Monthly Archives: April 2013
The GameSparked Podcast Apr-30-2013
The GameSparked Team
The GameSparked Podcast contains naughty words, and inappropriate content. Viewer discretion is advised.
[REVIEW] Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon
Mat Paget
(PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 [REVIEWED], PC)
Far Cry 3 pissed me off. Don’t get me wrong, it was a fantastic game to play, but several story aspects just didn’t work for me. Not only that, but as it progressed, the story actually took a turn for the worse; some of the events that occurred were probably some of the worst choices to be made regarding story in a videogame. I am fighting everything in my body to not spoil what got me so upset. Despite the train wreck of a story, the gameplay is pretty fantastic. It’s what kept me going through its entirety, and even left me wanting more outposts to take over. So, if you were anything like me, then Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon is going to make you a very, very happy person.
Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon is best described as a parody of videogames in the form of an ’80s action film… if it were a videogame. As a downloadable game, it is much smaller than the Far Cry 3 you know from 2012, but that doesn’t mean it’s a watered down version of that game — in fact, it’s quite the opposite. The game is infused with the same fantastic action and open-world shenanigans that inhabited its namesake, while adding on a hefty helping of humour, and the sounds and visuals of the ’80s. You can definitely tell that the team behind this misses that decade a lot — everything from the soundtrack, to Michael Biehn absolutely reeks of it.
The soundtrack by Power Glove is particularly worth noting, as it invokes only the best parts of the ’80s’ idea of a dystopian future. As someone who holds a particular fondness for anything based in a sci-fi inspired future, I can’t get enough of it. Pair it with the game’s astounding visuals–scan lines and all–and you have yourself one killer of an aesthetic. This setting also has a toll on absolutely everything in the game. The guns fit the futuristic setting with artillery such as a laser assault rifle, and a pistol that will probably be familiar to RoboCop fans, while your enemies consist of cyborgs — both human and animal.
Talking about the humour, people shouldn’t expect anything intelligent, but instead very silly, full of one-liners and puns — Rex makes one after almost every kill. The best part of it is that they’re weapon-specific, so if you kill an enemy with a shotgun, Rex will say something akin to, “He called shotgun.” They only get more hilariously dumb, as you go on. If you want more silly humour, and you can’t wait, click in the right stick to perform a melee attack when there are no enemies nearby: Rex will flip the bird, and if you click it in repeatedly, he’ll switch between both hands until you decide to stop. This humour keeps things light, and is often a huge, much appreciated payoff at the end of an action-packed mission — of which some aren’t particularly great.
Speaking of evil robotic animals, there’s a new enemy that will be pretty hard to miss. The blood dragons live throughout the open world, even making appearances within story missions at times. At first, it’s best to just avoid them, as it’s incredibly difficult to take them out with the weapons you start with. But eventually, you’ll have enough power in your arsenal that you’ll be able to whittle their health down enough to take them out. They’re also extremely powerful, as they shoot laser beams from their mouths that can take you out in one hit if it hits you straight on. It’s a risk vs. reward situation when you take on a blood dragon, but the reward is definitely worth it — upon slaying a blood dragon, you receive 5000 experience points, which fills up your experience meter considerably.
I don’t want to spoil too much of what makes Blood Dragon so great, so I think I’ll end it here. It may not be as polished as Far Cry 3 was (as polished as that game was), but it takes all the good parts from that game and leaves all that left a bad taste in your mouth. Then it throws on a huge heap of hilarity, as well as a generous dab of nostalgia for a sorely-missed decade. Anyone who loved playing Far Cry 3 should definitely play its downloadable standalone expansion, while anyone who just never got around to Ubisoft Montreal’s open-world, jungle shooter should skip it altogether and go straight for Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon. It gives you enough opportunities to mess around with the best parts of Far Cry 3‘s combat, and it definitely won’t leave you disappointed.
[REVIEW] Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon
Joe Roobol
Luigi’s Mansion was released late 2001 as a launch title for the GameCube. It was a quirky romp through the haunted remains of an abandoned mansion that came into the possession of the younger Mario brother, Luigi. It was generally well received, with one of the primary complaints levied against it being its length, or lack thereof. There was pretty clearly demand for more of the off-beat Mario title, but none would come for well over a full decade. It’s been almost 12 years since the original was released and Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon is here to deliver what many people have craved.
Luigi is an absolutely lovable character, and both Luigi’s Mansion and the sequel play perfectly to his (admittedly two-dimensional) personality. While it feels crazy to say about a Nintendo game, Dark Moon has some very enjoyable writing. While Luigi himself never actually “speaks” beyond the short voice clips we’ve come to know from Mario games, his interactions with Professor E. Gadd are pretty funny and probably the highlight of the game. It’s really reminiscent of The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker, to be honest. Luigi expresses himself fantastically, with plenty of jokes eliciting more than the game’s fair share of chuckles.
Dark Moon is the kind of game that just oozes charm out of every finely-detailed pore. The amount of small touches that add to the experience are innumerable and fantastic to see, especially the background and environmental effects and the way Luigi interacts with them. While the oftentimes humourous dialogue and cutscenes are a delight, they quickly grow tiresome on repeat viewings, which, owing to the mission-based structure of the game, can be frequent. Thankfully the option to skip through most of it is present, though some of the longer animations within missions can not be bypassed.
This is kind of a symptom of a larger issue with the game: severe repetition. The game definitely has something to offer, but the few game mechanics on display are repackaged and offered again and again with slightly different window dressing. The length of the game seriously acts against it, to the point where the penultimate chapter of the game turned out to be only a little over half as long as the preceding ones — I sighed a breath of relief. There is definitely content to be had here, for sure, just not enough to stretch over all of the missions the game has for you to play.
