Tuesday, July 21, 2009

GENTLEMEN, START YOUR ENGINES!

When describing the Forza Motorsport online community, "hardcore" does not even come close to doing these folks justice.

Keeping that in mind, the Microsoft gaming gurus teamed up with Audi, one of the top of the line racing car manufacturers, and decided to reward their racing community as the launch date for the highly anticipated Forza Motorsport 3 nears.

Microsoft flew the top nine players in the Forza community, hailing from all over the United States, to New York City for one very special weekend that coincided with the Le Mans 24 hour race in France (that Audi just so happens to dominate most of the time).

After being broken into three-man teams, these elite players competed on a never-before-seen Forza 3 demo for a chance to win a trip to France for Le Mans 2010.

The outlines of the competition had the teams facing off for three hours at a time, one driver for every 40 minutes with the first driver also taking the fourth shift, with the best overall times being electronically monitored by Microsoft experts. After a full 24 hours, the winning team would be decided with the conclusion of the competition tied in directly to the end of the Le Mans race overseas.

While these select few players were competing for the trip of a lifetime, I had a chance to hop on a Forza 3 demo myself in Microsoft's special simulator pod to get some first hand impressions on the game. I was also able to catch up with one of the racers during an off-shift and Brian Lockhart of Turn 10, one of developers of the Forza Motorsport franchise.



Be sure to stay tuned for my second preview of Forza Motorsport 3 where I got to sit down with an extended demo for over an hour and truly put the framework of Forza Motorsport 3 through its paces.

-Ray Carsillo

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

TAKE ME TO YOUR LEADER

During Nintendo's press conference at this year's E3, the Nintendo brass revealed an interesting statistic: 60% of all American households still do not have any home console whatsoever. After making pledges to wage their own personal war against this statistic (in much nicer terms since it is Nintendo) by promising more games to appeal to the casual gamer, they also said that they were afraid of isolating their hardcore audience (guess the Wii's gimmick is finally wearing off).

To appeal to the hardcore gamer, Nintendo showcased games from third-party developers like Red Steel 2, No More Heroes 2: Desperate Measures (both published by Ubisoft) and a decent selection from SEGA.

The presentation by SEGA was surprising since many associate them with the now-tired and mediocre-at-best Sonic the Hedgehog series. Following the release of the solid hit Madworld (a Running Man meets Sin City gore-fest exclusive for the Wii), many felt that SEGA was ready to re-stake a claim as a strong third-party developer. With that in mind, I give you SEGA's newest exclusive title for the Wii: The Conduit.

In The Conduit, you play as Michael Ford, an agent for a secret government organization known as "The Trust" tasked with keeping the world at peace while protecting America's interests. You begin by following the orders of your shadowy leader, John Adams, as you attempt to retrieve stolen technology by a terrorist known only as "Prometheus". As you explore the Washington D.C. metropolitan area, you begin to uncover a conspiracy that reaches into the highest levels of government and involves a lot more than an experimental piece of technology.

In a decision that will change your life and the fate of a nation, you befriend Prometheus as you realize that Adams has his own agenda and that the stolen technology is not of earthly origin. Now, you must wage a one-man war against your government as you try to single-handedly prevent an alien invasion that would spell the fall of life as we know it.

With a game that had as much hype and potential as this one, it's no surprise that it fell short. It is a surprise, though, that it did not even come close to what was expected of it. As the only true first-person shooter for the Wii, it would have been difficult for hardcore gamers who play the Wii (is that an oxymoron?) to not be satisfied with this game but this game disappoints on every level.

The story had potential, but as it unfolds, it looks and feels like a Perfect Dark rip-off from the N64. It's a first-person shooter, has government agents, alien invasion, crazy technology, you befriending an enemy, and your friends becoming enemies; an original storyline would have been appreciated.

The game also looked like something from two console-generations ago. Horrible enemy models with environments that looked like amorphous blobs painted on a canvas combine to make this one of the worst looking games to come out in years. I understand the Wii does not have the graphics power of the other consoles, but I've seen it do so much better than this.

The music sets a good feel and pace for the game and the sound effects work, but the voice acting is abysmal. Even with Kevin Sorbo (star of the television hit Hercules) as Prometheus (interesting that he is best-known for a Greek demi-god and his character is named after a Greek god), the voice acting is over-the-top to the point of utter absurdity.

Aside from being one of the few first-person shooters for the Wii (namely Metroid Prime 3 and Red Steel with everything else worth mentioning really being a rail-shooter), the other appeal for the game was the most highly-touted multiplayer for Wii since Super Smash Bros. Brawl. This is something that would compare to the best of the best on other systems as it allows up to 12 players to play.

This feature may be one of the few saving graces because it reminds me of the old game: Goldeneye (arguably the greatest multiplayer game ever). Unfortunately, with quickly depleted health bars and a horribly-long lobby-load time leaves this needing more polish to be ranked up there with a classic like Goldeneye or modern marvels like Gears of War or Halo.

