Reckless Racing 2 (iOS)

Wow, another iPad/iPhone game and all this after I went on a rant about how I don't play that many mobile games......

I quite enjoyed the first Reckless Racing on the iPhone and Pixelbite recently released the sequel on the iTunes Store for five bucks. Since I'm a sucker for top-down racing games in the vein of Micro Machines I picked it up immediately and I'm glad I did.

One of the issues with the first Reckless Racing was that while the racing was a lot of fun, there was no structure to the game. You basically had a number of tracks and you could either do a single race, a hot lap, or a 'delivery' race. The game's sequel takes the same basic gameplay (to be honest I didn't notice that much of a difference in the racing itself) but adds new tracks, new cars and, most importantly, an excellent career mode. 

Much like Gran Turismo you start off with a small amount of cash with which to buy your first car, you can the race in one of the available Cups (each with several races) and earn prize money to either upgrade your car, buy a new one and also unlock more Cups. The career mode isn't super in-depth but it's enough of a structure to keep you more involved in the game. There are 24 new tracks - 6 different locations with 4 tracks on each.

Because of the warped (but wonderful for the consumer) economy of the iTunes store $4.99 can seem like a lot for an iOS game but if you're a fan of the first Reckless Racing I think it's definitely worth a look.

L

Smash Cops (iOS) and Little Racers STREET (XBL Indie)

Do you remember Micro Machines on the NES? Top-down 2D racing with neat, inventive tracks - it was a ton of fun. That type of top-down driving probably took it’s next evolution in the original Grand Theft Auto on the PC which added a city and traffic rather than just a race-track.

I bring up those two titles because over the past few days I’ve been playing two games that definitely channel those two classic titles; Smash Cops on the iOS and Little Racers STREET on the Xbox Live Indie channel.

I downloaded Smash Cops for $2.99 on iOS after seeing screenshots on the iTunes storefront. As you can see from the screenshots it looks like a really nice high-res version of the original Grand Theft Auto and the game’s title pretty much describes what you do in the game; you’re a cop and to stop fleeing suspects you have to smash them with your car, Chase HQ-style. There are 22 missions/levels that are divided into three basic types; pursuit levels where you have to chase down a suspect (or several) and smash their car to bits to stop them, time-trial levels which are basically check point races against the clock, and other time-trial style races where you have to navigate obstacles (cones or traffic on the highway) within a certain time. The pursuit races are obviously the most fun and the further you get into the game the more hits opposing cars require before they stop. At the end of each mission you’re given a grade out of five stars depending upon how quickly you took down suspects, how much damage you suffered and how much damage you caused. You then use the stars you’ve earned to unlock new levels and also new vehicles. Much like a lot of ‘freemium’ games you can also unlock missions by purchasing them with real-world money (barf).

As I mentioned before, the screenshots are what prompted me to take a closer look and they don’t disappoint, particularly on the iPad. The graphics are crisp, clean with bright vivid colours and the frame-rate is rock solid. The audio is also enjoyable with an 80s TV show-style theme tune.

Even the controls are pretty neat; to get your car moving you basically hold your finger behind the car and that propels it forward, if you move your finger to the left of the car it turns it right and vice-versa. A second touch of the screen triggers your nitro which allows you to launch forward and ‘smash’ other cars. It’s a very simple control scheme but it works very well.

Unfortunately, despite all these great things the game falls flat because of samey mission design and uninspired city layout. I tend not to play iOS games in long stretches but even after a few short play sessions missions in Smash Cops would start to get pretty boring. Compounding things is the fact that the city itself, despite being very pretty, is uninspiring in its planning with mostly a basic grid design largely devoid of jumps, hills, wide highways, winding roads and so forth. It’s a shame because this is a game I really, really want to love but in the end it`s just nearly as good as it should be.

