Now Playing: Tony Hawk's Proving Ground

 Not my Tony Hawk...

 What the hell is wrong with this game? Upon booting up the game I was greeted with what seemed, and later proved down to be, a superior soundtrack to Project 8, as well as being pleasantly surprised but a better, but still lacking, character creator mode. So far, so good. And then the game starts... and Philly and Lower Philly lack any kind of personality. There's a new 'Aggro Kick' move which is rather awkward, but I think, I think I wound up liking it after I got the hang of it.

 The engine feels different. Again. Characters no longer lean downwards when holding X, which is rather jarring, and pulling off long combos seems easier than ever before, which is a plus in my book. Regardless, the skate parks lack personality, and I was rather miffled by the by-the-numbers goals I was presented with so far. I dunno, I'm not feeling this game.

 The soundtrack is kickass though.

Review #370: Twisted Metal Black

 Yet another twisted romp into the world of Twisted Metal.

 Twisted Metal Black had a lot riding behind it, the original team that developed the first games in the franchise were back, and now they had new hardware to bring their car-combat classic into the world. Even more twisted, darker, eviler and gritty than before, Twisted Metal Black is often considered the best in the franchise, but is it good enough to turn someone like me, who doesn't particularly like the formula, around? No, it's not, but does it try!

 There're quite a few ways to play the game: Story, Endurance(Survival) and Challenge(VS CPUs) modes for Single Player, as well as a few 2P VS and Co-Op deathmatch modes. The real beauty of the game lies in the stories surrounding the 15 members of the cast. 10 of these characters feature their own prologue, mid-scene and epilogue, while the remaining 4 only get an ending. Regardless, every story is sick and twisted which make them oh so enthralling, it makes you want to finish the annoying single player mode in order to get every piece of the story surrounding these sick, sick people.

 Just as with Twisted Metal(2011) and a few other Arcadey arena-combat games, Twisted Metal Black falls into the same pitfall: CPU enemies will ignore each other, for the most part, and just gang up on you. To be fair, it's not as bad as TM(2011) in which CPU wouldn't even scratch each other, but it's still pretty bad. It doesn't help that a lot of the unlockables are hidden in very guide-dang-it places, and some require a degree of finesse that is hard to achieve when you are being constantly bombarded left, right and center. To be honest, I just activated cheats and unlocked stuff at my leisure. I'm not even ashamed of it, the game is unfair to the point of tedium and the unlockables feel like little more than a way to sell guides, so if the game won't respect me, I won't respect it either.

 In the game's defense, combat feels pretty nice and the game runs at a smooth framerate. While I think combat and movement felt a bit tighter and crunchier in the 2011's remake, I think controls, as a whole, are easier to grasp in this game. I just grabbed the joystick and instantly clicked with them, not so much as with 2011. That said, there're a few shortcomings, namely concerning the Special attacks, which are done with slightly complicated, since you have to remember them by heart, directional inputs that are hidden away in the instructions booklet.

 Besides having more vehicles and stories than its successor, the game has better levels, in my opinion, as well. They suffer a bit from the brown-color-palette syndrome, but considering the dark world of Twisted Metal, it kinda works. That aside, the levels are brilliant, so much so that a few were remade in 2011. The only bad level would be the Skyscrapers, since some downward ledges are impossible to see, making it for very treacherous roads, unfairly so.

 Twisted Metal Black is a fantastic game IF you've friends that like the genre. Me? I can tell that a lot of effort was put into the game, and that if you enjoy drawn-out battles that take forever thanks to having to go around the levels over and over again to get more ammo in order to do slightly more damage while your prey escapes to fill its health gauge back up.... Yeah, I really don't like this game. But hey, different strokes for different folk!
 7.5 out of 10

Now Playing: Twisted Metal Black

 At least I got my War of the Monsters Sweet Tooth skin, right? Right?!

 I really don't like Twisted Metal, and after finishing Black with both Sweet Tooth and Junkyard Dog... I still feel the same way. I'm sure there's an audience for these games, mainly people that like car-based combat games and play it with other people. But I don't like Car-based combat games nor do I know people that can stomach it, and even then, I get bored eventually. The problem? Single Player mode is terrible, because all seven CPU opponents ignore each other and focus on you. Fun.

 I also cheated and unlocked everything story mode has. And I'm not even ashamed of it, trying to grab these while getting blasted constantly? I'm not a masochist.

 For what it's worth, there're great things about the game. The dark story and the fantastic levels... but I simply don't like the game. At least I finally got the last War of the Monsters skin that was tied to Twisted Metal Black's save file!

Review #369: Catherine

 Girls, drinks and nightmares, what else would you need?

 Catherine is a horror-esque puzzle game made by the same team that brought us Persona, which usually implies a brilliant soundtrack, believable characters and top-notch atmosphere. And it delivers.

