We all have those games that we miss the first time around. With the busy release schedule of modern gaming, no one has time to play everything. That is why we at WingDamage present to you “Fashionably Late Reviews“. This is our series on games from the current generation of consoles that we may have missed on their initial release, but have gone back to experience now.

Ever since Grand Theft Auto 3, people have been trying to outdo the precedents established by Rockstar. They have had to go bigger and more over-the-top crazy with each game to keep things interesting. With GTA4, Rockstar tried to scale things back and make it a little more serious.

Thank goodness Volition didn’t do the same thing. 2008′s Saints Row 2 continues the tradition of open world games that provide a huge, goofy action experience where the world is your playground; a playground filled with fast cars, giant explosions, and rival gangs to take down. It marks the first time I have stuck with an open world game long enough to finish its story mode.

When I first booted up the game, I was very happy to see that Saints Row 2 lets you create your own character to play with in its virtual sandbox. It makes so much sense, yet it is one of the only open world games to have this feature.

"The character creator allows for... variety."

The character creator is one of the best I’ve seen in any game to date. If you choose, you can make someone that looks like she/he belongs in the Saints gang. If you are like me, you have a little more fun with it. I started with an obese redhead. The subsequent tough talking he did was made all the more hilarious when it would show closeups of his misshapen face.

To make it even better, you aren’t stuck with the character you created at the start, since you can always hit up the in-game plastic surgeon to tweak or completely change your character. I played Saints Row 2 off and on over the course of several months, and changed my character several times. At one point, my character was an Asian woman. For the entire second half through to the end, I based him off of Jason Lee in “My Name is Earl“.

"You know the kind of guy that walks down the street with a rocket launcher? That was me."

What I like about Saints Row 2 is that it doesn’t take itself too seriously. It is a tale of rival gangs, corrupt corporations, and cops being bought off left and right by the highest bidder. But the guys that made it realized that many players just want to run around the city, steal cars, buy new clothes and weapons for their character, and cause as much destruction as possible. On that front, there is plenty to have fun with.

The actual mission structure works in the standard way of most open world games. There are points on the map that trigger quests that deal with a given story line. You can go after the three rival gangs in any order. You don’t even have to focus on one at a time. Unlike most open world games, the entire city is unlocked right from the start.

Most of the missions have pretty generous checkpoints. This is something that was hugely lacking in every open world game I had played up until Saints Row 2. You should never have to start completely over when you just spent five minutes driving across town for the second part of a quest. That is just bad design.

The drawback to the mission structure is that you have to build up your rep to take new missions. At the start of the game, this can take a while.

Rep is gained by doing stunts in cars (driving in the wrong lane, narrowly missing other cars, etc.) or much more quickly by playing the games many “activities”. Activities are mini side-missions that you can take at any time. Each of these has six levels of difficulty, which will give you more money and more rep the higher up you get into them. They also unlock permanent bonuses for your character.

For example, if you compete in the Fight Club activity, you can permanently increase your melee damage. If you beat the destruction derby, you not only get to keep the cars you used, but you also get discounts from the mechanics. There are also races, crowd control (keeping fans from rushing celebrities as they walk the red carpet), and chop shop lists (specific cars to steal and return to the chop shop) to name a few.

As you buy new clothes, cars, and bling for yourself, you will also increase your style. This gives you extra rep when completing activities. This makes filling your rep meter to go to the next main story mission a lot quicker.

"Alec Mason really let himself go."

The city of Stilwater is broken up into forty-five territories, which are owned by the various gangs. As you complete missions, you will take over a section of the city. All of the businesses within that section can then be purchased. The territories and businesses you own payout protection money on a daily basis (the in-game clock being approximately one hour for every minute played). Because of this mechanic, you may be extremely poor when you first start playing, but by the end you will have too much money to know what to do with. I had a lot of fun just running around buying up everything in Stilwater. When the character would randomly yell “I own this town!” I would mentally add “No, seriously. I just bought out this entire neighborhood. You damn kids get off my lawn!”

Like all open world games, Saints Row 2 has its bugs. Occasionally, I would see a random pedestrian stuck up to their waist in the concrete. Sometimes, especially with my overweight character, certain clothing pieces would clip through other parts of my character and the environment. There were also times when I would get stuck on a story mission and want to give up. But there was something about how much fun it was just to mess around in Stilwater that kept me coming back.

Saints Row 2 has been out for a couple of years now, and Saints Row 3 has been announced (one of the reasons I wanted to finally finish this game). If you have even a passing interest in open world games, it is an easy recommendation to make, especially now that it’s only a $20 game. You can even play the entire game co-op with a friend and their own horrible abomination of a character.

We all have those games that we miss the first time around. With the busy release schedule of modern gaming, no one has time to play everything. That is why we at WingDamage present to you “Fashionably Late Reviews“. This is our series on games from the current generation of consoles that we may have missed on their initial release, but have gone back to experience now.

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed is one of those titles that I missed the first time around. I think a lot of it had to do with being burned out on Star Wars in general. There has certainly been an over-saturation of the franchise leading up to, and ever since, the prequel movies.

