Deja Fu

Good games are rare things all on their own. For example, of the hundreds of titles available for the XBox 360, I own maybe twenty or so and have played less than a hundred (Gamefly rules!).

So when a truly great game comes along, it’s definitely memorable. The thing is that those games usually come from a studio where a collaborative effort (sometimes guided by an auteur) is the main creative force. Budgets are usually in the millions. The man hour count alone would stagger most people’s imaginations.

Then a game like Braid appears and the entire world is turned upside down.

Braid is a puzzle/2-D platformer and the creation of indie developer Jonathan Blow, which takes these tried and true staples of the arcade game and, with the added mechanic of time reversal, a compelling, well-written story (that resonates emotionally, not just intellectually), beautiful art and a haunting soundtrack, transcends the genre to become something close to art, rather than just entertainment.

As I’ve seen in other reviews, to talk about Braid’s content or mechanics too closely is to spoil enjoyment of the game itself. It really should be experienced with as little known about it as possible. The game does use time as a mechanic, that can be said, and it does so in a way that evokes comparisons to Alan Lightman’s Einstein’s Dreams. If you know the book, you’ll know to what I am referring.

The game itself is short, about six hours seems to be the average, and some of the puzzles can be frustrating until you figure out the key, but there’s nothing here to prevent anyone from completing the game. It all works and once you figure out a puzzle, you’re left feeling triumphant and clever, which should always be the case.

At the moment it’s only available on the XBox 360 via XBLA, but I’ve read a PC version will be released early in 2009.

One way or another, you should make a point to play this game. Experiences like this are rare and should be enjoyed and there are much, much worse ways to spend $15.

-K

Last night I finally finished Assassin’s Creed, a game set during the Third Crusade. You play Altair, an assassin who has been sent to strike at the leadership of three key cities (Acre, Damascus and Jerusalem). Along the way, you discover your missions have far more ramifications than you had imagined.

That’s not a lot of plot summary, but frankly any more reveals too much. I will say the story is well-written, coherent and (reasonably) historically accurate. All things which make for a nice cinematic adventure.

Assassin’s Creed is beautiful. It really shows off the power of the XBox 360, especially when displayed in HD. Altair’s movements are wonderfully animated as he runs, climbs, jumps and fights. However, the crowning achievement is the creation of cities that are teeming with life and activity. No empty streets here (in fact, that can get frustrating). People are everywhere, going about their business and contributing to the immersion.

The game also employs an “awareness” feature where people notice your actions and react to them. If you start shoving people out of the way (which you are allowed to do), then the guards will give warnings, or attempt to stop you. Just like the police. If you’re being chased, ducking around a corner and hiding in a haystack might be enough to throw off their scent and “reset” the encounter. When you consider the entire game takes place during the day, then stealthily killing your targets is all that more challenging.

The most common critique is the repetitive nature of some activities in the game. There’s merit to these claims. On occasion, fighting yet another group of guards because you saved a citizen from their abuse can get a bit old. However, this is countered by the sandbox nature of the game. You’re not put on a linear path. There is a story and you much complete certain objectives to advance it, but for the most part the order in which you complete the objectives is completely up to you. This is extraordinary for a game of its size.

Even the assassinations themselves can be done how you choose. You can stealthily approach the victim, hoping to stab them with a hidden blade and walk away unnoticed, or you can just draw your sword, hack them down and dare all the guards to challenge you. You do get an achievement for a stealthy kill, so make sure you do at least one of those.

To sum up, Assassin’s Creed is a beautiful sandbox in which to act out your part of a larger story, steeped in history from the Middle Ages and wonderful in its degree of control given to the player. People who need their decisions made for them, or who only know how to walk a straight line need not apply. The rest of us can enjoy.

-K

Burnout is back and (as the cliche goes) better than ever.

Seriously. Most iterations of games are incremental advancements. Maybe one or two new mechanics are introduced, but for the most part, whatever formula made the original sequel-worthy continues to drive subsequent releases. Rarely does a developer take the chance by revamping something fundamental. The good news: this is one of those times.

