Dark Souls: game review (ps3/360)

Demon’s Souls was on its arrival quickly tagged as an insanely difficult game, for that reason it both drew players to it but also kept many away. Now a few years later comes the following title in the series, but this time regardless of the high difficulty level gamers are finding it nearly impossible to stay away. Dark Souls is not just more of the same unforgivably hard dungeon crawling it’s a refreshing breath of innovative strategy and brutally punishing death that will satisfy even the most hardcore Demon’s Souls fan for a long time to come. For those of us who stuck with Demon’s Souls to the bitter end there was a tremendous sense of achievement that no other game could replicate. Dark Souls is no exception, it’s equally rewarding and equally hard. If you are up to the challenge and ready for the fight of your life then read ahead.. and prepare to die.

You start the game by building your own custom character, much like Demon’s Souls you are given a choice of classes such as knight / cleric / wanderer / thief / bandit and pyromancer. Each class determines your ability and overall power at using particular weapons and magic spells, as well as your various strengths and weaknesses. It’s a good idea to read through the stats first and judge the character you want but even if it doesn’t go right the first time there is always the opportunity to customize your abilities by levelling up. Oddly enough there is a new class in Dark Souls known only as deprived, you start off without armour and proper weapons instead you have a plank and must build yourself up with any equipment you happen to find – it’s a perfect example of the games unique styling when it comes to putting together a real challenge.

As for the story itself initially it’s rather bare, all you know is you have awoken in an old decrypted asylum and things are about to get a hell of a lot worse. Though you won’t be following a story as such there are tips scrawled into the floor and a very short but to the point tutorial that teaches you the basics of combat and survival. If you take the time to read the tips and master everything from blocking to parrying you will survive a lot longer in your quest, longer but not forever. Dark Souls is all about learning from past mistakes to conquer the next pitfall, that pitfall could be anything from a squad of heavily armed undead knights to a gargantuan demon hell-bent on pummelling you into the ground. Thankfully the combat in the game works exceptionally well so each player is given a fighting chance, constantly pressing the attack button won’t get you far ..if anything it will get you killed even faster. Combat in the game whether it be with mindless foot soldiers of hulking bosses depends on you knowing how to fight, learning to block effectively and with the right shield is paramount to defeating your foe. If you fail to learn an enemies attack patterns or they are strong enough to break through your defences while your stamina is low the result will most definitely be messy. The good thing is most of the enemies are easy to read so getting fatal blows in can easily be dished out in an even flow, not only that but the enemies always respawn in the same locations making it even easier to plan and execute your attacks more precisely.

To help you dispatch the many legions of demons there are all manner of weapons and magic spells available, if that’s not enough armour too can be found all over the game world making it that little bit harder for the forces of darkness to annihilate you. Wandering through Dark Souls you won’t just find swords spears and bows, you will find many magically enhanced weapons that when coupled with the right skills and stats will provide you with invaluable killing tools. Demon’s Souls had so many weapons and sets of armour that in order to use them all you would have to play through the game numerous times, many people did and again in Dark Souls the tradition continues. Since dying is common place and you will die over and over again many people start the game all over again with a different class, I originally started as the thief class then switched to the knight it’s all part of the learning process.

Dark Souls never lets up or apologizes for its unrelenting abuse of the senses, but there are ways to even the odds. When you kill an enemy in the game you are rewarded souls, it can start off low and you have to take out area bosses to gain enough to make a substantial amount but by farming locations you will soon be on your way to going up a level. The catch of course is if you die while carrying your unused souls you will lose them all, they can be gained back if you find the place where you died and touch your bloodstain ..die on the way and they are lost forever. You can also find the slightly more rewarding souls of knights/heroes and warriors on some bodies but its rare so you have to keep your eyes peeled when you are exploring a new area or you could miss them. Souls can also be used as currency to buy weapons/upgrades/spells/armour and so on, just like the weapons and other items in the game there is no shortage of vendors willing to trade their wares for your precious souls. Vendors can be found all across the gaming world and there does seem to be a lot more of them than in the previous game, depending on your current status the items and materials they sell can come in very useful. You could always decide to just concentrate on getting all of your weapons and items off corpses on the battlefield but it’s always worth checking a vendors wares because you never know what they might be selling. Weapons and armour can be upgraded by visiting one of the many blacksmiths you will find, initially they will only make light improvements but once you start finding the right stones and materials more powerful weapons with magic properties can be made.