However, I am a long time fan of the original trilogy, as well as many of the “expanded universe” novels. It was always my plan to go back to The Force Unleashed and the Ultimate Sith Edition was the perfect excuse to do so.

The story of The Force Unleashed is exactly the kind of thing that gets my nerd juices flowing. Darth Vader is the evil and unpredictable menace that we all grew up loving. Instead of running around telling everyone how much he hates sand, he has enlisted a secret apprentice whom he found as a child, Starkiller. He is the son of a Jedi Knight and has an extremely strong connection to the force.

Under the leadership of Vader, he has become a formidable Sith warrior, and Vader plans to one day use him to kill the Emperor. This leads to some fun twists and turns in the plot that I will not spoil for you here. What I will say is that it takes you to some very fun and very fitting locales that any Star Wars geek will get a kick out of.

"Silly Stormtroopers and their turrets."

The Force Unleashed is a third person action game where you combine lightsaber combos with force powers to wreak havoc on your enemies. As you progress, you will level up, gaining points that can be spent on increasing your number of force powers, their potency, and unlocking new combos with your lightsaber. You can also use the right trigger to grab and throw objects from the environment as well as enemies.

As you can imagine, a lone Stormtrooper won’t do much against a trained Sith, so the game is good at throwing lots of enemies at you at a time. To make things more interesting, you will also face some of the best armed Stormtroopers in Emperor Palpatine’s army. Some have been given sniper rifles, some jetpacks, others shields that can block force attacks. If the ones in the movies had been this well equipped, the Rebel Alliance wouldn’t have stood a chance. Thank the force for budget cuts.

There are several types of mini-bosses that you will come across during the adventure, from AT-ST’s to Rancors. These are fought mostly with your normal moves, but can be finished off via QTE’s (Quick Time Events) that are used to give the game a cinematic feel. Bad QTE’s can ruin an otherwise good game. Thankfully the ones in Unleashed are fairly forgiving.

Since much of the game revolves around tracking down remnants of the Jedi, you will fight several of them as bosses throughout the story. While some of these battles can be pretty tough, they are a lot of fun. They often require using the environment and a variety of force powers to keep from being knocked on your ass by a well placed Force Push.

The biggest issue I had with the game was the jumping mechanic. While it does allow for a double jump and a dash forward on top of that, it is really hard to tell where you are going to land. It also seems a little too fast, making it feel rushed and awkward. I was very glad that there were no major platforming sections or the bad jumping could have ruined the experience.

A big draw for the completionists out there are all the hidden Jedi and Sith Holocrons, as well as secondary missions. Sith Holocrons give you temporary power-ups, while the ones of the Jedi variety give you bonus points to spend on your levels, new lightsaber colors, and lightsaber power-ups.

The Ultimate Sith Edition comes with all the currently available DLC. This includes a bunch of costumes for your character (including C3P0, which can lead to hilarious results), and three bonus levels.

The first level has Starkiller going to the Jedi Temple on Coruscant, where he is looking for information on his father. This level was included on the Wii and PS2 and PSP versions of the game, but was originally cut from the 360 and PS3 editions. It has some interesting new areas to explore, but is slowed down by a section where you must undergo various Jedi trials. One has you using the force to move a ball along a line, and if you vary too far from that line, you have to start over. That really doesn’t do anything for me. Level design, guys!

Second is Tatooine in which Starkiller, now the Emporer’s right hand in an interesting “What If?” scenario, goes in search of R2D2 and C3p0 to find the missing Death Star plans. You will fight your way through Jaba’s palace, face Boba Fett, and a massively powered-up version of Ben Kenobi. The boss fights alone made this one my favorite of the three bonus stages.

The final bonus stage is the battle of Hoth, because it hasn’t quite been in enough video games. This time you are on the side of evil, trying to hunt down Luke Skywalker rather than flying around in a snow speeder trying to trip up AT-AT’s. Here you end up fighting a lot of Wampas, some automated defense, and most deadly of all, a platforming sequence. The platforming section in this bonus level solidified my opinion that if there had been any of these in the game proper, it would have really dragged down the over-all experience for me. The battle with Luke at the end was fun, though, even though they gave him a “farmboy Luke” level of whininess in his voice.

Star Wars the Force Unleashed: Ultimate Sith Edition is a good little package. The DLC levels and skins are fun, but had they not come packed in, I couldn’t see myself paying for them at their current price. This is coming from a guy that is in no way anti-DLC, as is the popular stance of many gamers. When it is worth it, I am all for it, but $10 a pop for those extra levels would not be worth it to me.

For the Star Wars or action fan in your life, Star Wars The Force Unleashed is an easy recommendation. While it is not without its flaws, it is a lot of fun. The fresh take on familiar set pieces from one of my favorite franchises is hard to beat. But honestly, I hope they do beat it with the upcoming sequel.

This review is based on a the Xbox 360 version of Star Wars The Force Unleashed: Ultimate Sith Edition, purchased by the reviewer.

