Kry Reviews: Left 4 Dead 2

Left 4 Dead 2 debuted mid-November, some might say in the shadow of Modern Warfare 2, to fairly strong reviews and sales. As I said in my prior thoughts on the demo, I was left with a very positive impression. After ravenously playing through all facets of the game, I can confirm those initial vibes. Left 4 Dead 2 is one of those seemingly few sequels that truly shine as an improvement in every way over its predecessor.

What really stands out is how much the atmosphere has changed over the first game. Where L4D1 heavily utilized darkness, in the process masking bland cityscapes and wilderness, to set the mood, L4D2 uses it sparsely. Most playable levels now happen in daylight, with visibility rarely impeded even on the darker levels. Indeed, the game takes on more of an action dynamic now (instead of emulating the survival horror genre, which was a bit of a stretch anyway).

Now, with all this additional scenery, Valve has labored to make the settings more interesting. Besides the Southern flair adorning everything in the game, each campaign strives to be unique, even telling a little bit of story besides ‘escape the zombies’. Some examples include attempts at stopping the zombie virus, survivor holdouts, or the military being up to no good. Those plots are extraneous of course, not affecting the gameplay; one of the beauties of the L4D series being that it does not need a cinematic storyline or labyrinthine plot.

Along the aforementioned 'action' line, L4D2 is designed to be much more ‘open’ than the original. The premier strategy there was to go from corner to corner throughout each level; very boring. New special infected, most notably the goo-shooting spitter, have been introduced to render this playstyle much riskier. Also, many new panic events force the survivors to stay on the move rather than bunkering down to stop an onslaught. And lastly, a more subtle change is that melee knockback is now limited to further punish sloppy play. These changes make the game much more exciting, though it can be rough for veterans to adjust to. An especially notable example would be the bridge finale, which the survivors must cross under an unrelenting swarm; it is the hardest challenge offered yet from the series.

There are new weapons and items, but no increased inventory space; survivors are forced to be more selective with their options. Each of the main weapon classes (shotgun, rifle, sniper) have had some variants added to help people tailor the guns more to their preference, but ammo piles are more limited so conservation is a key should one want to keep the gun they're most comfortable with. Melee weapons are an effective addition, but replace your pistols and have a bit of a learning curve (especially when dealing with latency). Bile bombs, taking up the projectile spot, lure infected to the target/area thrown at and serve as an excellent utility to get out of a tough spot. There are also: defibrillators to revive dead survivors, adrenaline shots to give a speed/minor health boost, and fiery/explosive ammo packs, which sound cool but are impractical.

L4D2 has some new interesting game modes as well. Realism is an addition to Campaign offered for masochists who find expert too easy. Within Realism, no teammate glows are offered, infected have more health and dead survivors are only revived by defibs or beating a level. Too bad the mode is trivialized by the one-hit kill magnum pistol. Another addition is Scavenge mode, in which survivors and infected duke it out in an attempt to find more gas cans than the other team. This mode fills a niche for shorter time length games. Versus Mode from the first game is back and offers an improved scoring system with less emphasis on surviving the level and health kits used, and more on total distance traveled; also the scoring total per round has been approximately halved. The tighter score really keeps the pace up and the game competitive.

As with the demo, L4D2 suffered from an imperfect launch. The game was slightly delayed, though I had no expectations to be playing at midnight anyway. For the first couple of weeks, achievement tracking was wonky and repeatedly dropped, frustrating players. The game still has some unresolved problems, most notable of which of course is server selection. Never does it seem to be I can find a game where all 4 (or gods help me, 8) players can find an acceptable ping without a couple tries, but hey, it's in a much more playable state than this time last year. My field of view complaints from the demo also still stand, the guns are much too zoomed in to the point of ridiculousness. And then there are the little things that add up: invisible objects, getting stuck, either as a survivor in some corners, or as a charger infected on traffic cones or mailboxes. Perhaps most infuriating is during expert campaign when special zombies cheat and slash you whilst stunned.

But still, what an improvement over the first game, which I can't really imagine booting up again, unless it's playing the levels ported over to L4D2. I'm really interested to see where Valve takes L4D2 with DLC content (and if they charge for it). They recently announced the first update, The Passing, which includes, among other things, a meeting with the beloved cast of the first game. As a final note, if there were to be yearly installments of Left 4 Dead that offer as much as this sequel has, well I’d be happy buying them all!

