Fahrenheit (Indigo Prophecy) - Review (PlayStation 2, Xbox and PC game)

This is perhaps the first encounter I ever had with an interactive drama game and, quite honestly, I never would have thought it a genre that would become popular. 'Fahrenheit' was released in 2005 by Quantic Dream and was really a sort of early experimental game that would set the stage for their later games of 'Heavy Rain' and 'Beyond: Two Souls'. For its time, 'Fahrenheit' looks amazing and upon returning to it, understanding a lot more about the genre now that 10 years had passed, I found the experience to be significantly more enjoyable. 

Developer: Quantic Dream
Genre: Interactive drama
Release date: 2nd October 2005
Platforms: PlayStation 2 and Xbox
ESRB: T – Teen

‘Fahrenheit’ starts in a dingy men’s bathroom at the back of an equally grim American diner. An ordinary man murders another patron for seemingly no reason but everything isn’t what it seems as the murderer, Lucas Kane, wasn’t in control of himself when he committed this brutal killing. In fact, he barely has any memory of the incident and now he stands there, staring down at the bloodied bathroom floor, the body of his victim still lying there when, just a few feet away a policeman turns up. Lucas has limited time to dispose of the evidence, clean the place up, hide the body and escape the diner unnoticed whilst, all the while, the policeman draws closer and closer to the scene of the crime. This is where you’re dropped in and as the screen splits into two, simultaneously showing what you, as Lucas, is up to it tracks the cop’s conversation and movements in the next room. This is a game that throws you in the deep end and I experienced true panic as I matched the button combinations to mop the bloodied floor, pounding away at the triggers to drag the heavy corpse into a toilet stall and feeling stupid but desperate for dumping the knife in the bin by the sinks before hightailing it out of there. Walking past that policeman, casual as can be, and out into the wintery street was a true adrenaline rush and every moment was fraught with the terror of being discovered and the confusion of what the hell just happened. If anything, ‘Fahrenheit’ really does make you feel as helpless and confused as Lucas does within its opening moments and this deep character connection is only intensified as the game goes on. 

Now, this game is an interactive drama so there’s a great deal of cinematic style in there that makes you feel as though you’re part of a film such as those black bars at the top of the bottom, faux widescreen style. Quite often the screen will also show you two different perspectives when things are happening simultaneously. In times like this you can frequently choose who to take control of as the game consists of four main characters. We’ve already met one; Lucas, but his brother who happens to also be a priest, Markus is also playable. Then we’ve got the other side of the coin, a detective called Carla and an NYPD agent called Tyler who are both trying to figure out why ordinary people are killing total strangers all the way across New York. It’s a murder mystery with a difference for these detectives as the only similarity between all of the murders is that they all share the same ritual patterns. Yes, there’s some kind of witchcraft at work here, but in modern day New York that’s basically madness. The constant switching up of perspective is far from confusing and I actually found it really refreshing to switch between the official side of things and then the everyday madness that is now Lucas’ life whether that’s trying to cover his own tail by laundering his bloody sheets or cowering in his office cubicle as disturbing visions plague his every waking moment. 

 
The game holds a real mystery even though satanic ritual stuff is hardly new ground but, quite honestly, ‘Fahrenheit’ manages to get such a hold on you that you don’t mind a few clichés here and there. The narrative is interesting and the storytelling rather superb and, with alternate endings, there’s a nice amount of re-playability as you explore how things could have turned out had you acted otherwise. An interesting feature of the game is that Lucas Kane has a mental health meter which deteriorates as bad things happen to him and which can be improved by looking after him. Now this isn’t the Sims but you will experience a Game Over if the meter is empty as Lucas will, depending on the scene you’re in, commit suicide or experience a mental breakdown. It’s an odd thing to do but simple things like having Lucas eat, urinate, receive good news or made a positive discovery that aids him in some way all add on points in making the poor guy feel better. Counteracting against your efforts at keeping him mentally healthy are generally just the in-game events such as the opening scene which, unsurprisingly, cause Lucas a fair bit of stress. 

Everything is interactive as I mentioned before, if you’re familiar with Quantic Dreams more modern games you’ll know exactly where I’m coming from. Conversations are led by you in that you pick dialogue options and action sequences require a fair bit of button pressing at the right time where, if you mess something up, you can often die instantly. I had real trouble during a chase scene through the office with Lucas and it did take me several attempts to get it right due to my apparent inability to put the analogue stick in the right direction when commanded to. It wasn’t too frustrating however as the checkpointing system is done really well and you rarely have to go back over new ground. What struck me as another unique feature, ‘Fahrenheit’ seems to be full of them really, is that conversations have a ‘suspicion’ meter when you’re controlling Lucas in conversations. An example of this is that, directly after the murder, a policeman comes and knocks on Lucas’ door and asks to look around his flat. If you hadn’t done things like cleaned up the bloodied bedsheets and your blood stained clothes then the suspicion meter will instantly rise but it’s not just obvious indications of murder like that that you need to watch out for. If Lucas fails to give convincing answers to probing questions then the NPC will become more and more suspicious of Lucas. To make matters worse you need to answer questions in an allocated time slot, failure to do so either ends the conversation abruptly or leads to Lucas answering in a sort of ‘default’ manner.

