Category: Games

Just Make Them Work

When compared to today’s console games, the 20 year old ones might look like crap, but they have a few aces up their sleeve (such as quality and playability). Still, I’m not here to start rambling about modern games with no soul or challenge. I’m here to ramble on modern games not working, introducing the modern players to such joys as freezing, requiring constant updates and bugs.

Granted, these have been issues PC-gamers – myself included – are used to, hardware incompabilities, crashes, flawed code and such. Consoles used to be carefree – never heard of anyone not completing, like, Super Mario Bros because the game kept exiting to title screen every time you picked up a mushroom. That just didn’t happen on consoles.

That Disc Sure Is Dirty

That was then. Nowadays console games are almost as bad as their computer counterparts. Here’s a few games I remember seeing crashing recently, much to my delight.

  • Lost Odyssey (XBOX 360)

    Constant read errors on scene changes. Sometimes not fatal (like music not loading on battle, but game returns normal after the battle ends), but often the game claims the disc is dirty or otherwise faulty. Usually the game can be resumed right away by just launching it again. No need to even open the tray and clean the (supposedly) dirty disc.

    Sometimes it hangs up the entire console, forcing a system reset. Especially common on the 4th disc. Shame, as the game itself was rather good. Fortunately I managed to complete it despite the errors, probably because they seemed completely random.

  • Samurai Warriors 2 (XBOX 360)

    Occasional disc read errors that crash the game. Sometimes unable to load the music track, but that did not affect gameplay itself. I also stumbled on a bizarre bug on one of the campaigns, where scripted event failed to occur where it should. As a result I was unable to advance, which was awfully nice.

  • Ninety-Nine Nights (XBOX 360)

    Notorious for disc read errors, web filled with similar stories. Despite of scratch free, clean disc, successful loading seems to depend on the position of the moon and weather conditions.

    I liked the game, but trying to get it run properly proved to be an added challenge I couldn’t completely solve.

  • Xenosaga 2 (PS2)

    Classic freezing issues. Not too often, but enough for me to remember them. Nothing compared to the titles above, though, and did not get in the way of completing the game.

  • Twilight Princess (WII)

    The initial US version had a bug which made it impossible to advance in the game on certain situation. This was fixed on later shipments and did not affect the European version, but still.

To Proceed You Must…

Internet-features brought game consoles even closer to PC gaming by adding the fun of updating to the mix. Current generation of consoles does this well, and as a bonus, they make sure if there’s an update, you won’t miss it.
Force-feeding patches is an idea that probably looked good on paper, but really sucks in real life. I own all three major consoles and use them online. As a reward, I get to download something almost every time I turn one of them on. If it’s not a system update, then it’s an update to the game I intended to play. If I’m really lucky, it’s both.

I recently decided to download the demo of Super Stardust on PS3. After the initial download I thought everything was set. My wishes and reality did not match, as I was told that I need to update the game before I can play it. Hilarious, isn’t it? Here I’m required to update the game I downloaded a minute ago. Just because it was too difficult to include the patch to the initial download?

Even better is that I don’t even get to choose if I want to update or not. I’m not able to play it UNLESS I update!

It’s Not the Outcome, It’s the Means

Why not give the players a choice? Let the user update later if he or she wished unless it’s absolutely necessary. Little transparency wouldn’t hurt either, tell what the update does and fixes as well. I’m tired of buying a game only to be faced with mandatory download of sometimes a couple hundred megabytes.
Add a slow update installing process to the mix and you start with a really positive attitude towards the software. Okay, I could probably yank the network cable from the console to prevent this, but when the entire system is designed to be online, it’s really handy to switch between online and offline constantly.

Software’s a tricky thing, sometimes the finalized product turns out to have issues that need fixing. That’s what patches are for. I’m not totally against them, sometimes games even get new features, but I just wonder how often they are a result of developers being cheap on the testing phase. I also think that the current-gen consoles’ way of handling the update process is far from ideal.

Let’s hope it changes as the systems mature. I’d like the idea of trying a new game right away instead of applying an update. If the released version is not in a playable state, it’s been published too soon. The concept of quick play is sure going down the drain.

Thoughts on Wii

Wii

Wii want the funk

I was one of the lucky ones in Finland who managed to secure themselves a Wii on launch in December. I pre-ordered it apparently just in time as some who ordered later ended up empty-handed despite the pre-order. Now that the console is almost a year old here and I’m sending mine for repair, it’s the perfect time to finally publish this article I wrote about six months ago…

First thing I noticed about Wii (no surprise), was the size of the console. Best way to visualize it is to stack two DVD-cases together. That’s how big it is and you can place it either horizontally or vertically. The package comes with a stand which adds a bit to the height.

The console is white. No other colors available yet. Many have said that the design and color remind of Apple’s products and I kind of agree. The stand is grey and the disc slot has a black cover. Which really looks out of place, although occasionally it’s masked by that awesome looking blue light you might’ve seen in pictures and ads. Overall I liked the appearance a lot.

