Goombd Played! - The Walking Dead Episode 3: Long Road Ahead

There's much to think about now that I am just done playing through The Walking Dead's third episode, Long Road Ahead. Things that I was worried about after finishing episode two are still present, like the doubts of whether or not my choices really matter in the plot as a whole. 

Episode three throws in some tough situations for you to handle and others that are mostly out of your direct control. Regardless of how I feel the story progression is going, there's no denying that this series is one of Telltale Games best so far, and that's saying a lot.

We pick things back up with our cast of survivors a few weeks or possibly months after the events of the previous chapter. Winter is coming and with supplies dwindling, Lee and co. are forced into scavenging the surrounding town of Macon, in the hopes of having enough to last through the tough times ahead. 

From the title of this episode, though, there's not much to spoil in regards to where things move on to. And considering this is The Walking Dead, a game in a franchise known for violently changing up the outlook for characters and situations they are put in, you can expect to once again face some tough situations. 

Long Road Ahead obviously plays just like previous episodes but there's an added element of very very simple point and click gun play in small sections of the game. You basically point the cursor at the immediate area of what you want to shoot and the shot is made for you. The only real challenge is finding out the correct order you have to do so, and how quickly you do it. As a very skilled player, I managed to fail these segments a couple of times. For the regular player, though, they should be easy enough to handle and don't really take much away from the point and click, adventure game nature The Walking Dead.

Three episodes are now behind us and the collection of choices we made are neatly saved and remembered by the game. The "tailored story", as claimed by the developers, must be getting pretty complex, which makes me curious and anxious to get to see all choice permutations and their consequences once the season is over. It goes without saying that I for one cannot wait to see this game through and I have the slight feeling I am not the only one. |9

Goombd Played! - Gungnir

The saying goes that beauty lies in the eye of the beholder. In Gungnir's case, Atlus' newest grid based J-RPG, being beautiful only takes it so far. 

Unlike the usual Japanese role playing game, Gungnir doesn't sport a particularly convoluted plot. Two factions are at each other's throats, one being the lower class, suffering in the slums and in poverty, while the other, the rich folks. Guess which side the heroic Esperanza guerrilla group stands and you've got yourself into Gungnir's story in a nutshell.

Similarly to INS' hugely popular RPG series Disgaea, Gungnir's combat system is entirely grid-based, with the same options of equipping characters and somewhat customizing their abilities to your taste. If you've played any tactical game released in the last fifteen years, among them greats like Tactics Ogre and the newer Joan D'Arc, you will know what to expect. While not close to being boring in this regard, Gungnir does little to set itself apart. Battles play out as you'd expect and very rarely stray out of the realm of the 'rock-paper-scissors' formula of planning out attack turns. Even on boss fights.

As I briefly touched earlier on, this game's plot is a little uninspired and boring. Unlike previous attempts at tactical RPGs that were mentioned before, there are hardly any redeeming points in this tale of the plight of poverty, and what's even worse, the little there are in attempts at development fall flat. All thanks to the limited scope of dialogue choices that very rarely go past the clichéd and tired stoic "dying for what it's right" stance, all throughout the game. There's not even a drop of the much expected animé humor thrown in and granted, that's a huge cliché in this sort of game but hey... it would've helped in this case.

On the other hand, I can't help but applaud Gungnir's visual design. At a certain point during my playthrough, I decided to pay more attention to the colorful art than anything else. Gungnir is absolutely gorgeous. Its mix of beautifuly textured polygonal environments and detailed sprite work is easily this game's most distinguinshing feature.

There is a handful of tactical RPGs out there already that do what Gungnir tries to do with much better results, not only story-wise, but in gameplay. That's not to say Gungnir is completely awful and if you manage to turn yourself off from the pinky toe level shallowness of its plot and focus on just winning battles, it works. But that's what holds it back, potential players having better options already available on the same portable system. Gungnir does little to nothing to set itself apart from the bunch and that's what kills it. |6

Goombd Played! - Diablo III

 Click click click *LOOT!* click click. This is what comes to my mind when I think about Diablo. It's never about the horrible demons crawling their way out of hell or how dark and gloomy everything seems to be all over. Clicking tirelessly. I'll cut my sad attempt at a dramatic interpretation for this write-up. Yes, Diablo III is here and it's once again completely insane.

The remaining demons are back, looking for revenge at humanity. Diablo is still dead, but if he wasn't coming back, this game wouldn't be named Diablo III, now would it? Surely, they have something in mind and are after relics that will help resurrect the prime evil. It will be up to a hero or two to save the day, whether they are a monk, demon hunter, witch doctor or barbarian.

Much like previous Diablo games, Diablo III plays very differently depending on which class you choose to play as. Going even deeper, each of these character archetypes offers their own branching paths in terms of setting up skill runes. New runes become available every time you level up. You don't have direct control as to where the skill points go into your character attributes, but you do get the choice as to which rune you get to use. There are many variations you can take a character in, and they're completely interchangeable on the fly, depending on the situation you are facing. For instance, a monk can be an area of effect (AOE) powerhouse, taking down huge groups of enemies in a confined space, or they can act as a healer for a group of players.

