Thoughts on Dungeons & Dragons: Heroes (Xbox)

Dungeons & Dragons: Heroes so badly wants to be Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance, like teenage girls in the Eighties so wanted to be like Madonna that they dressed like her, talked like her and gave attitude like her. Now, being derivative is not a bad thing if (i) the source material is good and (ii) the copycat successfully emulates what made the original so appealing in the first place. With respect to the source material, Dungeons & Dragons: Heroes has picked a worthy target to rip-off. I loved BG:DA, as did so many other gamers, because it successfully merged Gauntlet-style dungeon crawling with the classic RPG elements of the Dungeons & Dragons universe. The game revitalized the action-RPG genre, leading to numerous clones in the subsequent years, including D&D:H. However, D&D:H is much less successful with the execution of its intellectual thievery. This action-RPG simply does not get the correct mix of action elements to RPG elements. BG:DA had great, challenging combat against tough foes, and the new powers and abilities you gained from leveling up your character really made a difference in your encounters with enemies. This is not the case in D&D:H. Mashing on the melee attack button works just fine to dispatch the various beasties you encounter. The enemies are not very bright, and will just come rushing toward you. The only challenge you face is from the number of enemies you face during an encounter. Healing when you are low on health is rarely a problem. The net effect renders combat incredibly boring. This is a real problem, since you spend most of your time fighting and the story is not nearly engaging enough to make up for the lackluster battles.

Graphically, Dungeons & Dragons: Heroes looks OK, but the action has some framerate hiccups. The characters are not as well animated as those in Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance, and move very stiffly. You can adjust the camera to suit your liking, but it can still be difficult to see your character in a corner because walls do not become transparent as often as they should. The soundtrack is a bore as well.

With so many better action-RPG games out there, it is impossible for me to recommend Dungeons & Dragons: Heroes. This game was shipped only for the Xbox (despite Atari being a multi-console developer and the PS2 being the dominant platform at the time), and spawned no sequels. I guess there is a little justice in the world. Don’t waste your time with this one - three hours into this one, I just could not make myself play any longer. Save yourself the three hours and take my word on this.

Graphics: 6/10. Not bad, but not great either.
Sound: 5/10. Completely forgettable.
Story: 5/10. Something about ancient heroes being brought back to life to fight a resurrected evil. Basically, “Generic Fantasy Plot #4.” Also quite forgettable.
Gameplay: 4/10. Very, very boring.
Overall: 5/10. There are much better games in this genre for you to play.

My Creed on Achievements

I will not be an Achievement whore.

I came to this conclusion last night after attempting to play Cars on the Xbox 360. I had ordered it from Gamefly with the sole purpose of scoring an easy 1000 points, because my Xbox Live gamerscore had been lagging due to my playing a lot of non-360 games recently. But a half-hour into Cars, I said to myself, "What the hell am I doing? This game sucks. It has laughably bad rubber-band AI during the races, the music is terrible, and the story sequences insult my intelligence. I would rather be playing almost any game in my 'to do' pile than this." I then had an epiphany: no one cares about my gamerscore but me. My time is too valuable to be playing terrible games for meaningless points. I opened the disc tray, took out the game, and placed it back in the Gamefly envelope, which I then sealed. Today, I sent the game back to Gamefly with no regrets that I did not get a single point from the game.

Don't get me wrong, I still dig the overall concept of Achievement points. They provide additional challenges that extend the play value of games, and the best Achievements reward genuine accomplishment. But I've decided that I will only pursue them in the context of playing games I want to play. I've deleted Bullet Witch and NHL 2K6 from my Gamefly list, hopefully never to return. In their place, I added Rainbow Six: Vegas and Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter, two games I've been genuinely curious about.

Caveat: I still have Avatar: The Burning Earth on my list. Even I can spare 90 seconds for 1000 points.

Completion Report: Heavenly Sword (PS3)

Sony has supported the PS3 with a number of new intellectual properties, including Resistance: Fall of Man, Folklore, and Uncharted. One of the most successful of these original games has been Heavenly Sword. Nicknamed “Goddess of War” for its hack-and-slash gameplay and female heroine, Heavenly Sword has been one of the best-selling titles for Sony’s beleaguered system. Much has been made of the gorgeous design for Nariko, the female lead, with her flowing red hair and fierce countenance. Fortunately for gamers, there is a quality game behind the pretty face on the box cover.

