The Unfinished Swan - Full Review (PS3 game)

The Unfinished Swan is a game of childish wonderment and discovery where everything along its path is a new and intriguing curiosity for you to explore. This game is flawless, enriching and deeply enjoyable and has the ability to keep you wanting more even after you’ve completed it. The Unfinished Swan is a beautifully captivating tale that’s told in a storybook manner by a softly spoken woman who straight away manages to captures your attention as though you were back in nursery school. You’re first introduced to a young boy called Monroe and his mother who loved to paint but who was always better at starting things than finishing them. Her most favourite of all her paintings was the Unfinished Swan who’s missing a bit of his neck. When Monroe’s mother dies, leaving Monroe alone in an orphanage, the only thing Monroe has left of her is this single painting. One night, the young boy awakens to find a door in his room that he’d never seen before. The swan in the painting has someone mysteriously disappeared leaving nothing but a blank canvass. Figuring the swan must have gone through this door, Monroe enters it too; and that’s where the story really begins.

Gameplay

This game had me confused when I first played it because you’re quite literally left staring at a blank white screen with a tiny, barely noticeable crosshair in the middle. There’s a grey balloon in one corner and apart from that, no HUD. I wasn’t even sure if the game had started or not but after a tentative press of the controls I heard my own feet on the ground, I pressed X and heard myself jump and land. I was intrigued. After some running about on this blank canvass I found that you could launch what seemed to be large balls of ink and suddenly; I had found a wall, made apparent the large splatter of ink now staining the white abyss in front of me. I did the only natural thing; I spun in a circle and splattered ink in every which direction, revealing above me beams of wood and on one of the walls a door, it’s shape just about recognizable through the contrast of black and white. The door couldn’t be opened and it took me a little longer before I found a corner to the room. I could only see where I was going by splattering ink in front of me and where the very edges of the splat met with the white canvass revealed to me detail; a bench, bamboo, tiny black blades of grass . I could hear birds tweeting and distant the distant twinkling of what sounded like a wind chime. I almost stepped into a lake, so intent I was at exploring this strange new world, but was saved when the embankment was suddenly made visible in front of me. Experimentally I threw some black balls of ink in front of me, revealing a few grasses and whilst some of the ink balls plopped into the white water and sunk beneath the water's surface, those that remained were eaten by a few large fish that leapt from the murky white water before me. A frog croaked and I saw it briefly before a huge sea monster dived out of the lake and snapped it up right before diving back down and out of sight again. Stumbling backwards dramatically I suddenly felt incredibly vulnerable in this blank, white world.

The entire game isn’t like this; a blank white canvass for you to splatter ink on, but the first few areas are and it’s so satisfying to reveal things like iron gates, a castle, the boardwalks over the lake as you carefully tread only where you’ve uncovered. The game changes things up just when it’s about to start feeling repetitive by adding in very simplistic additions like painted on shadows to help you find your way around. Later on there are some really interesting puzzle elements and environments such as a terrifyingly dark forest where you can activate glowing baubles of coloured light to temporarily illuminate the area before you’re injured by unseen creatures. Every time you’re introduced to a new mechanic for traversing the landscape you’ll be fascinated and amused at this new feature and the sudden contrasts that it has caused in the surrounding environment.

The gameplay is not challenging and it’s not really supposed to be. There were a few times where I was unsure about how to continue or go about something but after some wandering about and looking around it becomes pretty apparent what you’re supposed to do. It’s not a negative thing that the gameplay is unchallenging because you’re there to experience a journey, not a struggle, and the constant shifting of puzzles means it doesn’t feel boring or one-dimensional. As an added gameplay element there are hidden balloons to find in each level which you activate by throwing balls at. It sounds like a silly, childish thing to find but they’re actually extremely difficult to locate due of the nature of the environments. For instance, balloons early on in the story are pure white to blend in with the blank white canvass of your surroundings and the only way you’ll find them is by seeing them shift against a partially splattered black and white backdrop. Finding and unlocking the balloons is purely optional and you can always go back to levels you’ve already completed to try and track them down. The purpose of them is that you can unlock special abilities such as a balloon locator, a water hose used for throwing ink in a long stream or the ability to stop time, put down a lot of ink balls that remain suspended in the air, then restarting time and allowing them to splatter the scenery all at once. This last one is particularly useful for when you’re throwing water that fades away quickly instead of the permanent black ink of the earlier levels. 

