Gamesugar

October 15, 2010

Review – Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode I

Filed under: Reviews — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , — Brad Johnson @ 8:58 am


I never owned a Sega console. I thought I’d come right out and say that, so there’s no confusion. I am not attached to Sonic; indeed, when I was growing up, Sonic was the enemy—the figurehead for those dark, unknown other children, playing their Genesis and carrying out Sega’s terrible bidding.

My encounters with Sonic—The Blue Satan—were largely exclusive to instances where I would commandeer my cousin’s Game Gear on thanksgiving. It had color; Tetris could not compete for my attention. Now I’m a little older and a little more polytheistic with regards to my console allegiances, but I still may not be the ideal test subject for the coherent nostalgia beam conjured by Sega’s latest Sonic release, the wholly digital Sonic 4.

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October 13, 2010

Review – Alan Wake: The Writer

Filed under: Reviews — Tags: , , , , , , , , , — Jamie Love @ 1:53 pm

Alan Wake The Writer
As the second piece of DLC for Remedy’s psychological action thriller, “The Writer” continues Alan’s journey through the darkest of night via the exploration of Wake’s internal state of mind. Picking up where “The Signal” left off, Wake navigates a path through the fractured self exposed by the retail release.

By film or book or videogame, subject matter opens as many possibilities as it does the potential to fall into cliche, and I’ll suggest that once again Alan Wake manages to work within the trappings of the horror genre rather deftly considering how much of a tightrope that proposition creates – my investment in the character of both Wake and the world he is fighting to understand keeps psychological exploration from dipping into cheese.

That doesn’t mean that Wake’s latest outing cuts the fresh path the series seems capable of trailblazing however. But “The Writer” does cut a circular path through the events of the game to date to reach a rather inevitable conclusion, offering players a carnival ride through familiar memories, concerned with finding the significance in character relationships and happenings established by the game proper.

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October 11, 2010

Review – Left 4 Dead 2: The Sacrifice

Filed under: Reviews — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , — Brad Johnson @ 8:33 pm


This past week saw the release of “The Sacrifice,” Valve’s latest add-on for the Left 4 Dead games. This new campaign serves as a prequel to Valve’s previous DLC, “The Passing” which featured an appearance from the original survivors of Left 4 Dead—one man short. “The Sacrifice” gives players the opportunity to experience the events leading to “The Passing,” and the loss of one of their comrades—and not the kind of loss where you pick him up from a hero closet a few minutes later.

To avoid any confusion, “The Sacrifice” is available for both Left 4 Dead and Left 4 Dead 2—but the package is slightly different. The version for the original L4D includes only the new campaign, “The Sacrifice,” played with the standard enemies and equipment of that game. Alternatively, the L4D2 version includes the new campaign and an updated version of the “No Mercy” campaign from the original game, with both taking advantage of L4D2’s expanded arsenal and enemies. Regardless of which game you play, you’ll be playing these campaigns as the original survivors.

Considering that the release of Left 4 Dead 2 was not universally supported by fans of the original game, the decision to release this add-on for both products was a pretty sound strategy, likely good for business while also appeasing those who were not supportive of the release of L4D2.

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October 9, 2010

Review – Halo: Reach

Filed under: Reviews — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , — Brad Johnson @ 8:44 am


It’s 2010 now, and at this stage in the videogame universe reviewing a Halo game seems largely unnecessary. You’ve played it. You know what it is. You know if you’re prepared to spend your sixty-dollars for it. Still, there are some things about Reach that deserve to be said, so we’re going to say them, regardless of the fact that you already bought the game on launch day.

When I reviewed StarCraft II I wrote that a level of perfection in the gameplay design allowed the original StarCraft to endure, without sequels, far longer than any game has a right to. The Halo franchise is characterized by a similar condition with opposite results; in this case, a string of fundamentally similar sequels have been produced, capitalizing on the natural strength of the core gameplay mechanic.

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September 28, 2010

Review – Blade Kitten: Episode One

Filed under: Reviews — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , — Jamie Love @ 9:38 am

Review Blade Kitten Episode One
The introductory number in the planned two-part ballad of Kit Ballard wraps up with an obligatory boss confrontation, pitting the feline bounty hunter against a mech suit aided adversary. Both the action and pattern is familiar enough for the platforming set, but the sequence is a significant stab at pulling more of the game’s unique qualities together than the previous stages manage to otherwise muster.

Using the shield to survive the laser assault, jumping to grab the ledges overhead as the platform beneath Kit’s feet is destroyed, and then finally using her blade to pull the mech closer for a quick strike, the play of it brings together many of Kit’s abilities, something very much lacking in the buildup to that moment.

At this point players are then left to wonder where it might improve with another dose on the horizon as episode one comes to an end.

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September 20, 2010

Review – Professor Layton and the Unwound Future

Filed under: Reviews — Tags: , , , , , — Jamie Love @ 1:57 pm

Professor Layton and the Unwound Future
As the Professor is so fond of saying, few things satisfy like a puzzle solved.

A good story runs a close second however, and the latest dose of Professor Layton to hit the North American DS brings the familiar and balanced mix of mystery narrative and puzzles that has helped make Level-5 a little more known to those not quite as consumed by the RPG genre.

Layton uses an easy style of animation, the stuff of cartoons and storybooks, allowing for humorously exaggerated characters and the occasional talking animal against a rather finely detailed London backdrop that still allows space for drama, offering up something marketing dreams are made of – a title that legitimately has a very natural and open appeal.

From the moment the story begins, it feels like the type of game you could recommend to anyone. And what seems entirely important about this feeling is that the game conveys that broad appeal while still delighting in eccentricities and details, where conventional wisdom seems to so often recommend stripping a product down to increase the sales potential.

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September 16, 2010

Review – Ivy the Kiwi?

Filed under: Reviews — Tags: , , , , , , — Jamie Love @ 6:07 pm

Ivy the Kiwi?
Last year’s mobile game from Prope has returned for a Wii/DS combo release, though interviews have revealed that the Wii version preceded all other concerns – and it definitely shows.

Prope Studio founder Yuji Naka’s life after Sega is easy to typecast as one focused on the control side of gaming – the way we interact with the medium, not simply via the use of new peripherals but in exploring the way tactile actions and video output work together to create new experiences. Last year that focus had me tapping on a cereal box to vibrate a WiiMote with the release of Let’s Tap, but where that release came across more as an interesting technical demonstration, Ivy the Kiwi? is less on the esoteric and more about playtime with straight-forward appeal.

More over, Ivy feels like a return to form, a game of crafted levels designed for an instantly iconic character that is unavoidably as cute as a box of puppies, and finds a welcome place alongside other Naka creations such as Sonic the Hedgehog or Nights into Dreams

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