Hit Rewind -- Prince Of Persia: The Forgotten Sands Preview

Over PAX East weekend, fans and critics were treated to a hands-on look at the upcoming Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands, Ubisoft's long-awaited return to the Sands of Time saga. I was among those lucky players, and came away from the demo kiosk pleased with what I had played, looking forward to more.

The Forgotten Sands, or "How the Prince went emo," takes place between the Sands of Time and Warrior Within, and recounts the tale of the Prince's involvement in the defense of his brother's invaded kingdom. Of course, this brother carelessly releases the Sands of Time, turning soldiers into sand warriors and unleashing other, bigger baddies, all of which the Prince has to mop up.

Two segments were available at the show, and were tacked together to give players a taste of a few different game mechanics. The first part of the demo was what appeared to be an opening scene, much like that of Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time. Here, the prince navigated a Middle-Eastern palace exterior as soldiers clashed with him and each other and catapults pelted the stone walls and walkways in his path. This environment provided a perfect backdrop for learning the most basic of the game's controls, such as wall-running, wall-jumping, shimmying along ledges, sliding down flags, etc. It was very straightforward, with little planning involved -- a point A to point B affair -- but the controls felt tight and responsive, improved from the previous Prince of Persia and that game's delayed responses to player input.

The game's button layout will be quite familiar to Prince of Persia veterans. The face buttons make the Prince jump, drop down from his current perch, swing his sword, and kick his enemies, while the shoulder buttons make him run up or along walls, rewind time, and activate special abilities like the water-freezing mechanic that was showcased in the second part of this demo.

After switching from the opening scene to an interior location from later in the game, I had the opportunity to make use of one of the Prince's major elemental powers -- the ability to freeze and un-freeze water at will. By holding the left trigger, I was able to freeze waterfalls and cascading water columns into solid walls and climbable pillars to help the Prince navigate his way forward. Thin streams spouting out of walls at timed intervals could also be frozen into the horizontal, ripe-for-swinging poles the franchise is known for. This, just one of the new platforming powers, will clearly expand the possibilities in The Forgotten Sands, especially as sequences become more complex. For example, the Prince may have to freeze a waterfall, run across it, unfreeze as he jumps through another fall toward a water column, freeze time again before latching onto that, leap to and swing from a frozen pole, unfreeze long enough for the next hole to spout, refreeze to grab hold of the newly created pole, and swing to safety. Players will have to think differently when entering each area, considering new platforming options provided by water, as well as the more obvious solid structures in the environment.

Continuing the game's elemental theme, the Prince will have new powers mapped to the controller's directional pad, such as rock armor or the devastating, area-of-effect tornado he can call upon in battle. These will be acquired from a Djinn residing in a mystical dimension over the course of the game, and will draw from the same power bank as the Prince's rewind ability each time they are used.

As far as combat is concerned, it seems Ubisoft has once again focused on challenging the Prince with large hordes of enemies, this time flooding the screen with up to 50 foes at once. Combat will be quick, rather than methodical, with much dodging involved. I was sad to see the block button removed from this entry in the series, and there seemed to be fewer opportunities to pull off flashy moves, a la The Two Thrones. I specifically tried to spring off of walls and over/into my enemies, but to no avail; most of the combat was a matter of "slash, slash, slash, power...." The Forgotten Sands is still an unfinished product, however, so I hope a little more complexity can be infused into the Prince's swordplay before release.

Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands is shaping up to be a welcome return to form for the Prince after 2008's aberrant Prince of Persia. Come May 18th, gamers will be rewinding time and running through the Middle East all over again.

So You Wanna Be A Fighter? -- UFC Undisputed 2010 Preview

"So you wanna be a fighter?"

This question opened THQ's New York press event on Thursday for the upcoming sequel to what has quickly become the company's biggest franchise, and what THQ considers to be the catalyst for its rebirth. The game, of course, is UFC Undisputed 2010, and from what was on hand for members of the press to see and play, it looks like it will be another great success when it launches in May.

Developer Yuke's aims to completely outdo its previous effort with the new game by implementing substantial updates to character creation, fighting styles, and career mode, as well as by greatly increasing the sense of immersion and translating the UFC atmosphere fans have come to expect from the sport. At the same time, however, the game will retain the general feeling of its predecessor, thanks to more subtle changes to the actual in-ring gameplay.

The first aspect of the game THQ highlighted during the event was the create-a-fighter mode, which has actually been used to create every one of the 100+ fighters in the game. This means that the system will be more in-depth and extensive, and potentially allow players to create much more detailed custom fighters. It will feature new color spectrum sliders, improved facial construction, drag-and-drop tattoos and logos, and greatly expanded selection of body types, hair options, etc., as well as new lists of first, last, and nicknames to be announced by the game's commentators. Players will also be able to choose from a list of fighter voices for cutscenes, as well as assign fighters' taunt, introduction, glove-touch, and victory animations.

