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RipTen Review: Tetris (3DS Game Boy Virtual Console)

Justin Berube — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 20:00:46 +0000

The original Game Boy version of Tetris was the very first portable game that I owned. Opening that Game Boy up on Christmas morning in 1990 was one of the best moments of my childhood. But that was a long ago. Is this classic Game Boy version of Tetris still From Russia With Fun?

Once the game is booted up players will be treated to the classic music of my portable youth as well as the option for 1 or 2 Players. Unfortunately right from the start a common Game Boy Virtual Console criticism arises. There is no way to select a 2 Player game on this Tetris port because there is no way to classically link up the hardware. For whatever reason Nintendo just quickly ports these Game Boy titles over and doesn’t even include some sort of new wireless way to enjoy the game’s Multiplayer mode with others that have downloaded the software. It just seems a bit lazy.

Single player mode, however, retains all of its glory. Before the game is started the player is given the option of either A-Type, or B-Type. A-Type is Tetris as most know it, while B-Type allows the player to select a difficulty where random Tetris junk pieces are scattered around the play area at the start of the game.

Also from the main screen is the option to choose between four different music types. A-Type (the classic GB Tetris theme), B-Type (my favorite), C-Type, or just Off. This is a nice little option since hearing the same song every game may get annoying.

Then there is one more set of options to choose from. Players can choose what level they will start at between 0 and 9 (starting speed of the falling Tetriminos, AKA Tetris pieces). If game B-Type is selected then it is possible to also choose a difficulty 0-5 of how difficult the scatted Tetris junk pieces will be.

From then on out it’s Tetris as usual. The seven different Tetriminos randomly fall and it’s up to the player to create lines in order to clear them as well as rack up a high score! The more lines that are cleared after a single Tetriminos placement is placed increases the amount of points earned, but going for the ultimate Tetris (clearing 4 lines at once) is risky buy rewarding. If a piece hits the top of the play area the game is over and the score can then be recorded to the game.

This version of Tetris is very simple but also has a rich history. Nintendo securing the ability to release Tetris for the Game Boy is an epic story, which gives this version of Tetris a history unlike most (really go look it up!) Additionally this exact game is what put Nintendo on the path to portable dominance in the gaming industry, a place that it has arguably been for the last 22 years! If this game didn’t come out, and wasn’t packaged with the Game Boy, than Nintendo may have had to wait until Pokémon (if it even made it that far) before they gained a stronghold on the portable gaming market.

With that said, this is still a very simplistic, yet fun, version of Tetris. It also has an arguably high price point of $3.99. While that may not initially sound like much, if you look on the eShop it’s possible to buy Tetris Party Live (originally for DSiWare) for $4.99. I don’t know how that game fares up to this classic Tetris title, but Tetris Party Live looks like it has more options and does feature an online mode and only for a dollar more.

Overall the classic Game Boy version of Tetris is still fun after all these years but may not be the best value as far as Tetris games on the eShop are concerned. However it will fill the hearts of many players with nostalgia and it’s still one of the most influential versions of Tetris ever made making it a must play for those interested in the history of gaming.

Here’s The Rundown:

+ Still From Russia With Fun!
+ Great for those interested in gaming history.
+ Lots of nostalgia for those that played it back on a Game Boy.

- Not many features.
- No two player mode.
- Other versions of Tetris on the eShop may be a greater value.

To keep up with my latest reviews and more Follow me on Twitter @KingNintendoFan or Like Me on Facebook.

Tetris was developed by Nintendo and Bullet-Proof Software and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Game Boy and rereleased on the 3DS eShop. The game was released in North America on the eShop on December 22nd, 2011 with an MSRP of $3.99. The copy used in this review was provided by the publisher. The game was played by the reviewer for over 20 years.

RipTen Review: Scarygirl (XBLA)

Catherine Cai — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 17:00:45 +0000

Since I’m unfamiliar with the origins of Nathan Jurevicius’s Scarygirl, my initial expectations of the game are decided by how I judge everything I associate with either “I don’t know” or a half-hearted shrug—by its title. Still, with such an ambiguous name, I’m not sure what to expect. Is this title meant to be taken literally so that this a horror game about a very “scary girl”? Does the title describe a dead girl that’s a frankensteined amalgamation of child, bone, and tentacle who, if I saw in the streets of reality, I’d probably elicit a blood curling scream before dashing in the opposite direction that she came from, but thankfully is cute because of her animated existence? Why, yes. That’s precisely who Scarygirl is.

If my description of Scarygirl was enough to turn your head, expect to do that a few more times after reading over the game’s synopsis. Apparently, Scarygirl was once an unwanted, abandoned child that was adopted by a hyper-intelligent octopus named Blister, who gave her, her given name and a place to live. Sounds dark? Don’t worry about it. The world of Scarygirl is only twisted in that “Nightmare Before Christmas” way, where for a split second you realize that shit’s fucked… before forgetting about that entirely because of the insane amount of cute that’s being forced down your throat so you’d find it socially acceptable enough for your children to play the game.

I thought that Scarygirl’s eye-catching and unique synopsis would be held up by gameplay that would introduce a spark of something that was just as unique. I wasn’t expecting much. After all, the side-scrolling platform genre has been near beaten to death by the same basic gameplay elements. There’s really only so much that you can tweak to the mechanics of a platforming game in order to make it unique. I guess I was both right and wrong. While Scarygirl’s gameplay mechanics weren’t so novel that they’d blow my mind, but they were simply so polished that I couldn’t help but have fun with the game, despite the fact that basically the same old bag of platforming bits.

Scarygirl’s a mix of side-scrolling platforming with a few elements of hack ‘n slash sprinkled in. Her controls handle very tightly and smoothly, and the use of her tentacle for the grab and glide mechanisms make a nice addition to the game. However, her combat mechanics aren’t quite as up to speed as her platform handling. Scarygirl’s tentacle has been much improved over the original flash game in combat (which I tried out for research, I didn’t lie about not knowing anything about Scarygirl.) Originally, it wasn’t much more than a useless attachment for her ineffectual spin attack. Her combat tentacle now functions as a whip-like object and can mix up light and heavy attacks. Light attacks are faster, whereas heavy attacks allow her to literally juggle her enemies in the air. A purple ring will show around her enemies when they’ve been sufficiently knocked down enough as an indication that she can grab them. From thereon, she can either choose to perform a special move on or toss away her unfortunate captive. As Scarygirl continues to fight, she begins to build up her rage meter, which, when filled, can be used to trigger Scarygirl’s rage mode, where the entire screen melts into gray and Scarygirl becomes a gruesome enemy-chomping version of herself. Scary.

Along her merry, but creepy journey, Scarygirl can grab two types of pickup items. Gems float around the levels that Scarygirl travels through, which I suppose works as the capital of her world’s economy. Gems can be traded with specific sellers scattered through levels for new tentacle add-ons, which serve as power ups in Scarygirl and can provide such benefits as attack bonuses; new vinyls, which are just pretty collectibles you can view in the Scarygirl menu level for collector’s items whores; and new special moves. The other collectible that Scarygirl can gather is fish, which I suppose she grew fond of as a result of her time with Blister the octopus. The health system in Scarygirl functions the same as the one in the Legend ofZelda series. A series of hearts represent the amount of life Scarygirl has left. Every time Scarygirl is harmed, she loses a quarter of a heart or more. Every fish that she grabs up brings back a quarter of a heart. And just like in The Legend of Zelda, where heart pieces can be collected in order to have more overall hearts, Scarygirl can do the same.

If you want to share your love of Scarygirl around with a friend, you can. Scarygirl features a local co-op mode, where you can play as Scarygirl and your friend can play as the infinitely cooler Bunniguru, the bunny martial arts master. Although the basic combat and platforming moves are essentially the same, but Bunniguru handles significantly differently from Scarygirl. He runs faster, higher, and glides for longer periods of time than Scarygirl, but he comes with the handicap of being unable to grab anything beyond ledges for platforming. Although 2 player co-op is decently fun enough with Scarygirl, it contains some serious flaws that makes it an extremely frustrating experience for whoever is playing as Bunniguru. Instead of allowing the in-game camera to pan out when Scarygirl and Bunniguru get far apart from each other, the camera stays squarely focused on Scarygirl. Anytime Bunniguru wanders out of the frame, he’ll be teleported immediately back to wherever Scarygirl is, which is eye-ball-gougingly annoying, since the game seems to have it out for Bunniguru by teleporting him over spikes and never-ending abysses of certain death. The game also makes it impossible for you to complete the game as Bunniguru as the game restarts at a checkpoint whenever Scarygirl’s health runs out, regardless of whether or not Bunniguru is completely fine. There are also certain junctures within the game that require Scarygirl’s ability to grab items and enemies, which Bunniguru is incapable of doing. I guess here is where there’s a discrepancy between the ludonarrative, since it wouldn’t make sense in the story for Bunniguru to continue on Scarygirl’s mission without her. From a technical standpoint, this mechanic almost breaks co-op mode and certainly makes it a very frustrating experience.

Scarygirl is an absolute triumph in aesthetics. The visuals are absolutely gorgeous and the sound design complements that sick, twisted, and cute effect of the visuals. In fact, I wouldn’t blink an eye if you were to tell me that Danny Elfman somehow contributed to the sound design of the game. On the technical side, although Scarygirl is well-polished in its platforming aspects, it suffers from derivateness and a few mechanical flaws such as random difficulty spikes and a broken co-op mode that prevents it from being a great game across the board.

Here’s the Rundown:

+ Scarygirl is adorable, in that Tim Burton-y way
+ Polished, platformer fun
+ Bunniguru is a bamf
+ It’s pretty
- Drop-in local co-op is almost unplayable for player two
- Random difficulty spikes that may get under your skin
- Boss fights are few and far between

8 and 8.5 represent a game that is a good experience overall. While there may be some issues that prevent it from being fantastic, these scores are for games that you feel would easily be worth a purchase.

Scarygirl is developed by TikGames and published by Square Enix. It was released on XBLA on January 18, 2012. A copy of the game was graciously provided by Square Enix. Scarygirl was played to completion in about 8 hours.

RipTen Review: Trine 2 (XBLA)

Chris Carlson — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 23:00:27 +0000

Trine 2 combines a beautiful, artistic and vibrant world with platforming, puzzles and action / RPG elements to create one of the most visually stunning and entertaining downloadable titles of 2011. These puzzles aren’t solved alone however. Having the ability to simultaneously switch between three distinct characters makes Trine 2 one brain-twisting experience.

Throughout the game you’ll be using each of your three characters abilities to solve countless puzzles: Amadeus who is a wizard which can conjure boxes and platforms and has the ability to levitate multiple objects; Zoya is a thief who wields a grappling hook and a bow, and Pontiusis a fearless (fat) knight with a sword and shield (and hammer)

As you venture through the game you’ll have the ability to level up each of the three characters further increasing their skills. While these do make puzzle solving easier, leveling up isn’t necessary if you’re looking for a real challenge. Trine 2 also offers many different ways to play. If you want to try solving each puzzle by using just Zoya for instance, you’re more than welcomed to do so. If things get to tough however, you can always switch to another character to help complete the current section.

Aside from puzzle solving, Trine 2 also offers a bit of combat. It’s not the strongest aspect of the game as it’s rather basic. Most of the enemies die in a few simple hits and aren’t very challenging, But when trying to solve platforming puzzles at the same time, it certainly makes things a bit more difficult.

However the challenge is actually where I found issues with Trine 2. As challenging as it can be sometimes, the checkpoint system used in the game completely ruins it. Instead of reloading to a checkpoint and having to re-complete what you’ve done, the game just “warps” you to the area. This can be done at any time by accessing the pause menu. So, you never really have the fear of dying because you’ll never lose any progress. While the puzzles aren’t easy, this system almost makes the game too easy.

This tends to make mini-boss like enemies insanely easy as you can simply spam the checkpoint system and repeat the same attacks without the worry of the enemies health returning back to full. It’s not a deal breaking, but it’s certainly an easy way out for gamers who can’t overcome the challenge.

As I mentioned before, Trine 2 is a simply beautiful. The colors are perfect, bloom is used just right, the environments feel like-like. Overall it’s just one of the most beautiful downloadable titles I’ve seen in a long time. Even though some of the environments can be repeated, you’ll never get bored of seeing the same beautiful scenery.

