Back In MY Day... -- The Dark Spire Review

When a reviewer's best (and only) analogies for a game come from 1980s classics, one can be certain that the title is decidedly niche. Such is the case with The Dark Spire, a dungeon-crawling first-person role-playing game from Atlus and Success, which frustrates, delights, and disappoints all at the same time.

The Dark Spire is most similar to early Wizardry titles, and makes no effort to try to be anything more, adhering more closely to genre conventions than anything gamers have seen in years. Still, the game manages to fall short of the classics in some ways, while surpassing them in others.

Players begin by custom-tailoring a party of four adventurers, rolling base stats with a slot-machine style number generator, and choosing spells (if applicable) from a short list. After receiving beginners' equipment and playing through a brief training session as an introduction to the menu-driven gameplay and unforgiving turn-based combat, the party is thrust into the titular Dark Spire, and for the most part, to their doom.

Many gamers will loathe this game; in order to play and enjoy The Dark Spire, one must possess incredible patience, unwavering resolve, and an understanding that the greater journey is comprised of many smaller steps. Anyone expecting to blow through each floor of the tower at attention-deficit speeds will find the game's pace to be laboriously slow, while those who appreciate the methodical exploration of dark, disorienting rooms and corridors will revel in the challenge. It is an exercise in trial and error much of the time; many dead ends make for a fair amount of backtracking, and the frequently encountered and very dangerous enemies will kill off party members left and right.

Better than many horror games, the Dark Spire instills real fear in the gamer -- fear that the party's next step may be their last. This fear is partially allayed by the game's save-anywhere system, a necessity for any handheld rpg. However, players relying too heavily on this feature and not enough on careful preparation may end up sapping the life out of the experience.

Beyond it's very daunting barrier to entry, The Dark Spire is indeed an engrossing and rewarding videogame. Amid the high-contrast ink style of the tower's stark halls, the mobs of graphic-novel-rendered enemies, and the synthesized, polyphonic acoustic atmosphere, players will find well-written, detailed descriptions of certain aspects of their surroundings, secondary characters, puzzles, and other objects scattered sparingly throughout. The game, though encased in a claustrophobic shell, reveals itself as an open environment to explore and discover. Without excessive guidance, the player's own adventurousness becomes the way forward.

For all it achieves, however, The Dark Spire leaves much to be desired. Party options are severely limited, offering the initial choice of only four races and four classes -- numbers that were eclipsed in this genre more than two decades ago. There are many skills available to each character, each of which finds some obscure and clever use later on, but including only four starting classes is underwhelming. The weapon system is difficult to wrap one's head around, as the game is never clear what distinguishes one from another in terms of damage, though this could also be considered part of the game's "work-for-it" appeal. More frustrating, however, are the delayed text response when activating or examining objects, and the menu setup, where players are asked to dance a ballet of d-pad and shoulder buttons in order to equip their party, cast spells, use items, etc.

The Dark Spire is an undoubtedly niche, uncompromising title that will earn the ire of the many players who aren't interested in the classic gameplay found within, but put smiles on the faces of those who are. With a fitting audio/visual presentation, intense challenge, and do-it-yourself design, this is a throwback to a bygone era, and a good one, at that.

Where's The Rest? -- Company of Heroes: Tales of Valor

GamerNode - The Company of Heroes franchise is not the typical real-time strategy experience that many gamers are familiar with. Relic's latest standalone expansion, Tales of Valor, takes the gameplay standard set forth in the first two entries in the series and runs with it, though not exactly in the same direction as the originals, but still a unique one.

Tales of Valor adds three new single-player campaigns and three new multiplayer modes, along with new unit types and maps to do battle on. As expected, the content is all of standard CoH caliber, but compared to the two additional armies (each with full campaigns of their own) that the Opposing Fronts expansion introduced, ToV feels quite small, especially as a standalone product.

For those unfamiliar with the Company of Heroes style of RTS gameplay, a primer: Company of Heroes differs from the by-the-numbers RTS formula primarily in the way players acquire the resources necessary to fuel their war machine. Rather than setting up and relying on continuous, semi-passive background harvesting and generation, players must actively capture supply points scattered throughout the map to boost the three resources -- manpower, munitions, and fuel -- that are required for building new structures and producing additional units. This system makes players have to work to improve their army alongside their combat efforts, and feels like a more realistic match for the game's setting than in many other RTS games.

As a result of the less exploitable resource system, unit production is also toned down a bit; players won't be leading thousands of units across the battlefield in a tsunami of camouflage, but will have to be a bit more selective and strategic in their efforts to put together an effective force. HQs, barracks, motor pools, and other analogs to what one would expect to find in an RTS exist in CoH, but the speed at which the gears of war turn is less rapid than some may be used to.

Unlike earlier CoH games and multiplayer, however, the new single-player missions in Tales of Valor do not ask much of the player in terms of base-building and unit management at all, save for the final campaign, which only lightly dabbles in the more traditional type of RTS gameplay. The expansion instead chooses to focus on the exploits of small groups of units through the heavily -- and impressively -- narrated campaigns, mostly without the luxury of any sort of home base to fall back on. Players are given more direct and fine-tuned control over a wealth of specific squad actions, including the new, aptly-named direct fire ability, which is available for some unit types.

