Risen 2: Dark Waters

Once upon a time, there was a game called Gothic II. Released for the PC in 2002, it featured a massive open world, an interesting story, tons of side quests and a very real sense of exploration and accomplishment, and despite a myriad of  flaws it is firmly settled as one of my all time favorite RPGs. In fact, despite outdated graphics, bad controls, simple combat, and awful voice-acting, I hold Gothic II as a close runner up to the original Fallout games in the “best old-school RPG” category.

For the last 10 years, I’ve watched developer Pirahna Bytes desperately try and fail to recapture the essence of the open-world RPG so beautifully realized in Gothic II. Gothic 3, the sequel I waited for with great anticipation, ended up a beautiful mess- the new graphics engine was so full of bugs and crashes and the gameplay was so repetitive and devoid of inspiration it was difficult to see it as anything but inferior to their previous title. Risen was essentially a reboot of the same game series and failed in similar ways.

Despite Gothic 3 and Risen, I was quivering with excitement when I picked up Risen 2. It’s not only Pirahna Bytes’ newest title but is a pirate-themed RPG as well, an as-of-yet unexplored region of the genre. I put on my nostalgia glasses and prepared to find out if  the third time’s a charm for one of my favorite developers of last decade.

The story goes something like this: there is a war raging on in the world of Risen. Humans have forsaken the ancient Gods and damned them into exile. Now, under siege by great beasts called Titans, humanity finds itself on the verge of extinction. Risen 2 continues the story of a nameless hero’s quest to destroy the Titans and save the world.

There’s more to it than that, but it’s a moot point in the end. This is not a return to form for Pirahna Bytes. It falls prey to all the flaws that ruined their previous titles. Risen 2 is nothing but a mess.

These are the screenshots that the developers don’t want you to see, depicting how the game actually looks versus the touched up image at the top of this review.

First thing I noticed is that the graphics are awful. Textures stretch awkwardly over the terrain; character models are passable at best. This becomes particularly awkward during dialogue as characters’ teeth tend to stand out like the graphics engine was designed in 2004. Landscapes are cluttered and densely packed with foliage that manages to all look the same.  The lighting doesn’t seem to affect the characters on screen half the time. NPCs bump into walls and the animations are the epitome of jerky and unnatural. The first time I saw my hero jump, I literally laughed out loud.

Admittedly some of the backgrounds and cutscenes are pretty enough, but I spent most of the game wondering how anyone could even pass these sub par graphics off as professional in 2012. I’ve seen Minecraft levels with better looks than Risen 2.

Every aspect of the game gets bogged down by being stuck in the middle of a stagnant, static world. Everything seems frozen in time and  there is little you do that noticeably affects the world. Titans are waging war on the mainland, but the mainland always looks exactly the same. Even the impressive backdrop of the port city Caldera, full of flames and molten rock, never changes from the start of the game. Animals, plants, and enemies all spawn in the exact same locations time and time again. No creature seems to move until they come into your line of sight. Sustaining any suspension of disbelief approaches impossible.

The world map I glimpsed at the start of the game looked suitably expansive, even if it was mostly water. “Sailing the seas! How novel an idea for an RPG,” I thought. I pictured guiding my ship along uncharted waters, discovering previously unknown lands, savage natives and treasure galore. Halfway through the game, I realized that there was no naval exploration to be found- the islands you see are the islands you get and the water is just there to fill space.

That could even be alright if the islands themselves weren’t all similar in appearance. (Spoiler: They’re all jungles.) Each island has a confusing mess of a map – paths, caves and ports with barely enough detail to provide assistance. Any real sense of discovery is tempered by the fact that every building and character is related to a quest in some way or another.

Even more frustrating, the vast majority of quests are mandatory for progressing in the game. Everywhere I went, someone whose assistance I needed to continue with the main storyline would tell me to “go help people until I trust you.” Acceptable once, sure, but when I found myself having to seek out and complete just about every side quest offered in order to move on with the game, it began to feel less like fun and more like a chore.

Character dialogue is generic and loaded with bad voice acting.

Mandatory side quests could be acceptable, but I encountered another common problem. When attempting to find NPCs again after gaining enough “trust,” characters sometimes inexplicably move from one location to another. Once they’re gone, they are nearly impossible to locate again. This is because of repetitive graphics and a lack of good direction on the game’s map system.

When an NPC does have the decency to tell you where to find them next, it’s usually in very vague terms- for example, “find me at the bluff of the hill that is nearby the docks,” which is misleading because often the docks on that particular map are completely surrounded by bluffs and hills. “I’ll be hiding out in a cave.” Really? Because last I checked there were seven different unmarked caves scattered across this island. Unfortunately, you’ll be lucky to even get that much guidance out of the people of Risen 2. It is possible to mark quest locations on the map, but many times there was no quest available for the person I was seeking.

