[REVIEW] Virtus Per Verba: First Person Shouter

James Davenport

(PC [REVIEWED], Mac)

Give me your lunch money. Nice glasses, four eyes. Is that Jessica? Hey, Jessica, this twerp here likes you. Get in the trashcan, we’re going for a ride. “NO!” you spit back at such volume your entire body shakes. At which point you are met with a wanton smirk and promptly stuffed into the aforementioned trashcan.

Screaming is an emotional release. It’s done in the car where no one else can hear you. Into a pillow on the cusp of a frustrating evening. At a football game into the frigid air, where the waves meet thousands of others and dissipate into nothing. Screaming, rarely, has any mode of feedback. Virtus Per Verba touts yelling as its central mechanic, and succeeds in providing brief moments of illusory feedback for the traditionally futile, open-mouthed cry.

“NO!” you spit back at such volume your entire body shakes. At which point the bully is sent flying across the room in a flurry of desks, books, and oh no not the hamster ohgodohgodohgodoh–

Due to the extreme brevity of the game, I won’t speak of the paper-thin narrative moments. The player is cast as a nerd in a school overrun with bullies, clearly outlined in red. Your goal is to travel from room to room, subduing the bullies with your voice, and then save the nerds, clearly outlined in blue. The enemies don’t pose much of a threat, for the most part. They call you names, throw cans, some can beat you with a bat, but the character is given so much power the enemies become as much of a non-issue as the desks. There are desks. A lot of desks.

That said, a personal boss fight: on the monochrome walls, ‘YOLO’ spray painted in crude, dripping red.

Virtus Per Verba employs the player with three modes of attack. There’s an elementary “fus roh dah” (impossible not to go there) that pushes enemies and whatever physics enabled objects away at a chaotic velocity in accordance with the volume of the player’s scream. Hold down the left mouse button and yelp to pull an object towards you, gravity-gun-style, then yell again and release to hurl said object into the dramatically lit face of a churlish school bully. These two attacks didn’t feel as responsive or as simple to gauge as I had hoped. Often, a desperately-volumed push attack would equate the force of a fatherly pat on the back. An accidental cough might yield a sublime force powerful enough to send three bullies and an incidental desk sprawling through the world’s geometry.

The third, and by far the most satisfying ability is deployed by holding the right mouse button down and screaming to fill an area-of-effect bubble around the player. Scream longer and the bubble grows further, encapsulating entire rooms. Release and everything within the clearly defined sphere is sent flying. While playing, I kept wondering what kind of resource system was in place to make sure I didn’t spam the sphere of god-like explosiveness  Then my throat went raw and I realized I was running low on resources. The game is a physics playground. No mechanical limit is placed simply because that would destroy the power fantasy, even if it is constructed of damp plywood and rusty nails.

Whether the small team of Australian university students known as The Anti-Socialites set out to attack an old trope or suppressed memories matters not. They made a flashbulb cathartic game that, while extremely buggy, short, and inconsistent, manages to tug at some long buried heartstrings. We’ve all been submissive, we’ve all wanted to scream at times, as if it could fix everything.

But, in the end, memory is immovable. It returns in brief flashes, distorted over time. In Virtus Per Verba, the catharsis works similarly, emerging in a few stunted moments where the mechanics meld with a pallid tonal intent. The game feels like a weird exercise in pseudo-revenge, but ultimately falls flat. Screaming just isn’t fun. It’s sad, providing only temporal relief from frustrated feeling that have better, healthier outlets. And these throat lozenges taste terrible. Blech.

[REVIEW] Syndicate

Mat Paget
(PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 [REVIEWED], PC)

One of the big new things these days seems to be rebooting classic franchises. Deus Ex, XCOM, and now Syndicate. While Deus Ex: Human Revolution and XCOM: Enemy Unknown stayed fairly close to their original incarnation, Starbreeze Studios has taken Syndicate in a completely different direction; instead of an isometric real-time strategy game, it has resurrected the series as an adrenaline-pumping, first-person shooter. It’s a difficult task, not to mention an unpopular one with many fans, but not only do they do a good job at it, they make a fantastic first-person shooter that never ceases to be entertaining, even during its more slowly-paced moments.

