2009 is rapidly coming to a close, and for gamers, it was one of the most solid years in a long time. We wrap up the year with Beyond Co-Op reviews of Dragon Age Origins, The Saboteur, Motorstorm Artic Edge, The Force Unleashed, Kamen Rider: Dragon Knight, and Assassin's Creed 2.
The Saboteur....................................................................... Page 2
Dragon Age Origins..............................................................Page 3
The Force Unleashed .........................................................Page 4
Motorstorm: Arctic Edge.......................................................Page 5
Kamen Rider: Dragon Knight ...............................................Page 6
Assassin's Creed 2 ...............................................................Page 7
Amazon.com Widgets
Explanation of Scores:
- Golden Billy - This is a must buy title. Truly excellent in almost everyway.
- Silver Billy - A solid title with a few flaws.
- Bronze Billy - This one is probably a rental if it interests you.
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Developer: Pandemic
MSRP: $49.99, $59.99
by: Mike Katsufrakis
Not many games can begin by displaying a pair of naked breasts, but somehow The Saboteur manages to pull it off without seeming too puerile. Considering our hero, Sean Devlin's main base of operations is in a Parisian burlesque bar, it certainly fits. The story is actually kind of refreshing- Sean is a mechanic and race car driver who happens to piss off the wrong opponent in his first major race, which spirals into a bloody tale of revenge set in Nazi-occupied Paris. He'll get swept into the French Resistance, bed a British spy, and generally cause trouble for his jackbooted enemies.
The Saboteur is an open-world game, though you won't get that vibe at first. The first hour or two of gameplay are intensely story-driven and linear, ultimately culminating in Sean's capture by and subsequent escape from the Nazis. After you arrive in Paris, things begin to open up, though that's not the first thing you'll notice. In heavily occupied areas of Paris, the color will be completely drained from the area, save for certain elements such as red Nazi emblems, Sean's green eyes, or the blazing blue trimmings of a resistance member. It's striking, and I actually found myself missing it once I liberated much of the city.
Once things open up, you'll be greeted by open-world gameplay with all the usual trimmings and a few unexpected additions. You'll sabotage (naturally) Nazi operations in Paris, and in an interesting twist, the missions are much more action-heavy than most games of this ilk. The metagame largely consists of "freeplay" events such as taking out Nazi sniper nests, vehicle depots, tanks and heavy artillery, you can effectively lower the difficulty of the game since you're taking out obstacles you'd otherwise have to avoid during escapes. For some missions, you'll also be able to acquire a Nazi uniform to try and sneak in, but you're forced to slowly walk everywhere if you don't want to get spotted.
There are a large number of escape options when you trigger an alarm. You could always drive far enough away without getting spotted, but sometimes you're not going to have that option. Get out of line of sight of your pursuers and you can duck into certain buildings or find a nearby girl to kiss, ending the alarm. If you get in a really tight spot, you can head to "fightback zones", where members of the resistance will help you kill the guards chasing you.
Unfortunately, the game suffers from myriad AI issues, from inconsistent behavior by guards and pedestrians to vehicles performing 20-point turns in the middle of an intersection. If you're spotted in disguise, you instantly lose it (seriously, the clothes disappear the instant you're found out), and have to acquire a new one. The climbing mechanic is a strange affair, forcing you to mash on a button each time you want to move to a new hand-hold or make a jump. For a game that encourages you to sneak along rooftops, it's definitely not trying to empower you to do so. The aforementioned "freeplay" events are a great way to lengthen your experience, but when you consider there are close to a thousand of them in the game world, they'll definitely wear on you.
As Pandemic's swan song, The Saboteur is a great way to go out. It's definitely got issues and an almost expected lack of polish, but with it's alternate take on the World War II setting, artistic achievements, massive explosions and fantastic soundtrack, it makes for a fun experience regardless.
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Publisher: Electronic Arts
Developer: Bioware
MSRP: $59.99 (on sale for $39.99)
by: Jason Love
Bioware has established itself with quite the RPG repertoire. From the fantastic to the futuristic, the Austin based company has been responsible for many of the biggest RPGs that have been released the past few years, including Dragon Age: Origins, a game that’s been heralded as the spiritual successor to their widely successful epic Baldur’s Gate.
If you judge your RPGs by the amount of time spent questing, whether it’s doing the main storyline quest or helping every random person with a problem that could have been remedied sooner with just an ounce of effort on their part, then Dragon Age has you covered. In my first playthrough of the game, doing all side quests and fully exploring the world of Ferelden, I clocked a total of 75 hours in the game; every minute of which was quite enjoyable and completely engrossing. Speaking of engrossing, if you critique your RPGs based on the depth of the world and the inhabitants, then once again Dragon Age measures up. True to form, Bioware has created a deep and expansive world for your adventures that comes with a full history, racial prejudices, a religious belief that is fervently adopted by some and scorned by others, and a cast of characters that, for the most part, deserve every bit of game/screen time they’re given. What’s more, while there are moral choices you must make during the course of the game, the choices you make only impact the way your companions, and a few other characters, interact with you; this is a greatly welcome change from the usual good/evil meter that determines access to player abilities.