Kry Reviews: Modern Warfare 2

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 debuted last week in a huge splash that Activision is calling the biggest launch of anything ever. Unfortunately, this debut is a bittersweet one for me and my brethren who play on PC. Not a month ago, I was sold as a day one purchase of this game. However, many unexpected, negative things have cropped up about the game, and it is no longer even on my purchase list. Were it not for a roommate buying it for his Xbox and letting me get a quick playthrough of the campaign in, I'd not even have this review.

So what are these blights on the PC version? Firstly, MW2 is priced at $60, $10 above the standard for a new game on PC, which is unheard of; I do not want to support a price hike. Secondly, Infinity Ward, the developer of MW2, has stripped all control away from the end-user with MW2. All support for dedicated servers has been replaced with a matchmaking service, which means there will likely be no user custom content. And worse, within the service, multiplayer has been capped at 9v9. One of my favorite things about other war shooters, like Battlefield 2, are massive battles like 32v32. Taking that away from me was what really did MW2 in for me.

Once again, I played Modern Warfare 2 on the Xbox. As I mentioned in my prior review of Call of Duty 4, console FPS isn't really my bag, so my thoughts on the game only touch base with the campaign. And with regards to that, Infinity Ward's got a pretty sweet formula down (for those unfamiliar, it involves lots of explosions and dramatic narratives). It kept me pretty enthralled throughout the entire game, though that's really not long, maybe 5-6 hours tops. Unfortunately, the story in MW2 is extremely convoluted and left a good experience somewhat marred. The gameplay hasn't changed much from the original besides the addition of a few new interesting weapons and technologies, but when you're making a sequel to a near-universally acclaimed game, there isn't much you need to innovate on. One other small bright note though; the grenade spam so prevalent in the first game seems much toned down here.

Moral of the story; if you really need some Modern Warfare 2 in your life, get it on the consoles. Activision is attempting to set a very dangerous precedent with this release, and it is my fear that it will be successful. If not with MW2, than perhaps with publishing Starcraft 2? I know I have not the willpower to resist that purchase. Oh well, only time will tell.

Kry Previews: Left 4 Dead 2

Left 4 Dead 2 has been a game mired in controversy since its public debut at E3 in June. The long anticipated Left 4 Dead 2 Demo hit this week for preorders, and I eagerly soaked up everything in it. Though I never really hopped on the boycott bandwagon, I understood and agreed with a lot of the complaints. My research and the demo experience, though not perfect, have left me with a mostly positive impression for its November release.

The exception to this, and the most negative thing about the demo, was the absolutely awful handling of the release by Valve. The demo was delayed five or six times over an approximately one day stretch, with no official word on the matter whatsoever except an expected release time on a Steam community group. Honestly, it was kind of like chasing a carrot on a stick, with some delays not being posted until 5 minutes before the release date. This kind of PR is absolutely unacceptable, no matter what the product or company.

With that rant out of the way, onto the demo! The first two maps of The Parish, which is the fifth and final campaign, are showcased. This is our first time playing L4D in daylight. Besides that, many new gameplay elements are showcased, including: the new special infected, a dynamic panic event, as well as new guns, bombs, and melee weapons. These all add a refreshing amount of variety to a game that had threatened to become stagnant. But, what really psyches me up about the game is trying out the new gore system firsthand; it’s a marked improvement over Left 4 Dead and other zombie games (except, perhaps, Dead Space) in its... attention to detail.

The in-game issues with the L4D2 demo are small and strange. Playing the demo, I get the sneaking suspicion that it’s an Xbox game on PC. Not only do I keep hearing sounds that I know are from Microsoft, but also the field of view perspective is messed up; it’s zoomed in too far. The weapons take up a lot more of the on-screen real estate, which is a negative change. Lastly, L4D2 does not improve upon the loathed server selection system of L4D, and already, poor latency servers have ended games early for me.

Still, the demo makes a strong case for the game. It will very likely be what L4D1 should have been when it came out. And, if you pre-order the 4-pack of L4D2, you can score the game for $34 each, a very solid acquisition. The demo is released to the regular public on Steam next week, and on Xbox the following week. You'll have my full impressions on the game in a future entry.

Kry Retro-Reviews: Call of Duty 4

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare is an acclaimed first person shooter title, released in late 2007 and developed by Infinity Ward; it proved an immensely popular title. As such, a sequel, Modern Warfare 2 is due out this November. Interest in playing the sequel is what drove me to give COD4 a quick run through. This is an abbreviated review. Since playing FPS games on consoles is an extreme source of frustration for me, I only ran through the single player of COD4; my review omits the multiplayer, which is a most significant feature.