Though there are no other characters in the game, other than the swan himself, you don’t feel entirely alone due to the narrative and the storyline that you’re following. The story itself is primarily told through simplistic, hand drawn storyboards that are very basic in appearance; black and white outlines with a little delicate colouring in here and there. Some areas have large storyboards on a wall or piece of scenery that, when you throw a ball at them, they melt away into the page of a book with an accompanying image. The same woman who tells the story before and after levels will read out the page in gentle, soothing tones as though reading a children’s book and it’s such a quaint way of finding out what’s going on that you actively search for each and every page so you don’t miss a thing. If you enjoy a good plot then this is the storyline that will keep you playing as more and more is revealed about the unusual, dreamlike world you’ve entered and the ending is a curious, but lovely, thing.

Graphics and audio

Though the graphics are simplistic and understated they are extremely pleasing to the eye. The entire world is so perfectly pieced together that the simplistic nature of the graphics merely showcases the confidence of the developers. This game doesn’t need incredibly high definition graphics because it’s a world of paint and canvas and in this world less is more. Colour is done perfectly and there’s a great emphasis on making things stand out like the black on the white, bright vibrant colours on a black canvass and the shocking green of life in a dead city. Nothing looks unappealing or boring and there’s just enough detail to make something feel full yet not overcrowded which is a mistake that could have been very easily happened in the city environments. Overall the game has a lot of levels that it feels really substantial and each chapter has a different element that keeps it really fresh and interesting. What’s even better is that that starting level’s world isn’t just white out of random decision; the storyline explains it as you progress through the game so it’s not just a game where you play at being an artist. There’s a reason and a good, solid narrative behind everything and also lots of interesting little bits that makes every new area worth exploring and appreciating. 

The game not only looks stunning but it sounds brilliant too. In those early moments of the game sound is all you’ve got to go on to find your way around. That clang of hitting an iron gate with a ball of ink as it suddenly appears before you; strikingly black, now partially swung open is wonderful. The tell-tale clacking of your feet on a tiled roof and the creaking and groaning from an unseen construction tower is all incredibly atmospheric and it’s these little things that you really notice. The music is lovely too. Initially subtle and pleasant, childlike almost, the music dips and dives into something a little more sinister or a little more majestic as your environment changes and the game progresses. The voice acting is also quite simply spot on. The soft tones of the storyteller drops you straight into ‘bedtime story’ mode whilst the odd little grunts and noises that your character plays are cute, simple but effective and really do make Monroe come to life. 

Overall

There’s plenty of artistic indie games out there on the market but none of them quite like The Unfinished Swan. The healthy mixture of storybook narration and the constant engagement with your imagination makes this a game that bucks the trend and encourages you to look at the world from a different perspective. If you enjoy games that are different, imaginative and beautifully refined then this game is for you where every new challenge and puzzle is more creative and original than the last. Though it may be a short game it has plenty in it to keep you occupied and it will take a good handful of hours to finish everything and, even then, it’s an experience you’ll really enjoy playing through again. This is quite simply a gorgeous game. 

Score: 10/10

To discover more of my PS3 game reviews, check out this page here.

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Child of Light - Full Review (Xbox One/360, PS4/PS3, PC and Wii-U)

“Come, tuck yourself into bed. Let me tell a story. Of Lemuria, a kingdom past. And a girl born for glory.” 

Child of Light is a beautiful piece of poetic artwork that stands as a solid nod to traditional RPG gaming yet with its own clear sense of identity. It’s not a joyful tale as the artwork suggests but instead an incredibly moving and deeply saddening story of a lost young girl and a grieving father.Through the use of the fantastic UbiArt Framework, an engine that helped to create the stunning ‘Rayman Origins’ and ‘Rayman Legends’, Child of Light now stands proudly as Ubisoft’s latest artistic masterpiece. The game boasts an unusual, but curious, combination of turn based RPG and 2D side scrolling platformer gameplay that gives it an immediate edge over the competition. Somehow the blending of these two genres have led to the creation of something incredibly creative and incredibly original but which suffers from a lack of any real challenge and a very predictable, short storyline. Regardless, this is a tale that unfolds itself before you with such grace and beauty that you simply cannot abandon it before its time. This casual game carries itself with such style and confidence that it doesn’t take long for you to fall victim to its charms and, before you know it, you’ve been pattering around the beautiful landscapes of Lemuria for hours.

