Review Category: Games

GAME REVIEW: CAVERNS OF THE SNOW WITCH / AUTHOR: IAN LIVINGSTONE / PUBLISHER: TIN MAN GAMES / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

By now it’s fair to say that we know the score when it comes to Tin Man Games’ adaptations of Fighting Fantasy game books. The Australian game-developer has made a name for itself by turning these classics into new apps for mobile devices.  For those of you unlucky enough to miss the 1980s, Fighting Fantasy books put the reader in charge of the narrative, demanding that you make decisions at key points. Sometimes these decisions would involve a fight with monsters or something similarly perilous, and dice would be involved. Tin Man Games have automated these elements by adapting them for your smartphone, though clever design still allows you to fudge dice rolls and cheat in other ways as well.

Caverns of the Snow Witch is considered a bit of a classic by connoisseurs of the Fighting Fantasy franchise.  Like most of the books, it’s set in Allansia, a high fantasy land filled with elves, dwarves, orcs and similar sort of creatures. The adventure begins with you being hired to deal with some sort of giant snow beast which is tormenting the local traders. Of course, it’s not as simple as that; once you’ve dealt with one problem, you uncover a deeper mystery and find yourself embroiled within the machinations of a hideous and powerful creature known to the locals as the Snow Witch. Getting in and out of a lair is a task in and of itself, and dealing with all the consequences of the Snow Witch’s evil raises this little game from a simple distraction to an epic quest. The narrative is a sprawling one, and just when you think it’s about to be over another plot twist comes along. This is part of the fun and also lends itself well to casual play, making it a great distraction for commuters.

Livingstone’s writing and game design are very strong here; the story telling is done in such a way that the player can bring as much immersion to the affair as they wish; you can get really stuck in if you want or you can just play this in a simple way, solving the puzzles, winning the battles and not really paying that much attention to the plot. Both approaches are equally fun. The art has also been given a bit of polish and there are some cracking illustrations on this app.

It fits in well with the other Fighting Fantasy games Tin Man produces, and indeed you could quite cheerfully play this and Forest of Doom one after each other and keep a lot of narrative consistency. Those of us who have a had a little bit too much of listening to the Frozen soundtrack this year may also get a kick out of beating up snow witches. Caverns of the Snow Witch is a great blast from the past, perfect for the winter months.
 

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GAME REVIEW: ELMINAGE GOTHIC / PUBLISHER: STARFISH SD, GHOSTLIGHT / PLATFORM: PC / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

Video games are still a medium that is in its infancy, one that has gone through rapid changes and yet has never forgotten its roots. Modern fantasy roleplaying games have amazing graphics, sound and storytelling, and have come a long way from the days of pure text adventure gaming such as Zork. However, text-adventures are still made and are commercially viable; video games never seem to quite let go of past iterations, and this is a good thing as it allows different stories to be told in different ways.

Elminage Gothic is a game that is neither a primitive text game nor a modern, all-singing, all-dancing Dragon Age clone. Instead it draws inspiration from the initial Might and Magic games of the early-90s, using simple graphic interfaces and relatively crude graphics to create a monster-bashing game that comes straight from the golden age of dungeon crawling adventures. The traditional RPG elements are strong and it’s so similar to early Dungeons and Dragons games that you can almost hear the dice rolling in the background.

The game dips the player straight into the action; there’s very little story building to begin with and character creation is optional; if you’re itching to get stuck in and start hitting orcs the game will happily oblige. Your party, such as it is, happens to be comprised of the usual fantasy roleplaying clichés (warriors, wizards, etc), with plenty of weird things to add to the pile as you get stuck in. The plot is also very nineties; the gods have left (pretty much) and a great darkness is sweeping the land.  Bad guys are trying to raise the evil gods back to prominence and it’s your job to stop that by going into dungeons and beating people up. There’s not much of a story here, just enough to justify monster crawl after monster crawl.

Elminage Gothic takes the concept of equipping your characters to the extreme and you’ll spend a lot of your time sorting through inventory, making sure you have all the potions and maps you need to meet each mission.  At times, this makes it more of a spreadsheet management exercise than an actual game, but the procedural route this game takes is actually part of the appeal – micromanagement is fun when it’s all about monster hunting.