One of the biggest and most welcome changes to UFC 2010 is the abolition of fighter archetypes -- standard fighting styles and move sets. Now, each fighter will come equipped with a unique arsenal of techniques that define his individual style. This carries over to created fighters, whose punches, kicks, throws, grapples, and submissions can all be selected, a la carte, for each button command. Adding a bit of strategy, each technique will cost a set amount of character creation points, and each will have three levels of effectiveness, with the higher levels costing more points to select. The range of customization will be far greater than in UFC 2009, and is reminiscent of THQ-published wrestling games of the N64 era, but more in-depth. And if a player isn't digging the idea of assigning every single move, the game does provide base templates for a number of general fighting styles, too.

"The game is watching you," THQ representatives told us. This theme will surround the game's career mode, which will be far more cinematic, and will force players to make choices at key moments, during cutscenes. This will include showing respect or disrespect to opponents, calling out specific fight camps, and simply responding to questions regarding fighters' careers. The game will remember these choices as fighters progress from the amateur arena to WFA to UFC, and they will have an effect on fighter relationships and how certain events play out over the course of the career. Along similar lines, the specific fight camps players choose to train with will dictate which new techniques their fighters learn as their skills improve.

Other additions to the career mode include character aging and attribute decay, which will be tied into one another. As careers progress, fighters' stats will decay in the absence of consistent training, which will make players remain conscious of their training regimens and encourage them to maintain at least somewhat well-rounded fighters. This rate of decay will increase as fighters get older, and will stop at a few key milestone attribute values: 30, 50, and 70 out of 100. UFC 2010 will also feature "game plan," a strategic, pre-fight stat alteration based on the strengths and weaknesses of the upcoming opponent.

In the ring, changes have been made to the way fighters strike, grapple, and perform submissions. According to THQ, strikes will chain together more fluidly this year, eliminating some of the choppiness of UFC 09. There will also be a new system of sways and leans to avoid incoming attacks. These will require players to be very precise with their timing and anticipation, and were not easy to consistently execute with efficacy during the time I had to play the game. "Adrenaline rush" is another new feature. This temporary state lets a fighter ignore any fatigue he has built up throughout the fight when he has an opponent rocked. This will allow him to effectively move in for the kill on dazed opponents in order to finish the fight, but will fade once his victim has recovered. If a fighter survives a round in which he takes a huge beating, the possibility of a doctor stoppage is now present in UFC 2010.

On the grappling end of the octagon, UFC 2010 now includes flash submissions to go along with last year's flash knockouts. Particularly skilled grapplers will also have the ability to switch from one submission to another without breaking the hold. When this happens, a player on the receiving end of these holds will have to reverse the rotation of the analog stick in order to continue to fight out of danger; button-mashing escapes have been eliminated entirely. Visually, the nearness to a tapout or an escape will be represented by a subtle zoom effect during these tense moments. This feedback is a big improvement over the static views of the previous game.

All of the updates to UFC 2010 sound extensive, and they will add a great deal to the overall quality of the game, but the short time I had to play UFC 2010 prior to GamerNode's trip to PAX East felt very much like last year's game. Of course, this is to be expected in most sequels, and as evidenced by the overwhelmingly positive critical response to UFC 09 and the 3.5-4 million units sold to date, it is not at all a bad thing. Still, the updates to the combat mechanics are evident, if not entirely game-altering, and it's easy to see how the various tweaks and updates can be capitalized upon as players learn the game and grow accustomed to the flow of the fight.

Fans can get excited for UFC 2010, which looks to be a more complete game than its predecessor. On top of core updates to the gameplay, THQ plans to support the title with a robust community website, tournaments, an in-game UFC news ticker, and on-the-fly fighter updates for players who stay connected via Xbox Live and PSN. Check back for more coverage around the game's May 25 release date.

Handheld Horror -- Dementium II Preview

Fans of horror titles generally have a smaller set of options on handheld consoles than on home videogame machines. While most videogame horror (including the illustrious Silent Hill franchise) falls flat when going portable, newcomer Renegade Kid managed to produce a fresh and enjoyable, though still flawed FPS horror experience on the Nintendo DS with Dementium: The Ward back in 2007. In April, publisher Southpeak Games hopes to improve upon that formula with Dementium II.

Behind closed doors at PAX East, I had the opportunity to get my hands on the sequel, which maintains most of the mechanics of the first game, but corrects many of the problems highlighted by critics and the gaming community. For those unfamiliar with Dementium games, the first-person look control is managed with the DS stylus on the lower screen, which now displays a map of the current area at all times, as well as health information. Movement is assigned to the system's directional pad, with a double-tap of any direction sending the protagonist into a run. Attacks are executed with the L button. Controls for jumping, ducking, and accessing items exist as virtual buttons on the DS touch screen.

The game focuses on atmosphere, putting players in dark and foreboding 3D environments and pitting them against warped monsters who hope to leave each one as just another of the many blood stains throughout the narrow corridors. Players won't be restricted to a single psychiatric ward this time, but will explore a variety of locations throughout the game. Adding to the creep factor are a number of unidentified torture victims at various points throughout the levels, such as the poor soul I encountered who had a chain being slowly drawn from the floor to the ceiling THROUGH HIS CHEST. Enemies are equally twisted, like the gaping-chest-maw things I killed a few times before reaching the semi-terrifying, hook-footed, skinless, zombie-lion-looking boss character rounding out my play session.

