Author - Ripper71

X3: Albion Prelude Review (PC/Steam)

2013/07/03

News, Reviews, Windows PC News, Windows PC Review

There was something I didn’t realize about Captain Kirk until recently. As captain of the fictional Starship Entertprise, he had all the responsibility and basically none of the tactile fun. Oh sure he had tactile fun in the bedroom and he was always quick to grab a phaser and head off on an away mission – but, when it came to the Enterprise, he sat in a chair and gave orders. He didn’t get to fire the torpedoes, he didn’t get to take the evasive maneuvers, it was his job to sit there and tell others what to do. As a television director I can relate to this, though I did rotate into other positions so I did get the shot, press the buttons, slide the sliders. Gaming-wise, though, I think X3: Albion Prelude might have been the first to give me the video game connections to the legendary captain.

Official Description:

War! The X universe is undergoing a period of massive change. What started as a conflict of interest between the Earth and the races of the X Universe has now escalated into a full scale war. Play a part in a war scenario bigger than anything the X Universe has ever seen before!

Corporations Compete for Control of the Future. With the war as a backdrop, corporations are vying for power and are driving the X Universe in a new direction. A technological breakthrough will soon allow massive accelerators, forming highways in space and allowing the economy to expand on an unprecedented scale. Highways, a key feature of X Rebirth, are not yet ready, but you can see them being built and participate in the power struggles around the construction of much larger self sustaining economies.

Official Features:

A new plot throws you into the power struggle between corporations at a time of war.
More than 30 new ships and stations
New Stock Exchange feature allows advanced investment strategies
Improved graphics quality setting for high end machines
Improved UI introducing charts to visualize economic developments
Support for head tracking

Hands On:

Space is huge, big, ginormous, and other such words. Being so vast, there is a whole lot of stuff you can do in it. The developers of the “X” series of games always seemed to get that point and, game after game, they try to improve on it by showing how vast it is and how much here is to do in it. It isn’t just flying around and fighting enemies, it is maintaining empires and border relations, it is building and destroying economies, it is as much about who you shake hands with as who you shoot under the table (Han shot first). X3: Albion Prelude is amazing ambitious in scope trying to be a space battle game while also being a strategy game, sim game, and just about any other real time game you can imagine all in one. To further amazement is how successful it is at doing that.

When I first started playing I didn’t realize what I was in for. I was trying to figure out the controls when I saw a ship that appeared red in my sights. Time for my first kill I thought as I opened fire. An alien face appears in my view screen and says that they were here to talk peace, why was I shooting at him? “You were red in my sights” I said to the screen and swung my ship about to continue firing. “I’m making a run for it” the alien says, I assumed at the time to me and off he goes in a much faster ship than mine. I try to give pursuit only to find a whole fleet of ships intercepting me. Really big ships. My turn to run I think right as I explode. I then get an announcement that three alien species have now declared war on us and we are probably doomed. Time to start over and rethink the game I am playing.

Fast forward into gameplay, I’m a nugget out on patrol, having figured out most of the detailed though not very intuitive controls which require me to use the mouse, keyboard and flightstick all at once and I can’t seem to get past a mission. I fly to the sector coordinates I am assigned for a space station defense but no matter what dog fighting tactic I try, and I know a lot, none of them seem to work. Going into menu upon menu I am able to make it so that after I hop through the jump gate into the sector my auto defenses can be set to attack the nearest enemy. So I pop through the jump and sit back in my chair. Like Kirk. I have told my ship to be in defensive maneuvering and to concentrate on the nearest enemies. In other words I have told my crew what to do and it is time for me to sit back and watch. The ship doesn’t engage the target in front of it, my first move most times and instead goes into immediate evasive. It can tell which ship has already engaged me upon jumping into the sector and doesn’t add to my fight but swings around to take the one on my six. I lean on the arm of my chair, fighting to not grab the stick and disengage the auto defense. I’m learning how this enemy fights, how it’s ships maneuver and how many tend to actively engage a single target in the battle. I will be a better captain for it, and I will be able to use the stick and get my hands-on kills but for now I must sit in the chair and watch.

