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(12/05/13 12:36am)
1. "The Last of Us" (Naughty Dog)This should come as no surprise to anyone who even holds a mild interest in the video games that were released this year. Seamlessly blending gameplay and narrative into one cohesive yarn is no easy feat, but to experience what it means to survive is something else entirely. Joel and Ellie’s adventure is one of subtle parallels and tense revelations, and the presentation of "The Last of Us" is one of the most detailed and gorgeous games compared to launch titles on both the Xbox One and the PlayStation 4. The story alone was worth the admission price and the nerve-racking multiplayer is the icing on the proverbial cake. Smashing a brick into your opponent’s skull after whittling down his health is a visceral experience. Game writer and creative director Neil Druckmann deserves special recognition for this game. Anticipation is high for what Naughty Dog will do next for "The Last of Us."
2. "Grand Theft Auto V" (Rockstar Games)Just barely missing the top spot sits Rockstar’s return to Los Santos — a fictionalized Los Angeles. The map is bigger, and the story is appropriately grandiose in scale with three main characters rather than one. There was not a single mission in GTA V that was either derivative or banal. Each mission had weight and importance to getting the characters where they needed to be. Nearly every facet of the GTA formula has been improved: from the shooting to the car handling to the side activities. GTA V’s companion piece, GTA Online, had a tumultuous start with crashes and bugs aplenty. Once those were quickly taken care of, however, the game run dabbles in what makes the online space so riveting, which is failure and the thrill of success. While a few niggling details kept itching in the back of my head pertaining to the GTA Online mission structure and GTA V story, it's still a fantastic game.
3. "XCOM: Enemy Within" (Firaxis Games)OK, sue me. "XCOM: Enemy Unknown" was my favorite game of last year and for good reason. It was a strategy game that made the threat present, but largely forgotten, with no magic spray or pill. Dead is dead in XCOM, and with the world at stake, all you can do is count your losses and move on. Enemy Within improves on the formula by giving the player divergent pathways of upgrades. Do you want a bio-engineered soldier who can leap tall buildings in a single bound, or do you want a robot that can punch aliens through walls? With a $40 price tag, there is no longer an excuse to not partake in XCOM.
4. "Rayman: Legends" (Ubisoft Montpellier)"Rayman: Legends" is the little game that gamers continue to underestimate, but holds hours of fun and entertainment for those chomping at the bit for 2-D platforming action. "Rayman: Legends" continues the gameplay and aesthetics of its predecessor and engages with the responsive gameplay that is par for the course in 2-D side-scrolling platforms akin to “Super Meat Boy” and “Ms. ‘Splosion Man.” The eye-popping visuals present a childlike whimsy but punishes foolish errors with some of the best 2-D level design this side of the Xbox 360 and PS3. Once you hit the level that is played to the beat of Ram Jam’s “Black Betty,” "Rayman: Legends" becomes a truly special game.
5. "Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag" (Ubisoft Montreal)Set in the Golden Age of Piracy, "Assassin’s Creed IV" presents one of the most gorgeous visage of the Caribbean and the outlying islands. The sea is open to explore with various side missions and activities to perform that will certainly keep you going until the next iteration in the Assassin's Creed franchise. The journey through the open ocean is made that much more enjoyable by your crew singing sea shanties and boats that you can pillage or plunder. Ubisoft Montreal continues the authentic and, more than likely, time consuming research to ensure that the clothing and vernacular of the time period is retained. Even with the droll B-story, "Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag" impresses once again and the anticipation for the next setting and story could not be higher. Reach the reporter at shfawcet@asu.com or follow him on Twitter @Whizbang813
(12/04/13 1:47am)
Before we get to the best, we have to trudge through the other list. While few games on this list are poorly designed, they are notable examples of what not to do when designing a video game. These are not the worst, just ones that dropped the ball in crucial areas.