ToV's stories of a German Tiger tank's efforts to stop the British advance on a French village, the U.S. paratroopers' D-day attempt to take a German-controlled causeway, and the German defense of the Falaise Pocket are all woven seamlessly into the action via voice-overed radio communications, scripted battle sequences, and finely hand-painted cutscenes, which makes for a very intense experience that drives home the unpredictable and mostly uncontrollable nature of the war from the soldiers' perspectives. The game can, however, be a jarring departure from what fans of the series have grown accustomed to, as it takes on more of an action flavor than previous titles. And though they are quite engaging, players will find that the nine new missions are over very quickly, leaving multiplayer matches as the only remaining option for novel engagements.

Multiplayer, too, takes a detour from the norm in Tales of Valor. Like the first of the new single-player campaigns, Operation Panzerkrieg puts players in control of a single tank, but this time in a victory point match (capture and hold strategic points across the map) against other players. This may seem very bland, but with the variety of tanks and commander skills available, things still remain interesting.

Operation Assault, while the least involved, is arguably the most enjoyable of the new modes. It casts up to six players as individual hero units on either side of a large-scale battle over open ground, the goal being to have enough influence over the deeply entrenched AI forces to sway the outcome of the war. As a sniper, commando, medic, engineer, etc., players can affect the proceedings of the engagement in a variety of ways, leveling up abilities as they successfully defeat enemies and complete objectives. After falling at the hands of the enemy, players respawn as a new hero of any desired type. It's like a fast-paced RTS version of the Battlefield series, except that the majority of the soldiers involved are relatively weak and expendable, and the player characters are undeniably badass.

Lastly, Operation Stonewall is basically a co-op skirmish match against the CPU, in which players must work together to build their forces and manage resources as they defend a small town from the attacking German soldiers. Although these new operations offer a good change of pace from CoH's existing multiplayer, they suffer from the fact that each is limited to only one map, so get used to them.

Tales of Valor may not be what longtime Company of Heroes fans were expecting from Relic's expansion, but the game still delivers a great experience from start to finish. The problem with that, though, is that "start to finish" is not a very long time, because ToV is comparatively light on content, overall. It's a great game, but at $30, gamers should expect more.

The Ship Is Thy Shepard -- Flock! Review

GamerNode - Flock! is an interesting and novel puzzle game from Capcom and Proper Games, in which players must use a small flying saucer to herd a variety of farm animals across vibrant, elaborate, and hazard-ridden landscapes toward the Mother Flocker mothership to be abducted for who knows what otherworldly reasons... and points.

These hapless creatures flee from the Flocker's ever-shining cone of light, no matter what pits, predators, or other obstacles may be waiting in the opposite direction. The key to meeting the abductee quota in each of Flock!'s 50+ levels is to carefully avoid these things. This won't be easy, however, as the animals aren't exactly organized, and often end up either scattering wildly or getting stuck on whatever it is that the player is trying to avoid. At times, the critters' degree of responsiveness feels almost equivalent to the marbles in those old, tilt-controlled wooden labyrinths.

In addition to simply chasing the animals around, the Flocker can make use of tractor and depressor beams to alter terrain and manipulate environmental objects. For example, a player may need to pick up a gate and use it to bridge a small gap, send a boulder rolling down a hill to break through a fence, or stuff a bale of hay into a pit to create a path for the animals. Each of the four species behaves in different ways and have different abilities. Cows stampede through fences, chickens fly across gaps, pigs absorb mud, and sheep shrink when wet (wool, get it?). These traits are all useful in their own ways, and must eventually be used together to successfully complete certain levels.

Sometimes the power of love needs to be called upon, as well, making male animal follow females single-file, or bringing a couple together in order to... increase the population. Unfortunately, after extended Flock! sessions, the game begins to feel just a bit empty and slow; despite the differences between the animals and the suite of environmental hazards, a sizable portion of the game feels repetitive and borderline chore-like, and the introduction of new gameplay elements occurs at intervals that are too wide. Perhaps as an XBLA/PSN title, this issue is a lesser concern than in a full retail game (although the caliber of many downloadble titles is fast approaching and even exceeding that of their retail counterparts), but the sort of bite-sized gameplay that players will inevitably partake in with Flock! seems to lend itself far better to a handheld gaming system than to a home console at all.

The monotonous nature of Flock!'s levels is theoretically curtailed by the inclusion of a level editor and the ability to share creations with other players via XBL. Thus far, the pool is fairly shallow there, so the creativity of the Flocking masses has yet to shine through, but the editor itself is very user-friendly and makes it easy to put together nice creations. Players only have access to the items that they've unlocked in the single-player campaign, though, so any budding designers will have to play through that first.

An alternative to the single-player mode is a cooperative multiplayer romp that makes the game more interesting and fun, thanks to that extra human touch. Players can split duties, get in each others' way, or simply go mess around with helpless [animated, PETA-don't-sue-me] creatures and boulder physics.

