The Ghost Of You and Me

My 360 still isn't fixed and I might just be having some sort of pixel withdrawal.

It could be the feeling that a whole bunch of everything has been jammed into my weeks lately, or just the result of reduced sleep thanks to my favourite son changing his nightly slumber patterns, but I've been seeing things differently.

Recently I was mowing the lawn and started thinking about the time prior. All of a sudden I could see my ghost, much like in Gran Turismo, and his pace was much better. Needless to say the lawn looks pretty average thanks to my rushing...but I smashed that pale bastards time.

Thankfully I'm not seeing coins on the road as I drive...

Once I thought I saw a freight train crossing the highway at 2am but that was the result of too many energy drinks too early in the evening and a ridiculously fast sugar crash.

I'm keen to send off my console soon and sort the situation out. My list of games is steadily growing from Rayman (damn your convincing prose, Dutch!) and Max Payne 3 to an Arkham Asylum reprise and a dabble in XBLA.

If you were without games due to life's little distractions, which would you miss the most? Have you ever gone a bit stir crazy with such absence?

Steamy Quantitative Analysis

Greg Voakes, a contributor to the Huffington Post and Business Insider passed on the following infographic that illustrates Steam's domination of the gaming world. In addition to listing recent bestsellers, there's some genuine revelations to be found within (the word petabyte for example). It's also worth noting that despite the bat shit crazy pricing seen during Steam sales, Valve's business model stands to offer greater benefit to game producers when compared to more conventional retail channels.

Created by: VideoGameDesignSchools.org

There's been a fair bit of negative press surrounding Steam and other digital content providers recently, with particular emphasis on the concept of ownership (or rather how the average EULA serves to contravene it). I'm not sure where I stand on the issue myself, but know this: with each seasonal Steam sale, my game collection swells ever bigger. I can't be too concerned about my Steam library (or my SEN/PSN or XBLM purchases) being held to ransom by ambiguous online contracts.

You can follow Greg Voakes on Twitter: @gvoakes

Microsoft's Brand New Bag

Over the past couple of days Microsoft has been rolling out a new dashboard and interface for the Xbox 360. This new interface is more than just an easy way of navigating the system, it's an intuitive and complete entertainment package...that I don't really care for.


Before I get into why I don't particularly care for the upgrade, I'll be fair and do a compliment sandwich; something positive, followed by the negative and then closed with a positive. It could be a management technique but I saw it on Family Guy and Stewie makes me giggle.

Firstly, the good - it does have some cool features like voice recognition and activiation with the use of Kinect (untested due to no Kinect), more social media integration with Facebook, Twitter and other apps, as well as simple menus with large square icons. I also like the crispness of the 'floating' menu tabs at the top of the screen and how the items within each tab have been prioritised and placed on the page.

It's crisp to look at and consistent for all you obsessive compulsives like me

Now for the triple layer of non-caring, cheese covered filling. Why do we need yet another look and feel change? What was wrong with the old one? Why do I have to look at ridiculous pictures of people having fun to realise I'm about to have fun myself? Are they there as a distraction to the inane amount of menus I'm going through to perform simple tasks such as watch a movie or download a demo? So many questions, not enough time.

Look at me! I'm on the couch just like you. I'm having so much fun and I'm just reminding you that you are also having fun. My hand is saying stop but really I'm just interacting with my new dashboard. Oh the fun!

The next layer of dissatisfaction relates to the avatar. The Xbox is not a Wii, nor is it a DS or Leapfrog learning play centre thing that little children learn to read on. It's a game system for adults, so why am I having to create avatars for whatever account I'm signing into? Gaming isn't just for kids. Let me be an adult and let me feel like an adult while I'm playing games. Get rid of the avatars!

VandyFan? Not a fan. Go away.

The sour condiment of frustration is the jumpy menu design. While it looks alright on the main menu, moving past the parameters of any given page means you are going to a new tab ie moving from Home to Social to TV etc. This means any jerkiness between menu items is not noticed as it's a natural separation device.

When you delve deeper into the menus, for example when you are looking for demos, the large number of games requires movement through pages but the designers have opted for a jerky search experience, allowing four or five items to a page then an abrupt jerk as you transition to a new page and more items. If you had 25 new release games to search through, that's five pages or more of jerky movements. The previous system was smooth and flowing; these changes seem like a backwards step to me.

Ending on a positive note, the download was quite painless, taking less than five minutes over ADSL1 wifi. I remember starting it, flicking over to the TV, then the system reset and all was finished.

Have you downloaded the new look interface yet? What are your thoughts?

Return of a Klassic

I feel like such an old man right now. The return of classic games is making me say things like, "I can't believe [insert old game here] has been remade" and then I get really excited over the crappy/seemingly try-hard graphics of yesteryear.

