Hide and Geek

Remember wasting whole days at the arcade playing Time Crisis and The House of the Dead? Of course you do. Remember shelling out £70 for Time Crisis 3 and a GunCon? Of course you don’t; light gun games on consoles never really took off like they did in the arcades – not everyone was willing to shell out for the expensive peripherals which would be used for all of the 3 hours it took to complete the game they were bundled with. However, with IR Tech already built in to Nintendo’s Wii Remote, the Wii seems like the perfect console to revive the lightgun genre.

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With 8 years of anticipation behind them, Banjo fans got a real surprise this year when Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts hit the shelves with a few… modifications.

The premise of the game is simple, in a good way, with an “Okay, we know you don’t care about the story, so we’re not going to waste time giving Banjo a motive for collecting jigsaw pieces” approach. The duo have gotten a bit lazy over the years, but they’re soon whipped back into shape, as if by magic, by L.O.G. (the Lord of Games) so they are fit for a new adventure. You are dropped into a universe created by L.O.G. with the aim of defeating Grunty for the rights to Spiral Mountain.

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Disgaea 3 is a casual gamers nightmare. A frightening combination of menus, statistics and yet more menus. Unfortunately this is enough to scare off all but the most hardcore gamer, for those who are comfortable with strategy RPGs however, Disgaea 3 offers one of the most in depth experiences possible in a game. Disgaea 3 is a game where not only each character can  level up (to level 9,999 no less), but each item in the game too. It’s a game that offers hundreds and hundreds of hours of play for those willing to invest the time. It’s a game that has earned an army of fans, numerous hand-held conversions and even it’s own anime. Developer Nippon Ichi have a lot to live up to with the third iteration of the series.

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The XBox 360 is slowly becoming the console of choice for RPG fans. With an ever growing selection of both western and eastern RPGs, now is a great time to be a fan of the genre. Games such as Oblivion, Mass Effect, Eternal Sonata, Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey all add to a great catalogue of titles. Infinite Undiscovery is the latest title that can be added to that list.

Infinite Undiscovery’s story revolves around Capell, a young flute player who bears an uncanny resemblance to a famous hero known as the liberator. Unfortunately this lands him in jail by the hands of a sinister order. Luckily, he is quickly rescued by a woman named Aya, which catapults Capell into the middle of his rescuers mission to destroy chains shackling the planet to it’s moon. And so unfolds an incredibly generic storyline that few will be able to distinguish from any other RPG they’ve ever played. The story is driven through cutscenes with a script and voice acting that even Hollyoaks would be ashamed of. Then there’s the lip syncing, lets just say it’s bad and leave it at that. With no choice of a Japanese option, the only thing to do is grin and bear it, because crappy dialogue aside, the game’s not half bad.

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Hour 4

After collecting the final few puzzle pieces and witnessing possibly the best ending of a game ever, Braid regretfully came to it’s conclusion. After scooping my jaw off the floor, I gathered my thoughts and tried to get my head around the games incredible twist. It’s a story that can be interpreted in numerous ways, but in summary Braid is a game that - hang on a minute. This review has just started with its conclusion. Time to hit rewind…

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Quick thumbs? Jedi reaction times? Optic nerves of steel? If you possess these qualities, chances are you’ll be a dab hand at Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2. Although hardcore at heart, this sequel is far more friendly to beginners than it’s older brother and yet at the same time, far more in depth. New game modes aside, the range of new features has let Geometry Wars ‘evolve’ into a more balanced and strategic experience.

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The release of Final Fantasy VII in 1997 saw the beginning of a new era in gaming, where game narrative evolved from simply rescuing princesses and saving the world from evil. Final Fantasy VII introduced a story with characters who had depth and charisma. The game provoked genuine emotion and everybody who played it will keep a certain death scene firmly in their memories. A prequel then, to arguably the finest RPG ever, was always going to be met with sceptical eyes.

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