I had more than few negative things to say about Xbox 360′s noise. For Wii it’s the other way around. You can hardly hear it after powering on and the disc drive isn’t loud either. You can certainly hear the drive being accessed, but it’s nothing compared to Xbox 360′s disc drive. Probably about the same level as PS2 as far as drive noise is concerned.

Wii

Wii continues the fine trend of humongous power adapters that the Xbox 360 started. The grey colored power brick is about 1/3 of the console. Still, it’s no match for the champion, in both size and stature.

There are two USB-ports, but no Ethernet-port. The console has built-in WLAN, however, so those wishing for Internet access need to either have wireless gear or buy a USB to Ethernet-adapter Nintendo and a couple third-party vendors are selling.

Being fully backwards compatible with GameCube games and accessories, Wii has slots for GameCube controllers and memory cards. In addition the front panel has a Secure Digital slot, which you can use to view pictures or play music from your SD card. You can also save data from Wii to SD memory card, but that has limits. You can’t store GameCube saves there, for example (why not?). The legacy ports for GameCube accessories are located on top of the console, behind a hatch. Which is, quite frankly, not the most aesthetic place to put them. The GameCube stuff sticks out like a very lame console modification gone wrong, especially with the Wavebird wireless receivers. I understand that the controllers can’t be hidden, but what I don’t understand is why you can’t close the GameCube memory card hatch. Now there are two different hatches open when playing Cube games, one of which could’ve been avoided by making the console just a little bit taller. Sure, you can remove the hatches (in fact, you have to, if you plan to use Cube stuff in a horizontally placed console), but the stuff still sticks out and the surface around the ports is black.

Wii memory card slots

Wii has 512mb of internal memory. This is used for game saves and all other content you might want to store there. Except GameCube saves, you need to buy a GameCube memory card for them. Which is nice. Good luck finding those after few years while used GameCube games continue to be available. I hope future software updates will fix this. The internal memory is addressed in available blocks (like in GC memory cards) so the use of space is really vague. It might be useful knowing the available space in megabytes too instead of just blocks…

My eyes! It’s not in high definition!

Three common complaints about Wii:

  1. It’s GameCube 1,5!
  2. There’s no HD!
  3. It’s just a gimmick

One is mostly wrong, second is true and the jury’s still out on the third one. There is no HD support. The highest resolution you’ll get is in SD: interlaced 576 in Europe and elsewhere you’re limited to 480i. Fortunately, most Wii games support progressive scan, which improves things a bit and by using component cables you can get progressive scan 480p, considered ED (enhanced definition).

The first complaint originates from Nintendo’s announcement that Wii uses the same architecture as the GameCube. Despite of that, calling it GameCube 1,5 is plain dumb. Pentium processors have been based on same architecture starting from the first one. Same goes for other x86-processors. What this basically means that the processors are technically able to run the same software. An old 486-computer could technically run latest version of Windows. In reality I couldn’t, of course, due to lack of processor speed and memory. Still, there are no architectural limits to prevent it. Therefore, same architecture makes Wii capable of running GameCube’s software. It doesn’t mean that it’s an overclocked version of it. Calling Wii an updated GameCube is like calling Xbox 360 a glorified version of my Apple iBook G3 from 1999. A bit exaggerated comparison perhaps, but both are based on PowerPC-architecture.

That being said, from a technical standpoint, Wii pales in comparison to Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 in raw power. In addition, Wii is limited in it’s output: For NTSC-consoles, interlaced 480 and progressive 480 are the best it pushes out. In PAL-regions where the typical horizontal resolution is a bit higher, you get to choose between 576i, 480i and 480p. No progressive 576.

Included cables are the standard composite ones. Meaning you have to pretty much invest in better ones. If you want the progressive output, you need component cables. Otherwise, S-video or RGB-scart are also an option although for some reason Nintendo believes that PAL-region gamers do not need S-video support.

As for the third complaint, although many games bring nothing new to the table excep for the waggle, it’s hardly the console’s fault. People said the same thing about early Nintendo DS games and the console, but look at it go. It’s still the definitive handheld and no end in sight. I agree that Wii-developers could come up with more than just minigames, but the console is still young. Year 2008 should give us some answers.

Wii Remote

Wiimote!

Probably the most hyped up thing above Wii is the controller. Or controllers, to be precise. The main controller is called Wii Remote. It’s a bluetooth capable remote-shaped controller with built-in accelerometer and potentiometer. These fancy words mean that Wii remote senses both the speed it’s waved at and the angle it’s placed.

The controller also has a pointer function. When you point at your TV with it, it senses your position and where you’re pointing at. To achieve this, a small infrared camera is used. The camera records the infrared signal the Wii sensor bar emits. The sensor bar itself is placed above or below your television and gets its power from Wii.

Bluetooth is used for communications between the console and controllers. You can pair multiple controllers with Wii, but only four can be used simultaneously. The Wii remote also has rumble function, a small speaker and a few kilobytes of memory to store your own avatars (called Mii).

