Category: Game Reviews

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Game Reviews

One Month Has Passed Since The Arrival Of Cataclysm …

Last year, our national paper sent in one of our finest journalists – who unfortunately a lapsed World of Warcraft (WoW) gamer – to preview the new expansion: Cataclysm.  It is like asking a recently turned vegetarian to critic on a world class steakhouse dish (and in defense of my humble analogy, it was not clear if that journalist is at all an avid online gamer).  That write-up was less than inspiring.  If you have not played WoW in your life or better still, have not experienced MMORPG (massively multiplayer online role playing game), I envy you.  You are at the golden age of online gaming.  A game that works in both PC and MAC platforms, works in low end high end machines, has been fine tuned and revamped for 6 years, has more than 12 millions subscribers (as of last year), and on day one of this expansion’s launch, 3.3 millions of copies were sold, 4.7 millions copies were sold on the first month.  Now, I know some of you are still on the fence thinking, “Hmmm, should I dive into Cataclysm?”  Cynthia and I have spent a good amount of hours playing the new expansion during the first month of launch.  And we have this write-up to share with you (probably more credible than the one you have read in our papers).

Admit it.  No one wants to buy and play a game that is not addictive.  If you look back in your gaming career, great games are the ones that keep you thinking about them the whole day while you are not at it.  And when you are at it, you wouldn’t want to stop.  In view of this, I am often intrigued by comments like “I am not trying WoW because I may get hooked into it”.  Having said that, I am a responsible person.  If this game has destroyed you in the past and you have still yet to figure out how to moderate your gaming behavior, please continue to stay out of it.  If you are unable to handle the social aspect of the game and cannot handle the fact that while most people are good, some are not, this new expansion is not likely to change your view.  It is like this.  You can play basketball in your backyard all day long.  You can also play basketball in a public court with your mates.  Or even better, you can form a team with new friends and random players and play a proper game of basketball.  Is there a guarantee that you will not meet anyone who is going to piss you off big time?  I think not.  Bullies and morons are everywhere.  That is life.  You can hide from them and miss out all the roses out there.  Or you can ignore them and focus on the good things in life.  There is nothing wrong with playing your own basketball game alone at your backyard though.  It is not as epic.

In this write-up, I am going to touch onto a rather wide range of topics.  Although my main target audiences are the experienced players, where possible, I will write with the new players in mind.  Because this game is big, I will need a little disclaimer here.  By clicking onto the following link, you agree that in the event whereby you are sucked into this game under the influence of my wall of text, the writer (i.e. I) and the website provider are not responsible or liable to any past, present, and future tangible damages (such as hard disk going on fire due to prolonged hours of game play) and intangible damage caused (such as your girlfriend leaving you, your cat deserts you, and your plants and your fish die on you).

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Game Reviews

Does The Single-player Aspect of StarCraft II Worth Your US$59.99?

I am not that into multi-player, as far as real time strategy games are concerned.  Even if purchasing directly from Blizzard Store means spending less, Starcraft II does cost more than the average PC games today.  So, is the money well spent?

Many friends asked me: Does Starcraft II play the same way as the original game that is 12 years older, merely as a graphic update?  For a start, this sequel does play like the old game.  But in a good way.  Playing Starcraft II is like cycling.  Once you are on a bicycle, even if you have not cycled for donkey number of years, when you start paddling, it is the good old feeling once again.  If you are new to the game, there are in-game tutorial videos to guide you through.  There are also an in-game reference guide listing of all the units, what their strength and weakness are.  If you have played the original game 12 years ago, in no time, you would start labeling your units and structures, issuing build and kill orders, and building up the defence and a balanced troop – much like a second nature to you.

To say that Starcraft II plays merely like the old game in all aspects is grossly a misconception.  There is a robust achievement system that encourage you to replay each mission with a harder setting or harder goals that are clearly defined .  In turn, achievement scores are earned.  I like this aspect a lot because getting through the plot is rather easy.  Playing a beautiful game is not.  While the achievement score means little other than an overall sense of satisfaction, there are mission credits that you can spent on permanently upgrading your units and structures and hiring mercenaries to fight with you.  There are also Zerg and Protoss research points for you to unlock useful abilities.  Abilities that require you to carefully decide based on the trade offs.  If you are not that into micromanagement for instance, go for passive benefits.

Starcraft II is an accessible game (which reminds me of World of Warcraft).  On normal setting, most of the campaigns are forgiving, except the time critical ones that may require you to up your thinking and execution speed.  There are often main objectives that you must achieve in order to progress.  And there are bonus objectives that are rewarding, but not a must to complete.  If normal setting is too hard for you, you can lower it to casual.  And if normal mode is too easy for you, there is a hard mode.  And there is a brutal mode too.  Completing the entire game in brutal mode will earn you a Sarah Kerrigan online portrait (and a lot of respect from the Starcraft gamers).

