Games You Should(ve) Played….. Onimusha: Warlords

So today’s game is awesome and is the first article written by someone other than me.  Nick, a good friend of mine, has volunteered to help out and keep the content coming.  I mean come on, so many games so little time right?  So I hope you’re ready to enter a world of….

Swords and Samurais and Souls… Oh, My!

Onimusha: Warlords (2001-PS2)

Way back in the year 1560, there was a samurai named Akechi Samanosuke (pronounced… sah-mah-no-soo-kay) fighting alongside the Yoshimoto forces in the Battle of Okehazama.  Kind of a mouthful, I know.  The enemy is the Oda Clan and their leader, Nobunaga.  The Oda clan is winning, like post-Iron-Man-Robert-Downey-Junior-winning … until an arrow pierces the throat of a defiant Nobunaga.  He was too busy laughing at all of the death and swordplay going on to realize that an archer had gotten in throat-shooting range.  No worries, the vicious leader survives.  How does one survive an arrow to the throat in the year 1560?  Simple, Nobunaga entrusted his life to his top genma scientist, Guildenstern.

Guildenstern is a mad-scientist who ALSO has a major hook-up with demons.  They’re BFF’s.  When he’s not composing landscapes and pruning bushes in his zen garden, G-stern enjoys manipulating the bodies of fallen soldiers and creating a myriad of intense monsters

and foot soldiers with supernatural abilities.

  

This axe is heavy… will you hold it in your belly for me?

Samanosuke, let’s just call him Sam, receives a letter a year after the Battle of Okehazama stating that his cousin, Princess Yuki, is afraid for her life.  People in her village have been disappearing.  She mentions the possibility of monsters.  But, by the time Sam shows up (I’m assuming he was busy developing the fine art of drifting), Princess Yuki has been kidnapped.  He easily finds her, but is bested by the monster-foot-soldiers.  He is approached by the Oni, who grant him a magic gauntlet that allows him to absorb souls as well as the ability to summon mystical powers!  You pretty much start the game with a bad-ass-lightning-sword and device that nibbles on souls.  SOLD!  As you kill the demons, they’re souls are released and you suck them into the gauntlet.  Once you fill it up, you can release a special attack that involves quick strikes followed by a lightning bolt strike.  Then, you’re off!  Working your way through puzzles, battlefields, monsters, and boss-monsters.

Graphics

For 2001, the graphics in Onimusha were top-notch.  One specific scene that has been permanently engraved in my memory is where Samanosuke is outside at night.  A magnificent, yet ominous, moon glows in the background.  The moonlight shimmering off of a nearby pond.  As you splash through the water, coy-fish make an attempt to avoid him.  (this is during actual gameplay, not a cutscene).  Water looks like water, demons feel evil and are incredibly unique, and the bosses are overly detailed.  Character movements were created using motion capture.  Resident Evil creator, Shinji Mikami, was credited as an advisor to the production team.

Weapons

Starting the game with a lightning sword and a soul gauntlet sounds like it should suffice.  But, Onimusha tells your mature sensibilities to shut up and provides you with the ability to earn a fire sword and a tornado-ey staff.. with blades on the ends.  PLUS, you will eventually pick up a bow for shooting arrows, a goddamn blunderbuss, and a final sword which is literally the game-ender.  By the way, did I mention that you are leveling up your weapons and armor the entire time you’re playing?  Cause you are… and they look more and more ridiculous with each upgrade.

  

Sorry, I slipped… just gonna pretend to tie my shoe..

.

How many hands do you recommend to hold it?

Gameplay

The controls will have you feeling like you’re willing Samanosuke to make maneuvers and attacks.  Onimusha made me feel like I was a highly skilled samurai with different blocks and side-stepping abilities.  Although, while fighting the higher-level bosses button-mashing can be tempting.  Ever since the end of the Onimusha series, I’ve craved the same feelings that this game provided me.  Devil May Cry and God of War come very close.  There are also mind-boggling puzzles that get progressively harder to mix things up.

Conclusion

I won’t get into the sequels, although I will say that they did not disappoint.  Growing off of the first and becoming far more expansive with additional characters, baddies, and weapons.  Highly addicting, Onimusha: Warlords was played and beaten over the course of one weekend by myself and a committed friend.  Just couldn’t put down the controller.  If you still have a PS2 lying around, I urge you to pick up a copy of Onimusha: Warlords or any of its sequels!

–nick

Samanosuke don’t give a shit

Games You Should(ve) Played……The Monkey Island Series part 5

Tales of Monkey Island (2009)  

Tales of Monkey Island is a 5 part episodic release by Telltale Games in conjuction with LucasArts.  It is the 5th game in the Monkey Island series.  It was released nearly ten years after Escape from Monkey Island.  Ron Gilbert, the father of the series was on board in the project planning, Dave Grossman, co-designer of the original 2 was also in and the devolopment lead.  The game was released on several platforms, including the Xboxlive marketplace and Sony Playstation Network

Story and Characters

Once again you assume the role of the bungling pirate Guy Threepwood.  The game takes place a few years after Escape from From Monkey Island.  It also no longer takes place in the tri island area that the others took place in.  The designers opted to create a new area, the Gulf of Melange.  We find out that in that time, Guybrush has been looking for the parts required to make the Cursed Cutlass of Kaflu, A sword that can finally destroy his nemesis, the demon pirate LeChuck.

