Game Reviews: GTA Chinatown Wars

Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars is an excellent game, which in itself is quite a shock. The PSP has the ability to ape the visuals of the GTA PS2 franchise, but on the less powerful DS this was clearly never an option. Yet despite its limitations it manages to accurate convey everything that is synonymous with the franchise and take advantage of the opportunities that come with developing for a touch screen game.

Compared to other recent GTA games the visuals seem primitive, yet they are one of the most impressive aspects of the game. It isn’t necessarily that you will be blown away by them but they function perfectly within the game. Everything looks distinctive and is recognizable which is no mean feat when you are trying to replicate the same Liberty City from GTAIV. Even the camera angle, an isometric viewpoint but responsive enough to shift around to give you the best perspective, doesn’t cause the issues that you might assume. The cell-shaded look makes interactive elements of the environment more obvious and gives personality to the different areas of the city and its landmarks. The color palette has been thoughtfully implemented to make brands of cars, gang members and icons easier to distinguish and brightens up the beautiful yet drab city from GTA IV. Characters designs are very much in the cartoony mould, but still fit seamlessly into the world as they are reminiscent of the box art from earlier in the franchise.



These characters are also brimming with personality despite the absence of voices in the cut scenes. As a change from the silent or downtrodden protagonist, the main character, Huang Lee, is a wise-cracking rich kid. His sense of humor comes across very well even without a voice and although the story is no where near as involving as Niko’s plight, Huang’s wit carries the game past its usual cast of corrupt cops, Mafioso, Triads and drug dealers.



Which brings us nicely to the most controversial part of the game (there always has to be one in a GTA game); drug dealing. It is neither as excitingly explicit as it sounds or as boring and lightweight as it could be. Instead it’s a well implemented and satisfying solution to the issue of how manage the economy within the game. Basically by investing a little time and effort, the player can ensure they always have enough income to have the best weapons and the most property at their disposal. Rather than break the game it provides a great solution and scoring a big deal to earn a huge profit is very satisfying. Likewise there is still a risk/reward element in that if you are caught with fifty bags of coke in your bag and are arrested you stand to lose a lot.

One aspect of the game which arguably surpasses the console versions are the missions. GTA games have always suffered from the same problem of overly repetitive mission structures. Usually you have to go from point A to point B and kill C. Chinatown Wars doesn’t exactly break the mold, but the use of touch scene mini-game moments do provide a welcome break in the action. Through the course of the game you will use the touch screen to make and throw Molotov cocktails, plant bombs and tracking devices, start a boat engine and hot wire cars. None of them are difficult, and it can be a little fiddly to whip the stylus out of the DS in time but it manages to add to the immersion instead of detracting from it, and takes advantage of the touch screen.



The controls or more specifically the HUD also make good use of the touch screen functionality. There are so many menus in the game that allow you to program your GPS, order guns on the internet, receive emails and research drug prices that it needed a good method of interaction to succeed. With the lower screen basically serving that function, Chinatown Wars never forces you to spend too much time struggling through clumsy menu screens that might have plagued the game had it been on another console (the internet in GTA IV for example).

No licensed music robs the game of one of the signature aspects of the franchise but the music is impressive despite the limitations of the hardware. As previously mentioned none of the cut scenes are voiced but some of the pedestrians do get a view oft repeated lines which are pretty funny nonetheless.

This game is currently the highest ranked DS game on metacritic, which should tell you just how good it is. That this game is so fully featured is a testament to the effort that the developers put into the game. All of which makes it all the more heart-breaking that it has performed so poorly. It sold a mere 90,000 units in its two weeks when even the most conservative analysts’ estimates were expecting half a million. It isn’t to say that the game doesn’t have problems, and those who were never interested in GTA or were starting to tire of the series should probably give it a miss, but for anyone remotely interested in the game you are recommended to get your hands on it. Seeing as the game has already been discounted by up to 50% by most retailers this shouldn’t be too hard.

