Let's all celebrate the upcoming release of Jet Set Radio (1) on HD consoles by looking back at the best JSR game (in my own opinion), Jet Set Radio Future!!
More specifically, all the dances from the character select "menu" from JSRF.
Let's dance:
Oh man... to bad the Pal version of the game isn't backwards compatible with the Xbox 360... come on Sega, convert this on in HD as well and then release it on a special disc alongside the first game!!!!
Showing posts with label Xbox. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Xbox. Show all posts
Sunday, April 15, 2012
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
#Ad - Mega64's Cold Fear adverts
Speaking of Cold Fear, the game had quite a fun advertising campaign.
They might haven been heard a lot nor spread out that much like the viral marketing they were intended to be.
But it was quite a fun campaign nonetheless.
Want to know to what kind of lengths Ubi went to advertise the game? They even officially enlisted the help of Mega64 to produce Cold Fear-themed videos!
(videos after the jump, I'll leave you with one of those creepy viral marketing ads I mentioned in my review)
The problem with these kind of videos is that they work too well.
You see people only remember "dem funny parodies by Mega64" and forget the random game that was behind it.
Anyways, here they are, enjoy!
Pretty random. And quite fun :P
Sort of officially approved parodies mocking the game/plot! You don't see those often!~
They might haven been heard a lot nor spread out that much like the viral marketing they were intended to be.
But it was quite a fun campaign nonetheless.
Want to know to what kind of lengths Ubi went to advertise the game? They even officially enlisted the help of Mega64 to produce Cold Fear-themed videos!
(videos after the jump, I'll leave you with one of those creepy viral marketing ads I mentioned in my review)
The problem with these kind of videos is that they work too well.
You see people only remember "dem funny parodies by Mega64" and forget the random game that was behind it.
Anyways, here they are, enjoy!
Pretty random. And quite fun :P
Sort of officially approved parodies mocking the game/plot! You don't see those often!~
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
VGR Cold Fear
Time for another review!
This one's another survival horror, one of these game from the previous gaming generation, and one that mostly got overlooked (is it me or were a ton of really good games ignored last gen, Psychonauts, Jet Set Radio Future, Panzer Dragoon Orta, etc.?)
Mostly ignored in favor of Capcom's Resident Evil 4, this was Capcom's first foreway into the genre...
Was it good, was it that bad? And what was this one about?...
VGR: Cold Fear
From Darkworks/Ubisoft
Played on PCAlso available on Xbox & PS2
Type Survival Horror
Year 2005
Cold Fear is a survival horror that came on the previous 128-bits systems.
It was developed by Darkworks, an independent French studio based in Paris, already responsible for the well-received Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare.
While Capcom reimagined the genre for that generation with a Resident Evil 4 leaving behind the cinematic camera angles and the slow paced gameplay for a more action-oriented 3rd person "over the shoulder" styée. Cold Fear went ahead with a sort of mix of both gameplays.
The game really feels like the missing link between the old classic survival horrors like the classic Resident Evil games and the modern action ones like 4 and 5.
Cold Fear runs on the RenderWare engine (used in other games such as Ubisoft's Rayman 2 or Sega's Headhunter Redemption and Sonic Heroes), it uses both a behind the character 3rd person gameplay and the classic cinematic overviews.
But what is it actually about?
The story starts out with Tom Hansen.
Member of the U.S. Coast Guard who is dropped along his team to investigate a mysterious Russian frigate - the Eastern Spirit - that lost contact with the authorities.
A certain Barnett sends this crew on a rescue mission since nobody's responding.
Quickly the rest of his team disappear one by one or end up brutally murdered near our main protagonist.
What happened on this boat?
As Hansen, you are left alone aboard this ship to find out what is going on.
Hansen will try at first to help the crew and rescue the members that were left behind, but he is quickly met with defensive forces.
Meanwhile, the night is only starting out, and Tom will have to survive a dangerous storm, somewhere in the middle of the ocean.
But don't worry! You won't be alone for long.
Hostile Russian men, who seem to be succumbing to fear and won't recognize a rescue mission, will try to shoot Hansen!
And did I mention those alien creatures?
A strange form of parasites, called Exocells by the scientists, are seemingly using human bodies and other creatures as hosts and to feed themselves.
Like Aliens from the movies, they seem to take over people and use them to expand, survive and reproduce.
The boat is literally invaded by them!
They will attack Hansen either inside these "zombies" or outside hosts.
While investigating this mysterious ship, Tom Hansen will discover that a lethal cargo was being transferred from the ship to an oil platform, the Star of Sakhalin, not far off the boat.
It seems some pretty unethical experiments were being conducted over there. Thanks to a bunch of logs found here and there throughout the game, the full story will be revealed bit by bit.
A certain Dmitri Yusupov from the mafia used that platform as a place for smuggling when the exocells were originally discovered.
He had the Doctor Victor Kamsky brought over to study and try turning these creatures into bioweapons.
Another scientist Pavel Bakharev started working by his own, just in case....when suddenly Viktor went insane, became crazy with those monsters and let them all roam around the platform, infecting everyone voluntary!
Gameplay-wise, the game seems like a natural progression of the survival horror genre.
You "can" sort of choose between a behind the shoulder camera like in Resident Evil 4 or alternate with fixed angles.
