WET DEMO IMPRESSIONS

I‘ll admit that there was something about WET that intrigued me. Yes, besides the name of this new title. And for you adolescent pervs out there, just because the main character of the game is female does not mean you will see her get WET. It has a completely different meaning and Artifical Mind and Movement makes sure to explain it in the very beginning. The screenshots that were teased early on in their marketing campaign, had me very hopeful that I would see a new artistic take on the 3rd person shooter genre. In the end, I think I got what I wanted. Though I am a bit skeptical that WET will be something that I, and other gamers like myself, will actually end up purchasing. Because let’s face it, if a new IP comes out, you automatically want to know if the game is worth “buying” or if it’s “just a rental.” No sense on buying a game that doesn’t accomplish its overall goal of establishing itself with the must have games that are currently out and competing for the number one spot. Let’s just jump right in and get WET shall we?

The Bad:

First off, I found the old fashioned western film “screen flicker” to be extremely annoying. I get what the developers were trying to do, but it’s not necessary. There is so much movement on the screen when the action begins, I don’t need the screen to be constantly flickering as it makes it too chaotic for my taste. I felt like it was going to cause someone to have a seizure or something. Even when the action stopped, that damn flicker was still there. Which was an automatic turn off for me though I soldiered on and tried to ignore it.

The game starts off like a mix of the movie Kill Bill, blending into a Lara Croft Tomb Raider-ish action sequence with a large dose of John Woo’s Stranglehold. Sounds like a decent mix right? With the wild and weird music to put it all together, it took a while to get used to. Though the gameplay controls were instantly intuitive. The gameplay itself was a bit too much for me as each time you jump, slide, or wall run to shoot your enemies in slow motion, it left me feeling like the Max Payne “bullet time” limitations could have been enforced to cease the endless fast pace-slow pace of taking out your opponents. Moving on.

As you quickly progress into the next stage, you can tell how films have heavily influenced this game. Even including, I’m sorry but really not a fan, Eliza Dushku as the main characters voice. I couldn’t help but think the demo could have been better without the cheesy and typical movie dialogue. Do you ever watch a movie with big name stars and think to yourself, “y’know, this movie would have been a lot better if there was a different actor or actress playing that part.” No? Well I do. I’d much rather hear a unknown talented voice behind the main character of a game or movie as I couldn’t help but think of Dushku’s previous movie roles. So it seemed to take the immersiveness out of it for me. Using an unknown voice, ends up establishing that exact voice as the main character. Makes it more believable. Think, Cortana from the Halo trilogy. Could you imagine Cortana’s voice as, say.. Angelina Jolie? No. It would totally kill it and would no longer be Cortana. It would be Angelina playing Cortana, and that’s how I felt with the main character, Rubi.

One last note on the bad before the good begins, the actual enemy characters you face, just so happen to be twins. Around every corner, the same guy. Sometimes even triplets. I don’t know how so many of these clones got there but it’s as if game engine limitations and technology have not been increased over the last 10 years. I don’t want to be fighting 2-4 guys at the same time and have them all look the same. Game studios need to manage this more efficiently in my opinion. Cut a couple of texture resolutions down to free up memory. Take out some irrelevant geometry taking up ridiculous amounts of space. Do whatever you have to do to not show the same character on the screen at the same time. I hate it. If the enemies are not a bunch of underground species of Locust’s from Gears, there is no need to look exactly the same. I don’t want to see it. Especially when they perform the same robotic actions when you’re fighting them.

The Good, and the Surprisingly Awesome:

I was fully prepared to rip this demo a part with all my heart and soul. If that were actually possible of course. I couldn’t bring myself to do it. I was going to try it though. But then the WET demo kicked into a gear I did not see coming.

Once I got past the beginning stage of diving, wall running and sliding all over the place in bullet time to take out repetitive enemies, something bad happened. Something bad ass is more like it. The main character, Rubi? Well, you see, she ended up getting blood on her face. She got WET. Which set off a chain of events that at first looked over the top to me when I saw prior footage of this on YouTube, but this WET mode actually ended up being so warranted. I found it to be unsettlingly satisfying. Way more than my old conservative soul would like to admit.