Gameplay and plot

The true nature of this game is revealed in its earliest moments when a young girl, the daughter of a powerful ruler, is stricken down by some unexplained illness. The close relationship this girl had with her father is not only apparent but utterly destroyed when, one morning, she doesn’t wake. The king is thrown into despair and, rather than care for the kingdom that needs him, instead chooses to shut himself away in his grief. But he is not the only one who is lost; somewhere else his daughter has awakened only to find herself in an unfamiliar place, far away from the comfort of her home. This beautiful but haunting land is called Lemuria and it has lately fallen victim to a mysterious character known only as the Queen of the Night. This evil queen has stolen away the sun, moon and stars of the land and it now falls to Aurora, aided by her ethereal companion, to not only recover these stolen celestial bodies but to also be reunited with her father. This is a coming of age story with a difference that will show the lengths this young princess needs to go to become the woman she needs to be to tackle adversary and save the ones she loves. 

Taking on the role of this lost young girl you’ll be transported into a beautiful hand drawn world that seems to exist entirely from a child’s perspective, from its poetic narrative to its picture book appearance this waking dream will leave you feeling utterly enchanted. Feeding into the undernourished concept of artistic gaming Ubisoft have bucked the trends of traditional gaming and instead veered down a route usually only travelled by indie developers such as Thatgamecompany, Playdead and Giant Sparrow. Not only this, the game has been designed with a cross-generational appeal in mind in order to fight back against the negative stereotype that video games damage children. What with the media trotting out the idea that games are harmful, violent and something to be avoided ‘Child of Light’ has instead produced a game that parents would be proud to, not only give to their children, but to play with them too. You can immediately see the appeal to parents and their children however as the storybook design, rhyming verses and lack of complicated menus means that even very young children will find this game engaging.  

A bit problem with these sorts of co-op RPG games is that they can often result in a restricted second player who can do no more than exist as a spectator and maybe even grab some coins or experience during battle, such as in ‘Super Mario Galaxy’. Rather than this though the developers have ensured that the supporting character of Igniculus, Aurora’s firefly companion, is able to help at every stage of the game from exploring the environment to aiding in battle. Whilst Aurora is the one doing most of the fighting Igniculus is also incredibly useful and thankfully doesn’t just sit around on the side-lines. Igniculus can slow down enemies during battles by hovering over them and slowing down their personal timer which delays their attack. Igniculus can also heal party members by absorbing magic and energy from the surrounding environment making Igniculus more of a supporting role than a defined party member. Outside of battle Igniculus can also access certain treasure chests, switches and also help Aurora progress through some very simple puzzles.

The battle system of Child of Light is very familiar to those who play RPG and JRPG games. The combat is turn based with active time, meaning that a lot of tactics are involved in order to use your time efficiently. The battle system is very similar to what you’d find in a Final Fantasy game with your standard levelling up, increasing your stats and also an upgrade tree. The upgrade tree is fairly problematic with far too many choices that all offer more or less the same minor bonuses that you can achieve by simply levelling up. Your party has a maximum size of six members by the time you reach the end of the game but during combat you are limited to just two of these characters, though you can switch them in and out which is handy. Prior to battle enemies are encountered in a very standard JRPG manner; battles trigger whilst exploring the environment and coming across an enemy but with Igniculus’ help you can bypass these encounters entirely. If Igniculus runs ahead and shines his light on the enemy he can temporarily blind them, allowing Aurora to run through unscathed.

The battles themselves generally boil down to the individual resistances and vulnerabilities of each character so whereas one may be particularly resistant to fire characters another may  be weak to them, requiring you to bolster their fire defence or just switch them out entirely. What this results in is quite a bit of character juggling as you move through the areas but it’s still a manageable amount due to the limited number of party members. The means in which you can buff your party members falls down to crafting special gems called Oculi which are really the games only crafting resource. Oculi are used to buff attacks, defences and also provide other benefits like additional experience and an increased chance of dodging. There are ten base gems such as sapphire and rubies which all have their individual properties so, diamonds increase your speed, earn additional experience from battle and also increase your casting speed. You can then combine gems of roughly the same quality, be that rough, tumbled or faceted to then create other gems of higher quality. Three rough gems of the same kind, for example, will produce one tumbled gem.  Unfortunately there’s no in game recipe chart or any form of guide so it can be quite difficult to remember how to make a particular gem without the use of pen and paper or just having to memorize everything .  

