Gamesugar

October 30, 2012

Review – The Unfinished Swan

Filed under: Reviews — Tags: , , , , , , — Jamie Love @ 4:08 pm

Review The Unfinished Swan
A storybook framework introduces players to Monroe, a young boy left alone, with only a single unfinished painting to remember his mother by – the unfinished swan that serves both as the game’s title, and as the breadcrumbs soon leading players through the looking glass, or canvas in this case, as the swan wanders off into the unseen space of the painting one fateful night.

As emotional charged as the premise sounds, explaining the digital offering is a challenge – another one of those Move titles you’d be better served by picking up and experiencing firsthand rather than reading my scribbles on the subject.

Though I’m obviously going to scribble about it anyway.

The game offers no tutorials or guidance to start the exploration either, which is confusing for all of two seconds as players find themselves holding the Move controller and staring into a blank white space.

At least, it should only take a second or two before you press the button that causes Monroe to use his brush, tossing a gob of paint into the void to find it quickly splatter against the environment that secretly surrounds you.

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October 28, 2012

Review – Liberation Maiden

Filed under: Reviews — Tags: , , , , , , , — Jamie Love @ 12:53 am

Review Liberation Maiden
Grasshopper’s dip into 3D shooters offers a crash course in Japanese politics – primarily that in times of peril the President will seek approval to defend New Japan by personally waging war in a flying armored mech.

Originally one of four games found in Level-5’s Japanese release, Guild01, Liberation Maiden is the first of three titles from that collection chosen by Level-5 to hit the North American eShop. Shoko Ozora takes to her Liberator, named Kamui, across five stages that players won’t be long for reaching the cliffhanger ending of.

As short as the ride proves to be, it’s difficult to complain about the quantity given the quality. A few precious seconds of Liberation Maiden offers more to digest than some larger digital releases, made shinier with animation sequences from Japanese studio Bones.

Frankly, Grasshopper offers a barrage of ideas here that hits my refresh rate like an Itano Circus.

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October 27, 2012

Review – Silent Hill: Revelation

Filed under: Reviews — Tags: , , , — Jamie Love @ 2:24 pm

Review Silent Hill Revelation
With the abandoned streets filled with fog and the faceless nurses in place, the latest adaption of Silent Hill descends on theaters, primarily as a reminder of why so many videogame franchises adapt rather poorly to film.

Much like 2004’s Resident Evil: Apocalypse, Silent Hill: Revelation captures the settings and names of a videogame while struggling to carry the baggage of the original film, and attempting to weave its own story from that mixed bag of details.

Rather than taking the opportunity of the license to tell a unique story with the rich visual aesthetics Silent Hill offers, Revelation stitches the plot of the third Silent Hill videogame together with the story established by the first film adaption of the series.

Unlike the original 2006 film release, the attempt to cram all the details into a singular film leaves audiences with a muddled mess, where characters have little time to make any connection with each other or viewers while rushing through obligatory dialogue and sequences in order to check every box on the list.

I’m skeptical about whether I can even sum all the details up for you, but let’s give it a shot.

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October 23, 2012

Review – Silent Hill: Book of Memories

Filed under: Reviews — Tags: , , , , , , , , — Jamie Love @ 9:04 pm

Review Silent Hill Book of Memories
Living up to its name, the Book of Memories allows those that possess it to change the memories of others, essentially warping events in their favour to gain anything their little heart’s desire. Since said book arrives from the twisted town of Silent Hill, the consequences are inevitably twisted as well.

Changing memories in your favour comes at the expense of someone else’s good fortune. At least, I think that’s how this works.

After an initial delivery from a familiar postman, narrative depends on snippets of text, which during the first level detailed one person’s troubles at work, eventually leading to my own character getting a promotion because of said woes by the level’s completion. As with Silent Hill: Downpour earlier this year, the series seems continually flustered in the attempt to capture the essence of minimalist story telling that has made previous entries in the franchise successful.

The less-is-more approach here feeds detachment from events and characters that players have no emphasis or opportunity to make a connection with, which severely hurts the grind of play the game offers as the main course.

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October 3, 2012

Review – Pokémon Black Version 2

Filed under: Reviews — Tags: , , , , , , — Jamie Love @ 9:49 pm

Review Pokemon Black Version 2
For all the charms that have helped Pokémon endure consistent gamer love for so many years now, the visual seems to take priority. Starting a new adventure in the Unova region finds me without strategy or purpose, and once again choosing which of three Pokémon to start my roadtrip with based on visual affection – there was no contest by the way, Tepig or bust.

The formula is familiar and worn enough that I always feel a bit silly writing about a new entry, and yet each one is never long for stealing attention away from other releases. The first few hours proved unpredictable, insofar as I couldn’t have guessed which Pokémon might join my party along the way.

Certainly there are only a few waiting to be discovered in the first few steps between cities and earning gym badges, but which ones were claimed in the wild, and which of those would survive battles to evolve and stick around seemed delightfully random once again.

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September 29, 2012

Review – HELL YEAH! Wrath of the Dead Rabbit

Filed under: Reviews — Tags: , , , , , , , , , — Jamie Love @ 5:02 pm

Review Hell Yeah Wrath of the Dead Rabbit
To say that Arkedo’s latest creation bursts with color and creativity falls short of capturing the artistic madness of their work. Prince Ash’s quest to eviscerate the 101 monsters that have laid eyes upon his incriminating photographs offers a world, not quit as organic in the flow of life as last year’s Rayman Origins, but gushing with an attitude all its own and a degree of more comic minded artistry that ensnares the eyes just as easily.

In a sea of releases where minimalism offsets the truth that detailed art is extremely time consuming and expensive, Hell Yeah is a punch to the retina that also brings a much needed dose of unbridled batshit crazy design to the table – that feeling that no idea was too crazy in whatever subterranean development space allowed this game to be created.

With great madness comes great risk however, and the play mechanics of Hell Yeah favor a safer and more familiar road, which on the one hand limits the mileage, but on the other goes a long way toward offering a title that may convince some that the Sega Genesis is alive and well in the year of gaming that is 2012.

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September 19, 2012

Review – Mark of the Ninja

Filed under: Reviews — Tags: , , , , , , — Jamie Love @ 12:08 am

Review Mark of the Ninja
While not quite as overcooked as our friend the zombie, the Ninja certainly qualifies as a familiar enough videogame character to stir a collective sigh whenever a new title bearing a protagonist with the requisite sword and black pajamas appears.

But hold your breath a moment longer dear Sugarfriend, because the latest release from Klei Entertainment justifies the familiar trappings by placing said protagonist firmly in the stealth genre here, leaving one only to question why that hasn’t happened more often.

Mind you, I’ve given the thumbs-up to a fair number of lightning fast ninja titles, never really questioning the lack of a ninja game that focused on the most basic principles of the silent and invisible weapon the ninja represents at its core. The experiment warrants more than a few words, and that Klei has also created this ninja tale in a 2D environment that manages to freshen up ye olde stealth genre to boot only strengthens the sales pitch.

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