Much of the fun of Flock! comes from the obviously humorous and playful nature of the game's overall concept and its animal stars... not to mention the animations that accompany their untimely demise at the hands of killer moles, fish, shadow-lurking monsters, and the player's own Flocker beams. The audio/visual presentation as a whole is very appealing; the patchwork landscape, plush toy modeling, and hand-drawn GUI art are all just as quirky as the sci-fi/bluegrass soundtrack, and silly animal sound effects. The only complaint in this department is that players will be listening to the same tunes over and over again, as there are very few songs to accompany the action.

This Lemmings-inspired puzzler is unique and charming, and can be very fun for a short while. As an XBLA title, it is solid, but its lack of depth and gameplay variety prevents it from becoming a heavy hitter. The game needs more, just not more of the same old stuff.

Failing Grade -- Mana Khemia: Student Alliance Review

GamerNode - Mana Khemia: Student Alliance is a game that should have never been. The original Mana Khemia: Alchemists of Al-Revis, developed by Gust, was mediocre to begin with, and the PSP version only serves to degrade what was already a less-than-enrapturing gameplay experience in a nearly direct port that suffers from a myriad of technical issues.

Mana Khemia is an RPG set during the course of an academic year at the Al-Revis Alchemy Academy and both alchemy and school play major roles throughout the game, incorporated into just about every aspect of the player's adventure. The main character, Vayne, finds himself in a very Harry Potter-esque situation, orphaned and sent to this school full of colorful anime characters to find the answers to the many questions surrounding his past.

Student Alliance plays out almost identically to the original PS2 game, aside from a few new characters and craftable items. Players watch story segments to introduce each week of class, attend classes, and complete outside assignments with the help of the group of friends who make up the party. There are also periods of free time that allow players to complete side jobs, synthesize items, and venture off campus to find ingredients and unleash their frustrations on enemies.

And yes, there will be much frustration while playing Student Alliance. Due to a horribly inconsistent frame rate that manages to drop into slide show territory on many occasions, along with more loading than a professional moving company, it is difficult to derive any pleasure from the portions of the game that were actually enjoyable to begin with. Pauses for disc or memory card access accompany almost every action, from cutscene transitions, to enemy encounters, to NPC interaction, to menu selection. It is by no means the definition of fun.

The already adventure-limiting school setting and complex, tedious crafting system become less bearable due to the game's technical issues, and even the once-commendable battle system, which employs pre-encounter on-screen enemy representation, an interesting tag-team "support" system, and a novel "burst" system, is rendered sluggish and inadequate. The hand-drawn art and battle sprites are still nice, but background visuals are a blurry mess. The game's voice acting ranges somewhere between poor and mediocre, and the music is generic and repetitive.

Mana Khemia was a niche title to begin with, dividing players into love-it and hate-it audiences. Mana Khemia: Student Alliance is that same niche title... in a wheelchair... in the mud... with no arms. I would recommend that gamers avoid this one; if school-focused role-playing and item synthesis are exciting to you, please opt for the PlayStation 2 version.

I Want To Be Alone -- Resident Evil 5 Review

GamerNode - Resident Evil 5 has some unquestionably ENORMOUS shoes to fill. Following Resident Evil 4, a game that redefined the Resident Evil series and was widely touted as one of the greatest achievements in game development for its time (still the 12th best game of all time on GameRankings), expectations have been almost unfairly high for the 5th...er...15th entry into the franchise. To say that the game has not lived up to the legacy of its forebears, then, is not so much a letdown as it is an inevitability... and a statement of the simple, nigh unavoidable truth. Regardless of these unattainable expectations, however, RE5 is still a fine gaming experience.

Resident Evil 5 expands upon the more action-oriented and less creep-around-corners gameplay style of RE4, casting players as veteran Chris Redfield, star of RE1, and newcomer Sheva Alomar in a cooperative adventure into the heart of Africa, where they will uncover the origins of the Umbrella Corporation's evil, zombie-producing experiments and plans for world domination. The storyline isn't likely to win any awards for creativity, but Resident Evil fans will enjoy the many references to prior RE games, as well as the inclusion of some very well-known characters.

New to the Resident Evil universe is Sheva, Chris' ever-present partner throughout the game's biologically altered festivities. A second player can take control of Sheva at any time, making RE5 the first non-spinoff title in the series that can be played cooperatively from start to finish, online or locally. It's exactly what fans have been waiting for, and is an immensely enjoyable way to experience the game. Carefully coordinated teamwork, good communication, and trust in one's partner are all vital parts of success during much of the mission, with key moments requiring players to perform special "partner moves" and to take on different roles in order to survive.

Unfortunately, this also means that the solo RE5 player will be plagued by an obviously-less-than-human, AI-controlled, hip-swaying sidekick who all too frequently does her best to ruin the gameplay experience. From charging into the open during a careful sniping session and alerting everyone of the team's presence, to knocking enemies out of the player's sights at the worst possible moments, to picking up all of wrong items, her presence is less a help than a hindrance, and I personally would have preferred to have just left her in the car. What I did instead was strip her of all her weapons and load her up with as many first aid items as possible, thus keeping her out of my way but still putting her to good use. A simpler solution to her frustrating default behavior would have been to set "attack reaction" to "yes," an option that nicely regulates the willful lady's actions.

