Category: Gaming

'Torchlight' - The most fun you can have for $20

Torchlight is the debut game from Runic Games. And what a game it is. Fun, addictive (I just played for two hours that went by in a flash) and highly polished, the game comes from the co-creators of Diablo and Diablo II. And the game, while not breaking much new ground nor having multi-player, is a blast to play. The graphics are bright, with artwork that was inspired by comic books and classic film animation. The music is phenomenal, and reminiscent of the iconic scores that defined the Diablo series (not surprising since Matt Uelman did the music in them, too). You can play as one of three classes: the warrior-like Destroyer, the sorcerer-like Alchemist and the rogue-like Vanquisher. Your character also gets a pet that comes long with you -- yes, for free, and you get it from the start! -- and attacks mobs for you. Not only does your pet have its own inventory, which you can load up and tell it to go back to town to sell for you while you continue adventuring, but you can also equip some armor on your pet and teach it to cast a couple of spells. I've been playing an alchemist with a cat pet that I've taught to cast fireballs (I chuckle just imagining that they're giant fiery hairballs that he's coughing up at the enemy). And when my inventory fills up, which is often because the loot drops fast and heavy, I load up Smeast (Small Beast... get it?) and send him off to town to sell the stuff I don't want, while I continue to vanquish the the orcs, trolls, giant spiders and other denizens of the randomly generated warrens below the titular town of Torchlight. Yes, the formula is pretty much the same as any other dungeon crawler (Dungeon Runners, Diablo, Diablo II, Mythos, etc.), but it has been boiled down to its gem-like kernel of gameplay and then polished until it screams, "PLAY ME!!!!" And does it ever ... I highly, highly recommend the game. Don't just take my word on it, though. Just about every other place that has reviewed the game likes it, as well. Gamespot called it a "great dungeon crawler with enjoyable combat and an excellent loot system." PCWorld says it's "the sort of game that comes itching to please like a hyper-caffeinated pet." And The Escapist admonishes, "$20 is a steal for this game. Get it." And now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go play more Torchlight.

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Category: Gaming

'Tornado Outbreak' will blow you away -- mostly

"Tornado Outbreak" (rated E; Konami; PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Wii) -- For fans of "Katamari Damacy," "Tornado Outbreak" should be a breeze.

The enjoyable title is also good for casual gamers. Instead of just offering easy, medium and hard versions, the game adjusts. If you fail a mission, it grows a bit easier each time.

You play Zephyr, a member of an intergalactic corps of Wind Warriors. You're tasked with helping Omegaton, a hero from an anti-matter universe, get home when he's trapped in our dimension. Six orbs are hidden on Earth, and he needs them back. To get them, though, you must do what tornadoes do best -- destroy things. And there are lots of pesky Fire Flyer creatures and other troubles to overcome. There's more to the story, of course, but I don't want to spoil anything.

Zephyr has a conscience, though, and vows to help rebuild everything when the mission is complete even though, as his commander, Nimbus, says, "Collateral damage may be unavoidable."

So you blow through trailer parks (of course), towns, military bases, farms, carnivals and the like, growing bigger, "Katamari" style, the more you destroy. Once you reveal the hiding place of an orb, you destroy some Fire Flyer totems and move on to the next level.

It's all pretty straightforward. And, being more of a casual gamer, I like that. There aren't an excessive number of combos to learn. There's some strategy involved, but it's not overly complex. It is a challenge, but never enough that I wanted to throw the controller at the TV. Granted, I haven't made it all the way through the game, but I trust it at this point.

Poking around some forums, it looks like the general consensus it that the game does have something to offer all levels of player. For trophy hounds, there are plenty to grab, and at least one seems to be a real stumper.

On the PlayStation 3, the game looks great. Everything's done in an appropriately cartoonish way, and the cut-scenes have a nice, comic-book feel to them. There's also a nice amount of good-natured humor as you play. Chickens and people go flying as you get bigger, but if you're too small to move them, you make take their feathers or clothes instead. The Las Vegas-style cityscape has wandering Elvis impersonators, and the military base has Men in Black who pull out goofy-looking laser guns as you approach.