Grade: A

Game Reviews: Fallout 3

Oblivion with guns? Well, yes and no. Whilst it is very obvious that both games are from Bethesda, Fallout 3 entertained and engaged me much more than Oblivion. It shares many of the flaws that Oblivion had, but alleviates many of the issues that caused me to give on the fantasy game around the ten hour mark.

The combat was one of the primary reasons that Fallout 3 succeeds where Oblivion failed. Although some have criticized the combination of the VATS system with the traditional FPS, personally I feel its integration is one of the most crucial improvements in the engine. Tactically combining the use of these two techniques in intense shoot-outs is far more satisfying than the slashing and magic hurling of Oblivion. I’m aware that essentially there is no difference between the firing of a gun and the hurling of a fireball, but despite that the combat in Fallout 3 feels significantly more satisfying. Despite the frequency of its occurrence, I still don’t tire of the sight of a Super Mutant’s head exploding. Whilst it is gratuitous and slightly sickening, at least it adds an impact to the combat and it certainly makes the combat more involving than its fantasy counterpart. The HUD system also has a lot to do with my appreciation of the combat in Fallout. One of my reasons I struggled in Oblivion was there was no health indicator for an opponent, thus when I fought an opponent and died I never knew if the person was too powerful for me to defeat at that stage, or if I had simply made poor tactical decisions. As a result I would get frustrated through repeated engaging an enemy in order to determine if I could win through alternative tactics. In Fallout a lot more information is available including not only the health of the enemy but in VATS the potential damage your next attack will cause is also displayed.

The ‘Pip Boy’ is a device strapped to your wrist that serves as your information interface giving you all the information you need such as quest notes, item menus and your current status. Whilst the Oblivion inventory screens felt a little clumsy and unwieldy on the consoles, the Pip Boy is far more user friendly, and more importantly simple and streamlined. It suits the setting perfectly and thus provides a way to give information, and the HUD display, to the player in a way which doesn’t feel incongruous or contrived. As for the setting itself, the ruins of Washington D.C. following a nuclear war, it is a matter of personal preference. I found it to be more interesting than the well executed but somewhat bland, generic fantasy setting of Oblivion. As well as the improvements in the interface, the setting also adds a dark and twisted sense of humor which was more appealing than serious fantasy.



The aftermath of a nuclear attack obviously provides a lot of potentially interesting scenarios and moral decisions. Thus the karma system in the game, whether you are playing as a ‘good guy’ or a ‘bad guy’, feels very substantial. There are often multiple outcomes to each quest that have ramifications as to your rewards, but more importantly do provide some real dilemmas. I won’t spoil any of these missions, but the Tranquility Lane scenario caused me some distress. The game compliments these heavy moral decisions with a wicked sense of humor. The characters in the Fallout universe are far more varied than the wasteland backdrop, and it is genuinely interesting to visit a new town and see the new insanity that surrounds you. Whether you stumble across two costumed superheroes battling in a small town, or stumble across the cloning lab full of identical inhabitants all called Gary, it really is an environment worth exploring, if only to see what fresh madness the next location will present. By the way, the Gary clones can only say their own name, but still have a full range of vocal emotions; hearing one shout ‘Gaaarrrrryyy’ in a mournful manner is one of the most hilarious things I have encountered in any game.

But after all this high praise there are still a number of issues that I found irritating. It may be due to the vast scope of the game, but Fallout 3 is unacceptably buggy for a console game. The frame rate sometimes drops significantly and the game has frozen on me numerous times. I have also been unable to finish missions due to a door that suddenly becomes permanently locked or a vital character that disappears. It doesn’t ruin the game but it certainly hurts the experience. And for PS3 owners, if you finish the main game you are unable to continue, so I hope you have plenty of back-up saves if you want to continue questing after the main story.