The animations on the other hand are rather dull and don’t offer much variety, but the simple fact that you’ll have multiple ways to tackle each puzzle makes up for it. I would often find myself in the middle of solving a puzzle, just to realize I could have done it a completely different way. This is what makes Trine 2 so excellent. On your second playthrough, you can challenge yourself by completing different puzzles in multiple ways to further increase the replay value.

If that’s not you’re type of thing, co-op is also offered. Up to three players can take on the entire single player campaign playing freely as any character their heart desires. Unfortunately, the downside to co-op is that nothing will be changed. If you’ve already beaten the game by yourself, you’ll be doing the exact same puzzles over, but with a friend instead.

This is rather disappointing as a separate co-op experience with its own unique puzzles would have made a great time with friends. I’d rather be able to only complete certain puzzles and levels with friends, that way going in I would have no idea what to expect. Maybe in Trine 3? Or Trine… Trine?

Overall, Trine 2 is simply a fantastic experience that any gamer who is a fan of puzzle platforming games should at the very least, try out. You just simply can’t go wrong with a beautiful downloadable title such as this that offers so much and takes a different approach at puzzle solving.

Not only that, but if you have a friend to jump in from the get-go, you’ll have one hell of a weekend. Bottom line is, if you’re looking to get your brain twisted for the holidays, Trine 2 is the game you’re looking for. You won’t be disappointed.

Here’s The Rundown:

+ Beautiful. Simply beautiful

+ Great physics and puzzle solving

+ Fantastic use of characters and abilites

+ Multiple ways to solve the same puzzles

+ Co-op

- Co-op, due to the lack of separate levels

- Some puzzles are overused a bit too much

- The current checkpoint system ruins much of the challenge

9 and 9.5 represent the pinnacle of the genre, a game that defines what that genre should be about. These scores are for games that you not only feel would be worth your purchase, but you would actually try to convince your friends to buy them as well.

Trine 2 was developed by Frozenbyte, and published by Atlus. It will be released on XBLA and PSN on December 21st, 2011. A review copy was provided by Atlus for the purpose of this review. Trine 2 was played until completion taking around 6 hours to finish. It’s so pretty!

RipTen Review: Serious Sam 3: BFE

Dave Oshry — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 02:00:16 +0000

Serious Sam 3 is a dumb game. However, I mean that in the best possible way.

You see, one does not need a brain in order to play or enjoy Serious Sam 3. One needs only the will to strafe, shoot, and strafe some more. If you’re into multiplayer, even better. If you’ve got friends, better still. And if you’re into old school first person shooters, welcome to Nirvana (with bullets).

If you’re not familiar with Serious Sam, that’s ok. There’s not much to know. ”Serious” Sam Stone is a bad ass dude and he likes to shoot things. End of story. Sure there’s a “story” in Serious Sam 3; One that involves the end of the human race, the pyramids, science, and no less than four helicopters going down, but the cutscenes in which the story is presented are so bad that they’re actually kinda good. Well, actually they’re just bad… like two steps below Dean Cain in “Militia” bad. Google it.

However, as I’ve said before, if you’re playing a Serious Sam game for the story, then you’ve come to the wrong place. Serious Sam is from another era. An era when the stories in video games were like the stories in porno flicks. They only really serve as a lead-in to the money shot, and well, you could say that Serious Sam 3 is one big money shot. Prepare to spend hours upon hours blowing your load of bullets onto and into anything that moves in Bum Fuck Egypt (BFE), because Sam is on a mission… and he’s serious.

Serious Face

The single player campaign is much of what I described above. Lots of terrible cutscenes and lots of shooting at bad things. The gameplay starts off slowly and introduces you to the weapons and monsters at a pace that even your grandmother would enjoy. However, by the fourth chapter, you’ll have no doubts this is definitely a Serious Sam game. Dozens of enemies will be running at you at once, and you’ll wonder just how yer gonna kill em all, until you do, and feel quite satisfied. By chapter 12? The game is insane. Hundreds of baddies on screen at once, blood flying everywhere, and forget about rockets, you’re firing cannonballs. Fucking medieval.

If you’re familiar with Serious Sam, then the enemies will be familiar as well. Gnaar, Kleer Skeletons, Beheaded Gunners, Beheaded Machine Gunners, Spiders, Scrapjacks, Harpies, Arachnoids, and lots of things with rocket launchers attached to them. All of whom will do what they’ve always done – run at you. The AI in Serious Sam 3 is nothing spectacular, but it does the job. Don’t expect any RAGE-like enemy behavior folks, just expect shit to come at you and hope you’ve got enough bullets or rockets to take ‘em down.

The game also looks pretty damn good, but not great. You can tell that Croteam spent their resources on what was important (mainly the guns and the monsters) because everything else, such as the environments, are rather bland. However, the Serious Engine 3 does a commendable job of rendering so many things running on screen at once without killing your frame rate, that it’s hard to really knock ‘em for visuals. Let’s just say that the game looks better than good enough.

This scene sums up the single player pretty well, save for the boss fights that take up the whole screen. I’ll let you discover that madness on your own:

The multiplayer is a whole other story. You see, not only does Serious Sam 3 have your typical Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, Capture the Flag, One Shot One Kill, and Last Man Standing multiplayer modes (which all feel very similar to Quake III if I had to compare them to anything) but there’s also 16 player co-op. Yes, 16 players can play the campaign at once, or team up in survival modes.

You can play classic mode (which gives you three lives per player) Standard, which is the same as playing in single player (you just respawn), Coin-Op (which gives you three lives between your team) and then there’s survival. Survival mode is exactly what it sounds like. Waves and waves of enemies will come at you and you have to survive as long as you can. If you try to play survivial by yourself, you will surely die within a minute. Get four or more people in the game and you’ll be having fun in no time seeing how long you can last. Between the single player and multiplayer modes, theres no shortage of content in Serious Sam 3, especially for $40. It’s the total package for any PC FPS gamer.

However, the thing that impressed me most about Serious Sam 3 multiplayer was just how seamless everything was. I had no matchmaking or connectivity issues via Steam, and I played through damn near the entire campaign with two of my buddies while other players just came and went. Sometimes we had 14 people, sometimes we had 6 – no matter. The game would adjust accordingly and there were never any issues. We just kept ploughing through baddies until the sun came up. It was marvelous.

What’s it like playing Serious Sam 3 co-op with eight people? I’m glad you asked. Otherwise I wouldn’t be able to show you this video I made:

You see, many PC gamers have that one shooter that they’ve been able to pick up, play, and just as easily put down at a moment’s notice for years. For many people it’s the first three episodes of the original DooM, but for me that game has always been Rise of the Triad. Apogee’s lost epic is a game that I’ve had installed on every PC I’ve ever owned and brought with me on a flash drive no mater where I went. If I was ever lost on a desert island, at least I would have ROTT and be able to satisfy my digital FPS bloodlust. Well, my aplogies to Tom Hall and the rest of the Developers of Incredible Power who made my favorite old school FPS of all time, but Serious Sam 3 is my new ROTT. It’s so damn old school it hurts. I now have it installed on every PC I own (thanks to Steam) and I can just as easily pick it up as I can put it down. I can play it forever alone, I can play it with friends, I can even play it with complete strangers who once thought they were forever alone. Serious Sam 3 is my new comfort food. It’s a 10 piece bucket of extra crispy KFC with five boxes of potato wedges and three sides of mac and cheese. I can have it anywhere, anytime, and it makes me feel gooooood.

Ahem…

Here’s the rundown:

+ Looks great on my high end PC

+ Runs great on my low end laptop

+ Great pacing in single player

+ Great fun in multiplayer

+ Only $40

+Sam’s Serious One Liners

+Old School

- Old School

- Sam’s Serious One Liners

- Could Look Better

- Cutscenes and animations will make you laugh for the wrong reasons

- I don’t have 15 friends

Serious Sam 3 BFE was developed by Croteam and published by Devolver Digital. It was released on November 22nd, 2011 for $39.99 USD on PC only. A copy of the game was provided bu the publisher for the purposes of review. Dave has beaten the campaign both Solo and Co-op and played a crap ton of multiplayer. He’s sunk about 20 hours into the game so far, which is probably longer than you’ve played anything this year except for Skyrim ya dirty hippie.

RipTen Review: Sonic Generations (3DS)

David Oxford — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 09:50:12 +0000

We recently spoke at considerable length about Sonic the Hedgehog’s latest outing, the 20th anniversary celebrating Sonic Generations. As such, that makes covering the Nintendo 3DS version a little bit easier (and probably less wordy, but we’ll see).

Traditionally speaking, there are two ways to bring a console title to a portable platform: one is to essentially try to bring the exact same experience to the latter, lopping off any extraneous parts or limbs as necessary due to technological limitations. The other is to all but forget what has gone into the console version, and essentially build something new from the ground up which delivers the same basic idea, but in a form better suited to the less-powerful hardware.

Sonic Generations hits somewhere between the two ideals, though closer to the latter– at least where gameplay is concerned. The story is the same as the one seen in the console version, and much of the dialogue is replicated verbatim, though without the voice acting of the console version. There are little sound bytes as each character’s sequence of word balloons begins, but much of the dialogue falls comparatively flat without the voices to deliver them.

Hey, say what you want about Sonic and the rest, but Mike Pollock’s Eggman is an absolute joy to listen to. You can tell that he must be having a great time voicing the role, and it’s a shame not to have it here, especially when we’re certain the Nintendo 3DS could more than adequately handle it.

Way Better Than English

As we were saying, the story is mostly the same, only now, none of Sonic’s friends appear, save for Tails. Well, Shadow and Silver appear, too, if one were to include their appearances as bosses– but more on those later.

The cutscenes used to tell the story also lack the… well, everything of the console version. If there is one thing SEGA can do well with Sonic, it’s computer-animated cutscenes. But instead of those, or even stills from the console version, the Nintendo 3DS version basically has the characters standing and talking against static backgrounds which they don’t even look like they are able to interact with.

This is worsened when the scene in question involves more than just talking; it would be all but impossible to guess what the characters are doing if not for them telling you. And even then, near the end of the game, there is at least one event which happens that we’re still not entirely sure of what happened– that one does differ from the console version, and they don’t really bother to explain, though you still get the general idea of what went on.

Heck, you don’t even get a cool transformation sequence for Super Sonic (no, that’s not a spoiler… not if you’ve ever played through most any Sonic game before).

It’s disappointing because we’re pretty sure SEGA can do better than this. Shoot, get the guys at Archie to draw up some cut scenes next time.

Anyway, despite this disappointment– which may not even matter to you, and is easily skippable for those who don’t care why a blue hedgehog needs to run really, really fast through colorful stages– the game is actually pretty good. And, depending on your view of the frequently over-the-shoulder Modern Sonic style presented in the console version, this version could even surpass it.

The reason for that is because, for the most part, gameplay in the Nintendo 3DS version is entirely 2D, or at least 2.5D in some parts. Ironic, given the system, we know. But Classic Sonic plays as the Blue Blur did during the heyday of the SEGA Genesis, and Modern Sonic feels like a cross between the side-scrolling portions of Modern Sonic on the console, and the gameplay of Sonic Rush, minus the mid-air stunts.

That said, there are some 3D portions, but they are exceedingly rare. These are relegated to some rail-grinding, special “escape” sequences, such as where Sonic runs towards the player as a giant totem pole comes falling down behind him, and the Sonic the Hedgehog 2-styled (or more accurately, as we’ve more recently been told, Sonic Heroes-styled) special stages.

These special stages appear after both Sonics clear their respective portions of a zone, and there are seven in all (as there are seven Chaos Emeralds to obtain). If you want to see the end of the game, then you must complete them.

Fortunately, these special stages are not nearly as difficult as those seen in past Sonic titles. At first we thought they would be, as we believed the goal to be to collect as many colored orbs (in lieu of rings) as possible to get the Chaos Emerald. Instead, these actually fuel your boost meter, with which you must keep up with the Chaos Emerald in order to get it.

Special stages have always been the bane of this reviewer’s Sonic experiences, and he has never succeeded in gathering all seven within any game; one or two, at the most. But this time out, he was able to acquire all seven with ease, and had a blast doing it. And like other stages in the game, you can improve your score and rank by going back to them and doing even better.