You still get to perform the overdone, yet somehow still relevant bullet time to kill off the massive amount of enemies, but all of this is in a simple color palette of plain black, red and hints of white. That’s it, and this is where the stylized art from Artificial Mind and Movement really jumps out and screams at you, “Hey you! Kid!? Look at this shit! aaaaahahaha!” Awesome. That’s what it feels like going through this WET sequence of events, bullet time, shooting and even slashing away at your enemies. Slashing you say? Yes, she does have a sword and using it is probably one of the most rewarding parts of this games action. That part, was spot on.

Finally, the developers switched gears yet again which made me sit more up-right as laying down was not the ideal position to be in when going into the final act. There seemed like there were three whole parts to this demo and each one made me pay more attention. Almost like I was experiencing multiple different games as I progressed. This time, you go through a series of Quick Time Events (QTE) which immediately reminded me of Indigo Prophecy. But the way this part was pulled off, may have been better executed.

You finish the demo by riding on top of a car driving down the freeway while shooting at enemies in vehicles driving next to you. The car you’re riding on just happens to crash (duh, this sequence of events is planned out in advance) but don’t worry, if you press A or X just in time, you can perform the amazing aeriel stunts to make your way onto other vehicles passing by. I had to do this a couple of times as I uncontrollably gawked at the action taking place instead of paying attention to what button I needed to press to keep that action going. But I didn’t mind. I did not get frustrated restarting the whole thing over again. Watching Rubi leap from one vehicle, wall run onto the side of a swerving truck and then onto an enemy vehicle to see her slash the poor dude’s hand off was more than enough reason to purposely not hit the next button, just to see her do it all again. Well done, well done indeed.

In the end.. the demo did not start off well in my opinion. But what Artificial Mind and Movement did to make up for it, sure beats the hell out of any single player demo I have played this year on Xbox Live. With WET being only a single player game, and the fact that the game releases around the same time as HALO: ODST, I doubt sales will do as well as the developers and Bethesda would expect. However, if the demo is any indication as to what to expect of the full retail version, I can see gamers returning to play this game later on in the year once they’re done getting their Halo fix. Even if it’s just a rental.

Did you play the demo yet? If so, let me know what you think in the comments!

MINI NINJAS DEMO IMPRESSIONS

“Shhh.. don’t tell anyone this game might not be as fun as it looks”

Konichiwa young ninjas! I finally got my hands on the Mini Ninjas demo and I must say, I no longer think this game is worth the $50 price tag. Is this a joke? This really belongs in the Xbox Live Marketplace as a downloadable arcade game. Which is what I thought it was going to be the first time I heard about Mini Ninjas. If it was, I could see myself purchasing this as long as the price was around the $15-$20 range. We got Shadow Complex for $15 right? This sucks for me because I had high hopes for this game, and if this demo is any indication as to what I’ll be seeing in the full retail version, which is the whole point of a demo, then I’ll pass.

First off, I love the whole mini theme IO Interactive has going here. That’s what attracted me to this game in the first place. (Micro machines anyone? C’mon, you know you played with them growing up.) When you start the demo, it allows you to magically switch from character to character depending on what you encounter in the level. You start off with main character Hiro (why is the Japanese hero always called Hiro?) and you have the option of switching to Futo, who is the bigger guy that allows you to take on larger foes and destroy caged up forest animals you’re trying to save in the game, or you could also switch to Suzume, the girl ninja who rocks a killer flute. But I don’t know why she was in this demo, as I did not find any use for her.

The fighting is nothing complex. Pressing the X button over and over again to use your sword is all you really do to destroy your enemies. Pressing and holding down Y launches and freezes you into the air Matrix-style and allows you to aim at a couple of Samurai’s to perform a quick strike to defeat them faster. Equipping yourself with some Shuriken ninja stars, you can throw them at your enemy using the right trigger, which doesn’t seem to kill them.. it just stuns them a bit so you can finish them off with the sword. Nothing too difficult with this game. Straightforward and easy.. maybe too easy. I guess I’m not the type of gamer IO and Eidos are marketing too.

