Busy? Hardly!

Sorry about the lack of updates in June, was busy with work and family oriented events. Plan on getting the ball rolling a bit more and pop an update out every week or so from now on. Game releases may be in a bit of a slump for the next little while, and some that may look interesting to others I may have no interest in. So If I cant find something new to talk about I may do a review or... something, on older games, hardware, etc. Maybe even talk about something completely unrelated.

Who knows!?

Spec Ops: The Line Review

By: Shalin Wiese

Developer: Yager Development, Darkside Game Studios

Platform: PC, XBox360, Playstation 3

Released: June 26th, 2012

Spec Ops was kind of a sleeper hit for me, I had no idea a new one was released until I saw it at my local gameshop. On a whim, I decided to pick it up. Turns out, the game is more interesting and entertaining than half the other nonsense flooding the market right now. Spec Ops: The Line is all about telling a story, and it tells it well.

The story begins in the middle of a firefight between you and your crew in a Black Hawk engaging other helicopters in a firefight over Dubai, during the middle of it, a giant sandstorm approaches ends up crashing the chopper, and bringing about our flashback to start the game proper.

Delta Operatives Walker, Adams and Lugo are sent in to Dubai to find a missing american unit under the command of Kernal Konrad who was sent to Dubai for evacuation of the city due to a giant sandstorm that buried the city. What they find however, is a mysterious message left by Konrad and the Unit gone rogue.

Throughout the game, you realize that things are much worse than they originally expected and Dubai and the people in it are a bit more disturbed than was originally reported. At certain points in the game, you are given options that have no bearing on the ending of the story, but instead, affect the gameplay and make you and the characters rethink why they are there and what they are really trying to do in the city.

This is the most interesting thing about the story though, how it affects the characters and situations they are placed in. During the course of the game, these choices directly impact the characters and their emotions, and its reflected during gameplay. At the beginning, the team goes in as a typical commando unit, enemies drop to Smooth, controlled "Tango Down!" and reloading is a typical "Reloading!" shout. But as the game progresses and they experience the reality of the situation, and the effects of there choices, those original shouts become Desperate with "Take that Fucker down!" and "God damn piece of shit work!"

Gameplay is typical TPS gunfare, you can crouch and roll behind cover, throw grenades, switch between main and secondary weapons etc. And while its certainly nothing new, its fluid and works well. Walker controls smoothly, and camera controls are tight. Having squadmates opens up interesting ways of approaching situations. Lugo is a sniper, and you can mark faraway targets for him to take down, and Adams can toss flash bangs on big groups converging close to your unit.

Another way to approach situations is to use the environment, Dubai, being ravaged by sandstorms, can lead to some interesting ways to approach combat. If an enemy is behind an outside window, shooting it can dump sand on their head, stunning and disorienting them. Enemies above on a glass catwalk? Shoot out the glass and send them plummeting down. There are even certain areas where you can destroy whole walls and complete wipe out a unit, burying them in sand.

Unfortunately, using the environment is really only expiremented with when it's blatantly obvious. Which may not be a bad thing per se. But when certain enemies essentially line up behind a cracking window or on top of glass, theres no subtlety to it, and it doesnt really feel like you genuinely figured it out. Adams and Lugo, while the characters themselves are great, and do contribute to firefights, arent really necessary for the actions they could perform. Its great that you can designate them specific actions, but I found I could easily do it faster myself, and rarely had to rely on them.

Dont let those minor issues take you away from the game though, Spec Ops: The Line, as I said before, is focused on telling a story, and thats the real driving factor behind the game. Spec Ops isnt about run and gun gameplay or getting to the end of the game. Its about the actions you take and the effects it has on the characters and yourself. A War game that shows you that war isnt heroic or interesting, its brutal and horrifying.

Presentation: 5/5

Sound: 5/5

Gameplay: 4/5

Graphics: 4/5

Replay Value: 3/5

Overall: 21/25

Pros:

-Amazing Story

-Great Atmosphere

-Likeable Characters

-Fluid Combat

Cons:

-Combat is repetitive

-Combat doesnt experiment with its assets.

Note: This review is based solely on the Single Player campaign. I never once set foot into the mulitplayer, which I have heard to be fairly entertaining.

