Hands-On Impressions

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.

Mass Effect 3 – Demo Impressions

*SPOILERS* will be present throughout this article. (Before i begin i want to thank Moonwalker1982 over at the Gametrailers forum for alerting me of the early access demo for Mass Effect 3. If you’re wondering you can  try and win the demo here. Mass Effect 3 is a role-playing game developed by Bioware and published by Electronic Arts. It releases March 8, 2012 for the PC, Playstation 3 and Xbox 360. So how was the demo. Its Mass Effect albeit a different Mass Effect. If your ecpecting this game to play exactly like Mass Effect 2 your going to be sightly disappointed.

The title screen featured menus of  Single Player demo, Multiplayer, Extras and Quit Demo. The Multiplayer is locked as of  February 11, 2012. From what i understand there will be a way to attain an early pass to the multiplayer  demo. I would stay connected to that Bioware facebook fan page link if your interested. Next i jumped into Single Player Demo to get this party started. I had to pick between Male or Female for my Commander Shepard.

Choose Your Experience

In Mass Effect 3 you have the option to play through the entire story campaign in three different ways.

Action: With Action the game moves faster. You jump right into the action as Shepard. Combat difficulty is adjustable and all conversations play out as cutscenes. I stayed away from the Action mode. However i might try it later.

Story: You customize your character. Story mode tones down the combat of Mass Effect 3 in favor of experiencing and controlling the interactive story. I also stayed away from this mode.

Role-Playing: For purposes of this article i choose this mode to do my demo playthrough. Role- Playing mode is classic Mass Effect mode in a nutshell. Its the most traditional mode there is to play Mass Effect 3.

After picking my gamemode (Role-Playing) i had to customize Commander Shepard. You know the routine here, you create a name and change his or her looks accordingly. Next you have to pick Classes.

Classes/Super-Powers

There are six default classes in Mass Effect 3 which includes: Soldier, Infiltrator, Vanguard, Sentinel, Adept and Engineer.

Soldier: Adrenalin Rush, Concusive Shot, Frag Grenade, Incindiary Ammo, Disrupter Ammo and Cryo Ammo.

Infiltrator: Disrupter Ammo, Cryo Ammo, Incinerate,, Tactical Cloak, Sticky Grenade and Sabatage.

Vanguard: Incendiary Ammo, Cryo Ammo, Biotic Charge, Nova, Shockwave and Pull.

Sentinel: Throw, Warp, Lift Grenade, Tech Armor, Overload and Cryoblast.

Adept: Warp, Throw, Shock Wave, Singularity, Pull and Cluster Grenade.

Engineer: Incinerate, Overload, Cryo Blast, Combat Drone, Sabotage and Sentry Turret.

I’m sure you caught a few of the new  abilities and gadgets above like Nova and Lift Grenades. Whats more important is the Class you feel most comfortable with. I picked the Vanguard for its high risk reward style of gameplay. Plus i beat Mass Effect 2 on its hardest difficulty as Vanguard my first try so that helped. I also wanted to check out Nova but to no avail. Every new ability was locked in the demo.

After you choose your Class you then proceed through a few Psychological Profile questions. For these i choose Earthborn and Kaiden Alenko. You had to pick between Ashley, Kaiden and “Numerous” who died from previous games. So i picked Kaiden as the soldier that died. It reflected immediately on the Earth portion of the demo as you see Ashley again. For Service History i picked War Hero. Now its time to play the game.

Gameplay Sequance  1: The cutscene starts off with views of earth and text describing the human’s role in the galaxy. The scene shifts to Shepard who is on Earth and been relieved of his duty. Admiral Andersen escorts Shepard to a Defense Councel meeting, you see Ashley along the way.  Shepard and Anderson witness the Reaper attack up close and personal at the meeting. During the attack most of the councel was killed except for Shepard and Anderson. The two soldiers make there way out of the huge structure to witness the attack first hand.