There are often multiple strategies that can lead to victory.  Each campaign showcases a new unit.  I must say, I only get to use that new unit a lot on that particular campaign.  Thereafter, I usually stick with what works best for me.  In my case, air domination.  I do at times feel bad that there are so many units that I don’t get to use besides that one campaign when they were introduced.  Perhaps single-player campaigns are training ground to the multi-player games?

Another point to note is that there are rare occasions that you may make a plot related decision that opens up a new mission while closing off another.  But fear not, you get to play these alternative missions after you beat the game.  Instead of progressing the plot in a linear manner like the original Starcraft, you get to take on different mission chains in the order you prefer.  Having said that, you must complete each chain before you can head for the final plot.  In that sense, the plot is still linear.  Just that you get to – most of the time – choose which mission comes first.

It is true that majority of the time you play as a Terran.  Starcraft II is in no way lesser than the original game in terms of the number of missions.  I enjoy the deeper story and character development.  On that note, I can understand why some may wish that the story develops in parallel with the other two races – Zerg and Protoss.

I in particularly enjoy watching the cut-scenes prior and after each mission.  Good story development remains as the strength of the Starcraft franchise.  The cinematic clips are beautiful.  And you get to watch them again and again once you have unlocked them.  The music is beautiful too.  There is a jukebox and it plays some Western music as well as rock music in the 70s (I think … and my favorite track is “Raw Power”).  There is much humor in the game.  I like that anything-but-unbiased UNN news broadcast a lot.

Depending on how good you are with this genre, total play time may vary.  I am not so good at real time strategy games.  I reckon I may have spent about 20 to 30 hours to complete the game in normal mode including reloading the mission in order to try another strategy.  Now that I have completed the game, I may spend some time to collect the missing achievement points on normal mode.  Unsure if I would try the hard and brutal mode but if you do, be prepared to put aside more time and effort.

Does the game worth my US$59.99?  Without a doubt.

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For the Geeks Game Reviews

God Of War III – “You Are Dead”

Picture this.  I would be siting on the sofa manhandling my gaming controller with such vengeance and ferocity; Cynthia would be siting on the floor reading newspapers or doing her own thing.  Often when she looked at our plasma television, she would see the words in font size one million that said: You are dead.  Cynthia would look at me in puzzlement, on every occasion, and asked, “What kind of god are you?  You are dead again.”  Soon, query became mockery.  Too bad.  Cynthia was not at home when I smashed Zeus’s face until my plasma television was literally painted in blood.  What a vindication it would have been.

I was Kratos – a Spartan, a protagonist, and a demigod.  It just happens that I suck at action and platform type of game.  But with such a highly acclaiming rating, as a proud owner of a Sony PS3, I have got to give “God of War 3” a try.

The Story

Some say “God of War 3” has a story.  I am not so sure about that.  “Final Fantasy” has a story; “Heavy Rain” has a story; as for “God of War 3”, the story is merely taking down one god or titan after another till you face Zeus.  I have not played the previous installments and am a bit lost as the story develops.  I suppose this game would mean a lot more to those who know who is who and what is what.  Cut scenes are short and minimal (which could appeal to the mass public?) except the last set of cut scenes, which manage to tell a rather moving story.  But I was not attached to the characters.  I wanted to cry but I couldn’t.

Maybe “God of War 3” does have a good storyline, as an action game.  It does prompt me to research into Greek Mythology.  It is a typical story of a demigod against the titans and the gods of Olympus.  It is a journey from the Mount Olympus to Hell and back to Mount Olympus.  It can be epic, seeing from that angle.

The Sex

Sex sells.  And the sex episode in “God of War 3” could easily be the most artistically done, exceeding the “Mass Effect” or “Dragon Age” franchises.  Aphrodite – the goddess of love, beauty, and sexuality – is beautifully rendered.  The action requires ‘participation’ using the game controller, which if your timing and accuracy is off, you could screw up the scene.  The Smith God – Hephaestus – who has fallen from the grace of Olympus, who is the husband of Aphrodite and creator of Pandora’s Box and Pandora herself, as the story goes, unable to be with Aphrodite.  That is why the goddess has to pleasure herself with two chamber maids.  And that is why you – Kratos – come into the picture.

The best part is, you can do it as many times as you like.