Shortly before the game, we find out that LeChuck has kidnapped Elaine, Guybrush’s wife, who he also wanted to be with.  Our fearless yet bumbling hero chases them to the Rock of Gelato to save her.  Well, it turns out that our hero may or may not have created the sword wrong…..mostly may have….So when Guybrush stabs LeChuck with the sword, LeChuck becomes human and Guybrush’s hand gets infected with the “Pox of LeChuck”  In true Evil Dead fashion, the hand has a mind of its own, and in true Monkey Island fashion, our hero is once again tossed into the ocean.

Our hero washes up on Flotsam Island where he meets a Voodoo Lady.  She tells him that the only cure and the only way to prevent Pox of LeChuck from becoming an epidemic is to absorb it with the “La Esponja Grande” (thats, The Big Sponge for us gringos.)  Of course Guybrush heads out to find it.  There is one teeny tiny problem though….there is no escaping the island.  A mad scientist has set up camp and is using a machine to draw pirates to the island for medical experiments.  The same device is also keeping the pirates on the island.  Guybrush reverses the effect which allows the ships and pirates to be able to leave and to allow him to go on his quest for “The Big Sponge”….there is one problem though……while releasing the Pox of LeChuck to the rest of the Caribbean…..While on board his ship, a Woman named Morgan LeFlay engages in a sword fight with Guybrush, it turns out that the evil scientist, who’s name is Singe, wants Guybrush’s hand for his experiments.  She promptly cuts it off and heads back to Singe

Guybrush then sets off for the Jerkbait Islands.  Here he finds that Elaine is safe and that LeChuck, oddly, is trying to make up for his evil deeds now that he’s human again.  The three of them team up and fend off an attack by pox infected pirates and save the town of Merfolk.  The people of Merfolk, thankful for being saved, summon creatures to help find the sponge.  During the voyage, Morgan returns, this time for Guybrush’s whole body.  During the sword fight the ship is swallowed by a giant manatee.  Inside the manatee they find DeCava, the explorer that Guybrush was seeking out, he knows where the sponge is.  Eventually they escape the manatee and retrieve the sponge, in doing this, Morgan then knocks out Guybrush and heads for Flotsam island to collect her bounty and leave Guybrush to Singe.

When Morgan arrives with Guybrush, he is promptly captured by the villagers and put on trial for releasing the pox across the  Caribbean.  Guybrush is saved, believe or not, buy LeChuck, who takes the fall for creating it.  In a surprise, he also presents evidence that the Voodoo Lady has been behind all of the confrontations between LeChuck and Guybrush.  With Guybrush vindicated and LeChuck and the Voodoo Lady in jail, he can continue on his quest to cure the pox with The Big Sponge.  As he goes to Singe’s lab he finds that Morgan has been murdered and that Singe is getting ready to use his severed hand to grant himself eternal life.  Elaine and Guybrush get caught be Singe, who then falls into his own machine disintegrating himself.  LeChuck then arrives to “rescue” Guybrush and Elaine.  Guybrush goes to thank him, then LeChuck impales him with the sword.  As Guybrush dies LeChuck uses the sponge to transfer the pox to himself…….

Believe it or not, there was a whole lot I left out, including the end!  Yup that wasn’t the end of the game yet.  How’s it end?  Well, you can probably by the entire 5 part series for 30 dollars or less online, depending on the outlet, so get and find out!

Gameplay

The gameplay still feels familiar, there are many ways to control Guybrush and I thought it all worked rather well.  At times there were a few wonky  moments, but it didn’t take away from the experience at all.

Graphics and Sound

During the production, LucasArts and Telltale worked together closely.  LucasArts had been developing Monkey Island 1 SE at the time and wanted Tales to have a similar look and feel to the special edition. With a few slight differences they achieved the goal and Tales looks and feels similar to Monkey Island SE.  The graphics are cartooney, but still look nice.

As for the sound, most of the voice actors reprised their roles along with Michael Land, who composed the music for all the other games.  So music and sound are excellent.

Conclusion

Tales is a great continuation to the Monkey Island series and very faithful to the originals.  So far there is no word on anymore, but with the success of Tales and the success of Telltale Games Back to the Future game one can hope that LucasArts will look at what Telltale can do and have them do more Monkey Island games!  So I hope you enjoyed my little trip through the Caribbean and I hope you’ll give the Monkey Island series a shot!  Thanks for reading and keep gaming!

-john

Games You Should(ve) Played……The Monkey Island Series part 4

Escape From Monkey Island (2000)

Story and Characters

In the fourth installment of the Monkey Island series, Guybrush (who is now a pirate) and his (spoiler alert) new wife finally return home to Melee Island after a well deserved break, well, their honeymoon.  When they return they find the Elaine has been mistakenly reported as dead, leaving her office of governor up for election! Her mansion is set to be demoed and a “gentleman” known as Charles L Charles is the lead candidate.  Elaine sets out on the campaign trail to retake the governor’s seat.

In the mean time, Guybrush meets some old friends and heads out to retrieve the Marley family valuables that have been strewn about the island and also to recover documents to save the mansion.  He also discovers a deep dark Marley family secret….a voodoo artifact that can create an insult so mean and despicable it actually breaks the spirit of those who hear it.  Oh, he also gets arrested and needs to prove his innocence.  Something to do with a bank robbery……

After getting the paperwork and returning to the mansion, they find that Charles L Charles is really the now Demon Pirate LeChucke, who is looking for the Ultimate Insult.  Guybrush finds three of the pieces and as he returns is ambushed and taken hostage by LeChuck and Ozzie Mandrill.

Here we find that LeChuck and Mandrill want to rid the carribean of pirates and make it a tourist trap.  LeChuck also wants to use the Ultimate Insult to destroy Elaine’s will and make her marry him.  Instead of killing Guybrush, they decide he would make a better hostage and dump him on his home away from home, Monkey Island.

