PlayStation 3 | Changes That Seem All Too Familiar - Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn
Sweeping changes to Final Fantasy XIV may surprise and delight fans, but the new additions are old hat to those who have played other recent MMOs.
In 2010, the release of Final Fantasy XIV Online was met with heavy criticism. Impressive presentation aside, the MMO was riddled with issues, so much so that Square Enix eventually apologized for the quality of the game. The company promised a complete revamp, and hired a new producer who worked on the online-focused Dragon Quest X to spearhead development.
The result is Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn. After our lengthy journey through the closed beta sessions of this new version of FFXIV Online using a Lalafell lancer, it’s obvious that the producer and his team meant serious business in wiping the slate clean. A Realm Reborn is a completely different experience from the original Final Fantasy XIV. A new story, new gameplay, and a new graphics engine will make this title feel fresh to Final Fantasy fans, particularly those who were longtime players of Final Fantasy XI. However, the new additions to A Realm Reborn may not be eye-openers for MMO veterans, especially those who have played recent releases like Guild Wars 2 and Rift.
While the concepts of random encounters and daily quests aren’t new, they are fresh ideas if your experience with the genre is limited to the Final Fantasy MMOs. Take the FATE (Full Active Time Event) system, for example, which is similar to random quests found in games like Guild Wars 2. While players are wandering around the enchanted hollows of Gridania, random FATE events will occur, such as an outbreak of monkey-like Opo-opos stealing coffee beans from a village or a gargantuan horde of Ixali insurgents storming a nearby fort. Players in the game world can jump in and earn more experience or loot by joining in the slaughter of these mobs. To reap the benefits, however, players will need to be about the same level as the requirements stated on the FATE event. High-level adventurers who complete a low-level FATE will get absolutely nothing for their troubles.
Another feature that’s reworked is the Levequest system, which works exactly like daily quests in World of Warcraft. Once players have been to their first Guildleve club, they can start doing Levequests. These are entirely optional and do not come with a fatigue system like in the original FFXIV. The objectives for Levequests come in multiple consecutive forms; once a task in a Levequest is completed, players move on to the next until the entire mission is over or time runs out. Players can get bigger rewards if they complete these, though these quests can take up more time than usual and are meant for large groups.
A Realm Reborn also introduces a system called the hunting log, a feature that’s familiar to anyone who’s played Ragnarok Online 2. Players go through a checklist of enemies they need to kill for the log. Killing a required set of enemies will net adventurers extra experience. Players can take their sweet time and wander around Gridania at their leisure while doing these logs, as they’re meant to reward those who explore the sights of the game world.
The new game play additions may be familiar, but they still make for an enjoyable experience. Our play session during the beta weekend was filled with similarly-leveled pugilists and spellcasters joining in unison as we beat down the aforementioned Opo-opos and Ixali birdmen until we had fulfilled the required amount of mob deaths. The up-close offensive capabilities of the lancer we used help complement the ranged attacks of our temporary partners during several FATE missions. Visually, Square Enix again show that they are masters of their craft. The sights of Gridania’s huge forest areas and towns are easy on the eyes, while the background music that plays during exploration are relaxing to the ears.
Players seeking for something new in an MMO may not find the FATE and Levequest systems groundbreaking. However, the developers promise that there are more changes to come, like Chocobo-back battles, new player-versus-player options, and other nostalgic additions like enemy Behemoths and Iron Giants (from past FF titles), as well as Magitek Armor mounts (from FFVI). The new additions have done a lot to raise A Realm Reborn closer to modern standards for MMOs, now the challenge remains to elevate it even further.
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PlayStation 3 | Changes That Seem All Too Familiar - Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn
Sweeping changes to Final Fantasy XIV may surprise and delight fans, but the new additions are old hat to those who have played other recent MMOs.
In 2010, the release of Final Fantasy XIV Online was met with heavy criticism. Impressive presentation aside, the MMO was riddled with issues, so much so that Square Enix eventually apologized for the quality of the game. The company promised a complete revamp, and hired a new producer who worked on the online-focused Dragon Quest X to spearhead development.
The result is Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn. After our lengthy journey through the closed beta sessions of this new version of FFXIV Online using a Lalafell lancer, it’s obvious that the producer and his team meant serious business in wiping the slate clean. A Realm Reborn is a completely different experience from the original Final Fantasy XIV. A new story, new gameplay, and a new graphics engine will make this title feel fresh to Final Fantasy fans, particularly those who were longtime players of Final Fantasy XI. However, the new additions to A Realm Reborn may not be eye-openers for MMO veterans, especially those who have played recent releases like Guild Wars 2 and Rift.
