Medal of Honor Multiplayer Beta Hands-On

When your game grosses over 500 million dollars in its first week of release, other companies are bound to sit up and notice, and that’s exactly what EA has done with their new Medal of Honor reboot. It’s quite poetic actually that the game where Infinity Ward got their start on is now coming back to directly compete with them.

EA has put a lot behind this new reboot, giving DICE development duty on the multiplayer portion of the game, hoping they could infuse their years of refined multiplayer game experience into the game. With that said, I wasn’t prepared a how much like Modern Warfare 2 this game is. DICE have made a multiplayer game that copies Infinity Ward’s blockbuster shooter so unabashedly, but has made enough changes that actually detract from the experience and place it in dangerous territory if it wishes to compete.

Medal of Honor’s (MOH) multiplayer beta features two maps, one for each game mode: Team Assault and Combat Mission. Team Assault is your usual team deathmatch mode and Combat Mission is an objective based fight where one attacking team must take an objective while the defending team tries to keep them at bay. Team Assault’s map was a generic, Middle Eastern slum that was small and cluttered. Respawns seem to be honestly, randomly placed, and would sometimes drop me right in the middle of enemy territory. Combat Mission’s map favored better, with an open and nicely designed map that kept people focused on their objective and gave both teams plenty of points to hide and setup ambushes from.

There are three classes available in both modes: Sniper, Special Ops, and Rifleman. Sniper is self-explanatory, Special Ops have a slightly weaker machine gun and gadgets and weapons to take down heavy targets, and Rifleman is your basic assault class, with a stronger gun and explosives. Each class has tiered unlocks, though, they are all the same. At level 1, you gain a new gun for all classes. ; Level 2, a scope and so on and so forth. Unlike MW2, where weapons and items unlocked as you leveled up no matter what class you were, you only unlock weapons for specific classes here. So if you want to switch to a sniper, you’re back to level 1 with no cool sniper toys to play with. This wouldn’t be so bad if leveling wasn’t so painfully slow and the game communicated your progress in game. There is no experience bar like in MW2 and you have to exit back to your class tier screen to see your progress. You also can’t change your class load out beyond what weapons for that class you unlocked, so no making custom classes.

MOH also features kill streak awards like MW2, but makes changes them to a score based system. Instead of getting so many kills to trigger it, it takes a certain amount of points to gain. At every 40 points, you gain them and each kill equals a certain amount of points depending on the kill. Kill your opponent and gain 10 points. Kill them with a headshot and you gain 15. With this system you can get your score award faster if you go for headshots or other skilled frags. The awards themselves also follow the MW2 model of air strikes and Intel to show enemy position on the map.

The MOH beta is still early and it most of these issues can be fixed before the game’s October release date. In trying to both competing with MW2 and standing apart from it, MOH has created an experience that feels like it’s in limbo between DICE’s own Battlefield games and Infinity Ward’s definitive shooter, struggling with its identity.  EA needs to either follow completely in MW2′s footsteps or create a wholly different experience. As it stands now, it’s a confusing mess that feels like it will have limited capabilities if it follows this path.

AaaaaAAaaa: A Reckless Disregard for Gravity Review

You have to give indie game studios credit for always attempting something new and different. Not constrained by publisher demands and working on limited budgets, indie games always find a way to entertain and enlighten given the medium they are in. Indie developer Dejobaan Games have done just that with their titles. Their previous effort, A Wonderful End of the World, was a fun and simple Katamari Damacy-like game that surprises you with its sense of humor and fun gameplay.

Their newest game, AaaaAAaaaAAAaaAAAAaAAAAA!!! A Reckless Disregard for Gravity(yes, that is the title), is a quirky, fun, and insane game that follows the grand tradition of the indie game, while providing an experience that can be only described as intense.

In A Reckless Disregard for Gravity(we’ll keep it at that for now), you play as a base jumping athlete who participates in a special sport in the future. See, all the cities have been built as suspended sky based cities(think Cloud City) and a new sport has risen that has you jumping off these skyscrapers to gain points and hit the landing pad. You’ll also have to combine tricks and fanfare, like flicking off your protesters and waving to your fans. You gain more points by hitting point squares, flying close to buildings and hitting the right landing on the landing pad. At the end of each level, you gain teeth based on your point total, which are used to gain more levels and extras.