Enemy AI, and the enemies in general, leave something to be desired, as well. Somehow, the cognizant, semi-intelligent, communicative, and therefore frightening Ganados of RE4 have been replaced by similar, yet far less clever and resourceful waves of a different group of indigenous people, the Majini. The trademark vocalizations of the previous game's enemies have been minimized in RE5, and players will be hard-pressed to see anything more than drone-like advancement on Chris and Sheva in melee combat situations, although gun-toting enemies become more plentiful and strategic as the game progresses. There is a fairly diverse selection of baddies in RE5, ranging from the simple parasite victims wielding a variety of weapons, to mutated bio experiments gone wrong, to outright monsters, although the breadth of this cast doesn't match that of RE4. Especially disappointing are the boss characters, who show a lesser degree of creativity in their design, their characterization, and the way in which players eliminate them (expect far fewer context-sensitive button prompts this time around).

It's hard to critique the game's enemies without simultaneously examining the environments and situations in which players encounter them. While beautifully rendered in some of the most refined visuals on modern consoles, with incredibly detailed textures and realistic dynamic lighting, the game's environmental design is not typically conducive to interesting or unusual enemy confrontations. Many of these places, although visually quite dissimilar, feel very much the same as one another due to the way they are laid out and the way the action unfolds within them. Gamers won't find themselves on the edge of their seats and hanging in suspense in these mildly horrifying locales, despite the moody, orchestrated score providing all the proper ambiance. This is as much (maybe more so) a repercussion of gameplay mechanics as it is of level design.

The game's controls have been improved this time around, featuring four different setups, including a modified version of the more popular dual-stick controls (with strafing, yay!) found in many modern third-person shooters, but the further the franchise slips from its survival horror roots into action territory, the more dated and awkward they feel. A new cover system to help combat the more gun-loving enemies of the later stages works very well, aside from the fact that players cannot move laterally behind their cover of choice, but can only pop out and back from a single position at a time. Still, a cover system in a Resident Evil game at all feels slightly out of place, and along with the game's more hard-driven pacing, is more evidence that this is no longer a "survival horror" franchise.

The inventory system, too, has been updated, allowing each player to carry a maximum of nine weapons or items at a time. Ammo, grenades, and mines take up slots, but are stackable. Chris and Sheva can swap items, so long as they are within arm's reach of one another, but taking a cue from EA's Dead Space, inventory management happens in real time, meaning the action doesn't stop while players trade guns or combine herbs. Of course this change warrants a fast weapon-swapping function, and answering the cries of RE fans, the inventory slots corresponding to the four cardinal directions are now instantly accessible via the d-pad. This is absolutely invaluable when a freshly emptied gun goes *click* in the middle of a firefight, and is a welcome addition to the RE series.

All of these updated and improved controls make fighting non-zombies a smoother experience, especially in the returning Mercenaries minigame, a timed game of survival, set in a number of the game's locations. Mercenaries is playable alone, with a partner, offline, or online, and is an even more action-packed version of the oppressive situations found in the main storyline. Blasting as many enemies as possible nets the team points, and a final ranking at the end of the round. These points can later be used to purchase cool bonuses like new costumes, screen filters, enemy figurines, and unlimited ammo for particular weapons. As in the past, Capcom has given players plenty of reason to keep playing, well after the credits roll. That's good news, because the main game's brevity is a contributing factor to many of the enemy- and environment-based complaints noted above.

Resident Evil 5's biggest flaw is that it immediately succeeds the most historic entry in the series, and although it does a lot to innovate and deliver a great gameplay experience, it doesn't do enough to match the ground-breaking performance of its predecessor. To make an analogy of it, RE5 is to RE4 what Majora's Mask is to Ocarina of Time. Resident Evil 5 does have other flaws, namely some questionable partner and enemy AI, lack of a diverse stable of bosses, and further abandonment of the tempered survival horror gameplay that the franchise was founded upon, but it still remains a shotgun-blasting good time.

Monochrome Emotion -- Inkheart Review

GamerNode - Books and movies don't often translate into magnificent videogames, and Inkheart is no exception. This DS adventure will not be winning any GN Nodie Awards this year, yet still maintains a few redeeming qualities and will appeal to less experienced gamers.

Inkheart is based on the film of the same name, which in turn is based on the best-selling novel by Cornelia Funke. The plot remains relatively true to the other media, although additions and omissions have been made to create a more viable videogame experience. The story revolves around Mo, a book restoration expert with the unique and magical ability to read books into reality, his daughter Meggie, and a few unlikely companions, all of whom are working together to stop some of Mo's most sinister past animations from wreaking even more evil upon the world.

Besides saving the world, the father-daughter tag team aims to rescue Meggie's mother, an early victim of Mo's supernatural gift. Whenever "Silvertongue" (Mo's nickname among fictional characters) reads someone from a book's pages into reality, someone from the real world has to take their place, becoming a permanent resident in what amounts to an alternate dimension. Nobody really wins.

Playing Inkheart is much like reading a choose-your-own-adventure book; the DS is held sideways, there is plenty of reading, and options are fairly limited. Each solution is generally not very difficult to figure out, because players are limited to only a few areas at a time and can only interact with a handful of objects in each location. Even so, the game doesn't feel so easy that it is insulting, just that players are simply going through the motions to reach the next area. The minigames that are sprinkled throughout the game, such as guiding a marten (weasel) over a maze of planks or following a looped and zig-zagged line with the stylus as it scrolls across the screen, break things up a bit, but seem slightly out of place and feel tacked on.

