The Weekly Gamage: Holiday Lull

It’s that time again people, the holidays are approaching, every system has a game of the year candidate, and software releases have come to a complete halt. Not many of you may know this but there is a specific reason for this yearly pre-holiday lull.

You see, for the last month us game writers have been awash in an avalanche of the holiday blockbusters. With the likes of Prince of Persia and all those 360 launch titles clogging our to-play lists, this lull is a godsend to allow us to catch up before things start up again in January. To better visualize the game calender I have this time line broken down into the 6 seasons of the gaming year:

1. January-February-The Slow Start
Things get started slowly in the gaming year, these are a lot of games that have been delayed near the end of last year and this is when they get released. This period also has the possibility to deliver a few GOTY contenders and even eventual winners like Resident Evil 4 this year

2. March-May-The Early Rush
Some big titles drop here. It may not be nearly as big as the Thanksgiving rush, but it does provide it’s share of big titles. Look forward to Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess to drop in this period next year.

3. June-July-Silent Summer
Of the two major lulls this is the least bearable. A steady trickle of crappy game tie-ins to the summer blockbusters keep us just interested enough until things pick up again.

4. August-September-The Restart
Things get started up with a couple big games and a lot of decent ones prepping us for the big rush ahead. Games like Burnout Revenge drop here.

5. October-November-The Thanksgiving Rush
This is the big one, tens of AAA titles join some good filler to cause the sales boom the industry relies on to make up for less than stellar performance in previous periods. Things like Halo 2 cause long lines in this period.

6. December-Reviewer Recovery
This is what I was talking about before. Things trickle to a halt in early December and give us writers a chance to catch up.

Please note that a major console release will throw off these patterns in any season.

Just as some filler here’s a funny moment from this week:

The prettiest man I know is my math teacher Mr. Kong. His hair is always styled and shiny. Anyway, this week in class we were learning about the formula for compounding interest continuously for investments. The formula is Pert. Mr Kong told us to remember the formula with the acronym PERT, then exclaimed that he doesn’t know how he remembers that. Believe me that it was hilarious in person, you had to be there.

Looking ahead to what’s being released this week, it’s a ghost town. DOA 4 and King Kong for the PSP is about it. Instead of rushing out to buy Chaos Field for your lonely Gamecube look back at some games you may have overlooked throughout the year. It doubles as informing yourself to make fun of our upcoming game of the year picks.

In terms of actual news this week. The Family Entertainment Protection Act has now been officially filed, meaning it’s only some committee action away from me ripping into it. Look forward to that people, it’ll be great.

Also, Joystiq raised some interesting speculation about the next true Game Boy. They anticipate an upgrade to SNES style controls, complete Game Boy backwards compatibility, and detachable battery packs among their other hopes and wishes. May their dreams become all of ours, then come true.

To round things up two girls in the Boston area are attempting to sell sexual favors for an Xbox 360. Beats taking it from Microsoft.

That’s the Weekly Gamage, come back next week when I grab the gaming news, wrestle it to the ground and make it my bitch.

By Zack Rovinsky

The Weekly Gamage: Spike VGAs 2005

In past years Spike’s Video Game Awards have been… oh let’s say less than good. The first whiff I caught was a blurb in GMR openly mocking their poor selection of winners. Over such choices as Call of Duty, Knights of the Old Republic, and Viewtiful Joe, Madden 2004 won game of the year!? Strike one! Next time around the number of questionable winners was cut, but the blatant pandering to the lowest common denominator remained as we watched Blood Rayne get “Vixen” of the year and hot girls read cheat codes. Strike two! Since the event was only days before the launch of CS10 I decided to do a meticulous log of Spike’s next, and hopefully final, swing. Here we go:

8:00- We start with a violence disclaimer and, knowing what spike shows with real violence I can only imagine what they’ll do with game characters.

8:01- First up is a Warriors spoof with our host, Samuel L. Jackson, as Cyrus and a bunch of game character cameos in the crowd, which is clever until the poor replacement voice acting rears it’s ugly head.

8:03- They weren’t kidding about that violence. We’ve seen an impalement, and a decapitation so far and we’re only three minutes in.

8:04- To end the scene they have Tak, the little guy who loves juju, shoot Cyrus, this does not bode well

8:06- The guest list is less than impressive, about half of the “stars” could be best described as “the guy from…”

8:08- Samuel L cuts his opening monologue mercifully short after describing his idea for a violent golf game. Yeah, it’s for the best.

On a side note, apparently “can you dig it” is making a comeback; this is the second awards show I’ve heard it in. Make a note and say it while you can.

8:09- Samuel L just referred to a game as VGA-winning, call me when that means something.

8:10- Here comes Vin, the bane of my existence since he was announced to star in the Hitman movie, how I loathe him.

8:12- Questionable winner #1 Charlize Theron wins best Best Performance by a Human Female for Aeon Flux despite the game coming out only days before the announcement of the winners.

This also doubles as questionable category #1 but I’m sure some of the more desperate viewers could use the distinction.