The battle won I head back towards base, my ship on autopilot steering clear of asteroids and space ports, I am monitoring signals from different worlds. One wishes to hire a ship fit for a Queen, which my little fighter is not, I keep it in mind though, considering what upgrades to my freighter back in dock might need to be good enough for royalty. I could use the cash but upgrades can be so pricey just to oxygenate the storage hold yet alone convert it into nice accommodations. All the time I am thinking in real world days and weeks, maybe months, before I might get to own my own space station and rule the stock market.

That is just a small taste of this game, a beginning taste. It is so deep and diverse I am still in shock of how much there is to it. With each version of the X series games they have added on new possibilities, new additions to the economy, new ways to make the world as real as possible. It suits just about any taste of play and if you have a diverse taste it may suit you more than most games you have ever played.

It has its rough points: The controls are hard to get used to although the game is compatible with the Xbox 360 controller and it has crossed my mind to hook one of them up too to try to make it easier. If you take a day or two off from playing in the first couple weeks of playing you will need a refresher, you will wish you had a manual. I still feel fairly unsure on certain aspects of the game controls, with so much to do you would expect a certain degree of this but there must have been a way to streamline the controls a bit better. Also you have to plan your quit times ahead a bit or be prepared to leave your game on when you walk away, saves happen at certain space ports so if you are in a far section of space and it is time to head out for dinner you may find yourself trying to choose between floating in space or making excuses to your dinner mates on why you couldn’t leave right away.

Last Call (For Now):

I’m not done with this game yet – not by a long shot. Who knows, maybe there will be another update on it in the future or continuing their course of always looking forward the team may come out with an expansion or the next X. Now is the time to buy it on Steam though because for $40 you can own the entire X catalog, an incalculable number of hours of play. The only thing that kept me from giving this game the Seal of Excellence were the controls. X3: Albion Prelude is an terrific game that reaches for the stars and makes it.

[easyreview title=”X3: Albion Prelude Review Score” cat1title=”Overall Score (out of 5)” cat1detail=”” cat1rating=”4″ ]

Included in the Steam X: Superbox:

X:Beyond the Frontier 2.2
X:tension 2.2
X2: The Threat 2.5 incl. UPLINK
X3: Reunion 2.5 incl. “Bala Gi`s Research Missions”
X3: Terran Conflict 3.0 incl. “Balance of Power”
Bonus content with installers for Egosoft and fan made add-ons. To access the bonus material, select Library –> Tools –> X-Superbox Bonus Material from your Steam client.
Encyclopedia about the X universe (PDF)
X3 Gold Soundtrack (will be installed together with X3: Terran Conflict)

Dark Matter Beta Preview (PC)

2013/07/02

Ripper71

News, Previews, Windows PC News, Windows PC Preview

I love beta testing. If someone paid me to do it, it would probably be my perfect job. I dream of being the guy in “Grandma’s Boy” who finds all the bugs on levels 5 through 10, then plays a blistering competitive game for lunch. So far, it has not been in the cards for me. However, when I can get into a game’s beta test and start not only helping to note bugs and problem areas but, also, helping give an indie game a fighting chance, I dive at the chance. That is definitely the case with Dark Matter, a title that is currently looking for crowd funding to reach a refined state for public consumption. Here are the details of what they say needs fixing and my notes on what I think needs to get fixed to make a currently “okay” game a into a good one.

Official List of Current Issues with Beta

Current Issues – Kickstarter campaign funding will allow InterWave to correct/polish these known issues with the Preview Beta build:

· Biggest Issue: The game needs final polish.

· In addition, Dark Matter can become too difficult which can lead to frustration.