The world of Syndicate is engaging. The main story may not be the greatest–and more of a funnel to shooting more dudes–but it’s the world itself that makes the game so interesting to play. The world is no longer run by governments; instead, the world is now divided by controlling corporations. These corporations have rendered devices, such as the iPhone, completely obsolete by offering the public neural chip implants that do everything you could ever want from the comfort of your own head. What do the corporations gain in this? Well, they now have complete control over anyone who happened to adopt this new technology — pretty much everyone. And, of course, just like countries, the corporations are at war with each other constantly.

This is where Kilo comes in, an agent for Eurocorp. Agents are the soldiers on the frontline; they are the ones who infiltrate bases, steal intel, and partake in the rest of the shady business. Like I said, the main story isn’t a huge draw here, but the moments of story-telling they do supply are done well. It’s really all of the background stuff that is deeply engrossing; if you were like me, and tried to read every piece of email in Deus Ex, then you’ll have a heyday with this game.

But where Deus Ex is more of a stealth-focused RPG, Syndicate takes a more “noticeable” approach to things. Its main focus is its action and, boy, is it good. The shooting feels great, the aiming is tight, and there is even a nice variety of guns without tossing in too many unnecessary options. Even the cover system is done really well, and I actually found myself enjoying the use of it — something I haven’t found too great in other first-person shooters. The game also brings something new to the table: the DART Overlay. The DART Overlay makes every shot more powerful and more accurate. It also allows the player to see every enemy, even if there’s an obstacle between the two of you.

Joining the DART Overlay are some of the special applications you gain throughout the game: Suicide, which lets you hack into an enemy’s chip and cause them to commit suicide; Backfire, which causes an enemy’s gun to, well, backfire on them; and Persuade, which “convinces” an enemy to fight on your side. These end up making the game feel different from your average shooter. It also fixes a few of the annoyances found in other games; if there’s one guy left on the other side of the area, you can simply just cause him to commit suicide. And if there’s an enemy who just won’t come out of his cover, use Backfire to push him out of it. However, the best feature causes enemies to gain a blue outlining when they’re dealt with; this makes it easy to know when an enemy has actually been taken out, instead of just knocked over.

There is an upgrade system similar to a skill tree, but it’s governed completely by the progression of the story, and has nothing to do with how your perform in-game. When you encounter a boss character, a small cutscene plays where you try to hack into their systems; it’s pretty much the exact same every time, but it’s such a cool scene that it never gets old. After finishing them–some are incredibly difficult at first, others not so much–you can extract their chip to upgrade yours. It allows you to upgrade your health, damage, resistance to certain types of damage, as well as making your applications stronger and more effective. It definitely would have been nice to have your actions dictate some of that stuff.

For those who are looking for more than just a single-player campaign, you’ll be happy to know there’s also a really great co-operative multiplayer. Players can customize their agent’s loadouts, as well as upgrade their chip, and weapon and application blueprints. The actual gameplay puts you into a level with one to three other players, and tasks you with a variety of objectives. The majority of them have to do with infiltrating an opposing corporation’s base and stealing something of value. To complete a level, you’ll definitely need to work as a team; players who rush ahead, and try to do things on their own, won’t get very far.

It’s highly dependent on playing as a team, but there is a sense of competition to it. Only one player can do certain things, including ripping chips out of an enemy’s head, and even the characters will make snarky remarks to each other. It also keeps track of your scores, and even highlights who is in the lead. This seems to damage the experience a bit, as it can be exceptionally embarrassing if you’re lagging behind the rest of the group, or even if there’s a more-experienced player in the game, and they’re a good 10,000 points ahead of everyone. The points translate directly into experience, and every rank you gain, you get one more upgrade for your chip. And there are also the syndicates, which are this game’s counterpart to clans.

Visually, this game is outstanding. Whether you’re in a dark, lit, or outdoor area, the game doesn’t fail to look beautiful. It strikes a good balance between modern and futuristic design, without ever looking too “out there.” The faces even represent the actors playing them incredibly well, too — Brian Cox‘s character looks exactly like him, as does Rosario Dawson‘s. And the soundtrack is very fitting; the dubstep and electronic music makes the game sound as sinister as some of the corporations really are — I could definitely see some evil CEO laughing over top of some of the tracks, all the while looking over a brightly-lit, Utopian city.