Gameplay is pretty much like previous games, you are still spending the majority of your time clicking away like a mad person, although there are quite a few keyboard shortcuts to use for your special powers. Powers can be assigned to a few number keys and can be further tweaked once you activate what's called elective mode. This mode lets you combine powers that happen to be in the same school in order to further customize your character, breaking from the mold of only using one type of ability or spell if you so wish. This mix and match system breathes some new life in what could become a tired quest of quick or prolonged clicks, giving you the chance to change your character as the situation calls, or if you are looking for something new.

Grouping up is a huge part of Diablo III. Creating a nice mix of classes is paramount in order to beat the game at higher difficulty settings. Diablo III is setup in a way that pushes you into playing in groups online, by taking cues from previous Blizzard games like World of WarCraft. Every player gets their own loot drops, and the significant equipment upgrades are only found the higher the difficulty you play, which works as the endgame content, the oh so high ceiling of "grinding" for loot.

 

Loot plays a big role in Diablo III, both in terms of character progression and how you will make it through the game as you replay it in higher difficulties.Multiple playthroughs are a must if you ever wish to reach the level cap and have access to better equipment, but they aren't your only avenue to obtaining shiny new stuff. Much like WoW, Diablo III offers on online auction house where players can throw down unwanted items for in game gold or even real money. And like 'WarCraft, the better the item, the more inflated the prices tend to get. If you are unlucky as me in your item drops, you'll have to turn to this service, which can serve both as a blessing or a curse, depending on what you are in the virtual market for.

Regardless of being a seasoned dungeon hacker or a newbie, there's no denying that Diablo III looks gorgeous. Every act in this game looks and feels completely different, whether you are treading the desert or hacking away in a lush forest. Enemies are also varied, much more than previous games, they go beyond simple color palettes although there are exceptions to this rule when you run into elite versions of some monsters. These are sometimes even stronger than actual bosses, but are worth killing if you are after the better loot drops.

Diablo III ran into some shaky grounds upon its release thanks to the form of online activation Blizzard is implementing. It that demands a constant internet connection and for weeks after the game was released, it was regularly offline, keeping players away from the game, even in single player. There are still some issues now, but Blizzard promises to iron out the remaining bugs as the game gets further patched in the future.

If any of Blizzard's games is an indication of the longevity of Diablo III's lifespan, you can certainly look forward to a lot more content to kill your way through after you are boot next to boot on top of Diablo's corpse. The already implemented and aforementioned loot "grind" is there as a wall for the endgame and only a very, very naive player would expect Blizzard and Activision to be done with the game as it is. Diablo II is still getting patched and tweaked now, more than ten years after its release, after all. Considering how different of games both StarCraft 2 and World of WarCraft got turned to post release, you can expect to keep playing Diablo III for a long damn while. |9

Goombd Played! - The Walking Dead Episode 2: Starved for Help

It's all going south as soon as 'The Walking Dead' episode 2, titled "Starved for Help" opens. We find Lee and the group three months after the events of the first episode, after having found the motel and made an improvised settlement out of it. Much expected tension is brewing from within the group in regards to leadership and everyone can agree that that should be the least of their worries: they're hungry and supplies are running dangerously low.

Human drama is one of the best developed aspects of 'The Walking Dead', in both comic and TV show form, so it's no surprise that this episode of the game series revolves around it. Granted, some of the story bits turn out to be fairly predictable and clichéd, with how quickly some revelations are made and how some characters' behaviors change so suddenly.

Behavior change is one of the reasons that got me worried about the game while playing this episode. At E3, Telltale went on to mention how deeply your decisions would affect the story and events in future episodes, and Starved for Help already starts rolling out consequences about things you've said and reacted to in the premiere episode. Those particular spots seemed really out of place in my relationship to one particular character, considering how I've been treating that person since the beginning. Their change in behavior was radical and completely opposite to what I had been building by my actions and dialogue choices. This change revolved around the only time I went partially against that person's point of view in the previous episode.

I'm curious to see how far this change will go, although considering how other inconsistencies go, it might have been scripted from the beginning. Other events during this episode make it seem like your choices only affect small elements of the plot. Case in point, the E3 demo I watched which took place right at the start of the episode - someone is rescued and something happens to them a little while later. In my playthrough, I rescued someone else and later on, the same thing happened to them, in the same manner. Will that really be the measure of how deep my decisions influence the story? Or is the big shift coming in later on in the narrative?

Hopefully my worries will be destroyed as the series approaches its conclusion. Everything else about this game is absolutely brilliant and within the style of 'The Walking Dead'. We get to see some of the best action scenes and dramatic dialog seen in a Telltale adventure game in this episode. The new characters are well acted and irregardless of the shift in tone due to time constraints of a season episode, their development is realistic, despite the circumstances are little predictable. Although that might just be my inner thriller/horror movie fan talking here.

Conflicts and character development is what makes 'The Walking Dead' most unique. You won't be left starving for zombie carnage with episode 2 and by the time you're done with it, you'll have your fill of human drama. |8

Goombd Was There! - E3 2012: Dishonored

Bethesda had a big presence at E3 this year. While not presenting a humongous list of games in their booth, the handful of titles they did show were pretty impressive. Among them, at the top of Goombd!'s favorites, was Dishonored, a hybrid game of stealth and action set in a gorgeously designed 'steampunk' world.