While the concepts of random encounters and daily quests aren’t new, they are fresh ideas if your experience with the genre is limited to the Final Fantasy MMOs. Take the FATE (Full Active Time Event) system, for example, which is similar to random quests found in games like Guild Wars 2. While players are wandering around the enchanted hollows of Gridania, random FATE events will occur, such as an outbreak of monkey-like Opo-opos stealing coffee beans from a village or a gargantuan horde of Ixali insurgents storming a nearby fort. Players in the game world can jump in and earn more experience or loot by joining in the slaughter of these mobs. To reap the benefits, however, players will need to be about the same level as the requirements stated on the FATE event. High-level adventurers who complete a low-level FATE will get absolutely nothing for their troubles.
Another feature that’s reworked is the Levequest system, which works exactly like daily quests in World of Warcraft. Once players have been to their first Guildleve club, they can start doing Levequests. These are entirely optional and do not come with a fatigue system like in the original FFXIV. The objectives for Levequests come in multiple consecutive forms; once a task in a Levequest is completed, players move on to the next until the entire mission is over or time runs out. Players can get bigger rewards if they complete these, though these quests can take up more time than usual and are meant for large groups.
A Realm Reborn also introduces a system called the hunting log, a feature that’s familiar to anyone who’s played Ragnarok Online 2. Players go through a checklist of enemies they need to kill for the log. Killing a required set of enemies will net adventurers extra experience. Players can take their sweet time and wander around Gridania at their leisure while doing these logs, as they’re meant to reward those who explore the sights of the game world.
The new game play additions may be familiar, but they still make for an enjoyable experience. Our play session during the beta weekend was filled with similarly-leveled pugilists and spellcasters joining in unison as we beat down the aforementioned Opo-opos and Ixali birdmen until we had fulfilled the required amount of mob deaths. The up-close offensive capabilities of the lancer we used help complement the ranged attacks of our temporary partners during several FATE missions. Visually, Square Enix again show that they are masters of their craft. The sights of Gridania’s huge forest areas and towns are easy on the eyes, while the background music that plays during exploration are relaxing to the ears.
Players seeking for something new in an MMO may not find the FATE and Levequest systems groundbreaking. However, the developers promise that there are more changes to come, like Chocobo-back battles, new player-versus-player options, and other nostalgic additions like enemy Behemoths and Iron Giants (from past FF titles), as well as Magitek Armor mounts (from FFVI). The new additions have done a lot to raise A Realm Reborn closer to modern standards for MMOs, now the challenge remains to elevate it even further.
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PlayStation Vita | You May Not Marvel at Lego Super Heroes
Why the latest entry in the block-building franchise engenders a serious case of deja vu.
“Sand for brain,” Abomination mutters angrily under his breath when his partner in crime commits an evildoer’s faux pas. The duality of that comment elicits quiet chuckles in the demonstration room. The hulking bad guy insulted Sandman’s cognitive abilities and made a factual statement about the makeup of his cerebellum. A delightful pun. Such humor made frequent appearances in the brief demo of the Lego-themed Marvel adventure. Sandman growls, “I’ve already won, hands down,” while trying to smash Spider-Man with his giant, sand-crafted hands. “He threw that car like a toy,” Iron Man quips after having a Lego car tossed his way. It’s this simple humor that stood out in Lego Marvel Super Heroes, mostly because the action was all too familiar.
The Marvel universe is overflowing with superheroes, evil villains, and innocent bystanders continually scanning the housing markets of cities not overrun with battling bullies. Lego Marvel borrows from comic books (and popular movies) to build its cast of recognizable characters. In the only stage shown thus far, Abomination and Sandman have formed an uneven duo as they hold unfortunate passersby hostage. The police department is obviously no match for the ruffians who rule the roost, which means any disciplinary action falls on the shoulders of those blessed with not only superpowers, but a tendency to stop evil in its tracks.
Hulk and Iron Man team up to smash minifigs, and they make jokes along the way. Later, Spider-Man joins the team, and he is also more than happy to provide some levity while he slings his webbing around. The developers said that combat has been thrust to the forefront in Lego Marvel in an attempt to show what these enhanced people can do, though the focus on bashing doesn’t seem radically different from how Lego games are normally structured. Nameless henchmen run toward your powered-up team, and Hulk easily tosses a car or block of pavement their way, or Iron Man unleashes a swarm of homing missiles. Spider-Man likes his criminals sticky, so he wraps them in a tight cocoon before kicking them in their Lego noggins.
Once the good guys’ progress is halted, it’s time to solve puzzles. In the level shown, sand is everywhere, so you often have to figure out how to pass beach-based barriers. Spray some water toward a wall, and it solidifies, and then you can just bash through it with Hulk. The huge green guy was the focal point of the presentation. He represents a class of giant character called bigfig. These characters are stronger than the average superhero, but lack dexterity. When you need to build a Lego structure, you have to switch to someone with more nimble hands. This could be Spider-Man or Iron Man, or you could just say “Serenity now,” become less angry, and turn Hulk into Bruce Banner. What Banner lacks in might he more than makes up for in smarts.
