Review: Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit

Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit is a rehash of the games that brought the series to the front of the racing game genre.  I’m talking about Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit, the originals.  Electronic Arts (EA) must have put out three or four different titles with minuscule variations in their titles.  Due to their popularity, Electronic Arts decided to produce yet another Hot Pursuit (haven’t you seen the commercials?) which, frankly, I was excited to get my hands on.

What do you Expect?

I downloaded Need for Speed Hot Pursuit from the App Store on Christmas Day during Electronic Arts’ $0.99 sale, so my expectations weren’t as high as they would’ve been had it been a $2.99 app, its regular price.  The app itself took about 10 minutes to download and install on my 3rd generation iPod Touch, obviously not a dinky app like Doodle Jump (I love that game by the way).

This is what I Got…

A full-blown version of the original with upgraded cars, re-designed interface, motion and touch controls, and graphics that exceeded that of the original Xbox games.  There are about 23 different cars to choose from, 15 available for each career (racer and cop) ranging from the Mazda RX-8 to a Pagani Zonda Cinque on the Racer side and the Nissan 370Z Coupe to a Lamborghini Revention on the Cop side (obviously more are available for a small fee).  There’s a mini-map in the top right with Nitrous and health bars around it.  On the left is the timer, bounty (rewards) earned in the race so far, as well as your goal completion level.  You steer the car by tilting your device and activate power-ups, Nitrous, and the brake/hand-brake by touching the screen.  The game boasts 3D graphics that would, I’m sure, look a whole lot better on a retina display-enabled device.

The Career

There are two playable careers in the game, cops or racers.  Each career consists of 4 levels each with 6 different events.  At the beginning of each level is a small display that alludes to increasing difficulty.  Each career has 4 different event types that range from straight-up racing to taking out as many racers/cops as possible.  By completing each race and performing different moves, you gain bounty which is used to level the driver up (15 in all), unlocking more cars.  Before you can move on to another level, with 6 more events, you have to complete each unlocked level up to a 1 star rating.

Multiplayer

It’s there and it’s fun.  By syncing up your device with Blue tooth, you can race head-to-head with a pal.  You can choose terrain, time of day, and who will be who.  The objective is to either knock your opponent’s car to immobility or prevent your opponent from utterly mangling your ride.  Either way, you are sure to have a good time.

The Verdict

Playing this game brings back good memories of time spent playing the originals.  Electronic Arts has made another carbon-copy that improves on the old just enough to make it worth the $2.99, and definitely the $0.99 I spent, it costs to download.  I’ve probably spent 6-8 hours playing the Cop campaign and I still haven’t hit level 15 yet, not to mention I haven’t started the Racer career either.  Multiplayer is good for a little while, but the lack of different game types limits its entertainment capacity to 20 minutes.  Overall, Need for Speed Hot Pursuit is a great game with a low price tag.  That’s how we like ‘em, is it not?

5/5

Heck, I enjoyed my time with this little App.

This review is based on the App Store App and was run on a third-generation iPod Touch.

Halo: Reach Review

Image via Wikipedia

I’ve played Halo: Reach for over three weeks now and it has begun to lose its “new car smell.”  The problem doesn’t lie in the game itself, no, the game is great and a fitting, if a bit confusing, end to Bungie‘s reign.  The features, well, featured in the Halo: Reach Beta my have taken away some of its steam, but the real downfall lies in the sheer quantity of new features that are all situated to provide something of a requiem to the Halo legacy.  It is upon this single complaint that I base my rating of Halo: Reach.

Gameplay

Halo: Reach is packed with awesome features and mechanics that would fill up a whole post alone, so I won’t go into much detail.  The first game-changer is the class system.  With this system you are able to choose a “power”, if you will, that will allow you to turn invisible, fly, spring, etc. for a short time before recharging.  The premise is great, and the execution is almost perfect, however I can’t but notice that certain abilities just aren’t as good as others.  Hologram vs. armor-lock, who is going to win?  Also improved are the control schemes, weapons, and vehicles allowing for a more fun and streamlined experience.