Visually, Dishonored is pretty striking; backgrounds emulate the look of matte painting concept art drawings, characters have an European comic book influence to their design and the overall presentation is very slick.

It's easy to throw out the word 'hybrid' about a game, and in Dishonored's case, it's probably the best way of describing it - there is, however, more depth to be found once you get past the fact that Arkane Studios took lots of notes from games like Bioshock and Thief and applied some of the best parts of these series into Dishonored.

While 'hybrid' certainly does not describe that mix of designs, it can easily fit to explain how you can actually go about in Dishonored. As a revenge fueled assassin that happens to have some cool powers (some reminiscent of Bioshock's spell book) and is bent on taking down a country's tyrant ruler.

In the guided demo, our assassin was given the mission of killing two distinct targets that happened to be in a brothel. The approach they could take was free form, and from what I witnessed, Dishonored handles both of the obvious ways to finish the mission quite well. A violent method with guns blazing attracted an army of guards, and after a pretty bloody shoot out and display of some of the supernatural abilities that were set to 11 in the demo - you won't be nearly as strong at this point in the actual game - so both targets were dead in a matter of minutes. The game doesn't shy away from violence, and deaths were pretty graphic and detailed in just about every kill.

On the other hand, the stealthy approach was about as sneaky and clever as you would expect, with some interesting twists throw in for good measure. Dishonored features a morality system, that according to Bethesda, acts as a crossroads in regards to which branches the story takes along the way. While nothing brand new, this system is in full effect when you play the game being stealthy. There are ways to avoid killing innocents, but at the same time, you can achieve a similar result, in a quiet fashion, while making a pile of corpses along with the intended victims.

According to the developers, and what I got during the demo, your options won't be so binary, allowing for a mix of the two, thanks to the different paths you can take both in gameplay and in how you evolve the main character's powers. This upgrade system was not shown during the demo, and as mentioned before, the assassin was overpowered for the demo's sake.

Dishonored was one of Goombd!'s highlights at E3 2012 and it's stated for an October release on Xbox 360, Playstation 3 and PC. Keep an eye out for a write-up on it soon!

Goombd Played! - Marvel Pinball Avengers Chronicles

A few years ago, I quit comics. Hero strips turned boring and I chose to follow them through the movies, which in Marvel's case, culminated with The Avengers. Surprisingly enough, that turned extremely well and Zen Studios didn't miss a beat. They've just released a new set of tables for Pinball FX 2 dubbed Avengers Chronicles, featuring Captain America's merry group of colorfully clad crusaders and a few of the bigger Marvel "sagas" like World War Hulk, Fear Itself and the always classic Infinity Gauntlet.

I tend to throw out the fact that I'm terrible at pinball games quite a lot when I talk about Pinball FX2 and in order not to sound repetitive, I'll avoid falling into my own cliché. Avengers Chronicles features some of the most gameplay varied tables since Epic Quest. Each of these backdrops has its own tricks and secrets, as well as a few variations to the pinball formula that are only physically possible due to the fact that this is videogame pinball and not the 'real' thing.

The pack starts out with the titular 'The Avengers' table, which takes place on the S.H.I.E.L.D heli carrier and spins the storyline around six different pinballs, each representing an avenger's story. This presentation take strays from what was done in previous multi character tables, giving you more control in regards to paths you want to take and is a lot more immersive, since once you lose a ball, you can just go back to it instantly, without the need to hit a special bumper or anything. Pick a ball and go.

The Avengers' table is probably the most ramp heavy out of the bunch, which can cause some confusion as to where the ball is going once it reaches a spot where numerous ramps intersect. All in all, it's a great addition to the Marvel Pinball/Pinball FX2 library, despite these issues.

Taking a slice from the actual Avengers movie, bumping directly with the post-credits sequence, The Infinity Gauntlet table features one of the most well-known Marvel storylines and villain, Thanos. This is among my favorites among this new set, thanks to how the gauntlet is implemented during gameplay: depending on which gem is activated, a different and crazier effect is applied on the ball, on the table or on both.

One of these effects, for instance, flips the gravity, forcing you to relearn pinball in order to keep the ball in play (at least momentarily) while another gem changes flipper control, locking the ball in place. 'Gauntlet is probably the farthest from "actual" pinball you'll get out of  'Chronicles thanks to its many fantastical quirks and tricks.

 

I have only a faint idea of what World War Hulk is as a story. As a table, it's as chaotic as you'd expect something Hulk related to be. It offers a simple design in comparison to the other tables in this pack and previous DLC, which works as a plus for those weekend pinball players like myself who are looking for a lot of thrills and high scores out of their game, one that doesn't require a lot of pinpoint accuracy but isn't a pushover either.

Like previous Marvel tables, 'Hulk's features plenty of cameos that are actually meaningful to the table's story, like Dr. Strange, Wolverine and Iron Man, who lend their powers in the vain hope of stopping Dr. Banner's alter ego.

 

Possibly the least known of the storylines and an absolute surprise of the set, Fear Itself introduces probably the most impressive gameplay twist out of all the tables for any Zen Studios pinball game. Throwing your game on the line, and scooping you away from losing a ball is a different shape to the bottom of the table. Depending on the speed with which you launch the ball towards it, you can either lose it for good or keep it in play.