The Action

Broadly speaking, there are three kinds of action.  Fighting against the humongous titans is insanely epic.  That involves quick thinking and good timing of special moves as prompted on screen.  Fighting against the bosses and special enemies is insanely frustrating.  This got me thinking.  Game designers could either repeat the similar encounters many times throughout the game (like “Final Fantasy” or “Dragon Age”) or create unique and difficult encounters that require some gamers to keep trying.  The third kind of action tests gamers’ reaction time and precision in executing platform type of maneuver.  Such as flying through a tunnel full of obstacles that have to be avoided.  The tolerance of error can be so low that it can be equally frustrating.

Fortunately, there are plenty of save points.  And there are plenty of auto-saves.  The game play is about 15 to 20 hours.  I have seen “You Are Dead” for close to 300 times at God level (average difficulty).  Yes, I am an idiot.

The Puzzle and Treasure

Most of the puzzles are straightforward.  Some can be pretty hard.  All the jumping and puzzle solving reminds me of “Tomb Raider”.  There are items to be collected within the game to upgrade Kratos’s ability.  Some require venturing a little bit out of the main path or line of sight.  Some require a special technique to retrieve their locations.  Some are rewarded as and when puzzles are solved.

Wait a Minute, This Game Reminds Me Of …

This game reminds me of “Tomb Raider”, “Portal”, and “Guitar Hero”.  “God Of War 3″ only has one main quest.  The weapon and item acquisition path is fixed by the storyline.  There is only one way to solve any given puzzle, with the same set of rewards.  Not that I am complaining.  Does it mean that “God of War 3” is linear?  (On the record, I am OK with linear games, whatever linear means.)

Most Memorable Moment?

Graphically, the game is pretty stunning (running at 720p) and the battle scenes are bloody and epic in scale.  The cut scene and the environment is still not as beautiful as “Final Fantasy” but I reckon it is better than many games out there.  The most memorable moment of the game, for me, is when Kratos teams up with Pandora.  I felt less ‘solo’ and more with a ‘purpose’.  Too bad, that moment is relatively short.  The entire game seems relatively short (between 15 to 20 hours).  Perhaps that is the norm for this genre?

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For the Geeks Game Reviews

Final Fantasy XIII Scores Very High In My Book

I have always said that Japanese’s imagination knows no bound.  And their commitment to production quality is truly an inspiration.  If I am to combine all the cut scenes from the game Final Fantasy XIII, it can easily be one beautifully made anime in full HD glory (1080p).  It takes me 80 hours to see the ending (still not completing the game yet) and I have lost track on how many and how long the cut scenes are.  Especially in the beginning, I could literally spend a few minutes playing the game and then here comes the cut scene.  It is long enough for me to make a cup of tea, finishing eating an apple, and wash my hands.  As the story unfolds, the gap between the cut scenes lengthens depending on how fast or slow you progress.

Quite a few friends of mine asked if FF13 is indeed linear.  To be frank, non-linear game does not mean that it is good.  Linear game does not mean that it is bad.  It is all about execution.  In terms of storyline, there is nothing you can do to change the outcome, unlike other games.  That also means that you do not need to play the game multiple times to see the complete set of sub-stories.  For FF13, you play it once and be totally immersed.  There is a fixed number of characters and gears you can develop,  But which ones to pick is entirely your decision based on your preferred strategy.  In fact, looking at the game play, the key feature that sets the game apart from the rest is that it has little to do with your reflex actions.  It is the strategy you deploy prior to each battle and the ability to think on your feet every 5 seconds or so during the battle.  The combat system is unique and has earned a lot of praises.  There is no need to mess around with the positioning of your characters during a battle and it does not require you to frantically press the buttons on your controller to beat the enemy.  At a macro level, you control the roles of your characters and switch them at one go by up to 5 defined sets created by you.  At a micro level, you can choose to execute a specific action for the character that you have a direct control with.  And because of the variety of enemies, you are forced to adopt a different strategy for each battle.  Be it as a different role set combination, or even a different set of characters and gears.

Another noticeable difference compares to other role playing games is that the enemies in FF13 do not level as your characters level.  You can go back and revisit your old foes that gave you a hard time and beat the crap out of them in seconds.  Or you may get trashed by some unknown enemies that are so powerful that in the early stage of the game, all you can do is to flee.  Because the enemies re-spawn, there is no shortage of action.  In later part of the game, you can explore the area in any direction you prefer.  Tackle the missions in any order you prefer.  Or if to see the ending is all you want, you could skip the side missions.

While the enemies do not level, at the end of each battle, there is a 5 stars rating system.  The more powerful you become, the target time goes down.  In another word, you still need to work hard for a 5 stars rating.  In some cases, it pays off to get that rating.  Some of you asked if there are a lot of grinding, like other role playing games.  I suppose the choice is yours.  But I find it rewarding to do a bit of grinding to get more powerful and to farm materials to improve the gears. 

