Demo Impressions

Spec Ops: The Line – Demo Review

Spec Ops: The Line is a third person shooter developed by German based developer Yager. 2K Games are the publishers of Spec Ops: The Line. The release date as of today is June 26, 2012 and will release on the PC, Playstation 3 and Xbox 360. As for the demo my short answer would be that it was good. If you want the long answer keep reading. For the record I played the demo on my Playstation 3.

Spec Ops: The Line’s title screen shows Demo and Options. The controls are default for the Dual Shock 3: LS-move/crouch, RS-look/aim, D-pad-grenade type, secondary fire, next grenade, Select-show intel, L1-aim, L2-throw grenade, Start-menus, R1-shoot, R2-command squad, Triangle-switch weapon, O-melee/vault, Y-cover/sprint/context actions, Square-reload/pick up. If you played Gears of War or Uncharted Spec Ops has a similar gameplay style. However I thought Spec Ops had a more complicated button layout which felt odd compared to Gears of War and Uncharted’s more streamlined layout. I’m not saying the controls are bad they are decent. Aiming, shooting diving into cover and vaulting over cover was pretty fluid. Giving orders to squadmates takes some getting used to.

I choose Combat Ops for my difficulty and got the demo started. The demo opens up with a flashback on-rails helicopter sequence with you manning a chaingun in third person. You take out helicopters over Dubai in extreme action movie fashion with huge explosions, dust storms and destroyed skyscrapers in the distance. Eventually you go down in your chopper and the scene transitions to present time. Now you play the role of protagonist Captain Martin Walker along with Lugo and Adams who are in search of John Conrad (the guy who went down in the chopper). Early gameplay was a tutorial that took place outside of a destroyed Dubai. You learn the basics like marking targets and giving orders to Lugo and Adams. You learn how to use the enviroment (sand) as a tactical advantage as well.

You fight against rebels in the first portion of the demo and then PMC soldiers in the second part. I really like the setting in Spec Ops: The Line. You fight in a wrecked airliner, around skyscrapers (outside and inside). Level design did seem compact often times with the AI getting in your way literally. The AI wasn’t very good in this game that much is clear.  Collectibles include Intel scattered about. There are in-game cutscenes and quite a bit of voiced dialog during missions and after missions. The story doesn’t seem engaging. I know there are two rival factions involved and they are both trying to kill off Martin Walker and his team. Dubai is in a current civil war like state.

The demo did a really nice job at showing gameplay and in particular the guns. Some of the guns I played with during the demo included: AK-47, MHA1,Uzis, Pistol, W1300 Shotgun, M249 SAW, UMP 45 and a Sniper Rifle. You can attatch silencers on some of the guns in-game. The guns felt and performed decent. If you are wondering you have to play the second part of the demo Chapter 5 “The Edge” to get the Sniper Rifle, SAW and UMP 45. After you shoot some enemies you can perform executions with your gun or fist by pressing O when they are on the ground.  The wildest enemy is a guy with a knife who dodges bullets like a maniac and just runs at you. You can revive fallen squad-mates in-game. I did not die once so I am not sure if the AI revives you but I am pretty sure they will.

The missions included stuff like locating a distress beacon and rescuing and evacing Alpha company. The main goal initially is to rescue John Conrad. You know how these games go, the story and mission will change as the story unfolds. Spec-Ops: The Line does have a real sense of scope and scale during some repelling down skyscraper sequences. Fighting in destroyed Dubai with the sand storms and the ability to use sand as a weapon adds a small unique gameplay element to Spec Ops: The Line. As for the graphics they were ok during in-game except for the waxy faces visuals. The game has that Unreal Engine depth of field blur also. Textures up close are decent. The sound design was good. You do get a good sense of scale regarding shootouts. The music also brings out the game’s atmosphere and was presented nicely.

To sum up the demo I thought it was better than I had initially thought it might be. The demo does have a good length showcasing  many of Spec Ops: The Line’s  gameplay elements and story. The game appears to be rough around the edges from a performance perspective judging from the demo. Its still a good demo and hopefully game when it ships. Thanks for reading.

Trials Evolution – Demo Review

Trials Evolution is a Xbox Live arcade exclusive motocross physics based stunt game. Microsoft Game Studios are the publishers along with Redlynx the developers to this highly addictive over the top motocross stunt game. The full retail game goes for 1200 Microsoft Points. However for this particular article I played the free demo. If you are worried about the 1200 price point don’t be. Although I only played the demo its clear this game is primo. Its chalked full of content and options. The presentation is borderline flawless for an XBLAG.

