Xbox 360 review: Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain

Nine years after the sabotage and destruction of Mother Base that acted as the cliffhanger ending of Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes, Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain opens with Big Boss awakening in a hospital to the shocking discovery that there is a shard of metal lodged in his skull and his left arm is missing from the elbow down. As a doctor explains the situation to him, tries to calm him down, and ease him back into the land of the living, word that ‘V has come to' quickly spreads, and it is not long before the hospital is besieged by heavily-armed forces. Barely able to stand, Big Boss, aka Punished ‘Venom’ Snake struggles to regain his ability to walk, while a mysterious bandaged friend calling himself Ishmael acts as his guide out of the hospital.

The route is dangerous, as the militant forces have orders to shoot everyone in the hospital, and Ishmael and Snake encounter what appears to be a flaming projection of Volgin, the Soviet colonel from Operation: Snake Eater. This first leg of the journey is largely an interactive story segment which teaches players the basic controls as they pertain to The Phantom Pain’s stealth and combat techniques. The escalation of events beyond the player’s control is intense, and ultimately the two patients are forced to dupe their would-be assassins, steal an ambulance, and avoid a pursuing helicopter before crashing through a roadblock. Snake passes out for a brief period, and awakens to find no trace of Ishmael, but rather is introduced to Revolver Ocelot, his contact from the newly-reconstructed Mother Base. Ocelot and Snake board a freighter ship to waters near the Seychelles Isles, where XO Kazuhira Miller ordered the new Mother Base be constructed in Snake’s absence.

The first orders of business in setting the stage for events to come are equipping Snake with all of his familiar gear, as well as a new robotic arm, and explaining to players (whether they previously experienced Ground Zeroes or not) that Skull Face is still at large, commanding XOF as a rogue agency no longer tied to the United States government. It’s just the right amount of information and story content to dish out to players this early on. The massive open world exploration element is kept in perspective, for the time being, as Ocelot informs Snake that Miller ran into some trouble during his most recent operation, and likely only has a few days to live before his Soviet captors decide they are through trying to interrogate him.

Each mission Snake embarks on during the game’s first eight hours or so is set in Afghanistan, where tall cliffs limit the number of available routes, but large rocks and hilly terrain offer sufficient cover for Snake, even as he rides past enemy outposts in D-Horse’s saddle. Afghanistan is, as Ocelot informs Snake, a big place, and there is great deal of time spent simply travelling from one location to another early on, though destroying anti-air radar emplacements can open up new landing zones for Mother Base’s helicopters. This map is also a stark contrast in design to the later-accessible African border region between Angola and Zaire, which is technically smaller in size overall, but the open plains and dense jungle provide Snake with a greater freedom to immediately drop in and explore, take on side-ops, and scope out enemy patrols.

Any misgivings about the open-world gameplay adopted by The Phantom Pain should be put to rest. The ability to rely completely on stealth is just as strong as ever, and plenty satisfying to boot. For players who wish to go loud and shoot up a base of enemies with automatic weapons, however, The Phantom Pain does not punish this approach, provided you have something of a plan in mind before storming a heavily-fortified base. More than any Metal Gear title before it, The Phantom Pain offers some truly creative solutions for players who can think on the fly and adapt to the situation as it changes. While Ground Zeroes felt incredibly limited in its scope and restricted in its freedom of play, The Phantom Pain welcomes experimentation, and on the off chance that you are killed in action and receive a ‘game over’ screen, it is always fair, placing responsibility on the player and their choices both in the moment and prior to engaging the enemy.

Enemies are quite a bit smarter than in previous Metal Gear titles, and will receive helmets, shields, and full body armor as word spreads of Snake besting their comrades. The Phantom Pain is somewhat forgiving, though, as the moment an enemy spots you does not immediately put all nearby soldiers on alert. Instead, Snake is granted a brief window to tranquilize, kill, or (provided he is close enough) perform a CQC takedown on the soldier that spotted him. This addition is most appreciated when infiltrating fortresses with high walls that prevent Snake from properly scoping out all enemies therein. The weather and time of day also play important roles in the enemy’s visibility. Obviously, nighttime is ideal for infiltration missions, as enemy soldiers have a smaller field of view away from light sources, and rain storms in Africa further obscure their vision. Dust storms will occasionally whip up in Afghanistan, lasting approximately two minutes at a time, and practically cover the entire area in a thick, blowing cloud – this can prove a double-edged sword, as the enemy is practically blind, but if Snake has not scanned the area beforehand, so too is he.

There is also a great deal of freedom in which weapons and gear Snake takes into battle with him. Grenade launchers, RPGs, and explosives like C4 are generally best-suited to missions that require the destruction of heavily armored vehicles, as they are among the most expensive to equip. But the sheer number of these that can be developed, along with assault rifles, machine guns, submachine guns, pistols, grenades, and camo patterns is astounding, and further reinforces the notion that you can play The Phantom Pain virtually any way you like. The ability to develop certain items is restricted until you have added sufficient personnel to Mother Base’s R&D team, and of course, each individual item costs GMP, the game’s monetary value that is earned in large sums upon the completion of each main game mission and side-op. Some of the wackier loadout options, like the Rocket Arm and cardboard boxes decked out with supermodel posters or anime characters, prove the most entertaining, despite perhaps not being universally practical.

Mother Base is divided into more than a half-dozen struts, each of which can be further built up over time. It does cost a great deal of GMP and resources like fuel, metals, and biological materials to expand Mother Base, but the benefits are more than worth the lengthy wait times between each addition. Building more platforms for your Intel team means that they can offer you greater information about your surroundings, while R&D will develop new weapons and gear more quickly if they have the space to support a larger team, and so forth.

GMP is also spent calling in fire support from your helicopter and for retrieving prisoners, unconscious enemy troops, wildlife, and vehicles alike with the Fulton balloon system, and it is a good idea to maintain a healthy amount of GMP at all times, as dipping into negative numbers means that Mother Base soldiers may leave due to dissatisfaction with the way Snake is running the show. Conversely, the more Snake displays heroism and grows Mother Base, the more likely volunteers are to show up on his doorstep, requesting to join his Diamond Dog forces. Each and every Mother Base soldier displays a specific set of traits, making some better suited for particular teams, and ill-suited for others. Some also boast unique abilities that can lessen or increase the likelihood of fights breaking out, and even perform special moves should players choose to take control of these characters for missions over Snake. Mother Base troops will have their morale increased upon visits home by Snake, and while there isn’t a ton to do on Mother Base, players can scour each platform for diamonds to up their GMP, engage in shooting range side-ops, and stumble across some cleverly-placed easter eggs.

While D-Horse is the first ‘buddy’ character Snake is allowed to deploy with into missions, the trusty steed’s fast gallop can be swapped for three other buddies, each with their own unique support roles. D-Dog, a wild pup that Snake encounters in Afghanistan, grows up under the training of Ocelot, and can eventually be utilized as a radar for detecting the exact location of all nearby enemies, wild animals, and plant life. While D-Dog’s default loadout allows him the option to distract enemy soldiers, he can later be outfitted with a knife or stun baton for stealthy enemy takedowns.

Quiet, the voiceless Sniper, moves at inhuman speeds, similarly scoping out enemy patrols from a distance, and picking them off one by one per Snake’s orders. Quiet is best utilized by players who prefer direct intervention, or who want a backup plan in case the enemy bears down on Snake with everything at their disposal. Quiet’s standard sniper rifle can be swapped for a tranquilizer rifle, while her alternate outfits are more aesthetically amusing than they are situation-sensitive. Finally, Huey’s D-Walker offers a travel speed slightly slower than that of D-Horse, but with offensive options like a gatling gun and rocket launcher, as well as a defensive buffer to the front. Each ‘buddy’ will be recalled from the field if they take too many hits, however, and this will subsequently weaken Snake’s bond with them, while properly utilizing their abilities and ensuring their safety will strengthen Snake’s bond with them.

