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

Goombd Played! - Trine 2

Following in the footsteps of its 2009 predecessor, Trine 2 is absolutely gorgeous. It carries the great combinations of beautiful art and smart puzzle design the original Trine an amazing indie game and takes some core ideas even further.

The magical artifact called the Trine calls upon the trio of heroes yet again. The wizard, an expert in conjuring items out of thin air, was busy taking care of his new family, while the bulky, sword and hammer wielding knight killed evil weeds and the acrobatic thief looked for the next big heist. Called off for a new adventure, they each employ their unique set of skills in their new quest to save a kingdom. Their only catch, which quickly becomes your problem - you can only control one of these guys at once.

That is if you're playing Trine 2 by yourself. This is the first time in the series where you're able to invite a friend onto your couch or online lobby to join you, each controlling a different character. Playing solo is possible and fun on its own but Trine 2's big draw is the new cooperative mode. The puzzle design is brilliantly designed in a way that allows you to figure everything out on your own but can also be broken up by a group of players putting their brains together.

Much like the first Trine, Trine 2's story is presented in a fairy tale book style. Each colorful level brings its own flavor, hitting your eyes with vibrant visuals in just about every corner. Even caves are beautifully drawn in this game. This is probably one of the few instances where you'll be happy to be in a dank place for so long, only to find your character drawfed by a gigantic sunset.

There's a lot to look forward to in Trine 2 if you're familiar with the original game. Likely, you probably got annoyed by the character development tree in the original or how magic drained a meter with every spell. One of these matters are done away with, in a sense. The magic meter, of one, is gone, while the development tree is made much simpler to deal with. A new skill point is earned with every 50 experience points you collect. It can be spent in new abilities for one of the three characters. This time, though, you're able to freely "respec" the tree at any time, so even when you don't have enough points to max everyone out, you can activate the right abilities at the right time and switch everything out on the fly.

These special abilities play a big part in game. Some puzzles require simple deduction and probably only one of your characters while others deal with complex timing that demands quick reactions and multiple abilities working in tandem. That's the fun aspect of Trine 2 that constantly dares you to be creative and think outside the box or even better, not to over-analyze a situation and simply look at what is dealt to you.

Trine 2 is a blast. While not the longest of journeys you'll embark in anytime soon, it's one hell of a ride. It's gorgeous, smart and mostly importantly, it doesn't hold you by the hand. This is one the best sequels out there and it can easily fall into anyone's 'favorites' list like it did with me. If you're into puzzle games with charm, personality and a little something extra, you should look no further. Trine 2 is just that. |8

Goombd Played! - The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

What can you say about a game like Skyrim? Possibly, that it's a huge undertaking for anyone planning to play it. Like previous Elder Scrolls games, Skyrim is immense, filled with little bits of content just about everywhere. Are you ready to get started?

Dragons are back to terrorize the Tamriel continent of Skyrim, the snowy home of the proud Nords. Sadly for our viking friends, the drakes aren't their only worry. The Empire is moving into their territory as well in their quest to gain even more power. But that's not for your lowly character to worry about. He or she has bigger problems. They're about to die at the gallows.

Without spoiling anything, it's obvious that your avatar in the game survives and it's exactly at that point that Skyrim begins. You're left alone, in the middle of a destroyed town with only a nudge about where to head next. Do you follow your fellow prisoner to safety or will you trust an Imperial who just moments ago was ready to lob off your head?


Skyrim is a game about decisions. They start with whether or not you want to help a greater cause or with the mundane task of deciding about your character's gender or race. If you don't want to focus on the main story, that's fine. Wanna rush it all and get it done with? Cool. You'll find something cool to see and mess around with at just about every corner of the icy lands of Skyrim.

Like in Oblivion, the guilds are easily best distractions in terms of quest content in Skyrim. Sadly, some of the groups seen in Cyrodil, like the Fighter's Guild, are nowhere to be seen. On the other hand, the groups that did survive the cut manage to provide some of the coolest quest lines in the game. If you were like me and loved the Dark Brotherhood missions in Oblivion, get ready to be blown away in this one as well.

Most of the action in Skyrim is reliant on how you build your character and how you decide to use your powers. In the Elder Scrolls tradition, abilities level up as you use them, for instance, if you're a heavy bow user, your marksmanship points will go up as you line up and make shots. That also goes for involuntary skills like heavy or light armor, as you take hits. Unlike previous games, though, you can also level up by talking to certain trainer characters and pay your way up the scale or by reading special books that you can find by exploring.


Irregardless to how you decide to take your character, there's always a companion just around the corner that will easily counter balance your development skills. Bethesda took one of the best aspects of their other RPG series Fallout and applied it to Skyrim in the form of companion characters "for hire". These guys are very damn useful, especially for less resistant character builds like wizards and can take a lot of punishment. Unfortunately, they aren't as well developed as your buddies from the Capital Wasteland and very rarely bring more story elements for you to mess around with.

In terms of story, I'll have to admit that I was a little disappointed with Skyrim's main quest line. The build up for the most of the game is very well developed but it just doesn't go anywhere. The ending is not satisfying at all. The world keeps going, people go back to their routines and heck, even though you did something that should have rid the world of a particular kind of problem, as soon as you step back into the world and keep playing, lo and behold, they're still around causing havoc.


Still, if you take into account the sheer number of things to do in this game, the fact that the main story is its weakest element is pretty much forgivable. The guild quests, allied with just about a ton of extra tidbits and areas to spelunk in are easily more exciting and will be the main crux of your activities in this game.

I'm very much looking forward to see what Bethesda will do with Skyrim in terms of DLC, especially after loving what they had to offer in Fallout 3 and finding most of the areas that heavily hint on possible threads to explore in future downloadable content in this game. You can be sure that once you're through with everything this game has to offer, you won't be done.

Skyrim is easily recommendable to just about anyone looking for a fantasy world to dive into. The content is rich and the shortcomings are easily overcome by the sheer amount of awesome stuff to do in the frigid land of the Nords. Whether or not you decide to be a hero or a villain, one thing is for certain, this is one of those gaming experiences that are not easily forgotten. |10