The graphics are simplistic but engaging and the music is just on the right side of repetitive. Elminage Gothic is a blast from the past that will eat your time but not your wallet as it’s a fairly sweet budget game. Nostalgia junkies will love this!
 

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GAME REVIEW: SUNLESS SEA / DEVELOPER: FAILBETTER GAMES / PLATFORM: PC, MAC / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW (EARLY ACCESS)

Failbetter Game’s Sunless Sea is an addictive, atmospheric and thoroughly enjoyable 2D top-down adventure that shouldn’t be missed. The game sees you navigating a vast expanse of sea which has swallowed Victorian London, while taking care of your boat, your crew members and any threats that you might find in the murky waters. Fuel, food and other supplies must all be kept in abundance if you want to thrive on these strange tides, and success in this game depends entirely on your strategy for survival.

One of the many fantastic things about Sunless Sea is its methods of interactive storytelling. The adventure that you’ll embark upon depends entirely on where you go, who you speak to, what quests you choose and what enemies you meet, making every game of Sunless Sea a little different and unique. The plot of the game is told entirely through text and you won’t actually get to step off your boat and have a look around these islands yourself, but this works incredibly well with the tone of the game, and the humorous and dark text works wonders to spark the imagination.

The combat system is possibly the biggest flaw of Sunless Sea. The idea is simple enough – charge your on-board weapon by getting close to your enemy and wait for the time to strike. However, charging your weapon is a slow process when you first start the game, making battling your enemies a very difficult task. Once you have the money you can upgrade your vessel and your weapon, but making money is a hard feat when most enemies you come across can kill you in no time!

There are many ways to die in Sunless Sea, from being attacked by pirates or a swarm of bats to running out of fuel or food, and once you’re gone the only option you have is a new save file. A great feature of the game is the ability to transfer either a crewmate, your explored chart or a skill to your new save file. Strategy is everything in Sunless Sea and decisions are everywhere in this clever indie game.

Sunless Sea is a game that you’ll get the most of if you have the time to invest in it. The choose-your-own fate elements of the plot, the atmospheric and beautiful music and the vast expanse of the world of Failbetter Games’ Fallen London make it a truly absorbing game, but the combat and the complexity of trading, looting and surviving can get a little frustrating. As an early-access game this is definitely one to watch, and fans of games such as Don’t Starve will get hours and hours of sunless joy.

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GAME REVIEW: SID MEIER’S CIVILIZATION: BEYOND EARTH / DEVELOPER: FIRAXIS GAMES / PUBLISHER: 2K GAMES / PLATFORM: PC, OSX, LINUX / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

Effectively the Alpha Centauri to Civilization V, this latest effort by Firaxis to establish a sci-fi strategy title is a release fans will both love and hate. Set in the distant future and the collapse of modern society, humanity has flung itself out into the stars. Between fraying tempers, clashing ideologies and limited resources, the humans are just as likely to combat one another as the dangerous alien natives of the worlds they have descended upon.

Anyone who played Civ V will instantly pick up on a vast number of similarities between the titles, from the hex-based grid system to the general presentation. From accessing cities to engaging in diplomacy, it initially looks at first glance like Civ V with a new coat of paint, but scratch the surface and you will soon find massive changes. Chief among these is the technology system, with the traditional tree being abandoned in favour of a web, with you starting in the centre. Rather than progressing onwards, you branch out, leaning towards one affinity or another as you progress. This dramatically alters your victory conditions, how native life reacts to you, and makes the game far more reliant upon you upgrading and altering certain units than constructing entirely new ones.

The aliens themselves rack up the difficulty, proving to be far more effective and organised than the barbarian tribes of past titles, and emerging with their own units. The likes of the kraken and Godzilla-sized monsters are something which will cause you no end of headaches should you go in all guns blazing. This isn’t to say that humanity doesn’t have its own new set of weird and wonderful weapons to call upon, with the ANGEL mech and orbital weapons facilities both packing a serious punch.