As for the main portion of the game, things have been streamlined considerably. Rather than a large, interactive hub, you select your stages from a menu, while other features– challenges, unlockables, etc.– are separated into their own game modes.

The lineup of stages differs from the console version as well, though not in the way many had hoped. Being a handheld title, there were fans who had hoped that this version of Generations would take its stages from Sonic’s Game Gear, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS, and PlayStation Portable appearances. But, for the most part, that isn’t the case, and the majority of stages come from console titles.

Though both share unique versions of the Green Hill Zone, that is the only one they have in common. Sonic 2‘s Chemical Plant Zone is replaced by the Casino Night Zone, Sonic & Knuckles‘ Hidden Palace Zone is replaced by the Mushroom Hill Zone, and once again, Sonic 3 is left out entirely, unless you’re willing to count it and Sonic & Knuckles as one game.

Things continue with Sonic Adventure‘s Speed Highway being replaced by the Emerald Coast and Sonic Adventure 2‘s City Escape being replaced by Radical Highway. After that, though, things veer wildly away from the pattern established in the console version.

Gone are the remakes of levels from Sonic Heroes, 2006′s Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic Unleashed, and Sonic Colors for the Wii; in their place are a humble two zones, with Water Temple representing Sonic Rush and Tropical Resort representing Sonic Colors for the Nintendo DS. It’s an interesting trade-off, to say the least, though it is unfortunate that the number of stages seems to have been dictated by the number of Chaos Emeralds.

RipTen Review: Mario Kart 7 (3DS)

Justin Berube — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 06:30:41 +0000

The series that invented the kart racing genre is finally on the 3DS. Mario Kart 7 was one of the first 3DS titles announced for the platform and fans have finally been rewarded for their patience.

First off, many items from the classic Mario Kart games return, so fans can look forward to seeing Bananas, Triple Bananas, Green Shells, Red Shells, Triple Green Shells, Triple Red Shells, Spiny Shells, Bob-ombs, Mushrooms, Triple Mushrooms, Golden Mushrooms, Bullet Bills, Bloopers, Lightning, and Super Stars.

However, three new items make their series debut in Mario Kart 7: Fire Flowers, Super Leaves, and the Lucky Seven. Fire Flowers allow the driver to lob several fire balls forward or backwards at other drivers. Super Leaves give the driver’s kart a Tanooki tail and allows the driver to hit nearby foes and the Lucky Seven surrounds the driver’s kart with seven items that can be shot off one at a time.

As with other Mario Kart titles, many items can be used both offensively and defensively. Determining how to best make use of the currently held item during a race will play a major role in determining your success.

Also returning to Mario Kart are coins, which are scattered throughout the tracks in Mario Kart 7. Picking these coins up will give a slight speed boost (like a super small mushroom boost) and also increase the player’s top speed. Only ten coins can be held at once and getting hit by an item will cause a few to be dropped around the driver. Coins add a great gameplay mechanic to the action, as the increased speed really does add up and makes a big difference.

Coins also help unlock many new karts and kart pieces. These pieces can then be used in another new feature in Mario Kart 7, Kart Customization. The kart that the character will use is based on three categories: kart type, wheels, and glider (another new feature). As the kart is being assembled, players can easily see how the chosen parts will affect the Speed, Acceleration, Weight, Handling, and Off-Road capabilities of the kart. The player character also has some bearing on this as well, but there are plenty of options to unlock, ultimately giving players the ability to choose how they would like to drive. The only problem with Kart Customization is that almost all of the Gliders give the same exact stats to the karts.

Mario Kart 7 adds both Gliders and underwater propellers to the mix. While hitting certain big jumps on select courses, a glider will pop out on top of the player’s kart. This will allow the player glide in the air for a while, which can help them cut corners of a course, collect coins in the air, etc. Some of the jumps are in strategic places that turn into a short cut and others are required for that course. It’s good fun.

The underwater propellers also function similarly. Players can now drive underwater on certain courses! No more just falling off the track if you go below, there are often splits in the track based on whether the player decided to travel by land or under the sea! There are often pluses and minuses to both options, which adds even more strategy to the races.

Mario Kart fans can also look forward to the return of other gameplay mechanics in Mario Kart 7. This includes Rocket Starts, Drifting, Mini-Turbos, Super Mini-Turbos, and the somewhat new Jump Boost.

Like many Mario Kart titles, pressing the R button will make the player’s kart hop up. If done while turning, this will initiate a drift. Drift long enough and the wheels will spark blue, and if done for a really long time, red. This will award the player with a Mini-Turbo boost (if blue) and a Super Mini-Turbo (if red). These boosts will play a large part in the outcome of a race, so mastering this technique is crucial to success. (Note: Those players worrying about the snaking technique that plagued Mario Kart DS don’t need to fear, snaking is dead.)

Jump Boosts are an evolution of the trick system found in Mario Kart Wii. Whenever a player is about to hit a bump in the road or a ramp, they can tap R at the last second to jump higher off these inclines. Upon landing, they player will gain a decent boost.

The single player Mario Kart 7 experience offers Grand Prix mode, Time Trials, Balloon Battle, and Coin Runners.

The Grand Prix is just like in the other Mario Kart games. There’s 50cc, 100cc, 150cc, and Mirror Mode. Each cc increases in difficulty and kart speeds. Upon picking a cc, it’s then possible to choose from (eventually) eight different Cups. Each Cup consists of four races. At the end of each race points, will be awarded to each player. Trophies will be awarded at the end of each Cup and the goal is to get a Gold First Place Trophy in each cup on every difficulty level.

An additional goal of the Cups is the Star Ranking system. If a player does well during a cup, they will be rewarded with one, two, or three stars. Getting a Star Ranking in every Cup in the game will allow others to see them online. So getting at least one star in every cup will display one star next to that player’s name online. This adds a ton of replay value to the Grand Prix mode. Those that have tackled this challenge in past Mario Kart games should know that it’s much easier to get three Stars now. I know since I was able to three star ever Grand Prix in the game. While it may be easier than in past Mario Kart games, it still provides quite a challenge.

The fist four Cups (16 total tracks) are all new tracks currently exclusive to Mario Kart 7. The later four Cups (also 16 total tracks) are all from previous Mario Kart titles. Many of these classic tracks have been changed slightly to take advantage of some of the new gameplay mechanics found in Mario Kart 7, such as gliders and underwater driving.

The new courses are fantastic. At first, I didn’t like some of the new tracks, but upon becoming more familiar with them, I came to enjoy them all. The old tracks represent some of the best experiences from classic Mario Kart titles. There are some tracks here that I’m still not to fond of, but many of my favorites just happened to return. Overall, the track selection is top notch and rivals the great track selection from Mario Kart DS. Fans won’t be disappointed.

Time Trial is back and this is the mode for the most hardcore kart racers. You can race on every track with one item, the Triple Mushroom. Mario Kart 7 also saves ghost data, so a player can race against their own best time or against some preset ghosts.

This Is The Only Old Republic Review You Will Ever Need To See

Dave Oshry — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 19:10:07 +0000

You guessed, it the Bro Team is back with another dead on video review.

This time it’s for Star Wars: The Old Republic. Wait… that’s not even out yet.

Whatever, just watch it:

NO SEWER LEVELS?! NO SALE!!

For an actual preview of the old republic, check out How and Why our MMO Champion Jensen Walker Played The Old Republic For 36 Hours

RipTen Review: Saints Row: The Third (Xbox 360)

Dan Landis — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 03:30:13 +0000

When a game like Saints Row: The Third gives you the ability to share your ridiculous experiences with a friend, you don’t squander it. No, you take that opportunity and run with it. Naked. Brandishing sex toys as weapons and driving a gold-plated Hummer with pedestrian-destroying spiked hubcaps. And that’s just what I did with my brother John. Now we’re gonna talk about it. And you’re going to read it. And then you’re going to the store to buy me some ice cream.

Dan: Right, so we played Saints Row: The Third that one time, remember?

John: Yeah. It was a bit on the awesome side of things.

Dan: Was it?

John: I thought so. Might have been better had we actually beaten the story instead of just blowing up random shit.

Dan: Well, there is something to be said for a game that lets you have so much fun without having to do anything relating to a story… or even know or care what the story is.

John: True. The only problem is that I think even more hijinks are unlocked as you do more of the story, so by limiting the amount of missions we did, we sort of kept a bit of the shenanigans from perhaps reaching their true potential.

Dan: Well, we made it pretty far together, but you got the game before I did and made it further than I did, mission-wise. Tell me about some things that I didn’t do yet.

John: Not so much activities that I know of, but weapons or outfits to be sure. I don’t think you unlocked the RC gun yet. The RC Gun lets you take control of vehicles by shooting them. It’s how I stole my first helicopter.

Dan: Yeah, I remember you telling me that just after I said “You know what would make this game better? If they had that grappling hook from Just Cause 2.”

John: I know in single player I wasn’t able to do the activities until I unlocked them in a story mission, so I don’t know if in our co-op sessions we were able to do them because I had unlocked them already or if they just unlock because it’s co-op.

Dan: Hmm, that’s a good question. The first thing I experienced in the game was when I hopped into your campaign and was immediately run over.

John: Hah! I don’t remember that.

Dan: Yeah. I kept dying, and you said that maybe I should start a new game and you’ll join me.

John: Ah, yeah. Worked out a lot better that way too I think.

Dan: I agree.

John: Oh yeah, I remember now, I sucked you into the Man-a-pault or whatever!

Dan: Yeah, and then I shot myself out of it and died… So, the game starts with us robbing a bank with an oversized Johnny Gat bobblehead mask.

John: Yeah, gets you right into the action before you even get to customize your character or anything. Really gets you a feel for the over-the-top nature of the game in the first few minutes.

Dan: Sure does! The one thing that was odd about it, and correct me if I’m wrong, but your character speaks, right?

John: Yeah, it’s one of the generic voices, but there is a voice disguiser as part of the mask if I remember right, so they still have an out for that one also. Though you can definitely tell it’s one of the generic dude voices and most certainly not Zombie Voice.

Dan: Hahaha, talk about the zombie voice for a minute.

John: I love Zombie Voice. Basically everything the character normally says in the game, and I have no idea how to say this in a written format, is just crazy zombie rantings.

Dan: Like “blarrg, blaahhhh, bluahhhhh!”

John: In game the subtitles just say like “grumble” or “groan” but in the cinema scenes he actually has conversations. Haha, yeah, like you said. The best part is people will actually have conversations with Zombie Voice, so you’ll have a scene like this:
Trent: Yo! We need to kill that bitch!
Zombie Voice: Blarg larg blaaaah!
Trent: Oh, snap! You’re right, we can’t just go in there, they’ll spot us a mile away!
Zombie Voice: Blarg!
Trent: Good idea! Let’s go!
It’s almost like Han and Chewie

RipTen Hardware Review: Razer BlackWidow Ultimate Stealth Edition Keyboard

Stephanie Gutowski — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 20:25:43 +0000

There’s nothing worse than letting anticipation fill you with hopes of greatness, only to have that thing you’d been waiting for arrive and be riddled with flaws. Such is the story of my time with Razer’s BlackWidow Stealth keyboard. For those of you looking for a quieter alternative to their previous model, the BlackWidow Stealth was supposed to satisfy your needs. Yet moments after opening the box and connecting it to my computer did I discover that something was very, very wrong with my keyboard.

You Like Those Ports? Well, You Got Extra Cable Ties?

The BlackWidow Stealth brings a few things to the table: it’s quiet, offers “anti-ghosting,” dedicated programmable macro keys, blue backlights with five lighting modes (brighter, brighter, pulsing, etc.), and an additional headphone/mic jack. Two lights above the number pad show the macro mode. One indicates when you’re recording macros, while the other indicates whether or not gaming mode is active. The braided cables end in gold-plated USBs, which feel incredibly sturdy and well-made, even if they’re a tad overwhelming as you’ll need to plug in two USBs and your mic/headphone cables in order to activate all its features. Note that at the time I began testing the keyboard, I was using an HP Pavilion laptop via an expansion base, which meant from the get-go that my gaming experience would be limited unless I crammed World of Warcraft back into my hard drive. Shortly after plugging everything in, I learned how it got its name.

It looks like a freakin' spider.