I say semi-terrifying because the monster wasn't actually scary, but was very difficult to defeat, and therefore mildly frightening, thanks to an unfortunate discrepancy between player and AI agility and mobility. I failed and was ridiculed by friends and colleagues after using up all of the health items I had collected throughout the level. Combat seems to suffer slightly, at least in melee situations, from a limited range and finicky hit detection. I didn't get the chance to grab any firearms, but obviously these problems won't carry over to that range of combat. One large improvement is the ability to wield a single-handed weapon with a flashlight in the off hand, a feature that was sorely missed in the first game.

For those who are familiar with the first game, yes, the save system has been fixed. Dementium II now features both auto and manual saving.

While a short demo, my time with Dementium II left me interested in seeing more. The sequel does address the main problems of the first game, and its action-based, first-person control scheme fits the DS well. What remains to be seen, when the game hits stores on April 20, is whether it can dial up the actual horror and make the genre relevant in the handheld arena.

Chainsaws And Parkour; What Could Go Wrong? -- Shank Preview

I had never played a game billed as a "cinematic brawler" prior to stepping into an off-the-beaten-path hotel room at the Sheraton adjacent to the Hynes Convention Center in Boston during PAX East this weekend. Shank, from Klei Entertainment has left me quite optimistic about such a prospect, though, thanks to its smooth mix of platforming action and bloody side-scrolling brawling.

"Brawling" may not be the best term, although it's the company's preferred description, because Shank is really a whole lot less brawling and a whole lot more stabbing, shooting, and chainsaw massacre, with some abusive, manhandling grapples, throws, and slams folded into the mix. In between all of this, integrated in an effort to create a different gameplay cadence for each level, is plenty of jumping, swinging, wall climbing, and sliding down poles at all angles. This platforming aspect, although not Shank's primary focus, is a noticeable distinction between Klei's game and similar side-scrolling beat-em-ups.

Also impressive at this stage in development is the game's combat, as it should be, considering the sheer amount of fighting players will be doing in Shank. Face buttons make Shank, the game's protagonist, jump, shank, chainsaw, and shoot, with grapples and "pounces" mapped to the right shoulder buttons. A grapple in Shank is a close-range grab, from which the player can continue to stab and saw enemies, or opt to throw them across the screen onto others. A pounce does the same, minus the throws, but only after Shank makes a long-range leap that pins opponents to the ground. In either tie-up, he can momentarily break from his onslaught to shoot oncoming foes, without ever letting go of his current prey. Klei CEO Jamie Cheng also demonstrated the special uses of grenades and parries, which are mapped to the left shoulder buttons. Besides simply throwing grenades at enemies, Shank can also stuff the pineapple-shaped, explosive delights right down their throats after grabbing them. Blocks and parries defend the player, and open up opportunities for free attacks and the initiation of melee and ballistic combos.

Chaining attacks, explained Jamie, is an important aspect of Shank. Not only do combos increase one's effectiveness in combat, but the myriad ways in which the different moves can be linked together seems like something that players will make their own game out of, always trying to be more stylish fighters and simply do more badass things with the tools they have at their disposal. One such badass maneuver is Shank's cross-handed, bi-directional gun-slinging move, where players can seamlessly gun down at enemies approaching from behind while maintaining steady fire at their original target. By simply tapping the control stick backward as they fire, players will cause Shank to aim one gun behind him and continue shooting in both directions. He also has the ability to shoot at angles, which played a part in the one boss fight available during the hands-on demonstration.

The never-before-played meat-packing plant level culminated with a fight between Shank and a hulking, maniacal, chain-wielding butcher, who would easily snatch Shank out of the air to counter any grapple or pounce, and who took minimal damage from Shank's regular attacks. The key here was to get the brute to sink his morning-star-like meat hooks into hanging carcasses by shooting them down from the ceiling before he made his attack. Shank could then charge, grapple, and deal massive damage from the clinch, rounding out a Zelda-esque, pattern-based boss encounter with a quick button prompt and a bucket of blood, in all its graphic-novel-style animated glory.

I enjoyed my time with Shank, and look forward to playing more when the game is released for XBLA, PSN, and PC this summer. Especially for nostalgic, NES-era Double Dragon (and ilk) players, this is certainly one to watch.

Long, Black Hair And Ghosts With Technology -- Calling Review

Japanese horror, no matter what the medium, thrives off of thematic convention. Hudson's Calling is no different. Although it suffers from sub-par visuals, awful voice acting, simple puzzles, and minimal gameplay variety, it still maintains its appeal thanks to intriguing presentation, atmosphere, and its ability to connect with natural human fears and curiosities.