8:20- A couple of unremarkable awards and performances almost made me miss the lead singer from Good Charlotte being described as the football team’s “love toy”. How’d that make it past the censors…who am I kidding this is Spike TV, what censors?

8:23- Kiefer Sutherland comes out to give us the first look at 24 The Game, I think it looks pretty generic but my mom thought it looked promising. So what do I know?

8:31- It takes more than a half hour for an actual geek (David Jaffe) to make it onstage at a video game show. That should tell us something about the changing face of the community or something.

8:33- A guy uses a cat to protect his nuts when getting kicked by an NFL place kicker (yes, I’m serious)

8:34- Spike pays quick homage to its patron saint, Jean Claude Van Damme.

8:36- Camera man goes out of its way to get as much of Carmen Electra in a shot as possible

8:38- Jack Black in his underwear accepting an award and being a jerk, believe me this isn’t the last time.

8:42- The guy from all the Adam Sandler movies comes out with a more-than-a-little-confused looking Doris Roberts.

8:45- Dane Cook plays Pac-Man with his ass. I’d rather not talk about it.

8:52- David Silverman from Criterion is an early favorite for the crowd’s what the… award when he mentions Black and gets absolutely nothing.

8:53- Silverman yells “eye of the tiger” at the end of his speech and I actually have to explain it to my mom. Basically it comes down to “it’s a guy thing”

8:59- The second shot of Jack Black in his underwear, which is two too many

9:03- Flea from Red Hot Chili Peppers kicks off his shoes, gives a shout out to Snoop Dogg, and then air-humps the mosh pit. I guess Snoop is providing the “refreshments” backstage.

9:09- 50 Cent wins best original song, because he’s in the front row and probably packing heat.

9:15- Awkward Snoop cutaway #5 this time during the Def Leopard performance. Apparently that was part of his contract to host last year.

9:23- Samuel L takes a cheap shot at the Governator and his violent games law, complete with footage from the Terminator. Highlight of the night so far.

9:31- Jack Black cuts off the cool French guy from Ubisoft to do his jerk act again, please make it stop.

9:32- According to the French guy Peter Jackson is a gamer, as if his appearance didn’t tip us off already.

9:33- Cool French guy gets the last laugh doing a King Kong impression and scooping up Maria Menounos. Definitely highlight of the night.

9:37- Is the fact that the Most Addictive Game award was ”fueled by Dew” supposed to tell us something about the properties of that product.

9:42- Winning Eleven 8 wraps up the What The… award as the crowd was absolutely silent when it was announced as a nominee for best team sports game.

9:45- perfect example of what I call blackouflage. The guy accepting for Madden is flanked by Spyder and Snoop and tries to jive up his acceptance speech.

9:50- Do you smell!!! Yes, the Rock is in the house to plug Spy Hunter 3, which has much more on foot action this time around.

9:53- I just realized that spike has been reusing crowd shots all night, I’ve seen the same screaming girls and guy with UFC t-shirt several times.

9:57- RE4 wins GOTY, which almost makes up for the rest of the show, but not really. Time to watch something intelligent.

Well, that’s the VGAs through my eyes. As an added bonus for the launch of CS10 I realized that like every good columnist, I’m going to have to establish some inside jokes to reward the loyal. Here are my 7 deadly sins of game design, which I will be referring back to, at random in all my future columns

1. Rushed bug testing
This one can really kill a game. Too often less established developers will be hounded by impatient publishers to get a game out on time. Since bug testing is usually the last part of development the developers don’t have the time to properly test and debug their game. This can lead to an unplayable game full of bugs or even one huge bug that ruins an otherwise good game. Like GT2s infamous 98% glitch.
Sinners: Legends of Wrestling: Showdown, Gran Turismo 2

2. Porn in Games
When a developer starts out with the sole purpose of getting gamers hot under the collar the results are usually disastrous. Too many assume that the ogle factor will distract from otherwise lazy design, and the result is embarrassing to both gamers and developers. These games are only used as masturbation aids for people who jerk it to old National Geographics and have never heard of the internet.
Sinners: Custer’s Revenge, BMX XXX

3. Poor Translation
This hilarious and confusing phenomenon of Japanese-made games is one that could be very easily avoided by having a native English speaker read over the text. While this Engrish is always good for a chuckle it is often damaging to the anime stories that the modern Japanophile desperately craves.
Sinners: Zero Wing

4. Bad Movies-Bad Games
Once a movie has been out for a little while it is pretty easy to determine whether it would or would not work as a game. If a movie is a failure the subsequent game cash-ins are sure to be too, yet some still plunge foreword with their doomed products to the expected results.
Sinners: Hudson Hawk, Last Action Hero, Catwoman

5. Overaggressive Marketing
People generally don’t like being told to grow some balls or that someone is going to make them their bitch. Gamers are the same and when these shock tactics are employed they tend to repel some and spark high expectations in others. Whether the product is good or not this method almost always leads to failure.
Sinners: Neo-Geo, Daikatana

