Rayman Origins - Full Review (PC, PS3, Vita, 3DS, Xbox 360 and Wii game)

I very rarely try out demos as I usually know what kind of game I will or won’t enjoy but this one threw me a little; I’d played the old Rayman games and I didn’t want the image spoiled which is very common with remakes of original classics. I played through that one level of the demo with my girlfriend and we were both so impressed we bought it there and then on Amazon with next day delivery so we could keep on playing. That weekend, we barely left the sofa never mind the house. 

Developer: Ubisoft Montpellier
Genre: Platformer
Release date: 15th November 2011
Platforms: Windows, OS X, PS3, Xbox 360, Wii, Nintendo 3DS, PlayStation Vita
ESRB: E - Everyone

The great thing about Rayman Origins is that brings back all the original fun of the old PS1 games but with incredibly charming, hand drawn graphics and enough new content to not make it feel like a remake. It’s such an engaging game that’s simple and fun to play yet with enough of a challenge to not make it feel like a child’s game. The simple controls are especially appealing though as it means you can have all generations of people get the hang of it and it’s just suitable for everybody; provided they can keep up of course.

Gameplay and storyline

If you’re familiar with Rayman then you’re most likely familiar with the Glade of Dreams. In Rayman Origins we return to the Glade of Dreams, a usually idyllic universe, only Rayman and his buddies accidentally ticked off their next door neighbour; the Land of the Livid Dead, by snoring too loudly. You’ll have to traverse through this magical world and beat back the incarnations of the Bubble Dreamer’s (creator of the Glade) nightmares which are some pretty nasty beasts in order to save the Glade of Dreams from being taken over by these creatures. Along the way you’ll save the Nymphs who have been captured by the nightmarish creatures, rescue the electoons and earn back some essential powers like hovering and shrinking.

The game itself is a side scrolling platforming game, just like the original, with over 60 levels for you to play through. As you progress through the game you’ll fight enemies, locate and rescue caged electoons, collect lums and earn new abilities.  The game is separated into themed areas such as musical, polar or jungle and each of these areas further have a breakdown of several separate levels. Each level has a certain number of challenge/objective type goals that will earn you additional electoons which are required for progressing through the game. Each level has one cage at the end of it that you need to break in order to end that level and this cage counts for one objective. Other challenges include finding the other hidden cages in the level which are usually concealed by things that appear to be a part of the landscape but which actually fade upon approaching. Each level also has a Time Trial challenge which requires you to race through the level at top speed and to reach a checkpoint within very harsh time constraints. If you slip more than a couple of times then you’ve almost certainly failed it and will have to try again. Completing the time trial can earn you a Speed Trophy if you’re fast enough.

For a slower, more relaxed approach to the level there’s also the lum challenge which will require you to go through the level very carefully since you require a whopping 350 lums to earn that level’s medallion. Some levels only require 200 or so because they’re shorter, more laid back levels. This usually means popping every single enemy bubble and finding every additional little lum that’s out there to be grabbed before they float away out of reach and there’s nothing more frustrating to find you’ve missed the medalion by only a couple of lums. By earning all these electoons you can unlock additional levels that require you to chase down a runaway treasure chest. By catching it you can get a special ‘Skull tooth’ and by collecting all these teeth you unlock an extremely challenging level that’s set in the Land of the Livid Dead itself. All in all, there’s a lot to keep you busy in the levels and you’ll likely sink many hours into the game trying to complete everything.

Rayman Origins is one of the few games out there that is a local co-op game. It has a great local co-op system that allows you to play with up to four characters with no split screen so you can still see the beautifully drawn backgrounds in all their glory. The only downside of trying to play this game in co-op is the tendency to get frustrated with one another if someone’s not being fast enough. Co-op has the great addition of not dying immediately upon being bubbilized; if your co-op partner whacks your bloated bubble body then you’ll be returned to the game, ready to keep on playing. I can guarantee though that you will drive yourself partway to insanity trying to complete all of the challenges in the game, and the timed trials in particular are the cause of numerous arguments between me and my girlfriend. I think it’s safe to say that you should only play this game with someone you’d also play Monopoly with. Since the game supports multiplayer you’ll be glad to know there’s a lot of characters you can pick from, though they are just different versions of the three friends, and you can unlock more as you earn more electoons, so if you are unhappy with Rayman’s default look you can always try him out in his blue version and see if you like that better.

Finally, there are the bosses that are encountered at the end of each area. These bosses were originally the Kings of each Land in the Glade but have unfortunately fallen under the influence of the nightmarish forces that have taken over Rayman’s usually idyllic universe. In order to bring them back to their senses you must defeat them and, truthfully, these boss battles are the highlight of the entire game. each boss looks fantastic, often quite terrifying yet playfully charming at the same time. You’ll need to employ a recently taught skill to defeat them and it will involve a lot of quick thinking and, if playing in co-op, teamwork and coordination if you’re to bring down these maddened beasties. Trust me when I say that these are boss battles worth fighting and each one of them is original and fascinating to look upon. They are most certainly not some rehash of an old enemy that’s been made a little stronger or a little bigger that some games are guilty of trotting out. 

I remember the original PS1 Rayman game as being really frustrating because you needed to have such control over where you were moving and jumping to and that’s not a bad thing. Games that are challenging are infinitely more rewarding and enjoyable than their simplistic counterparts and what’s great about Rayman Origins is it brings back that feeling of infuriation then of great relief when you finally get past the bit you’re stuck at. I love that this version of Rayman is almost in fast forward as you’re able to sprint and jump in a very Mario-esque manner so you feel so cool and slick when completing the speed run levels.

Graphics and environment

Rayman origins features a type of stylized environment that is difficult to find in side scrolling platform games. The maps are flawlessly crafted with exquisite attention to detail that truly makes this game feel as though it’s been crafted with passion and love. You only need take a look at the screenshots to see how gorgeous the game looks with its stunning cell shaded animation and incredibly bold colours. Every single level is something to behold and you will not get bored of how fantastic everything looks as it’s all so incredibly varied and diverse. Though levels are themed they do not feel repetitive just because two levels are set in a jungle which is such a relief as platformers can sometimes feel monotonous simply due to the rehashing of backgrounds and environmental features.  All in all, everything feels innovative and fresh from the moment you begin to the moment you finish.