Leveling up your character is done via “glory” points, a fancy name for experience. There are five different abilities to spend your points on: firearms, blades, toughness, cunning, and voodoo. Each of these affects a few different stats that cannot be modified directly except through training with other characters. Unfortunately, this training is not only crucial to your success and survival, but also very expensive. It is hard to keep track of who can provide specific skills as well, since the NPCs are prone to moving around unexpectedly.

As a pirate, you’re going to want to seek out your fortune while saving the world. However, there is shockingly little treasure be had in Risen 2. Aside from the rare X-marks-the-spot chest to be dug up, most of your wealth will be amassed via selling useless weapons and items and measly rewards for completing quests. Even then, most booty is just generic artifacts like “Jade Statue” or “Silver Goblet.”

Control is generally awful and unresponsive. Many times I’d have to mash buttons just to interact with an object in front of me or draw my weapon. Worst of all, while aiming a firearm and trying to back away from the enemy, I frequently found myself moving forward. This led to my untimely demise more than a few times.

The combat system is unpolished and borders on being unfair in its difficulty. The ability to dual-wield a bladed weapon and a pistol is a neat idea- one button press is all it takes to brandish your gun, fire a round, and return to your sword. Swordplay itself is a frustrating experience in button mashing and luck. When fighting other human opponents, parries and counters are critical to your success. You can learn to parry and counter via the expensive training described earlier. If you don’t learn those skills early on, you will be limited to mashing the strike button and hoping you can get in enough hits to fell your opponent before they do the same to you.

Combat versus animals and other creatures is even worse. You can’t block their attacks, meaning enemies will sometimes hit you so frequently that it’s impossible to get a swing in or even retreat. Larger, more agile creatures such as jaguars can pounce on top of you, forcing you to mash a button repeatedly to push them off. However, there were quite a few times when I found the controls unresponsive and I was mauled to death. If you’re anything like me, the only way to ensure the safety of the game disc from angry annihilation is to save often.

If there is a positive to be found in Risen 2′s combat system, it’s the ability to pick fights with friendly characters without the risk of dying. These duels can occur at any time and are often spectated by other nearby characters who will cheer you on. If you best your opponent, he will turn a blind eye to any crimes you are going to commit and forgive any you may have already.  I’m like this idea and I think it should be incorporated into more RPGs.

I’m saddened that there is little good to be said about Risen 2. Aside from the interesting setting and story, there’s not a whole lot of fun to be had here. If you do manage to get through the game, there’s really no reason to play through it again. The progression is very linear despite its open world. The exploration is limited and unsatisfying. The poor control makes a wreck of the combat mechanics. The only really redeeming values of Risen 2 are its setting and story. Even the nostalgia invoked in Gothic-series veterans (like myself) will wane quickly.

I think at this point it’s safe to say that developer Pirahna Bytes is no longer capable of what they used to be. Let’s take a moment of silence and mourn the loss.

I can’t really recommend this game to anyone at all. If you’re looking to re-live the glory of Gothic II, play Gothic II. If you’re looking for a decent pirate-themed RPG, I guess you’ll have to keep waiting. If you are in need of a good fantasy RPG that isn’t an Elder Scrolls game, pick up Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning instead. Let Risen 2 quietly slip into the bargain bin where it belongs.

Platform reviewed: PS3
Overall: Even purely as a vehicle for nostalgia, it will be hard to get past all of its problems. Risen 2: Dark Waters tries to be a swashbuckling good time, but in the end it is a wasted effort from developer Pirahna Bytes. Scores 2 out of 10.

Anomaly: Warzone Earth – Impressions

When a comet tears through the atmosphere and impacts on the surface of planet Earth, no one has to tell the 14th Platoon that it’s going to be a very bad day. Instead of the anticipated explosions upon impact, the pieces of the comet hit and created massive domes of energy that wiped entire cities out in one blow.
When the 14th Platoon is sent out to do reconnaissance, things go from bad to worse. At the center of each energy dome is a piece of an alien spacecraft, presumably destroyed in an unrelated incident light-years away. Which was bad enough already before the battalion is met with heavy resistance from an unknown force.
It’s a terrible kind of day.

But, then again, is it ever a good day for an alien invasion?

In Anomaly: Warzone Earth, you take command of the company known as 14th Platoon, investigating and ultimately taking on the alien forces threatening humanity. The game is a unique hybrid of real-time strategy and tower defense and the mash-up works surprisingly well. And, from what I saw, the story sounds moderately interesting, albeit nothing new.

Real-time strategy games generally don’t transfer well to consoles because the interface is so much better suited for a mouse than a controller. I find them to be a frustrating affair. When I want to select a group of units and move them across the map, I’d rather control one that is designated as a “leader” and have the rest of the group follow suit than use a cursor to point and click on the desired destination. All that pointing and clicking is an inefficient way to wage war with a controller, especially in real-time.