You can see a giant Dreanought attacking buildings like it was ripped out of War of the Worlds. You see chaos as Reaver ships drops hordes of husks down. The scene looked impressive visually. Next a tutorial sequence happens. You learn how to sprint and jump with Shepard. I absolutely hate the sprint animations of Shepard in Mass Effect 3. Asides from maneuvers, you learn how to take cover and shoot enemies called Cannibals. Cannibals sorta look like Husks except they shoot back. Much of the Earth demo is about Shepard reaching the Normandy in time to call for help at the Citadel. As you make your way through the level (which isn’t big) you meet a kid who is hiding from the chaos. The kid dissapears and after some item looting and scavenging you learn the Heavy Melee attack.

Shepard charges up his biotic fist and the camera zooms back then rushes forward as Shepard melees. it looks pretty awesome. You find a radio near a crash site and radio the Normandy to pick you up. Shepard leaves but Anderson stays in hopes of defending earth. Commander Shepard gets reinstated right before the Normandy leaves. The first sequence of the demo ends. There was a few Uncharted and Michael Bay moments in that first sequence that i didn’t really like and didn’t seem “Mass Effect” at all. There were many cutscenes and some dialog conversation trees but not many.

Gameplay Sequence 2: The second sequence of the demo has Shepard paired up with Wrex in search of rescuing a female Krogan captured on Mordin Solus’s Salarian home world. Also along for the ride is Liara and Garrus. Since you have a full team at this point i’ll list the guns from this section of the demo.

Guns: M-22 Eviscerator, M-9 Tempest, M-3 Predator 1, M8-Avenger 1 and M-92 Mantis 1.

During this sequence there is much more gameplay going on. As your trying to release the female Krogan your team is ambushed by Cerberus agents. Lots of gunfights while using your wheels came into play here. As far as using your team’s biotics, switching weapons etc its pretty much the same. What has changed is the maneuvering. You can roll side to side while in cover. I think it feels weird personally Mass Effect always had a grounded feel to its characters movements. Now you can just roll around real fast and at any direction. The shooting doesn’t feel as visceral as Mass Effect 2.

The controls while in cover feel more clunky and not as grounded as Mass Effect 2. The gameplay feels a tad bit different all over judging from the demo. As i made my way towards the end of the level you have to fight a huge human operated mech. I used the shotgun with incendiary rounds to take him out. As far as AI goes that part remains the same and was solid. You meet up with Wrex on the ship where he tries to be romantic with the female Krogan but fails as she rips the shotgun from him and shoot two Cerburus agents before they could kill her. The demo ends shortly after.

Other Stuff: the demo is pretty long maybe 40 minutes depending on your gamemode. I was able to reach level 14 after defeating the mech. Its Mass Effect but its different. I personally thought the demo was sorta a letdown because the “feel” of the gameplay is different. I don’t really care about the Uncharted and Michael Bay cinematics but when you start changing the gameplay feel your going down a slippery slope. Thanks for reading.

Trials HD – Demo Impressions

One of Xbox Live Arcade’s most iconic exclusives comes in the form of Trials HD. Trials HD is a physics based motorcycle racing game that has many layers of quality content attached to it. Trials HD has been around since 2009 so why am i now just now playing the demo? Just never gotten around to it till now. After playing through the demo two things jump out at me, quality and content. This game has both and its fun and addicting to boot. Trials HD was developed by Redlynx and published by Microsoft Game Studios for XBLA. It released August 12, 2009 on the Xbox 360.

The main title had the following menus: Play Game, Skill Games, User Content, Leaderboards, Garage, Achievements, Help & Options, Unlock Full Game and Return to Game Library. The key word here is content. In Skill Games you can play Inside of a Ball and Ski Jump. Two completely different wacky takes on Trials HD’s gameplay. User Content section lets you play, share, manage and create your own custom Trials HD tracks and games. Some of the modes were locked out for demo purposes. I spent most of my play time in the Play Games and Skill Games sections.