1. "Aliens: Colonial Marines" (Gearbox Software)I can’t write off "Aliens: Colonial Marines" as just another bad game, because I felt swindled. I felt like all of the passion and promise had been replaced by greed and moral reprehensibility. I felt like all of the promises and fan praise from Randy Pitchford (Gearbox Software President) were all in service to steal $60 out of my wallet. After I spoke with him at E3 2012, I told everyone how much faith I had in "Aliens: Colonial Marines." The video game was being developed from what I thought to be a reputable and passionate studio. The studio, which birthed "Brothers in Arms" and "Borderlands," was taking one of the most iconic science fiction franchises in film and elaborating on the story between "Aliens" and "Alien 3." It was a dream come true. Never have I felt like the biggest idiot for simply buying a game. "Aliens: Colonial Marines" physically hurt my brain and any faith I had left in Gearbox Software while also subsequently damaging faith I had in other video game developers.2. "Gears of War: Judgment" (People Can Fly/Epic Games Poland)A prequel to the Gears franchise sounded good, but this game was a lazy attempt at a “Rashomon” style story, as the characters were already in court explaining their side of an event that had no bearing on anything. Karn, the new villain, was a cardboard cutout that barely differentiated from the other monsters other than the fact that he rode one of them. Multiplayer removes the monsters so it's human vs. human and thus the fights feel much faster than in the predecessors. Problem is — and this applies to the entire franchise — it can never figure out if it wants to be an up-close combat game or a hide behind cover and think strategically game.
3. "Dead Space 3" (Visceral Games) It’s hard to see a franchise that you’ve been with since the first game becoming a mediocre shadow of its original. "Dead Space" started off with horror in mind and the sequel followed suit. Then comes the third iteration, where the horror is replaced by lackadaisical melodrama with "Dead Space 3," only giving us three minutes to understand who these people are and their motivations. "Dead Space 3" also puts emphasis on the “epic moments” that seem so out of place for a game that once held its feet on the horror pedestal. Good ideas and concepts couldn’t prevent this game from being a horrible amalgamation of the Dead Space franchise and other games.
4. "Batman: Arkham Origins" (Warner Bros. Montreal)"Batman: Arkham Origins" feels like filler until Rocksteady returns to do another Batman game. Taking place years before Batman meets his supervillains, he is a target of eight (it’s technically seven) highly trained assassins. Too bad the assassin fights only end up being as interesting as a saltine cracker. Rather than enlightening the player to facets of the game mechanics or functioning as tests to challenge, the assassins take a back seat. There is no learning, only going through the motions. There is no sense of dread before each fight, only a feeling of capriciousness. And once again, the relationship between The Joker and Batman becomes the focus that undermines any possible or potentially interesting stories between Batman and his other villains. The multiplayer, while fun on its own, is nothing to write home about and can be downright broken on certain maps. "Batman: Arkham Origins" feels like Warner Bros. is filling its Batman quota for the year.
5. "Bioshock: Infinite" (Irrational Games)Sadly, this wasn’t the Bioshock game many hoped it was going to be. One of the major problems is with the seemingly progressive female companion, Elizabeth. In story moments, playable or non-playable, Elizabeth functions as a subversion of a the typical gaming archetype of the “princess in the castle.” However, the combat downgrades her character to a player upgrade. What I mean by this is that Elizabeth’s ability to tear open the fabric of reality, which is severely limiting in combat, is performed by using the same button the player would use to reload their gun. She also chucked money and health to the player only serving to remind the player that she still existed. This, in relation to the world of Columbia that felt like a playable museum than a fully realized world, makes "Bioshock: Infinite" crumble under the weight of its own ambition. Reach the reporter at shfawcet@asu.com or follow him on Twitter @Whizbang813
(10/31/13 11:18pm)
Note: This review contains spoilers that include ending story details from “Assassin’s Creed III” (2012)
4/5 PitchforksOne of the more dangerous caveats to annual video games is “franchise fatigue.” Repetition can cause fans and critics to become exhausted and bored with the pillars of gameplay of said video game franchise, and why shouldn’t they? Video games take, at minimum, two to three years to be developed, tested and shipped, so fans naturally become dubious of annual franchises. Often times, separate studios will work concurrently to one another, so while one studio is shipping a game, the other is developing. The Assassin’s Creed franchise is one that began its annual release after 2009’s “Assassin’s Creed II.”