COD4 is set in faux modern times, pitting the player as SAS and USMC versus terrorists of the standard Arab and Russian fare. Despite this common setting, COD 4 still offers a fresh, compelling narrative, and is able to keep interest throughout the entire campaign. It also disguises its linearity well. That, along with a very strong visual and aural presentation, makes for a solid experience. The only real immersion breaking experiences are with your teammates’ AI. It sometimes leaves you wondering as to why they will prioritize less dangerous targets or conveniently sit around doing nothing. This is more nitpicking though, and usually the AI is nothing short of stellar.

Gameplay is similar to your standard shooter these days, and it should be, as COD4 set a benchmark that many other titles have followed. Indeed, I do believe COD4 is one of the titles responsible for starting the current fad of automatically recovering health by not getting hit. But I digress. The campaign puts you in a variety of roles, and you can usually pick up the weapons you want to fit your playstyle as you progress through missions, so the game continually feels fresh until the end. You usually are given a surplus of ammo as well as secondary items, like grenades, to complete your mission. Speaking of grenades, my one biggest gripe about the campaign has to be just how many times I got killed by them. It’s pretty frustrating how easy it is to get instagibbed by them, especially because it doesn’t feel parallel at all to how many bullets it takes to kill me. It’s probably more me approaching the game the wrong way, but either way, it’s a cause for rage.

COD4 certainly feels like it’s worth the money, and with Modern Warfare 2 releasing imminently, it should be available for pretty cheap, if you’re into yesterday’s big thing. I will be picking MW2 up on launch, assuming it’s not just hype. Hopefully, it will sate my FPS needs for quite awhile. If not, well, Left 4 Dead 2 is coming out about the same time… so there is a contingency plan in place.

Kry Reviews: Blizzcon '09

So Blizzcon came and went this weekend to much fanfare. And what a show it was! I certainly wish I could have been in attendance. I’m a huge fan of all products by Blizzard, so naturally this entry shall focus on me gushing over all the news from Blizzcon.

Let’s start out with World of Warcraft: Cataclysm, which was definitely the headliner of Blizzcon ‘09. Despite the huge information leak the week before, I think everyone was still blown away by the gravity of this expansion. The main selling point of Cataclysm is that it nukes and completely redoes levels 1-60. This was easily the most tired part of the game, with the content from newer expansions really underlining how antiquated Classic WoW’s zones are. Along with this come new races (Goblins and Worgen), additional class/race combinations, and a push of the level cap to 85, among other things. After getting bored of Wrath quite quickly into the expansion, I was almost sure that I had put the WoWcrack behind me for good. Now after seeing the Cataclysm, my will has wavered quite a bit.

There wasn’t much left to reveal in Starcraft 2, with it being the Blizzard game most imminent to release. But, we did get to see an excellent preview of Battle.net 2.0, which looks quite satisfactory. It’s about everything I expected. There are all across the board improvements to battle.net, including achievements, better friends integration, and easier searching for games (especially custom games). I’m not too keen on Blizz keeping in a form of macromanagement drudgery with the release of SC2, but this concern is a minor one compared to how far everything else is coming with this game.

Last, and certainly least, is Diablo 3. Though this game is definitely the most anticipated release for me and many of my friends, it is still very much in development, likely not seeing the light of day until late 2011 at the earliest. As such, news is scarce. Regardless, the game looks beautiful, and the monk class debuted at Blizzcon is an interesting and welcome addition to the cast.

Three games and probably three purchases at midnight release day for me. There is no developer as influential in my video gaming career as Blizzard, and I eagerly await each morsel of information on these upcoming titles until I can play them myself.

Kry Previews: Heroes of Newerth

Heroes of Newerth is a standalone game based on the very popular Warcraft 3 mod, Defense of the Ancients. In development by S2 Games, it is currently in closed beta, and as of now, strangely unannounced. I’m astonished that I’ve heard nothing about this game until I got in the beta last week!

HoN is a faithful adaptation of DotA, and at first glance, seems identical. I do not doubt for all of HoN’s lifetime that people will at first glance describe it as ‘dota with better graphics’. But, HoN innovates beyond that. The UI is improved in nearly every way, in-game voice has been added, and there are new maps and heroes.

The gameplay of HoN is like that of DotA, with the above additions. For those unfamiliar with DotA, it is a cooperative, team-based strategy game where you control a hero with unique abilities in an attempt to outmatch the enemy team and destroy their base. In addition there is a wide array of items to buff up your hero. With so much depth, and a reasonable balance, it’s understandable to see why DotA (and now HoN) is so popular.