What stands out the most about Heavenly Sword are its incredibly high production values. Sony threw a lot of money and manpower at this game, and it shows. The game looks gorgeous - this title really shows off the graphical prowess of the PS3. The characters animate very smoothly, which is no surprise given the extensive amount of motion capture that was done for the game (the included “Making of” videos show this in detail). Especially impressive is the realistic way characters’ facial expressions move during cutscenes, and the perfect sync between the voices and the characters’ mouths. The developers actually motion captured actors’ faces to make sure everything looked right. The actor who played the CGI character of Golem in the Lord of the Rings movies directed the motion capture for Heavenly Sword, so it should come as no surprise how authentic all of the movement looks in the game. The art direction is also amazing. The environments and characters show a mix of medieval European and feudal Japanese styles. There is always something beautiful to look at while playing. The characters are also well-designed. Nariko has impressive star quality, but the real standouts are the bosses. The slovenly obese Roach, the lizard-like Whiptail and the gaunt Fox are quite memorable. All is not perfect graphically, though. There are numerous framerate dips when the action gets intense – I guess even the vaunted PS3 can be taxed! Overall, though, this is a game that you’ll want to show off to your friends.

The high production values extend to the sound arena. The voice acting is Hollywood-quality. King Bohan, your main adversary, is an absolute riot with his “why am I surrounded by frickin’ idiots” schtick. Nariko sounds appropriately solemn and serious, while your sidekick Kei conveys a scary sense of not being entirely sane. The only weak spot here is the voice of Whiptail, who hams it up a little too much. The music is also top-notch. Like the art design, the compositions mix classical European elements with Asian influences, and the results are a marvel. I would love to get the soundtrack to this game (unfortunately, a Google search revealed that no official soundtrack exists, despite numerous message board posts requesting an official soundtrack).

All the productions values in the world would not matter much, though, if the gameplay was weak. Fortunately, the game plays well, but not without some flaws. Heavenly Sword is clearly inspired by God of War and Devil May Cry. Basically, you have a speed attack and a heavy attack (the square and triangle buttons, respectively), and can chain them together for various combinations. Doing so builds up a meter that allows you to perform a full-screen instant kill attack on an enemy by pressing the circle button. You can also counterattack by pressing the triangle button just as an enemy is about to attack you. Blocking is automatic so long as you are not pressing a button, although certain enemy attacks and combinations cannot be blocked. Once you acquire the Heavenly Sword, you unlock three different attack styles: speed style (the default style), range style (activated by pressing L1 in combination with the square and triangle buttons) and heavy style (activated by pressing R2 in combination with the square and triangle buttons). Speed style involves quick but not very powerful attacks, range style transforms the Heavenly Sword into swinging blades attached to chains (just like Kratos’ weapons), while heavy style involves slow but powerful attacks. Additionally, certain enemies will flash different colors corresponding to one of the different styles; their attacks can only be blocked or counterattacked while in that style.

All of this adds up to a combat system with a great deal of depth. Unfortunately, little of that depth is needed for most of the game while on default difficulty (the only difficulty level available during the first playthrough). Button-mashing will serve you just fine until you reach the very end. Indeed, I didn’t really understand the combat system until I got to the final boss, who requires you to learn to block and counterattack in different stances. After beating him, I went back and played some of the earlier stages with my new knowledge and ended up dispatching enemies with ease. I thought, “Oh, so this is how you are supposed to play!” At least there is Hell difficulty (unlocked upon finishing the game) to allow me to put my newfound skills to the test.

All is not hack-and-slash in this game, however. Many segments involve you playing as Nariko’s sidekick and adoptive sister, Kei. Kei does not get down-and-dirty with the enemies like Nariko, instead relying on an arrow gun to take down foes from a distance. You can actually control the arrows mid-flight using the “Aftertouch” system. This involves holding down the firing button during the arrow’s flight, which slows down the action Matrix-style. You can then use the analog stick (or the Sixaxis motion controls) to move the arrow in flight. Note that Aftertouch controls are set by default to use the Sixaxis motion controls, but I highly recommend turning off all motion controls immediately upon booting up the game, as they are unresponsive and frustrating. Kei’s sections provide a nice break in the action from Nariko’s frantic combat, although they tend to be pretty easy in comparison. Nariko also has a couple of levels in which she controls a cannon mounted on top of a fortress, tasked with destroying enemy catapults. The cannon controls similarly to Kei’s arrow gun, using the Aftertouch system to control the cannonballs in flight.