6. Real Video
Trying to make games more like movies is admirable but game designers who try to insert real video into an otherwise virtual environment generally fail. Real people never look quite right in virtual environments, even when lacquered with a vibrant glow, and with so much budget going to actual development there is very little money left for decent actors, let alone good ones. Not even an EA sized budget could save Need For Speed: Most Wanted’s try at this one.
Sinners: NFS: Most Wanted, Night Trap

7. Bible Games
Ironic ain’t it? I don’t know what some developers think they now about the religiousness of gamers but gamer prayer pretty much begins and ends at OMFG. If gamers aren’t going to buy these bible games, and parents aren’t going to buy an expensive game system just to play religious games then what’s the point?
Sinners: The Bible Game, Super Noah’s Ark 3D

8. Delay To Dissapoint

Sinners: Kameo, Enter The Matrix

9. Online, Sort Of

Sinners: Chronicles Of Riddick, Armed & Dangerous

10. Pointless Politician Baiting

Sinners: 25 To Life, Manhunt

That’s the weekly gamage, come back next week when I grab the gaming news, wrestle it to the ground and make it my bitch.

By Zack Rovinsky

Rediscovering: Fable

Before I get to the casual RPG goodness that is Fable, let me explain the concept behind this new column goodness that is Rediscovering. Too often, gamers are caught in the marketing cycle that seeks to replace are old and supposedly inferior games with the latest in flashy newness. We’re told we can rid ourselves of the aged scourge and put whatever drastically reduced monetary value we gain from this purging towards new games that will be the light of our lives until they, in turn, must be replaced. But if we give in to this recycling process, we lose something. There is nothing wrong with old games, and they can often be much better than the current crop. That’s why my associates and I will help you to rediscover a lost treasure every week, something that got lost along the way but still delivers quality at a drastically reduced price. For just twenty or less bucks a week you can rediscover something far better than the carp you’re dishing out fifty bucks for now. Who can resist that deal?

The consumer cycle isn’t the only thing that relegates too many games to the bargain bin. The holiday rush of games, which is often dominated by a few marquis titles, leaves many of the massive volume released, in the dust. While most of these left-behinds tend to be crap, certain games are swallowed by the frenzy and fail to reach their full potential, and it is here that we find Fable.

During the 2004 holiday season, Halo 2 and GTA San Andreas dominated all, and games, like Fable, that couldn’t match the hype factor of these blockbusters, were generally lost amidst the scuffle for sales supremacy. Add to that the facts that Fable simply couldn’t live up to its creator’s wild promises and that it was wedged between genres. This meant that right out of the gate, Fable was on a rocket ride to semi-obscurity, which is the kind of obscurity I’m shooting for with this project.

Despite not including some of Peter Molyneux’s wildest claims, there are a lot of great details in how the hero interacts with his environment and how the player interacts with their hero. More than enough has been said about the choice between good and evil, and how this affects player appearance, but there is also a lot to how NPCs react with a hero, and how ones actions can make them good, evil, or something in between. A good hero will find guards wish him a good day, children will flock to hear his stories, and will invite multitudes of crushes, dreamy looks, and goo-goo eyes from women and men alike. Evil heroes will scare the bejeesus out of the pipsqueaks, be received by the populace with revulsion and fear (except the occasional waitress who likes a bad boy), and will receive close scrutiny from the guards, except those who have been bribed.

How you get to good or evil is a journey wrought with choices and options that can often have unexpected effects. Being either good or evil is deceptively easy and is left entirely up to the disposition of the person behind the controller. That’s an under-appreciated thing about Fable, the developers make no attempt to sway players’ choices based on their perception of human nature. Instead, good or evil is decided through simple choices in every normal game situation, and earning alignment points can be as simple as going to the appropriate temple and donating either money or an innocent soul to your deity of choice. It’s amazing how wonderful a break this can be from most games, where the main character’s personality is decided by developers, or other games that include the good/evil subplot, where it’s just a little harder to be consistently good.

Almost as impressive as all the character customization, alignment, and interaction options are all the ways to earn and spend money in Albion. Gamers with an entrepreneurial spirit can invest in real estate, renting houses and stores, and even executing hostile takeovers of property by killing the owner. In addition there is plenty to steal once the “guile” attribute is upgraded appropriately, and goods can even be sold between shops for, at higher volumes, substantial profit. Gamers with nothing better to do can even dig or fish in any area, sometimes turning up valuable goods, including a major hidden treasure whose location is hinted in a number of collectable clues.

And apart from all the things mentioned above, there is still any number of small activities to kill time with in Albion. Apart from making money, completing quests, and being good/evil, gamers can get married, get lucky, sleep around, develop a gambling problem, get arrested, vandalize property, sleep in strange beds, dig like a mole, fish the sea empty, teleport randomly, bulk up, steal from anyone, engage in religion, kill without mercy, do odd jobs, search for treasure, open living doors, commit genocide, be gay, streak, cross dress, read books, age gracefully, age horrifically, bald, get pissed/smashed/bloothered/hammered/tanked, and subsequently barf like a freshman.