Technical issues aside, the level cap is way too low. Unless you are very focused on completing the game you will have maxed out at level 20 before you finish the main story, which somewhat takes the enjoyment out of combat. The looting system makes sense due to the setting, but the actual grind of searching every object, picking out the valuable ones until you are over-encumbered, returning to town to sell off goods you don’t need, then repeating ad-nauseam is needlessly tedious. If they had just included fewer worthless object or increased the weight that the character could carry it might improve the situation, but leaving a dungeon halfway through completion to unburden your character is an irritation that could have been avoided.



I was genuinely shocked at how much I enjoyed Fallout 3, although this may have been due to my low expectations for the game. Whilst I knew that the game had won widespread critical acclaim and multiple ‘Best Game of 2008’ awards, my trepidation was due to my lukewarm reaction to Oblivion. This game is Oblivion with guns, but at the same time it is so much more than that. Better combat, a sleeker interface, darker humor, moral decisions that have a real impact, and a liberal sprinkling of madness make it far superior to the game which shares so much of its DNA. It’s a shame that with its buggy nature it can’t entirely shed the shadow of its past.

Grade: A-

Game Reviews: Mirror's Edge

Whilst the original Prince of Persia encapsulated the spirit, it’s only recently that the free running game has truly flourished. This console cycle alone we have had Assassin’s Creed and the latest iteration of the Prince of Persia series. Those two had many similarities, so it’s refreshing to see a new take on the genre in Mirror’s Edge. It was a bold experiment and overall it is a great success. What it does well it does very well, but what it does badly is unfortunately equally obvious.

Faith, the main character, is a runner, commissioned to deliver important packages whilst escaping the attention of the authorities. In the game you control Faith as she leaps across buildings, traverses through the city, and infiltrates high security buildings. The unique aspect of this free-running game is that it is played through the first person perspective, and it proves to be an inspired decision. Personally I have traumatic memories of the terrible platforming segments in Turok Dinosaur Hunter back on the N64 so I never felt that platforming translated well into the first person perspective. Mirror’s Edge however, dispelled that prejudice. I always felt as though Faith had a physical presence and was more aware of how much space she occupied. Consequently it seems easier to judge precision jumps and at what point Faith needs to jump at the edge of a building. This is due in a large part to her arms and legs constantly popping into view, whether she is desperately failing to grab at a ledge, or vaulting over a fence. This sense of physicality is enhanced with the fluid animation of her limbs as well as the grunts and gasps of exertion she makes as she navigates the environment.

The perspective also makes the experience much more immersive. Smoothly leaping through the world is an exhilarating experience, and few games have managed to relate the intensity of the character’s experience. As Faith runs her panting gets louder, the wind whistles, her arms pump vigorously and speed lines appear on the edge of your vision. When Faith falls from the top of a skyscraper, the player too shares her sense of panic and helplessness; her arms flail wildly, she starts to black out, and the rushing sound as you head to the ground, abruptly ends as you hit the pavement. Very few games are as immersive to the senses as Mirror’s Edge.



It is also impressive how the concept of free-running has been distilled into the game, whilst making a few necessary sacrifices. You know roughly where you are headed due the way in which the level design funnels you in a particular direction, but there are multiple ways of getting from point A to B and a lot of the pleasure in the game comes from finding new ways to approach seemingly insurmountable problems. That said, the game utilizes ‘Runner’s vision’. Certain parts of the environment turn red as you approach them to indicate that they can be used, and often they are a recommended route. It is a necessary evil as often in the game you are being chased, and with no clues as to where to go, it would be an exercise in frustration. The option is available to turn off ‘Runner’s vision’, but unless you are making a second run through the game or really love a challenge, I don’t suggest you do so.