Covering the gamut of J-horror cliches, Calling sends players through a school and a hospital, among other locations, in hopes of discovering the truth about "The Black Page," an internet chat room that draws its users into a world where the living and the dead walk among one another. In this "Mnemonic Abyss," ghostly torment and seemingly perpetual darkness impede progress, while cellular phones allow for physical transport from location to location.

Characters cannot be harmed in Calling. Being assaulted by ghosts only raises the player's horror meter, which begins to decrease after breaking free from their clutches in true Wii-waggle fashion. What is impressive about the system is that the player begins to dread fear itself, and the idea that the characters can be driven into a state horror that will turn them into ghosts and end the game.

The unknown and revealing the unknown are the significant themes in Calling. Players consistently find themselves in environments with very little light, making exploration -- primarily on-screen "grasp" and "examine" icons that interact with environmental objects -- impossible until a light source such as a flashlight or candle is located. Players can never be sure whether incoming calls on the always-equipped cell phones (via the Wii remote speaker) are from friendly characters or hostile spirits. One particularly effective scenario early in the game features a voice telling the player that it's coming to get its phone, after which the ghost continues to call every 30 seconds or so with updates on its progress. This all happens as the player frantically runs through dark school hallways that all look the same, quickly increasing stress levels and having a field day with one's nerves. The cell phones' other primary function, transporting, is simply a game of roulette; each time a number is found, the goal is only to escape the current location in hopes that the unknown destination is somehow nicer.

Calling does a good job of making the player feel hopelessly lost, in part because basic exploration is so slow to reveal the way forward, but also because the environments repeat all the time. Every hallway in each area is the same, low-fidelity collection of images, from doors and windows to furniture and objects, and although this aids the game to produce its desired effects, it is a cheap and transparent way to do so. The use of light and dark, on the other hand, is very well implemented, as flashlights illuminate in long columns with soft, graduated edges and limited overflow into peripheral space. Perhaps more important than light and exploration, however, is the guidance from a number of spirits on which the player grows dependent as the story progresses. In a way, Calling plays the player, using these otherworldly apparitions to point the way forward. They demonstrate that constantly checking doors and searching rooms isn't the best way to proceed, but only after dropping the player into environments where they would logically conclude the opposite. What initially feels like fumbling in the dark turns into following cues and ignoring the irrelevant, later on.

Some aspects of the game did degrade over time, however. Environmental sounds -- thumps, cracks, creaks, etc. -- and visual abnormalities like shadowy figures darting across the screen or images of faces quickly flashing and disappearing may have frightened players early on, but were easily ignored only a little later in the game because they were rarely an indication of immediate danger. They were essentially boys who cried wolf. Voice acting, too, is a weakness for Calling. The awkwardly timed and abnormally inflected speech of ghosts would have been fine, but when those same speech characteristics are present for living characters, narrative suffers. It is also slightly annoying that so much was left in Japanese in the North American version of the game. It wasn't so much the signs and posters in the environments, because those can at least be examined to find out what they say, but more pertinent to un-examinable words scribbled on walls, in lockers, on bookshelves, etc., where the player has no way of knowing what is written. Because so much of Calling is about building atmosphere, the fact that a non-Japanese speaker's native language effectively cuts out parts of the game can diminish the overall experience.

Calling has as many factors working against it as it does working in its favor; dates visuals, poor voice acting, repetition, and weak puzzles suggest a worse experience than the game provides. But while leaning heavily on traditional J-horror themes and conventions to deliver scares and suspense, Calling creates a captivating, dark atmosphere and manages to connect with gamers' psyches in a way that makes the whole greater than the sum of its parts.

All Action -- Resident Evil 5: Desperate Escape

Capcom has taken a very interesting route with the two recent downloadable extensions of last year's Resident Evil 5. While Lost in Nightmares, released two weeks earlier, was essentially a throwback to the slow-paced, suspenseful design philosophy of older RE titles, Resident Evil 5: Desperate Escape takes the action-oriented style of the latest game and turns the dial all the way up. Both are appealing for different reasons, while each falls a little flat for its respective omissions.

Desperate Escape fills RE5 players in on the events that occur between Jill Valentine's rescue from Wesker's control and her arrival via helicopter with BSAA agent Josh Stone to pick up Chris and Sheva in the main campaign's final scene. The simple explanation is that they quite literally blast their way out of the Tricell facility in about an hour's worth of nonstop action.

The game features no new enemies or weapons, but certainly throws enough of both at players to make this an enjoyable splatter-fest. One fairly easily attainable achievement rewards players for single-handedly stopping 150 non-zombies by the time the mission is over. That's a lot of shooting... and grenade-tossing... and knifing; Desperate Escape reveals that Jill happens to also be a master of knifing.

One thing that is nice about Desperate Escape, considering its focus on streamlined action, is that Jill and Josh begin with different weapons, and will continue to carry complementary arsenals throughout the mission. This means that there will be very little ammo sharing, and less wasted time managing inventory; whoever has a particular gun picks up that type of ammunition. Simple. On the other hand, because the game steadily hits players with an ocean of ammo, grenades, and herbs, the inventory screen will likely be filled to capacity the majority of the time. Only in the game's final moments does ammo ever seem to dwindle, which significantly ups the adrenaline for that scene, but also exemplifies the relative lack of tension during the only slightly less-heavily populated earlier portions. Those parts are action-packed, but not white-knuckle style, like the DLC's climax.