Apparently indie game company 11-bit Studios heard my cries and Anomaly is their response. You control a single unit leading a group of assault vehicles to different objectives as you fend off the encroaching alien threat. Each level consists of a map made of multiple paths and you choose the direction your squad will take at each intersection. Before each level begins, you set the route you want to take. This isn’t a permament choice- you can modify it at any time during gameplay. Which is a good thing because you’ll always need to be ready to adjust your route as strange events occur, like the emergence of enemy reinforcements or when electrically-charged debris falls in your path. As the commander you are free to roam the map in its entirety, straying from the main roads to gather supply drops that you’ll need to complete each mission.

The game takes place from a top-down perspective and the graphics are flashy and polished. ‘Nuff said.

Anomaly has a unique approach to traditional strategy mechanics in that it plays like a tower defense game in reverse. As you traverse the roads to your objective, you will encounter stationary foes determined to impede your progress through the streets of cities like Baghdad or Tokyo. Enemies in the demo range from simple laser turrets to nastier foes that fire devastating missiles. You cannot attack outright, but your squadron will open fire as soon as hostile forces are in range. You are there to provide support by performing maintenance, gathering resources and calling in reinforcements. Each level provides a new ability or unit at your disposal, such as commanding three vehicles instead of two or calling in a laser strike to decimate enemy forces ahead.

For an indie game, Anomaly: Warzone Earth is quite the catch, successfully appealing even to skeptics like myself. I would definitely recommend checking it out.

Platform reviewed: PS3
Impression: Pretty good. A unique blend of RTS and tower defense, Anomaly is worth a look.

Red Johnson’s Chronicles: One Against All – Impressions

Red Johnson is a man with a price on his head. After besting and (needlessly) executing the latest in a long string of bounty hunters sent his way, he decides it’s time to go into hiding and try to piece together why he is being hunted. Red is a private investigator, a man of many words and possibly questionable morality.  He explains his situation in this truly remarkable opening voice over:

“It’s been six months now that a price has been on my head. Twenty-three failed attempts and a few collateral victims. And despite it all, they’re not letting up. They’re sticking to their guns, waiting for my funeral. Not one has given up. No truce! No respite. The troops are motivated. The last ones who tried were real enthusiasts. Trigger happy homicide junkies. Holy men on a crusade of murderous revenge.”

I kid you not, that is an exact quote. Those bounty hunters must be lousy at their job.

Red’s words are remarkable to me because they display a total failure on behalf of the developer in the form of completely inept writing. To top it off, those lines are delivered with the grace and candor of a bored eleven-year-old doing his best private eye impression for a school play. Honestly, words don’t do it justice- I recommend hearing it for yourself.

The game’s graphics are passable but nothing special.

Red Johnson’s Chronicles: One Against All is played in the style of a traditional point-and-click adventure. You have no control over the movement of your character; instead, you move a cursor around to interact with characters and objects. While this approach works for some games, my problems began here. Clicking on items requires pixel-precise cursor movements and I found myself frustrated from the very start. While some adventure games (like The Walking Dead series) can pull it off, this type of interface is better suited to a mouse and keyboard than a controller.

You play as the title character who also narrates the game. As I touched on earlier, the voice acting is truly awful. Red’s dialogue makes Ben Stein’s dull inflection as Ferris Bueller’s history teacher seem genuinely rousing. His lines are delivered flat as cardboard, as if the actor was instructed to simply read the script out loud into the microphone. Other characters don’t fare much better. The worst offender is Red’s friend Saul, a caricature of a black man who speaks and dresses like a pimp from a 1970s blaxploitation film.

That being said, the writing is just as bad as the voice acting. The faux-noir dialogue is painful to behold. Attempts at humor fall flat on their face, like when Red mentions his two brothers named Brown and Black. There are lines scattered throughout the game that are equally as appalling. Phrases like “unwilling to admit the unadmittable,” “not the slightest hint of a smidgen of an ounce of anything,” and my personal favorite, “computers are an inexhaustible source of comprising material” pummeled my ears with their inanity.

No, that’s not a typo up there. Computers could indeed be an inexhaustible source of “compromising” material, but “comprising” material? Come on guys, it’s like you’re not even trying.

Developer Lexis Numerique is based in France so it is possible that these linguistic gaffes are the result of shoddy translation. Besides, script quality and voice acting can be overcome by good gameplay, so I brushed it off and moved forward. It’s an adventure game, after all, not a movie.

I spent no less than twenty minutes spinning this box around.

Sadly, the puzzles I encountered are as baffling and meaningless as the worst that the genre has to offer. Back in the 90s, developers and gamers alike thought that convoluted puzzles were “thought-provoking” and “artistic.” Series like Myst and Resident Evil took this to extremes: you search for arbitrary items like medallions to place into an arbitrary object like a statue in order to open a lock in a different area and so on. This sort of crap was seemingly mandatory in any adventure game, be it survival horror-themed or the more traditional point-and-click.