Really, the only area that may be the chink in Dragon Age’s otherwise exquisite armor would be its combat system. As with other Bioware games, combat plays out in real-time with the player choosing to either control just one character and letting the AI assume responsibility of the other party members via a system similar to Final Fantasy XII’s Gambit System, or pausing combat every few seconds to micromanage and individually directing each party member’s actions. The former will get you through any engagement that involves a small group of enemies, but players will likely want more direct control when faced with particularly numerous or strong opponents. Bioware hasn’t quite hit upon the correct middle ground between the two, and reliance upon one or the other will likely lead to greater frustration and, possibly, having to retry some battles again.
So with all of this taken into consideration, is Dragon Age worth it? As someone who has played and loved RPGs since I created my first fighter, white mage, black mage, and black belt party, I would say without hesitation that it absolutely is worth every moment. What those moments are, however, are better left discovered on your own.
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Publisher: Lucas Arts
Developer: Lucas Arts
MSRP: $19.99
by: Katrina Pawlowski
Sometime between Episodes III and IV of the Star Wars movie saga, Darth Vader broke the rules and kidnapped a brand new baby apprentice. During the time between films Vader raised the boy in private, training him in the ways of the dark side in the hopes of overturning the Emperor. The game starts out with you playing as Darth Vader on a mission to take down a rogue Jedi hiding out on the wookie planet Kashyyyk using beautifully developed force powers. After you find the Jedi's son prodigy which Vader decides to raise as his own, you change gears to playing as this new Apprentice on various missions on a variety of planets to ultimately take out the Emperor with some pretty wicked force powers that you develop over the course of the game, nicely complimented by a few different physics engines that give the game a lot of beautiful aspects.
The different physics engines controlled explosions, character ragdoll effect, and the individual Force Powers at your disposal (Force Grab, Force Push, Force lightning, and Lightsaber throw). Gravity was especially fun to play with. Force pushing enemies across a bridge caused the bridge to bounce violently, tossing more enemies over the edge. Force grabbing enemies and throwing them at one another, as well as lifting things from boxes to Tie Fighters created hours of interesting destruction. The possibilities for impressive kills was nearly endless, and visually pleasing to watch unfold on the screen. Unfortunately mixed in with all the beauty was a fair amount of frustration.
In a lot of arena battles; mini-bosses like Rancors, and AT-ST walkers up to the major boss battles, the lock-on for Force Grab was very finicky. Items were often thrown at our Dark Apprentice, and he was supposed to catch the items and throw them back before the chipped off large portions of his life bar, disorienting him long enough to get hit again by the time he stood up. Catching thrown items rarely worked just right, and he would instead grab un-threatening objects in the environment just in time to be hit by the deadly object. A lot of the 7 hours spent playing the game was replaying boss battles until the lock-on worked at least enough of the time to survive the fight.
As an additional challenge in the non-arena battles, you will often encounter enemies who are immune to the majority of your force powers fairly often. This turned the Apprentice into more of a close-combat specialist, limiting his impressive powers quite a bit. As a sort of Rock-Paper-Scissors effect, this limitation could have worked better, forcing the Apprentice to mix up his tactics in each battle. Instead, all of one battle required Force Lightening, while another was Lightsaber only. In a few areas these enemies were mixed up nicely, but not nearly often enough.
That being said you're sure to have a lot of fun throwing a Tie Fighter at someone, picking up and tossing around some Wookies or Storm Troopers, crumpling a defeated AT-ST walker, electrocuting some Droids, and otherwise being a great Sith Apprentice. Star Wars: The Force Unleashed was an enjoyable preliminary title, showing off a lot of beautiful graphics, physics engines and great potential for additional Star Wars titles.
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Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
Developer: Bigbig Studios
MSRP: $39.99
by: Jim McLaughlin
Almost every generation of racing video games is captured in Motorstorm: Arctic Edge. Since I don't have a PlayStation 3, I'm a newcomer to the series...and is it ever fun! Playing this game has taken me back to when hypnotic soundtracks and splashy physics dominated; part San Francisco RUSH, part 4x4 Evo, part Test Drive Offroad...and 100% awesome.
I really wasn't expecting that great of a game. Very little hype and a crowded release window might have had something to do with that predetermination. Nevertheless, I picked up a copy and brought it home during my wife's work shift, and tentatively fired it up. My first surprise was the number of races available in the game's career mode:over 70 races across 12 tracks! The second surprise was the number of vehicles: a total of 24 customizable rides in 8 different classes (from tanker truck down to dirtbike and snowmobile). All of the vehicles handle uniquely, and none of them are boring.
The bulk of the game is pure racing, which is a blast - if a little too easy. Little gameplay quirks break up the monotony; things like being able to take a swipe at other racers if you're both driving open-top vehicles, or using temporary nitrous boosts. There's a reward system that grants stars for feats like staying in the lead for a certain period of time...these are used to unlock upgrades and specialty parts for your vehicles. Of course, most of this is lost in the plain fun of just hopping on the game and racing. Once you're done with the career mode, you can move on to Wreckreation - a series of time trials and online or ad hoc play. Everything loads rather quickly, and the controls are simple and work very well.