The main missions during the first act of The Phantom Pain are largely concerned with piecing together the puzzle of Skull Face’s master plan, one ‘weapon to surpass Metal Gear’. While the pacing of the game is spot-on, the story sequences – one of the Metal Gear series’ most popular and famous offerings – are sparse until the second act. While it is appreciated that The Phantom Pain does not bog players down with extensive cutscenes as Guns of the Patriots once did, MGSV cuts back on its narrative a bit too much. Metal Gear villains have long held a commanding presence in their respective games, and Skull Face is no different, walking a fine line between theatrically confident and cunningly evil. But when his plan is revealed in full, it is underwhelming, and offers too much room for error.

The second half of The Phantom Pain does increase the frequency with which the story is sprinkled in. Kaz becomes increasingly suspicious of Huey, believing he was responsible for the security breach that destroyed the old Mother Base. Quiet finds the soldiers on Mother Base are not all keen on her presence, calling her a freak and generally distrusting her. And Snake is forced to carry out some very heavy actions that, while perhaps necessary, are important steps in painting both himself and the forces of Outer Heaven as more of villains than heroes by the time the events of the first Metal Gear occur.

The Phantom Pain fills in the last major gap of time between the era of Big Boss and the era of Solid Snake, and as such, is less concerned with presenting grand revelations pertaining to the series at large than most other Metal Gear titles. The events of The Phantom Pain are guided in large part by what transpired in both Peace Walker and Ground Zeroes, and ultimately the endgame plays most prominently into the events of Metal Gear, Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake, and Metal Gear Solid. Some of The Phantom Pain’s strongest moments lie in its second act, but so too do its greatest faults. Roughly half of the second act’s main missions are simply retreads of missions taken on during the first act, with higher difficulty settings or more specific rules in place. In addition, the penultimate chapter that would otherwise provide The Phantom Pain with a clean, complete finale is entirely absent, leaving a humongous plot point hanging with no resolution.

Boss fights are also quite sparse in The Phantom Pain, though the handful that are present pay homage to previous titles in the series. A sniper duel between Snake and Quiet mirrors that of the battle with The End in Snake Eater, and the general design and abilities of Metal Gear Sahelanthropus offer throwbacks to Metal Gear Rex from the PS1’s Metal Gear Solid. One particular close-quarters battle with Skull Face’s elite Skulls unit even incorporates quick-time reactions reminiscent of Metal Gear Rising.

Side-ops are entertaining, more relaxed distractions from The Phantom Pain’s main missions, offering up goofy scenarios like tracking down a legendary bear to tranquilize and bring back to Mother Base’s animal sanctuary, or infiltrating a Soviet-occupied base to rescue a sheep via fulton balloon extraction. Other side-ops are more run of the mill fanfare, such as extracting prisoners, and destroying heavy infantry or armored patrol units. Side ops typically require less careful planning of Snake’s loadouts beforehand, and it can be easy to find yourself burning through three, five, or ten at a time, in-between The Phantom Pain’s main missions.

While Metal Gear Online may not yet be up and running, The Phantom Pain does offer an online component in the form of an F.O.B. invasion. F.O.B.s, or forward-operating bases, can be constructed in waters beyond the main Mother Base, and serve to further establish Big Boss’ presence to the outside world. Snake can infiltrate an enemy base for a GMP reward, depending on how well he manages to sneak past the troops stationed there, but your own base(s) will similarly be potential targets for other players to invade. F.O.B. invasions are an interesting afterthought, but they lack substance, and do not return as high-value rewards as the deployment missions Snake can send Mother Base soldiers on against CPU forces.

Many fans were, understandably, disappointed to hear that longtime voice of Snake, David Hayter, would not be returning to reprise the character in MGSV. It’s difficult to fully accept Kiefer Sutherland as the new voice of Snake, not because of the quality of his performance, but because of how infrequently he adds anything to the conversation. On the whole, Kiefer Sutherland does a sufficient job of carrying such an iconic role, but would be far more memorable if he spoke more than a few words at any given juncture – a stark contrast to Hayter’s rather talkative portrayal of Snake in every other major Metal Gear entry. As a rippling effect of this, Snake frequently comes across as more of an observer of events unfolding on Mother Base and during his missions than an active participant, at least during cutscenes and other scripted sequences.

Robin Atkin Downes and Troy Baker put forth strong performances as Kazuhira Miller and Ocelot, respectively. Downes does a phenomenal job at conveying Miller’s desire for revenge, and the hatred he harbors towards Skull Face’s XOF forces for destroying the old Mother Base, yet still maintains a strong-willed presence and great degree of faith and respect in Snake, even if he does attempt to go over his head during a few key instances. There is a constant tension in the air whenever Snake and Miller are present in the same scene, due in no small part to Downes’ performance. Troy Baker, meanwhile, manages to present Ocelot in the prime of his adulthood, without sounding too similar to other middle-aged roles he’s performed in the past, like The Last of Us’ Joel or Bioshock Infinite’s Booker DeWitt. Baker gives the famous gunslinger an appropriately deeper voice than Josh Keaton’s performance of a youthful Ocelot in Snake Eater, but dials back a few notches from Patric Zimmerman’s famous raspy voice from Metal Gear Solid, Sons of Liberty, and Guns of the Patriots.

As Snake explores Afghanistan and the Angola-Zaire border region, he will receive cassette tapes – some that are delivered by Miller and Ocelot containing mission-sensitive information, and others that contain musical tracks. Many of the audio tapes will prove a real treat to hardcore Metal Gear fans, referencing events from Snake Eater and Peace Walker, while others provide greater context to Skull Face’s motives and the origins of XOF. Playing Metal Gear theme songs of yesteryear while carrying out missions delivers a good dose of nostalgia, but blasting one of the many hidden 80s pop and rock tapes can make for some wacky, thoroughly amusing moments. Better yet, you can set any of these songs to blast from your helicopter’s speaker system, so as to bear down on unsuspecting enemies with rockets launching to the tunes of Kim Wilde’s “Kids in America”, The Cure’s “Friday I’m in Love”, Kajagoogoo’s “Too Shy” or Billy Idol’s “Rebel Yell”.

As for the original orchestrated soundtrack, The Phantom Pain’s musical stylings deviate a surprising degree from those in previous games. The few reprises of classic Metal Gear themes that do sneak their way in to the mix are quite subdued. Sins of the Father, meanwhile, is a powerful and commanding vocal track, with lyrics that are among the most thematically-appropriate to a Metal Gear title since Snake Eater’s self-titled jazzy James Bond-esque number.

The Fox Engine once again outdoes itself, as The Phantom Pain looks shockingly good, even on a last-generation console like the Xbox 360. There are some minor shortcomings when compared to the PS4 and Xbox One versions, such as certain textures sporting less detail and requiring the occasional bump-in load. As the game installs on the system’s hard drive prior to your first play session, load times between missions are kept to a reasonable speed. Draw distances are superb, offering Snake the ability yo scope out vast distances, provided the terrain does not obscure his field of vision. The blurred distance effects are nowhere near as harsh on the eyes in the Xbox 360 version as they are on the PS4 or the Xbox One. I never stumbled across any noticeable dips in frame rate, and only encountered one odd, non-threatening glitch during my playthrough – very much appreciated, given the track record of other contemporary open world games.

In addition to catering to any play style you like, The Phantom Pain reflects player loadouts and time away on missions within cutscenes. When Snake begins an interaction with Ocelot and Kaz, he’ll be wearing whichever camo pattern players last dressed the legendary soldier in. If Snake has been taking to more direct means of intervention, shooting up enemy soldiers, his face will be streaked with blood, while even a long series of stealth ops will depict Snake with sweat dripping from his brow.

Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain is far from a perfect game. The lessened focus on a complex narrative will likely leave veteran fans hungry for more, especially with the knowledge that the final leg of Snake’s journey is left incomplete. That said, the story elements that are at play prove, by and large, of the same carefully-calculated nature that Kojima is known for. The few major twists that come to pass are masterfully executed, and the nigh-on perfect gameplay The Phantom Pain sports certainly helps ease the pain of the elements that are absent. The Phantom Pain travels to some dark places, with plot points that teeter closer to reality than other games in the series. While The Phantom Pain may not be the definitive masterpiece fans had hoped would cap off Hideo Kojima’s nearly-thirty-year run of directing the Metal Gear series, it is still one of the most enjoyable games I’ve played this year. It’s a shame that the circumstances surrounding Konami, Kojima, and the game’s development process did not pan out more smoothly, as the full, completed vision for The Phantom Pain would have no doubt earned a considerably higher overall score.

My rating: 7.75 (out of 10)

Xbox 360 review: Shadows of the Damned

Shadows of the Damned is, in many ways, simpler in design than some of the more well-known Grasshopper Manufacture games. The story tells of Garcia Hotspur, a leather-jacket wearing and tattoo-decorated demon hunter who is brimming with hardened attitude, on a journey into the depths of hell to rescue the soul of his beloved Paula. Garcia is accompanied by Johnson, a demon who has renounced his hellish nature at the cost of losing his body and being reduced to a flaming skull. Johnson is both tour guide and weapon to Garcia, transforming from a simple torch to three different firearms – pistol, machine gun, and shotgun – each of which receives appropriate, fun and inventive upgrades as the plot progresses.

From the earliest moments of the game, the dynamic between Garcia and Johnson proves among Shadows of the Damned’s highest points. Johnson always has a timely quip to lend to the narrative, and even pokes fun at Garcia’s reading skills during one of the optional storybook segments which offers further exposition to the game’s handful of boss characters. Shadows of the Damned is less reliant on pop culture references than other Suda51 creations like No More Heroes or Lollipop Chainsaw, and the majority of humor therein is quite crude. As such, the delivery sometimes falls flat, but the game never shies away from a fast-paced and intense balls-to-the-wall presentation.

Shadows of the Damned presents a wonderfully cohesive vision of hell that strings together environments that are twisted mockeries of earthly planes within impossible spaces, while sprinkling in fairy tales of the boss characters’ falls to damnation. There are occasional, if not relatively small areas to explore or travel back to in search of an upgrade gem, but by and large, Shadows of the Damned follows a very linear progression through each of its stages. It does offer a solid variety of fun and wildly different gameplay elements that pop up from time to time, including a turret segment and a bowling minigame. The weak link among these is a side-scrolling shoot-‘em-‘up segment reminiscent of a particular stage in Grasshopper Manufacture’s 2D action platformer Black Knight Sword, but here, it feels not only awkwardly pasted in, but more of an annoying hurdle than a clever spin on the established familiar third-person shooter gameplay.

On the subject of the three firearms at Garcia’s disposal, they each bear grounded designs that become increasingly alien and appropriate given the game’s netherworld setting. Red gems upgrade the rate of fire, ammo capacity, reload speed, and so forth for each, as well as the quick-time melee responses for Johnson’s torch form. Each of the firearms performs well in taking down enemies that require particular strategies to be defeated, and overall, these three weapons handle in a manner that is equally balanced between familiar standards of the shooter genre and fresh gameplay variety, and are thus highly intuitive. Much as these guns do well at felling foes, they also serve to solve a number of short-lived but mildly thought-provoking puzzles.

Tunnels filled with shadowy mists that connect portions of some of the game’s levels, as well as moving floors and staircases, incorporate a dash of adventure gameplay. At times, ammo for particular weapons can be sparse, though Garcia can always count on a demon-human hybrid mutant with a hillbilly accent to offer up his wares at a small price at least once per level. The soundtrack is rockin’ from start to finish, with mellow industrial tunes reminiscent of Silent Hill dipping in frequently – fitting, not only due to the game’s narrative direction and themes, but also because the soundtrack was scored by Akira Yamoka.

Shadows of the Damned is not a particularly difficult game, nor is it a particularly lengthy one. There will be learning curves associated with chase sequences at a mere two or three junctures, but beyond those momentary hurdles, players should have no trouble blasting their way through the hordes of hell to reach Garcia’s beloved Paula. The boss fights each present a new strategy, and are enjoyable across the board, though they certainly do not leave as lasting an impression as the boss encounters in Grasshopper Manufacture’s action entries of No More Heroes or Killer is Dead. Perhaps Shadows of the Damned clocking in shy of the ten hour mark is just as well, given the rather straightforward tale that is spun along the way, and the moderate amount of replay value it offers.

My rating: 7.25 (out of 10)

XBLA review: Forza Horizon 2: Fast & Furious

No doubt the result of a quick marketing deal, Forza Horizon 2: Fast & Furious is a free-to-download standalone expansion to the Microsoft-exclusive Forza Horizon 2. While the relatively brief experience bears the Fast & Furious name, there is little in the way of story to tie this product to the film series. Ludacris does lend his voice talents to the menus and offers both pre and post-race commentary, an addition that provides decent context to the otherwise generic routine of competing with other racers for ownership of their prized rides. That said, this two-hour-plus experience lacks any other form of story content.

The routine of challenging other races in two-part competitions to win their cars is a predictable but fast-paced routine, and the game does provide plenty of varied locales and course setups to prevent things from becoming stale during its short runtime. A drift challenge, a timed return to your garage while keeping one of your latest acquisitions from receiving too much damage, and one particular race against a helicopter further spice up what might have otherwise become too predictable a game. Though the portion of the French countryside you are limited to is likely but a fraction of the area accessible in the full retail release of Forza Horizon 2, it is still quite expansive, stretching from a harbor town lined with old brick buildings out to hilly farmland, and on even further still to a long and winding stretch of highway that cuts over road leading to an airfield. Sunsets stream beams of an orange glow between structures, and even under the navy of night, the game’s lighting effects look phenomenal.

The same can be said for the cars, which look satisfyingly realistic. Though the Xbox One may be the console with higher graphical prowess than its 360 predecessor, these sporty cars look nonetheless incredible. Zipping down city streets at high speeds, buildings will mesh as blend of colors, offering an effective sensation of just how fast your vehicle is travelling. Slowing down to inspect these up close, however, will reveal flat, often blurry textures. The soundtrack, though limited to a handful of tunes, offers a decently-varied selection of current licensed hip-hop, rock, and technopop tracks. There is no option to customize the ten different main vehicles you collect over the course of the game, but considering how varied their makes and models are to begin with, as well as the fact that Forza Horizon 2: Fast & Furious is effectively a glorified demo, the lack of such a feature is none too surprising.

Of the ten different cars you collect on behalf of the Fast and Furious crew, the earliest ones handle clunkier than the late-game acquisitions. Practically every one of the automobiles has solid acceleration, while the top speeds only improve with each new vehicle added to your garage. The other consistency between nearly all of the cars, however, is the fact that the vast majority of them do not handle turns well. Drifting does not feel good from any but perhaps two of the vehicles, and while the frequency at which cars can spin out may be more realistic than other racing games, it also diminishes the fun factor. Even at the start of a race, cars will sometimes start veering off at an angle, despite you having not pushed the joystick sideways in the slightest. Regardless of whether you take a corner pushing ninety miles per hour or slow down to the crawl of twenty, your car is bound to slide all over the place in nonsensical fashion, as if the roads were covered in glare ice.

