Modern Combat 3 - just because you can, doesn't mean you should!

I've pontificated before about mobile (iOS/Android) gaming versus portable (3DS/Vita) gaming - coming down in favour of the former. A few months later, despite getting some play time on the Vita (man, that screen is incredible), I'm still sticking to my original opinion - but iOS gaming definitely isn't perfect. One issue is that often developers are too focused on bringing an exact replica of home console play to the mobile space rather than creating something that's more suited to mobile gaming. A case in point; Modern Combat 3 by Gameloft. 

You can skip ahead to the trailer at the end of this post to get a better look but basically this is a shameless Call of Duty/Modern Warfare rip-off. Since Gameloft are the kings of shameless rip-offs I'm not too surprised, but I was surprised by the production values in this game. I played the game on the iPhone 4S and the iPad 2 and the visuals are simply stunning. On the bigger screen of the iPad 2 you can see that they're not as good as a competent shooter on a home console, but on the smaller screen of the iPhone it looks pretty damn close. Likewise, the presentation is top notch - when I say they ripped off COD/MW, they really did copy the shit out of it! The mission intros feature the same graphical/tactical map zoom in, the date and time stamp in the corner of the screen at the beginning of each mission looks the same, even the bloody opening credits are ripped straight out of Modern Warfare!

Gameplay pacing and scripting is also copied right out of the Modern Warfare playbook with scripted 'jolts' every few minutes, on-rails sequences and the odd first-person non-combat moment. 

The game features online competitive multiplayer that, guess what, is ripped right out of Modern Warfare/Call of Duty - right down to unlockable sights, equipment (C4, mines, etc), perks (e.g. drop a grenade when you die) and even bloody kill-streaks (e.g. 3 kills = UAV/satellite scan, no I'm not making that up - that's real). 

In fact, the more I sit here and write about this game, the more I amazed that Activision haven't sued the fucking pants off Gameloft for copying their game. Fair play to Gameloft though for doing such a top-notch job.

Best of all, the weekend I bought this game it was $0.99. ONE DOLLAR! That's right, you get a competent Modern Warfare clone for 1/60th the price.

So that's the good, what's the bad? 

You've probably guessed it by now, but despite a variety of different schemes, the game is hampered by frustrating controls. You can use a wide variety of virtual stick set-ups, customizeable button locations and even a hybrid accelerometer/touch-screen scheme but none are that come close to two dual analog sticks. Gameloft did make some concessions in acknowledgement of the controls such as generous aim-assist and looking-down-the-sights snaps to a target even more so than the console Modern Warfare/COD games. These measures ensure that the game isn't unplayable - I think I'm almost half the way through the single-player campaign. Unfortunately, they're still not enough to make the game as good as it should be, considering the excellent presentation and feature-set. There are still numerous moments you're left struggling to swing your barrell around to target an enemy and get shot.

Along with showcasing some of the pros and cons of iOS gaming, Modern Combat 3 is perhaps a reminder that straight ports (or in MC3's case, a straight facsimile) of home console games aren't the best idea. Just because you can do something doesn't always mean you should. Instead of virtual sticks, Gameloft should have focused on coming up with a different control scheme that doesn't try to replicate dual sticks - such as having the movement on rails so you can focus on shooting. Sure, it wouldn't be as free-form as a home console game but the iOS devices aren't home consoles, this is best evidenced by the the most entertaining games on the platform such as Draw Something and Tilt To Live - games that you couldn't do as well on a PS3 or 360.

Lavan

ME 3 DLC & Angry Birds Space

I'm close to finishing Mass Effect 3 and I'll definitely share some thoughts on the game (and the series in general) in a week or so but I just wanted to take a minute to talk about the day-one DLC 'From Ashes'. I know a lot of gamers are up in arms about the fact that Mass Effect 3 had a downloadable mission and character available on release day. I know I was a little bit baffled but I forfeited my right to really complain when I bought the damn thing before I even started the game. I know that makes me 'part of the problem' but I really am glad I did buy it because I'm struggling to imagine the game without Javik (the character you unlock) - such is the impact he has on the narrative.