Burnout Paradise takes place within the confines of Paradise City in what’s called a “sandbox” configuration. Big deal I hear you say. Grand Theft Auto has been doing that for years. True, but then again GTA isn’t devoted to high octane racing with spectacular crashes either. For the first time, Burnout allows the player to pick and choose the type of race for themselves without prerequisites. Maybe you want to just race against the clock? Maybe you want a full-on eight car race to the observatory? Or maybe you want to see how many cars you can crash into before time runs out? It’s all there. You can do any kind of race within moments after you start the game.

In fact, the only linear progression in the entire game is the series of upgrades to your driver’s license, which only serves to unlock a few of the cars within the game. Everything else is dependent on completing any or all of the 120 different events within the city. Finding an event is brain-dead simple as well. If there’s an intersection, there’s an event. A handy map keeps track of the different events you discover as well as events you’ve already completed.

Don’t feel like competing? That’s perfectly alright. There’s tons of content waiting to be discovered just driving around the city with gates to be smashed, billboards to be crashed and ramps to be jumped. However, you can even just pass the time driving around the city and marveling at the design from the ocean-front stadiums, to brownstones in the older, more industrial areas, to the mountains which contain the observatory and wind farm.

In short, there’s always something to do, no matter what you’re mood. (Unless you don’t like racing games. In which case, why are you still reading this?) Burnout Paradise is a very welcome addition to my 360 library and I heartily recommend it to anyone who has that “need for speed*”.

-K

* Sorry. Couldn’t help myself.

I wasn’t going to purchase Rock Band when it was announced. I already had Guitar Hero II and I knew GHIII was going to be released at the same time, so I figured I’d put my money behind it. Not one of my better decisions. Rock Band just kicks the ever-living crap out of Guitar Hero. Harmonix (the original creators of Guitar Hero) has managed to take the genre to a new height while also creating one of the best multi-player games. Ever.

Where GH allowed you and a friend to rock together, Rock Band allows you and three friends to form your own virtual band – one singer, one drummer, a lead guitarist and a bass guitarist. So far it’s just been Morgan and I, but that will be changing soon. However, even with just the two of us, being able to play something other than a guitar part is exhilarating.

Gameplay is derived from the classic Guitar Hero formula. The drums are set up much like the guitar, with an additional layer – an orange line represents the kick pedal for the bass drum. Singing is pitch-dependent and the game scrolls the song’s words by on the screen, along with the duration each one should last. You can get star power, now called Overdrive, and they’ve made it so each player can do it independently. It serves more functions than just score now. If another player is playing so badly they fail the song, you can use the Overdrive to pull them back in. You can even form a virtual band over the Internet if you just don’t have that many people around to come over.

In all, it’s been a blast and I suspect it will continue to be so for quite some time. With new songs being released every week on XBox Live and even talk of downloadable albums, Rock Band turned out to be a nice way to start the new year.

-K

I mentioned yesterday I spent a good part of my birthday playing Portal and since the game still occupies time in my brain, I figured I’d write up a small review.

Portal is a first-person puzzle game that takes place within the fictional testing facilities of Aperture Science Laboratories. In it, you play a female protagonist who is tasked with moving through a series of levels utilizing various objects, switches and, most infamously, teleportation portals. This mechanic, being able to build portals that instantaneously move the character when they step through, is the heart of the game. For example, you might find yourself blocked by a chasm to large to jump across. With the portal gun, you can place the entrance on a wall on the near side of the chasm, the exit on a wall on the far side of the chasm, step through and viola! You’ve crossed the chasm.

However, as engaging as that might be for the gameplay, the story and dialogue are the real icing on this particular cake. You are constantly given feedback, instructions, and encouragement from the disembodied voice of GLaDOS, the artificial intelligence running and monitoring these tests. As the dialogue progresses, so does the story, which is also filled with dark wit and gallows humor. Eventually, the story and gameplay become more complex, incorporating twists in the plot and a surprising revelation.

It’s a short, very amusing and refreshing game. The only criticism that might be leveled is its length, but to be perfectly honest, I would rather a game too short and marvelously constructed, than a game filled with mediocrity to increase its playing time. Days later, and I’m still hearing the final song, “Still Alive” playing in my head occasionally.

As for cake and grief counseling? Those are available at the conclusion of the test.

-K