Lollipop Chainsaw Review

 By: Shalin Wiese

Genre: Action

Developer: Grasshopper Manufacture

Platform: Playstation 3 (also available for Xbox 360)

Released: June 12^th 2012

Ever wanted to wield a multifunctional chainsaw, in a quest to kill zombies being brought from the “Rotten World” by an Evil Goth who was bullied in high school? Welcome to Lollipop Chainsaw. A twisted and entertaining game from Grasshopper Manufacture and Suda51 (Killer 7, No More Heroes, Shadows of the Damned) A game that prides itself on its over the top action and crudeness. And, while not without its faults, provides an entertaining experience throughout.

Juliet Starling, high school student, cheerleader, zombie hunter. The game starts on her 18^th birthday (that’s a relief) and a brief explanation that she plans to enjoy the day with her boyfriend and family. Only, on the way to school, things don’t go as expected. Zombies now fill the streets and are in the way of her meeting place with Nick Carlyle, the previously noted boyfriend. So of course, there’s only one way through, slicing and dicing with her zombie hunting chainsaw.

This is where the game starts, and where the tutorial kicks in, Juliet has several basic moves that are upgraded as the game progresses. Her basic pom pom attack is essentially a stun move, it CAN kill zombies, but it takes a long time. However, after a few hits, they become stunned, and a stunned zombie can be instantly killed by the Chainsaw. This opens up into a combo system combining both Pompom attacks and quickly followed by Chainsaw finales. This however, will turn out to be a problem for button mashers. The best approach to take with combat is to time each hit as it happens, and press when the first attack has ended. Pressing to quickly will have her continue unintentional chains, and will more often than not, leave her open to attacks from surrounding enemies.

Unfortunately after our tutorial/opening level is over, Nick ends up taking a bite for Juliet and begins to become infected. So, in order for Juliet to still be with Nick, she does the only sane thing a person would do, Chop off his head. Upon waking she simply explains to him that its because of magic. She is able to do this, and off they go again to kill more zombies. Nick himself is obviously terrified,shocked, awed at this, but eventually comes to terms with it as the story progresses. He is also one of the most entertaining characters in the game, every event or battle in the game has him spouting witty one liners or commenting on his predicament in a way that only a man tied to his girlfriends belt as a head would be able to see it. Not only that, but Nick can be used in a variety of ways throughout the game, to collect money, attack enemies, or shoot him out of your Chainsaw cannon (yes you read that right) to quickly stun enemies for easy kills.

You've probably guess by now that, as a story, Lollipop Chainsaw enjoys being ridiculous, Swan, our evil goth bad guy has summoned these zombies using a ritual, and has also created 5 zombie overlords who will reign over the areas of the game. And, each overlord has there own music to accompany them, from punk rock to heavy metal, each zombie adds a unique flavour to each area of the game. And the soundtrack reflects that in full. And the 5 areas of the game are just as interesting, ranging from the highschool, to a stadium, and ending up at farms and arcades. Each level has a very unique experience, and always brings a new twist and element of gameplay to the floor.

Of course, the game is not without its faults and issues, as stated earlier, the combat is clunky, and until you learn some new skills and abilities later on, you'll be using the same combos for a majority of the game. Another “problem” that may not go over well with alot of people is the profanity in the game, alot of the characters and enemies swear, alot, and more still like to point out how much they love seeing Juliets... *ahem* Assets. While it doesnt take away from the gameplay at all, it gets a little tedious having enemies call Juliet a whore every other encounter.

Overall, the game itself is a very enjoyable experience, the story is hilarious and entertaining and the cast is interesting and fleshed out. Combat, while certainly not the best out there, is fun and visceral and can become much more interesting later on after learning the basics and purchasing new skills. If you like Suda's earlier works, this is definitely a game worth checking out, and if you're starting with this as your first, maybe try giving No More Heroes or Shadows of the Damned a whirl as well. While not for everyone, Lollipop Chainsaw can be a great experience, and I'd recommends giving it a playthrough at least once.

Presentation 4/5

+Interesting story and characters

+Creative level design and scenarios

-Crude humor may not be for all

Sound 4/5

+Excellent Soundtrack

+Great Voiceactors

-Repetitive zombie shouts

Gameplay 3.5/5

+PomPom/Chainsaw combos are rewarding

+Nick abilities are great

-Combat can be slow and clunky

-Can be repetitive until later on when new moves become available

Graphics 3.5/5

+Detailed and vivid

-Lack of variety with zombie characters

-Can sometimes stutter during certain action scenes

Replay Value 3.5/5

+Tons of collectables/costumes

+Has a ranked mode for competing with top scores

-Game is on the short side averaging betwen 5-7 hours.

Overall Score 74/100