sprites & bites

Gaming, iPads and a few biscuits on the side…

Category Archives: xbox 360

Toy Story 3 The Video Game

Platforming games are few and far between lately and those which have been released are generally sub-par games which are rushed and as buggy to hell.  Toy Story 3 is a pleasant departure from the run of the mill collect-a-thons and actually has a decent level design and some replayability. It is a rather short game though and can be finished within 3 hours. Do not be scared by the 3 hour mark because alongside the story mode you have the Toy Box where you can spend many more hours.

Toy Box is a whole town which you can build up and do mini fetch quests for different town residents. Quests are very short but there are plenty of them to keep you occupied. I have spent 3-4 hours in Toy Box mode so far and I doubt I am near completion.  It is a fun game with plenty to keep you occupied and is available on all formats.

This is not a review, just a passing comment :)

GOOD/10

Singularity

Singularity was quietly released in Europe on 25th June 2010. When I say quietly I mean really quiet. So quiet that I could not even get a copy of it on launch day in my town. None of the supermarkets had it nor did the game shops, it was not because they sold out, they just did not get any copies. You have to wonder what Activision the publisher were thinking when they make no effort to market a game and then subsequently cry when the sales are bad. Well they will be bad if they do not even bother to get the game into the shops.  One week on and I managed to get the game in Gamestation but even then they were only given 3-4 copies.

This game has borrowed (copied) many elements of some of my favourite games. You will see elements from the likes of Bioshock, F.E.A.R and Fallout 3 just to name a few. There is an old saying that imitation is the best form of flattery and the developer here has done very well in it’s flattery and come up with a very accomplished game which is worthy of your money.

The detail in the graphics is excellent and unlike the above named games I experienced no glitches, bugs or graphical issues like tearing whatsoever.  It was like they took all these games, mixed them up and actually improved the look and feel to give a polished experience.

The story itself is a little wild and at times has you going from the year 2010 back to 1955 via a TMD (Time Manipulation Device) strapped to your arm. The game is based around time manipulation but unfortunately I do not think they used it enough in the game. There was only a bit near the beginning and some near the end of the game where you went back to 1955. I would liked them to have extended this and had more experiences of going through the time warp. It was a good feature but not used to it’s potential. This did not affect my enjoyment of the game at all, I just think it should have been utilised more within the storyline.

I really enjoyed Singularity and it was a pleasant reminder of some games I had played in the recent past and would definitely recommend everyone play it. It is an accomplished FPS and whilst it may not be worthy of the full RRP price, this is a must-play if you can get it cheaper than what the game shops are offering (£44.99). Available on Xbox 360 and Playstation 3. Rated 18 Years

GREAT/10


Lego Harry Potter

Let me get my admission out of the way first, I do not like Harry Potter films. I only ever saw one and could not be bothered with the rest but I had to play the game because it is Lego and I have played all Lego video games so far except for Lego Rock Band.  So I went in playing this game thinking it was going to be also rubbish.  To my pleasant surprise, it was not like Harry Potter really at all and it was not long before I just felt like I was playing a Lego game with wizards and spells. This was fantastic as I was able to brush aside my dislike of Hogwarts and just concentrate on playing the game.

It is classic Lego game fun and while I would not rate is as highly as the previous games – Star Wars, Batman and Indiana Jones it is still definitely a worthy addition to your collection if you are also a Lego fan.

The previous games got bigger and bigger in gameplay space especially the last Indiana Jones episodes so it was a disappointment to find that Harry Potter version feels a heck of a lot smaller.  I think this is due to being mostly in the confines of Hogwarts Castle so I did feel at times a little claustrophobic and restricted and it also felt quite linear.  I suppose this is not really something I can criticise too much because of course they are trying to vaguely follow a story which was mostly set around Hogwarts and if they strayed too much away from that, die hard Harry Potter fans would find holes in the story.  As usual with Lego games there are tons of collectibles – red bricks, gold bricks, postal boxes and some which are unique to Harry Potter like shield crests – each level has 4 quarters of a shield to collect. There are also bonus levels to play for extra gold bricks.

There is really not much I can say about this game further. It is Lego, in the same vein as the other games with a different skin and a smaller playing area. If you are a Harry Potter fan you can add it to your collection, if you are like me and do not like Harry Potter but are a Lego game fan, it is still a worthy game to play because you will soon forget you are playing the series.

One final note for the developer, I think the title is wrong. I know the game is aimed at all ages, but the title Lego Harry Potter: Years 1-4 really makes it sound like the actual game is aimed at pre-school when it is not.

GOOD/10

What next for Lego games?  Spiderman, Superman, or maybe a collection of super heroes would be good?

Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11

Another year, another Tiger Woods game with much more of the same.  The problem with sports games is that they never really change much because the rules of the game are set in stone so it takes a huge amount of imagination to bring a new sports game with the same rules but something which packs original punch.  Unfortunately, EA Sports year in year out seem quite incapable of using that imagination to give us something refreshing and new and the new Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11 is the same old. Granted, you can now play in the Ryder Cup, but that is just another tournament added to the list of tournaments already playable in the tournament mode.

EA Sports have tried to change the game slightly and have added a new “true aim” mode which is supposed to replicate proper golf and which is turned off by default so you have to enable it. Sadly, in their rush to try and bring something new, they forgot to tell us how to use it.  This is exactly what the manual says:

True-aim is an all-new, more authentic way of playing golf in Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11. Rather than utilising an aiming circle, players using True-aim must use an in-game marker to see the distance ot the target and then adjust their swing accordingly. This results in a more realisitic way of playing and gives players even more control over their swing.

Sounds easy yes?  Except when you switch to True-aim mode you are presented with not an individual marker but about 8-10 different GPS points and there is no explanation at all on how to use them or switch between them.

Another lack of explanation is for the new Focus mode. And this is what they say:

Use the all-new focus feature to take even more control over your game. Your golfer’s focus is displayed as a red meter in the lower left corner of the hud. As you perform advanced maneuvres such as power boost, spin, putt preview or shrinking the aim circle, focus decreases. Once focus is completely depleted, advanced maneuvres are no longer available. As time passes, focus is slowly restored.

This is all pretty self explanatory and on the whole it works very well except I cannot get it to work for boost accuracy in the training section so I keep failing. The instructions are clear to a point but when you exit to take your shot there is no instruction on how to actually apply it to the shot and so my training is failing. Needless to say I exited the training and just played the game as I used to.  Now I am sure some bright spark will come along and explain how to do these, but if something which should be simple requires explaining, then EA Sports have failed.

Let’s talk about the putting. This is one of my biggest gripes of the later Tiger Woods games, it is that I cannot use the putting grid very well. I struggle to read it and understand the speeds and putt accurately. I can manage about a foot either side of the hole but anything greater than that and my putting is a mess.  EA Sports have been criticised by many gamers for this before – not for having a putting grid, but for having no real alternative to read the green for those who hate the grid.  Sure they have the putting line by pressing LB (Xbox 360 version) but this can often be very vague and it is limited in use to how much focus meter you have. The putting line uses up quite a large chunk of focus so there are many times when you can only use it once per putt or even have no chance to use it at all because you have not enough focus, so you are left to using the putting grid – if you know how to use it well.

Gone are the monetary prizes for your skills and now you have the XP system known from RPGs and adventure games.  You get XP points for completing challenges and general play of the game. These can be spent on upgrading your skills or buying items from the club shop. You have to balance out your desire for new kit against upgrading your skills. My personal recommendation is to ignore the pro shop until you start  getting lots of XP and concentrate on upgrading the skills only at first. Certainly there are a few early challenges which require you to have a certain amount of power to pass so power should be an early priority.  Speaking of challenges, there are 48 challenges to play ranging from completing 3 or 4 holes in a certain par or more challenging types of 9 holes. They are a little challenging this time round as not only do you have to beat the par score of the opponent but you also have a minimum amount of greens-in-regulation (GIR) or fairways-in-regulation (FIR) – so as an example one of Retief Goosen’s challenges is that you have to beat his score of -1 under par but also minimum of 7 out of 9 greens in regulation. So its a double challenge as you may pass on one but fail on the other.

Generally I feel the game is an okay upgrade but it seems to lack some punch and something new to the table, those bits which are new are quite poorly explained and the whole game just barely feels like a new game at all. As I said at the beginning it is just the same of golf churned out with a few bells which at a push let out a little ding.

Be wary of buying the game second hand if you wish to play online. EA now have a unique code on each manual which unlocks the online play. If the code is used then you have to pay to unlock the online play. A bit cheeky but I can understand a bit that they want some money from the second hand market although being the largest game developer in the world, they certainly do not need the money and many customers will see it as penny pinching.

I am disappointed with this game, its just another rehash but if you are one who has to buy every iteration of every Tiger Woods game then it is worth buying, just do not expect any groundbreaking new things. I would class it more as an expansion pack, but then that is the way all sports games are nowadays.

GOOD/10 (at a push)

Incoming Releases

25th June

Naughty Bear – Xbox 360, PS3.  Cuddly bears meet Grand Theft Auto. Well sort of. Cuddly bears  but not for kids under 12 apparently as it is a bit gory.  It is a brand new game idea so hopefully it may bring something new to the table. Even if it does not, shotgun-toting teddy bears could be interesting. Remember folks, it is only a game, your teddy bear will not attack you while you sleep.

Lego Harry Potter Years 1-4 – All consoles.  If ever a film did not deserve to become a Lego game, it is Harry Potter. What were they thinking?  Oh well, it could be a good bit of fun, I do love Lego videogames.

