The GameSparked Podcast Apr-09-2013

The GameSparked Team

The GameSparked Podcast contains naughty words, and inappropriate content. Viewer discretion is advised.

It’s time to strap in and hunker down for another episode of The GameSparked Podcast! Joe kicks things off by reporting in with the ever-popular DmC Devil May Cry and then digs in to Vessel. Mat is here to talk about all things Injustice: Gods Among Us, Age of Empires II HD, the rhythmic HarmoKnight, and Guacamelee. Finally, Myles reassures the group that the only size that matters is the size of your body count with the help of Hitman: Absolution. Also on this week’s podcast, rude parrots, the Vita is great, and the Wii U not so much. All that, and much more, in this week’s episode of The GameSparked Podcast!

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Original Intro/Outro by Cody DeBoer

The DubSparked Remix by Kevin Madden

[REVIEW] Guacamelee

Mat Paget
(PlayStation 3 [REVIEWED], Vita [REVIEWED])

Although the charm and humour stay relatively close to what DrinkBox Studios has been known for with the Tales From Space series, Guacamelee is a big step in a somewhat new direction for the developer. DrinkBox has put together a game where you play as a luchador in a Mexican-inspired Metroidvania world. On top of that, there’s a great melee combat system that helps the luchador Juan fight the undead in an attempt to save El Presidente’s daughter, who just so happens to be a woman he’s very much in love with. Humour. Luchadores. Great melee combat. Metroidvania. Sounds like a formula that’s bound to work, right? Not to mention that the title is a play on guacamole, which is delicious.

First up, let’s talk about the game’s combat. Upon receiving the luchador mask, players will be able to attack with the square button. This sets things up for a slew of combos that you’ll discover throughout the course of the game when collecting new powers. At first, fighting enemies consists of hitting, then grabbing and throwing with the triangle button. After unlocking new moves, and powers, there’ll be more variety in the combat; players will be able to grab an enemy, and perform moves such as suplexes and powerbombs. The powers will also give players the ability to perform specials moves, such as the Rooster Uppercut and Dashing Derpderp, that can further elongate the combos you’ll be able to perform. The game’s combat is surprisingly deep, becoming more and more similar to a fighting game, or AAA brawler, as you progress through the game.

The powers that you receive from smashing Choozo Statues–that will probably look familiar if you’ve played a Metroid game–also help you navigate the world, as well as get to new parts of it. This makes backtracking through levels you’ve previously visited worth it, as there are paths you won’t initially be able to take due to not having the correct power — these paths usually lead to a heart piece, a skull piece, or money. There are also a few ridiculously difficult platforming sections that players won’t be able to access, or complete, without some of the late-game powers. These sections prove tricky, and can even be a bit tiring, but ignoring these tests won’t cause you to miss out on the best parts of the game — the game will still deliver a generous helping of difficulty in the form of its boss battles. And if all that is still not enough for you, a hard difficulty is unlocked upon completing the game — and it’s definitely not lying when it calls itself hard.

There’s also a mechanic that switches the world you’re in to the Living version, or the Dead version, of it. This affects the platforming and combat in some pretty meaningful ways. At times, enemies can only be attacked in one of the two worlds, causing the player to have to switch between the two worlds to dispatch of them — enemies can hit the player regardless of the world they’re in. Switching worlds also changes up what platforms are available to jump on. The mechanic isn’t the most complicated, but it does shake things up to add a bit more strategy to the combat and platforming in a really great way.

And the game’s charm and humour are there throughout almost everything. You can learn some of the more complicated combos from a giant chicken, a man-goat will scold you for smashing his Choozo Statues, and there are references pretty much everywhere you look. The dialogue is also quite funny, oftentimes edging on silly, but very rarely serious. The side quests, in particular, hold a good variety of feelings to be had. One quest will have you chase down a treasure-stealing chicken, while another will have you reunite a sad, dead girl with the doll she used to play with as a child. These side quests can actually be a bit tricky to complete, as you may not actually know where to go, or what to do — and the game does very little to throw any hints in your direction.

Assisting the game’s charm are the fantastic sights and sounds of the game. The game’s look is very similar to that of Mutant Blobs Attack!!!, the developer’s last game; it’s a nice, hand-drawn style that looks especially fantastic when the characters are in motion. It makes the flashing neon scenes when unlocking a new power–or starting a boss battle–stand out, and that much more awesome. You really need to see them for yourself.  And the music is fantastic as well; it consists of music that feels authentic to the Mexican setting, heavily involving trumpets backed by the rhythm of guitars. There are even some hints of electronic music in there that really put a nice touch on the game’s already fantastic soundtrack.

Probably one of the coolest things about this game is the fact that you can play it on the PlayStation 3, while using the Vita as a controller. Think the Wii U: the controls are the exact same as the Vita version, but the world map is now on the Vita’s screen, while the television hosts the gameplay. Although the actual way to get this working is longer than it should be, especially if you want to play the game without a co-op partner, it’s a really awesome way to play the game; if you’re looking to explore every nook and cranny the game has to offer, and you already own both a Vita and a PlayStation 3, play the game like this. And although there is some noticeable latency between the gameplay and the touchscreen’s map, there is no latency at all between the Vita’s controls and the game that’s being played on the big screen.

Unfortunately, there are still a few minor issues you’ll experience if you decide to play the game without using the Cross-Controller Play feature. There are times when you’ll be facing off against a giant skeleton that will attack you by smashing his hands against the ground. During these encounters, you might experience the framerate dropping — thankfully, I only noticed this happening in one area of the game. A more serious, yet still uncommon issue is when the game just stops from proceeding during enemy encounters. Enemies will stop spawning, or the next sequence in a boss fight just won’t trigger, forcing you to quit back to the main menu — this occurred only twice during my first playthrough. I did not encounter either of these issues on the PlayStation 3, but they’re so uncommon that they shouldn’t stop you from playing the game however you want.

Guacamelee is a game that not only shines in one way, but in all of them. It’s actually hard to pinpoint the “main attraction” here. Is it the combat with its simple, yet surprisingly deep, fighting game-like combos that never get old, while the game throws new enemies that need to be defeated with different tactics at you? Is it that DrinkBox charm that the studio has taken to the next level? How about the music? Or just the fact that you’re a luchador playing in a Metroidvania playground? It’s rare for a game to exhibit such great gameplay in all regards, and contain humour that is actually laugh-out-loud funny. And despite its very few issues, Guacamelee is a fantastic game that you should definitely play — and that goes tenfold if you own a Vita.