This time around instead of visiting the nexus and finding herbs to regenerate health you visit bonfires that when lit serve as resting points, while rested you can fill up your health flask and upgrade your skills by spending souls. Be warned that once you rest at a bonfire all of the non boss enemies in the game will automatically respawn, this might sound unfair but it’s a plus because you can keep killing the same enemies over and over again to collect up even more souls. Eventually by progressing through the game and buying certain items from blacksmiths you will be able to do all manner of things from bonfires such as upgrade your weapons and store everything in a bottomless box, given that you pick up so many weapons and armour sets while playing the box soon becomes invaluable.

It’s not always a lonely road in Dark Souls, just like before there is a complex co-op mode that allows players to drop in and out of your game. In most games co-op comprises of a friend helping you out in those tricky moments where the odds really are stacked up against you and though that’s true about Dark Souls it also allows for more sinister opportunities. Playing the game online means you can and will interact with others playing the game, some will leave messages on the ground offering strategy on what’s around the next corner / some will leave summoning signs for you to activate thus drawing them into your world to help you slay the next demon / and some more deviant will use the opportunity to invade your world and kill you so they can steal your souls. The same system was paramount to Demon’s Souls online experience only this time the emphasis is on helping others rather than terrorizing them, by implementing a system where you can report the invading player the game actually punishes wrong doers and makes for a more interesting gaming experience.

Making your way through the gaming world is much more fluid than I expected, from the very start you are given the option to just start exploring not only at your own pace but also in the direction you choose. One thing I really liked was opening connecting areas by unlocking sealed doors or gates that I previously hadn’t got the keys for, the world of Dark Souls can be vast and dangerous so opening doors and activating elevators is something that really shouldn’t be avoided. As for the levels themselves quite a few do remind me of their counterparts in Demon’s Souls, Blighttown for instance is a lot like The Valley of Defilement but its different enough to feel fresh and unseen. The levels are expertly constructed and contain lots of secret rooms and pitfalls that will test you at every turn. Each part of the world has its own specific look and feel, Blighttown is dark and toxic, Undead Burg is a lot like the first area in Demon’s Souls surrounded by high castle walls and crumbling battlements, the Darkrook Gardens are lush and green but contain deadly secrets all of their own, there really are so many painstakingly detailed areas to explore that I can’t possibly talk about them all.

The detail and graphics really are highlighted in every step of the way, each area has a certain glimmer of authenticity that integrates itself seamlessly into the vast environments you can and will explore. There is a seriously accurate atmosphere to Dark Souls, the threat of defeat and pulverizing death around each corner really radiates from your surroundings and makes you feel that little bit more on edge. The sound effects are nicely done and really don’t seem too different than they were in Demon’s Souls, but then why fix something if it’s not broken. The music does play a bigger part this time and the score is exceptionally well written fitting the game perfectly, though at times it will seem as if there is no score present it manages to sneak up on you right as your combat situation escalates.

The enemies in the game are the second star of the show and command a serious presence around every corner. At first you will tackle mindless undead who are for the most part a pushover, as the game progresses the legions of demons and undead escalate in difficulty to the point where you are up against a serious challenge. Just as the first game had a whole host of infernal demon’s guarding the passages to the next area so too does Dark Souls, and they won’t let you pass without a fight. For the most part it did feel like the bosses were a little easier than those of Demon’s Souls, because not only could I summon up help online I could also summon up the help of offline characters I met by joining special covenants. That said even with the extra help some bosses can be quite the handful and can do more than their fair share or damage to your character. There is a catch in summoning help, since your character is undead you must find and use humanity sprites to restore your human self and interact with other players willing to help you slay an undefeated boss or minor demon.