The controls via Xbox 360 gamepad:  LS & D-pad-lean forward or look back, X-brake, A-gas, B-return to last checkpoint, Y-bailout, LT-brake, Start-pause, Back-restart. Trials HD takes place on a 2d track similar to old school Excitebike but at an angle. The camera can also zoom in and out accordingly. Each track has in-game checkpoints. As far as the controls go for this physics based racing game they are really solid. Some tracks in the demo really test your skills when landing and not trying to crash.

You as a player have two main goals when playing Trials HD. You must finish the track and try to have as little Faults as possible. The demo’s tracks in Play Game section ranged from a simple tutorial level to a big level with checkpoints and explosions all over the place. Big jumps doing flips while sticking your landing just makes up some of the fun in Trials HD. Before you play any track you have to pick and choose which bike you want to race with (for instance Turtle 80 cc).  As you earn medals you can unlock more bikes more tracks and more modes to play. The tracks are creative and will have you performing wild stunts which never got old.

The presentation of Trials HD is about as good as arcade games get on Xbox Live. The game looks great visually for a game that released in 2009. The texture work, color palette and art design all were impressive. The sound design was also nice featuring great sound design for the bike’s motor. The music was good as well. You can just tell this game has it. Even if you don’t like physics based mortorcycle games you would still call Trials HD a good game. And when you throw in all of the level editing and sharing tools the tracks become practically limitless. There are so many different tracks and gamemodes to unlock for Trials HD its worth its 1200 msp tag even today.

I know i just played the demo of this game. But Trials HD does have that “it” factor that Excitebike had when i was a kid. The game is just plain fun and addicting. It also has loads of quality content. There is a sequel releasing this year however i might have to buy Trials HD before then. Thanks for reading.

Marathon Monk – Demo Impressions

Marathon Monk is a running 2d platformer developed by Jesse Crafts Finch for Xbox Live Indie Games (XBLIG). Marathon Monk released February 4, 2012 on the Xbox 360 and retails for 80 msp. I played running platformers in the past, some good some bad. Some 2D platformers just don’t fit the “running” gameplay which is the case of Marathon Monk judging strictly from the demo.

The main title screen had a few menus including Press Start to Begin, Press X to Learn How to Play, Press Y For Credits and Press B to Quit. I immediately went into the Learn How to Play section and studied the controls. The buton layout via the Xbox 360 gamepad: A-jump/double jump, B-dash, X-dive kick/slide, A-climb, B-climb +dash and X-climb+slide. To make a long story short i did not like the button layout or controls for Marathon Monk. The reason being they are more suited for a game where the screen isn’t scrolling. In other words the button layout is suited for a normal 2D platformer.

Pressing button combinations while making double jumps to save your life the entire game wasn’t fun. I died alote just trying to navigate the small platforms let alone doing the button combinations to take out enemies in front of me. Now if Marathon Man was a normal 2D platformer where you can take your time and navigate the level accordingly the button layout wouldn’t even be an issue. The most complicated aspect is disposing of enemies while the screen is being pushed. If you get hit once by the enemy you have to start the level over.

The learning curve is steep with this game when it shouldn’t be. What originally made me want to play Marathon Monk was at first glance. Marathon Monk has a really good artstyle with nice texture work and a fluid animation system. The demo took place during a sunny day with trees, platforms and enemies scattered about. The visuals gave me a pleasant vibe despite the fact died alote. The music also contributed to Marathon Monk’s light hearted atmosphere.

The presentation as a whole was solid except for the running gameplay aspect.  Although taking out enemies was a tough task it was fun when i succeeded. You have to slide, dive kick and slash with your Monk protagonist to defeat enemies. I know i wrote about how i died alote while traversing the demo level. There is a technique that saves your life and that is double jumping. I can’t tell you how many times i almost fell to my death only to be saved by double jumping and grabbing a ledge.

Marathon Monk does many things right. The visuals and music was good. The combat was actually decent as well. What I didn’t enjoy was the running game concept. It throws off all platforming and combat in the game making Marathon Monk not nearly as fun as it could be if it was just a normal platformer. I do respect the concept that is behind the game and its marketing regarding “running”. I must reiterate this game would be better suited without it. Thanks for reading.