The climax is one of the more hectic parts of all of RE5, playing out much like the title's Mercenaries minigame, or like a chapter in Valve's Left 4 Dead. The duo must defend against an onslaught of all manner of antagonists as an on-screen timer counts the minutes until an escape chopper arrives. Here, players will be challenged to bring their A-game against axes, sickles, Molotov cocktails, giant warhammers, chainsaws, chain guns, etc. on a small and very hazardous (and notably explosive) rooftop. It's pretty intense.

In addition to the lost chapter of the RE5 story, Desperate Escape also includes two new playable characters for the Mercenaries Reunion game mode, newcomer Josh Stone and Rebecca Chambers of Resident Evil and Resident Evil 0 fame... and the minigame itself for those who don't already have it. These two extend players' Mercenaries options, but are simply not as much fun to play with as the characters unlocked by the previous DLC are.

Desperate Escape is essentially a concentrated dose of Resident Evil 5's action-based gameplay, and is quite enjoyable for the short time players will spend with it. If you're looking for puzzles, start walking the other way, but if you just want some solid, new-era Resident Evil action, you will not regret giving Desperate Escape a whirl.

Ace On The Hill -- MLB 10: The Show Review

It's no secret that Sony's MLB: The Show franchise has been the king of the diamond for years, and with MLB 10: The Show, Sony aims to hit yet another home run. Long story short, they do it again, but still have room for innovation in future entries.

Right off the bat (Give me a break; I'm overwhelmed by baseball right now), anyone can see that The Show is all about the presentation. This game oozes Major League Baseball, with real video footage and commentary from the 2009 season opening the game and reminding us exactly why we should be excited for what we're about to experience. It also features the best and most detailed visuals, from classic and modern ballparks, to 3D-modeled crowds, to stars of The Show, the players themselves. Particularly impressive are the player animations, which capture little idiosynchrasies, stances, swings, and deliveries, as well as the more common on-field behaviors, such as off-balance throws, dives, and the many ways players complain about called third strikes. Facial details are also excellent, nearing photorealism for most players and adding an unmatched level of familiarity to the game.

Ballpark sounds are also at their finest; the crowd explodes into cheers for the home team and barrages the visitors with boos and catcalls at every turn, while the stadium organ, crack of the bat, and snap of the leather all settle the player into a decidedly "baseball" soundscape. It's too bad the commentators can't match the rest of the audio, and come across as uninterested and occasionally annoying, especially after extended play reveals their play-by-play to be more repetitive than it should be.

One other area that could use a bit of refreshment for next year is the mostly unaltered pitching and batting system. The cursor- and meter-based interfaces feel tired and dated in comparison to the rest of this highly refined and polished game, and hearken back to the 32- and 64-bit era. Sony has done a lot to make hitting, in particular, more interesting, with pitch type and location predictions, directional hit influence, swing feedback, and a number of charts to make each plate appearance a strategic event, but the core dynamics of actually hitting -- moving the left analog stick and pressing X for contact or square for power -- is how we've been playing baseball videogames for ages, and can feel bland when compared to other batting systems. Pitching is essentially a matter of tapping the X button at the right times as the cursor moves up and down the arced meter, and can dissolve the strong MLB atmosphere the game works to create. In short, both pitching and batting are very gamey in the game's default configuration, and attempting to remedy that by using the no-GUI Rookie settings makes both way too boring to consider.

Every other aspect of the game, however, is absolutely top-notch. This is truly a comprehensive baseball experience, featuring much beyond the standard exhibition, home run derby, season, and franchise modes. Rivalry mode lets players battle in multiple contests between the same two squads, and Manager mode is great for anyone who's wanted to sit in the dugout and tell players what to do, then watch how his instructions serve the men on the field.

The pioneering Road to the Show (RTTS) mode makes a return in MLB 10, allowing players to create an individual player and follow his career from a minor-league pine-rider up into Major League stardom, one pitch, plate appearance, and fielding opportunity at a time. This year adds the ability to call entire games as a catcher, relying on the pitcher to deliver the goods as requested. Being a catcher is an extra strategic experience, because on top of bunts and throw-downs, players have to constantly consider the pitcher's arsenal, stats, and condition, as well as the strengths and weaknesses of every single batter who faces the battery. RTTS is still the best baseball role-playing experience in gaming, and really takes the small things into account, liberally doling out attribute bonuses and demerits for in-game performance and the many well-integrated training sessions between games. Advancement goals are updated periodically, based on player success or failure, and manager interactions and post-game notes plant players firmly in their prospects' shoes from start to finish.