The rest, well that’s for you to find out by playing it.

Gameplay

Even though there is a difference in engine, the gameplay is similar.  There are still your typical side games, like “Monkey Kombat”.

Other than that still basically the same point and click, but it does allow for the use of a joystick or keyboard also.

Graphics and Sound

Escape was the first and last Monkey Island game to use the GrimE engine, in fact it was the second and the last game to use the engine.  Shortly after, even though the adventure games sold well and were critically acclaimed, LucasArts stopped producing adventure games.  Escape was also available on Mac, Windows and PS2.  It was distributed on optical disc only.

The graphics themselves were better than any of the older games and the sound was still solid and continued to use the iMUSE engine.  Escapes graphics and gameplay were similar to Grim Fandango’s, which is the game the engine was developed for.  It allowed for true 3D graphics and gameplay.

Conclusion

Escape From Monkey Island marked the end of great adventure games from LucasFilm, which was now known as LucasArts.  In fact, LucasArts shelved all of their hit adventure games, and focused mainly on disappointing Star Wars and Indiana Jones fans with a slew of meh games.  Sure Knights of the Old Republic 1 and 2 were great, but most other ones….meh…The age of adventure games was at a close…..until Telltale Games (which has former LucasArts employees) and LucasArts worked together on Tales of Monkey Island……

Games You Should(ve) Played……The Monkey Island Series part 3

The Curse of Monkey Island (1997)

It was 6 long years until the release of the next in the Guybrush saga also known as The Monkey Island games.  It was only available on Windows and was only available on CD.  It was also the last game to use the SCUMM engine, which was replaced by the GrimE engine.  It was also the first Monkey Island game to have voice acting.

Story and Characters

Same basic characters, with a French Buccaneer thrown in for good measure.  The game doesn’t quite start off where Monkey Island 2 ended.  Our hero is found floating aimlessly in a bumper car with no idea what happened or how he ended up there.  In the meantime LeChuck has laid siege upon Plunder Island, which is now governed by Elaine.  During a sequence between LeChuck and Elaine Guybrush appears and is taken prisoner once more by LeChuck.  During his escape, Guybrush finds a diamond ring on LeChuck’s ship as he escapes and takes it with.

Shortly after the escape, Guybrush proposes to Elaine with the ring, which turns out to be cursed and turns Elaine into a gold statue.  Of course the statue that Elaine turns into is stolen and Guybrush needs to get her back….er….it back.

Guybrush talks to the Voodoo Lady from the last game that informs him he must retrieve another ring, this one uncursed, from Blood Island if he wants to restore the love of his life to normal again.  Along the way things don’t go smoothly, first no one knows where Blood Island is anymore, so you need to find a map……which is tattooed to the back of an uncooperative pirate.  Then once more you need to find a ship and crew…..again.

Eventually, after finding and doing everything you need, you’re off and sailing to Blood Island, when confronted by a Captain Rottingham, who boards the ship and bests Guybrush in one on one combat…..well…..its a game of insult swordfighting.  Rottingham then takes the map to Blood Island.  Guybrush eventually learns more and better insults from other pirates (similiar to in the first game) and defeats Rottingham regaining the map.  Which doesn’t matter because a storm grabs Guybrush’s ship and wrecks it on….Blood Island.  During the crash the statue of Elaine is propelled deep into the island.  On Blood Island, Guybrush eventually finds the statue, gets a uncursed ring and turns Elaine back to normal…..then they are taken prisoner by LeChuck’s skeleton army…..

How’s it end?  Well I think I gave you enough spoilers, granted I left a whole lot out, but that’s because I want you to play the game!

Gameplay

Pretty similiar to the first two, a few tweaks here and there but for the most part it plays the same, the one main difference is that it doesn’t show the command list at the bottom of the screen.

Graphics and Sound

Curse was the last hurrah…or hizzah…in this case for the faithful SCUMM engine.  The Interface was tweaked also, changing the familiar look that had the commands at the bottom, this provided more space for the game itself.  Also the graphics were much improved, a bit cartoonier, but much improved.  The music is still scored by Michael Land and still uses the iMUSE engine.  Also, Curse was the first Monkey Island game to have voice acting.

Conclusion

Another great game in the series and another worth playing.  I haven’t been able to find it on gog or steam, but I’m guessing its still out there somewhere and would be worth a play.  Plus come on, don’t you want to know how it ends?

Games You Should(ve) Played……The Monkey Island Series part 2

Monkey Island 2: LeChuck’s Revenge (1991)

The second in the Monkey Island series, LeChuck’s Revenge was released in 1991, just a year after the original.  It looked and played just about the same as the original and also had a remake recently.  One of the main differences was that Revenge was only availible on MS-DOS, Amiga Macintosh and eventually on FM Towns.

Story and Characters

All the same main characters, Guybrush, Elaine and LeChuck are all here along with a few others.  The location has changed and you are no longer on Melee Island, you are in the Tri-Island area of the Caribbean, although all three islands are made up.  The three islands that make up the area are Dinky Island, Phatt Island and Booty Island, although most of the gameplay takes place on a fourth island, Scabb Island.

The Tri Island Area!

The game begins with Guybrush hanging from a rope over a hole while telling Elaine, who incidentally is hanging from an adjoining rope.  The game itself is a flashback of what happened leading up to that moment.

The flashback starts with Guybrush telling some pirates about his adventure and how he defeated LeChuck.  He also mentions that he is looking for the treasure of Big Whoop.  Much to Guybrushes dismay he finds that LeChucks old first mate, Largo LaGrande, has closed off the island.  Which means that Guybrush can’t leave to search for the treasure.  This leads to a showdown between Guybrush and Largo.  While Guybrush defeats Largo, he also mentions that he has LeChuck’s beard, which Largo promptly steals and uses to resurrect LeChuck. The difference? Well now LeChuck is a zombie, not a ghost.