Majorities of the battle are quite easy, I must say.  The boss fights from the main storyline are often long (like more than 10 to 15 minutes of intense thinking).  The boss fights from the side missions can be extremely hard.  Some of the tough battles you may take a defensive stance, sacrifice the 5 stars rating, and win.  Others will slab you with a doom counter if you are taking too long.  A doom counter is one that you must beat the boss in 3 minutes or there will be an instant death.  In short, there is no shortage of excitement.  Needless to say, some are so tough that you have to further develop your characters and return for another attempt later.

Judging FF13 from the Western standard, it may fall short a bit (it is after all a Japanese RPG).  But I happen to be thrilled by how beautiful the game is made – the colorful and unique environment, the memorable characters that are so easily to fall in love with, and the dramatic story development.  These days, it is hard to find a non-violence game that does not come with blood and gore and sex – like FF13.  If you wonder what the game play is like, here is a brief breakdown.

Part One – Stories And More Stories

In the first part of the game, you do not get to choose whose is or are in your team.  It depends on how the story unfolds.  There are lots of cut scenes.  The combat system progressively gets more complex, a good learning curve that I like.  Some comment that this part is too linear.  I happen to like the fact that I am forced to learn how to cope with different characters and different team composition.  In FF13, all the characters have different strengths and weaknesses.  Part one took me about 30 hours to complete.  It also accounts for the story of the 13 days prior to where you first started the game.

Part Two – Open Side Missions

Once you reach Gran Pulse, you get to venture to different parts of the map.  As you complete side missions, portals are open to aid you in warping to a different location in the map.  In this part, you also get to pick your team composition.  You do not have to complete all the side missions.  But they are rewarding.  It did not feel like grinding to me, although I have to pass the same area multiple times.  There is always something to be discovered.

Part Three – Head to Chapter 13

FF13 is divided into 13 chapters.  After Gran Pulse, you can do one chapter and return to do more open area exploration and complete more side missions.  The last two chapters can get pretty hard.  That is where the experience (and confidence) you gather while doing the side missions pays off.  Personally I love the story of FF13, although I must admit that I do not quite understand the logic of the Japanese.

Part Four – Open End Game Missions

This is where I am at right now.  After the final boss of the main storyline is beaten, after the story is concluded, I am brought back to the save point right before the final boss.  The difference is that I can now further develop my characters.  There are 64 missions in total.  Quite a number of them are designed for the end game.  Missions can be retaken if getting a 5 stars rating is what you are aiming for.  Or just for the fun of it.

Talking about save points, another good thing about FF13 (compares to other JRPG I read) is that there are tons of save points.  You can pick up the controller, play for 10 minutes or so, stop and do something else in real life.  I find that very useful.

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For the Geeks Game Reviews

So You Want A Final Fantasy XIII “Growth Egg” As Early As End Of Chapter 11?! Yes You Can!

Arguably one of the most important items to obtain in Final Fantasy 13, “Growth Egg” doubles the Crystogen Points (or experience points) you earn that are needed for your character development.  Who wouldn’t want it as soon as possible?  To obtain a “Growth Egg”, you need to complete a class A mission that is opened for you at the end of chapter 11.  It is a very hard mission and I reckon it is designed as an end game activity.  But if an average gamer (me!) can do it, there is a high chance that you can too!  Here is how I made it, not without blood and sweat.  And in the mist of it, I have obtained a 5-star rating and unlocked the “Limit Breaker” trophy or achievement.  That is a 100,000+ damage in one shot!

Prerequisite

After the final boss in Chapter 11, instead of moving forward and trigger Chapter 12, move backward and obtain Mission 55 “Can’t We All Just Get Along” from the rooftop of a deserted school.  I chanced upon this because I have missed out one of the components to repair Vanille’s toy (another pretty rewarding thing to do).  If you need a guide to obtain that mission, click here.

Key Strategy

For this class A mission, you have to face a very tough boss called Neochu that can take down casters with one shot.  And it has quite a few hyperactive adds called Picochus that hit very hard, very fast.  The encounter is very much like its little brother nearby (which I hope you have tried).  Take down the boss first, and then worry about the adds later.  To do that, you will need Vanille (hence picture above!).

Battle Team Setup

Interestingly, Neochu is not immune to Death spell.  So the key is to have Vanille picking up that ability (under Saboteur role) after the expansion of Crystarium at the end of Chapter 11.  To have a better chance to pull off this debuff strategy, upgrade the Belladonna Wand to Malboro Wand.  I have upgraded the weapon level to close to 40, which may not be necessary.  I have Snow equipped with Paladin and Hope equipped with Hawkeye.  Both equipments are at star level.  By the way, all the upgrade components I have obtained from mob drops (or spoils).  It is very doable if you have been doing some side missions.