Not actually choose, but when aiming, the camera will go over the shoulder for the more action-oriented gameplay. And you can actually move while aiming your weapon, allowing to play whenever you want with that perspective.
Or just let the more moody cinematic angles show you around.
All in all, it does make Cold Fear seem like the missing link between Code Veronica and Resident Evil 4.
Another specific element from Cold Fear to mention, is the conditions of the environment.
Alongside the health bar on the HUD menu, Tom Hansen also has a stamina bar that depends on the actions.
Like running, which will take a bit of stamina out. Hansen needs to rest to replenish it.
The conditions on the deck of the ship will affect the character.
A huge part of the engine was used to play with the environment and make these conditions part of the gameplay.
The ocean and storm can affect AND harm Hansen.
The movements of the ship might throw him out overboard, you will need some stamina and/or to grab something to not fall over.
It will also provide other sources of danger, like throwing you off while aiming or just being hit by cargo and other environmental hazards (like electric wires or crates hanging, etc.).
You won't be truly alone all the time though.
Hansen will find a woman, Anna, who will tag along, much like other characters did previously in the classic Resident Evil games. (Sherri comes to mind)
She won't fight alongside Tom Hansen, and is one of those that needs helps and being protected to stay alive. Thankfully, she doesn't throw herself into danger and usually manage to keep her health intact by avoiding enemies. Also, these segments are usually short and dispersed enough.
Cold Fear is quite an atmospheric survival horror, where the inhospitable boat really make this experience a true "survival" "horror".
There's a lot of "monsters jumping out of closets" moments. The very well done storm is realistic, there's rain and wind and all. Perfectly rendered.
The various realistic weapons only contribute to the experience. A handgun, an AK, a speargun, a shotgun, grenades. You will also get a flamethrower and a little "surprise" later.
The savegame can be annoying, specially if you're new to the genre.
It's a "survival horror"-style difficult save system to manage, like in Resident Evil 1.
Here, you will get automatic checkpoints after each mission objective completed, most of the time in rooms you need to reach, people you need to find or before bosses/difficult situations. It's alright if you're ok with replaying little segments when you die. I, personally, never had a problem with it. You only need to assure you have enough ammo/manage well your weapons/health when you reach a save. (you also get various saveslots)
Anyway, it's a fun, entertaining and long enough game for the genre.
Let's also mention the flaws, which can't be ignored.
It's a pretty classic plot and game.
You unlock bonus martial in the form of art, screens and concepts, but no other mode. So the experience feels a bit lacking at the end of the day. You can just replay harder settings if you want.
The game got a fun marketing viral at the time in the form of fake scientific websites and news report, which ended up doing more negative damage for the game than selling copies. Some people still think those are actual real pictures.
It's still a great art direction anyway.
The beautiful cover art of the game is just proof of that, the lead art, concepts and characters were the work of Aleksi Briclot.
The fantastic score is quite epic. The great main theme will haunt you, and you'll hear lots of it and its variations throughout the game.
Finally it gives the whole experience a sort of serious B-movie tone.
Cold Fear is a survival horror that came on the previous 128-bits systems.
It was developed by Darkworks, an independent French studio based in Paris, already responsible for the well-received Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare.
While Capcom reimagined the genre for that generation with a Resident Evil 4 leaving behind the cinematic camera angles and the slow paced gameplay for a more action-oriented 3rd person "over the shoulder" styée. Cold Fear went ahead with a sort of mix of both gameplays.
The game really feels like the missing link between the old classic survival horrors like the classic Resident Evil games and the modern action ones like 4 and 5.
Cold Fear runs on the RenderWare engine (used in other games such as Ubisoft's Rayman 2 or Sega's Headhunter Redemption and Sonic Heroes), it uses both a behind the character 3rd person gameplay and the classic cinematic overviews.
But what is it actually about?
A biohazard occurence...
The story starts out with Tom Hansen.
Member of the U.S. Coast Guard who is dropped along his team to investigate a mysterious Russian frigate - the Eastern Spirit - that lost contact with the authorities.
A certain Barnett sends this crew on a rescue mission since nobody's responding.
Quickly the rest of his team disappear one by one or end up brutally murdered near our main protagonist.
What happened on this boat?
As Hansen, you are left alone aboard this ship to find out what is going on.
Hansen will try at first to help the crew and rescue the members that were left behind, but he is quickly met with defensive forces.
Meanwhile, the night is only starting out, and Tom will have to survive a dangerous storm, somewhere in the middle of the ocean.
A resident evil lurks behind each corner...
But don't worry! You won't be alone for long.
Hostile Russian men, who seem to be succumbing to fear and won't recognize a rescue mission, will try to shoot Hansen!
And did I mention those alien creatures?
A strange form of parasites, called Exocells by the scientists, are seemingly using human bodies and other creatures as hosts and to feed themselves.
Like Aliens from the movies, they seem to take over people and use them to expand, survive and reproduce.
The boat is literally invaded by them!
They will attack Hansen either inside these "zombies" or outside hosts.
While investigating this mysterious ship, Tom Hansen will discover that a lethal cargo was being transferred from the ship to an oil platform, the Star of Sakhalin, not far off the boat.
It seems some pretty unethical experiments were being conducted over there. Thanks to a bunch of logs found here and there throughout the game, the full story will be revealed bit by bit.