The plot of the game is described by the developers as ‘elastic’ in that it follows an overarching plotline but will stretch to accommodate player decisions. What I particularly love is the way in which your decisions and actions as Lucas effects the information the other characters you play have to go on. At the beginning of the game if you fail to clean everything up in the bathroom then Carla and Tyler have much more information to go on and, later on in the game, Lucas’ identity will be discovered much more easily by the police. This quite subtle evolution in which the way you play the game effects the way the story progresses is really quite enjoyable and, alongside those alternate endings I mentioned, means you can run through the game a few times to explore the differences you can inflict upon the world. Of course, the plotline is the same and does not really deviate from itself but the game isn’t exactly lengthy and there’s enough there to warrant a second playthrough.

Graphically the game isn’t exactly stunning, especially not in late 2014 what with the release of the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One and all of the sexy games that we’re so used to now but, it’s not bad looking either. Weather is quite a big focus in the game, as you’ll discover if you play it, and the entire time you’ll be experiencing a sort of eternal winter’s scene in New York which looks really quite lovely and is fairly well done. Characters are all very unique with defined personalities and facial features that aren’t exactly smooth but which are surprisingly individualised and you’ll be coming across quite a range of NPCs to converse with. The music composed for the game is actually from a film composer, Angelo Badalamenti and the expertise shows as the background music is particularly atmospheric and very subtle. Its general purpose is to provide an emotional backdrop to the scenes in the game and it does this well, never feeling like a generic haze of instruments and instead coming across as a part of the story rather than something overlaid with it. 

At times I found ‘Fahrenheit’ to be a little slow paced and sometimes I struggled with the times where fast reflexes were required but, aside from this, the experience was thoroughly enjoyable. When I first played it upon its release I found it far too intimidating to even get very far in it as the pressure it puts you under is instant and incessant. There came a point where I was less worried about Lucas having a mental breakdown and was more worried for my own sanity as, upon realizing I hadn’t tidied up after the murder before answering the policeman who was essentially trying to hammer the door down with his knuckles, I was verging on a panic attack. You only make the mistake once though and, upon retrying the level, I learnt to be cautious about the way I went about playing the game. Turns out there are no second chances when you’re playing as a murderer.

The Good:

• Fascinating premise, brilliant opening scenes 
• The ability to change between characters offers up new perspectives on the same story 
• Well written narrative and excellent storytelling  
• Although I’ve seen the occult re-written in lots of different ways, this one was still new to me 
• Quite beyond its time in terms of atmosphere and game mechanics 
• Lovely music, not bad looking 
• Decent characterizations and you do tend to emphasize with Lucas 
• Interesting gameplay features like mental health meter and suspicion meter 
• Feels like a film with faux widescreen shots, chapters and split perspectives

The Bad:

• Some lip syncing problems and graphical constraints due to the age of it 
• A little slow paced at times may turn some people off  
• Stressful quick time events can lead to frequent retries  
• Tyler is a pretty lacklustre character who doesn’t really have enough impact 
• A sort of ‘Simon says’ button mashing system is confusing and flawed

The Score: 8/10

Final thoughts: “Quantic Dream’s first real mark on the gaming industry as they pioneered into the interactive drama genre was a complete success. I found the game rather stressful because I can’t handle pressure when on a time limit but once I got into the swing of it I really enjoyed myself.”

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Haunting Ground - Review (PlayStation 2 game)

A young girl finds herself trapped inside a castle with no memory of how she got there. The twisted and monstrous inhabitants of the castle chase and attack Fiona as she tries to find the way out, solving puzzles and hiding all along the way. Joined only by a white German Shepard called Hewie the two must team up and escape Belli Castle in what turns out to be a very well written, surprisingly artistic survival horror game where puzzle solving and hiding is prioritized over violence.

Developer: Capcom

Genre: Survival Horror

Release date: May 10th 2005 (Japan & PAL: April 2005)

Platforms: PlayStation 2

ESRB: M - Mature

So, the story of ‘Haunting Ground’ follows a young woman called Fiona who is taking a trip with her parents when all of a sudden they have a mysterious car crash. Fiona wakes up in a castle with no memory of how she got there or what happened to her parents and, as the story goes on, Fiona must uncover why she is at this castle and how it is connected to her. Whilst the castle is home to several inhabitants it’s safe to say that they most definitely have ulterior motives than what they may be saying as to why she is there. As Fiona searches for answers she eventually comes across a white German Shepard called Hewie who is being abused by another tenant of the castle and, after rescuing him, Hewie teams up with Fiona in order to repay her for her kindness and to escape the castle with her. Hewie is really the key to surviving the ‘Haunting Ground’ as not only is he an offensive character where he may bite and defend Fiona against the enemies but he’s essential to solving many of the puzzles in the game. 