Graphics and audio

The first thing you immediately notice about this game is the stunning visuals. Whether that’s the beautiful and intricately hand drawn environments or the simple but delicately tailored HUD and font that compliments the overall feel of the game.  The environments and landscapes are incredibly varied with some very lovely visual elements such as droplets of colour rising from the ground to the sky as though a wet watercoloured painting was turned completely upside down. The game holds classic fantasy imagery everywhere you go and the childlike picture book quality does wonders for the atmosphere of this strange place. You really only need to look at the screenshots to see what a visual masterpiece this game truly is but what the screens don’t show is how beautiful the game not only looks, but sounds. The music is striking but gentle and provides a wonderfully relaxed, almost whimsical sense to the entire game though it can often dip into the melancholic and subdued as the story addresses more saddening issues.  It is clearly apparent that much loving care and craft has been poured into making sure this game punches you with the right visuals as they uplifting your spirits, swell your heart then drop you back down again with its melancholic, orchestrated melodies the leave you feeling emotionally tied up with the story. 

Overall

What let this game down was the simplistic gameplay and overly predictable storyline. It may be unfair to dismiss this game as far too easy because, and the developers have admitted as much, it’s aimed at parents and their children. The rhyming structure of the game, whilst intriguing at first, quickly becomes more of a limitation on narrative than an enhancement and sometimes you can sense that the writers struggling to keep in pace with this difficult task. The game is also very short with only about 12 hours of gameplay within it and though it is an enjoyable 12 hours it could have done with a lot of additional content. Despite the spattering of side quests alongside the main storyline the game still feels a little barren. With a game that looks and sounds so perfect and which provides such a promising concept and storyline it's hard not to feel let down as you realize the game is already drawing to a close after just several hours of play time. Despite its problems the game is a nice addition to artistic games, especially considering it’s from such a well-known developer. I can only hope that, in the future, Ubisoft try again but with something a little more fleshed out and with more effort put into the actual structure of the game. For a game that costs just £12 though it's very difficult to see these complaints through and, honestly, I only wish there was more of it because what was there was so enjoyable and so endearing.

Score: 8/10

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Eternal Sonata - Full Review (Xbox 360 and PS3 game)

Eternal Sonata is a truly majestic RPG game with a strong focus on music. The game follows the last moments of a dying Frédéric Chopin as he dreams up a fictional world where he himself features. As this new world starts to become Frederic's reality we follow the journey of many individuals, thrown together as allies, in their bid to find the answers to their questions.

This is one of the first areas you go to, and it looks incredible.

Storyline and plot

The premise of Eternal Sonata is nothing if not original. The game developers wanted players to learn more about the life of FrédéricChopin, a famous composer and romantic pianist, but by telling his story in a sort of game format. It’s hard not to spoil too much of the storyline but the game flips continuously between two worlds; the real world and a fictional dream world. Within the real world, Chopin is lying on his death bed with his doctor, lover and sister all there, sometimes talking to one another. The playable part of Eternal Sonata isnot actually real; it’s simply a fictional world envisioned by a dreaming Chopin in the last hours of his life.

The world of Eternal Sonata is where you’ll be playing and despite the fact that Chopin does exist in this world as a playable character called Frédéric he’s not really the main character and, though he starts out being insistent that this is all a dream, as time goes by he becomes less and less sure of himself. The story starts by following the journeys of Polka and Allegretto, who tend to feel like the main characters since they are kind of the party ringleaders. Polka is a 14 year old flower girl who suffers from a condition that she will soon die from as a result of her magical healing powers. Unfortunately, the population of this world view this power of Polka’s with a deep suspicion which has left this good natured girl feeling isolated and tainted. Allegretto meanwhile is a 16 year old homeless boy who steals for a living and who looks after an 8 year old called Beat.

"It could also mean he's dead." Worst doctor, ever.