A certain Dmitri Yusupov from the mafia used that platform as a place for smuggling when the exocells were originally discovered.
He had the Doctor Victor Kamsky brought over to study and try turning these creatures into bioweapons.
Another scientist Pavel Bakharev started working by his own, just in case....when suddenly Viktor went insane, became crazy with those monsters and let them all roam around the platform, infecting everyone voluntary!
Alone in the dark, and standing guard firmly...
Gameplay-wise, the game seems like a natural progression of the survival horror genre.
You "can" sort of choose between a behind the shoulder camera like in Resident Evil 4 or alternate with fixed angles.
Not actually choose, but when aiming, the camera will go over the shoulder for the more action-oriented gameplay. And you can actually move while aiming your weapon, allowing to play whenever you want with that perspective.
Or just let the more moody cinematic angles show you around.
All in all, it does make Cold Fear seem like the missing link between Code Veronica and Resident Evil 4.
Another specific element from Cold Fear to mention, is the conditions of the environment.
Alongside the health bar on the HUD menu, Tom Hansen also has a stamina bar that depends on the actions.
Like running, which will take a bit of stamina out. Hansen needs to rest to replenish it.
The conditions on the deck of the ship will affect the character.
A huge part of the engine was used to play with the environment and make these conditions part of the gameplay.
The ocean and storm can affect AND harm Hansen.
The movements of the ship might throw him out overboard, you will need some stamina and/or to grab something to not fall over.
It will also provide other sources of danger, like throwing you off while aiming or just being hit by cargo and other environmental hazards (like electric wires or crates hanging, etc.).
It's like an house of the dead abord the ship!
You won't be truly alone all the time though.
Hansen will find a woman, Anna, who will tag along, much like other characters did previously in the classic Resident Evil games. (Sherri comes to mind)
She won't fight alongside Tom Hansen, and is one of those that needs helps and being protected to stay alive. Thankfully, she doesn't throw herself into danger and usually manage to keep her health intact by avoiding enemies. Also, these segments are usually short and dispersed enough.
Cold Fear is quite an atmospheric survival horror, where the inhospitable boat really make this experience a true "survival" "horror".
There's a lot of "monsters jumping out of closets" moments. The very well done storm is realistic, there's rain and wind and all. Perfectly rendered.
The various realistic weapons only contribute to the experience. A handgun, an AK, a speargun, a shotgun, grenades. You will also get a flamethrower and a little "surprise" later.
The savegame can be annoying, specially if you're new to the genre.
It's a "survival horror"-style difficult save system to manage, like in Resident Evil 1.
Here, you will get automatic checkpoints after each mission objective completed, most of the time in rooms you need to reach, people you need to find or before bosses/difficult situations. It's alright if you're ok with replaying little segments when you die. I, personally, never had a problem with it. You only need to assure you have enough ammo/manage well your weapons/health when you reach a save. (you also get various saveslots)
The thing will kill you!
Anyway, it's a fun, entertaining and long enough game for the genre.
Let's also mention the flaws, which can't be ignored.
It's a pretty classic plot and game.
You unlock bonus martial in the form of art, screens and concepts, but no other mode. So the experience feels a bit lacking at the end of the day. You can just replay harder settings if you want.
The game got a fun marketing viral at the time in the form of fake scientific websites and news report, which ended up doing more negative damage for the game than selling copies. Some people still think those are actual real pictures.
It's still a great art direction anyway.
The beautiful cover art of the game is just proof of that, the lead art, concepts and characters were the work of Aleksi Briclot.
The fantastic score is quite epic. The great main theme will haunt you, and you'll hear lots of it and its variations throughout the game.
Finally it gives the whole experience a sort of serious B-movie tone.
Like a big budget 80s horror film. The Russian villains go a bit over-the-top to me, and almost ruin the dark and gritty mood sometimes though.
Overall, it's a great looking game.
A memorable experience, and easily one of the best of its time honestly. Visually, it's only missing some "next gen" effects like high definition and blut. But the textures are good, the models well animated.
Gameplay wise, it's perfect!
A memorable experience, and easily one of the best of its time honestly. Visually, it's only missing some "next gen" effects like high definition and blut. But the textures are good, the models well animated.
Gameplay wise, it's perfect!
The survival horror I always dreamt of playing!
The learning curve is easy to get your hands on, soon you'll be taking headshots like no tomorrow!
A great atmosphere built upon a great design and sountrack.
The exomutants are quite reminiscent of Carpenter's The Thing.
I also tried it on Xbox (until I had some problems with my own console...so I only played the beginning).
But even so, the PC version is vastly superior to the console one, hands down.
The graphics are a lot more crisp and clean on the computer port. On console it was a bit slower and blurry...which just goes to show how great the game was for its time.
The gameplay's a bit more fun on keyboard too, with this kind of cinematic-3rd person switchable view.
A real sgane this one got overlooked for RE4. I honestly preferred Cold Fear as a truer Resident Evil. I just wish Capcom had went this way back then...
Oh well..
A great gameplay that really captures the tension of the old survival horror genre with a mix action.
(Darkworks was the studio that was originally working on Ubisoft's recent I Am Alive...until they shut down and the production was carried over at Ubisoft Shanghai and the game changed from an actual full retail release feature to a simpler digital arcade title)
The learning curve is easy to get your hands on, soon you'll be taking headshots like no tomorrow!
