Friday, April 30, 2010

Uncharted: Drake's Fortune Review




I've owned a copy of Uncharted 2 since shortly after it came out and haven't even touched it yet, although I spent extensive time with the multiplayer betas. Even though I've heard so many great things about how Uncharted 2 pushes the possibilities of narrative and character development, I felt I'd be doing myself a disservice by not touching the original Uncharted first. After finishing Uncharted 1, I would like to say that I'm totally ready to move on to the next game to see where this goes, and as a sort of goodbye to the original, I'm writing this review while my thoughts are untainted.

Graphics - 8/10

For a game that came out in 2007, this is still one of the most impressive PS3 games I've seen. While some people have dubbed Uncharted as "Dude Raider" or "Larry Croft", it has a lot more in common with Indiana Jones than Tomb Raider. The way the scenes transition to cutscenes, and then the in-game cinematics all combine to create an incredibly beautiful game. While some games might give you a lush jungle and fail at creating any other locations, Uncharted looks phenomenal at every single location you end up in. The high quality graphics don't just stop with the environments either; all of the models, while not as realistic as something like Heavy Rain, their animations along with the attention to detail (Drake's Half Tuck comes to mind...) help to make these some of the most life-like characters you'll ever encounter in a game. Unfortunately, even though all of the models and environments look great, it's a bit of a bummer that eventually, you start getting into firefights (which have some amazing explosions, by the way) with a lot of the same enemy models, which kind of ruins things a bit, but it's understandable. If every NPC had been completely original, who knows how long it would have taken for this to come out!


Gameplay - 7/10

Uncharted's weakest area might be in its techniques used to build tension. Adventuring through the amazing locales, taking in the sights, even the platforming and shooting are all incredibly well done. The controls feel tight the entire time, allowing you to go to whatever cover you need to, pop a few headshots, then move somewhere else. So if the core mechanics are as good as I say they are, how is it possible that this section gets a 7/10? First issue is the problem with how they set up certain battles. When you're walking through twisty tunnels in a cave and suddenly come to a big clearing with randomly strewn about boulders and pillars, you'll start to realize that this means there are going to be dudes pouring in from everywhere. It doesn't matter where it is, this always happens, and during these encounters, you tend to die a lot until you figure out exactly where that rocket toting soldier is, where the snipers are, and when the enemies that keep punching you to death are spawning from (tip: it's probably behind you somewhere). Also, the last few hours of gameplay introduce a completely different enemy, and while the change starts off as being completely welcome, it quickly grows trite when you realize it's essentially forcing itself to become a straight up action game, which isn't the best path for this type of action/adventure game and brings focus to the respawning enemies + arena formula that plagues the whole game.

Sound - 9/10

I don't think I've played any other game where the dialogue between characters comes off as natural as it does here. Every time I've heard someone mention either Uncharted, they immediately start talking about how much the liked the characters, ranging from the archetypes they represented to simple character design. The presentation of archetypes are mostly done through their dialogue and how well the actors did, elevating the scriptwriting from lines on a paper to sounding like believable responses for any of the characters during these harrowing situations. Fortunately, the voice acting isn't the sounds only strength; the soundtrack is incredibly fitting. In addition to every song being fantastically composed to create that treasure-hunting atmosphere, all of the songs are used at fantastic times. Last but not least, the weapon sounds are all distinguishable from each other during gunfights, allowing you to audibly tell who you should be avoiding or precisely where that guy with a sniper rifle is firing down at you from.


Overall - 8/10

While the whole experience is fantastic, it's a bit disappointing that some of the gameplay mechanics really do drag what would otherwise be a fantastic experience. To this day, all these years later, I've yet to come across more believable characters, and while the graphics aren't the best any more, thanks to titles like Final Fantasy XIII and Heavy Rain, they are easily in the upper echelon of what's been presented on PS3. Despite its flaws, Uncharted 1 is a title I highly recommend every PS3 owner at least try out and any collector needs in their library.

Monday, April 19, 2010

God of War III Review




I was going to attempt to hold off on writing this review until I finished the 14 other reviews I've had pending since last October, but the more I think about my experiences with God of War 3, the more I realize I need to let it all out. First and foremost, I would like to say that I was a huge fan of the first game, skipped the second, played the PSP one which made me hate the entire series, and I'm back again giving 3 a chance. This was the one release this year that was guaranteed to be at least a good, worth owning PS3 title, especially after enduring all of the hype it was getting. What were my impressions and most importantly, could it possibly rekindle the flame that Chains of Olympus urinated out then shoved into a vat of steaming elephant dung for me? Read on to find out.