We all have those games that we miss the first time around. With the busy release schedule of modern gaming, no one has time to play everything. That is why we at WingDamage present to you “Fashionably Late Reviews“. This is our series on games from the current generation of consoles that we may have missed on their initial release, but have gone back to experience now.

Ratchet and Clank is a series that is known for it’s charming characters, odd-ball sense of humor, and over the top weapons. While I was aware of all this going in, I had never experienced it for myself. I think I had always confused them for those other two similarly named mascots, Jak and Daxter (a decent series in it’s own right).

On Dave‘s recommendation, I decided to finally give the series a chance. When I recently finished Uncharted, I realized Ratchet and Clank Future: Tools of Destruction was the other PS3 exclusive that I was near the end of, but had not yet finished.

The fact that I was able to pick up right back where I had left off several months ago says a lot about how easy this game is to pick up and play. Right out of the gate, you get a good feeling of who these characters are and how visually interesting their world is. I’ve heard the game described as a Pixar film you play and I can’t say that description is far off.

When it comes to storytelling and humor in games, I am a stickler. Most of the time, games that attempt humor fall flat. Not only is the writing in Tools quick witted and genuinely funny in the old Warner Brothers cartoon sort of way, but the voice acting is top notch. To have humor in your dialog work, it’s all about the timing. This is one of the few games to pull that off.

It is also graphically stunning; part two of the Pixar comparison people like to make. Insomniac really used the cartoony style of the series to highlight just how vibrant and imaginative you can be with your games on Sony’s hardware.

Tools of Destruction is a platformer/shooter hybrid which has you exploring strange alien worlds. You, as Ratchet, are trying to discover clues as to what befell his race, the Lombaxes. This is another area where the performances shined through, making the strange alien creatures of the Ratchet and Clank universe come to life in a believable way.

While the platforming is competent, the fall speed on the normal jumps seemed a little faster than I was anticipating. It took a little time for me to get used to, but the jumps were made easy enough that it wasn’t a source of frustration. The game’s main focus is on combat and the platforming works well enough that you can focus on the enemies in front of you. There are no pixel perfect jump requirements here.

Throughout the course of your adventure, you collect an arsenal composed of a wide variety of strange weapons and gadgets that help you defeat your enemies. These range from a simple energy pistol to the much more elaborate nano-swarm (a swarm of nano-robots that attack enemies within a certain radius).

You can purchase upgrades for all your weapons giving them more ammo, higher amounts of damage against enemies, and even increase the radius of attack. They also level up through use, which encourages you to not stick with only one or two of the ridiculously large assortment of firearms. This really made me think differently about which weapons I was using in each situation. I normally play pretty conservatively with my ammo in shooters, but Tools does a great job of rewarding you for breaking out of that shell.

There are also a lot of gadgets that are fun to play around with like the Disco Ball, which makes all the enemies dance (even bosses), and Mr. Zurkon, an ornery robot companion that fights alongside you for a limited time.

There are also a few segments where you use the SIXAXIS to control Ratchet as he freefalls, or Clank as he glides. These worked pretty well and are less offensive that most games’ use of the PS3 motion control scheme. Other gameplay elements include controlling a rocket bike called the “Gyro-cycle” and a space combat rail shooter.

As the story unfolds, you also take control of Clank in special sections of the game designed just for him. Here he is assisted by the Zoni, a mysterious alien race that seems to know a little too much about Clank. These sections focus on the game’s platforming elements and also involve solving puzzles. While I do prefer the regular gameplay, these alternative sections were not completely horrible like they are in many 3D platformers that feel the need to “mix it up”.

The main storyline has you play a few rounds in the Arena, but there are many optional challenges in that section of the game. Completion of the main game also unlocks a special challenge mode. This is a “new game plus” situation where you get to keep all your upgrades and play through again against harder foes. On the second play-through, there is an added combo system so you can earn more bolts (the games currency) and finish maxing out your weapons.

Ratchet and Clank Future: Tools of Destruction is an easy recommendation for any PS3 owner. It is fast paced, funny, and all ages can enjoy the goofy characters and stunning animation.

We all have those games that we miss the first time around. With the busy release schedule of modern gaming, no one has time to play everything. That is why we at WingDamage present to you “Fashionably Late Reviews“. This is our series on games from the current generation of consoles that we may have missed on their initial release, but have gone back to experience now.

Back in August, I wrote a piece on Piles of Shame, and had our readers vote on which game I should play through to completion and review. “Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune” won with 48% of the votes. There is much love for this game and, while it isn’t perfect, it is easy to see why.

Everything about Drake’s Fortune is designed to give the feeling of a big summer blockbuster movie. The plot revolves around ancient lost treasure, the odds are stacked overwhelmingly against you, it is full of exotic locations, and there are lots of explosions. Oh, and don’t forget the sassy female sidekick.

The game is broken up into two very distinct sections. By that I mean there are the exploration sections and the gunplay sections. While the exploration and gunplay flow seamlessly into one another, they do feel like two very distinct chunks that the game flips back and forth between.

The exploration sections were my personal favorite. While a little more linear than I would have liked, they give you a chance to stop and appreciate how gorgeous this game is. If you need a graphical showcase for the PS3, look no further.

