Thomas Was Alone review

The duo then encounter other rectangles, each with their own strengths and weaknesses. Claire, for example, is a large blue square and the only one who can float on water. Because of this, she feels the need to help the rest of the gang. She feels like she's a superhero, and she may very well be ... at least in her own mind. But even with this offbeat delusion, Claire is definitely heroic, and she helps out every single time that an opportunity to do so is presented to her. Then there's John, the tall, lanky fellow who can jump incredibly high and isn't afraid to brag about it. But even when he's being a cocky rectangle, he's always willing to flip a hard-to-reach switch to help open a new path for his comrades. He's that guy — the confident egomaniac who still means well and is always there for his pals.

These are just a few of the characters and personalities that Thomas Was Alone follows, but there are many, many more, each with their own stories to tell, strengths to utilize, and weaknesses to make them stronger (because that's exactly what your weakness do). The story of Thomas quickly becomes the story of Chris, Claire, John, Grey, Paul, and the rest of the cast in this tale about fears, perseverance, and triumph. And to top it all off, the entire story — every single level — features remarkable and uplifting voiced narration that's a sheer joy to listen to.

But Thomas Was Alone isn't just a story; it's also a video game, and an excellent one at that. The puzzle platforming that builds the gameplay foundation for this story is slick, challenging, and rewarding. To call it enjoyable would be an understatement. The gameplay in Thomas Was Alone is triumphant. Every new challenge and its respective solution; every fiendish level layout and the characters forced to conquer it; every imposing hazard and the required teamwork to clear it — there's brilliant, shining triumph in everything that Thomas Was Alone has you set out to accomplish. And when you finally figure out that solution, when you realize how to solve a puzzle, and when you see exactly the type of challenge the game is throwing your way, you can't help but feel the utmost satisfaction, with yourself and with the game's characters.

The visual look of Thomas Was Alone is pleasingly minimalistic. Like an abstract painting, shapes are used to represent beings, obstacles, and problems. Throw in some beautiful bold backgrounds and foregrounds, and you've got a magnificent and elegant aesthetic masterpiece. The soundtrack in Thomas Was Alone is also a shining example of the care put into this game. From start to finish, you're treated to a moving harmony of sound. Composer David Housden may have created the most riveting video game soundtrack of the year.

To be fair, there are a few things in Thomas Was Alone that are gripe-worthy. For starters, the controls can be a bit finicky at times. Additionally, some folks may not be too happy about the lack of native controller support. A few minor hitches such as characters getting stuck on moving platforms and occasional sound glitches are also present. Honestly, though, it's easy to overlook these issues when you get that rewarding feeling of satisfaction whenever you clear a stage, and as you draw closer and closer to the game's end.

Thomas Was Alone is a story about relationships. It's a story about trusting others and helping others out when you can do something they can't. It's a story about judging others before you even know them, and then realizing you were wrong about them. It's a story about infatuation and affection. It's a story about having fears and conquering them. In a nutshell, Thomas Was Alone is a story about not being alone, and having the comfort of knowing that there are others in your life willing to help you out, willing to let you help them, and just being there because that's what matters.

For a bunch of indie game and burrito talk, follow @thesanchezdavid on Twitter.

Via: Thomas Was Alone review

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Death Rally (PC) review

Oddly enough, Death Rally has a story, although it’s not very compelling. The moment you start the game it immediately tells you to outrun a bunch of police cars. Unsurprisingly, you fail at the attempt and you are forced into looking for a certain individual for your freedom. And thus you are competing in death rallies, hence the name. It’s not a horrible premise and it actually does a good job weaving you into the game’s world, giving you a reason for why you’re actually competing in so called death-defying race matches. The story is fairly short but enough to keep you engaged. Not only that but it serves its purposes which I will get into later.

In addition to the story mode, there’s a freeplay mode where you can choose a map that has a designated racing mode. Races with six other combatants for three laps, battles against other cars, and one-on-one challenges are the most prominent. Despite the lack of modes, the number of maps in combination with these modes are enough to spark interesting play. Not only that but there’s always the dynamic of different cars that you have to race/battle against the keeps the boredom away. Simplicity is the name of the game, and Death Rally definitely keeps it that way. No complex modes and maps make it so the game feels almost like a mini-game at times. It’s great if you want to plop down and play for a short while and go on to with your schedule. 