Humanity is an interesting enough concept that seems to work, it also restores your health so it can be used as an alternative method to staying alive a little bit longer when your flask has run empty. The undead and demons in the game don’t just do physical damage with slashes of swords and spears, some have the ability to curse you which can be devastating if you don’t have the proper tools to reverse it. When cursed you lose a substantial amount of your health and stamina bar and you won’t get them back until you find and take the cure, the first time this happened to me I felt cheated but it helped harden my skills for survival and there was a tremendous sense of accomplishment when I finally had the curse lifted. It’s these little moments of fear and progression that really propel Dark Souls above and beyond the realms of all other games, they are all victories in their own right as everything you work towards is for a reason and it all serves to toughen you up for even more hell raising encounters.

To really grasp the Dark Souls experience you have to play the game with the proper skill and respect it deserves, if you come to it expecting a simple hack and slash romp then the chances are you won’t last very long. Each enemy requires you to learn an attack pattern so you can dispatch them with enough skill that they can’t in turn drain your health or kill you, this takes time effort and above all else strategy. If you go about playing the game properly you will find progression comes much quicker and death comes more sparingly, you can’t escape death because it’s a core element of the learning process and needs to be experienced to toughen you up. The controls for the game are solid and extremely responsive, fans of the previous game will be happy to know what your character has a few new moves such as jumping and plunge attacks that give the combat a more balanced approach.

All that aside there were a few times where I felt the game was tipping the scales too high against me, one particular time involved two armoured archers on either side who had direct line of sight and were able to hit me every time making me plummet to the ground below. It didn’t matter what my skill level was nor what my characters class was the only way across was to not get hit and then take out one of the archers, there was no room to really navigate and the ledge was about a foot wide – it took over 10 tries to finally roll forward across the ledge dodging incoming fire and then dealing with an archer. I knew to expect a serious fight when I started the game because I had played Demon’s Souls long before Dark Souls was announced, but the archer section was a case of the game using a cheap trick to push the difficulty level up another notch and though examples like that are few and far between a lot of players will find those moments unacceptable.

In certain areas of the game you may find the camera can get you killed as you manoeuvre your way through the darkness only to find you are now on your way either off a cliff or into an enemies ambush, though it’s rare that this will happen when it does it can be very frustrating especially if you were carrying a lot of unused souls. Ironically enough the same area where the camera can be tricky is the only area I ever noticed any substantial drop in frame rate and it all was over so quickly it didn’t impact my fun. Those are the only negative points I ever noticed about the game and they are minor in comparison to the epic scale of what Dark Souls has to offer, every little detail is perfectly suited and expertly executed. This is not the kind of game that overloads you in story and lore, instead it distances you from other characters keeping you on a constant battle of survival and strategy.

The difficulty level is continuously adjusting itself so as soon as you beat one enemy you start to encounter more that force you to fight even harder and with more skill, to make things even harder if you die in an area the enemies fight even harder and are more brutal than ever – unfair? That’s just how the game plays out. Its clear Dark Souls aims itself at a specific type of gamer and if you don’t fit the bill you might not last very long, it’s immersive and deeply overpowering with enough lifespan to satisfy even the most hardcore gamer. Demon’s Souls was and still is only available as an exclusive to the ps3 so many 360 gamers could only rely on their expectations and not have the raw power of the original to compare it to, having played both I can say that all of my expectations were more than met in every possible way. It’s not rocket science what the game does but it manages to effortlessly exhaust and drain your senses without skipping a beat, in short it’s a serious dose of psychological warfare that is more than worth the ticket price. I loved every minute of Dark Souls, it rarely frustrated yet managed to keep me motivated enough every time to keep pressing on even when I was getting annihilated by creatures three times taller than me.

It’s rare I give a game serious top marks because realistically they all have some flaws here and there, Dark Souls is quite the opposite it doesn’t apologize for the extreme difficulty but it does reward you for persisting even when the odds are stacked against you. I’m giving the game a well deserved 10 out of 10, the minor issues that I experienced were minimal enough to not result in any hampering of game play. If you liked Demon’s Souls then you will lose your mind when you play its brutal predecessor, if on the other hand you haven’t and are up for a serious challenge then Dark Souls just might be the game for you.

