Thoughts on The Last of Us

This afternoon, I finished watching the Two Best Friends playthrough of The Last of Us, one of the most talked-about games of the summer, and what looks like one of the last big hurrahs for the Playstation 3. This article is relatively free-form, and will not follow the same formula typical of my full game reviews. There is, after all, a difference between playing a game and watching someone else play it. I simply want to go over my own thoughts on The Last of Us – its high points and its low points. Fair warning: this article treads deep into spoiler territory, so if you have any intention of playing the game to completion, I suggest you close out of the browser window.

Allow me to begin by saying that the game does a phenomenal job at immersing you in a world where humanity has few choices as a means for survival – stay in a quarantined zone that is kept under martial law and deal with the problems that can arise with soldiers who abuse their power or rebels who seek to violently overturn the system in place, scavenge for supplies and live off the land in either a colony far-removed from the big cities or as a nomadic group and run a significantly greater risk of being infected by the fungal Clickers, Bloaters, etc. The graphics, though clearly outshined by those on Nintendo’s new Wii U and the trailers teased for all of the PS4 and Xbox One up-and-comers, still look really good due to a notably high degree of detail that draws everything it can from the hardware. Naughty Dog does a masterful job designing environments that bear unique assets, allowing abandoned record stores, snow-covered lodges, and off-kilter skyscrapers to plant a distinct image in your mind, as these are places you will only come across once in your travels.

Guns are intelligently prevented from becoming too powerful by limiting the upgrade options to the kickback, reload speed, firing rate, and clip capacity. There is no option to boost the firepower of your gun (save for perhaps one), because it would be too easy an option. There’s also a limited number of parts Joel can discover, forcing you to be very picky with regards to which upgrades you select. The ability upgrades behave in a similar fashion, as Joel will only locate a set number of pills over the course of the game to increase the effectiveness of his health kits, allow him to pull out a shiv on a Clicker in the event that he gets caught in a bad situation, and so on. While the makeshift tin can bombs and molotov cocktails do their jobs just fine, I fail to see the point of the smoke bombs. Why bother distracting your enemy with those when you can simply toss a bottle or a brick and conserve your resources?

Sticking fourteen year-old Ellie with Joel to play with his trust issues and sadness over the death of his daughter seems, frankly, an obvious decision. But what really makes this pair so entertaining and engaging is the fact that they have such different personalities. Joel is a father who lost his whole world, his whole reason to be, when his daughter died, and has simply been surviving for the twenty-odd years since. He’s a shell of his former self, and is seemingly just going through the motions up until he is paired with Ellie. She is a child born after the fallout, with no firsthand experience of how everyday life played out before cityscapes were overgrown with vegetation and the threat of infection was real. She has an obsession with comic books, is unable to swim, and constantly wants to prove herself as highly capable to Joel in order to gain his trust and friendship. In a lot of ways, both her hobbies and her demeanor remind me of Yorick, lead protagonist from Y: The Last Man. Yorick and Ellie both try to find the positive angle of the worst situations, but very much recognize the real danger they are constantly in. They have geeky hobbies that they are highly devoted to, and they are both strangers in strange company – Yorick being the last human with a Y chromosome walking the Earth, and Ellie being something of a miracle child who was infected but never turned into one of the rabid fungal beasts.

Around the halfway point, I really began to question what the point of throwing the infected into the mix really was. I understand that it frames the story’s introduction as chaotic, terrifying, and tragic, as things quickly escalate and we see firsthand how the world went into a state of decay. It’s clear that everyone (tough and gruff Joel included) fears the infected, and the prospect of death at the hands of these mushroom zombies drives some groups or individuals to behave in drastic, sometimes crazy ways. Beyond that, however, there’s not a whole lot of justification for them being in the game. Combat sequences between infected and humans play out almost identically, save for certain weapons being more effective against one foe and vice-versa. The infected and the problem they present never evolves or plays as large a role as I expected it would, and it certainly isn't rectified by game's end. This wouldn’t be so upsetting if it seemed like Naughty Dog was really trying to push the idea of ‘man is the most terrifying of beasts’ routine more than they actually do. When it boils down to it, the only two characters who we see portrayed as animalistic or beastly are David, with his cannibalistic culture, and Joel’s last moment run-and-gun, kill-everyone-of-those-Firefly-sons-of-bitches rage. They could have made it a scenario wherein animals become infected instead of humans and it would have left the same basic impact.

Which brings me to the issue of the game’s last hours. Everything’s going swell (for the player, at least) when Ellie and Joel take on David’s gang from separate fronts. It’s arguably the darkest territory the game visits, and also the most important, as Joel’s coming in to stop Ellie from further mutilating David’s face with the machete is the first time we see their care for one another physically manifest. It’s the moment where we know for certain that Joel truly care for this kid he’s been escorting for months, as he halts her actions, as he doesn’t believe the whole ordeal is something she ought to see nor be involved in. The whole scene of Joel and Ellie storming David’s camp town is a very carefully executed segment that places emphasis on stealth, though combat is an option for the more brave and well-stocked.

The hospital segment where Joel goes apeshit on the Fireflies is not unexpected – I was fully prepared for the Fireflies to have questionable intentions practically from the start of the game. But it does feel choppy and rushed - a couple short segments of Joel wrecking the Fireflies and busting Ellie out of the hospital to save her life, and then we suddenly jump forward to the finale. Sure, we get a flashback to understand how Joel got his hands on the truck and how no one followed them outside of Salt Lake City, but it’s presented in snippets that bounce back and forth in a rhythm that is incredibly fast when compared to the rest of the narrative.

And then, of course, there is the final scene where Ellie asks Joel for the truth about what happened in the hospital while she was unconscious. Joel flat out lies to her to retain her trust and not worry her, which is fine in the context of the story, because it is indicative that he has sort of adopted her – or rather, that they have adopted each other as partners. Joel was never looking for someone to replace his daughter, and Ellie never set out to become a daughter figure. I would never say the finale is bad. Thankfully, it doesn’t pull a Bioshock Infinite and deliver some stupid line of dialogue that conflicts with everything that preceded it. But The Last of Us feels underwhelming during its last few minutes. There’s this whole expectation that something is going to go wrong or that there might be some bittersweet conclusion – the scene of sunlight shining down on a hilltop covered in wildflowers as Joel and Ellie head toward what appears to be Uncle Tommy’s compound is so unexpected for a story like the Last of Us, that it doesn’t feel quite right. I think having them voluntarily part ways would have been stupid and incredibly out of character for either of them, but the ending we get is almost too perfect when compared to everything that preceded it.

I think the ending is what caught me off guard the most about The Last of Us – it’s surprisingly short compared to what I expected. Or maybe the pacing is just odd during the last few hours. I fully expected another hour or two of gameplay before the jump to the Fireflies headquarters. Joel and Ellie went through a lot of significant trials during their encounters with David’s gang, and I fail to see why Naughty Dog didn’t include a segment or two designed with the primary focus of having Ellie and Joel cement the dynamic of their now fully-developed or full-evolved relationship post-Winter. It seems like a huge missed opportunity, and I find it hard to believe that Ellie would still be holding on to the emotions she experienced when she was held captive by David’s men two or three months after the fact. Any normal person having gone through that traumatic an experience would have opened up to their friends or family and let them in emotionally at least a little bit (and Ellie only has one person to turn to). They were both there, they saw the same things (albeit from different approaches) – the whole jump to kick the ending out the door in time really dragged down the immersion for me, something that the game had otherwise done a consistently high-quality job at.

Though The Last of Us incorporates plenty of stealth and action elements with a little bit of survival-horror, the narrative is arguably the most memorable portion of its makeup. I consider The Last of Us as much of an interactive story as a video game belonging to any one of the aforementioned genres, and a hell of a lot more compelling one than, say, Heavy Rain, because The Last of Us never tries to push the ‘interactive story’ shtick. It just does its own thing and manages to pull a lot of winning punches in the process. It’s an interesting combination of gameplay elements familiar to other big-name releases, and I would consider the sum to be more original than its parts. It’s just highly unfortunate that it ended on a note of such lesser quality than I had hoped for or expected.