The hands-off demo certainly looked fun, but it also seemed very familiar. The Lego series has existed for eight years (starting with 2005′s Lego Star Wars) and hasn’t changed much in that time. The action combines platforming, puzzle solving, and combat in colorful worlds. Dozens of characters are available, most of which are squirreled away behind unlock requirements. Building is a side activity: you simply hold a button over dancing pieces that magically form into a predetermined structure. And a lighthearted tone keeps things feeling silly, frequently poking fun at the source material.
Of course, don’t forget about the source material. One of the cornerstones of the Lego games is that, aside from Lego City Undercover, they are always based on a popular license. You might be aiding droids in Star Wars, or running from boulders in Indiana Jones. Maybe you’re solving the Riddler’s puzzles in Batman, or pining for giant eagle rides in Lord of the Rings. Possessing the Boy Who Lived in Harry Potter was fun for a spell, and now you can play around in the Marvel universe. Accessibility meshed with likable portrayals of beloved franchises leads to a winning combination. But how long can that formula be entertaining? Is there a point when bashing enemies and climbing ropes in a familiar world lose their appeal?
Witnessing the single level on display, it appears Lego Marvel doesn’t veer from the established formula of its predecessors. However, it does seem to tap into the core appeal that has made the Lego franchise so popular. The humorous take on well-known characters is instantly endearing, and seeing how deep the developers will dive into the expansive cast of heroes and villains is certainly intriguing. The developers said that Wolverine would make an appearance, and would even square off against his (unnamed) nemesis. That Sabertooth might appear in the game created a mild stir in the demo room. And, maybe, those character cameos are just enough to ensure the same formula doesn’t get too tiresome.
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PC | Magicka: Wizard Wars Is a Frenetic Anti-MOBA for Fans of Chaos and Silly Hats
Paradox North has turned Magicka into a competitive multiplayer game that focuses on action, speed, and setting wizards on fire.
It’s an easy mistake to make. You’ve got the isometric camera angle, a dark but cartoonish fantasy landscape, and a map full of players flinging spells at each other until the screen becomes a fireworks show of light and colors. Magicka: Wizard Wars really does look like it should be a MOBA. But spend a bit more time with this upcoming PvP title from Paradox North and you’ll discover a frenetic action game with short rounds and a rule set that has more in common with Battlefield than League of Legends. It is, in many ways, a game geared toward players looking to skip the obtuse strategy of a Dota- or LOL-style game and jump straight into the head-to-head combat.
Wizard Wars is a spin-off of 2011′s Magicka, an action-adventure game best known for its novel spellcasting system that let you mix and match different elements to solve environmental puzzles or simply troll your teammates with friendly fire. Wizard Wars keeps the spellcasting system, but trades in the co-op exploration of its predecessor for an experience built entirely around competitive multiplayer (unlike the PVP mode that was patched into Magicka well after release). These are quick, 5- to 10-minute matches with two teams of four going at it in a hailstorm of spells and counterspells.
It’s all intended to feel a bit like the intense but rhythmic back-and-forth found in a fighting game. If you see another player charging up a fire spell, you can rain on his or her parade with a quick spray of water. If you get hit with an ice attack that freezes you solid, you’ll need to cast fire on yourself to melt free. If you’re on the ropes and need to heal up, you can create some distance between you and your opponent by knocking your foe back with a powerful stream of water or just summoning a wall of stone that pops up from the ground.
Player interactions are made up of all these little give-and-take moments, with an added layer of unpredictability stemming from the fact that friendly fire is very much a factor. The whole thing feels a bit like the end of a MOBA match, once all the prep work of leveling up and buying items is out of the way and you’re finally able to go at it unrestrained for the last few minutes.
The development team at Paradox North promises up to 400 different spell combinations, which will hopefully provide plenty of strategic depth in the combat system despite its somewhat chaotic appearance. More straightforward is the actual rule set. You’re not trying to destroy the other team’s base or navigate a system of lanes to push back your opponents. Rather, it’s a sort of spin on Battlefield’s conquest match type, where you seek to control all the respawn points on the map. Once you’ve got all those capture points, it’s lights out for the other team. Paradox North is hoping to add in new game modes after release, but for now, this is what it’s focusing its energy on.
There’s something very appealing about the way Paradox North is taking the swords-and-sorcery combat system typically found in much larger strategy and role-playing games and adapting it with a precise eye toward competitive multiplayer. Will the deep spellcrafting system give it the staying power to keep players coming back for one quick round after another? We’ll have to wait and see.
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PlayStation 3 | The Fungus Among Us: Facing the Infected of The Last of Us
Our first encounter with the Infected of The Last of Us proves to be tense and challenging.
I had the chance to play an early section of The Last of Us at a Sony event last week. I spent most of that time holding my breath.