As soon as you land on the opening title screen a gamer picture unlocks. The cool catchy background music for Trials Evolution gets you ready to play. The main menu screen incorporated Single Player, Multiplayer, Track Central, Leaderboards, Achievements, Help & Options, Unlock Full Game, Recommendations and Exit Game. Menus and navigation was no problem. The controls are via the Xbox 360 gamepad: LS/D-pad-lean forward/backward, LT-brake, Back-restart race, Start-pause, X-brake, A-gas, B-return to last checkpoint, Y-bailout and RT-gas. The default button layout is similar to the previous game however controlling your bike feels more accurate. Maybe the physics engine had a upgrade I don’t know.

As far as demos go Trials Evolution has loads of content. You can play through multiple events/types including D License Test, C License Test, Skill Game and Circus Icurus Race. There are multiple races and tracks tied to each type of event. Some tracks are more normal in design and some over the top. One event has you rolling a ball around a track like Super Monkey Ball style with traps all around. Another track had me placed in a WWII battlezone. Explosions and gunfire were going off as I achieved mad air off ramps. Trials Evolution has a strong identity regards to its imagination. One thing I can say is that this game will probably never be boring to play.

When you access the Single Player tab on the menu it breaks down to the following subtabs: Go Race, Garage and Stats. Garage breaks down into: My Rider, My Bike, Headware, Top and New Bikes. The Garage serves as your hub for keeping tracks of your customization. As you complete events and win money you can purchase a multitude of upgrades for your rider and bike. Its too bad I couldn’t access the track editor. I understand its a deep editor that can make a diverse selection of game genres. Think Litle Big Planet 2 level editor.

Trials Evolution has a great presentation judging from the demo. The gameplay is just flat out fun not to mention exciting and addicting. Even in the demo I couldn’t get enough of the explosions, music and sick stunts. The physics are wild in this game. Some of the crashes will have you laughing. Like I alluded to earlier the music was really good as well the sound design in-game. The visuals look a little better from a texture and color palette standpoint compared to the last game. Although I can’t access all of the content the demo did have good content as far as tracks and events are concerned. The full game has 2-4 player multiplayer (online and off). There are plenty of Challenges to unlock. You can download top-rated tracks. Look i’m not selling myself on this game I was sold the second I put the controller down after the demo.

If you are on the fence regarding Trials Evolution get off it and buy the game. You won’t be disappointed. Thanks for reading.

Dead Rising 2: Off The Record – Demo Review

Dead Rising 2: Off The Record is a spin-off of sorts from the game with the same name in Dead Rising 2. I was fortunate enough to play one full hour via Playstation +’s program on the Playstation 3. I’m a fan of Dead Rising 2. I even wrote a review for that game somewhere on this site. I really enjoyed it. The question now is, how does Off The Record stacks up to Dead Rising 2? Dead Rising2: Off The Record is a action game published by Capcom and developed by Capcom Vancouver for the PC, Playstation 3 and Xbox 360.

The title screen had menus that consisted of Start Game, Play Online and Art Gallery. When you select Start Game the tabs break down into Story Mode and Sandbox Mode. I decided to play Story Mode first to see how it differs from Dead Rising 2. The story mode in Dead Rising 2: Off The Record starts off showing the rise and failure of Frank West after the events of Willamette. Much like in the beginning of Dead Rising 2 Frank takes part in TK’s game show just as Chuck Greene did. You have to make zombies crawl into a meat grinder. Frank is dressed in a wrestling suit and the fight takes place in a wrestling ring.

The events that started after seems like a copy paste game. That being copying Frank West and putting him in Chuck Green’s place. The latter has to do with most of the cutscenes that take place early in the game. Also keep in mind I only played thirty minutes of the story so things could always change. TK is behind the plot as you take Frank behind the scenes with his camera and take photos of TK. The photo gameplay is back from Dead Rising. The game is very similar to Dead Rising 2. You need to find Zombrex and find out what TK is up to. The odd thing is that the story of Off The Record happens the exact same time as Dead Rising 2.

Just like in Dead Rising 2 you must rescue survivors and collect combo cards and use work benches to create wild weapons. There are checkpoint saves and normal restroom saves from previous Dead Risings. Time is of the essence and drop in and out co-op is available for the story campaign. I couldn’t for the life of me find a co-op partner on PSN. I played Dead Rising 2 co-op and loved it. You can take photos for money and XP. Special PP Posters nets you big money and XP.  There were big performance issues like framrates and stuttering in Dead Rising 2: Off The Record. The visuals also didn’t look the best for some reason.