This time I'm excited about Mortal Kombat Arcade Kollection. Only 800 MSP (or circa $10 on PSN edit: currently not available on AU PSN) it brings the glorious crap of the '90's direct to your console. In one simple download you can add Mortal Kombat 1, 2 and 3 to your collection and relive your forgotten youth.

For me it's been about 18 months since I last played a Mortal Kombat title (MK vs DC Universe) but before that it was years and I probably haven't played the original since it's inception. The nostalgia and memories it stirred up from the moment I selected each game was amazing. Everything from the backgrounds to the mountain all came flooding back to me. It was also nice to be able to play with, and past, Liu Kang (after i modified my copy I had issues with it. I somehow lost the file that showed Liu Kang and when ever he was due to fight, the game would crash).

Anyway, the graphics are inspiring. Rather than the highly rendered masterpieces of today or the artistic and beautiful animations of the Street Fighter series, Mortal Kombat appears to be photos of people throwing kicks and punches then strung together to form a coherent sequence.

Overall it's a pleasure to play, even the menus are impressive. Rather than just select text to allow you to choose which title you want, you rotate through the images of the arcade machines each game was originally played on. It's a cool reminder of where the games started and ties in nicely with xbox live arcade.

Demos are available now allowing you to sample the awesomeness of each game. When did you last play Mortal Kombat?

PlayStation Network PLAY: Something old, something borrowed, something new

Having just recently survived Microsoft's Summer of Arcade promotion, I can't help but feel that PlayStation Network PLAY is a remarkably similar concept. Similar in that it is almost exactly the same in practice: participants purchase a handful (or in this case, just under) of polished downloadable titles to receive a free game. Remarkable in that no-one has really thought to reprimand Sony for their near-duplication of a competitor's marketing strategy; not even a week after they've finished proceedings. Sure, all retailers (digital storefronts and brick-and-mortar stores alike) employ different sales gimmicks regularly, and the "Buy X, Get Y Free" transaction isn't new either; but I can't help but feel as though my two consoles are only really different in name and appearance. The online experience, software offerings - even the way they are sold - are too familiar to generate any sensation that PlayStation Network PLAY is new, or even worthwhile.  

 Stop me if you've heard this one before...

Let's start with the lineup. Not one of the included titles is exclusive to the PSN: Renegade Ops and The Baconing will also be released on the Xbox Live Marketplace and PC while Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike Online Edition and BloodRayne: Betrayal will only be made available on consoles. In the case of BloodRayne: Betrayal, it will be on sale via the competitor's service a week before it can even be downloaded by PlayStation 3 owners. That's right! Partake in the PlayStation Network PLAY promotion to play a game a week later than Xbox 360 owners; what an offer!  

Where the 2011 Summer of Arcade was a showcase for some promising new -and in one case, exclusive - IPs including Bastion, From Dust and Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet; the inaugural Sony effort will feature only one, in the form of Renegade Ops. Fruit Ninja Kinect featured support for the Xbox 360's signature motion-control peripheral, whereas no PSN PLAY games will feature Move support. There is nothing about the promotion that effectively serves to differentiate it from the competitor or - worse yet - match it. The only positive thing I can think to say about PSN PLAY is that I won't need to spend as much money to take advantage of it. With only four games to buy and a discount thanks to my maligned and near-expired PlayStation Plus subscription, my "free" game will cost me about sixty dollars as opposed to the eighty-something bucks I ended up paying for Crimson Alliance.  

I will concede that the pre-order system is new in the context of the "PSN Vs XBLM" paradigm, but the benefits are questionable in terms of value. In the case of Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike Online at least, players are downloading a key for something they could've unlocked through sustained play. Otherwise we're generally looking at themes and (*shudder*) PlayStation Home items. It's better than nothing, however, once again we're looking at two promotions with little to separate them.  

What's the solution to the deadlock? I'm not sure, but duplication of services and benefits is not the answer.   

Links:

1. I survived the "Summer of Arcade," and all I got was this avatar shirt: http://unbearabledutch.blogspot.com/2011/08/i-survived-summer-of-arcade-and-all-i.html
2. Minus PlayStation Plus: http://unbearabledutch.blogspot.com/2011/08/minus-playstation-plus.html
3. Sony launches PSN PLAY program: http://au.gamespot.com/news/6327408/sony-launches-psn-play-program?tag=result%3Btitle%3B1

EDIT: Gamespot had the release date for BloodRayne: Betrayal listed incorrectly. The game was not available from the XBLM on Wednesday.

I survived the "Summer of Arcade," and all I got was this avatar shirt

I also found a "Game of the Year" contender, but more on that later.  