When you first take control of Joel, the rugged protagonist of The Last of Us, he feels a lot like Nathan Drake. He controls similarly and he moves through the environment with a similar sense of momentum. If you’ve spent time as that earlier Naughty Dog hero, you might, in these early moments, anticipate combat that delivers the same rush of adrenaline that Uncharted’s yippie-ki-yay shootouts could trigger. So many of the other hallmarks of Uncharted are present during your quiet traversal of a bombed-out, post-pandemic Boston–fantastic voice acting and facial expressions, environments so stunningly beautiful that you feel compelled to just move the camera around and take in every detail–that it’s easy to expect the game to follow the same tried-and-true template where combat is concerned, too. But as you make your way across the ravaged urban landscape, the calm is interrupted by a piercing wail in the distance; it’s an unsettling moment that suggests the dangers lurking in your future are eerily unfamiliar.
The wail comes from one of the Infected, a sufferer of the fungus-based disease that has all but wiped out society. Initially, these poor souls retain some awareness of their humanity, but lack the ability to control their actions. Infected who fit this description are called runners; they still look more or less human, though a pallor to their skin and other details make it clear at a glance that they are not exactly the picture of health. Individually, they don’t pose much of a threat, but you don’t want to attract the attention of several at once and find yourself swarmed. Because ammo is scarce and weapons like Molotovs–which you can craft from items scavenged from the environment–are so limited, taking a reckless, guns-blazin’ approach is a good way to get yourself killed.
You’ll spend much of your time crouched, moving silently and trying not to give away your position. Being stealthy and smart is key, but the common stealth game behavior of memorizing enemy movement patterns doesn’t work here. These twitchy, miserable wretches behave unpredictably, lurching in this direction or that, so distracting them with a tossed brick or bottle before sneaking past them (or sneaking in for the kill) is a particularly handy tactic. If you can creep up behind a runner, you can strangle it to death or execute it instantly with a shiv (another tool crafted from scavenged items), and if you find yourself face-to-face with one, Joel’s brawling skills and his ability to hit really hard with pipes and other heavy objects can usually keep you alive.
But it’s not just the runners you need to worry about. Eventually, the infection progresses to a more advanced and more disturbing stage, at which point the fungus visibly grows out from the once-human’s eye sockets and covers much of the face. These Infected are known as clickers, and though they are blind, they can still hunt you down. The clicks they make don’t just serve to send shivers up your spine; they enable the clickers, through echolocation, to “see,” and if one locates you, you’re in serious danger. Clickers are far stronger than runners, and in a fight with one, Joel’s fists will not save him. Clickers are less numerous than runners, but just one clicker in a group is enough to make you think much more carefully about how to handle the situation. I repeatedly fell into the trap of letting myself get distracted by a runner or two, which enabled a clicker to charge up to me from behind; no sooner did it have its hands on me than its teeth were buried in my neck. In order to survive when clickers are present, staying aware of your surroundings and the locations of those clickers is essential.
Luckily, Joel has a gift for situational awareness; by sitting still and listening carefully, he can sense the locations of nearby Infected, who remain visible (even through walls) until you slip out of “listen mode” and start moving again. But while useful, this is no silver bullet for taking care of the Infected. It’s still you–not Joel–who has to keep track of how the Infected respond to your behavior once you stop listening and start acting. One group of Infected, roaming around in the gloom of a disused subway station, repeatedly got the better of me as I tried to use a shotgun to take out a clicker, which gave away my position and led to me being swarmed by runners.
Ultimately, I opted for a sneakier approach, tossing bricks and bottles in an attempt to lure Infected towards each other, hoping that I could then take out several with a single, well-tossed Molotov. As I snuck around the station’s hallways and put my plan into motion, I never for a moment felt safe. I was constantly worried that one false move would bring all of the Infected bearing down on me, that I’d once again witness the grisly sight of Joel falling victim to a clicker’s attacks. It was only after the Infected had all gone up in flames that I finally felt I could exhale, relaxing for a moment but knowing my safety would not last. Facing the Infected made me tense and uneasy, and I can’t wait to do it again.
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Xbox 360 | The Surprising Splinter Cell: Blacklist
Why Sam Fisher’s latest adventure is a far more interesting game than early demos might suggest.
I thought I had Splinter Cell: Blacklist pegged. Watching last year’s E3 demo, I saw a new-look Sam Fisher who appeared far more agile and bloodthirsty than ever before. Dashing up buildings, planting knives in people’s throats without hesitation–it was as though Ubisoft had dropped Sam Fisher into an Assassin’s Creed game and forgot to change the title.
OK, so maybe I was wrong.
Having spent a couple of hours playing the game at a Ubisoft event last week, it’s clear that last year’s E3 demo might not have painted the most accurate picture of what this Splinter Cell reboot is all about. Blacklist is a much broader game, one that draws influences from Assassin’s Creed and doesn’t stop there. At various points during the demo, I was reminded of Mass Effect, Metal Gear Solid, and–bear with me here–XCOM: Enemy Unknown.
The story is that Sam Fisher has become the leader of Fourth Echelon, a newly formed government organization with a focus on clandestine operations. It’s a nice little promotion, but one that comes with some serious responsibility.