When it comes to season and franchise modes, again, nothing is more robust and full-featured than MLB 10: The Show. The game makes it easy to track league leaders, team rankings, player trends, league standings, and tons of statistics, as well as current awards and All-Star voting numbers. The Show even lists all-time MLB records and Hall of Fame members, presumably just as a way of saying, "Yes, I'm awesome." This is all alongside manual or automated roster moves, injury management, trades, contract negotiation, etc. Franchise mode specifically adds training regimens, club staff and facilities management, scouting, banking, marketing, and franchise contract goals, which are similar to the individual career goals in RTTS, to be achieved over the course of multiple seasons. These act as extra incentive for already-inundated MLB 10 players, and serve to keep players interested and involved over time. And if playing alone isn't enough, up to 30 players can join in a single season, and full seasons can now be taken online, with each player controlling his or her own team.

MLB 10 is the best baseball spectacle you're going to find in a videogame, thanks to the high production values, attention to detail, and incredible number of features and options stuffed into this shiny package. The basic pitching and batting interfaces are beginning to show their age, though, and even after updates, they might be ready for a substitution. If that happens, 2011 will see the perfect baseball videogame; 2010 has to settle for just being the best.

Good Cut -- MLB 2K10 Review

Developing a great videogame simulation of one of the world's most complex professional sports is not as easy as one might think, as evidenced by the numerous baseball titles that have seen ho-hum critical reception throughout the years. For the franchise's tenth anniversary, Visual Concepts and 2K Sports have set out to rectify whatever failings MLB 2K games have suffered from in the past with an overhauled product, and one that mostly succeeds in bringing the series back to relevance.

Maybe the most important aspect of any baseball videogame is making the player feel that they are actually involved in America's national pastime, and thanks primarily to its pitching and batting interfaces and new "My Player" mode, MLB 2K10 does this just as well or better than any game out there. While baseball games have traditionally been very much about cursor alignment, meters, and other input mechanisms that constantly remind players that what they are doing is artificial, MLB 2K10 simplifies its core gameplay in such a way that players still have a high degree of control and influence over what is happening on screen without separating them from the experience.

Pitching and batting are both controlled with gestures on the right analog stick. Pitches are performed via two-step motions, such as back/forward, forward/quarter-circle, right/semicircle, etc. These determine both speed and accuracy while keeping players' eyes in the strike zone at all times, where a simple expanding circle indicates proper timing, with "weak" and "overthrow" penalties for early or late input and wild pitches resulting from completely botched motions. This is one of the few baseball games that makes pitching actually enjoyable as you work the batter with an arsenal of differing weapons.

Batting has further eliminated on-screen overlays, and is instead based primarily on timing and analog motion. Tapping the right stick forward executes a normal swing, while pulling back prior to the forward swing takes a heftier power cut. This extra motion works just as one might expect, providing great rewards, but making it far more difficult to meet the game's strict timing requirements. In fact, although it appears to be simple, what's under the hood of the batting system makes for a much more realistic battle between offense and defense, effectively tempering the slug-fest of the juiced-ball era of virtual baseball. An excellent addition this year, and something baseball players will definitely appreciate, is the defensive swing. This lets players fight off close pitches and work the count just as they would in a real batter's box, in hopes of getting a better pitch to hit on the next delivery, or perhaps drawing a walk. Patience pays off in MLB 2K10; players can actually draw those walks by paying attention to each pitch and exercising some discipline. The game's highly customizable camera, which lets each player view the action from the perspective best for him (about 300 variations from the plate alone!), further demonstrates 2K's efforts to get this pitcher-batter battle just right. Somehow, though, the development team managed one unbelievable failure in this department by completely omitting check swings. There's absolutely no excuse for that, especially considering the precision with which the game is able to detect pitching motions..

Overall baserunning control is excellent, allowing the player to toggle runners easily and direct them to the appropriate base no matter where they are on the basepath. Hit a sure double and you can immediately direct the batter to second or send a runner home by highlighting the appropriate on-screen blip and moving the right stick in the direction of the base. Another feature, along with the defensive swing, that should have been included in baseball videogames ages ago, is the display of 1, 2, 3, or H on each runner icon to indicate their intended destinations. Stealing is a bit trickier, mostly because the game does a poor job of explaining its controls, but also because pitchers seem to have a touch of clairvoyance going on and will pick runners off like it's their job (because, well, it is). Without impeccable timing or Olympic runners, players are often caught in rundowns, which are not the game's forte; it's way too easy to reach base safely in such situations. A runner should rarely get out of a pickle like they so regularly do in MLB 2K10, especially at the major league level.

There is far more to any baseball videogame than just its core mechanics. The bottom line for most players is the quality of the complete package. Features and presentation, statistical and managerial depth, and, as the genre evolves, individual player career modes are all imperative. On top of home run derby, franchise, postseason, drill, and roster management modes, MLB 2K10 adds the "My Player" mode this year to satisfy the needs of baseball role-players, and it is one of the most enjoyable aspects of the game.