After putting half of my allotted hour into the story campaign I jumped into Sandbox Mode. Sandbox Mode is the reason you should buy Dead Rising 2: Off The Record in my opinion. Sandbox Mode is a open world mode with no time limits. Crazy survivors roam the city and there are special Challenges you can complete. Completing Challenges provides rewards. The first Challenge you encounter is Rooftop Massacre. The opening cutscene shows Frank being dropped on a roof and yelling “This is my Vacation”. The atmosphere is fun and wacky in Sandbox Mode. Soon after completing my first Challenge I ran into a crazed survivor named Gordon who I killed.

I was able to make a Saw Launcher and kill about 500 zombies before the game shut off. Sandbox Mode was fun and totally felt different than the story campaign. I felt free to experiment and cause chaos in Fortune City. You have no time limits or Zombrex to take. You just explore Fortune City and make crazy weapons, and oh yea, kill zombies. Dead Rising 2: Off The Record would be a deal at $10.00. As of now the price is too high in my opinion. Thanks for reading.

Ninja Gaiden 3 – Demo Review

Ninja Gaiden 3 is a hack ‘n slash action game that puts you back in the shoes of master ninja Ryu Hayabusa. Ninja Gaiden developed a cult following many gens ago for its brutal fast twitch gameplay. So how does the most recent incarnation of Ninja Gaiden fare? Judging from the demo I played today not good. I don’t even recognize Ninja Gaiden 3 to be frank. this game was developed by Team Ninja and published by Tecmo Koei America Corp for the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360. The full game released March 20, 2012.

Title screen menus consisted of New Game, Load Game, Shadows of the World, Ninja Cinema, Ninja Records, Options and Playstation Store (played the PS3 demo). Everything was locked except Options in which I used to write down the default button layout. Dual Shock 3: Triangle+ Circle-ninpo, Triangle-strong attack, O-shuriken, X-jump, Square-quick attack, L1-block, L2-aim, R3-center camera, R2-shoot, LS-move and RS-camera. Controls were ok overall but seemed simplified compared to past Ninja Gaiden games. The overall game’s difficulty was also ramped down making this Ninja Gaiden not so Ninja Gaiden.

The opening cutscene shows Ryu in London on top of a building but quickly transitions to Hayabusa Village in Japan where he is contacted by special agents. They tell Ryu that a terrorist organization is hunting him and that he must go to London where the opening gameplay starts. The story seems cheesy and non-existent. The voice acting is below average as you would expect in a Ninja Gaiden game. As soon a the opening gameplay commenced I noticed mediocre visuals and no blood while fighting. I swear this isn’t Ninja Gaiden. The action is fast which was good but the feel of this game doesn’t scream Ninja Gaiden. Ninja Gaiden has always been a tough, visually good-looking game with lots of blood. Ninja Gaiden 3′s demo had none of the latter.

I choose Normal difficulty since past Ninja Gaiden Normal difficulties caused me to die a lot. Not so much with Ninja Gaiden 3 when it was all said and done. I died once during the demo and that ws because I didn’t know where to run during a sequence. Health regenerates after every battle in Ninja Gaiden 3 big or small. There are many QTEs in the demo. They ranged from crawling up walls to doing finishing moves. There is a new glide attack with a QTE finisher which got old fast in the demo. Enemies ranged from rocket totting terorist to a boss fight with a mech. Some bad-guys also had shields and wielded claws. Ryu came equipt with a sword, scythe and claws.

During the demo you can activate Ninpo which consists of a big flaming dragon that paralyzes and destroys enemies. Filling the Ninpo gauge back up was too easy. I was able to use the Ninpo three times in the demo which lasts 10 to 15 minutes tops. Much of the demo has Ryu fighting in London at night on rain soaked streets. Your being chased by a Mech with 6 legs. You finally take out the mech at the end of the demo. The bossfight was lack luster like practically all of the gameplay before it. If you take Ninja Gaiden’s name off this game and named it something else I would be cool with that.

Ninja Gaiden 3 isn’t a bad game judging from the demo, its a good game. I can say the game makes a good action game but makes a horrible Ninja Gaiden. I have no idea what Team Ninja was thinking. Did the fans call for a change? If they did they should have ignored them. I read somewhere its a different team that made this incarnation of Ninja Gaiden. If that is the case, it makes sense. Thanks for reading.

Skullgirls – Demo Review

Skullgirls is an eccentric eclectic art-deco jazz induced over the top 2D fighter featuring an all female cast. Published by Autumn Games/Konami and developed by Revenge Labs for the Playstation 3 and Xbxo 360 via downloadable arcade title. Skullgirls released April 11, 2012. The demo for Skullgirls opens up with a cutscene about a special rare artifact having to do with an all female fighting tournament. Next your shuffled to the main menu.