Periodically during the game, and especially during boss fights, you will be required to participate in God of War-style quick time events. These involve quickly pressing controller buttons that are flashed on the screen. I must say, I hope this particular gameplay fad dies out soon, as I find these sequences incredibly annoying. In Heavenly Sword, the window for pressing the buttons is often very short, not giving you time to react. Instead, you will find yourself having to memorize the button sequences through trial-and-error, and some of the sequences are quite lengthy. These events are one of the worst parts of the game.

The story is passable, but not particularly memorable. Basically, the clan to which Nariko belongs is responsible for protecting the Heavenly Sword, and King Bohan is commanding his armies against Nariko’s clan to try and obtain the Heavenly Sword. How did Nariko’s clan become charged with protecting the Heavenly Sword? How did the sword come into being? Why does King Bohan want it? Good questions, none of which are answered in the narrative. Moreover, there are a number of logical inconsistencies in the story. King Bohan commands an army of thousands to go out to acquire the Heavenly Sword, but when he acquires it (temporarily) during the game, he has it placed in the general armory, protected by just one guard. If the sword is so darn important to him, why does it not get a special storage place with a huge contingent to protect it? Also, Nariko becomes a fighting machine when using the Heavenly Sword, even transcending death itself. Yet at the end of the game, she says that the Heavenly Sword is “just a sword.” Was she not paying attention to the preceding events in the game? Fortunately, the writing in the game is well done, helping to mask many of the game’s plot flaws.

Heavenly Sword has its flaws, but is nonetheless a very strong action title for the PS3. After completing the game, I found myself eager to play again on the higher difficulty level, which is always a good sign. I definitely would like to see a sequel, as this property shows significant potential to become a AAA franchise.

Game Length: 8-10 hours on normal difficulty, first playthrough.

Graphics: 9/10 – gorgeous art direction with great animation, although the framerate dips on occasion.
Sound: 10/10 – top-notch music and voice acting.
Story: 6/10 – generic plot with some logical holes, but good writing helps make up for it.
Gameplay: 8/10 – strong combat system, although the game does not require you to use the amount of depth available to you.
Overall: 8/10.

Completion Report: Halo 2 (Xbox)

Well, I’m a little late to this party, given that Halo 3 has already come out, but I finally got around to finishing Halo 2. Now this was a ride! Halo 2 proves why the Halo series is so beloved by its fans, and why it sets the standard for game quality in the industry.

Critics frequently point out the Halo series’ lack of innovation, but this charge misses the point. True, there is almost nothing in any of the Halo games that was not first in some other first-person shooter series. The big gameplay additions to Halo 2 (dual weapon wielding, hijacking vehicles, and online multiplayer) certainly had been done before. What distinguishes Halo 2, though, is the exceptional level of polish on all of the disparate elements that make the game as a whole greater than the sum of its parts. Nearly every first-person shooter on consoles has the same basic control scheme (due in no small part to the success of the original Halo); in no other game do the controls feel as responsive and natural. Most shooters have variants of the same weapon classes (pistols, machine guns, sniper rifles, melee weapons), but in Halo they are so well balanced that you will find yourself using all of them during the course of the game depending on the situation and the types of enemies you are facing. The two-gun maximum carrying capacity lends an element of strategy: do I take a bigger gun for which I have less ammunition (like a rocket launcher or Brute shot), or do I take smaller guns with more ammo but less stopping power if I run into a Hunter or group of Brutes? Every element in the game seems perfectly planned out, which makes for a fresh and constantly fun and exciting experience.