The DLC mission sees you fighting off Cerberus (one of the evil factions in the game) to find, and eventually open, a Prothean stasis-pod. The mission itself is nothing special but the real impact comes from when you open the pod. For those needing a refresher in their Mass Effect lore, the Protheans are 50,000 year old ancient civilization that were wiped out by The Reapers. The Reapers have now returned once more to wipe the galaxy clean of all life. By opening the pod, you unlock a character who is the last member of an extinct race and the only person to have ever fought The Reapers before.

In Mass Effect 2, the DLC characters didn't really add much in the way of dialogue or plot exposition once you unlocked them (e.g. Zaeed who had a neat side mission but was pretty much a mute from then on in). This is not the case in Mass Effect 3. Javik has dialogue and insight throughout the entire game and I'm not surprised in the least by the recent revelation that much of his content is already on the disc. Javik has a unique perspective not only on The Reapers but also on the other galactic species that, when he was 'alive', were primitive. Likewise, other characters (both main and incidental) react appropriately to seeing a living, breathing member of a mythical species that died out millennia ago.

Javik also has some brilliant new combat abilities that further cement his position as my favourite new ME 3 character.

If you haven't yet started ME 3 I would definitely suggest you pay the $10 for the DLC - it's brilliant and, in my opinion, absolutely enriches the story experience. Whether I agree on the fact that Bioware/EA should be charging for this content in the first place is another matter altogether. 

In other new releases, the first real 'sequel' to the multi-million seller iPhone/Android juggernaut Angry Birds came out last week; Angry Birds Space. I know much of the hardcore like to shit on Angry Birds for being a very basic game but I don't see it as any more basic or simple as Tetris or numerous other puzzle games. I love the series and the off-shoots (Angry Birds Seasons and Angry Birds Rio) - they're fun, addictive and perfect for bite-sized gaming on the go. 

Angry Birds Space takes the same formula (slingshot different 'birds' to knock down structures to take out the 'pigs' inside them) but adds a bit of Super Mario Galaxy to it. No, really! Now the structures can be on various planetoids, each with different gravitational fields that affect the flight of the birds. So even though you may have a straight line of sight between your slingshot and a structure, if a planetoid is in your path it'll pull the bird towards it. You can even have birds briefly 'orbiting' around different planets if you aim them correctly. 

As you can imagine this adds another layer of strategy to the game. Not only are you trying to figure out which part of the structure you have to hit to bring it down, you also have to figure in how to get your bird there! The levels are excellently designed and the Saturday morning cartoon (such is the popularity of this series that there actually IS a Saturday morning cartoon now) aesthetic is charming. 

It's also only $0.99! It's a no-brainer. Unless you're a hater....

Lavan

Dear Santa...about FIFA Street....

If you check out my old site you can see I've reviewed a fair number of titles in EA Sports' FIFA Street series and I always find it difficult to review these games without lamenting what I wish these games were rather than concentrating on what the game actually is. Since this is my goddamn blog and only about 3 people read it, I figure I'm just going to lament-away.....

Dear Santa,

Thank you for FIFA Street. It was a late Christmas present using that Best Buy gift card you got me....I'm still surprised it cost a full sixty bucks but oh well. Nice move not calling it "FIFA Street 4" - you want people to realize that you're trying to position this as a break from the previous 3 FIFA Street games. This one's supposed to be more realistic and, for the first few hours at least, I kind of thought it was. It was really nice to pass the ball around and do some give and goes without anyone running along a wall or flying 10 feet in the air like in the previous games.