While most other racing games in this day and age adhere to the format of asking you to retry an entire race should you fail to place well or meet specific criteria, Forza Horizon 2: Fast & Furious allows you to make use of a rewind button between checkpoints. If you came into a turn too fast and spun out of control, a simple hit of the button will drag you and the competition back a few seconds so that you can better account for the zigs and zags of a particular course. It might lighten the challenge factor a bit, but it also lessens the frustration felt from the aforementioned not-so-great feedback the cars exhibit on anything other than a straight stretch of pavement. Offroad races are practically nonexistent, which is a shame, considering that the under-utilized Jeep Wrangler would be a perfect fit for romps down dirt roads or jump challenges over countryside hills.

Cars automatically repair at the start of a new race, which is appreciated, as scraping against or slamming into fences and trees can and will tear pieces off your car and scratch it up. While it may remove much in the way of repercussions for dinging up your ride, it keeps the relatively short-lived gaming experience to a fittingly fast formula. The game will predetermine which car you will be using for each race, and offer the use of nitro on only a couple of races, which only proves an annoyance late in the game, when you are restricted to one of the earliest, less elegant cars in your collection. Forza Horizon 2: Fast & Furious does offer up a moderate amount of extra content: a checklist for driving down every street, knocking over signboards, discovering one hidden car, and challenging time trials in ‘rival races’. Beyond that, there are speed zones where you can attempt to reach breakneck speeds in setting a record for the online leaderboards, the option to take photos of the cars in your collection, and the opportunity to try and beat your personal best chain combo of skill points, the latter of which are earned from doing just about anything and everything behind the wheel – drifting, reaching high speeds, performing burnouts, and dipping in for near-misses close to other vehicles.

My rating: 6 (out of 10)

Top 5 Multiplayer Maps in Halo: Reach

While it may have been Bungie’s swan song to the Halo franchise, Halo: Reach also marked the culmination of all their efforts over the nine years they spent crafting conflict of the Human-Covenant War. Though the narrative of Reach may have opted to go back in time, acting as a precursor to the events of Halo: Combat Evolved, the gameplay combined many of the best elements from the other games. Players were limited to one gun at a time, something that had not been a staple of the franchise for nine years, but the faster turnaround on reloads and mobility offered a satisfactory handling in the vein of Halo 2. Meanwhile, Halo 3’s equipment came into its own in the form of more well-balanced and practical loadouts that could be selected at the start of a multiplayer round (with some equipment options more heavily emphasized for certain gametypes). Playlists catered to a variety of fan-favorite game types, while also introducing a few new modes, encouraging community content via the incredibly user-friendly Forge World, and even added in a cleaner take on the Firefight mode first tested in Halo 3: ODST. Halo: Reach’s launch may have been marked by a somewhat smaller offering of multiplayer maps than fans were used to, but this was counteracted in part by the offerings of Forge World as well as the general polish on the maps that were readily available at launch. As was the case with the preceding Halo games, though, some of my personal favorite maps did not see the light of day until months later, when the DLC packs were released.

#5 – Boneyard: Among the multiplayer offerings in Halo: Reach were two new game types, Headhunter and Invasion. Invasion settled halfway between the Team Objective and Big Team Battle playlists, pitting teams of six or more against one another. While one team attempted to capture one of two points designated on the map at a time, the other defended in hopes that they could thwart the invaders’ three-stage assault. Boneyard was a massive map, with multiple structures that provided many high vantage points for the defending Spartans, while the invading team of Elites relied on their more varied loadouts and the long distance from one objective point to the other to try and breach the shipyard’s defenses. Boneyard was also a rare breed, in that, while it ranked among the largest Reach had to offer, the hollowed-out ship situated at the center, the warehouse off to the far side, and the large sections of cover that littered the dirt below encouraged strategic play. No vehicle, nor any particular weapon loadout, guaranteed a longstanding advantage over the competition, given the multiple routes players could use to push on through from one end to the other, and this proved similarly in the more pure and free-form Big Team Battles.

#4 – Anchor 9: While it was amusing to see how Bungie managed to work in most of the multiplayer maps that shipped with the retail release of Reach into the campaign missions in a genuinely cohesive manner, Some of the DLC maps were arguably a better illustration of Bungie’s creativity in design. Anchor 9 took a look inside the UNSC docking station orbiting Reach that was introduced in the mission Long Night of Solace. The map took advantage of the game’s previously-established low-gravity physics, offering a section that ran the far edge of the map for players to land heavy strikes on foes as they attempted quick pushes toward the other base. The more roundabout method of traversing the medium size map required players to duck behind crates and make use of Anchor 9’s power weapons. Defending bases, meanwhile, was a matter of one team making the most of their high ground, and the limited cover from short hallways, narrow staircases, and mounted turrets that came with said territory. While rounds of Capture the Flag on Anchor 9 formed somewhat predictable strategies on part of the attacking team, Slayer matches were anything but, and the kill count could suddenly shift with players capitalizing on the element of surprise.

#3 – Reflection: There are certainly a few patterns in my choices of favorite maps thus far, one of the most noteworthy being the return to my Halo 2 roots. Ivory Tower was a map that I had always enjoyed in its original Halo 2 incarnation, but one that never quite matched up to my previously detailed favorites. It’s almost wholly unchanged remake, Reflection, was a great pick for Bungie to include in Halo: Reach, as the equipment functions add an extra dynamic to the small-scale, multi-level map, improving the balance in the advantages opposing teams have. Reflection is at its best during Slayer matches, but variants for Infection and Headhunter run quite smooth as well. The map looks gorgeous to boot, with a gold glow setting in over nearly every reflective texture on the appropriately titled map.

#2 – Powerhouse: Despite its large, open and round center, most of Powerhouse’s kills were earned within the structures set off to the sides, as well as along the top ring of the water reservoir. Over-confident players might attempt to scope out player’s locations on the map by using the jetpack, but this typically resulted in their being swiftly shot down. Powerhouse’s semi-symmetrical design and medium size offered a great setting for SWAT, Team Slayer, and Rumble Pit matches, with the later two often resulting in kills from less traditional weapons. Lobbing grenades around corners and bouncing them off walls to finish off a foe who crouched in hiding just out of sight at the bottom of one of the staircases was always satisfying, while curiously enough the Needler proved one of the most prized weapons that players would scramble for at the start of a match.

#1 – Condemned: Unfortunately pushed to the wayside after the Anniversary playlist updates, Condemned was a map that I loved for all of the same reasons I enjoyed Halo 3's Orbital – coincidentally, they share a similar aesthetic, both falling into the territory of UNSC space stations. Condemned’s semi-symmetrical layout offered some emphasis on the stage’s more powerful weapons, but not as consistently as maps originating from a similar school of thought. The most frantic scuffles often took place in the low-gravity center, where the rockets spawned. The switch between normal gravity and the slower jumps of outer space played a more consistently impactful role here than they did on Anchor 9, as the low-gravity environment was situated at the center of the map. Every shot counted as much as every lunge across this middle portion did, setting an extra layer of tension over team-based matches, and demanding a greater degree of care in lining up headshots or making sure your weapon loadout could provide an advantage as you floated through the muffled space, sectioned off from the normal conditions of the outer ring.