 

The plot of the game follows closely behind the real world events that helped shape Chopin’s life. In 1830 a group of Polish rebels rose up and fought back against the suppression of the Russian government during the November Uprising.  Similarly, within the game world you’ll soon discover that a rebel group called Adantino is fighting back against a fascist government that may or may not invade a friendly and prosperous nation. Sometimes the connections between the game world and the real world are vague and difficult to realize but after each chapter of the game there’s a little interlude of photographs and the telling of Chopin’s rather sad life story. These clips of his life are squashed between the far more action and story orientated game world cutscenes and the goings on of the rebel group Andantino and the personal journeys of Polka and Allegretto as they uncover an epidemic caused by constant use of ‘mineral powder’; a healing substance that may have some dire side effects.

Battle system and levelling

The battle system is unique with attacks changing depending on whether you stand in light or darkness, the ability to build up ‘echoes’ and release stronger attacks or combine up to six different attacks from all characters using ‘harmony chains’ adds devastating combos to the mix. As you might have noticed there’s a bit of a musical theme to the entire game and the battle system is no different.

Teamwork is a big part of the battle system if you want to achieve maximum damage.

Levelling up includes a lot of grinding, especially if you’re playing through ‘encore mode’ which is when you replay the game. There are moments of almost non-stop fighting in some periods of the game which is frustrating when, truly, you don’t want to have another creature throw itself at you when you’re just trying to squeeze yourself through a narrow passageway. However, by avoiding enemies, like many RPG games, you’ll just find yourself too weak to survive against later enemies. In particular, the bosses are frequent and brutal. This is certainly a game where you can tell a boss from a regular enemy as they are 

gloriously designed and vicious in their attacks. Some enemies, and bosses, are noticeably fast in their attack speeds and trying to block against them by tapping a button is extremely difficult. You’ll find it much easier to block against the slower, more lumbering enemies though they tend to hit harder as though wielding a warhammer rather than a couple of stilettos. To counteract against the incredibly dangerous creatures you’ll want to frequently upgrade your equipment; weapons, accessories and armour. Weapons and upgrades are supplied in generous quantities provided you properly explore and they make a noticeable difference to a character’s strength or defensive abilities so it’s highly recommended to keep bang up to date with what you're using.

Graphics and environments

The actual areas that you visit are all pretty linear where you have to stay on a set path, though there are some vast and open areas like grassy plains though in one, large area you’re only likely to find one or two treasures.  The graphics themselves though are genuinely beautiful, original, varied and intriguing. It’s obvious from the start that you’re in for a real treat as you’re met with luscious greens, bountiful fields of flowers and mysterious, dark forests with colourful sparking shots of colour to highlight just how gorgeous they can make a magical forest look. The game will take you through forests, vast open plains, abandoned forts, lava filled caverns, medieval style towns and then into the very afterlife itself. It’s easy to become desensitised to how beautiful everything is because you’re just spoilt rotten with detailed, clear, bright and smooth visuals. Even when you’re taken out of this magical kingdom and brought back to the real world of an exquisitely adorned bedroom you’ll be stunned by the environment. How the creators of this game managed to make something so ordinary look so spectacular is beyond me. The characters, too, look great with unique and personality-driven outfits that would look at home in any Final Fantasy game. 

Warning: Bridges may be more fragile than they appear.

Characters

The characters are a mixture of irritating and awesome. It’s great to have such a diverse array of characters that feature strong, female leads who are not overly sexualized and who have some of the strongest personalities out of the trope. Jazz, the leader of a revolutionary group, does appear to have his own point of gravity however; at least, judging by the fact that all the female adult characters are perpetually trying to get him to notice them. There’s quite a bit of crushes going on in the game, two main characters have an unspoken teenage love thing going on and one of the little boys has a crush on a loudmouth elf girl. Perhaps the most interesting character however is Polka who is arguably the main character despite the fact this game is all based in Frederic Chopin’s dream and that he is actually a party member. By the end of the game you’ll be left intrigued and confused at Polka’s story and endeared to her innocent, but doomed, character who so closely resembled Chopin's late younger sister. 

Awkward silences are... awkward.

There are a great deal of characters in the game though you only control them on the battlefield, depending on which 3 party members you prefer. At times during the game your party will be separated and added to, often changing up who you will get to use though by the late game you'll have access to everybody. For the exploring parts of the game you'll control either Polka or Allegretto for the majority of the time. All the characters make frequent appearances in cutscenes and everybody has a defined existence in the game so even though you're not necessarily playing them it doesn't really matter. The PlayStation 3 version of the game, along with other features, comes with additional characters who are some of the strongest in the game. The characters are all designed very well and have unique, interesting personalities and backgrounds that tend to coincide with the ‘real world’ revolution. All the characters are notably named after various instruments or terms in music such as ‘Salsa’, ‘Crescendo’ and ‘Viola’ which is a nice touch.