Turns out the treasure of “Big Whoop” is a key to another dimension that can help Guybrush escape LeChuck forever.  After a lot of research at a library, drinking contest, gambling and a whole lot more, Guybrush recovers all the fragments of a map that should show the location of the treasure.  As Guybrush is having the map decoded, both the map and the decoder are kidnapped LeChuck.  Guybrush sneaks into LeChuck’s lair to rescue Wally the cartographer and the map, sadly, they escape without the map.

Guybrush eventually ends up on Dinky Island, Where he eventually finds a parrot that helps guide him to Big Whoop.  Guybrush uses explosives to dig up the burial site, which Elaine hears from Booty Island and heads over to investigate.  The flashback is now over and we are at the opening sequence.  Elaine agrees to help under one condition…..if it shuts Guybrush up.  As Elaine agrees Guybrushe’s rope snaps and he falls into some tunnels under the island.  Here he is confronted by LeChuck and chases him through the tunnels with a voodoo doll.  Throughout the chase there are some surprises, one is that LeChuck claims to be Guybrush’s brother, you also stumble upon a sign that points to a medical examination room, that is labeled Lost Parents and contains the skeletons of Guybrush’s parents, he also finds an elevator to Melee Island and what appears to be the inner workings of an amusement park….and that’s all I’m telling you….

Gameplay

Same as the first game, good ole point and click

Graphics and Sound

Same as the first game, except it was only released in VGA on the PC.  It was also was remade into a special edition.  Soundwise, it used the iMuse sound engine, which was revolutionary at the time because it allowed the music to change to fit the environment or scene.  Same with the Special Edition, it’s scene for scene just like the Special Edition version of the first one.

Conclusion

Revenge is a bit longer and more confusing than the first but is still a great game worthy of your time and effort.  Just as the first game, I highly recommend it.

Games You Should(ve) Played……The Monkey Island Series part 1

So I know its been a long time since my last post, two maybe three weeks ago.  It’s been busy both at work and at home, to add to everything there was an unexpected death in the family.

This weeks Games You Should(ve) Played is going to focus on the LucasArts adventure series Monkey Island.  I decided to change my format a bit though, and instead of featuring 5 or so games in one long post I’ll post one a day to make it easier 0n my faithful readers…so come along….Monkey Island awaits……

A long time ago in a galaxy far far away, after Starwars and Indiana Jones, but before Jar Jar ruined Star Wars.  Lucas made video games, and some damn good ones.  Lucasarts was one of the premiere point and click adventure game makers and the cream of the crop from them was The Monkey Island series.  The Monkey Island series follows the adventures of wannabe pirate Guybrush Threepwood.  The original game garnered critical and public acclaim and spawned four sequels, the last being released in 5 episodes.  The games have been so influential, that the original is in one of five games selected for The Art of Video Games exhibition at the Smithsonian Art Museum.  It also holds a Guinness world record for being the first graphic adventure to become a stage play, because in 2005, Chris Heady, a student at Hammond High School in Columbia Maryland wrote a screenplay adaptation of it, LucasArts even licensed the play to them for a year as long as it was not for profit.

Monkey Island has been around for years and built a lasting legacy, and that legacy began with…….

The Secret Of Monkey Island (1990)

Story and Characters

The Atmosphere of the game was based on the Pirates of the Carribean theme park ride (yes it was a ride before movies!) oddly enough, some scenes from the Monkey Island games appear to have influenced scenes in the movies, I’m not going to take the time to point it out, but you can find the comparisons on the internet.  In fact there is even a “slight” resemblance between Guybrush and Orlando bloom, well at least the way they dress.  Ok, so heres a link, take it with a grain of salt, I wouldn’t consider the movie a complete rip off, especially since the game was based off the ride, but here it is http://www.cracked.com/article_19443_7-classic-movies-you-didnt-know-were-rip-offs.html Another unique part of the game is that the player can’t die, well except if he is underwater for more than ten minutes.  This tends to make the game more slapstick and more enjoyable, knowing that you can do and say whatever you want makes for some great conversation.

Guybrush and Elaine

So anyway on to the plot!  The game doesn’t actually start on Monkey Island, you (Guybrush) start off on Melee Island with aspirations of becoming a pirate.  Guybrush is told to seek out the Pirate leaders at the Scummbar (Scumm is actually an acronym for the name of the game engine.)  You meet the three pirate leaders and are then given three trials to complete in order to become a pirate.

Guybrush and the pirate leaders

The three in no particular order are winning a sword duel against the Swordmaster of Melee Island, finding the buried treasure of Melee Island and stealing an idol from the governor’s mansion.

The 3 trials

After you complete the trials, just when you think its almost over, the governor (who turns out to be a governess and your love interest) is kidnapped by the evil ghost pirate, LeChuck, and has been taken to Monkey Island.  It’s up to you to form a crew (lazy as they may be), buy a ship and set sail to save her!

Gameplay

Not much to really say here, its point and click for the most part, even the special edition version that came out for various systems.  No button mashing or anything like that, just adventure.

Ah good ole point and click goodness!

