Archive for January, 2010

15 Jan

Game Day: A creepy ‘Hill’ to climb



Harry Mason searches the spooky, frozen town of Silent Hill for his daughter in “Silent Hill: Shattered Memories.”

The “Silent Hill” series has been creeping players out for more than a decade.

Now the original game has been reimagined as “Silent Hill: Shattered Memories,” which shakes up the series’ horror formula.

The story’s basic setup is familiar: Harry Mason is searching Silent Hill for his daughter, Cheryl, who went missing after a car crash at the edge of town. At certain points in the game, the perspective switches to a therapist’s office, and the player answers questions that the game uses to create a personality profile and mold the experience to the player.

Instead of the previous games’ pervasive fog, this version of Silent Hill is snowed in by a massive storm. It’s dark, it’s cold, and Harry’s flashlight illuminates just enough to get around. That’s bad enough, but sometimes Silent Hill freezes over, and the monsters come out to play.

When Harry’s not running from the horrors that plague him, he’s exploring the town of Silent Hill, talking with the people who live there and trying to find ways around and through areas blocked off by the storm. There are puzzles to solve as well, typically requiring the player to use the Wii Remote to manipulate objects.

Past games in the series have allowed their characters – including the original game’s Harry – to defend themselves, albeit clumsily, with 2-by-4s, guns and other weapons. Not this time. Harry can’t fight back in this nightmarish realm of ice; he can only run.

If a monster catches him, he can hurl it away, but there’s no way to kill his creepy foes, and if he takes too many hits, he’ll be overwhelmed and die. Flares can keep the creatures at bay for a time, and obstacles and doorways highlighted in blue show the way to safety, but it’s not easy to escape.

These encounters are harrowing enough but become repetitive, and the sharp line between safe exploration and desperate flight prevents the game’s creepy mood from developing into real tension. Also, when the action heats up, the visuals sometimes slow down or freeze for a moment, a hiccup in the game’s otherwise good looks.

Harry’s cell phone warns him of nearby foes, alerts him to points of interest, maps his location with a GPS uplink (which is a pain to use), allows him to call people he’s met or receive text and voice messages, and lets him take photos that reveal the truth behind shadowy figures he finds frozen in place around the town.

08 Jan

Game Day: Different kind of WWII game

Games set in World War II are common to the point of oversaturation. But most of them are first-person shooters or strategy types.

“The Saboteur,” though it takes place during that terrible conflict, offers a fresh perspective by putting the player in control of a resistance fighter in Nazi-occupied France and parts of Germany.

The resistance fighter is Sean Devlin, an Irishman whose racing career was ended by a run-in with a German racer – and Nazi officer – just before the war began. Embittered and hiding at a friend’s cabaret hall in Paris, Sean is quickly drawn into efforts to disrupt the Nazis’ operations.

Take note: The game works to earn its Mature rating, with plenty of violence and foul language. New copies of the game include a code for the downloadable “The Midnight Show” add-on, which unlocks an option for topless nudity, along with some more practical features. The content can also be purchased.

“The Saboteur” feels like a “Grand Theft Auto” game with a bit of “Assassin’s Creed” and “Red Faction: Guerilla” thrown in. The game world is open to exploration; contacts assign missions against Nazi targets, and between missions there are plenty of free-form objectives to attack and weaken the Nazi presence.

As Devlin completes important missions and inspires the French people, their will to fight is symbolized in a striking way. When the Nazis control an area, the world is rendered in black-and-white except for the red of Nazi flags and armbands – and of blood. Inspire an area to resistance and color will return to it, the Nazi presence will be reduced, and citizens will come to Devlin’s aid.

In his fight against the Nazis, Devlin has many tools and allies. Black marketeers will trade him weapons and upgrades in exchange for contraband, and their garages provide him with cars.

Devlin can plant explosives to destroy guard towers, anti-aircraft guns, fuel tanks and other targets, and he can clamber up buildings and over walls to reach them. The controls are a bit loose, especially when climbing buildings, but they work well enough.

If Devlin kills a Nazi without using a weapon, he can take the soldier’s uniform and blend into the ranks, as long as he’s careful. And if he’s discovered, he can summon a band of resistance fighters and a getaway car to escape a tough spot.

Performing certain tasks – making a number of stealthy kills, for example, or collecting certain kinds of cars – will unlock perks, providing permanent boosts to Devlin’s abilities. Each perk category has three levels whose conditions grow increasingly difficult to fulfill, and some higher-level perks unlock special weapons in the black market.

08 Jan

Game Day: Different kind of WWII game

Games set in World War II are common to the point of oversaturation. But most of them are first-person shooters or strategy types.

“The Saboteur,” though it takes place during that terrible conflict, offers a fresh perspective by putting the player in control of a resistance fighter in Nazi-occupied France and parts of Germany.

The resistance fighter is Sean Devlin, an Irishman whose racing career was ended by a run-in with a German racer – and Nazi officer – just before the war began. Embittered and hiding at a friend’s cabaret hall in Paris, Sean is quickly drawn into efforts to disrupt the Nazis’ operations.

Take note: The game works to earn its Mature rating, with plenty of violence and foul language. New copies of the game include a code for the downloadable “The Midnight Show” add-on, which unlocks an option for topless nudity, along with some more practical features. The content can also be purchased.

“The Saboteur” feels like a “Grand Theft Auto” game with a bit of “Assassin’s Creed” and “Red Faction: Guerilla” thrown in. The game world is open to exploration; contacts assign missions against Nazi targets, and between missions there are plenty of free-form objectives to attack and weaken the Nazi presence.