 Vincent Brooks' the game's protagonist, he is irresponsible, laid back and not ready to commit, much to his girlfriend's, Katherine, chagrin. It was a normal day, after his every-day routine of joining his friends for drinks, that he meets Catherine and cheats on his girlfriend... and the nightmares begin. Now begins Vincent ordeals, dealing with his pushy girlfriend, the pushy lover and the deadly nightmares. The story is all kinds of fantastic. Taking place during 8 days or so, every day begins with Vincent waking up after a nightmare, AKA gameplay section, then a few cutscenes of character development, a brief playable interlude at the bar and then another nightmare. The formula doesn't get repetitive due to how good the story-telling is and how engrossing Vincent story is, not to mention how eventually other people get sucked into the nightmare, and you get to follow their stories during the bar and nightmare scenes. It helps that Atlus nailed the game's atmosphere just right, and unexpectedly for a Japanese game, they treat the game's themes with maturity.

 As previously noted, before each nightmare, Vincent will get a brief respite at his favorite bar, The Stray Sheep. These moments are brief, simple and brilliant. Besides interacting with the many different NPCs, which you should, in order to further their personal stories and make sure they survive the nightmares as well, you will also get text messages from Katherine and Catherine, and you are able to answer them in multiple ways, which will affect Vincent's... morality? This can be influenced through other means as well and will change how he behaves in certain cutscenes as well as change the ending. Back to the Stray Sheep, you are able to move around the bar, and while talking to some NPCs, other may leave or enter the joint, which adds a nice little tingle of realism to these sections. Lastly, you can also get hammered on various drinks, getting drunk not only makes you faster during Nightmares, but it also rewards you with alcohol facts! There're a few other thingies, like a record player and an Arcade machine with a 2-D-version of the Nightmare sections, but based around limited moves and solving the challenge. These were probably some of my favorite parts of the game, since they built up the game's world so, so well.

 But then it's time to go back to your house and suffer the Nightmares. This is the meat of the game, in which you must climb a tower of blocks all the way to the top. But you can't take your time, as either lower levels of blocks are constantly falling or you are being followed by a boss. At first, it's simply a matter of pulling and pushing blocks in order to make your way across, but then different types of blocks get introduced: Icy, slippery blocks, Trap blocks, Void Cup-blocks, Spring Blocks and a few others. While it's easy to exploit Retry items, and the 'Undo' feature is pretty generous, the game gets rather brutal at times even in the Normal difficulty setting. I'm not much of a puzzle-game aficionado, so I'm not ashamed to admit that I wasn't much of a fan of these sections. That said, after every stage, each Nightmare being comprised of two-to-four stages each, you'll get to talk with anthropomorphic sheep who soon reveal themselves to be the NPCs from the game's bar section! So even during these you'll get more story bits, and even questions to answer in order to alter Vincent's morality gauge.

 Beating the game unlocks a competitive two player mode, and then there's also the harder, randomized Babel Mode. However, you must earn your entry into the Babel challenges by getting Gold Cups during the story-mode's Nightmares, so... get good.

 Gameplay-wise, Catherine was not my kind of game, but as far as the story is concerned, it's right up my alley. It's a fantastic, original story that keeps you engrossed all the way to the end. So even, even if you are not into puzzle games, the story is more than worth going through the game, featuring mature, serious themes that are displayed in very ingenious ways, mixing Persona's brand of surrealism and fantasy, with more realistic tones. Catherine is fantastic, no two ways about it.
 8.5 out of 10

Now Playing: Dillon's Rolling Western

 Not impressed.

 I just started Dillon's Rolling Western, and it's kinda boring to say the least. The first part of every day is about gathering resources and building stuff... and it's really boring. Rolling around isn't much fun, it's kinda dull, and thanks to the dumb touchscreen controls, a bit imprecise.

 Then comes the Tower Defense bit, and... it's kinda dull as well. Enemies work like 'random encounters', as in touching them brings you into a battle zone in which you must do battle with several baddies. The touchscreen controls are too imprecise and clunky for my liking, it's easy to accidentally bring your fingers to the edge of the screen, and then makes it impossible to aim your charge.

 All in all... it doesn't seem like a good game.

Review #368: Star Wars Episode III - Revenge of the Sith

 Revenge of the mediocre licensed movie tie-in videogame.

 Revenge of the Sith the videogame looks really cool, but it really isn't. Watch gameplay footage of the game and you'll be misled thanks to its pretty graphics, smooth animations and fantastic looking combat, because it looks really good, but looks can be deceiving.

 This is a 3D beat'em up/action game that follows the movie of the same name... or rather, it only follows the actiony sequences from the movie, and only those, so if you haven't seen the movie you might get lost and will definitely not be seeing the whole picture, pun intended. You'll play as both Anakin and Obi-Wan, but finishing story missions will unlock bonus missions in which you can play as Yoda, Grievious and a few others. There're also a few co-op endurance-like missions and a surprisingly fun 1 on 1 fighting mode.

 Square and Triangle are your basic attacks, and they can be strung together for various combos, circle is a power blow, while the shoulder buttons are relegated to Force powers(Push, Saber Throw, Jedi mind trick/Sith Lightning) as well as locking onto enemies. Controls are simple, and the combat, while lacking oomph, is fun enough... for the first couple of missions, eventually devolving into a repetitive drag. The game gets boring and repetitive way too soon, and it's a shame because the game is rather short as well!