With the extra elements of gameplay, including finding hidden Stone Stompers and Water Whirls, and an engaging storyline, "Tornado Outbreak" is more than just a "Katamari" rip-off. It's a fun diversion for a lazy fall afternoon when you want to avoid raking leaves. Turn the fan on, and it's like you're right there in the game. GRADE: B

Category: Gaming

'Aion' -- lush and gorgeous but with a darker underside

Aion has been in general release here in the U.S. now for approximately three weeks, and over that time I've had a chance to explore the world of Atreia and talk with its residents.

Impressions vary wildly, from appreciation of the much-touted "PvEvP" (player-versus-environment-versus-player) design for its encouragement of players' ingenuity and innovation in achieving goals, to frustration over being ganked repeatedly while simply performing routine tasks. One of my Legion (a collection of players who band together) members finally quit playing in frustration for an afternoon after being repeatedly and easily killed by a group of enemy players who did nothing but wait for him to return to the scene of his death and attempt to complete his quests. Personally, I have to admit that I hope the developers institute some sort of deterrent against this kind of predatory behavior.

Several folks I talked to appreciated the depth and complexity of the in-game crafting system (I'm one of them, though I decry how expensive it is in kinah, the in-game currency), while one of my Legion-mates quipped "crafting in this game is like getting a root canal from a 12-year-old on a runaway horse." Universally, though, the ability to "remodel" your armor and weapons so that your newer, more powerful gear looks like you want it to, is applauded. I absolutely enjoyed taking a very good piece of armor that, to my tastes, was ugly-looking and remodeling it so that it retained the good qualities but now looked completely more aesthetically pleasing. Hey, c'mon, if you can have it be cool-looking and with awesome stats, why not?!

On the downside, the gameworld is rife with bots, illegal automatic scripts that attempt to perform tasks, much like a "robot," hence the name. Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be much that the game company is doing to eliminate them. One step that NCSoft recently took actually cut off access to a large contingent of legitimate players.

The game opens up, gameplay-wise, much earlier than the behemoth World of Warcraft. It's a common saying that once you max out your character level in WoW, you can actually start enjoying the content that's available. In Aion, though, that type of deterministic content becomes available to players much sooner, as early as the mid-20s. The ability to seige fortresses and use those fortresses to determine control of vital areas is a fun gameplay mechanic that (if you enjoy PvP gameplay) can bring great rewards to your character.

The character creator is something that could be packaged on its own -- it's that detailed and powerful. You can adjust everything from the tilt of your character's nose to how close their eyes are together, to the depth of the chin cleft, to how wide your shoulders are. Basically, if you see someone in the game world who looks just like you, then you both just chose the default settings. Also, I particularly liked the ability to envision what my character would look like not just with the beginner armor and weapon but with the higer-grade gear available later on in the game. It helped me make some aesthetic decisions, and it is a nice touch.

The music, as I stated in my previous post about the game, is phenomenal, and I'm hoping that a soundtrack will be available for purchase separately. Ryo Kunihiko's music is stirring, moving, subtle and entrancing. There were several times over the past few weeks that I have turned off all sounds except the music, just to enjoy it more.

I have been playing a Spiritmaster, a class that summons elemental spirits to do their bidding. I've enjoyed the versatility of the class and the survivability, too. I've also dabbled with a Templar, a warrior-like class that acts as the front-line troops and stands toe-to-toe with enemies, as well as a Ranger, a class that excels at using bows to take out enemies before they can get close enough to attack back.

All in all, I like Aion and hope that it can survive in the U.S. market. There are a few issues that I think need to be addressed (bots, the amount of mindless grinding required, ganking of much-lower-level players, occasional technical glitches), but the game definitely has a solid foundation to build on. I hope that NC Soft can make the game a bit more friendly to the casual gamer who is looking to escape Azeroth, because if they do, chances are good I will be emigrating.