Graphics and Sound

Classic early 90’s graphics, running SCUMM engine, a proprietary engine from Lucasfilm Games that was originally seen in the first Maniac Mansion game.  The original version of the game was in eye popping 320×200 16 color EGA and a VGA version with 256 color support.  The SCUMM engine allowed the graphics to be at the top half of the screen, while the available commands were at the bottom, you would just move the cursor to the command you wanted.  The music was composed in house at Lucasfilm Games in MIDI by Michael Land.  The game was released in 1990 on 3.5” floppy disc, with a CD version in 92 that contained a higher quality version of the music.  There was no voiceover work, the player had to read all the dialog.

In 2010 LucasArts released a special edition of the game for multiple platforms.  The remake is extremely faithful to the original and even features similar gameplay.  The special edition also used hand drawn screens, voice overs for the charaters, a hint system and there is even a function that allows you to switch from the special edition to the original! which is pretty neat because it really shows how close they were to the original when making it.  Oh, there is also a hint system, that trust me, comes in handy.

Side by Side comparison of the original and special editions.

The new graphics and sound enhance what was already a great experience and it’s still a great experience.

Conclusion
The Secret Of Monkey Island was a great game back in the day that combined comedy and a bit of adventure.  It still accomplishes that to this day and stands the test of time.  It’s still a great game from the heyday of adventure games and I highly recommend it.

Games You Should(ve) Played…..’Splosion Man

Ah good ole fashioned 2D side scrolling video games.  What was the last one I really enjoyed?  Super Mario 3? Still pretty good.  Sonic? Always have a soft spot for that little blue guy, plus he can run circles around Mario’s fat plumber ass.  Gex? Loved the first two, that were side scrolling, although the pop culture references are now dated.  So what was the last great one I played?  Well, it wasn’t any of the classics.  One of, if not the best 2D side scroller I ever played was Splosion Man.  Yup.  While it was released back in 2009, I didn’t play it until 2011, and boy was I glad I did.  It’s awesome, I mean Twisted Pixel really got it right, and the best part?  It wasn’t even that expensive!

It was the summer of 2009 when it was released, part of the Xbox Live Summer of Arcade if I recall correctly.  At the time, there was slim pickings when it came to the Xbox Live Arcade.  Sure there were a few gems but most of the games were either console ports of puzzle games or just not great.  Then Twisted Pixel dropped Splosion Man in July.  Now granted the summer of 2009 was good for XBLA, because shortly after Splosion Man came Shadow Complex (but I’ll talk about that one in another article.)  

Story and Characters

The story revolves around you, the main character, Splosion Man.  The product of a science experiment on the loose in a laboratory known as Big Science.  You are made totally of explosive material, which allows you to ‘splode repeatedly.  A ‘splode is pretty much a jump, and its all you can do other than move.  The basic premise of the game is to ‘splode your way through various maze’s and puzzles.  Oh, the ‘splode also allows you to destroy many things, ranging from scientists and robots to parts of the environment.  

One of the best parts of the game is the sense of humour throughout the game.  It’s reminiscent to me of Gex with pop culture references thrown in along with a dash of Earthworm Jim.  A great example of the sense of humour the game has is “The Way of The Coward” mode, that is offered to players after repeating levels a certain amount of times, the mode allows you to skip the level.  The influences from other games don’t stop there..  ‘Splosion Man moves fast….I mean real fast…..Sonic fast…..which makes this colorful game look like a psychedelic blur at times, but man is it a hell of a ride.  I’m sure if you compared it to all the others, it would look like Twisted Pixel took all the best elements of 2D side scrollers and put them in a blender.  They did a fine job of it also.

Gameplay

What can I say? It’s a 2D side scroller, what do you think the gameplay is like?  To be fair, there are some unique things, you can ‘splode off walls, ‘splode near barrels to launch him farther and higher.  Also, there are puzzles that are set off by ‘splodes and some of these are quite an impressive chain of events, and quite hard.  While you don’t have an inventory and don’t carry items, you can pick up one, cake.  Yup he loves cake and picking up and eating the cake gives you extra points or achievements.

One thing I will say is that it is a pretty deep game, with 50 or so levels and 3 bosses to fight it’s a pretty good length for a downloadable game.  Plus you can play up to 4 player co-op, which has 50 co-op levels.  The best part?  You never see the phrase “I’m sorry Mario, but your princess is another castle!”

As for the controls, I thought they felt smooth and I didn’t have any real issues with them, at times there may have been a wonky camera angle but nothing that took away from the gameplay and fun.

Graphics and Sound

So, I lied.  I’ve been calling a 2D side scroller, but technically it’s classified as a 2.5D game.  Basically that means that the graphics are 3D, but gameplay is restricted to 2D.  The characters have a nice cartoony feel to them and when the scientists explode, they really explode.  You see all kinds of meat products fly at the screen.  The color palette is bright and really works well to make the game appealing and fun to play.

The sound is also good.  The sound effects are great and the one liners that are said are also great.  I mean it won’t win any awards for it, but the sound and music are more than sufficient for the game.

Conclusion

‘Splosion Man is a challenging yet fun side scroller that will keep the average gamer busy for a good couple of hours.  Plus the co-op mode is a lot of fun also.  I think the game shows that you can get an excellent quality game that provides hours of enjoyment for well under the 60 bucks that most games cost.  Twisted Pixel set out to make a kick ass game and they delivered.  I highly recommend it….oh and I lied once more….It was the best side scroller I played….until Ms Splosion Man….but thats for another article.  Thanks for reading and keep gaming!

-JP

Games You Should(ve) Played……All Zombies Must Die!

So for this edition of Games You Should(ve) Played, we are featuring a little game called All Zombies Must Die!  Developed by doublesix and published by Square Enix, this little game came out at the end of 2011.  Now I know what you’re thinking, “Really? Another zombie game?”  but this isn’t a normal survival horror game.  While the storyline is typical, small town gets infected and you need to escape, the game isn’t typical.  