The relative ease of Inkheart is most likely in order to cater to the film's youthful audience, but certain features, such as the stars that indicate which parts of the environment are interactive, also work to remedy other issues from which the game suffers. In the case of the stars, which only appear if the A button is pressed, the problem is the game's visual uniformity, where no objects stand out from the background wash of dull-colored pixels. While this feature does help improve the game's pacing, it also removes much of the sense of exploration that adventure gamers seek. And the graphics are still not very good -- especially the mechanically animated and poorly detailed character models.

The game's audio, on the other hand, is both appealing and varied, making it better to listen to than to look at. There are many different compositions included in Inkheart, and they set the mood well, without becoming tortuously repetitive, as in some other DS adventures. Sound effects, on the other hand, are simplistic and generic, but they'll likely go unnoticed, or will at least be forgotten by the time the DS powers down.

Inkheart is not for the seasoned adventure veteran by any stretch of the imagination, but is instead intended for the same audience that rushed moms and dads to the theater to see the movie. Truly engaging puzzle-solving and high quality presentation are absent from the game, but its accessible control style and somewhat interesting plot make it at least playable.

Rumble on the Walk: The Street Fighter IV Inaugural Tournament in LA

On Thursday, February 19th, hundreds of Street Fighter fans, gamers, and passers-by found their way to the packed courtyard in front of Universal City Walk's GameStop store in Los Angeles, CA to witness and take part in the company's inaugural "Rumble on the Walk" Street Fighter IV tournament, the first of thousands to be held at stores across the country.

In addition to a 64-competitior tournament played on eight Xbox 360 consoles, the final rounds being displayed on a two-story high big-screen display for all to see, the event also included a raffle for multiple prizes -- headbands, autographed copies of SFIV, and an Xbox 360 console -- a costume contest, a "Best Street Fighter Move" competition, and a martial arts demonstration.

_{The bracket}

Almost as soon as the event began, the tournament bracket was filled to capacity, as was a list of 20 alternates, just in case any of the first-stringers suffered from strained thumb syndrome or fell unconscious at the sight of their opponent's street fighting ferocity. Both groups were lined up behind security gates and could be seen chomping at the bit like ancient gladiators or modern day UFC fighters.

I spoke with the group at the front of the line, including Player #1, the first registrant, "Big Dre Dre." He told me that claiming those spots was "a mixture of being early and being on top of this s***." Unfortunately for him, being the first in line only meant that he got to play first...against a friend occupying slot #2. "They play in order. That sucks." Dre would much rather have used his "Ken Bizzle" skills to KO unknown opponents.

_{The first three entrants into the tournament, including quarter-finalist "Big Dre Dre"}

Once the tournament got underway, things moved rather quickly, grinding down to the top eight street fighters in what felt like no time. In the quarter finals, two of the four matches -- Dre's crushing Ryu-Ken defeat included -- saw players who were down two rounds to none come back with three straight KOs, advancing them to the semis. At this point, matches played out on the big screen, where every super and ultra combo prompted "ohs" and "oohs" from the diverse crowd -- even babies looked on wide-eyed.

_{Sanchez vs. Gutierrez: "Round 1, FIGHT!"}

The final round was a best-of-seven match between Alex Sanchez and Ryan Gutierrez, better known as M. Bison and Balrog. Whereas earlier contests were exhilarating and suspenseful, this championship bout looked like a mismatch, as Gutierrez, or Gootecks, as he called himself, won easily in four straight rounds. This performance earned Gootecks a seed in the Evo 2009 Street Fighter IV Championship Tournament in San Francisco later this year, as well as a one-on-one match with Evo founder and Special Advisor to SFIV Seth Killian immediately following his victory.

Here's the final round of that epic confrontation:

^{Gootecks shows Seth Killian that he's the new kid on the block}

Fans thoroughly enjoyed the tournament, but it wasn't the only attraction of the evening. Four enthusiastic cosplayers were chosen from the crowd to compete in a Street Fighter franchise costume contest, where winners were determined by crowd applause. To no one's surprise, a scantily clad Cammy won easily.

_{Dudley, Q, Cammy, and Ryu pose for the camera}

In the "Best Street Fighter Move" competition, yours truly lost in not-so-grand fashion to the main tournament's runner up, who delivered a very vocal Shin Shoryuken to an imaginary opponent on stage.

Here's the winning move:

^{Mr. Sanchez caters to the fans with his Ryu impression}

...and my losing "Fei Long" impression:

_{I know it's not exactly a Fei Long kick, but I had to choose a character, and he was the closest I could think of}

Far more impressive than our fanboy antics, however, was the live Capoiera demonstration that took place in front of the stage about halfway through the event. A group of performers sparred with one another, performed acrobatic kicks and flips, and tumbled across City Walk like gymnasts doing floor exercises. It was enough to make me want Tekken's Eddie Gordo to join Capcom's Street Fighter IV roster.