In taking the reins of Fourth Echelon, Sam has assembled his own small intelligence team. It’s a unit that operates not in an office park in Langley, Virginia, but in a flying spy plane. Said spy plane is called the Paladin, and it essentially functions as the mission hub. On a basic level, it’s where you peruse intel reports before launching the next ground operation. You can see which missions are available, what they entail, and what sort of threat to your existence they pose. That sort of thing.
But there’s more to the Paladin than simply launching the next mission. For one, you can walk around the plane and start up conversations with your team. There’s Grim, the redhead who shares a complicated history with Sam; Briggs, the guy who tags along with Sam on missions to act as ground support; and Charlie, the tech whiz who doubles as comic relief. What’s impressive about the game’s presentation is that you really get the sense that this is a team, complete with all the tension and occasional attempts at lightening the mood that you’d expect from such a high-stakes operation.
Taking the time to talk with your crew presents a few different options for Sam. Each member of your team will occasionally suggest a side mission that you’re free to accept or turn down at your leisure. Beyond that, you can also talk to your teammates to upgrade your operation with all the cash you’ve earned from your latest mission.
Talking to Grim allows you to upgrade various parts of your plane, from radar technology that will improve the information displayed on your HUD during missions, to cushy holding cells that will induce your captives to inform you of black-market weapons dealers. Then there’s Charlie, who will upgrade the gear you bring on your mission, such as new weapons and gadgets, as well as various outfits tailor-made for stealthy or aggressive approaches.
That whole economy of upgrades and enhancements is heavily influenced by your play style. The game tracks your style according to three classifications: ghost, panther, and assault. Ghost is the quiet, nonlethal approach that favors knocking people unconscious if a fight must occur; panther is similarly silent, but in a lethal, silenced-handgun kind of way; and the assault approach has you going in with guns blazing, setting off every alarm in the mission. Simply completing a mission in a sloppy, haphazard way will get you some cash (see: assault), but sticking to the ghost or panther play style will net you far more extra rewards and cash.
Curious to see how far I could distance myself from last year’s blood-soaked E3 demo, I spent my time taking the ghost approach. It’s a far more challenging route to take than the other two, but Sam has plenty of equipment to tilt the odds in his favor, from sleeping-gas grenades to a silent crossbow equipped with several different types of bolts. The latter was especially fun to use, whether I was firing an electrically charged bolt that zapped enemies to sleep or luring enemies out of my path by firing a noise-making bolt into some distant corner.
In my attempts to no-kill my way through the demo, I was a little disappointed to see that there was at least one story-driven sequence that forced me to kill people when a rescue operation went sideways. Though, to be fair, in the two missions I played (one in daytime Benghazi and the other in dark, rainy London), those moments of forced lethality made up a very tiny portion of the demo. Overall, it was reassuring to see that the stealth system in Blacklist remains open to different play styles–and being rewarded in cash to upgrade my flying spy bird for focusing on one of the more challenging approaches is a nice touch.
Perhaps I was a bit quick to write off Splinter Cell: Blacklist as another example of Ubisoft blurring the lines between its major franchises. Sure, there’s something initially jarring about just how easily Sam Fisher can dash up walls and scurry along ledges. But this isn’t simply Splinter Cell meets Assassin’s Creed. It’s a bigger, far more interesting game than that.
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3DS | Fire Emblem: Awakening Aims to Keep the Series' Flames Burning
Despite a few new options and features, Awakening strives to remain true to the Fire Emblem formula.
It begins in the midst of a heated and crucial battle. Snippets of dialogue make it clear that your character and your ally Chrom have fought alongside each other for quite some time to reach this point. A maniacal laugh from the imposing Validar leaves no doubt that he is an evil figure who must be stopped.
By letting you create your own character–a Fire Emblem first–and then immediately tossing you into this high-stakes situation, Fire Emblem: Awakening grabs you right away. Who are these people? What are they fighting for? How did they reach this point? The answers to such questions will have to wait. After a brief skirmish with Validar, a shocking turn of events occurs that you may wish to experience for yourself. At this point, the game flashes back to your character’s first meeting with Chrom, the proper beginning of Awakening’s tale. It’s an intriguing start that makes you eager to experience the journey that brought the heroes into that fateful encounter with the villainous Validar.
Awakening aims to be a good entry point into the series for those who have found it intimidating in the past. This is evident in the casual option, which disables the series’ famous system of permanent death for characters who fall in battle; with this option enabled, characters defeated in one battle return in subsequent ones. But of course, this is just an option; anyone who wishes to fight battles in which the threat of death hangs over their troops can do so. Decisions are sure to feel far more meaningful when you know that the wrong one could cost you a character whose skills you’ve built up and whose personality you’ve grown attached to.