One Against All‘s puzzles harken back to the days when developers didn’t think puzzles needed even an iota of believability in the context of the game world. One involved unlocking a box given to Red as he sits in a bar drinking a beer. There was a padlock with four digits requiring an unknown combination. I manipulated that box for 20 minutes, rotating it in all directions. I purchased useless clues from my pimp friend. The location of the combo? On the back side of the box, there was a label with a scrawl across it that concealed the necessary digits. I found the exact angle I needed to look at it from to see the code by sheer luck . Even then, it was nearly impossible to make out what it said.

Another such puzzle involved a drawing on a desk that contained clues to the password I needed for a computer. Like a schizophrenic’s idea of a matching game, I had to place squares of paper on very specific places of the drawing. After that, I was staring at a series of digits that…told me absolutely nothing about the password. I even consulted the glorious cheat sheet that is the internet to no avail. I found a lot of people infuriated by the puzzle, but not one who had the solution.

WHAT…DOES…IT…MEAN?!

At this point, I gave up.

Primarily known for their educational titles on the PC, Lexis Numerique has been branching out into console games in recent times. Here’s my advice to their team: fire your staff. Replace them with competent people who have actually played video games from the last five years and for God’s sake, hire translators that aren’t bargain priced.  As far as this game goes, I think it’s best summed up with another quote from the protagonist:

“It’s a frickin’ s**t trap.”

Stay far away.

Platform reviewed: PS3
Impression: With laughably bad acting, cringe-worthy dialogue, and maddening puzzles, Red Johnson’s Chronicles: One Against All should be avoided at all costs. You’ve been warned.

Max Payne 3

“So I guess I’d become what they wanted me to be, a killer. Some rent-a-clown with a gun who puts holes in other bad guys. Well that’s what they had paid for, so in the end that’s what they got. Say what you want about Americans but we understand capitalism. You buy yourself a product and you get what you pay for…and these chumps had paid for some angry gringo without the sensibilities to know right from wrong. Here I was, about to execute this poor bastard like some dime store angel of death and I realized they were correct. I wouldn’t know right from wrong if one of them was helping the poor and the other was banging my sister.” -Max Payne

So begins Max Payne 3 in media res, with a bloodied Max about to put a bullet in the head of a man whose arm is a bloody stump. Without further explanation, we jump back and find Max in rare form, getting drunk out of his mind, popping painkillers.

Same old miserable Max. He sure hasn’t lost his unique brand of cynicism, though he’s definitely put on a few years and a few pounds.

Max Payne 3‘s Brazilian landscapes are beautiful to behold, but a far cry from the imagery of the first two.

I am a huge fan of the first two Max Payne games. My first encounters with Max Payne 3 involved overexposure to the game’s pre-release ad campaign on Hulu. This was a very different game than I remembered- the images of an older man with a shaved head and Hawaiian-style button down did not match up with what I expected. Gone were the dark and gloomy streets of New York, replaced with the colorful slums of Brazil.

“Here they go, reviving another one of my favorite games just to shoot it in the head.” I thought as I was forced to watch the same advertisement for the hundredth time. Shouts of “FABIANA BRANCO, WHERE IS SHE?!” echoed through my dreams at night (thanks Hulu!) and the whole thing became kind of an in-joke between me and my friends. I waited for a few months after its release to pick it up.

To my surprise, I found an amazing game.

Max Payne 3 is not simply about shooting everything that moves. It also continues the emotional story about its protagonist. Payne is the epitome of the classic anti-hero; a good man who does bad things while believing the end justifies the means, no matter what the cost. He is a hardened ex-cop who, fourteen years prior, lost his wife and child at the hands of junkies hopped up on a designer drug known as “Valkyr.” Five years later, Max lost his new love, Mona Sax, in the line of duty. After twice experiencing the corruption inherent in the police system and the power of the criminal underground, Max retired from the police force. Riddled with guilt, Max took up a habit of heavy drinking and painkillers, hoping to find solace in oblivion.

Max, seen here seeking the sweet release of downers and booze.

If drinking and painkillers had succeeded in contenting Max, there would be no story to tell. Max Payne 3 picks up when Max is recruited for private security by an old friend and winds up working for the Branco family in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The Brancos are a stereotypical wealthy family that covers all the bases. Rodrigo is the real estate mogul. Fabiana is the trophy wife half his age. Victor is the eldest son, an aspiring politician. Marcello is the cokehead younger brother, the underachiever riding on the success of his father. Things go sour fast when the Brancos are kidnapped at a cocktail party, and Max is led into a labyrinthine conspiracy that he must unravel in order to save them…and perhaps even redeem himself.