Fiona herself is completely helpless and is able to do very little other than some fairly weak kicking that does very little to deter enemies, she’s unable to knock them down and generally she cannot damage them in the slightest. Since Fiona is helpless you must rely on other tactics in order to survive your stay in Belli castle and what this results in is a great deal of hide and seek as the creatures of the castle, known as pursuers, will doggedly hunt Fiona down and attempt to kill her. Due to this you must guide Fiona to hide constantly whether that’s under a table or inside of a closet the castle is littered with hiding spots that you need to take advantage of. Sometimes it’s better to simply run away whilst Hewie distracts your opponents but either way the pursuers cannot be killed so tackling them head on is extremely ineffective. Truly, the most that can happen is that they get knocked down and, even then, they’ll just get straight back up again so you’re better off running and hiding. 

The game contains chase scenes and these happen quite frequently, every few minutes or so but within this narrow time slot where you and Hewie are left alone you’ll be required to solve puzzles in order to advance deeper into the castle before they show up again. The puzzles are extremely varied and sometimes rather deadly, an example of this is that at one point Hewie was required to stand on a switch whilst Fiona navigated through an open gate, having to avoid a section of floor that would kill her should she stand on it, before deactivating a lever on the other side of the gate to let Hewie through. A completely different puzzle required you to clear a huge swarm of butterflies out of the way of a door by luring them with flowers whilst another involved pushing blocks around into a certain configuration. The constantly original puzzles means that you’re constantly being challenged to think through things in new ways so there’s very little room to become bored, tired or disillusioned with the castle as everything is interesting and new whether that’s the puzzles or the rooms that you venture through. The locations themselves, I should mention, are brilliantly designed with so many interesting places that you’ll be led through whether that’s a room of mirrors, vast libraries, overgrown gardens or the ever creepy merry-go-round room. This is a game that makes you want to explore more yet punishes you for venturing out of your hiding spot with constant harassment from some very disturbing enemies. Luckily, the game does feature boss battles and you’ll be given the opportunity to kill a pursuer, there are four of them, once and for all. 

Graphically the game is fairly interesting and very well detailed for its time. Something I particularly like is what happens to the screen when Fiona descends into a full scale anxiety attack. Fiona is actually unable to stay close to the pursuers, even if they are not attacking her, as if she does she will start to panic. The more Fiona panics the more obscured your vision will become as the screen turns black and white with a grainy effect that reduces how much you can see. Once Fiona hits the peak of panic she will start running of her own accord leaving you to guide her safely until she calms down as, if she happens to fall, she will be left totally vulnerable to a pursuer, and that’s never a good thing. Fiona doesn’t actually have any sort of life bar or hitpoints and you’re left to rely on how Fiona appears to be fairing than any concrete bar or numbers and whilst this feature is now more readily available in many games this was, at the time, quite an unusual element. As Fiona takes more damage you have to look out for things like her movement slowing and whether she’s clutching her side or slumping over. The game is pretty realistic in terms of how many damage Fiona will take from different offensive weapons or attacks so, for instance, if Fiona is attacked with a sharp shard of glass she will immediately be in a state of critical damage. It’s things like this which really add to the overall immersion of the game and which support that feeling of helplessness and weakness because, after all, you’re just a scared, trapped girl with no weapons, super powers or training. Fiona is no Lara Croft and so, whilst it may be annoying to some that she’s so fragile, that’s exactly how she should be. 

Fiona’s fragility means that Hewie is so much more valuable to you and what is done incredibly well is the bond that is formed between girl and dog and you do see their relationship strengthen as the game goes on. In times when Hewie may sometimes be roaming another part of the castle and not by your side there’s a tendency to feel significantly more afraid as your one and only defence is no longer there and, in this sense, Hewie does not feel like a gimmick or a burden on the player. Even though Hewie can die due to his limited hitpoints he’s a fairly hardy character and is so useful in terms of gameplay that you will fight tooth and nail to keep him alive as you would yourself. During periods of down-time the interactions you can have with him help establish a stronger relationship as you can give different commands to him. Fiona is able to praise, scold and instruct Hewie to search for hidden items in the ground and whilst scolding may sound a little harsh what it actually serves to do is to strengthen the relationship between Fiona and Hewie as, when Hewie’s being disobedient, scolding him sets him on the right path again and means he is less likely to disobey again. If Hewie is handled correctly then towards the end of the game there will be no instances in which he will disobey Fiona, so strong the bond that has formed between them. 

It should be mentioned that this game does have altenative endings, four in fact, and these range from the extremely ‘bad’ ending which is an entirely separate conclusion to three others which are slightly tweaked versions of one another. There’s a fair bit of re-playability factor in these alternative endings but what is also very nice to have is the amount of unlockable content in the game whether that’s costumes, additional cutscenes, art gallerys and awards for achievements such as beating the game within a certain amount of time. With all this in mind, and the fairly solid length of between 10 to 15 hours, it’s safe to say you get a fair bit of bang for your buck with this early 2000s game. The game is very well written with high quality voice acting, creepy and well detailed environments and a non-offensive musical score that didn’t really wow me but which provided a perfectly suitable backdrop to a very good game. Whilst some may criticize its similarity to the ‘Clock Tower’ series that doesn’t mar the fact that the ‘Haunting Ground’ delivers an enjoyable, albeit rather stressful, experience.