And if all else fails players can just wander around. There are a number of jokes hidden around everywhere from books, to gravestones, to what villagers say. The prevailing point here is that there is a lot to do, but it’s never overwhelming.

Besides being chock-full of activity. One of the things Fable does best is bringing a genre previously reserved for the hardcore further towards the mainstream, and as much as the purists may scoff, this approach is something that has touched even the genre leaders. I personally loathe turn-based fighting with a vengeance, and that kept my RPG experiences very limited, but fable does something almost no RPG can do, bring consistent, but never harassing, action and never keep any of it’s best features out of reach. Despite a rather lengthy tutorial the game picks up quickly and is highly accessible, yet deceptively deep

Yes the combat may be button mashy, on the surface, but Fable does something I always like in a game, it allows the player to play as deep or as shallow as they want. The swords may only command one button, but gamers can easily mix short and long range fighting, and the multitude of different spells can be built with the conventional weapons into a custom-made fighting style to suit any player.

Simply put, you can’t get that kind of variety coupled with accessibility in any other game. It’s a shame that the different audiences Fable so tried to reach out to largely ignored it. The hardcore may favor their Xbox RPGs with more Star Wars flavor, but the casual gamer, who may have picked up an Xbox to shoot things, play online, or watch virtual women jiggle, would do well to take a trek in an RPG, realm of the hardcore, and Fable is the perfect gateway.

By Zack Rovinsky

Review: Far Cry Instincts Predator

Death In Paradise
Ubisoft / Xbox 360 / Mature

In a bloated FPS market it’s not easy to carve out space for a bloated franchise, but Ubisoft has managed, with amazing graphics complimented by breathtaking tropical scenery to do just that with their Far Cry series. Now, within the space of two years, Ubisoft has released the fourth Far Cry on its third different console, this time to compete on the Xbox 360. Going up to compete with the likes of Call Of Duty 2 and Perfect Dark Zero is the half-port, half sequel, but all long-winded, Far Cry: Instincts Predator.

The instincts part of Instincts Predator is a straight port of the Xbox version. You play as Jack Carver, a man of more grunts than words, whose Jewish-mother like worry about the well-being of his boat causes little surprise when said boat is blown to kingdom-come. Now stranded on the island he was visiting, Jack falls back on his Navy training, and proceeds to hunt down the sick people responsible for the destruction of his beloved dinghy. Since things can never be as they seem on a beautiful island, those people turn out to be a group of suspiciously well-organized mercenaries who are there to capture Carver and use him in genetic testing with a serum designed to reverse human evolution to a more primal state. Under the supervision of a mysterious South African badass known as Crowe, the mercenaries capture Jack and administer the serum, only to have him break loose and wreak havoc when the stuff kicks in. The game concerns Jack’s attempt to rid himself of the super-human powers, and subsequent lack of control over his instincts, that the serum has given him, and, of course, get revenge for his beloved ship.

The gameplay is basic Xbox-style FPS fare, which means it borrows heavily from Halo. Gamers skulk around the beautiful jungle in search of bad guys to massacre, but that skulking and massacring is where Ubisoft has strived to differ from the competition. The game puts heavy influence on stalking and stealth killing enemies rather than the usual bum rush that works so well in other games. Ubisoft has given gamers a trap mode, super-human skills, and tons of foliage to hide in, in order to properly stalk the poor bastards unlucky enough to cross their path.

The enemies themselves also encourage sneaking, but for all the wrong reasons. Rather than making the mercs actually smart enough to prove a challenge, they are simply tougher and can take more abuse than the average bullet-magnet. Sure, they’ll still stand out in the open and absorb hot lead like a dry sponge absorbs spilled milk, but they can take enough damage to provide resistance to a run and gun approach.

To go along with the AI issues, there are also a number of control issues that either don’t make the necessary changes to the Halo formula, or fail to pay heed its strengths. Like in Halo, crouching is mapped to the right stick, but uses a stance system rather than Halo’s simple crouch. The result is that it is exceedingly difficult to crouch and change stance on the fly and, in a game that encourages sneaking, not being able to crouch and go prone easily is means making a lot more noise, and subsequent death. Another control problem is in the vehicle controls. The game has a tendency to throw in a long driving sequence every so often, which includes several precise turns and jumps. At the same time the game attempts to allow full weapon control while driving, and that means that driving is fully controlled by the left stick which, in case you haven’t tried it before, makes driving well near impossible.

Issues aside, about those special powers. In addition to the three types (pistol, sub-machine gun, and special) of weapons players can carry at any given time, Jack is granted a number of “feral” powers with the administration of the mysterious serum he was forcefully given. “Feral smell” is the ability to see the scent given off of living things in the form of an orange haze, which makes tracking a hekuva lot easier. Another tracking advantage is “Feral vision” which bestows both thermal and night vision for use in the dark. The “feral speed” and “feral jump” allow the player to run faster and jump higher. “Regeneration” a slowly restores health in between battles. The “feral attack” is a powerful melee attack, which causes players to rush and swipe a targeted enemy. Finally “feral strength” gives players the power to rip a mounted gun off its moorings and use it as his special weapon.