Top 10 Games of the Seventh Generation Consoles - #1: The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword

This is easily the most impressive Zelda title I’ve played since Ocarina of Time and the Oracle titles. Whereas Twilight Princess blatantly tried to align itself with Ocarina of Time and offered up a host of uninspired and generally non-threatening bosses, Skyward Sword borrowed elements of practically every previous Zelda game and meshed them with a brand new combat system. The result is one of the most fresh and enjoyable experiences I’ve had with any video game in a long while, and the most fun I've had with a Zelda release in over a decade.

Certainly, the core essence of Zelda is retained, but there’s plenty of new characters and content to indulge in, like sassy and prideful Demon Lord Ghirahim or the Timeshift Stones that are scattered about Lanayru Desert. Ganondorf has long reigned as my favorite video game villain of all time (specifically, his Ocarina of Time and Wind Waker incarnations), But Ghirahim ranks quite highly as well. While Skyward Sword’s enemy number one is full of attitude from the first encounter to the last, he slowly reveals more and more about his true nature with each encounter he has with Link – and I don’t mean that we learn more about his plans to revive his master, as that is something we know practically from the outset. Rather, we see how truly prideful he is, as well as how he is unable to deal with someone else besting him in battle, let alone a human.

As for the new combat system, it is what the Wii was designed for – a perfect 1:1 reaction as Link swings his sword up, down, sideways, and vertically. The dungeons are chock full of fun puzzles and stronger enemies than usual, many of whom require a specific angle of attack from Link’s sword. There’s a curious collection of items at Link’s disposal, including a whip, double clawshot, and the beetle, though none of these serve to replace pre-existing items as is typical of Zelda titles. Many of the items also see multiple applications, such as the whip being used to swing across chasms and pull on switches. While few of the dungeons ever reach the scale of those in Ocarina of Time or Majora’s Mask, they are all wonderfully inspired on both the front of puzzle design and aesthetic presentation.

The soundtrack is gorgeous, the art style phenomenal, and the characters – especially a more bright and talkative Zelda – genuinely lovable. Skyward Sword ends with one of the most epic, atmospheric boss fights to ever grace the series, which is saying a lot, considering how well-received the boss fights in nearly any Zelda game tend to be. This is the story that sets in motion all the patterns witnessed in the rest of the series, and I could not have asked for a more perfect way for it to be conveyed. It’s a game that I waited more than two years to play after its initial reveal, a game that I was excited for unlike any other before it, and a game that delivered everything I had hoped for and more.

Top 10 Games of the Seventh Generation Consoles - #2: No More Heroes and No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle

While there have been plenty of solid sequels and revamps of classic titles on the seventh generation titles, few developers have dared to tread into brand-new territory. Few have dared to create something so bold as No More Heroes. Much as I love the Mass Effect sequels, Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, and the other games that found their way onto this list, they are all sequels or spiritual successors to previous releases. Though the No More Heroes titles do draw inspiration from contemporary hack-and-slash action titles and 8-bit arcade-y games, the culmination is a wonderful breath of fresh air, not just to the genre, but to video games as an entertainment medium.

Both the original No More Heroes and its sequel Desperate Struggle are (among other things) unapologetic – Travis Touchdown slices and dices his foes into bloody pools, spouting off vulgar one-liners during his moments of downtime that are equal parts awesome and silly. The original game defined a brand-new experience and was one of the earliest Wii titles to really nail the motion controls down by balancing those with a traditional button/joystick combo. While No More Heroes boasts many a colorful environment and memorable assassin, the sequel cleaned up the entire experienced, streamlining the overworld and amping up the combat just enough that it was more fast-paced without teetering into the realm of frenetic.

The sequel also saw a more focused, darker story – one of Travis seeking revenge – which still managed to balance the silly with the gritty. While the first game was more off-the-walls goofy, the references to Star Wars and Back to the Future therein seemed unorganized and random compared to the sequel’s mecha boss fight between robots inspired by anime Space Runaway Ideon and Gurren Lagann, or a narrow forest whose twisted dead trees and red night sky were an obvious nod to Capcom’s explosively popular Resident Evil 4. Instead of giving off the impression that the game was chock full of ideas that creator Suda51 thought were cool, NMH2 came across as more of a love letter – not only to the creative minds behind the works Suda was paying homage to, but to fans of the original NMH as well.

Personally, I am a bit partial to Desperate Struggle. It’s much easier to jump into, has a higher degree of replayability due to its time attack Death Match mode and general faster pacing. But I won’t deny that the boss fights in the original No More Heroes were some of the best I’ve experienced in any game. Being such a huge fan as I am of the Legend of Zelda series, that is the standard with which I compare the boss fights of any and all other video games, and it is incredibly rare that another title provides as consistently high-quality encounters. But the UAA ranking matches in the NMH games are truly something to behold – a brilliant mesh of flair and challenge that defines the core of the experience.

Top 10 Games of the Seventh Generation Consoles - #3: Bioshock and Bioshock 2

The opening to the original Bioshock was an interactive sequence that blew me away when I first played it. Six years later, I still consider it to be one of the (if not the single) best introductory sequences in any video game. While the brief monologue Jack relays moments before his plane crashes into the ocean serve to provide players with some inkling of who he is and what is to come, it’s still deliberately vague. The game takes you (the player) and protagonist Jack from a familiar setting and thrusts you into a strange, dangerous, and yet ever-intriguing environment: the city of Rapture.

Bioshock is a curious game in the sense that most of the story is conveyed to Jack via audio diaries and radio chatter from both Atlas and Andrew Ryan. To tell more than to show is always a risky formula for a game, but having Jack enter Rapture after it has already gone to hell in a hand basket allows players to focus more on the hauntingly gorgeous setting. Little Sisters urge their Big Daddy protectors on to new corpses, blissfully unaware of the walking guinea pigs they have been transformed into. Sander Cohen has Jack go on a murderous scavenger hunt to gain passage through Fort Frolic. And the direct interactions Jack has with characters like Cohen, Tenenbaum, and Ryan cultivate one of the game’s most important aspects – choice.

While the core of Bioshock will remain the same for each and every player, there is a significant degree of freedom to how the game is experienced. Aside from the option to save or harvest the Little Sisters for precious ADAM, players can choose which weapons and plasmids to upgrade. They can choose to explore areas not important to their current objectives to better explore the fallen city, and they can choose to pick up or not pick up audio diaries that would better inform them of what led to Rapture becoming a such a horrifying place.

While most would argue that the story of the first Bioshock is superior to the sequel, I would argue that the method of storytelling in Bioshock 2 trumps that of its predecessor. The ‘stranger in a strange land’ approach does not work particularly well in a second visit to the same locale, and 2K avoided this problem altogether by putting players in the boots of a Big Daddy named Subject Delta. One of the original Big Daddies, Delta is far more powerful and intelligent than the typical Bouncer or Rosie and can wield much more powerful variants of the weapons Jack previously used. Because players would already know the fate of the characters from the first game, there was no reason to pull a ‘smoke and mirrors’ routine. Bioshock 2 gave players the run of the place almost instantly, and expands upon the stories of major characters that shaped the experience of the first game, while also introducing all-new characters who were key in both the rise and fall of Andrew Ryan’s underwater utopia-turned-dystopia.

Bioshock 2 looks better, sounds better, and - most importantly - plays better than its predecessor. Chunks of coral and more heavily flooded areas give players a sense that Rapture has decayed even further since their last visit. The gun controls are more tight and the hacking process distracts less from the core gameplay. As a Big Daddy, you are certainly tougher than any normal human, but then again, the splicers have mutated so far along that they are more dangerous and creepy than ever.

It would be inaccurate to state that the Bioshock titles belong to the horror genre. While certainly spooky, they consistently utilize elements from action, adventure, and RPG genres. But if there is one thing that can unquestionably be stated about Bioshock and Bioshock 2, it is that they are two of the most thought-provoking games of their day, due to the ideologies they bring into play and the questions they raise – not just within the context of Rapture, but also for the people who make and play video games.

Top 10 Games of the Seventh Generation Consoles - #4: Mass Effect 2 and Mass Effect 3

While I thoroughly enjoyed the original Mass Effect, the sequels improved upon the gameplay and storytelling significantly. The first game provided a glimpse of the greater universe that you actually get to explore in the sequels, and while there are certainly elements of BioWare’s Knights of the Old Republic that inspired the Mass Effect games, the homeworlds and cultures of the Asari, Turians, Krogans, Hanar, and so on feel strikingly original.