Naughty Bear: game review (ps3/360)

If you go down to the woods today, prepare to be disappointed. What could have been a great game has unfortunately turned out to be rather poor and lacking real fun. Meet naughty bear, he really isn’t happy with his fellow bears and so decides to go on a kill crazy rampage. He has his reasons though, unlike all the other bears he does not receive an invite to daddle’s birthday party. Poor naughty bear even goes to the trouble of crafting a special gift for daddle’s, however on the way over two other bears mock naughty bear and his gift.. naughty bear then skulks off back home to plot revenge on the inhabitants of the island. And that’s really how it goes, what follows is a lot of carnage ..stuffing will fly but sadly that’s about all.

The first thing that I noticed about the game was the overly dated look, though I was playing it on the playstation 3 it looked like a playstation 2 game. Games in general don’t have to look good for me to enjoy them but a more polished look does inspire me to play longer, Naughty Bear made me do the opposite. The main character of the bear does have a certain charm, he doesn’t talk instead an unseen narrator spins the yarn in the style of a slightly morbid children’s television show. Another issue I found to really hamper the pace of the game was the camera, normally a slightly turbulent camera is not a deal breaker in a game but the camera here will hang behind walls and doors causing you to have to keep centring it again and if you are lucky an enemy bear won’t attack.

The cartoon violence was for the most part quite funny at times but once I got about an hour into the game it really started to feel really repetitive to the point of me putting the controller down and turning the game off. The naughty points system is quite good and it lets you upgrade your bear to use different looks and weapons but again it’s something that only adds a little more lifespan to the game that in the end makes very little difference. Each level in the game world plays the same, find the bears and dispatch them ..maybe scare them first but inevitably the bears must die. Like I said the weapons do add a little spice and naughty bear has many weapons at his disposal including knives and guns.

Unfortunately the cartoon look just hasn’t been met to the standard you would expect from a nextgen console, I expected the developers would easily put together some great lush environments that were both clever and humorous instead they are drab and flat. The controls like the camera are at times very clunky and really drag the flow of the game down to a snail’s pace. For such a game with a lack of gloss to it the frame rate has issues especially when switching between areas of the map. Some are so bad it can result in an actual game freeze and since there is no real checkpoint system in place you will get very frustrated from having to start over again and that in itself might well be enough to make you either turn the game off or toss your controller at the television.

It may seem like all I’m pointing at are the negative aspects of the game but there really are very few redeeming features I can mention. At times there can be what feels like a burst of creativity but it’s so short lived that it will quickly be forgotten. When I have to point out the main menu screen as a positive part of the games design then it’s clear that said game has serious issues. The initial story of Naughty Bear is quite clever and promises a whole lot of laughs and adventure coated in a twisted little murder romp, but none of those promises are met ..apart for the murder of course. Originally I was very excited about the game but upon playing I have to do something I have never done before, and that’s to seriously recommend people not to buy Naughty Bear. As a rental the game might work, its short lived and it’s different but that’s really all.

Like any game there is always someone out there who will enjoy it no matter how bad others think it is and normally I always see something positive in an otherwise mediocre game so maybe it will appeal to someone. In a nutshell Naughty Bear is built in the style of games like Manhunt and Hitman but with bears and cartoon violence, if you like the idea of running around scaring and knocking the stuffing out of your fellow bears then this “might” be the game for you. Otherwise Naughty Bear really doesn’t deliver as a retail released console game, the graphics and sloppy game mechanics are the main choking point but there are too many other problems that stop it from ever becoming a game I would recommend. And so for my final score, I tried to enjoy Naughty Bear and I gave it a few chances to impress but any time I felt like I was having fun something else cropped up to ultimately frustrate and annoy until I eventually quit – Naughty Bear is getting a 4 out of 10. I did enjoy the narration and it was funny at times but even with the added DLC it’s just not enough to keep you going back for more.