A great atmosphere built upon a great design and sountrack.
The exomutants are quite reminiscent of Carpenter's The Thing.
I also tried it on Xbox (until I had some problems with my own console...so I only played the beginning).
But even so, the PC version is vastly superior to the console one, hands down.
The graphics are a lot more crisp and clean on the computer port. On console it was a bit slower and blurry...which just goes to show how great the game was for its time.
The gameplay's a bit more fun on keyboard too, with this kind of cinematic-3rd person switchable view.
A real sgane this one got overlooked for RE4. I honestly preferred Cold Fear as a truer Resident Evil. I just wish Capcom had went this way back then...
Oh well..
A great gameplay that really captures the tension of the old survival horror genre with a mix action.
(Darkworks was the studio that was originally working on Ubisoft's recent I Am Alive...until they shut down and the production was carried over at Ubisoft Shanghai and the game changed from an actual full retail release feature to a simpler digital arcade title)
I give it:
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Deleted Scenes - Daredevil: The Video Game
Did you know, at some point, there's almost been a Daredevil game?
It was back in what I call the early "128-bits era".
Marvel had just released a pretty successful 3D Spider-man game (on the PSX, N64, PC and Dreamcast). With the success of its early 90s cartoons still behind them, expanding their catalog to others characters was a no-brainer.
Making video games based on comic book proprieties was an obvious step, from a marketing point of view. But besides a little Silver Surfer on the NES a decade earlier, most of those adaptations were always based on the big mainstream popular names. Batman, Superman, Spider-man? Sure.
Daredevil? Now that would have been quite something!
The task to realize the impossible was let upon developer 5000ft under Encore's publishing.
Not much was known about this game, apart the fact that it seems it would have been pretty similar to that Spider-man game mentioned above. (using Tony Hawk ProSkater's engine as well? I doubt it since it was an entirely different crew making and editing the game)
I can imagine it would have used a little HUB/open world. The whole Hell's kitchen to patrol over in a non-linear way. Maybe DD would have had to protect his neighborhood, look out for criminals/stop criminal sprees.
I can imagine they would have put an alert system in the form of a progression bar on the HUD menu.
Here's a screen at the game:
From the looks of it, it probably started production in the late 90s/early 2000s. Probably on the PS1/PC/N64 as well. It might have been published on the DC as well I can guess.
But the game was taking a lot of time, too much time for this kinda project.
Then at E3 2002, some in-game videos surfaced showing the project was still alive:
Love that "blind vision" mode.
Slated now for a Q4 2004 release.
The game was now on the then-next gen systems, meaning the PS2 and Xbox.
Sure, it wasn't the prettiest game around, was showing a bit of his old age, looking more like the 1999 Spider-man game with some acrobatic moves, than, say, Ubisoft's Prince of Persia: Sands of Time.
Here's a look at this game's boxarts:
Sadly, by then the an actual adaptation of Daredevil came out, the 2003 Mark Steven Johnson-directed Ben Affleck!Daredevil movie.
Long story short, they lost the license and all we got instead was this Game Boy Advance game:
Which was...huh...nice. But so far from what we almost had.
Funny story though, some website and stores still list that DD game like had it been released.
Thus ends another random history of something that might had been.
It was back in what I call the early "128-bits era".
Marvel had just released a pretty successful 3D Spider-man game (on the PSX, N64, PC and Dreamcast). With the success of its early 90s cartoons still behind them, expanding their catalog to others characters was a no-brainer.
Making video games based on comic book proprieties was an obvious step, from a marketing point of view. But besides a little Silver Surfer on the NES a decade earlier, most of those adaptations were always based on the big mainstream popular names. Batman, Superman, Spider-man? Sure.
Daredevil? Now that would have been quite something!
The task to realize the impossible was let upon developer 5000ft under Encore's publishing.
Not much was known about this game, apart the fact that it seems it would have been pretty similar to that Spider-man game mentioned above. (using Tony Hawk ProSkater's engine as well? I doubt it since it was an entirely different crew making and editing the game)
I can imagine it would have used a little HUB/open world. The whole Hell's kitchen to patrol over in a non-linear way. Maybe DD would have had to protect his neighborhood, look out for criminals/stop criminal sprees.
I can imagine they would have put an alert system in the form of a progression bar on the HUD menu.
Here's a screen at the game:
From the looks of it, it probably started production in the late 90s/early 2000s. Probably on the PS1/PC/N64 as well. It might have been published on the DC as well I can guess.
But the game was taking a lot of time, too much time for this kinda project.
Then at E3 2002, some in-game videos surfaced showing the project was still alive:
Love that "blind vision" mode.
Slated now for a Q4 2004 release.
The game was now on the then-next gen systems, meaning the PS2 and Xbox.
Sure, it wasn't the prettiest game around, was showing a bit of his old age, looking more like the 1999 Spider-man game with some acrobatic moves, than, say, Ubisoft's Prince of Persia: Sands of Time.
Here's a look at this game's boxarts:
Sadly, by then the an actual adaptation of Daredevil came out, the 2003 Mark Steven Johnson-directed Ben Affleck!Daredevil movie.
Long story short, they lost the license and all we got instead was this Game Boy Advance game:
Which was...huh...nice. But so far from what we almost had.