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Category: Gaming

'Beatles Rock Band' feels fine; 'GH 5' has nice new additions

Wednesday is 09/09/09, and "The Beatles Rock Band" is ready to invade our shores for a new revolution in pop music gaming.

That may be a bit overblown, but "BRB" is an immensely fun addition to the "Rock Band" franchise. Personally, it's my favorite "Rock Band" to date because of the sheer number of songs I actually know. "RB" has always been fun, but it's always been heavy on music that never interested me growing up and current hits that still just aren't my style. The enjoyment has for a large part come from the party aspect of the game.

But with "BRB," there's song after song that I know and love. Of course, there are several biggies still missing so that the creators can milk more bucks out of us from downloads. For PS3 players like myself, we don't get "All You Need Is Love" yet -- it's an Xbox 360 exclusive. Also missing is a personal favorite, "Eleanor Rigby," and another reviewer called the lack of "Rain" "criminal." Also missing are "Love Me Do," "Please Please Me" "Help!" and "Michelle." (Note to those who have played all the way through: There is one final song that wasn't released, but since I haven't quite made it all the way through yet, it could be one of those, for all I know.) The entire "Abbey Road" album will be the first download made available online, according to Harmonix.

The best new feature is support for three-part harmony. That sound was such a big part of a lot of their music, it's great to see that honored. So if you have three microphones, up to six people can play at once. If you want a real challenge, three of you can double up on instrument and vocals. I hope this feature is carried through on future "Rock Band" releases. And there are songs already available that would be great to revisit if re-released.

Career mode is different, too. Instead of building up the band, you tour through the history of the band, hitting career high points such as "The Ed Sullivan Show," Shea Stadium, Tokyo and a concert atop the Apple building. The visual team has really gone all out, creating several looks for the band and backgrounds. Expect to play through the trippy years a couple times because it's worth it to stop and watch, which is much easier to do in the optional no-fail mode.

If you like the Beatles, this is a must-have addition to your game rack. It pretty much sells itself. If you aren't that big a fan but just like a challenge, you'll get it here with the vocals.

But just get it.

Getting a much quieter release this month was "Guitar Hero 5," and like my "band" felt with "Guitar Hero: World Tour," it just didn't seem as well put together.

But it does have some nice features that "Rock Band" might be wise to emulate. In one respect, it's a casual gamer's dream because all 85 songs are available right from the start. No plowing through a bunch of crappy songs to get to the one or two you really like and that you read were in the game. Also, anybody can play any instrument. You can all play lead guitar. That's great if mastery of the drums continues to elude you. Just sayin'. And in the new Party Play mode, you can opt in, drop out or swap instruments mid song.

It was nice to see some John Mellencamp ("Hurts So Good"), and since we're all "Battlestar Galactica" fans, my group enjoyed "All Along the Watchtower" by Bob Dylan (though we would have preferred the show's version).

But overall, there was just something we couldn't quite put our fingers on that made "Rock Band" (and not just because it was the Beatles) a slightly better experience.

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Category: Gaming

'The Beatles Rock Band' parties

"The Beatles Rock Band" is out next Wednesday (yes, Wednesday), and several companies are stepping up to get the game in your hands as soon as possible. (I've already got my copy and will be having the gang over to test it this weekend -- look for a review next week.)

The Blockbuster store at Woodward and Catalpa in Royal Oak is having a midnight launch party with Beatles cover band the BackBeats. They'll also be giving away the game and instrument bundles, and personalities from WCSX-FM (94.7) will be on hand to emcee. Other Blockbusters around the country will have special events, so if you're reading this outside Metro Detroit, check out Blockbuster's Web site for details. The free shindig begins at 7 p.m. Tuesday.

For national readers, 10 Best Buy stores are getting an early start at 8 a.m. Wednesday and will also be celebrating the release of remastered Beatles CDs. Giveaways include the game, memoribilia, T-shirts and a trip to London to visit the Abbey Road studios and other Beatles landmarks. Morning show DJs will be broadcasting live from stores. Visit the Best Buy Web site for more details.

