is that some enemies couldn't shoot the broad side of a barn, while others smoke Morris from what seems like 1000 yards away.

Other gameplay-hampering annoyances include the game's controller setup and problems with combat. Darkest of Days' control scheme is uncustomizable, but the biggest problems are the hold-to-crouch left analog stick, and the hold-to-view-the-map Back button. The former is likely due to the fact that the game was developed for the PC, where holding a button to crouch is more natural and helpful in battle, but holding a clicked-in left stick while still trying to move effectively -- or worse yet, stay still -- is arduous to say the least. As for holding a button to look at the map, especially the awkwardly-placed Back button -- that's just ridiculous. A pace-quickening active reload system has been implemented in this game, much like the Gears of War franchise. This is a welcome addition, especially considering the reload rates of some of the earlier period guns. Unfortunately, all of its bugs have not been worked out. Whenever Morris reloads, a circular meter indicates his progress. If the player presses X for a second time when the meter reaches a highlighted section, the remainder of the reload animation will be expedited, if the timing is off, the gun will jam and take even longer to be ready. Sometimes, the system just doesn't work. Coming out of a scoped view, for example, reloads have a tendency to auto-fail, and on occasion, the game will register a clear miss as a successful active reload. *sigh*

There is no question that Darkest of Days is flawed. From technical issues, to controls, to AI, it could benefit from a great deal of refinement. The story and concept behind the game, however, are interesting, and the time periods and battlefield situations are carefully crafted and can be very immersive. It may be a tough sell, but there is a market for Darkest of Days, and that market will get a surprising amount of enjoyment out of this game... even if others should simply avoid it like the plague.

One Word Review | Prince of Persia

This is One Word Review, a concept that I shamelessly lifted from my friend Creighton over at Nerdology (it's okay, he said I could). The idea behind OWR, as we like to call it, is that videogames are so often rated, reviewed, and discussed to exhaustion that it is sometimes a relief to read a succinct, definitive description of a game--a single word that sums up the most prominent characteristics of the gaming experience. That's the idea, so here goes:

Autolingering

Fun Without The Game -- Scribblenauts Review

Scribblenauts: Since its pre-release debut, videogame critics, developers, and fans alike have showered praise upon this new and novel creation for venturing into uncharted territory and aiming to do what no game has ever accomplished before. In some ways, Scribblenauts is a great success; its primary conceptual design elements are unarguably pioneering achievements in gaming. In other ways, however, it falters, primarily in the playability of the game it offers within the playground it establishes.

Scribblenauts, for the uninitiated, is a puzzle game that tasks players with collecting the single star from each level as they move from one to the next through a series of larger areas. There is no narrative, and the puzzles are completely independent of one another, save for a common background theme (ice, beach, mountains, etc.) in each of the locales. What makes Scribblenauts so special, though, is how one approaches these puzzles -- and let me tell you, there are myriads of ways to do so -- using a clever and comprehensive item system. (I suppose one could call it that.)

To interact with the game world, players call up a keyboard interface and type in any word from an expansive dictionary of well over twenty thousand nouns that can be instantly conjured into virtual existence. They may then move, rotate, and place the object/animal/person... thing... wherever they choose. The best part about this is not even the sheer number of words available for use, but the way those manifestations then interact with one another based on physical, behavioral, and relational qualities, without any further instigation from the player.

The system is a sight to behold. If you can think of it, and it isn't offensive, copyrighted, or vulgar, then the word is most likely included. I had a great time picking out words that I deemed to be obscure, and then watching them magically appear before my eyes (although "softball" isn't included... odd). Simply playing around on the game's title screen, building structures, setting up chain reactions, and pitting things like Cthulhu and Shoggoth against one another in gladiatorial combat is one of the most amusing ways to play with Scribblenauts, or any game for that matter.

Unfortunately, the goal-based game itself is actually less enjoyable than the veritable sandbox of the opening scene. The two available modes are Puzzle, where certain conditions must be met in order for the stage's star to appear (create the right items, bring characters together, eliminate antagonists, etc.), and Action, where the star is already present, but must be retrieved by navigating a daunting environment. Either mode can end up turning into a long game of trial and error, but are oftentimes quite simplistic. The ability to review each puzzle's initial clue would be a great help, because as the game stands now, doing so requires the player to restart the level completely.