Let me start with the story, which is the skeleton upon which the remainder of the game hangs. What Halo 2’s story lacks in subtlety (being a grand space opera and all), it makes up for in excitement and great characters. As Master Chief, you are charged with saving humanity from the aggression of several alien races. In the original Halo, most of the game was spent fighting against one of the alien factions (the Covenant), with another faction (the Flood) appearing late in the game. In Halo 2, things get a little more complicated. The war between the Covenant and the Flood becomes even more intense, diverting some of the Covenant’s attention away from humanity. Indeed, fissures begin to emerge within the Covenant itself (which is composed of several alien races), and alliances shift late in the game. Former enemies become allies, and former allies become enemies. Much of this is the result of the introduction of a new Covenant race, the Brutes, who are gorilla-like creatures with powerful Machiavellian tendencies. The Brutes have their sights set upon becoming the dominant race in the Covenant coalition, and are trying to replace the Elites, a reptilian race that comprised much of the enemy force in the original Halo. All of this leads to a cliffhanger ending that, while heavily criticized at the time, makes sense within the framework of the story and sets the stage perfectly for Halo 3.

The characters in the game are especially well-done, if not necessarily well-rounded. Master Chief is, of course, as cool as any other video game character created to date. His constant companion, the artificial intelligence construct Cortana, provides a strong female lead, even if “female” is not a technically correct term for a hologram. The uber-space marine Sergeant Johnson provides plenty of comic relief with his over-the-top macho remarks. Even the basic enemies and non-player characters are well done. Each of the alien races has its own distinctive personality, from the amusing but cowardly Grunts who run away when the odds are against them, to the malevolent Brutes, who charge at you when wounded. The AI-controlled marines with whom you often fight alongside will frequently deliver great one-liners.

However, the real star of the Halo 2 show is The Arbiter, an Elite commander who is punished by the Covenant hierarchy for his failures in the war against the humans. He is given the opportunity to atone for his failures by becoming an Arbiter. Arbiters are appointed by the Covevant leaders to perform important but incredibly dangerous missions. It is impossible to discuss Halo 2 adequately without discussing The Arbiter, because, in a twist reminiscent of Metal Gear Solid 2, you end up playing at least a third of the game as The Arbiter. The Arbiter is no Raiden, though – he is a soldier driven by a sense of honor to do what is best for his people, and he will quickly earn your respect. I found myself engrossed in The Arbiter’s story, and anxious to see what happened to him next. On the practical side, he controls nearly identically to Master Chief, except that his battle suit can distort light for short bursts, allowing him to become invisible. Theoretically, this allows for stealth kills, but I never used the feature much.

Graphically, Halo 2 is definitely a solid title. The art design is fantastic, with colorful outdoor environments and great character design. Especially noteworthy is how well the characters animate. The frame rate is smooth as silk, yet another sign of the great polish that went into the game. Although later Xbox games pushed the technical envelope a little further, with fancier textures and lighting, there is no way anyone can say that Halo 2 is not a good-looking game.

The music and sound effects are even more polished. The soundtrack is flat-out phenomenal. From the rousing main theme to the orchestral performances that play during the levels, every piece of music complements the game and is enjoyable to hear. The voice acting is top-notch, with not a weak performance in the bunch. In fact, the level of quality matches or exceeds that found in major Hollywood animated features. The sound effects are also exceptional. Each gun sounds different but appropriate, and explosions will rock your home theater system.

Halo 2 is simply a must-play for every gamer. It is one of the five best games of the PS2/Xbox/Gamecube era, along with Resident Evil 4, Final Fantasy X, and a couple of others. This is the definitive console first-person shooter experience.

Graphics: 9/10 – Silky-smooth framerate and great art direction.
Sound: 10/10 – Amazing soundtrack, excellent voice-acting to go with it.
Story: 8/10 – Very well-done for a first-person shooter.
Gameplay: 10/10 – Perfect controls that set the standard for console first-person shooters, with intelligent enemies who put up a great fight. You will have fun throughout.
Overall: 10/10 – In a word, fantastic.

Completion Report: Call of Duty 4 (XBox 360)

Calling Call of Duty 4 a big sales success is much like calling Hoover Dam a “big power plant”: true statements, but somehow they fail to convey the proper sense of magnitude. CoD 4 dominated the November and December 2007 sales charts, eclipsing other hugely hyped titles like Super Mario Galaxy, Guitar Hero III and Halo 3. For the sake of all those gamers who shelled out cash (or had family or friends shell it out for them) for this title ahead of all the other great games out there at the same time, you would hope that CoD 4 would be something really special. Fortunately, for the most part CoD 4 lives up to the hype and expectations.