There are a few things currently lacking in the HoN beta that are problems inherited from DotA. It has possibly the steepest learning curve of any game I’ve played in recent times. There are many minor nuances that must be learned to play effectively, in addition to becoming familiar with the many heroes and items. There is little to no help, and a new player is effectively on his own to learn the game. HoN direly needs a tutorial system before release.

The other current problem in the beta is the stat tracking system, and its unfriendliness to new players. As of right now, it is the main way you’re judged when getting into public games, and, since a new player can easily rack up a terrible record, they’ll get booted before the game begins. Though this is partially a byproduct of the terrible community DotA has, it is also a problem with the system in its current iteration. Planned quickmatching and advanced rating systems will hopefully alleviate this problem. I like having a stats system, but there’s definitely tuning needing in how it affects the new players and games.

HoN has the potential to be the biggest surprise in gaming this summer. It came out of nowhere and swept me off my feet. No pricing plan or release date have been revealed as of yet, but it is vital for S2 that this game be cheap and/or released before League of Legends (which recently announced a free to play model) in the fall.

Kry Previews: Battlefield Heroes

Battlefield: Heroes is the latest iteration of the acclaimed Battlefield series by EA DICE, and the first to utilize the ‘Play 4 Free’ mechanic. The game has just hit open beta as of this writing, and with that, the NDA is lifted and I can give you guys my thoughts. All in all, BF: Heroes is definitely worth a looksie. To me, it is the best free game I’ve played since the original Gunbound.

BFH uses simple, but effective graphics, notably the use of cel-shading, for its World War 2 aesthetic. The thought process is that an extremely wide range of computers should be able to play, and I have no problem with that. Nor do the graphics give me a feel that the game looks dated; they sacrifice realism for style. There is a large amount of purchasable clothing, most of which are done with micropayments, which offers a good degree of customization for players’ avatars, and the main draw of income for the developers. My only complaint is that with these simple, unvarying graphics, they should be able to pump out new maps faster; right now the game is limited to only four.

BFH offers solid gameplay for a free title, featuring three distinct classes, with unique, varying abilities and playstyles. Each game is fun and frantic, assuming the sides are even, which is generally the case. Characters level up through playing to gain access to these powers. Micropayments do not affect the gameplay in any direct way, a smart design decision. Players have a lot of health in BFH; you will rarely die before being able to react.

The game is not without flaws. The menu, where you purchase items, change game settings, and customize your arsenal is inaccessible while playing, creating an unnecessary disconnect. Planes are poorly implemented, a recurring error of the BF series. You must use a joystick to effectively fly one. But, thankfully, in BFH planes are noticeably less lethal than in prior iterations of the series, so it’s not as big a problem. And lastly, it irks me that the capturable flags on maps serve no gameplay purpose except a personal score boost. I’d rather there be a little strategy involved there.

All in all, BFH is fun. For a free game, it has a good amount of depth. But, it does not have enough to compare with full-game offerings over the long term like Team Fortress 2 or the Call of Duty franchise. What Battlefield Heroes is though, is a nice distraction for a couple weeks. There is no reason not to check it out. Perhaps you can even get it running at school or work.

Kry Reviews: Myriad Games

In this entry, I'm going to discuss a bunch of games I either didn't finish or just don't have that much to say about.

Team Fortress 2 is a cartoony, critically acclaimed, first person shooter published by Valve. It's a game I've owned since it's 2007 release, but have only just gotten into. I've come to really love this game over the last couple months; it's probably what I'll be spending the majority of summer playing.

What TF2 brings to the table is a great amount of variety. Not only are there nine distinct, well-balanced classes, but for the classes that have received updates there are a few differing playstyles within as well. There are also plenty of different game variants (although nearly everything has a desert aesthetic). What I especially love about TF2 though are the different characters. Their personalities, backgrounds, and design are all unique, and what more, I would argue that, for a multiplayer-only game, Valve has given each of these characters a better persona than the vast majority of games out there.

I don't really have much to complain about, the game is near perfect. There are two issues, one of which was just cleared up with a very recent patch. The game used to tie weapon unlocks to an achievement system, which resulted in myself and many others having to cheat our way through the achievements to unlock the new weapons. Now unlocks are random, and though I'd prefer all my new weapons immediately, this is a good compromise. The system's buggy and unfinished, but it should be really cool when Valve finishes it up. The other problem I have in TF2 is random critical damage, which lowers the skill-based element. This element of randomness should be removed. But, these problems are minute on the grand scale. Valve has shown their dedication in the games upkeep spanning nearly two years since it's original release, there is absolutely no reason not to own this game if you are into first person shooters. You also get Portal and Half Life 2 with the game, both of which are also exceptional productions by Valve.