The game is super simple, but hard to master. Progressive levels become harder mazes of buildings and complex mountains that require precision skill and quick reflexes. They also throw in more fans and protesters to please, making for that feeling that makes you want to try for that perfect score over and over again. While some players may find a home in this type of gameplay, and it is fun, the game gets too hard too soon. The first few levels are quite easy and introduce you to the game mechanics. But after this, the game becomes challenging to maddening in the span of a few levels, and can throw some players off.

If you can get past the steep difficulty curve, the game offers a lot for gamers to chew on. There are over 80 levels of base jumping action and each one offers a different challenge or setting. Some levels will offer straight skyscrapers while others take place in outside environments. It’s a nice variety that keeps you always engaged for the next level. The game also offers clever extras to pace yourself, such as meditation seminars to relax you and even anti-meditation seminars that offer tongue in cheek advice such as having you visualize that spiders are all over your body. Fun stuff.

Graphically, A Reckless Disregard for Gravity looks great. It can run on almost any computer and offers simple visuals that are fleshed out thanks to the trippy and Tron-like backgrounds that surround the levels. Dejobaan Games has also done a great job communicating the sense of vertigo and speed your falling at. You really feel like your standing at the top of a building, falling at 200+ MPH down.

All in all, A Reckless Disregard for Gravity is a fun title that offers a new game experience. The sense of speed, skill, and comedy you get from the game is truly unique. For $15, the game is a steal and offers hours upon hours of gaming goodness. And it’s always nice to support a indie developer.

The Beatles: Rock Band Review

“I want you to listen to something son. This is some of the greatest music ever written and something I want you to listen to and experience just like I did. They’re called The Beatles.”

With that, my father slapped on Abbey Road, my ears were exposed to “Come Together”, and I became a Beatles fan. Why do I bring this up? Because your love of the Fab Four will factor heavily into your enjoyment of The Beatles: Rock Band, and even if you are only slightly familiar with them, the game can still entertain and bring everyone together.

The Beatles: Rock Band doesn’t break any molds that Rock Band proper has created since its inception. Note gems still fall down the board and you must match them using your appropriate instrument or sing in tune with the music. What The Beatles: Rock Band does do though, is refine, add, and expand on the concept of Rock Band, while providing music that bridges the gap between all age groups.

New to this addition is the ability to sing in harmonies. The Beatles never had a true lead singer, and only a few songs feature one of them singing. To bring this effect into the game, up to three people can sing together on certain tunes. This works by connecting up to three microphones or using headsets that connect into the respective instruments. The game then treats these as one “player”, displaying a blue line for the lead and a orange/brown line for the other two parts. Only the lead must sing to avoid failing the song, but if the other two players join in, extra points are given, leading to “Double Fab” or “Triple Fab” score bonuses. This feature brings the familiar feeling of co-op play into a new space, producing a fun and magical feeling when you and two other buddies belt our the chorus to “Yellow Submarine” together. It brings the “band” nature of Rock Band to life in new ways.

Rock Band has also put on a show behind your musical tracks as your virtual avatars danced and performed for the audience. Since The Beatles only performed four times in front of a crowd, it’s difficult to produce this same effect. What Harmonix has done instead is construct Dreamscapes for the songs. These trippy and beautiful scenes accompany the music in interesting and enlightening ways, such as the group traveling in a yellow submarine or a chaotic scene during “Helter Skelter”. The scenes always start in Abbey Road Studio 2, then slowly evolve until you are surrounded by both them and the music. They communicate The Beatles extremely well and are just amazing to watch for players and bystanders.

The game also refines the Rock Band experience. No Fail Mode and Lefty Mode is turned on with a push of a button at the instrument screen instead of having to tread through menus and the difficulty is displayed for each instrument so players can have an idea of how intense their part is. Menus have been cleaned but and combined, making for a smoother experience that makes it easy for new players to get into and a breeze to navigate at parties.