The textures are definitely nothing to brag about. Which is why I keep wondering why this doesn’t go straight to XBLA? That’s what this game looks and feels like. Don’t get me wrong, the art direction is pretty solid and I’m sure there is a lot to the game that might have me saying, “oohhhh… and ahhhh“. But really, there is nothing new in this game that would make it stand apart from a typical game you’d see on the original Xbox and Playstation over 10 years ago.

You have an inventory of items you find and pick up throughout the level, like healing potions, special flowers, other weapons you can equip yourself with. But it’s a tired old gaming recipe I refuse to pay for in this next generation of games. IO Interactive have made a decent game, I’m sure of it. But it is completely by the book. Gaming 101. You’re a ninja, you have to save some animals from the evil Samurai’s and you go from point A to point B. Nothing innovative about this. It kind of reminded me of the Kung–Fu Ninja game, but not as good. I don’t know, maybe some of you like this sort of game that offers “more of the same”.

There are some cute moments that make you smile but it is few in far between. For example, Hiro’s mini ninja run is quite funny. Since they’re all mini, their feet look like little mice scurrying to find some cheese. Play it, you’ll know what I’m talking about. That, and when the Samurai’s are marching up and down the forest chanting whatever it is samurai’s chant as they make their way to conquer poor innocent animals, I had a quick giggle. The dialogue is what you would expect in a stereotypical ninja game. Think Bruce Lee, but in miniature voices. IO Interactive threw in some much needed humor and that’s what I was looking for. But it’s not enough. I wanted to see a bit more depth in this demo to warrant a purchase. I didn’t get it. I’m bummed. Now I’m off to try out the Lost Planet 2 demo and hopefully that cheers me up.

Try it out yourself and let me know what you think in the comments. Am I being too critical?

OVERLORD II DEMO IMPRESSIONS

Kill the evil seal monster! Wait… what?

I remember playing the first Overlord demo and kind of enjoying it. I liked the humor it displayed and just being the most powerful Overlord in this virtual world was a pretty cool concept. I never bought the game because I didn’t think the game would be entertaining for longer than a few minutes like in the demo. So when I found out the Overlord II demo was on the Xbox Live Marketplace, I figured I would give it another chance, thinking that they may have made it more interesting for a person like me. However, I was not prepared for the direction the developers decided to go in this game. In fact, I’m a bit shocked.

They definitely changed this sequel. At least, they made me think so in the demo. My first question to the developer is, why in the world would you think I would enjoy clubbing baby seals? Seriously people, I’m not a animal, tree hugging, environmental wacko activist but I have no patience for what this demo asks the player to do. If you have not played this demo yet, prepare to witness what the annual Canadian seal cull is like. Thankfully there is a lack of blood, but you still end up sending your minions to club baby seals which you get points for. You, as the almighty, all powerful “Overlord” get to club innocent baby seals as well.

The almighty Overlord and his sick ‘n twisted minions with seal helmet

How is this electronic entertainment? Well it just might be.. if you’re sick in the fucken’ head. Sometimes… I think I am. But this? I’m sorry, clubbing baby seals in a video game is not what I would consider fun nor do I find it funny. Especially not for $60. I wouldn’t even want to club these snow white, cute little seals for free. I don’t get it guys. I really don’t.

I want to keep this demo impression short because this demo really isn’t worth talking about. But if you like to club little baby seals, chase one eyed Yeti’s, watch Gremlim’s ride atop of wolves and fight Gay Pirate Elves (yes, you read that right) then this game is for you. For me? No thanks. This left a bad impression on me and this whole Overlord franchise name is forever tarnished in my mind. The developers could have really created some interesting and creative gameplay, as the environments were actually pretty stunning to look at and walk around in. But then they had to ruin any chance they had at success by throwing in elements that show poor judgement by the developers and a serious bad taste in humor and gameplay.

Warning: Seals will kill you with cuteness

Did they conduct a survey and find out a majority of gamers love to kill baby seals or something? I seriously doubt it. Gamers want to kill Aliens, Dinosaurs, Monsters, Zombies… Rainbow Bright and Care Bears. Which is the exact opposite of what Triumph Studios had in mind with their new game. Published by Codemaster’s, who also happens to be the publisher of the recently released Damnation (see Damnation Review), they’re really starting to make me question their credibility. Are they letting any game get made now days? I understand the game is supposed to be humorous, but I don’t think it will resonate with other gamers.