Story and Characters

What I love is that it isn’t a serious survival horror game at all, seriously it’s not.  The graphics are cartoony, its a 3rd person shooter and there are 4 characters to choose from, one for sure is a bit out there.  There are 4 characters, each with their own secondary attack.  The primary is Jack, the protagonist of the game, then there is Rachel, his ex-girlfriend and Bryan the scientist.  The 4th character well, he’s a rastafarian alien named Luxo, yup.  Like I said the game doesn’t take itself seriously hell, it’s not even funny and that’s what I love about it.

Graphics and Sound

I already mentioned that the graphics are cartoony, which they are.  The game uses the Unreal 3 engine so even though they are cartoony they look good.  I did have a few issues with them though.  Not so much the graphics, but the camera.  The camera is fixed, which is fine until you walk behind something, then you pretty much disappear.  Other than that it ran smooth and I really didn’t see any graphical glitches at all.

As for the sound, it’s what you would expect from an inexpensive arcade style game.  It’s sufficient, it’s not going to win any awards, but it works and there are some pretty good sound effects here and there.

Gameplay

Ever play Gauntlet?  Well, this is basically the same idea, only with zombies.  You can play single player or co-op, if you’re playing alone and one of your buddies wants to jump in, all they have to do is hit the start button.  It also uses both analog sticks to play, one to move and one to aim….which I didn’t notice for like an hour.  I think it plays pretty much how I expected it, I thought it was fun, especially with other people.  I will give them some credit, the more you kill, the more zombies come, so it’s nice to have the help of friends…..unless friendly fire is on.

They also have minor RPG elements in the game.  There are quests that the gates will send you on, usually just kill a bunch of zombies or find an item.  You also get xp for killing and finishing quests so you can then level up your characters.  Don’t get your hopes up though, it isn’t that deep of a system, but at least they added a little incentive.

Conclusion

So what’s my take?  Well, most other reviews don’t give the game much credit.  I bought it for multiplayer co-op zombie killing, that was just about killing zombies and having fun.  For me, it achieved that.  I like it and it’s not a game that I found frustrating, which is nice.  If you’re looking for a great RPG and deep story….then this isn’t for you.  It’s not Left 4 Dead but its pretty good, plus its cheap.  It’s available on XBOX 360, Playstation 3 and Windows, so try the demo and see what you think.  Thanks for reading and Keep Gaming!

-JP

 

Games You Should Play…..The Space Quest Collection!

          For the first installment of Games You Should’ve Played, We revisit the classic adventure game series Space Quest.  I know its not just one game, but to be honest, I don’t think this blog needs to be about just one game at a time.  If you’re a Sci-Fi fan, Star Trek fan, Starwars fan, or hell, fan of any classic space or horror flick you’ll enjoy this series.  The Space Quest series was one of the classic series that made Sierra Online a powerhouse in the 80’s and early 90’s.  The game was created as a parody of Star Trek and Starwars, to me it basically took the red shirt from Star Trek that usually dies and made him into the hero.  The series was chock full of not only sci fi lore, but tons of hilarious dialog and pop culture references.  The games didn’t take themselves seriously and in fact in some games the characters even reference that they are in a game.  The series was created by Mark Crowe and Scott Murphy, who referred to themselves as “Two Guys From Andromeda”  They created the story and the somewhat ill fated red shirt hero….Roger Wilco…..So now, on to the games!

Space Quest 1 – The Sarien Encounter

Released in October of 1986, The Sarien Encounter was the first installment of the series.  Unlike the other games, the main character is not actually named, you are asked to enter a name.  The default name shown is Roger Wilco, but can be changed.  This is not allowed in the series starting with Space Quest 3, Roger Wilco becomes the heroes official name after this game.
The game begins as the ship Roger is aboard is attacked.  We quickly learn that our hero isn’t the Captain or even a security person, he’s the janitor, and the time of attack, he is sleeping in a broom closet!  It turns out that the ship was attacked by the Sariens who want to get their hands on the “Star Generator”, basically a rip off of the Genesis device from Star Trek 2.  With the help of a keycard you find on a dead body, you’re able to escape the ill fated ship on crash land on a nearby planet.
After emerging from the escape pod, you find yourself on a desert planet that is eerily similar to Tatooine from Star Wars.  As you are trying to find your way off the planet you meet an alien that offers help if you slay a massive beast.  After vanquishing the beast you are rewarded with a “skimmer”, a vehicle that hovers slightly above the sand….landspeeder?  The alien also points you in the direction of a town that may help you off the planet.
You eventually make it to the town, but don’t have enough money to get off of planet dustball.  Luckily, in the local bar, there is a slot machine, so after a while you win enough money to get off the planet.  After winning enough money to get off world, you overhear the coordinates of the Sariens ship.  So of course wanting some revenge you head to the ship to destroy it.  

          After you successfully destroy the ship and save the universe Roger is awarded the Golden Mop for his efforts.  The game is fun throughout, and even the the graphics are nowhere near the quality people are used too, the story and dialogue keep you going.  Plus it’s nice to play the underdog who saves the universe isn’t it?

Graphics and Gameplay

The graphics back in 1986 weren’t stellar, which meant the story had to be great, Space Quest 1 is no exception.  The game was made in Sierras own AGI engine.  While not in 3D, it allowed the players characters to pass behind objects giving the illusion that it was 3D.  The game was in a stunning 160X200 resolution displaying an amazing 16 EGA colors!  Soundcards hadn’t been invented yet, so all sounds came from the amazing sounding PC internal speaker!

