Review #371: Painkiller - Hell & Damnation

 Painkiller, with less levels, less enemies, less framerate and more graphics.

 What was Painkiller? It was a fantastic PC First Person Shooter that harkened back to the era of older FPS game, guns had no ammo clips, circle strafing was the norm and it was all about mowing down hundreds upon hundreds of demons. It was pretty dope, and it's one of my favorite games ever made. Quite a few expansion packs and spin offs would be developed, but they were pretty mediocre or downright bad, probably since, except Battle out of Hell, none of them were developed by the original team. Hell & Damnation doesn't break the trend, it's yet another disappointing attempt at milking everything they can out of the first game.

 While the story picks up after Battle out of Hell ended, the game doesn't contain a single new level, heck, 3 out of the 4 bosses are recycled from the first game. This is never addressed in the game, Daniel simply treads older ground, but doesn't seem to notice. Anyways, Daniel continues to be trapped in limbo, so Death offers him a deal: Gather 7000 souls and have Catherine resurrected. Simple, to the point, it's everything that a game like this needs. That said, I don't remember Daniel being such an immature tryhard prick, he is as unlikable as it gets, not surprisingly being voiced by the guy that voices Duke Nukem.

 First, the good news: This is Painkiller as you know it... more or less. This isn't Half-Life, there're no puzzles to be solved, it's just you, your weapons, and arenas filled to the brim with enemies. There's no regenerating health, but you can find gold souls to restore some health back, or pick up souls from fallen enemies to restore 1 hp a piece. Gathering 66 souls will turn you into an invulnerable demon for a few seconds, allowing you to easily lay waste on your enemies. Fulfilling certain conditions will unlock Tarot Cards, that can be equipped at the cost of some gold coins, found by destroying inanimate objects, that grant you all kinds of extra abilities.

 You are outfitted with only eight weapons, but each has two entirely different functions, so it feels more like eighteen weapons, with a few of them having a third function by pressing both buttons together. Hell and Damnation includes the first game's five weapons, Battle out of Hell's two additional weapons as well as the new Soul Cutter weapon, which is kinda cool... at the cost of the game's Signature weapon: The PainKiller. You seen, using the PainKillers main function, the melee shredder attack, doesn't feel half as satisfying as it once did, back in the original games, you could feel the the crunchy shredding of an enemy's body thanks to the audiovisual feedback, this time around, enemies feel like butter against it, lacking the crunchy sounds or the devastating feedback from before, heck, in order to make the Soul Cutter's main function useful... they had to nerf the PainKillers third attack. Basically, while using the PainKiller used to be fun, now it's disappointing, if I could, I avoided using it, since there was nothing for me in it.

 But let's get into why this fails as a remake: the back of the game's cover boasts that it's a remake of both Painkiller and Battle out of Hell. And it's a shameless lie, Painkiller had about 25 levels, Battle out of Hell added 10 more levels, Hell and Damnation has a paltry 13 levels. THIRTEEN LEVELS out of over 30. Granted, the PS3 version has an additional 14th level, only accessible through Level select. Want to play the missing levels? Gonna have to pony up some extra cash, since they're DLC. Levels have received minor changes, mainly to add the new ammo type for the Soul Cutter, or to accommodate for the new rate at which you acquire the weapons. Also, I'm pretty sure, but can't confirm, some of the enemy types are missing, since I don't remember the original game recycling these many enemy types. Oh, don't worry, you can have more enemy types if you buy the DLC!

 Another way in which this remake takes a hit is in the framerate. Painkiller used to run at a silky 60 fps, but Battle out of Hell runs at 30, with the occasional frame drop when it gets hectic or you use the flamethrower. Lastly, there's a local co-op mode, which makes the framerate suffer even more, as well as online VS modes, if you're into that.