The multiplayer experience is also a major draw, especially on Xbox Live. The mapmaker continues to be the best in the business, and even adds a few new items to make maps with, most notably: zip-lines. The online multiplayer is heavily influenced by online favorites like Halo 2 and Call of Duty 2 with modes reminiscent of each. Despite borrowing from others, each mode has it’s own added Far Cry touch. Hidden in a special place on each map is the Predator power-up, which bestows upon the discoverer several of the feral powers to use for a limited time. This add-on is certainly prized, but is well balanced with the rest of the multiplayer game.

Despite what’s good and bad about the core game, the prevailing issue is whether or not anyone is really willing to pay another sixty dollars for a slight graphical update, some new toys, and a puny new story mode. Since the graphics were already stellar there’s really nowhere to go with the visuals. Also, since the new equipment consists of a few explosives that undermine the sneaky gameplay focus, an ineffective blowgun, and a few vehicles that are even harder to maneuver than the current crop, those elements are just fluff, and the new story doesn’t hold up well to scrutiny. So, as to whether gamers will pay another sixty bucks for these piddly extras, the short answer is hopefully not.

6/10
By Zack Rovinsky

Review: Sonic Rush

A Rush Of Blood To The Hands
Dimps /DS /Everyone

It’s been a long, long time since Sonic the Hedgehog’s 2D heyday on the Genesis, when he was going sneaker to boot with Nintendo’s mustachioed, plumbing powerhouse. The turning point in that rivalry can be pinpointed at both mascots’ switch to the third dimension. While Mario’s 3D debut is considered to be one of the greatest games of all time, Sonic’s showed a number of flaws that would never be fixed, and become more and more frustrating, in future editions. For years of troubled 3D platformers and random spin-offs, the only place for Sonic’s fan base to get their 2D fix was on portables, and each of those games have been competent, but unspectacular. But, new portable technology brings new portable possibilities, and with the DS, Sonic’s handlers are finally able to combine the 3D effects they love to fiddle with alongside the side-scrolling gameplay the true Sonic fans love. Throw that in with some extra features, and you have Sonic Rush.

The story has Sonic resuming his never-ending battle against the diabolical Eggman but now, Eggman has opened up a portal to another universe and brought over the darker in color, and therefore more sinister, Eggman Nega. Also coming through is a new playable character, the purple, oddly attired, and apparently Hindu Blaze the Cat, who joins the already bloated Sonic character list that only their mothers, and the purveyors of Sonic spin-offs, could love. Blaze starts out as a refreshing loner and badass who, as the name implies, is pyrokinetic. In the beginning, Blaze insists on fighting Eggman alone but, of course, this doesn’t fly with Sonic’s teamwork-loving pals, who badger Blaze about the power of friendship until she finally caves, just in time for the schmaltzy ending. Also dropping in are Sonic’s brainy sidekick Tails, and Cream the Rabbit, along with her little buddy Cheese (it pains me to know this much). Those two will serve as guides who do little more than squeak encouragement from the top screen during map sequences.

To go along with the classic Sonic idiotic story is classic Sonic gameplay plus a bushel of DS-inspired extras. The main action spans both screens, and combines pretty psudo-3D effects with Sonic’s signature fast paced 2D gameplay. The touch screen even gets some action during the half pipe bonus rounds, which are only accessible when playing as Sonic. The DS’s 3D capabilities even get a workout during the boss battles, which keep players on a track in a full 3D environment. The only catch here is that the two playable characters have to share the same 8 levels, and there aren’t enough differences in their abilities to fully warrant playing each level twice. Luckily, the gameplay is fun enough at its core to keep proceedings from getting stale during the repeats.

The levels themselves help in the fight against boredom too. Each level has 2-5 totally unique moves/interactive environment pieces that are an adventure in themselves to figure out and master. These range from wall walking to water sliding, and no two are anywhere near the same. There are also multiple paths through each level spanning either the top or bottom or both screens and featuring it’s own quirks and challenges.

Fun, good-looking, and challenging, and with a good amount of replay value, Sonic Rush is the best Sonic game of the last decade, and just another reason why no one, Sonic fan or not, should be without a DS.

9.5/10
By Zack Rovinsky

Review: Sonic Riders

It Was Either This Or Sonic Kart
Sonic Team / Playstation 2 Xbox Gamecube / Everyone

For a major platforming mascot, Sonic The Hedgehog has done a lot less genre bending than his more, let’s say…Italian counterpart. That didn’t stop him from doing a racing game before, but the foot racing on Sonic R that fit in so well with the Sonic formula didn’t catch on and the fastest thing on two sneakers stuck mostly to platforming after that. Now it seems that after watching so many sci-fi cartoons and movies, Sonic Team has decided to put their namesake on a hover board for another crack at a racing spin-off. Marty McFly would be proud.