Funny story though, some website and stores still list that DD game like had it been released.
Thus ends another random history of something that might had been.
Saturday, August 6, 2011
ToeJam & Earl 3: Character Select
Why am I posting this?
Well, one, because I've always been a SEGA fan at heart, and two, because I dig ToeJam & Earl - as underrated or obscure those guys are nowadays.
Here's the character selection screen from the 3rd episode, which came out on the original Xbox around it's launch day:
(and if it looks like it was blocked from youtube, go watch it there!)
Funky!
The original on the Megadrive was pretty "Hip Hop"! And it had this look, like a sort of parody/homage to early rap from the 90s.
Well, the third one in 3D, using the same idea, turn Earl and ToeJam into parodies of rappers from the 2000s. But funnier :P
Well, one, because I've always been a SEGA fan at heart, and two, because I dig ToeJam & Earl - as underrated or obscure those guys are nowadays.
Here's the character selection screen from the 3rd episode, which came out on the original Xbox around it's launch day:
(and if it looks like it was blocked from youtube, go watch it there!)
Funky!
The original on the Megadrive was pretty "Hip Hop"! And it had this look, like a sort of parody/homage to early rap from the 90s.
Well, the third one in 3D, using the same idea, turn Earl and ToeJam into parodies of rappers from the 2000s. But funnier :P
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
VGR PoP: Two Thrones
Taking directly after the previous PoP Warrior Within, The Two Thrones is the direct sequel and the final chapter in the "Sands of Time" series.
Sure, Ubi decided to ignore a perfectly closed and well rounded series to offer fans more spinoffs/episodes (I blame the fanboys). But was TT a good closing act to a well loved trilogy of modern platforming games?
What's good about it, what's bad about it?
Brand new review, below!
VGR: Prince of Persia: Warrior Within
From Ubisoft/Ubisoft Montreal
Played on Gamecube
Also available on PS2, Xbox, PC, PS3, PSP and remake on the Wii as "Rival Swords"
Type 3D Platformer/beat 'em all
Year 2005
It only took Ubisoft a year to produce another Prince of Persia.
But could you really blame for their haste? It seems everytime Ubi has perfected an engine, as a gameplay established like a well oiled machine and a series popular enough, they always try to keep the ball rolling as long as they can, while such series is popular enough to score high sales with new yearly. (see the current Assassin's Creed franchise)
The original Sands of Time had a fantastic reception but didn't sell enough.
Warrior Within met a great success commercially but is still considered a sub-par Prince of Persia due to its combat oriented gameplay and lack of any PoP classic features (besides SoT own time mechanic).
How could they please both camps and still make a good enough new entry in this world renowned franchise?
And the Prince is back for all-new platforming oriented adventures all over Persia!
The closing chapter to the SoT series takes place directly after the "real" ending of Warrior Within.
If you missed it, fear not, the game will both recap the true ending and even acknowledge the other one.
After killing the Dahaka, the guardian monster protecting the "timeline", the Prince escaped the Island of Time with the Empress of Time herself, Kaileena.
The Prince returns home, to the Kingdom of Babylon, only to find that a war seems to have erupted.
As soon as they arrive, Kaileena is made prisoner by the old Vizier who seems to have been brought back to life after the events of the first game. The Prince prevented the Sands of Time from being created in Warrior Within, so the original story never took place as well.
SAND! Lots of it! And here we go again!
Long story short, the Vizier kills Kaileena with the Dagger of Time which in turn releases the Sands of Time afterall... Then the crazy old man impales himself with the very same Dagger which makes him immortal now!!
And the Prince is infected but not turned into a Sand Creature!
And one of the creatures' weapon gets embedded in the Prince's own arm, which glows infected!
More twists than you can count all in a beautiful CGi sequence!!
The Prince steals the Dagger and escapes finally....
Supâ platforming action!
This time around, Kaileena narrates the events of the game (a return of the narrative as presented in Sands of Time, only not the Prince this time around).
The main objective in Two Thrones is to travel all over the city back to the Palace and kill the Vizier once again. Simple story once put down like this, but a similar plot didn't stop Jordan Mechner's original from being a classic. Speaking of which, he didn't come back on the production as he did for Sands of Time. (oooh...)
During the game you'll meet again Farah, the Indian Princess from the original Sands of Time whom The Prince never met since taking Kaileena alive from the Island of Time prevented the adventures in Azad from every happeneing. (and a funny dialogue will take place as the Prince remembers her anyhow)
The gameplay is much of the same anyone who's ever played any of the 3D Prince of Persia games has already seen before.
Which consists of lots of exploration, 3D platforming around and combat.
The game does a great job of combining the best element of both past episodes.
The platforming is part of (I'd say) 50% of the game. Lots of acrobatic maneuvers. Most moves are returning from past games (wall-running, climbing, jumping..) which will come quite in handy to avoid all the vicious traps and dangerous obstacles.
There's some brand new controls like sliding down close walls (Splinter Cell style!) etc..
The combat compose (like) 40% of the rest of the game. You can still grab & steal weapons left from your enemies. Using the Dagger of Time to attack/block or play around with the usual "time" powers. (rewinding, energy bursts...)
The rest of the game will be broken by some rare unusual gameplay sequences. Never dull, be it the surprising ending or the Chariot scenes..