Now we’re up to “Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag,” which has a concentrated focus on sailing in the 1715 Caribbean during the Golden Age of Piracy. In development since 2011 by Ubisoft Montreal, the questions remain: Are there gold doubloons in this chest or does “Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag” walk the plank?
“Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag” begins with Edward Kenway, grandfather of the "Assassin’s Creed III" protagonist, on a ship that leads him to be stranded ashore with an assassin. From there, Edward’s journey will lead him from Havana to Nassau to the Bahamas with a wealth of side islands to explore with various goodies and treasure chests on each one. Edward Kenway is not motivated by revenge or justice but is instead smitten by fame and glory – completely contradictory to the tenants of the “work in the shadows” mantra of the Assassins. Edward also meets a wide variety of famous pirates including Edward “Blackbeard” Thatch, Calico Jack and Anne Bonny.
The plot of “Assassin’s Creed IV” is also noticeably better paced than “Assassin’s Creed III." It doesn't take upwards to three, even four hours to play as the protagonist and another hour to acquire the iconic Assassin’s robes.
The same cannot be said for the present-day segments, which take place at a fictional media studio, Abstergo Entertainment. The company, which has been making the Assassin’s Creed games, plans to make a pirate movie based on the genetic memories uploaded to “the cloud” of the present-day protagonist that died in a ludicrous fashion in “Assassin’s Creed III.”
The present-day segments are played in first-person and are almost completely unnecessary. One segments requires you to go meet the CCO of the fictional company, and he plainly tells you to continue playing the game that you were already playing before you were interrupted. If the aim of Ubisoft Montreal was to make the player hate Abstergo Entertainment, then the mission is accomplished.
Gameplay and combat is expectedly similar to the combat in "Assassin’s Creed III" with buttons to counter, kill, break defense and throw. The free-running gameplay is less pronounced or even used in “Assassin’s Creed IV,” because much of the game takes place on your own personalized ship — the Jackdaw.
Labeled by developers as “the players’ millennium falcon,” the Jackdaw becomes a figurative supporting character to Edward, and the two are nigh inseparable. Both can be upgraded with better weapons, more health or more damage. The player’s means of upgrading is to hunt and skin animals, and to harpoon the various sea creatures with Captain Ahab’s own obsession making an appearance.
As you can tell, “Assassin’s Creed IV” is a massive game. There will always be something that the player will discover or be distracted by on their journey across the Caribbean seas. The open ocean holds many a danger as various ships, which vary from tiny schooners to massive warships that you’ll be able to pillage and board. There will also be natural disasters, such as waterspouts and tidal waves, which can benefit you in sea battles if you’re a competent captain.
One thing for which Assassin’s Creed is well known, and for good reason, is nailing the atmosphere of the time period in which the game takes place. “Assassin’s Creed IV” retains that standard with clothing and structures typical of the 18th century and acting complete with expected vernacular and inflections. On the Jackdaw, the player can practically smell the sea air with dolphins and orcas swimming alongside you. Your loyal crew will expectedly sing shanties while you travel from one point to another, and they never become an annoyance as it could have easily in any other video game.
With all of the improvements and additions made to the single player of “Assassin’s Creed IV,” it’s unsettling to see little done to the multiplayer portion. The same tried and true gameplay is preserved. You hunt other players in a social setting for points being awarded to more subtle approaches. The roles are then reversed, and you are the hunted while you hide within crowds from your assailants. There are the requisite capture the flag, deathmatch, and co-op objectives, with various 18th-century maps on which to play, but the result is an unexciting and trivial side-attraction of which one would expect to see better. You won’t be mad at the multiplayer offerings, because the gameplay is still tense and addicting; you’ll just be disappointed that more wasn’t done with it.
Somehow, year after year, the Assassin’s Creed franchise continues to impress even the most jaded gamer to its unique settings and expansive world. “Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag” improves in important areas, such as the naval combat from "Assassin's Creed III" and a more engaging storyline. One would wonder, just like the previous year, where the next Assassin’s Creed game will go, but regardless of where they go, you’ll know that the ride will be worth every penny of the asking price.