In My Player mode, a custom-created ballplayer is brought up through the minors and into the bigs by performing his individual duties on a double-A ball club in a MLB team's farm system. The player hits, runs, pitches (if applicable), and plays the field only during the plays that involve him, and earns points by completing certain goals set by the game and for generally good performance on the field. These are divided into specific batting, running, pitching, and fielding categories and are used to increase ratings that fall under those headings. Once certain goals are met, it's up to the majors, and later, hopefully, into the Hall of Fame after a lengthy, multi-season career. Throughout, the pressure of each appearance is always a heavy, "do-or-die" feeling, because you'll only have a few opportunities to perform per game.

The whole experience is quite captivating, although sometimes the prescribed goals are sometimes at odds with what is actually best in a particular situation, like when "get ahead in the count" leads you to watch a pair of strikes before marking "K" in the books. In such instances, the choices are to ignore the goals or possibly hurt your performance in an attempt to achieve them. The other big problem is in the point allocation itself. Because a player can only earn baserunning points by actually running the bases, a speedy, base-stealing type must also be a threat at the plate in order to ever have the opportunity to improve his running. The game needs some sort of fleshed-out training option to significantly improve stats aside from the occasional drill day, because diverse player specialization suffers without it.

Another major area of interest is the game's Franchise mode, which functions exactly as one might expect, managing a ball club through multiple pre-, post-, and regular-season campaigns while managing every aspect of the franchise. The player can be as involved or uninvolved as he would like, choosing to manually manage, automate, or ignore nearly every aspect of the game, including major and minor league rosters, trades and injuries, call-ups and send-downs, player contracts and franchise staff, and special inside edge scouting reports that can be purchased for individual teams in the league. Involvement in matters far on the business end -- managing parks, marketing, and injury rehab -- are not included, as in MLB 10: The Show. Games themselves can be played or simulated, or a combination of both, with the jump-in, jump-out Super Sim option. Worth noting here is the menu system and organization, which is unnecessarily obfuscated and labyrinthine throughout MLB 2K10, potentially confusing players or preventing them from taking advantage of all aspects of the game. It is at the same time conveniently integrated into every part of the game, however, available no matter what the player is doing.

MLB 2K10's presentation, in general, has its strong and weak points. The game's visuals are a step up from last year's offering from 2K, but are still notably aliased, still lack detail in some areas, and are certainly inferior to competitor Sony's product. Occasional clipping and misplaced runners detract from the mostly impressive broadcast-style presentation, and although fielding controls are smooth and manageable this year, animations in between the lines are often more awkward than you'd hope to see in the majors. Conversely, MLB 2K10's commentary and soundtrack are both excellent, with great background tracks and Gary Thorne, Steve Phillips, and John Kruk talking about everything but the players' latest bowel movements during games. Occasionally, though, the guys in the broadcast booth speak inaccurately about the action (like saying a player kept the ball himself when he really flipped it to another player), and all audio tends to hiccup during save and load operations, which can be minimized by playing from the Xbox 360 hard drive.

MLB 2K10 does a great job of making players feel as though they're playing baseball, rather than watching a telecast or playing a videogame. It falls short of its competitors in visual presentation and overall depth, but gets the most important aspects of core gameplay and immersion just right.

Carrot, Stick, Go! 1: Exploring Rapture Is Enough

Carrot, Stick, Go! is a monthly TGR column by Eddie Inzauto, exploring the reasons why we play games, the ways they reward us, and what we gain from our experiences with them as a whole.

I often ponder why we play certain games and not others. More specifically, I question which elements of each game are the most important to the overall experience and my personal enjoyment of it. With BioShock 2, a game that is not presented with a unique interface or radically different way of playing, a marginal hybrid of a first-person shooter, I find that the joy of playing it comes far less from how I actively influence the game world than from what I passively take away from that world. It is more about exploration than achievement, but could it survive on exploration alone?

Player input isn’t the game’s strong suit - nor is the bullet-permeable Bid Daddy outfit, but that’s for another discussion. The shooting mechanics aren’t particularly refined and the progression from one area to the next, gathering Adam, fighting splicers and Big Sisters, all grows somewhat stale through repetition. What is most compelling in the undersea dystopia is the revelation of Rapture’s history and the mystery of the metropolis itself, of its stories and its inhabitants.

The exploration of a mystery world is in no way a novel concept; literature, film, and even interactive media have utilized this theme many times in the past. One benchmark title, Metroid Prime, not only cast players as a galactic bounty hunter exploring essentially extinct worlds, but devoted a significant portion of the game to scanning and cataloging descriptions of everything from enemies, objects, and environmental features to Pirate data logs and ancient Chozo lore, each entry teaching the player something about the otherwise alien planets.

In BioShock 2, the information is less meticulously organized and rigidly structured, but is instead drawn from radio recordings scattered about the city, messages scrawled on walls, and period advertisements, among other things. Perhaps this is enough for it to become a sole motivating factor for players to see the journey through to its end.

Is the world of Rapture enough on its own to warrant a return to it in BioShock 2?