· To improve this, InterWave will use the funding from Kickstarter to improve the following key areas. This will take two months of additional development/refinement and then they will be able to launch Dark Matter:

o Improving weapons balancing

o Increasing aiming refinement

o Improving uneven level pacing

o Levels after the 14th (after killing the alien queen) are not ready yet

o Completion debugging process.

o Refinement of Enemy AI

· Better communication/information providing to players.

Hands On:

Dark Matter is a side scrolling shooter with puzzle solving elements set in a space ship under attack by alien invaders – a good old fashion “bug hunt”. Your primary weapon is a pistol, which recharges to reload and has limitless ammo. Additional weapons can be found along with add-ons, but the game requires crafting of ammo and upgrades. These crafting supplies are scavenged and dropped by enemies when killed. As you work along the dark interiors of the space ship, you might find a blown fuse you have to replace in order to open a door. Or, you may have to figure out how to cross a room full of alien bear traps – figuring these out keeps the game from being just all “run and gun” and let’s players use their brains as well as their bullets. The game is only savable at save/respawn station, as is crafting at crafting stations. The game is fun and playable now in beta form but really could do with some polish.

The fix list above is pretty accurate as to the issues encountered that need attention for a polished version of the game to reach players hands. I purposely tested the game before consulting the list to find out how much my experience matched what they said needed work. I only had a couple of collision errors and was able to “unstick” myself from the walls when it happened with just a bit of jumping around. The pistol packs just about as much punch as the shotgun without the need to craft or manage ammo. So, you can fire along your merry way, shooting at the edge of the screen where, if you listen, you can hear when you hit an enemy and keep them off screen and unable to strike. This is vital because, once they are on the screen, you may be a crack shot or even use a laser sight – you will still miss like a Stormtrooper. The laser sight would be improved with an actual dot at target but a shot at an alien bug doesn’t guarantee hitting it anyways as hitboxes needs fleshing out.

Level pacing seemed fine – areas without as many enemies build suspense, loaded levels build adrenaline. Puzzles were fairly easy to solve with the biggest challenge usually being the obstacles of enemies and winding corridors rather than thought process. Enemy AI seemed alright, but maybe a slight bit dumbed down. This extra dumbing down did help with the aiming issues, keeping the game from getting too frustrating. Overall, aiming and hitboxes are the biggest re-occurring issues. Solving those two issues will increase the fun and decrease the frustration extremely – probably more than any other issues currently in the game.

Also, the game needs a finish – it doesn’t have to have closure. Heck, it could even say stay tuned for Dark Matter 2: Darker Matter – it needs something. Also, the game experience could do with a bit more variety in the aliens you will fight.

First Round:

That is basically where the game is: Someone looking to play a final version of it will need to wait for it to, hopefully, complete its Kickstarter campaign. This is definitely not one of the projects that is trying to just get funding to cover already incurred costs – it needs some work and right where the company claims it does. It is a fun game that could frustrating without some polishing, so let’s hope it gets it so everyone can get a chance to play it!

Zynga Names Don Mattrick Chief Executive Officer

2013/07/01

Ripper71

Industry News, News, Tech News, Windows PC News

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. – July 1, 2013 – Zynga Inc. a leading provider of social game services, today announced that the Company has appointed Don Mattrick as Chief Executive Officer and a member of the Board of Directors, effective July 8, 2013. Mattrick has been at the forefront of the industry and brings more than 30 years of executive experience developing, building and managing profitable entertainment businesses. Mark Pincus, Zynga’s founding chief executive officer, remains Chairman of the Board of Directors and Chief Product Officer of the Company.

“Don is unique in the game business,” said Mark Pincus, Founder, Chairman and Chief Product Officer. “He can execute in multiple domains – hardware, software and network, and he’s been the person responsible for game franchises like ‘Need for Speed,’ ‘FIFA’ and ‘The Sims.’ He’s one of the top executives in the overall entertainment business and he’s a great coach who has inspired people to do their best work and build strong, productive teams. He deeply understands the value of a network and the importance of creating lifelong consumer relationships. He turned Xbox into the world’s largest console-gaming network, growing its installed base from 10 to 80 million and transformed that business from deep losses to substantial profits. And he has grown the Xbox Live player network from 6 to 50 million active members in 41 countries. Going forward, I’ll continue in my role as Chairman and Chief Product Officer. I’m excited to partner with Don and the rest of our team to return Zynga to its leadership role in inventing and growing Play as a core human experience.”