The main title screen of Skullgirls had some pretty good jazz music flowing in the background by Micheru Yamane. The menu tabs included Unlock Full Game, Achievements, Leaderboards, Extras, Versus, Training, Help & Options and Exit Game. The default controls were as follows (via the Xbox 360): X-LP, Y-MP, RB-HP, A-LK, B-MK, RT-HK, LB-LK+MP, RB-HP, A-LK, B-MK, RT-HK, LB-LK+MP, LT- MK+HP (shorcut). The letters LP for example means light punch. As far as the controls go they are tight and responsive enough. I still believe Street Fighter 4 has the best controls this gen but Skullgirl’s are solid. The controls are put to the test in a deep engaging tutorial system that can be played in the Skullgirl’s demo.

The Training tab houses Skullgirl’s tutorial system. In it you can train to your level of satisfaction through a bevy of training exercises. Tutorial menus include Beginner Tutorials, Immediate Techniques, Basic Chains and Advanced Techniques. Some of the exercises I completed like defending against mix-ups and advanced mix-ups really helped me understand defense and chain attacks in Skullgirls and also how to defend against them effectively. The tutorial has a training tree that unlocks accordingly by showing checkmarks. The tutorial can take a pretty long time if you decide to complete every challenge.

I next entered a Training Room where you can fight against live AI enemies. In the demo you can only play a tag-team like match with only two playable characters to pick from being Ms. Fortune and Cerebella. The full game of Skullgirls has Valentine, Parasoul, Peacock, Pain Wheel and Felia as playable characters. Each character has their own sexy unique look  associated with them in Skullgirls. Each one has sweet moves and actions that will catch your eye. Getting back to the match, you can assign power ups called Assists to your characters for Training Room matches. Some Assists noted were: Ringlet Spike, Custom Action and Updo. My characters where Cerebella and  Ms.Fortune and same for enemies.

Stages in the demo included (some playable and some not): Medic, Tower, Maple Crest, Chass Notes, Lab 8, Lab 8 Empty, Little innsmith, Grand Cathedral (empty), Streets Of New Meridian. The in-game HUD shows Life Damage, Multiplers and Hit/Damage gauges. Going back to Tag Team gameplay its fast, brutal and fun to look at while you’re playing. One thing I noticed while playing Skullgirls was the fact that I couldn’t grab my enemies. I admit I didn’t complete all the tutorials so maybe I missed something. Either way I could not (or didn’t know how) to grab my enemies during my Training Room gameplay time.

This is a Skullgirls demo review albeit ”demo” I can still juge this game’s presentation amongst other things. The presentation is solid. It seems that Skullgirls could be a full retail game if it had more content. The visuals are striking in-game and gives Skullgirls a real vibe that exudes coolness. Visually the textures and colors pop out of the screen and when you see the game in motion it just comes to life. The sound design seems to be done really well. Micheru Yamane did a great job with the music side of things. This game is fun and wildly engaging. its really good. I can imagine how much fun the game would be if I could play online and master a few fighters.

Skullgirls demo lacks content sure but makes up for it with a solid presentation that gives me a reason to buy the full game. If your into 2D fighters such as Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat, Street Fighter X Tekken check out Skullgirl’s demo on Xbox Live if you have a Xbox 360. Thanks for reading.

Closure – Demo Review

Closure is a 2D puzzler where staying in the light and out of the dark is paramount. Recently I reviewed a game called LIMBO for Video Games Source. Asides from the black and white color palette these two games are very different regarding gameplay but both feature rich atmospheres. Closure was developed and published by Eyebrow Interactive as a PSN arcade title that released on March 27,2012. If you’re a long time PC gamer you might recognize Closure since a similar game with the  same name was released as a browser game back in 2009.

The main menu screen breaks down accordingly: New Game, Options, Credits and Unlock Full Game. Closure’s demo was easy to navigate and understand. Besides your just gonna hang out in the New Game section for most of your time so its nothing complicated. The main menu featured a catchy tune that exudes Closure’s atmosphere. Closure is a game that tells you to “stay in the light and fear the dark”. It doesn’t have a horror vibe per say but more of a panicky anxiety type feeling as you play. Darkness presents a great gameplay platform. You enter the darkness you die. Its that simple really. Light creates your path and opportunity to reach the exit doors on all levels. Keys are used to open each door in Closure.