In many instances, the game suffers from a drawback similar to that of the equally creative Crayon Physics Deluxe: players can repeatedly employ the same strategies and use the same objects to finish levels, taking the joys of exploration, discovery, and PLAY out of the equation. Faulting the game for this would be unfair, since it's the player's choice to solve any stage in any way imaginable, but the encouragement by the game to use as few items as possible, doling out more "ollars" (the game's currency) for each item under "par" in a way punishes creativity and lengthy, satisfying solutions.

It's true, just blowing through Scribblenauts can be boring. It can feel like a grind. An advanced mode, where players must complete levels three times in a row with no object duplication was a brilliant addition. It eases this feeling by pushing players to think outside of the box, but replaying the same, focused, objective-based stage over and over is still not the most enjoyable way to play a game.

Controlling the game's leading man, Maxwell, can also be frustrating. Players move Maxwell around with the stylus, tapping in the general direction they would like him to walk, jump, fly, or climb. It is not precise at all, and this unwieldy setup is one of the biggest knocks against Scribblenauts. While playing, it's easy to question why the developers chose to map the camera controls to the DS face buttons and leave character movement to the stylus. I obviously haven't tried an alternative setup, where Maxwell can move and jump with the d-pad and face buttons, but it seems a more logical approach in my estimation.

Is Scribblenauts an enjoyable experience? Sure. Playing with the game's words and objects is highly entertaining, especially with friends around to brainstorm and laugh with. But is it a good game? Well, I'm inclined to say that the majority of its entertainment value lies in the former, and the controls are pretty sub-par, but the puzzles are still acceptable in their own regard. Should you at least try it? Unequivocally, yes.

Art In Motion -- Muramasa: The Demon Blade Review

I love seeing great games on the Wii. Muramasa: The Demon Blade most certainly falls into that category. It is one of the best entries into the evanescent beat-em-up (slash-em-up?) genre in recent memory, and is Vanillaware's best effort to date... and that's saying a lot.

On top of the unparalleled sprite-based, hand-drawn, multi-layered, parallax-scrolling graphics that lovingly caress players' retinas from the second they load up the game, and enveloped within a thematically-appropriate, flute-and-lute-rich, traditional Japanese soundscape, players will find that Muramasa delivers steadily enjoyable gameplay from start to finish, with only a slight tarnish from repetition.

Muramasa plays just like it should. That is to say that a game about samurais, ninjas, monsters, and demon blades in a fictional 17th-century Japan should be smooth, responsive, and manageable, putting the player firmly in control of his or her character's actions and letting them feel the power of slicing through enemies by stringing together combinations of various types of attacks with relative ease and simplicity. Muramasa, blending and simplifying the guiltily satisfying swordplay of Ninja Gaiden, the layered level presentation and progression of the Metroid franchise, and the crafting, leveling, and inventory elements of most JRPGs, does that, and more.

Each time they load the game, players may take control of Kisuke, an amnesiac ninja, or Monohime, a possessed princess, and continue either of two separate but interweaving storylines. These follow different paths through the well-mapped provincial Japan, through different locales and with different enemies, making each character's story a distinct gameplay experience. Three difficulty modes are available, ranging from the forgiving Muso setting to the deadly Shigurui mode (available only after completing the game once), which limits the player's hit points to 1. Shuro is the initial "hard" difficulty setting, and requires better combat precision than Muso mode. There are also multiple endings, giving players more reason to replay Muramasa.

No matter the difficulty setting, which can be changed mid-game, play consists of advancing through multi-sectional levels with the aim of reaching a particular location, where a boss character waits and a few short cutscenes further flesh out the plot. On the way to these milestone confrontations, groups of enemies will appear, sometimes detaining the player until all are vanquished, and sometimes permitting them to continue without bloodshed. The bosses are all large and finely detailed, of unique and fantastical design, and each requires a different attack strategy to defeat. Doing so will clear that province of enemies and grant players a special blade and the ability to break down one of many colored barriers blocking the way at key locations on the map, thus allowing further progress, and setting the stage for their next goal.