As a precaution, the remote comes with a hand strap. The originals have already been changed to stronger ones, since there were few cases of them possibly breaking. Despite of this, people continue to have completely understandable incidents with the console, such as cracked tv screens (Letting go of the controller really sounds like a plan) or twisted ankles (for playing with high heels on… must’ve been a surprise). Survival of the fittest, I guess.

Now you’re playing with power

After switching the console on, you’ll be greeted with the initial setup. Like on Xbox 360, update & reboot was necessary before completion. The updating was a fast process, but no info about whatever it did was given.

Wii menu
The Wii main menu consists of little tv-screens called channels. Initially there are a handful available and there are going to be many more. When I got the console in December, the available channels were disc channel (Starts Wii & GC games), Mii channel (create and manage your avatars), Photo channel (view photos) and shop channel (spend money).

Since then, additions have been News channel, Weather channel, Internet channel (web browsing using Opera browser) and Everybody Votes-channel (vote about all kinds of things and view results worldwide). Both the Weather and News channels have a really cool feature of viewing the entire globe, being able to zoom in and seeing what’s happening and what’s the weather like in, let’s say, Shanghai.

Shop channel
Shop channel is your gateway to Wii’s virtual console, a heaven for old-school gamers. You can buy games for old consoles – such as NES, SNES and Sega MegaDrive (Genesis for US) – and play them on your Wii. Basically, legal emulation. Prices range from 500 to 1000 points, with N64 games being most expensive and 8-bit games the cheapest ones. You either need to buy a points card from a store or a credit card to buy anything from the Shop Channel. Included with the purchase is also a digitized version of the games manual. Virtual Console games are added to Wii menu as new channels and you’re bound to run out of channel pages eventually if you’re going to buy a lot of VC games. You can use either the GameCube controller or the Classic Controller for these. NES games can also be played with a Wii remote turned sideways, so you can re-experience the ergonomic joy of old 8-bit controllers.

Now all I need is a third-party to bring back TAC-2 controller for Wii. That Commodore 64 joystick made your hands feel the same pain as your characters in games. That level of immersion hasn’t been achieved ever since…

Xbox 360

Xbox 360

One side of the next generation

A couple months ago I was offered a nice deal on Microsoft’s latest console and couldn’t resist. So, even though most of the current games really aren’t my cup of tea, here I was, a brand new owner of Xbox 360 Premium edition.

The major difference between the two editions is the hard drive. The cheaper Core edition doesn’t have one. In addition the Premium edition packs component cables, a wireless controller and a headset with microphone.

The console itself is roughly the same size and weight as the original Xbox. You can place it either horizontally or vertically. It looks more elegant than the previous one and is available in just one color, white. I like the color, but it probably bums those who demand even their toilet paper in black because it’s so much better. Fear not, Microsoft has released a black one under the suitable name of Elite Edition. The elite edition also brings a 120 Gb hard disk and HDMI support.

While the Xbox had internal power supply, Xbox 360 has a huge external one. That’s right, folks. It is huge. It’s about the height of Nintendo Wii and weighs about as much. Fortunately it is easy to hide and forget.
Power supply

The thing you can’t forget is the noise. Xbox 360 is the loudest console I’ve ever owned (or used). The noise varies a bit on whether you’ve placed the console sideways or upwards but remains nevertheless, and I’m talking about idle noise here. Whenever a game or something else that’s processor intensive is running, it turns up a notch. When you put a disc inside, the DVD drive steals the show, rocking like a hurricane. If I had my consoles in a cabinet or something, it wouldn’t be so much of an issue I guess.

Having the console only a couple of feet away isn’t helping either. Those who have computers with turbines for cooling or tend to have volume buttons stuck on loud are going to be pleasantly surprised by the fan noise. I was plain bothered. In all honesty, I have to say that from what I’ve read, there seem to be differences in noise levels. Some Xbox 360 units are reported much quieter than others.

Continued on next page

Castlevania: Curse of Darkness

Box art

Whipless in Vallachia

Curse of Darkness is the second installment on Castlevania series for current consoles. Released on both PS2 and Xbox, Curse of Darkness (CoD for those who enjoy fishy acronyms) is a follow-up to Castlevania: Lament of Innocence and tries to improve on some of its predecessors shortcomings.

Lament of Innocence was the first next-gen 3D-Castlevania, previous two attempts being on the Nintendo 64. Although it had its fair share of problems and is widely considered only above-average, I liked it a lot. Although bit on the short side, graphically I thought it was beautiful and the gameplay was decent. Curse of Darkness and brings plenty of new features to table, most notable being the Innocent Devil system. Innocent Devils work somewhat like the familiar system from Symphony of Night, bringing summoned creatures to fight alongside you and boosting the abilities of your character a bit.

Enemy bruteThe bigger they are, the harder they fall

On the Castlevania timeline the game is placed right after the good ol’ Castlevania III for NES. In a nutshell, true to his Belmont heritage, Trevor Belmont has defeated count Dracula. All is not well in Vallachia, however. Some of Dracula’s minions are still afoot and most notable of them is Isaac, a Devil Forgemaster. Devil Forgemasters are mortals who possess the ability to summon Innocent Devils. Besides Isaac, there’s only one Devil Forgemaster, Hector, and you get to play as him. Hector is a former ally of Dracula and has given up his powers and renounced his title. Isaac holds a personal grudge for him for betraying Dracula and it’s up to Hector to stop Isaac and settle the score between the two.