The annual Summer of Arcade promotion always presents some of the best downloadable games to be released in a calendar year. Previous highlights include the fiendishly-addictive Trials HD  - released in 2009 - and indie darling Limbo which dropped during last year's festivities. Not every title released during this campaign is a winner though. Turtles in Time at a premium price was a bitter pill to swallow, and multiplayer-centric Castlevania: Harmony of Despair was released to mixed reviews.

All things considered, the 2011 iteration of Summer of Arcade has been the most inconsistent in terms of quality: Bastion was easily the best game of the five released, while Fruit Ninja Kinect was lacking in longevity and brought the surprise back injury that's been missing from previous years' offerings. From Dust was a technical powerhouse that delivered frustration in spades and Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet's loose shooting mechanics was also cause to swear under your breath. Toy Soldiers: Cold War was cheesy, unadulterated fun by myself, but any attempt to bring other people to my toy box resulted in my Xbox 360 shedding bandwidth-flavoured tears.

While I've already spoiled the revelation hinted at above: Bastion was a real treat, and easily one of the most enjoyable games that has been released so far this year. The seemless blend of familiar Action RPG play mechanics, touching story and innovative narrative mechanics stole my heart and has become somewhat of an obsession. I've since bought the soundtrack and a copy of the game on PC. I'm also desperately hoping for some other opportunistic merchandising to appear in the near future. Seriously, someone look at creating action figures of The Kid, the pet pecker, and Zulf; I can promise that one set would sell at the very least.

 Imagine this scene, faithfully re-created using action figures *squeals*

I'm also glad that Microsoft have opted for the "free" game instead of the points rebate that was previously the norm. I have a tendency to spend Microsoft Points as soon as they're added to my account, and my recent choices have not been great. Rush n' Attack: Ex-Patriot: I'm looking at you.

If I had to boil my experience down to a set of purchase recommendations, it would read as follows:

Buy - Bastion.
Definitely try - From Dust and Toy Soldiers: Cold War.
Skip - Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet for now and pick it up when it is eventually subject of a "Deal of the Week" promotion.
Throw to the wolves - Fruit Ninja Kinect. Pick up Fruit Ninja for your smart phone or tablet device -at a significantly lower price -instead; because the developer, Halfbrick deserve at least some of your money.

Did you pick up all five Summer of Arcade releases? What was your favourite?

Summer of Arcade 2011 coverage:

• Bastion: Innovation in Narration
• Bastion Review (X360) - Tell me how the world ends
• From Dust Review (X360) - The gods control the elements, but can't reign in the people
• Post-scripts and Amateur Video
• Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet Review (X360) - Inviting. Short. Tedious. Pricey.
• Fruit Ninja Kinect Review (X360) - You'll want a tablet for your back
• Toy Soldiers: Cold War Review (X360) - Passive-Aggressive Tower Defense starring Sylvester Stallone

Toy Soldiers: Cold War Review (X360) - Passive-Aggressive Tower Defense starring Sylvester Stallone

The original Toy Soldiers - released early last year - featured World War I-themed tower defense gameplay with a twist: players could take control of towers to make more effective use of their respective abilities. Not being a huge fan of the genre, I didn't indulge in anything past the trial. This different approach showed promise, however, and all it really needed was a hint of colour and familiarity to click with me. Developer Signal Studios must have been reading my mind, as Toy Soldiers: Cold War is oozing with Eighties action hero bombast.

The Good
Toybox - Cold War is like a trip down memory lane. An uncanny amalgamation of Sly Stallone across every Rambo film, a mass of plastic vehicles and G.I. Joe-inspired packaging await any Eighties child with an Xbox 360 and an internet connection. All of the game's warzones are a heart-warming mix of familiar global landmarks and domestic locales. Whether it was in the training mission where you're breaking Russian dolls with a minigun, or towards the end when you're defending a scale miniature Washington Monument, I kept thinking back to the days when all I wanted was a Turtle Van, Optimus Prime and a Dino Riders T-Rex. It's odd that this game has created such a strong sense of nostalgia given that no popular toys are explicitly represented.

Got it on tape? - Toy Soldiers: Cold War features some strong sound design that will have you in stitches on occasion. No matter how many times I heard it, the "Commando" unit always evoked a wry smile if not a full-bodied laugh. As above, he's an unashamed Rambo clone, complete with hilarious quotes and Stallone-esque wails and battle cries. The score is chock full of epic action movie riffs and more cheese than you could ever need. It definitely does justice to its multiple inspirations which include: Rambo, Top Gun, Rocky IV and G.I. Joe. 

They drew first paint, not me.

On the ground and in the air - Each of Cold War's numerous turrets and vehicles all feature intuitive and responsive controls that encourage extended play. I got through the campaign in two reasonably lengthy sessions and found that despite the repetition, the frantic action and numerous Barrage abilities - which include summoning the aforementioned commando, an AC-130-esque gunship, nukes and more - made for an entertaining experience that is easy to recommend.