The Good: 

• Plenty of disturbing imagery keeps the horror alive
• Controlling both Hewie and Fiona is a nice, additional dimension
• The way in which you treat Hewie having an effect on the endings of the game is very interesting
• Lots of unlockable features and alternative endings adds in essential additional content
•  Character design is superb
• Intelligently build locations that are varied and interesting
• Challenging puzzles that are never too alike
• Perfect atmosphere 
• Well written, rather adult, storyline that keeps you guessing

The Bad: 

• The AI could be better in places
• The audio isn't particularly stunning 
• Fiona's helplessness can border on annoying at times

The Score: 8/10

Final thoughts: "This is horror done right with plenty of helplessness and survival elements. Whilst the game has some pretty intense and disturbing sexual imagery in the game that's not necessarily a bad thing. In fact, it only adds to the repulsive situation that Fiona is trying to escape from.

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The Sims 2 Castaway - Full Review (PS2 game)

'The Sims 2 Castaway' broke away from a home life based game and introduced the completely new concept of managing your shipwrecked crew as they try and survive on a series of islands. 

Developer: The Sims Division
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Genre: Life simulation
Release date: October 22 2007
Platforms: PlayStation 2, Nintendo Wii, PSP and Nintendo DS.
ESRB: T - Teen

'The Sims 2 Castaway' is a spin off title from 'The Sims 2' but all the elements of a life simulation game still exist, though in new and interesting formats. The game includes features such as having to collect resources, create a tribe, find collectibles and most importantly, find a way to escape the island paradise you’ve been stranded on.

Gameplay and story

You start out by creating a crew of between one to six crew members and, in this game, the initial character creation is extremely poor with limited editing of a Sim’s face and very few clothing options. Something which is interesting though is the ability to select what your Sim’s industry was prior to the whole, boat crash thing, choosing from several career options including chef, ranger, mechanic and doctor. The job picked has an effect on what skills they start out with but, of course, these skills can be raised over time. After you’ve selected your crew you get to pick a starting crew member then watch as, through a series of photographs, the boat they were cruising on encounters a terrible storm that ultimately capsizes them all. When you awaken, as your chosen Sim, you find that you’ve washed up, alone, on a sandy beach. With nothing on your person except a sleeping mat, knife and toilet paper you’ll have to work out how you’re going to build a new life for yourself on this seemingly uninhabited island.

During the game you have an increasing number of objectives that start out simple and become more and more complicated with the overall end goal being to find your way off the island. In the meanwhile, whilst you figure out how to do that, you have to get used to your new island lifestyle and adapt to the many challenges it poses. Now, it’s very easy to criticize this game from the off because there are many prevalent issues that cannot be ignored but, despite this, I do sincerely love this game so don’t take my criticisms too harshly. Before we launch into the numerous issues with the game however let’s look at the actual gameplay. 

Quite simply, the gameplay is very similar to the original Sims games in that you control a Sim and are responsible for his or her wellbeing by keeping their motives raised and giving them a home to live in. As you follow the objectives you’ll encounter your crew members, provided you made them at the beginning of the game, and from there you can build relations with them with the ultimate goal of forming a tribe and assigning everybody jobs. Skills are still present within the game only now they are increased in more obscure ways such as creating clothing from flowers, vines or leaves to raise your creativity skill or by harvesting ingredients for your cooking skill. Unlike previous games your motives, such as hunger, sleep and fun, are only discovered by doing certain things in the game, hygiene for example does not become an issue until you meet another Sim, which says a lot about the developers’ opinion on bathing. The ways in which you raise your motives in this game are admittedly quirky, inventive and resourceful and, away from the creature comforts of home, more of a challenge. Whilst later on you can construct yourself a functioning shower you start off by raising your hygiene motive using the old fashioned method; swimming in any bodies of water you come across. Initially, alone on the island, social can quickly become a problem for extroverted Sims but fear not for you can always create yourself an imaginary friend out of a coconut shell, berries and a whole lot of sand. Alternatively, you can always talk to the resident chimps or just track down your crew members and be done with it.

On the three islands you’re confined too you’re not going to have much trouble fashioning yourself a comfortable retreat as resources are varied and bountiful. As it turns out you washed up on possibly the best trio of islands in the whole Caribbean as the sea is full of clams and fish, the jungle is full of every single fruit, vegetable or nut you could possibly think of and there’s even the potential for chicken or boar meat, should you know where to look. Everything is very well integrated into the way you play and generally there are many things that can be done to continually enhance your island life. You begin, for example, by building a very simple fire pit and fire by collecting up washed up driftwood and once your fire is lit you’ll use it to cook food, keep warm and tell stories, when that fire eventually burns out, you can collect up the residual ash to be used for your own private farmland later on. Whilst you may start with just your sleeping roll beside your tiny fire pit you’ll eventually build up a complex mansion using harder to obtain resources such as metal ore and glass that was forged within the very heart of a volcano. No, really. Once you’ve got your basic survival down you can aim to live much more comfortably as is quite standard in a Sims game. Whilst house building and interior decoration is usually easy to muddle through when you have access to the build tool and a plethora of furniture items but here, on the island, you’ll have to make everything from scratch whether that’s the individual wall segments of your house or a pre-shaped layout that ranges from a scrubby little shack to a flamboyant wooden mansion. 