Combat itself is like walking on air, and although the fights with ninjas, samurai, gremlins, griffins, kappa, giant frogs, etc. occur on a frequent basis, they rarely feel like a disturbance or an imposition on the player's gameplay experience. Using the simple control scheme, players can string together flurries of attacks from the very start without breaking a sweat. A possible downside of this is that there's nothing new to learn throughout the game, but I'm not entirely convinced that the sequential discovery of techniques makes for a better experience than the perfection of a well-rounded initial move set. In Muramasa, A is the primary attack button, and is very mashable for simple combos, but direction modifiers can be applied as well. While holding the A button, pressing up on the control stick makes Kisuke and Monohime perform a vertical slash, and pressing left or right sends them gliding across the screen, slashing anything in their path. The latter can be done up to three times in a row. While airborne, normal attacks keep the blade wielder suspended like a Hokusai-painted hummingbird of death, and pressing down + A delivers a swift downward thrust to anything below. The B button unleashes the currently equipped weapon's Spirit Power, which is a more powerful attack, unique to each blade.

Spirit Powers, along with regular use and blocking (hold down A), diminishes a sword's Soul Power, which is like a hit points bar for folded steel. When the meter is depleted, the sword breaks, and another must be selected. Three demon blades are equipped at any given time, and each has its own attack power, special effect (stat boosts, resistances, etc.), and aforementioned Spirit Power. Players will constantly switch from one to the next as swords break and revitalize, and doing so at the right moments trigger screen-wide blade storms, much like the effects in arcade beat-em-ups and shooters. There is little diversity in the way the different swords handle -- there are essentially two types: short, quick blades and long, powerful blades -- but maintaining a good balance of size and effect can still be important, especially on the higher difficulty settings or during boss fights.

There is a sea of swords in Muramasa. Some are earned by defeating bosses, but most must be created in the game's blade-forging tree. To make new, more powerful weapons, the ethereal swordsmith Muramasa requires souls, collected from the environment and fallen opponents, and spirit, drawn from food and recovery items. The availability of blades is limited by these factors, the blades in one's possession, and Kisuke or Monohime's strength and vitality, which increase as they gain levels from battle.

There is little more one can ask of a game like Muramasa. Aside from backtracking, which is slightly eased by the infrequent use of boats and palanquins to travel quickly across the map, there isn't anything wrong with the game. The visuals, which should be self-evident, represent some of the best artistic design in all of videogames, and the perfectly matched music conjures images of traditional Japan, as well as another critical darling, Okami. Anyone who owns a Wii and enjoys videogames should play Muramasa.

Beware The Formidable Foes Ahead -- Demon's Souls Preview

I was recently given the opportunity to try my hand at a trade demo of From Software's Demon's Souls, published by Atlus in the US. I've enjoyed my time with it thus far, and am eager to dive deeper into the game, as playing through the training level and the first segment of one of its six major areas reveals the title to be one of the most unique examples of a dungeon-crawling action RPG in recent memory.

The game is set in a world where demons have descended to claim the souls of the living, preceded by a thick and ominous fog covering much of the land. It is up to players to vanquish these demons and clear the world of their influence. To do so, they will fight across a number of different locales both while alive and in a quasi-corporeal soul form, which they enter upon death.

Gameplay takes place in a number of rich and immense 3D environments, and players have great control over the character they play. To begin, these characters are fully customizable, letting players choose from four geographic backgrounds (north, south, east, west) and 10 character classes that range from uncivilized barbarians to magic users and royalty. Each class starts the game with its own combination of equipment and attributes, but over the course of the game can be molded to fit players' preferences and play style.

Gameplay is different from games of this kind. Combat is intricate, and every fight feels like something substantial. Players lock on and cycle between targets using the right analog stick, then press R1 and R2 for normal and heavy attacks. If a catalyst (wand) is equipped and a spell memorized, magic attacks work the same way. The circle button dodges and rolls, L1 raises a shield or weapon to block, and L2 parries attacks, leaving the enemy open for a deadly riposte, a quick victory, and a finishing animation. Players are also given the option of dual-wielding, or using a single weapon with two hands -- sometimes a necessity to reap its full benefits, due to strength requirements.

From what I've sampled, I can see that survival isn't exactly easy in Demon's Souls. Enemies hit hard, and any sizable group has the potential to quickly become overwhelming. Quickly swapping between primary and secondary equipment with the d-pad (left for shield/off-hand, right for main weapon), or using quick-access healing items with the square button will undoubtedly be indispensable strategies on those occasions. On all occasions, it looks like players will be taking it slowly if they want to live.