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Dead Rising came out in 2006, to a mostly positive reaction. What I liked: story, sandbox style gameplay and the in-game photography element (lol Wii version goes here). What made me quit? A very crappy save system. I played for about an hour, beat my first miniboss, and then died in a zombie clusterfuck in the next area. I then realized that the game had not saved any progress I had made in that past hour. What a stupid design decision. After realizing that I would have to start over from nearly the beginning, I pretty much rage quit. I might look at Dead Rising 2 to see if they've rectified this, but otherwise, this game is a wash for me.

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Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time is an older game, released in 2003. I played this game then, and I played through it earlier this year when I purchased it on Steam. Really quite a fun game. It was very innovative in its time, with tricky puzzles involving some serious parkour, and especially with the time-control mechanic. This combined with what is one of the better stories in the games industry makes for a great legacy of a game (so good in fact that they're making a movie out of it... we'll see how that goes). The only downside this game had was that the combat was dull, frustrating, and repetitive. And... said combat makes up a good part of the game. Overall though, a good game, and a decent quality port.

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Prince of Persia: Warrior Within is the sequel to Sands of Time, and I believe came with an overhaul to the aforementioned combat system. Unfortunately, the port of it on Steam has bogged me down with framerate issues, so I haven't touched it in a while.

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Prince of Persia came out last year, and was the newest iteration of the Prince of Persia series. This game has some really pretty graphics; I loved the cel-shaded style. On the other hand, the story and dialogue are absolutely banal. I disliked the slow pace of combat and seeming disappearance of the prince's athletic fighting style in previous games. Prince of Persia trades linearity for an open-ended world; this I also dislike. I jumped, hopped, and flipped my way over to one side of the world only to find the door at the end required me to gather more light seeds. I felt pretty lost, so I started hopping, jumping, and skipping my way back only to have the game crash out of Steam and never load properly again. I uninstalled it and since haven't gone back to it. I really felt like I wasted my money here.

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And finally, Lost Planet. I have almost nothing positive to say about this game. I bought the Steam port for $5 during the discount weekend because it looked cool (I'm a huge sucker for the snow aesthetic). Bought it, bashed my head on the wall trying to get through the ass-backwards tutorial that only taught me how to play the game on an xbox controller. Hey you buffoons, I'm on a pc! Whatever... I figured it out; decided to keep playing on. The gameplay is standard fare third person action shooting, with a contrived storyline featuring a bunch of predictable stereotypes. Through the second level and into the third I got sound issues which eventually made the game unplayable; it was quickly uninstalled. The Steam port is an absolute piece of garbage; the game itself might be worth it on xbox if you find it in the bargain bin. Also, all these poor-quality ports have seriously turned me off buying anything third-party on the Steam platform.

Kry Reviews: Star Wars: The Force Unleashed

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed is the latest game in the Star Wars universe, released September, 2008. It was a commercial success, but had mixed reviews by critics. I had the opportunity to play through it, and blasted through in a single weekend. I enjoyed it, but at the same time, I understand a lot of the complaints. The summation of this review: fun, but frustrating.

The best thing Unleashed has going for it is that it is everything Star Wars. It’s a very immersive game, with a very compelling storyline. The acting and graphics are both stellar. If you’re a Star Wars fan, this game will have you riveted from beginning to end.

Unfortunately, you can’t go very far without noticing the lack of polish on the game. Whether it’s the levels that seem just too linear given your force powers, triggered falling deaths on what looks to be safe ground, or the physics engine betraying you, you’ll be raging constantly throughout the levels. With regards to the physics in particular, you’ll discover just how hard those droids work at waxing the Death Star floors when you are hit by blaster fire and slide 30 feet. Also for some reason the menus in this game have a loading screen. That’s pretty damn annoying considering how often you interact with them.

The actual gameplay itself is fun and frantic, while you’re in control. Combat is very engaging, and right from the beginning you feel powerful. You have a rich upgrade system that you are constantly using throughout the game. You have a wide variety of moves at your disposal as you progress. And, almost everywhere, the environment plays a huge aspect in strategy. Chucking jawas into toxic sludge or freezing stormtroopers in carbonite are just two different ways to score quick (and funny!) kills on baddies.