The actual racing is somewhat awkward depending on your control method. You can use just your keyboard, keyboard in combination with the mouse, or use a controller. I highly recommend the last control type, if you have a controller on hand, since it will give you the most precision when driving your car. However, if you lose the other two, it might feel a bit weird due to the various steering and drifting physics. While you are racing against other cars, or one car depending on the mode, you also have the ability to use your special weapon or nitro. The former is something that you can attach to your car before the race starts. There are a variety of weapons to choose from such as a chain-gun, mines, shotguns, and more. If you can’t outspeed your opponents then the alternative is to outgun them in a blaze of glory. It’s quite funny since you can essentially mow down all your opponents rendering them incapable of finishing the race, effectively making you first. 

Disappointingly, actually using the weapons is a tad tedious since they will fire in the direction that your car is facing. This means that it’s ineffective to shoot at a car while you’re turning, unless the car is turning with you and at the optimum shooting position. This is where the simplicity of the game bites its own butt since the game could’ve greatly benefited from it. Each special weapon needs ammunition and while you do start out with full ammo at the beginning of the race you must replenish it by picking up ammo drop on the map if you empty out. If weapons aren’t part of the equation then you can use a nitro pack, which you have to pick up on the map, and boost your way to victory. The nitro forces the player to adapt since turning will be much more responsive. It’s cool and the benefit of speed sometimes doesn’t outweigh the uncontrollable steering in a very turn-heavy map. 

The more you race the better off you are in the game. As you race along the track you will sometimes find special drops that you can pick up. These drops act as pieces that eventually build up to a new weapon that can be unlocked or a new car. Essentially it acts like a leveling system in ways because the more you play, the more toys you’ll have to play with. It’s a cool idea if it wasn’t for the fact that it can get extremely repetitive and basically results to nothing more than grinding. Having to trod through the same maps or the same game type for dozens of times can get old real quickly. 

If you’re not up to single player then you can simply choose a map and open up a lobby for multiplayer. Sadly, there aren’t anyone playing. The numerous times I tried to join a game or set up a lobby for people to join, there were no games played. Beyond the fact multiplayer exists, it’s not an attractive feature that you’ll spend hours delving into. 

The visuals are extremely simple and even if you play on the lowest graphics it looks really nice. The colors and vibrant and has that cartoonish characteristic to it. The audio isn’t a standout. It’s a typical enthusiastic fanfare to make racing feel high-speed, cool, and entertaining. These two technical aspects are average at best and doesn’t amount to much in the end. 

Death Rally stands as an excellent entertaining distraction. Races are over in mere minutes, or even a single minute sometimes, allowing for short spurts of fun while you’re waiting for something. It also serves as something you can play for an extended amount of time due to the variety of stuff you can unlock and play around with. Sadly, the overall racing doesn’t amount to much since it doesn’t have any deep gameplay systems in place and feels like a mini-game. Even so, Death Rally is a perfectly average game that’s not a complete waste of time. 

Via: Death Rally (PC) review

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Symphony review

Following in the vein of games like Audiosurf, where levels are generated based on your music, Symphony takes your music and creates shooter levels that can range from slow to extremely frantic. The premise of Symphony is that a force known as “demons” have taken the world’s greatest composers and bound them to the “Symphony of Souls”. Doing so has bound the world’s music to them, and its up to you to liberate it from their evil clutches. You do so by piloting a ship through very Space Invader esque levels, except you are not just limited to the x-axis and can move anywhere on the screen – everything has a very retro yet neon look, almost like Geometry Wars.

Controls are slick and very fluid – and as you might imagine, Symphony runs well even on machines with lesser hardware. That being said our gaming laptop ran the game at a blazing 200 fps, which means that the development team put a lot of time into optimizing the game’s engine.