The presentation of the game is beautiful. Rarely before have I seen a designer’s vision so perfectly portrayed in a game. The environment are so simple, minimalist even, but no less beautiful for it. In an unfamiliar game as unique as this one, the last thing the player needs is to be distracted by unnecessary NPCs or clutter in the environment, and Mirror’s Edge strips away the fat to leave a bold, clean world. The color schemes are vibrant and used in area related blocks in a way that really adds to the atmosphere of the game. They are complimented by excellent lighting effects which play off the simple nature of the environments and color scheme. The music is ambient, but haunting, again reflecting the other qualities of the game. One of the best things about the game is the harmony between the presentation and the gameplay; they compliment each other perfectly.

But unfortunately for the many things it does right it also does many things wrong. The combat in particular is frustrating. The problem with free-running games is that it is hard to distill that feeling into the combat experience; both Assassin’s Creed and Prince of Persia failed to do so. Mirror’s Edge tries to, but also comes up short. The appeal of the combat system is that it can be short, in which you disarm and dispatch an enemy in a blink of the eye. The bad point is that it is very frustrating and you will die a lot. It’s upsetting when you flow through a level flawlessly, only to be stuck in a locked room with enemy soldiers that you have to defeat in order to progress. I repeated these sections of the game significantly more than the free running elements, which is somewhat missing the point of the game. The gun controls are awkward, but that is forgivable as this is a game which is much more satisfying to complete without using them, and the game rewards you with a trophy/achievement for doing so. So why not make the hand-to-hand combat easier and more entertaining if you want to encourage the player to use it? Ultimately the combat just stretches out the game, which may have been a conscious design decision as you should be able to clock it first time in around six hours. Some may balk at that number, but for those who really enjoy free-running, the game has a lot of replay value due to its extensive time trails and speed-run modes. I didn’t mention the plot because it is not worth doing so, and the strangely animated cutscenes also didn’t appeal to me. They seem incongruous to the rest of the game and so are better ignored.



Mirror’s Edge is a truly exhilarating game and captures the parkour spirit excellently, so when the game deviates from that, it loses a lot of its appeal. Combat is not fun, and when you occasionally get stuck on a platforming section, it feels frustrating. But the core experience is so well portrayed that you can forgive it. It should be noted that those who suffer from motion sickness may have trouble with this game. That’s how immersive this game is. On second thoughts, those who suffer from vertigo might want to give it a miss too.

Grade: B+

Game Reviews: Resident Evil 5

The latest game in the Resident Evil franchise is also one of its best, but it doesn’t stray too far from the formula established in Resident Evil 4. This is by no means a bad thing as that was one of the best games of the last generation and Resident Evil 5 has enough new elements to keep it interesting. It is somewhat puzzling that so many have seen fit to see the similarities to the last game as detrimental given that 4 was such a dramatic departure from the structure of the previous games. Resident Evil is hardly Dynasty Warriors.

The standard control scheme is almost identical to Resident Evil 4, and those who played that will instantly feel comfortable. Those who didn’t may initially feel frustrated by the somewhat cumbersome movement and the inability to move and shoot at the same time, but whilst it is arguable that Capcom could have altered the controls, they didn’t, and it doesn’t really harm the game. There is an alternative combat control method that feels a little more similar to Western action games as it incorporates a strafing mechanism, but it is essentially the same.
Many things in fact feel the same. The Spanish village has been replaced with an African locale, but it is very familiar. There are also a couple of set pieces that are likely to give the player a sense of dejavu, particularly at the very beginning of the game and near the climax. Continuing to point out the similarities would be a fairly pointless exercise however, so let’s move onto what is new.

Your partner, Sheva, is undoubtedly the most significant addition to the game, and in single-player mode she proves very valuable. The actual game play doesn’t change significantly but having another character to look out for gives the game a little more depth. The A.I. is pretty spot on, and you can be expected to be rescued by her as much as you will be protecting her. Whilst the story is Resident Evil has never been particularly enthralling to me, at least having another character to interact with fleshes them out a little more and prevents unnecessary monologues. The significance of your partner becomes more interesting with the online cooperative mode, with one person controlling Chris and the other controlling Sheva. As is so often the case it is much more fun to play with a friend than alone. Capcom clearly approached the game with the online in mind and it shows as the game is designed very well to incorporate two players working together. It’s easy to jump into a friends game or host your own and item management is well implemented. So, whilst in single player mode it may seem too cumbersome to switch weapons and items around, it was a necessary evil given that the game needed to function smoothly in co-op, without one player pausing the action to mix their herbs.