Unfortunately, the title also suffers from a fair number of notable issues which hold Beyond Earth back from accomplishing its true potential. While the game has obviously been built atop of Civ V, it regrettably omitted the more interesting elements of its expansions. With no religion, or few other notable developments such as great works, the game can seem oddly simplistic in its approach. If you only truly began to enjoy Civ V after God & Kings was released, this can seem like a definite step back. Even ignoring this however, the narrative and leaders of the game are far weaker than in other titles, each lacking the impact encountering Genghis Khan or fighting the Spartan Federation would have.

If you want Civilization with phasers and tyranids this is a must buy, but if you’re after a truly expansive and complex 4X title, look elsewhere.

The game is set in the small island nation of San Hermanos. The island is under the iron rule of  ‘The Prince’ a cruel despot, and a rebellion is underway. However, as the rebel leader is captured, the insurgents quickly dissolve. Hope arrives in the form of your ragtag group of mercenaries, with the goal of freeing the island, and giving the islanders a free life.

The game features a full island, so as you can imagine, there’s a lot to explore, or rather, hide behind. It’s very expansive, with each square of land being fairly large, so you’re going to go a while before running out of things to do.

The map screen really reveals the surprisingly large size of this game. Five squares, take up a tiny island off the coast of the mainland. Once you get to the mainland, you’re greeted with 43 more tiles. There’s a lot to it, and you’ll be on San Hermanos for some time.

The map system itself is well set out. Further in the game, you can command multiple squads at once which is pretty kick-ass, and it also seems like it’d make for a fun multiplayer game (hopefully this is something the developers – or extremely talented modders – will consider.)

Flashback features pages of unique characters, each with their own backstories and voices. Our personal favourite is Sidney Nettleson, your stereotypical English Gent who still finds time to spout a load of posh nonsense even when bullets are ripping his torso apart… “I’ve been in better predicaments!” Sidney says as he’s peppered with red hot lead. It’s simply amazing, and there are lots of these characters to choose from. The effort put into creating these mercenaries oozes from the screen, which makes it all the more poignant when they are inevitably killed.

However, Jagged Alliance: Flashback isn’t all rose petals and happiness.

The graphics featured here aren’t the best, but in a game of this genre, you’re not exactly looking for blockbuster level high definition, so it’s quite easy to forget about that. The characters themselves repeat lines extremely often. It won’t be long before you’ve memorised all of the uproarious lines of Sidney Nettleson, as he proudly states “God Save The Queen” every time you select him. This is, again a common feature of the genre, but if you’re new, it can become quickly irritating.

A major problem is that the game isn’t very user-friendly. The inventory screens and such are all quite complicated and overwhelming to a new player and the tutorial doesn’t do an impressive job of explaining much. You’ll get the basic walk/run tools down quickly, but when it comes to more advanced stuff, you’ll be left scratching your head, not knowing what’s what.

One example, is during the actual tutorial, when you’ve saved someone, the game tells you that you need to bandage them. This reviewer spent fifteen minutes trying to figure out what to do, dragging the bandages to every box and button in the inventory, but to no avail. It’s all well and good telling you to do something, but if it’s not explained to you, it’s not going to go too well. It’s worth noting that it was figured out how to apply bandages a while later, but this was out of sheer luck. If you asked us how to do it now, we’d be unable to help.

As well as this, you’ll often get a straight, unobstructed shot on an enemy, but find yourself with only a 58% chance of hitting them. Considering the mercenaries hired are supposed to be experts, a straight shot should rarely be such a gamble.

Jagged Alliance: Flashback shows real potential. It’s got a great map system, amazing characters and good voice acting, and central concept of controlling these mercenaries and shifting the outcome of a revolution all sounds very fun. However, the game is difficult to get the hang of, with a steep learning curve – it feels like you’ve been dropped into the San Hermanos wilderness and told to go and kill a pig with a plastic spoon. Fortunately, you have Sidney Nettleson to keep you company, so it could be worse.