The protagonist starts out as a 4 legged being who carries a light source which looks like a ball. The demo’s puzzles were fairly easy which was to be expected since they were at the beginning of the game. Manipulating light with the protag’s light source was interesting and featured some good imagination.  Using your light source to manipulate the world around you weaving through the darkness was fun and addictive for the most part. At times you have to set down your light source or destroy it. The latter lays out the foundation for a thinking gamers puzzle game. You have to figure out how to get to each door without falling into the darkness.

There weren’t many objects to use in the demo mostly just boxes and machine contraptions that gave you new light orbs. There were times were you had to put the light source into a machine and follow it on feet (four feet remember). There were lights scattered about some levels to use. To access the level complete door you have to hold the special light source orb. Closure’s demo showcased the early levels mostly which is fine, but they didn’t really show me the complexity and diversity of the game’s puzzles.

I’m sure the full game has challenging puzzles. Pressing select resets each level’s objects so you never get stuck. It is easy to get stuck in Closure due to the chief gameplay mechanic (staying in light and out of darkness). Closure’s presentation is pretty solid. The in-game music was pretty creepy and atmospheric. The sound design. The protag made quirky sounds and the white rain howled against the black background. Machines sounded like huge metal contraptions. The atmosphere is directly related to gameplay which is a smart as well a good thing for Closure’s case.

Closure judging from the demo seems like a really good puzzle game featuring a rich atmosphere. It makes you scared of the dark which is difficult for full fledged horror games to accomplish these days. If you like games like LIMBO I say give Closure a shot. At least try the demo on PSN. Thanks for reading.

Blades of Time – Demo Review

Blades of Time is a third person hack ‘n slash action game that features time manipulation as its main draw. Developed by Gaijin Entertainment and published by Konami for the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360. The game is out now if your wondering. The Blades of Time Demo did a good job at giving me a brief synopsis of what this game is similar to. I personally think it has some God of War combat with some wild over the top action of Bayonetta. The time manipulation gameplay sorta reminds me of Ratchet & Clank: A Crack in Time. Its clear that Blades of Time borrows from some of the best franchises. But does it come together to create a good package regarding Blades of Time? Keep reading to find out.

For this Gamer Blog article I played through the Blades of Time demo on my Playstation 3. The default button layout is as follows: LS-move, RS-camera, D-pad-heal, last order, show compass, L1-time rewind, L2-time lock, Select-open book, Square-sword attack, X-jump, O-prepare magic/dash/shoot, Start-menu. Swinging the protagonist’s swords around during combat was no problem. Neither was the  aiming and zooming of the rifle. Dashing and locking on to Corals to traverse the map was easy. The time manipulation takes some getting used to. Rewinding and stopping time is very important when solving puzzles and defeating tough enemies. The camera did get stuck and out of focus a few times while using time manipulation during combat in Blades of Time.

Have any of you ever played Heavenly Sword before? Remember Nariko? Well the protagonist in Blades of Time reminds me of her except with blonde hair. She is a gifted warrior blessed with mystical Dragon powers that she must learn to unlock the “Spirit of the Dragon”. She is fully equipt in the demo. You can use her two katanas, her rifle, time manipulation and powerful magic when you reach the altar mid-way into the demo. What I like about Blades of Time’s upgrades regarding magic is choice. You can choose between quite a few magics to use such as Freeze Mastery, Rage Saving, Fire Weapon, Critical Strike, Slide Ignition and many others. All of the magics are pretty wild when you activate them. After you choose the magic you want your transported to a tutorial section with big enemies to fight. The latter sorta reminds me of Bayonetta since its a tutorial.

Blades of Time combat is frantic and brutal. After slashing a few Locuts grunts you can perform a QTE finisher ala God of War style. Enemies are diverse and makes you use all of the protagonist’s weapons and magics. Some enemies use ranged attacks that you should use your rifle to take out from a distance. Some enemies actually hover in air over collapse bridges that you can dash to one by one and attack while in mid-air. You can also use them to get across broken bridges as well. Some enemies are big with armor and heavy shields. For these guys you have to use time manipulation to confuse and get their attention then strike. You create a few protagonist, one to fight in front of it then one in back for attacking final blow.  You do have to think and plan to beat some of the enemies in Blades of Time. You cannot run around and  swing a sword and expect to beat every enemy, it won’t work.

Early in the demo you have to stand on a contraption to lower a huge gate. This is the first section where you have to use the protagonist’s time manipulation ability. You stand on the marker and press time reverse. You then hit time lock and walk off the marker and through the open gate your other self activated. You only have so much time to use time manipulation. Presentation in Blades of Time  is laid out in a lush fantasy world featuring bright colors and imaginative art design. Lush greenery and destroyed castles along with huge brightly colored organic corals and plants showcases the visuals in the demo. The protagonist art and texture work was done well. The animations are decent but could be a little better. The enemies look brutal and range from mutants, demonic skeletons and human bad guys. There were also animals that were attacking the protagonist.