These two games run incredibly close for me. While neither is perfect, they both have their strengths and weaknesses that ranks them at approximately equal quality in my eyes. Mass Effect 2 was more reliant on shooter mechanics, but offered a greater host of side missions and squad members. Mass Effect 3, though more focused on reaching the end of Commander Shepard’s story, brings back many traditional RPG elements absent in ME2 and offers fewer squad members that, while specialized to one role or another, are more adaptable than in the previous installment.

Above all else, what impressed me most about the two games was the weight of your decisions and how it impacted the manner in which the greater story unfolded. The original Mass Effect forced you to choose one human squadmate to live and the other was left to die, but these were characters that I frankly could not have cared less about. Sure, there was the romance subplot, but it only offered two options per gender. Mass Effect 2 rectified all of this by including loyalty missions – sidequests that would earn Shepard the trust of his squadmates. Opt not to complete a loyalty mission and there’s a good chance your pals might not survive to the end of the game. As for the romance subplot, there were significantly more choices available to both male and female Shepard, each of them arguably more interesting and involved than those offered in ME1. Mass Effect 2 required much more time and attention than the first game, but it also gave a lot more back. It was a game that allowed you to play however you wanted, and your decisions would carry over to Mass Effect 3. The characters you allowed to live would appear in Mass Effect 3, potentially offering you assistance in your fight against the Reapers, while those who died might be mentioned in dialogue, but were otherwise nowhere to be seen.

The Mass Effect sequels are phenomenal spiritual successors to the Knights of the Old Republic titles as well as the original Mass Effect. Gone are the clunky periods of exploring uncharted worlds in the Mako, gone are the repetitive landscapes and underground bases - all replaced with planets that exude a sense of adventure. While BioWare’s love for space operas like Star Wars are clearly visible in the art and story direction of Mass Effect, these games host their own lively universe - one that was equally creative and engaging. Whether Shepard is investigating a string of disappearances on human colonies, securing the last hope of curing the Krogan genophage, or helping to beat back Reaper forces from one of the moons orbiting the Turian homeworld, each quest is uniquely exciting.

Top 10 Games of the Seventh Generation Consoles - #5: Pokémon Black and Pokémon White

Over the years, Game Freak has done quite a bit of experimenting with the Pokémon series, between the core entries and the side games/spinoffs. While still a six-member party RPG game, the inclusion of dual types and special abilities provided a new dynamic to strategies players would adopt. However, the Generation IV titles Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum were less well-received by many in the Pokémon community following their release, due to a number of factors including a lack of balance in the representation of the then-seventeen types, as well as some new evolutions of pre-existing Pokémon that some fans considered entirely unnecessary.

Thus, the Generation V games known as Pokémon Black Version and Pokémon White Version saw Game Freak perform a sort of balancing act between the new and the old. The fundamentals of the game were retained, and many familiar tasks were streamlined to better utilize the DS’ hardware. Trading was no longer handled through the Pokémon Centers – rather any player could access the ‘trade’ and ‘battle’ options on a whim via the handheld’s lower screen and interact accordingly with a friend/opponent nearby. The simple act of combining the Pokémon Center and PokéMart into a single building proved to be a giant time-saver.

Meanwhile, the one-hundred and fifty Pokémon players could catch in Black and White were all new, with access to Pokémon from previous generations being restricted (outside of trading) until the sizeable post-game section. The types were carefully chosen to create a near-perfect balance. Though some generation V Pokémon were perhaps more ideal to certain players than others, the fully evolved form of each Pokémon had a practical use and could serve to complement a party well. The Elite Four put up a solid challenge, and the concept of having the antagonistic Team Plasma’s desire be the liberation of Pokémon from their owners/partners made for a strikingly original and entertaining spin on an old classic - one that was mildly more thought-provoking than the plans laid out by previous baddies who wished to drown/dry up the world or mess with the time-space continuum. Everything Game Freak implemented in Black and White, they did so with good reason, and the games stand out as what I would consider to be among the best in the series as a result. There’s a decent degree of challenge, though the game allows for a great range of freedom with selecting party members and strategies. Above all else, Pokémon Black and White are just plain fun to play.

Top 10 Games of the Seventh Generation Consoles - #6: Halo: Reach

The first-person shooter is generally one of my least favorite genres in video gaming, due to the sheer number of FPS titles that are released each year with minimal effort or inspiration. As much as I have enjoyed the Halo series over the years, it is still rather surprising to me that Bungie’s swansong to their monumentally successful series landed a spot this high on my top ten list. While I will always consider the story, gameplay, and multiplayer offerings of Halo 2 to be the best in the series, Halo: Reach follows not far behind the title that essentially shaped online gaming for consoles into what it is today.

The tale of Noble Team is really a side story to the main tale of Master Chief and Cortana. While the fall of planet Reach is one of the most pivotal events in the Human-Covenant War, it’s content that is largely unfamiliar to anyone who has not read the Halo novels, and NPCs only make brief mention of the battle in any of the three main games or spin-off title ODST. Witnessing an earlier conflict in the Human-Covenant War firsthand is entertaining and does well to separate the story from the all-too familiar routine of Master Chief blowing away every Covenant and Flood foe that stands in his way. But throwing five squadmates into the equation, giving them each a unique and interesting personality, and showing players just what is at stake with the loss of a planet so critical to UNSC operations lends to Halo: Reach an atmosphere notably different from previous Halo titles.

While dual-wielding was done away with, the balance of weapons Reach offered up was darn near perfect and plenty of fun to experiment with. The armor abilities were a much more intelligent implementation of the rather awkward equipment introduced in Halo 3. The Vehicles were largely familiar, though a couple of new additions felt right at home in the UNSC and Covenant squadrons respectively. The campaign is decently lengthy, and the highest difficulty setting offers up a genuinely challenging trek that requires a far more careful and tactical approach without feeling the least bit aggravating or unfair.

As for the multiplayer side of things, Halo: Reach’s offerings may not be as consistently high caliber as Halo 2’s maps, but many of them return in the form of remakes (whether full-fledged, or variations in the make-whatever-your-heart-so-desires expanse of Forge World). Classic game modes like Slayer and Infection return, while a few new modes like Headhunter and Invasion may be drastically different in their implementation (the former being silly and frenetic, the latter requiring finesse and teamwork) but are a blast to partake in. Add in Firefight, a team-based mode where waves of Grunts, Jackals, Brutes, Elites, and the occasional Hunters advance toward your location, and you have the most complete package a Halo title has ever offered.

When it all boils down to it, the story of Noble Team’s last stand on Reach is basically a countdown to extinction. But the presentation is damn good, from Marty O’Donell’s masterful soundtrack, to the oddly gorgeous decay of a planet ravaged by battle. Though chronologically Halo: Reach takes place prior to the original Halo, there’s little more I could ask for from Bungie in bringing a conclusion to their long-running series. Nobody knows the Halo property quite like Bungie.

Top 10 Games of the Seventh Generation Consoles - #7: Metroid Prime 3: Corruption

I consider the original Metroid Prime one of the most bold and successful revivals of a video game franchise ever attempted. I also consider it to be one of the best video games ever created. While I enjoyed the sequel Metroid Prime 2: Echoes and its light world/dark world scenario, the layout of planet Aether’s different regions did not feel as intelligently crafted as the regions of Tallon IV in the first game. Whereas the distance between save stations, weapon upgrades, and the balance of puzzles and combat was relatively consistent in Prime, it was more sporadic in Echoes – Samus could traverse incredibly short distances at times and come across a number of missile expansions or quick and easy environmental puzzles, or it could be close to an hour between two save stations.