“In its short history, Zynga has redefined entertainment and brought social gaming to the mainstream. More than 1 billion people across web and mobile have installed Zynga games, and franchises like FarmVille and Words With Friends have become a part of people’s daily lives,” said Mattrick. “I joined Zynga because I believe that Mark’s pioneering vision and mission to connect the world through games is just getting started. Zynga is a great business that has yet to realize its full potential. I’m proud to partner with Mark to deliver high-quality, fun, social games wherever people want to play.”

Mattrick, 49, spent six years at Microsoft – the last three as president of the Interactive Entertainment Business. In that role, he was responsible for the team that grew Microsoft’s Xbox 360 global installed base by 700 percent to more than 75 million consoles. During his six-year tenure at Microsoft, Mattrick also oversaw businesses and services focused on consumer products that included the groundbreaking Kinect entertainment products and PC and mobile interactive entertainment.

Mattrick served as the president of Worldwide Studios at Electronic Arts. During his 15-year career at Electronic Arts, Mattrick helped develop and scale the company’s leading global game franchises and brands including “Need for Speed,” “FIFA” and “The Sims.” At age 17, Mattrick founded his first company, Distinctive Software, which was acquired by Electronic Arts in 1991.

“Mark took the lead in working with the entire board to recruit Don to Zynga,” said John Doerr, Member of the Zynga Board of Directors and General Partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. “All of us at Zynga – and no one more than Mark – are thrilled Don is joining our mission to connect the world through games. This is a win for the people who play our games, the talented employees who make them and the investors who believe in our long-term value. This also is a win for Mark, who can devote his full attention to conceiving and building the best social games in the world.”

Mattrick will report directly to the Board and was unanimously appointed CEO. Mattrick will join Pincus in a newly formed Executive Committee to manage the operations and affairs of the Company between Board meetings. Don has established himself during a 30-year career as a world-class leader of game, platform and team development.

Neverwinter Review (PC)

2013/06/27

Ripper71

News, Reviews, Windows PC News, Windows PC Review

Zohar Scourmont had a very long day. He had worked the murder of a Fernor commoner and arrested the kidnapper of the High Judge and helped saved her. He was weary to the bone and heading across a field on his way home. The sun was setting and the field of tall grain lit gold with the last casts of the day’s sunlight. Zohar stopped and turned to look across them, not just to take in their majesty but to take in the new sight. A pirate’s ship, sails full, was plotting a course in the air over the grain right toward him, its skeleton crew lining the rails on the deck. It would seem his dog would have to wait a bit longer for his evening meal as would he.

That describes a single day of role playing on a persistent Neverwinter Nights server my wife and I played for three years. Those were some of the best gaming years of my life, a great server that punished leveling unless it was done by points given for roleplay by GMs. A server where the strength of your character mattered far more than your stats. I basically worked two jobs, my second being my second life as a character in this land where anything could happen. Then, Neverwinter Nights 2 came out – a clunky experience that promised so much but delivered so little that the game we loved was lost and players scattered to the wind – many so disheartened they turned to WoW and non-role playing servers.

When I heard about Neverwinter, I kept my ears opened and waited. I had seen the best and worst of the series which made me hopeful and somehow dubious at the same time. Perfect World was going to be at the helm of this endeavor, a company that had long since developed a F2P model that every successful F2P game either joined up with or emulated. Developers like Cryptic Studios made the games but PW made them profitable. So when I got a chance I jumped in on the beta for Neverwinter I did and I have been playing ever since.