Drake is guided by where the next safe hand-hold is, which is fairly obvious most of the time. Occasionally, these sections would have camera problems when they were in tight quarters, but the ones that took place outdoors made good use of dramatic angles to further the summer blockbuster look and feel.

This is the part of the game that adds the “Tomb Raider” part of the equation when people describe this game as “Tomb Raider” meets “Gears of War”. It does feel very reminiscent of Lara Croft’s adventures, but with tighter controls and way less tigers and dinosaurs.

Gunplay is something that many third-person action games fail at. It can be the aiming, a broken cover system, or a host of other problems that can ruin the game. Uncharted’s firefights were a mixed bag for me. While the cover system was fun and forced your to use the terrain to your advantage, I would occasionally have trouble getting Drake to hide where I wanted him to.

My biggest gripe with Drake’s Fortune is that enemies take too many shots to kill. Maybe it just expected a level of precision not easily achieved on a PS3 controller, but sometimes enemies would take three head-shots to take out. I also should not have to unload half a clip from an automatic rifle into a regular human’s torso to kill him. It’s a small complaint, but it did make a few sections drag on more than I would have liked.

"FAL-CONE PUNCH!"

There is also some basic melee combat. If you run up behind a guy, you can take him out in one very well animated move. You can also just run up and start punching guys in the face. There is a combo system, but it didn’t seem very responsive. I generally ended up just button mashing my way through these confrontations.

One of the design goals with Uncharted was to make Drake feel like a regular guy. While most regular guys I know could not scale walls, heal in a few seconds, or shoot a gun nearly as well as Drake, they did do a good job of making him feel vulnerable and mostly ordinary. You can’t jump ten feet into the air like Mario or run at super-sonic speeds like a certain blue hedgehog. When Drake pulls himself up to a higher ledge, you hear him straining. When you barely make a jump, he reacts. When you fall from too far, he clearly sounds like he is hurting (or dies instantly).

By all accounts, “Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune” is a great game. This is why the flaws that are there stand out as much as they do. There were a few parts I found very frustrating, but they weren’t enough to kill my overall enjoyment. While the last few sections lost some of the magic set up by the first 3/4 of the game, I still recommend this to anyone looking for a great action title for the Playstation 3.

We all have those games that we miss the first time around. With the busy release schedule of modern gaming, no one has time to play everything. That is why we at WingDamage present to you “Fashionably Late Reviews“. This is our series on games from the current generation of consoles that we may have missed on their initial release, but have gone back to experience now.

“Heavenly Sword” has just about everything wanted in a launch title. Though the reviews from the big names only pegged it as “Decent”. From my admittedly average gamer’s point of view, this game was surprisingly awesome.

Even on a standard definition television, the graphics are gorgeous. I am especially impressed by character expressions. Little nuances that make dialogue and character development more believable, lifelike and compelling. I’m sure we’ve all played games where the camera zooms in on a character’s intense expression in order to indicate “It’s on now” and we’re left sitting, waiting for some kind of change, that is never quite as fulfilling as we want.

Another often overlooked aspect that really contributes to the story is the voice acting. “Heavenly Sword” takes place in what appears to be an amalgamation of Eastern Asian countries, yet everyone speaks with a vaguely British accent. At least those are well done. Both Nariko, the heroine, and Bohan, the villain are brilliantly played out, with no cringe-worthy cutscenese dragging down the game.

The gameplay is smooth, intuitive, familiar and yet still innovative. All the talk of this being “God of War” with a chick? Completely true. You dual-wield two swords which can be utilized in one of three modes: Ranged, Normal and Heavy.

Ranged has you swinging the Heavenly Sword and its mate on chains just like the Chaos Blades. Like God of War, the real trick to combat is stringing together long lines of combo attacks. Not just because it looks wicked, but because you unlock new abilities, artwork and special features by doing so. Movement also has some clever moments with timed-button presses that allow Nariko to perform crazy acrobatics in order to scale walls, fall down a mountain and in general, look like raw pwnage.

Also like God of War, there is a focus on puzzle-solving to move past an area. These frequently utilize the most rewarding, yet frustrating feature of the game, “AfterTouch” controls. AfterTouch allows the player to slow down time and control where a thrown or shot projectile goes by using the motion sensor in the PS3 controller itself. The one drawback is that I frequently had to keep my arms raised to get the angles right, which was very tiring when the level requires you continue firing arrows for a good twenty minutes.

However, the game takes full advantage of this system, whether it is firing cannons, throwing shields or just about any object on the ground…turning a stool chair into a lethal weapon.  The core fighting is still done with your blades and like all good hack-and-slash titles, this one delivers fast-paced action with brutal graphics, though little blood.

The story doesn’t hold too many mysteries. Nariko, cursed with a sword that will drain the life-force from her in exchange for its power, seeks vengeance on Bohan, a suspiciously Crusader-like King who seeks to subvert her clan along with all the others of the Land. Between his freakish generals (the snakelike Whiptail, the creepy Flying Fox and Bohan’s unfortunate son, Roach) and his seemingly endless horde of soldiers, Nariko has her bloody hands full. The strength of the story rests in how seamlessly the game moves from full motion cutscene to normal gameplay to minigame to in-game cutscene and back again.