Metroid Prime 3: Corruption was one of the earliest big-name titles Nintendo revealed for their Wii (or as it was known at the time, the Revolution). While the original reveal trailer didn’t show much, the final product turned out to be a balance of familiar and fresh content. No longer was Samus limited to a single planet – in their alliance with Dark Samus, the Space Pirate forces had spread Phazon across the galaxy, requiring Samus to visit multiple worlds and undo the gradual infection and mutation brought on by the Phazon. While these individual planets were scaled down in size from the regions of the previous two Prime titles, they were still bold visions on the part of the creative team at Retro Studios. The skylines that run above the clouds of Elysia, the needle-like forests of Bryyo, and the haunting remains of the G.F.S. Valhalla all made for areas that were as interesting to look at as they were to explore.

For being one of the earliest titles to make full use of the Wii’s motions controls, Metroid Prime 3: Corruption is arguably among the best on the system. Response times and targeting accuracy might not be perfect, but they’re pretty great even when you compare them to later Wii releases by Nintendo. Prime 3 spends as much time exploring the core mythos of the Metroid universe – the legacy of the Chozo, the properties of Phazon, the role of the Aurora Units and the connections they share to Mother Brain – as it does providing a satisfying conclusion to the story that makes up the Prime trilogy. To that end, Corruption does as much to send the Prime series out with a bang as it does to connect the dots of many underlying tales that helped to shape the Metroid story at large.

Top 10 Games of the Seventh Generation Consoles - #8: Final Fantasy XIII

Final Fantasy XIII does not use the exact combat system of its predecessors, but that’s kind of a pattern the series has followed all along – trying new spins on an old classic. FFXIII utilizes a variant of the ATB battle system introduced way back in Final Fantasy IV, and puts you in control of three characters at a time, requiring you to rotate through your lineup of roles (known as paradigm shifts) in order to fight foes. While it is true that the game does not require you to be particularly involved with selecting specific attacks seeing as auto-battle will generally select the most useful magic or physical attack, FFXIII’s fast-paced combat will ask that you remain attentive and ready to switch party roles at a moment’s notice. As a result, the combat is less chaotic and frenetic and more fluid and methodical.

The only real gripe that I have with Final Fantasy XIII is that the side quests are all centered around the concept of tracking down increasingly stronger creatures and slaying them in order to unlock Xbox 360 achievements/PS3 trophies. While you can technically continue grinding during the game’s later hours in order to fully level up your party members and expand their crystarium, the roles you’ve assigned them up to that point should complement each other impeccably – each character basically starts off on two primary roles (in the case of Snow, these are Sentinel and Ravager), and then a third is recommended to both further specialize your party members as well as cover potential gaps in your strategies. Unlike many a JRPG, it offers opportunities for grinding for experience points without actually requiring it.

For my first foray into the core Final Fantasy games, FFXIII was a strong start. It’s not perfect and I have since discovered elements of other Final Fantasy titles that I prefer over some of what FFXIII has to offer. But nearly everything that FFXIII brings to the table is handled very well. During the forty plus hours it takes to complete the main game, there is ample time to develop each of the six main characters as well as explore the lore of the Fabula Nova Crystallis universe without the terminology going completely over your head. I loved Lightning and Sazh, I came to appreciate Snow, Fang, and Hope and everything they offered to the party. But in a most unexpected turn of events, Vanille, the bubbly girl who I expected might get annoying rather quickly, proved to be the most deep and engaging of the bunch.

Top 10 Games of the Seventh Generation Consoles - #9: Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker

A proper sequel to Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, Peace Walker explores the impact the Boss’ training and philosophy have had on Snake in the years following her death. It’s very much a story about Snake – in typical Metal Gear fashion, there are plenty of other cast members to intrigue players, to flesh out the experience, and to better connect the dots that make up the Metal Gear lore. But through all of Kazuhira Miller’s radio chatter it’s quite clear that this is the story that is meant to bridge the gap between the Naked Snake era and the rise of Big Boss’ Outer Heaven. David Hayter puts on a more gruff tone to convey how Snake has aged both physically and emotionally, and the shift in his presentation of this iconic gaming character goes a long way in sowing the seeds of both Big Boss’ new identity and the goals of the Militaires Sans Frontieres.

Much like with MGS3, Peace Walker offers a slightly greater range of freedom with picking an approach to countering Snake’s foes. You can distract them by making noise and then carefully sneaking around them, or you can take them head on thanks to a more-powerful-than-usual arsenal. A few of the boss fights do require a more straightforward combat approach, as foes will attempt to flank Snake and force him out of a well-defended spot. This results in the need to balance your strategy between taking out these lesser enemies and dealing blows to the tank, helicopter, or mech that is Snake’s primary target.

While the individual areas in Peace Walker are nowhere near as expansive as those in MGS3, they are still structured as a series of connected sectors. For a handheld game, these look gorgeous due to their high level of detail. The soundtrack is classic Metal Gear and, again, of impressively highly quality. The multiplayer mode and RPG elements worked into building Snake’s forces are both unusual choices for a Metal Gear title, but they work surprisingly well.

Peace Walker is a bold spin on everything you’d expect from a Metal Gear game – at its core, it’s the same tactical espionage action you’ve come to know and love. But the gameplay elements give it a whole new flavor that makes it a fresh experience for MGS veterans. Peace Walker is not only among the best entries in one of my personal favorite video game franchises, it’s one of the best handheld titles I’ve ever played.

Top 10 Games of the Seventh Generation Consoles - #10: Portal 2

Now that the big three game companies have all announced their new consoles, I thought I would take a look back at my favorites from the Wii/PS3/Xbox 360 era. I realize that what is soon to be dubbed ‘last generation’ isn’t actually over yet and there is a chance that some more truly impressive games might be released between now and the time that the Wii U/PS4/Xbox One take over completely. But as of right now, I feel that my list of favorite/most important games from this past generation will see little-to-no alteration, even with new games still on the horizon. The criteria for this list is as follows: all of the games listed below are among my favorites of this past generation, and have been placed in order of which I think were actually handled best, from gameplay, to storytelling, to graphical/artistic presentation, and overall production quality. A few series had sequels that were competing for a spot on this list, and because of how close it came between some of them, I’ve opted to include both as a single spot on the list. Keep in mind that this list is drawing from a large pool - everything from the Wii, DS, PS3, PSP, and Xbox 360. Also, re-releases of a game are not eligible – no Virtual Console or HD Collections, I'm afraid. However, full-fledged remakes are allowed. If your favorite game didn’t make the list that simply means that either I didn’t play it or it didn’t leave as significant an impact on me.

While the original Portal was certainly a landmark game for its physics engine and combination of puzzle and platforming gameplay, it lasted but a few hours. They were an enjoyable few hours, to be sure, but left less of an impression that I had played a ‘masterpiece’ and more the impression that I had played something that was a crossroad – not just for the aforementioned genres of video games, but for the medium as a whole. In the years that followed Portal’s release, there was seemingly no end to the number of developers who attempted to pay tribute to the game by including not-so-subtle references to false promises of cake and the instantly recognizable companion cube. But for so many that gave their individual nods to the game, there were few that dared try and replicate something like Portal.

Enter Portal 2, a sequel released four years after the original, which built and expanded upon everything the original created. Portal 2 once again follows protagonist Chell, but through a full-fledged story instead of a one-sided conversation with power-mad AI GLaDOS. It’s true that Chell is still silent, but Wheatley acts as both narrator and companion, while the other cores (brief though their appearances may be) and the recorded audio from Aperture founder Cave Johnson add a lot of life to the equation. The original Portal, while entertaining in its own right, did not feel to me as complete of a product as Portal 2. The addition of gels added a new dynamic to the gameplay, and a few of the puzzles were real stumpers. As for the flawlessly-executed co-op mode, that was simply icing on the cake.

Killer is Dead official trailer

A couple of days ago, some screens of the new Suda51 game Killer is Dead appeared on NeoGAF. As of yesterday, we now have a trailer showing off the gameplay and giving us a little taste of the characters and story. Based on what is presented here, it seems like some of the fan speculation that this game would be a spiritual sequel to both Killer 7 and No More Heroes is at least partially true. The story of lead protagonist Mondo Zappa appears to be more serious in nature than that of Travis Touchdown, but the way he wields his blade is similar to how Travis' handled his beam katana. Meanwhile, Mondo also fires rounds from an object on his left arm, seemingly a nod to Killer 7 heavily emphasizing shooting in its own gameplay. Killer is Dead's graphics are cel-shaded, much like the two aforementioned Suda51 titles, though the graphical quality is notably higher, which only makes sense, considering that Killer is Dead will be releasing for both the PS3 and Xbox 360. The end of this trailer teases at more footage to come, so hopefully we will learn about other characters and story elements in the coming months.