Customization

The customization aspect in Halo: Reach is executed in much the same way as other games, having you play a truck load of matches to unlock the next piece of armor.  Each game you play, be it Campaign, Firefight, or standard matchmaking, rewards you with credits (Cr) based on how well you did during the match.  The credits you accumulate determine your rank in addition to being the currency with which you purchase new armor upgrades.  The armor itself is pretty cool, but there’s nothing ground-breaking in this department.  The best part is the armor effects which release grunt head-shot confetti, flying hearts, or lightning bolts upon the player’s death.  But there is a catch, the lightning effect costs 2,000,000 credits (I’ve accumulated 28,000 in my three weeks with the game).  As you can see, you pretty much have to live on the game to don the best armor Halo: Reach has to offer.  A pain in the butt, but not a game-killer.

Content

This is the part of the review when I tell you why Halo: Reach disappointed me.  The maps in Reach pay much-deserved homage to Halo’s legacy, but it’s a bit overdone.  It would be fine if a third of the multiplayer maps were re-creations of past levels, but they aren’t.  Playing matchmaking feels like walking through the battles found in Halo, Halo 2, and Halo 3 simply because, what seems like, half of the maps played are remakes.  When you’ve played as much Halo as I have, you get bored of playing the same old maps over and over.  The only thing that can redeem Reach, in my mind, is a well-done DLC map pack that provides a new, enjoyable, experience.

My Rating: 4/5

Further Reading:

• Halo: Reach Achievements
• Halo: Reach Pre-Order Bonus

Mafia 2 Demo Review

Mafia 2 is the sequel to Mafia, also developed by 2K Czech.  The game will be available August 24, 2010 for the Playstation 3, Xbox 360, and PC.

The Mafia 2 site says the game brings “a mature and exciting experience that will immerse players like never before.”   From what I have experienced from the game demo, I can hardly disagree.  Inside the demo, text reads that the level found in the trial game was created exclusively for the demo and won’t appear in the finished title.  While I can’t speak to the validity of this statement, I can tell you that the level provided is both entertaining and immersing as the official site claims the game to be.

Upon starting the demo, I was immediately stunned by the graphics displayed on my TV screen.  The sheer amount of detail rendered was astounding.  Not only were the character models almost life-like, but the backgrounds and scenery were also amazing.  The colors that appear in the game are much brighter and more vibrant than that of other games of the genre, namely GTA 4 and Saint’s Row 2.  Somehow, the brighter colors make the game more appealing to me, making me want to discover everything the game has to offer.

I was very pleased with some of the game play mechanics introduced in the game, some of which I have never seen before in a sandbox title.  The first thing that caught my eye was the number of items I was able to interact with in some way via the X button.  Things like the telephone, fridge, sink, window, and even toilet were available for interaction.  Many of the actions incorporated with the items didn’t effect anything, for instance turning on the shower didn’t make Vito take a shower, but water still came out of the faucet.  Other objects were much more functional such as the phone for calling contacts, collected throughout the game, and the garage where you can access and store a certain amount of vehicles.  Doors can be opened and closed, which makes indoor spaces seem larger and more functional.  This ability doesn’t apply to all buildings, so, much like GTA 4, most structures will be inaccessible.

Another mechanic that is, as far as I know, unique to Mafia 2, is police awareness.  While the cops won’t come after you for running into them or another vehicle, although I think they should and can’t wait until a game is released that they do, they will come after you for excessively speeding.  Once they are on your tail, you can pull over and the police will, very realistically, stop behind you, get out, and offer you a ticket.  At that point you have the option to run or pay the fine.  You can guess what happens from there depending on your choice, but I can’t tell you how excited I am to have a game that is pushing the bounds of what we have considered “realistic” in video games.

Update:  The police do come after you if you run into their vehicles or hit a civilian’s car.  However, they must be in direct line of sight of the incident to respond.

Mafia 2 still provides many options for the casual gamer who wants to roam around the virtual city based in the American 40s and 50s.  From authentic cars and clothes options to color and performance customization, the options are nearly endless.  Also included are stores scattered throughout the game that provide basic services such as bars, coffee shops, diners, gun stores, and mechanics.

The demo gets a 5/5 for being awesome and free.  While the demo doesn’t necessarily reflect what the finished title will be like, I am confident that Mafia 2 will turn out to be a spectacular game that will provide hours upon hours of game play.