Reach the reporter at shfawcet@asu.edu or follow him on Twitter @Whizbang813
(10/27/13 9:54pm)
3/5 Pitchforks
(10/24/13 12:11am)
4/5 PitchforksTraveller’s Tales has been making a killing adapting beloved franchises into a Lego format. From Star Wars to Indiana Jones to the DC Universe, Traveller's Tales hones its craft with each released Lego game, and it shows. This year, Marvel’s characters get the brick-by-brick treatment, and the results are remarkable, even with a few noticeable hiccups in controls and open world design.
The game’s narrative and dialogue is wholly reminiscent of a Saturday morning cartoon. The Silver Surfer has crash-landed on Earth and his shattered board has attracted the attention of Loki, Red Skull and a slew of other villains, big and small. Thus, the heroes mobilize from their respected worlds to try and stop them.
With over 100 different characters with whom to play, including nearly all of the X-men, Spider-Man, The Avengers and The Fantastic Four, this is one of the few places where Thor, Wolverine, Human Torch and Captain America will appear on screen without any movie or copyright disputes. Each character has been faithfully adapted from its comic book or movie version to their Lego counterpart. Small details reminiscent of movies, like Iron-Man’s plasma blaster whir that sounds before he fires or Hulk's signature, "Hulk smash!" reinforce these adaptations.
The gameplay, however, has not advanced past "tap repeatedly to win." The game will often just play itself as you sit and watch your character play out a killing animation to a hapless crony. While it is entertaining to watch Thor throw his hammer, have the enemy dodge the attack and then pull the hammer back to break the enemy into pieces, the "Lego Marvel Superheroes" gameplay never amounts to anything past that.
If kids are able to play the latest iteration of "Call of Duty" with precision and speed, it’s not entirely out of the question for the developer to deepen the gameplay, even if by a smidge. However, if the aforementioned criticism sounds like the game is repetitive, it isn’t. It avoids this through unique animations of the various Lego characters, and its charm keeps the player engaged from beginning to end.
When you’re not participating in missions that take place in Stark Tower, the X Mansion or the Oscorp Building, you’ll be running around in New York City, which functions as the game’s open world. Don’t expect some sort of Grand Theft Auto repercussion system, however, as there is freedom to pretty much do what you want. As you run, fly and swing around New York City, citizens just blissfully wander around for the most part.
The citizens will acknowledge individual heroes, with one citizen saying, “It’s Spider-Man!” or will talk among each other about missions in which they have participated, which helps create a more authentic plastic world. It is odd that the citizens will react to dangerous villains in the same way that they would react to the heroes. The music that plays in the open world plays as the equalizer, creating no heroic or villainous sound, instead playing something reminiscent of "Minecraft."
There’s a wealth of activities to do in the open world. From races, unlocking characters and side missions, the gameplay includes a range of heroic activities — from stopping Electro from robbing a bank, to Agent Coulson and Doctor Octopus cleaning the Daily Bugle after it was destroyed in a previous mission. The open world map does make it a little difficult trying to find whatever it is you’re looking for, but it's hardly detrimental.
What is detrimental are the open world controls when it comes to flying and switching characters. Certain characters, such as Iron-Man and the Human Torch, have the ability to fly, but the buttons to raise elevation and accelerate are the same. There will come a time where you just want to go up the side of the building and will instead, out of habit, fly into a building. In addition to that, characters like the Hulk, Spider-Man, Venom and Green Goblin can switch into different versions of themselves by holding "Y" or "triangle." Pulling up the character menu to switch to an entirely different character is also performed by holding the same button. Frustration ensues when you’re trying to get a certain character to solve a puzzle, but will instead transform.
At the end of the day, with all of my minor quibbles, "Lego Marvel Superheroes" creates one of the most cohesive collaborations between the Marvel cinematic universe and the comics, and the results are amazing. Not since 2009's “Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2” has there been a game that is not only faithful to the source material, but also carves a niche in its own series of Lego games.