Any of you play this demo yet? What do you think?

BIONIC COMMANDO DEMO IMPRESSIONS

Bionic Commando eh? Hmmm.. sure why not? I’ll check it out. But I doubt I’m going to like it. I predict that the controls will be frustratingly difficult and I will want to drop out of the multiplayer match after just a few minutes. That’s what I said to myself as I was about to start the Bionic Commando multiplayer demo. Well, I was kind of right, but I was also wrong.

First match was obviously just an experiment on how to move my guy around and how to kill any other guy that crosses my path. At first, I found the controls difficult but not actually frustrating. I could overhear other people talking (especially the guy with an amazing 10 kill lead already) saying to just give the game a few tries. On about the 5th time you play it, you should have the controls down and you should be seeing how much fun you can have. For me, the first match was not a shining moment in my life. With 0 kills and 8 deaths, let’s just say I did not do as well as I planned. Ahh forget it, I got pwned! Big time. But again, it was kind of predictable. If I ended up getting the most kills on my first try in a game I’ve never played before, you’d have to call me the Wizard. But the Wizard I am not. Or am I?

Second match I played was quite different than the first. I don’t know what happened to me but the game, the controls, the grappling hook and arm just connected. I started getting into a flow with this new game which felt like a mix of Lost Planet and Spiderman. (Yes, that is a good thing) Being able to swing from beam to beam, building to building was fun especially when you’re chasing after someone and shooting their direction at the same time. It gets crazy when you’re doing that and you have a guy right behind you trying to kill you and the guy I’m trying to kill. I can see some of the matches being a huge conga line of deaths with the guy coming up from behind having the advantage of getting most of the kills. A majority of the time, that guy behind me did indeed kill us both. Wish I knew how.

I found some of my deaths to be unexplainable. There must be a weapon or some type of button you can press that magically sends you flying off the top of buildings because it happened to me many times. It was almost like a shockwave that blew me over the edge and I think I’ll play it again tonight to try and figure out what the hell it was. I had a lot of trouble killing my enemies at first. But I finally found some of the weapons, armor and health spawn points and from then on, I whored ’em like I used to whore the rockets in Halo 2. (yea, that was me that kept killing you over and over again as well as the complimentary teabag) But for me, I finally caught up with the leader in kills by not using the weapons themselves, but by using my big ass arm. Hit your enemy once with your arm and it’s instant death. I can see this being a major complaint in multiplayer.

That’s probably not the best thing for this game. One hit kills in any game can get frustrating for the guy on the other end of my arm. Here this guy is, running and swinging all over the place, trying to shoot me or somehow toss me over the edge to my imminent death, and all I had to do was walk up to the guy and bitch slap his ass. Sure enough, it worked! Instant death. I soon found myself in the lead as I bitch slapped nearly every person in the match. In the end, I tied for first place with 9 kills. First match, 0 kills. Second match, 9 kills. I did not expect to catch onto this game that quickly. But I did, and I found it rewarding. If you see other demo impressions with a negative outlook on this game, it’s most likely because they did not get a chance to feel what it was like to win. Or to at least get more than one kill. I can see myself giving this demo a bad impression if each of my matches were exactly like my first. But it wasn’t, it was better than I had predicted.

When all said and done, I really liked this demo. However, it is probably one of the more shorter demos you will play this year. I think there is a reason behind that as I found myself wanting more. Even though you play on the same, small level each and every time. I wanted to keep playing on different levels and for longer periods, so to that extent, I think the developers were successful. The weapons could be a bit better as some felt extremely weak being shot in third person. And you don’t really aim all that much either. At least, you don’t have time to aim. (There is almost always someone respawning behind you so standing there aiming a sniper is not bright) When I first heard about this game, I didn’t know what to expect. After playing the demo, I can honestly say I was impressed with the ‘fun’ factor and I hope to have even more fun with the single player campaign when the game is released. As for multiplayer? I can see my friends and I playing this a lot if they give it a chance, but then again I thought my friends would be playing Left 4 Dead with me as well. So who knows? This demo is probably going to get a lot of mixed reactions but for me, from The Gamer Report, I definitely recommend you try this out. If you do, feel free to leave me a comment and tell me what you think.