I am extremely pleased with Motorstorm: Arctic Edge. I dare say that it ranks up there with Burnout: Revenge and WipeOut Pure in terms of overall ease of use and pure fun factor. It's not perfect, and the price is just a little too steep for a casual portable title...but it's darn good, and the multiplayer support is top-notch.
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Publisher: D3PUBLISHER
Developer:Eighting
MSRP: $39.99
by:Marc Allie
Kamen Rider is one of the longest running and most popular television shows in Japan, in the same genre that brought Power Rangers to the United States. Adapted from the 2002 Japanese show Kamen Rider Ryuki, Kamen Rider Dragon Knight has become fairly popular in America, spawning a line of action figures, role play weapons, and of course, video game tie ins.
Kamen Rider Dragon Knight is a three dimensional fighter. Players choose a Rider, taken straight from the show, and fight against another player or the AI. There's not much variety in the standard attacks to speak of. Your basic kicks, punches, jumps, and a few combinations are how you'll deal most of the damage to your opponent. Special moves like fireballs and weapon attacks are all activated by filling your special move meter. The primary protagonist, the titular Dragon Knight, summons an impressive Dragon as his special. A nicely rendered cut scene shows Dragon Knight jumping into the air, the Dragon flailing around behind him, and as the Dragon breathes flames, Dragon Knight kicks the opponent in a fiery explosion that does a tremendous amount of damage. The animations are spectacular, especially impressive for a Wii title, and fans of the show will love them.
Mirror Mode is the closest the game comes to having a story. After choosing a Rider, a series of challenges are presented on a simple map. Most of these are variations of one on one fights (like defeating an opponent with double health), but mixed in are a few brief brawler levels. The player must defeat wave after wave of enemy "grunt" soldiers without being defeated. The brawler levels are a good way to mix it up a bit, but are somewhat bland. Mirror Mode isn't terribly exciting, but it is the only way to earn more Advent Cards.
Advent Cards give your characters different options in battle. A Guard Vent card, for example, allows the Rider to put up a shield that protects from damage. Players choose which cards to use before any fight. Playing in Mirror Mode allows you to earn new cards, but only for characters you defeat in battle. This really doesn't make too much sense to me. If you want to be better with Dragon Knight, for instance, you'll have to play as another Rider, then hope Dragon Knight shows up. For the intended audience, this is disappointing.
Kamen Rider Dragon Knight is an average game, at best. There are many better fighters out there, even on the Wii. The controls cannot be remapped, and the waggles are iffy; this is a bad thing for a fighting game where precision is needed. Fans of the show will get more out of the game, particularly the nice character models and visually striking special moves. For them, I'd give the game a silver Billy. But for everyone else, Kamen Rider Dragon Knight is really unimpressive.
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Publisher: Ubisoft
Developer:Ubisoft Montreal
MSRP: $59.99 (on sale for $39.99)
by:Nicholas Puleo
A lot of people complained about the first Assassin's Creed title, mostly due to the repetitive nature and the science fiction storyline that kept pulling people out of the Middle East and into the modern day. Assassin's Creed 2 puts players back in the role of Desmond and one of his ancestors in the battle of Assassin's vs. Templars, this time taking the majority of the game to the Renaissance period in Italy.
While it takes a little while for the game to ramp up, Assassin's Creed 2 is ripe with a rich story of Desmond's ancestor Ezio and his struggle to cope with loss and revenge. Right from the first moment you set foot in Italy you'll be greeted with absolutely stunning visuals and a richly detailed world. The character model for Ezio may be one of the best looking heroes to date in a game and the variety of pedestrians on the streets make the world come alive. Little details like background chatter, and people performing tasks only add to the experience as you leap from roof top to roof top.
The biggest change you'll find in Assassins' Creed 2 are the missions themselves, and while you'll still have a main target to kill for most of them, there's plenty of variety in the how you get there to make each mission feel distinct. On top of these are sub goals: there's viewpoints, roof races, feather gathering, treasure collecting, and a bizarre set of mini games centered around the Animus and a previous subject. There's also an entire base of operations which you can upgrade and keep track of your progress throughout the game. By the time you finish the game you'll return home to a lovely palace full of everything you collected.
Of course all of these things are sort of the game's downside as well, as getting from Point A to Point B is never a straight line because of constant distractions. It's a curse and blessing all at the same time. All those distractions means quite the variety in play time, for me, it took almost 20 hours till I saw the end credits roll. Along the way I was pulled into the lore deeper and deeper, found numerous assassinations extremely satisfying (the double blade to the throats are amazing), and eventually realized I'd need to play a third game in the series to really understand what was going on. All told it was a wild ride from beginning to end, and while it was better than the original game from a mechanical perspective - I can't help but feel some of the changes made broke some of the story elements.
If you were holding off on playing the second game in the series because of past reservations after playing Assassin's Creed 1 - forget it, do yourself a favor, and go play AC2 right now.
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