Reach the reporter at shfawcet@asu.com or follow him on Twitter @Whizbang813
(10/04/13 12:30pm)
4/5 Pitchforks
(09/19/13 11:35pm)
5/5 Pitchforks
(09/12/13 9:59pm)
0.5/5 Pitchforks
(09/03/13 10:00pm)
5/5 Pitchforks
(08/27/13 1:38am)
4/5 Pitchforks
(08/25/13 8:00pm)
2/5 Pitchforks
(05/28/13 7:06pm)
The Resident Evil franchise has had an interesting history. The brainchild of designer Shinji Mikami, Resident Evil is one of the best-known video game franchises to date, with a wealth of films, games, action figures and side stories under its belt. Recently, though, Resident Evil went through something of an identity crisis since the release of one of the best games in the series, and arguably of all time, "Resident Evil 4."
(04/29/13 10:30pm)
With the next generation of consoles peering from behind the corner, it’s hard to remember that the current generation of consoles will still have a great line-up in the future. The games that I want to include on this list — "Dark Souls II," "Watch Dogs," and "South Park: The Stick of Truth" — have unconfirmed release dates and are subject to change.
(04/23/13 1:56am)
The May 2013 cover of Game Informer magazine unhinged the floodgates on the newest iteration of the Batman: Arkham franchise, dubbed "Batman: Arkham Origins." The description for Origins on Game Informer’s site is as follows: “The game takes place years before both of the previous Arkham titles when a young, unrefined Batman encounters many supervillains for the first time.”
(04/14/13 11:00pm)
Back in February, I had the distinct pleasure of reviewing “Aliens: Colonial Marines” for The State Press. The game was unpleasant to look at and physically harmed me. The gameplay was a horrible amalgamation of "Call of Duty" and "Call of Duty: Aliens," and significantly altered the established story throwing multiple monkey wrenches into the tight "Aliens" universe. And then it had the audacity to end with a cliffhanger.
I gave it a 2/5 because I was in such disbelief that I was conned out of my money on such a promising title but in retrospect, I should’ve given it a much lower score. Little did I know how much deception was a part of the marketing of “Aliens: Colonial Marines.” This deception is still going on over at SEGA and Gearbox Software. But let’s take a moment and rewind back to E3 2011 and E3 2012. “Aliens: Colonial Marines,” a title delayed multiple times – across six years - was starting to show itself to the general public.
Demos that showcased dark atmospheric environments, advanced enemy A.I. and lighting effects tied with visuals that looked up to par with a 2013 video game were all a farce. This coupled with the fact that the CEO of Gearbox Software, Randy Pitchford, lied through his smile over the past two years about how much respect he has for “Aliens” and assured "Aliens" fans that this was the game of their dreams. Once “Aliens: Colonial Marines” was released, however, the game spoke for itself.
Graphical glitches, horrendous character models and a laughable attempt at what could barely be considered a plot were running rampant in this $15 downloadable game masking itself as a full $60 retail game. Only a studio with such contempt for the "Aliens" franchise would fabricate one of the worst games of 2013 and still have the nerve to block legitimately upset "Aliens: fans on Twitter, something the CEO has been doing since the game’s release.
Then the media blitz of rumors and controversies started popping up mere days after the game’s launch. According to destructoid.com, it was rumored that Gearbox Software had outsourced the entire single-player story to TimeGate while Gearbox only worked on the multiplayer portion. And then Randy Pitchford came out to say that TimeGate “worked on probably 20 or 25 percent of the total time.” It doesn’t stop there.
Multiple unconfirmed sources (due to a Non-Disclosure Agreement that keeps them from being blacklisted) from both former Gearbox and current TimeGate developers paint a picture of uncertainty throughout the entire development process. It’s unfortunate to also note that TimeGate suffered layoffs on March 4 while the real culprits over at Gearbox remain relatively unaffected by the whole ordeal, other than having their reputation damaged severely.