“Heavenly Sword” may not have brought anything significantly new to the table. It is Dynasty Warriors meets God of War with a prettier, sassier protagonist. But what it does accomplish is take familiar characteristics and revamp them for the next generation of consoles. The graphics and gameplay it boasts could not have been done on a Playstation 2, thus allowing it to showcase some new features while taking advantage of a tried formula of melee-and-puzzle fun.

I would suggest a one-day rental. If after the first hour or so you’re not convinced you want to buy this game, the next four hours will not change your mind. If you like what you see though, the replay value is sufficiently high to warrant shelling out for your own copy.

"Thanks for helping me move, Kratos"

We all have those games that we miss the first time around. With the busy release schedule of modern gaming, no one has time to play everything. That is why we at WingDamage present to you “Fashionably Late Reviews“. This is our series on games from the current generation of consoles that we may have missed on their initial release, but have gone back to experience now.

The transition of God of War from console to hand-held was as smooth as one could possibly hope for.  The design of the PSP lends itself so well to this bloody platformer that it easily ranks high on the ‘Must-Have’ of any starter PSP game collection.

“God of War: Chains of Olympus” acts as a sort of prequel to the main games, fleshing out Kratos as a character and giving a bit more back-story. The actual plot involves quite a bit of mystery, so not much can be said without spoiling, but pressure of the ‘everyone-in-the-world-will-die’ variety is certainly on you.

Meanwhile, you, the player, learn of his daughter as her specter haunts him throughout the game, especially when he enters the Underworld.

That’s right. The Underworld. One of the greatest things about this game is the level locations. You almost literally ride the sun, go down into Tartarus, and all of the levels, though containing familiar items like pots and columns, are drastically different, making each one fun to explore.

There is very little graphical detail lost; the game looks almost identical to the Playstation 2 precursors and plays the same way. The only difficulty I had was the analog (joystick / nub) proved a bit harder to maneuver than the toggles of a PS2 controller. This only really came into play during the mini-games, which come with a bit more frequency than I recall from the original two. Be warned: If you do not like the events that may be timed or have to be executed in a specific manner, you may not enjoy this game as much.

The only real failing point of this game is the learning curve. I saw someone beat the entire game on Easy mode in less than five hours. Move it up one level to Normal and you’re going to spend a lot of time dying… over and over again. It got so bad, the game itself asked me if I wanted to switch to Easy Mode. Failsauce.

If you’re thinking of picking up a PSP, I strongly suggest making this one of your first games. It’s gratifying and fun, easy to pick up, easy to pause and come back to, has a strong plot, intriguing and challenging puzzles to solve, and of course, a crazy cool main character.

We all have those games that we miss the first time around. With the busy release schedule of modern gaming, no one has time to play everything. That is why we at WingDamage present to you “Fashionably Late Reviews“. This is our series on games from the current generation of consoles that we may have missed on their initial release, but have gone back to experience now.

In a matter of days, the world of video-golf is expected to be revolutionized by Tiger Woods 10, utilizing Wii Motion Plus. Long before this new tech, Camelot released a competent golf game published through Capcom making use of the standard wiimote successfully. How this game was produced without a pun in the name, however, is anyone’s guess.

Camelot has a rich history of developing golf games, particularly in both the Mario Golf and Hot Shots Golf series. Though “We Love Golf” makes use of the Wii’s motion controls, people who have played the past works of Camelot are immediately going to find that the core mechanics are quite familiar.

This game makes no attempt to accomplish one-to-one motion controls and that is why it is able to succeed where I feel the pre-motion plus Tiger Woods games have failed. Your shot is initiated by holding down the “A” button. You then slowly move your arms back until an icon lines up on a meter at your desired amount of power. Another icon then starts to move toward your spot on the power meter. Once it connects, it will reverse in direction. From that point on, it is simply about timing. Perform your swing just as the icon shoots across the target at the start of the meter. A timely swing will result in an accurate shot.

There are a few other things you can do to modify your shot as well. Holding the “1″ button during your swing will add top spin while the “2″ button will add back spin. Performing a fade or draw shot is as simple as tilting the wiimote left or right for the duration of the swing. Overall, the controls are pretty easy to pick up and I’ve even had a non-gamer relative do quite well.

There are a variety of mostly forgettable characters that can be unlocked by challenging them in a one-on-one match. After they are unlocked, you can play them again on a harder difficulty to unlock a version of them with a longer drive distance and less accuracy. In addition, each character has a special costume that can be unlocked. The special costumes are all based on Capcom characters; from Chun Li to Apollo Justice. You can also slap the face of one of your Miis onto the body of one of their characters which looks both creepy and hilarious.

