Christmas Reviews II: Star Wars: Battlefront (PS2)

This review isn’t going to be as long as the last one. Rather than a full review, I think I’m going to (in this case) go with my impressions of the game. So last night I fired the game up for the first time and played through the first three levels. It was….very pretty….

Star Wars: Battlefront is a somewhat cool and interesting concept in the franchise. Capitalizing on gameplay over storyline, this game allows you to take part in some of the main battles from both sides in both the Clone Wars and the Galactic Civil War (the first three movies to you and me….wait….I mean 4, 5, and 6….you know….STAR WARS? *sigh* I know…I’m confused too.) and take multiple roles in various series of battle.

From what I saw (which admittedly wasn’t much) the game control handles much like the Xbox classic Halo, going for a more realistic type of game where you can’t take more than a couple blaster hits without going down for the count, but you respawn frequently in the same battle, and the tide of battle moves on with or without you. The levels I played revolved around taking neutral and enemy bases, while defending your own. There are a LOT of other computer generated or playable buddies in this that do most of the work for you. That’s both good and bad. The AI is much better than I expected, with both good and bad guys running for cover and rolling around to avoid blaster fire, but I just didn’t have as much fun being Joe Stormtroooper as I did being Kyle Katarn. Honestly? The three battles I was involved in won themselves without me. I mean on one Darth Vader is helping you out! How are you going to lose this?

Okay, I’ll be honest. I really wasn’t thrilled with this game, and I have a theory why. I look at what I didn’t like and have to admit that it shares a lot with why I just don’t love pure shooting games on consoles in general…especially those ported over from computer games.

Gripe #1: I hate the analog stick for shooters. I know….I know….I should love it. It’s more PRECISE! It’s faster! It ganks on your thumb less!

Right. Between slippery controls (perhaps I am the idiot exception here, but keeping my fingers on the analog stick and trying to do anything resembling precise aiming or moving was a difficult prospect at BEST) and slow game movement (how the hell does a guy with a jetpack move that freaking slow??), Star Wars Battlefront handled like a ’72 Buick. I’d much rather have the D-Pad usage and have things sped up by three times at least.

Gripe #2: Well, Gripe #2 was the movement speed, but that was already mentioned. You don’t run. You don’t jump well (without a dark trooper jetpack). You rarely spawn anywhere CLOSE to the action, so you’re stuck with a looong walk to get anywhere towards any rebel scum from any spawn points. And dodging? Well there’s a cool summersault button to dive out of the way of a shot, but forget sidestepping it.

Gripe #3: Control setup. Okay. I’ll admit I have no idea how customizable this is, so I may be nitpicking here, but I haaaated the controller setup. I understand the reasons behind the controller setup (you use both analog sticks to move, the L and R buttons to fire), but it isn't that natural for your hands and aiming up or down is a pain. X BUTTON = FIRE! The easiest to reach button is always the most used. It’s been that way since Super Mario Brothers came out on the 8-bit Nintendo, and it should still be the case. At least don’t make the X button something lame like laying down… Oy.

Again, it's probably just a failing of the console controller.

Gripe #4: Armor? I also understand the desire for some realism here, but I had more fun when I could take a blaster shot or two. Perhaps that’s just me and what I wanted from the game versus what the game was SUPPOSED to be (more of a strategy game) but I’d love to be able to jet-jump into a group of rebels and use a couple of thermal detonators to show them what the Empire is really about (hot flaming death) than a lot of running and hiding and shooting while hiding.

Admittedly, this is a great style of play for some people. This is why I don’t get into Call of Duty games or Halo but eat up Unreal and Quake. Personal preference folks. If you like the realism, this type of gameplay should suit you. Me? I didn’t. Give me Mace Windu with Darth Maul’s double saber and a Droideka shield generator and plunk me down in the middle of the Death Star any day and I’m a happy man.

Even I must admit the graphics looked awesome on this game though. Star Wars has a specific look and sound that you need in any game re-creation, and this achieves it in my opinion. Blaster shots sound like blaster shots should, and both scenery and animations keep within theme. Admittedly there isn’t a lot of story, but that’s not what you got this game for, is it? Oh! And much like Halo, you can take vehicles in this game! From speeder bikes to AT/ST walkers, raining blaster fire upon the tiny figures below is much more fun than shooting from a hiding spot.

Overview: This game is what it says it is. It’s a half strategy, half shooter game where you can take on some of the better battles from all of the Star Wars movies, and gives a very gritty, very realistic portrayal of how the battles went from the perspective of storm/clone/droid troopers and rebel/republic fighters.

I honestly think I could love this game on the computer. Give me a mouse and a keyboard and let me go to town and I think I’d be a lot more certain (and less likely to either slip my targeting crosshair up or down while turning or lay down in front of a wookie with a bowcaster pointed at me) AND have a lot more fun.

Until I get it on computer (and am able to play anything on the computer that isn’t World of Warcraft) I’ll give it a resounding “Meh…” and say that if you’re into this sort of thing, hey it’s great.

If, like me, you are not…continue to avoid shooters on the consoles. They are full of frustration and evil. Mostly evil.