You might worry that a game that lets you disable permadeath wouldn’t be a true Fire Emblem game, but Awakening’s early moments exhibit all the hallmarks of the series. The quality of the writingis immediately apparent, and characters speak with the alluring formality that is typical of noble warriors in Fire Emblem games. (They rarely use an insult any more crude than “dastard,” for instance.)
But despite their highborn sense of propriety, the characters’ use of language is anything but stiff or off-putting. Your created character is suffering from the all-too-common video game ailment of amnesia when he or she first meets Chrom and his companions, but refreshingly, Awakening demonstrates a sense of humor about this predicament. Frederick, Chrom’s rational, skeptical right-hand man, doubts the veracity of your claims of memory loss, advising Chrom that your amnesia is “a load of pegasus dung!” In quick, sharp strokes, Awakening gives its characters distinctive personalities that immediately make you want to get to know them better, and to keep them alive throughout the battles ahead.
Those battles seem poised to maintain the delicious balance between accessibility and tactical depth that has given Fire Emblem its reputation as an excellent series of strategy games. The weapon triangle is still in effect here (swords are good against axes, axes are good against lances, and lances are good against swords), and positioning your troops in these turn-based conflicts is more important than ever. When allied characters are near each other, they can provide each other with stat bonuses, and can pair up to perform coordinated attacks on enemies. As in earlier Fire Emblem games, the relationships between characters can strengthen over time, and in Awakening, it’s even possible for your created character to marry certain other characters. Of course, seeing characters level up and learn new skills is rewarding, but it may be just as interesting to learn more about them as people and see their connections with each other evolve.
In most ways, Awakening appears to stay true to the Fire Emblem legacy, but there are a few new elements here that have the potential to enhance the experience without compromising what the series has always been. Random opportunities for battle appear on Awakening’s world map; these give you a chance to earn some experience, but you’re always free to avoid them if you choose. At a certain point in the story, you gain access to the Outrealm Gate, from which you can access downloadable maps that offer various rewards, if you can win the challenges they face you with. The first such map will be available for free and rewards you for your victory with the hero Marth as a member of your team. Other well-known characters from the series will be available rewards from future DLC. (Those interested in Fire Emblem’s fiction may be glad to know that these characters don’t naturally exist in Awakening’s world; the Outrealm Gate functions as a gateway of sorts to alternate universes.)
" alt="For inveterate StreetPassers, the most exciting new feature Awakening brings to the series will likely be StreetPass functionality. This allows you to put together a team of 10 characters who appear in the worlds of other players you StreetPass with. Their teams also appear in your world, and if you can defeat them in battle, or afford their price in gold, you can add their members to your own forces. Provided that anyone you encounter in your travels actually plays Awakening, this could keep the game’s world feeling spontaneous and alive.
Awakening’s first 30 minutes exhibit a good deal of promise. The question of whether or not the game delivers on that promise will be answered soon; it’s scheduled for release here in the US on February 4th. If you’d like to get a taste of Awakening yourself and do battle with some brigands and dastards, a demo will be made available on the 3DS eShop on January 17.
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3DS | Fire Emblem: Awakening Aims to Keep the Series' Flames Burning
Despite a few new options and features, Awakening strives to remain true to the Fire Emblem formula.
It begins in the midst of a heated and crucial battle. Snippets of dialogue make it clear that your character and your ally Chrom have fought alongside each other for quite some time to reach this point. A maniacal laugh from the imposing Validar leaves no doubt that he is an evil figure who must be stopped.
By letting you create your own character–a Fire Emblem first–and then immediately tossing you into this high-stakes situation, Fire Emblem: Awakening grabs you right away. Who are these people? What are they fighting for? How did they reach this point? The answers to such questions will have to wait. After a brief skirmish with Validar, a shocking turn of events occurs that you may wish to experience for yourself. At this point, the game flashes back to your character’s first meeting with Chrom, the proper beginning of Awakening’s tale. It’s an intriguing start that makes you eager to experience the journey that brought the heroes into that fateful encounter with the villainous Validar.
Awakening aims to be a good entry point into the series for those who have found it intimidating in the past. This is evident in the casual option, which disables the series’ famous system of permanent death for characters who fall in battle; with this option enabled, characters defeated in one battle return in subsequent ones. But of course, this is just an option; anyone who wishes to fight battles in which the threat of death hangs over their troops can do so. Decisions are sure to feel far more meaningful when you know that the wrong one could cost you a character whose skills you’ve built up and whose personality you’ve grown attached to.
You might worry that a game that lets you disable permadeath wouldn’t be a true Fire Emblem game, but Awakening’s early moments exhibit all the hallmarks of the series. The quality of the writingis immediately apparent, and characters speak with the alluring formality that is typical of noble warriors in Fire Emblem games. (They rarely use an insult any more crude than “dastard,” for instance.)