My biggest complaint with this game is that the difficulty curve in the Tournament Mode is too slow. The first time I went through all the courses, I never felt that I was in danger of not getting first place. Part of this was due to how incredibly easy it is to get the exact amount of power you want in your shot. Luckily, as you go through the later renditions of the courses, things start to get more interesting. Playing from the back tee with stronger winds and even rain make the tournaments much more fulfilling, and first place much less guaranteed. Still, it would have been nice if the difficulty increased much sooner.

In spite of that, I find myself coming back to this game primarily in two situations. First off, I find this game to be extremely relaxing alone. Playing a round of We Love Golf can help me to deal with a stressful day, and I attribute part of that to how easy it is to control your shot (especially your power). I got through the early tournaments without boredom by thinking less about the competition and more about just playing a relaxing game of golf. The second situation is multiplayer. Both non-gamers and gamers alike can enjoy playing together on an equal level because of its accessibility.

It will be interesting to compare this game with the upcoming Tiger Woods 10. I have no doubt that Tiger will end up providing a more in-depth golfing simulator, but will it be as easy for my non-gamer friends and family to pick up? Will it be even easier? Time will tell when I pick up the bundle releasing this week.

"Beautiful, Despite the Malaria"

We all have those games that we miss the first time around. With the busy release schedule of modern gaming, no one has time to play everything. That is why we at WingDamage present to you “Fashionably Late Reviews“. This is our series on games from the current generation of consoles that we may have missed on their initial release, but have gone back to experience now.

You are dropped into Far Cry 2′s fictional African country at the height of a civil war with a very clear objective: eliminate the Jackal, the notorious arms dealer that sold weapons to both sides, igniting the conflict.

The African Savannah captured in Far Cry 2 is the perfect example of an open world done right. Dotted with unlockable safe houses and guard posts, the living, breathing world of Far Cry 2 is so expertly crafted that it becomes a character itself.

It can be as brutal and merciless as any of your AI enemies, and can be a more powerful ally that any of your NPC companions. Knowing how to use the deadly African landscape against your enemies is the key to success in Far Cry 2.

For example, starting a grass fire on a windy day can be dangerous if you don’t take time to think. Starting a fire in just the right place so that it burns through an enemy camp, efficiently killing your enemies inside can be very rewarding. In that same way, starting a fire that gets prematurely snuffed out by rain, or blown in a different direction by the wind, revealing your presence to any enemies in the area can be an extremely intense, frightening experience, and these are the kind of moments that make the game memorable.

At the beginning of the game, the player selects one of a handful of various mercenaries. All of the mercenaries available (other than the one that the player selects) are used as NPC “buddies” in the game. One of the first missions you are given will have you rescuing one of these mercenaries who, in turn, becomes your first buddy. You will always have a best buddy and a second best buddy (in the game. I can’t speak to your personal life -The Editor).

Your best buddy will provide you with optional objectives to subvert faction-given missions, provided he doesn’t get shot in the process. When subverting a faction mission with a buddy, it generally doubles the time spent on the mission, but some of the coolest moments in the game are during these special missions. Your second best buddy is there to rescue you whenever your health is depleted, which is something that happens quite a bit.

Although your ultimate goal is to kill the Jackal, most of the missions are given to you by one of the two waring factions; the UFLL, and the APR. You soon learn that neither faction is just in their actions, and that the ongoing conflict is hurting the country. There are no good guys or bad guys in Far Cry 2, there are just people. People with their own agendas and motives who won’t think twice about screwing you over. And believe me, they will.

There are a lot of interesting missions that can be given by factions. Although the basic mission objective is generally to either destroy thing “A” or kill person “B”, you never run out of ways to get the job done.

The game never discourages the use of any tactic during a mission. If you want to storm the legion fort with a shotgun and rocket launcher, go ahead. If you think the best way to kill the target is by shelling him from a mile away with a mortar, feel free. Just be ready for his troops to follow the smoke from the shell and hunt you down. I never once got bored with the mission structure. There is a certain pride that I felt as I watched my carefully planned attack unfold perfectly.

The combat, like the rest of the game, is very open ended. There is never a “right” or “wrong” way to enter a battle.  I had the most fun sneaking into an enemy camp with a silenced MP5 assault rifle, a dart rifle, and a silenced pistol. Wiping out an enemy camp before anyone knew i was there was really rewarding. The straightforward approach can be just as fun, though. Using the flare pistol to start a grass fire, and  waiting until the fire hits an ammo pile, sending bullets every which way, taking out a majority of the enemies, then, when the fire dies down, mopping up the stragglers with a shotgun. Those are just two of the hundreds of different ways to approach a combat scenario.

Your weapon load out consists of a primary, secondary and special weapon slot, as well as a machete. There is a lot of variety in those three categories. Primary weapons consist of mid-sized weapons such as sniper rifles, assault rifles, and shotguns. Secondary weapons are anything that will fit in a holster, such as pistols, SMG’s and I.E.D.’s. Special weapons are the largest of the three categories, and consist of rocket launchers, light machine guns and the infamous flamethrower.

The weapons are unlocked at arms dealers located in various areas on the map. To unlock a weapon for purchase, the player needs to complete a mission for the arms dealer. These missions always have the same objective; hunt down and destroy a supply truck somewhere on the map. These missions unlock 2-4 of the available weapons at a time. As fun as it is blowing up a truck with an I.E.D (improvised explosive device) or sniping the driver from long range, After two or three times, this structure starts to feel stale and repetitive.