As Devlin completes important missions and inspires the French people, their will to fight is symbolized in a striking way. When the Nazis control an area, the world is rendered in black-and-white except for the red of Nazi flags and armbands – and of blood. Inspire an area to resistance and color will return to it, the Nazi presence will be reduced, and citizens will come to Devlin’s aid.

In his fight against the Nazis, Devlin has many tools and allies. Black marketeers will trade him weapons and upgrades in exchange for contraband, and their garages provide him with cars.

Devlin can plant explosives to destroy guard towers, anti-aircraft guns, fuel tanks and other targets, and he can clamber up buildings and over walls to reach them. The controls are a bit loose, especially when climbing buildings, but they work well enough.

If Devlin kills a Nazi without using a weapon, he can take the soldier’s uniform and blend into the ranks, as long as he’s careful. And if he’s discovered, he can summon a band of resistance fighters and a getaway car to escape a tough spot.

Performing certain tasks – making a number of stealthy kills, for example, or collecting certain kinds of cars – will unlock perks, providing permanent boosts to Devlin’s abilities. Each perk category has three levels whose conditions grow increasingly difficult to fulfill, and some higher-level perks unlock special weapons in the black market.

01 Jan

Game Day: ‘Nostalgia’ borrows well, flies high

“Nostalgia” is a solid role-playing game whose appeal is partly rooted in the title’s emotion.

With its band of plucky young adventurers traveling the world on a grand adventure, the game recalls the Japanese-made console RPGs of the late 1990s.

The game feels like a mixture of other RPGs, taking characters, game mechanics and plot elements from “Final Fantasy X,” “Skies of Arcadia,” “Wild ARMs” and “Panzer Dragoon Saga,” among others. It’s openly derivative, but the game’s designers have been smart in their borrowing – the different pieces fit together pretty well.

“Nostalgia” takes place in a version of our world in which monsters and magic exist, and airships are the chief mode of transportation. It’s late in the 19th century and England’s best-known adventurer is Gilbert Brown.

Brown goes missing after the game’s prologue, and son Eddie is determined to find out what’s happened to him. Eddie joins the local Adventurers Association, takes the helm of his father’s airship, the Maverick, and prepares to follow in Dad’s footsteps. Apart from the main story line, Eddie can take on quests from the Adventurers Association to earn various rewards.

He’ll visit several fictionalized versions of real-world cities, such as London and Cairo. Ancient ruins, such as the Great Pyramid, serve as dungeons. And Eddie will gain companions along the way, starting with the scrappy street kid Pad, whom he meets on his first job for the Adventurers Association. Melody, a wizard, and Fiona, a mysterious girl, will join later.

Eddie and his friends will fight on the ground and in the air. Both battle modes are turn-based, with the action order of the next few turns displayed as in “Final Fantasy X.” Each character has standard attack, defense, escape and item usage options, as well as a unique set of abilities and skills.

During airborne battles, each character is in charge of a specific weapon: Eddie commands the ship to attack with its bow-mounted blade, Pad fires the machine guns, Melody uses the cannon, and Fiona controls the ship’s magical orb.

Enemies in the air can attack from the front or sides, and some weapons are more or less effective against enemies in certain directions. Weather conditions such as rain or snow also affect the Maverick’s combat capabilities.

The party members increase in strength as they defeat foes, learning new skills at set levels. The party earns points that can be used to upgrade these skills, allowing players to strengthen abilities they find useful, and advancing certain skills to sufficient levels unlocks additional ones.

01 Jan

Game Day: ‘Nostalgia’ borrows well, flies high

“Nostalgia” is a solid role-playing game whose appeal is partly rooted in the title’s emotion.

With its band of plucky young adventurers traveling the world on a grand adventure, the game recalls the Japanese-made console RPGs of the late 1990s.

The game feels like a mixture of other RPGs, taking characters, game mechanics and plot elements from “Final Fantasy X,” “Skies of Arcadia,” “Wild ARMs” and “Panzer Dragoon Saga,” among others. It’s openly derivative, but the game’s designers have been smart in their borrowing – the different pieces fit together pretty well.

“Nostalgia” takes place in a version of our world in which monsters and magic exist, and airships are the chief mode of transportation. It’s late in the 19th century and England’s best-known adventurer is Gilbert Brown.

Brown goes missing after the game’s prologue, and son Eddie is determined to find out what’s happened to him. Eddie joins the local Adventurers Association, takes the helm of his father’s airship, the Maverick, and prepares to follow in Dad’s footsteps. Apart from the main story line, Eddie can take on quests from the Adventurers Association to earn various rewards.

He’ll visit several fictionalized versions of real-world cities, such as London and Cairo. Ancient ruins, such as the Great Pyramid, serve as dungeons. And Eddie will gain companions along the way, starting with the scrappy street kid Pad, whom he meets on his first job for the Adventurers Association. Melody, a wizard, and Fiona, a mysterious girl, will join later.

Eddie and his friends will fight on the ground and in the air. Both battle modes are turn-based, with the action order of the next few turns displayed as in “Final Fantasy X.” Each character has standard attack, defense, escape and item usage options, as well as a unique set of abilities and skills.

During airborne battles, each character is in charge of a specific weapon: Eddie commands the ship to attack with its bow-mounted blade, Pad fires the machine guns, Melody uses the cannon, and Fiona controls the ship’s magical orb.

Enemies in the air can attack from the front or sides, and some weapons are more or less effective against enemies in certain directions. Weather conditions such as rain or snow also affect the Maverick’s combat capabilities.

The party members increase in strength as they defeat foes, learning new skills at set levels. The party earns points that can be used to upgrade these skills, allowing players to strengthen abilities they find useful, and advancing certain skills to sufficient levels unlocks additional ones.