"You Look Terrible, Snake" #2 - Halo 4

"Don't make a girl a promise... if you know you can't keep it." - Cortana (Halo 2)

The release of Halo: Reach marked the end of Bungie’s exclusivity contract with Microsoft, and the end of their days developing Halo games, as they looked towards new frontiers with their next project, Destiny. But Halo was destined to remain a property under the ownership of Microsoft, who had created a department specifically for continuing the Halo storyline, dubbed 343 Industries. 343 Industries would be tasked not only with the development of future games in the bestelling series, but weaving tales for novels, comic books, and live action series that helped to fill the gaps between games. During the Bungie era, there were a number of Halo novels written that provided greater context to the Spartan program, the UNSC vs. Insurrectionist conflict that preceded the Human-Covenant War, and explored other Forerunner artifacts that Doctor Halsey had examined prior to the crew of The Pillar of Autumn stumbling across Alpha Halo at the beginning of the first game.

As part of the buildup to the 343 Industries-directed Halo 4, which would signal the start of the new ‘Reclaimer Trilogy’, two novel trilogies were launched. The first dealt with a UNSC team known as Kilo Five, and took place in the then-present day of the Halo universe, bridging the gap between Halo 3 and Halo 4, and exploring the fragile peace that existed between the Human race and their reluctant Sangheili comrades. This trilogy would go on to explain how some of the Sangheili grew restless in the post-war peace time, and opted to splinter off into their own faction to continue their warrior-like ways in seeking out Forerunner artifacts, thus setting the stage for Master Chief’s unexpected encounter with antagonistic Elites and Grunts early in Halo 4. The other trilogy of novels went far back in time to provide a direct narrative of the last days of the Forerunner empire, setting up for Halo 4’s major plotline that saw the return of the Ur-Didact and his desire to wipe humankind from the galaxy, under the belief that they proved the greatest threat to its stability in the absence of The Flood.

Many of Halo 4's highest points come courtesy of the Didact being such an intimidating villain.

While I personally found the Forerunner trilogy to be among the best Halo tie-in novels released to date, there was something exceptionally odd about their being so contextually important to the events of Halo 4. The same went for the Kilo Five trilogy – sure, I had read these precursor texts as my anticipation for the new game built, but in the grand scheme of things, only a small portion of the Halo fanbase would go out of their way to acquire and read these novels. Previous Halo novels like Ghosts of Onyx, Contact Harvest, The Fall of Reach, and The Cole Protocol did well to expand upon the existing universe, but not a single one of these was necessary reading in order to grasp the context of the games. Anyone could play from Halo: Combat Evolved up through Halo 3 and successfully gather the core of Master Chief’s story – the aforementioned novels provided further backstory to other characters and events, the majority of which preceded the events of the games by many years. But both the Forerunner and Kilo Five trilogies were so tightly connected to the narrative of Halo 4, I find it a wonder the delivery of the single-player campaign managed to come across as well as it did.

Consider this required reading material.

Halo 4’s campaign is incredibly short-lived, even when compared to the games that came before it. Yet, it hits high notes from start to finish, with Master Chief’s race to stop the Didact’s plans standing strong as the core conflict of the game. It’s quite surprising, in fact, that this smaller-scale and more personal battle between two men out of their own time handles so convincingly in a series that has long been about a large-scale conflict between an alien conglomerate and the human military. The game delivers a satisfying conclusion that wraps up its own story without too much in the way of cliffhanger content, yet leaves enough doors open the ensure future games and associated media have sufficient material to draw from.

The combination of the campaign being so brief, yet so well-written, certainly left me with somewhat complicated feelings toward it, and perhaps more importantly, toward the future of the franchise under the banner of 343 Industries. But with Bungie veteran Frank O’Connor relocating to the 343 Industries team, I was hopeful that Halo 4’s story was more a reflection of the studio wanting to play things safe during their first proper outing than a signifier that the series would teeter toward the realm of Metal Gear with a highly complicated narrative than would be as spun up in the core games as it would any and all spinoff material. While the former may very well have been the case for the campaign mode, the online multiplayer and Spartan Ops modes revealed an uglier truth.

The Halo games have provided me with a ludicrous number of hours of entertainment in online play. From Halo 2 onward, friends and I would take part in a variety of Slayer and objective-based matches, from the close quarters of Lockout and Turf, to the vehicular carnage on Valhalla and Sandtrap, to the new game types of Invasion and Headhunter introduced in Halo: Reach. Halo retained a unique identity in the online multiplayer scene. While Halo 3 and Halo: Reach both offered players the option to alter the appearance of their multiplayer Spartan avatar, these were purely for aesthetic purposes, and no restrictions on unlocks were associated with any weapons or ability loadouts. Halo 4, however, painted a much different picture – one that wandered a tad too far into the realm of every other first-person shooter on the market for my own tastes.

Highly-detailed Spartan armor cannot disguise the huge steps backwards the competitive multiplayer took.

Better weapons and abilities were unlocked at higher levels, and this sucked a large amount of the fun from the multiplayer experience. Ordinance drops of heavy weapons rewarding the winning team even more of an edge over the competition led team matches to feel incredibly lopsided. The map layouts either evoked rather direct memories of their Halo 3 and Reach predecessors, in that their designs deviated so little from what had already been established, or were too outlandish and impractical for more than one or two game types. While I abhor the competitive multiplayer format of practically every other major first-person shooter, I think it is worth mentioning that I actually performed quite well in the majority of the Halo 4 Slayer matches I did play. But the lack of enjoyment I found from them led me to abandon them so quickly, that my objective with Halo 4 became solely focused on completing the campaign, a feat which was completed in a grand total of three sittings – and I was by no means attempting to rush through it.

Spartan Ops was an abysmal series of short missions that lacked any inspiration in either design or narrative, asking little more of you, the player, than to kill every enemy along the path from point A to point B. To think that Spartan Ops replaced the spectacular horde mode that was Firefight boggled my mind, especially considering how well-received Reach's Firefight was by the Halo community. Maybe the later updates that Spartan Ops received offered more interesting missions, but one playthrough of all the default missions left me with a foul opinion of them. Perhaps if they had been included alongside the Firefight mode, I might not have received them so poorly.

Spartan Ops: for when you want to team up with friends to tackle repeatedly lackluster missions.

With all of these factors combined, it was abundantly apparent to me that 343 Industries had lost sight of what Halo was really all about somewhere during the development of this new game – at least with regards to every facet of this project outside of the campaign. But even there, the lack of consideration to how easily audiences would be able to settle into the new narrative was a significant oversight on the part of Halo’s new management. Since the release of Halo 4, 343 Industries has gone on record as stating that they will do better with the next installment in the series, though what specific points they intend to improve on remains to be seen. The push for current storylines in both tie-in novels and comic books to emphasize rebellious factions of both Sangheili and Humans leaves me concerned that Halo 5 might see Master Chief fighting other human soldiers as opposed to the Promethean Knights or some other kind of Forerunner combatants.

While I wasn’t particularly hot on the notion of fighting Elites and Grunts again for the sake of convenience in 343 Industries not having to design a whole new slew of foes, I understand that something familiar needed to be retained to avoid wholly alienating longtime fans. But the potential for future games to teeter even further into the realm of Call of Duty or Battlefield by having Master Chief fighting militarized human forces is a truly upsetting notion. With any luck, the team at 343 Industries will recognize how much the Halo community loved the old multiplayer format, and return to the series’ roots with Halo 5: Guardians, as Halo’s online component has always accounted for a good half of its identity.

Top 5 Multiplayer Maps in Halo 3

I have never been quite as big a fan of the multiplayer in Halo 3 as I have of the multiplayer in Bungie’s other three major Halo creations. The equipment was clunky and unbalanced, an awkward first step on the road to Reach’s more carefully-designed loadouts. Certain weapons, like the Mauler and Incendiary Grenades did not see much in the way of practical application in the company of their more well-established brethren, while the Assault Rifle’s return was largely moot in the presence of the obviously superior Battle Rifle. Halo 3 also played host to Snowbound, one of my least favorite Halo multiplayer maps to date. Yet, I still found online matches with friends to be quite enjoyable, and the playlist offerings only seemed to get better as time passed, with the official adoption of Grifball and Infection, as well as thirteen new maps offered as DLC. While my memories of Halo 3 may not be quite as fond as those I made while playing Halo 2 or Halo: Reach, the game still offered some solid map designs, and the five below stand out to me as being among the best Halo 3 had to offer.