“ Combining your best spear to something which results in a baseball bat (not much of a weapon here, really) isn’t exactly heartwarming…“

So, no Belmont at lead this time. You’ll bump into Trevor during the course of the story, but he plays only a supporting role. Naturally that means that the legendary whip, Vampire Killer, is a no-go as well. To compensate for his lack of let’s say… whipness, Hector has a wide array of weapons to use: swords, axes, knucles, daggers, spears, etc. Weapons can be improved by combining different materials you find during the course of game or by merging weapons. Same goes for protective gear: new suits of armor, head gear and shields can be crafted this way.

Hector & IDBattle-type Innocent Devil as a bodyguard

Need to know basis

Now that the general details are out of the way, it’s time to focus on smaller ones. First, the Innocent Devil system. You get around six different types of them during the course of game. Devil types vary from fairy to battle type and determine the abilities. Defeating enemies with a certain weapon gives you power-ups of that weapon type. These power-ups evolve your ID to the next level once you’ve collected enough. Leveling might have a requirement of either 200 sword-type or 200 axe-type power-ups, for example, and once that is met, the devil progresses on the upgrade path and changes form. Depending on which which way the upgrade path goes, your ID evolves accordingly. Usually one goal increases offensive abilities while the other rises defensive or magical abilities.

Unfortunately, there’s no way of knowing what any particular upgrade path does. One form might be significantly stronger than the other, and some forms, well… just suck. While you can raise multiple devils of same type, evolving them all is a tedious process involving plenty of repeative hack’n'slash. What’s even more annoying, the ID’s have a couple of new skills to learn in every form but once you move a devil one step up in upgrade path, you can’t learn abilities from the previous form anymore. That means you don’t want them evolving too fast as you might miss very handy skills.

CutsceneHector and Julia

The innate skills you get immediately, but most of the better ones are locked. Naturally the game doesn’t tell the requisites for learning those abilities. Usually you need to defeat a certain number of enemies with the devil active. How many, who knows. It varies. 20, 50, 100? Maybe. Keep swinging that sword. Innocent Devils are a nice addition to the game, but mostly they don’t serve any other business than being a handy little sidekick who helps you around a bit in the battles.

Let’s move to weapon forging. While the “create your own weapons and armor”-concept is pretty neat, it has its share of problems. One of them is the rarity of certain materials. Having only one piece of “Extinct material #1″ and two of “Rare Emerald #3″ and four different pieces of gear needing three of each kind of slows down your equipment progress.

This leads us to problem number two. True to itself, the game gives no hint on what the end result will be. So you have to rely on luck. Combining your best spear to something which results in a baseball bat (not much of a weapon here, really) isn’t exactly heartwarming. Most of these novelty items will result in something useful eventually though, you have to just keep pouring your rare materials on them and continue experimenting.

Dracula's castleOutside Dracula’s castle

Sounds of the abyss

Music is composed by Michiru Yamane, as has been the case in recent Castlevanias. While Lament of Innocence has better overall soundtrack in my opinion, Curse of Darkness is a good one as well. Graphics on the other hand aren’t on the same level. They aren’t too bad, but what really bugs me is the dullness of the textures. The textures repeat themselves a lot and the game’s title “Curse of Darkness” probably comes from the color scheme used in the game. Seriously, Konami, using brighter palettes doesn’t reduce the game’s atmosphere. As I recall, they had the same problem in the first GBA Castlevania title.

“ The textures repeat themselves a lot and the game’s title “Curse of Darkness” probably comes from the color scheme used in the game.“

For me, probebly the biggest letdown was the level design. Lament of Innocence had variable levels, with plenty of alternate routes and secret pathways. For most part, playing Curse of Darkness feels like running in a tube. Not even the town or forest stages bring an exception to this. The design is rather uninspiring and lacks open areas.

Difficulty level varies a lot. Most of the difficulty comes from boss battles. Regular enemies don’t usually offer much of a challenge, unless you’re lacking on levels. The game’s not a total pushover, but most enemies rely on quantity, not quality.

Hector & mageMage type I.D. has a cool hat

Fun, nonetheless

In addition to weaknesses already mentioned, the story is another one. It has its moments, but the storytelling is seriously lacking. The only things moving the story onward are the cutscenes and there’s not too many of them. The cutscenes also have a bad habit of providing more questions than answers. Too often I find myself running from place A to place B just because I can go nowhere else. Nobody tells me where I have to go and why. Plot should cover these things. This is a problem in the game’s logic only, though. You usually can’t get lost because of the level design.

Although I’ve been a bit critical on Curse of Darkness, I mostly enjoyed it. I’m not sure why exactly. It has a strange charm, and if you like previous Castlevania titles, this doesn’t dissappoint you either. It could’ve been much better had they tweaked the aspects a little bit more. Overall I’d say it’s an average as an Castlevania title and bit better than average action-adventure.