Something which I detest in games has made an appearance in this one and that’s the build limit, you may remember my fury at its presence in the console edition of ‘Zoo Tycoon’ but, for once, it’s not so bad in this game. A built limit restricts how much you can place down in any given area and is measured by a bar at the side, when the bar is full you can put nothing else down until you remove some things. Looking on the bright side of things, there are plenty of areas where the limit starts off as very low, it varies from section to section, allowing you to build your perfect mansion and, since it’s an island with very different content in each section, it’s quite understandable that you cannot put much down in a place consisting mostly of cliff face and jungle compared to a huge open plain with fruit frees and a pond around the outside of it. 

An undeniable problem with the game revolves around one of the primary gameplay elements and that is the gathering of resources. At later stages this involves a lot of grinding as it takes a fair bit of time to find and gather all of the materials you require for higher tiered objects. Resources are often used up very quickly too; vines are used for almost everything so you’ll frequently be hacking away at them in the jungle, constantly trying to replenish your supply. There’s also, sadly, a lot of lag in this game and the loading screens tend to be long and frequent, often leaving you frustrated with the slow pace of the game. Whilst I personally can cope with the length of the loading screens the worst crimes of this game is most definitely the horrible lag which will cause delays in selecting actions, turning the camera and waiting for your Sim to do anything. If this is not already bad enough, the camera is terrible as it often gets stuck on the environment leaving you staring awkwardly at plants or the hills that border the edge of an area. When placing an item sometimes it will appear well away from the area of play, as though it were on the other side of the map, leaving you to guide it slowly back into the placement grid. The houses too suffer from the poor camera as, whilst you can lower the walls, it’s annoying to have to do that just to see partially into a home and, even with the walls lowered, you’re still stuck looking at the supporting beams.

Graphics and environments

When playing this game in 2014 I was unsurprised to find the graphics a little harsh around the edges with plenty of blurry moments and a fair bit of choppy, razor sharp edges on things like hair and the leaves of the trees. What I was surprised at was how little it bothered me as, despite the obviously inferior graphics, the game has gone to great lengths to keep everything rather picturesque. Having gotten over the initial jolt of a low-end 2007 PS2 game I began to appreciate the detail that had gone into the design of each individual resource whether it was cucumbers, chicken feathers or fish as they swam visibly beneath the surface of clear, tropical waters. Nothing is beyond recognition and even tiny objects like different shaped shells or messages in bottles that you can pick up on the beach are noticeable from a distance so the frustration of searching through poorly constructed environments is thankfully not present. That said, the Sims look terrible but it’s mostly because of the lack of customizability, particularly of their faces, that has annoyed me. No matter what you do to the lips of women, for example, they’ll always be stuck in a wide, toothy grin so in that sense you’ll have your work cut out for you making each Sim look unique especially when, after enough time on the island, all their hair will grow to an identical shaggy length. Thankfully, a variety of clothing designs and the ability to trim your hair and beard back helps you keep track of who is who.

The environments in general are nice and varied and the fact you can freely venture between all three islands, using a fast travel option on the map if it suits you, is really notable. Deep, dark caves, lush jungles, sandy beaches and interesting places like an ancient forge within a volcano or a crystal strewn cavern. It never feels as though areas are repeating on themselves and you’ll spend a good portion of time carefully selecting which place will be where you finally settle down and build your ultimate home.

Overall

At its very core 'The Sims 2 Castaway' introduces a really interesting concept of surviving, either alone or in a tribe of people, on tropical islands. Everything is very well integrated from the way you raise your skills to the way you satisfy your Sims motives and there’s lots of curious elements such as quick-time fishing and making furniture out of resources. Primarily, the game suffers from terrible lag and a painstakingly awkward camera with little annoyances such as grinding for materials and the inability to have proper romantic relationships not helping its case. I particularly like the inclusion of objectives and a sort of story mode with the option to just play at your own pace and relish the island life should you feel like it. Overall, this is a great simulation game that is very pleasant and original so you can look past its low-tech feel and poor construct then you’ll likely enjoy this deviation from the classic Sims game.

The Good:

• Variety of tasks and objectives
• Open ended gameplay
• Original survival premise makes for interesting gameplay
• Ability to build everything up from scratch is really rewarding.
• Very well intergrated way of raising skills and motives.

The Bad:

• Lots of time is spent on gathering resources.
• The camera often gets stuck on environment.
• Sims relationships are limited.
• Character creation is boring, Sims all look very similar.
• Build limit a little annoying.

The Score: 6/10 

Last thoughts: "I wish this game wasn't so blurry and with such a terrible camera because, truly, this is a really addictive game and there's nothing out there on the market like it."

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Tony Hawk’s Underground - Full Review (PS2, Xbox, Gamecube, PC game)

Tony Hawk’s Underground was a revolutionary addition to the extreme sports game genre as it not only introduced a storyline but also the ability to get off your board and walk among the people you’d been terrorizing. 