_{Capoeira at the Rumble on the Walk}

GameStop's inaugural Street Fighter IV Tournament was truly enjoyable for all involved, from the old-school fans of the franchise, to the new, competitive players, to the random shoppers of City Walk who found the ever-more-mainstream gamer culture interesting enough to stop and watch. The manager of the City Walk GameStop store was especially pleased, saying that the event really helped out with regular foot traffic and general patronage, as well as obviously bolstering Street Fighter IV sales on both consoles -- especially for the Collector's Edition. He also said that Capcom was very helpful, providing plenty of merchandise and support for the event. In all, it was a great success.

In classic Street Fighter fashion, to everyone in attendance, "YOU WIN!"

_{"To GamerNode! <3>}

Voracious Simplicity -- The Maw Review

GamerNode - In an industry where many games rely on formulaic design and re-treading the same old beaten paths to be successful, it's very comforting to know that creative, original games do still remain. One such example is The Maw, an Xbox Live Arcade game that follows no established rules, instead setting out to define it's own style of rather peculiar fun.

The Maw is a third-person platformer where players guide Frank, a recently liberated ex-con alien, and Maw, a purple, cycloptic blob with a razor-sharp smile worthy of its name, through eight short levels, on the road to freedom. The sans-narrative tale begins when the prison ship the two soon-to-be friends were held on crash lands on an unnamed planet, thus freeing both from the clutches of their captors.

Very early on, Frank finds a remote energy leash that lets him latch onto Maw, as well as other critters, enemies, and obstructive objects throughout the journey. The actions associated with this leash mechanic range from moving boulders out of the way, to hurling explosive creatures at enemies, to uprooting annoying sentry guns, to tossing hapless victims into the Maw's gaping...Maw. All the Maw cares about, really, is eating; it is up to Frank to feed it. This causes Maw to grow, and to gain special abilities like fire breath, laser eyes, electro-zappers, and balloon-like floatation. These abilities, in turn, allow the dynamic duo to progress through simple puzzles leading to each level's goal.

Controlling Maw is not as easy a task as it may sound, however, as the basic 3D controls are somewhat imprecise. Players don't so much direct the Maw as much as simply let it tag along behind Frank. As a result, one might find him/herself running around in circles more than should be necessary in order to get the Maw to go to the exact locations desired. This often comes into play when trying to eat individual Yums (one type of Maw prey) or attack enemies/objects. A better route may have been to map the fussy camera to the D-pad and give players direct control of the Maw with the right analog stick.

Otherwise, the commands available to players work fairly well. Frank grabs the Maw with X, and everything else with B. Depending on what is in tow at that point, commands differ, but are all accomplished with simple, single-button input. This comfortable simplicity to a degree (but not entirely) redeems the game of its navigational woes. Yes, you will have fun playing The Maw.

The game's more endearing quality is undoubtedly its presentation. The bright and colorful 3D graphics are not what one might expect from the cutting edge HD era, as they are not terribly impressive from a technical standpoint, but they do fit the game's theme perfectly, and just about all aspects of the visuals are oozing with character. The style is reminiscent of a Pixar film, or DoubleFine's classic gem, Psychonauts.

The audio, too, fits the bill, with a score that sounds as close to semi-humanoid alien pop music as I could possibly imagine, mixed with jazzy synth-instrument tracks and borderline elevator music. The songs blend into the action so well that one might question whether they are plain and forgettable, or simply so perfectly matched with the gameplay that they become impossible to separate. Character noises and sound effects are silly and simple, again befitting the title.

The Maw is a simple, yet enjoyable game, with charm to spare. It may not be enamoring enough to ignore its gameplay flaws and the fact that it's not terribly deep, but despite those setbacks, it is still a refreshing change of pace that is worth playing.

Whaduya Get When You Cross A...? -- Halo Wars Preview

GamerNode - The gaming community has been waiting a long time for its first taste of Microsoft and Ensemble Studios' new take on Bungie's Halo universe in the real-time strategy game, Halo Wars. Many questions and concerns have filled the air, wondering if this attempt to meld the popular franchise with the historically difficult console RTS genre would effectively portray the fictional world that fans have come to know and love. More importantly, would gamers be able to pick up Halo Wars and have fun?

Judging from what we've played here at GamerNode, Ensemble Studios has managed to build this RTS from the ground up for the 360 in such a way that gameplay feels streamlined, without taking the player out of the equation. For seasoned RTS veterans, the "dumbing-down" of the genre may not be the most appealing premise, but for the 360, it appears to be just what the doctor ordered, and remedies much of what has made the genre so cumbersome on consoles in the past.

Players select individual units by placing the cursor over them and pressing the A button, or holding the button down and dragging the consequently expanded selection circle over as many units as desired. There are also "global" and "local" select-all functions mapped to the left and right bumpers, respectively, to help grab the bulk of the army more rapidly. These, along with a D-pad mapped ability to snap the camera to each individual mass of units across the map, make selecting units quite efficient. What's lacking, however, is the option to manually set up and select specific groups of units, something that could have easily been done with a simple shift function combined with the D-pad or control stick.

Commands to move, attack, collect, take over, etc. are issued with the X button, and although the player can't custom-define squads, pulling the right trigger does toggle through the grouped unit types for quick delegation of duties. The selector changes, depending on what is below it; clicking on land tells units to move, while highlighting an enemy readies an attack order. That much is fairly standard for the genre, but Halo Wars also allows units to perform secondary functions, such as the infantry's grenade bombardments or the Warthog's ram attack, quickly and easily with a tap of the Y button.