Blades of Time is one of those type of games where the review scores might not be indicative of how good it really is. I thought the demo was a good mash-up of a few action game franchises I loved. Blades of Time isn’t perfect but the combat and time manipulation gameplay really brings a breath of fresh air to the hack ‘n slash genre. I f you have PSN or Xbox Live and enjoy hack ‘n slash games you should give the Blades of Time demo a shot. Thanks for reading.

SSX – Demo Impressions

SSX is a snowboarding racing game. It can also be considered a sports game albeit an extremely fun over the top one. Back when i bought my launch Playstation 2 the first game i bought was SSX. No its not the SSX i’m writing about today but yes they do have the same name and alote of the same qualities that made them great games. SSX was developed by EA Canada and published by EA Sports for thePlaystation 3 and Xbox 360. It released a few days ago February 28, 2012.  SSX’s demo makes you play through a tutorial before accessing the main title screen.

In the tutorial you learn how to do tricks (in air).  Using the RS and LS (Dual Shock 3). Pressing up, left or right makes Zoe perform different tricks that fills up her Boost Meter that can activate Tricky Mode. When Tricky Mode is activated you can hit L2+R2 to do your rider’s Specialty Move.The tutorial was fairly easy and takes place while doing a drop. The button layout (while on land): LS-carving, RS-up-jump, X-jump, Square and Circle-nose press/ tail press, R1-(hold)-use oxygen, R2-(hold)-boost, Select-change camera,L1-rewind(hold) and L2-grind. The controls and animations were all accurate. I was grinding on trees and rails like it wasn’t my business. Jumping off ramps nets you even bigger air. I really liked the controls for SSX.

The main menu screen is now available after the tutorial is completed.  You have World Tour, Explore, Global Events, Refer a Friend, Online Features and Rider Net. Rider Net is like SSX version of Need for Speed’s Autolog. The menus break down in Rider Net as SSX Rivals, Music, Credits, Badges, Settings and Manual. With Rider Net your always connected to the SSX community. You can easily follow friends, find friends  and challenge them if you so choose. Its really a slick interface and easily navigable. Although its just a demo i saw all of my friend’s times on various mountains, gamemodes and which medals they won. Rider Net makes you compete with your friends in SSX which is a good thing.

Zoe is the only playable character in the demo however there are a few others you can check out. Locked riders included: Mac, Elise, Alex, Tane, Kaori, Psyman, Moby, Ty and Griff. Riders have different perks which can include stuff like Speed, Boost, Tricks, Armor, Wingsuit and Headlamp. Perks are all different and have different ratings of each for each rider accordingly.  For each Rider you can also unlock items like Suits, Boards, Gear, Mods and GeoTag. So it appears from the demo SSX does have layers of content and unlocks and isn’t just a one trick pony.

There is another race you can do with Zoe which is a simple race down a mountain that takes place in Colorado. You can grind rails do big tricks against two other riders. Before every race your dropped in from a helicopter cutscene. The pilot does voice narrating pretty much all of the time. From what i understand there are different gameplay modes in the full game like Survival, Explore Mode, Racing, Geo Tags etc. The most important thing i can say about SSX regarding its gameplay is that its really fun. Performing tricks wasn’t that hard although did crash a few times.

SSX demo presentation is solid. The game runs smooth like butter and visually looks really good. The texture work and art style are pleasant. The framrate was really fluid. The music is pretty good while your playing. The pilot guy’s voice gets annoying overtime though. The game seems to have a bunch of unlocks with character perks. The different gamemodes looked interesting. In the demo you can’t play any multiplayer however you can watch different videos about the multiplayer. Rider Net looks like a easy seamless way of staying connected with the community.

Although the SSX demo doesn’t have many mountains to actually play on one thing is clear. The game reeks of quality through and through. The little gameplay i experienced was realy fun. When you throw in Rider Net, multiplayer and all of the riders and unlocks you can see the appeal of 2012′s SSX. Thanks for reading.

Binary Domain – Demo Impressions

Binary Domain is a sci-fi third person squad based shooter centered around cyborgs taking over the world. For this particular Gamer Blog article i played it on my Xbox 360. Binary Domain was developed and published by SEGA for the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360. It releases February 28, 2012.