Description:

Start an epic new adventure in the Forgotten Realms with Neverwinter, the free-to-play action MMORPG that combines fast-paced combat with over 25 years of Dungeons & Dragons lore. After a series of cataclysms nearly destroyed it, the city of Neverwinter is under siege from all sides. To keep the city and its people safe, heroes must fight through sprawling dungeons and open-world brawls with the most vicious of Faerûn’s foes. In Neverwinter, the adventure never ends. With the Foundry toolset, players may design and manage new quests and campaigns incorporated directly into the game world.

Hands On:

I had unrealistically high hopes for a Neverwinter Nights type game when I first started but, thankfully, it didn’t take me long to realize they were unrealistic. For F2P games to be profitable they have to follow a certain model: Low number of servers, fairly on-rails quest lines, and items that are either needed or wanted to be purchased with real life money. That is how they pay for operations, upkeep, and updated material to keep the game fresh. The question winds up being whether or not the game is developed well enough inside those parameters to remain interesting and enjoyable. The Perfect World model definitely allows for it so it comes down to whether the subject matter is of interest to the playing community and with Neverwinter it is pretty much a no brainer. There is a reason the lore is so old, people love D&D. If they are given even a halfway decent experience at it they will play and between Cryptic Studios and PW they have definitely pulled it off here.

You progress through the game doing quests. At first, you have little or no choice on which ones you take but as you level up and explore the world more you find you have more options on what you do. There are quests that you can do later or skip all together, there are dungeons you can run as groups, and there are arenas where you can PVP. Those interested in a good storyline can find it while those interested in hack and slash fun can find that too. Also, the company store has something that just about everyone will want to own. There are three types of currency: Zen, which is real life bought Perfect World currency. Diamonds, a premium currency bought with Zen. It also has standard in-game currency, money which would be the standard gold, silver and copper varities. The best and quickest owned things are always bought with Zen, high value bought with diamonds, and money is the only free currency in the game and buys you what you would expect in a free to play, pay to win environment.

You can have plenty of fun roleplaying and not spending real money in the game, but finding other RP’ers might be a bit hard and you will struggle harder. The environment is very much like WoW with micro transactions instead of subscriptions. For the casual player, this works out very nicely as you can buy things when you want and not have to worry about a monthly bill to use it. For the player with lots of money, this means quicker advancement and more prestigious items.

Last Call:

Neverwinter is a great alternative to WoW or a great choice for those who want their D&D lore but don’t mind a lack or RP. I will continue playing it though maybe a little wistfully for the days of Neverwinter Nights. It is a solid game with great play and a bright future.

[easyreview title=”Neverwinter Review Score” cat1title=”Overall Score (out of 5)” cat1detail=”” cat1rating=”4″ ]
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Pinball Rocks HD Review (iOS)

2013/06/21

Ripper71

Mobile News, Mobile Review, News, Reviews

We can’t afford a pinball machine, but our house is still known for playing a mean pinball. Most people who travel to Vegas are more interested in the shiny roulette ball than a table with flippers. We’ve made the trip with just the Pinball Hall Of Fame Museum on the agenda and accomplished little else on the visit. So whenever a video version comes along we have to give it a try, there really is no replacement for a real table but, with the proper physics, a game can be the next best thing. At the very least, it’s far more affordable and usually more portable. The folks who made Pinball Rocks HD seemed to be on the same digital page as us.

Description:

Pinball Rocks HD is a five table compilation featuring a free game loaded with new songs from today’s top rock artists and four custom branded unlocks for Alice in Chains, Bullet For My Valentine, AC/DC, and Slayer. Each game provides cutting edge 3D graphics, missions, unique bonus games and ear-splitting riffs.