Where Halo Wars will most likely either win over or turn away fans is in its base-building and resource acquisition systems. Unlike the typical RTS, where the "base" area can expand as far as the player is willing to build (and protect) structures, Halo Wars restricts each base -- several will be scattered across each map -- to a small mall consisting of the main HQ and 7 surrounding support buildings. These are the typical soldier- and vehicle-growing centers, which double as centers for skill and equipment research, as well as two types of upgradable resource-generating centers. There is no harvesting of naturally-occurring resources in Halo Wars, only the drop-shipments from the UNSC at each of the bases' supply pads. This allows players to focus on building and combat without as many micro-management tasks on their plates. The process is very streamlined and easy to use.

On top of what seems to be a solid and functional RTS core, Halo Wars has the benefit of being able to layer on the well-established lore from Bungie Studios' Halo universe. This game takes place prior to the events of Halo, so the tale will still be somewhat original and inviting to Halo newbies, but dedicated fans will likely gobble up all of the familiar elements of the game world, high-production cutscenes, and references to other Halo games. Even the soundtrack, though composed by Ensemble Studios' Stephen Rippy, sounds very similar to the epic scores of the Halo trilogy, and indeed borrows elements from those works.

Halo Wars appears to be exactly what Ensemble Studios hoped it would be: a faithful translation of the Halo universe into an accessible and functional console RTS. If the demo is any indication, this game could be a hit from all angles. I'm not even a big Halo fan, and it's got me excited.

Second Time's A Charm -- Ar Tonelico II: Melody Of Metafalica Review

GamerNode - Gust is known for developing highly unique videogames, sometimes sacrificing wide audiences for implementation of very specific original design elements. If there was ever a game to break this niche status, the well-crafted Ar tonelico II: Melody of Metafalica may be it. Published by NIS America, the still-out-of-the-ordinary Ar tonelico II improves upon its predecessor in nearly every way, and proves itself as a very worthy entry into the ever-growing RPG catalog.

Ar tonelico II takes place in Metafalss, a troubled land that is caught in the midst of a war between rivals the Grand Bell and the Sacred Army. These two groups both seek to steer Metafalss toward peace and prosperity, but each has very different ideas regarding how that goal would best be achieved. The Grand Bell wishes to obliterate the Goddess of Metafalss, who has neglected the land and its people for far too long, and then build a perfect world without her impeding the people's progress. The Sacred Army believes that the Goddess is the key to Metafalss' salvation, and that the Grand Bell must be stopped in order to appease her. As the story progresses and the intricacies of each faction are revealed, the lines between "good" and "bad" or "right" and "wrong" become increasingly ambiguous.

The game's story begins when protagonist and Grand Bell soldier Croix is given the task of protecting the exalted Lady Cloche from assassination by the Sacred Army. From there, the complexities of the narrative continue to mount through one of two entirely separate story arcs -- paths that are determined by highly consequential player choices. Regardless of which way the story is directed, it is consistently interesting throughout, with very few lulls in the narrative pace. Thanks to a map system that eliminates the long-distance travel and slow exploration of many other RPGs, players spend more time in locations that advance the plot, and less time getting there. By selecting destinations from a menu, players progress quickly and continuously drive the story forward.

Character development is a huge part of Ar tonelico II, and players will spend much of their time cultivating relationships with the special Reyvateil members of their party. Reyvateils are the magical female race with the power to cast powerful spells and understand the fabled Hymmnos language. By having conversations with these ladies and "diving" into their subconscious "soulspaces," they develop both as characters and as RPG party members. The Cosmospheres, which are essentially separate game-within-a-game adventures inside the girls' minds, are especially important for revealing the girls' thoughts and feelings, growing closer to Croix, and learning new song magic to be used in battle. For the player, spending time exploring these areas adds great depth to all of the characters, and sheds new light on the different aspects of their personalities. These quirky and unusual mini-stories don't fail to entertain, although it's possible that some players may show greater interest in the more action-packed "real" world of Metafalss. After all, what's an RPG without it's combat?

Ar tonelico II's combat is complex and creative, but not so much that it disrupts the flow of battle. In fact, fighting through the game's random encounters is a pleasure compared to many other JRPGs, and something players are likely to look forward to, rather than dread. As in the previous game, the song-magic-wielding Reyvateils are the most important part of the party, but between launching powerful, charged spells with these unique characters, there is still plenty to do. Vanguards, who occupy the front line in a four-person battle formation, will see the most action in any given fight, as they are tasked not only with inflicting physical harm upon their foes, but also with defending against attacks directed at the fragile Reyvateils.

Combat involves a series of timed attack and defense phases in which players use the Vanguards to fight in semi-real-time. During the attack phase, pressing the action button associated with a character (square for the top row, X for the bottom) along with a direction on the D-pad will make him or her launch one of three attacks on the targeted foe. Two to three attacks per Vanguard can be strung together before the phase ends. If a Reyvateil is singing a song, a small graph representing her emotions indicates which types of attacks will make that magic most effective. Other factors, such as the Reyvateils' connections with the Vanguards and each other (as cultivated through gameplay), also affect the strength of spells, which can be unleashed at any time during the attack phase with a tap of the circle button.