Castlevania

Castlevania

Simon’s first quest

Castlevania was one of the first games I got for my trusty ‘ol 8-bit NES-console. It was a translation of a Konami’s arcade game, and it was very successful when released. The Castlevania saga is one of Konami’s longest series and has had its sequels in nearly every console, newest additions being Castlevania: Curse of Darkness for PS2 and Xbox and Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow for Nintendo DS.

The Castlevania series follows the battle between the Belmont family and Count Dracula. The Belmont family is destined to fight against Dracula. The hero of the first Castlevania game is Simon Belmont. In Castlevania I Simon has to fight his way to Castlevania, the castle of Dracula, defeat count’s forces and finally slay Count Dracula and restore peace to Transylvania for the next hundred years. (Once defeated, Dracula and his castle would vanish for a century, and return after it has passed.)

Castlevania in the horizonAt the gates of Castlevania

The game starts as Simon arrives to the gates of Castlevania and begins his journey towards Dracula’s chamber. Player watches Simon from 2D view familiar from many platform games. After all, Castlevania is a platformer, but an action oriented one. Player controls Simon through Castlevania beating the crap out of Dracula’s minions with his whip, the Vampire Killer.

Although Simon gets other weaponry as the game progresses, whip stays as the primary one. When player collects bonus items, whip changes from slow and rather weak to faster and more destructive one. Other weapons are, for example, an boomerang, an axe, a dagger, holy water and the Bible. These differ very much, e.g. dagger is weak but fast while an axe is slower but more powerful, boomerang returns to throwers’ hand, etc.

Panther in the hallwayDracula’s pets are far from the ordinary

When Castlevania was released in 1986 the graphics were nice, but now, of course, obsolete. Sound effects are standard 8-bit stuff (read: quite bad). Music, however, was different. There were many great tunes. They’ve been remixed and performed by real orchestras. Some of Castlevania’s songs are also in other Castlevania games, e.g. the main theme, ‘Vampire Killer’.

Like most games of its era, Castlevania is at times frustratingly difficult. No saving for you, not even password saves. Continues aren’t around. What’s best, whenever mighty Belmont is hit by an enemy, he grunts and flies backwards from the impact. This is especially fun when trying to avoid falling into a conviniently placed pit. Or when in mid-air. Results are usually seen in the death count. That recoil has nowadays become kind of a trademark for the series, being around for every Castlevania expect the latest ones.

Inside Clock TowerThe Clock Tower

Neverwinter Nights

Neverwinter Nights

The future of RPGs?

Neverwinter Nights, Bioware’s latest take on their Dungeons & Dragons licence, could easily be described as ambitious. Their plan is to take computer roleplaying to the next level by extensive multiplayer support. The whole roleplaying party is transferred to digital age, the adventures just move from pen and paper to mouse and display. Game master still controls the adventure, players act it out.
By delievering the editor & other tools with the game Bioware hopes gamers accept Neverwinter Nights as the new medium for role playing. With dozens of new scenarios and modifications appearing daily, the beginning looks promising.

In addition to the new concept Neverwinter Nights also brought Bioware’s AD&D games into the third dimension. The Infinity Engine, used in Baldur’s Gate & Icewind Dale games is replaced with the new Aurora Engine. The transfer to 3D has its advantages and disadvantages. First of all, the graphics look great. Environments are beautifully rendered and player models look good. One disadvantage the 2D engine had was the fact that all your characters & their equipment looked pretty much the same. This is no longer the case with Neverwinter Nights. You’re now able to actually see what equipment your character is wearing, from weapons to different outfits.

Combat is beautifully detailed. You can see different moves, blocks, equipment changes etc. If you hit an enemy with arrows, you see them sticking out of their body. Magic spells & lighting effects look excellent. Funny thing is that while the 3D graphics look good, so did the 2D ones. In fact the detailed backgrounds of the old Infinity engine and the incredible amount of detail they have still continues to impress. Fortunately the Aurora brings along more than just 3D.

FightBattles are entertaining to watch

Neverwinter Nights uses the new 3rd edition rules of AD&D (Now just D&D). This brings many changes to the gameplay. First of all, it removes most of the character restrictions AD&D 2nd edition had. Mages can’t use swords, clerics are restricted from using bladed weapons, wearing armor prevents from casting spells etc. , you know the stuff.

With the 3rd edition, none of these exist. There are no restrictions in weapons, eg. mages can use two handed swords if they wish – although they have to be proficient with them if they want to be effective. Wearing armor now doesn’t prevent spellcasting, it just makes it more difficult. Mages with full plate armor have significally greater chance of failing the spell than those with no armor at all. They can reduce the penalties by focusing on armored spellcasting when leveling up. Which leads to the next big change in system.

Bard songThe amazing singing fighter

Character development has gone through a major overhaul. Every character now needs the same amount of experience points to go up a level. In 2nd edition some classes advenced slower than others, rogues needed less points than wizards for example. In 3rd edition dual & multiclassing is gone. Once you go up a level, you choose a class to advance in. You may choose the same class you began with or advance in another.