 If you've never played the original Painkiller game, Hell and Damnation may seem like a pretty awesome game. It's a fast-paced, arcadey shooter that favors action over thinking, and emulates older FPS games, before they turned so generic and samey. But, if you have played the original game, then you will know what it's missing. So, it doesn't matter how good the game's foundations are, which are really good, the fact of the matter is that you can get original game at a much cheaper price, and get double the amount of levels. Heck, you can get Painkiller and Battle out of Hell and get everything this game has and more. At a cheaper price. Or you could get Painkiller: Black Edition, which contains everything Painkiller, at a cheaper price. So what if this game has HD graphics, it looks awful for its era and can't even run at a steady framerate. Disappointing.

 If they were gonna go about it this way, a much better idea would've been to make entirely new levels. Don't have the resources, or the will, to translate all the levels from the previous game? Then give us new levels. Sure, they run the risk of falling short of the original, but at least it would've been new content. Why do I want to play this game? I can play the SAME levels, at a faster framerate with the original games. And I get more levels to boot. This is easily the worst way to experience the magnificence that was the original Painkiller. The saddest part about it, is that when it gets down to the brass tacks, this is still Painkiller, it's got the same great gameplay as well as some of the best levels that the franchise has to offer, so at worst, you'll still be able to have a blast with the game... if you decide to get the barest Painkiller package possible.

 6.0 out of 10

Now Playing: Painkiller - Hell & Damnation

 All pain and no killer.

 Painkiller is one of my favorite games ever. Ever. And they went and screwed it up!

 Where do I begin? Let's start with what you can find out before starting the game: Only thirteen levels. The original release had about 25 levels. This game is, supposedly, a pseudo-remake of Painkiller and its first expansion, Battle out of Hell, which added 10 more levels. Do the math, the game is missing over half of the total stages. And if you want more levels? You gotta buy the DLC packs. SERIOUSLY????

 And then you start up the game... the graphics are hideous. Sure, they're a step up from the original game, but then again, that game is flippin' old. There're a few framerate issues every now and then too, which is inexcusable considering how bad it looks. I can either play the good looking, for its time, original game at a fluid 60 fps or play this new, horrible looking, for its time, remake at 30 fps.

 And they also screwed up the game's eponymous weapon, the Painkiller. Back in the PC original, nothing felt more crunchlingly satisfying than using the razor-sharp shredder Painkiller, but in this game it's like cutting through butter: No feedback, no crunchiness, no oomph.

 At least the game is still Painkiller, and it feels, mostly, like Painkiller.

Month Overview: January 2017

 Tally:
Guilty Gear Xrd -Revelator- 8.0
Disgaea 2 - Cursed Memories 7.5
Blazblue - CentralFiction 8.5
Bushido Blade 8.5
Tobal No.1 7.5
Battle Arena Toshinden 3 6.0
Metal Slug Anthology 8.0
Gekido - Urban Fighters 5.5
Star Wars Episode III - Revenge of the Sith 5.0
Catherine 8.5
Twisted Metal - Black 7.5

 That's a ton of games to start off the year! For whatever reason or whim, I decided to start with fighting games. A ton of fighting games. Some were good, some were decent, but none of them really disappointed... Although there were a few disappointments this month, for as fun as Metal Slug games are, this disc is plague with loading times, poor form SNK! And Revenge of the Sith, the game, looked SO good, but it was so average. It looked like one of the best Star Wars games, but it falls short of the visual spectacle it delivers.

 Game of January 2017:

 Catherine, baby! It was high time I played this little game, and it was everything I expected it to be. It's not perfect, and the gameplay is certainly not my cup of tea, but just as with the Danganronpa games, even though I disliked the gameplay, the story itself was SO good that it kept me going.

 Runner-up:

 This is surprising. I almost went with Bushido Blade 1, but as good as that game is, you can't deny that it's a bit lacking when it comes to content. And as much as I liked it, I don't think that it entirely overshadows Bushido Blade 2.... But then there's Blazblue CentralFiction. While character design is otaku-pandering garbage, and the story is convoluted to the point of being nonsensical under the cover of 'deep'.... the gameplay has been refined to a tee.

 There're over 30 characters already, all of them offering at least one unique game mechanic to his or herself, and this is the culmination of every game mechanic that has been piling up since Calamity Trigger, offering so many tools with every single character! CentralFiction delivered where it mattered the most.

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