At the end of the day – what really gets me in an emotional frenzy – is the fact that the gaming community seemed relatively nonchalant about this blatant deception Gearbox and SEGA implemented to make “Aliens: Colonial Marines” one of the highest selling games in February. Let me clue you in on an event that rattled the cages of many a "Mass Effect" fan last year – the trilogy’s ending. The gaming community was in a colossal upheaval over the ending of a fictional video game series which included: initiating Facebook groups dubbed "Retake 'Mass Effect,'" countless YouTube complaint videos and a completely serious complaint to the FTC that the ending of "Mass Effect 3" did not live up to the promises made during the advertising campaign. Sound familiar? But because Gearbox and SEGA aren’t Electronic Arts, they get a slap on the wrist.
There were complaints made to the UK Advertising Standards Authority four times and SEGA responded that they would add a post-launch notice, “that the trailers depict footage of the demo versions of the game.” What SEGA forgot to mention is that when those words appear on a video for any other video game the consumer is going to assume that the final retail product looks better than the trailer and demo footage because, typically, a game’s quality improves with time. More lies and deception ooze from the mouths of Gearbox, Randy Pitchford and SEGA and the fans allow it to happen.
Gearbox fans have told me numerous times that they don’t care about all of the widespread dishonesty because “Borderlands 2” was one of their favorite games last year. This kind of attitude is damaging and detrimental to the video game industry. It stands as one of the prime examples of gamers' exaggerated temper when it comes to discussing anything related to Electronic Arts. It’s not just Electronic Arts that get copious amounts of grievances. YouTubers and powerful Reddit gaming communities cluster Electronic Arts, Capcom, Square Enix and Activision together on the same gripe boat in a sickening bandwagon mentality that is a complete perversion of power.
And standing behind the wheel of this boat is Randy Pitchford, his cohorts at Gearbox, and the deluded fans that allow games like “Aliens: Colonial Marines” to remain on store shelves and continue to swindle people out of their money. I will give Gearbox kudos for continually supporting such a deprived game with paid-downloadable content and fixing problems with a 4 gigabyte patch for the PC version of the game. But it isn’t enough to counteract the misuse of brand names and the general mendacity that took place. I’m gonna make sure that they nail you right to the wall for this, Gearbox. You’re not gonna sleaze your way out of this one.
Reach the blogger at shfawcet@asu.edu or on Twitter @MaroonandGamer.
(04/05/13 4:00am)
3/5 PitchforksRated: RReleased: April 5, 2013Sam Raimi’s original “The Evil Dead” (1981) and its sequels stand as cult-classics in the 21st century.Lauded for tongue and cheek humor and low-budget special effects, the Evil Dead films have remained in a positive light in the minds of fans and critics who reminisce about the days of Hollywood’s yesteryear. With Raimi and Bruce Campbell signed on as producers and a relatively unknown director at the helm, does “Evil Dead” (2013) break the mold of lackluster horror remakes?“Evil Dead” begins with a group of friends, including a brother and sister, going up to a cabin to help the sister kick a drug habit.The friends have earnestly tried to beat off that monkey on her back, but she keeps falling back on old routines. The brother comes to help his sister and possibly build back his own relationship with her. The two other friends stand as obstacles, as they want to keep the sister at the cabin until the drug habit is gone. This makes for a very strong first act, because the brother has to make a decision to align with his drugged up sister or the friends that want to help. These kinds of plot improvements do wonders for the remake and create an interesting character dynamic that was reserved for Bruce Campbell and no one else in the original film.But where the film falters is the more in-depth character development that gets dropped immediately after the monsters rear their ugly heads.The director stressed the importance of practical effects for the remake, and it shows. All of the gore effects are beautifully envisioned with scares that could keep even the actors awake at night. This film takes the audience to a gore-infested and cringe-worthy place. For the squeamish: You may not want to go based off the audio at certain parts, including a bathroom sequence that was akin to adrenaline-pumping scenes from “Alien” (1979) or “Them” (2006).
The fast-moving camera from the original hasn’t been changed, but the effect of it has. Rather than having the actors react to the camera and never showing what was chasing them (similar to the film “Jaws” albeit a little slower), the remake shows exactly what the antagonist is, leaving little to the audience’s imagination.