Hands On:

So for your money, in this case for free, you get one table with the option to unlock more tables or more music. The table is designed to look like a club with a rock band on the stage and a hot bartender waiting to serve up drinks. The table has ramps about where you would want them going to an upper level with plenty of bumpers and lights all over the place. The soundtrack includes such bands as Chevelle and Filter and rocks pretty well without a headset but definitely hits the next level if you are wearing them. A sexy female voice does a commentary of sorts letting you know when you have completed a mission or with a slightly less sexy and more annoying voice when you have lost your ball. The plunger is a “rock on” hand which is one design I would have never have thought of for a plunger. Every time you lose your ball the music changes tracks which definitely keeps replay going and you can buy a whole bunch of different songs for your pinball jukebox or an even better idea unlock the other four tables for $2.99 each.

What is really, really key is ball physics. If the ball doesn’t feel right on the flippers, if the flippers feel soft, or movement doesn’t look like it has an actual table slant that increases on ramps – all are bad signs. If any of that is even a bit jacked up, it can throw the whole game off and make it completely unplayable to a real pinball fan. Luckily, the physics in this game are very solid. The bumpers bounce seemed a touch off from time to time but no more than a real used pinball machine can be, so in a sense it could be said to be spot on. I can honestly recommend this game’s physics (which means recommending all Gameprom’s pinball machines), though I sure wish I could get the other tables to tell you for sure… ok just to play them.

Last Call:

Pinball Rocks HD is a great take on the pinball machine with very solid physics and a rocking soundtrack that makes you feel better about losing your ball since that means a new tune on the jukebox. It is free, which is a very good selling point, with a whole bunch of great rock with the original unlock. If you get bored of the table, you can always unlock another one for just a few bucks and rock on.

[easyreview title=”Pinball Rocks HD Review Score” cat1title=”Overall Score (out of 5)” cat1detail=”” cat1rating=”4″ ]
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Rising Storm Review (PC)

2013/06/15

Ripper71

News, Reviews, Windows PC News, Windows PC Review

Sometimes it is just nice to have a good old fashion World War II first-person shooter to play. Not a new conflict to portray in shooter games, World War II has been a hallmark location for these kinds of games: A time of increasingly-stronger weapons but still a lot of close combat options. It probably doesn’t hurt that we won it either. Battlefield 1942 and its subsequent DLC packs still rank as my top first person shooter experience, so if you can give me a Pacific theatre oriented campaign with excellent graphics and realistic weapon reproduction, I will be all over it. Thus, I have been all over Rising Storm.

Description

Rising Storm is a first-person shooter game based on the Pacific campaign of 1941 to 1945. It takes place in several famous strategic locations. The game covers the famous island-hopping campaigns in the Pacific as the US Army and US Marine Corps fight it out with the Imperial Japanese army and Special Naval Landing Forces. Featuring some of the most brutal fighting in the Pacific theater, players are able to experience beach assaults, jungle fighting, close quarters night fighting, and more across places like Guadalcanal, Iwo Jima, and Saipan. The player is able to take the part of either side – American or Japanese – battling it out online in full player versus player multiplayer.

Rising Storm is being created in a first-of-its-kind collaboration between a mod team and a professional game development studio. The Rising Storm team is made up of the best independent developers from the modding community and several members of the development team at Tripwire Interactive.

Hands On

If you haven’t play Red Orchestra then you may want to go through the training course, at least basic. The key locations are in a little different place than the average FPS which is common when you have a game that allows for squad orders. For example I am very used to hitting Z to go prone where it is the Alt button in this case. You could remap to your usual comfort but that would mean remapping the command keys as well which might make things a bit messy. Taking a couple runs through training helped develop the comfort pretty quick.

Once that is done, it is a solid multiplayer game with lots of maps that have very different environments to offer, as well as weapons and game mode unlocks. Bots can be added to throw conditions off a bit or give you someone to attack with a human squad if you prefer killing bots. You’ll find that different maps lend themselves to different weapons and if you have a weak commander you will be in pretty rough shape. Rising Storm is visually stunning making for a very immersive experience. I kept finding myself saying “I’ll play just one more round” until hours had passed and the day had long since turned to night.