At the other end of the spectrum is Little Racers STREET, an Xbox Live Indie title that is much better than it has any right to be. Developed by Milkstone Studios, a three person Spanish development studio, Little Racers STREET is a top down racing game in the vein of Micro Machines or Pole Position. What instantly grabbed me about this game are the fantastic controls and driving model that are so wonderfully tight and responsive.

There is also a brilliant career mode inspired by Gran Turismo wherein you start with a certain amount of cash, have to buy your first car and then work your way up five different car classes. You win money with each race which can then be used to buy upgrades or brand new cars. There are 30+ different cars based on real-life models and a dozen or so different tracks with various weather effects.

The game is an absolute blast to play and I found myself playing this little indie game despite having half a dozen full price 360 games on backlog. The best part? Little Racers STREET is a dollar! That’s right, it’s just 80 Microsoft Points which makes it a no-brainer. There is a demo available but the demo track has you using higher level cars which are much more difficult to drive without practice and if anything the demo almost put me off the game but at a dollar I took the plunge and am absolutely glad I did. Get this game!

Lavan 

So I cancelled my Vita pre-order......

Yesterday I finally did something I had been meaning to do for some time; I cancelled my Playstation Vita Pre-Order. Last year when the Vita was first announced I immediately went to Amazon and pre-ordered it. It looked like, and still is, an incredible piece of hardware. A beautiful OLED screen, front and rear touch screens, two analog sticks (finally), and some pretty impressive horsepower behind the scenes. The price-point is also solid at $250 for the Wi-Fi version. Most importantly, the games look phenominal and not just ‘phenominal for a handheld’, but phenominal period.

So why did I cancel my pre-order? A couple of reasons;

The first reason has to do with game pricing/value proposition. As of today, Vita games are anywhere from $30 to $50. In some cases, such as Uncharted: Golden Abyss, I’m sure these prices reflect the development costs of creating games that almost as good as their home console brethren. But, as good as Uncharted:GA looks, I have a hard time believing that it looks 7-8 times better than Infinity Blade 2 which is only 6 bucks on the iTunes store. In fact, I`d say Infinity Blade 2 looks just as good as Uncharted.

In fact, for the price of Uncharted you could get Infinity Blade 2, Grand Theft Auto 3, Reckless Racing, Death Rally, Real Racing 2 HD, Bike Baron and Edge. All of those are top notch, graphically intensive, quality games. That doesn’t even include the regular iTunes sales where you can get many of those games for 99 cents (and so could even add more games for the price of Uncharted).

Or, comparing apples to apples; Ridge Racer for the Vita is $30 and, by many accounts, is a piece of garbage. For one sixth of the price (and again, on sale for less -  I got it for 99 cents!) you could get Real Racing 2 for the iPhone which has 30 different cars, 15 tracks, a 5-7 hour career mode, looks gorgeous, and plays like a gem just using the touch screen and the accelerometer.

The second reason I cancelled my pre-order has to do with the handheld gaming experience itself or more succinctly, what I want from handheld games personally.

The main selling point of the Vita is the fact that it can bring PS3 quality, and type, games to the portable space. 

The thing is, for me at least, if I actually have the time to play games then I want to be sitting on the couch getting the full experience on a home console with my TV and surround sound, rather than hunched over a small screen, headphones in my ear while my wife screams at me to take out the garbage.

Now if I commuted to work and had to spent 30-40 minutes sitting on a train this may be a different story, but as it stands, if I’ve got more than 10 minutes to play games, I would rather do so sitting on my couch or in front of my PC. If I only have a few minutes to burn then I’d want to play something brief and bite-sized like Bike Barron, Drop 7 or Spell Tower - rather than a facsimile of a home console experience. What’s the point of playing 90 seconds of a Grand Theft Auto game? You wouldn’t even get past a cut-scene!

So despite the fact that the iPad and iPhone do have many games that compare to home console-type titles - I rarely play them. I spend far more of my time playing bite sized games such as those I mentioned and for those, my phone (or tablet) is just fine.