Give me the future! I want evil corporations to take over the world, humans to get augmentations, and dubstep to play whenever I’m about to kick ass. Don’t put me too far into the future, where I’ll wish I had saved every bottle cap I carelessly plucked from the top of my drinks, but send me far enough to reach the world of Syndicate. It’s an intelligently-made, unique first-person shooter with a world that is actually interesting to read up on. And with its gorgeous cyberpunk visuals, incredibly-fitting soundtrack, and exciting firefights, it makes this grim look into the future one you won’t want to forget soon.

[REVIEW] Natural Selection 2

Myles Millligan
(PC [REVIEWED])

When Charles Darwin popularized the term “natural selection,” I highly doubt that this is what he had in mind: humans fighting a grotesque alien species in an all-out bloodbath for supremacy. Yeah… if only high-school biology class was that interesting, I may have paid attention a little more. But anyway, dear readers, I humbly introduce you to Natural Selection 2. It’s a dog eat dog world, where only the strongest survive — so either evolve or let nature take it course! And if you would just so indulge me, I would like to start this review off by quoting the great Eddie Vedder: “It’s evolution, BABY!”

Hop in this time machine with me and let’s travel back to 2002. You may remember a popular Half-Life mod, Natural Selection v1, was released publicly for the first time. Well, due to it’s popularity, the creator of Natural Selection set out on a mission to assemble a team to work on a sequel of bigger and badass-er proportions. Fast travel back to the present, and low and behold the highly-anticipated sequel comes to fruition. Of course, here we are and the question obviously needs to be popped. Does it live up to the hype?

The first thing that you’ll notice when you boot up the game and hop into a match is “Wow, holy shit! Look how great this game looks!” Visually stunning, to put it in classier terms. The attention to detail is absolutely phenomenal. Textures pop with a rich crispness, and the shading is done in a way that gives the map an eerie ambience without overshadowing the background. Now, I will recommend that if you don’t have the most up-to-date hardware in your PC, then running all these details at higher than recommended setting will cause you to lose some frame-rate.

On a personal note, something that I experienced that was painfully noticeable was how long it took just get into a map that I had never played before; this was all due to precaching. Pardon my hyperbole, but it took several lifetimes to load. Within that span of waiting, I had enough time to do my finances and laundry… and even then it was still precaching! Thankfully, once you do get past the excruciating load time it won’t take remotely as long the next time you play on the map.

If you thought that Natural Selection 2 was your average run-of-the-mill online, action FPS, you’d be dead wrong. Natural Selection 2 brilliantly incorporates a strategy-based element that brings a whole other dynamic to how the game plays. Something that feels similar to Starcraft. One player can choose to be the commander of their team, while the rest battle in first-person on the frontlines. The commander oversees the map from above, and is tasked with providing their teammates with resources and upgrades to help them win the showdown. Dominating the map is the name of the game, and the game ends when one team successfully eliminates the opposing team’s primary control structure.

It’s surprisingly nice how evenly-balanced the marine and alien sides are considering how differently they play. Marines can upgrade their weapons and armour, and can even acquire jet packs and Mech-suits that are useful for taking down larger enemies. When playing as the aliens, you start out as a Skulk, and from then on can evolve into bigger forms that have increased health, and of course, dish out more damage.

Speaking of the Skulk, this little bundle of terror has the ability to climb on multiple surfaces. Now, I specifically want to take a moment to talk about this, because if there is anything that this game has done right, it’s this. Many games before have implemented this mechanic, but none have made it with such fluidity. Transitioning from floor, to wall, to ceiling  is smooth and never disorienting. Simply put, it just feels right.

Overall, the gameplay is very tight. However, I did happen to notice that the controls at times felt somewhat clunky, especially on the alien side. Melee-based attacks require a certain precision to them, and many times it felt like my attacks just slid off my enemy. Needless to say, this can be little more than a nuisance.