I wonder if Razer is aware that similar high end keyboards come with more ports than the BlackWidow and only require you to plug in one USB cable…

Anyhow, I was immediately enthralled by the glowing. I installed the drivers quickly and without fuss and promptly began to explore the BlackWidow’s features. I noticed that despite it’s advertised “stealth,” it was very heavy and not quite as silent as I expected. While it was certainly one of the quieter mechanical keyboards I’ve used, it’s not exactly whisper-quiet. After using a laptop keypad for years, I was someone put-off by the increase in noise. So no, it’s not as stealthy as a laptop, but was a great improvement over my last keyboard. Yet, before I could even begin to plan my return to WoW, I noticed a very serious flaw that had me fuming for hours.

I’ve never in my entire life as a computer user had such a problem with sticking keys. I’ve had keyboards survive soda spills that performed better. In this case, both the left control and tab keys routinely stuck in place, sending Windows 7 into fits of rage as I continued to type, unaware of what had happened. These are vital keys and I couldn’t believe that I was sitting in front of a Razer product, ready to throw it out my window. The thing could have at least beeped me a warning: “Oh hey, better check your shift and tab keys because they’re like, perma pressed and they’re totally going to get you killed in Arathi Basin. LAWLS.” For all the glowing and stealthyness, I wouldn’t jump into any game with a problem like that, much less type up a paper… let alone this review.

IT LOOKS COOL THO

The killing blow came when I plugged in my Turtle Beach PX21′s into the mic jack and discovered an omnipresent buzzing in my ear. Skype friends (Dave and Aaron) complained of the noise and I promptly switched back to the expansion bay ports. The real shame is that aside from these glaring issues, the keyboard itself felt pretty damn good. When the keys worked, they were responsive and the lights just looked really, really cool. But somewhere, somehow, something went wrong.

Maybe I was simply incredibly unlucky. I’d only just obtained a Razer Imperator mouse and was loving it to bits. So how could something from the same company be of such poorer quality? Frankly, I’m baffled. In fact, as soon as my new PC arrived, I soon replaced the BlackWidow with the stock keyboard that my computer’s manufacturer had tossed in for laughs. I haven’t looked back. In theory, the BlackWidow Stealth keyboard should be excellent, but the thing sitting beneath my desk is an anomaly- something best kept in the closet, away from prying eyes. I’m disappointed that such a specimen made it through quality assurance. I didn’t go through and punch-test every key, but I’d made up my mind after the first two offenses. Typing became a nightmare and I was left disappointed and lonely, wondering why this keyboard just wouldn’t love me. Did I mention there is also no wrist rest or support at all? Because that’s good for ya…

Not As Light As It Looks Either

I want a do-over, mulligan, something… but I can’t. Razer let the weird one loose and I must judge it accordingly.

While some of my issues may have been a fluke and the rest of you are absolutely loving your Black Widow Stealths that work perfectly, I am assessing the individual keyboard that I was given. As much as I’d love to say that everything was peaches and cream, my experience was far from it. Do your research before you drop $139.99 on anything, especially a keyboard.

Here’s the rundown:

+ Cool blue lights

+ Some people prefer the matte finish over the Ultimate’s glossy finish

+ It comes in a pretty box

+ When it works, it looks and feels pretty damn good

- Keys stick (mine did anyway)

- Not as quiet as you’d think (no real reason to leave your Black Widow Ultimate)

- $139.99 is more than the Ultimate and still too expensive

- Heavy, bulky, not great for travel

- Mic/Headphone ports are shoddy and require too many cables

- No wrist rest?

6 and 6.5 represent a product that doesn’t do anything spectacular or drastically fails to meet the high expectations people had for it. These scores are for products that you would only recommend to diehard fans of the company, something that the average gamer wouldn’t miss very much if he/she skipped it.

The Razer Black Widow Stealth Edition was manufactured by Razer and is available for $139.99 at retailers worldwide. A unit was provided by Razer for the purposes of review. Steph was really excited when she got it, she is far less excited now.

RipTen Review: Super Mario 3D Land

Justin Berube — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 06:22:48 +0000

When the 3DS launched back in March, many fans like me were upset due to the lack of a Mario title. Well, the wait is now over and Mario is finally here in full 3D.

Super Mario 3D Land is a 3D platformer that manages to combine the gameplay of New Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros. 3, and Super Mario Galaxy into one great title.

The story is very basic for a Mario Title. Outside of Princess Peach’s castle is a Tree full of Super Leaves (for turning Mario into Tanooki Mario). One night, a big storm blows the Super Leaves off and they scatter throughout the Mushroom Kingdom. That morning, as Peach is checking out the damage, Bowser swoops on in and captures her. Now it’s up to Mario to save her once again! Time to start jumping on things.

Super Mario 3D Land borrows from the New Super Mario Bros. games in that each level is timed and must be completed by finding and hopping on a flagpole (and has three hidden Star Coins to find)

The power-ups in Super Mario 3D Land are very reminiscent of Super Mario Bros. 3. For instance, the Tanooki Suit is back after a long hiatus. Additionally, many of the enemies, stages, environments, and more are right out of Super Mario Bros. 3 and the game has a very nostalgic look and feel for that reason.

There are influences from Super Mario Galaxy as well as some of the gameplay elements are borrowed directly from the hit Wii titles.

While Super Mario 3D Land borrows elements from various other Mario games it has a playstyle all its own (one that I thought up of over 10 years ago). As mentioned before it’s very linear, like New Super Mario Bros., but because the game is in 3D, it allows for further exploration in the depth of the stages.

Some stages will feel more like a 2D platformer with the ability to choose the exact plane of movement, while others are more open to full 3D world exploration (while still maintaining the simple goal of getting to the end of a level by jumping on le flagpole). Each stage is also no longer than three minutes, which is great for a portable game.

From the overworld map there are now new Mystery Boxes, and of course Toad Houses are also back. Toad Houses, when visited, will give players a random Power Up. The Mystery Boxes put Mario in a small box and give the player a short time limit to defeat all the enemies on the screen. These challenges can also yield the player more Star Coins outside of those hidden in the normal levels. These are important because some levels require that the player has a certain number of Star Coins to proceed, so just forgetting about getting them isn’t an option. This is a good thing though as most of the challenge in the game comes from getting all the Star Coins and completing the level.

Mario also has many of his moves from the 3D Mario Games. He can Run, Jump, do a twisting backflp, duck, walljump, ground pound, standard backflip, longjump, and a dive roll. One of the only problems I have with Mario’s move arsenal is that diving into enemies doesn’t hurt them. While this is typically not an issue, fans may remember that in Super Mario 64, doing a similar attack would hurt some enemies.

As previously mentioned, Super Mario 3D Land is also full of power up suits and abilities. The classic Fire Power is back giving Mario the ability to shoot fireballs at enemies at a distance. The much talked about Tanooki Suit also makes its return. Being Tanooki Mario allows the player to flutter around for slow falling, making platforming much more manageable. Additionally, Mario can attack enemies at close range with the Tanooki tail. The Boomerang Suit makes its Super Mario debut, allowing the player to throw a boomerang at moderate distances. The boomerang can pick up coins as well, making it useful for nabbing many Star Coins in dangerous spots. The final suit is the Stone Tanooki Suit. This suit, only available after the first eight worlds are cleared, has the same abilities as the standard Tanooki Suit, but it allows Mario to turn into a stone statue that is invulnerable to enemy attacks.

The suits are a ton of fun, but I have a small problem here. Why are there two Tanooki suits when the standard one functions more like the Raccoon suit from Super Mario Bros. 3? Why did Nintendo feel that getting rid of another classic suit with similar abilities was necessary? I’ll likely never know and you’ll likely never care.

RipTen Review: Jurassic Park: The Game: Episode One (iOS)

Brandon Fenty — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 15:30:16 +0000

Jurassic Park is one of my favorite movies of all time. I could easily watch it over and over without ever losing interest. So, when I found out Telltale was making a game based on the franchise, to say I was excited would be a bit of an understatement. The reverence and love brought to the Back to the Future franchise showed their respect for the license and their storytelling ability. With a license as used (and abused) as Jurassic Park, it can definitely be a daunting task to take on. Luckily, Telltale was up to the challenge.

From the first notes of John Williams’ epic score, you’re drawn into the world of Jurassic Park. One of the highlights of any Telltale game is their story and characters, and Jurassic Park is no exception. The overall production value for the game is very high for an iOS title. Graphics are impressive, characters are detailed, and sound is full and rich. Throughout the game, you’ll find yourself in various locales from the film, such as the visitor center. These are faithfully recreated, and help really draw the player into the experience. The entire experience feels much more like a console experience than a typical iOS game; due in no small part of course to the fact that this more or less the same experience provided on consoles and PC, brought to the iPad.

rawr im in your ipadz

The story centers around the can of dinosaur embryos that Dennis Nedry was trying to sneak off the island in the film. (You remember) You start the game as mercenaries trying to recover said canister, and continue as Dr. Harding (a minor character from the film) and his daughter. All the characters are well-written and voiced. Telltale is known for great characters, and these are no exception. The characters are not simply two dimensional stereotypes, and you’ll find yourself really caring what happens to these people. The story draws you in, and will leave you wanting to know what happens next and will surely keep you engaged throughout.

The gameplay is one of the more unique aspects of Jurassic Park. If you ever played Heavy Rain, you’ll instantly recognize many elements. The game is largely based on quick time events, mixed in with choice-based dialogue and puzzles. The QTEs consist of well-timed swipes and taps on the screen. The touch screen performs admirably for these QTEs, and the actions almost always make sense; swiping a door to open it, for instance. Puzzles have you switching perspectives throughout a scene, and sometimes even characters, to find a solution. While the puzzles are not very complex, and there is only one way to solve them, the solution is never simply handed to you and requires some environmental exploration. The result is rewarding, and the puzzles are varied enough to stay interesting. The game maintains good pacing throughout, and the balance between all of these elements is handled well.

oh noes, le dinosaur

While the game does offer some choices to make along the line, it all seems like the player doesn’t have much influence over the outcome of the story. While missing a QTE or choosing a specific line of dialogue can change a few minor details, overall the game feels a bit like you’re being channeled down a predefined path. One of the big draws to a game like Heavy Rain (which the developers said they hoped to emulate) is truly branching story lines where choices and actions can significantly change the outcome, and even kill a character. In Jurassic Park, if you die, you simply start the sequence over again. While the sense of danger is very real, it would have been nice to have a more diverse and branching story.

Also, the game is not without its problems, and there are some major ones. At times, the frame rate stutters and even freezes momentarily. For a game that is so cinematic and relies so heavily on quick time events, that can be a real game breaker. There were times where the action would just simply stop for several seconds while the iPad tried to catch up with what was happening. While dips in frame rate are understandable, due to the console quality of the game ported to a portable system, they can be really frustrating and pull you out of the experience. Not only that, but when quick time events really on fast reactions, the pauses in action can easily result in missed timing, leading to lower scores and even death. At times it can really be quite game-breaking.

framerate, y u no?

If you can struggle through the sometimes chugging frame rate, there is definitely a game worth playing here. While it is missing some polish, which is unfortunate, the game is still quite playable. For it’s flaws, I still found myself unable to put it down, right up until the credits rolled. The story and characters really shine, and keep you wanting more throughout the experience. Enjoying this game is really dependent upon your expectations going in; it definitely won’t appeal to every gamer, but if you like a well-told story and strong characters, you really should check out Jurassic Park on your iPad.

Here’s The Rundown:

+Strong Characters and Story

+High production values for an iOS title

-Poor frame rate that can be game-breaking

-Very little story branching

7 and 7.5 represent a game that overall manages to be worth a playthrough, just not worth your money. These scores are for games that are relatively good, but you would generally only consider them as a rental.

Jurassic Park on iOS is a thing that exists. Telltale gave Bradon a code for it. He played and reviewed it. Dinosaurs. Rawr.

RipTen Review: The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword

Justin Berube — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 18:00:18 +0000

Ever since Nintendo unveiled the Wii’s unique motion sensitive controller in 2005 everyone was thinking about one thing, a Zelda title that featured amazing motion controlled sword fighting. Well my friends, the Zelda title we dreamed about six years ago is finally here.