2nd July

Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11 – All consoles. Another year, another Tiger Woods game. It is hard to know how they can change a year-in/year-out golf game but  this time you do get to play in the Ryder Cup.  Fortunately no sign of added  girlfriends.

9th July

Crackdown 2 – Xbox 360. Another long awaited sequel. Hopefully this time round the game will have just a wee bit more substance rather than just jumping around collecting orbs and shooting people.

16th July

Toy Story 3 – All consoles. Oh yes everybody loves Toy Story, right?  Good platforming games do not come around often, I am hoping this is going to be an excellent edition.

Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands

I don’t know what is wrong with the developer Ubisoft of late, but some of their games have been terrible, one such bad game is their newest Prince of Perisa: The Forgotten Sands.I mistakenly bought this game on a whim when I meant to rent and I so wish I had rented it and it is certainly not as good as their last episode.

Firstly, the combat has no depth whatsoever, it is a simple press X to swing your sword and that is it. There are special powers you can upgrade to but these actually make the game a bit too easy. I am all for easy games, but eventually I was getting a one shot kill and there was no challenge. There are also not many puzzles and those that were there did not require much brain power to work out, apart from one where I resorted to looking on the web as it had me stumped.  Breakable pots and vases only contained power or health and it would have been nice to have found some collectibles. The only collectibles in the game were stone statues which you had to break – for more power and health. The other thing is the look of the game feels very dated. The previous Prince of Persia on the Xbox 360 looked stunning but this game feels like a step back before that, just not good at all.

The platforming sections – swinging jumping etc, the controls worked well but it was dull. It was the same old jumping from pole to pole, swinging from swings and evading razor saws on walls. There was just no variety at all and I felt the game was just a rehash of older versions.

I really would not recommend anyone buy this game at all unless it is in the bargain bin. It is short, it has no depth and is just old tired ideas mashed up into an omelette of nothingness.  Buy cheap, rent or avoid.

AVERAGE/10

Previously on Alan Wake…

The storyline strong Heavy Rain was released on the PS3 to critical acclaim a few months ago and a few days ago it Microsoft’s turn to release a storyline strong game – Alan Wake, which has been in development since the original Xbox was out. Both Alan Wake and Heavy Rain feature action aplenty with impressive storylines to carry the game through.  Heavy Rain had the thriller but Alan Wake is a horror story with enough twists and screams to affect your nightly dreams.

Alan Wake your character is a horror book author who has writers block and decides to go to Bright Falls with his wife Alice to take a break and end his writers block. Unfortunately, things do not go as planned, Alice goes missing and he sets on a frightening tale trying to get her back.  The world is twists, full of horrors, the darkness of evil consuming the population of Bright Falls.  To remain spoiler free I will not mention the story further, only to say that I found myself questioning the storyline several times because it kept twisting – this is not a negative note, it is saying that I was kept on my toes trying to keep up with the twists in the story and at one point I had myself thinking I got the story all wrong, but it was the story playing with my mind.

Graphically the game has its superb points when the environments look polished with high detail. Unfortunately the game looks bad in places on my big 40″ TV. Sometimes the background appears a lower resolution so while you have Alan Wake looking good, the area in the background looks pixelated and like I say on a big TV this is evident. ON a smaller TV this may not be so noticeable.  There is also an element of screen tearing at times when Alan is forced to walk places and follow people, it is no game-breaker but can be a tad annoying at times.

They have included some excellent songs in the game and the sound effects match the spooky atmosphere in the game.  There is a big fail with one part of the sound though. When someone is talking as part of the story, sometimes you can hear conversations in the background so it plays two conversations at once and it can be hard to distinguish the two apart. Turn on the subtitles and it is even more of a mess. You end up with two lots of subtitles one above another with no indication as to which subtitle is which.  If anyone has the sound turned down or is deaf and relies on subtitles this is very bad because there is no indication which are the storyline conversation words and which are the background conversation words.  It is not very well implemented at all and they should have had it so when storyline conversations come up, the background conversations are muted.  I would say this is the one thing that ruins the game sometimes and it is very distracting.

So for those obsessed with numbers, with the graphical issues and the sound/subtitles issues I have to mark this game down, I would have expected more from a game in development alledgedly for 10 years and it is a disappointment to have these flaws. However, whilst I would have knocked away 2 points from the score giving an average 8, I think the storyline has enough gusto to carry the game into a 9 score. Because the game is all about the story and you will find yourself gripped from the very beginning and emotionally driven to solve the mystery and find Alice – dead or alive.

GREAT/10

Alan Wake is available now on Xbox 360 only. Rated 15 years and over.

Don’t forget also you can download filmed episodes of the Bright Falls series on Xbox live marketplace. They add to the story of Alan Wake and are free to download.