Alice Madness Returns: game review (ps3/360/pc)

It’s been over ten years since Alice had her last videogame outing, originally it was a pc exclusive and now she returns to grace the world of games consoles. Set just after the events of the original game Alice is back in a desperate struggle to finally put her demon’s to rest, unknown to her she is set to partake in the fight of her life. The magical world of wonderland is no longer her refuge, instead it is slowly being systematically destroyed by a powerful evil force. She soon realizes that the reality around her is not much better and is forced to delve deep into her own darkness in the hopes that she alone can restore balance to her mind and to her beloved wonderland.

Madness Returns draws you deep into a world of darkness and surreal creativity, though at times the game play can lag a little its well worth the ride and when you do really get into it you won’t want to put it down. The story is as you would expect nothing short of brilliant, the writing is superb and the dialogue is perfectly matched to the universe it occupies. Alice is an action adventure game with a serious emphasis on platforming, but it doesn’t stop there along the way players are treated to various mini games that are both fun and testing. Its a challenging world full of jumps, dives and a lot of monsters to give even the most experienced gamers a serious run for their money.

Lewis Carroll originally dreamed up a world of fantasy and wonder, but this world is far removed from that wonder. It is a grotesque and dark world that Alice has to venture trough if she is to ever conquer her fears, her mind and save wonderland. Alice has a number of character moves to use but unfortunately getting her to carry them off at the start can be quite the ordeal, they lag and feel almost unresponsive though it eventually irons itself out this can be a bit of an off putter for new visitors to the game. Its a shame really and probably part of the reason many games reviewers found it hard to warm to but since most of the game really depends on these moves it can really drag the pace down to a crawl. Going slow is not a huge problem, wonderland though ravaged is quite the sight to behold and visually its extremely impressive. Many of the levels call for Alice to leap and glide her way from platform to platform, graceful in her glides and jumps she can at times be a delight to control.

The levels as mentioned are highly influenced by towering platforms you need to either leap to or solve puzzles in order to cross to the next part of the map. Some of the jumps can be very difficult to get to grips with and at times i found myself either cursing the camera or the platforms themselves. The game camera though not always can feel schizophrenic as it chooses to place itself in the most awkward of places making a hard jump even harder, a few times the camera on doing this caused me to miss completely and plummet straight off the edge. Camera aside the platforming elements are enough of a challenge to really keep you trying, many times Alice will discover secret areas that will give her an alternative route helping her bypass such difficult jumps. An integral part of Alice’s moves is the ability to shrink herself down at a time of the players choosing, this helps Alice pass though hidden keyholes scattered around the nooks and crannies of the map. Another ability she posses is a sort of special viewing where hidden bridges or passages show up as a sort of chalky outline, its a nice touch and really adds to the game.

Often these hidden areas contain collectibles such as forgotten memories Alice desperately needs as she struggles to piece together her fragile mind, when found these play out as amusingly good audio sequences that give the player a better grasp of what has happened to cause the destruction and devastation around them. Defeating enemies gives the player rose petals used to fill back up a depleted life bar, while teeth are used to buy weapons upgrades. Being an action adventure game you would expect a lot of action and Madness Returns certainly delivers. Alice starts off with the powerful vorpal blade which was once used to slay the evil jabberwocky but as she progresses various other weapons become available such as a pepper mill grinder which doubles for a gatling gun, a hard hitting hobby horse, a teapot that launches steaming hot tea, and my personal favourite clockwork bombs. All of the weapons apart from the bombs can be upgraded to prove more devastating against your ever-changing enemy.

The monsters and foes Alice faces throughout the game are as twistedly decedent as the nightmare world they occupy, though the game doesn’t exactly feature level bosses as such the monsters change so sporadically that you won’t really think about it much. The first monsters Alice encounters are easy enough to defeat as it teaches you the basics of control and combat but as the game progresses they get extremely hard especially when they hit you in waves. Combat too is difficult and at times the auto aiming can be a bit of a pain as it jumps from target to target leaving you exposed to attack, thankfully the hand to hand weapons are strong enough to not really need to rely too much on guns or cannons. At first Alice faces the likes of leeches and other low level cannon fodder but along the way she must tackle card knights brandishing axes, fire breathing dolls, samurai sword wielding wasps and executioners hell bent on separating your head from your shoulders. They can be tricky enough to deal with but eventually you learn when where and how to hit them effectively, the action part of the game can definitely be bloody but it really adds to the games atmosphere and overall visual look of the game.