As fun as blasting through my music collection was, there were still some issues. I wish the enemy types varied a little more based on song and not just on difficulty. That being said, every song did make the game feel different because the patterns would play faster or slower based on the “intensity” of the song, which was denoted by the background turning blue, purple or red. There was only one problem with having a red background – most of the enemy projectiles in the game were also red, which made bullets really hard to see at key moments of intensity in the songs.

Especially on the game’s boss battles, in which you battle against the composers bound to demons (these looked like something out of the original Starfox). Bosses were varied in nature and ranged from enemies that spawned walls that you needed to fly around (difficult, especially if the boss spawns on a fast song) or more modular enemies that will chase your ship around the screen. However, the bosses only spawn randomly on the difficulty you are currently on, so you could play for an hour and not face a single boss. Great for people who just want to keep playing the game, not so much if you’re trying to clear the entire game for purposes of a review.

These moments could lead you to die repeatedly, especially on higher difficulties.  The game has very little consequence for death, though, other than to lose 2500 points and whatever powerups you had picked up – not especially a big deal for clearing songs on lower difficulties, but definitely makes it a little bit harder to upgrade your ship and earn the challenge medals later in the game. This is both a good and a bad thing, however, as it’s extremely hard to “fail” a song and makes unlocking ship upgrades a little too easy to abuse the lower difficulties.

Speaking of ship upgrades, this was one system I was a fan of throughout the game. There are various weapons that you can unlock from your basic blasters of varying beam pulses, to spread shots, shotgun blasts, charged attacks, and even some guns such as the subwoofer that activate according to the pulse of the music. The latter especially reminds you that you are playing a music game and not just your basic bullet hell shooter.

Symphony is a music based shooter that oozes with style. Despite some poor decisions on the development team in the boss battle system and general color choices, its one of those games you can always come back to. Don’t pass it up!

Dustin Steiner is GameZone's eSports Correspondent! Follow him on Twitter @VGHC_Deitis and check out Video Gaming Hard Corps, where he is a local tournament organizer for the S. FL. Fighting Game Community.

Via: Symphony review

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Sleeping Dogs review

The story sounds awfully similar to the True Crime saga.  You control Wei Shen, an undercover police officer who's shipped off to Hong Kong in the hopes of infiltrating a much-feared triad gang, who are in the middle of a war between brothers.  But, like Grand Theft Auto before it, the game gives you freedom to pretty much choose whatever missions you want to take on.  You can help out your newfound bosses and perform dastardly deeds; keep an eye on surveillance points in your apartment and bust criminals in the act; perform good deeds for citizens around the city and earn their respect; or even fool around and gain the attention of a few ladies, like a visiting American who is voiced by the lovely Emma Stone.  (And, really, who wouldn't want her attention?)

A good portion of Sleeping Dogs' gameplay clicks really well.  The free-running, where you take off after suspects and dive over counters while keeping them in your sights, is a great deal of fun, and shows Wei's mobility to boot.  The driving is excellent as well, giving you the opportunity to take part in spirited high-speed races through the city and even slam into opponents using ramming functionality.  (Try knocking a guy into an oncoming truck.  Great results follow.)  And the combat, which has quite a bit in common with Batman: Arkham City, is quite satisfying, as you'll beat up goons with punches and kicks before finishing them off by throwing them into a box of swordfish (ouch) or ramming them head first into an electrical conduit.  Eh, he asked for it anyway.

Where the game comes up short is gunplay.  Here, you've got some interesting tactics to choose from, including some inspired by the John Woo classic Hard Boiled, but, honestly, we'd rather run up and kick the guy around, just like a real bad-ass cop would.  We did most of this in Stranglehold already.

The game provides replayability galore with hundreds of missions, and also has hidden statues that, once turned into the local dojo, will help expand your attacking repertoire.  And once you learn a few nasty spin kicks, you'll know you have arrived as a martial arts master.  Take that, knife wielder!

Even though it's not quite perfect (a few fuzzy blemishes pop up every now and then), Sleeping Dogs is a splendid looking game.  United Front did a stellar job recreating Hong Kong, right down to the people-packed smaller markets and the chaotic city streets at night.  There are times the camera gets stuck behind a wall on occasion, but it's never to the point of pure frustration.  The character models are okay, though some are a little too stereotypical for their own good.  (Could this one girl be any whiter?  She's like Barry Manilow white.)  Overall, this is a good looking project, especially considering the resurrection state it was in.