Thoughts on Playstation All-Stars Battle Royale reveal

Over the past few weeks, the internet has been abuzz about the possibility of a Sony answer to Nintendo's wildly popular Super Smash Bros. series. Rumor had it that the likes of Kratos, Sweet Tooth, and even Parappa the Rapper would be appearing in the roster. As it turns out, the aforementioned rumors are true, and Sony will be giving players their own Smash Bros. in the form of Playstation All-Stars Battle Royale. No, this is not some sort of similar fighting game. It is a straight-up copy of Super Smash Bros.

The game has not been released yet, but based on the minimal footage provided in this reveal trailer, it is pretty easy to see how close the game is to Super Smash Bros. The characters move and behave similarly to Nintendo's allstars. The levels have the same kind of interactive elements, and even the player number logos are copied straight from Smash Bros.

I am not surprised that Sony decided to try and release a fighting game of their own to try and compete with Nintendo. But I did not expect that it would take this long. Sony and Nintendo have been competitors since the 1990s, and it seems like shortly after the release of the original N64 Super Smash Bros. would have been prime time for Sony to cook up a response in the form of their own game. Sony could have been way more creative in their approach. I think the concept of a Sony fighting game is interesting. But this is just pathetic. Shame on you Sony, for taking the lazy route and outright copying Nintendo.

Xbox 360/PS3 review: Final Fantasy XIII-2

Final Fantasy XIII-2 is not as original as the first entry in the Fabula Nova Crystallis series, but still seeks to explore possibilities by integrating JRPG elements both new and old. The game opens with Lightning trapped in a realm known as Valhalla, a place where time does not flow naturally. Her attempts to hold powerful rival Caius at bay prove challenging, though she seems to be holding her ground well enough. From an opening in the sky falls Noel Kreiss, a human from the end of days. His wishes for a miracle brought him to Valhalla, and, knowing the threat Caius poses to the goddess Etro, Lightning sends Noel through time to find her sister Serah. After a brief exchange, Serah explains to Noel that she seems to be the only one who remembers that Lightning survived the fall of Cocoon at the end of Final Fantasy XIII, and Noel confirms her memories, informing her of Lightning's whereabouts. The two then set out to correct a myriad of paradoxes in hopes of restoring the 'true timeline'.

The gameplay is largely retained from FFXIII, with the battle system controlling in an almost identical manner. There are, however, a few small changes that go a long way. Serah and Noel are the only two human party members players will have control of throughout the entirety of the game. While both are granted three roles to begin with, leveling these up with crystogen points with present the opportunity to unlock all six roles, as well as bonus boosts and increases to both the ATB gauge and the equipment they are able to carry. Monsters can now be tamed and leveled up via special materials that can either be earned after battles or purchased with Gil. Each monster is allotted a single role (a Zwerg Scandroid is a Ravager, a Cait Sith is a Medic, etc.), but players can have three on call at any given time to work into their Paradigms.

XIII-2 jumps into the action pretty quickly, giving quick refreshers for veterans/tutorials for newcomers. For the most part, XIII-2 feels like a title made for those who played XIII, but it is not so quick to entirely alienate anyone who missed out on the adventures of Lightning, Snow and company the first time around. The crystarium has been streamlined, as each new improvement means a level increase for the respective character/monster. The improvements now also list the number of crystogen points required to level up.

The fact that only the Commando, Ravager, and Sentinel roles are available early on can prove a tad frustrating, especially when coupled with the fact that certain monsters are area-specific. But a few hours in, that aspect smoothes out. Some battles are followed up with a Cinematic Action, wherein players will interact with certain command prompts. These behave similarly to the interactive cutscenes in the more recent Resident Evil games, though they do not have significant negative repercussions should players miss the prompts.

The game is still one of the prettiest releases on current-gen consoles, which is no surprise, considering it is a Square Enix property. The environments designs see as much variety in aesthetics as they do in different layouts. From the overgrown forest of the Sunleth Waterscape, to the wide open fields of the Archylte Steppe, to the futuristic technological cityscape of Academia, every level presents players with new visual treats. The soundtrack is the most varied and experimental of any Final Fantasy to date, presenting traditional orchestrated tracks alongside techno tunes and borderline-death metal. Despite this great break away from the familiar, it all fits pretty well, save for a few tracks whose vocals throw off the vibe of their respective levels.

The minigames, a longtime staple of the more traditional Final Fantasy games, have returned following their absence from FFXIII. The quiz game is entertaining enough, and will test players knowledge of both XIII and XIII-2. But the bulk of the minigames are found in Serendipity, a casino-themed level entirely devoted to distractions and earning coins to spend on prizes. The lack of engaging minigames among the very few that are presented will easily turn players away from its colorful setting. The sidequests riddled throughout the multitude of levels, however, prove much more varied and enjoyable. The fragment rewards and crystogen point bonuses also act as sufficient incentive for players to seek out one after another.

A few puzzle elements have been worked in, though nothing quite so cleverly devised as anything a Legend of Zelda title or even the Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles spinoffs could muter up. Instead, FFXIII-2 offers three styles of puzzles, dubbed 'temporal rifts'. The easiest require players to connect matching jewels in a constellation shape before the clock runs out. The second challenge players to determine the correct path to take while collecting crystals, but at the same time do not allow them to retrace their steps. The trial-and-error aspect of these make their design seem rather trivial, but at the same time helps the RPG from derailing from its core gameplay.

The third type of temporal rift comes in the form of a clock. These require players to figure out the number of spaces the hands must rotate in order to clear all of the numbers. If the hands of the clock land on an empty space, the puzzle resets. It sounds a lot more simplistic than it really is, especially when you take into account the increase in numbers as each stage of the puzzle progresses. These are all randomly generated, and players may find themselves turned off by their inclusion - not just because they require careful plotting, but because of how lethargic they feel in comparison to the rest of the game.

Prior to Final Fantasy XIII-2's release, Square Enix touted that main villain Caius Ballad would be among the most challenging bosses in the series history. While this is true, his fight can prove rather easy if players grind for experience points. Compared to many previous Final Fantasy titles, grinding in XIII-2 is incredibly easy - in fact, most players will likely find themselves at higher levels than necessary without really trying to seek out extra battles. Taking a few wrong turns in Academia 400AF or encountering wild creatures in the Archylte Steppe can easily merit significant boosts to their crystogen count.

The game's ending is in keeping with the much darker tone the sequel carries over FFXIII. It's also an insulting conclusion to the solid storytelling that builds up the entire experience. This, combined with the DLC that is already being released, leads to some heavy implication that they basically released an incomplete game. So many of the game's weak points are exposed late, which may leave a distinctly sour taste with players who otherwise enjoyed this sequel.

When all is said and done, many players may find Noel Kreiss among their favorite Final Fantasy characters. His story in genuinely compelling as part adventure through time, part tragedy in being one of the last humans left at the end of time. Serah is not nearly as memorable, though her inclusion is certainly a step up from her role as a convenient plot device in FFXIII. Mog serves as a cute, often goofy sidekick, while Lightning takes a backseat for nearly the entire game. There are many familiar faces, and their stories all play out in a fitting, if not somewhat predictable way. Hope is easily the most interesting of the NPCs, though resident villain Caius and seeress Yeul present compelling enough expansions to the Fabula Nova Crystallis realm.

My rating: 8.25 (out of 10)

XBLA review: Street Fighter III: Third Strike Online Edition

As a genre, fighting games are relatively foreign territory to me. I played a ton of Super Smash Bros. when it first hit the N64, and the same story carried through to Melee and Brawl. The thing I appreciated most about those fighting games was the fact that they were so accessible. True, it would take anyone time and patience to master each and every character, but newcomers could still compete decent enough in a throw-down of Nintendo’s best. Besides that, I only had a few cracks at the arcade version of Mortal Kombat at a local roller skating rink during elementary school field trips. In my early years of gaming (as well as today) my forte was in adventure and platforming games. I was all-too aware of the fact that arcade-style fighting games were largely dependent on players memorizing a list of moves and combos, which differed from one character to the next. That factor probably played the largest influence over my lack of interest in the genre for years to come.