For the few that may be completely unfamiliar, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword is yet another entry in the highly successful Legend of Zelda series. Zelda titles, including Skyward Sword, take place in a fantasy world and are action adventure games that contain light roleplaying elements. Although action adventure may be their genre, Zelda titles typically feature a mix of other genres in the form of mini games and revolve heavily around critical thinking and environmental puzzles.

(Note: The plot elements mentioned below are intentionally vague and only go into the first hour of the game. No spoilers!)

Story plays a major role in Skyward Sword and it is said that this entry in the series takes place before every other title in the Zelda timeline. The opening cinematic tells of a tale that took place many generations ago. One day the land cracked open and evil forces came from deep within the ground. These evil forces began to destroy the land and kill those who inhabited it. These evil forces were attacking the earth to try to take an ultimate power that was being held and protected by a goddess that lived amongst the people.

The goddess, wanting to protect the humans, sent the pieces of land they were on up above the clouds where they would be safe. This goddess then fought the evil forces with the land dwellers that remained and was successful in driving them back… and sealed the evil away. The humans, however, remained in the sky and after thousands of years most don’t even think a surface world ever existed.

The story now starts off with the game’s protagonist, Link, in modern day oversleeping when he is supposed to be up for an important ceremony. Link attends a school above the clouds and is training to be a Knight. If Link is able to pass his test he will become a knight and a member of the senior class. He is also fortunate because he has obtained a rare Crimson Loftwing. Loftwings are giant birds that people above the clouds use to get to and from the various islands in the sky. Loftwings choose the humans they want to be with at a young age and many had thought the Crimson Loftwings have ceased to exist. Not this one.

The test Link takes involves proving mastery over his Loftwing above the other students in his class, and needless to say our hero prevails! However, during his victory celebration flight with his longtime childhood friend Zelda, a black tornado knocks her down and she falls to the surface while Link is knocked unconscious. Link awakens in his room at night and explains to Zelda’s father what had happened.

While trying to sleep it all off, Link wakes up agai and sees a strange girl floating in his room. He follows her around their sky island, known as Sky Loft, and discovers a magical sword. This strange woman, known as Fi, says she is there to guide the chosen hero through his destined quest and that Link must accept his fate and take the sword to become the chosen hero. Additionally Fi says she can help Link find Zelda. Link chooses to take the sword and Fi guides him to the mysterious surface below, which is a whole new world for Link.

Fi acts as the in game guide, much like Navi in Zelda: Ocarina of Time, and ends up living in Link’s sword throughout the adventure.

While I won’t go into many more story related details I will say the following. The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword has references to many of the other Zelda titles and will give fans of the series much to discuss in the way of lore and the overall legend. There are many cool moments and Zelda fans can’t afford to miss out on this epic tale. But I’ve only just begun.

The graphical style in The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword is a nice blend of the cel shading graphics found in the Wind Waker mixed in with the style of Twilight Princess. While the game isn’t HD (because the Wii isn’t) it didn’t really matter to me. The game truly is beautiful regardless.

Skyward Sword also shares much in common with past 3D Zelda games in terms of gameplay, such as Z Targeting, but also does many new things that may change the franchise forever. For starters, Link now has a stamina gage. When Link runs, initiated by the player holding the A button, this gauge will deplete. Additionally a big chunk of this gauge will be taken off if Link’s signature spin attack is used, so spin attack spamming is now obsolete.

If the stamina gauge is depleted fully, Link’s movement will decrease dramatically until it refills. Additionally, he will be unable to attack or block, thus becoming extremely vulnerable to attacks. While running Link is also now able to run up and over walls if they’re low enough. It may not sound like much, but doing so is extremely useful and in some cases required.

RipTen Review: Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary

Brandon Fenty — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 23:00:12 +0000

The HD remake is becoming a rather popular trend in gaming these days. Just last week, Metal Gear Solid released their HD collection, Goldeneye Reloaded the week before that, and now Halo: Combat Evolved is getting the same treatment. The game redefined a genre a decade ago; ten years later, does it still hold up?

Halo Anniversary is not simply an upscaled version of the original. The visuals have been completely reworked to take full advantage of the 360′s hardware. Models have been updated, textures are high-res, and dynamic lighting effects are implemented. It’s not just a fresh coat of paint, the visuals represent a serious overhaul. At the same time, however, it’s still the same engine running under that glossy new exterior.

Because it’s running on the same engine, the gameplay in Anniversary is exactly the same as it was in Combat Evolved. The weapons feel the same, enemies react the same, and moving through the environments feels the same. This is both a blessing and a curse; while the nostalgia factor is definitely there with things like the Assault Rifle and Pistol, there are definite points where the game shows its age. More than once I would walk around the corner to find enemies just standing there, apparently doing nothing. When I fired, they would suddenly jump into action, but seeing enemies just standing and waiting for me is a huge reminder that I’m playing a remade 2001 video game. Once in combat, however, the AI performs admirably, taking cover and using tactics in a way that stands up even by today’s standards. The vehicles, as well, feel a bit dated. The warthog especially seems to have very little weight, and after playing on more modern Halo versions, it was really tough to get used to again. There are a lot of refinements that have been made over the years, and you’ll miss them when they’re gone. Still, it was a design choice, and I’m glad that the developers stayed so true to the source material.

One of the coolest features that was implemented in Anniversary is the ability to swap graphics back and forth to and from the original on the fly. From a technical standpoint, I’m sure this is no easy feat, but it really helps showcase how much better the updated graphics look, as well as letting you easily compare old to new. At the same time, you’ll see just how true the developers stayed to the original. While the models are updated, every object, building, and landscape is still the same shape and in the same place; the attention to detail is certainly impressive.

The audio has also been remastered for Anniversary, and it sounds amazing. The updated audio was one of the first things I noticed, after the obviously updated graphics. The music sounds much more full and rich, the guns have more punch, and the ambient sound has more depth. Everything is in surround, and the effect is stunning. At the same time, the sound is still true to the original, and maintains the original voice work. It’s an immersive experience and just as important as the updated visuals, and I’m glad the developers took the time to do it.

One of the more unexpected additions to the title is Kinect support. Usually, you wouldn’t think that an FPS title would support Microsoft’s motion-sensing peripheral, but what they’ve done with it, however, is actually kind of cool. You can use your voice to do things like reload, switch weapons, pause the game, or swap graphical modes. While totally optional, once I figured out how to do it I found myself reloading using my voice just as much as the actual controller. It’s a cool addition that is fun if you want to use it, but doesn’t get in the way if you don’t.

Another addition to the game is the Library. If you’ve played Metroid Prime, you’ll feel right at home going into analysis mode and scanning objects in your environment into the Library. You can access the Library from the pause menu as well as the main menu, and while it’s basically a glorified model viewer with a little bit of backstory thrown in, it’s a nice extra option if you like collectables in your games.

The multiplayer component to Anniversary is, quite literally, Halo: Reach. If you own Reach, your score contributes to your overall score for Reach. Addons that you have from Reach carry over into Anniversary as well. Game types and weapons are still from Combat Evolved, as are the maps, but other than that you’ll feel like you’re just playing a new map pack on Reach. Speaking of which, if you own Reach, you can use a code that’s included in the box to activate those same maps for play from the Reach disc as well. It’s a nice addition to avoid swapping out discs. However, if you were hoping for a multiplayer experience that recreates the original, this isn’t it. Sorry, no Blood Gulch for you!

While an amazing presentation, Anniversary is not without its issues. The biggest is a framerate that stutters regularly. It’s understandable: a ten-year-old game engine has been updated to modern graphics, with the ability to switch on the fly between graphics setups. That’s a lot to ask of the system, but it still affects gameplay. The stuttering is most pronounced in many of the cutscenes, especially when there are sweeping views; but when in an intense firefight there were a few issues as well. This occurred when the game was installed to the hard drive and also played directly from the disc, so that doesn’t seem to matter. It’s never game-breaking, but it can get annoying to see stuttering in what is otherwise such a polished game.

Another issue that plagues Anniversary is facial animations. Captain Keyes is probably the worst offender, with his mouth moving completely out of sync from the words he’s saying. The updated graphics only serve to accentuate the issue, which is pretty bad. Again, it’s not game-breaking, but it really takes you out of the experience to have what looks like bad dubbing in all the cutscenes. Bruce Lee wouldn’t mind, but I do.

Overall, if you played the original Halo: Combat Evolved, then you’ll be happy to know that the core experience has survived the years beautifully. 343 Industries has obviously put a lot of love into the title, and while it’s not without issues, the total package is really quite impressive. The ability to play with both old and new graphics truly adds some extra replay value, and the Library brings out the collector in all of us. Couple that with the included Reach multiplayer maps and $40 price tag, and Halo Anniversary is a great buy for any Halo fan.

Here’s The Rundown:

+ Great nostalgic value

+ True remake, not just a upscaled version

+ Seamless switches between graphical modes

+ Same great online multiplayer as Reach, literally

- Framerate Stutters

- Somewhat dated engine makes for dated moments

- Lip syncing issues

- This is not the original multiplayer, just a re-skinned Reach

8 and 8.5 represent a game that is a good experience overall. While there may be some issues that prevent it from being fantastic, these scores are for games that you feel would easily be worth a purchase.

Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary was developed by 343 Industries and published by Microsoft Game Studios. It was released on November 14th, 2011 exclusively for the Xbox 360 for $39.99 USD. A copy of the game was provided by Microsoft for Stephiroth but Brandon bought it and beat it first so he reviewed it :-p If you’re a Halo fan, you probably did too.

RipTen Review: Sonic Generations (Xbox 360)

David Oxford — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 22:30:57 +0000

June 2011 marked the 20th anniversary of everyone’s favorite cobalt Erinaceus europaeus, and SEGA has decided to mark the occasion in style with the release of Sonic Generations for the Xbox 360 (the version reviewed here), PlayStation 3, and PC platforms. There is also a release coming soon to the Nintendo 3DS, but that is its own separate version, and one we will hopefully have the opportunity to look at for you soon.

Sonic Generations is a celebration of Hedgehog history, for better or worse. Sonic Team has gone to the effort of taking one zone from several of the Blue Blur’s games and remaking them for a new generation of consoles. Not every game is accounted for, though some are represented in other ways; you won’t find levels from any of the portable titles here, nor anything from the “Storybook Series” of games released for the Wii, though they are often accounted for in other ways, be it an unlockable music track or a reference in the characters’ dialogue.

The story, for those interested, is that Sonic’s friends are throwing him a party when a mysterious force swoops in and attacks the group, sending Sonic’s friends through time portals and leaving the hedgehog himself in the middle of a white void. There, he winds up teaming up with his past self, the shorter, rounder, and some would say cuter version from the titles which helped the SEGA Genesis stand toe-to-toe with the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (itself celebrating 20 years) for the majority of the 16-bit era.

Together, they set off through the void, or “White Space,” finding areas from different eras of Sonic’s history and racing through to restore them to their original full-color glory.

The void acts as the hub world for the game and, after clearing the initial Green Hill Zone stage, becomes the place where you will start the game each time. Like time itself, progression here is linear — you may get a peek at some upcoming stages, but you’ll still have to travel through each stage as it comes chronologically… or rather, in order of each game’s release, given that a couple of stages, such as two of the Rival Battles (more on those in a bit) and Crisis City from 2006′s Sonic the Hedgehog (we did say for better or for worse, and that game definitely falls into the latter) are technically in the future, but are still placed a bit before the end of this interactive timeline.

You can switch between either Sonic at any time and use who you prefer to navigate the White Space, which itself is very much like a 2D stage. This hub is divided into three “eras,” each of which feature three games/areas, one Rival Battle, and one boss to represent them (plus the game’s final boss): the Genesis era (containing Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic the Hedgehog 2, and Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles, which is acknowledged in its Lock-On form here. There is also a nod to Sonic CD here, the Dreamcast era (Sonic Adventure, Sonic Adventure 2, and Sonic Heroes, despite the latter not appearing on SEGA’s ill-fated final console), and the “Modern” era (2006′s Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic Unleashed, and Sonic Colors).

In addition to the stages, the White Space also contains Omochao’s Skill Shop, where you can purchase upgrades for each Sonic using the points earned just by playing the game. These, of course, allow them to do all sorts of things, from having higher speed to braking on a dime to using shields from the Genesis Sonic games. The downside is that you only have 100 Skill Point slots to allot to these abilities.