Toward the middle of the film, the girlfriend of the brother takes center stage when she corrodes mentally, emotionally and physically. This was a mistake. She is that typical blond bimbo in horror films that is as interesting as a scuffed-up piece of tile. When gruesome things start happening to her, the audience is fairly nonchalant about the whole affair. The brother also gets special mention since he is one of the most flip-floppy characters ever to appear in a motion picture. He has such weak convictions that when a character calls him a coward, and he takes courageous action, he’ll go ahead and undo it, leaving the audience with their hands firmly grasping their faces.
“Evil Dead” (2013) is aloof with references and nods to the original films including a post-credit scene that will have the fans jeering in their seats. Depending on the viewer, these can be very distracting, especially toward the end of the film where there is a reference to Raimi’s films every seven or eight minutes. There’s fan service and then there’s fan pandering, and “Evil Dead” (2013) snowballs into the latter category.
“Evil Dead” is on the higher echelon of horror remakes but still manages to fall into the same pitfalls of lackadaisical storytelling in favor of the gore and characters with whom the audience has no real connection. As a jumping off point for the “Evil Dead’s” rebirth, the remake performs adequately; but those looking for something a bit more long lasting, “Evil Dead” (2013) doesn’t deliver the goods.Reach the reporter at shfawcet@asu.edu or on Twitter @MaroonandGamer
(03/29/13 4:30pm)
The "Evil Dead," a remake written and directed by Fede Alvarez, approaches a new narrative direction for the franchise. The film introduces a bevy of young actresses and actors including Jane Levy and Shiloh Fernandez. It will be released April 5.
(03/29/13 4:00am)
Pitchforks: 3/5Rated: PG-13Released: March 29, 2013“G.I. Joe: Retaliation,” directed by Jon M. Chu, makes a better case for the fan base but still stumbles and missteps in the same pitfalls as the first film, G.I Joe: The Rise of Cobra."
After a very muddled first act where locations changed constantly and guns were going off in the background, the story gets going when the elite Special Forces team known as the G.I. Joes are attacked and left in shambles. Their goals, as gun-toting muscle heads, is to find the culprits and stop their more nefarious motivations. As far as narratives go, and even when compared to the "Transformers’" narratives, "Retaliation" follows a fairly cohesive story with just enough drive to carry the audience to the next scene until the movie ends. There are still gaping holes in the plot, mind you. One ninja character goes out of his way to find a plot device, gets captured and starts a revenge plot all in the span of 45 minutes.
Cobra Commander, in "Retaliation," is mean and intimidating, and has that reflective faceplate that he is known for from the cartoon. Snake Eyes, the ninja that never speaks with that annoying Power Rangers mouth from "Rise of Cobra," also gets a complete facelift and a new voice actor.
Another problem that still persists, though it is remedied slightly in "Retaliation," is that none of the characters feel all that distinct from one another — personality wise. G.I. Joe is a parody of militaristic conformity. That’s why characters like Shipwreck and Snake Eyes are allowed to even be at least feasible in the context of the G.I. Joe universe.
There’s a feeling of nonchalant acting throughout the film. Bruce Willis and Channing Tatum are criminally underused, while The Rock does not have sufficient acting prowess to carry a film as a lead role. Adrianne Palicki ("Legion," "Red Dawn" 2012), who plays Jaye, gets specific mention as a discount Megan Fox. She gets mentioned because her role, which is relegated to secretary and hot object, applies a sexist twinge that may be referential to the '80s cartoon but only served to put a sour taste in the audience's mouths. D.J. Cotrona ("Dear John," "Venom"), who plays Flint, is also set-design. His character never accomplishes a single goal and actually puts other characters in danger.
"G.I. Joe: Retaliation" was once going to come out last June, but was delayed due to a bloated release schedule of Paramount’s movies and also to slap 3-D onto the film — the 3-D is adequately implemented. Certain shots and sequences are wow-worthy but for the most part, the 3-D only serves to distract the audience as planes are sweeping over dark landscapes and action becomes too fast.