However, in recent years I have rediscovered the genre as something of a beacon for old-school gamers amidst the onslaught of mainstreamed and over-hyped titles (the majority of which happen to be first-person-shooters). These arcade fighters stick with a classic formula, and – while they may provide tutorials of sorts – are not going to hold your hand the entire time. They will dish out one beating after another, and it is up to each individual player to find his or her own unique style of play to combat this. And that is one of the aspects of this genre that I truly admire – the flexibility players are granted through the variety of characters.

Street Fighter III: Third Strike Online Edition is a game from the golden era of fighting games. The characters are varied but still very well-balanced, a result of years of trial-and-error on the part of Capcom and other companies. There is a myriad of different subgroupings to each fighting style. While Elena and Ibuki both focus on fighting from a range, the former does so with kicks and acrobatics, while the latter relies on swift kicks and throwing Kunai. Though Ryu and Akuma might seem like polar opposites skinned over the same move set, it is apparent that Akuma’s energy blasts are not as potent as Ryu’s, while his kicks and supercombos trump those of the series’ posterboy. Despite the fact that there are some striking similarities that can be drawn between some of the characters, it is impossible to find any two that are direct copies of each other.

The arcade mode lasts through nine standard fights, with two minigames thrown in the mix, and a boss fight at the conclusion of all this. Before each fight, players are presented with two opponents to choose from. While these are characters that will have difficulty playing both offense and defense to the player-controlled character, the last couple of choices narrow down to a “lesser of two evils” scenario. Beating the ‘final boss’ Gill as each individual character will prompt a cutscene that explores their story in more specific context.


The combat itself is very fluid. Combos and supercombos are a bit easier to chain than in the likes of Marvel vs. Capcom 3, primarily due to the fact that Third Strike is a past-gen game ported over to a current-gen console with a very different controller than that of the Dreamcast. Players can tweak the difficulty setting at the main menu as they see fit, as well as access training modes to hone their skills both offensively and defensively. The CPU does an impressive job responding to players. Only on rare occasions will it feel a bit cheap. For example, opponents that use blast attacks (most notably Ryu, Akuma, and Urien) do have a tendency to spam these when low on health. Also, players should be aware of how much space they have to work with on any given level, as some of the more physical combat-oriented characters (Yun, Yang, Dudley) may corner them and proceed to mercilessly launch-kick and punch them until their health meter is depleted.

The graphics maintain the traditional look and feel of the side-view and character sprites, but the level of detail presented in each character model and level backdrop is simply gorgeous. This makes a perfect marriage to the soundtrack, which is a combination of hip-hop, techno, and ethnic music. Players can earn points by completing various challenges in game – defeating opponents with 20 supercombo finishes, beating Yang as Yun (and vice versa), etc. – as well as completing the arcade mode each time through. They can then spend these points however they see fit on soundtrack pieces, concept art, and short videos to revisit whenever they wish. There is also an option to upload fights to YouTube, though this seems more of an afterthought with the video quality of these replays set at a 240p default. It would have been a better idea to let players save a handful of their favorite fights to their system's hard drive, retaining the HD quality playback.

Street Fighter III: Third Strike is a great fighting game all around. The final fight against Gill is brutal, and frankly the most uneven aspect of the experience. But the fact that players can jump in and play online is a great addition, and the unlockables are nice for nostalgia’s sake. Players can adjust the difficulty setting as they see fit within a pretty specific skill range, accommodating for both veterans and newcomers to the franchise. The faces may not all be familiar to those who played the previous titles, but every playable character in Third Strike: Online Edition is balanced to perfection.

My rating: 9.25 (out of 10)

DLC review: Resident Evil 5 - Lost in Nightmares

Lost in Nightmares allows players to experience firsthand the events that led to Jill Valentine going MIA. Jill and Chris Redfield are sent to investigate the estate of Ozwell E. Spencer, former president of the Umbrella Corporation. For the sake of better explaining the DLC, I am going to assume anyone playing Lost in Nightmares has already completed Resident Evil 5. If not, fair warning: some spoilers lay in store.

As some of the flashback cutscenes in Resident Evil 5 indicated, Jill and Chris encountered Wesker at the Spencer estate immediately before Jill's disappearance. So players will already know the ending of the Lost in Nightmares story before going into it. It might seem a bit odd of Capcom to build DLC around this, but the final product is actually quite well-polished and provides an interesting look into the transitions that take place from the early games to the more recent installments. Notes lying around the estate provide insight from both Spencer and his butler, exploring their plans for Umbrella's research and concerns about Wesker.

The gameplay uses the same basic mechanics of Resident Evil 5, though the setting aims more for the spooky nature of the original Resident Evil. The Spencer estate is host to a number of puzzles and traps that players must overcome - or in some cases use to their advantage. The shooter mechanics remain intact, though there isn't a lot of ammunition lying around and the few enemies players do encounter are able to take quite a beating before they go down. The final boss fight is a triumphant payoff, though some may find it to be a bit lengthy.

The moody lighting and stormy weather outside the estate emphasize the more classic horror theme of Lost in Nightmares. Guardians can be seen slinking off in to dimly lit areas of the estate's lower levels. A piano can be heard, but when Chris and Jill go to investigate, there is no longer any sound, nor anyone playing it. Aside from these thematic elements, though, there are a number of carefully-planned adrenaline rush scares. Enemies will come crashing through walls, while the acquisition of certain items will trigger a trap that players must rescue either themselves or their partner from.

Lost in Nightmares will take a little under an hour and a half to complete, depending on the difficulty setting and how long players spend searching for treasure and key items. The only drawback to this is that the DLC does not offer a save feature. It's a very well-written piece of the larger Resident Evil universe, even though it doesn't throw any major twists at players. For those who wants to extend their Resident Evil 5 experience, or for anyone who enjoyed the Resident Evil games of yesteryear and wants a quick fix, Lost in Nightmares is a worthwhile investment.

My rating: 10 (out of 10)*

*(rating applies solely to downloadable content, not its inclusion with the content on the original game disc or other downloadable content)

Konami announces HD collections

As a pre-E3 announcement, Konami has revealed three HD collections that will see release for both the PS3 and Xbox 360. Arguably the most exciting is the Metal Gear Solid three pack, which will include Sons of Liberty, Snake Eater, and Peace Walker. Peace Walker reportedly will allow players the option of transferring data over from their PSP copy of the game. The Silent Hill collection will include Silent Hill 2 and 3, while the Zone of the Enders collection will include both Zone of the Enders and The 2nd Runner.

I really liked how Konami and Capcom went ahead and did complete collection releases a few years back, with game series like Metal Gear Solid and Devil May Cry respectively, and these new HD collections are equally as appealing to me. While I think this is a great move on Konami's part, I'd personally like to see Capcom and others cash in on this. Perhaps a Resident Evil HD collection? As much as I enjoyed Resident Evil 4 (which was a lot), it's seen release on the Gamecube, PS2, Wii, and... iPhone. So I'd prefer to see the first two games, plus maybe Code Veronica or Resident Evil Zero just to mix things up a bit. I also wouldn't mind seeing Square Enix do a few HD Final Fantasy collection releases, specifically with regards to the PSone and PS2 releases.

DLC review: Bioshock 2 - Minerva's Den

The third and final bit of Bioshock 2 DLC has arrived and, as with the previous two releases, 2K has created a great experience full of everything that makes Bioshock 2 the unique game that it is. That said, Minerva’s Den didn’t feel as fleshed out of DLC as the Rapture Metro Pack or the Protector Trials and is, in my opinion, the weakest of the three.

Minerva’s Den opens up with an Alpha-series Big Daddy named Subject Sigma being denied entrance to Minerva’s Den, home of Rapture Central Computing, via a tunnel exploding. But as Sigma is a Big Daddy, moving about the ocean is quite simple and so he finds another entrance into the home of Rapture Central Computing, with the help and guidance of Brigid Tenenbaum and Charles Milton Porter. Porter, along with his colleague Reed Wahl, worked on The Thinker, a supercomputer that runs many of Rapture’s everyday needs. However, over time Wahl took control of The Thinker and subsequently all of Minerva’s Den, while Porter was banished from his own creation. Now Sigma must get control of The Thinker back out of Wahl’s grasp.