Unfortunately Santa, once you start playing the better teams you run into the same problem that plagued the other games. This stops being a football game with minor trick elements but instead becomes a trick game with minor football elements. Suddenly, even if the goalie leaves one whole side of his net open, rather than kicking the ball into a gaping net, you're more likely to have success if if you drag the ball back, flick it up in the air, catch it behind your neck, drop it down your shorts, do 10 push ups, make a long distance call and then back-heel it towards the goal. It's all kind of dumb and not much fun once you start playing against higher rated teams or on a higher difficulty level.

Santa, I wish this was simply a small sided (6 on 6 or 5 on 5) football game with emphasis on the fundamentals of football - pass and move. You could still have crazy tricks but only a few players could do them and even then they wouldn't be that effective. 

To save you the trouble Santa, you could just get your elves to keep the core FIFA 12 gameplay - I mean you've done a good job keeping the same skill-trick system (using the shoulder buttons and directions on the right stick) - but the tackling and AI is kinda bunk. 

I hope you don't feel bad, Santa. Everything else in FIFA Street is really, really good! The art style is no longer the silly cartoony stuff found in earlier games. The venues are brilliant - lots of neat gymnasiums, indoor and outdoor football fields, turf fields, concrete parking lots and a ton of pitch/court-side details. The gyms and indoor fields, in particular, conjure up a lot of nostalgia about places I played in my youth.

The music selection is great but the ambient/on-pitch sounds are phenomenal. Hearing realistic cries of 'man-on' and 'pass, I'm open' - it's great, great stuff. I also really like the format of the World Tour (career) mode. You start off with an evening kick-about with your friends (whom you can cull from your XBox Live friends' created players), from there you create a team and then move on to regional, domestic/national and then international tournaments. 

All in all, it's a great package - particularly for the first few hours, but once you need a challenge it all falls apart. 

Thanks anyway, though.

Lavan

PS Santa, anything you can do about Liverpool's season? Why are you laughing?

PPS I'm going to go and play Mass Effect 3 now.

Singularity.....actually quite good!

So I kind of shat on Singularity a few posts ago and now I feel bad about doing so. Not because I forgive the absence of subtitles in the game, but because the rest of the game is pretty damn good! I picked up Singularity second-hand a long time ago but only got round to playing it very recently. It's a 360/PS3 first person shooter developed by Raven Software.

Despite a very slow and uninspiring start, Singularity picks up after the first hour not only with a very neat story but with some very cool gameplay mechanics as well. You start the game as Captain Renko, an American soldier who goes to investigate an electromagnetic surge that downed an American spy satelite on an uninhabited island, Katorga-12 which was once held by the Soviet Union.

Once you/Renko arrive on the island you start mysteriously transporting back and forth through time from the present day to 1955. This time travel is made possible by a mysterious element found only on Katorga-12 called E-99. I don't want to spoil much more of the plot but basically you find out that an alternate reality has been created wherein a Russian scientist has used the powers of E-99 and now, in the present day, he and the Soviet Union rule the world. Your job is to try to set things right.
To help you do this you come across the TMD (Time Manipulation Device...*sigh*) that allows you to move an object back or forward through time. This allows for some really neat environmental puzzles and later on in the game the TMD becomes a Half-Life 2 style gravity gun! Adding to the TMD puzzles is some very solid gunplay and level design.

Along with the smart plot (that shifts back and forth between alternate realities AND alternate time-lines) the game exudes a very tense, almost BioShock-like atmosphere. Similarly, logs and journals from Russian scientists are littered around the island to fill in more of the story. There is a very neat plot twist towards the very end of the game and there are three different discrete story endings. If you're paying attention you can see the plot twist coming but it's still very cool nonetheless.

I really enjoyed Singularity. The first hour is a bit of a bore but once you pick up the TMD and the story becomes more clear it really picks up. I almost feel a bit bad that I didn't pick this game up new when it first game out because, from what I can tell, it didn't sell that well which is a shame.

Definitely worth checking out if you're a fan of shooters and it can be bought for a song right now.

Lavan