In fact, the entire design of this table functions this half circle shape and how easy to bend the laws of physics are in this set of tables, keeping you on edge in regards to how you control the ball. Like Infinity Gauntlet, Fear Itself twists the pinball formula around in a way that could only be portrayed in a videogame.

Zen Studios is outdoing themselves with each content pack they put out. The Avengers Chronicles might just be one of their strongest efforts yet, bending the pinball fundamentals and squeezing new life into flipping metal spheres, getting high scores and enjoying the "ding ding ding" we've grown to associate with and love about pinball. |9

Goombd Played! - Minecraft Xbox 360 Edition

  

Minecraft Xbox 360 Edition is a great gateway into the world of Minecraft. If you've been mostly unaware of the game over the past couple of years like me, diving into this particular version of the game is a great way to get started.

For those that are not particularly familiar with what Minecraft is, a brief introduction: it's a blocky, three dimensional sandbox created by Sweedish developer Mojang where you can harvest resources and buy just about anything you can imagine. Or most of it, anyway. You're in charge of what you want to do. People have difficulty classifying this as a game due to the fact that there really aren't any goals to speak of.

The Xbox 360 version of Minecraft directs you towards goals somewhat with an expanded set of achievements to aim for and a new tutorial mode that teaches you the basics of mining and crafting items. Frankly, though, only a couple of the feats you can get a 'ding' for are actual challenges that will take much time to complete, like building a portal to another dimension, or putting together a railway system that crosses half of your world's extension.

Minecraft is a build-your-experience title, and even though the Xbox 360 version is relatively limited in comparison to the often updated PC port, due to that console's now increasingly meager technical resources, there's still a metric ton to see and do here. I've been playing the game for about 20 hours now and I've still to touch the edge of my map, which in this version of the game is comprised of a 500m sided cube. 

Like I mentioned before, starting out in Minecraft is even easier now thanks to a very friendly tutorial that eases you into the crafting of tools which you can put to use right away in harvesting materials. Your first tool as soon as you fire up the game is your fist, which you use to karate chop a tree, thus getting lumber to set up a workbench and construct an actual axe. The progression of materials is very well paced and before very long, you'll be sporting very durable diamond tools, which are just plain awesome to use. Speaking of tools, the Xbox 360 version also features a brand new streamlined crafting menu that does away with the annoyance of researching the Internet for crafting recipes - by simply having the "mats" in your inventory, you can make whatever it is you need, that is featured in that menu. Very handy.

Before diving into that though, you'll have to defend yourself. At night, monsters come out for your blood. Building a well lit shelter is paramount. Or, if you don't care about fighting and just want to have fun building, you can turn on peaceful mode. Sadly though, by doing that, you cut off a margin of finding unique resources that are only found in monsters, like the string to make bows that spiders spin, or bones that can be grounded up and act as fertilizer for your crops.

Finding your personal measure of fun is probably Minecraft's challenge. Some people already scratch their heads in amazement as to how this game can be so popular, while others simply cannot live without it. Frankly, I'm having a blast with it, mostly because I've been coming up with my own goals and missions. It all started out with building a castle on the top of a hill, growing to the creation of a farm and most recently, the successful construction of the aforementioned railway system, that now connects my main continent to a huge mining complex I've built on the other side of my world.

Most of Minecraft's veterans scoff and sneer this particular version of the game for lacking key features from the current iteration of the game on PC, like the freeform creative mode and the RPG adventure module. Mojang promised to slowly delivering content updates that should make the Xbox 360 version of Minecraft up to speed. As it stands, it's already an incredibly competent title, perfectly suited for new players, at a cheaper price (20 dollars, or 1600 Microsoft Points). Being one of those newbies, I can attest to that. You shouldn't miss this. |8

Goombd Played! - The Walking Dead Episode 1: A New Day

 

The Walking Dead is a phenomenon and it's easy to see why. It incorporates the best parts of the classic zombie genre movies as well as introducing even more human drama than we're used to seeing in just about any medium. We got a very successful comic for years, a new TV show going to its third season and now an episodic game series coming in from Telltale Games. Does it capture the dread and hopelessness of the original source material?

That's a resounding yes. The first episode of the 'The Walking Dead' game, A New Day, starts off and ends with a bang, with many, many exciting and terrific moments thrown in between. If you were disappointed with the Jurassic Park series, Telltale's earlier release, you should look into The Walking Dead, since it takes the best parts of that game's mechanics and mixes them up with a bunch of little elements from other series, like Sam & Max's direct control and conversation wheels, as well as adding a timer to make decisions ever more important.

 

It all starts as Lee, the handsome guy who's in most of the promotional screenshots for the game, is being driven to a prison in the Atlanta, Georgia area by a very talkative police officer. During their conversation, the guy can't help but notice a strange commotion going on - police cars zipping by on the opposite highway lane, the patrol car radio going berserk and oh, the wandering zombie just hanging around in the middle of the road. After a violent crash, he's left to his wits to survive the zombie apocalypse, at least until he meets up with Clementine, a smart little girl who had managed to live by her own up 'til that point.

If you've seen any of the trailers, you know the story goes well beyond that, and if you haven't, you're not reading this searching for info if you can't just play the damn thing, so the spoilers will be minimal, in fact, non-existent for now on. Safe to say, chaos ensues, pressing decisions are made, which carry over throughout the entire game (and possibly the series) and it's all extremely well made.