To get another viewpoint (one that is opposite of mine)read another impression over at Ars Technica…

DEMO IMPRESSIONS: RED FACTION: GUERRILLA

Havok engine in full effectFirst off, let me say that I don’t know much about Red Faction at all. I think I remember playing the original version a long time ago, but I thought it was a first person shooter? So I’m a bit thrown off that the new Red Faction is a third person shooter instead. Anyway, the demo starts off feeling very much like a Hollywood production, which I can’t decide if I like or not. Once the quick video introduction was over with, I got to walk around the environment, I automatically felt like this was an open world game. (Turns out it is, go figure!) You can steal cars right off the road just like the rest of them. Red Faction: Guerrilla takes place on Mars and basically you’re in a battle for freedom from the occupying powers. Towns and innocent citizens are being wiped out and the entire planet may be next, so this is where your journey begins.

Walking to my first destination, huge ass hammer in hand, there were characters walking all over the place, often saying amusing things as you walk by. This environment definitely felt alive to me. There was an easy to navigate map to my first destination, so I found it simple to move from point A to point B. The movement for this third person game was fluid and felt similar to other recent games. Mass Effect jumped into my head immediately. Especially when I realized I had picked up an automatic weapon off a now bloodied enemy. (Running up on enemies to swing a hammer at them as they shoot you in the abdomen is not a good idea, at all.) The firing of the weapons reminded me of Mass Effect, which isn’t really a bad thing. The hammer you start off with does plenty of damage and just about every aspect of the environment seemed to be destructible with this bad boy.

I did notice the AI was really weak for a next gen title like this. It was quite simple to sneak up from behind on an enemy and shoot him in the back. I also witnessed enemy AI running into walls like they just got standbyed in Halo. This is a major negative for me as it takes the immersiveness away from the the player. I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt and assume they will have fixed this issue after releasing the demo. If this outdated AI makes it into the retail version, it could hurt future reviews and possibly sales. The game doesn’t come out until June so they have plenty of time to tweak the settings.

Get your barrel on!
With the negative out of the way, the fun finally began when I reached my destination. Once there, you break into a small hangar and commandeer what they call a “Walker”. (No relation to Chuck Norris) The Walker is basically a mech, no guns or anything, just strong powerful arms that will crush enemies and armored vehicles. I immediately went after the armored vehicles once I got in the Walker and found it pretty satisfying to watch explode under my power. I was going after each and every object I could crush and destroy at first but found it a lot funner to just barrel through anything that gets in your path.

Following the marker on the map takes you to a truck waiting for you to load the Walker onto. You basically jack these guys for this mech and well, it ends up pissing a lot of them off. Soon after you load the Walker onto the truck, you hop on a ridiculously powerful cannon of some sort on the back of the truck as you make your getaway. I loved it, which is why I recorded it for you all to see these guys chasing me down. This is where the demo shined the most for me. In all, the demo is relatively short but it gives me a good enough grasp on where Volition is taking this new Red Faction adventure. The demo says we’ll get up to 16 players for online play, 120 full missions, 34 different vehicles and dozens of weapons which is a good sign. If they are smart, they will also implement a multiplayer party system similar to what Bungie has done with Halo. *hint hint*

One more thing that I absolutely must share with you is this, and this may be a make it or break it reason for you to purchase or not purchase this game. In Red Faction Guerrilla, one of the weapons at your disposal is the most damaging, the most powerful, the most hardcore weapon of all time… and it’s covered in feathers. Yes my friends, I am talking about the often feared, always respected, extremely dependable… mighty, mighty Ostrich. Take that Chainsaw gun! Suck it Gravity gun! There’s a new number one game weapon of all time threatening to take your spotlight. Watch your back. The Ostrich is coming… punks.Can’t wait to hear what this weapon sounds like