          Don’t fret though, because in  1991, the game was re released using Sierras then state of the art SCI language which allowed the game to be remade in eye popping lifelike VGA graphics, with soundcard support and even a mouse interface.

Space Quest 2 – Vohaul’s Revenge

Vohaul’s Revenge picks up shortly after the events of Space Quest 1.  Due to his new hero status, Roger is given is own command! Kind of, he is made head janitor on a remote space station.  It turns out that it’s not all it’s cracked up to be, as he is the only person on the station.  Everything is going along quietly and boringly, until he is abducted by the Villainous Sludge Vohaul.
It turns out that Sludge is who was behind the events in the first game and is pissed about you ruining his evil scheme, so pissed that he has basically gone batshit crazy!  So as you are being transported to labor mines as punishment, your prison ship crash lands (what is it with Roger and spacecraft?)  on a nearby planet, at least this time its jungle and not desert.  Your first task is to escape from Sludge’s henchmen, after that you escape the jungle planet also.
You eventually end up taking the fight to Sludge at his asteroid base, that’s where you also find out the evil plan.  What is the evil plan you ask? To wipeout all life by cloning millions of clones! of insurance salesmen! Of course you thwart the plan and escape in a space capsule and are left floating in space in cryo sleep…..waiting to be found…..in Space Quest 3…….

Graphics and Gameplay

This will be one of the shortest paragraphs I’ve ever written.  Basically, the graphics, gameplay and sound are basically the same.  There were some minor tweaks but overall the game looks about the same as the original first.

Space Quest 3 – The Pirates of Pestulon

          Space Quest 3 picks up with Roger’s escape pod being rescued….fittingly by an automated garbage scow.  It’s also the first game where you can’t choose your own name, thats right, from here on it it’s Roger Wilco!  While exploring the garbage scow, which includes mock versions of a pod from 2001: A Space Odyssey, The Jupiter-2 from Lost in Space and other classic sci-fi space debris, you find the Aluminum Mallard and the Tin Goose.  The first task you have is to repair the Mallard so you can get off the scow.

           You eventually leave the scow, and are chased briefly by Arnoid the Annihilator, who is after you for stealing a whistle in Space Quest 2.  While escaping Arnoid and traveling the galaxy, you come across the evil ScumSoft software company, run by the Pirates of Pestulon (hence the name of the game)  It turns out that the CEO of ScumSoft had the Two Guys from Andromeda kidnapped and has been forcing them to create horrible games.  Of course you decide to save them.  You eventually infiltrate the ScumSoft offices, rescue the Two Guys, defeat the bad guy and make the universe safe for video games everywhere.

Graphics and Gameplay

By the time Space Quest 3 rolled around in 1989, the Soundblaster had gained popularity.  This development meant that the sound was much improved, in fact the music was composed by Bob Sienberg, the drummer of Supertramp (a band I think is awesome and extremely underrated.)
Graphically it looked much better and had mouse support, although it wasn’t great.  It also used Sierra’s SCI engine which provided the added features.  This was one of the first games to offer an easter egg.  In the minigame, Astro Chicken, if you get the high score you get a hidden distress message from the two guys.
Space Quest 3 was one of the best adventure games ever and is a game I thoroughly enjoy today.

Space Quest 4 – Roger Wilco and The Time Rippers

Space Quest 4 was released in March of 1991.  It was also the first Space Quest game to be released on CD.  The CD release was in December of 1992.  Those of us with the CD version were treated to full speech support.  Full speech support wasn’t the only thing it was an early adopter of, it also used motion capture for the animation.  Those two items plus using 256 color hand painted graphics made the cost of Space Quest 4 soar to 1 million dollars.
The storyline? well, that’s where it gets interesting and a bit confusing.  Roger decides that after saving the Two Guys, he needs a bit of a break.  So on his way back to his job he stops at the planet Magmetheus.  He spends the time drinking in a bar.  He is in the middle of a conversation with two strange looking aliens when suddenly he is interrupted and brought outside by the Sequel Police for a message.  Yup Sequel Police, this is the first game that blatantly knows it’s a game.  Who is the message from? Well, it’s from Roger’s old “friend” Sludge Vohaul.  Now I know what you’re thinking, “Didn’t we take care of him in Space Quest 2?” Well, yes….and no.  Anyway Sludge tells him that he must die in order for Sludge’s latest plan to succeed.  So as the Sequel Police are about to kill Roger he is rescued by two mysterious guys.  In order to escape they enter a time rip.

          After jumping into the time rip, he ends up in the Space Quest 12 time era….yup, thats how the game refers to it, once again showing that the game knows its a game, plus it makes it kind of funny.  So anyway as you start to look around, you find that it looks a bit familiar, in fact you’ve been here before, its Xenon, only it looks completely wrecked.  Roger decides to find out what exactly happened.

          He eventually finds a time pod and through dumb luck uses it and arrives in Space Quest 10 Latex Babes of Estros.  He eventually ends up in Space Quest 1, where the graphics revert to the original, as he stays in 256 colors and is chased by a gang of monochromatic bikers that don’t like his new and fancy colors.  You eventually run into Sludge and need to defeat him again….for the final time.  You also find that it was your future son that saved you in the beginning of the game.

Graphics and Gameplay

          As I stated above, Space Quest 4 used motion capture, 256 color VGA for lifelike (at the time) graphics and full speech support.  Also it was hand painted and had a great look to it at the time.  The use of the mouse was also perfected and using the mouse didn’t have any of the strange glitches from the previous game.

          There is also another minigame, Ms Astro Chicken and multiple easter eggs for your gaming pleasure.  Space Quest 4 sold more copies than any of the previous installments and received superb reviews.