Telltale teased repercussions for your moral decisions when I interviewed them at last year's E3. According to them, your actions would influence who lived and died, how others react to Lee and even if your companion, Clementine, liked you or not. That holds true and is taken even further right from the start. You can be honest and lay the entire truth to just about anyone you meet, or hold info back and gain their distrust. Decisions like that carry more water than you think, to the point of there being a comparison board at the end of the game, showing the percentages of other players who agreed with you. The Walking Dead is all about decisions having an effect on the overall experience, and thanks to that, you might just get an entirely different game than your friends', and part ways right from the first episode, depending on the choices you make.

Frankly, I was already expecting to get a great game when I heard that the series' original writer, Robert Kirkman would be involved, as well as The Book of Eli's Gary Whitta, so it came as no surprise how well the dread of the comics was translated in game form. You're never sure who is going to make it through and there's never a safe moment throughout your first playthrough of this episode. Fans of the (now huge) franchise can appreciate how well the source material is treated, not just in story form, but in the presentation as well.

 

The comics' look made the transition quite well to polygonal look featured in the game. While still sporting relatively simpler character models, the texture work was made to resemble a comic book, with thick black lines thrown in, as well as a very well directed color palette. Granted, the 'The Walking Dead' comics are black and white and at a point in its development, the game was thought of having that art style as well, I have to say, I'm glad they went with the colored look. None of the characters look absurdly cartoony, in the "Telltale style" seen in previous games. We're given some great performances from the voice actors too, that are tied to very expressive animation.

Don't worry, you'll get plenty of zombies too. The ghouls look pretty good too and die just as gruesomely as you'd hope. Telltale is not pulling any punches. Deaths are bloody and gory, and characters throw expletives left and right, like anybody would in the situations they're put in. Conversations carry out in fluid manner, and diffusing potentially violent situations is not as easy as just agreeing with one side of the argument. 

This feels like Telltale's most mature title yet and it's great to see how well the series is starting out. If you're anywhere near a console or computer, you absolutely have to give 'The Walking Dead' a go. Not only is it a great piece of lore for the series as a whole, it's an exciting and tense experience in the form of a game. I'm definitely excited to see where things will go from here, something I haven't felt about an adventure game in years. |9

Goombd Played! - RAGE

id knows how to make a shooter. That's the thing everyone has known for years. Since the olden days of Wolfenstein 3-D, the name id has been synonymous with first person shooters. Even though the company's been through a lot of changes since then, they have managed to come up with a great shooter in RAGE.

RAGE has been talked about for years as the next huge thing to come out of id, a benchmark to today's games in a similar way Doom was back in the mid 1990s. Now that it's out, does it deliver? As a first person shooter, definitely. As it seems at first glance, as an open world experience, not so much.

The story opens up with the apocalypse of Earth. An asteroid wipes most of the life on the planet and everything turns into a desert. Luckily for humankind, the planet's government had a plan, to save the last bits of humanity in the form of arks, which held the best specimens our race had to offer: grunts. Fast forward a few hundred years, your ark opens and you're pushed out to the real world. You're the last of these survivors left intact and you're about to find out you are not the only person alive on the planet. Gangs and mutants have taken over and it's up to you to help out the last pockets of humanity if they ever hope to survive for long.

Frankly, that's not the most original of stories but it serves as a nice excuse to shoot the crap out of things. In that regard, RAGE excels. id's engineering for first person shooter is at its finest, from the quantity and variety of weapons, that range from the trusty shotgun to a point-to-point precision crossbow, to how enemies behave and attack. Weapons can be upgraded and there's also a crafting system that makes use of some of the junk you find lying around the desert. If you don't feel like tinkering, though, you can buy everything in the convenient general store out in the desert. On top of a pretty fun on foot shooting system, you also get to drive and equip your own set of wheels for races and destruction.


Sadly, it's the bit with the driving that might bog down your experience with RAGE. The open world feeling that is passed through cutscenes and visuals when you start the game doesn't really carry through to the end. Missions are very straightforward and there really isn't a whole lot to do in between the pockets of quest givers you drive to and back. Sidequests make repeat use of the same areas you 'instance' into for the main story and don't vary a whole lot from the same "shoot all that moves and pick up this bottle for me" mold you've come to expect. Even though the driving itself is a lot of fun, it doesn't really amount into much at the end.

Speaking of the end, the ending section to RAGE is also extremely disappointing. Without going into spoilers, you're given an incredible weapon and basically rats to shoot at with it. It's a frustrating conclusion to an otherwise exciting set of missions that could have been probably arranged at an alternate order and have resulted in a more satisfying experience.

Once you're done with the single played campaign, there's an entire separate section of the game devoted to multiplayer. If you can find people to play it with, the multiplayer portion of RAGE is varied and rewarding, even if it's somewhat under-populated at the moment. Instead of taking the easy way and throwing out a simple deathmatch mode, id decided to take the co-op approach and designed a set of cooperative missions set in the main game's levels. They're presented in the form of legends of the wasteland, side stories that involve the cast of RAGE and how they happened to have two very willing individuals who took down a lot of enemies.