But despite their highborn sense of propriety, the characters’ use of language is anything but stiff or off-putting. Your created character is suffering from the all-too-common video game ailment of amnesia when he or she first meets Chrom and his companions, but refreshingly, Awakening demonstrates a sense of humor about this predicament. Frederick, Chrom’s rational, skeptical right-hand man, doubts the veracity of your claims of memory loss, advising Chrom that your amnesia is “a load of pegasus dung!” In quick, sharp strokes, Awakening gives its characters distinctive personalities that immediately make you want to get to know them better, and to keep them alive throughout the battles ahead.
Those battles seem poised to maintain the delicious balance between accessibility and tactical depth that has given Fire Emblem its reputation as an excellent series of strategy games. The weapon triangle is still in effect here (swords are good against axes, axes are good against lances, and lances are good against swords), and positioning your troops in these turn-based conflicts is more important than ever. When allied characters are near each other, they can provide each other with stat bonuses, and can pair up to perform coordinated attacks on enemies. As in earlier Fire Emblem games, the relationships between characters can strengthen over time, and in Awakening, it’s even possible for your created character to marry certain other characters. Of course, seeing characters level up and learn new skills is rewarding, but it may be just as interesting to learn more about them as people and see their connections with each other evolve.
In most ways, Awakening appears to stay true to the Fire Emblem legacy, but there are a few new elements here that have the potential to enhance the experience without compromising what the series has always been. Random opportunities for battle appear on Awakening’s world map; these give you a chance to earn some experience, but you’re always free to avoid them if you choose. At a certain point in the story, you gain access to the Outrealm Gate, from which you can access downloadable maps that offer various rewards, if you can win the challenges they face you with. The first such map will be available for free and rewards you for your victory with the hero Marth as a member of your team. Other well-known characters from the series will be available rewards from future DLC. (Those interested in Fire Emblem’s fiction may be glad to know that these characters don’t naturally exist in Awakening’s world; the Outrealm Gate functions as a gateway of sorts to alternate universes.)
For inveterate StreetPassers, the most exciting new feature Awakening brings to the series will likely be StreetPass functionality. This allows you to put together a team of 10 characters who appear in the worlds of other players you StreetPass with. Their teams also appear in your world, and if you can defeat them in battle, or afford their price in gold, you can add their members to your own forces. Provided that anyone you encounter in your travels actually plays Awakening, this could keep the game’s world feeling spontaneous and alive.
Awakening’s first 30 minutes exhibit a good deal of promise. The question of whether or not the game delivers on that promise will be answered soon; it’s scheduled for release here in the US on February 4th. If you’d like to get a taste of Awakening yourself and do battle with some brigands and dastards, a demo will be made available on the 3DS eShop on January 17.
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Wii U | Absent a Movie License, Lego City Undercover Still Has Charm to Spare
Why TT Games doesn’t need an official movie tie-in to have fun with Hollywood.
When it comes to modern games, the appearance of anything Lego has become synonymous with pop culture silliness thanks to the creative efforts of TT Games. Since releasing Lego Star Wars in 2005, the England-based developer has unleashed a torrent of whimsical Lego adventures set in every fictional universe from Batman to Harry Potter to Pirates of the Caribbean. So what happens, then, when a developer so known for working with official movie licenses creates an original Lego story?
The answer to that question is Lego City Undercover, a Wii U and 3DS exclusive due out early next year. If there’s one thing that can be said about Lego City Undercover, it’s that TT Games doesn’t need an official movie license to have fun with Hollywood. Lego City Undercover is one great, big homage to ’60s and ’70s crime movies, from a San Francisco-inspired setting ripe for car chases to a main character who bears the most police-y of all police officer names: Chase McCain.
McCain is an exiled detective sent away after he successfully locked up the city’s most notorious criminal mastermind. Why would that be cause for exile? Well, when your slimy superior officer decides to steal the credit for your arrest, you can see why he wouldn’t want word getting out that it wasn’t, in fact, his own handiwork. But now that criminal mastermind is back on the streets, and McCain has been called back to Lego City to see if he can’t work his magic for a second time.
McCain’s journey plays out in an open-world setting not unlike a family-friendly version of Grand Theft Auto. You can run around and “commandeer” vehicles from hapless citizens, explore the city to perform optional side quests, and generally take your time between story missions.
But it’s in those story missions where you can see the way that TT Games is casting an especially broad net of pop culture references and irreverent humor. At one point McCain must infiltrate Albatross Prison (an island compound with more than a passing resemblance to Alcatraz) and speak with a character named Blue. When you meet this guy, you can’t help but notice a striking similarity to a certain esteemed actor from The Shawshank Redemption. Eventually you finish your conversation, and another character walks up to Blue and asks something to the effect of, “I need some help! Are you free, man?” To which Blue responds, “No! I am not Freeman! His lawyers might be watching!”
Snappy dialogue like that pervades Lego City Undercover’s in-game storytelling. There’s a mile-a-minute pace of pop culture in-jokes and references that seems capable of pleasing adults with their cleverness and children with their silliness. You really get the sense that TT Games is taking advantage of this game’s lack of any official movie connection to forge decidedly unofficial connections to lots of different movies.