Harmonix could have stopped there, but they have compiled a digital museum of extras and hidden content for Beatlemaniacs the world over. Photos, rare recordings, and videos are all packed in with the 45+ song playlist. Every time you 3 or 5 star a song, you get photos which show The Beatles recording, press photos, album covers, or just them goofing around. These photos then unlock rare video clips and recordings such as them getting ready for their Shea Stadium concert, interviews, or the Christmas album they sent out to fan club members. It’s a wonderful insight into the band and a virtual treasure trove for hardcore fans.

In The End, The Beatles: Rock Band is a truly amazing game, visually and content wise. The Dreamscapes that accompany the songs are marvels that go well with the music and are amazing to watch on their own. The extras will satisfy every Beatle fan out there, while helping newcomers to their music a better understanding of them and hopefully draw them in more. It’s a digital love letter to one of the greatest bands to ever exist and a very fun music game.

Shadow Complex

Many gamers consider Super Metroid to be the greatest game ever made. And why shouldn’t they? Super Metroid combined amazing platforming, tight shooting, and fun exploration of its massive map to immerse players in an alien world, while rewarding them for intrepid discovery. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night then came along, expanded on this concept, and then delivered a game that many fans call the best Castlevania ever.

Now Shadow Complex, from developer Chair Entertainment, has come to take the mantle from Super Metroid and Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, proving itself as the heir to Samus Aran’s 16-bit crown, and being one of the funnest games yet on XBLA, any maybe Xbox 360 itself.

Shadow Complex begins with everyman Jason Flemming backpacking in the Pacific Northwest with his girlfriend Claire. They soon happen upon some caves and Claire suggests they explore them. After losing sight of her, Jason climbs in after he, only to see her being dragged into a massive underground complex. As Jason, it’s up to you to explore the complex, rescue Claire, and find out what these people are planning.

Developer Chair Entertainment has stated that the inspiration for Shadow Complex was Super Metroid and it definitely shows. The game plays from a 2.5D perspective, keeping Jason on a 2D plane while mixing in gorgeous 3D effects and environments. The game also plays very much like Super Metroid. The complex map is huge, and you’ll have to explore every nook and cranny to find every upgrade and weapon. You can only access certain areas and secret passages with certain upgrades or weapons, so backtracking plays a huge part. While this may turn some people off, Shadow Complex alleviates this with it’s interesting environment and multitude of shortcuts. It’s one thing to have to backtrack all the way around an area, but another when you find a secret vent shortcut that cuts your right through the map, which are also always easy to find thanks to your flashlight which highlights points of interest when pointed at them.

This type of gameplay, often dubbed “Metroidvania”, is what keeps Shadow Complex so fun. As you uncover more of the map and kill bad guys, you gain experience which levels you up. Gain a level and you’ll boost your auto aim and jumping skills. It’s extremely addiciting to continue to explore the map and snatch upgrades so you can level up more. What’s even better is that you’re level carries over to your future playthroughs, pushing you even further to try and hit the level cap, which can’t be done in one playthrough.

Once you are done with your playthoughs, you can tackle the games “Proving Grounds” mode, which presents challenge levels that will test your skills with certain weapons and upgrades or on obstacle courses to test your platforming skills. You can earn Platinum, Gold, Silver, or Bronze medals, and compete on Leaderboards for high scores and times. These levels are fun and short, ideal for competing for bragging rights or to test your mettle. If you don’t want the competition to end their, the game will also track how many enemies you’ve headshot, punched, or made scream for falling to their death and compare it to you’re friends list. Now you can finally settle the debate on who can punch more baddies in a game.

Yet, a game like this wouldn’t be as fun if your upgrades and weapons were boring and luckily Shadow Complex’s are not. While most are direct copies of Super Metroid, like super speed and the hookshot, Shadow Complex carves its own identity with fun toys like the foam gun and Inertial Element. Controlling these toys is simple as well, using the right stick to aim in any direction and right trigger for firing.

Graphically, the game is gorgeous. Running on the Unreal Engine 3, Chair Entertainment took an engine reserved mostly for FPS games and turned it into a beautiful retro inspired game. Even though you are stuck to a 2D plane, the backgrounds and enemies are nicely rendered. Bosses are huge and animated, compensating both the background and foreground. Water splashes on the ground and bullets whiz by your head while underwater. It’s truly amazing what Chair did with the engine and no surprise that they were acquired by Epic Games for there work.