There are over 60 levels but, not only are they numerous, they’re also incredibly interactive. You’ll find yourself sprinting and jumping through lava filled caverns, up icy slopes and through lush jungles to name only a few places. You’re not just restricted to the ground however as you’ll often be soaring through the air on giant wasps or swimming in deep oceans. Levels like these are particularly memorable, especially the ominous, underwater ones. Here, you must swim in almost total darkness, lit only by a small light on your body, whilst the twisted, elongated arms from an unseen creature reach out from rocks or the abyss below to drag you from safety.

It’s impossible to describe all the little bits of detail that the game developers have included because everything has been thought of and everything is beautifully done. There are levels dedicated to being in a kind of giant, boiling hot kitchen that has faintly visible stacks of wobbling plates in the background, zipwires with tiny red hot chillis dangling all down them and bottles of squeezy hot sauce you can jump on to boil a pot; sending its lid shooting into the air on a billow of steam for you to reach new heights. In the cold, icy areas it’s like being inside a giant freezer with lemon slices on gossiping forks and slices of lime to bounce off of. Cans of frozen food drop precariously as you slam through layers of ice cubes and, if caught under one, you’ll be instantaneously bubbelized. Each area has such neat little features like this it’s impossible to deny that this game has been very carefully thought through and planned so that players can get the best experience possible out of it.

Music and audio

Just to top off this game, along with everything else, the audio and music is flawless. The music has many faces depending on which level you’re on and can change between dreamy violin music to fast, intensive jazz style music. Some audio tracks are quite simply someone whistling with some lazy ukulele playing in the background. There are some great musical features like furious kazoo playing and the ragged chimes of super high pitched lums singing every time you grab one of the lum king bubbles. It sounds as though this ‘Alvin and the Chipmunks’ style singing would drive you crazy but it’s so cutesy and happy-go-lucky you can’t help but love it, that and it’s really catchy. 

What I love about the soundtrack of this game is the sheer variety of instruments you don’t often hear from. Ukuleles, kazoos, dijiridoos, the piano, the violin, drums and the Jew’s harp all have a place in the musical tracks and it’s great to hear such a unique combination of instruments that all work so perfectly for the environment. The dijiridoos played in the warm sands of the musical levels fit so perfectly with the environment that it adds a lot to the gameplay experience, without it the level would certainly not have the same feel to it. My personal favourite is the ethereal, haunting melodies that are found within the deep sea exploration levels. That partial silence coupled with the near-by threat of a lurking creature does wonders for the atmosphere and it’s as addictive as the exhilarating surface levels. I don’t know how he managed it, but the composer has managed perfectly to make the music of Rayman Origins playful but not cheap or silly sounding, which is impressive given that he appears to have employed a plastic kazoo as a core part of the instrumentals.

Overall

This game just drips in simplicity yet sophistication and is an essential part of any gamer’s collection provided they can appreciate fantastic artwork, great music and a good chunk of playful humour to go with it. Fans of the original Rayman should not hold back from playing Rayman Origins as it only enhances what made the original Rayman so brilliant. It’s a rare thing to see a 90s game pulled into the modern gaming world and for it to fit in so nicely as something traditional yet upgraded. This is a humorous, light hearted game that can be enjoyed by the entire family from the comfort of your own sofa. Not only that, but it provides a damn good challenge and enough content for you to get many enjoyable hours out of it.

The Good:

• Brilliant co-op intergration
• Looks incredible
• Fantastic, varied, light hearted music
• Very fun boss battles, each one is different
• Good range of non-generic enemies
• Extremely challenging
• Lots of re-playability
• Huge variety of themed levels
• Very easy to get into
• Fast paced or slow paced, depending on which challenges
• Holds great respect for the original Rayman games

The Bad:

• Sometimes a little too challenging
• Often frustrating

The Score: 9/10


Final Thoughts: "This game does my bloody head in trying to be a completionist in it, but it's just so flawless in every aspect that I can forgive it."

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Shadow of the Colossus - Full Review and Trailer (PS2 and PS3 game)

It is hard to find words to describe this game as even if I listed off words like; immense, beautiful, majestic, vast or phrases like; heart wrenching, life changing, stunningly unique, enchantingly creative I’m afraid none of it comes close to how I feel about this game. Prior to Shadow of the Colossus there were no games that let the world speak for them, that allowed the camera to pan out across the vast spaces of open plains and mountains with no sounds but hooves on the ground and the breathy pants of its rider. No game dared to let its artistic value tell the story because, I imagine, gamers wouldn’t have ‘got it’ and it would have felt barren and lacking. Shadow of the Colossus feels barren, but it is most certainly not lacking.

Gameplay and plot

The storyline of Shadow of the Colossus is curious as there are very few words spoken and nothing is truly explained. You play a young man called Wander who has travelled a long way to a forbidden and sacred land with the intention of resurrecting a young woman called Mono, who he carries with him. After finally finding a temple in the centre of the land he lays her body out on the altar that rests at the end of the temple corridor. Above, an unseen voice speaks, telling Wander to look upon the sixteen idols of the temple and to destroy them by killing the incarnations of them; the Colossi. If he defeats all sixteen colossi then the idols shall fall and Mono’s soul will be returned to her body. As a final warning, Wander is told that he may pay a heavy price by the end of his quest, but Wander does not care. You are instructed to be on your way then, and the game begins. 