Unfortunately, that whole “in control” thing is fleeting during actual battles, especially towards the end of the game. Many attacks come with a knockdown effect, and when that happens, the enemies show no mercy and kick the crap out of you to the best of their ability. Instead of your multi-button combos, your most effective move for much of the game is the force lightning ability, which is just a button hold. I constantly raged at the targeting system as well, when I turned to aim at an enemy sometimes I’d just do a force lightning right next to him and wind up wasting time and energy doing no damage.

So once again, in summation, fun but frustrating. All the good things in this game come saddled with just as many bad aspects. However, if you love Star Wars, you’ll find the good outweighs the bad… probably.

Kry Reviews: Resident Evil 5

Resident Evil 5 was released March 13 this year to critical acclaim, much hype, and some controversy about racism. I myself had a very fervent desire to play RE5 after hungrily playing through RE4 and Dead Space earlier in the year. And it was definitely a blast to play through. The game has frustrations and shortcomings, but overall it meets its hype.

First off, what simply must be praised in RE5 is the cinematic element of the game. The graphics are gorgeous, some of the best I’ve ever seen in a game, and they’re so good they make a seamless transition from cut scene to gameplay. RE5 certainly sets a benchmark in the design of a cinematic video game.

It’s unfortunate though that along the way RE5 lost its trademark scariness. There’s no horror in this game, only action and adrenaline; it’s disappointing. And, with all the polish on the game, it’s astonishing how bad the menu system is. It’s frustrating and confusing; an example being that you cannot start a damn game with offline co-op. Instead, one player must join in once the other one starts a solo game. Pretty stupid, eh? Also, you cannot start new games without all your loot and money from previous games, another annoyance.

RE5’s gameplay is almost cut and dry copypasta from RE4, with a few minor innovations/changes. There’s the co-op, which is pretty fun, but I think the game could have been fine with Chris alone as a protagonist. Also, I enjoyed the bevy of new melee attack options with RE5.

The almost universally hated aspect of gameplay in RE5 is the inventory system. Being only able to carry 9 items is pretty harsh compared to RE4’s forgiving inventory system. It becomes a serious hassle midgame, once you have body armor and 3 guns + ammo weighing you down. Trying to pick up healing items with a full inventory (especially trying to combine them) becomes an unnecessary juggling game. It’s poorly thought out, and inventory management grinds the gameplay down to a halt.

I have some more dislikes to quickly note upon. Many of the boss fights in RE5 are gimmick based. The weapon upgrading system is not as deep as RE4; it’s advisable to pretty much just stick with your original weapons and upgrade them to the max. I dislike the tiny laser aiming reticule, it makes shooting anything long distance very difficult. Lastly, I am also greatly displeased that online multiplayer comes at an additional cost, which should be a core component.

All in all, RE5 is really more like RE4.5. It takes the great game of RE4 and puts a fresh coat of paint on it. There’s really not many new innovations in it (I actually thought Dead Space was a more compelling title). But, what can I say, I love RE’s style of gameplay, and if it doesn’t change, heck I’m fine with that.

Kry Reviews: Dead Space

Dead Space, developed by EA, was released October 2008. It’s a horror-survival, third person shooter game set aboard a spaceship filled with creepy aliens. It was a pretty hyped release, and generally had favorable reviews from the critics. Besides my aforementioned hesitation to play scary games, I had assumed Dead Space to simply be a clone of RE4. I was pleasantly proved wrong, and I was unpleasantly horrified playing through the game.

So, as I said before, Dead Space is set… in space. And, honestly, I really have to laud EA for the artistic design of the game. Not only are the aliens quite grotesque and scary, but also the spaceship interior remains fresh and interesting throughout the game. In addition, there are a couple key design elements I want to note. I loved the design of being in the vacuum of space, and also, the game’s HUD is designed excellently, notably by not existing at all! All of your relevant information is actually displayed on your character, which definitely increased the immersion factor for me. The music is also quite rich and definitely kept me on edge.

Some gripes before touching on gameplay... First off, the story’s quite weak. There is something about your dude looking for his girlfriend aboard the ship, which is hard to figure out immediately when he doesn’t speak. Also, I feel that the game relies too much on Bioshock’s paradigm for storytelling as an example of progressing the plot, not only does the general atmosphere always remind me of it slightly, but Dead Space also utilizes the same ideas of audio tapes/text logs strewn about and multiple parties chatting on the radio with you as a means to perpetuate the storyline. Another seriously annoying gripe I have is with the physics engine, which functions satisfactorily most of the time, except when it comes to enemy corpses. It is a serious immersion breaking factor when I walk over a corpse and boot it into the air. It was the cause of cheap scares several times throughout the game as I saw a corpse pop up and flip behind me as I walked over it and freaked out.