You can't buy it early, but you can play the game early at bars hosting Rock Band Bar Nights. Participating venues have the game set up for patrons to play in front of an audience. Bars that sign up for the new program before Tuesday will get a special five-song preview disc from "The Beatles Rock Band." Interested bar owners and fans can go to a special page on the "Rock Band" site for information.

Category: Gaming

New 'Final Fantasy XIV' screenshots

Square Enix has released some new screenshots of the vast terrain of Eorzea, the setting for upcoming MMO Final Fantasy XIV. The game isn't scheduled for world-wide release until 2010, but these shots, showcasing the lands sweeping landscapes and rolling hills, are certainly enticing. I love the look of the game world, and hope that the game does well!

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Category: Gaming

First impression: A casual gamer's look at 'Champions'

"Champions" has entered the ring to take on "City of Heroes" in the world of comic-book massively multiplayer online roleplaying games.

It's especially significant to Michigan players for the game's main setting: Detroit.

OK, they don't actually call it Detroit. In the lore of the game, Detroit was destroyed in 1992 by the super-evil Dr. Destroyer. It's been rebuilt as the shiny Millennium City (so don't go looking for the Ren Cen) and is the homebase for superheroes in the "Champions" universe. You get to become one of those heroes as you spread out to save the world (and probably a few cheerleaders -- sorry). In fact, for your first mission outside the training room, you can choose to cross the border to Canada to help out -- no passport required.

If the "Champions" name sounds familiar, that's because the game has been around for years as a pen, paper and dice RPG. Cryptic Studios, the company that originally created "City of Heroes" for NCSoft, which still runs "CoH," grabbed the name and is running with it for Atari.

As a nearly life-long comic book fan, I've immensely enjoyed "City of Heroes." It had its problems, but it was fun to pull up the versatile character generator and create new alter egos to fight for the residents of Paragon City. Its sequel, "City of Villains," was less fun because you never got to do anything too villainous. That would have threatened its rating. So you just wound up doing ultimately heroic things in the name of evil.

But interest has been waning. I've been playing for more than five years, and there's only so much they can do. The recent Mission Architect was fun, until nobody played the the mission I spent hours creating because most people were just using the feature for power leveling. (Even I was a bit guilty of that, especially during double XP weekends.)

So now I have a bright, shiny new game to play. Except my experience with it so far has been less than stellar.

First off, I must admit I'm far from your typical MMORPG player. I hate all the statistical minutiae most seem to love. I hate the idea of crafting. I hate the idea of wasting time running around picking up bits and pieces of stuff. I wouldn't last a day playing "World of Warcraft."

I just want to hop on and blast stuff. That's why I loved "City of Heroes" in its first couple years, especially. I'm what they call a "casual gamer," and I felt catered to.

So the first thing I'm hit with while creating a character in "Champions" is a bunch of statistics -- statistics for my base character and statistics for my powers. Blech. And once you're in the game, power enhancements are way too complicated for my liking. But, again, I'm not a typical MMO player.

Creating your character, though, is way cool. "City of Heroes" has a pretty amazing generator, and "Champions" matches it. It has more choices in some areas and fewer in others, so it's hard to say which is really better. But it is quite impressive. And the nice thing is that you can have a real cape right out of the box. No waiting til level 20.

And it's great that not only can you easily switch the colors of your powers, you can also adjust their origin point. For instance, if you have two blast powers, you can have them both come from your hands or one from your hands and one from your chest or eyes. There's also a wider variety of ways to mix and match types of powers than in "CoH." There are just more choices out of the box in general. The tutorial is also more immersive.

But for all the coolness of the character generator, I have to say the look of the game is really unappealing. The backgrounds are nice, but the characters and objects they interact with are a mess in action. With the cel-shaded animation, colors are garishly bright or dark and muddy with little in between. It's a hybrid animated look I haven't liked in other games. Either go for straight animation ("Okami" was a beautiful example) or the more finessed and realistic style of, yes, "City of Heroes" or the upcoming "DC Universe Online."