Gift set - Cold War offers quite a lot of bang for the 1200 Microsoft Point price tag. While the online competitive mode is near unplayable, you have a five hour campaign that includes eleven missions and five difficulty modes, survival mode - which can be played solo or in local or online co-op - and an assortment of minigames. Survival mode may only feature three maps, but I found the hectic twist on the formula to be quite addictive.

The Bad
Cake walk - I only failed once throughout the entire campaign on Normal difficulty, and that just happened to be in the first mission. You'll very rarely be challenged on the default difficulty setting, particularly in levels which have drivable vehicles available. Seasoned defenders may want to start on hard.

Air support is perhaps a little too supportive

Out of the way, please - The default camera setting in Cold War is just a little too close to the action. If it weren't for the helpful indicator on screen that shows how many of each enemy are left in a particular wave, you'd find that an unacceptable amount of traffic would slip through to the keeper (or toy box in this instance). Even with the indicator, it is easy enough to miss an enemy unit on dark or cluttered maps. The camera also has a tendency to get stuck behind structures when you're flying or driving vehicles.

The Ugly
Catch up! - Toy Soldiers: Cold War features a promising online versus mode which is completely undone by connectivity issues and unplayable levels of lag. I joined just over a handful of matches which either came to an early end due to losing the connection or my opponent quitting on account of the stuttering mess on screen. When I say promising, I don't mean to say that it would necessarily work with a solid connection either. The one match I did play to the end featured a ten minute stalemate that was only resolved when I placed my controller on the coffee table and made some lunch. The groundwork for an enjoyable adversarial mode is there, but the developers need to think about giving some incentive for going on the attack.  

Stick to your strength - After completing each campaign level, players unlock the ability to play through again in "General" mode. General mode takes away the ability to control vehicles and turrets, meaning that it plays like every other tower defense game with one glaring difference: tower AI in Cold War is set at one notch below "completely inept." So many times I witnessed enemies walking within range of a whole field worth of turrets and not come under fire. Frustration guaranteed!

The Verdict
Toy Soldiers: Cold War offers hours of fun and little in the way of irritation. The cheesy Eighties vibe that permeates throughout every battle, menu and load screen is thoroughly relatable and likeable. While I wouldn't bother taking the game online, there's still plenty of content to play through and it's well worth the price of admission. A fitting end to the Summer/Winter of Arcade promotion.   

Fruit Ninja Kinect Review (X360) - You'll want a tablet for your back

Available on Android, iOS and Windows Phone 7, Fruit Ninja is a true success story for the Australian games industry and the casual gaming revolution at large. If you've never played an iteration of the game prior to now, it's safe to assume one of two things:

1. You're still packing a Nokia 3320 and are of firm belief that Snake is as good as mobile gaming can get.
2. You've awoken from a coma recently and are still unsure as to why you can't find Game Boy Colour games at your local games retailer. 

Microsoft have opted to include a motion-controlled version of the game as part of its Summer/Winter of Arcade promotion this year with mixed results.

The Good
Bring the family - While I'm not a huge fan of Kinect-powered gaming or motion control in general, Fruit Ninja Kinect will get young and old off their feet and swinging their arms with gay abandon. My wife was more than happy to trial this title with me; something I can't say for any other game I've reviewed this year.

 I am NOT cleaning this up!

Aussie, Aussie, Aussie! - Few would refer to me as patriotic, but I'm still very proud of Brisbane developer Halfbrick's tilt at world domination through casual gaming. To think that this touch and motion-controlled phenomenon was born from developers based in my hometown is enough to warm my cold, black heart.

"Tuck-shop lady arms" be gone! - This an observation from my lovely wife: the frantic flailing of limbs required to succeed in Fruit Ninja Kinect will ensure that excess arm flab becomes a thing of the past. I'm no personal trainer, but my experience with the game produced a few litres of sweat and some sore appendages; but more on that later.

Spirit of competition - Fruit Ninja Kinect employs a leaderboard system that allows for sometimes-spiteful fruit slashing fun. Upon finishing a game, your score will be ranked above or below your friend's best efforts which - in the case of our household - led to many incendiary hand gestures. While the gameplay itself wasn't always satisfying, smashing a friend's score always was.

The Bad
The question of value - Fruit Ninja Kinect is as much as fifteen times more expensive than other versions of the game. Sure, some may not have local multiplayer or properly functioning leaderboards (I'm looking at you, Windows Phone 7 version!), but whether you get more fun out of this exponentially-more expensive version is debatable.

The Ugly
Be sure to stretch - Embarrassing admission: I threw my back out something fierce after my first session with Fruit Ninja Kinect. To be frank, I was about two ibuprofen tablets shy of agony after flinging my arms around in front of my Kinect sensor like a madman. Halfbrick and Microsoft may not have thought to warn you, but I will: stretch, and stretch well before you play this game. You're welcome.