By this point I'm just putting pictures in because the game is so pretty.

One of the drawbacks of the characters tend to be what they’re actually saying. Dialogue, especially in cutscenes, often includes preachy, pseudo-philosophical observations on the human race that tend to be repetitive and depressing. The attempts at humour are also quite often childish and can fall a little flat on adult audiences. In all fairness however, the comic relief of the game is usually provided by in-game children like Beat, who is 8 years old, and Salsa, also 8 years old though not technically a human.

Music and sound

For a game that starts with a musical premise it certainly does not disappoint. Some of the game’s music are Chopin’s original compositions played by pianist Stanislav Bunin but a lot of music are different pieces written instead by Motoi Sakuraba. It’s all very atmospheric and majestic and changes depending on which location you are in, the music is non-intrusive to the gameplay and never gets boring because it’s just so well-orchestrated. The battle music is quite possibly the only thing that will start to grate on your nerves but this is mostly due by how often you’ll be flung into battle due to the need to level up all the time.

Music aside, the game itself also sounds nice, the voice acting in the frequent cutscenes is superb though a lot of dialogue is also text based so you’re not listening to them chat all the time. Each character has a voice that suits their personality perfectly and whereas some are airy and girly you’ll also get people who are serious and down to earth so there’s a good mixture. You’ll often hear the characters shout phrases in battle when finishing up a combo attack and when starting and finishing the fight. Their comments are taken from a list of several and it can admittedly get repetitive after several battles, though it’s not exactly a game breaking issue. 

Ok one last picture, because... pirates!

Conclusion

Eternal Sonata is a game that you just have to complete due to the incredible but saddening ending scenes that provide a feeling of deep satisfaction. It is beautifully designed with a captivating storyline and a highly engaging atmosphere. Even if you're not a fan of turn based JRPG games you'll still find it a great deal of fun. The battle system is unique and interesting with a lot of different attacks, the tactical use of time and the light/shadows of the battle area. It’s not an easy game if you don’t keep levelled up but it’s not boring or hard enough to ever stop playing. There's plenty of chests and things to find in the environments and a great deal of NPCs and dialogue plus hidden features and encounters that true explorers will track down so the environments never feel empty or undernourished.The ability to ‘learn’ how to read sheet music by playing score pieces with NPCs is a strange but nice feature and the emphasis on music as a whole is pretty successful. If you enjoy battling, exploring and plenty of introspective storyline then you’ll thoroughly enjoy this game.

Score: 8/10

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Runescape 3 - MMORPG Review (Online game)

Runescape is one of those games that has been around for quite a long time now and has been given a new face several times over. Our current release of Runescape is Runescape 3 with updated graphics, combat system and quests that are gradually all being given top quality voice acting and music. Generally I’ll be looking at this game from a F2P point of view but bare in mind that the members side of things gives a lot of additional content including mini-games, higher tiered equipment, additional resources and means of levelling up at higher levels and things like player owned houses and a huge map area. 
 
Graphics and environment

To begin with, the free player map is actually quite large and includes several different areas such as cities, desert regions, swamps, forests, mountains and the wilderness. There are mines and underground dungeons to also explore and train in. The graphics are good, considering it’s all in a browser based Java system and what’s better is that the Jagex team are constantly upgrading parts of the game to make it look even better. There is currently the intention to move the game to HTML5 so the game will run smoother and with additional capacity for graphical improvements. The primary means of travel in the game is running about but as your magic level increases you’ll be able to teleport using runes, alternatively, if you visit and unlock them you can get access to ‘lodestones’ that allow you free travel to major areas. Canoes have also become available for free players where you can travel up one large river to various points, though you have to make the canoe yourself. The free player map does not have too many high levelled creatures out to kill you so everything’s quite safe; you need to travel to specific places to find the assortment of high levelled monsters but, especially at lower levelled, several creatures will still attack you. 