To get some balance, I talked to a friend who's more of a typical MMO player, and he's loving "Champions." He appreciates all the thinking he must put into his character's build. And he says the crafting system is top-notch. He also really likes the "block" function that helps avoid damage. Even "WoW" doesn't have that.

But he agrees the game isn't very friendly to first-time or casual gamers, at least in the lower levels. Once out of the tutorial, mobs are too often overwhelming. But, like I said, he's loving it otherwise.

It's still young, and maybe I'll get used to it, but I think Cryptic did a better job overall with its first game and should have borrowed more from "CoH's" successes instead of just fixing some of its flaws.

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Category: Gaming

Review: Can 'Madden NFL 10' keep the drive going?

The video introduction beginning this year's "Madden NFL 10" portrays football with a larger-than-life anthem meshed with some of the most memorable highlights of last year's NFL season. It truly represents what "Madden" has become: a celebration of NFL football.

That being said, expectations remain high for "Madden." And each year, I find myself asking the question: How can they possibly make this any better? And each year, they do.

Well, until this year. I'm not sure any of the changes make the game dramatically better. And I found a few of the enhanced realisms more distracting than adding. Sure, the graphics are improved, the attention to detail unparalleled, and the game play is the benchmark in which all other sports titles must be compared. But I was hoping for more. I'm greedy, I know.

While I was limited to the offline content with an early preview of the game -- EA's live servers open for business when the game hits stores nationwide Friday -- I was left a bit less than completely satisfied.

I'll highlight a few of the fumbles first.

There is an excessive amount of in-game advertising -- Sprint to Snickers -- littered throughout the game. And yes, it reflects the way the NFL is presented on television today. However, I'm not plopping down $60 to catch a game on Fox, NBC or CBS. It's a necessary evil. But this excessive pushing of products isn't needed in "Madden," as I'm looking to escape the urge for a candy bar when tossing the pixilated pigskin around.

The "broadcast-style" commentary of Tom Hammond and Cris Colinsworth is a bit awkward at times and annoying most of the time. Their ability to break down a play truly represents how far "Madden" has come, as well as how much farther it needs to go. The analysis slows down play and highlights some otherwise ordinary moments of the game.

When the two in the booth aren't yapping, you can truly appreciate what stands out in the game: the surround sound of the stadium. It's fantastic. Ford Field, for instance, is captured to a Model T. Close your eyes and listen to the acoustics of the stadium -- fans, players, announcer -- putting you in the heart of the Motor City in one of the most lifelike ways ever virtually experienced.

Now onto where EA piles up the points.

Beyond the rich sound experience, EA has captured, in cinematic fashion, all of the elements surrounding the game: the interviews, the shirtless fat guys waiting in line for beer, the barking players at the line.

The speed of the game appears a bit slower than its predecessors and mirrors more actual game flow, giving you time to make more in-play decisions. Added gang tackling also piles up the fun factor.

I'll update this review after a few days playing online. I can't wait to line up for some multiplayer franchise action.

Not doubt the guys at EA Sports advanced the ball with this rendition; they just didn't move the chains this year.

Category: Gaming

'Fat Princess' - Two tons of fun

From the cutesy name to the cartoony levels with bright colors and character art to the sugary-sounding level names, this game oozes style. It might be easy to dismiss Fat Princess as a cute capture-the-flag type game, but, as Greg Miller of IGN said, "Once you watch a bomb go off and dismembered hands fly through the air, you get an adequate idea of what you're dealing with." It's that dichotomy that drew me to Fat Princess in the first place: a violent and bloody team-based game offset by the cute art style.

The game's mechanics are simple to understand: Capture the enemy princess and feed her cake to make her heavier, so it's harder for the enemy team to carry her back to their castle. Meanwhile, they're doing the same to your princess. Add to this five character classes that you can choose from at any time, even in the heat of the battlefield, and the game's depth just jumped a few notches.

So, do you play a Warrior, to run around and beat down the enemy? Or perhaps a Worker to build gates at your castle to protect it and upgrade your team's defenses? Or how about a Mage to throw fireballs and set the enemy on fire? What about a Priest to keep your team healed while they are rushing to rescue the princess?