E.g. when a 1st level warrior goes up a level he may choose to advance to 2nd level in warrior class or choose another class. This makes customizing your characters much easier. You can gain 3 levels as wizard, one as warrior and two as druid, then gain one more as warrior etc. The only limitation is the experience penalty you recieve if you have two classes more than one level apart (eg. Level 5 warrior/level 5 rogue/ level 1 wizard).

CampingResting means sitting on a floor until you are healed.
Heroes never sleep.

Close combat is dangerous, use henchmen

Even though Neverwinter Nights is clearly designed with multiplayer in mind, Bioware has not totally forgotten single gaming. In Neverwinter’s single player campaign you play as a newly recruited hero trying to find the cure to a strange plague infecting the city of Neverwinter. The single player scenario is not as complex and long as Baldur’s Gate games were but it offers a decent gaming experience. Although rather linear, it manages to stay interesting. The game’s clearly designed with multiplayer gaming in mind.

Inventory screenInventory is big enough for spare clothing.
Why just fight when you can fight with style?

This shows up in the gameplay as well. Instead of controlling a group of up to six characters like in other Bioware/Black Isle AD&D games, in Neverwinter you’re stuck with one. The game allows you to hire one henchman to help you, but he/she is computer controlled. The sidekick feature is pretty limited as you can’t access your helper’s inventory, give him items (potions are exception) or anything like that. Basically the henchman is just one extra guy in the battlefield, drawing enemy fire and assisting you in combat.

There are various henchmen to choose from and each one has their own story & quest for you. They have a wide range of abilities. There are warriors, rogues, wizards, etc. Certain henchmen are better in some quest than others. If your henchman has rogue skills, he/she opens doors and chests for you and disarms traps. Brute force works on doors & chests as well, but is slower and tends to break stuff…

Long rangeClever employers fight from the range
while the henchman do all the dirty work

The A.I. of the henchmen isn’t something to brag about. They usually hold out on their own in battles but they are too eager to fight. I often saw my henchman running around the map beating enemies senseless. Then he run to an ambush. Results are easily imaginable. Fortunately you can pick up your resurrected henchman from the temple of Tyr where you’ll also get free healing. The handy portal stone you get at the beginning of the game transfers you to the temple at no cost.

Rampage isn’t the only flaw henchmen possess. Once my henchman spotted a trap at the end of a hallway. After seeing it he commented something about disarming the trap for me. whet surprised me was the way he did it. My henchman disarmed the trap by running straight INTO the trap! Well, that’s one way of doing it, I guess and fortunately he survived. It worked, though and the trap was obviously no longer there…a good employee does anything to protect his master, apparently…

Trap showingTraps are highlighted nicely in red
*End of battleVictory

I have mixed opinions about Neverwinter Nights. On the other hand, Bioware succeeded in moving their D&D games to 3D. I haven’t tried the multiplayer game, so I can’t say how well they succeeded in changing the RPG genre. On single player front Neverwinter Nights isn’t as good as it could be. The 1 player scenarios available for download on the net may make up for it, but we’ll see. Even if you’re not planning to play online, Neverwinter Nights isn’t a waste of money. There’s a lot to do and explore on the single player scenarios, just don’t expect anything as grand as Baldur’s Gate was.

Shining knightRighteous heroes glow in dark

Metroid Prime

Metroid Prime

A legend renewed

Metroid continues the line of classic Nintendo-franchises getting a new incarnation on GameCube. Unlike the smooth development of company’s other franchises, Metroid’s transition to 3D was more troublesome. The development was given to Nintendo’s rookie second party developer, Retro Studios. Retro was a big question mark at the time, as they had not released anything on a console before. There were many doubts whether Retro could handle the development successfully.

Initially the project seemed disastrous. At one point Retro cancelled or put in hold all of their projects except Metroid, such as their RPG, Raven Blade. In addition rumors flew around that Nintendo was not happy how Metroid was turning out. After a while it was announced that Shigeru Miyamoto, Nintendo’s top designer, had started supervising the development. The results were surprising. Retro had abandoned the previous third-person gameplay and started using first-person perspective. This take caused quite an uproar. Old Metroid purists were horrified with the new approach while many others were impressed by the courageous design change. I remember I wasn’t too happy with the change myself, as I don’t favor first-person shooters. Retro Studios clearly saw this coming and announced from the start that the game was a first-person adventure instead of shooter, with more emphasis on the exploring than the action.

At Phendrana DriftsPhendrana Drifts

Like in previous Metroids, the main character is Samus Aran, a bounty hunter wrapped in mysterious power suit with more features than average armors offer. In the game’s opening scene, Samus finds herself investigating a distress call from a space station. It doesn’t take too long for her to notice that the station is a wreck; signs of battles are evident around the station and seems that none of the personnel are left alive. Trying to find the cause of this destruction, Samus wanders deeper into the space station. Although the answers are there, the activation of auto destruct mechanism changes her plans from finding to fleeing. During her escape, an explosion damages her power suit, rendering most of the fancy features useless. The trip was not a total bust, though, since according to space station data logs, space pirates are doing something fishy on a nearby planet, Tallon IV. Despite of her damaged power suit she decides to investigate the situation on the planet. That’s the premise of Samus’s latest adventure.