Visually the game is absolutely stunning and the setting is unlike anything i have ever seen before, its a beautiful mix of style creativity and true unbridled terror. Alice not only traverses wonderland but also reality, a reality that looks like it is straight out of a Tim Burton movie. London though small and rarely visited is seeped in dark and gothic atmosphere, characters litter the street conversing shadily about this or that while other more sinister individuals peddle their wares. Reality of course is no match for the visual delight that is wonderland, it may be on the brink of annihilation but there are still pockets of pure beauty waiting to be explored. Wonderland at its worst is equally beautiful, and the game goes through an impressively and surprising amount of landscape changes. While one level might look like something straight out of a SAW movie or even Clive Barkers imagination another will place Alice in a scenic frozen tundra where you can’t help but smile happily as you wander through. My favourite level in the game was one where Alice has to make her way through a world that resembles a dollhouse, there is no shortage of level types or designs in this nightmare and shockingly each level is extremely long. Recently the market has been saturated with games featuring half finished short levels that leave the player wanting more, Alice however gives all that and then some.

Apart from a few small elements of the game i have to say i really enjoyed Madness Returns, it was hard to warm to and at times frustrating but having played though it all now and finished the game i feel like i really accomplished something. The story is so well interwoven with this dark fantasy universe, all the characters you would expect are here, the cheshire cat, the caterpillar, the carpenter, the march hare, the dormouse and of course the insanely brilliant mad hatter. The music changes as much as the visuals and levels do, its in no means repetitive and really adds to the game. The sounds too and lighting are very well done, it is not the best looking game on the market but it certainly does not disappoint.

Alice has enough moves and weapons to keep the player busy homing their skills and upgrading their tools, but that’s not all many of the levels come with their own attire to perfectly match the scene. This comes in the form of a series of dresses Alice wears throughout her journey, they are very well designed and though they do not add any special ability to Alice they look amazing and its nice to have the added choice of what costume to wear. Recently a DLC pack was released to buy for the game, it includes a whole host of dresses that give Alice special abilities and a number of weapon upgrades that really help tip the scales in your favour. Loading can be a little bit of an issue at times but its not enough to spoil the mood or the fun, the game may come to stand still followed by an egg timer but its usually for a few seconds so though noticeable it doesn’t really affect the pace.

Madness Returns could easily have been a 10 out of 10 game if the minor issues were addressed, on their own they don’t bring the pace down but all at once can be frustrating. Given the minor shortfalls its still a very good and uniquely creative game and should not be missed if given the chance. Its challenging yet very rewarding, upgrades and collectibles breath new life into the game and since they carry over once the game has been finished you will find yourself wanting to go back through the story again not just to pick up items you may have missed but for the deeply engrossing story telling. I’m giving Alice a 7 out of 10, I'm taking marks off for the reasons mentioned but those alone are not enough to really stop you from enjoying the game. If you are looking for a challenge served with a double dose of platforming action and superior story telling then this is a tea party you will not want to miss, the guests may be stark raving mad but the more the merrier.

inFamous 2: game review (ps3)

Just when the world needs a hero Cole MacGrath is back to either save or destroy the world only this time he is more powerful and more in control of his destiny. Empire City lays in ruin and you get blamed for it all, as the rest of the world comes under threat Cole makes his way down the cost in search of undiscovered powers capable of defeating the real cause of the disaster …the Beast. 

The game opens in the last few moments of Empire City where Cole must face the Beast, ultimately he fails and has to flee to New Marais. Here he witnesses a lawless city torn apart from natural disaster ruled by a power hungry dictator and enforced by a ruthless gang of militia who are hell-bent on wiping him out.

