Hide and Geek

From day one, we’ve been baffled as to why Capcom thought it a good idea to bring Dead Rising over to the Wii. Capcom made a fantastic decision when they ported GameCube classic Resident Evil 4 to the Wii - the game was a dream to control, it looked better than it ever did thanks to the inclusion of Progressive Scan and a 16:9 aspect ratio, and best of all, the man hours required to bring the game over to Wii were minimal, and thus Capcom could offer an absolutely stellar piece of software to gamers at a fantastic price.

Dead Rising was truly overwhelming in terms of numbers

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The strategy role playing game, or SRPG as it shall hence forth be known, is genre that’s remained largely the same it’s inception. Although not the most well saturated of gaming genres, the few games there are stick to the same rigid formula. More often than not, this involves an isometric battlefield, hundreds of menus and time consuming level grinding. I played Disgaea 3 last year, and although quite possibly the definitive game in the genre, the formula was becoming stale. The genre was in dire need of a reboot.

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We’re not in the business of reviewing films here at Hide and Geek, which is fine, because Resident Evil: Degeneration is nothing more than an hour and a half long cut scene, a poorly executed excuse for a film that will leave a bitter taste in the mouths of many Resident Evil fans.

“Blimey, that’s a bit rough isn’t it Jamin!?” I hear you shout. And yes, by my own admission, I am exaggerating slightly, the ‘film’ does have some merits. The graphics are fairly impressive, if not quite as spectacular as Final Fantasy Advent Children, and the animation does at times deserve praise. Other than this however, there’s little to remain positive about. I literally turned the film off half way through due to boredom and jaw ache from literal cringing. It took all my energy and will to watch the remainder of the film, which never got any better anyway.

The watery, non-sensical plot and predictable storyline will do little to satisfy fans of the series. Set somewhere between Resident Evil 4 and 5, the film follows Leon Kennedy and Claire Redfield as the T-Virus is let loose (again) after being sold on the black market. The film supposedly bridges a gap between Resident Evil 4 and 5, although most will be unaware this gap even existed. The action never gets any better than average and the dialogue (and accompanying lip syncing) is generally awful. Some scenes take obvious inspiration from the book of action film cliches, and the inclusion of a feeble love plot is completely redundant.

I really could go on, I haven’t even mentioned the poor character development, stereotyping or lack of enemies from the games yet - but this vent of anger is a mere procrastination method from ‘real’ work, and I really should get back to it.*

/Jamin wants an hour and a half refund please.

*All my coursework will be handed in by Monday 19th January, and ignoring an exam on the 26th - I should have far more time on my hands to provide content to the site. But apologies again for lack of updates.

High schools and colleges are probably one of the best locations to witness an identity crisis first hand. The halls of such places are inhabited by emotionally unstable teens who can’t quite decide who they want to be in life. Don skinny jeans and wear eyeliner in order to fit in with the people who share your taste in music? Or wear what you want and risk being shunned by the ‘cool crowd’. Acceptance is an incredibly important part of life, but pleasing everybody is an unrealistic goal.

In this respect, teenagers and Ubisoft’s Shaun White Snowboarding share a lot in common. It’s the perfect example of a game that doesn’t quite know what it wants to be. Extreme sports games generally fall into two categories; serious, simulation type games, and over the top unrealistic games. Games such as EA’s SKATE and Amped fall into the first camp. Realistic speed, believable tricks and appropriate aesthetics. Games such as Tony Hawk and SSX reside in the other camp. Tricks that would never be possible in real life, wacky challenges and more relaxed, cartoon like visuals.

Which camp has Ubisoft’s Shaun White Snowboarding decided to call home? Neither apparently. Although initially realistic, the game shares many attributes with the aforementioned ’silly’ games. Whilst the controls could be perceived as a little too realistic, the game still allows for unrealistic combos at the hands of a mechanic that ‘guides’ your airborne boarder to rails regardless of where the trick began. This combined with gameplay deviating from snowboarding in favour of platform style fetch quests result in a game with a somewhat split personality.

Shaun White Snowboarding is a confused soul. A game that doesn’t know quite which path it wants to take. Not in depth enough to be a satisfying snowboard simulator, whilst not wacky or fun enough to be a more arcade style game. From the off, Ubisoft should have been sure which direction to take the game, and focused purely on that. By trying to please everybody, Shaun White Snowboarding is likely to disappoint more players than it’ll please. Even putting these problems to the back of one’s mind, the game suffers from a slew of other problems, however those are for another time and place.

/Jamin really wants a new SSX for PS3.

Disappointment is an emotion that rears it’s head all too often within the games industry. That heart sinking feeling of a game just not cracking up to expectations, the crushing realisation that something that could of been so good, turned out to be complete garbage. In the world of games, it’s an all too common feeling, often games will fail to live up to the high expectations created by excitable journalists during the preview period. Games such as Too Human, and the infamous Rise of the Robots are testament to this fact.

The most recent game to be lumbered in this category is SquareEnix’s latest RPG offering, The Last Remnant. For RPG fans such as myself, this has been on the radar for some time. With SqaureEnix at the helm, and some amazing character art, screenshots and videos, the game had understandably high hopes. On playing the game however, these hopes were well and truly dashed. Yet another title that has disappointed on a grand scale. What makes The Last Remnant even more disappointing, is the fact that under the games crappy shell, there’s actually quite an accomplished game. With more time and polish, it really could have been the next gen RPG fans have been holding out for.