During the defensive phase, players absorb and deflect enemy attacks using the same Vanguard-specific buttons as in the attack phase. Timing these commands with a meter that corresponds to enemy actions will result in varying degrees of defensive success. Pressing the button just as the cursor passes over the horizontal meter's sweet spot will result in a completely deflected attack, while premature input will result in a few levels of partially cancelled damage. A split-second late, and the party will feel the full brunt of the blow(s).

This new battle system makes each fight fast-paced and interesting, and makes the player feel very connected to the action. Improving one's efficiency in battle over the course of the game is rewarding and enjoyable, so long as the player doesn't mind actively participating in combat. Coupled with the limited number of random encounters per area and the clear indication of impending battles, the entire combat experience in Ar tonelico II is very well put-together.

The game's audio, too, is above average. Even on the normally unimpressive English side of things, the game's voice acting is solid, and works with the game's oftentimes peculiar and innuendo-ridden dialog to further color the game's characters. For purists, a Japanese language track is also included. The musical score, however, outshines any of the voice work. From light and playful songs, to industrial beats, to dark, foreboding tunes, there is a composition for just about every occasion, and the game's key events are all the more captivating when experienced in conjunction with the appropriate compositions. Even with such variety, there is a common multi-instrumentational and folksy sound that persists throughout the entire soundtrack, which happens to be included with the retail copy of the game on a separate audio CD.

While possibly the weakest aspect of the game, Ar tonelico II's graphics are still quite charming. The game makes use of sprites that are reminiscent of the 32-bit era, treading along backgrounds made up of a mixture of 2D and 3D objects. The sprites themselves are bulky and bland, but the low-angle perspective of the environments, with very near foreground and very distant background layers creates a unique aesthetic that makes exploring the various locales just a bit more interesting than they would be otherwise. Unfortunately, the technical quality of these visuals is less praiseworthy than the style in which they are put together, and the whole package looks fairly dated. The minimally animated, hand-drawn character portraits that accompany the game's copious dialog segments, on the other hand, are very nicely detailed and quite appealing. That's a good thing, considering how often players will be staring at them throughout the long adventure.

Ar tonelico II is a shining example of how to improve upon a franchise's shortcomings and create a truly high-quality sequel. It is also proof that a game with very niche concepts can be molded in such a way that it becomes appealing to a broader audience than one might initially expect. Ultimately, though, Ar tonelico II is a great JRPG with a unique, though not exactly cutting-edge presentation, great combat, and an interesting, well-paced story. RPG fans shouldn't miss this one.

Throwback Fun -- Prinny: Can I Really Be The Hero? Review

GamerNode - With its new Disgaea series spin-off, Nippon Ichi Software stirs up fond memories of a bygone era, when side-scrolling, 2D action/platformers were all the rage, and the simple joys of jumping around and slashing/pummeling everything in sight were enough to keep us happy for hours on end. Prinny: Can I Really Be the Hero? for the PSP delivers those simple pleasures, while at the same time punishing players for thinking they're actually good at playing videogames.

In Prinny: Can I Really Be the Hero, the ever-enslaved, explosive, penguin-shaped vessels for loathsome human souls are sent by their spoiled master, Etna, to collect the ingredients for the Ultra Dessert, after she discovers that her pantry has been plundered. Unfortunately for the expendable Prinnys, these ingredients are scattered across the Netherworld among ten uniquely-themed levels, and guarded by numerous enemy creatures and powerful boss characters, both from the Disgaea series and unique to this title. Because each Prinny can only withstand four hits before croaking (and just a single blow on hard mode), conquering these foes is not a very easy task.

The frequency with which players die rarely pushes frustration to its limits, however, possibly because the 1000 Prinnys available before the dreaded "game over" create a sense of comfort somewhere deep in the backs of their minds. Amid all the slashing, butt-stomping, bomb-chucking, and vehicle manning, the biggest gripe comes from the sometimes rigid feel of the game's controls. Rushing through the various stages is not really an option, as players employing that strategy will most likely only find the bottoms of many endless pits along the way. Care must be taken in order to successfully traverse the forests, fortresses, volcanoes, etc., and especially to defeat each area's boss. Simply mashing the square button won't work on these baddies; it will take timed butt-stomps to stun them, followed by short barrages of the Prinnys' regular and aerial attacks...and lots of dodging.

Throughout the journey, players will be treated to very pleasing visuals, with detailed 2D sprites moving across crisp and colorful 3D backgrounds. Character design is especially impressive, as each different type of enemy seems to convey its own personality simply by way of its appearance. Voice acting and sound effects also help to convey the silly nature of the characters, and the story in general. The game's soundtrack is enjoyable, albeit somewhat forgettable.

Prinny: Can I Really Be the Hero? is certainly an enjoyable little game. It feels like a throwback to the SNES and Genesis days, which, along with its carefully rendered visuals and lighthearted audio, will put a smile on many gamers' faces. Even so, the game doesn't skimp on challenge, and I can guarantee that the "Hell's Finest" difficulty setting will keep any gamer busy for quite some time. This one is definitely worth a try...

... dood.