This time around Cole and his powers are more focused and feel much more powerful, he uses his abilities to the maximum whether it be for good or for evil. Just like its predecessor part two lets you choose how you want to act, choices have consequences and its more than evident here. Treat people well and help out the citizens and they will respect you but destroying the world around them will cause them to despise you sometimes even throwing rocks or punches your way. Cole can handle whatever comes his way so it really doesn’t matter how you choose to play, but its worth playing through it twice with each karma option because the story changes drastically as do the missions.

The story like most aspects of the game has received a fresh coat of polish indeed the location itself seems more vivid and better built. Empire City was a great location it had a tremendously good sense of scale but this time around players are treated to a explore wider variety of urban wonder. If Empire City was based on New York City then New Marais is based on New Orleans, however it too has been ravaged by a disastrous flood so Cole has to literally watch his step. The buildings are beautifully rendered and though some are decrepit or run down they perfectly fit the world around you, along the way you unlock districts one of my favourite being an industrial area full of towers and structures to climb and leap from.

The first thing I noticed playing the game was Coles voice, its changed drastically but you quickly adjust and it doesn’t really become an issue anymore. The soundtrack too has been brought right up to scratch, its not intrusive as such indeed there are times it seems to vanish altogether but its there when you need it. The usual sounds of Coles powers cracking into life, crowds of people on the streets, cars passing, enemies firing or engaging you, in fact the whole package sounds expertly composed. The graphics have been overhauled and visually its stunning, its certainly a vast improvement over the first one in that Cole and the world around him looks and feels more realistic than ever. As the story progresses the weather and time of day change with it, its not a major feature of the game but it does add an even deeper sense of realism to the experience and ambience especially when a storm blows in and Cole utilizes it to really let his powers rip. 

When it comes to powers Cole enjoys a new and more improved gauntlet of crushing electrically charged energies at his disposal only this time as the story progresses other elements can be added into the mix. In the first game I never really felt like Cole was all that because he just didn’t seem overly powerful, sure he could shoot lightning but he was still new to utilizing it. Cole can now use bigger and better powers to cripple his enemies, the older powers are still there but the new ones are more fun and much more useful especially since some of them make getting around the map easier. Included is his new handheld weapon known as the amp, think of an oversized cattle prod and you get the picture, combined with special takedowns the amp can be very useful against targets of all sizes.

There are plenty of opportunities for Cole to use his newfound powers and abilities, New Marais is not just overrun with corrupt and brutal militia its infested with monsters. The militia are easy enough to defeat and are a lot like the reapers in the first game, they carry assault rifles and some of them pack rocket launchers. Other enemies include a brethren of ex-mercenaries with the power to control ice, and a whole host of gruesome monsters. Taking out your foes is fun again and Cole employs a barrage of stunts and special take-downs. For fans of the original collectibles like shards and dead drops make a welcome return, however finding them this time seemed much easier than ever before. The side missions make a return too, they are simple enough and can be a bit repetitive but they can be fun and its the best way to earn experience points used to purchase newer powers which you will need to progress through the story. Other little missions pop up from time to time and usually involve disarming bombs, stopping muggers, basically helping out mankind …of course if you are playing evil you can deal with it differently and still get experience points.

A new addition to the game is the User Generated Content (UGC), it might sound technical but its basically a scaled down version of a level editor. UGC lets the player build and set their own unique missions, then upload them online so that others can play them. It might sound like a big leap in gameplay but its not really up to scratch and has a few issues, its a nice inclusion but I really didn’t see the need for it in fact most of the UGC mission I did try out online were either poorly made or just didn’t work. UGC does award experience points but its capped so you really only come away with 100 or 200 points, this is obviously to prevent players from farming or boosting points unfairly. In fairness I’m used to the level editing power of LittleBigPlanet 1 & 2 so naturally UGC would seem rather scaled down but I do think the game could stand up without it regardless of the extra lifespan.