Unlike the previous games in the series, CoD 4 is set in modern times and not World War II. The plot is of the “ripped from the headlines” variety, with an anti-American revolutionary taking power in an unidentified Middle Eastern country through a violent coup. The U.S. will not stand for this, and invades the country seeking regime change (to use the current term of art).

You play as three characters during the course of the game, two Americans and one Brit. There are no living legends a la Master Chief in this group, just enlisted troops taking orders like everyone else. This gives the game a much different feel than the “hero”-style shooters out there. You definitely get the sense that you are one man dropped in the middle of chaos, and that venturing too far from your squad (read: other targets for the bad guys) is a terrible idea. This is not a squad-based shooter, in the sense that you have no ability to issue commands to your teammates, but the team dynamic still strongly influences both the gameplay and the nature of the mission objectives.

Unfortunately, while your teammates are useful as AK-47 fodder, they really do not do much to help you progress in the game. The reason for this constitutes my primary criticism about the game: endlessly respawning enemies. Every enemy you or your teammates take out will soon be replaced by another enemy as long as you stay in one place. For that matter, any teammates the enemy takes out will also soon be replaced. This creates an effect much like the shootouts in old movie westerns, where the good guys and bad guys keep firing at each other, with nothing really changing. The game makes you play the way it wants you to play, with little freedom to go outside the defined boundaries of gameplay. Want to pick off enemies from a distance before moving forward? Tough, they will respawn faster than you can kill them. This is especially apparent on Veteran difficulty mode. You can spend all day shooting at enemies camped out in a building, but if you move ten feet forward to the predesignated “next event,” the enemies will suddenly “retreat.” Progressing in the game, especially on Veteran difficulty, becomes a matter of learning where the event triggers are, and moving to them as quickly as possible without getting killed.

That said, the game is still a marvelous experience, especially the first time through, even more so on Normal difficulty (which hides the game’s artifices much better than higher difficulties). The quality of the missions truly stands out. While most are of the “run to a firefight and shoot the enemies” type, these are nonetheless exciting and challenging. The action takes place in two general locales. The American missions take place in the Middle Eastern country, while the British missions principally take place in former southern Soviet republics (for reasons eventually related to the plot, but not immediately apparent at first). The variant levels, though, are the stars of the game. There is a level where you are the gunner on an AC chopper, viewing the action on a black and white monitor. Though this is the easiest level in the game (I cleared it in one try on Veteran), the experience of delivering death from above while the pilot calmly points out targets and makes dry jokes about good shots is unlike any I have ever had in a video game. Another level has you and your commanding officer dressed in “Ghillie” camouflage outfits sneaking through enemy territory, quietly taking out targets on your way to assassinate an enemy leader. The gameplay, combined with the awesome Scottish accent of your CO, makes this very memorable.

A first-person shooter needs a good arsenal, and CoD4 delivers here as well. The weapons feel very different, and there is a solid variety of them. The controller rumbles significantly with each shot you fire, adding to the realism and giving the game a more grounded feel than other, more fantasy-based shooters. Unlike many first-person shooters, your melee attack is both useful and powerful. It is an instant kill if you can get close enough to someone to use it (easier said than done). Like the Halo series, you can only carry two weapons, so choosing wisely is important.

The graphics are simply amazing. While the game may not be pretty given the locales involved (a lot of brown in the color palette), the graphics are nearly photorealistic, especially on an HDTV. The character models have no stray geometry poking out, and animate wonderfully. This is the perfect game to demonstrate the power of next-generation technology to friends.

The game sounds great, too. A good surround-sound system will be put to good use by this game. The voice acting is stellar, and adds significantly to the realism. There is occasionally music in the game, but mostly the sound is gunfire, explosions and shouting from squadmates and enemies. Fortunately, these are very well-done and create the proper atmosphere of chaos and mayhem.