“G.I. Joe: Retaliation” is a better film than “G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra,” but this is comparable to saying a stomach virus is at least better than pancreatic cancer. “G.I. Joe: Retaliation” is a go-to example of a popcorn movie. A dumb summer movie that at least has more of an effort imbued in it than most films based on '80s cartoons have in their entire trilogies. Retaliation may not have you yelling “Yo Joe!” by the end of it, but it will have at least piqued your interest in the franchise’s history. Reach the reporter at shfawcett@asu.edu
(03/06/13 11:14pm)
Pitchforks: 4/5Released: March 5What often comes to mind with the Tomb Raider series is an image of a busty British Caucasian woman with Angelina Jolie’s puffy lips and vapid facial expressions shooting dinosaurs with two pistols. Crystal Dynamics sought to change this image and create a more down-to-earth adaptation of Lara Croft in the 2013 reboot released on March 5. The result is a surprising success that understands the series’ history.
The game begins with Lara doing what she does best — going to far-off lands and looking for the long-lost treasure of an ancient civilization. The difference, however, is how Lara gets to that point. Her boat goes down like the Titanic, and she lands on the shore of the island. Lara traverses the island, stumbling and falling in nearly every way imaginable. Eventually, she meets up with her friends, who are largely forgettable and die under mysterious circumstances.
But, Lara remains the star of the show. Context-sensitive animations show Lara moving her hands onto walls as she navigates the small caverns and damp rock walls. It’s a minute detail that goes a long way to immerse the player on the island and give Lara that feeling of tangibility.
Lara Croft has also grown as a character since “Tomb Raider: Underworld” in 2008. Lara feels guilt after she kills a deer, and she shows doubt but also self-empowerment when she says, “I can do this” before she performing an impressive physical feat.It’s worth noting that later in the game when Lara gets seriously injured, her character tells the player that she is too hurt to perform a simple ledge climb in gameplay, not a cutscene.
As Lara kills mercenaries and completes quests, she gains experience points that allow her to accrue skills, such as durability to damage or acquire more supplies when you loot bodies. In addition to the experience system, Lara can modify her weapons to hold more ammo or reduce recoil. In a nod to “Dark Souls,” Lara is able to rest at campsites and upgrade her skills and abilities. She is also able to travel between campsites to explore more of an area as she gains tools and weapons.
The gameplay of “Tomb Raider” is very reminiscent of the “Uncharted” series on the PlayStation 3. It’s very much a cover-based shooter, but there is no “press this to get locked into cover.” Lara will intelligently crouch behind cover and shift her body as she moves around the cover. It’s a very intuitive system that limits player frustration.
The enemy artificial intelligence is incredibly sharp and will call out Lara’s position and relay to the other enemies that she is reloading, and they'll take advantage of the opportunity. However, there is a real lack of variety with the enemy. There are the standard soldiers (with standard and fire arrows), charging soldiers and heavy soldiers. Hours into “Tomb Raider,” and the player will feel like they’ve seen nearly all the enemies in the game.
There is a multi-player mode that does everything it can to drag down the experience of the stellar single-player. There are the standard modes of capture the flag, team death match and free-for-all which share similarities with Halo’s Juggernaut mode. The maps offer more vertical opportunities similar to “Uncharted 2” and “Uncharted 3” but it feels like a “me too” attitude approach to multi-player. All of the fluid animations in single-player mode are all but removed from the multi-player mode, and it the whole affair is reminiscent of the forced “Spec Ops: The Line” multi-player option. It's there to add a check mark to the back of the box for sales.
Crystal Dynamics deserves a gold star for successfully bringing Lara Croft into the 21st century, where video game protagonists have amassed character development into their stories. Even with the lackluster multi-player and the tolerant amount of varied enemies, “Tomb Raider” achieves what most games don’t: A character in whom the audience is emotionally invested.Reach the reporter at shfawcet@asu.edu and follow him on Twitter @MaroonandGamer
(03/05/13 10:30pm)
The recent announcement of PlayStation 4 has it labeled as a console for easier game development.