Developer: Neversoft (PS2, Gamecube, Xbox), Beenox (PC)
Publisher: Activision
Genre: Adventure, sports game
Release date: November 21 2003 (EU)
Platforms: PS2, Gamecube, Xbox and PC
ESRB: T - Teen

The fifth edition of the Tony Hawk series, T.H.U.G was released in 2003 by Activision for a range of platforms and brought with it a huge array of new features that set in motion an entirely new conception of sports games. From humble beginnings you’ll journey from rookie to pro skater by completing challenges and missions amongst a sprawl of urban cities and suburban neighbourhoods, this radical gamble on focus and gameplay structure really did pay off and these days you’ll see all modern skating games following a similar trend to Tony Hawk’s Underground.

Story and gameplay

The story is fairly simplistic though nicely tied together. You start out as an unknown rookie skater who lives in New Jersey with your friend Eric Sparrow. A pro skater, Chad Muska, is set to arrive in Muska makes an appearance he’s impressed by your task performing abilities and suggests that you try to earn a sponsorship from the local skateshop. I can only guess that he’s not that impressed since he makes no attempt to support you himself. This experience marks the beginning of your skating career as you journey from amateur to professional, travelling from city to city and visiting places like Hawaii, Moscow and Manhattan along the way. The story has a few interesting revelations as you’re pitted against old friends and some odd moments never seen before in a skating game. This is by far the most in depth storyline any extreme sports game has ever attempted and, whilst it’s nothing particularly special, it’s certainly a nice change of pace to your usual ‘pointlessly skate through these areas and rack up big combos’ experience. If you enjoy the casual skating element then have no fear as there’s a free skate mode allowing you to play pro skaters, and some special, secret characters once you unlock them. 

Tony Hawk’s Underground marks the first game where you’re able to get off your board and this is an ingenious idea as it means you can climb buildings, steal vehicles and reach new heights never before accessible. In terms of realism too it’s essential as, now and then, you do want to walk into a shop or down the street to talk to someone. The only problem with your new found feet is that the mechanism is poorly implanted and so often results in slow, staggering gameplay that can take away from the overall thrill of fast paced, combo bashing skating experience. On the other hand, the skating gameplay is much improved compared to previous Tony Hawk games and there are a significant number of new tricks that have been implemented and all of them require absolute precision. Complex tricks are tricky to pull off but when you manage it you feel a great sense of achievement as, quite often, it will take you several attempts to nail it. Frantically mashing at random buttons just won’t work in this game and the fiddly ‘caveman’ mode where you get off your board mid combo, only to jump back on before the timer runs out, is difficult to achieve in certain missions. 

The missions themselves are a nice mix between easy and agonizingly difficult and the variety is pretty surprising for a skating game. In some cases you’ll have to purposefully crash and burn up a vehicle whilst at other times you have to break into a location, impress various people or film a local skater as he himself performs some tricks. The story of the game also puts you in some new situations such as being able to pick which team you want to join after watching their videos before proving how cool you are by throwing an awesome party. The ending levels consist mostly of a huge competition against all of the opposition and if there’s one thing that will spur your competitive street it’s this moment as it really manages to rile you up and get you ready to fight for your place. The situations where you have to drive a vehicle tends to come off a little forced and the driving mechanics in general are poor with terrible steering and constant low speeds. That said, you cannot deny the developers determination to keep things varied and interesting and, though the driving is terrible, the ability to set fire to cars makes those problems seem distant. Either way the game has a great balance of challenging and easy missions making it challenging for pros but also accessible to the skating newbies. 

Customizability

The game has great lifespan and the career mode alone with last you many hours, not to mention the huge amounts of customization that has been included for the multiplayer game modes. Whilst the ‘create-a-park’ mode is nothing new in a Tony Hawk game, T.H.U.G brings it back with style and substance. There’s a significant amount of new items and the new ‘rail tool’ in particular is great as it means you can place a rail wherever you want to. Even more impressively is the ability to create your own cities with towering buildings and skate parks within them, compared to earlier ‘create-a-park’ modes this one is out of this world. Interestingly, you can create your own challenges including time limits and ‘spell the word by picking up the letters’ type challenges for you and your friends to try and complete and this adds in not only an extra layer of custom design but a fun one too. Tony Hawk’s Underground has also introduced the ability to create and then name your own tricks before allowing you to test them out in the actual game and, continuing on with the customizability theme, you can also design and create your own skateboard to perform your own tricks on. If that’s not enough you can also play yourself by importing your own face onto your character by using the face mapping tool, at this point I’m not sure they could cram any more customizability options into this game as the PS2 would most likely implode. All of these additional features are surprisingly ahead of their time as, though creating your own custom content is commonplace nowadays, this stuff was revolutionary for 2003. 


Graphics and audio

Graphically, T.H.U.G is painfully average but considering this is the first Tony Hawk game to attempt things like, making people look halfway realistic, they didn’t do a bad job. The characters in the game do attempt to blink and move their mouths along with the speech but none of it is particularly in sync and it’s quite apparent that this was an undeveloped feature. The best part about the graphics are, by far, the buildings and city surroundings as there’s a fair bit of detail and it’s a reasonably open world game. Great effort has been taken to ensure that buildings don’t often repeat on themselves and lots of little details have been added to make the streets and cities feel as vibrant as possible. 