The story goes that while searching for the dragonballs of the Sonic world, chaos emeralds, Sonic and pals were confronted by some mysterious birds riding hover boards. Sure-enough, push comes to shove and the two crews end up together in a racing tournament hosted by the nefarious Eggman, no doubt for the continuation of some evil plot or another. Truth be told, story is never the strong suit of any racer, so the good ones will either: not even try, or have the goods to back it up. Surprisingly, Sonic Riders pulls off the latter with a wholly unique and deep brand of board racing.

The racing is actually much more complicated than one might think. From the starting line to the jumps to using boost, timing is king. For example if a player doesn’t charge up their jump they may not get enough air to pull off a sufficient trick but if they charge the jump too long then they will slow down too much and lose ground on the other racers. There are actually a lot of different elements to the races, the basics are that throughout the race there are jumps, turbulence, pit stops, and what I like to call stick segments.

The jumps vary between regular and trick jumps. Regular jumps are just variations in elevation that require charged jumps by a player to be tricked off of. Trick jumps are more common and will boost the player along, automatically providing enough air for tricks. As for the tricks themselves, each is graded for landing and difficulty and the grade affects a player’s speed, and good grades will award players with extra boost. A player must attempt a trick of sufficient difficulty for each trick jump if they land properly they suffer no loss in speed and are rewarded with boost. If they land awkwardly or don’t go big enough they receive a low grade and have their speed reduced.

Turbulence refers to a jet stream that occasionally spouts out in the wake of opposing racers. Gamers can ride that jets ream for increased speed and can even trick off of it and they can be lifesavers on a tight corner.

If a player burns through all their boost they’re forced to either: find a boost item, pull off a trick, or find one of the pit stops on each track. The pit stop is just a quick stop if you have enough boost, but someone who’s running low may need to spend more time.

Lastly, every track will have a stick section where a player must twirl their joystick to maintain speed. These portions can be crucial to position and encompass a range of activities from sliding down a rail to riding a giant flying arthropod. You read right, a giant flying arthropod.

All these factors do take a lot of practice and only the most dedicated will truly master it, but that’s what makes the game such a pleasant surprise to those expecting a simple mascot cash-in. Really the biggest issue beyond the laughable story and dialogue is that the possibilities for great and challenging online play are squandered on PS2 and Xbox where online multiplayer isn’t supported.

Sonic Riders is quite a pleasant surprise for it’s depth and complexity and, as such, is worth a rental for every racing and SSX fan. Sonic Riders is a little unorthodox, but it may just find a dedicated following among LAN partiers and racing fans in search of something beyond pimped rides, race cars, and go-karts.

7/10
By Zack Rovinsky

Review: 24: The Game

A Day In The Life
SCE / Playstation 2 / Mature

In the rare instance when a developer is desperate enough for a quickie cash in game to turn to a TV show for fodder, the shows that get called up aren’t usually the captivating big-budget must see shows that would actually make good games. Instead we see TV games that take a popular animated show and stretch the premise so far it’s barely recognizable, just for that quick buck. In the meanwhile high potential dramas are left alone to their viewing audience until they jump the shark and fade away. It’s only once in a blue moon that a show comes along with the dramatic force to warrant a game tie-in, and that aqua moon is shining upon 24.

Rather than recycling events from a season of the show, the game’s story provides a ton of fan service by fleshing out the mysterious time between seasons two and three. That means that some big questions will be answered, including: how did President Palmer survive the assassination attempt? How did Kim Bauer join CTU LA? And how did Chase Edwards and Jack Bauer become partners? In addition to being introduced Chase and Kim (as well as others) get to take some screen time away from Mr. Bauer as additional playable characters. While the extra characters may be little more than new skins, the character models are pretty enough to warrant giving more characters face time (it also helps to stretch the voice-acting budget).

Outside the fan-fantasy story everything else about the game is average or less. The gameplay is basic third-person shooting where the impressive number of guns one can collect is offset by how difficult it is to fire them accurately. The targeting is a stick-based system that allows a player, after targeting an enemy, to zero in on head and other precision shots using a joystick, in theory. The reality is that doing things right takes way too much time in a frantic firefight, and more often than not you’ll end up switching targets or going to free aim mode.

As previously suspected, the biggest problem here is the camera, which has a frenetic, handheld quality to it that actually seems to fit the show’s presentation. Even so, the problem is less that Jack Bauer is being followed by a cameraman, it’s that the cameraman probably had had a three-beer lunch. The constant lurches and twitches caused by moving characters, nearby objects, or just trying to look around are likely to become a persistent bodily issue for all but the steeliest stomached gamer.

If the camera doesn’t ruin the view the graphics are one of the few saving graces present. The cutscenes are long and indulgent, and show off the attention to detail that has been put in the character modeling, which is the star of the show. On another presentation point, the sound advantages afforded to a TV game really make a good showing. All the main characters are voice by their real show actors and all the music from the show never fails to add to the drama of the cutscenes.