On top of the massive single-player experience (expected to clock in at around 80-100 hours), the game features a number of unique online components. Throughout the adventure, players can leave messages for other online-enabled players to find in their own games. These may warn of danger ahead or point out secrets, and are limited to a selection of key phrases to avoid the standard vulgarity of online gaming communities. Phantom versions of other characters also make short, intermittent appearances as players traverse the same areas at the same times, and bloodstains on the ground allow you to see visual playbacks of how others have met their demise in those particular locations.

On top of that, players have the option of teaming up in parties of two or three in order to complete levels and defeat major demons. Or they may invade other players' worlds to fight against them, either to win souls or to be resurrected from soul form in their own game.

Demon's Souls looks incredibly promising. The concepts of intertwined worlds, the Nexus, and soul form have great potential, especially in an online gaming landscape, and the gameplay itself is a refreshing and competent reinvention of an established genre. I can't wait to play more.

One Word Review | Dead Rising

This is One Word Review, a concept that I shamelessly lifted from my friend Creighton over at Nerdology (it's okay, he said I could). The idea behind OWR, as we like to call it, is that videogames are so often rated, reviewed, and discussed to exhaustion that it is sometimes a relief to read a succinct, definitive description of a game--a single word that sums up the most prominent characteristics of the gaming experience. That's the idea, so here goes:

Romeroclonal

A Wild Ride -- Wet Preview

What better way to spend the wee hours of a Tuesday morning than by taking control of an acrobatic gun- and katana-wielding mercenary girl with rage issues and the power to slow down time? Luckily, Artificial Mind and Movement (A2M) and Bethesda's Wet allows players to do just that in a frenetic and stylish third-person action romp, so I did.

Wet plays much like Total Overdose or Stranglehold, or however one might expect anything directed by John Woo or even Quentin Tarantino to translate to the videogame medium. Gameplay appears to mostly consist of gunning down steady streams of enemies while slow-motion jumping, diving, sliding, swinging, and wall-running in various combination. These combinations are tallied, earning points and multipliers for the player, and even accelerated health regeneration during special arena sections.

While the gunplay was a bit loose, wild, and something like riding a mechanical bull in Tijuana, the acrobatics, automatic fire, and unlimited ammo made it forgiving and enjoyable. An especially nice touch is the split-targeting feature, which locks one of main character Rubi's pistolas onto a nearby enemy as the player aims the other with an on-screen reticle. Being able to easily direct fire at a single or multiple enemies while gliding through streets and buildings definitely helps drive home the let-you-do-a-lot-without-really-trying gameplay philosophy A2M seems to have followed with Wet.

Rubi also carries a katana -- a very useful tool for cutting down foes within melee range. This blade is equally, if not more deadly than Rubi's guns, but will be used less often than the twins. Aside from combat, however, Rubi tends to whip out the sword to use it as a pry bar, zipline handle, and whatever else seems to make sense at the moment. The katana seems more fitting to Rubi's moments of blood rage, though -- instances where she gets a crimson bath from her slain enemies and the game's entire visual style transforms into a less detailed noir style in bold black, white, and red. During this time Rubi has double health, stronger, faster attacks, and somehow, her pistols get automatic, uzi-like capabilities.

The most impressive aspect of gameplay, however, should be the high-adrenaline action sequences infused with quick time events and over-the-top, Rubi-does-awesome-things moves. I was only able to play out one car chase, but if it's any indicator, these segments will be the apex of Wet's gameplay experience. Throughout the scene, players fire at moving cars from moving cars using the same slo-motion effect and split-targeting as before, but will also have to watch for button prompts that send Rubi leaping over and across vehicles, maintaining the core shooting mechanics throughout every move. It's very intense and visually dramatic.

The entire game appears to be very polished in the graphics department. The game has a gritty, striking look, incorporating film grain effects and a striking color palette, with character design to match. Menus are all highly stylized and very slick, as well. Rubi is voiced by a potty-mouthed Eliza Dushku, which may or may not e a good thing, and the music tracks are very fitting to the style and energy of the game.

Wet certainly looks promising, with fun, over-the-top action and a this-game-is-cool atmosphere. I don't expect it to be in the realm of the most elite titles this fall, but it is definitely worth looking forward to.

Wet is scheduled for release on September 15th on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.