That said, don’t think for a minute I won’t be tempted the novelty of new tech and that gorgeous OLED screen come Vita launch day....I do have a Y chromosome after all!

L

New PES Video

I made a new PES/WE montage video using footage from PES 2011 and PES 2012 (though mostly the former). Check out the link below, feedback is much appreciated.

Also, don't forget to read my Top 10 Games of 2011 in my last two posts.

Lavan

Top 10 Games of 2011: Part 2

Just to recap games 10 to 5;

10. Spell Tower (iOS)

9. Bastion (PC)

8. Rayman Origins (360)

7. FIFA 12 (360)

6. Crysis 2 (PC)

And also to reiterate once again that I didn't play Skyrim, The Witcher 2, Batman: Arkham City, Deus Ex, and Uncharted 3 and all of those are games I'd expect to be vying for a Top 10 spot.

Without further adieu.....

5. L.A. Noire (360)

Much like Crysis 2, I feel L.A. Noire is a very underappreciated and almost forgotten game. When I read/listen to comments by most journalists you get the sense that this is really a failed version of GTA 1947 and to believe that is to completely miss the point. Sure, there's a gorgeous open-world depiction of 1940s Los Angeles, and sure it's a Rockstar game, but L.A. Noire is an old-school adventure game through and through.

At its core L.A. Noire harkens back to the 80s and 90s graphical adventures but it's wrapped up in great visuals, incredible facial capture technology and a brilliantly written script.

The story does drag on one act too long and the actual game mechanics can get a tad monotonous at times but L.A. Noire is an unforgettable experience and a game that you simply can't miss.

4. Pro Evolution Soccer 2012 (PC)

If you've followed my writing over the years you'll know that from 1998 to 2005 I had what could be described as a love-affair with Konami's signature soccer gaming series. However, somewhere around the mid-2000s they started started to lose the plot and things got very stale. Meanwhile, EA Sports stepped up their game and revitalized their FIFA series. PES 2010 was a solid game but lacked the pure fun of the series' best titles.

With PES 2012, the magic is back! The game isn't perfect but I haven't had this much fun since J-League Winning Eleven Club Championship on the PS2. I still find the online play severely lacking compared to FIFA 12 but single-player is insanely addictive. 

I prefer the PC version not just because of the improved graphics but also because of the brilliant user-made patches that add a plethora of real-world teams, leagues, kits and stadia.

3. Portal 2 (PC)

A Masterpiece.

If this were any other year Portal 2 would be my number one with a bullet. From top to bottom everything about this game screams quality. I love Stephen Merchant's turn as your sidekick Wheatley and J.K. Simmons as the enigmatic Cave Johnson. I love the visual style and witty narrative. But most of all I love the gameplay. Valve have found the perfect sweet-spot with the difficulty of their puzzles and solving each one brings a fantastic sense of satisfaction. 

The game also has one of the best endings in recent memory.

Truly Valve's finest game since Half Life 2.

2. Saints Row: The Third (360) 

No, really. Seriously. 

I didn't plan for this to happen. I actually feel guilty for liking this game more than Portal 2 but I can't help it - minute to minute there is no game I have had more fun with this year than Saints Row: The Third. 

Since the series' inception Saints Row has always been seen as a poor mans Grand Theft Auto but this is the game where the series comes into its own - and it does so on its own terms, not as a GTA clone. Sure they may both seem incredibly similar on the surface but, open world aside, they could not be more different when it comes to gameplay style.

As Rockstar's GTA series has moved towards gritty realism, the folks at Volition have said 'fuck it' and made Saints Row: The Third the most batshit insane gaming experience ever! Best of all, it doesn't just own it's madness, it flat out revels in it and you get the sense that even some of the characters within the game know what they're doing is insane. From a quick glance at previews you might think that the madness I'm referring to are juvenile things like using giant dildos as weapons or a 'fart in a jar' as a stun grenade - you'd be wrong. I would love to give one of a dozen concrete examples from the game but to do so would be to spoil the surprises. Suffice to say, there are things in this game that you would never imagine you'd see in a videogame.