The music is definitely something worth noting as the soundtrack is absolutely huge with well over 70 different tracks that range from pop to rock music, I’m pretty sure there’s some reggae and country music in there too. The huge variety of music simply means that you’re not going to get tired of listening to the same monotonous tracks over and over again, though you may want to change up your playlist a little if you’re not into the ol’ country songs. The sound effects of the game are also much improved and now you can hear the difference in terrain as you skate over it whilst the general background ambiance now accurately reflects where you’re playing. The voice acting is above average and in the very least it’s expressive rather than dull though, again, the lip syncing is a major problem.

Overall

As I keep mentioning; this was a groundbreaking game for its time. If you like the Tony Hawk series and have never played this then for that reason alone it’s worth playing as I’m sure you’ll see the origins of modern skating games within this one. Although though the graphics are so-so, the lip syncing is diabolical and some missions are a little tiring it’s still a very imaginative game with a fairly interesting storyline, plenty of variation and some really brilliant skating gameplay. The levels are large and interesting with some really great level designs that tend to be based around urban cities or suburban neighbourhoods. There’s a huge level of customizability now introduced and you can really personalize your T.H.U.G experience, particularly if you want to play the game in co-op. All in all, this is the skating game that almost everyone remembers as being the start of new extreme sports age.

The Good:

• Lots of customizability
• Large soundtrack
• Huge, sandbox environments
• Fairly good storyline that breaks boundaries
• Varied gameplay elements
• Lots of new features proved groundbreaking

The Bad:

• Not much reason to replay the main storyline
• Voice acting and lip syncing generally poor
• Graphics can be bland
• Tedious in places

The Score: 7/10 

Last thoughts: "It's easy to see why this game started a sort of extreme sports revolution but, personally, Underground 2 is preferable as it irons out the kinks of tedious and repetitive gameplay"

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Evil Twin, Cyprien's Chronicles - Full Review (PS2, PC and Dreamcast game)

It’s probably for the best that this game is largely unheard of. It feels clumsy, looks rushed and unkempt and has the strangest dialogue I’ve ever experienced, barring ‘Two Worlds’. I’m not sure what I expected for £2 when I picked this up from Cex but I know I wasn’t expecting beautiful, though rather intrusive, music, surreal but fascinating boss monsters and the most obnoxious teenager in dungarees ever to grace my PlayStation. This game was released in 2001 for the PS2 and 2002 for the PC and Dreamcast by Ubisoft and is perhaps one of Ubisoft's better kept secrets.

I was really hopeful when the game booted up because the opening cutscene was genuinely lovely, it had this beautifully soft piano music, cinematic thunderstorms and panning over the lonely, dark looking orphanage. When it entered the orphanage itself the camera gracefully showcased the rusty showers, dripping taps, grotty water pipes and overall the horribly dirty and neglected bathroom that these children had to endure. It was all so eerie, so sad, so beautifully melancholy… then the camera focused on a boy at the sink, staring at his reflection and my word, he was hideous. Blocky, choppy, strange spoon shaped hands and though he looked like an 8 year old he spoke as though he’d not only hit puberty but it had hit him, repeatedly. Needless to say, I was not only disappointed but I was actually a little pained as what followed was the most headache inducing game I have ever played. And I’ve played ‘Two Worlds’.

Gameplay and plot

The general plotline of 'Evil Twin, Cyprien's Chronicles' is that you play Cyprien, a young boy living in an orphanage who’s feeling rather down and depressed because it’s his birthday and also the day his parents died. His friends throw a surprise party but Cyprien becomes furious at their constant attempts to make him feel better, goddamn them, and storms away from the party. In his bedroom he hops on the bed and starts talking to a talking teddy bear wearing a full length purple coat called Lenny who apparently, Cyprien gave life to. Cyprien rants and raves about his friends, banishing Lenny, condemning his world to oblivion then weighing up whether that would mean he was dead or not. Then he begins to laugh manically, during all of this drama the room darkens and we see shots of the boys at the party being dragged away by dark tendrils and Lenny disappearing behind Cyprien. By the time Cyprien’s come down from his gleeful high he realizes Lenny is gone and starts to panic before he himself fades away. When he awakens he’s in a drowned world with floating crates and muddy islands. What the hell have I gotten myself into this time, is all I could think, still trying to work out what exactly had just happened and why there had been a talking bear. Cyprien must now try and find his lost bear and friends who have become trapped in this world, along the way he will meet many strange creatures and learn the history of this bizarre place. 

The game plays like a 3D platformer similar to what you’d get from 'Croc' or 'Vexx' and once you’ve gotten used to the temperamental camera controls it’s a fairly easy ride. You jump between ledges, rocks and platforms to navigate your way through the world and, though there is no real indication where you’re supposed to go, you will easily find your way. Initially the world looks quite repulsive because it’s all muddy platforms and garish green water that hurts you a little when you fall into it. That’s not to say the rest of the game looks stunning but as an opening level they sure did pick an ugly one. As you jump between platforms you will find some items along the way, usually in the form of tiny floating bear heads that, after you’ve collected 100 of them, will give you an extra life. 