When all is said and done, this is a short game (8-10 hours of gameplay max) that seems to have been thrown together with spare parts from other games two generations ago. If this is Nintendo's best effort for hardcore gamers, maybe they've accidentally figured out the reason why 60% of people don't own a home console.

Ratings are based on a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being the highest.

Graphics: 3.0: I can't remember giving a game this bad a graphics rating, mainly because the game looks like something from two generations ago. I actually forgot what polygons were until I saw this game. It's a current generation abomination.

Audio: 6.0: Solid SFX and a catchy soundtrack lay a decent audio foundation, but the instant a character opens its pixilated mouth, the entire experience goes down the toilet. Horrible voice-acting all around drops this score below passable marks.

Plot/Plot Development: 5.0: An old, tired plot that has already been done before and done better at that. The story flows at a break-neck pace that also affects the length of the game itself and gives you the feel that SEGA just had spare parts lying around and wrapped it around an alien-invasion story.

Gameplay: 5.0: The game has slow, unresponsive controls, enemy A.I. permanently set to cannon-fodder, and only 8-10 hours of gameplay. Then again, maybe only 8-10 hours was more of an act of mercy than anything.

Replay Value: 8.0: There is a decent amount of collectibles, achievements, and unlockables that if you are a diehard completionist, it will have enough to bring you back for a second or third playthrough. Add in a multiplayer mode that clearly takes up most of the system's processing power, even if it still responds poorly after doing so, and you have enough that, if you actually enjoyed this game, you would play it again.

Overall (not an average): 3.0: Aside from the multiplayer mode, this is one of the worst games of the year. It looks like something from 10 years ago that they forgot to touch up before releasing it for the Wii. Avoid The Conduit at all costs.

-Ray Carsillo

Sunday, July 5, 2009

MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE

Continuing with my summer series analyzing blockbuster movies and the video games based off them, today I look at Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen.

This sequel to the smash-hit based off the Hasbro toys and cartoon of the mid-'80s picks up two years after the first movie. The Autobots, led by Optimus Prime (still voiced by Peter Cullen, the same man who voiced him in the cartoon), are now known by the world's governments and work in tandem with them to cull the persistent Decepticon threat, even after the defeat of their leader Megatron (voiced by Hugo Weaving of the Matrix, V for Vendetta, and Lord of the Rings fame).

After extinguishing the sixth Decepticon attack in eight months against the humans, this time in Shanghai, Optimus receives an ominous threat from the dying Decepticon Demolisher that the Fallen shall rise again. Unsure of how to perceive this threat, the Autobots return to US shores to try to appease political red tape that has arisen from the damage their latest excursion.

Meanwhile, Autobot ally Sam Witwicky (Shia LeBeouf) prepares for college on the East coast by consoling his girlfriend Mikaela (Megan Fox). After delivering her a long-distance-relationship survival kit and breaking the news to Autobot Bumblebee that he will be leaving him behind, Sam begins to pack. As he rummages through his closet, he comes across a shard of the all-knowing All-spark (which was the focus of the first movie) that embedded itself in his clothes.

Upon touching the fragment, Sam has the language of the Autobots and Decepticons, Cybertronian, embedded into his mind with a map of where an ancient Autobot artifact, the Dagger's Tip, is located. Unable to decipher the information, Sam goes off to college, spasming all the way. Now, as the mystery of the Fallen begins to unfold, the Autobots and Decepticons race to the East coast in order to procure the map from Sam; one side trying to prevent a worldwide catastrophe, the other trying to ensure its outcome.

This movie was amazing. I loved almost every second of it. From the first fight scene in Shanghai five minutes in, to Optimus battling three Decepticons at once midway through, to the final climatic battle between the Autobots and Deceptions in the deserts of Egypt, this movie was non-stop action. It is no surprise, though, that the fight scenes between giant alien robots would look phenomenal from director and special effects guru Michael Bay.

Die-hards of the Transformers will be thrilled with this movie because it held true to a lot of the original cartoon. From the inclusion of the Decepticons' moon base to Soundwave unleashing his pet robo-dog as an advanced scout were both brilliant moves that only fans of the cartoon will truly appreciate. Die-hards would also recognize all of the extra Transformers that were thrown in to flesh out the rosters, from Mudflap and Beat for the Autobots to Grindor, Sideways, Long Haul, and Devastator for the Decepticons.

These additions though may ostracize more casual fans because they see these brightly-colored robots dropping bombs (literally and figuratively) and they're barely acknowledged in the movie by their more popular counterparts, such as Bumblebee for the Autobots or Starscream for the Decepticons.