As the story progresses, nothing goes the way Max had planned. I don’t want to spoil any of the surprises in store for you. Suffice it to say, there are some cliche plot twists involved in what is a somewhat cliche plot, but it’s ultimately satisfying. Max Payne has never been about being truly original beyond its film noir origins. I consider this game to be a triumph of fantastic writing and pacing, not a triumph of creativity.

Character development in Max Payne 3 is handled primarily through the inner monologues of the title character, which weave in and out of both the cutscenes and gameplay. Max’s sharp, biting wit permeates the entire game; dialogue is exceptionally well written and the voice acting is amazing. I found myself frequently laughing out loud at Max’s self-deprecating quips. One of my favorites:

“Smart move would have been sticking with Da Silva and going straight to the hangar, but when was I ever about smart moves? I’m a dumb move guy, ‘Hey Max, we’ll drive onto the runway!’ No thanks, I’ll walk into the main entrance. I’d put a big shit shit-eating grin on my face and let these assholes take turns trying to kill me, that’s my style and it’s too late in the day to hope for change.”

It’s good to see you again, Max.

Bullet time is extremely useful and wonderfully eye-catching.

Make no mistakes though, this is an action game through and through- when you have control of Max, you’re seconds away from having to use deadly force on an army of foes at any time. The main draw of the series is its use of “bullet time,” the ability to slow down time for a few seconds to carefully and efficiently dispatch groups. It’s very Matrix-esque in its presentation and, having played the first two games, I felt right at home. A small bar indicates how much bullet time you have left- accruing more as simple as killing more bad guys. I rarely found my bullet-time gauge empty, as this element of the game is crucial to surviving large firefights. Proper use of bullet-time is critical to your success and, functionally speaking, it is integrated seamlessly into the game.

Control is excellent for the most part. Very little has changed since the inception of the series and that’s a good thing- no need to fix what isn’t broken. Max is a bit sluggish in his old age, but the cover system makes up for it by providing places to crouch and lean just about everywhere. When in a tight spot, Max is able to take a flying leap in any direction, slowing down time while in midair in order to get off a few key shots. At certain points, bullet time will activate automatically so you can put a round or three into an oncoming grenade, RPG, or even the driver of a vehicle.

Movement is smooth, but sometimes I struggled getting Max to take cover where I wanted him to be. There’s also a nasty tendency for moveable objects such as barrels to get lodged in a tight space and impede movement. One such instance was so terrible I had to reload my checkpoint in order to get past. The terrain is occasionally inconsistent and without any on-screen prompts it could be difficult to tell where I needed to climb or drop down to continue. Sometimes it would seem like I could climb up a certain ledge but I couldn’t. Other times I found myself stuck on a gentle slope and had to go back to find the stairs.

While these pathing and movement issues are a bit of a nuisance, they are not fundamental flaws that do detriment to the game.

The cover system works wonders in keeping you in the fight and out of the line of fire.

Like I said before, combat is the meat of the game and it is awesome. Bullets shatter glass, take chunks out of walls and pillars, and destroy flimsy cover. Very little remains unaffected by a hail of gunfire, resulting in a remarkably intense experience. There are thirty-one unique weapons, many of which can be dual wielded. I found myself gravitating towards assault rifles and submachine guns. Shotguns are powerful but I didn’t use them often since most of the gunplay takes place in open areas.. Unlike the first two games, you can now mix and match one-handed weapons of any type for dual-wielding as well.

Strangely, while the enemies can throw grenades, you cannot. I was disappointed in the change from the first two games- clearing a stubborn group from behind a wall used to be a simpler affair.

Enemy AI is on par with that of Uncharted 3, another stellar action game. They are smart and fast. They work in teams, take cover, toss grenades- in short, they’re a real pain sometimes. When your bullets hit, enemies jerk, stumble, grab themselves, and fall to the floor. It’s not difficult to “make them dance” as you riddle your foes with a barrage of rapid fire. The visceral response is pleasing and makes it easy to tell when your shots are going where they are supposed to. “Kill cam” close-ups are used frequently, shown in bullet time slow motion with a twist: you can continue firing rounds into the bad guy as they fall, resulting in what I would call “a bloody good time.”

Behold, the dual-wielding system. Pistol and a micro-SMG? Check. Mix and match one-handed guns as you please.

It’s a good thing the enemies are worthy opponents too, because you’ll be facing a lot of them. The body count by the end of the game is astronomical. What starts as a small altercation will always escalate as the level progresses. By the end of certain areas, I was wondering how some drug lord in Brazil could manage a full-blown army of well-armed men with such precision. Completely over-the-top it is, but like any good action movie, it doesn’t deter from the experience. Your suspension of disbelief may suffer a bit, however.

Now, take my word for it- Max Payne 3 has moments of incredible difficulty. Don’t expect any coddling here- even veterans to the genre may have a tough time. At times, the sheer amount of foes in front of you can be downright maddening. These moments are few and far between. Thankfully, the checkpoint system saves frequently so I wasn’t stuck replaying large chunks over and over again.