In the end, 24 is a decent TV game handicapped by the vomit-inducing camera, so maybe it’s a good thing the predictably-numbered set of 24 missions each provide just enough playtime for the gamer to realize what good things 24 brings to the table, but are not long enough to cause one to befoul the couch. 24 fans are recommended to enjoy, in small doses.

5.5/10
By Zack Rovinsky

Review: True Crime: New York City

If I can make it there…
Luxoflux / Playstation 2 Xbox Gamecube / Mature

Depending on whom you ask, the True Crime series is either inspired by or a rip off of the more popular Grand Theft Auto series. The similarities of their free-roaming worlds are unmistakable but for one big difference, In TC you’re the good guy and can decide just how good that guy is. While the GTA series started first in the Empire state before heading west, TC is doing the opposite. After it’s moderately successful LA debut True Crime goes to the Big Apple in True Crime: New York City.

The main character this time around is Marcus Reed, an ex-con who was turned into a successful cop by a close family friend. After that friend is killed in a sudden, mysterious explosion, Marcus takes his newly earned detective’s badge and puts it to use trying to get to the bottom of his friend’s demise while cleaning up the free-roaming streets.

While many gamers love GTA for the freedom of being unshackled by any lawful or ethical standard, playing the other side has its perks too, Marcus uses the local police station in Times Square as a base to turn in evidence, collect pay, purchase weapons, and get unmarked vehicles all to use on the mean streets. Also, the NYPD has an impressive array of weaponry at its disposal, everything from beanbag guns to rocket launcher can be carried by those who protect and serve.

When not on missions the game proffers a bunch of petty crimes for players to deal with. These range from robberies, to reckless driving, to bank robberies. These side missions will have to provide the bulk of replay value and the repeating formats of them don’t do the best job they could.

The main premise of the game is whether players want to be good cops or bad cops. Good cops shoot to wound, turn in evidence, and flash their badge a lot. Bad cops plant evidence, shoot to kill, and generally have a lot more fun. These choices are aided by a super-accurate aiming mode that slows time and provides the only real control difference from GTA Whatever the gamer chooses to be they are rewarded or penalized points for their actions and too many bad cop incidents will result in a temporary demotion.

While GTA 3’s Liberty City was more of a caricature of New York, True Crime attempts to cram all of a highly detailed Manhattan into the game. The resulting realism has its ups and downs. While native New Yorkers will be able to navigate as they would in real life, it takes a freakin’ hour to get across the island, just like in real life. The city is also contains a generous amount of indoor environments that are often used for missions.

All those wide open spaces mean it’s time to forgive some graphical issues, while the environs are less fuzzy then in GTA, there is also lots more pop-up, sometimes only a block or two in front of the player. Any graphical quirks can be ignored, however, because the city’s so accurate and load times are reasonable.

Luckily, in the one place that would have gotten rip-off called before the game even hit shelves TC holds back. The music is a large, if unmemorable, collection of the hits of yesterday and the game fodder of today, and you know what that means.

Really NYC is a sequel made for series fans and them only. But while others are very quick to dismiss it as a GTA clone though that label isn’t entirely accurate. True Crime provides just enough that’s new and unique to warrant a rental from GTA fans and those who loved Streets of LA is sure to love NYC as much. While reports have been coming in of game bugs and crashes, I personally had no such issues. Instead the game provides an interesting foil to GTA, not just a cloning.

6.5/10
By Zack Rovinsky

Review: Prince Of Persia: The Two Thrones

Rock The Casbah
Ubisoft / Playstation 2 Xbox Gamecube PC / Mature

It’s no secret that Ubisoft has been cranking out the sequels at a breakneck pace lately. From their valuable Tom Clancy licenses to the Prince of Persia series a new sequel seems to, and generally does, come about once a year. As anyone who has ever played more than one Madden or Tony Hawk game over the years knows, this can lead to a loss of originality and a general boredom with a series that is admittedly still good but lacks the newness to keep gamers coming back. The aforementioned Prince of Persia series showed signs of the sequel syndrome with the release of Warrior Within last year and now the syndrome may have developed further in the trilogy capping The Two Thrones.

The story follows the unnamed Prince as he returns to Babylon to find it conquered by the evil Vizier, who he was pretty gosh darn sure he killed. The Vizier has found the Dagger of Time and uses it to turn himself into some sort of gold, hovering, monster thingy. The Sands of Time that caused the Vizier’s transformation also changed our hero. The explanation given is that the Sands of Time the Prince had been fiddling with infected the wound around a chain imbedded in his arm causing him to periodically become the Dark Prince pictured on half the box.

The major gameplay remains intact with the same jumping puzzles that fans fell in love with. For the experienced runners and jumpers there a greater emphasis is placed on stealth kills. A new speed kill system puts together well-timed button presses make up a killing sequence that quickly dispatches enemies. The inclusion of these speed kills means that nearly every combat situation in the game can be avoided and provides new challenge to play out the puzzles correctly.