MXHD – Demo Impressions

MXHD is a motocross racing game developed by JSTARLAB for Xbox Live Indie Games Marketplace . It recently released on February 3, 2012. Growing up i played motocross games in the arcades. The most impactful had to have been Excitebike. Excitebike believe it or not gave Super Mario Bros a run for its money with me back in “86″. As for MXHD, its a game thats rough around the edges but does some very important things right in my opinion.

The title screen on MXHD featured good music with a stylish picture of a motocross rider getting mad air. The main menus included: Play, Options, Purchase and Exit. Before you actually play you can pick between two different songs to listen to “Motorcrosser” and “Dirty Lifestyle”. Both tracks do fit the game’s style and atmosphere pretty good. Once you click Play you can then change Riders as well your bike’s colors. Next, I checked out the maps which includes two playable and three locked. Keep in mind I played the trial game of MXHD not the full game. Oasis was a figure 8 type track with a ramp and takes place in the middle of the desert surrounded by palm trees.

The other playable map was called Kheops which featured big structures in the background which looked like pyramids. Kheops was the more difficult of the two tracks. The non playable tracks were called Country Side, Rodeo and Saguaro. The tracks had ramps where you can do tricks in mid-air. As far as the controls go they were simple and worked pretty good. The Xbox 360 gamepad: LT-brake, RT-accelerate, X, B, A, Y- perform air tricks, Back-return to track. Controlling your bike was pretty easy. You can power-slide and turn simple enough. Performing air stunts was pretty fun i do admit. Sometimes the camera did get too far away from the action when you crash and have to re-center your bike.

MXHD does have some issues most notably i experienced a weird physics glitch and got stuck on the ramp (Oasis). I was going full speed and just stopped on the ramp at the edge. It was weird and happened once so its not a game changer. However what is a game changer is the ragdoll physics system used in MXHD. Now i admit it was fun and I laughed alote watching the crashes as i raced against 3 other CPU controlled racers. But what is up with you barely hitting a small rock slowly that sends you falling all over the place? There were quite a few times i would barely touch an object on the track and just crash. The latter was frustrating considering your in a race trying to win after 4 laps only to lose cause you hit something on the track lightly.

Despite my grips with the physics in MXHD i still consider it a good little motocross indie game. The reason being is that its plain fun. I also liked the presentation. The visuals are pretty good featuring good texture work and dirt effects as your bike skids around the dust track. MXHD ran so milky smooth and kept a solid framerate the entire time. The music was good for the game in my opinion. For the most part MXHD is a good game but does have some rough edges. If your even a little into motocross games and have a Xbox 360 i say give MXHD a try. To buy it you will have to fork over 240 MSP. Thanks for reading.

PixelJunk SideScroller – Demo impressions

Pixeljunk Sidescroller takes the Pixeljunk name and transforms it into an old school style neon lit sidescrolling space shooter. If your not a regular on PSN you might not have heard of Pixeljunk Monsters, Pixeljunk Eden, Pixeljunk Shooter or Pixeljunk Racers. To make a long story short Pixeljunk games are popular exclusive arcade style games on PSN. Pixeljunk Sidescroller is a 2d shooter developed by Q Games and published by SCEA exclusively for the Playstation 3. It released October 25, 2011.

I guess i’ll start with the menu screen. Start Game, Leaderboards, Options and How to Play. The button layout (Dual Shock 3): LS-D-pad-move, R1-shoot (hold for rapid fire), L1-charge attack (hold down then release), Square and Circle-change weapons, Start-pause. You can switch between various weapons with L2-R2 buttons. As far as the controls go for this 2d shooter they are decent. The problem lies more with bad level and enemy design. But all in all the controls and button layout were decent. If i did want to get picky they could change the buttons for switching weapons.