You must now locate and kill, one by one, the colossi of the land. You’re initially given a vague clue about the particular colossi you’ll be encountering but this information alone won’t be enough to go on. The voice has instructed you that, to find them, you can use your sword by holding it up against the sunlight and following where the beams focus together. The map area is huge and quite often you’ll have to navigate through shadowy canyons or across spiralling cliff faces so it’s not quite as simple as just running in the direction of the beam To help you get around faster you have your one and only companion; Agro. Agro is an immense black war horse who plays a core role in the game as an indispensible ally, he may shield you from danger and gallop fast enough to catch up with some of the more evasive colossi you’ll encounter. There are certain hidden features of riding Agro; dangling off one side of him, standing up on top of his saddle so you can jump to greater heights or causing him to rear up and bolt forward into a full on gallop which extremely useful for quick escapes. Also, you can pat him on the neck to tell him he’s a good horse.

This game is unusual when placed alongside traditional games as it features no other characters other than the ones I’ve already mentioned. There’s nobody to talk to and, other than a few lizards and the odd bird, no other living creatures in the entire game. The content of the game is roughly divided into two aspects; finding each colossi and then working out how to kill it. You can find where the colossus is located in this huge world by standing in the sunlight and holding your sword up. The light will then shine off the sword and, by moving around, you’ll be able to focus the beams into one bright point which is the direction you’ll find the monstrous creature. If you’re in an area that’s bathed entirely in shadow then unfortunately you’ll just have to figure things out for yourself. 

Once you’ve found the colossus then you have to work out how to bring them down. Each colossus has its own weaknesses and tends to be based on a type of creature such as a horse or an electric eel. In this sense the game is kind of a puzzle game as figuring out how to kill each colossi is a challenge in and of itself and, generally, they’re not easy to bring down. You’ll generally need to use the environment around you to help defeat them and since each colossus lurks in its own personal lair this can be very interesting since you’ll be using a different method for each creature. To actually kill a colossus you have to first find its weak spots by using your sword in the same way you found him in the first place to locate a type of glowing sigil on its body. There’s usually more than one sigil on each colossus so, once you’ve worked out how to climb onto him, you’ll need to move between the locations; scaling down furry backs or jumping up ledges of its armour. Colossi generally can’t just be walked up to and jumped on though so finding a pathway up will take a bit of thought. Once you’re actually on the colossi it can be very challenging to stay on them as they will do their best to shake you off and this depletes your grip meter. Wander can only cling on for so long so you need to find places to rest and allow the meter to refill itself, if the colossus shakes and throws you about to get you off then your meter will quickly deplete and, if it empties, you’ll be thrown aside like a little paper doll and will have to get back up there again, provided you aren’t stepped on first. No two colossi are alike and you’ll find yourself with a new challenge every time and some situations you find yourself can be, quite literally, breath taking. 

To add a new dimension to the game you have the ability to go back and fight colossi that you have already defeated. After killing them you can return to the spot where they fell and find their fossilized and moss covered bodies, by interacting with them from here you can complete additional challenges. By completing enough of them, on either normal or hard difficulty, you can unlock additional things like a different coloured Agro and different weapon types.

Graphics and environment

Depending on which version of the game you’re playing the graphics will vary. The original PS2 game had graphics that were good for the time and age moderately but which don’t do the beautiful environments justice. They can be a little clippy, choppy and blurry in some parts which is a shame as it will naturally reduce the overall impact of the game. Despite this however they are still lovely and, after looking at it long enough, you begin to forget that they’re sub-par compared to more modern graphics. Shadow of the Colossus really does push the abilities of the PS2 console to its very limits though, and the frame rate has suffered a little though it’s still completely playable. The PS3 edition of the game features re-mastered graphics that are wonderfully high definition. The frame rate of the game has also been dramatically improved making it all run a lot smoother and consistently. Beneath the new, glossy exterior still lies the same beautiful game however and both editions stand in equal stead.

The environments of Shadow of the Colossus are breathtakingly majestic and you’re faced from the start with a seemingly endless world that you can explore at your whim. Everything is seamless and there are no loading screens as you transition between desolate desert landscapes and lush green forests dotted with tiny streams. The map is cold and empty, devoid of life aside from the odd bird and the occasional lizard. The main starting area of the land consists of vast open plains with craggy mountains surrounding the region, reminding you that this is not an area usually accessed by the living. Where some parts are bordered with mountains, others are bordered with shorelines that descend into deep, endless oceans as far as the eye can see and, standing atop mountains and looking out into the distance, you can see that this is truly a secluded place. There are plenty of curiosities in the landscape like the ruins of what appear to be man-made structures, long since abandoned, and it’s very difficult to determine what their original purpose would have been. When fighting colossi you will experience the very highs and lows of the land so you do truly get to see absolutely everywhere at some point or another. The game does have a hidden area however and it is one that will require a great deal of climbing and a lot of persistence if you’re to get there.  

The colossi themselves are beautifully designed with defined characters and appearances depending on which animal or figure they represent. Whether they are organic or not is difficult to tell and their design reflects the ambiguity of their origin; partly made from rock and grass but also hair, fur and possibly metal. Once they are felled their body remains where you left it; moss covered and fossilized, now a permanent part of the landscape.

Audio and music

A lot of this game is completely silent with only the noises you yourself make by running around, whistling for your horse or grunting as you jump. It’s extremely atmospheric to wander through an empty landscape that is completely silent with no birdsong and barely any wind, whether that atmosphere is that of a dead world or a sacred one is up for interpretation.

The voice acting that is present within the game is very good. It’s all spoken in a pseudo-language so you must rely on subtitles to understand what’s being said but the booming voice in the temple is a very grand, steady and resonating voice that really does sound like some kind of God. Wander can shout and call to Agro and the level of his voice depends on how far away Agro is; he’ll shout if the horse is far and simply say it if Agro is beside him. Wander also has the ability to whistle loudly when Agro is too far out of range to call him, though the whistling is partially intended for calling Agro over from long distances it also serves to grab the attention of the colossi when you’re close by them. The shrill whistle cuts through the silence, or battle music, like a knife and it’s one of the few bits of audio that isn’t music. The rest of the voice acting is down to the grunts and gasps of pain that Wander emits as he traverses the landscape and colossi, so nothing too major and everything is very minimalistic when it comes to sound.