The game does have a few tiny flaws though that I must point out. The story is pure nonsense after the beginning cutscene and the characters’ faces have a weird vacant look to them. The models couldn’t emulate the emotion they were feeling so some story sequences fell flat because of it. There were also a few glitches I experienced while playing. Jason would get caught on walls after a wall jump and sound effects wouldn’t cease after leaving an area, forcing a restart to get the game back on track. These glitches didn’t happen often, but they did happen enough to warrant a mention.

Aside from this, Shadow Complex is still the best XBLA game out yet. It’s combination of retro style game play with modern gameplay tech and ideas bring an addicting and satisfying experience to the Xbox 360. If you love Super Metroid, or just games in general, get Shadow Complex. It’s an amazing game that will not disappoint.

Splosion Man

There doesn’t seem that there is any room for games hailing from the 16-bit school of design. Bigger budgets and powerful consoles bring new ways of design to our favorite games. While this isn’t a bad thing, sometimes it always good to sit back and enjoy a retro style game that will most assuredly bring a smirk to your face and memories of gaming past. Luckily, downloadable games are perfect to scratch this itch. Their lower budgets and easier development allow for new ideas and a retro way of thinking. Developer Twisted Pixel has taken this route and crafted a side-scrolling puzzle platformer that is deeply rooted in 16-bit design with an injection of new wave ideas.

In ‘Splosion Man, you play as the titular character who must ‘splode his way out of a top secret research facility before your creators can despose of you properly. In order to do this, you’ll traverse more than 50 levels that will call your ‘sploding expertise. You can ‘splode three times in a row before you must recharge for a few seconds and each level offers a different puzzle or reflex challenge that will call for strategic ‘sploding in order to pass.

The game is deceptively simple. Every button on the controller causes you to ‘splode, so only timing and clever thinking are the skills required. Each level presents a different challenge that must be tackled with the idea that you can only ‘splode so three times and littered thoroughout are explosive barrels, flame jets, and other tricks and traps that can be used to traverse the obstacles. At first, levels are easy and teach you the basics, but later levels are brutally difficult and require precise timing and quick thinking. If you find the level too hard and are dying a lot, the game allows you to skip to the next level, albeit with a pink toutou, but this feature alleviates frustration and just allows you to have fun.

A puzzle platformer like this lives and dies by it’s level design, easily falling into pitfalls with crudely designed levels. Luckily Twisted Pixel shows that is has an eye for designing amazing levels. The puzzles are never too confusing or cheap or boring. Cleverly placed barrels, spike walls, and other obstacles both hint at your next step and provide nerve wracking tension that results in a gratifying feeling of accomplishment after you pass it. Single player level design is only surpassed by the co-op multiplayer’s levels. Multiplayer mode allows for up to four people to ‘splode together through 50 separate levels that are even more well designed and genious. They provide unique challenges that take advantage of co-op, which brings the ability to ‘splode off each other to launch higher, and don’t feel liked tacked on additions or single player level transplants.

Twisted Pixel could have left it at that, but there titular hero brings a much appreciated madness and to the game. Straight out of a Chuck Jones cartoon, ‘Splosion Man is a manic and hyper agent of destruction. His animations and noises are well done and hilarious, as he runs at his prey and spouts Schwarzeneggar lines. He’s both adorable and insane, adding a cartoonish and whimsical feeling to the game.

Twisted Pixel has established quite a name for themselves with both The Maw and now ‘Splosion Man, showing that retro game design can be combined with new ideas. ‘Splosion Man keeps things simple while also providing an intense challenge and clever gameplay that feels like it’s straight out of a Super Nintendo cart. It a fast, fun, manic, and ‘splosive game that will keep you entertained for a long while.