Likewise, the audio really cooks too.  The various Hong Kong radio stations you can choose from provide a great deal of variety, including some J-pop and guitar rock, and the voice acting, featuring the likes of Will Yun Lee (as Wei) as well as Tom Wilkinson and, as previously mentioned, Emma Stone, delivers for a product of this level.  Don't expect Shakespeare and you'll be just fine.

Though Sleeping Dogs doesn't quite reach the plateau of Grand Theft Auto (some parts could use a bit more polish – like the shooting scenes), it's a pretty damn good runner-up.  There's a wealth of gameplay to play with here, including some combat that'll leave you smiling at all the chaos you create, and the presentation will really make you feel like you're standing smack dab in the middle of Hong Kong.  Kudos to Square Enix for giving this Sleeping Dog a second chance at life.

[Reviewed on Xbox 360]

Via: Sleeping Dogs review

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Darksiders II review

Darksiders II's story runs parallel to War's from the first game. War is awaiting his sentence, while Death is on a quest to prove his brother innocence through any means necessary. Coming into Darksiders II, I wasn't sure how Vigil would handle the character of Death. Would I like him? He is the bringer of death after all. I was pleasantly surprised that Death himself is actually quite likeable. While he's no softy, and he likes to get straight to business, he does offer a helping hand to anyone that needs it.

There are a lot of similarities between the two games, but Vigil did include some great additions that make it stand above its predecessor which I'll get to soon. The combat is largely the same, as you can hack and slash away with your Scythes as your primary weapon, and a myriad of secondary weapons you'll find along your journey such as slow but powerful hammers, or extremely fast fire imbued gauntlets. You even get access to your brother Strife's gun which you can use to pick off airborne or at a distance enemies with ease. A huge part of combat is dodging as some enemies truly pack a punch, especially the bosses, and luckily its as responsive as it was in the first game.

The mechanics of combat can certainly change depending on what skills Death learns as he levels up. Whether you want to summon minions to help you battle, or a deadly attack that sucks health out of your enemies, there is plenty of variety, though don't expect the depth of a skill tree in an MMO for instance. Death can also unleash his true form to do some massive damage, all while looking like the deathbringer he is.

Like in Zelda games, you'll spend a bulk of your time in various dungeons, which will require some puzzle solving skills to get through. The difficulty in puzzles has certainly been scaled down, as now they didn't seem to involve much except for shooting a bomb to make a switch explode, or something of that nature. You also have access to Dust which is your 'pet' crow that with a press of a button will fly in the direction you need to go in. Certainly a helpful feature.

You'll have access to a ton of sidequests that I highly advise doing thanks to the great rewards associated with them. However the quests themselves don't amount to much more than killing certain enemies and collecting certain items. Can anyone say fetch quests? Yep, that's about all they amount to, and while that's pretty standard in games like these, it would be nice to see a bit more variety.

The map is a lot larger this time around, but you'll have access to your trusty steed Despair, which will not only make traveling long distances much quicker, but you can also use his speed boost ability to do some extra damage to incoming enemies. Darksiders II however also allows fast travel to any previously visited location. The best thing about this is it even manages to save your location within a dungeon, allowing you to fast travel out to sell your goods and then resume exactly where you left off. The environments vary quite a bit as well, which provides a nice change of scenery with every new accessible location.

Quite possibly one of the biggest and meatiest additions to Darksiders II is its loot system. Very much like any other action RPG with a heavy emphasis on loot, you'll be killing monsters, bashing crates and opening treasure chests to reveal a bunch of loot that you can outfit Death in, and improve his skills. The now standard color classifications of loot are also present, so you'll know to switch out that green shoulder piece for that legendary yellow one. It's sweet to also watch Death progress through the adventure, looking more bad ass with every new item you acquire.

Knowing when to equip or store each new item is also made incredibly easy and accessible due to an onscreen indicator which displays whether what you're about to pick up is better or worse than what you're wearing. It's quite similar to how Borderlands indicates loot quality, and honestly I wish almost any loot oriented game started doing this. The amount of time saved by not having to go through menus is quite immense.