The music of the game is reserved for cutscene and your battles with the colossi and is another matter entirely; it is magnificent. Your first taste of the gentle choir and the harmonious orchestra is at the very beginning of the game as Wander travels to the temple. It’s a beautiful, haunting melody that suits the lonely journey perfectly and then, when he spots the bridge to the temple, it uplifts into something hopeful and optimistic. Later, when you fight a colossus the music rises in pitch and tempo. The battle music is strong and adventurous and really does add to the epic proportions of the battle you’re waging with the enormous creatures but then, when you’ve felled your opponent, the music too slopes into something sombre, sad and weary. The lack of dialogue in the game makes the music extremely important and it never disappoints. Each musical piece is suitable for the situation it arises in and is incredibly emotional. Truly, the music does wonders for this game and it’s an extremely strong companion to the visual backdrop you’re treated to and I think it’s safe to say the game would be incomplete without such a powerful orchestral soundtrack.

Overall

When games are designed to be pieces of art it can either work or it doesn’t, there’s very little in between because they need to have a powerful statement within them to be effective. Shadow of the Colossus most definitely works and not only is it wonderful to look at and to explore but it features engaging gameplay with an emotional storyline that leaves you wanting more. The Ico Team, who developed this game, have made very few games but every single one has been absolutely fantastic. Anybody who has not played this game is missing out on something extraordinarily memorable. Now that this game is available on PS3 it is most definitely going to be a cherished purchase of new gamers everywhere and, for me, it is the pride of my gaming career. 

Score – 10/10

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Zoo Tycoon 1 - Quick Review (PC game)

This game is Zoo tycoon the way it should have remained; good, simple fun. If you read my review of the latest Zoo Tycoon game for the Xbox consoles, found here, you'll know I hated it with a passion due to its lack of customization options. In this original game, that's one of the best features.Though everything may not be extensively detailed and with 3D interaction it’s still a fantastic and addictive game. This classic tycoon game is about building up a zoo and managing it to success, there is no limit on what you can build and the animals you can keep so you can fill your park right up. It’s all shot in an isometric view which makes it easy to see what’s going on and, despite the camera being fairly limiting on how much detail you can see it’s still enough to know where everything is at any given time. The graphics were, for its time, really good and even though they’re dated now they still look pleasant enough and is very similar in style to simulation games like Rollercoaster tycoon 1 and 2. Despite some graphical drawbacks the game is still nice and detailed and every animal looks just like the real thing. Guests differ from each other in only in their shirt colour and generally they just meander around and make gasping and ooh’ing noises at the animals.   

Not only fine looking but fun and educational. If you don't want to be educated, just ignore it.

Money isn’t a problem in this game as there are plenty of cheats to bolster your funds but if you want to play the game as it was intended then there are plenty of campaigns to keep you occupied, many of which are genuinely challenging. The campaigns often revolve around a theme such as conservation or trying to breed extremely rare and exotic animals like pandas or panthers. The variety of animals is immense and you very quickly unlock more, along with different kinds of foliage, buildings, exhibit features and decoration as time progresses. The addition of the expansion packs makes everything that much better and allows you to keep dinosaurs in immensely robust enclosures or, if you have the marine expansion pack, keep aquatic creatures like dolphins, sharks and whales. You can fund research into developing new, special things like additional shows for animal houses, rare animals and foliage, staff improvements and special toys for your animals that are necessary to keep them happy and occupied.

The game is surprisingly educational and you will most definitely learn a lot about animals from playing this, though it’s not in your face informative so it doesn’t feel like you’re being bombarded with facts about things. All in all, the educational aspect of it is optional as most information is contained in a separate tab. Keeping your animals and guests happy can be a bit of a struggle if you’re not used to this type of gameplay though as they often require very specific conditions. The happiness of the animals depends on the suitability of their exhibit and often requires an exact amount of foliage, terrain level, rocks, terrain types, animal house and a toy if they’re a playful sort of animal. To help you build the exhibit you will see the animal approve or disapprove of things you add to the exhibit and you can add and remove until it’s satisfied. It can be quite hard to get an exhibit perfect for particular animals who seem designed to be ultra-fussy, especially the mountainous creatures.

Unintrusive menu system, lovely isometric camera, fashionably dressed guests.

Guests are pretty easy to manage; they get hungry, thirsty, tired and bored by walking around in the park for long periods of time. You can keep them entertained with restaurants, fancy scenery, gift shops and interactive buildings like a petting zoo or elephant ride. All guests have a favourite animal, which is a nice addition, so they’ll be extra excited to see if you’ve got one of those in your zoo. There’s so, so many different items you can put in the park and you can very easily set themes across your zoo with special items and buildings for styles such as Japanese, snowy, jungle ruins, Mexican and desert. There’s something nice about being able to put down Aztec style temple restaurants and flaming torches among your Jaguars and Orang-utans.

Choosing where to put your own paths, what a revolutionary idea!

Overall this game has aged brilliantly and is as much fun now as it was when it was first released. It plays great on newer operating systems so there’s no worry about compatibility. Though the graphics and ability to interact directly with the animals is not present in this original version it just goes to show that you can strip away all the fluff and still be left with a game that is fun to its very core; no frills, just a great game. If you like simulation games that include animals or a system of management
then you’ll likely enjoy this retro pc game.

Score – 8/10

If you're currently playing Zoo Tycoon (Complete Collection or otherwise) then you may want to check out my list of cheats, codes and unlockables found here. 

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Dog's Life - Game Review (PS2 game)

I think it’s safe to say there’s no game quite like Dog’s Life . It’s such a weird and original game that takes a fairly common idea; play an animal, and somehow makes it great fun with surprisingly varied gameplay.  It admittedly consists of a lot of mini-games but they’re manageable in number, quite diverse and fun to play so I don’t mind them at all. The game itself is childish but fun and though aimed at young children I’m still enjoying it now, at 22 years old. Whether that’s down to the game or my own immaturity is yet to be decided.

Yeah, you wish the graphics looked this good.