Where Lego City Undercover feels more like classic Lego fare is in the way the game plays. Missions tend to be a combination of platforming, puzzle-solving, and very light combat. It’s the sort of low-barrier gameplay where challenge doesn’t come so much from the missions themselves, but from how much of the huge amount of side content you want to tackle. The open-world format looks like it will add a bit more freedom to the way you take on that content, but the gameplay itself seems like standard Lego stuff.
There are some novelties that come with the Wii U hardware, however. You can use the screen on your GamePad as a sort of mini-map/GPS, dropping a waypoint on the touch screen that will create a trail of green Lego studs on your TV so that you can more easily drive to a particular destination. You can also use the GamePad as a sort of augmented-reality scanner to look around the environment and easily distinguish criminals from ordinary citizens. (Yes, cute little Lego police officers aren’t afraid to use Big Brother technology.)
Whether or not TT Games is playing it safe with the way Lego City Undercover plays, it’s clear that the developer doesn’t need an official movie license to make a game that’s every bit as charming and humorous with its pop culture sensibilities as those other Lego titles. Wii U owners will want to keep an eye out for this one when it’s released in early 2013.
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Xbox 360 | Gears of War: Judgment Fights Redundancy Through Innovation
Epic retools the series’ familiar structure with a slew of features that extend the life of the game and potentially the series as well.
With some thoughtful changes to the traditional formula, and a dash of inspiration from their peers, People Can Fly and Epic’s Gears of War: Judgment could be the most progressive entry in the series to date. Its narrative is communicated in an entirely new way, and surprisingly, this inventive approach also affects the flow of gameplay. These modifications to the Gears formula may even extend the series’ endgame beyond Judgment.
The plot centers around Kilo Squad, which is composed of familiar faces Damon Baird and Augustus Cole, and two newcomers, Sofia Hendrik and Garron Paduk. All four stand trial for treasonous actions taken during the battle at Halvo Bay–specifically, their procurement of secret technology belonging to the Coalition of Ordered Government. Their fate lies in the hands of the staunch COG Colonel Ezra Loomis. He proclaims, “The charges will be defined as I hear your testimony,” and one by one, each Gear delivers his or her own account of the events that took place that fateful day at Halvo Bay.
As the Gears testify, you relive the events of that day from their perspectives. Your individual reenactment of the testimony plays a pivotal role in the outcome of the trial and the fate of the Kilo Squad–potentially. There’s no way to definitively say how the conclusion of Judgment can be influenced at this point, but it’s confirmed that the testimonies themselves may be altered by your actions in-game. Trials, especially this military tribunal, live and die by testimony, so it’s not a stretch to imagine this one will impact the progression of Judgment’s story.
Each map contains COG tags in the environment that, when approached, give you the opportunity to hear declassified testimonies relating to the events at hand. Generally, opting to hear declassified information will alter environmental variables that in turn will complicate your current mission. They may reveal, for example, that Kilo Squad had to fight in the midst of dense fog, or that it came equipped with a severely limited arsenal. Masochists will appreciate the added challenge, but beyond that, the revelation of these extended testimonials could also influence Loomis’ verdict at the end of the trial. If that’s true, it introduces the possibility of multiple endings–a first for the series.
Choosing to hear declassified testimonies also rewards you a score multiplier. Gears of War: Judgment introduces a ranking system that gauges your performance in each mission using stars. Epic sees this as a way to fuel the obsessive desires of completionists, but it also noted that consistently acquiring perfect star ratings will unlock “significant” content, though what that may entail remains a mystery.
Declassified testimonies and multiple outcomes definitely bolster replayability, and in that regard, Judgment has one more trick up its sleeve. A new dynamic system varies spawn points and enemy types based on weapon loadouts and unit positions on the battlefield. It’s the perfect analog to The Director, the AI responsible for dynamically summoning the undead based on an array of conditions in the Left 4 Dead games.
The ruins of Sera’s fallen civilizations work quite well in this regard, featuring elements that can be manipulated by specific enemy types. Certain hulking locusts may, for example, hurl dilapidated cars aside as they charge headlong into the Kilo Squad’s ranks. The same scenario approached with a different arsenal may spawn smaller enemies that snake around said cars, or perhaps use them as cover. With such rampant unpredictability, you’ll never know what to expect while waging war among Sera’s ruins.
Despite the reliable success of the first three Gears of War games, Epic has decided to veer slightly off the beaten path for Judgment. By adding to, rather than replacing, elements that made the series a success in the first place, it may have found the best way to extend the series’ life span. Judgment is neither stale nor a departure from the now-classic cover-based gameplay, and though our experience barely touched the bulk of the game’s narrative, the testimonial-based delivery is a sound fit for a prequel that is itself a testimony to the events leading up to the original Gears of War. Epic currently plans to release Gears of War: Judgment on March 19, 2013.
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