Lets start with the title screen. Menus included: Campaign, Xbox Live, Options and Exit. Button layout via the Xbox 360 gamepad: A-evade/hide/dash/climb over, X-melee attack, Y-focus, B-pick up/examine, RS-look, D-pad-change weapons, LS-move, Back-toggle member info, Start-pause, LB-display voice commands, LT-aim, RB-reload/shock burst, RT-shoot.The menu screens all had a futuristic cyber-punk look. As far as the controls go they were clunky for many movements. The melee always gave me problems for some reason. I know you can most likely map buttons accordingly but i normally stick with default.

STAGE 1

Next i choose Campaign which has two separate demos, Stage 1 and Stage 2. I choose Stage 1 first and picked Rustem Up for my difficulty. Whats nice about Binary Domain is that it is a squad based third person shooter much like Ghost Recon. You can pick different squad mates (two) who represent different classes and have different characteristics. Squad members in the demo included Big Bo who is a Heavy Gunner with High Stamina. You have Faye who is a Recon Specialist and Expert Marksman. Charlie is Spec-Ops and is a Tactical Specialist. Last you have Rachel who is Demolitions Class and a expert in CQC. I choose Big Bo and Faye.

You can give orders to squadmates in-game by holding down LB which opens u a menu of commands. Commands include: Y-hold, X-regroup, B-retreat and A-move. Many times during the demo squadmates talk to you bringing up a Y button promp to answer questions. Depending on how you answer squadmates they will follow your orders or ignore you (if you piss them off). The latter has to do with the Trust Level gauge between Dan (protagonist) and squadmates. The latter is pretty cool if it wasn’t for the bad AI  in Binary Domain. Stage 1 looked like a shantytown in a futuristic Tokyo. It did not take long before i started firing on the “Scrapheads”. You can immediately pick up and play Binary Domain if you played Gears or War or Uncharted.

What Binary Domain sorta reminds me of is Terminator Salvation (yes i platinumed it). I say that because the robots crawl towards you as you shoot them apart. In Stage 1 you mostly fight simple grunt bots who provide little challenge in 2080 Tokyo. The challenge comes at the end of the demo when you fight a Lancer. Lancers are huge heavily armored bots. You have to knock its shielding off with a Rocket Launcher then jump on it head holding on for dear life and shoot. Stage 1 was short but the Lancer battle at the end makes up for it. For the most part your going cover to cover giving orders to your squad while shooting Scrapheads.

There is a store in Binary Domain’s Stage 1 demo. Its called Ammunition Transit Japan. There you can buy first aid kits and Nano Machines that can boost specific attributes of each squad member permanently. You can also upgrade your weapons in all sorts of ways. You can buy ammo and many other useful items. The stores are located in-game and stops the action when you use them. All guns can be modded on the following statistics: Rounds, Fire Power, Range, Accuracy, Fire Rate, Shock Burst and Bosonic Charge. As far as guns go Dan used an assault-rifle and pistol with a few grenades. I picked up a shotgun, sniper rifle, LMG and Rocket Launcher in-game. All of the guns had average kickback and feel. Aiming was decent.

STAGE 2

Stage 2 takes place in a train station and this time your not bringing the fight to the Scrapeheads. You’re actually being hunted down. Your team for this sequence included Faye and a robot named Cain who had a thick French accent and is a splitting image from the robots from i Robot. Stage 2 really shows how bad the AI is in Binary Domain. The enemies were pretty mindless running past you while in cover. Sometimes they stand around not doing anything. Your squadmates aren’t any better. They get in your way when your trying to shoot Scrapheads and you will get a small penalty from your AI partner for shooting them.

For the most part your running through a train station fighting waves of robots trying to capture Dan, Cain and Faye.  Mid-way through the short level you have to fight a “Heavy” bot. You can give squad members orders or take their advice while dealing with the monstrous robot. You continue on making your way through a slew of bullettrains till you reach the ticket counter. At which time a huge robot appears and a cutscene pops on then demo over. Stage 2 had a much different pace than Stage 1 as well its scenery. It also showed off the bad AI as well.

Other Stuff

When you just sit down and play Binary Domain its pretty fun. The gameplay although wasn’t nearly as polished as i hope however i did have a goodtime shooting Scrapheads in 2080 Tokyo. What did get annoying however was the bad voice dialog of  my squad, it was terrible. Look, i love cheesy lines when done right ala Vanquish. But Binary Domain wasn’t even funny, just bad. The visuals in the game are decent featuring nice electrical effects when you shoot bots apart.