If you haven’t picked up this demo yet, you can find it on the Xbox Live marketplace, and probably PSN too.  The demo is available to Silver members, so there is no reason to miss out on this morsel of gaming excellence.

Final Fantasy XIII Review

Let’s start off with the plot, the defining feature for every title in the Final Fantasy series, this game included.  In the beginning you are on a train.  This train is full of white-robed people, all of which are shackled.  You learn that the city-state Cocoon is in the middle of a civil war while also in conflict with the foreign power of Pulse.  Cocoon, run by the Sanctum who get orders from Fal’Cie, a being of great power, is portrayed as the more civilized society with Pulse being a bunch of savages and exiles.  Long-story short, The main characters are turned into Pulse L’Cie, enemies of Cocoon, and must save the very people trying to kill them.  The story starts off slow and takes awhile to draw you in to the point where you actually care about the woes and grievances of the characters, although I hear that the action begins to pick up after about 25 hours of game play.  The story also lacks a main character which, while not always a bad thing, may put some traditional RPG-lovers off.
The graphics of Final Fantasy XIII are amazing.  I looked forward to cut scenes where I could admire the detail put into the characters and environment, the visuals during game play aren’t half bad either.  Landscapes are filled with various creatures and vegetation leaving you in awe of the virtual game world.
The biggest standout, game play wise, was the combat system.  This interesting system combines turn-based fighting with real-time button smashing.  You have a gauge of action points that fills up overtime.  Once you have enough action points, you can use an ability/technique.  These abilities range in cost and effect requiring you to think fast in order to dispatch enemies.  Characters also have access to paradigms, or class roles, which can be accessed and customized through the party menu.  Also accessible through the party menu is the Crystarium which allows you to upgrade your paradigms and gain access to new abilities during combat.
Final Fantasy XIII is a good buy, if you have time to spend and a love for traditional RPGs.  If you don’t have a sizable chunk of time to invest in the game then don’t get it.  I spent 8 hours playing FFXIII and got to the second disk.  According to G4, the game doesn’t get good until you have clocked in around 25 hours of game play (that’s a whole day!).  Still, the story is worth while in the later stages in the game which keeps Final Fantasy XIII from ultimately falling into ruin, that and the outstanding visuals.

3/5

Other Ratings
G4 – 4/5

View this game’s achievements.

Mass Effect 2 Review

Plot
Commander Shepard, along with his ship the Normandy, gets blown away by an unknown vessel.  Cerberus, a pro-human extremist group with near limitless resources, fixes you up and employs you to investigate the disappearances of several human colonies.  Along the way, you build an elite team of various skills, personalities, and races all in an effort to improve your chances in the final mission. It took me over 15 hours to complete the storyline, a good amount of time considering I can beat most games in under 12.

Gameplay
Mass Effect 2 comes with many upgrades from the first, with the combat system upgraded the most.  Weapons and powers can now be quickly and easily accessed through pop-up “wheels” by pressing LB or RB respectively, on the Xbox 360.  This “wheel” also allows you to aim your biotic/tech powers at enemies, around objects, or even at allies.  The only downside that I saw to the new feature is that there was no way to turn off one tap power use.  Overall, the upgrades help keep you in the action while allowing you to access powerful attacks.

Graphics
The game has been enhanced visually since the first Mass Effect, but it is still no Final Fantasy XIII, a title from a series that gets much of its reknown from stunning cinematics and landscapes.  There are some small issues when the game loads, but most of them are fixed within a few seconds.

Sound
Nothing that’ll stay with you very long, heck I can’t even remember the theme music, if there was any, but I will say I loved to click the left and right thumbstick during missions.

Bugs
Other than the graphic problems at startup, the only bug was the ability to walk through objects that should be solid.  This happened after a brief chat with Miranda Lawson as my character casually strode through the coffee table in front of the couch.

Bottom Line
A good game that brings the story around to what may be the final chapter of the story.  It boasts several interesting features such as the import of previous game data to impact the game’s plot and the culmination of all your character’s choices and relationships in one massive, life or death, mission that can have mass effects, pun intended, on the storyline of the next chapter.

4/5

You can view this game’s achievements here.