While the hunt for information is largely optional in both games, BioShock 2 makes it a self-guided discovery by hiding that information, often placing radio recordings at the dead ends of otherwise useless paths or concealing them in drawers and ice blocks, forcing the player to work to uncover them. Other tidbits are blended into the rendered environment as simple visual elements, and cannot be collected and logged, but only viewed and processed as-is, via the player’s own perceptive tools. The player has to observe the decaying city to piece the picture together. This method of exploration is more similar to how we investigate the real world, and by mimicking that, BioShock 2 connects players more closely to the in-game search for answers. In turn, the discovery of the city’s history and the actions and motivations of its characters easily become enough to keep players pushing forward, seeking out Rapture’s remote corners, and devouring every little scrap of knowledge they can find. Even the final goal becomes more a means to reveal the truth than to simply save the day and be a hero; the reward is internal rather than external.

If discovery is indeed enough motivation, then could 2K Marin have minimized combat in BioShock 2? More broadly, can a game like this survive without combat as a prime directive? Would it stand a chance in today’s market or would it be doomed to fail? While games like Animal Crossing and Endless Ocean don’t have combat-orientated goals, they also get written off as non-games or placed in other shunned categories, such as kiddie or casual. Can the same design philosophies be migrated to more adult-themed works?

The Animal Crossing franchise has been largely successful with building on core concepts that do not require combat to increase interest. Players are most often driven through self-assigned objectives revolving around exploration and collection. These are not simple doodad hunts, but serve to piece together the world in which the player resides. Like the intricacies that give substance to Rapture and the Metroid Prime universe, building the museum, filling the insect and fish catalogs, completing a KK Slider music library, and cultivating a variety of fruit trees are all instrumental in defining Animal Crossing’s world. These are of course different characteristics than in the other titles, but in all cases, each individual in-game item is a small piece of a much larger puzzle.

In BioShock 2, the world is instead defined by its characters and living history, the information about which is all similarly collected as the game progresses. Rather than animal and plant species, the stories of political and philosophical movements and of opposing ideologies are the flesh and blood of the game world. The intrigue of what exactly led to Rapture’s reascension and subsequent second demise, and whose actions were to blame for these events, are all of immense importance to the game’s appeal. I dare say more important than its moment-to-moment gameplay. Even actions as simple as roaming halls and reading old posters or observing architectural design, in essence shaping a post-mortem portrait of the former city and life within that city, are far more memorable than the 300th splicer the player shocks and drills into an undersea grave.

So what would improve the experience, and how could the game actually work without so much filler combat? Believe me, I don’t assume that conflict can be eliminated entirely, because human beings crave such challenges, but conflict can again be internal as well as external. Even the delightful Animal Crossing maintains conflict without combat, as the townsfolk can become angry with player characters, turning conflict avoidance into a motivating factor. The M-rated Penumbra: Black Plague similarly axed combat and focused on the player’s fear of the enemy. Games like BioShock 2, though, are designed with combat in mind, so a complete overhaul would be necessary to remove it entirely. Instead, simple adjustments could reduce the combat, improve the exploration, and even give remaining conflict more significance.

Consider this: what if mandatory combat was limited only to battles with Big Daddies and Big Sisters?

The Big Sister battles presented far more excitement than encounters with splicers.

In BioShock 2, as a Big Daddy the player is supposed to be a menacing entity, an entity players learnt to fear from his presence in the first game. The insignificant Splicers who roam Rapture, too, should fear and flee from the player, reinforcing that aura of power surrounding the Big Daddy, and at the same time creating a new dilemma of mercy versus malice. Of course, there would be fewer of these than there currently are in BioShock 2 - a logical assumption about a derelict sub-oceanic city after its second utter collapse.

As for Rapture’s other Big Daddies, why not give players the option to steal the Little Sisters from them without a fight? Perhaps specific set pieces could allow players to use the environment, which is already a prison in a way, to trap the other Daddies and run off with their girls. This would not only improve the game by providing options for each Big Daddy encounter, but also by putting the player in the unique position of embodying a protagonist’s mental pathology. Subject Delta, the man inside the Big Daddy suit, could potentially inflict the same suffering upon the other Daddies that was inflicted upon him when he lost Eleanor. Transferring this anguish would further reveal the effects of the events of Rapture’s past, this time on the psychological level in a character who is - depending on how you deal with Little Sisters and Splicers - otherwise noble. Even conflict would be about demystification.

Finally, Big Sisters would also remain obstacles in Rapture, but like the others, only occasionally. The structured and predictable way these Sisters come after Delta in BioShock 2 is completely useless to the player, as is. There is nothing exciting or uncertain about it. A better approach would be to release them more randomly, as the player moves through the city. With fewer Splicers and a focus on exploration, the possibility for these more powerful enemies to show up at any time would greatly increase the tension throughout the game, and each fight would have a far more significant impact on the possibly prepared or possibly unprepared player.

BioShock 2 was a wonderful experience, but what made it wonderful was tarnished by what made it conventional. The allure of Rapture and the drive to explore that world could easily carry the game without the comparatively banal, interstitial combat. I would assert that many other games could survive off of non-combat mechanics, as well, if only the effort were made. Are publishers and developers too afraid to find out if I’m right?