You can also purchase 1UPs from the shop, which is handy at times, or a Genesis controller, which allows you to play an emulated version of the original Sonic the Hedgehog on the Genesis console found in the Green Hill’s portion of the White Space.

But that’s not all! There is also an information booth and a “house” of some sort, where you can view cutscenes you’ve seen before, bios and 3D models of the characters, concept art, or even listen to the music you’ve unlocked. The game’s main stages are filled with red rings, similar to those seen in Sonic Colors, and the more you get, the more there is to see.

The one downside to the cutscene archive, however, is that it does not store the scenes where Sonic frees his friends. YouTube notwithstanding, the only way to see them all is to finish each area with each Sonic, requiring two playthroughs of the game. If you don’t have the time or patience for that, we recommend finishing with Classic Sonic in each area, as the reactions most of the characters have to his altered appearance are generally more amusing than those given to the Modern Sonic they all know and love.

That said, there is a fair bit to do without even entering the stages.

Of course, the stages are what Sonic Generations is all about, and are what people have waited for each new trailer to see what would be revealed as the release drew ever closer. Sure, all the other stuff is nice, but this is the meat and potatoes right here — for a lot of people, everything else is secondary.

The main idea of Sonic Generations is that you’ll get to experience one stage from one “main” game as both Classic Sonic and Modern Sonic. Classic Sonic’s races through stages are 2D-styled gameplay affairs, while Modern Sonic utilizes the mix of 2D and 3D gameplay first pioneered in the daytime portions of Sonic Unleashed and perfected in Sonic Colors.

However, contrary to what some people think (including those hailing from once-respected publications), none of the stages are directly lifted from any of the source material, nor are the Modern Sonic stages merely Classic Sonic’s stages played with an over-the-shoulder perspective. Sure, the themes and some elements may be familiar, but spend any amount of time playing, and those with at least a little familiarity should recognize Sonic Team’s attempt to remake these settings, even going so far as to combine elements from other stages which did not make the cut into the final product. One example of this can be seen with the corkscrews in Sonic the Hedgehog‘s Green Hill Zone, which did not debut until Sonic the Hedgehog 2.

For those who grew up with the series or are simply longstanding fans of Sonic the Hedgehog, it is a sheer delight to see the stages of yesteryear recreated with the technology of today; for that matter, even some of the more recent levels seem to have a newfound attraction, too. If you’re old enough to remember playing Super Mario All-Stars when it came out, and the thrill of seeing all the new sights afforded by the marvel of more advanced technology, seeing the updated Sonic stages here provokes a similar sensation, but with the benefit of about three more generations’ difference.

The developers clearly had some fun with the redesigns, as you can see a lot of neat little touches in several of the stages, such as roadsigns named for characters, or “Missing” and “Wanted” posters for characters who have been long absent from the franchise.

RipTen Review: Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3

Ripten Staff — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 04:30:09 +0000

By Aaron Alexander and Chris Carlson

There comes a time in a gamer’s life when he or she must sit down and tell themselves that enough is enough. We finally reached that point today after spending an extensive amount of time with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. Truth is, we wanted to enjoy this game. We wanted to have that feeling that those millions gamers have while playing the Call of Duty franchise, the same feeling we “used” to have, but enough is enough. With each recent iteration of the series, each team that works on the franchise does a pretty decent job at implementing new features, weapons, killstreaks, etc, but their ability to execute them in a reasonable way, has simply diminished. For every one good thing they accomplish, they ruin other aspects. Modern Warfare 3 is no different. In fact, it’s one of the worst FPS multiplayer games we’ve played in a long time. Yes we’re going to say it. Are you ready? Homefront had better multiplayer than this.

The most interesting thing about Modern Warfare 3 would have to be it’s development story. Whilst playing through MW3 we could only imagine what it could have been if the original Infinity Ward stayed intact. Instead we’re given a product developed by the remnants of said studio and Sledgehammer Games, who were working on a third person CoD game. In a way, that in itself is severely disappointing, as mixing up the franchise with 3rd person dynamics could have been potentially interesting – instead we’re given another cookie cutter Call of Duty. Now, what that means to you depends on your stance toward the game – If you’re already huge into multiplayer, you probably aren’t even reading this review. However, if you’re looking for something fresh and exciting that stands tall against other games in its respective genre, then Modern Warfare 3 just isn’t for you. What we’re given in this $60 package can best be described as par for the course, or disappointing, or just a downright fucking travesty.

America, Fuck Maybe!!

Picking up immediately after the end of Modern Warfare 2, our old buddy Soap is in bad shape and the now disavowed TF141 is on the run – from everyone, or so the game leads you to believe (it doesn’t stop Price from calling in favors from the US army though). Makarov is being the typical bad bastard and has started another worldwide conflict. You’ll travel across the globe and play as a variety of characters trying to hunt down the illusive Russian, like the new-found Yuri who works with TF141, Sgt Frost who serves under Delta force and a few others a long the way (no spoilers!). It’s the same structure that we’ve become used to, and that’s fine, but when the various crescendos and dramatic sequences feel almost exactly like the last game’s, it really does break the illusion that this is something new. Yes, Makarov will open a door and shoot you. Yes, you’ll spend half a level riding in a vehicle playing an extremely boring turret sequence. Yes, a potentially emotional event just transpired… except it failed to hit the mark. It’s hard to describe the specifics without giving the plot away, but be prepared to basically re-enact the key plot points of Modern Warfare 2, and in some cases relive them entirely. We were pretty excited for the campaign in Modern Warfare 3, seeing as it’s always been a strong point in the series, but this time it just feels… empty.

In fact, it comes off feeling lazy. The story is ultimately a wild goose chase looking for information on Makarov and it just reminds us that we’ve done this all before. Perhaps that’s an analogy for the entire game. The engine is still the same, and though it can look fine in spots, stand still for too long and be prepared to feel like it’s 2007 again. Especially when the game’s put side by side with it’s contemporaries, it’s clear that this technology is aging, and not like a fine wine either. Pull the left trigger to aim, right to shoot and keep walking forward while your AI teammates stare at the enemies and eventually catch up to you (while yelling at you to follow them the whole time). After defeating countless waves of soldiers, you can advance to the next section where it’ll take place all over again. Then there’s an explosion, then a small controllable quick time event, and it all just lacks the punch of the previous games – it’s diminishing returns all over.

This Could Have Been A Powerful Stage...

Price and Soap lack the character of the previous installment, and are more concentrated on hiding behind cover and occasionally taking shots. The music has also been toned down, and it’s no longer epic or inspiring. Hans Zimmer’s MW2 soundtrack will always be stuck in my head, especially the ranger’s multiplayer theme, but there’s really no jingles or theme songs that can stand up to the calibre of Hans’ past work. Sure, the game definitely wraps up the trilogy, but not in a particularly interesting way, or one that does the series justice. It can best be described as a 4-5 hour boring trudge through familiar territory.

Multiplayer is also more of the same, with a few minor adjustments that don’t particularly stand-out. There’s the Kill confirmed mode, where after killing someone you must claim their dogtag in order for the kill to be counted, and Team Defender where whichever team holds the flag gets double points. There’s also the new point streak system, which replaces the typical killstreak format. You’ll chose either Assault, Support or Specialist. This will change the way your streaks are rewarded and earned. For example the typical player who want’s to kill and earn an assault helicopter or gunner seat will pick assault – You’ll stack kills and earn these killstreaks the same as before.

Shoot That Guy.

The support player specializes in utility streaks, like advanced UAV’s and EMP’s. He earns these by getting points for killing, capturing objectives and the like. His points will not be reset on death, so it’s a good opportunity for lesser skilled players to still call in something every so often. Finally, the specialist who instead of earning killstreaks, earns new perks with every second kill. Though these are quite different from each other, the game still boils down to whoever gets the most offensive killstreaks wins. It’s nice that lesser players can still help the team now, but the Osprey Gunner is still going to completely dominate the ground forces and that one guy you know who always gets 25 kills is going to set off a M.O.A.B.

The maps this time around are also completely weak compared to previous installments, with the exception of Dome. They’re confusing in layout, not visually appealing and they aren’t even as memorable as MW2′s Favela or Terminal. They’re confusing to navigate, and some offer little to no strategic cover from the constant airstrikes. The spawn issues are also frustrating, and being killed from someone who has literally spawned behind you is never fun – especially when you’re trying to build a streak. As guys who put some 300 hours in MW2′s multiplayer, the compulsion to sit here and constantly level just doesn’t click. It’s an ultimately frustrating experience – even when you’re dominating. Not to discredit everyone’s playstyle, but people running around with snipers using them like shotguns, or other players humping a wall with a heartbeat sensor just takes away the neutral ground. It’s a constant explosionfest that feels often skilless, especially in Team Deathmatch.

RipTen Review: Take On Helicopters

Murray Hibble — Sat, 12 Nov 2011 00:30:53 +0000

Best known for arming players with all the tools of modern warfare, Bohemia Interactive’s latest project has put away its combat fatigues and slipped the player into the shoes of a civilian helicopter pilot. Launching from an overarching storyline about a struggling family business and a shady corporation, you’ll help out at hostage situations, train paramilitary contractors in low level insertions, winch cargo from a sunken ship and take sight-seeing tours of Seattle, earning money for each activity that allows you to buy and outfit your choppers as you like them. With a massive editing suite, multiplayer and a never-ending range of user-created single scenarios, there has never been a flight-sim quite so powerful as this.

Story, dialogue and character interaction sit at the heart of the Take On experience and the strong combination of writing and gameplay are fundamental to the success of the title. You’ll see the story through the eyes of youngest Larkin brother, Tom, and during your tour of duty you’ll become embroiled with the mysterious Vrana Corp and their shady CEO Mr Hayward. Supporting you are your brother, grounded from flying after an accident in the opening scenes and the support staff at your heliport, a place that acts as a hub for all the content on offer in the game. Unfortunately, BI have again dipped into the same shallow voice-acting talent pool as the ArmA series and the wooden delivery, while an improvement on the ArmA titles, sometimes lets the story down. Bohemia have had plenty of feedback from their players around this so it’s disappointing that nothing has changed. With that said, discovering what Vrana Corp is up to is a driving imperative for the later missions and makes the title stand out in the flight-sim genre.

It’s important in a flight-sim that the player feels like they’re in an unlimited space and Bohemia have delivered two massive maps to support this. Seattle’s 60km x 60km expanse is a highly detailed arena of city, suburban, industrial, water and woodland bodies while the sparse South Asian gamespace is a whopping 120km x 120km of deserts, rivers and simple villages. The skycrapers in particular are stunning and stand out as massive edifices of steel and glass that convincingly shine and reflect like their real world counterparts. This map size does mean some long travel times however and up close some of the textures look washed out and indistinct, however and more importantly, both areas look amazing from the air thanks to the massive draw distances allowed by the Real Virtuality 3 engine.

Much has been made of the flight-handling for Take On and in the words of BI’s Project Lead in a recent interview with RipTen, “we made a choice to not try to be a procedure trainer.” Even on the easier handling settings however, Take On is a real challenge to fly. Anyone can hover like a spastic and eventually bounce a chopper down to the ground, but learning to land smoothly while juggling rate of descent, collective and torque can bring a sweat to the brow. The scenarios on offer are uniformly excellent and you’ll be faced with landing on skyscrapers, formation flying or winching and transporting objects, just to name a few. Thanks to the underlying story and the function of your heliport as a hub for all game modes, each of the scenarios has a unifying context that makes the game feel far more organic than its stuffy peers; although taking executives to check out golf courses makes a bit more sense than suddenly being hired to drop a SWAT team via fastrope into a hostage situation, but when the flying is so exhilirating you won’t care. Within the heliport hub you can examine and repair your helicopters as well as fit them with tools that allow you to take on different types of contracts, but you’ll need to ensure you have the money first to do so.