To read a more in depth evaluation of the game, check out my review over at Indoor Heroes.

/Jamin wishes SquareEnix would hurry up with FFXIII…

Some advice; do not play Dead Space before bed. Not necessarily because it’s too scary, but because sleep won’t come easily after a session with the game. It’s 4am as I type this up, and I really should be tucked away in bed dreaming sweet dreams. Instead, my heart is pounding and every time I close my eyes I see monstrous shapes leaping toward me. In the end I gave up trying to sleep and realised I needed to de-stress and calm down a little.

Playing Dead Space is a nerve racking experience. It’s a game driven by tension and adrenaline, treading that fine line between enjoyment and discomfort, which makes it all the more memorable an experience. Although not the scariest game in existence (that title is reserved for Condemned in my books) it’s without a doubt the jumpiest.

Dead Space is a game that lulls the player into a false sense of security. When everything seems safe, you lower your guard and start to relax a little. It’s at these exact points a hideous creature will appear out of nowhere and rip your head off. And believe me when I say, you will jump out of your skin.

It’s a game that won’t let you relax too much, and actually manages to provoke real adrenaline rushes. This banishes boredom entirely from the game. It’s fast paced, atmospheric and incredibly immersive, the removal of the standard non diegetic HUD sees to that. It’s somewhat of a surprise hit, and hopefully hasn’t been overlooked by too many people. If you’re like me, and love games that genuinely engage with your emotions, you’ll love Dead Space.

Right, I think I’ve calmed down enough to get some sleep now, but I’ll leave you with the following words. Buy Dead Space, it’s great.

/Jamin is checking the wardrobe for monsters before bed

I was surprised. Having done little research into the true nature of Disaster: Day of Crisis on Wii, I was quite startled to find out that it was largely an on rails light gun shooter. The game revolves around a dude with a gun and cool hair who is stuck in the middle of some unfortunate situation involving natural disasters and terrorist plots. The one I encountered was a good ‘ol earthquake. The core objective of the game is to get from A to B, navigating these events, and saving random people who are injured as a result of them.

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I remember roughly what I said to Grey when I saw the first Mirror’s Edge trailer, it was something along the lines of “Dude, when stuff this awesome happens, you tell me!”.

I have been excited to play this game for some time now, and I can say that I am not even slightly disappointed. After playing the demo level about two dozen times, and sneaking in a few of the time trials at the EuroGamer Expo in London, I have experienced enough of the game to know that I want more, and to know exactly why.

Mirror’s Edge is a very directed experience, in almost arcade fashion. You are essentially running, jumping and running some more. It feels like a racing game, but with more options for finding the fastest route. The game takes place from a first person perspective, the objective being to get from A to B as fast as possible, avoiding or eliminating those who stand in your way. The game controlled very fluidly, the control system is slightly unconventional, but wholly appropriate. Using the left trigger to do ‘high’ actions such as jumping, and the left bumper to do low actions such as sliding. There are complexities to how you can traverse the levels For example, you can either simply jump up a wall then jump to the adjacent building, or you can run up the wall, turn 180 degrees, then jump from there to the adjacent building. One will clearly be faster, but will you always be able to pull it off?

The graphical fidelity is stunning. However, on larger TV sets you will notice aliasing due to the amount of straight edges around you, but a few jagged edges are the least of your considerations while you’re vaulting over fences and sliding down ramps.

Supporting the arcade nature of the game is a time trial mode, alongside your typical story mode going from level to level, the time trial mode breaks the levels down into smaller sections for you to traverse as quickly as possible. Some might find this peripheral to the overall experience of the game, and others will no doubt embrace it as what the game is really all about, first person parkour racing. This is where the game will get its legs, and where it will flourish beyond a simple story mode, but only for those who care for such things as leaderboards, achievements and top scores.

Mirror’s Edge is shaping up to be a shining example of how a simple game mechanic can be used in new ways. It seems well executed, but whether the game’s seemingly limited content will be enough is really down to how you play games and how much time you can invest in it at the peak of this year’s onslaught of gaming of quality titles.

Woffls

“That was amazing” the Ubisoft PR girl gasped as I pulled off my first backflip. Her compliments fell on deaf ears however, she’d been telling every tom, dick and harry who’d played the game that day exactly the same thing. She wasn’t wrong though, I was amazing. After a short amount of time with the game, the controls felt natural and I was busting out gnarly tricks with every jump. Or maybe it’s just the fact that the game makes you feel like you’re amazing. I genuinely felt like a professional snowboarder as I stood on the Wii Balance board, and although to others I may have looked like a drunk struggling to stand still, I thought I was the shit.

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The first few minutes of the demo assured me very insistently that this was still Banjo. Still funny, still looking great and still at the foot of a fun filled adventure. The game begins with a small cut-scene of our heroes stumbling down a hill, to be greeted by ‘L.O.G.’, the Lord of Games. It becomes apparent very quickly that you are in fact inside a game, which makes the frequent self referential comments throughout the game very welcome indeed.

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