#5 – High Ground: One of the earliest Halo 3 maps to see the light of day, High Ground first debuted as part of the game’s multiplayer beta. While the base set at the top of the hill does make a good defensive post for Capture the Flag and Assault, the damaged sections of the wall offer multiple openings for invaders to navigate on foot and open the main gate, giving their teammates a more direct route into the small fortress. When the gate is closed, matches, these objective-based matches often turn into battles of attrition, if not careful (or even simply lucky) timing for making a push inward. Once the gate is opened, however, the pacing of the matches speed up dramatically, increasing the tension and often forcing the defending team to carefully ration their heavy weaponry and grenades.

#4 – Foundry: Halo 3’s handling of the Forge customization mode may not have been as fully-realized nor as user-friendly as its counterpart in Halo: Reach, but it did allow players to make all sorts of wacky alterations to pre-existing maps, swapping out weapons and vehicles, and adding in blockades, turrets, and new equipment in places these had previously not been. However, Halo 3’s Forge mode did not properly come into its own until the release of Foundry. Set within a large warehouse, players were effectively given a blank canvas with which to build whatever structures they so desired with the allotted shipping containers, bridge pieces, staircases, and energy barriers. Players could also seal off the hallway that ran along the back end of the map between the bases in order to force more strategic team play, or leave them open to encourage unexpected rushes from either side during free-for-all matches. Foundry offered an unprecedented degree of freedom to fans, and a number of community creations were later adopted into official matchmaking playlists. That said, the default configuration was a great starting point for all of this, as its multiple areas of cover worked into a maze-like series of containers and platforms made for plenty of enjoyable matches.

#3 – Blackout: While its predecessor Lockout was one of the most popular Halo 2 maps, I’ve long since preferred the slightly wider ramps and platforms of Blackout, as well as this Halo 3 remake’s darker aesthetic. Having Lockout set along a the side of a cliff in a frozen tundra was certainly a cool design choice (no pun intended), but reimagining it as a lone weather station standing high above an arctic ocean gave it a greater sense of isolation and dread. The nighttime setting and lack of any other landmarks save for a distant glacial wall further emphasizes this notion. While small team-based Slayer, Swat, and Sniper matches fit the close-quarters map well, free-for-all Rumble Pit matches proved particularly great, as there is really no safe place to hide, given the open design of all the interconnecting areas of the structure. Just because you are crouched in a corner with the shotgun doesn’t mean that another player couldn’t easily lob a plasma grenade your way and stick it to your helmet, and just because you’ve nabbed the sniper rifle doesn’t mean someone else wasn’t tailing you as you made your way up the winding ramp just to beat you down as soon as you feel confident in its ability to earn you one-hit kill headshots.

#2 – Ghost Town: Something of a successor to Halo 2’s Turf, Ghost Town’s series of small buildings filled with small areas of cover and plenty of nooks and crannies to navigate made for some great small-scale skirmishes. Making a blind run across the outer bridges during a SWAT match was ill-advised, while backing into a corner with your shotgun at the ready during an Infection match was a strategy that would only last until either your ammo was depleted or the infected team overwhelmed your position in the central building. Players were most frequently mobile during Rumble Pit matches, as each of the dilapidated jungle structures offered unique vantage points over other areas of the map, and their multiple entrances meant that, while quick escapes were not out of the question, neither was the chance that an opponent could sneak up behind them and either beat them down or earn an easy kill with the stick of a plasma grenade.

#1 – Orbital: Set high above the Earth along one of the space tethers, Orbital is a brightly-lit, yet eerily abandoned UNSC dock. Players must exercise caution when peering around its tight corners or leaving the cover of crates to push forward down its two longest hallways set on separate floors of the structure, each offering a direct route to the respective team bases that also leaves incoming opponents very exposed. Stairwells and incredibly narrow server access tunnels to the sides offer alternate routes to those more patient in their approach strategies, while those who prefer a higher risk-reward play style can attempt to rush the opposing team’s base with a Mongoose, though the latter often results in spectacular explosions before these vehicles can get too far. The high ground certainly provides a straight line of fire upon those rounding the lower corners, but the low ceilings of Orbital’s tunnels make it difficult to fire too far down the approach path from above. The limited view to either side also makes it difficult to get a read on opponents from this vantage, and it is best to utilize it for quick tosses of grenades or two shots from the rocket launcher before abandoning the post for better defenses.

Xbox 360 review: Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes

To tide fans over until the proper release of the fifth numbered entry in the Metal Gear Solid series, Konami released Ground Zeroes in both physical and digital formats. Intended as a teaser for all that is to come in the open-world Phantom Pain, Ground Zeroes runs on the Fox Engine, and even on the now-last generation Xbox 360, the graphics are damn impressive. The rainstorm that shrouds Big Boss’ mission excels at highlighting raindrops streaming down textures and assets like tarps flapping in the wind in highly realistic fashion. While Kiefer Sutherland’s takeover as the voice of Snake does reveal a noticeable difference to what fans have come to know and love from the efforts of veteran David Hayter, the experience is not a massive upset to the familiar, as Snake/Big Boss does very little talking for the duration of Ground Zeroes.

In short, Ground Zeroes does not feel the part of a Metal Gear game in gameplay or spirit. The heads-up display, while simplified, is highly unspecific and does little to give players any real indication of where enemy troops are or how many of them are patrolling an area. This is something that would not be terribly difficult to keep track of, given the tiny size of the map the main mission takes place on, were it not for the fact that there are so many structures of varying heights and widths. This results not only in enemies being difficult to keep track of, but also a degree of uncertainty with how well-hidden Snake is. And the slow-down sequences when Snake is given a few brief seconds to respond to his being spotted do virtually nothing but incite panic in the player, as Snake is most frequently spotted from a distance, and firing upon foes will alert anyone nearby, putting the whole area on alert status.

Because the main story requires no more than two hours to complete, it lacks any time necessary to develop Snake, Chico, or Paz, much less give players a reason to care about the supposed ‘high-risk mission’ or the brief appearance of Skull Face, whose voice actor provides deadpan efforts that imply he has as little interest in the character as most anyone else who will play through this glorified demo. The weird and goofy factors that make a Metal Gear experience so endearing and one-of-a-kind are gone – Ground Zeroes is gritty and serious, building off the Snake Eater and Peace Walker formulas, but lacking almost any creative end. While the finale does sufficiently set the stage for The Phantom Pain, there is only one moment at the end that will prove particularly exciting, or give fans of previous Metal Gear installments any real sense of fulfillment.

There are bonus missions to take on, and collectible cassette tapes and XOF badges littered around the environment that extend the lifespan of Ground Zeroes, if only as a thinly-veiled fetch-quest. The dialogue on the cassette tapes themselves reveal far more about any of the characters than the in-game actions do, and are overall better-scripted than the couple of action-heavy cutscenes. If Ground Zeroes is a genuine taste of Phantom Pain, I for one am extremely wary, due to just how bare an experience this is, and how much it appears to be adjusted for mainstream audiences.

