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.