There are two additional difficulty levels beyond the standard easy-normal-hard offerings. So if you fancy yourself a god among men or are simply masochistic, feel free to give them a shot. Please let me know how it goes. I dare not for fear of smashing my controller in a rage.

Max Payne 3 has production values that few other games can match. Graphically speaking, this is one of the most beautiful games to grace to PS3. Everything is rendered with immaculate attention to detail. Locales are alive and vibrant, characters move with fluidity and grace. Ambient lighting effects sometimes compliment and sometimes contrast the dark and gritty nature of the story. Urban landscapes are flush with vegetation, buildings, vehicles, and people that all fit the setting- be it Brazil, New Jersey, or somewhere in between.

Running from laser-sighted rifle fire has never been so pretty.

To say Max Payne 3 is anything less than cinematic in presentation would be selling it short. Stylish camera effects are the norm, used extensively throughout the game and its cutscenes. Gone are the comic-book style stills of the first two games, but they are far from forgotten. Split screens, still frames, and floating text accent the story and dialogue in cutscenes. On the flip side, the blurring effect that is used in various forms can be a bit unnerving and distracting at times. Maybe a little more restraint could’ve been exercised there, but again, this is a minor complaint.

Max Payne 3 is an action tour-de-force. In a genre dominated by franchises like Gears of War and Uncharted, it swoops in and provides the third-person shooter genre a well-needed kick in the groin. It pulls no punches and makes no apologies. It is to action games in 2012 what The Rock was to action movies in 1996- an example of what can be made out of an overplayed concept, given the right writing and direction. It is stylish, violent, and beautiful. Despite a few issues, it’s at the top of its class.

Platform reviewed: PS3
Overall: It’s not without its flaws, but Max Payne 3 is one helluva ride. It won me over and scores a 9 out of 10.

Sleeping Dogs – Impressions

It seems like a typical day in the office for triad enforcer Wei Shen at the start of Sleeping Dogs. Meet up with your boss, get assigned to take care of a drug territory dispute, move out. Unfortunately, the police aren’t so appreciative of your talents. You’re arrested, interrogated and threatened with the worst the Hong Kong PD can throw at you before your real boss bursts in and tells the detective the truth: you’re not a triad enforcer. You’re an undercover officer from San Francisco assigned to infiltrate and bring down the Hong Kong gang Sun On Lee.

Granted, it’s a bit cliche, but stellar voice acting and great dialog elevates Sleeping Dogs above the standards of the genre. Sleeping Dogs holds a very dark, somber tone, leaving little room for camp. The tongue-in-cheek nature that Grand Theft Auto 3 brought to this type of game is nowhere to be found.

You can always grab a hostage in a tight spot.

It’s hard to say a lot about Sleeping Dogs because the demo only encompasses two short missions. That being said, I was thoroughly impressed. Thirty minutes of gameplay was long enough to show off all the things developers United Front Studios and Square Enix London got right. Every part of the game reeks of style and panache. The world of the demo is so polished that I wonder if they can keep it up throughout the full game.

The Hong Kong that I witnessed in Sleeping Dogs is a gritty, vibrant, colorful place. The environment has more of an Assassin’s Creed feeling than GTA – the camera is closer and more personal, the perspective and scale of the city is more proper. Movement is fluid and realistic. Free-running over obstructions in your path is seamlessly integrated. Bumping into people while walking elicits an appropriate response; run into someone and risk getting tripped up and losing your momentum.

FATALITY.

The combat mechanics are top-rate as well. Hand to hand combat utilizes an intricate system of strikes, counters, and grapples, reminiscent of Arkham City. Enemies can be grabbed and thrown into the environment for some exciting (and violent) take downs. Some of the kills I accomplished reminded me of Madworld or Mortal Kombat fatalities from back in the day- impaling foes on meat hooks, shredding their face with fan blades, and so on. Everywhere I looked there were more options for such feats. Weapons are available as well, and the knife fighting I engaged in was particularly brutal and satisfying.

Since the demo was so short, I don’t have much else to offer. I can’t comment on the driving aspects because they were omitted from the demo completely. I can only hope the rest of the game stacks up.

I’m certainly going to be picking up a copy myself.

Platform reviewed: PS3
Impression: Between the amazing combat, stylish world and gritty dialogue, Sleeping Dogs might just have it all. Here’s hoping the game lives up to the demo.

The Expendables 2 Videogame – Impressions

I can usually find a redeeming quality or two in just about anything – including games that are a waste of the developer’s time and money – but every so often something mind-bogglingly awful slips in and blows me away. I had one such experience today with The Expendables 2.

Granted, I went in with low expectations. This is a game based on what I consider to be a mindless and mediocre action movie franchise. Because of that, I expected no more than a mindless and mediocre action game. However, what I found was not just mediocre, but also something that belongs in 2002, not 2012.

