I count the platforming genre as my favourite above all others; never having experienced other titles in the series before, I was therefore eager to try the 2007 PS3 entry in the Ratchet and Clank series: Tools of Destruction. Mixing third-person shooter conventions with those of the platformer and action-adventure, the game also features the beginning of a new story arc in the series.
The gameplay revolves around the items and weapons the titular heroes possess. Upgrades are unlocked in battle, based on an RPG-like system of experience points, and the player may purchase these – and new gadgets/weapons – using currency also earned in battle.
As with the majority of platformers, the player must follow the linear path of the storyline to reach the end of the game. However, there is some backtracking through existing levels necessary to further the story; while this does invoke a feeling of non-linearity to some extent, the mandatory nature of the visits to previously explored worlds means the player is usually closely following the plotline.
I came across the online-based Time Donkey (2009) after playing a previous game by its developer: Velociraptor Safari. Both feature fairly vibrant 3D visuals for an in-browser game and are intriguing conceptually.
Unfortunately, I found Time Donkey to be somewhat unfulfilling in gameplay and controls. Input is conducted through the keyboard, an awkward setup for a 3D puzzle-platformer. Much like NiGHTS, precise jumps are required to explore levels. The object of the game is, as the eponymous quadruped, to collect a number of burritos scattered around the level. The player has the ability to reverse time, leaving a number of “shadows” performing previous actions, in a similar fashion to the Flash game Cursor*10, or the XBLA and PC game Braid. Strict time limits require the player to reverse time frequently – if each checkpoint is not activated, a great deal of progress is lost. The time-induced pressure makes it difficult to manage the timelines; this mechanic is there from the beginning of the game, making the first challenge difficult.
The Beatles: Rock Band (Xbox 360, 2009) was the second peripheral-based music game (After Donkey Konga on the Gamecube) I had purchased, and as a fan of the band it celebrates, I was highly anticipating its release. Much like Wii Sports Resort, the game features an emphasis on two forms of conflict – player versus player, and a group or individual against the game itself. The game revolves around timing, and by nature, each stage – a song – is based around a time limit – the duration of the song.
The game also includes a narrative component, in the form of a progression through the career of the band, bearing similarity to the “Career Mode” in the mainline Rock Band titles. This is very much an example of a linear, narrative driven game mode, though most of the plotline is given through cutscenes and other material, bookending the songs played.
Players are faced with several levels of challenge, as befitting a game that is equally suited for spur-of-the-moment casual play as it is for in-depth high score-seeking. On the surface, players may face a challenge getting to the end of a song, if playing on any difficulty above “Easy”; if that goal is satisfied, players may find techniques to raise scores on each song, and in Story Mode, unlock material of interest that relates and adds to the existing narrative.
The Halo series has not done much to pique my interest since its inception in 2002; the long-awaited third instalment (Xbox 360, 2007) continues this tradition. I played only co-op and deathmatch modes in the game, electing to leave the solo story mode and Forge sandbox mode to those who appreciate the game’s attributes more than I.
A console first-person-shooter in a wash of other similar titles, Halo 3 still retains the pedigree of a series that helped to reignite the genre on consoles this generation and the last. However, several frustrating elements kept me from enjoying the time I spent with the game.
The dual-analogue controls, a staple since last generation, are a fiddly annoyance, with a number of essential actions (including jumping) mapped to the inaccessible (when looking) face buttons.
The repetitive levels of co-op mode make it easy to become lost, especially when playing with a more experienced player. Radar is little help, and I had to resort to inducing a respawn a number of times. Deathmatch mode is similarly unforgiving to inexperienced players: the inability to control turning without practise ensured a shot in the back 90 per cent of the time.
Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts is the latest instalment in the platformer series, including the previously critiqued Banjo-Kazooie. Released in 2008 on Xbox 360, the game drastically changed the gameplay, while sticking to the fourth wall-breaking, “twisted children’s tale”-style plot usual in its predecessors.
The game takes on the guise of a “vehicular platformer”, largely eschewing on-foot jumping and exploring for intricately designed vehicles.
The game’s challenges consist of self-contained minigames – though they take place in the expansive levels, they are as separate from the rest of the game as battles are in a typical RPG. Each task features its own rules and context, making the tasks a microcosm of the game itself. Experimentation is heavily encouraged; there are no extra penalties for failing a task, ensuring the player attempts the challenge again from a different perspective with no discouragement.
Time is the largest constraint in the game: the characters’ health meter replenishes itself, and is rarely an issue, meaning players are usually racing against the clock to progress.
Burning Tires 3D is a game released in 2009 for the iPhone/iPod touch App Store. Normally a fan of arcade-style racing games, I was disappointed with Burning Tires’ fiddly controls - an interface issue that affects the entire game.
Turning in the game alternates between being unresponsive or too sensitive, and cars tend to “stick” to the invisible walls constraining the player to the road. This is especially detrimental near the end of a race – a finger left a fraction too long on the screen, or a tilt sustained for the same time, may result in the player’s car coming to a standstill, watching its rivals speed past in a cloud of dust.