Space Quest 5 – Roger Wilco The Next Mutation

Space Quest 5 was released in the beginning of 1993.  It’s a slight departure from the others, as it seems to be more of a straight Star Trek parody.  It starts off with Roger graduating from Starcon Academy and getting his own garbage scow.  There are still other sci-fi references such as a facehugger mascot called spike.
The game starts off with dramatic opening sequence, before you find that Roger is playing a flight simulator at the Academy.  When he fails, he cheats to pass the aptitude test and is given his very own ship….a garbage scow….called the Eureka…..that happens to look like a vacuum.  This game is also a bit different from the rest, it has a plot and subplot along with small episodic missions.
The main plot involves stopping a disease from spreading across the galaxy and mutating all that come in contact with it.  To do this he needs to find where it originated from.  during the course of the main plot is the subplot.  Rogers son from Space Quest 4, visits him again and shows him a hologram of his mother, Rogers wife.  He tells him that he is supposed to meet her in Space Quest 5 and needs to protect her, or else the son won’t exist, neither would Roger or Space Quest 5.
Along with the two plot points are several, well three, episodes to be played.  In the first Roger is hunted by the sister of the cyborg from Space Quest 3.  The second involves Roger having to rescue his chief engineer after he ended up in a fight.  The third is a spoof of the fly, in which a teleporter accident with a fly caused Roger to have a tiny fly body.  He must then of course return his head to his body.
You soon find that the disease is being caused by an illegal dumping operation, good news! Bad news, the crew of the StarCon flagship, SCS Goliath, and her captain Raems T Quirk (hmm….that name seems familiar) have been infected and attack you.  Roger ends up destroying his own ship to save the galaxy and for a brief moment becomes the Commander of the Goliath.  Hell, he even gets the girl in the end!  This is a great game and trust me, there’s more to it then I revealed here and is still worth playing.
Graphics and Gameplay

Space Quest V used the same engine as 4 and was released only on floppy again.  This prevented them from having any digital voice in the game.  No one seems to know the real reason for this, some say Dynamix, who was working on it, was running out of money and needed a game that sold and couldn’t wait.  While others say it was just a regular decision.
It was also the first game that had only one of the creators working on it.  It was also the second Sierra title to be sponsored by a real company, Sprint.  At the end of all communications, there was a sprint logo.  How’s that for ahead of it’s time?  It was also the only one in the series to be availible for only DOS.

Space Quest 6 Roger Wilco in the The Spinal Frontier

What to say about this one?  There was internal struggle and strife throughout the making and it shows in some parts of the game where things are just disjointed.  Released in 1995, it was on CD, supported SVGA and was available for DOS, Windows and once again MAC.  The game was mostly designed by Josh Mandel, with Space Quest co creator Scott Murphy, onboard as a consultant.  Mandel left near the end of development due to differences with Sierra and Murphy completed the game.

          After the events of Space Quest 5, you would think that Wilco was a hero, but you’d be wrong.  6 starts out with Roger being court marshaled for ridiculous petty reasons, and because he’s an idiot, he can’t defend himself against them.  So of course he is busted down to janitor second class and sent to the SCS DeepShip 86.

          After shore leave it’s discovered that the widow of a StarCon Admiral is gunning for Roger.  This time, not to really kill him, just to remove his conscience and insert hers into his body so she can continue to live.  Just like the previous game, there are a few spoof type missions to go on, and a sub plot.
Stellar, another crew member, saves Roger from the plot and appears to die in an explosion.  Roger then finds that she is still alive and that the widow is going to use her body.  Throughout the adventure, Roger starts to fall for stellar and has to constantly remind himself about his love for Beatrice, the mother of his son.
The game sadly ends on a cliffhanger that is never officially solved, since Space Quest 7 was never made.

Gameplay and Graphics

The graphics were better than the last game, due to being in SVGA, and the overall look of the game was better.  The gameplay, well, was similar yet different.  There were some minor tweaks to the familiar menu system.  Also, due to the change in creators, the puzzles and gameplay near the end differed from the beginning, making the game feel disjointed. It wasn’t a bad game, just not as good as the last 3, and sadly it was the last in the series.

Conclusion

Even by todays standards I find these games extremely fun, but with a qualifier, you need to be in the mood for a text/mouse controlled adventure game.  They were witty and creative and its sad that Space Quest 7 was never made.  Hopefully someday it will make an official return.  There is good news for Space Quest fans though! First, the original Guys From Andromeda are reunited and working on a new game that is similar to Space Quest.  There’s a kickstarter for it here http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/spaceventure/two-guys-spaceventure-by-the-creators-of-space-que

There have been a few fan fiction games that have continued the series, the most popular two are Space Quest Vohaul Strikes Back, which can be found here http://www.sqvsb.com/ and Space Quest Incinerations which can be found here http://www.boxofmystery.com/games/incinerations/

I highly recommend the original 6 games though, they were and still are great games.  Also, you can find them for cheap all over the place, from www.gog.com to the Steam client.  So get them and try them out.  you won’t be sorry.

-JP

Welcome to Games You Should(ve) Played

So I was talking to some of my younger cousins one day and mentioned Fallout.  After talking about the game for a bit it dawned on me that they were talking about Fallout 3! I was talking about Fallout.  So I decided to start a blog featuring games that I think people should play, whether they’re old games or newer games, the games that will be featured by my associates and I are games (or sometimes game series) that we think you should play.  We will feature games from across the spectrum and across all systems, so strap in and enjoy the ride…..and you know what, maybe you’ll see some Games You Should Play!

-JP