The main plot is surprisingly gruesome for a children’s game; you’re a farm dog called Jake who’s used to living a fairly comfortable life but who has failed to grab the romantic attention of neighbouring female dog, Daisy.  One morning, Daisy is then suddenly captured by a couple of dog snatchers. Jake attempts to save her and finds himself captured along with her and shoved in a cage in the back of a van. There’s a moment of sad realisation as the two captive dogs stare out at each other through the bars of their cages then, as the van goes over a bump, Jake is thrown from the van and the cage breaks open, allowing him his freedom. Unfortunately, Daisy wasn’t so lucky and she is driven off to some unknown location whilst Jake nurses his, most likely permanent, head injury. As Jake regains consciousness he vows to find Daisy and bring her back to the farm, Jake doesn’t know it yet but Daisy’s fate is… spoilers… to be turned into cat food by a dog-hating business owner called ‘Miss Peaches’. Think, the farmer’s wife from Chicken Run or… Mom from Futurama. Only this one turns pet dogs into cat food, which is kind of worse than the Chicken Run premise if you think about it. You’ll be playing Jake as he journeys to find out where Daisy’s been taken and to rescue her from her grisly fate.

Gameplay

Storyline aside, now that you’re a dog you get to do lots of new, dog related things. If you were unable to this would be a pretty rubbish game so it’s great to see that the developers went overboard with the dog activities. You can dig holes, beg for food, bark at cats and chickens, mark your territory, use your snout to track down things, knock over bins to snuffle about for any scraps, play tug of war with other dogs… there’s a fair bit to do and it’s a great laugh to bumble around like an idiot mongrel. There is, of course, stuff to do to progress with the storyline and it generally revolves around bones, pretty appropriate for a dog I guess. Despite there being only three main places you’ll visit; the rural place, the ski resort and the city there’s a lot more to explore than that. Each of these three places are divided up into smaller areas and each of these smaller areas have missions, mini-games and its own local dog that comes with its own special ability. Local dogs are important; you’ll compete against them and you’ll also need to befriend them by impressing them with your doggy skills. Take a rural area that consists of a lake and a lumberjack’s home; he owns a Dalmatian dog that is remarkably good at swimming, living by a lake and all that. By befriending this Dalmatian you get to possess him and nab yourself a bone that only Speckles can retrieve. 

Now this is more like it.

Collecting bones isn’t just about your own personal gluttony, it’s actually an essential gameplay component because you need an increasingly higher number of the meaty treats to access new areas and thus progress through the storyline. As you enter different areas the local dogs will also have a greater number of bones, meaning that they’re stronger than you and will not only be harder to beat in challenges but will be un-controllable until you have more than them. You can grab bones by completing mini-games that consist of stuff like territory capture, tug of war, races, pursuit challenges and other things like that. Another way of earning bones is by helping out humans as you progress through the game, each area has two or three humans that need help with something or other.  The missions are all fairly different from one another though retrieving something is a pretty common theme such as filling a basket with eggs scared from chickens so some local kids can pelt a butcher, fetching someone’s runaway kittens whilst trying not to let the other ones escape and finding a lost axe by following the scent footprints of the lumberjack. Sometimes bones are found hidden in special places or are buried underground and to find them you’re best off using your nose.

Dog’s Life features a pretty cool feature where you can go into first person perspective and see the world as different coloured scents on an otherwise muted background. This is appropriately called ‘Smello-O-Vision.’ Some scents are hovering about in the air where the colour of the scent means it’s for a different purpose. For instance, collecting four red ones will start a ‘simon says’ type mini-game whereas collecting all 50 purple scents of an area will give you another precious bone.  Smello-O-Vision also shows up the footprints of dogs and humans which are useful for following where they have recently gone.

Totally realistic representation of what dog vision.

 Each area has around 8 or 9 bones to collect, four scent related challenges, a couple of hidden ones and the rest will be set by missions. Everything is all fairly manageable and you won’t feel swamped with the task of completing everything since you can easily bypass several tasks if you want to just get into a new area. This is especially useful if you find one of the challenges particularly difficult as you can usually skip over it and just make up your bone numbers elsewhere, so no big deal. You can keep progress of how many bones you’ve collected in one area and how many are left to collect by checking in the main menu, which features a scrap book of areas along with everything you need to know.

Despite it not being difficult you’re not free to do whatever you feel like at no danger to yourself, Jake can take damage. If you’ve taken damage you’ll know about it because Jake will plod about slowly with his ears down and his whole body slumped, he’ll be unable to jump effectively which makes continuing on in this fashion basically impossible. If you can’t be assed to beg for food you can usually find more by knocking over bins and boxes or stealing it off meat counters in the town and city regions. In these more built up regions there are these weird little salons where you can undergo a fairly intensive grooming session so Jake looks all clean and shiny. By running about so much you get a lot of mud and dirt up you so sometimes it’s nice to freshen up and get a new collar design. In the rural areas you can chase chickens and, if you’re feeling particularly barbaric, pick them up and shake them until their feathers fall off and they drop a dog treat (no, I don’t know why either). You save the game by sleeping in a dog house that also conveniently comes with a bowl of dog food beside it that you can munch on if your earlier scrounging activities didn’t produce anything to eat. Overall, there are a lot of dog related interactivity bits included in the game but the core portion of gameplay is the mini-games and the collection of bones.

Controls

Though the game is, by no means, hard, that’s not to say it isn’t without it’s difficulties. Dog’s Life is one of those games where you need a very fine hand on otherwise awkward to manage controls, when you’ve only just started playing you’ll find that the camera has a mind of its own and you’re your movements are less than smooth. Jumping from ledge to ledge a bloody nightmare and it’s very easy to overshoot, causing Jake to fall off and get hurt. The camera is diabolical and seems to have a mind of its own. It can be operated by the right analog stick and looking up and down is pretty extreme; straight up at the sky or down into the mud but you do get used to it after you’ve spent enough time in the initial area.  You’ll probably find that the easiest way to manoeuvre certain parts of the game, especially tightly confined areas, is to just go into Smell-O-Vision since it offers you a first person perspective.