Your other online option is a handful of racing tracks where you put your pedal to the medal, racing and fighting with other players. You can count on a similar leveling system you've seen in other online shooters, which rewards you with better weapons as you gain experience. While not the most original set of options around, RAGE tries to set itself apart, with relative success.


Whether you're tearing through the desert or just playing cards at the local bar, there's no denying RAGE is one of the best looking games in this generation. id's new graphics tech is easily one of the prettiest so far. That's especially true in outside environments, where the sky is visible and it just blows you away with how everything is so well lit and drawn. id's touting a new 'mega-texture' technology in RAGE, which is basically a fancy way of saying that all the textures are painted in a single, huge file that's supposed to help loading textures be much faster. In RAGE's case, that works most of the time, even though there are still some instances of draw in, even more when you're turning around all the time. That's when the illusion pops out and you can see behind the curtain of how it all works. That only happens once or twice, though, mostly when you're on foot outside.

Characters also look really charismatic and act cartoony. We're treated to John Goodman as a voice actor early on in the game too, which only ups the presentation. He's not on for too long but the rest of the cast manages to keep the bar high once he's gone. The cities you visit each have a distinct feel and definitely looked lived in and put together differently. Levels are relatively large too and aren't exactly a set of tunnels duct-taped together, although they don't escape the curse of being fairly straightforward.

As a shooter, RAGE is an excellent game. In comparison to other game's that claim to be open world experiences, like Borderlands, it doesn't really deliver. While not the most unique FPS around, it does what id's been known for years and looks stunning in doing so. The multiplayer component also helps, keeping you busy for a while longer. If you don't mind the cookie cutter story and lack of mission variety, you'll dig living through yet another post-apocalyptic journey RAGE's serving. |8

Goombd Played! - Sine Mora

They say that time is money. In Sine Mora's case, Grasshopper Manufacturer's newest game, time is life and money... well, money is just a way of keeping score. This time bending bullet hell shooter is a gorgeous example of how an old school game concept can evolve to the current generation of games, not only visually but in terms of gameplay.

Time is of the essence, especially when it involves saving someone you care about. In case of our main hero, he wants to save his son from dying. Sine Mora starts at a botched air strike attempt and only gets crazier from there. It's tough to follow the story considering how it's delivered, through loading screens in a wall of text, read in Russian. In fact, unless you speak the language, you won't understand a lick of any of the voice acting delivered in the game.


Thankfully, you don't need to learn any new languages in order to play this game and story aside, we have to admit we're here to shoot a lot of big things and avoid getting killed by a million of onscreen bullets. In that regard, Sine Mora is awesome. If you've played a bullet hell shooter in the past, you know what to expect here. Knowing when to attack and when to dodge is the key to success.

Mastering time, though, is another facet of Sine Mora. For some miracle of technology (or is it magic? who knows?) you're able to control time for a short spurt of seconds. With this gizmo, you can slow down everything around you when things get hairy. This mechanic is particularly useful during boss encounters, when the screen is literally baked with dots trying to kill you. Keep in mind, this power runs out and very few pick ups refill it, but it's a nice trick regardless.


Even though you have the power to control time, you're still a very vulnerable little ship fighting giant fortresses, monsters and the such. As you take hits, the on screen clock loses time and when that runs out, you're dead. In order to keep it up top, you need to destroy enemies, plain and simple. Levels are somewhat lenient with the clock, too. At every checkpoint, Sine Mora throws in a few extra seconds.

And delivering to expectations, you'll need all the seconds you can get. Sine Mora is relentless. Even if you decide to tackle the game's "easier mode", skill is still needed if you wish to reach the end. The best part about the game, though, you working towards perfecting your runs through the levels in order to get promoted. Promotions work like an in-game achievement system where certain tasks like finding a certain boss' weakpoint and killing X number of ships are rewarded with new ranks. The bigger the rank, the harder the requirements, naturally.

While the more demanding might condemn Sine Mora for being too short of an experience, there's a lot of depth to dig through if you so desire. Granted, you can finish the game in about one hour and a half, there aforementioned reasons should be more than enough to multiply that by ten or more. If you're looking for new levels and a lasting story experience, you'll be sorely disappointed, so keep that in mind if you decide to give Sine Mora a try.

Frankly, there's very little else to write about this game that could help you make up your mind. Sine Mora is the sort of shooter that demands your dedication and rewards you for the time you spend with it, not only with a very stylish presentation that makes it one of the prettiest Xbox Live Arcade downloads out there but with a steady degree of difficulty that keeps you on your toe level to level. If challenge is your goal when playing games, then this is one of the best ones to pick up. |9

Goombd Was There! - Yoshitaka Amano at Gameworld 2012

When you stop to think about artists that helped define videogames, the name Yoshitaka Amano probably pops in your mind, right? Or at least his works if you don't know the name right away. His contributions to the Final Fantasy series dates back to 1985 and ever since then, Amano's paintings have been synonymous with then Square and now SquareEnix's flagship franchise.

Goombd had the chance to meet the master last weekend, when Amano-san touched down in São Paulo in order to show a few pieces of his portfolio during the Gameworld 2012 expo. The shy artist doesn't usually have direct contact with the public, so his press conference event was a rare chance for the local press and videogame enthusiasts to pick his brains a bit on a variety of subjects.