Last Call

Rising Storm isn’t trying to tell you the story of WWII or even reenact key battles of the war. It is a hardcore first-person shooter concentrated on the best gameplay a game of its type can offer. They give you community favorite weapons and have addressed issues such a spawn camping that previous FPS usually have a problem with. The light mortar is a bit of a “derp gun” but, hey, what first person shooter would be complete without one? Rising Storm is a beautiful way to pass the time blowing away the competition.

[easyreview title=”Rising Storm Review Score” cat1title=”Overall Score (out of 5)” cat1detail=”” cat1rating=”4″ ]

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E3 2013 Assassin’s Creed 4 Black Flag Cinematic Trailer

2013/06/11

Ripper71

E3, News, Trailers / Videos

Those looking to dominate the tides of time and seas will love this cinematic peek at Assassin’s Creed 4 Black Flag. Proceed at your own peril!

E3 2013 – Watch Dogs “Exposed” Trailer

2013/06/10

Ripper71

E3, Nintendo Wii U News, PlayStation 3 News, PlayStation 4 News, Xbox 360 News, Xbox One News

For those watching the Watch Dogs as closely as we are here is the latest E3 2013 trailer. Enjoy!

Twitch Announces Xbox One Integration

2013/06/10

Ripper71

E3, News, Xbox One News

Jun 07 2013 – Today we are proud to announce that Twitch will indeed be on the Xbox One, the all-in-one gaming and entertainment system launching later this year. This integration, available to all Xbox Live Gold members, will allow gamers to broadcast their games directly to Twitch from the Xbox One, as well as view content from fellow streamers on the Twitch network.

“Live broadcasting has continued to grow in popularity, but sharing your console experience has never been this easy,” said Emmett Shear, Twitch CEO. “Xbox Live Gold is enabling the ability to both upload your gameplay directly to Twitch and to stream Twitch content on Xbox One. The impact of this level of console integration will be a true game changer.”

We’ll have more to share with you about this integration in the weeks and months to come. Until then, keep your eyes glued to our E3 coverage where we’re working together with our friends at Microsoft to bring you an exclusive line-up of upcoming Xbox titles, including Super TIME Force, Charlie Murder, and Ascend: Hand of Kul. You can view all this and more by visiting http://twitch.tv/twitch.

World War Z Review (iOS)

2013/06/06

Ripper71

Mobile News, Mobile Review, News, Reviews

I’ve been a big fan of the book World War Z for several years now – actually, to be more accurate, I have been a fan of the audio book. Considering the story is supposed to be an oral account of the events, and the production managed to draw in actors from all walks of Hollywood, this is the definitive way to experience the original work. The voice acting is stupendous and, though you may recognize most of the voices, they really do take on the tone of the characters they are representing.

That being said, the new movie coming out is supposed to have just the barest resemblance to the initial work. By all appearances, it is a whole different story with nods to the original. I’m okay with this simply because to do the book justice would require a several hour mini-series with an all-star cast (Editor’s Note: Studios, DO THIS!) so if you can’t do it right don’t really do it at all. Make an action movie full of CGI “zombies” instead of a retrospective on the human condition. I’ll go see it, grin at all the references to the original work then go back to listening to the book on CD.

It is with this same approach that I came at World War Z game for iOS which, thankfully, doesn’t even pretend to be the same as the book or the movie. Instead, the game tells the story of a dad in Denver committed to getting to his son in Japan during the beginning of World War Z.

Excerpt From Press Release:

Offering a fully immersive experience, players are dropped into the middle of the World War Z chaos. Casual and core gamers will both love the game’s action-packed first person experience and electrifying story. Featuring 28 visceral levels, intense combat, engaging puzzles, upgradable weapons and armor, an unlimited challenge mode, and a global scale, this game challenges you: play to survive.

“We loved the rich world that the filmmakers created, and are thrilled to tell a story that runs parallel to its film counterpart,” said Amy Powell, President of Paramount Digital Entertainment. “We wanted to give audiences a chance to truly live the movie in this story-based game.”