Metroid’s development took quite a time and once it finally came out, it was a big success. The hype surrounding the game was tremendous and – much to my surprise – the game received great reviews all around. I was glad that people liked the game, but had my reservations. After all, Halo got nothing but praise too and I still managed to dislike it. So Metroid stayed off my “must buy” – list. Eventually I chose to give it a chance and borrowed the game from a buddy. After playing for a few days or so I found myself actually enjoying the game! This was rather weird, as the previous first-person action game I remember liking was Unreal Tournament (which is weird. Don’t know why, but I did enjoy it). The result is that there are now two first-person action games I like.

Thermal visorThermal visor in use

One reason may be Metroid’s focus on exploration instead of blasting away everything in sight. Metroid has that too, of course, but I liked especially the moments when you just investigated your surroundings and scanned things, just to find out more about Tallon IV and what has happened to it. The scanning, which I just referred to, is one of the most important aspects of gameplay in Metroid Prime. Samus’s power suit has multiple visor modes, two of which are initially available: combat mode and scan mode. Combat mode is pretty obvious, it involves a gun and a targeting system, as some of you may’ve guessed. Scan visor, however, is completely different. You don’t get to use weapons while in it, scanning allows you to gain valuable information about the scanned subject. Besides important info concerning enemies, you can also scan lots of things from the environment. This way you’ll get hints about possible weak points on walls, for example. A lot of background information on the story is revealed when actively scanning computers, ancient symbols, etc. The game actually doesn’t require much scanning, but it enhances your playing experience a lot.

Beam cannon will deliver

Weaponry isn’t limited either despite that Samus only has one weapon. The arm cannon on her power suit is very versatile; you start with power beam but gain missiles and ice, plasma and wave beams as the game progresses. Each beam has it’s own strengths and weaknesses. There are also certain pathways that can only be opened by using a particular beam.

Map stationMap station

Once you disembark from your ship to Tallon overworld, you’ll find out that all the cool gadgets Samus had in her suit are gone. During the course of game you’ll get them back, but having arm cannon which can blast just regular bursts can be quite depressing. Fortunately exploring Tallon IV rewards you soon with missile launcher and charge capabilities for the cannon. Some of the other upgrades found later on include Varia Suit (Allows Samus to survive undamaged in areas of extreme temperatures), Space Boots (gives Samus the double jump), grapple beam and everyone’s favorite, the Morph Ball.
Morph Ball is probably the coolest gadget in the game. Once Samus has acquired it she can morph into a ball form whenever she wants. Many small corridors and secrets can only be accessed in morph mode. Later upgrades give speed charge and power bombs to the ball. Morph mode switches the game camera away from 1st person to overhead 3rd person, which is, quite obviously, the only way to go perspective-wise (rolling around in first person could be fun for five minutes, though…) . While Samus is very fast in morph mode, her weaponry is limited to bombs so you can’t be too carefree rolling around

Visually Metroid Prime looks great. It is a game that shows people what GameCube can really do graphically when developers have put an effort to it. The environments look great. At times you can see things like Samus’s face reflecting from an icy surface or water dripping on her visor. They may seem like little details but seeing things like that really makes an impression. The game also runs very smoothly despite all the detail, keeping a steady framerate all around. Retro has done a great job here.

Space Pirates labHuge creatures in glass tubes always
break free on inconvenient times

Music is another thing that Metroid excels in. It varies from symphonic tunes to slow techno-style tracks. Each piece fits perfectly to the situation you’re in. For instance, going through the mysterious Chozo Ruins for the first time you’re greeted with an eerie ambient tune on the background which changes to an industrial once you return to the ruins after exploring them.

Backtracking has always been traditional in Metroid games and Prime is no exception. You’ll find yourself going through already explored areas many times later on in the game, due to all those pathways you weren’t able to access before until obtaining better gear. Because of that, backtracking can’t be avoided. Still, some people just hate returning to already explored areas more than once. It can’t be avoided, though, for purely logical reasons. It might be a bit difficult making a game with no need to go through previously completed areas when your playing area consists of a freely exploreable planet.

Ice beam in useIce beam tames even the most furious natives

Because of the playing area is as huge as Tallon IV is and the detailed graphics of the game, loading times are obviously an issue. Retro Studios has countered this by splitting different areas with doors. Doors are opened by firing at them and the brief delay between impact and door opening is used in starting to load the next area. This does not disrupt the gameplay in any way as the delay is a few seconds at most. There are no loading screens in-game. The doors are a working solution anyway as they’re familiar from previous Metroids. Obviously placing doors between areas would be strange when traveling outdoors, but Retro has placed caverns and other obstacles between large outdoor areas so that you won’t encounter a field with a wall and a door dividing it to two areas.