There are various ways to customize your specific character, unlocked as you play the game, including new hairstyles, skin, hair and eye colors, and more. The character voices are absolutely hilarious, as you give orders to your teammates (there's up to 16 on your team at any one time), taunt enemies and other sayings. One time, I heard my character taunt an enemy, "Frakkin' Toaster!" which caused gales of laughter in my living room at the Battlestar Galactica reference (much credit to the developers for keeping that in the game!) Another time, the narrator exclaimed in his very proper British accent, "Help! We're being ganked!"

There are issues with the game, however, namely lag when you are connected to multiplayer games (up to 31 other players per match) and server connection issues. I personally experienced both of these over the course of the last couple of days, eventually spending a frustrating 15 minutes just trying to connect to a game to play. I finally gave up in frustration. The developer, Titan Studios, has stated that they are aware of the issues and have a patch ready for them, which is in testing now.

IGN has a video of some gameplay, including the hilarious "Chicken potion" ... a weapon that turns all players in the area into chickens for a short time.

Overall, I like the game, and the few times I've been able to get into true multiplayer games, I have thoroughly enjoyed it. The game also rewards defensive players equal to what it rewards the players who are more inclined to run into the enemy base in a Zerg Rush, which I like. I tend to play defensively, so it's nice to see the game giving equal points for my efforts, even if I'm not on the front lines hacking, slashing and fireballing! One thing that I noticed, however, is that if your teammates are not organized, the game becomes infinitely more difficult and increasingly frustrating. I highly recommend investing in a headset to take advantage of the built-in voice chat to allow organization of your team's efforts!

It's well worth the download from the Playstation Network store, and completely worth the cost of $15.

Category: Gaming

'Wizard of Oz' coming to really small screen

This seems so wrong -- even more wrong that a "Grease" video game.

XSEED Games is developing "The Wizard of Oz: Beyond the Yellow Brick Road" for Nintendo DS. The title sounds like a sequel, but it's actually an in-game retelling of the classic "Wizard of Oz" story. Here's how they tell it:

"Dorothy and Toto, together with their newfound companions -- the Scarecrow, Lion and Tin Man -- embark on an enchanting voyage filled with many obstacles. Upon reaching the castle at the end of the Yellow Brick Road, the group learns from a mysterious wizard that the magical land has been taken over by four evil witches that are running amuck. Dorothy and her friends are tasked with defeating the witches with a return trip to Kansas as the reward, but is this new mission beyond the Yellow Brick Road everything it appears to be?"

I guess having four witches makes for more involved gameplay than just one.

All actions in the RPG will be controlled by the Stylus, and turn-based battles will be part of the mix.

Who knows -- maybe it could be so wrong it may turn out just right. Weirder things have happened. I was skeptical of "Kingdom Hearts" when it first came out, but I loved it.

Warner Bros., which owns the rights to the "Wizard of Oz" movie is involved, so expect Dorothy to sport those famous Ruby Slippers (they were silver in the book), and at least one witch to be green.

But it's the turn-based battles that are making me giggle. What will Dorothy's powers be? Throw Toto at them? Sing them to sleep? Kick them with those magical shoes? Summon her house to fall on them? And just how will the Cowardly Lion participate? He's, you know, cowardly and not prone to joining a battle. And the Scarecrow? Make them sneeze (Hay Fever power)? At least the Tin Man has an ax.

And what's she going to fight besides flying monkeys and apple-throwing trees? The book had a couple more options, but the designers are going to have to get creative.

But game designers can be wonderfully creative, so I can't count this out yet.

But I will laugh, at least a little.

Midnight madness

Speaking of "The Wizard of Oz," the classic musical is this weekend's midnight movie at the Main Art in Royal Oak. And not that anyone really needs them, but sing-along lyrics will be provided onscreen.

Even geekier, next week's feature will be the original "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" movie, followed by "Back to the Future" Aug. 7 and 8.