Jake jumps like he’s drugged and runs like a drunken maniac so, combining the two, does make for some very interesting situations. When you’re trying to do all this, when it’s timed, during a race, you may find yourself getting frustrated at Jake’s sluggish and sporadic movements. Admittedly though, it is a fairly realistic representation of a dog’s movements if my pet Labrador is anything to go by. The controls are otherwise easy to manage though; button taps for interactive things and the D-pad for things like sitting, laying down, performing tricks and relieving yourself. The multiple of tricks you can learn are all listed for you in the menu so you don’t have to remember them all which does make things easier.

Graphics and environment

So let’s talk graphics, it’s a PS2 game so the graphics aren’t exactly beautiful to look at but, baring in mind this came out in 2003, they’re fairly reasonable. Around the time there were better graphics available for PS2 and this one is just slightly above the level that PS1 was working at but, frankly, the graphics aren’t terrible and they get the job done. The game looks bright and fun, it’s a very vibrant and colourful game and the dogs are really well designed so you can tell the different between the breeds really easily. There’s quite a lot going on in the areas so the game doesn’t feel at all bare, every area has features that are appropriate to it and, overall, everything is quite detailed.

I mean that's not too bad is it?

It can’t be ignored though that everything is a choppy, non-textured and straight edged and that the humans in the game look hideously blocky and malformed.  For what it is however, the graphics are adequate and there are nice efforts made in certain areas like deep snow, fish jumping and visibly swimming in a lake and little critters running about between the trees. Overall, the graphics are reasonably suited to the kind of game this is and you probably won’t care that the people look like they’re made out of cardboard and the grass looks like cheap carpet. 

Oh my GOD. I take it back!

So as I've mentioned the game consists of three main areas; Clarksville, Lake Minniwahwah and Boom City. Lake Minniwahwah is a ski resort, Clarksville is a rural area  and Boom City is just that; a city. Each of these three main areas are divided up into smaller areas like districts and farms and this makes the environments genuinely different and interesting. Lake Minniwahwah has plenty of snowy areas with icy lakes and terrain that is both frustrating and painful, especially when you have a time limit on collecting scents on a huge, very icy, lake. 

Music and audio

The dialogue in this game is reasonably funny, if you’re not taking the game too seriously. There’s quite a lot of toilet humour since it’s aimed at younger kids and since dogs are filthy creatures. If you’re not into that then you can easily bypass it as it’s not a constant in your face type deal, just now and then there are some pretty gross things going on. The game has funny bits of audio that often have underlying adult themes, for example a sleeping grandpa will wake up when you bark at him exclaiming various things like, “no officer I found her like that, dressed up in this shiny tight red… oh, hello Jakey...” Jake often breaks through the fourth wall as well, exclaiming things to the player like “I lost? Are you playing with oven gloves on?” which keeps the tone light and humoured, if anything this isn’t a game that takes itself too seriously.

You can gamble! Not really, this isn't a Rockstar game you know.

The voices could be a lot better; Jake’s voice doesn’t suit him in the slightest and the voice acting is pretty bad but, after a while, you get so used to it you stop noticing. The dialogue is generally pretty cheesy and sometimes repetitive and annoying but usually people have a multitude of different lines so unless you hover around them for long periods of time, you won’t notice the receptiveness. Everyone has a voice though, if that’s a good thing, and even the average Joe in the street has something to say. Though they’re only really voiced to respond to your actions like whether you’re pissing on their leg or pawing at them for food. As a point of interest, a voice actor has literally got the record for the most characters voiced by one person; 32 characters were voiced by Kerry Shale so in that sense it kind of makes sense why some of them sound so… unusual.

The music itself is quite pleasant and offers a nice background buzz that’s non-intrusive and varies from area to area. The music is always well suited and pleasant as a backdrop to the gameplay and tends to have a happy, carefree vibe to it that’s appreciable during play.

Overall

This game is genuinely fun and quirky to play and can give you a surprising number of hours’ worth of play if you do everything and don’t bomb through the storyline. It’s a great game for younger players as it provides reasonably challenging and diverse gameplay with the unique feature that you’re a dog, able to do dog related things. The storyline is reasonably engaging and the ending is worth seeing, given the grotesque nature of Daisy’s fate should you give up halfway through the game. Although the mini-games sometimes repeat on themselves it somehow doesn’t get repetitive and boring but instead manages to maintain originality by mixing things up a bit in new environments and with new challenges. The audio could be a lot better and the graphics are a bit dire but if those things don’t mean the world to you then you’ll manage just fine with them the way they are. Nowadays this game is super affordable to buy and is really worth the money if you fancy a jaunt about in this weird little game. If anything, it’s a great way to relieve stress and frankly, just talking about it makes me want to play it some more. 

Score – 6/10  

Gumball before you leave?

If you're playing this game or thinking of playing it then maybe you'd like to use the cheats or hints available for Dog's Life, found here.

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Maple Story - MMORPG Review (Online game)

Maple story is a much beloved free MMORPG that’s got a pretty cutesy, chibi feel about it whilst maintaining classic RPG gameplay, albeit in 2D. To begin with, it’s not a browser based game which is quite common of MMORPGs but I found the 5GB download to be a pretty steep commitment for a new player. The game features very in depth customization of your keyboard and mouse settings, which is the primary means of playing the game, so if you’re not happy with the set up you can be sure to change every aspect of it. The game is quite alluring with its simple, 2D style and promise of far and wide adventures across the land however scratching beneath the surface reveals a game that’s fast falling out of favour with its players.

Storyline and quests

Strangely, Maple story doesn’t really have a storyline though there are a lot of quests to complete and skills to train. The lack of storyline is fairly irksome given that the very name implies that they’d at least be something there. There’s some general reference to some evil Black Mage hovering about in the background and that warriors are needed to eventually, at some point in the future, fight him. Black Mage has been banished for several years now and hasn’t re-joined the fray yet so there appears to be no immediate threat. In terms of a plot that’s all you’re going to get. Players are generally citizens in the world and don’t actually appear to have any sort of ‘hero’ status. You can find out the previous storyline by talking to all the NPCs and slowly piece together why the world is the way it is. If you can consider this storyline rather than a history of the world then I suppose it’s alright; it’s a nice little story but more serves as a form of lore than as something you can interact with and become a part of.

