Brother in ‘da hood
Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood – Multiplayer Versus
I enjoy playing versus modes as much as I like visiting the dentist; as I am not a sadist, this means not very much. I find that deathmatch modes are overly competitive and have more than their fair share of 12 year old racists. However, after hands on time with the Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood versus mode, I may make an exception for this sly fox.
The multiplayer pits upwards of 8 players against one another. Rather than being a mindless shoot off, Brotherhood is more about intrigue and subtlety. Each player can choose one of the 8 types of character models until all have a different hero (or should that be anti hero?) These range from an Altair-esque assassin, to a bony Priest or mask wearing medic. Once all the players are unleashed onto the versus map things start to get interesting. All the character models in the game are made of the same 8 character types, AI and humans look alike! ‘What?’, you may ask. Haven’t we got past the era in gaming were you see the same faces over and over again? Well, no we haven’t got past that era yet, but this is on purpose.
Each player is sent out to try and assassinate another player on the map. To help you in this murderous task you are given radar showing the direction of your intended victim and what they look like. Spotting them is not easy in a crowd where every 8th face is the same. Kill an innocent and you lose points. Whilst you are hunting, you are also being hunted! This leads to a nerve wracking experience as you try to act natural whilst out for the kill. The ability to act like the AI is the secret to success as if you start running or climbing, you may as well switch on a giant neon sign above your head that says, “Kill me, I deserve not your pity, but death.” Being the ace/fluky gamer that I am, I cottoned onto this tactic early and won the demo session I took part in. There was great fun to be had masking yourself in a crowd of AI only to pop out at the last minute and assassinate a human player. I can see that this game type will appeal to gamers who like the pace of their versus modes a little slower and more cerebral.
So cool, it almost hurts
Kinect
I’m not really one to talk, but something that really grinds my gears is taking a word and misspelling it. I mean, Kinect K-inect, can Microsoft not basic grammar grasp? I’m also not too enamored with the concept of having to get on my feet to play computer games. One of the major reasons that I took up this hobby was because I had finally managed to furrow a comfortable spot for myself on the couch. Therefore, with Kinect being both misspelt and energetic, I was not expecting much.
There were several launch titles available to play, including Kinect Adventures and Sports, but I had a go on Joy Ride, the once free XBLA game that we are now expected to pay for. Joy Ride played like Mario Kart, but with none of the magic and a frontal lobotomy thrown in. The graphics were HD Wii; shiny yet uninspiring, and I have yet to fall in love with my Avatar – which means I don’t love myself, but I’ll leave that talk to Freud. You control the onscreen vehicle by mimicking the grasp on a steering wheel; pretending to move left or right will move your car in that direction. You can pick up Mario Kart like weapons by reaching out with your hand, and pushing both hands forwards at once will lead to a boost.
All this is well and good in theory, but in practice it felt heavy and on the same level of embarrassment as when your Mum gets out the baby photos. The game felt unresponsive to me, although this may have been the set up at the venue, but I got the impression the slight lag will make it into the home version too. All the titles on offer were uninspiring and a little patronizing in my opinion. Do we really need more Mii rip offs, but this time in HD? I am yet to be impressed with Kinect (or its asking price).
A trio of action platformers and a happy gamer on his way to an expo!
Enslaved/ Castlevania /Vanquished
I’ve decided to clump all these games together into one uber-preview because they are all 3rd person action games that are either just about to come out, or coming soon. Call it lazy or practical – you choose (although I would prefer you to think of it as practical).
Contestant number one is Enslaved, from the studio that brought you Heavenly Sword. The preview I saw was similar to the recently released demo and was a large chunk of the first level of the game. Graphically the game was not as pretty as Heavenly Sword and showed the jagged battle scars of a game that has gone Multi format. This is not to say that it didn’t have its moments, with epic set pieces and cut scenes both looking very impressive. The game handled well, a cross between Assassin Creed’s free running and Uncharted’s platforming. The battle system was a classic generic action fighter, with perhaps too many button combinations; this will please the veteran gamer, but could alienate novices. Despite my misgivings with the well worn game mechanics, I was so suitably impressed with the story, voice acting and impressive vistas that I have picked up a copy on release.
My opinion was not so rosy for Castlevania. An impression of a game is not always best served during an event like Eurogamer as you do not get the time to really experience the game. This is probably the case with me and Castlevania. In the time I was given the controls felt far too lose for my liking and the battle system was even more complex than Enslaved, as it threw in multiple weapons as well as different strengths of attack. It seems that Castlevania is another step up in terms of appeal to the core 3rd person action game fan. The ‘Vania did have a sense of the epic and I was treated to a boss battle against a giant golem – before I could say Shadow the Colossus I realized that I was having a good time. Perhaps Castlevania will be a little generic, but it certainly ticks a lot of the boxes when it comes to quality gaming.
Finally, I had a go on Vanquished. I knew less about this game than the other two and it came as a nice surprise. Low and behold it was yet another 3rd person action game, but if Enslaved was approachable for new comers, and Castlevania was daunting; Vanquished will be as about as inviting as the annual Christmas party as hosted by the Grinch and Scrooge. Vanquished is the Japanese take on the genre, bald space marines are replaced by tech suit wearing lady boys and aliens are replaced by mega mechs. The extended level I played was surprisingly fun, but also absolutely insane with guns firing off all over the place and robots dropping from the sky. Control wise there were more buttons to learn than the other two games combined; which was challenging, but would suit hardcore gamers well. Like in the previous two games a sense of the epic also makes it into this game with fearsome battles against giant robots. Vanquished seemed to combine the frantic action of Gears with the mech love of Lost Planet 2 – a combination that will scare some people, but draw others in.
From my brief time with Enslaved, Castlevania and Vanquished I was impressed with all three. I am a fan of the 3rd person action platformer/shooter/mech genre and all of them seemed like solid games that, although perhaps not AAA, will certainly entertain.
Eurogamer Expo 2010 Summary
At the bargain price of £8 ($15) a day at Eurogamer Expo 2010 can only be considered a great success. It gave the chance for the everyday Brit to preview games without visiting the likes of America, Germany or Japan. It may be the poorer cousin to the likes of E3 and PAX, as many of the demonstrations had been seen earlier elsewhere, but at least London got to see the games eventually. The combination of developer talks and plenty of demo pods meant that you could easily spend a full day at the event (three would be pushing it). With thousands of people turning up in 2010 and the event growing each year, perhaps the Eurogamer Expo will become the new Commodore Amiga Show? Or better yet, the British E3!