Once a weapon is unlocked and purchased, upgrades for that weapon are unlocked as well. These upgrades only come in two forms: accuracy and reliability. This is where i feel the weapon system needed a lot more depth. Sure, an accuracy upgrade would be great for my AK47, and the reliability upgrade is nice to keep my weapon from jamming, but what about an upgrade to lower the recoil on a light machine gun?

The player can also purchase bandoleers and med kits to upgrade the amount of ammo or first aid that can be carried, but they have no effect on the performance of a weapon. Having only a few upgrade options seemed surprisingly lazy for a game with an otherwise large amount of depth.

Another interesting aspect of the game is the constant malaria that the player has to deal with.  Throughout the entirety of the game, you will suffer malaria outbreaks every 40-60 minutes of real time. As long as you keep a supply of malaria pills on hand, it won’t be a problem. Once you run out of pills, you need to find a contact in the countries large underground movement to supply you with more of the medication.

There is online multiplayer, but it is nothing special. It has classes similar to Call of Duty 4, with the ability to gain experience and level up, getting new weapons, gear, Etc. The multiplayer map editor is a cool addition to the online aspect of the game. It lets you create custom multiplayer maps and gives you access to a crazy amount of items to set in the map. For me, the map editor controls were really unwieldy on the 360 controller, so I didn’t spend much time with the editor. An imaginative person with a lot of spare time could probably make something really cool.

Far Cry 2 adds up to about 25 hours or so, and is worth playing for every second. I’ve never had a game make me feel like such a terrible person, and at it’s climax, make me feel more human. That’s the only way I can describe how the game ends. I’ve never been so emotionally invested in the outcome of fictional people. With most games, the ending is the culmination of everything you’ve done throughout the game, in Far Cry 2, the ending is your chance for redemption.

I cannot recommend this game highly enough. Its few flaws are outweighed by the vast amount of things the game does so incredibly well. It’s worth a purchase, and at the very least a rental. Trust me, it’s an experience that you won’t soon forget.

]]> http://www.wingdamage.com/review-far-cry-2-xbox-360/feed/ 1 http://www.wingdamage.com/review-mass-effect-xbox-360/ http://www.wingdamage.com/review-mass-effect-xbox-360/#comments Thu, 21 May 2009 12:00:20 +0000 Jonah Gregory http://www.wingdamage.com/?p=1767

We all have those games that we miss the first time around. With the busy release schedule of modern gaming, no one has time to play everything. That is why we at WingDamage present to you “Fashionably Late Reviews“. This is our series on games from the current generation of consoles that we may have missed on their initial release, but have gone back to experience now.

Bioware has a history of making very deep role playing games in a variety of settings. Ever since Knights of the Old Republic (KOTOR), many fans have wanted to see what they could accomplish in a science fiction world of their own creation.

Mass Effect is the result. Here they have created their own sci-fi mythology, complete with political intrigue, cool alien races, space ships, and the imminent end of the universe.

You take on the roll of Commander Shepard, a human soldier. You can customize your gender and appearance and there are a few options to set up your character’s back-story. This will change some of the dialogue, but not the overall story. They cleverly get around the ability to give your character whatever first name you’d like by having all other characters refer to you as “Commander Shepard”.

You can also choose what type of combat to focus on. Physical combat makes you better with guns and able to take more damage. There’s also biotics and engineering, both of which give you special abilities that act in a similar way to the Force powers in KOTOR. You can do any combination of the three, but I found it easiest to focus Shepard on physical attacks and round out the party with at least one biotic or engineer sidekick.

There are a few areas where this game really shines, namely, the story and dialogue. Like other Bioware games, you can choose to be good or evil, or in this case, Paragon or Renegade. These choices will effect events later in the game and even which dialogue options become available to you. Near the end, there are major choices that will change the Mass Effect universe greatly moving forward.

The secondary characters and party members are well fleshed out. If you take the time to talk to them, you will learn a lot about them, why they have joined your fight, etc. There are even a few romantic interests possible. This aspect of the game was horribly over-hyped by the mass media and plays a much less significant roll in the game than most expected.

The main complaint for most players is the combat. Rather than the traditional turn based combat, Mass Effect is a combination of a third person action shooter and behind the scenes RPG stats. This makes the gun-play a little awkward at first. When you are starting out and are a low level, your shots will not be very accurate. Near the end of the game, when you are a high level, this works in your favor and auto-corrects your shots to an extent. You can also use the bumpers on the controller to freeze the action and bring up a menu where you use your special attacks, healing, etc.

Once you gain control of your own ship, you can choose to either continue on the main story line, investigate many of the side-quests on other worlds as they pop-up, or even just land on a random planet and drive around in the Mako. The Mako is an all-terrain vehicle that can be dropped from your ship to the surface of planets. Once on the surface, you control the Mako directly. It has a machine gun mounted on the top and a cannon you can fire by hitting the right bumper.