While it's difficult to credit an entire game concept to just one person, in many people's minds, Final Fantasy was pretty much a child of Amano-san's creativity, in the form of his drawings. According to him, though, its creation was far from being that. His collaboration with the team at the time was only as successful as it was due to the combining of creative forces and not just his drawings.

Not only that, but his art was frowned upon at the time due to how conservative the general public used to be back in the 80s in regards to videogames. Amano-san reminded everyone of how shy the overall population is and that games were a closed off hobby at the time, something that has completely changed since then. From his early days as an animator over at the famous Tatsunoko Productions on to his work at SquareEnix, formerly Squaresoft, Amano has seen the growth of videogame popularity in its entirety, from a shied away hobby to the common place "play anywhere" fever that the Japanese are obsessed with nowadays.

When asked about how his work is usually received in different cultures outside of Japan, he was sure to mention that very little of that actually influences how the public sees his art - in fact, different cultures are even more in love with it, which he has come to admire and appreciate over the years. According to Amano-san, the fans' support is more valuable than anything and in that regard, he considers himself a very rich man.


"Art is a broad subject and I try to treat it as such. I cannot cut corners and make generalizations in my work." - Amano-san added as one of the journalists commented on how Japanese art had influence Amano's work. He was quick to add that local art has certainly played a part in his development as an artist, but he didn't stop there. There's something of everything in his work and according to him, that's much needed and is probably why people from all over the world have claimed to be able to identify themselves with some of Amano's characters. By looking outside for inspiration, Amano ended up coming back to the East, due to how some of his own influences were once inspired by Eastern culture. In a way, Amano considers himself influenced by Japanese art but from the outside set of mind, diluted and focused by previous artists from the West.

His family played a part in his art development, from the earliest memories, Amano-san shared that his father was a lacque artist and his work always fascinated him, its use of black and gold paint, the strokes of his father's brush is something he keeps in mind every time he starts a new painting. Colors are another reason behind his visit to Brazil, so he can absorb some of the local culture and possibly apply it to future projects. According to him, Brazil's fauna and flora are incredibly inspiring, not to mention uniquely colorful. At the time of the press conference, Amano-san had been in town for only a day and was already enamored with São Paulo's sprawling architecture and graffiti art.

Amano's work extended to other mediums outside of games. His most notable non-gaming work was probably his collaboration with Neil Gaiman in the book Sandman: The Dream Hunters, where he contributed with most of the art. He mentioned that the creative process was a conjunction of Gaiman's script and his own drawings, a mutual brain storm of ideas that resulted in a lot of unused art which Amano-san laughed off. Not all of his ideas were that good, according to him. "We beg to disagree, Amano-san", the audience clearly cried.

Amano's shyness quickly gave away to his humor. Quick to break out in laughter, when asked about the difference in his work over the years, about the creative process changing from 1985 to now, he simply said "I forgot!" and laughed it away. In all seriousness, he responded that in his mind, art is a tool to disseminate culture and to help show how rich a world can be to those outside of it.

The base of his early work is still seen these days in games like Final Fantasy XIII, where core characters that make repeat appearances throughout the series are still modeled in designs from back then, even though their looks might be slightly or even radically different. "The more modern the technology", Amano-san said, "the closer the fidelity with my original work". The pixel art of early Final Fantasy games could only bring out the unique visuals of his paintings so far.

"I hate cell phones..." Amano-san drops in between questions about fan feedback. "I have very little interest in keeping up with social media". Very little of the fan reactions actually makes it into his ears and even less actually influences his work, Amano admits. That's the main reason he likes to keep it to himself and not give many interviews.


Music plays a huge part in Amano's work. Much of his work, according to him, is also influenced of the pop art record covers of the 70s and 80s. Also worth mentioning is his involvement in a partnership with a music magazine, where he would publish a couple of paintings every month. That went on for a few years. Since then, however, he was forced to stop due to the amount of work needed, in order to focus on his main line of designs. While disappointed about having to stop working on that magazine, he still keeps very active just listening to music, he laughed.

Whether they are monsters, heroes or even beautiful princesses, Aman-san can't identify himself in any of his creations nor really admit to having a real person as a mold to any of his designs. Again, the master kids around and mentions how he wouldn't want to identify himself with any of his monsters, they are too ugly!


As for more recent work, Amano-san mentioned his current work in Devasan, an animation that combines traditional Japanese folklore, like samurai and demons, with some more Western stories. Due to last year's earthquake catastrophe, Amano's contributions had to be halted and were only picked back up recently, with some of the production having been shifted to offshore in order to see conclusion anywhere near their estimated 2013 release for this series. He hopes to put together a collection of his art from Devasan soon in the form of a book too.

In regards to the recent controversy about the lack of creativity of Japanese games, Amano-san didn't mince words. They are indeed lacking, but due to many reasons, not only creativity-wise. In earlier days, sales were much stronger and he also pushes some of the blame to weaker profits in this generation and the overall lack of investment in the development of games. He pinned some of the blame to less than enthusiast developers too, which according to him have been on the rise recently.


When asked about keeping in touch with former company mates Hironobu Sakaguchi and Nobuo Uematsu, Amano said that he is in constant contact with both and pointed out that he is indeed working with Uematsu on an unannounced game which he shrugged it off as something he forgot the name too. Fellow attendees to the conference whispered "Final Fantasy VII remake!!!". I kept my mouth shut.