Unfaithful - Fruit Ninja Kinect's gesture-based controls are inaccurate at best, and just plain non-responsive at their worst. Short slicing motions will often fail to register at all; meaning that you'll miss all of those smaller fruits that evade your larger swings. To make matters worse, almost every backswing would get picked up by the Kinect sensor and there was - at times - noticeable lag between a large swinging motions and when they appeared on screen.  I couldn't achieve scores anywhere near those you'd find on my Windows Phone 7 handset. I couldn't even hit triple figures in Classic mode.

Good luck with that errant pear.

Bare bones - Apart from your friends inching ever closer to your high scores, there's very little to bring you back to Fruit Ninja Kinect. If it weren't for the room-hogging local multiplayer (co-op and competitive modes are available) and gesture-based controls, there's very little here that you can't experience on your phone or tablet - and I'm sorry that I can't get away from this - at a considerably-lower price.

The Verdict
Make no mistake, Fruit Ninja Kinect offers fun for the entire family. How much fun however, is dependent on how much time you've spent with the game previously on other platforms. The inaccurate controls and lack of longevity also make this hard to recommend.

The Cheevos of Life

There must have been something very good in the water in November/December with a number of people I know either expecting children of their own or becoming an uncle or aunty for the first time.

Personally, I’m expecting my second child in September and I believe Dutch has just become an uncle (or it’s very imminent). When I found out about Dutch, I suggested he come over and learn how to change a nappy, just so he could seem like the uber cool brother who already knew what he was doing, despite not having kids (and without appearing like some kind of child offender…). In true Dutch style, his reply was, “Only if I can earn Cheevos”.

This got me thinking – if life were a game, what would you earn achievements for and what would they be worth?

Games like Guitar Hero reward you for failures (and epic failures at that), while Duke Nukem Forever rewards you for finding a poo, picking it up and throwing it. You don’t get much for these actions but I suspect if it were to happen in the real world you wouldn’t receive much praise either.

PGR4, Burnout and Need For Speed reward you for traveling at high speed and driving dangerously, whether it be a part of the game or an actual XBLA/PSN achievement. Last time I checked, those little yellow pieces of paper from QLD Police, stern conversations from the man in blue starting with "Get off the bike we'll be here for a while" or the photo of your car going sideways through an intersection aren’t achievements. There are points involved but they decrease on your license and make you take the bus to work.

When it comes to families and having kids, game oriented couples should definitely implement a cheevo system, especially if the man of the house would rather play games than wipe a smelly bum.

The content is the same, only the packaging differs...

You could earn points for most consecutive nappy changes, biggest ‘disposal’ of the week or even most times spewed on after a feed with bonus points given if it’s a midnight feed or just before you’re going to work (and therefore need to find a new shirt and iron it before going to work because the same thing happened last week but on a smaller scale and you didn’t notice until lunchtime but wondered what the smell was). Negative cheevos are given if you go to work with spew still on you.

What do you think? Can cheevo’s translate into the real world? What are the points worth and what should you get once you hit a milestone?

Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet Review (X360) – Inviting, Tedious, Short, Pricey.

In the lead-up to its release, many had likened the elaborately-named Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet (ITSP) to classic platformers such as Castlevania: Symphony of the Night and Metroid Fusion. In terms of concept, I believe the comparison to be accurate enough; as the game gradually introduces new weapons and equipment that allow for players to explore parts of the play area that were previously inaccessible. In terms of execution however, there is very little left to go back to, and the expanded arsenal doesn't necessarily need to be implemented in combat. Striking visuals aside, Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet doesn't have the depth to be mentioned in the same breath as a quality "Metroidvania" title.

The Good

Delicious direction - Much like the other releases we've seen in this year's Summer of Arcade promotion, ITSP features striking art direction with wonderfully animated organic and mechanical foes and obstacles set in clean, colourful and varied environments. The game's cut scenes while used sparingly are well produced and beautiful to behold. 

 ...AND THAT is how babies are made!

Sounds evil - The sound design featured in ITSP is sufficiently dark to draw strong contrast to the vibrant visuals. Upon taking damage, players are treated to a Jaws-esque audio cue that creates a real sense of tension. Each of the corrupted planet’s inhabitants are also capable of stirring players to action with a cacophony of screeches and roars to let you know that they mean to do you harm. 

Momentum – There were some parts of the game – particularly early on – where it felt almost whimsical. The colour and weighty movement mechanics made for a genuine sense of discovery.

The Bad

Watch where you point that thing - This is more a quibble than a genuine problem, but on multiple occasions I found some of my weapons getting caught in tight spaces or slowing me down when they brushed against the earth or the planet's florae. The momentum-killing potential that my deadly appendages afforded me was often annoying.