I set up Snow as the tank (Sentinel) and Hope as the healer (Medic).  As for Vanille, she switches between Saboteur (for debuff), Ravager (for damage), and Medic (for extra heal).  So in total, only 3 Paradigms are required.  To manually execute the Death spell, I have picked Vanille as the leader.

Prior to the final boss of Chapter 11, all my characters have maxed out their Crystarium for three roles (out of six, for all six characters).  After the boss fight, I choose one role to specialize and max that out.  I didn’t make any special purchase for this mission.  I suppose wearing accessories for extra health points would help in some ways.

Stage One – One-shot the Boss

Preemptive strike is out so left with the options to either use the shrouds to buff up your offense or defense before engaging the boss.  I walked into the battle with neither because I forgot (see, I am your average gamer).  In retrospect, buffing up the haste level may work better.  It may speed up the process.  The target time to finish the battle is 28 minutes.  I have earned the 5-star rating.  So I must have taken lesser time than that.

I went in with Snow tanking and Hope healing (for the entire fight).  As for Vanille, I spammed Death spell.  If Neochu hits Vanille first before Snow grabs the aggro, it is game over.  If Vanille unable to land the Death spell and one-shot the boss within 5 rounds, it is also game over.  The combined damage of Neochu and its annoying little creatures is just too much for one healer to take (before end game that is).

I read that some spent hours one-shooting the boss (only to be overwhelmed with the little ones – how sad!).  It didn’t take that long for me.  Maybe upgrading the wand helps.

Stage Two – Heal Up!

Once the boss is down (which is the easy part), it is time to survive the group of cute little Picochus.  Even with two healers and a tank, my team could barely survive.  Especially when my tank lost the aggro.  You could either fast switch Vanille between the Medic and Ravager roles to heal and to spam the area of effect spell Firaga.  Or if like me, the tank was down and soon faced an inevitable wipe, I called in the cavalry.

Stage Three – Summon the Eidolon

Some say Eidolons in Final Fantasy 13 are pretty useless.  It is quite right that these god like creatures don’t seem to be as powerful as they should be (given the fact that it is such a pain to make them yield and be your own).  As for me, Eidolons have turned the tide in the past when I faced with seemingly insurmountable battles.  And I must say, I love the over-the-top animation for these Eidolon encounters.

After Vanille summons her Eidolon, Hecatoncheir, your job is to keep both of them alive for as long as you can (which is not long).  Before Hecatoncheir gets decimated by these little adds, switch to Gestalt Mode and unload some punishment to the Picochus.  I manage to half their health points, which in retrospect, it is really not bad.  Meagre amount of damage dealt aside, the beauty of summoning an Eidolon is that when Eidolon leaves the battle, all the party members are back up with full health.  Time for round two!

Stage Four – Taking Down the Adds

This is the most nail biting moment.  I mean, I have come that far.  I really don’t want to fail here.  With Snow tanking the little mad Picochus, Hope can barely keep him alive (he is my best healer in the game).  I have to switch Vanille between Medic and Ravager mode to balance between staying alive and killing off the enemies.  It is a painfully slow process.  The good news is, as you wear down the number, it gets progressively easier.  Later on I found out that I could cast Imperil debuff on the little ones to lower the spell resistance.  That made the job done much faster.  If I am to do this again, I would cast the area of effect debuff, Imperilga, before the area of effect spell Firaga.  You may be tempted to one-shot the little ones with Death spell.  I don’t like the extra aggro on Vanille.

Some find it hard to take down the adds.  At bare minimum, if you have Snow on tanking position and both Hope and Vanille on healing, you should be able to last indefinitely.  Hope should also be able to solo heal Snow most of the time (there is some randomness in FF13 after all).  If you can’t, you may need to further develop your characters and gears with the side missions.  If you can, it is simply a matter of patience.  And “Growth Egg” is a reward you would love to have.

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For the Geeks Game Reviews

Heavy Rain (PS3) – Immersion Can’t Get Better Than This!

How far are you prepared to go to save someone you love? – from the theme of “Heavy Rain”

It is hard to define the genre of this critically acclaimed title “Heavy Rain”.  It is not exactly an action game, though there are some elements of action.  It is not exactly an adventure game either, though it plays like one at times.  Certainly feel like watching a self-directed movie with full fledged orchestra soundtrack – a movie of a serial killer to catch and a kid to save.  172 days of casting, 90 actors selected from 457 auditions.  You get to switch between different key players according to the key story events.  And because you as a player get to decide your course of action and to participate in the action, the story unfolds based on the decisions  and the mistakes you have made.  Believe me, if you are not an expert in using the game controller or if you are like me who tend to press the wrong buttons or move the motion sensitive controller to the wrong direction when you get nervous, you bound to make mistakes.  Making too many mistakes may lead to an alternative storyline.  Continue to make too many mistakes may lead to a character’s death.  I have learned my lesson the hard way.  I thought I could sit back on my sofa and relax, I was grossly wrong.  And because it is one continuous play-through, you have got to live with your mistakes, for better or for worse.