Controlling Dark Moon is a tad awkward at first, but is pretty easy to get acclimated to. There are some minor, but unfortunate control layout issues, such as aiming down and running being tied to the same button. Ultimately, these issues don’t really factor into gameplay much, though, because finesse is never required when battling ghosts and the game is very forgiving with aiming your light and suction, and doles out health pickups very liberally. The general ease of the game is to its benefit, as exploration and experiencing the world is king here.
There’s nothing to write home about regarding the utilization of 3D. While the setting would lend itself to jump-scare aplenty, none are to be found, and the 3D switch can safely be left off without missing out on anything. There’s similarly nothing much exciting about the graphical quality of the game in general. It’s not bland, mind you, the level of polish and care put into the art direction and level design make for a game that’s fun and pleasing to look at.
While there is (much, much) more than enough game here, there is an extra multiplayer mode for those that want more Dark Moon without any of the elements that make it enjoyable to get in the way. It involves teaming up with a group of one to three more Luigis to capture all ghosts in a randomly-generated floor within a set time limit, while a few bosses are thrown in occasionally for good measure. The rooms that make up the multiplayer mansion are all lifeless (har har) and desolate, completely lacking in what made exploring the single-player mansions so great. I can appreciate a multiplayer mode as fully featured as this in a Nintendo game; however, it seems misguided in this instance.
Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon is the kind of game you play once, have a pretty okay time with, and then very fondly remember a while after you’ve put the game down. It has its fair share of problems and simply fails to stand out in some areas, however it’s just so lovable that you have to forgive it. The charm and fantastic detail shines through above all else.
A GameSparked Extrasode: Full Indie Summit, the CVAs, and FanExpo Vancouver
The GameSparked Team
Mat, Myles, and Joe get together to recap what they did on their magical weekend of Full Indie Summit, the Canadian Videogame Awards, and FanExpo Vancouver. Myles enjoyed the wine and swimming, Joe made a new friend on the famous public transport of the Lower Mainland, and Mat had a great time talking to Indie developers. Expect cosplaying, Anime theme songs, and berating people on StreetPass in this very special GameSparked Extrasode.
Talking Canada, Music, and Videogames with Eden Industries
Mat Paget
All music used in the interview was created by Scott McFadyen, and can be found in Waveform.
Real Talk with Klei Entertainment’s Matthew Marteinsson
Mat Paget
DOWNLOAD IT HERE
(Right Click, Save As)
The Canadian Videogame Awards
Mat Paget
We spent this past weekend in Vancouver, where we attended the 4th Annual Canadian Videogame Awards on Saturday night. The show was hosted by Elias Toufexis and had guest appearances by the likes of David Hayter, Jennifer Hale, Michael Mando, and even Nolan North. And although the humour didn’t always hit in the same way–Michael Mando never failed to make us laugh–, it continued to be an entertaining show throughout its duration. You’ll be able to see it for yourself on CityTV on April 27 from 9-11pm PT.
For now, here are the categories, nominees, and winners.
iCame, iSaw, iConquered: Injustice: Gods Among Us
Mat Paget
There are a lot of iOS games and the majority of them aren’t very good. When you throw micro-transactions on top of these games, it doesn’t make things any better. Injustice: Gods Among Us for iPad and iPhone isn’t a terrible game, but it’s definitely not as great as its console counterpart — though it is more wieldy than some of the other fighting games you’ll find on iOS devices. Unfortunately, it is also crippled by micro-transactions, and currency that generates too slowly for its own good. But most, including me, would argue that the appeal isn’t really from playing this game for itself, but for the console version instead.
First off, you should know that this game is completely free, so if you’re going to buy Injustice for PlayStation 3, or Xbox 360, you should definitely download this — playing it, and achieving different goals, will score you some unlocks. These goals usually have you collecting certain cards, or completing a certain number of Battles. The unlocks that you should come to this iOS game for consist mostly of things for your Hero Card (Call of Duty’s Player Card counterpart), but there are costumes that you’ll be able to attain for a few of the characters. Some of these are tough to acquire, but others are as easy as rating the game — it can take some time for the game to register the actions you’ve completed, however.
It’s actually surprisingly satisfying to watch your character take out an opponent with one swoop of your special move, or knock them down with a perfectly-performed swipe. Unfortunately, the rest of the fighting is just tapping until you build up to those moments.
You can get through the first section of Battles no problem, but eventually, you’ll hit a wall. You can run out of energy, which a portion of it is used up before each battle, or you can get to an enemy that you just can’t beat. This is where the console version comes in handy: you can unlock stuff for the iOS game with the console version of Injustice. These unlocks include currency, new cards, and Booster Packs, and will actually help you proceed further into the game. But it won’t be long until you hit another roadblock.
I really enjoy Injustice: Gods Among Us on console, but there’s no doubt that I have quite a bit of disdain for this rinky-dink iOS fighting game. It does have a few moments where you will feel momentarily satisfied, but the progression moves at such a slow pace that you are more likely to get frustrated, and quit, than you are to collect a Batman card. Injustice: Gods Among Us for iOS devices is best used for unlocking new costumes for the console versions, as well as some stuff for your Hero Card. Other than that? Well, that’s up to you. It is free, after all.
The GameSparked Podcast Apr-16-2013
The GameSparked Team
The GameSparked Podcast contains naughty words, and inappropriate content. Viewer discretion is advised.
GameSparked 