Music and sound

Music in Runescape is unlocked as you enter new areas and can be controlled via an in-game music player. A lot of the music is now considered out-dated compared to the new style of music that is being released into the game. Despite this it’s still extremely popular in the community as it’s reminiscent of retro RPG classic games. More than 100 of the old music tracks have been recently re-recorded for the release of Runescape 3 with a live symphony orchestra, making Runescape music some of the best and most atmospheric music in online RPG games. Some quests now have voice acting and where voice acting is implemented it is truly of a fantastic quality. The dialogue is varied, humorous and emotive with no two voices the same. Where implemented, the voice actor’s style truly does match that of the NPC character.

Content

There’s always plenty to do in Runescape and the free play side of it is a great way to introduce you to the game and, whilst many go on to be members, there are plenty who prefer the non-pressurized approach of FTP and the challenge of getting a skill up to 99 without the added additions of member items/areas. Alongside training skills, trading, questing and money making there are several other activities available to free players. A mini-game called ‘fist of guthix’ is a great way to train your magic and the duel arena in the desert means you can fight players in a safe environment. 

It's pretty easy to make money in the game and there's no way to buy in-game coins with real life money. All players have access to player trading and a stock market where you can buy and sell your items with ease. A lot of people use this as a way of making money so if you’re into number crunching then go right ahead and try ‘flipping’ for cash. You earn money in Runescape in quite an organic fashion, through training your skills and selling the materials. If you don’t know what to do with your time in Runescape there are things called ‘daily challenges’ where free players get up to 2 at a time. These challenges will tell you to do something like craft x amount of x or kill x amount of x and then reward you once the task is completed with experience in the relevant skill and trading items if it involved collecting and handing over materials. Daily challenges are a great way to trying out new areas of the game that you may have not yet experienced as it encourages trying out new activities. There is also a task system available in one of the cities where, by completing a set of tasks you’ll get an item with special abilities at the end of it along with a bit of money for each task completed. 

Storyline and quests

The history, lore and religion of Runescape is very in depth and told mostly through quest lines but all of it can be found on the website. A lot of players tend to choose a deity and can show their support through clothing, items, ‘titles’ which show up after your name or, these days, by supporting them in the current war. There are a lot of quests available in the game, almost 200 for members but a comparatively paltry 24 for free players, but generally they’re all pretty good quality. Runescape comes with a great deal of sardonic British humour that makes reading the dialogue very worthwhile. The free player quests are all graphically updated and are of a generally higher quality than the members quests as a lot of the members’ ones are getting on years now. Quest series tends to stretch across a variety of different storylines; from a penguin ‘cold-war’ type takeover, to vampire quest series to elven quest series but these are generally felt by the members more than the free players. Free player quests are generally an introduction to different skills and serve as the opening quest to several long and complicated quest lines that are realized later on in your Runescape career.

Training/grinding

As an RPG game a large portion of the game is naturally dedicated to training your skills and with that comes grinding. Grinding used to be a large part of Runescape and, to a certain degree, still is today so plenty of people pride themselves on their skills due to the amount of hard work and time put into it. Nowadays, a lot of the grinding aspect of levelling up in Runescape has been removed with the addition of bonus experience opportunities, mini-games, alternate and more varied training methods and social training. For free players the grind is still very apparent as many of the updated methods are aimed at paying members. Despite this, little additions like the ability to “make all” rather than individually clicking items is universal and common for all activities so free players are able to reduce the amount of repetitive strain injury endured. 

Player killing is available in this game however it needs to be conducted in a special area; the wilderness. The wilderness is a very area at the top of the map that is home to dragons, a lava maze and several monsters like ghosts, bandits and skeletons. The wilderness was the site of a great war but, these days, is just a burnt out span of landscape. Player killing can also be combated duel arena that has recently made available to free players. Here, players can combat one another in safe circumstances without the risk of losing any items unless you stake gold or items on your own victory using a safe, scam-free system.

Whereas members have 26 skills available to them with training methods all the way up to level 99 (or 120 for dungeoneering) the free playing community have access to only 16 of them, though with the ability to train members skills up to level 5. All free player skills can be levelled up to 99 though this is much harder in free to play worlds due to the lack of high level training methods, it is not however, impossible.