Final Grade: C-

Christmas Reviews I: Ratchet and Clank 3

Got a few PS2 related toys for christmas and wanted to give my thoughts on them here. Please note that these are my personal views only and just because I didn't like it doesn't mean it stunk. Blockbuster exists to give you the chance to form your own opinions about games for a (albeit very large for what you get) fee.

Ratchet & Clank 3: Up Your Arsenal:
I admit I am predisposed to this game. Last Christmas I got RC2: Going Commando (love the puns) for Christmas and it immediately consumed my free time. I'm considering buying the first game so I have all three and have to say that this series has become my favorite non-Square-Enix line of titles.

That being said, I was also somewhat nervous about this game when I tore off the wrapping paper and looked at the back of the game. It mainly touts its multiplayer addon, whether through splitscreen or broadband connectivity, and didn’t really say anything about having a single player storyline except that there was one there….I think.

Don’t get me wrong. I looove me some multiplayer games (Quake Ninja for going on eight years now) and I think it’s nothing less than freaking phenomenal that Insomniac Games put a multiplayer mode in. But I can’t always play deathmatches or the like, and for my (or my parents-in-law’s) $45, I want to make sure there is a single player game in there as well.

Rejoice friends, for I have seen the single player game, and it is fun. Insomniac went with the “If it ain’t broke don’t fix it” philosophy and pretty much continues the same type of story that Ratchet and Clank have gone through in both previous games. This is not War and Peace folks. If you’re looking for a huge plotline, go play Xenosaga. This is light, fun, funny as hell and never ever takes itself too seriously.

The story starts out with a bit of a shift in Galactic politics. Robots have been gaining in popularity. Even Clank has his own TV show as Agent Clank while Ratchet sits around the house and mopes (occasionally making an appearance as Agent Clank’s plucky chauffer). Then news comes to them about an invasion happening at that moment on their home planet! It appears that a robot named Dr. Nefarious has been hatching a plan to take over their home galaxy for robots and turn all organic life into robots themselves! Ratchet stands up and with the simple statement of “We’re going home.” starts off this adventure. When they get back home and fight their way to the President, you’d naturally assume he’d charge R&C with saving the galaxy (especially with his being a wide eyed fan of Agent Clank) but lo and behold he needs them to save the one man who has taken on Dr. Nefarious and won….and an old “friend” whose name happens to start with Q….

Enough with the story….if you’ve played any of the previous R&C games you want to know about the guns. Well old favorites are back, like the shotgun, the lava gun, the bouncer and a few others, but they join new and interesting weaponry such as a gun that infects enemies to fight on your side, a gun that sucks in and spits out small enemies, a rocket launcher and even a plasma whip.

Each weapon is usually obtained like it was in previous R&C games, by buying them with bolts that are collected from the destructable environments as well as enemies and crates inside levels, and each weapon has five levels (*glee!*) of upgrades, which are achieved by simply using the weapon to kill enemies. Platinum bolts also make it back into the game for those of you who are willing to do some searching to unlock special features.

Graphics and sound are quite awesome, with ships flying around and fighting going on in the periphery. New objective modes requiring you to hold points with enemies spawning all around you, or repair items while they move in on you are quite fun as well. There is even a virtual arena inside the weapon shops allowing you to test out any weapon you have not yet bought!

Overview: I loved RC2 and was looking for more of the same with just…more, and RC3 did not disappoint. This game is hilarious, pretty, fun to play, and doesn’t vary too much from Insomniac’s successful strategy of giving us an endless supply of enemy goons, and tons of interesting and ever-changing ways to blow them up.

Final Grade: B+

Stuff!

Yikes. So my life has been taken over.

See, around the time of my last post, this interesting thing happened. I got onto the open beta for World of Warcraft. I openly scoffed at the game, pointing at EQ2 and laughing in WoW's face, but it proceeded to win me over with it's pretty quests and engaging environments and easy leveling system, and before I knew it I was in love.

Quests! LOTS of quests! Quests that actually give XP, money or items that are worth your time!! Quests that give you the impression you are helping instead of grinding monsters constantly. Even guilds are soo much more fun than reading a spam of green text scrolling across my screen and occasionally taking part in a conversation.

Long story short, my EQ account has been cancelled as of Dec 14th. I will miss Aanarra, Lethanna and Onyos (and whatever my high elf Paladin's name was...). I still love Norrath, and would consider playing both EQ2 and WoW, but I'm honestly having a BLAST with the (now retail) version of WoW.

I'm in on the Icecrown server (MST) and playing the following characters:

Talanithir - NE Druid. Just hit 27
Talin - Human Paladin (5)
Boddynock - Gnome Mage (5)
Darkthorne - Undead Warlock (1)

The first ten levels blow through very easily with the newbie quests, and are fun to do. I have to say that playing these four characters both in beta and retail, there was a significantly different experience in play with all four. Different enough to amaze me. And all of them are truly fun to play as well. I'm not as concerned with stats and DPS, because quite honesly I'm having too much of a blast trying to do their quests and save the world. :-)

Play it. Love it. And if you want a guild, look us up at www.soul-bound.com.