If I was to score the game based on its soundtrack however, it would undoubtedly get a perfect 10. The music, composed by Jesper Kyd, has absolutely got you covered for any occasion within the game. From the epic battle sequence between you and a fake War, the serene melodies of the Maker's Theme, to the dark and foreboding sounds of the Demon Realm, every single song truly fits every environment and moment.

Darksiders II doesn't manage to make it without a few hiccups however. My game did freeze a few times during gameplay. Thankfully due to its great Checkpoint system, I didn't have to redo much after I had to reboot. There are also a bunch of graphical glitches that pop up here and there. Death would sometimes get stuck inside the environment, then would float above ground, or enemies would disappear and reappear again. Now bear in mind these didn't happen frequently, but enough to warrant a mention.

Also as much as I liked the idea of an expanded map, there honestly isn't much else to do than ride through it on your horse. A great example of this is even right after you leave the initial area and access the map for the first time, you'll find a wide open field in front of you, with no enemies to fight. It takes a good few minutes until you get to another part of a forest until you finally start seeing enemies you can decimate.

Darksiders II is a great follow-up to the first game, and I dare say it succeeds it in almost every way. The action manages to be even more exciting thanks to the game's varied loot, and the story compels you to continue on your quest to redeem your brother from damnation. A few hiccups along the way are easy to overlook when the entire package is just so great.

[Reviewed on Xbox 360]

Via: Darksiders II review

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The Book of Unwritten Tales review

Publisher Nordic Games and German developer King Art (The Critter Chronicles) have released The Book of Unwritten Tales on Steam and GOG.com. The point-and-click ($19.99) was a runaway hit in Europe and especially Germany, making it the best-selling adventure game of 2009. It garnered rave reviews then, and today, it’s still one of the best modern adventure games you can find.

Forget everything you think you know about adventure games. If you’re not hot on them or haven’t played a single one in your life, The Book of Unwritten Tales will change that. Drawing its inspiration from classic fantasies like The Lord of the Rings — you play as a gnome who must deliver a special ring (The Ring, actually) to the human Arch-Mage for safekeeping — Unwritten Tales springboards into its own enchanting and memorable tale about Wilbur Weathervane, a gnome who dreams of becoming a real hero; Ivo, a limber, redheaded elf who travels with a small exotic bird; and the airship captain and seasoned treasure hunter Nate, who pilots The Mary and keeps a weird fuzzy creature called Critter for company.

The genuine humor and excellent voice-acting in Unwritten Tales is what sets it apart from other games. Actually listen to the dialogue as the actors perform it, and you’ll enjoy every minute of rich and playful back-and-forths sprinkled with pop culture references and meta-references to MMOs and the game’s famous peers, like The Secret of Monkey Island.

In traditional adventure game fashion, you’ll need to talk to characters to access new plot developments while you search for and combine seemingly random items. King Art has put love and care into every colorful backdrop, every whimsical personality — from the morose and bunny slippers-wearing Death to the fat and loud-mouthed town guard of Seastone, Mr. Shieldhand — and every description and interaction. You’ll meet two-headed ogres, orc bounty hunters, and even a hilarious talking warrior set of legendary origin.

Graphics-wise, Unwritten Tales still impresses, and largely because of its attention to color and detail. Minor technical problems do arise when switching from one character to another during play in select segments of the game: The characters will fumble over one another occasionally, especially during “The Sunken Temple” chapter, and exiting a scene or interrupting a movement too early can cause little glitches. You won’t think too much of them, though. They’re harmless bugs that won’t mar the experience.

Puzzles are occasionally a bit tricky, but they’re fair, and most importantly, they make sense. You won’t be putting any kegs in fireplaces here. The space bar also helps greatly, highlighting all characters and objects that can be interacted with on-screen. It’s a convenient, time-saving tool when you’re stuck or want to speed through a section, but unfortunately, the game doesn’t make an effort to inform the player it’s even an option.