A new side of the Prince is made palpable. The Dark Prince starts to emerge as soon as the Sands are released. He will first made his presence aware by speaking through an internal voice..but soon this evil form (first glimpsed near the end of Warrior Within) will manifest itself by taking the control of the Prince's body.
The Dark Prince help shake things up every now and then (in scripted sequences).
He has some different moves and doesn't play 100% like the classic Prince.
For one his health bar his always decreasing. Which forces the player to spend less time enjoying the background and make haste. It gives a much more stressful tension, not unlike the original Prince of Persia (where you had only 1 real hour to escape and defeat the Vizir).
He also uses a different weapon, the Daggertail (a chain-like sword) which is quite stronger than the Prince's own regular weapons. (apart from the final sword at the end of the game)
Which makes big dense fights pass by easier killing enemies fast (a positive point) even though there's a lot of fighting with him in this form (minus point here..).
Finally to restore health you have to collect constantly sand, by breaking stuff or killing enemies like before.
The gameplay is much of the same anyone who's ever played any of the 3D Prince of Persia games has already seen before.
Which consists of lots of exploration, 3D platforming around and combat.
The game does a great job of combining the best element of both past episodes.
The platforming is part of (I'd say) 50% of the game. Lots of acrobatic maneuvers. Most moves are returning from past games (wall-running, climbing, jumping..) which will come quite in handy to avoid all the vicious traps and dangerous obstacles.
There's some brand new controls like sliding down close walls (Splinter Cell style!) etc..
The combat compose (like) 40% of the rest of the game. You can still grab & steal weapons left from your enemies. Using the Dagger of Time to attack/block or play around with the usual "time" powers. (rewinding, energy bursts...)
The rest of the game will be broken by some rare unusual gameplay sequences. Never dull, be it the surprising ending or the Chariot scenes..
Introducing, the Troll of Time! Seriously though, look at his glorious hair!!
A new side of the Prince is made palpable. The Dark Prince starts to emerge as soon as the Sands are released. He will first made his presence aware by speaking through an internal voice..but soon this evil form (first glimpsed near the end of Warrior Within) will manifest itself by taking the control of the Prince's body.
The Dark Prince help shake things up every now and then (in scripted sequences).
He has some different moves and doesn't play 100% like the classic Prince.
For one his health bar his always decreasing. Which forces the player to spend less time enjoying the background and make haste. It gives a much more stressful tension, not unlike the original Prince of Persia (where you had only 1 real hour to escape and defeat the Vizir).
He also uses a different weapon, the Daggertail (a chain-like sword) which is quite stronger than the Prince's own regular weapons. (apart from the final sword at the end of the game)
Which makes big dense fights pass by easier killing enemies fast (a positive point) even though there's a lot of fighting with him in this form (minus point here..).
Finally to restore health you have to collect constantly sand, by breaking stuff or killing enemies like before.
Besides that?
The game still has a lot of fighting, enemies will protect spawn points you have to defeat large group of foes... Leftovers from Warrior Within, to please WW fans.
But thankfully, Ubisoft thought about bringing in a brand new feature to the series, which made the game so much more pleasant.
Since the series became more like a brawler in the hands of Ubi (the original was more duel-oriented) you can now perform all new stealth kills to avoid combat!
A very fun and useful feature. It's sort of like mini "Quick Time Events" where you have to press a certain button at the right moment, either killing the foe or continuing the sequence. Boss QTEs will result in death but enemies QTEs will break the attack and you'll have to go by the usual way, through hordes of creatures to fight. It's a great stealth system which is a nice addition to the series.
The game is all about this duality, be it the Prince and his alter ego.
The fans of SoD or the ones from WW.
The funnier full of life charming Prince and his gritty emo-ysh Troll-haired Dark opposite.
Platforming and combat.
Water (which reverts the Dark Prince to his normal self) and Sand.
The story is pretty good actually. It ties the plot nicely back to the original Sands of Time in a very well thought way, a perfect story coming full circle, closing the series on a good final chapter.
Side note: the game made me think a lot of the original 3rd Prince of Persia, Arabian Nights.
Be it stylistically or content wise. And I'm pretty sure it wasn't made on purpose by Ubisoft, it just happened.
Like PoP3D, this "SoD3" see the Prince not trying to escape a foreign place or dungeon (PoP1, 2, Sands of Time, Warrior Within) but his very own palace because of a trap that closes upon him.
In both PoP3D and TT, the Prince gets thrown of his own palace at the start, as to make his way from the bottom of the palace, travelling across the local town, the streets, the docks..ends up in catacombs/caves. And the final lap is run across thousand of stores high over the city.
I was glad to also see the much needed Persian/Arabic theme brought back to the series.
Visually the game looks splendid, though more so in exteriors and the palace than the boring city and dull caves.
The music is done by returning composers Stuart Chatwood and Inon Zur. Splendid. Magical. Much more epic than SoD and trued in spirit than WW. Quite fitting for an Arabian Nights-esque tale.
(and to bring that above point back, pretty close to PoP3D fantastic score in a way, particularly some early themes like the streets)
It brings back elements from both Sands of Time and Warrior Within.
It closes the tale of this Prince.
"Most people think time is like a river, that flows swift and sure in one direction. But I have seen the face of time, and I can tell you, they are wrong. Time is an ocean in a storm. You may wonder who I really am, and why I say this. Come, and I will tell you a tale like none you have ever heard."
