Gamesugar

May 25, 2011

Review – Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes HD

Might and Magic Clash of Heroes
Though the Great Fall of the PSN has much delayed us, that service’s howling, furious resurrection has finally allowed Team Sugar to report on the matter of Might and Magic: Clash of Heroes, the HD upgrade of 2009’s DS original.

Clash of Heroes exists in some infinite limbo between puzzle game and turn-based strategy. The goal of each battle is to deplete the enemy’s health by firing attacks into his endzone—which is carefully protected by his army of units. Units can be organized to form attack formations or defensive wall formations. Additionally, specialized hero units can be purchased and employed for devastating attacks.

The primary task here is to maximize the number of actions that can be performed in one turn. The player has a limited number of moves, and while certain actions may grant additional moves, one must be mindful of the most efficient, useful maneuvers on the field. Combat, accordingly, is as much a puzzle as a strategy game.

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April 30, 2011

Review – Outland

Outland
A simulated wind raised the orchestral tension as I ran along the back of a flying serpent, dodging falling explosives while waiting for the chance to strike at the key points that beast ferociously sought to protect. This was around the time it occurred to me that anyone who yearns for developers to be given the time and freedom to create memorable and compelling gaming experiences, will undoubtedly fall in love with Outland, perhaps as severely as I have for the girl I immediately yearned to show that same sequence to.

The play of that boss encounter reminded me of Ico, and there is certainly a much longer list of titles that came to mind throughout the experience – few of which need to be named given the way Outland doesn’t simply patch together a quilt of influences, rather taking inspiration into its own folds to weave a game worthy of the player’s investment.

The lingering importance of citing those influences is that Outland shines with the energy of a game designed by people who don’t just enjoy games on some theoretical level, but enjoy playing games. In fact, Outland will convince you that the team at Housemarque grew up loving the same games you did, assuming you burned candles late into the night playing through the same who’s-hot list of 2D titles old-school gamers look back on today with teary-eyed nostalgia.

The only game that can’t escape mentioning is Treasure’s Ikaruga, the light and dark trickery of which gives Outland the means to teach a few new tricks of its own, giving the mechanics of the shooter strange but stable new legs to walk upon the land with.

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April 29, 2011

Review – Nin2-Jump

Filed under: Reviews — Tags: , , , , , , , — Jamie Love @ 2:17 pm

Nin2 Jump
Between the release of bullethell shooters that keep the name Cave warm in the hearts of the gaming faithful, the niche developer’s latest offering tackles the platforming genre and gives players a chance to perform puppet theater for an audience.

NIN-JA finds himself caught up in a classic quest to save a Princess, his striking red scarf always caught on the fixed wind in a world of painted backdrops and paper characters. Animation is largely reserved for the audience occupying the bottom of the screen, ever anxious and vocal while watching the player navigate Cave’s obstacle course.

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April 7, 2011

Review – Rush’N Attack

Rush n Attack Ex Patriot
Having never played the original Rush’N Attack, I approached the sequel, Ex-Patriot, drawing more comparisons to Shadow Complex than any other title; another in a line of products designed to leverage new technology against an old school experience—here, sadly, to not much effect at all.

Rush’N Attack takes place—gasp!—in Russia, where the player is on a mission to rescue a previously captured operative and investigate a possible Russian weapon program. What follows is an offensively bad string of dialogue sequences and awkward, lingering cut scenes that serve only to make the player crinkle his nose.

The plot may be standard NES-era fare, but it’s executed with none of the charm or self-conscious humor that has made modern takes like Explodemon a success, nor with the careful quality that made Shadow Complex an upstanding modern experience.

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April 5, 2011

Review – Moon Diver

Moon Diver
Moon Diver is an elevator ride that jolts as if the cable might snap at any moment while making quick stops at the bizarre, the surreal, and yes even something wanting for today’s secret word; esoteric.

The title was developed by feelplus with special guest, Strider creator Kouichi Yotsui, which is meant to mean something significant to those that played Strider so many years ago and perhaps were ever able to put a finger to the reasons they might have played it to death.

It’s not an easy point to nail down. Strider is a title often referenced by those creating 2D action titles in the here and now, those hoping to summon a connection to that release as a symbol of something eternal and pure and constant to the fundamental design of any old-school blade-swinging game worth your time and money.

It has to be a sense of control that such shout-outs hope to convince threads of commonality with – that your fingers will feel free for flinging a ninja across the screen, slicing through countless enemies in a sea of chaos while still discovering harmony and zen in the act.

But perhaps Moon Diver is about what the 2D action genre can offer when the man himself comes around, which at the very least is an easier matter to pick apart.

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March 22, 2011

Review – Battle: LA

Filed under: Reviews — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , — Brad Johnson @ 7:35 am

Battle: LA
When I saw Battlefield: Los Angeles in theaters, I walked away with the distinct impression that the film could have easily been a Call of Duty game, with many of its events and scenarios seemingly lifted right out of that series. Indeed, Saber Interactive seems to recognize this, with their downloadable adaptation more than a little reminiscent of Call of Duty, but stale, unsatisfying design undercuts the experience from the very beginning.

The game takes a number of the plot elements and scenarios directly from the film and tells a rough approximation of the same story. The plot of Battle: LA unfolds in a selection of miserable, tone-dead motion comics. Lacking a single drop of atmosphere or attitude, these looks like pages from a children’s book more than art from a hardened shooter. Half-baked animations are awkward and often silly, dialogue is poorly scripted, and most damningly, the voice acting is terribly flat and either poorly recorded or poorly mixed.

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March 5, 2011

Review – Dead Space 2: Severed

Dead Space 2: Severed
This week saw the release of Severed, the first true DLC (save weapon and items packs) for the Dead Space series. Thus, I will again jump at the opportunity to discuss the merits of annihilating zombies in space, a subject very near and dear to my heart.

Severed features Gabe Weller, one of the protagonists from Dead Space: Extraction. The two-chapter campaign sees Weller battle his way from the government sector of the Sprawl to the psych ward in the civilian sector, in an effort to find his wife and get her off the station. This has the player literally playing the campaign backwards, revisiting many of the areas originally seen while traversing the station in the opposite direction, as Isaac.

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