Aion: Tower of Eternity Beta Preview

The MMO genre is becoming a competitive war zone much like the PvP combat that they feature so prominently. Many new MMOs are throwing their hat into the ring to challenge World of Warcraft to its massively multiplayer throne. From Champions Online and Warhammer Online to free to play juggernaut Free Realms, each game tries to innovate the genre in a way that WoW hasn’t yet. The newest kid on the block, Aion, is set to release soon and is already gearing up to take on the genre in full force. But does it have what it takes to grab a piece of the MMO market for itself? I was able to spend several hours with the game and I’m happy to report that Aion may have a lot to offer fans of the genre.

The first thing I noticed upon logging in to the game, is the rich fiction and world that developer Aion Team has created. The game takes place on the world of Atreia, which was once connected together by the Tower of Eternity. The inhabitants of Atreia were at war with their former protectors, the Balaur, and after hundreds of years of war, decided to seek peace. The Balaur were invited into the Tower of Eternity for peace talks, but soon began attacking the Tower and everyone in it. The resulting battle caused the Tower of Eternity to shatter splitting Ateria into two halves. Those who resided in the bottom half became known as the Elyos, while the harsh environment of the upper half resulted in the Asmodians. Now, as the events of the now called "Cataclysm" take their toll on both factions, hatred begins to seethe and it’s now up to you to pick a side and fight for your faction.

While most MMOs throw their stories to the wayside or use them as fodder for world events, Aion takes its lore very seriously and models its worlds and environments around it. Your quest log is split up into three categories: Campaign, Standard, and Work Order. While the last two are your basic fetch quests and kill some many amount of enemies adventures, the campaign quests take the story and actually advance it with your character as the main star. These quests are usually more epic, such as waking forest elders to assist in a pending attack, and are accompanied by cutscenes that progress the story. This type of immersion is usually unheard of in a MMO and is a welcome addition to the genre.

From levels 1-10, the game is standard MMO fare.You’ll embark on quests that teach you the game mechanics and basics while also laying out what to expect from future adventures.You choose one of the four character classes: Warrior, Scout, Mage, and Priest. Each class has two subclasses that can be chosen after level 10. Warriors have Gladiators and Templars, Scouts have Ranger and Assassin, Mages have Sorcerer and Spiritmaster, and Priests have Cleric and Chanters. Each of these subclasses specializes in certain skills, such as the ability to summon pets or becoming skilled in Buffs and Area of Effect attacks.

Level 10 also brings more than a subclass. At this level, you gain your wings and become a Daeva. Daevas are higher beings that are able to fly and are the new protectors of humanity on Atreia. At first, you can only fly for 60 seconds and in designated zones, but this can be improved through armor, weapons, and special quests. Flying is one of the single most important aspects of Aion as it ties to the new gameplay feature that Aion is touting; the PvPvE combat.

PvPvE, or Player versus Player versus Environment, takes place in a special zone called ‘The Abyss’. The Abyss is what was left after the Tower of Eternity was destroyed and is where the main battleground between both factions takes place. It is a chaotic place filled with multiple platforms and fortresses that can only be reached by flight. You can only access The Abyss at certain levels as this is the only time the portal is available. Once in The Abyss, you engage in World of Warcraft-like battlegrounds where you must take the fortresses and artifacts to secure areas. Every time you kill another player or capture an area, you gain Abyss Points which can be used to buy ranks or special equipment. Sometimes only certain equipment can be accessed if you control a certain area, so it’s best to coordinate with your teammates to plan effective attacks.

While that sounds like basic PvP combat, the third faction, the Balaur, are also in the picture and represent the environment. This wild card of a faction can either team up with you our your enemies, or sometimes they will attack both sides and you’ll have no choice but to team up with your enemies to take down a common foe.  This idea represents the core of PvPvE, where anything goes and you’ll have to be on guard every time you are in The Abyss.

Aion is shaping up to be a great addition to the MMO genre. In a genre that is filled with imitators and false starts, Aion is showing that it is bringing something new to the table while also providing refined genre stables. The combination of interesting lore, gorgeous environments, and engaing PvPvE combat are proving to offer fans of the genre something to cut their teeth on come September 25th.

BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger

The fighting game genre has to be the hardest genre to start a new IP in. Hardcore fighting game fans are usually loyal to their favorite franchise or developer and rarely give newcomers a shot. It’s also incredibly hard to keep a fighting game balanced, fun, and offer something new that Street Fighter or Tekken hasn’t done already.