Unwritten Tales is an immeasurably enjoyable game, but it does suffer in pacing. The quests for single areas are long, and they’re often extremely involved. The game could have benefited from one or two more unique locales or simply abridged tasks, but the ones it does have are varied and interesting.

A few oddball puzzles test reflexes and luck over problem-solving skills — like pressing two-key combinations on time as they scroll past to pull off a godly wrath-invoking rain dance — but they’re a fun break from the normal slew of look-and-find gameplay, even if they do seem terribly out of place.

So before you explore the new world of adventure games that Kickstarter has made possible, do yourself a favor: Start with The Book of Unwritten Tales. As the end of the game hints, another adventure with Wilbur and crew could await.

Follow @wita on Twitter for tales of superheroes, plumbers in overalls, and literary adventures.

Via: The Book of Unwritten Tales review

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The Book of Unwritten Tales review

Publisher Nordic Games and German developer King Art (The Critter Chronicles) have released The Book of Unwritten Tales on Steam and GOG.com. The point-and-click ($19.99) was a runaway hit in Europe and especially Germany, making it the best-selling adventure game of 2009. It garnered rave reviews then, and today, it’s still one of the best modern adventure games you can find.

Forget everything you think you know about adventure games. If you’re not hot on them or haven’t played a single one in your life, The Book of Unwritten Tales will change that. Drawing its inspiration from classic fantasies like The Lord of the Rings — you play as a gnome who must deliver a special ring (The Ring, actually) to the human Arch-Mage for safekeeping — Unwritten Tales springboards into its own enchanting and memorable tale about Wilbur Weathervane, a gnome who dreams of becoming a real hero; Ivo, a limber, redheaded elf who travels with a small exotic bird; and the airship captain and seasoned treasure hunter Nate, who pilots The Mary and keeps a weird fuzzy creature called Critter for company.

The genuine humor and excellent voice-acting in Unwritten Tales is what sets it apart from other games. Actually listen to the dialogue as the actors perform it, and you’ll enjoy every minute of rich and playful back-and-forths sprinkled with pop culture references and meta-references to MMOs and the game’s famous peers, like The Secret of Monkey Island.

In traditional adventure game fashion, you’ll need to talk to characters to access new plot developments while you search for and combine seemingly random items. King Art has put love and care into every colorful backdrop, every whimsical personality — from the morose and bunny slippers-wearing Death to the fat and loud-mouthed town guard of Seastone, Mr. Shieldhand — and every description and interaction. You’ll meet two-headed ogres, orc bounty hunters, and even a hilarious talking warrior set of legendary origin.

Graphics-wise, Unwritten Tales still impresses, and largely because of its attention to color and detail. Minor technical problems do arise when switching from one character to another during play in select segments of the game: The characters will fumble over one another occasionally, especially during “The Sunken Temple” chapter, and exiting a scene or interrupting a movement too early can cause little glitches. You won’t think too much of them, though. They’re harmless bugs that won’t mar the experience.

Puzzles are occasionally a bit tricky, but they’re fair, and most importantly, they make sense. You won’t be putting any kegs in fireplaces here. The space bar also helps greatly, highlighting all characters and objects that can be interacted with on-screen. It’s a convenient, time-saving tool when you’re stuck or want to speed through a section, but unfortunately, the game doesn’t make an effort to inform the player it’s even an option.

Unwritten Tales is an immeasurably enjoyable game, but it does suffer in pacing. The quests for single areas are long, and they’re often extremely involved. The game could have benefited from one or two more unique locales or simply abridged tasks, but the ones it does have are varied and interesting.

A few oddball puzzles test reflexes and luck over problem-solving skills — like pressing two-key combinations on time as they scroll past to pull off a godly wrath-invoking rain dance — but they’re a fun break from the normal slew of look-and-find gameplay, even if they do seem terribly out of place.

So before you explore the new world of adventure games that Kickstarter has made possible, do yourself a favor: Start with The Book of Unwritten Tales. As the end of the game hints, another adventure with Wilbur and crew could await.

Follow @wita on Twitter for tales of superheroes, plumbers in overalls, and literary adventures.

Via: The Book of Unwritten Tales review

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