The expansiveness of the maps is a key feature in what makes you want to keep coming back for more action. Not only are they big, but the attention to detail (something that this game has in spades), is just undeniably interesting. Each map is unique in the sense that it immerses you in its world and gives insight into an untold story of the realm that these two opposing forces strive in. It’s also great how primary spawn points are randomly-generated in each map, so it’s a different experience seeking and destroying each time. The only drawback about these maps is that if you haven’t familiarized yourself with them, then the asymmetric layout can turn them into a bit of a labyrinth — and that’s even with a guide map.

Natural Selection 2 offers so many choices when it comes to technique and strategy, and heavily favours teamwork. I can’t even begin to tell you how great it is to see actual teams coming together like a well-oiled machine, and working to overcome the obstacles that are laid before them. It’s magical, really. I almost feel bad for saying this, but there are so many factors one needs to consider while playing that it sometimes becomes overwhelming. Make no mistake, this game isn’t the simplest to pick up and get a grasp of. It takes practice, and like I said before, there are a lot of things to take in. Sometimes the experience can leave you feeling a little drained, and wanting to take a step back.

From humble beginnings as a mod, to it’s own standalone sequel, Natural Selection 2 has come a long way on it’s decade-long journey. “Attention to detail” has been the underlying theme of this review, and it’s a quality that’s exuded by this game. It’s definitely got its issues, and by no means is this game a pick-up-and-go title. It demands time, practice, and a willingness to work with others. Some may be put off by its seemingly-overwhelming presence, but if you’re willing to commit, the experience is a rewarding one. So, does it live up to the hype? Eight times out of ten, I believe your answer will be, “HELL YES!”

[REVIEW] Primal Carnage

Marcus Estrada
(PC [REVIEWED])

Is there anything out there more awesome than dinosaurs? Think about it. Between zombies, space marines, and even aliens, it’s hard to find any creature or character that is cooler than a dinosaur. As such, doesn’t it seem strange that barely any games tend to implement them? Stranger still, why are there even fewer games where you get to actually be one? Although it’s hard to simply guess as to why this is the case, perhaps Primal Carnage sets an example as to why exactly this isn’t done more often.

In Primal Carnage, developed by Lukewarm Media, you take one of two sides: humans or dinosaurs. The game is a multiplayer-only, class-based experience, which sets you up in the epic battle of man versus ancient reptile. There’s absolutely no reason given, but when you can either square off against a t-rex, there’s little more to be said. The concept is one that populates the dreams of gamers everywhere. Although the idea of a scalier Team Fortress 2 is incredibly appealing, the reality is much less enticing.

There are five main classes of dinosaur: raptor, dilophosaurus, pteranodon, carnotaurus, and t-rex. Two are speedy raptor-types, one is a flying beast, and the other two are behemoths. Each class has its own advantage and disadvantage. For example, while the smaller creatures are insanely fast, they can be trapped in nets due to their small stature. The t-rex, on the other hand, can never be caught, and are so large they can trample people underfoot. The flying pteranodon is probably the hardest of the bunch to control, although once you learn to pull off the pick-up maneuver, you will be laughing at your enemies with the new-found power.

As fun as it might seem, though, playing as these creatures is not nearly as much of a treat as it should be. Raptor-like dinos are fun at first, but are also super quick to die. Although the flying one has potential for greatness, it struggles with a fairly odd control scheme as well as a high learning curve. When it comes to the two larger beasts you’re better off not even trying. Although they are great when you can get into their groove, more often than not you’ll be struggling against their slow turning as well as the environment. Despite this game being designed with dinosaurs in mind, the levels often have objects ready to get in the way of stomping dino feet. With stuff so often in your way, it becomes hard to simply rush around and trample everything in your path.

Humans have a distinct advantage in many of the levels, as long as they can find a cramped place to hang out. On their team are five members: scientist, commando, pathfinder, trapper, and pyromaniac. Each member of the team has an interesting ethnic style to them as well as their own weapon loadout. Pyromaniacs, as you might expect, come with flamethrowers and grenades. Commandos look like they come right out of an action movie with their shirt off and machine gun in hand. Other characters like scientists and trappers are more tactical, but also harder to survive as. That’s not to say any one member of a human team will be alive very long either, though.