The basic premise of Pixeljunk Sidescroller is to guide your ship through waves of enemies. I would advise the most important gameplay aspect is picking up weapon power-ups. You can advance all of your basic weapons five full levels through power-ups. Its simple really, if you don’t collect power-ups you won’t last long in the game mostly due to bad level design and enemy patterns. The default weapons that you can strengthen include: Machine Guns, Laser, Bombs and Charge Attack. Certain weapons are more effective against certain enemies and map areas.

Items you can pick up include 1-Ups, Power-Ups (as discussed above), Secret Crowns, Shields and Coins. Coins and Secret Crowns are more collectible based then power-ups. The problem with collecting power-ups in the demo was the level design hindered me from getting most of them. I can’t say the screen moved too fast left to right cause that would sound silly for a side scroller. I grew up playing these type of games btw so they are far from new. I just thought the level design played a big role in making the demo of Pixeljunk Sidscroller not too fun.

When talking about this game’s presentation some parts do jump out and shine bright. That being the atmosphere and how the music plays into that effect. The music was really good. From the main tittle screen cyber beats to the in-game relaxing melodies i was impressed with the music. The music tried its damnedest to make this game seem fun. As far as visuals go Pixel Junk Sidescroller look like a neon wonderland of soft colors. The visuals do give you a calming vibe even when the level design frustrates you.

All in all i would say Pixel Junk Sidescroller is a mediocre 2d shooter at best. The level design manages to suck most of the fun out of this game. However i did really enjoy the music in the demo. Thanks for reading.

Syndicate – Co-op Demo Impressions

Syndicate is a cyber-punk first-person shooter thats been reimagined from the classic 1993 game of the same name. For the record i played through the co-op demo of Syndicate via my Xbox 360. This cyberpunk fps was developed by Starbreeze and published by Electronic Arts for the PC, Playstation 3 and Xbox 360. It releases February 21, 2012. The co-up demo for Syndicate was a mix-bag overall. The demo did some things right and some wrong regarding gameplay. To find out what exactly keep reading.

The main menu screen sported Campaign (unplayable), Co-op, Options and Quit. The button layout: LT-zoom, LB-breach, LS-move, LS (down) – sprint, Back-journal,, D-pad-Up-breach 2, Down-switch fire mode, Left-breach 1, Right-breach 3, RT-fire, RB-DART overlay, Y-switch weapons, X-reload, B-crouch/sprint/slide, A-jump, Start-pause, RS-look and RS Down-melee. The button layout was fine i really had no problems with that. Despite that the controls seem sluggish. Maybe it was the choppy connection while i played online i don’t know. It just seemed like my Offense class character was slow and had some lag. And yes i know he is the tank class of Syndicate but still laggy.

Although much of the content was locked in the demo you could still navigate around and check out what the full game will have content wise. The demo itself from a co-op standpoint actually has alote of content regarding your character. But first i want tell you about the Maps. You can only play on one map in the Syndicate co-op demo that being Western Europe. On that map your pitted against a opposing Syndicate team called Cayman Global led by Captain Gabron who is the boss of the level and resembles a mech to boot. Some of the other maps which takes place all over the world gives insight into the single player locations (possibility). These are the maps i saw on the demo but unplayable Mozambique, Atlantic Accelerator, Colorado, China, Scandinavia, Northern Territories, Argentina and New England.

The Lobby section broke down into Play Quick Match, Map Selection, Difficulty and Private Game. You can set different criteria for private games. I didn’t play any private games. I stuck 100% to online 4-player co-op matches for this article. The Agent menu has sub-menus of Loadouts and Chip Upgrades. Loadouts are split between three different classes that you can customize. The classes include Offense, Defense and Support. Each class comes with two weapons (main and secondary) and App1 and App2 (perks). In the Chip Upgrades menu you can choose special abilities like Heal, Reboot and Breach. There is a tree associated with chip upgrades that remind me of the augmentation tree from Deus Ex: Human Revolution.