The characters on the screen reacts to the sequence of buttons you press as guided by the game.  Some motions also take into consideration of how fast or slow you move the game sticks or shake the controller in certain directions.  Some scenes require you to press and hold a set of buttons in a sequential order.  How tricky the combination is depends on the situation.  For timed event, you really do not want to make too many mistakes.

“Heavy Rain” runs in 720p graphic quality.  Although it seems inferior compares to 1080p games such as Final Fantasy XIII, it is by and large acceptable.  The motion sequences are realistic (due to filming using real stunt men).  My only complain is the rendering of characters.  The real actors behind the scene look so much better (I thought it should be the other way round).  The interaction between characters – like the kissing scene with the mouths not exactly locked together – has much to desire for.  Still, consider the complicity of the game based on player’s interaction and the sum of all possible paths, the game play has made up for some of these flaws.

My first play-through does not take long to complete.  Such is the characteristic of a non-linear game.  For one play-through, I have probably only seen a quarter of what the game is.  I will need to replay this game multiple times if I wish to explore different storyline, different endings.  Bonus materials are unlocked based on game progress, such as the making-of videos that are entertaining to watch.  Believe it or not, being able to play this exclusive title is one of the major reasons why I bought a Sony PS 3.  And I am very much satisfied.  I will for sure play it again but not right now.  For such a dark game (and the constant rain) – the mood, the suspense, and the sorrow, it can get a bit depressing.  Such is the beauty of immersion.

Categories
For the Geeks Game Reviews

Barking Seed Is One Mobile Games Community To Look Out For

Last week, I have had the opportunity to meet with one of the Indie game developers Breakdesign through a blogger event.  Originally from South African, now based in Singapore, it is inspiring to meet the co-founder of Breakdesign Rick and his team talking about game development with so much passion.  If indeed one of their visions is to offer free mobile gaming to all parts of the world – rich and the not so rich – looking at the latest list of top countries in the battle arena, I think they have more or less achieved that.

Mobile gaming is not new.  But what is special about this Indie game developer is the mobile games community they have created – “Barking Seed”.  Imagine, each time the game is over, you are given the opportunity to upload your score to their website, perhaps add a little comment to shout to the world.  You play to be amongst the top players.  And you play to represent your country as one of the top, stand a chance to win phones and accessories.  Just how additively fun this concept is?  During the blogger event, as our scores were posted to the website in real time, none of us were talking.  We – guys and girls – were going all out to score.

I have tried out three of their games on my touchscreen phone.  These are Flash games – responsive, pretty to look at, and does not take long to play.  Good soundtracks too.  “Monsterilla” (featured above) is my favorite.  It is a colorful puzzle game that has a strong appeal to either sexes.  There is another game that you keep squishing roaches (erm … I know) until you are overwhelmed.  It does get pretty intense and Cynthia got a real shock when she accidentally looked into my screen.  So many crawling roaches!  Looking at “That Roach Game” at a philosophical level, I agree with the co-founder Rick.  You just can’t win.  The third game I have tried is “Ninjani”.  Guys would love this.  This game tests your reaction time as well as your anticipation skill.  The fact that you can get better as you play repeatedly perhaps makes “Ninjani” one of the most addictive games of the three.

I look forward to more new game releases for the community “Barking Seed”.  I have high hope for them.  Three years it has taken this small team to bring this innovative offering to the world.  I still have no clue on how they generate revenue when the games are free and come with no advertisements.  Only time will tell.  Meanwhile, if you have a Nokia phone, head to OVI Store and download these free games.  If you have not heard of OVI Store – surprisingly many friends of mine who use Nokia phones fall into that category – there are many free applications and games for grab.  Have fun with these featured Flash games and good luck in winning!  As for me, I am going to work Cynthia hard and win me some “Monsterilla” points using my login ID.  Girls are supposed to be better at this sort of cute colorful puzzle games, yes?

External Links: Barking Seed Community Site and Breakdesign Corporate Site.

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For the Geeks Game Reviews

Kasumi Goto From The New Mass Effect 2 DLC – A Brief Review

Does this digital game copy of the new Mass Effect 2 mini-expansion worth US$7?  Read on to find out.

I am a big fan of BioWare’s DLC (downloadable contents).  They are often of the right length (read: not too time consuming) and are rewarding to play.  Recently, BioWare has run into quality issue with the Dragon Age franchise and hence, I have stopped buying.  Not until they get their acts together and patch up the game.  Mass Effect, is another story.