After the initial level you gain access to SuperCyp; Cyprien’s alter-ego who’s basically some kind of super hero with the ability to jump higher, shoot fire balls and glide a little. You activate SuperCyp by grabbing tiny floating SuperCyp heads which fill a meter up, once the meter is full you can transform into him and maintain that form by grabbing more of the heads. You can also pick up extra lives which are few and far between though you probably won’t need them as the game is painfully easy. Whilst SuperCyp uses his fire missiles to destroy enemies regular Cyprien has a slingshot which you can use by either zooming in for more accurate aiming or just mashing the fire button which is almost guaranteed to hit the enemy, provided you’re pointed towards him. The enemies are incredibly easy to kill and have terrible AI, quite often I was able to stand a few feet away and just continually fire at them with my slingshot without them even responding. If you’re looking for at least some form of challenge, you will be disappointed with the regular enemies. 

I was generally disappointed with the entire game because there are some genuinely brilliant elements like the dark surrealism and the unique storyline that’s just ruined by shoddy craftsmanship. The lore too is quite curious and the world that Lenny came from, and the one you’re now trapped in, really has the potential to be something very interesting but it just all feels a bit rushed and underappreciated. The dark surrealism and the gothic fantasy entwine perfectly and if nothing else the game is atmospheric but from a mechanical standpoint it’s simply awful. I was constantly getting stuck in bits of floor and between objects and sometimes the collision detection is simply non-existent. All of these mechanical problems coupled with terrible lip synching, an awful camera and frustrating controls means you’ll be lucky to see this game through to the point where things start to get good.

Graphics and audio

I’m not one to usually talk much about the audio of a game but the voice acting of this game is really quite horrendous. I don’t know why but every time Cyprien talks to another character it sounds as though they’re in some terrible comedy sketch because everything is just so forced and sarcastic. Cyprien is voiced by an adult and, considering he looks about ten years old, this is extremely off putting and a little disturbing. What’s even stranger is he keeps swearing and then at one point accused a guard of being racist, so I was left with little clue as to how old he actually was. Cyprien is generally very obnoxious which would be manageable if it was well acted but all it really does is give me a headache. There’s also a lot of dialogue too and I kept finding myself laughing at what they were saying, in a bad way. That said, the music of the game is very nice. It’s creepily reminiscent of a haunted fairground and, considering there’s a lot of child themes like buttons and toys in the game, this is likely intentional. The music is very overbearing during dialogue however as it does not stop but seems to get louder, making it very difficult to hear what’s being said. If the subtitles hadn’t been on I’m not sure I’d have been able to grasp anything that was being said to me due to the insistently loud and invasive background music.

The graphics are fairly bi-polar as sometimes you get some rather interesting areas that are detailed, quirky and exploring. Most of these nicer areas come a lot later on in the game and what you’re given in the early stages of the game are fairly hideous. Usually though it’s the interiors that are the nicest places to be as there is no shortage of decoration and objects to pad everything out. The exteriors are a huge let down however and a lot of the game is unfortunately spent running around outside. Generally the exteriors are bland, empty, badly designed and just plain boring really. Almost everything is smeared brown, greys or orange so if it wasn’t bad enough that there’s nothing to look at in the first place, what you’re left looking at is ugly and uninteresting. The game is split into different islands and, at one point, a boat so there’s a fair bit of diversity with where you get to explore. It’s only when the game really gets into the swing of it that you’re treated to the interesting surrealist environments, bosses and creatures that the game actually does well.

The characters are extremely blocky and choppy and to be fair this is on the PlayStation 2 so a lot of that is to be expected and for what they are, the characters could be worse. Mostly I’m just confused as to why the hands are shaped like warped spoons with no fingers and why the characters all have huge anime eyes. The characters are all very well designed however and there are some particularly memorable and disturbing looking boss monsters that are perfectly suited to the bizarre, dreamlike fantasy world that they inhabit.

Overall

I found this game very hard to grasp at the beginning because everything feels under-explained and there are some incredibly strange and bizarre moments. The whole thing feels as though it had an amazing premise and someone who really cared about it that was then ruined by half-assed mechanics, awful voice acting and some terrible level design. The strong points are the graphics and character design, as well as the music even if it was a bit loud, and I was quite intrigued at some of the characters I met along the way. I found Cyprien to be an extremely irritating protagonist and would never want to play him again, his ability to turn into SuperCyp felt pointless and more like an attempt to make the game more action orientated when truly it wasn’t necessary. The controls are diabolical, aiming with the slingshot is frustrating and awkward and the camera’s unpredictable nature made me want to throw the controller away and go play something else. By sticking around for several hours I found myself enjoying the places I was visiting and the things I was seeing but it took a lot of persistence to stomach the terrible game far enough into the storyline for things to start happening . You’ll get around about ten hours to fifteen hours of play out of this game so at least it’s not too short and there’s plenty of build-up, if only they’d tried a bit harder and fleshed it out more. Frankly, I think this game would have been better suited as an RPG.

Score: 5/10

Note: If you're thinking of playing this game then feel free to check out the cheats for it, here. 

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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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