Overall, it's a pretty darn' good game!
There! I said it! And I didn't even think I was going to like it a first...
It's sort like a "best of" both past games.
It takes the best of Sand of Time along the best of Warrior Within and works as well by itself as the closing chapter of this trilogy.
Two Thrones keeps the fun Arabic theme and the classic platforming the series' known for
plus
There! I said it! And I didn't even think I was going to like it a first...
It's sort like a "best of" both past games.
It takes the best of Sand of Time along the best of Warrior Within and works as well by itself as the closing chapter of this trilogy.
Two Thrones keeps the fun Arabic theme and the classic platforming the series' known for
plus
The combat and a bit of the angst of the former game.
But it is not without its own problems.
By bringing half of its foundations from Warrior Within it also brought back its combat focused, hordes of enemies, tricky combos (with enemies that either respawn or never seem to die) and half-assed boss fights...
It gets also a bit boring, repetitive and almost painfully difficult by the mid-point. But if you survive past that it gets better near the end. And the story and pace picks up for an incredible final act.
The game was still made on the Jade Engine (by the by, I want to recommend you play it on the Gamecube, the system it was designed for, for the best experience). The graphics look great and the acrobatic/parkour-ysh gameplay was pretty well tweaked by this episode to be smooth and easy to master.
Two Thrones was ported on various system, most ports pretty identical. Apart from the PSP & Wii remake Rival Swords which tweaked elements of the game, fixed and changed the gameplay a bit and added some zones.
Great game, not perfect but a must play for PoP fans and platformers aficionados alike!
But it is not without its own problems.
By bringing half of its foundations from Warrior Within it also brought back its combat focused, hordes of enemies, tricky combos (with enemies that either respawn or never seem to die) and half-assed boss fights...
It gets also a bit boring, repetitive and almost painfully difficult by the mid-point. But if you survive past that it gets better near the end. And the story and pace picks up for an incredible final act.
The game was still made on the Jade Engine (by the by, I want to recommend you play it on the Gamecube, the system it was designed for, for the best experience). The graphics look great and the acrobatic/parkour-ysh gameplay was pretty well tweaked by this episode to be smooth and easy to master.
Two Thrones was ported on various system, most ports pretty identical. Apart from the PSP & Wii remake Rival Swords which tweaked elements of the game, fixed and changed the gameplay a bit and added some zones.
Great game, not perfect but a must play for PoP fans and platformers aficionados alike!
I give it:
2 / 3 Quacks!
Sunday, May 8, 2011
VGR PoP: Warrior Within
Finally!
I decided to continue my on-going reviews of the PoP series.
In the past, the second episode of the classic trilogy wasn't near as good as the original. How did this second episode of the second trilogy far off?
VGR: Prince of Persia: Warrior Within
From Ubisoft/Ubisoft Montreal/Pipeworks Software (PSP port)
Played on Gamecube
Also available on PS2, Xbox, PC, PS3 and PSPType 3D Platformer/beat 'em all
Year 2004
Only a year after Sands of Time, Ubisoft was back with a sequel to that well appreciated reboot.
But this time, well decided on making Warrior Within a commercial success unlike the way SoT fared in the market.
For this, all details of the game itself were designed specifically to make it sell at all cost.
This game, with a bigger budget behind, was to be the definitive blockbuster the Prince of Persia series never had until that point.
Did it end well?
He sees your every move.
The story takes place about seven years after the previous installment.
The Prince is now on the run.
Since he escaped his fate at the end of the Sands of Time, he's been trying to escape a monster called the Dahaka who's been after him since he escaped his fate.
For you see, playing with the "Sands of Time" themselves, one usually ends up dead. But through time shenanigans in the past episode, the Prince was able to play around with time, find a loophole and escape death (by "resetting" the timeline).
And now, this Dahaka-creature is after him trying to "correct" this error as is his role of protector of the timeline.
So the Prince finds only one possible way out of this.
He has to find his way to the Island of the Sands of Time, where the giant Sands of Time' Hourglass was created, prevent it from ever being created and thus escape this new "destiny" befallen upon him.
But easier said than done, as soon as he arrived near the island, a mysterious woman, Shahdee, unleashes an army on the Prince to prevent him from reaching the island...
That's when the game starts...
He's back!....But who is "he"? He doesn't look like the guy from the last episode??
After a short prologue, the game drops you in the middle of the this plot right away.
And it takes only a second to guess how things will be heading compared to Sands of Time.
Like another Prince of Persia 2 in the past (The Shadow and the Flame), Warrior Within leaves the puzzling and the platforming to the background and is all about combat this time around.
Ironic turn of events?
The game leaves his exotic and arabian feel in the prequel and is instead full of grey-sh tones and monochromatic filters.
More adult, less fantasy, loads more grittier and even, dare I say, "gore".
Exit Jordan Mechner as well.
The Prince of Persia's original creator wasn't involved with this sequel as he was in Ubisoft's first PoP attempt.
HACK AND SLASH!! HACK AND SLASH!! DUUUUR~
For this reason I would prefer to consider this sequel as beat 'em all with platforming sequences rather than the other way.
This sequel is a lot more combat oriented. For that matter, you'll often have to fight against hordes of enemies instead of the usual duels 1-on-1 of the series.