It seems BlazBlu and AkSys Games have done just that.

BlazBlue is the spiritual successor to AkSys Games previous fighter, Guilty Gear. With Sega having taking the reins of the franchise, steering it into the RTS genre(?), AkSys has taken the core ideas of Guilty Gear, infused them into BlazBlue, and then transformed it into something completely new and fresh for fighting game fans. If you’re familiar with Guilty Gear, BlazBlue will feel similar to you.

The forefront of BlazBlue is it’s story. Many fighting games have generic or convuluted stories behind them that serve as solely as a reason to have the combatants fight each other. BlazBlue takes a different route though. The Story Mode is lavishly detailed with still cutscenes, showcasing some amazing art, that move the story along at a simple pace to follow. At certain points in the story, you will have to make a decision on how to progress. Depending on your decisions, and even your match outcome, your ending and story will change for your character. In order to gain 100% completion in each story, you’ll have to play it a few times. This may seem tedious, but the story is truly different each playthough if you are making different decisions. It keeps things fresh and never bogs down with repetition.

It helps that the fighters themselves also keep the story fresh. AkSys has always been a master at character design (the criminally underplayed BattleFantasia proves this), and each of the 12 fighters are all interesting. They interact with each other, acknowledge their pasts, and even interact with the player. Taokaka will press her face up against the screen, Jin and Ragna will clash before a match, and Bang will have his own personal theme song play in the middle of matches. This type of character interaction fleshes out the fiction well and really makes these 2D characters feel like 3D personalities.

It’s hard to believe, but BlazBlue’s 2D art and graphical effects make BlazBlue one of the best looking 2D games out. The character sprites never show jagged edges or corners.  Their special attacks and moves are beautifully animated and everything runs silky smooth. The backgrounds are a pseudo 3D/2D hybrid and look gorgeous. Characters will jump around in the background, while structures are rendered in 3D and add visual flair to the experience. AkSys did a wonderful job making this world and it’s characters stand out.

The fighting system is also a highly tuned and balanced monster. The game utilizes a four button system for its attacks. You have a light, medium, and fierce attack, as well as a special Drive attack. The Drive attack is unique to each character. Litchi can drive her staff into the ground and direct it around the arena, Ragna’s takes life and adds it to your HP, and Jin can freeze opponents. The four button system keeps things simple, while adding third party systems to add depth like rolling, barrier block, and rapid cancels. The fighting system promotes fast and frantic gameplay, while also rewarding more strategic players. You can easily mash buttons to play and do cool moves making the game accessible to new players, but there is a wealth of systems and combos waiting the experienced player and it never feels so overwhelming or too hardcore.

AkSys could’ve stopped there, but they packed in a treasure trove of features. In addition to Story Mode, you have Score Attack, Arcade, Training, Replay Theatre, and Online. While Score Attack, Arcade, and Training are genre givens, Replay Theatre and Online are the real meat of the package. You can save any replay of a fight you just finished. Liked something cool you did or want to rub your victory in your friend’s face? Replay Theatre lets you do that. You can even access the online leaderboards and download any players last fight. You can finally see how all the top players really fight.

The Online Mode has one of the best net codes I have seen in a fighting game. While Capcom’s GGPO is a great code, BlazBlue out does it in every way. I have yet to experience any lag or slowdown in any of the matches I played. I even had my girlfriend downloading music from iTunes while I was playing and no lag was present. It’s great the online is this good because BlazBlue creates an online identity for you the moment you log on. The game generates a D-Code, a fighting identity, that records all of your stats. It will show your main character, your sub, wins, losses and even you DNF rate. It’s cool to have this level of stat tracking in online and wish there was some way to trade your card with others for bragging rights or collections sake.

BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger is an amazing fighting game. I’ve been playing fighting games since I first picked up a SNES controller to fight my brother in Street Fighter 2 and BlazBlue is the most refreshing take on the genre thus far. It’s a true next gen fighter, taking advantage of the hardware and network capabilities that the consoles provide, while offering a fighting system that will please even the snobbiest of hadouken throwers.  If you consider yourself a fan of the genre in anyway, you need to own BlazBlue.