The gameplay is definitely enjoyable through the entire game. It differentiates itself from the Resident Evil series nicely in the unique way you kill enemies, via dismemberment. There are some very, very intense fights throughout the game. Combat in zero gravity and the vacuum were certainly cool instances as well. There is a decent selection of weaponry, and inventory management doesn’t feel like a chore. I felt that the means of upgrading your weapons and armor were unique, and had a decent amount of depth, although I pretty much wound up soaking everything into additional health.

Some serious frustrations included the piss-poor melee combat abilities of Isaac. Attempting to use any sort of melee in this game is just a way to get yourself killed. It is a jarring disconnect from the fluidity of Resident Evil’s solid combination of gunfire and physical attacks. Also there are two very annoying minigames midway through Dead Space that were a cause for rage. You’re basically stuck controlling a cannon and shooting asteroids/debris careening towards the ship. Sounds cool in theory, but turns out they’re hard as hell to hit; using the slow-moving reticule to track them was a serious pain in the ass.

Is Dead Space worth your money? I’d say it’s a solid buy now, with the price cuts. If you’re looking for a good horror game, or are a Resident Evil 4/5 fan, it’s definitely worth your time. Looking towards the horizon, it seems EA is interested in continuing the use of this IP, with a Wii on-rails shooter announced; it is entitled Dead Space: Extraction, likely due for release at the end of ‘09.

Kry Retro-Reviews: Resident Evil 4

Resident Evil 4 was ported to the Wii in June, 2007, which is the version I played through. It took me a while to try it out because of my distaste for the scariness of the original games. I finally got around to it, and was rewarded with a truly great gaming experience.

RE4 sets a great atmosphere; from the beginning, I was engrossed into the storyline and mystery of the Plagas virus. Despite this, towards the end the characters start to get a little silly, and the dialogue does occasionally get rather... unfortunate at times. The game was still pretty scary, but it is mainly an adrenaline based fear, though there were some genuinely scary parts. The graphics are certainly antiquated for an '07 release on Wii, but it doesn't detract much. It is still totally awesome when you blow a zombie's head off, especially after you start witnessing the insectoid appendages that sometimes sprout out after you do later in the game.

Speaking of decapitation, let's talk about the gameplay, which has much of that. The game has you killing zombies left and right from the get go, combat is completely engaging and fun (especially working in kicks and suplexes on stunned enemies), and the difficulty curve ramps up at a pretty fair rate. RE4 also made an excellent use out of the wiimote as a targeting reticule, the controls never felt clunky. I did enjoy the ability to customize your arsenal through the merchants, but disliked the tedium of inventory management that accompanied it. It's also a break in the action when you're pretty much pausing the game while zombies are in your face to peruse your inventory.

Review is a little short this time around mainly because there’s so little for me to criticize. My only complaints have been minor ones. The standard game is long, and it’s engrossing the entire way through. When that is finished, there are additional minigames that also hold one’s attention for a decently long time as well. RE4 is simply a great game, and I’m very much looking forward to playing RE5 next month to compare/contrast the two (and in the meantime, I’ve picked up Dead Space to keep me sated).

Kry Reviews: Left 4 Dead

Left 4 Dead was released 11/18/08 to critical acclaim. It continues Valve’s benchmark for top notch quality FPS games, but it does have a few problems that need addressing.

Let me start with addressing all that is good with Left 4 Dead, which is a lot. I absolutely loved the art style within Left 4 Dead; the grainy horror movie look really works well for the game. I’ve heard some complaints that the story in L4D’s too simple. I disagree, the simple story is sufficient for the atmosphere they are trying to set.

The co-op play is a blast, especially with 3 buddies (although the friendly AI isn’t bad). It’s great fun mowing down hordes of zombies, and your group really has to keep their wits about them. Your group gets separated and it isn’t long before you get gibbed. Also, the expert difficulty is seriously hard, and a tough goal to work towards for more dedicated zombie hunters.

Versus Mode is also great fun, and probably is the reason most people continue playing L4D once they beat the campaigns. Playing as a zombie is neat, however if the survivors are organized playing infected really requires supreme coordination. It has a few problems though. Only 2 of 4 maps are available for it, so the locales get stale very quickly. Also, Versus Mode also had a serious luck factor with the timing on tank spawning, which I believe was normalized with the recent patch. Although I saw nothing in the notes about having your tank randomly die (It’s happened to me a lot). Very frustrating, but I haven’t been online to test it for an even more annoying reason.