 I noticed that the game tried really hard to have cool moments, but they aren't very exciting. There're a few turret sections that are downright boring. It doesn't help that the rest of the game consists of mowing down the same few enemy types over and over and over and over again. On the flip-side, Jedi/Sith boss battles are actually rather fun, and this carries over to the game's bonus VS mode. Battling CPUs and Playrers in one on one combat is more fun than it deserves to be!

 And that's Star Wars Episode III - Revenge of the Sith: You average, every-day licensed movie tie-in game. It does nothing unique, it's nothing special and you're probably better off playing other Star Wars games, preferably those not directly based off a movie.
 5.0 out of 10

Review #367: Gekido - Urban Fighters

 A whole lot of heart, but not the punch to back it up.

 Oh, Gekido, your heart is in the right place, but... but you just couldn't make the cut. Let me tell you Gekido's tale, a tale about a game that wanted to be the next big beat'em up game, the next Streets of Rage or Final Fight, if you will, a tale that ends in disappointment.

 While the game's instruction manual talks about a kidnapped girl, and paints this grim picture of New Tokyo... there's none of that in the game. Seriously, there's no story, there're no cutscenes, only a handful of pre-battle quips by some enemies. So hopefully you didn't expect to play this game for its engrossing storyline. Luckily there're plenty of modes for you to sink your teeth in. Urban Fighters is the main mode, in which you go from stage to stage beating up baddies to a pulp. Arena is a fighing game mode in which up to four players can do battle in closed-off arenas, not to bad! Shadow Fighter is an Arcade ladder of sorts focusing on fighting. Then there's Survival, once again for the Fighting mode, and an unlockable 'Street Gangs' mode, which I really don't care enough about to unlock, and you'll see why in a bit.

 The game gives you three attack buttons: X, triangle and square produce different kind of attacks, and there're specific button string for each character in order to produce combos. Movesets are rather extensive for a game of this kind, and they may involve pressing up to three buttons at the same time, a movelist menu would've been nice, since you'll just resort to mashing buttons. R2 let's you pick up items and weapons, such as pipes, guns or barrels, L1 jumps and L2 crouches. Pressing all four shoulder buttons at the same time will produce an AoE attack that consumes an orange energy gauge... although you can use it even if it isn't full at the cost of some health. Lastly, there's a blue gauge, Rage, which is unleashed by pressing circle. It's got up to three levels and each level does something different: Level 1 is a special attack, level 2 makes you stronger for a while and level 3 makes you stronger and invincible for a while as well as enhancing your AoE attack. Sounds pretty solid so far, right?

 And then it all falls apart. My biggest pet-peeve with beat'em up games is how hitting enemies feels, you'll be doing a lot of mashing, and killing repetitive hordes of enemies, so it will get repetitive, so it's a necessity to make hitting enemies feel crunchy, feel satisfying. But here it's anything but. Hitting enemies is like hitting air, there's very little audiovisual feedback, which feels very lame. It doesn't help that enemies have a lot of invincibility frames on some of their moves, and sometimes hit detection feels really sloppy, just try playing with Ushi and watch all your moves miss. Enemies are also rather cheap, some will shoot you while they are offscreen, others will hit you as soon as a stage starts, without giving you so much as a chance to do anything. Dogs are the most annoying enemy, since they have huge priority on their grab move, so be careful when approaching them! Lastly, sometimes the controls feel a bit unresponsive, particularly the Rage button, you gotta press it really hard, and I tried my controller with other games, so I know my button was working perfectly!

 The presentation leaves a lot to be desired at both a technical and an artistic levels. While Joe Madureira's art is fantastic, character designs are very generic and forgettable, the only memorable design in the entire game is Tetsuo, and that's because he is a Bruce Lee clone, so he is memorable for all the wrong reasons! The five unlockable characters also feel very... random? Why is Gorilla a playable character? Why is the mummy sub-boss from level 3 playable? Why them over the other generic-looking bosses? Why? They don't have importance on the story, none of them do(Except Angela and Akujin, but I digress), so why did they decide to make those playable? Why? As for the technical aspect of the presentations, the graphics are rather poor, and while the game's cover boasts about the artists involved in the game's soundtrack... it feels as if there're only 2-3 songs in the entire game. What the hell??

 What's really sad is that you can tell that the devs' hearts were in the right place. Every staple of the beat'em up genre is here, the elevators, the enemy dogs, the pipes, the train, everything. They even added an extra fighting mode, and characters have a decent assortment of moves! But the entire game was built around the main mode, Urban Fighters, and it just doesn't work very well. Hitting enemies isn't satisfying, enemies are cheap, stages and characters are plain and forgettable.... It gets a lot of things right, but the fundamentals? That's where the game failed. Gekido can be fun, Gekido can be entertaining... but it will never be what it could have been.

 5.5 out of 10