Bright, cheerful and varied environments.

Maple Story’s quests are certainly numerous, if a bit repetitive. There are a lot of quests that tend to be along the lines of delivery tasks, killing a certain number of monsters or collecting a certain number of items. For completing quests you tend to get a lump sum of experience and sometimes a few items like healing potions or a piece of equipment. There are however, absolutely dozens and dozens of quests that require increasingly higher levels to unlock so if you intend to complete them all then you’ll certainly have lots to do.

Music and sound

The music is pretty decent and the style of it changes depending on which area you’re in. The music is very varied in the style and can range from classical string music to some hard-core rock. If you’re in one area for a prolonged period of time the music naturally gets repetitive so you either turn it down or turn it off completely, but the fact the music changes style at all is great. Each skill has its own sound and, like the music, fits in well with the whole feel of the game though the death squeals of certain monsters start to grate on you after a while. Overall, the music is fairly cute and pleasant sounding but tends to get repetitive after continued exposure to it.

Gameplay and content

Gameplay generally consists of increasing your stats and levelling up your character by combating monsters and completing quests. Players can form guilds together to make these challenges easier and may trade and chat with one another too. There’s a fairly pointless system that allows straight guys and girls to marry one another but that doesn’t stretch to be inclusive of potential homosexual couples, take that as you will. Maple story doesn’t seem to have a great deal of content unless you really enjoy grinding your combat skills by killing stuff and, when judging when an MMORPG is worthy of my time I do tend to look at how much choice players get when deciding what to do today. Maple story certainly is lacking in choice and content as, after levelling up, you don’t tend to get access to something bigger and better you just sort of have to… do it all again and level up some more. New equipment is unlocked quite frequently in the very early levels but after that it becomes less and less frequent whilst taking longer and longer to level up. It’s frustrating that prolonged hard work isn’t really rewarded and it just makes the grind worse. On the plus side, it’s really easy to level up… I guess that’s a plus side because it means the game will be over faster. I’ve spent a lot of time in games that include vast amounts of grinding as I play RPGs quite often but grinding needs to be counteracted by the reward of good content, new areas or storyline progression and Maple Story just lacks reward for what feels like a lot of pointless, hard work.

Yep... still looks pretty good, shame about all the problems.

Maple Story lacks the feature of player killing which is a shame as combat is a core part of the gameplay. Rather than killing your fellow players Maple Story would prefer it if you worked with them instead. A large aspect of Maple story revolves around the community and playing with groups of people, for instance, through team-quests. This is the kind of game you’ll want to play with friends as it makes levelling up so much easier, especially in later levels. Of course, since there are so many people who play this game you’ll have no trouble finding others to buddy up with and help each other out. This brings me onto the community of the game which, due to the focus on team playing, is extremely important.
Community

Every online game has its good players and its bad players, that’s simply the way things work. You’ll always find people who are selfish, greedy, disrespectful or just plain irritating and that’s kind of a part of playing with people you’ve never met before. So, I was expecting a degree of those kind of bad attitudes but what I was not expecting was the sheer amount of it. In a game that encourages teamwork you’d expect there to be some kind of incentive for people of all levels to be able to work together, where a higher level working with a lower levelled player was of no detriment to either player. I’m reminded of certain MMORPGs where experience gained is relative to your own account when working in groups, not relative to those around you. Unfortunately in Maple Story it’s just simply inefficient to help out or buddy up with low levelled players because it produces less experience and thus is more time consuming. Kill stealing is quite common where, when you’re about to kill a monster, someone else comes in and nabs it thus gaining the experience. In the current release of Runescape that used to be quite common however it was changed so there’s no incentive to be a dickhead to other players and all experience was guaranteed to the player what clicked the monster first. Simple system, discourages kill stealing. Maple Story simply lacks incentive to be nice to one another and actually passively encourages bad sportsmanship.

Graphics and environment

The game looks good, no doubt about that, as a side scrolling 2D game it’s taken on some fairly impressive graphical features. Everything is very bright, colourful and detailed with a very traditional chibi style that relays it’s South Korean and Japanese origins. The backgrounds that are inaccessible behind the primary area are detailed and beautifully shaded whilst not being too intrusive on the main area of gameplay. The fact that the game is actually a platformer of floating islands is quite interesting and it sometimes feels like an RPG in Rayman’s world though with a completely different graphical style. Your character itself is very well detailed and any change in armour or equipment is very visible on the character which is great given how hard you have to work to get something that’s of a higher tier. Overall, everything is beautifully animated and incredibly sharp with lots of nice little embellishments that give additional character to each new area you discover.

 

Lots of hacking and slashing and attention to detail found here.

The environments of Maple Story are quite varied and the game world is actually rather large. There are dark creepy woodland areas and bright, grassy regions too. The game consists of different islands, some bigger than others, and you can visit them as you progress through the game which is nice as exploring new worlds is a great part of RPG games. The regions of the game are all very distinct and interesting and there are plenty of towns and cities with their own unique background and style.

Pay to win capacity

Unfortunately there are many aspects of the game that revolve around the purchasing of ‘NX points’ such as character customization which, if paying for clothing isn’t bad enough, all expires after 90 days of use. A lot of new features that are brought into the game usually come with the little ‘if you pay for it’ clause that is very off-putting in an online game. Obviously, all companies need to make their money but no player likes to feel like they’re getting a raw deal with weak content but plenty of overcharging. The cash shop also features items that are not just cosmetic but that provide users with an in-game advantage over other players. By purchasing benefits that prevent experience loss upon death, double exp or full on exp buffs it seems as though ‘pay to win’ may be a big problem for those looking to play this game, for free, on an equal playing field. Most of the things in the cash shop are cosmetic such as pets and clothing though the ability to get married in game will cost you somewhere between $10 to $30, depending on how much your love is worth. Thankfully there are no subscription costs and NX points are not a necessary purchase so you can quite happily enjoy this game without spending a penny.