The server selecting system is Left 4 Dead’s biggest flaw, and a serious turn off. When you start a game you have the option of selecting a third-party dedicated server or hosting it yourself. I don’t want to run it off my machine so I choose a dedicated server to host my games. Night after night I’ll get stuck with laggy, high-ping servers (once even in Germany, serious WTF there), bugged servers, or I’ll just get dropped by them midgame. This makes me irate and has on more than one night ended my gaming early. Valve needs to implement a way to select servers or get better hosts because these server problems are killing the game for me. I doubt I will play L4D much more until I see some news about this.

Left 4 Dead is a good game overall. The first few nights playing it for me were just awesome. The server problems are very noticeable, almost immediately depending on your luck. Bottom line about L4D is this: If you have the patience to keep remaking games when you land on bad servers, you’ll have fun if/when you get into a good game.

Kry Reviews: WoW: Wrath of the Lich King

The Wrath of the Lich King expansion is World of Warcraft’s second expansion, released 11/13/08, nearly four years after the original release of WoW. I’ve played WoW pretty extensively throughout it’s lifespan, and especially the last month; enough hours that I am certainly equipped to write a real review of the expansion.

The first thing that really jumped out at WotLK’s release is, once more, Blizzard’s stunning eye for detail and polish that’s seen as you adventure through the frozen continent of Northrend. It is equatable to a work of art, whether it be the graphical design of the zones or the monsters inhabiting them, an actual, culminating storyline, or the musical score. The one blight on the music design, however, is the vrykul theme that plays in almost every zone and creates a disharmony with the rest of the score in that area.

3.0 saw the most brilliant addition to World of Warcraft, the achievement system. In a game where you choose to set your own goals and the challenges are what you make them to be, this system truly shines. There are myriad achievements for every kind of gamer, and to some players, they are pretty much like crack.

What was probably the most anticipated addition to WoW in Wrath was the new Death Knight class. This is the class I wanted to make when I first started playing WoW, so personally I was thrilled to play one. And the death knight experience is truly groundbreaking, starting with the epic starting zone, which incorporates an ingenious new mechanic , phasing, that allows for each individual player to see their actions truly make an impact on the world (and this is all over Northrend, as well). The class itself has truly been a blast to play, although they are quite overpowered and are seeing many balance fixes in the 3.0.8 patch. I feel that after this patch, they should really fit the “epic but equal” moniker that Blizzard gave them.

Class balance, raiding, and PvP are where the expansion is marred. Burst damage is at the highest point it’s ever been in WoW’s history, which it not necessarily a bad thing, however, it creates a skewed environment especially in arenas where classes with extreme survivability are notably successful. You will find very few top teams that do not use a DK, rogue, mage, or paladin (all classes with immunity shields or ways to mitigate large amounts of damage frequently).

Another reason burst is so very high at the moment is due to the ease of the introductory raids in this expansion. Though optional, difficult challenges do exist (made possible through the achievement system) for dedicated guilds to show off, the fact remains that it takes little organization to run the current raid dungeons, as a result, a large amount of people competing in arena and/or battlegrounds are bedecked in the best damage gear currently in the game, whereas there is a paucity of resilience this early in the expansion to counter the burst. Blizzard has stated Ulduar (the next raid dungeon, due in 3.1) will be a more difficult challenge, but still designed around the mantra of optional challenges for greater rewards. This along with more prevalent resilience and balance changes down the pipeline should bring everything closer to perfection.

The expansion also saw the release of a new battleground, Strand of the Ancients, and world pvp locale, Lake Wintergrasp. Strand is a map with horde and alliance alternating sieging and defending a keep, with a heavy focus on vehicular combat. I like this idea, and, it’s implemented very well, except for the glaring imbalance of having alliance always starting on offense. Lake Wintergrasp is pretty much the same thing as Strand, but with a lot more people. Unfortunately, Blizzard severly underesimated how many people, and as a result, it is in it’s current iteration one of the biggest design failures in WoW’s history. If you are on a high population server (like me), expect to never truly be able to pvp here unless you play on offhours. The lag from people duking it out here is so bad that it hampers the rest of the server, and at peak hours, often runs the risk of a server crash.

All in all, Wrath’s a good expansion, and I am really looking forward to see how the rest of it plays out. There are problems with it, as aforementioned, but as a whole, it has really revitalized my interest in WoW.