The inclusion of the Dark Prince segments makes for the most noticeable change. The Dark Prince has some new moves too that the Light Price can’t use. Our anti-hero uses the imbedded chain to attack enemies and grab onto various switches and fixtures to swing on. A stipulation of these segments is that the Dark Prince’s health energy constantly depletes and he must collect Sands of Time from fallen enemies to replenish it. This condition is thankfully countered by the fact that the chain is much more effective in combat than the usual dagger. The worst change the personality split brings is an independent inner voice of the prince’s untapped potential. To counter the prince’s do-gooder personality this generally whiny and sadistic inner voice will constantly pop up to voice his opinions on whether or not to help the wounded Babylonians and where Princess Farah, the Prince’s ally, can shove it. The inner voice only occasionally overwhelms the Prince’s personality in the cutscenes, though.

Speaking of the cutscenes, the visual bugs and glitches that caused complaints in Warrior Within have increased nearly twofold. In addition to the fact that the game doesn’t look very good to begin with there are a multitude of visible seams and clipping issues in both the cutscenes and the actual game. While not actually affecting the function of the gameplay, these glitches and poor visual quality take away from a game previously praised for its aesthetic.

But, there are improvements over the last game too. The inclusion of the Dark Prince segments, and new moves like sliding down chutes and hopping off spring-loaded shutters at a 45 degree angle, add variety and keep the beloved formula from getting stale. Presentation wise, Two Thrones falls somewhere between Sands of Time and Warrior Within with a heavily gold aura across the environments that would make Mr. T squint. The music has also been changed back to the cinematic Persian-style orchestral music of the first game and the rock vibe that put so many on edge in Warrior Within has been mercifully ditched.

Despite the visual letdowns, Two Thrones proves itself a worthy sequel that simply falls short of expectations in terms of polish. The controls are tight as ever and the puzzles still clever and challenging. The great quality that has made the series so beloved and has survived the sequel syndrome is that the game can make the player feel more clever than he/she actually is. The Two Thrones continues this tradition and marks a satisfying end to the current-generation trilogy.

8.5/10
By Zack Rovinsky

Review: SSX: On Tour

Run To The Hills
EA Sports Big / Playstation 2 Xbox Gamecube / Everyone 10+

Since the first game burst onto the sparse winter sports market in 2000, the SSX series has thrived off a frenetic pace of snowboarding and a danceable techno vibe that set it apart from all the competition. Its trademark craziness of characters and tricks has allowed it to outlast all other entries into the genre, including one made with the Tony Hawk template. Having already hit its third game high the series is making a large stylistic change, abandoning its techno roots for a hand drawn metal design that may or may not push away some fans.

As with almost all extreme sports games, the story mode is simply a means to string together progressively harder challenges. Compared to the competition, though, On Tour’s tour mode seems especially bare bones. Players complete challenges to earn money for various unlockables including accessories, boards, skis, and characters. None of this is especially bad, but genre contemporaries have evolved from this most basic style of career mode.

The traditional SSX gameplay is intact from SSX 3 and provides a great amount of the game’s appeal. The series has always excelled at coupling the unrealistically gravity defying moves with a natural flow This has set it apart from the Tony Hawk style, and On Tour is no exception. The addition of skis fits nicely into the game and provides a full move set along with the new dynamic of landing forward or backward. A problem arises with a lack of a tutorial to teach the deep and complex move system, but those who take the time to learn will find hundreds of tricks to pull with a setup that spans the entire controller.

As introduced in SSX3, the gameplay takes place on one giant mountain that is fully shreddable. One of the greatest joys in gaming is to simply snowboard or ski down the vast expanses of the mountain. Action flows effortlessly from area to area, and different parts of the mountain provide contrast between the competition areas, which are full of jumps and rails, and the more natural areas which are prettier to look at and whose large amounts of trees provide players with ample opportunities to Sunny Bono themselves.

The only hitch that may turn some fans off is the large shift in style. What was once a colorful techno-meets-snow vibe is now a hand-drawn black-and-white metal experience. The style is arresting, to be sure. Freaky imagery starts quickly with an intro that features a guitar playing unicorn, a roadie with a backhoe for an arm, and his 26-wheeler, all set to the beat of Iron Maiden’s Run To The Hills. The style change even extends to the gameplay, as the “uber” moves of the previous games have been renamed “monster” moves.

There is an added bonus for Gamecube owners to distract from some controller related issues, as in NBA Street V3, Mario, Luigi, and the improperly attired Princess
Peach, are available in all their cross-promotional glory to shred the mountain.

Despite trying it’s best to distract with the style shift, SSX has started to suffer from the lack of innovation known as sequel syndrome. The tour mode is painfully bland and the joy of free riding down the mountain only lasts so long. It will be interesting to see how such series as SSX can use the jump into the next generation to climb out of the rut they have fallen into. On Tour provides the SSX experience with a metal twist. This is by no means bad, but it could have definitely been more.

8/10
By Zack Rovinsky