Underpinning the crazy mission design and lunatic narrative right turns are excellent shooting mechanics, a purposefully arcadey driving style, and fantastic mission variety.

Like I said, I didn't expect to like this game that much and I am a self-proclaimed GTA fanboy but I played Saints Row: The Third for 27 hours (including all the optional side missions) and I can't recall a moment that I wasn't smiling from ear to ear. 

Play this game.

1. Battlefield 3 (PC)

After loving Battlefield: Bad Company 2, this was easily my most anticipated game of the year. I had it pre-ordered on both the 360 and the PC, I bought a new 22 inch LED monitor for my PC and yet, there was a moment, after playing the public beta that I thought - uh oh, this is not very good...graphical glitches, a crappy narrow Rush-mode map....actually, this is kinda crap. Did I just waste my money?

That was a notion, or should I say a fear that persisted right up until launch day. Fortunately, just 20 minutes of the Caspian Border map on the PC and my fears were allayed and the more I played it the more it became clear that this game not only met my lofty expectations, it exceeded them.

Between the PC and 360 versions I've played Battlefield 3 for almost 60 hours. Those 60 hours are almost all exclusively multiplayer and, really, that is the only reason to play this game. There is a single player campaign but its boring, poorly paced and largely devoid of invention. Multiplayer is where Battlefield earns its keep and I just can't stop playing it.

Battlefield 3 takes the excellent class-based shooting of Bad Company 2, refines it and then adds more - more vehicles, more weapons, more gadgets, larger maps and importantly, on the PC, more players. As I've said before, 64-player Battlefield 3 on a good PC is the finest argument for a new console generation around. You truly feel like you're in a war zone with player-controlled aircraft buzzing overhead, vehicles littering the battlefield and destruction everwhere. 

But, what this game specializes in is creating these amazing, unique moments of utter chaos that in other games would be the result of carefully orchestrated scripting, but in Battlefield 3 are the result of emergent gameplay. Anyone who has played this game has experienced at least one 'Battlefield Moment' - be it the time they cleared out an entrenched capture point by attaching C4 to a jeep, driving at top speed and then jumping out at the last minute to detonate the explosives, or perhaps the time they ran up a hill, got to the summit and almost dropped their controller as the flaming wreckage of a F-18 fighter jet flew just over their head! 

From a technical standpoint, the PC version is almost peerless. The graphics in DICE's Frostbite 2 engine are simply jaw dropping. I am continually amazd at the player models, the animations, the lighting and particle effects, the environments and more. This is the best looking game I've ever seen. 

The audio is also no slouch with some phenominal sound design. It's not just the thunderous boom of machine gun fire, or the rumbling of a nearby tank that's impressive - it's the fact that you can sometimes tell where gunfire is coming from not just from the location the sound is coming from but also from the different sounds bullets make when they hit different surfaces!

Even the browser-based Battlelog interface is solid with excellent stat tracking and the ability to simply browse the web while you're waiting for the game to load or a sever spot to open.

If you haven't guessed by now, I love this game. I mentioned at the beginng of this article that there were a few games that I hadn't played but suspect they would likely be on this list if I did. Battlefield 3 is one of the main reasons I haven't. The shortcuts to The Witcher 2, Arkham City and Deus Ex are sitting on my desktop but I still haven't played them because when I do get a free minute I'd just rather be playing Battlefield.

Battlefield 3 is my 2011 Game of the Year.

Lavan

Top 10 Games of 2011: Part 1

Happy New Year! 

This post was supposed to be up about a week ago but I've been slacking during the holidays. It seems almost every year in the past 5 years has been a 'great year for gaming' and 2011 was no exception. There were so many top notch games that I wish I was back in undergrad and actually had time to play half the games I wanted to! That said, these were my Top 10 Games for 2011.