Backtracking back to the perks (App) you can choose between Backfire, Shielding and Damage Link. The Agent menus under the Co-op section of Syndicate has you all covered from a content and information standpoint. There are sections that keep track of your rank, experience and unlocks. Not only that but also your Research, Challenges and Stars (all collectibles). Lastly the Agent section keeps tracks of squad stats, challenges and leaderboards. As you can see Syndicate does have you covered from a co-op content standpoint. But what about the gameplay?

The gameplay regarding Syndicate’s online co-op multiplayer was a mix bag. First off it does have a high difficulty like many online co-up fps games. That wasn’t a problem as my team beat the full 20 minute level on normal difficulty. The problems arise mostly from technical issues. The game just isn’t smooth from a gameplay perspective. Shooting, running and doing mini parkoor style moves are not fluid. Not much is fluid regarding gameplay overall. The games i played were all pretty choppy and had framerate issues. Don’t get me wrong yes i could shoot and heal my fallen comrades decently. I even came in first place in a group of four players one match. But the technical issues did at times get annoying.

The gameplay level took place at what looked like a factory headed by Syndicate soldiers. The level design was designed around breaching sections of the map. You fight your way through groups of armored soldiers with the occasional Lieutenant who has heavy armor and is agile. At the end of the level you fight a boss “Captain” who is extremely armored and built like a tank. The bright spot as it should be is the co-op. You have to help each other and you will learn on the fly how to (LB Heal). If you do not heal other members as they take damage or revive them your team will lose eventually. As far as enemies go there are all types of snipers high up on perches and shotgun guys down below taking it directly to you.

The guns all have a futuristic design as they should since the game takes place in 2069. I came in contact with assault rifles, rocket launchers (that enemies dropped), SMGs, sniper rifles shotguns and an assortment of handguns and pistols. Ammo crates are scattered about with weapons near them. Enemies do drop guns that you can swap if you don’t like what you loaded out with. One other thing regarding guns, they look huge on the screen. They reminded me of Crysis 2′s huge guns that seem to take up half of the screen.

As far as the presentation and atmosphere go Syndicate was pretty good. I love cyberpunk themed games ala Deus Ex and this one seems to deliver. The visuals are ok. The texture work could be better as i spotted blurry textures during my matches. I’m nit picking so take it for what its worth. Overall i really do like the art direction of Syndicate. The sound design and music was good. The voice acting is kinda cheesy however. Like everything else regarding Syndicate’s presentation it gives you that sci-fi cyberpunk vibe during cutscenes and gameplay.

All in all i did like Syndicate’s co-op demo. Its not perfect by a long shot with its performance issues but did give me some fun with its online co-op action. I would say its a rough around the edges demo but a good demo. Thanks for reading.

Little Racers STREET – Demo Impresssions

Little Racers Street is a top down street racing indie game developed and published by Milkstone Studios S.L via Xbox Live Indie Games Marketplace (XBLIGM). It released January 27. 2012 on the Xbox 360. On a side note i have played games such as Raventhorne and Inflamous so i am familiar with Milkstone Studios S.L’s work. Most of there games are high quality in my opinion.

When you start up Little Racers Street your greeted to the main menu screen that breaks down into sub-menus including Quick Race, Career Mode, Upgrade to Full Game, How to Play, Settings, Extras and Exit. The controls (Xbox 360 gamepad): RT-throttle, LT-brake, LS-steer, X and B-nitro, Y-horn and A-handbrake to drift. The controls were ok. The problem was with how slippery the driving was in Little Racers Street. It seemed like my car slid alittle too much no matter how i took corners in the game. My car would fishtail easily just by braking normally around turns. As far as steering and nitro goes those worked great. Drifting using the handbrake also worked really well.

The demo was kind enough to let me play Quick Race and Career Mode. Quick Race is your standard jump in and play mode which i choose first. The track you race on in Little Racers Street demo takes place around a city railyard section. There are some basic gameplay rules that effect all game modes. Hitting walls and cars increases damage to your car. Your nitro bar refills over time automatically. The action takes place in a top down view of about 12 cars. There is alote of bumper car action going on while you race but its all fun.