Visually i have to see more settings of the game. The character models in-game were good. The animations not so much. Moving cover to cover, sprinting and melee attacking robots looks wonky. The sound design minus the voiced dialog was decent. The robots sound like robots. The gunfire and the futuristic effect of the Shock Burst sound cool. The music was decent and had a cyber-punk sci-fi vibe to it.

Binary Domain’s demo didn’t impress me as much as i hoped. It is a good third person squadbase shooter. I really like the game’s atmosphere but the overall presentation really is rough around the edges mostly dealing with AI. Thanks for reading.

Catherine – One Hour Demo Impressions

Catherine is a action puzzle game centered around 32 year old Vincent Brooks. Vincent is just your typical guy with major conflictions and who has commitment issues with his longtime girlfriend Katherine Mcbride. Catherine gets weird fast due to Vincent’s nightmares. Not just normal nightmares. These nightmares can kill Vincent in real-life. The killer also happens to be his girlfriend, Katherine. I was able to snag the one hour demo of Catherine from PSN+ last week. Sometimes PSN+ members get exclusive one hour demos of full games to try out. Catherine released last week on PSN+ but i’m just now getting around to play through it.  Catherine was developed and published by Atlus Co for the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360. It originally released  July 28, 2011.

Catherine starts off as a TV show called Golden Playhouse hosted by a sultry vixen named Trisha. She tells the tale of Vincent. Soon after your in-game at the first gameplay Stage 1: Nightmare which is a tutorial of sorts. The opening puzzle of Catherine teaches you the basic fundamentals of climbing towers. In a nut shell that is what Catherine is, its a puzzle game of manipulating blocks to reach the top. You have an initial set number of lives and continues. There are alos many layers and many strategies involved when climbing towers. You can push and pull certain blocks. Some blocks can “edge” which means they float when connected to a block and can support your weight as long as they are “edge”.

There are also blocks that can crack and chip away if you step on them. There are blocks you cannot move. That isn’t a problem as there is always a way to reach the top of a stage. You can use the Left Stick on the Duel Shock 3 to look around the tower (within reason). You can hang around blocks and climb around. Playing on easy mode will let you redo a “move” by pressing the Select button. Keep in mind each block you move it stays in that position. There are power-ups you can snag around the block puzzle towers such as Mystic Pillows which gives Vincent extra continues. You can also collect coins that give you points. To make Vincent climb and move  i used the D-pad and LS. To push and pull blocks i used the X button (hold down).

When you make it to Landing sections of the nightmarish puzzle levels you can talk to other sheep. Vincent has sheep horns when he plays puzzle levels in Catherine. He is marred as a sheep being led to the slaughter (is my guess). Talking to other sheep are important. You can learn new techniques for climbing the puzzle towers like the “Pyramid” or “Slider”. You can also discover your own moves. The basic premise of Catherine’s gameplay is to create stairs to climb up using the blocks. The gameplay screen during puzzle sequences looks 2D but is really 3D. You can push blocks forward and pull them back towards you. The camera has a semi fixed position but can be moved with LS to see whats around you for strategy. There are checkpoints mid-way up some puzzle towers/stages.

Asides from the nightmarish puzzle scenes that have the floor dropping below you and an evil Katherine trying to murder Vincent, you also have real-life sequences as well. In between gameplay sequences you usually see Vincent in his day to day life. He’s usually hanging out with his buds Toby and Chief at the Stray Sheep bar. You also meet up with Katherine and talk. Each cutscene and in-game cutscene  was really impressive visually showcasing great anime art. The voice acting and sound design was solid as well. The cutscenes and in-game cutscenes are a welcomed break from the game’s puzzle sequences.

Vincent’s phone is an important gameplay element when not trying to survive his nightmares. You can read and answer Kathrine’s texts. Answering questions in Catherine dictates gameplay and how characters perceive you throughout. You can save using your phone anytime. You can also access your diary and Awards at anytime. There is a underlying story of young men that died in their sleep.  Vincent and his friends knew the most recent, Paul. They discussed it at the Stray Sheep. Sheep, there goes that word again. I did get to meet the “other” woman” in Catherine. She sat down at Vincent’s table uninvited ready to stir up trouble. Vincent is a weak man. I can see him getting in trouble. I wished i had more than an hour with this game its pretty damn good.

As far as presentation goes Catherine is a good game. No glitches or bugs in the version i played. The story seems fun and interesting. The visuals are very good featuring great anime cutscenes and in-game graphics. The music was impressive as well. The package is quirky and unusual in design but i really like Catherine’s style. I can see myself picking this game up eventually. Its a challenging puzzle game with a quirky thick atmosphere. If your a PSN+ member i say check it out. Thanks for reading.