Missed multiplayer potential - Lantern Run is a more visually-appealing take on F.3.A.R's "F$@king Run" mode, with up to four players tasked with escaping death at the hands of a large, tentacled monster in a tunnel punctuated with “arenas”: where groups of smaller creatures must be dealt with quickly to progress. I could never find a full match and connection quality was spotty at best, but working together with complete strangers to escape certain death was fun for a little while. Lantern Run could have been a worthwhile addition to ITSP but ultimately it fails to deliver. 

 Insert Iron Maiden lyrics.

The ends of the earth – After completing the campaign proper – which takes about six hours - there is very little left of the shadow planet for players to explore. I didn’t even really try to find most of the collectable upgrades and artwork scattered throughout the map, and yet there’s still very little for me to find after besting the final boss battle. There just isn’t enough content here to justify the asking price (1200 Microsoft Points).

The Ugly

That's not a weapon! - Most of the unlockable weapons in ITSP have a very specific purpose: generally they're used for puzzles in one of the game's environments. There's no mixing up your arsenal to get the edge in combat: more often than not I would just spam my alien foes with the saw blade appendage. The majority of the nine attachments on offer have some very specific applications that make for cheap and repetitive combat.

How bad is it, Doc? - During several boss fights - and just about any time I found myself in a large, open space - the camera zooms out to a point where it is very hard to discern how much damage your little ship has taken. This was particularly frustrating during the final boss fight, where I was little more than a black blemish compared to the hulking monster below.

Got a light? - The last of the shadow planet’s five zones is played out in a darkened area illuminated only by some bright lines in the background and a lantern that players must carry along with them. This disorienting experience was made even worse by barely visible enemies and a wide camera angle. I could hardly see my ship, I died a lot, and I didn't have much fun.

Stormtrooper syndrome - Aiming in ITSP is inconsistent, often inaccurate and a real blight on the entire experience. In several boss fights a sure hand is required, but the finicky aiming controls had me missing the mark and meeting my demise more times than I could count. This may have been alleviated with an on-screen reticule, but for the majority of the game I was cursing under my breath on account of the loose targeting controls. 

 You'll know what you need to do, but good luck making the shot.

The Verdict

Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet is dripping with charm in terms of presentation, but it’s too shallow and frustrating to justify the steep price of admission. The art direction and sound design are of an equally-high standard to its Summer of Arcade contemporaries, but it doesn’t match them in terms of fun and longevity. Good, but hard to recommend given the cost.

From Dust Review (X360) - The gods control the elements, but can't reign in the people

I'll state this for the record: I have never enjoyed playing a god game, let alone any strategy game on a console. I've never played an instalment of the Populous franchise, and I didn't enjoy my time with Black & White. That makes the purchase of From Dust somewhat uncharacteristic for me, but I took the plunge on account of the striking art direction and - in all honesty - the fact that it's part of the Summer of Arcade promotion. In some ways the gambit has paid off, but shelve any illusions that From Dust is the first strategy game to work properly with a control pad. 

The Good
Breathtaking - From Dust is easily one of the most visually impressive Xbox Live Arcade titles available: from both artistic and technical perspectives. With awe-inspiring environmental effects, and a refreshing colour palette, players can literally shape the earth that their subjects tread on. The impact of the visuals is stronger still in the later stages, where you must protect a nomadic tribe from the combined threat of floods, volcanic eruptions, bushfires and tsunamis.

 Play it, you'll have a ball!

Man Vs Wild - The special abilities players are granted throughout the campaign are not only amazing to behold, but also enjoyable to experiment with. Using the "jellify water" ability, you can recreate some Old Testament stories by parting the sea and even stop a tsunami dead in its tracks. "Infinite earth" grants the ability to make mountains from nothing to impede the flow of flood and lava. Players are sufficiently empowered with planet-shaping traits to combat Mother Nature's unrelenting attack. 

Brain bender - Some of the final levels of the campaign are genuinely perplexing. The solutions that I employed - some of which I'm ashamed to admit were not my own - produced some grand visuals and a sense of achievement not found in the average strategy game.

More than your money's worth - From Dust may be priced at 1200 Microsoft Points, but there is more than enough content to justify the cost. The package includes a lengthy (read: it took me about eight hours) campaign that spans thirteen levels of increasing difficulty and thirty challenge maps that task players with completing objectives with a limited set of abilities. Unlockable "memories," also afford some replay value for those who appreciate the game's chaotic brand of disaster management.

The Bad
Quiet, I'm trying to think - Even when you know the solution, things don't always go as planned in From Dust. This on its own is understandable, but it's nothing short of painful with tribesman screaming at you repeatedly for help. The sound design lacks the depth and impact of the visuals, and you'll have heard every sound the game has to offer after fifteen minutes of sustained play.