I can’t finish a review like this without giving a warning about the game’s politics. Whether intended or not, the game plays like a neoconservative fantasy. “The terrorists are on the move, and they might have nukes! Only the freedom-loving people of the West can stop them!” In this case, the terrorists indeed have nukes, and actually use them (instead of using them for leverage, which is what happens in the real world). The enemies are given no motivation except love of destruction and hatred of the West. For example, a group of Russian ultranationalists you engage are randomly killing villagers as you arrive on the scene. Why? No explanation is given. A terrorist suspect is tortured by his interrogator, and this actually yields vital information. I’m not saying these elements have not been in other games, but the game’s modern setting really makes these plot devices stand out. I did not factor this into my review score, but I did groan at various points in the game.

Despite the flaws I’ve mentioned, I can give this game my unqualified recommendation. Call of Duty 4 was one of the best games of 2007, and is well worth a purchase.

Graphics: 10/10 – Best of this generation so far.
Sound: 8/10 – Great voice acting and sound effects.
Story: 7/10 – Too much flag-waving, but still engrossing.
Gameplay: 9/10 – I hate the respawning enemies, but the shooting and mission quality is unsurpassed.
Overall: 9/10

First Impressions: PSP

After years of holding off, I finally broke down and bought a PSP this past Thursday. I guess what finally broke down my defenses was a postcard-ad contained in the case for Heavenly Sword (PS3), showing all the cool stuff the PSP can do - downloading PS1 games, browing the web, playing TV, and, of course, playing games. Three games in particular have been on my radar screen recently: Jeanne D'Arc, Castlevania: Dracula X Chronicles, and Crush. I picked up the first two of these games when I bought the system (Best Buy unfortunately did not have Crush in stock). I also got Daxter with the system.

The first thing that struck me about the system was how beautiful the screen looks. It's bright and colorful, and noticeably bigger than the DS screens. The graphics it can display are gorgeous. Jeanne D'Arc opens with anime cutscenes that are indistinguishable from what you could see on a home console. The in-game graphics for Daxter and Jeanne D'Arc are also beautiful - very comparable to upper-tier PS2 games. I have not tried Castlevania yet, but I plan on buying the component output cable and hooking it up to my LCD TV for that game (once I finish one of the other two games).

Sound is stellar. The attached speaker limits sound quality somewhat (like listening to a cheap boombox), but the sound through headphones is CD quality.

I played around with the internet browser, but not enough to come to any firm conclusions.

One gripe I have is with the analog "nob." This is somewhat awkward, and I had trouble moving Daxter in a straight line with it. Also, my hands started to cramp up a bit after playing it a while. It is not the most ergonomically designed device ever made (of course, neither is the DS).

So far, I am not regretting the purchase. This is quality hardware, and I anticipate putting many hours into playing games on it.

Wii's Success May Not Mean Much for Third Parties

The Wii may have a large install base, but the question is how much of that base is usable for third party publishers. I see the Wii market as having four components:

1. The "casuals": They see the Wii and Wii Sports as basically the same thing, and, with the exception of a couple of other Wii remote-waving minigame compilations (e.g. Wii Play and Carnival Games), are not looking to buy additional software for the system.

2. The "Nintendo fans": They see the Wii as a medium for the latest Nintendo first-party titles. The controls don't matter as much as the fact that this is a Nintendo system. For them, Mario is the only worthwhile platformer, Zelda the only action-adventure game, Metroid the only shooter, Smash Bros the only fighting game, and Mario Kart the only driving game. The occasional Resident Evil will find its way into their libraries, but such purchases are rare.

3. The "kiddies": Their parents bought them their system because they viewed it as a "safe" choice - the Wii doesn't have any of those awful shooting games, does it? No blood, right? The parents will pick up the minigame compilations as well as whatever licensed game their kids demand - Cars, High School Musical, Hannah Montana, etc.

4. The "hardcore": If they don't have the 360 or PS3, it's because of finances, not any particular allegiance to Nintendo (the Wii is cheaper, after all). They are always looking for new games to play. They are the primary buyers of non-licensed third-party software - they read the gaming magazines and websites, and are thus aware of what new games are coming out for the systems they own.

The question for third parties is, how big is this fourth category? Is it any bigger than it was for the Gamecube and N64? How much of the Wii's large install base is in categories 1 and 3, which is basically useless as far as they're concerned? And how much of the fourth category owns other systems? The absolute numbers of Wii sales unfortunately do not tell the full story.