The addition of the partner also leads the game further away from the horror genre and firmly into the action camp. At the time, the original Resident Evil was pretty terrifying but there was never a moment in the game where I felt tense or afraid. Panic is certainly something that you tend to feel and the bosses can be pretty disgusting, but it is clearly a different beast to the earlier games. Very rarely will you find yourself low on ammo, and rather than avoiding combat you usually have to defeat a certain number of enemies before being allowed to progress. When the action is done as well as this there can be few causes for complaints, but it would be nice to see these mechanics in an original IP, whilst reverting the Resident Evil franchise to the survival horror genre in future iterations.

The game looks incredible as it always has done, and really sets a standard for current generation games. The environments are richly portrayed and the detailed way in which the African shanty towns, local villages and dusty landscape truly justifies the choice of setting. The route is linear, but so pretty that it seems less important. It allowed the designers to focus on making everything look as good as it does. The texture of the characters’ skin is particularly impressive, although the facial and mouth animation when the characters speak is a little clumsy. Clearly a lot of effort was put into it, but the characters’ mouths move in a very exaggerated manner which is unsettling. The quality of the voice acting has improved a hell of a lot since the early games, but the dialogue itself has improved less so. It’s not as god-awful as it used to be, which is somewhat a relief I guess. The voices of all the new characters are really good, but the star of the show, Chris, is obviously made of wood. I suppose with a body like a bison on steroids you can’t expect the wit of Oscar Wilde.



Worthy of note is the Mercenaries mode that is unlocked after completion. An expanded version of the one in Resident Evil 4, it is especially entertaining in duo mode, thus giving the game a lot of replay value. With instantly accessible online leaderboards for both the solo and duo modes, there are plenty of reasons to keep going back to it. I finished the game in just over ten hours, but due to this, the sheer number of unlockables, and the constant stat-keeping the game does, it is much more replayable than many other games. The soon to be announced DLC is also a mouthwatering prospect given that it is hinted there will be online versus and survival modes. Capcom should be commended for keeping what people loved about the last game, but giving it all the online bells and whistles that gamers now demand.

So, Resident Evil 4 part 2? Yes, but so much more than that. The addition of the second character and how well that has been implemented changes the game for the better. This is as far as Capcom should take this formula for Resident Evil, and if the makers are to be believed then the next game will be very different. This is definitely the right idea as I can’t imagine that a similar game would still spark the same enthusiasm. Resident Evil 5 is an excellent action game, honed close to perfection and polished till it sparkles like a diamond.

Grade: A

Game Reviews: Prince of Persia

Prince of Persia is a game that is riddled with strange design choices, repetitive elements, frustrating game play mechanics and American actors. Yet despite all its drawbacks, the game is a wonderful, fun and relaxing experience. I often get distracted when a game has obvious flaws, but Prince of Persia manages to rise above them and it proves to be a return to form for the series.

Ubisoft really nailed the aesthetic style of this game. The franchise needed reinvigorating after the Sands of time trilogy and they have created their own very recognizable feel that makes it stand out from its predecessors. Cel shading has been done many times before, but rarely so beautifully and effectively as this. The Prince and his female companion Elika are vibrantly portrayed in a way that completely complements their personalities in the game. The Prince, sporting a bright red and blue bandana, and a what appears to be a snakeskin waistcoat, grins and wisecracks throughout, but is scarred enough to hint at his checkered history. Elika’s white laced top highlights the ethereal nature of her character, but the tightly cut clothing also displays her playful and mischievous side. The designers should be commended for managing to create characters that reflect so much of themselves in their appearance. The levels look gorgeous, especially when you are staring out over the vistas from a vantage point, and the contrast between the purified and corrupted land is well depicted in the lush greens and the sinister darker tints. There is no escaping the fact that all the levels have a pretty similar look, despite being set in varying locations. You will be doing a lot of wall running, and there is only so much you can do with a wall I guess. The music compliments the visuals by soaring dramatically at the appropriate points without being especially memorable. Instead it just adds to the atmosphere created by the visuals and provides a pleasant backdrop as you look out over the beautiful world. It also evokes the Arabian theme of the game, which is admittedly something that I occasionally forgot, largely due to the banter of the two, very clearly American, protagonists.