Was it all a dream? - I'll try not to spoil anything, but the conclusion to the From Dust's story is far from satisfying.

The Ugly
The Lord commands you! - As glorious as it is to witness, From Dust suffers from some near-unforgiveable AI pathfinding issues. I can't count the amount of times that I had constructed two or more valid paths to an objective, only to have my subjects find a longer, more dangerous path or simply fail to acknowledge that one was available. Towards the end, this problem is even more apparent and frustrating. In some cases, my computer-controlled tribe created setbacks that - while easily remedied - led to another half hour of play. All of this could have been remedied if you could have some finer control over the tribe itself, but as it stands you can only tell them where to go; not how to get there.

 If you can't stand the heat, get out of God's kitchen!

One trick god-pony - As varied as the environments are, the way that you interact with them is ostensibly the same. I found the simplistic play mechanics to be exhausting towards the end, particularly when the land and people didn't always react in a consistent matter. When the game worked, I genuinely felt like a god. When it didn't, my anger knew no bounds; I would often drop lava on uncooperative villagers and swear like a sailor. From Dust made me a vengeful god on account of its sometimes cheap and repetitive gameplay.

The Verdict
Many could be sold on From Dust based on visuals alone. The game looks magnificent when players enact god-like abilities to battle Mother Nature's fury. It's gratifying when it all works as intended and you manage to stop potential disasters at the touch of a button. More often than not however, AI pathfinding issues and other inconsistencies serve to cheapen the experience. I recommend From Dust to any fans of the god game genre, just be prepared for controller-throwing levels of agony and frustration.

Bastion Review (X360) - Tell me how the world ends

When I first heard that former Gamespot editor, Greg Kasavin was abandoning journalism in order to pursue a career in game design I felt conflicted. One one hand, one of the few critics that I trusted (read: agreed with often) would no longer be offering their opinion for public consumption. On the other, someone who had spent over ten years assessing videogames would now be in the business of making them; seeing the flaws in a decade's worth of titles could potentially give him the insight to make a "perfect" game. Bastion may not be perfect, but it is one of the finest games available on the Xbox Live Marketplace. Developer Supergiant Games' first effort catalogues the adventures of a hero referred to only as "The Kid," who investigates the catastrophic event known as "The Calamity."

The Good
Tale for the ages - Bastion's story starts off as fairly standard RPG fare: a lonely hero is tasked with finding items and survivors in an attempt to undo the damage dealt by an apocalyptic event. The use of a narrator, however, serves to develop the characters and events of the game as well as foreshadow every victory, loss and betrayal that players will experience over the course of the adventure. It is also genuinely affecting in its final stages. I don't think I've ever previously played an Action RPG with a memorable story, let alone one that had me in tears towards the end. This is a beautiful game in more ways than one.

The handmade tale - Bastion is a visual treat with hand-painted backgrounds and an assortment of enemies that are all animated expertly. With an isometric perspective and melee-centric combat, the game is initially reminiscent of hack-and-slash games from previous hardware generations. After a few hours though, players will have access to an arsenal of ranged and melee weapons, as well as "secret skills"  that add a layer of depth not usually found in an XBLA title. It may feel a little familiar to begin with, but in the end, Bastion is in a league of its own in terms of play and presentation.

 Every Bastion screenshot is worth a thousand words (992 to go)

Tell me how the world ends - While I have touched on this previously, the use of a narrator is a master stroke. The way Rucks comments on every event adds a level of suspense and intrigue that I've not felt since the original Bioshock. The commentary also evoked the odd smile when I was chastised for being careless in battle. Every idiosyncrasy is subject to Rucks' observations and Bastion is all the better for it.

Fight for freedom - Bastion's weapon and skill customization system is the most friendly that I've encountered in the genre. When you upgrade a weapon, you select from one of two buffs. If you find that the weapon isn't performing as intended, you can switch to the other perk at no cost. You can also choose to equip any combination of weapons that you've acquired; melee or ranged only, if you please. The freedom to switch your loadout - to the point where each weapon functions differently - is a refreshing change from the hack-and-slash norm. 

New Game Plus - It worked for Crysis 2, and it works for Bastion. I love being able to carry over weapons, upgrades and abilities for a second playthrough as it serves to cut out the repetition and still make for a rewarding experience. I'm half-way through my second crack at the campaign and am hoping to earn all two hundred available Achievement Points.

The Bad
Spoiler Alert! - While I did love the running commentary, there were a few times that it did serve to spoil the odd plot twist. That being said, a lot of the developments were somewhat predictable.

 Psst! It's hiding in the long grass.