“Kasumi – Stolen Memory” is the first DLC (with a file size of close to 1 GB!) outside the Cerberus Network.  The Cerberus Network licence worth US$15 in value and most retail copies I believe come with it.  Does it mean that this is the end for “free” downloads?  I don’t know.  Back to this new DLC, for the price of a movie ticket, it took me about 2 ½ hours to complete.  That includes reading the new codex, going through the conversation options, and admiring all aspects of the game including standing by the hillside looking at the breathtaking scenery of the sea.

For those who have started or planning to start a new game, Kasumi the enigmatic master thief can be a good squad member option.  Kasumi is distinctly different from the existing members because she can go in stealth and near one-shot the enemies from their backs.  Almost like a rogue class in some role playing games.  Because of that, most of the time I have no clue where she is when we are in combat and I have to pay attention to her voice cues.  My character is a Vanguard so that seems to complement the play style (up close and personal).  Too bad, I have already completed the game.  It would be fun to continue grouping with her to develop the synergy.

Half of “Kasumi – Stolen Memory” is non-combat in nature, which is a breath of fresh air from the majority of the loyalty missions.  My only slight grievance is that this DLC does not seem to be challenging enough and I have encountered a bug in the final boss fight (the boss despawned and the mission got stuck).  Also, conversations with Kasumi inside the Normandy is similar to Zaeed (from the Cerberus Network), very one-way in nature.  Other than that, “Kasumi – Stolen Memory” is a beautiful DLC – both in graphics and storyline.  And if you are like me, who are just one level under the cap, completing “Kasumi – Stolen” will shoot you all the way to the level cap of 30.

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For the Geeks Game Reviews

Dragon Age: Origin – What A Journey!

90 hours, I have poured into this game.  This has to go into my personal record of one of the longest enduring gaming journey in the category of anything-but-world-of-warcraft.  I seldom complete games these days.  50 odd hours into Mass Effect 2, I thought I was obsessive.  90 hours into Dragon Age: Origin, I reckon I could have read Iliad or Odyssey perhaps once.

You know how I am like when I get excited about something.  Of many whom I have talked to – strangers and friends alike – some are into role-playing games (better still, Baldur’s Gate), just like Dragon Age: Origin, waiting for that one final push to jump down the cliff.  Yes buddy, think no more.  I’ve jumped.  Now it’s your turn.  Some have no clue what this game is about.  Like my mother.  One evening she tapped onto my shoulder and asked, “Is this a game?  It looks like a movie.”  I took off my headset and replied, “Yes mom.  Computer gaming has certainly progressed since the day you and dad got me that Apple machine when I was a teen.”  Some come from the world of Mass Effect and ponder if they would too love this franchise.  And some have completed the game, like I do, and are eying on the expansion Dragon Age: Awakening, like I do.

In Short …

… Dragon Age: Origin sets in the fantasy backdrop of human and elves, dwarves and golems, dragons and dark magic.  The beauty of gaming versus reading or watching a fantasy story is that you get to shape the story the way you want it to be, within the framework provided.  You decide the beginning: a noble or a commoner.  You decide the role you want to play: front-liner or supporter.  You decide how the world should be explored, how to influence the people around you.  There are sub-plots that keep on distracting you, that you may choose to ignore.  And finally, a multitude of endings that you have to decide based on the little things you have done along your journey.  Some gamers may prefer a clinical approach in researching online prior to what is to come in order to shape an outcome that they want.  As for me, I prefer to shape my story according to my own decisions, even if there are sacrifices to be made along the way.  Bearing and living with the consequences is part of the game.

Game Play

Coming from the action role-playing game background (like Mass Effect franchise), I was apprehensive if I would find the frequent game pausing to issue commands to four party members a turn off.  Neverwinter Night turned me off.  Curiously, this game does not.  Though, when I showed it to Cynthia, she went “eeeewwww” because she swears by the real time game play of World of Warcraft.  I guess the reason is that not every encounter requires us to pause and strategize.  And if we do pause, it has to be something extraordinary that can turn the game to our advantage.

Another thing that took me a short while to get used to is that the conversation options chosen by the main character (a.k.a. you) are not read-out-loud.  Like Mass Effect.  Some say Mass Effect is an exception.  I could also loop in The Witcher (by the way, the sequel is in the making) to argue my case.  In any case, the conversation in Dragon Age: Origin has much depth and in a way, I am glad to click my options through.