It is strange that in an action game the dialogue and delivery should come under such scrutiny, but in Prince of Persia it will strongly influence how you feel about the game. The voice actor of The Prince, Nolan North, is also the voice of Nathan Drake from the Playstation 3 game Uncharted. It is very obvious. And the personality of The Prince is similar to Nathan Drake. Very similar. It is incredibly distracting, and I don’t remember another example of this that I have experienced previously. Most of the lines that The Prince says would sound equally natural coming from Drake. But those lines are delivered very well and it does add to the charm of the game. Likewise Kari Wahlgren as the voice of Elika turns in a great performance and adds a lot of depth to her character, but the two of them seem very incongruous to the situation. They are just so damn American, when the two characters are quite clearly not. Some of the banter feels like it has been transplanted from a sitcom. The light hearted banter also sits somewhat uncomfortably with the serious nature of the situation, and Elika in particular often juxtaposes a melancholy or dire assessment of the situation with a quip or sexually suggestive remark. Her character struggles to be believable as she schizophrenically jumps between being a strong heroine, chastising mother figure, playful vixen and pure temple maiden.
Despite this the exchanges between the two are loaded with wit, charm and a lively chemistry. If you can just go with it, you are likely to enjoy the game much more.

The game makes itself very easy to enjoy, actually. The wall running, pillar leaping, and pole swinging all flow together beautifully in the game and you are able to traverse large areas of the world smoothly, easily and with a lot of style. It really moves beautifully and as you put together longer chains of acrobatics your satisfaction and exhilaration grows. This game just doesn’t want you to stop. In fact, the criticism leveled at the game by many is that it is too easy. The animation is a little too canned, the progression is a little too smooth, the timing is a little too forgiving, and the whole process feels a little too automatic. Those points are all absolutely true, put it isn’t detrimental to the experience, and rather it enhances it. If you want to play a tough, gritty, game then play Gears of War. The Prince is all about elegance, the joy of traversing the environment and keeping you moving.
Until you get to the combat. This is one of the poor design decisions I mentioned earlier. Just why the developers felt the need to stop you dead in your tracks whenever you get into combat, in a game which is all about free flowing acrobatics, is a mystery. Why did they make The Prince feel like his is wading in treacle as soon as he has a sword in his hand when for the majority of the game he leaps imperiously across the landscape? Why limit the attacking options the player has depending on the state of the enemy? The combat is simply uninteresting, and the only positive note is that if you get to the standard enemies before they manage to form you don’t have to fight them at all. This is offset by the fact that you have to fight the same bloody bosses over and over again. In the same way as Assassin’s Creed it’s clear that they haven’t yet figured out how to merge the free-flowing running with the combat. We can only hope they stumble on the formula sooner rather than later.



The Prince of Persia is the perfect antidote to the slate of dark FPS games that crowd the games market. Light and airy with relaxing but genuinely enjoyable game play, it serves to remind you that games can be fun without feeling the need to punish your mistakes. But then it makes you collect five hundred light orbs in order for you to progress.
And that sums it up really. It’s a game fraught with paradoxes. Free-running with stifling combat; Arabian atmosphere with wise-cracking Americans; varied environments with repetitive game play.
Is it fun? Thankfully yes.

Grade: B+