Sadly, being released a decade earlier wouldn’t have saved this game.

I had a sinking feeling immediately after starting it up. The loading screen made sure to clarify that this was a video game by including “Videogame” in its title. “Oh boy…here we go,” I thought, wincing just a little as a familiar crew of rugged mercernaries graced my screen.

Yes, this is seriously what you’ll be seeing when you play. How much can you make out in this image?

The Expendables 2 is essentially a 3D arcade game whose graphics brings to mind 1998′s Commandos: Behind Enemy Lines and the more recent Renegade Ops. However, where Renegade Ops was bright and colorful, The Expendables 2 is visually drab and repetitive. And where Commandos: BEL was an innovative and fun title, this is the opposite. The landscapes and pixelated trees reminded me of the archaic Operation: Flashpoint (circa 2001). Character models brought to mind the PS2′s Metal Gear Solid 2, but unlike that title they generally remained redundant and generic.

Everything takes place from a fixed isometric perspective as you run around with your squad of four, blasting bad guys and blowing stuff up. This could be fun, but the action ended up being mind-numbingly dull. To compound the simple run-and-gun gameplay, aiming is next to impossible. There was no visible sight for any of the default weapons unless using the sniper character and tracers were hard to see. The camera was always too far away from the scene and the controls were too touchy. It was very difficult to know where I was shooting. Most of the time I couldn’t tell if I was hitting anything at all, so I spent the entire demo emptying clips wildly, hoping to hit my targets.

Speaking of emptying clips wildly, friends and foes alike brush off bullets like they’re paintballs striking kevlar. Even the most mundane enemies take a ridiculous amount of bullets to take down. I know this is an arcade-style game, but come on. Between the lack of damage incurred and the terrible aim, I resigned myself to running in circles while spraying constantly, a mindless alternative to quality combat mechanics.

“Cluttered” is the…nicest way to describe the visual style of The Expendables 2.

Since the game requires that I have a squad of four, the AI took the reins for my squadmates. Perhaps I misspoke when I said AI, because that implies that the actions of my squadmates were somewhat intelligent. They always stayed clustered up around me, firing blindly into the groups of enemies presented. They never took cover and never strayed far from my position. Compounding my frustration even further, my otherwise-worthless squadmates were able to aim and fire somewhat accurately. Opposing combatants didn’t fare any better, running around aimlessly and with reckless abandon. This must be what a 10-year-old imagines war looks like.

Technical problems were abundant as well. Invisible barriers impeded movement through apparently open terrain. Objects slid across the ground like an oiled sled on a snow-covered hill. Sometimes cars would explode when shot, sometimes they wouldn’t. Fallen bodies disappeared immediately and abruptly.

Developer ZootFly doesn’t have an impressive track record to speak of, but they really dropped the ball on this one. I wouldn’t recommend it to even the most casual gamer. The Expendables 2′s flaws are so glaring that I could’ve written this after ten minutes with the demo.

Fun fact: that’s exactly what I did.

Platform reviewed: PS3
Impression: The Expendables 2 tries to be an homage to arcade shoot-em-ups of days past, but it’s an atrocity in terms of gameplay and technical merit. Don’t waste your money on this.

The Last Guy

The Last Guy holds a spot as one of my favorite zombie games of all time, but not for the action. There are no weapons here. No blood. No “bring it on, you undead bastards!” In fact, this game bears no resemblance to other zombie games except in setting. Instead of blowing everything into chunks of zombie gore, you guide citizens to safety through a series of increasingly difficult puzzles played out across the streets of major cities from Tokyo to L.A. In the end, it’s more Chip’s Challenge than Dead Rising.

Zombie games have been experiencing a resurgence in popularity over the last few years, but only a few titles have tried to rise above the standard Resident Evil-type offerings. Dead Island took a Fallout 3-esque first-person RPG approach, which promised a great amount of fun but failed due to poor writing and an overly static world. Dead Nation attempted an isometric perspective for their shoot-em-up, which was interesting but ruined by terrible dialogue and repetitive gameplay. Only The Walking Dead fully succeeded by crafting a point and click adventure that integrated heavy suspense and brutal violence into an emotional and impactful story.

It may seem uninteresting at a glance, but The Last Guy is intensely addictive.

But as I said before, this game is unlike any of the ones above.

Using a Google Maps-style birds-eye view, the presentation is surprisingly clean considering the subject matter. You’ll find no bloodstained streets, no piles of severed limbs, no half eaten bodies. This zombie outbreak must have happened recently.

You take control of a lone man known as “The Last Guy.” Instead of cutting a bloody path of destruction and mindless slaughter, your goal is to retrieve the survivors from zombie-infested cities and lead them to safety through dangerous back alleys and presumably brain encrusted sidewalks. The story is sparse at best, but this is not a game that needs an eloquent background.  You’ll be too busy navigating your survivors around giant bug zombies and hordes of traditional undead to wonder why you’re taking the risk.