It was surprising to see such a candid figure in Yoshitaka Amano. Not only in his sincere answers, but in his humor and presence. I also had the chance to meet him in person during his sit down at the space where his works were on display. Shaking the man's hand was the least I could do as a fan and for that I'm thankful for his visit.

Photo credits: Fabricio Vianna, Tambor Digital

Goombd Played! - Zen Pinball 3D

For the uninitiated, I'll lay down one of the truths of my video-gaming career: I love pinball games and completely suck at them. Now that's out and everyone is up to speed, we can get on with this write-up on Zen Pinball's newest game, their first outing on 3DS that's aptly named Zen Pinball 3D.

Surprise, surprise, this is a brilliant download for any 3DS owner that's not without some quirks. Some of which aren't exactly with the game itself, but with the hardware.


Zen Pinball 3DS comes with 4 basic tables 'packed' in, each with an unique theme, from space to ancient civilizations. Much like previous Zen Studios pinball titles, they're very colorful, vibrant and extremely busy to look at, not to mention noisy. You can expect to hear all the sounds you'd associate with a pinball machine coming out of the tiny 3DS speakers. Surprisingly, it's all as crisp as the visuals.

Gameplay-wise, you can either use left hand or right hand controls for the table flippers. Controlling the game can get tiring, considering how cramped the buttons are on the 3DS itself. The same hardware design limitations extend to the limited size of the top screen, with how sprawling the levels, in this case, the tables are and how small the ball is in comparison. It's extremely hard to keep up with everything going on, especially with the 3D slider turned up, having to be mindful with the positioning of the screen as well as with what's going on in-game.

Granted, once you get acquainted with these limitations and get into the game, there's plenty to keep yourself busy. All of the levels have layers upon layers of missions to tackle, as well as what you've come to expect in terms of high scoring possibilities. Like I mentioned before, I completely stink in this and just about every pinball game out there, virtual or real, and even so, I had a blast plinking that fake metal sphere around on the go.

Whether you're a pro pinballer, a newbie or just plain terrible like me, Zen Pinball 3D is an excellent pick to fill your 3DSWare download library with. Just keep in mind the limitations that come with the system. |7

Goombd Played! - Rochard

I appreciate games that don't treat me like an idiot, especially ones that are as intelligent and charming as Rochard, an 'indie' platformer from Recoil Games.

You start off getting to know John Rochard, a hard knocking space miner who along with his team, has hit rock bottom. None of his recent digs have brought out any profits and everything was just about to be shut down by his employers when a mysterious artifact is found and his world is turned upside down.

Sadly for John, other people are also interested in his find and are willing to kill for it. Even though mining and engineering doesn't include combat training in their résumé, John quickly learns to use his tool of trade as a means of defense. A sort of gravity gun if you will, à la Half-Life 2's, the Helga can pick up boxes, which can in turn be used to make footholds, platforms and you guessed it, be turned into projectiles against enemies.

It's an easy comparison to make, so I'll get it out of the way - Rochard might just be the alternative to Metroid on the PC and the PlayStation 3. You find health and weapon upgrades that are quickly put to use during puzzle and combat scenarios, but unlike the heroine from the aforementioned game, John still needs to use just about everything he discovers to his advantage until the very end of his adventure. Out of all of his abilities, there isn't one that doesn't get used throughout the entire game.


That isn't to say that very few of these abilities happen to overlap their usefulness depending on the situation. Granted, it's easier to simply shoot an enemy down once you've found the necessary upgrade, but I'll be damned if dropping a box on top of him isn't as fun in the 100th time I've done it as the very first. The same goes for a very late game pickup which makes it all even easier, although not as much fun.

There are also a few issues in regards to how the game treats physics. Item interactions are never the same in repeat attempts, for instance. Even if you happen to place a box on top of the other every time, you're not guaranteed they'll stay put every time. Given the trial and error in this type of game, this lead to some slight frustration during a handful tight spots in conjunction with how disparate some of the checkpointing is placed in those few cases. None of these issues take away much from the Rochard, however, and can easily be excused by how well the rest of the game plays.

Like I mentioned before, it was surprising to be treated as a smart player than a dumb one during the course of Rochard. None of the puzzles I've found seemed particularly obvious at first. The game gives you a feel tools, cleverly disguising them under the aesthetics of the game, say, a few boxes stacked together in the corner or a faulty robot flying around. At no moment did it just say, "hey, dumbass, grab that thing and place it there", which goes a long way in making me appreciate smartly designed games much more than the 'run and gun', 'lead you by the hand' variety that I'm simply sick of playing.

Rochard's also impressive in the presentation department. All characters are voiced and surprisingly enough, the acting is very well done. John has a gruffy U.S southern accent that gives him a lot of charm. The script is funny enough to punch a few laughs here and there too, which helped keep things light during a few particularly tough puzzles I've ran across. Not to mention the awesome soundtrack that can easily be associated with John Carpenter, with synthesized tunes that beg to be bought and listened to even outside of the game.

Simply put, if you like puzzle games, you shouldn't pass Rochard up. Despite some small issues with the physics model used, its smart combination of platforming, puzzles and combat makes this game a perfect excuse to check a weekend out and just dive into it. You'll dig it as much as I have, that's a rock hard promise! |9