Although dinosaurs are unwieldy to control, so are the humans. In fact, it’s when playing as a more expected character type that you start to realize that the controls seem to function on a whim. Sometimes, pressing the sprint button (with full stamina bar) will set you running, and sometimes it won’t. Other times, trying to blast a ball of fire at enemies won’t work either, leaving you open to getting chomped in the face. Although most of the times buttons do work when you hit them, there are times they simply don’t respond. It’s a very odd issue which will probably be patched soon, but for now it is a hindrance.

Due to being humans, they also simply suffer from being incredibly weak in comparison to mighty reptiles. However, this doesn’t mean that dinosaurs are always set for victory. One great thing about Primal Carnage is that the game somehow manages to maintain a balance despite how great a difference in power there should be. Humans and dinos both have an equal chance at being victorious at the end of a match. It is all due to how efficiently teams communicate and are able to strategize. If humans or dinos simply strike it out on their own, they’re going to die. Making sure to watch each other’s back is necessary, and exciting as well.

It’s a shame that instances of feeling truly connected to your team are cut short by the rest of the game. Earlier, I said that many of the levels are cramped. Even if they aren’t, they are full of other hindrances that make it hard to see what you’re doing. Some levels include tons of brush and plants. This is a nice Jurassic period sort of theme, but is purely aesthetically pleasing. When actually playing the game, humans often have trouble seeing through the brush as they run through it in search of health, ammo, or teammates. Small dinos also have this issue. In regards to massive creatures, they may rise above it, but then are unable to see the puny humans somewhere in the brush! It’s a lose-lose situation that plays out in a handful of maps. This is no help when there’s currently only five levels to choose from.  

Then there’s the fact that the game isn’t even done, despite finally launching. At the time of this writing, music for levels has yet to be patched in. The ability for Steam Achievements to unlock is still bugged as well, which will annoy those who enjoy them. Then there are things like spotty controls (as I mentioned previously), lack of spectator mode, and other small things that let you know it wasn’t quite ready for prime-time. The developers are highly responsive to their community, and at least it is readily apparent that they are working to fix everything they can about the game. Once that’s done, they hope to add in free DLC to help expand the game.

For all these negative points, there is still fun to be had in a match of Primal Carnage. It takes a while to learn the controls, thanks to no tutorial, but once you have there’s little to stop folks from playing. It’s not broken, but instead just missing some of the stuff players expect to see. Still, having a playable game does not make it finished, or entirely worth sifting through all the troubles for. Those simply curious about the game would do better to skip it, or at least wait until the game has reached a level of completion. However, if you have dreamed about wreaking havoc as an extinct creature for years then Primal Carnage is worth playing. Despite the game’s unfinished state, nothing can take away the feeling of how fun it is to get your first, second, or even fiftieth kill as a dinosaur.

[NEWS] Where in the World is That XCOM Shooter?

Mat Paget

Firaxis’ reboot of the beloved alien invasion series comes out next week, but what ever happened to that retro-styled, first-person shooter that was announced back in April of 2010? Well, we might have an idea.

For those who have no idea what I’m talking about, XCOM was a tactical first-person shooter set in the early ’60s. The gameplay involved first-person action like you’d find in other titles, but also incorporated a tactical-view mode that allowed the player to give his fellow agents orders on the field. Here’s a look at the game from E3 2011:

And that’s the last we ever saw, or heard, of the unfortunately-hated “reboot.” Well, that is until now. Kotaku was sent screenshots of what is supposed to be an overhauled version of the game, revealing a third-person shooter that looks a whole lot like it could be an XCOM game. Apparently, it’s been revamped as a squad-based shooter akin to SOCOM and Freedom Fighters, where players will still be able to shout commands to their teammates.

Other news that may, or may not, be true is that the game is being developed by the team that created BioShock 2, as well as news of a focus group being asked how they’d feel if the game was made as a $30 downloadable title, as opposed to being sold as a $60 full-retail product.

Now, remember that this hasn’t been officially announced, and may not even be real. Either way, it’s exciting, and disconcerting, to hear that this game might still be finished. On one hand, it’s still in development, but on the other, the changes might not be for the best.

We will keep you updated on this story, as more news is revealed.