GAME REVIEW: THE EVIL WITHIN / DEVELOPER: TANGO GAMEWORKS / PUBLISHER: BETHESDA SOFTWORKS / PLATFORM: PLAYSTATION 3, PLAYSTATION 4, XBOX 360, XBOX ONE, PC / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

Often “throwback” and “old school” are used to praise a title for bringing old ideas to a new generation. Now we have the game which exemplifies just why sometimes a genre should never attempt this. Appropriately for a game featuring zombies, The Evil Within is a shambling Frankenstein monster of successful game mechanics taken from other titles. Everything here screams of the developer trying to play it safe, with little to nothing left to give The Evil Within its own identity in terms of either gameplay or mechanics.

Within mere minutes of starting you can start counting off the multitude of overused tropes or ideas lifted from better games. From the jaded veteran cop protagonist to a butcher stealth area which might as well have been directly lifted from Outlast, anyone with vague familiarity with the horror genre will have seen everything here a million times before. Taking inspiration would be one thing, but The Evil Within never takes that next step to put a new spin on things, and as a result it’s left without a leg to stand on.

Hammering another nail into its coffin is the failing that few to none of these are handled competently, with clunky movement, poor aiming mechanics and that old issue of fake difficulty. Rather than presenting a real challenge to the player, enemies can both outrun the player and casually one-shot them yet remain bullet spongy beyond belief. This might have worked for a trial and error title ala Dark Souls, but the sheer volume of enemies, severely buggy stealth mechanics and ridiculous save system soon put a stop to that. Time and time again you’ll find that one potentially great idea fails because other mechanics undermine it entirely.

The biggest crime of all though, is that The Evil Within is not scary. Hitting the player full in the face with a level of gore which makes Clive Barker’s creations look conservative, the game aims for a shock factor but lacks the substance to build true terror from this. A big part of this is due to the sheer lack of context, with the game offering players nothing to go on in terms of storytelling nor even what their next objective is. There’s no grounding here or even time to get into the world, and without that starting point every horror trick just lacks any impact.

This is not the game fans were asking for, and it can sometimes prove to be so bad it makes Resident Evil 5 look good by comparison. Avoid this one entirely, especially the exceptionally bug-ridden PC port, and save your hard earned cash for something better.

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GAME REVIEW: SUPER SMASH BROS. / DEVELOPER: SORA LTD., BANDAI NAMCO GAMES / PUBLISHER: NINTENDO / PLATFORM: 3DS, WII U / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW (3DS), DECEMBER 5TH (WII U)

Representing the first pillar of Nintendo’s fascinating cross-platform release strategy with the Wii U, Super Smash Bros. for the 3DS sees the company’s huge nostalgic throwdown bottled up inside a handheld console for the first time. Packing nearly 50 playable characters and a plethora of ways to play, does the 3DS have enough power to ensure daily commutes are rife with battle-torn yells and inflammatory remarks against cutesy pink balls waving hammers? Surprisingly, it does with remarkable ease.

Smash Bros. for the 3DS triumphs in bringing the blockbuster fighting experience to a handheld without feeling like a lesser or diluted version. The battles are still lightning-fast, all the modes you’ve come to expect like Classic, All Star and Stadium challenges are here, and they’ve even crammed in the best online experience for the series yet. Basically, online multiplayer matches now actually work.

For the unfamiliar, Smash Bros. is essentially Nintendo throwing a house party and leaving the cocktail station unattended. Franchises old and new are bundled together in tight arenas, music pumping, booze (probably) flowing, with battles inevitably breaking out between some of gaming’s biggest divas, from Star Fox and Pikachu to Pikmin’s Captain Olimar. Meanwhile, away from the main ruckus, there’s the blissfully sweet drunk in the corner; recounting tales of forgotten Nintendo characters and guiding you past trophy cabinets which celebrate the company’s illustrious and colourful gaming history.

The invited roster this time around is the best yet. Alongside household names like Mario, Link and Donkey Kong are welcomely obscure additions such as Kid Icarus’ Palutena and Shulk from the Xenoblade Chronicles. What’s most impressive is how each fighter (aside from a couple of clones unlocked along the way) feels so distinct and rightfully represented within the beat em’ up frame. The floaty elegance and distance attack reliant Rosalina requiring a completely different style of play in comparison to Punch Out’s Little Mac, who reeks havoc in ground-based assaults but soon loses bite when he’s smashed into the air. The entire roster feels varied without being unbalanced, with customisable moves also being well integrated to make each fighter your own.