My rating: 4.5 (out of 10)

XBLA review: The Wolf Among Us

Following up on their success with The Walking Dead video game, Telltale has chosen to tackle another comic book property in the form of a precursor to Fables. Titled The Wolf Among Us, the game is built upon the same engine used for The Walking Dead, and thus requires players make time-sensitive decisions and responses that will alter the way the citizens of Fabletown react to them. The story is centered on Bigby Wolf, sheriff to the magical folk now living in hiding among the commoners (or ‘mundies’, as they are referred to in-game) of New York. What begins as a visit to the Woodsman’s apartment to break up a domestic disturbance quickly leads to something much larger – murder, hired thugs, and magical artifacts simultaneously detract and aid Bigby’s mission to seek out the truth behind what is really going on in the shadows of Fabletown.

The true nature of the story is, intelligently, left somewhat ambiguous until the final two episodes. While the ultimate payoff is not the most shocking or creative spin on a detective tale, the journey there is certainly worth the trouble. What makes The Wolf Among Us so noticeably different from The Walking Dead is that it is, first and foremost, a detective story, and as such, Bigby will spend most of his time digging through desk drawers and basements for evidence, as well as gathering clues from Fables like Ichabod Crane, Beauty, and her lover Beast. However, there is plenty of action to be found, and when Bigby find himself in a scuffle with a drunk and belligerent Woodsman or chasing Tweedledee and Tweedledum through back alleys, acute attention to button prompts may provide Bigby with a means to more quickly gain the upper hand on a situation.

The art style is similarly cel-shaded as The Walking Dead, with pale color palettes filling in the background, and thick outlines around most characters and objects. Yet, it isn’t overbearing. Rather, the art style is perhaps even better suited for the likes of mythical beasts in a contemporary urban setting than small groups of survivors attempting to outlast the undead. The soundtrack is less extravagant, opting for soft, eerie chords during investigative sequences, and saving the boisterous action themes for – well – the aforementioned fights and chases.

If there is one noteworthy downside to the presentation factor, it is that the individual episodes have a tendency to lag at odd points, sometimes messing up your ability to quickly react to button prompts – a tad strange, considering it is a single-player experience released in episodic format. One would hope that these occurrences would become less frequent/nonexistent in later chapters, but alas, they remain a small blemish even in episode five. A pity, considering how much these hiccups distract the immersion otherwise perpetuated by the strong balance of fantasy lore and modern jargon in the writing and voice acting.

As a whole, the series is paced very well, with each episode clocking in at roughly an hour-and-a-half. Sure, the introductory episode serves primarily to set the stage for all that is to come, but it too has its fair share of intrigue and intense standoffs. Admittedly, the finale, while technically about the same length as the other episodes, feels as if it is cut a bit short, and another half-hour could have easily been added on to better cushion the endgame as well as provide greater closure for a couple of characters. Still, the series does well to close its final chapter on a note that both seals the current story and opens up enough possibilities for future seasons.

My rating 7.5 (out of 10)

Xbox 360 review: DmC: Devil May Cry

Swapping out medieval castles and old European townscapes in favor of a more contemporary urban punk Eastern European setting, DmC: Devil May Cry does as much to build upon the standards set by previous Devil May Cry games as it does to reimagine and reinvent one of the most popular action game series out there. While the initial debut trailer of DmC was met with harsh criticism over the presentation of protagonist Dante, veteran fans of the series ought to give this title a second look, as it is far and away the smoothest-playing title in the series. Ninja Theory has decided to cut much of the fat from the upgrade system, and while there are still plenty of new combos and abilities that can be unlocked, they are simultaneously more practical and less complicated than in previous Devil May Cry games. Earning these upgrades is by no means a cake walk – you’re still going to have to put forth the effort into chaining combos in order to gain more points and a better overall score on each mission. But the game does loosen up a bit on the long-standing tradition of pushing for multiple playthroughs by making it so that you can earn enough points on a single run of the normal ‘Devil Hunter’ difficulty setting to fulfill a well-rounded and decently powerful arsenal. That said, a second or third playthrough on any of the seven difficulty settings is required in order to gather all the hidden collectibles.

The secondary weapons have also be retooled for the sake of practicality, but are still visually pleasing and a blast to use. The scythe Osiris and throwing star Aquila stand in as Angel weapons, dealing lower damage, but doing well to stall enemies or keep them at a distance. The gauntlets Eryx and axe Arbiter are slower Demon weapons that deal significant damage, but also leave Dante more open to enemy attacks, as he cannot recover as quickly after striking in order to perform a dodge. These weapons have variable ranges, and can all be incorporated into sky attacks in order to further chain combos. Dante can maintain his chain via his trademark pistols Ebony and Ivory, but as with previous DMC games, these effectively only serve that lone purpose. Meanwhile, two new guns, Revenant and Kablooey, deal notably greater damage with a more frequent reload rate, as a shotgun and sticky bomb launcher, respectively. Dante can also use chains to latch onto foes, whether they are airborne or groundside, and either pull himself toward them or drag them close to him to strike. To top this all off, Dante still has his signature sword Rebellion, which is the default main weapon, still plenty effective at dealing medium levels of damage to foes at a moderate rate.

DmC does well to incorporate many themes from the older Devil May Cry games into this new vision of the game world. At the outset, Dante believes himself a loner who has he unfortunate habit of drawing the attention of Demons and being sucked into Limbo, a plane of existence unseen by the public, but one that nonetheless influences their day-to-day life. It is not long before Dante meets Kat, a young witch who informs him that she knows of Limbo and that her boss, a man representing an organization known as ‘The Order’ wishes to meet with him. The problem is that it is difficult for Dante to lay low for long, and has his fair share of run-ins with demons before Kat is finally able to introduce Dante to the head of The Order, Vergil. Vergil helps Dante to restore his memories, and Dante comes to the realization that they are brothers, both Nephilim, the sons of an Angel mother and Demon father. Dante also remembers that Mundus, the demon who now reigns over the city where they now live, killed his mother and imprisoned his father, and has been hunting Dante ever since. However, the brothers hold one major advantage over Mundus: the demon does not know of the second Nephilim, Vergil, and thus the two hatch a plan with the help of Kat to strike at Mundus’ resources – his propaganda, his poisonous drinks, all that he holds most precious and important – in order to anger him and draw him away from the demon gate, his source of power, long enough that it might be shut.

While DmC boasts but a handful of boss fights, each is moderately intelligent in its design, providing Dante with a different challenge to tackle. They are nowhere near a rounded-out or in-depth as the likes of boss encounters from more adventure-driven games like The Legend of Zelda or even other contemporary action titles like No More Heroes. Still, the majority of DmC’s boss encounters handle about as smoothly as the rest of the experience, and are more a test of Dante’s endurance and adaptability to new threats than anything else. Occasionally, Dante will encounter weapon-specific enemies, which can only be fought with Angel or Demon weapons respectively. This adds an extra degree of tension to combat, if only for brief periods.

Challenge stages make their return, and are divided into different levels of difficulty that correspond to the color locks that bar access until matching keys are discovered. These stages include combat scenarios that limit the damage Dante can deal with certain weapons, and races against the clock to reach the end of a series of platforms. These race-style levels are decidedly more adventure-oriented in their design, and appear a number of times during the main game (sans the time limit) when Dante travels to a dream-like setting to unlock more of his memories. The variation in level design in DmC is one of the game’s greatest strengths, and while you spend the majority of your time in the warped version of reality known as Limbo, the game does pull a few clever punches generally reserved for game series boasting more complicated plots such as Metal Gear Solid or Bioshock.

DmC is surprisingly smart with regards to its scripting. Considering how abrasive and cocky Dante initially comes across as, it’s impressive to see his character progress into an anti-hero players can actually get behind, and to have some genuinely funny bits of humor sprinkled throughout. Much of this is due to the way that the voice actors portray their respective characters, a delivery which comes across as being very natural across the board for Dante, Vergil, Kat, etc. The soundtrack, comprised primarily by tracks written by Combichrist and Noisia, retains some of the metal thrash sounds of older Devil May Cry titles, while adding some electronica into the mix. Yes, there is some dubstep worked in, and while it comes across as a bit silly in the moment, it never steers the atmosphere of the game too far from its roots.