But fear not, the Prince, all buffier and sporting some manly beard, has become sort of a combat expert.
He can steal enemies' weapons, wield two weapons in each end, throw them back at the enemies...
His fighting movements are more acrobatics, there's lots of combos to experiment in combat, etc..
YOU ARE DEAD!
Though you'll still die easily if you forget to play around with time like before.
But even his time manipulating abilies have expanded. Back are the stopping/rewinding/fastforwarding abilities with some new details like the sand/time blast....
Classic PoP? Not quite, but not that far!
What about the platforming?
Well it's still here, to a much important degree.
First of all, the game is now built around an open-ended sandbox type of world. No level based progression this time.
But it isn't necessarily a bad nor a good thing. It's different from past games, sure, but it's sort of natural when you reconsider the original 2D sidescrolling Prince of Persia (where you were running around the dungeon, trying to escape a prison that seemed to go on and on in a "free" environment)-
The Prince will have to survive and explore the palace of the Empress of Time, both in the present and the past. For doing so, there's some time warps which also serves as checkpoint where you will be able to play around with time in a natural progression.
Progression. For you see, it may be an open-ended map, but you can't go play where you want to, there's a sort of natural order, as though the game was guiding you by your hand.
Also on that note, the game will offer two endings.
Based on either you'll get all the collectibles or not. Most of those can be acquired whenever you want to, backtracking if need be..apart for some (or just one?) which if you'll miss it the first time around, due to the level designed being affected during the story, you'll never be able to get it back later on. Which reaaaaally annoyed me might I add.
A story of precision, concentration, memorization and endurance.
All in all, it's all about taking your time to note everything in during your playthrough, being able to endure waves after waves of enemies (and giant sand creatures), not losing your cool and never, ever losing track of where you are or where you've already been.
For so there's an in-game map which at first seemed a bit confusing, empty and silly...but in the end turned out pretty useful to not lose yourself, be it in the past or present.
There's also some pretty kickass action sequence à la Resident Evil: Nemesis where the Dahaka will pursue you through long fun platforming scenes (and altering the level structure!!) which will usually end up with you running across water the Dahaka won't be able to cross over..
All in all, the platforming's not really that difficult and you will usually fly through anything in the first try easily. But it's seeing through all this game's filters and grey tones that will have you miss details, objects to interract with or structures to climb to.
And most of your deaths, outside combats, will be because of the game, not because of the player.
It's not your precision during platforming, not lack of brains solving puzzles, nor missing a jump, a timed trap or running out of sand....
But missing a switch in the back in a not well-designed room or some obscured details in the background.
Or one of the game's many bugs.
Less so than there was in Sands of Time, but just as deadly - seriously.
That's why I also recommend the use of 2 saveslots, just in case a glitch will let you go through a passage, but end up trapped because of that.
Other than these annoying recurrences, the game's pretty good.
The idea of a sandbox world is good for the series (even if myself, I'm not a big fan of these).
The tone of the game doesn't ring right to me, it's called Prince of Persia afteral. They tried too much.
The game doesn't have that Arabian Nights-atmosphere, that fantasy.
It's like a comic book from the 90s, it's too much grim 'n' gritty.
The music is again by Stuart Chatwood for the most part, but he want more guitar-ysh and rock and Godsmack (the band!) provides the rest of the soundtrack. It's edgy, it's kool for teh kiddies. Don't misunderstand me, listening to the music of this game outside the game is alright, but I find it quite mismatched in the Prince of Persia universe. I miss the more scenic atmospheric score.
The story seems really confusing at first, but going through it again, it all makes more sense.
I'd say the story is pretty good, looked from afar.
Play it a second time (maybe while you try getting the 2nd ending!) if you want to give this story's a second chance!
(aren't all Prince of Persias about second chances?)
Overall, it's not a bad game, it's even pretty good for it's combining of time altering-mechanics and combat.
But it's before hand not a really good Prince of Persia.
Like PoP2 The Shadow and the Flame in the past, they tried to expand upon the prequel's fighting elements, shake things up, make it harder and more violent...and the result ended up pretty far from the rest of the series.
Prince of Persia is a classic and cult series of the world of platformers (cinematic platformers), and I think the future of the series lies up in the more acrobatic parkour platformers. Not beat 'em alls!
The 2 endings are a nice touch (only one's canonical with the follow-up!)
The story is probably the best part of this game.
The manipulative Kaileena, the Prince's use of the mask of the wraith turning him into the Sand Wraith during a replay of this game's earlier events is a great twist (but if you didn't play it yet, hush~), the loophole used by the Prince to escape the final act of this game... it's all good, though a bit confusing at first like I said.
On the PSP, under the name Prince of Persia: Revelations the game was kinda expanded upon. It's still the same game overall. But some rooms were added to make it longer.
The game least favorable elements are the fact it was designed mostly to sell copies...to kids!
Girls wearing the skimpiest costumes they could afford in a PG game (which kinda degrades and destroys any attempts of making either Kaileena or Shahdee important players in the Sands of Time universe), kickin' ass "cool" music which doesn't work much in this game's settings, emo Prince, tons of grey filters on the screen, combat, combat and more combat...
I'd say, try it...if you're interested..or too young for the original games or Assassin's Creed :P
I give it:
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