Broadside of the barn - As much as I loved experimenting with each of the ranged weapons - and the melee weapons with ranged capabilities - most were just a little too fiddly for my liking. Often my aim would stray just to the side of my intended target, no matter what adjustments I made to the sticks. The Proving Ground challenge with the War Machete is one the most painfully-frustrating time attack challenges I've had the "pleasure" of playing through.

The Ugly
Justify my thug - Most of the Proving Ground challenges are more frustrating than they are fun. Almost all of them are time attack activities which are subject to the imprecise aiming controls described above. Further to that, most of them aren't worth attempting unless you've upgraded the weapon that is the focus of the challenge at least three times (out of a possible five).

 No games until you've finished your chores!

Easy Rider -Despite the depth in options for approaching combat, Bastion can be powered through  without much opposition. Throw in the right mix of upgrades and secret skills and some levels present little in the way of challenge. It should be noted that after a certain point, you can actually make the game harder by activating idols in the Shrine.

The Verdict
Bastion is one of the best XBLA titles available and a perfect start to Microsoft's "Summer/Winter (depending on where you live) of Arcade." With beautiful graphics, a moving, well-told story, and a refreshing level of freedom in terms of combat, Bastion is well worth 1200 Microsoft Points. Highly recommended, and be sure to have some tissues at the ready towards the end.

Bastion: Innovation in Narration

Bastion - the first offering from the Xbox Live Arcade’s “Summer of Arcade” promotion - oozes charm. Its visuals and isometric perspective hark back to classic RPGs like The Adventures of Alundra and The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. The combat system and other gameplay mechanics also appear to be reminiscent of Action RPGs released in the nineties. Innovation lies in the game’s sound design though. Not necessarily in the sound effects or the contemporary soundtrack, but in the use of a narrator. 

Other games have used them before, though not as comprehensively as Bastion. Previous instalments of the Fallout franchise have opened and concluded proceedings with Ron Perlman’s dulcet commentary, but his voice is notably absent throughout the action of each adventure. The narrator in that case sets the tone, but doesn’t maintain it. Supergiant Games’ first effort offers a new approach, with a narrator providing observation on most aspects of the player’s experience.

Bastion’s narrator, Rucks comments on almost every action the player takes. He will taunt you when you become careless and fall or take massive damage. He will remind you to heal yourself when you’re close to death. He will celebrate and detail the acquisition of new gear. He will lament your passing. 

For the first few minutes, I found this constant commentary distracting; almost annoying. About three hours in however, and this vocal chronicle of my adventure is essential. It elevates what is - in all honesty – a fairly standard, though beautifully-rendered hack-and-slash adventure to a thoughtful experience that I would recommend without hesitation. You need to listen to fully appreciate what Bastion offers, and how it differs to every Action RPG before it.

The way in which every deception, betrayal, triumph and shortcoming is reinforced provides a sense of warmth and guidance that can’t be achieved with the scrolling and boxed text normally associated with the genre. It also serves to develop the story at large. I can’t think of any game – RPG or otherwise – that tells players how they’re performing, what they need to do, and what’s happening in the game’s world as effectively as Bastion. Can this narrative strategy and sound design be applied to any game? Probably not, but the results could be hilarious if not inappropriate. 

Let’s start with a game like John Woo’s Stranglehold. I would invite you to provide a transcript to read over the action you’ll witness in the clip below.

Here’s my take:  

Inspector Yuen may have been a violent man – some would say, needlessly so – but if there was anything he enjoyed more than killing, it was grinding. Jumping on a rail and sliding; killing as many people as he could, as stylishly as humanly possible. He was doing that well this time. The rail had to end sometime, didn’t it? At least he found a cart to continue his dance of carnage. Time just seemed to slow down when those bullets flew and those bodies crumpled. So many bullets, but not enough bodies to make a good score this time it would seem. There will be others though, don’t you worry. Why is he jumping against that wall? Now he’s just showing off, isn’t he? 

Maybe that’s a little too lyrical for a game that allows players to shoot their opponents in the groin and watch as their victims fall to the ground in agony? Let’s try the technique on a game that is better suited to some exposition: Grand Theft Auto IV.

Niko loved to drive; and drive fast. So he did, on his newly acquired bike. It was a beautiful day. Not a cloud in the sky. He was listening to some light-hearted tune that reminded him of better days. If he had hair, you’d best believe it would be trailing behind him in the Liberty City sun. One thing you should know about our friend, Niko is that he did not much appreciate the law. Nor did he care much for paying hard-earned cash to abide by it. Either way, he had better slow down if he has any hope of avoiding certain death. It wasn’t supposed to happen this way. Few people would have called him a good man, but no one deserves to be thrown into the Liberty City deep like old Niko just was. 

Are there any games you can think of that would be richer with the inclusion of an all-seeing narrator? Have you got a transcript that you would like to share?