Overall

I find Maple Story to be lacking in any worthwhile content due to the strong focus on killing monsters. The quests are repetitive and fairly boring but the dialogue between yourself and NPCs is quite ample. It’s quite hard to get on servers and I frequently experienced crashing and disconnections with no real help from the support team. The community isn’t particularly good either. Whilst I usually wouldn’t a blame a game for what kind of people play it I believe there should be a means of not making new or lower levelled players an inconvenience on the rest of the community. The fact that those with greater real world wealth can purchase stuff to give them an in-game advantage is a pet peeve for me and whilst I don’t mind cosmetic items I don’t agree with double or buffed experience purchases. Maple story looks and sounds wonderful but its surface charm quickly dissipates with actual in game experience.

Score: 5/10

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The Graveyard - Full Review (Free PC game)

The Graveyard is a 2008 indie type game that was developed with the intention of drawing an emotional response from the player and existing as living, breathing art. For me, it failed to do that. I was disappointed with the stark nature of the game and the inability to do anything other than walk down one, set path and sit on a bench. Whilst the game looks quite appealing in its minimalist black and white palette and sounds quite nice the sheer lack of interactivity makes you wonder why they bothered making this a game in the first place.

Graphics

For a game that boasts ‘fantastic’ graphical ability the actual appearance of the game was good, but not that good. What was more noteworthy was the detail and realism of the small fluttering birds that bandied around the graveyard as they were genuinely quite nice to look at. The entire game is in black and white which, whilst overall reducing the visual impact of the game, fitted in with the themes of death that the game was promoting. The shadows of the old woman, lamp posts and graves were all nicely done and tended to darken or lighten depending on what the clouds above were doing. The entire game however came across as slightly fuzzy with clumps of 2D leaves in the otherwise lovely trees. The ending of the game is a prolonged close up of the old woman’s face where you can vividly see deep wrinkles in her weathered face, short and choppy hair stuffed under a black cap and her tired, sad eyes. Unfortunately the face model is all bit sharp around the edges and the lips, chin and clothing in particular all have very defined, straight edges which ruins the effect entirely.

If anything, this game makes you consider the pointlessness of life.

Audio

I think the first thing I noticed upon entering the game was the quality of the sounds. The game has no music but relies instead on a backdrop of a blustering wind, cawing crows and tiny twittering birds. The audio is all very clear and, though minimal, stands quite strong as the necessary backdrop you’d expect in such a peaceful place. Considering the game is set in a graveyard it would have been very easy to give it all a dead, eerie feel but instead the developers have opted for something quite innocuous and tranquil. Any tranquillity that the game instilled in you is lost towards the end though when, after sitting on the bench at the end of the pathway, the creepiest Dutch song begins to play. It’s kind of a summary of the death in the old lady’s life in what is, presumably, her native language which is a nice touch as it feels more personal that way. The song goes on for a long time but with English subtitles so you get to enjoy the unusual lyrics, consisting of things like; “Look that’s Emma, stillborn, take care you don’t step on her, her portrait is long lost, a little blue cross, never baptized.” Whilst the music itself keeps up a continuous, steady beat with an almost childlike tune of plucking strings. Never have I been so glad for an already short game to end.

Gameplay

Ok so, is looks quite nice and sounds great but the game is simply lacking in things to do. Rather than it being a game as such it’s more a short piece of indie artwork that can be interacted with, though that appears to have been the point. The woman, what with being rather old and hampered by a walking stick, is extraordinarily slow as she hobbles down the one main path. Attempting to go off to other paths just leaves the camera stuck in the middle with no swivelling around to see where your character has gone so it’s quite obvious there’s nothing there to explore. I’d have preferred it if things could be interacted with; feeding the birds, thinking to herself or perhaps there should be some other grieving people in the graveyard, but there’s not. The game is fairly barren in terms of content and it feels as though, despite trying to get across some message and going to a fair bit of effort to do so, the developers have missed an opportunity to flesh it out into something a bit more substantial. At first I imagined it was due to the fact I was playing the free trial of the game but, after buying the full game for a rather modest sum, the only additional feature of buying the full game was that the elderly woman had a very small chance of death each time you play the game (of natural causes, not some kind of freak accident.)

By purchasing the full game, and after repeated playthroughs, there is a chance that the women will die as she sits on the bench with the Dutch song stringing along in the background as the camera focuses on her face. This ending is, admittedly, much preferred as it feels like the chapter of her life has finally drawn to a close after reflecting on the deaths of those she knew.

Looks fairly appealing, shame you can't go anywhere.

Overall

The Belgian developer of this short little game describe it as "more like an explorable painting than an actual game” and I am inclined to agree with them; it’s not a game. Unfortunately, it’s not really ‘explorable’ either as there is quite simply no exploring involved. There’s nothing to actually find within the game. The harsh truth of the matter is this; you walk down a path, with no turning involved, just forward. Turn around, sit on a bench, listen to a sad song about her life and then, if you paid for it, watch her die. Is this an explorable painting? Not really, whilst I agree that it’s a form of art I don’t necessarily agree that it’s an interesting or emotional one. It’s a shame, as the game was designed to draw an emotional response from the player, which it doesn’t. Not only that, I imagine it was designed to portray themes such as the fragility of life, the unending struggle of this woman’s existence and how she’s now deteriorated into something quite weak and humble, but again, it doesn’t. In short, whilst The Graveyard is certainly a curious little thing it quite simply isn’t fun and, instead, it’s rather boring. Any attempts at being a living piece of artwork has fallen flat and, when trying to create a connection between a player and a character, it may actually help to have more interaction than sitting her down on a bench.

If you want to try out the game for yourself and see if you enjoyed it more than I did, feel free to pick it up here.

Score: 5/10

To discover more of my PC game reviews, check out this page here.

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