The skills included are: Dungeoneering, Woodcutting, Firemaking, Smithing, Mining, Fishing, Cooking, Crafting, Runecrafting, Magic, Ranged, Prayer, Defence, Strength, Attack and Constitution. The additional member skills include: Agility, Thieving, Hunter, Slayer, Summoning, Herblore, Farming, Divination, Fletching and Construction.

Community

Free players and members are divided off into different worlds so whichever one you pick you’ll find a supportive, lively community of good natured players. This game is generally orientated at teenagers and young adults and the community tends to consist of mature, polite and helpful people who genuinely care about the game and its players. If you’re the type of gamer who isn’t really into group activities and much prefers to play solo then this game supports that 100%. There is practically nothing which requires lots of other people and, in the rare case that it does, the forums are constantly thriving with people who are probably in a similar situation to you. Whereas some online multiplayer games can be critical of new players you’re more likely to find players who are willing to help out somebody who is new as there’s no detriment to them or their skills. Competition for resources is limited to certain skills like combat training and mining and many activities are social and non-competitive like firemaking, where you get bonus experience for sharing a bonfire, or fishing; where resources are not dependent on the number of people fishing. Dungeoneering is a skill that involves descending down levels of a mysterious fortress in the wilderness and is more advantageous to players if done in groups of 2 or more, though it can be done solo, so teamwork is encouraged but generally at your own pace.

In terms of updates, Runescape gets weekly updates and every month you’ll get a ‘behind the scenes’ post showing what’s coming to the game in the upcoming month. The constant updates and tweaks to the game really show how much farther it has yet to come and how alive and supported everything is. Of course, plenty of players will voice their criticism of updates and due to this Jagex have now released player polls so that players get to choose which content is released into the game.

Conclusion

Runescape is a game that is friendly, content filled and constantly evolving into something better. There are very few micro transactions in the game and it’s not one of those ‘pay to win’ games that you often see. As a free to play game it of course has less content than the members version but there is still a lot to do and with no time limit or trial period it means you can play it for as long as you like with no downsides. The tutorial is interactive, simple to follow and thorough in how much it teaches you about the game and it’s a pretty easy game to get into without feeling too daunted. The ability to customize your character with a range of equipment means that no two players often look the same and overall the entire world feels alive and kicking, just what you want out of a multiplayer game. Overall, I rate this game highly as it is addictive, challenging and time consuming but in all the best ways possible. 

MMORPG Score: 9/10

For more information, check out these links:

• Runescape homepage
• Runescape Wikipedia
• Beginner's guide

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Fable 3 - Quick Review (Xbox 360 game)

Though Fable 3, successor to two hugely successful games, is dramatically glitchy and victim to some slightly clunky gameplay the storyline is genuinely quite fun. With its ‘seize the kingdom’ campaign you will be sat at the very helm of Albion as its monarch, and who can say no to that? The game itself has a short storyline but lots of side quests and places to explore. There are several irritating little gameplay features though that cannot go unmentioned, for instance, the interaction with NPCs in the game has deteriorated to that of childish one on one dancing and playing 'patty-cake' with individual people, among other things. The map system is fairly awful; a large, interactive 3D map is manageable but there is no way of telling where you are at any given time which leads to much frustrated running about, looking for noticeable landmarks. Finally, the ending of the game basically requires you to have a great deal of wealth if you want to have a 'good guy' ending but making this wealth is time consuming and extremely difficult, no matter how many properties you own. This often leaves gamers having to plug in a controller and leave the game on idle so enough gold can accumulate before the 'point of no return', not exactly an ideal gameplay feature.

 

The graphics are extremely similar to the last title making the transition almost seamless and the new combat is definitely improved; bringing new features to magic and elevating the status of melee and ranged due to the new legendary weapons.  This Fable is, as usual, peppered with great British irony and humour which elevates it to the status of one of the most successful comedy adventure games on the market. The dialogue, quests and storylines are both amusing and interesting with genuinely memorable characters like Chesty ; a demonic, static chest, and Brian; a neurotic garden gnome collector who’s blighted by obscenely insultive runaway gnomes. The importance of decision and morality that is previous in all Fable titles is now more important than ever as you’ll soon be responsible for the lives and happiness of hundreds of thousands of citizens. Whilst Fable 3 is not as good as the previous titles it still sits as a decent sequel for those looking for a quirky but entertaining game that leaves just one, final question; how will you rule? 

Score - 7/10 

Preferably with the crown on.

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