Difficulty level isn’t overly high, but boss encounters tend to offer challenge, some of them more than enough, actually. At least to a player who’s not too familiar with the first person genre of games. Revisited areas are occasionally spiced with new types of enemies, so that the trips aren’t always total pushovers. After completing the game hard mode is unlocked, which should add bit of a challenge if the game seemed too easy first time around.
Now that Metroid Prime is a part of Nintendo’s “Player’s Choice” budget series, the price tag should not prevent you from getting one of the must-have games on GameCube.

Samus closeupSamus outside the space station
Threat aheadSpace pirate ahead

The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind

Morrowind

Enormous adventures

Morrowind is the third installment in Elder Scrolls series by Bethesda Softworks. The previous parts, Arena & Daggerfall were promising but lacked the goods for a truly great game despite of their potential. For example, Daggerfall had a huge world to explore, but it fell short on the randomly generated dungeons which had the appeal and soul of accounting software. Like its predecessors, Morrowind promised a enormous playing area which allows players to do almost anything they wish.

JumpA leap of faith

The game starts with the player character being transported Morrowind by a ship. You’ve been convicted for unknown crime but now ordered to be released. As you leave the ship, you proceed with character creation. First you’ll be asked your name and you’ll get to pick the gender and race as well. After that it’s time to choose your character class. There are three different ways to do this: 1. you can answer a set of questions which determine your class, 2. you simply pick a class you like or 3. create a custom class.

When these steps are completed, you’re given more instructions of the games interface and background story. You’ll also receive your first mission: to deliver a certain package to a person living in town of Balmora. Then you’ll get to walk freely in the streets. Whether you choose to do the given task is up to you, nobody is forcing you. You could choose to explore the world instead or seek out assignments from other people. There’s a main storyline but the game’s no way linear, and you can always find something else to do if you don’t feel like following the storyline.

RiverShiny water is good

Graphically Morrowind is spectacular at best. Owners of pixel shader capable graphics cards such as GeForce 3 and Radeon 8500 (oh and that Xbox thingy qualifies too, I guess…) can enjoy the shiny water effect which makes the water effects look very realistic. Graphics are thoroughly well done and the only slight criticism goes to the walk animations of player and other characters, who walk like never oiled robots, but this is a minor annoyance. (Maybe they’re just wearing reaaaally tight clothes, that’d explain everything, right?).

Usually a game with great graphics has a downside of high system requirements and Morrowind is no exception. Get ready for low framerates if you’re running the game with anything less than 1000Mhz (I haven’t seen the Xbox-version but laws of logical reasoning tell me it’s optimized pretty thoroughly. If it isn’t, Xbox owners are screwed). Options allow you to adjust the graphics pretty well, but if you’re not satisfied with a view distance of a near-sighted bat it’s better to have a fast cpu.

Foggy townImpressive scenery

Item collector’s dream

First person view is the default one, but you can easily switch to a third person view which works just as well on most occasions. 3rd person view is good when you need to see a little more of the world around you (when jumping on platforms, for example) while 1st person view works best on battles, especially when using ranged attacks.
Battles occur in real time and consist of beating the mouse button to use magic or weapons. Nothing that’s never seen before but the system works well. Enemy AI isn’t the master of battle strategies but battles usually provide challenge – especially is your character isn’t particularly skilled with weapons, like the one I’m playing with…

Pointy hat and a robeIt’s not the clothes that matter,
it’s the attitude

One thing that I especially like in Morrowind is the fact that you can collect almost anything. in addition to regular stuff you find in every RPG, like weapons, books, potions, shields etc. Morrowind offers dozens of more. You can loot almost everything from peoples homes like knives and forks(!), books, food, vases. You can buy lots of different clothing form stores. Forests are filled with mushrooms and flowers (you can use them to make potions, for example). In short, the world is not only detailed but the of the stuff there isn’t simply a nice decoration.

To make sure people recognize this as a true Bethesda project, there are a few annoying bugs here and there. They include mostly spontaneous levitation, but I’ve occasionally encountered a few which make the game crash back to desktop. Nothing that a update can’t fix but still frustrating to run on to. On the other hand I have to praise Morrowind for its creative programming bugs. It was rather amusing to see a villager crossing a lake by walking on top of the water. Watching a guard on stand on his post was fun too, mostly because he floated one feet high in the air. So far I’ve also managed to get stuck on a signpost which certainly wasn’t one of my characters top heroic deeds.

Invisible floorOur skilled friend, the Levitating Wizard,
finds something worth fixing for the next update

Bugs aside, Morrowind is an entertaining game. Story’s good, graphics are great and music isn’t bad either (the game’s got too few music tracks though, same ones get played again and again. Another game suffering from Super Mario Bros 2 syndrome…). Controls are easy to use and the interface is mostly logical. If you enjoy computer RPGs, give Morrowind a go.
The world is HUGE and it’ll take a long time just to walk from one side to another. And if you’re fed up with current trend of games being too short, Morrowind’s definitely your game.