Note: Since I didn't play all the games I wanted to (damn you adult life!) the following are some notable titles that I didn't play but suspect they could/would have made my personal Top 10:

Batman: Arkham City

The Witcher 2

Uncharted 3

Football Manager 2012

Skyrim (!)

Deus Ex: Human Revolution 

Of those titles I strongly suspect that the Witcher 2 would be on this list since I had so much fun playing the first Witcher game and from all accounts the sequel is even better. 

Macca's Top 10 Games of 2011

10. Spell Tower (iPad)

I think it's a testament to the addictive nature of this iOS game that I I've only been playing this game for six days and yet it still makes my personal Top 10 ahead of a number of other games. 

A genius combination of Scrabble and Drop 7 combined with a sub-$5 price point makes this game a must buy.

9. Bastion (PC)

I picked this game up for only $5 on a Steam sale and at that price I really feel like I stole it. Bastion is an old school-style 3/4 isometric view shooter/adventure game but what makes it so special are the gorgeous visuals (check out the screens below), the unforgettable soundtrack and the great story. 

It's a fairly short game but what it lacks in quantity it more than makes up in quality.

8. Rayman Origins (360)

There aren't too many 2D platformers that come out nowadays, let alone a 2D platformer that retails at a $60 price point like Rayman Origins does but Michel Ancel's newest game is worth every penny. Controls are super-tight and the level design, while the very definition of linear, is ingenious. It also doesn't hurt that the game looks like a Saturday morning cartoon and the soundtrack is on-par with Bastion. 

I absolutely adore this game.

7. FIFA 12 (360)

I love the online play, be it the new head-to-head leagues mode or the utterly amazing online teamplayer. I love the absolutely unparalleled feature-set from the myriad of teams, leagues, tournaments and the super-addictive RPG-like development of your Be A Pro player. I love the top notch visuals and audio. I love the new 'tactical defense' controls and the improved responsiveness of the attacking play. I even love the FIFA Ultimate Team mode.

But I absolutely fucking hate how utterly monotonous this game in single-player. FIFA 12 suffers from the same problem that hampered last years title in that every CPU controlled team plays the exact same way, particularly when it comes to playing defense. It doesn't matter whether your playing against against Barcelona or Accrington Stanley - every CPU controlled team is equally adept at defending with even the crappiest rated defenders able to emulate Franco Baresi in his prime. 

It's the only blemish on what is otherwise an absolutely outstanding package but it is significant enough to keep this game out of my Top 5 and also put FIFA 12 behind PES for the for the first time in a number of years.

6. Crysis 2 (PC) 

A title that I think was unfairly maligned in the gaming press, I think Crysis 2 on the PC was easily one of the best shooters of 2011. 

It wouldn't be a Crysis game if I didn't mention the visuals and despite the complaining by hardcore PC nut jobs Crysis 2 looks incredible. If you doubt the fidelity of the visuals just take a look at Duncan Harris' stellar Crysis 2 gallery at DeadEndThrills. The game's depiction of an under-attack New York is both stunning and haunting at the same time

However, it's not just a pretty face - CryTek refined the already solid gameplay of the first game and it's significantly easier to switch between suit powers/abilities. The ability to approach mission objectives on a spectrum of a stealth to full-out guns blazing is still present and provides a much appreciated break from the scripted corridor shooter formula that you see in games like Call of Duty.

Rounding off the package is a solid narrative and stirring score composed by Hans Zimmer.

That's half of my personal Top 10, games 5-1 on Thursday!

Lavan

PS2 + Gameshark + Swap-Trick = Gaming Bliss

An oldie, but a goodie (x2). Just thought I’d share two Winning Eleven/Pro Evolution Soccer montages I made many, many years ago when Winning Eleven was king. The resolution may be a bit grainy but it was the early 2000s and capture equipment wasn’t that great. Oh, the days of importing Japanese football games and the PS2 ‘swap trick’!

Hope you enjoy them!





Lavan