The Career Mode takes a completely new dynamic regarding gameplay. If you ever played Forza or Gran Turismo’s career mode Little Racers Street has a similar albeit much smaller set-up. You can earn credits in Career Mode and buy new cars in the shop or upgrade the performance of your cars you already have. You start with and E Class car and can work your way up through the ranks to unlock higher classes. You also have a garage where you can store all of your cars. You can paint, sell and upgrade cars at your garage.

The demo gives you enough credits to buy an E Class car to race with. The Career Mode track was similar to the Quick Race track except it took place in daylight and the track was rearanged some. The Shop was accessible in the demo. There you can check out cars such as Micro, Tomathimo o.5L, Sappho 1.0L, Lion 2012 and others. There is a Challenges section under the Career Mode section of the demo where you can win credits by completing E Class races. You do have to come in first place however.

Little Racers Street is a goodlooking game. Matter of fact the entire game has a solid presentation. The atmosphere, sound design and content make this a good little indie street racing game. I must go back to the visuals, they are impressive. The lighting and weather effects were most impressive. The atmosphere does give you a street racing vibe due to the music and sound of the engines and nitro burning.

Little Racers Street is what i call a quality indie game. It can be yours for 80 MSP which does seem like a deal considering the content this game has (47 tracks and 30 cars). Thanks for reading.

Ninja Sneaking 2 – Demo Impressions

Ninja Sneaking 2 is a 2D platformer on Xbox Live Indie Game Marketplace (XBLIGM) where sneaking and stealth are paramount. WINGLAY are the developers and publishers to this ninja inspired indie game. The game released on Xbox Live Indie Games Marketplace on January 26, 2012. WINGLAY as a developer isn’t a some new developer in my case. I have played a few of their games on XBLIGM in the past like Ninja Sneaking and Sky Ninja War. I haven’t played Ninja Recapture yet.

I guess i’ll get the formalities out of the way first. The main menu screen of Ninja Sneaking 2 has Gamestart, How to Play, Sound, Language, Release Information and Exit options. The default button layout for the Xbox 360 gamepad: D-pad/LS-move, Start-menu, RT-attack and A-jump. The controls are a mixed bag in Ninja Sneaking 2. I died so many times trying to avoid the spike section in the demo. It was as if the controls were too sensitive.

Practically everytime i thought i jumped over or around a spike i got killed. Crawling on top of walls (holding X) was great as well a useful tactic in Ninja Sneaking 2. I understand this game was designed to be a difficult platformer. I think its alittle cheap sometimes to be blunt. If you die or get caught once you have to start the stage all of way over. The story behind Ninja Sneaking 2 revolves around a red-head protagonist ninja girl sneaking into Karakuri residence to rescue Big Sister. She cannot be seen or else she will fail.

There are 3 stages and an extra Chaos stage available in the full game. It isn’t alote of content but will provide a challenge i am sure. The music is always good in WINGLAY’s games and Ninja Sneaking 2 is no different. The sound design and music gives you an old Japanese atmosphere as you infiltrate Karakuri residence.  The visual artsyle is pretty much the same regarding the red-hair protagonist ninja. The bad guys look pretty much the same as well. The huge yellow flashlights always lets you know the enmies field of vision so you can avoid them.

Ninja Sneaking 2 is a 2D sneaking game. Its actually a small/simple game. You won’t see a million enemies on-screen at once. Its a methodical action game where taking your time is paramount. You must avoid every guard and every trap of every stage. It doesn’t seem easy judging from the demo in my opinion. You can sneak under some areas avoiding guards entirely. Karakuri are everywhere even under huts sometimes so you can’t always just crawl under them. Sometimes you have to crawl above them on ceilings. Crawling on ceilings is effective but stay out of any Karakuri’s light’s line of sight. There will be areas where you have to time your jumps and leap over Karakuris.

The presentation of Ninja Sneaking 2′s demo tells me its an ok game. Its a challenging platformer with little content. It did have a nice visual and music presentation and sneaking as a ninja is fun. For 80 msp Ninja Sneaking 2 can be yours. Thanks for reading.