The single-player story that is Minerva’s Den plays out like a two to three-hour version of either Bioshock or Bioshock 2. The overall objective is ever-present, but players will have to traverse different sections of Minerva’s Den and complete various objectives before reaching Wahl and The Thinker. Along the way, players will find a handful of audio diaries, most of them pertaining exclusively to Porter and Wahl’s collaborative work, as well as the major weapons and plasmids found throughout the main game of Bioshock 2. While collecting each weapon doesn’t detract the narrative, it is a bit of an annoyance as players are only granted use of the drill and telekinesis plasmid at the start of Minerva’s Den and are then expected to take out some relatively challenging enemies (such as Spider and Brute Splicers) with this combination. Once players have tracked down more weapons and plasmids, however, the big challenge will be balancing weapon use and conserving ammo, as this isn’t nearly as plentiful in Minerva’s Den as in the rest of Rapture.

Two new additions to the Bioshock arsenal make their debut in Minerva’s Den. The Laser is a weapon carried by the newest Big Daddy model known as the Lancer. Once players have taken a Lancer down, they can loot his Laser for ammo cells, and can then fire the weapon with three ammo types – a standard laser beam, a thermal beam, and a charged ion blast. A new plasmid, Gravity Well, creates a small gravitational center which pulls objects and enemies towards itself for a brief time period. While it’s nice to see that 2K is as creative as ever, the Laser basically combines three ammo types from other weapons and attributes them to one convenient location that is ultimately a less powerful weapon. As entertaining as Gravity Well is to use on a handful of Splicers, it doesn’t prove particularly useful against the large numbers of enemies players face in gather sections, and is a plasmid better reserved for its primary inclusion – unlocking certain areas.

The design of Minerva’s Den is much darker and moody than many other areas of Rapture and often carries a feel much more akin to that of the original Bioshock than Bioshock 2. There are a number of areas that players can choose to travel to if they wish to explore more of Minerva’s Den, but these are not required by the main narrative. Some of these simply allow players to stock up on munitions and health packs, but others further explore the history of Minerva’s Den. Unfortunately, a few of the questions brought up by exploring these areas are never answered by the narrative’s conclusion.

Minerva’s Den is a nice addition to the overarching tale of Rapture, but is still very much self-contained. While players may find a few audio diaries by Andrew Ryan, the only character that makes an appearance both outside and inside Minerva’s Den is Tenenbaum, and the story of Sigma, Porter, and Wahl doesn’t extend past this DLC or play into the main events of Bioshock 2 in any way. While the story of Minerva’s Den doesn’t explain much of anything until (quite literally) the last fifteen minutes of the gameplay, the payoff is quite good and delivers a solid plot twist that keeps with Bioshock tradition. In the end, Minerva’s Den is easily the weakest of the three pieces of Bioshock 2 DLC, but is still a great addition to any fan’s collection.

My rating: 8 (out of 10)*

*(rating applies solely to downloadable content, not its inclusion with the content on the original game disc or other downloadable content)

Xbox 360/PS3 review: Final Fantasy XIII

As I watched the opening credits to Final Fantasy XIII, I found myself curious as to what all lay in store for me with this game. I had played Crystal Chronicles and Tactics titles in the past, but never before had I actually sat down to play one of the core titles in Square Enix's long-running RPG franchise. First some winged beasts wove their way through a valley, then an airship flew over a city hanging in the sky (at this point I had no proper name to give any of these). And then a gun barrel slowly peeled off to one side of the screen revealing the most detailed and life-like face I had ever seen in any video game. That single moment grabbed my attention like no other and my eyes remained glued to the television screen as I witnessed more highlighted images from Final Fantasy XIII unfold. As the final shots flew over the scenery of Gran Pulse, every single individual pebble visible and the river water clear and shimmering, I realized Square Enix had gone above and beyond any of their previous cutscene works and had hit the jackpot. But video games are not just about pretty graphics and, fingers crossed, I started up a new file on the disc.

Due to the length of the game, it's rather difficult to explain the story in detail without giving much away in terms of spoilers, but I'll try my best. The Fal'Cie are akin to demigods in the world of Final Fantasy XIII and every so often will select humans to carry out deeds on their behalf, often if their status as Fal'Cie prohibits them from directly intervening in matters. The people of the floating continent of Cocoon are constantly fed messages that L'Cie, humans branded by the Fal'Cie are dangerous and will threaten the stability of Cocoon. The Fal'Cie, however, are both praised and feared due to their immense power and hold on the world around them. When Lightning, Snow, Sazh, Hope, Vanille, and Fang are branded by a Fal'Cie, they must determine the focus the Fal'Cie has bestowed upon them. Should the L'Cie fail to complete their focus they are doomed to wander the world as a mindless beast known as a C'ieth, but should they complete their focus successfully the L'Cie will enter a crystal stasis for hundreds of years. Attempting to put their differences aside may not be easy, but it will be necessary if Lightning, Snow, Sazh, Hope, Vanille, and Fang are to fight their focus and seek out another fate.

The initial level players find themselves in at the start of Final Fantasy XIII is teeming with activity. Following Lightning's incursion onboard a train, the purge that was meant to be taking place as a way to hush up the relocation of a Fal'Cie explodes into sheer chaos. Players take control of one or two characters at a time, alternating between the then relative strangers that will soon become the main cast of Final Fantasy XIII. This introductory sequence, so to speak, is meant to familiarize players with the basics of the combat system and moving around the world. With so much occurring right off the start of the game, players might not take notice of the slight graphical decrease in detail from the cutscenes to the actual gameplay. This is a good thing, though, as the difference is very minor and the game still looks beautiful either way.

Final Fantasy XIII is one of the single most time-consuming games I have ever played, and as there are so many inter-weaving stories to be told over its duration, I will not be including any spoilers in this review. That said, just because the game is incredibly lengthy doesn't mean it is boring or tedious in any way. The story delivers a number of incredibly effective plot twists as the six main characters attempt to fight their destiny as L'Cie.




While some of the characters may take time for players to get used to, overall they are very entertaining. Lightning is the hardened soldier who is easily the most combat-capable of the group but has trust issues and isn't overly patient. The fiancee of Lightning's sister Serah, Snow is the no-worries macho hero who sees things as 'the good guys must always prevail', but still has some insecurities that are revealed later in the story. To me, Snow came across as more shallow than the other five lead characters and a tad annoying, but I wouldn't go so far to say that he is a downright terrible character. Sazh is the eldest of the six L'Cie and a constant source of cleverly-scripted ironic humor, and his struggle between keeping things lighthearted and his desire to take certain matters very seriously creates an interesting internal conflict. As the youngest member of the main cast, Hope does plenty of self-discovery and though he is quite timid from the start, he finds strength within himself as the story progresses. Filling a similar role as that of Sazh (though notably younger), Vanille constantly tries to avoid conflict among the L'Cie and keep everyone's spirits up. While she initially came across as incessantly annoying, Vanille was easily my favorite character by the game's conclusion, in large part due to how much deeper a role she plays in the game's events than is initially let on. Fang, a member of the same Pulse tribe as Vanille (though quite a few years older than the bright-spirited teen), plays the Pulse counterpart of Cocoon-born Lightning, in that she is a tried-and-true hunter and incredibly combat-capable, albeit in unorthodox styles.

While the handful of side characters are constantly recurring, they are quite well-rounded and each play a significant role in the game's plot. Yaag Rosch and Cid Raines provide important trials that the L'Cie must overcome, but challenge the L'Cie's way of thinking, presenting arguments neither those of the L'Cie, the citizens, or the Fal'Cie, finding their own beliefs for fighting. Jihl Nabat is one of the few minor characters with whom I was not particularly impressed, mostly due to her minimal involvement in the plot. Serah, Dajh, and the (occasionally obnoxious and JRPG-stereotypical) Nora group provide motivation for the L'Cie to press onward.