The Things I Love Most

Character development is one.  It is memorable and you get to hate and love certain characters, love and even more in love with others.  Both the indoor and outdoor scenes are beautiful to look at.  The control is smooth (not sure how the console players can live with only two sticks and that many buttons on the controller though) mapped nicely to recent popular games of similar genre.  The learning curve is steep but one can persevere by trying out different strategies.  The game mechanic appears simple with three distinct classes – warrior, rogue, and mage.  But with different deployment of skill set and specialization, a rogue can play like a hunter and a mage can play like a priest or a warlock.  Lots of reading within the game of course, in the form of codex.

What’s Next?

From my research, Dragon Age: Awakening is the largest DLC (downloadable content) to date.  Despite the price tag that is comparable to the original game, it will likely to take nowhere near to 90 hours to complete.  Much faster.  But if you are already a fan, shouldn’t you dive into Awakening right now?  It turns out that for the PC gamers, you may be better off to wait for a bit due to reported game crashes caused by the latest patch 1.03 that you must apply in order to play the expansion.  Some gamers suffer more than their fellow PC gamers.  And for the console gamers, there are still in-game issues that may worth the wait to see if the developer BioWare is going to do something about them.  When in doubt, check the BioWare forums.

Personally, I wish the experience was as epic as the one with Mass Effect 2.  Unfortunately the experience was somewhat ruined due to the bad patch I have applied towards the end of the journey (if you are still playing the original game and if you could, stop at patch 1.02a).  Game modding is a powerful tool, given to the community.  But to rely on the community to fix some of the game issues using mods is just too strange for me to accept.

So what’s next?  When all fails – and if BioWare doesn’t get the game fixed – we can always look forward to Diablo 3, can’t we?

Categories
For the Geeks Game Reviews

Of The Three Add-Ons Of Dragon Age: Origins

While I am still far from completing the game Dragon Age: Origins (20% progress on 35 played hours), last evening, I have completed the three add-ons of this epic dark fantasy – a spiritual successor to Baldur’s Gate.  If you are interested to find out if any of these add-ons worth your money, when the ideal time to begin these quests is and in which order, you have come to the right place.

Depending on the edition of your copy, the game may come with one or even all of these premium contents.  For me, one is free and I have to purchase the other two.  At present, I do not know if there are means to reinstall these paid contents in the future (like Mass Effect 2).  I surely hope so.  Some gamers comment that the add-ons are too short taking only a couple of hours to complete.  Considering how lengthy the original game is and how much these add-ons cost, I can understand the general sentiment.  However, since the price of each add-on is similar to a movie ticket or two, I have no qualm.

“The Stone Prisoner” (USD 15), that comes with the newer game edition, should be the first one to tackle as soon as you are comfortable with some basic combat techniques and crowd control mechanism.  You should complete this add-on at the early stage of the game so as to gain access to a new companion.  Shale is a golem and he (or it?) hits hard, works well as a tank too.  “The Stone Prisoner” probably ranks high on puzzle solving but not too much on story and combat.  The area is rather small and it does not take long to finish.  The most tangible reward from this add-on?  Shale of course.  His dialogs can be hilarious at times too.

“Warden’s Keep” (USD 7) is perhaps the best Dragon Age add-on I have seen.  It is rich in story and combat.  And you get to unlock a new class specialization as well as abilities.  On top of that, you have access to a party stash if you wish to extend your inventory space.  That stash is the only place in the game – officially of course – you can stash your items (for a free stash made by one BioWare developer, click here for my forum post).  Some complain that you have to travel to the castle to interact with your stash.  But it is merely a click on the world map and so far, I have not been held back from any random encounter while travelling to the castle.  The stash is right outside the castle some more.  What’s there to complain really?  As in when it is a good time to visit the castle, I would suggest visiting it when your warrior (or if you are not, one of your companions) has a buffed strength of 30.  You will then be able to use the set item (massive gear).  One word of advice: pay attention to all the details, including the Codex.  If not, you may miss some great loot!

I have a mixed feeling towards “Return to Ostagar” (USD 5).  The area is large, as it is a revisit to the original starting area that is locked after you have completed the prelude.  The combat is not particularly hard (maybe by then I have one of the best tanking gears in Dragon Age?).  Not too much on the story or puzzle solving.  The cut scenes are not as fascinating as “Warden’s Keep”.  But, you get to recover the King’s armours and weapons and more, recruit the dog if you have missed that out during the prelude, and perhaps seek some closure of where the prelude has ended.  You will need a buffed strength of 36 in order to wear the King’s set (another massive gear).  And if I have that buffed strength, wouldn’t I wish to equip the Juggernaut set (require 38 strength to equip) found in the Brecilian Forest instead?  Personally, I wish there is a set item for the rogue or mage class instead, from any of these add-ons.

Looking back, because I have started to collect the Juggernaut set as early as when my warrior reached level 9, the armour reward of the add-ons does not seem to be that attractive.  If I am going to reroll another character, I would dive into these add-ons as soon as I can.