“We were excited to be able to use the cutting-edge Unreal Engine 3 to bring World War Z to life,” said Chip Sineni, Phosphor Games Studio Director. “Our goal was to build Paramount a AAA game, and with that came all our favorite bells and whistles, like ambient occlusion lighting, multipass blended textures, and hordes of enemies to fight.”

Hands On:

First off, the game is extremely well-detailed and stands up whether being played on iPhone or the iPad devices. The Unreal Engine 3 is put to great use as the first person experience pulls you in and makes you jump at different points in the game. While not playing up on the gore at all, almost to the point of being prudish for a zombie game, there is detail in the entire environment – whether it is a pile of garbage on the ground or a flesh eating “Zed” charging from behind a wrecked school bus. Each environment has its own feel and the details really help bring that home and keep you in the game.

The story is engaging too. You want to help this father on his seemingly impossible trip to be reunited with his son in a world of zombies that pile up higher than buildings and many of which look like Uncle Fester (it’s understandable you can only have so many zombie models but having some with very unique looks make them stand out more in repetition). The cinematic cutscenes help the story along nicely since the cutscenes are seamlessly edited into the action and are done in identical fashion to the gameplay. What bit of story I have given away is revealed in the first few minutes of play so no worries about spoilers.

Gameplay consists of four basic actions: shooting, looting, melee fighting and puzzle solving. The shooting is excellent in the game with the option to auto-shoot when a Zed gets in your path or having it so that you can control the shots. Either way, it is easy to control and use in the game. Looting is a matter of clicking on objects. If it is an item such as a book, you can loot it from across the room. If it is a corpse or a drawer you have to get up close and possibly trigger an attack.

Melee combat, however, was where things weren’t so hot. Melee fighting is clumsy at best and downright game stopping at worst. The concept is well thought out: You can swing your weapon, dodge a zombie’s attack or push them back. The problem is that, both on the iPhone and iPad, these controls aren’t very responsive and can take you from full health to dead in seconds. For example, you walk into a room where a zombie gets the jump on you. He bites you immediately knocking down your health considerably, sometimes you can try pushing, dodging and swinging and he will not be knocked off of you. You die and have to start back twenty minutes in the level. You’ll try to kill it the next time and, maybe you do, only to have the next melee surprise attack zombie take you out and put you twenty five minutes back in the level. You get the idea. This frustrated me so bad that I saved up for one of the best weapons in the World War Z universe, the “Lobo”, and was excited to get to work with it only to see the same results… The only real saving grace of it is that you get to keep the experience you earned in the level before you die and experience is currency (a smart idea since you would get better with weapons and armoring the more experienced you become) so you can save up for the Lobo or a better gun or upgrade your armor from newspapers wrapped in duct tape to metal plates – giving you a better chance of surviving encounters where the melee is stacked against you.

The last bit of gameplay to talk about would be the puzzle aspects which can be remarkably simple to downright obtuse. I pride myself on solving puzzles, having reviewed and played dozens and dozens. In World War Z, some of the puzzles were designed to be failed on the first try in order to trigger waves of zombies. On these puzzles you seemingly have to guess from a whole bunch of choices rather than figure them out. This wouldn’t be so bad except these are often at a long section of gameplay so that, if you don’t survive the wave, you have to play through a whole section again to try your luck once more!

Last Call:

This game is worth playing for the visuals alone but by adding a new story to the World War Z universe that happens in parallel to the movie’s story, five bucks is a pretty reasonable price. Playtime is estimated to be about 4 hours – longer if you farm for the better gear which, let’s face it, to properly experience the game, you should. Just accept that melee isn’t always going to be your friend and the puzzles might be more random guessing than actual deductive reasoning. World War Z is a must play for would-be zombie hunters out there.
[easyreview title=”World War Z (iOS) Review Score” cat1title=”Overall Score (out of 5)” cat1detail=”” cat1rating=”4″ ]

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