One of the most impressive missions gives us a glimpse of what’s coming in ArmA 3 via a flashback memory from eldest brother Joe Larkin of his time as a chopper pilot in the armed forces. You’ll play through this memory, starting with dropping US propoganda leaflets above Takistani villages (the country that ArmA 2′s Operation Arrowhead takes place in) from a ‘Medium Chopper’ (looks like a Huey to me). On the way to the third village you are shot down and need to perform an auto-rotational landing. Once down, with your co-pilot dead, you’ll pack a rifle and fight your way to your extraction point through roving gangs of enemy troops. Overhead a ‘small’ chopper (which looks like an MD500) provides CAS and rains Hydra rockets down around you. With thumping explosions and sub-sonic rifle-cracks, it’s a simply thrilling mission that no other developer has the capability to deliver and it gets even more awesome when you’re picked up by a contractor’s helicopter belonging to ION, the stars of the Arma 2 PMC expansion. This intelligent cross-utilisation of their franchises is a real point of difference and one that modded scenarios will probably deliver more of.

After the 15 or so hours it takes to clock the Career mode, there’s more content on offer. You can take on individual contracts that are reminscent (but not the same as) the career objectives, or you can take a free flight in a copter of your choosing. Multiplayer is also on offer and while I haven’t seen a populated server with a good enough ping from Australia, the idea of hanging out and chatting to other pilots is immensely appealing. It’s no surprise also to find a comprehensive editing suite where you can create your own missions and it’s exactly this that will ensure the long term success of the game. My favourite has to be the time trials where you’ll attempt to beat the top three times for a course and most of these will test your piloting skills to the limit.

RipTen’s scoring system describes a 9 as “the pinnacle of the genre, a game that defines what that genre should be about” and without doubt, Bohemia have created something very special with Take On Helicopters. This is a flight-sim with a central career that gives a coherence to what in other titles would merely be a series of single instance scenarios; and it does so through an engaging story-arc populated by likable, but poorly-voiced, characters. Contracts within the career mode cleverly offer traditional standalone scenarios in a way that makes story-sense and adds to the surprisingly rich Larkin Aviation theme, and most importantly the scenarios are all a lot of fun. The helicopter models are stunning and the flight handling offers a variable challenge to all but licensed pilots although a joystick and pedals are recommended to get the most out of the immersion on offer. The longevity of Bohemia’s titles is founded on their open embrace of modding and ToH is already seeing community led tweaks and missions so a never-ending stream of free content is almost guaranteed. Flight Sims will never be the same again.

Here’s your flight plan;

+ An engaging and evolving storyline builds an incredible sense of immersion

+ Great flight model across gorgeous and massive play areas

+ It’s a moddable title with an already active community

- The voice acting is appalling and detracts from overall build quality

- Maps a little too big; long travel times and bland textures up-close

Learn more about the RipTen scoring system and what this score means. Visit our review scoring page.

Take On Helicopters was developed and published by Bohemia Interactive. It’s a PC only title that can be found on BI’s online store Sprocket, or via other digital download services. A review copy of the game was provided to Murray by Bohemia… he still hasn’t let go of his joystick.

RipTen Review: The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Stephanie Gutowski — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 13:01:28 +0000

When we look back at history, there will be moments that warrant pause. Man’s achievements will punctuate the timeline, and we will sit back to remember “yes, this was greatness.” With this game, a new era dawns, a new standard in immersion. This is Bethesda’s magnum opus. It is with great zeal that I suspend my own reality, give myself up completely to a realm steeped in life and lore. Here, I am dovahkiin, dragonborn. I reject your world, for Skyrim is my home now.

-Stephanie Gutowski, Thane of Whiterun

I was never an Elder Scrolls fan. I could barely be bothered to invest the time needed to properly experience Bethesda’s Oblivion. It wasn’t until the release of Fallout 3 that I took a second look at this developer and began to understand that they possessed unimaginable potential. When the opportunity to review Skyrim virtually fell into my lap (even after all of Dave’s massive previews), I couldn’t very well leave it there. I’d even been critical after first viewing the game behind closed doors at E3. It wasn’t until I was offered time to play it at PAX that my mind began to change. The game arrived at my home, sealed within an unassuming box, simply emblazoned with the emblem we’ve come to treat as a symbol of hope. The installation took mere moments- one disc. When that same logo appeared upon a screen of black and the chanting swelled, it struck a chord within me that resonated unlike anything I’d ever experienced. It was as though beyond the blackness lay infinity, unending possibilities and challenges to face. I held my breath and breached the darkness.

It's too cold for dragon pwning.

Time leaps forward two hundred years beyond the events of Oblivion, an age where Tamriel is ceding territory to the eleven nations and Skyrim is embroiled in civil war. When I opened my eyes in this world, I was staring at the most impossibly blue sky, but my eyes struggled to adjust to the light. The clouds were drifting slowly across the expanse and I was stunned, believing for a fraction of a second that my television had become a window. Then, I looked down, to find I was, once again, a prisoner, convicted of a crime I was… almost positive I didn’t commit. Why would I aid the Stormcloak rebellion? I was a simple Nord woman, just trying to keep her head on her shoulders. It doesn’t take long for the dragons to emerge and, at least, you soon are free to begin your adventure, as long as you can survive your time in the town of Helgen.

Character creation is vastly improved over the near-comical options of Oblivion. We were given a taste a few months ago of what we could look forward to, but the end result was far greater. From scars, to blind eyes, the sliders control dozens upon dozens of options that give each race and gender a unique, yet believable look. You could spend hours creating denizens of this world and none of them would look alike. This may be the most defining moment of your Skyrim experience, as that’s really the last bit of pre-game customization you’ll do. Gone are the classes. Instead, your skills exist in a nebulous collection of constellations that level up with use. When you improve enough skills, your whole character will level up and you’ll be offered a perk point to allocate. The higher your level in that particular skill, the more nodes will open up for potential perks. You also choose to improve your magicka, health, or stamina upon leveling up, which will support the direction you choose to go in. I decided to become a war axe-wielding, flame-throwing battle maven. So my light armor, single-handed weapon, and destruction skills increased quite quickly. It’s actually a very simple system that levels the playing field for each character. Everyone starts with a clean slate and builds up their proficiencies by doing things, rather than telling the game to make that skill better because you want it to be awesome. No, you’re going to have to work for it– and it’ll be worth every second.

Hot draugr FIYAH!

You’ll notice that the fantastic little speech mini game for persuasion is long gone. In its stead, Bethesda has introduced a far more Fallout 3-esque approach. Your speech skill will determine whether or not a lie or persuade option appears in the conversation box. Pass or fail. It’s that simple. But there are so many people to meet, quests to accept and groups to join, it can be downright overwhelming when you realize just how large this world is before you. These people will call you out in the street if you’ve been a good patron, or they’ll come running with a quest out of the blue. Radiant AI ensures that no matter how many quests you’ve completed, there will always be a new kidnapping to solve or murder to avenge, even after the end game. As far as marriage goes though, your guess is as good as mine. Try as I might, I couldn’t lure a single NPC into marriage. Though I did manage to snag a random companion in Riverwood, there were absolutely no dialogue clues that would have hinted at a possible romance. I’d heard this was a problem for several other people with advance copies, but we didn’t dwell on it for long and here’s why.

This. Game. Is. Absolutely. Massive.

The world that is about to unfold before you is perhaps the most daunting and invigorating challenge you may ever encounter in a game. It hearkens back to days long gone, when I sat in a stuffy classroom, pouring over a copy of Beowulf and picturing the frigid north and its terrible demons. Fans of this epic will be instantly smitten by Skyrim and it’s distinctively viking style. You’ll notice that the character creation screen sets your race to Nord by default, which I highly recommend you play through to experience the proper story. While other races do get their explanation for being the last of the dragonborn, the Nord lineage just fits so perfectly with the lore. You’ll take your first steps into this landscape and discover a few things. First, this map was rendered like a work of art. There are moments of photo-realism that took my breath away, I was so stunned by sudden moments of clarity. When you look around, you’ll find the picture darkens and lightens, mimicking the workings of the human eye as it adjusts to light changes. Second, the dynamic weather keeps these cities and farmsteads interesting and unpredictable. When I first ascended the Throat of the World, it was snowing impossibly hard. I reloaded the save before my ascent and found it clear, allowing me see across the valley below. Third, the things you will encounter may cause your jaw to unhinge and fall onto the floor. You may never find it again.

Throw a rock at it!

I know what you’re thinking. “Shut up with the important things! Just tell me about the DRAGONS! DRAGONS! DOVAHKIIN!” All righty then. Dragons. Infinite dragons. Infinite, ice and fire breathing double dragons. Oh my Akatosh, get ready for your life to end. It doesn’t help that every time I encountered a dragon, the orchestra struck up another round of “Sons of Skyrim,” which immediately sends me into a nordic fury. You will fight for your life, you will hold you breath, you will gasp when its jaws find you and threaten to end all you’ve struggled for. You will find that the controller is an extension of your body, and you are part of this. Your hand. Your axe. Your victory. More than experience, more than a level up. This was an impossible victory that you achieved. There’s some genuine fear when a dragon appears as you wonder frantically what else will fall victim to it. There were times I wasn’t fast enough and I watched named NPC’s perish in flames, villagers crowding around his body to mourn him and ask “why?” That, I can answer, but not without revealing some fantastic elements of the plot, which you’ll see for yourselves as you progress the main quest line (which I suggest you do.) You can spend fifty solid hours exploring the map, discovering fantastic weapons and quests before you even set foot in the first city. It’s both a wonderful and tragic thing since the story really is something you need to experience to understand this world and its plight.

I have to make one suggestion though and I’m no longer afraid of the backlash it might bring, but this is perhaps one of the first hardcore, AAA games that could benefit from Kinect voice support. Or perhaps I’m just a huge nerd, as I found myself wishing that I could scream “FUS RO DAH!” at my Xbox 360 to activate a shout, rather than tap the right bumper. It just seemed… perfect, but I fear what a Kinect compatibility stamp would have done for the hardcore fans.

RipTen Review: Dungeon Defenders (PC)

Shaun Hammond — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 11:45:07 +0000

While Android and iOS users have experienced this game before, It’s now time for the consoles and PC to experience Trendy Entertainment’s first game, Dungeon Defenders. As previously mentioned, Dungeon Defenders has been on iOS and Android for more than a year now, with cross-platform between the two versions. Though the console and PC versions exclude cross platform play (with the exclusion of PS3 and Vita when it launches), this is a co-operative tower based game you shouldn’t miss.

George Lucas be gone!

The game presents you with four playable classes and each are distinctly different. The Squire is the melee based knight with turrets, shield barricades and of course – a sword. The Apprentice, who’s essentially the Wizard of the group uses towers, barricades for said towers and magical spells. The Monk is your paladin – a melee and ranged support type class with Auras to increase defences and attack damage for towers and other players. Last but not least is the Huntress, a ranged class with only traps and mines, no towers or barricades. For the most part, I rolled huntress while my co-op buddy played the Squire. We complimented each others abilities well, never did we feel gimped nor did we feel like this was a “wrong combination”.

The main objective of the game is to defend your central crystal from waves of enemies. If it’s ever hit, don’t fret – it’s health will regenerate with each successful repulsion of said waves. With any tower defence game, you need to place defenses in the enemies tracks. Personally as the Huntress, I found the Gas Traps and Inferno Traps the most effective at cutting down enemy numbers. Although, the Ethereal Spike Trap was quite effective when setting it up with manual detonation for use against Ogres and Bosses to take down their massive amounts of health. With the Squire placing turrets, I was able to place Gas Traps right in front of them to keep the enemies occupied while the turret does it’s business. This was also quite effective when using a Squire’s barricade and the Inferno Trap, it did the same thing in reverse. Placing these in front of enemy spawn points or in narrow paths, such as stairs and arches, made it impossible for enemies to walk past.

Forget Gears of War, this is where it's at!

Being a tower based game, you can also upgrade various things. Players can upgrade their towers, traps, barricades to name a few, and doing so will increase range, damage and as for traps, it will increase the amount of times the trap can be used. When upgrading defences, you also reset the health for them. This means that you don’t have to bother repairing them at the same time. These upgrades are on a per-game basis however, so don’t expect your mega turrets to carry through into another game later on.

The leveling system for your character is what you’d expect from your basic RPG’s. Gaining experience from every enemy you defeat goes towards your characters next level, so on so fourth. You get certain amounts of points to go towards different things, such as your special abilities, character attributes and your defence’s attributes. I’m coming in close to lvl 25 and all I’ve really put my points towards so far has been speed.. Probably a bad move in retrospect.

We should probably drive them back..