As with most racers, Burning Tires is a shining example of free-for-all conflict. The fact that the computer controlled cars still manage to avoid the deadly roadsides at all costs, however, implies that some players are freer than others.
Having never played the original release, I was pleasantly surprised by the Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition (XBLA, 2009). It features an engaging storyline, backed up by challenging puzzles and lush visuals and sound.
Being a classic adventure game, story is an integral aspect, and the player more or less linearly progresses through each chapter of the narrative.
The first chapter of the game is a de facto tutorial; the plot is set in motion, and the different modes of play (exploring, puzzle solving and the insult sword-fighting mode) are demonstrated and put in practise.
The first challenge of the game, fulfilling three tasks – become a sword master, steal an idol from the governor’s mansion, and find the Lost Treasure – requires the player to master the skills taught in the performing of the tasks; players who have simply paid attention should complete the challenge easily.
After many years of disuse, the board game Trouble caught my eye as I was looking through an extensive set of dusty, and often still shrink-wrapped, boxes. While nostalgia still hangs, ever-present, about the game, replay suggests I would not feel as charitable toward the game if looking at it with fresh eyes. The game – first released in 1965 – is a rough variation on the cross-and-circle game Pachisi, and its Western counterpart, Parcheesi. Players take turns to roll a die – here encased in a depressible plastic bubble (which when released, agitates the die) – and move five pieces (per player) around the edge of the board, finishing in a line leading toward the centre. Frustratingly, a player must roll a 6 for each token they wish to move onto the board. Combined with the fact that any piece landed on by another player must be returned to the player’s home base, means those unlucky with rolling are left with no chance of regaining ground – reduced to watching the more fortunate speed around the board. This is a severe balance issue when it occurs; with the use of a die, this issue is a random happening, but has occurred each time I have played the game.
As a game covering a wide variety of sports, Wii Sports Resort (Wii, 2009) exemplifies several forms of player conflict. From the one-on-one, player against player settings of swordplay and table tennis modes, to the Air Sports and canoeing games, where several different external factors may affect a single player.
While the game does feature more context around the sports – in the form of a relatively detailed island setting – than its predecessor, and players are encouraged to learn the background of where the sports are played, ever-present timers tend to somewhat quash any deep explorative venture.
This does not take a great deal away from the game, adding tension to and benefiting most of the sports; however the Air Sports’ Island Flyover mode is left shallower for it.
Balance is heavily considered in most aspects of the game – multiple difficulty levels and handicaps available for a number of modes – and the player is rarely left frustrated.
I purchased Resident Evil 5 (Xbox 360, 2009) without having played any previous game in the series. While this status was remedied some time later, my dislike of the game still stands.
The series is well-regarded for creating a benchmark in the survival-horror genre; it was only upon the release of the highly acclaimed Resident Evil 4 in 2005 that elements of 3rd person shooter games worked their way into the formula.
The fifth numbered instalment in the saga builds on this genre shift; tension-filled, claustrophobic hallways and alleys are mostly dispensed with, in favour of all-out attacks on hordes of foes.
Throughout the game, the player is provided with a partner; while facing leagues of enemies, the partner is somewhat helpful – as long as they are defended from attack – but as the game shifts in each chapter to exploration and boss-battle segments, the partner becomes a hindrance.
One notable instance of this occurred early in the game, in a fight against a large creature. The goal was to incinerate the foe by leading it into a furnace: the partner character would then activate the flames. No control other than an immaculately timed button press (to “instruct” the partner to turn on the incinerator) was given to the player regarding the pivotal activation. On one occasion, the partner let the foe go free, incinerating the player character.
I have long counted Banjo-Kazooie as a favourite game of mine; upon experiencing the game once again through the XBLA release (2008), I looked at the game with a fresh pair of eyes. The game marries the 3D platforming conventions brought to the fore by 1996’s Super Mario 64, with an involving fairytale-esque story featuring interesting characters. Largely considered a classic platformer in the tradition of Rare’s other attempts at the genre (The Donkey Kong Country series, for example), the game was well-received, prompting a number of similar titles by Rare and other developers for the rest of the 32/64 bit era. Though the game features detailed, wide-open worlds containing a large number of non-linear tasks, the game’s storyline is ever-present – even requiring the player to remember small details for a quiz at the end – and guides the ursine hero, Banjo, to his goal.
NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams (Wii, 2008) as a game I was anticipating – though I had never played it, its predecessor, 1996’s NiGHTS into Dreams… interested me greatly. Though the game’s concept was intriguing the first time I played it, I was somewhat disappointed with the title upon replay. The game takes place in a dream-inspired world, with colourful, lush environments. While featuring an interesting concept and storyline, the pacing and elements of gameplay left much to be desired. In particular, the traditional platforming levels in which the player controlled either of the eponymous character’s human allies featured strict time limits – a heavily imbalanced system considering the clumsy controls and precise jumping required in these levels. Time limits permeated almost every facet of the game, and it was largely the controls provided that dictated the feasibility of finishing each level.