Gathering survivors is simple: stand adjacent to an occupied building and they begin filing out all the possible exits. Stand near the crowd of people and they join up. The complicated part is the time limit. Each stage has a strict limit and you must guide a certain number of people to the marked escape zone before the time is up.

Zombies are indestructible obstacles that you must avoid as they shamble, slide, crawl, or race around the map. No weapons, remember? What this means is that instead of blasting your way through The Last Guy, you will need to work on your timing. A lot. As you rescue survivors, they line up single file behind you, and most of the difficulty in the game comes from wrangling the increasingly long line away from potential threats.  If a zombie touches you, it’s game over, but if it touches the crowd behind you, the line breaks and all the survivors behind that point scatter into surrounding buildings. The first time a zombie hits your line and the entire crowd scatters with less than three minutes left on the clock, you’ll understand.

It’s not hard to imagine that some of the inspiration for The Last Guy was drawn from the old arcade game Snake.

So close yet so very far. Filling the escape zone in time is a taxing affair.

This game is not just hard, it’s unforgiving. Death becomes a side note after you discover your true enemy is the clock. Gathering 1500 people in 7 minutes doesn’t sound easy to begin with, but once you realize the ramifications of losing 1,000 people that were following you, you get a clearer picture of just how difficult The Last Guy really is. Hundreds of people can cram into a building, and once you watch a crucial minute tick away as you coax 800 people from one, you’ll realize that a single mistake is often fatal.

I spent hours on certain levels, sprinting back with thirty seconds on the clock just to have a stray zombie notice me and fly into my crowd, ruining everything. Once the timer hits zero, a rescue ship swoops in and gathers anyone in the escape zone, and the round is over. Failing the mission means only one thing: you get to start it over from the beginning.

Control is simple and that’s how it should be. You have a stamina bar that increases as you rescue more people, but no life to speak of. One hit and you’re dead. Stamina is used for two things: you can sprint to double your speed or use it to “reel in” the line of people into a mass around your character. Both are invaluable and you will get well acquainted with the mechanics of each as you complete the levels.

Power-ups are scattered around the maps in set locations and provide boosts like ten seconds of invisibility or replenishing your stamina. More often than not, I found that getting these was more trouble than they were worth, but they do provide options for your progression through the maps. Obstructions in your path are abundant, varying wildly in size from huge buildings to barely visible retaining walls.

In order to compensate for the birds-eye camera, the developers added a “thermal imaging” view- hold down X and obstructions are greyed out and survivors are lit up in green clusters. This is absolutely invaluable as the game progresses, giving you a better idea of which paths to follow and where those paths are. But there is a catch: zombies have no internal heat and are invisible to the sensors, spelling bad news if you accidentally happen across one while deciding where to go next.

Obstructions are blacked out and green marks the survivors: using your thermal optics carefully is the key to your success or failure.

Enemy design is fantastic. Zombies range from the standard shambling humanoid to more horrifying offerings. One of the nastiest you will encounter is the “Scorpion Zombie,” a fast-moving scorpion-shaped monstrosity that bee-lines for you the moment you enter its field of vision. An arrow is provided to show the direction each zombie is facing. I’m not lying when I say the game would be impossible without that context.  Some move on pre-determined paths, others wander aimlessly, and most will follow you for a short time if you are sighted. There are also boss levels where one-time monsters are introduced to add yet another layer of obstacles. The creativity of the designers is apparent and I loved every new creature they threw in my path, no matter how infuriatingly difficult it made the game.

The Last Guy is all about speed, timing, and patience- patience to actually get through the whole game. It took me almost a year to beat. You will be dying a lot, and I found that sometimes I just needed a break from the whole thing for a few weeks. To its credit, I did keep coming back. The satisfaction you receive from beating what seems to be an insurmountable challenge at the end of every level is incredibly rewarding. Of course, so was stopping the source of the zombie outbreak and saving the world.

Even after beating the game, I found myself coming back to it again and again. Levels can be replayed as many times as you like. To add an extra challenge, four “VIP” survivors are hidden in with the crowds on each level. Each VIP has their own name and back story, which I thought was a nice touch. In short, there is substantial replay value for those craving more.

For a mere ten dollars, The Last Guy is a steal, offering something to both the novice gamer and the experienced puzzle veteran. Developer SCE Japan has crafted that rare gem that prides itself on fun gameplay alone. The mechanics, objective, graphics, and concepts are all fairly simple, yet I found myself unable to pull away. It’s unique gameplay will have you hooked and coming back for more. It’s as addictive as crack but much more rewarding.

Platform reviewed: PS3
Overall: The Last Guy is an extremely challenging affair, one that sucked me in to the end. It’s simple, fun and addictive, and I give it 9 out of 10.