While the control scheme is undoubtedly more suited to a console setup, the 3DS button layout still does an admirably commendable job of supporting your grasp on the chaos. There’s a learning curve, certainly, with the less responsive circle pad destined to take a battering in the early stages amongst seasoned players. But after a few matches, it soon feels like you’re slipping back into an old comfy glove, with brief introductions to the games many modes for those new to the series.

The 3DS-specific mode called Smash Run, however, falls a little flat. Before a match, you’ll be thrown into a labyrinth full of Nintendo enemies from across different franchises, from Metroids to the ReDead from the Zelda series, whom you fight to earn power-ups. These temporarily boost your character’s stats, including agility and strength, and once the 5 minute time limit runs out, these abilities are carried over into a context-specific match of random choosing. It has potential, but the labyrinth build-up to the closing match simply lasts far too long. During this time, you won’t come into contact with other players either, making the mode oddly isolating; a bizarre feeling for a mode which is essentially designed for multiplayer.

This misstep aside, Smash Bros. for the 3DS manages to surpass all expectation and excitedly raise them for the forthcoming Wii U iteration. While it’ll be interesting to see if Nintendo can provide enough incentive to keep players interested for its console brethren, the 3DS version is, astoundingly, the full Smash Bros. experience many of us perhaps didn’t expect. So dive in and pick your poison, Nintendo’s party extravaganza has gone mobile and adventures on local transport might not ever be the same again.

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GAME REVIEW: MIDDLE-EARTH: SHADOW OF MORDOR / DEVELOPER: MONOLITH PRODUCTIONS, BEHAVIOUR INTERACTIVE / PUBLISHER: WARNER BROS. INTERACTIVE ENTERTAINMENT / PLATFORMS: PC, PLAYSTATION 3, PLAYSTATION 4, XBOX 360, XBOX ONE / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

Curiously lacking Lord of the Rings in its title, Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor is a release which takes tried and tested ideas then puts its own spin on them.

With a story, which is already making fans of the lore froth at the mouth, the player steps into the shoes of Talion. A ranger tasked with assisting the garrison of the Black Gate at the time of its fall, he is saved from death when a botched ritual fuses him with the wraith of an elf lord of the Second Age. Out for revenge in the name of his dead family, Talion walks a very dark and dangerous path through the wastes of Mordor.

Fans of Batman: Arkham City will immediately pick out some distinctly familiar elements here; the combat, stealth system and certain open world elements having taken heavy inspiration from that title, with even an odd variation of detective mode available for use. However, rather than presenting itself as a cheap copy with a fresh coat of paint, what’s present here builds upon these with new concepts.

Chief among these is the nemesis system and how the title deals with death. In his determination for revenge, Talion can interrogate, assassinate, mind control and manipulate the hierarchy of the orc forces. By targeting specific leaders he can trigger in fighting among their ranks and feuds, setting up the situation he needs to find the Black Númenóreans he is hunting. Your presence and impact will be recognised down to minor details, from certain wounds struck upon them to recalling killing you in a past engagement.

The title’s actual fighting mechanics are extremely well refined, a very good thing given how combat orientated an experience this is. While counters are a key part of combat, unlike Assassin’s Creed they do not make you invincible and the game will not hold your hand in fights. There is absolutely nothing to stop you throwing yourself into a fight far above your tier, and you can easily stumble upon situation where flight is your only option.

If there is a truly notable failing for this title, it’s that the side-quests are unfortunately repetitive. While the title’s content is excellently paced, the final few hours do start to wear thin. This is something not helped by the story ultimately boiling down to a surprisingly generic tale of revenge despite the lavish mo-capped cut scenes. Better diplomatic mechanics and relying less upon the game’s codex for in-depth lore would have significantly helped in both regards.

If you are after another fantasy open world title Shadows of Mordor will be well worth your time, but there are certainly a few better ones out there.