I felt that all of the main characters were used almost perfectly in this big screen visualization of a giant alien robot war. With all the new robots though, I was surprised, as a die-hard myself, that Breakaway wasn't included for the Autobots (an F-14 fighter jet and the good counterpart to Starscream), but I guess too many planes might take away from everyone's favorite evil second-banana.

The only other point that takes away from the overall experience is that the movie is two hours and a half hours long. For the most part, it flows surprisingly well for a long movie, but there easily could have been 15 to 20 minutes cut from the entire Cairo excursion scene. It felt drawn out and you just keep asking yourself, "When is Sam going to get to Optimus already?"

Aside from those minor complaints, this movie really delivers the goods. You have funny, memorable characters, like Leo, and John Turturro coming back to reprise his Sector 7 role from the first movie (some would say there were a few too many of these characters, but I understand the need to have a counter-balance between the human and robot characters), deeply dramatic moments, a compelling plot combined with over-the-top action, and giant robots. What else could you ask for from a summer blockbuster?

Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen gets 4 out of 5.


One of the problems with most summer blockbusters is that the movie will typically deliver the goods and you'll have a sub-par video game that takes away from the overall experience. The only exception to this trend, where both the movie and the game have been exceptional, was Spider-Man 2.

Spider-Man 2 finally has some company on that short list.

Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen is also an awesome video game. Getting a chance to hop into the driver's seat of both your favorite Decepticons and Autobots as you follow the plot of this amazing summer blockbuster is a thrill. It appeals to both die-hard and casual fans because it fleshes out the roles of more minor characters from the movie while also letting you wreak havoc or save the day with Megatron and Optimus Prime.

The transformations from vehicle to robot and back are seamless and often necessary to complete the missions in the fastest possible time. You need a fast time in order to get an energon reward (energon is the life force for Autobots and Decepticons) and upgrade your characters' firepower, speed, recovery time, etc.

As you progress, you can also go back and perform the same missions with different robots. Sometimes Starscream's fighter jet is more apt for a mission than Long Haul's dump truck or Iron Haul's turret ability is more of an asset against a large group of foes you'll face compared to Bumblebee's EMP (electro-magnetic pulse) ability.

Along with the ability to replay missions for better scores or to play through two different storylines as either Decepticons or Autobots, there is also an online versus mode that will pit you against different people in team or single death-match, capture-the-flag mode, or Guardian mode where a team has infinite re-spawns until one of the teams' leaders is defeated. This really ups the ante in terms of the game's replay value.

Included with these aspects, the unlockables are probably the best feature of all. By meeting certain mission requirements, you can unlock original episodes from the mid-'80s cartoon. There are six episodes in total, three from the Decepticons and three from the Autobots, and this will bring die-hards back time and time again.

The only real knock on the game is that the high-end graphics, such as the transformations and explosions, create a real strain on the system's processing power. In order to prevent further slow-down, developers had to tone down the backgrounds. Not to say the terrain graphics are bad, they're just a little bland.
The sound effects are perfect for the game in terms of transformations, explosions, and jets screaming through the air, but the music is generic at best. Aside from this minor complaint, the audio works pretty well.

Overall, this game is a must-have for any Transformers fan because you'll flash back to all of your battles with your action figures as a kid, except the explosions will be more than you making swooshing sounds. Casual fans will appreciate the game because it will help them get into the lore of Transformers and probably help them understand the movie better because it cuts away all of the superfluous comedy of the plot and gets to the heart of the matter. Either way, Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen is a great game that is worthy of this great movie.

Ratings are based on a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being the highest.

Graphics: 7.5:
Nothing special in terms of graphics. The transformers themselves look great and the transformations look smooth, but this needs extra processing power and it leaves the terrain looking bland and monotonous.

Audio: 8.0: The SFX are great and fit the game perfectly, but some generic music takes away from the overall experience enough to dock it a couple points.

Plot/Plot Development: 9.0: The plot follows the movie perfectly in the Autobot storyline and only deviates slightly towards the end for the Decepticons (obviously so that they can win), but does so in a way that was a little bit of a stretch. Aside from this blemish, the plot is just as good as the movie.

Gameplay: 9.0: No glitches to speak of keeps the game flowing at a great pace just like the movie. The only thing that knocks this down a peg is that the targeting system can be a little fickle at times, but not enough to take away from the overall experience.

Replay Value: 10.0: When you offer entire cartoon episodes as unlockables, you'll be working towards them all night long if need be. Add in high score online leaderboards and a near flawless online versus mode and this game is definitely worth the $60 pricetag.

Overall (not an average): 9.0: Minor aesthetic complaints aside, this game delivers on all fronts. Die-hards will love taking control of their favorite characters and wreaking havoc or saving the day with them and casual fans will love how it fleshes out a story they might have a little difficulty understanding at first. Couple this with tremendous replay value, classic cartoons, and just as many explosions as its movie counterpart and you have a sure winner on your hands.

Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen is available now on all platforms.

-Ray Carsillo