The controls of the Mako leave much to be desired. It likes to veer off in odd directions and try to flip over when going over bumpy terrain. Fortunately, there is no way to permanently flip the vehicle. The game also does not tell you about the cannon, which is the Mako’s most useful weapon. Many gamers I talked to did not discover it until very late in the game. If they keep this vehicle around for the sequel, I hope they tweak the controls… a lot.

I found the side-quests much too distracting on my first play through and decided to just finish the main story. Once you have completed the game, you can start a “new game plus” where you get to keep all your experience and equipment, but return to the start of the game. This is one of those few instances where I am excited to go back and play through a second time.

Bioware recently told fans to keep their Mass Effect save data, as it can be imported into the sequel and actually affect events in that game. I, for one, can’t wait to play it. Even with my minor gripes here, I can’t deny that I had a blast submersing myself in the ME universe.

We all have those games that we miss the first time around. With the busy release schedule of modern gaming, no one has time to play everything. That is why we at WingDamage present to you “Fashionably Late Reviews“. This is our series on games from the current generation of consoles that we may have missed on their initial release, but have gone back to experience now.

For me, playing Tomb Raider: Anniversary on the PSP was a lot like coming home.  Unfortunately, it was a lot like coming home to find out that your bedroom has been converted into your parents gymnasium.

When I was 12 or so, my uncle gave me a Playstation and three games: Tomb Raider, Tomb Raider 2 and Test Drive: Offroad. I think to date, I’ve finished the first two Tomb Raider games at least six times. So when I picked up Anniversary on sale for the PSP, all I could imagine was pure win. And truth be told, there are a lot of really amazing things about this game. The graphics are beautiful, the sound is clear and I never cease to be amazed at how clean everything looks, even on a hand-held.

For those unfamiliar with the series, my first question is: Where have you been for the last ten years? The adventurer Lara Croft has been an icon of the gaming industry for a long time; her long, dark braid, red glasses and unrealistic physical proportions are recognizable to just about anyone who didn’t start their gaming career with an XBox.

The series’ recognition has declined in recent years, first due to the vomit-inducing “Angel of Darkness” installment, and then a licensing battle which put it on the back shelf for a while. Only very recently has a brand new Tomb Raider game (Underworld) been released.

Tomb Raider is an action platformer in the most classic sense. As Lara, you explore tombs, pyramids and a variety of other environments, many requiring puzzle solving and working out how to get to Point B from Point A using a clever combination of running, jumping, grabbing onto a ledge and shimmying around the head of a Sphinx.

Pretty awesome, right? Anniversary is a remake of the original Tomb Raider, but it is more than just a “prettification” of the graphics.  Lara’s house is now much more interactive as a kind of mini-game and there are entirely new moves Lara can perform that weren’t possible with the original game. The transition from controller to PSP is fairly fluid, for the most part. Though it took me a bit longer to figure out what the D-pad was for (it is used for sniping, using items, etc.) than I would have liked.

The instant I worked out my first puzzle, I was so thrilled, all the nostalgic memories and joy I got out of playing the game was right there at my fingertips. As such, I would definitely say anyone who loved the original series should give this a shot, but with a very strong disclaimer.

For a game that is very dependent on timed jumps done at the right angle…the camera is less than ideal, and the controls are quite clunky. As someone accustomed to the original controls, I attempted to walk up to a ledge, tap backwards and then make a running leap to what appeared to be the ledge I needed to reach. Several factors got in the way of this being successful.

First, to “walk” you’re supposed to gently push the toggle stick, but on the PSP, it is really difficult to find the right amount of pressure. So instead, Lara runs off the end of the ledge she’s on and I have to try again. Luckily, an addition to this game is that she turns and grabs the ledge so she doesn’t crunch like a ragdoll.

Secondly, there is no ‘tap backwards to hop back’, so the entire rhythm is thrown off.

Third, the camera pans, zooms and holds at extremely awkward places, making it difficult to always know where and when to jump. Climbing up boxes and ledges takes much longer than it should because it’s so easy to get turned around and then be forced to stop and re-approach. While not a deal breaker, it DOES slow down gameplay.

Finally, there is the problem that is dark environments. Mixed with a frequently glaring screen, added to a not perfectly rendered depth-issue, which leads to Lara running, leaping and grabbing… nothing, because what I was reaching for was much farther away than I thought.

Despite these gameplay set backs, Tomb Raider: Anniversary is extremely fun. The puzzles are challenging but not so difficult as to be truly frustrating, and the acrobatic feats Lara performs makes you feel like you “pwn” at life. Once you’ve picked up the groove and worked around the camera and controls, the game really picks up, and for the most part, the benefits and fun of playing outweighs the difficulty and frustration.

All of this is to say: Tomb Raider is emerging again as a successful, fan-making series and in many ways, this reboot does justice to the spirit of what got us all hooked on it to begin with. Although new players may be put off by the awkward controls and camera issues, I would strongly suggest long-time fans to pick it up and give it a shot, because it will bring new hours of fun at the same time taking you back to “the good, ol’ days”.