My rating: 9.25 (out of 10)

Xbox 360 review: Grand Theft Auto V

(While I’ve dabbled in a little bit of the gameplay of previous Grand Theft Auto titles, GTA V is the first title I have experienced in proper. As I am no longer subscribed to an Xbox Live Gold account, this review only accounts for the single-player mode, as I have not personally experienced the multiplayer angle.)

The game world of Los Santos is absolutely massive – one of, if not the single largest, video game worlds I’ve ever explored. According to Rockstar, Los Santos and the surrounding beach and wilderness environments add up to being bigger than the sum of the maps from Red Dead Redemption, Grand Theft Auto IV, and San Andreas combined – an impressive feat, especially considering the variable nature of an open-world game such as GTA V. And that is one of GTA V’s greatest strengths – the story is kept ever-interesting, due to its unpredictable nature and cleverly-scripted plot points. Each time you think you’ve picked up on the trail of where the narrative is headed, the game throws you a curveball, insisting you focus your efforts elsewhere for a while, or requiring you to change protagonists in order to progress. But this is never done with too much of an emphasis on furthering the story – each of the three lead characters has plenty of side missions to indulge in at any given time, including jet ski races, parachute jumps, assassination gigs, purchasing properties to earn more revenue, robbing gas stations on a whim, or aiding any of the randomly-generated citizen robberies. And that doesn’t even account for the freedom to trick out your car, get a tattoo, buy new duds, sit on your couch and watch a television program, engage in a tennis match, visit the strip club, or any of the many other ‘do-whatever-your-heart-so-desires’ activities available at practically any given point in the game.

GTA V’s gameplay mechanics are notably more impressive as a sum than as individual elements. Gunplay on foot works well enough, with one trigger used to raise the firearm, and the other used to shoot. There is a wide variety of guns to choose from as well, including more practical shotguns, pistols, and automatic rifles, as well as heavy-duty grenade launchers and the ever-amusing minigun. Grenades, sticky detonation bombs, and gas canisters round out your arsenal options, while donning body armor and bulletproofing your vehicle may prove quite valuable for your getaway methods at the conclusion of a heist. Driving any of Los Santos’ motorcycles, sports cars, buses, airplanes, blimps, helicopters, speedboats, ATVs, golf carts, etc. controls smooth as butter, though firing from these rides takes some getting used to. Effectively, the moment you hold down a trigger, you begin spraying bullets at whatever target is nearby. The reticule is a little small for my liking, and even after you’ve spent a few hours familiarizing yourself with the ins and outs of GTA V, the driving and shooting segments never feel as well rounded out as most anything else in the game.

Key to the main single-player story are the heists that Michael, Trevor, and Franklin will take part in. There are only a handful of these to accomplish, but each involves a multi-step plan to bring it all together. The trio will be required to gather up the necessary equipment and getaway vehicle prior to the gig, as well as select their approach. Each heist has two possible approaches, which can result in vastly different challenges for players – not so much in the overall difficulty factor, but in the number of foes Michael, Trevor, and Franklin will be pitted against, the distance they have to outrun cops, and the time spent rounding up the necessary goods. The heists are where the stats earned by each of three playable characters prove most important. If one character is better at driving, it makes the most sense to put them on getaway duty. Similarly, the character most capable with firearms should take on the role of providing cover fire.

These heists also require a few extra hands that vary depending on the task at hand. Need to block a police pursuit from a distance? Hire a hacker to switch up the traffic lights. Need a bit more muscle to push through a blockade? Hire a guy who knows how to handle firearms. The catch with each of these roles is that, depending on the approach you choose, certain extra crew members may only see minimal inclusion on the job. It’s often best to pick your battles intelligently – a guy who is good with firearms probably won’t be of much use in a ‘fast and silent’ heist, but a solid getaway driver is key if the approach anticipates a quick reaction from local police. There are always multiple crew members to choose from for a heist, and their own skills will improve with repeated use. That said, the better at their job a hacker or getaway driver is, the more he/she will generally require in a pay cut.

The game may not be the most absolute gorgeous title to be released so late in this console generation, but GTA V looks damn impressive for its scope, nonetheless. As everything in the game is installed prior to your picking up the controller and having your run of this digital city-turned-playground, there is never any need to worry about the draw distance of objects within the environment, the load or save times, or overloading the reactions of the game’s A.I. by forcing too many explosions on the freeway at any given time. That said, Rockstar seems to have amped up the fervor with which cops will pursue you, and more reckless decisions like an attempt to storm the Fort Zancudo military base will likely result in a number of trial-and-error runs, as the patrols therein will attempt to stop you with extreme prejudice. Rockstar has done a phenomenal job in recreating iconic Los Angeles locations with their own signature spins – the attention to detail throughout the game world is utterly superb.

Further solidifying the parody of Los Angeles are the radio stations and denizens of Los Santos. The various stations offer up a wide variety of genres and songs to listen to at your leisure, while the DJs will occasionally interrupt for a brief moment or two to deliver some quip about the sorry state of washed up actors and plastic-injected celebrities in town, or deliver an advertisement for the Los Santos equivalent of Fifty Shades of Grey. The dialogue between the locals as well as appearances by obvious parodies of Mark Zuckerberg, Ryan Seacrest, and more, make for as entertaining a story as they do as poignant exploration of which icons American pop culture has gravitated towards (for better or worse) during the past five years. The soundtrack is incredibly diverse, with stations catering toward 80s and 90s rap, more recent alternative and electronic tunes, classic rock, country squalls, pop across the decades, and many more. Meanwhile, the original soundtrack composed for this game is a sort of melting pot of funk, R&B, and rock, all in instrumental format that varies between dark and mellow tunes perfect for your time spent cruising the streets of Los Santos, and upbeat and intense tracks more well-suited to gunfights or heists.

Such emphasis on what all comprises the image of the American west coast is a large part of what makes the three distinctly different protagonists interact so successfully with one another. Trevor is quick to point out that Michael’s lifestyle is a pathetic shadow of his former glory days, while Michael retorts that Trevor’s ‘live free and die hard’ lifestyle signifies that he is living too much of his time in the past, and that sooner or later, he’s going to prove too much for Michael or anyone else to handle. Franklin, meanwhile, being the youngest member of the trio, has some of his own experiences from his days hustling the street for his former employer Simeon to bring to the table, but largely draws his inspirations and strategies from Michael. Together, they make a lively cast of very flawed, very human characters, and though each player is likely to have his or her favorite from these three amigos, there is rarely a dull moment, regardless of who you are playing as.

And really, when it all boils down, this is a very character-driven story. The plot is solid in and of itself, focusing on contemporary concerns of reality in a fictional setting. The whole premise of Michael finding himself wrapped up in the affairs of the F.I.B. (a fictional version of the F.B.I.) takes center stage. Trevor’s anarchist/opportunist lifestyle and Franklin’s hopes of moving up and out of the small-town gang lifestyle always tether back to Michael’s story, even after you’ve spent hours performing cartel runs in the desert or dealing with rival gang members in the rougher neighborhoods of Los Santos. It’s curious to see a game that builds so much upon what we as gamers have come to expect of an open-world experience arrive so late in a console generation. With new systems arriving from Sony and Microsoft, and Nintendo’s Wii U already on the market for a year, it would have been easy for other developers to create a sequel off existing framework without changing much beyond the story and setting. But Rockstar has opted to pull all their best punches here, culminating in a game that is the purest form of entertainment and is a modern masterpiece for its genre.

My rating: 9.25 (out of 10)