The combat system allows players to have three party members in play for the majority of the game's battles. There are six classes that can be assigned to the characters, though each character will only be able to access three preset classes until about twenty hours into the game, at which point each character has access to all six classes and players can level up attributes as they choose via the Crystarium. The commando class is the equivalent of a basic soldier, while the ravager is the equivalent of a mage. The medic and sentinel classes are defense-based, with the former focusing on physical health and the latter focusing on shielding/protecting part members. The syngerist role provides assistance to offense-based classes, causing chain gauges to refill more quickly and increasing the amount of damage weapons can inflict. The saboteur role (which I personally used the least of the six) focuses on taking down the defensive capabilites of an enemy and rendering said enemy more vulnerable to the attacks of the commando and ravager classes. The actual combat itself is very fluid, though a certain level of involvement is lost with the auto-battle system. Players can choose a series of attacks of their own accord, but auto-battle will almost always choose the strongest and most appropriate moves for the battle. Still, Final Fantasy XIII's combat system is leaps and bounds above that of many other RPGs and while it might be unorthodox, it certainly maintains the game's fast-paced action style. Switching back and forth between the various combinations is intuitive and simple, as players need only access the paradigm shift menu in the midst of battle to select the combination that best suits the situation at hand. The camera angle, surprisingly, presents little problem as it auto-corrects itself in the incredibly rare event that it should choose a less-than-desireable angle while rotating around the battlefield.

The enemies players find themselves facing down progress in a traditional style, giving players easy kills and subsequent crystogen point rewards early on, and increasing both the difficulty and variety of foes as players explore new areas. Some enemies reward players with bonus items that can be used to upgrade weapons and accessories. The boss fights become increasingly challenging, and while some are much harder to beat than others, not a single one is reliant on luck. Rather, the game requires players to use a trial-and-error process to figure out what paradigms/party members are best situated for each boss battle.


Every so often players will be required to face an Eidolon in battle, generally when the characters hit an emotional brick wall. Eidolons are mechanized beings brought forth from the L'Cie's focus and players must face them down in order to advance the plot. Unlike most battles, players are given a short time period to defeat the Eidolons and are not rewarded with crystogen points or items following a victory. Rather, players can summon the Eidolons to aid them in battle when necessary. However, on the rare ocassions that I actually called upon an Eidolon, I found them to be overall rather weak offensively and better fit for taking on grunt Psicom troops than dealing damage to bosses - strange, considering the epic intro the Eidolons receive any time they are summoned to battle. Thankfully half of the Eidolon battles are dealt with relatively early on in the game, while the other three make their appearances after the twenty-hour mark.

While the majority of the game's events take place on Cocoon, a large section of the game has players venture to the lowerworld of Gran Pulse. I won't spoil any specifics in regard to the story, but I will say that the environments of Gran Pulse are much more open and free. Players can choose to advance the main story or take a break and tackle the many side-missions scattered about Gran Pulse. While this does allow players to earn rewards and crystogen points through battling Pulse beasts and completing trials, this option is only granted to the player in one of the game's thirteen chapters. Granted, said chapter is the longest of the thirteen (regardless of whether players attempt to tackle the side-missions or not), but it would have been nice for Square Enix to have spread the side-missions across the entirety of the game as to make them seem like less of a chore in piling them all on at once.


The soundtrack fits the game's events like no other. The strings and woodwinds carry moving and flowing parts while accompanying the more soft moments in the story, while powerful sounds from the brass and percussion convey accompany various boss fights. There are a few select pieces that try to incorporate a more techno-inspired sound, and I found these to be a mixed bag with some, such as "Test of the L'Cie" working cohesively with the rest of the soundtrack, and others, such as "Snow's Theme" seeming a bit out of place. Each piece is brilliantly orchestrated, however, and my feeling that some pieces feel out of place is a personal nitpicking more than critique of quality of the soundtrack. Regardless, the soundtrack that accompanies Final Fantasy XIII is one of the best of any video game ever as far as I'm concerned.

With Final Fantasy XIII being my first impression of the core Final Fantasy games, I can honestly say that it was an utterly phenomenal experience. The game isn't perfect and suffers a bit from its attempts to experiment with the RPG formula, but the story is very intriguing, the characters varied and incredibly entertaining, the wide variety of environments presented through incredible attention to detail, and the gameplay of some of the highest caliber. Final Fantasy XIII is an RPG and a very long one at that, so those who have little patience will likely struggle to enjoy this title to its fullest extent. For those willing to put forth the time and effort in playing this wonderfully imaginative game from start to finish, I can guarantee it will be an RPG experience like no other.

My rating: 9.5 (out of 10)

Shoot 'em full of lead

I’d like to do something a little different for this post and focus on a broader spectrum than the specifics of a single game or series. This particular topic has been bugging me since about the midway point of last generation’s consoles. First-person shooters have been rising in ridiculous numbers over the past five or six years. A large part of this surge was initially due to the big three companies feeling the pressure of online gaming (or in Nintendo’s case, the lack thereof). And while games like Goldeneye 007 and Perfect Dark have stood the test of time, there are plenty of others in the FPS genre that will be forgotten in a sea of mediocre games.

When I take to a game, my overall impressions are based on three major factors: originality, story, and game mechanics. Obviously not every game has to be original to become popular. Perfect Dark was essentially a re-skin of Goldeneye 007 with a new story and weapons. But that didn’t stop it from becoming one of the more popular N64 games. That said, both those games were released in the late 1990s, during the heyday of 3D gaming. During that time, most FPS titles were still popular in arcades with laser-response gun controllers to boot. Getting back on track, both Perfect Dark and Goldeneye 007 had easy control schemes and almost never dropped frame rate. Perfect Dark obviously had the more creative and original story, as Goldeneye 007 was heavily based on the subsequent film, but that didn’t stop gamers from flocking to either N64 title to get their shooter fix.

During the last generation of consoles, the Gamecube was left lagging quite a ways behind in sales and critical reception. And while the Playstation 2 arguably won that generation of console wars, the Xbox gave the PS2 a run for its money with its more successful online gaming. The success of the Xbox was due in no small part to its flagship game Halo and sequel Halo 2. Halo was one of many FPS games that would shape Microsoft’s gaming market to make it more accessible to casual gamers. Is Halo a casual game itself? It’s difficult to classify. On normal difficulty, almost anyone can kick ass as the Master Chief. But turn it up to legendary difficulty and the game is almost definitely hardcore status. It’s unfortunate, however, that the three main Halo games don’t include a longer campaign. Bungie realized that they can basically sell the games on their multiplayer alone, but I feel that they could do a lot more with the story for those who haven’t read the novels.

Halo may have been the single most important game in relaunching the FPS genre. Games like Call of Duty and Medal of Honor were given a new lease on life and sold like hotcakes. Today it seems like there is a new FPS being announced or released almost every week. And while the Halo franchise does deserve kudos for having a strong story and a very unique arsenal, there are few other FPS games from the two most recent console generations that can come close to comparison. Call of Duty certainly has a good variety of weapons, but with the exception of Modern Warfare, the story is always a rehash of the previous game. Multiplayer is mediocre at best, and the controls are clunky (I know they want to be realistic with the weapons, but having the sniper scope fling all about gets annoying pretty damn fast). Certainly some improvements were made with Modern Warfare, particularly with the multiplayer. But the campaign was even shorter than that of Halo 3, and the story not even half as engaging.

The worst part about all this is that Call of Duty and Halo are at the top of the FPS pyramid. Medal of Honor has since been left in the dust, regardless of the fact that its games were almost the exact same as Call of Duty’s. The Conduit had both a decent story and game mechanics, but didn't really stand out as a must-have for Wii owners. And then of course there are games like Haze which promise the greatest shooter experience ever and end up being a giant pile of crap. As creative as the weapons in Resistance: Fall of Man are, the story and characters are forgettable. Killzone has decent mechanics and an okay story, but the characters are rather one-dimensional. It seems that few companies want to put forth the effort of releasing a shooter that combines fluid controls with a good story. Do I think it’s impossible? Certainly not – it happened over a decade ago, multiple times. But considering the current state of the industry, I wouldn’t bank on seeing another truly engaging FPS for some years to come. In fact, you’re better off playing adventure-shooter crossovers like Metroid Prime 3: Corruption or Bioshock for an excellent FPS experience.