Graphics - 8/10

I think it goes without saying that as of right now, the graphical powerhouse titles on PS3 are Killzone 2, Heavy Rain, and Uncharted 2 (leave a comment if I missed one). While I can't comment on the last one since I've barely played the single player in it, I can safely say that God of War 3 does a stellar job of pushing the cell processor just as hard if not harder than the previously mentioned titles, and all without a hint of slowdown. GOW3 continues to emphasize the scale of Kratos vs. the insurmountable odds he faces at every turn, from minotaurs to titans. While the previous games looked particularly well considering when they came out, God of War 3 manages to keep everything running at a smooth 60 fps the entire time while presenting almost every story event using the in-game graphics engine instead of prerendered cutscenes, which is just about the only time you get to see how impressive the models look up close. All of the models sport incredible detail, even down to the way that sash around Kratos' waist moves. So why is this only an 8/10? Unfortunately, there are moments in the action based gameplay where when the camera zooms in and you get to see the texture work on the regular geometry and you realize that the only reason the world looks so detailed is because those textures were clearly meant to be seen from a distance and lose that sharpness as you get closer. Another downside is that there are also a lot of enemies and locations that have been (or at least look) recycled from previous games and while they have been increased in detail, it would have been nice to see completely original enemies or new designs for the pre-existing ones. Fortunately, some of the bosses you come across (the first comes to mind) look spectacular and there's a rather clever 300-styled cutscene that happens early in the game.



Gameplay - 7/10

I managed to not come close to touching the demo since I had a really weird feeling that God of War 3, at its core mechanics, would be more of the same. I'm a bit conflicted on how I feel about the end result. After unlocking more weapons, the ability to switch them on the fly mid-combo comes as a welcome change of pace. Despite this innovation for the series, most of the time you'll end up just hammering out the same button combos that you've been doing since the first title. It's nice to be able to pick up the controller and instantly know things, such as how the right stick has to be dodge, but it makes me wish that there had been more originality overall instead of falling back to the if-it-ain't-broke-don't-fix-it end result that we're left with. When you consider that Heavy Rain came out a few weeks before GoW3 and completely changed how most people feel about character interaction and presenting you with compelling QTE's, it's almost disappointing to see almost all of the events in GoW3 resort to hammering on a single button. At it's best, the game slows down long enough to let you see the button presses and make sure you hit the right ones or offers a cinematic camera angle from the enemies perspective, but the competition seems like it's moved way beyond the basic mechanics presented here.

Sound - 8/10

Since I've relocated to an apartment that I'm sharing with someone else, I feel like I shorthanded myself by not having experienced this game in 5.1 glory. Fortunately, I did have a set of Turtle Beach X1's handy, and while they don't simulate surround sound or anything dramatic, they do have great bass reception. When you get to hear the booming voice of Hades, it really made me appreciate how much effort went into the voice acting. Even Kratos' trademark anger is present, if a bit trite. The score continues to be phenomenal, just as it has been in the previous games, while fitting in appropriately to each section of the game, easily succeeding in further immersing the player into the insanity of the situations at hand. While all of the voice acting is phenomenal, it's a shame that the lines written for the characters have to be so weak at times. "WHAT TREACHERY IS THIS?!" Really now?! At least the line was delivered well in spite of its content!



Overall - 8/10

God of War 3 did manage to convince me that all hope was not lost for the franchise, even if it's supposed to be the end of a trilogy. While the whole game isn't continuously full of the high notes like the first hour or so, it did make a good job of making me want to see what was around the next corner, more for the experience instead of story. One thing I did forget to mention in the gameplay segment is how infuriating the double jump system is. While it is a total bummer to survive a tough fight only to fail at jumping a tiny pit because the timing is so strange for it, it still doesn't completely drag the experience down. I almost feel like if the studio had been tasked with creating a new title from a fresh IP, they might have put more effort into overcoming some of the traps they fell into (Kratos is still one dimensional, the double jump issue, and an incredibly predictable story). God of War 3 this still succeeds in being one of the best action games of this type on the PS3 and a must play for anyone owning the console. If you're a fan of action games or the series, this is easy to recommend as a purchase. If you're new to the franchise, you might want to just rent this one or pick up the God of War Collection instead. While it is a fitting end to a trilogy, it's also incredibly formulaic which keeps it from scoring higher.