As I mentioned before, there are special abilities. Each class has two abilities that will either affect the other players, or give an advantage to yourself. These are suited to each class, so you won’t see the support Monk class going into a Blood Rage that increases his damage and speed, as that ability is more suited to the squire. When combining abilities with the characters preset strengths and towers, the game helps each player bring a dynamic to the team that other games can fall short on. It’s more than “I’m good at hitting air units” or something equally minor.

There is a story, but it’s hard to follow. It’s not that much of a grip in the grand scheme however, as it’s only there to further your killing and construction of badass turrets. Whereas something like DoTA only has one map to play on, this wave based game has various stages that are layed out completely different from the last. They’re also visually unique from one another as well, it’s a nice touch and helps the game feel fresh.

I summon traps. Like a boss

Another positive note is the ton of support for this game. Already you can find wikis full of information and guides for challenges, levels and classes. There is also a ton of support from the developers, Trendy Entertainment. Balance updates and fixes are super quick, and there have been a lot of them so far. This is a really good thing because this game has a lot of little problems here and there, for example the Xbox 360 Gamepad support is rather terrible. Navigating menus is impossible without being able to go back, and sometimes not detecting the controller at all is really annoying. This wouldn’t really be much of a problem since keyboard and mouse is easier for this game, but with the ability to play splitscreen on the PC, more controller optimization wouldn’t go unnoticed.

Fireball Tower. It probably shoots balls of fire.

All in all, Dungeon Defenders is just a solid, extremely fun and vibrant tower based action game. If this game is indictivae of Trendy’s future, then color me excited. The game definitely shows it’s true potential when playing with friends, so make sure you have a few lined up as playing single-player isn’t the intended experience. If you’re looking for something similar to that of Trenched, with a vibrant and quirky world to kill some time with buddies, Dungeon Defender is the game for you. Go and buy it.

Here’s The Rundown:

+ Simple to pick up and play, even easier to get addicted

+ Great developer support

+ Classes work well together

- In it’s current state, the gamepad support is shoddy

- Some bugs can cause frustration

Learn more about the RipTen scoring system and what this score means. Visit our review scoring page.

Dungeon Defenders was developed and published by Trendy Entertainment. It was released on a whole bunch of platforms before finally coming to PC on October 19th, 2011. Review codes were provided by Trendy so Shaun could play it. He likes it a whole bunch.

RipTen Review : Goldeneye 007 Reloaded (Xbox 360)

Brandon Fenty — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 23:30:25 +0000

When you first fire up Goldeneye: Reloaded, you’ll notice that this isn’t your N64 classic. The graphics have been updated to modern standards, the story has been tweaked, and Pierce Brosnan has been replaced with Daniel Craig. These changes make for an experience that is distinctly different from the classic yet still has a ring of familiarity about it. It’s this combination of the new and the nostalgic that make this remake such a great game.

Reloaded’s story is not simply the same as Goldeneye’s (the game or the movie). Many of the same set pieces and major plot points are still there, but they almost always have a twist to them. For instance, the famous leap from the dam in the first level is still there, but with a twist that you’ll find surprising. Fans of the original will definitely notice the many nods to the classic, but the story still feels fresh, and you’ll find yourself looking forward to finding out how each scene will be reimagined.

The gameplay of Reloaded has a lot in common with modern shooters, many of which were born from the original Goldeneye. Still, it retains much of the same feel as the original. A quick headshot from the P99 is still the easiest way to dispatch many enemies. Stealth plays a large part in navigating the levels as well. Almost every environment gives you the option to sneak through it with headshots and silent takedowns. If you alert an enemy, an indicator shows up (much like a damage indicator) and you’ve got a few seconds to dispatch him before he can sound the alarm. If you do alert the enemies, you’ll find yourself in an all-out firefight pretty quickly.

One downfall of the single-player experience is the AI. While at points enemies will intelligently use cover, all too often they will just stand out in the open and fire blindly at you. Rarely do they employ any sort of strategy whatsoever in engaging you, and difficulty comes more from sheer numbers than individual enemy skill. While it’s not necessarily terrible, the AI certainly doesn’t impress, either.

The title adds replayability with optional objectives that often lead you off the main path of the level to complete them. When you turn up the difficulty, those objectives become mandatory. You’ll find yourself having to find new routes through the level, and this change-up makes the game feel new even after several playthroughs.

In addition to the main campaign, there are special side-challenges known as MI6 Ops, which add a lot of time to the game. The missions have a generic objective to them, such as take out all enemies or defend a point for a set amount of time, and you’re graded on how well you complete them. Modifiers can be added to make the challenge harder or easier, and you’ll get more points for completing it on a harder difficulty. You can even share a customized challenge with your friends and compete for the top spot.

The controls are fairly standard for a modern shooter, and Call of Duty fans will feel right at home. Bond’s ability to sprint and vault over obstacles makes moving through the environments feel effortless. Clicking the right stick executes a melee attack, which is great for silently taking down enemies or finishing off the last enemy instead of reloading. One nice touch that has been added is the ability to pop out from cover to fire. When crouched behind an object, holding the aim trigger pops your head over the obstacle to take out enemies. Releasing the trigger has you crouch back down. The system makes it easy to pop in and out of cover and helps keep the action flowing more smoothly — it’s a mechanic that more shooters should incorporate.

Unlike the Wii port, Reloaded’s graphics are one of its strong points, and it holds its own amongst modern shooters. Explosions look great, and the environments are large and detailed. Like the rest of the game, the environments will instantly remind you of the classic while at the same time introducing new elements and details. One of the little things I noticed were the doors from the Facility level. They use the same texture from the original (although obviously much more detailed). It’s those kinds of details that bring back nostaligic memories.

Multiplayer is one of the biggest selling points of Reloaded, and Activision doesn’t disappoint. Up to 16 players can face off online in a variety of game modes and environments. Tight controls and excellent level design make this a great part of the experience. In addition, as you play more, you’ll unlock better weapons and gadgets. Unlockable rewards keep players coming back to level up, and after every few matches you’ll have a new toy to play with. It’s a rewarding system that, while not new, definitely works.

The offline multiplayer is also engaging, and the ability to highly customize each match makes the possibilities endless. Many of the same game modes you remember make their way back, such as Golden Gun and You Only Live Twice. You can also tweak settings like damage and health modifiers, and throw in some strangeness with modifiers like Nick Nack mode where every character is reduced to half height and vaulting and climbing become impossible. Four-player split-screen matches are something that doesn’t exist much on consoles anymore, but it’s a welcome addition.

All in all, Goldeneye: Reloaded is a feature-rich game. Multiple modes and seemingly endless customization add a ton of replay value, and seeing the original story reimagined is definitely fun. It retains the feel of the classic while at the same time bringing the title up to date. The controls are solid, the graphics are great , and the level design is clever. Reloaded doesn’t rely on its Goldeneye roots to be a great game, but the nostalgic factor is just icing on the cake.

Here’s The Rundown

+ Solid Feature Set

+ Replay Value

+ Nostaligic Value

- Great Multiplayer

- Mediocre AI

Want to keep up with my latest reviews? Follow me on Twitter @DaMobileGuru

Goldeneye: Reloaded was developed by Eurocom and published by Activision for the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3. The game was released in North America on November 1, 2011 with an MSRP of $59.99. The copy used in this review was provided by the publisher. The game was played to completion by the reviewer and multiplayer was played for many hours until boredom set in.

RipTen Review: Nuclear Dawn (PC)

Sam Naylor — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 23:13:26 +0000

Nuclear Dawn is a game with real ambition. It sets out to be the game every PC gamer has imagined – an RTS where the troops are real players, playing a FPS. Does it realise the dream, though?

Developed by InterWave Studios, Nuclear Dawn is a multiplayer shooter which allows one player per team to take the hot seat and be a real-time strategy commander. Each round is based around destroying the other team’s base of operations, capturing strategic control points throughout the map as you do it. The more control points you have the more resources your commander will have to build up defenses and armaments around the map to protect and aid the team on the ground.

The game is based on the Source engine (it was originally planned as a mod but became a full product during development) and Nuclear Dawn really benefits from it. There’s a tendency for a small game like this to have a terrible interface, but the Source server browser architecture especially means there’s no hassle involved in starting a game, and all the menus work fine. It seems a minor point but as a reviewer it’s just a nightmare when games like this fight you even in the menu screens.

The gunplay in first-person mode really works, too. It’s completely uncomplicated and genuinely fun as a result. Even triple-A titles like Call of Duty take some getting used to, but to anyone who has played Counter-Strike, TF2 or Day of Defeat, Nuclear Dawn will be familiar from the outset. Getting kills is satisfying and none of the combat feels clunky- and what more could you ask for, really?

The combat itself may be simple to get into but there is plenty of depth in the class system. There’s four distinct classes- assault, heavy, stealth and support- and within each of those there are several kits to pick between. For example, playing as the assault class, I could choose to use a standard rifle, grenade launcher or a sniper rifle. “Advanced” kits like the grenade launcher are unlocked in the process of each game by the commander’s decisions.

The game looks very minimal and, to be brutally honest, fairly ugly. It looks, well, like a Source mod. It can be off-putting looking at screenshots of the game, especially the sandy “Oasis” level, because it just doesn’t look like a modern game in any way. The thing is, though, this never bothered me once I was playing the game. I spend a fair amount of time playing Source mods (or, I did a few years ago) and I’ve come to enjoy the rather simplistic look they employ. Look at it like this – there’s a reason Counter-Strike: Source is still massive, and it’s not because it looks stunning.

That brings me to the absolute biggest problem this game has, above everything else. There are no players. I’ve never played Nuclear Dawn at a time where there are more than 30 people worldwide playing the bloody thing. Because of this obviously we all have to crowd into one server, meaning you get huge amounts of varying latency between players. I’ve been forced to play on an Australian server where I had a constant ping of over 200, for example, simply because there’s no other servers that have players.

This brings me straight on to the part of the game that Nuclear Dawn is all about. The real-time strategy element. I’ve hardly been able to play it. Because there is only ever one or two servers with players on, I’ve just never been able to get into the hot seat. I did once, but was instantly kicked out by the admin. Dave has tried as well, and when we’re not waiting around trying to find a game, we’re waiting around trying to get into the command center so we can test out the RTS elements. It’s not the game’s fault, really, but it’s certainly a problem. For the brief moments I played with the RTS controls it it seemed serviceable, and the fact that people hog it so much means it must have some appeal.

Dave had more luck than me trying out the RTS part and he says it works much as you’d expect, albeit a bit slow and with little introduction as to just “how” to play. However, he says if you’re at all familiar with RTS games, you should have no issues setting up turrets and supply lines all across the map in no time.

It’s a serious affliction and can surely only be the fault of the marketing, rather than the developers. The game simply costs too much money. Nobody is buying it because of that, though it could perhaps do with a bit more presence. I didn’t even know what it was until we were handed the review code. This game needs players to make it a good game, and unfortunately they’re just not seeming to be coming in.

It’s unfortunate, then, that I’m going to tell you right now that this game is worth buying. It’s a genuinely fun and enjoyable game with some really interesting features – the RTS stuff is superbly executed and the FPS stuff works really well. Nuclear Dawn is great fun. They’ve also not bogged it down with silly complications like single player or special modes, which really impressed me. Call me odd but I much prefer my games to have a proper focus on one or the other (especially as a reviewer who has to play all the shit bits as well as the good bits).

Wait for a half-price sale, perhaps, but do yourself a favour and have a go at Nuclear Dawn. (At least then we’ll have someone to play with)

Here’s The Rundown:

+ Satisfying and fun shooting
+ RTS elements that work
+ Great idea, executed well
+ No complications- multiplayer only and server browser is perfect

- Nobody is playing it
- The people who actually are playing it prevent you from playing the RTS bit
- Overpriced for what it is
- Ugly maps and models

Learn more about the RipTen scoring system and what this score means. Visit our review scoring page.Nuclear Dawn was Published and Developed by InterWave Studios for PC and Mac. The game was played for about 6 hours in multiplayer on a PC with the following specs: AMD Phenom X4, 4GB RAM, ATi Radeon HD 5850 and a 24″ Asus monitor. It was released on 26 September 2011 on PC for $24.99 and will release at some point this year on Xbox 360. You can get it on all the big download outlets here if you’re so inclined.

OH COME ON!