So my final thoughts on the game are as follows. It is presented more vividly and  has a more natural flow to the controls, it sounds better in almost every aspect, the enemies have a lot more thought put into them and react better especially the monsters, Cole moves better and utilizes his powers to their full potential, the karma system doesn’t seem like its been overhauled by too much but there are plenty of choices to be made, the inclusion of other elemental powers serves to really spice the game up. If you are recognizing a trend here its simply because the game meets all my expectations and more, its a perfect sequel which is very rare in games these days.

I played the game twice on both good and evil, the game did change and though it wasn’t drastic it did make an enjoyable change each time. For trophy hunters there are a huge number of fun and attainable awards up for grabs, I generally try to avoid hunting down a platinum but just like its predecessor 100% can be reached with a simple enough amount of dedication so I managed to get it on my second playthrough. If like many people you only recently played the first one because it was free on the PSN then I strongly recommend you part with your cash for this highly electrically charged follow up. I really loved the game when really I didn’t think it would improve too much on the original, it was fun all the way with lots to do whether you wanted to help preserve the fragile city of New Marais or completely raise it to the ground. I’m giving it a well deserved 9 out of 10, it loses one mark for the evil ending and for the lack of real control over the UGC – other than that its high powered platforming bliss where no building is off limits and the world truly is in your hands to do with as you please.

My top 10 games of the year

1. Dead Rising 2
2. Assassins Creed: brotherhood
3. Red Dead Redemption
4. Gran Turismo 5
5. Castlevania: lords of shadow
6. GTA: episodes from liberty city
7. Guitar Hero: warriors of rock
8. Fallout: new vegas
9. R.u.s.e
10. Heavy Rain

Dante's Inferno - game review (PS3 & 360)

Well first off it’s a little different than the original poem by Dante Alighieri & I’d like to get those little differences out of the way before I go into too much detail. In the game you play Dante himself & you are on a quest to rescue your beloved Beatrice from the clutches of Satan himself. Of course there are a lot of little differences & a few big ones but it’s a video game so these changes are there for a reason. Virgil for example is in the game but he appears at the gates of hell instead of the forest, this was a little surprising to even me but it didn’t take away from the game in any way. A lot of the quotes from the poem are there & pop up regularly along with the characters mentioned in the poem, some of these include Charon & king Mino’s. so its clear the story has been changed around a little but is the game itself any good?


Actually yes it is, its already one of my favourite games so far this year. The game starts off in the holy land where after fierce battling with the enemy you are eventually slain, death himself promptly arrives to take your soul to the underworld but Dante refuses to give up to the grim reaper without a fight. After slaying death you return home to find your beloved has been murdered & your betrayal while you were away has damned her soul to the underworld. Dante then goes on an epic quest through the nine circles of hell in the hope to save Beatrice’s soul. The game does a great job of portraying the many stages of hell through fantastic visuals, often disturbingly brilliant but then it is hell after all. As you would imagine the first few circles such as limbo/lust & gluttony are easy enough but the following ones are a different story.

The environments themselves are populated with a healthy amount of demons & monsters that will have you hacking & slashing your way forward. The enemies that do pop up range from your stereotypical demon with horns on its head to the bladed un-baptized evil babies. Along the way you will encounter far stronger enemies like Cleopatra, king Mino’s & many others, depending on what difficulty you play the game on these should pose a sufficient challenge to gamers. To help you fight the forces of darkness Dante is equipped with a whole host of weapons, these include the holy cross which lets you absolve or punish souls with a quick blast, then there is deaths scythe which is great from performing devastating blows on even the fiercest of monsters.

Included in Dante’s bag of tricks is the ability to use magic, normally I don’t like magic in games but for this one I make the exception. In order to upgrade your magic you must use skill points which come from absolving of punishing souls, punishing a soul provides more skill for your darker magic while absolving a soul of its sins gives you skill points to use on your good magic, it sounds simple enough & that’s because it is in fact the system works so well you will quickly be unlocking all kinds of powers. There are also quite a few puzzles scattered around the game & secret passages, in addition to this special objects such as relics car also be collected but there are not always so easy to find.

Whether your beliefs or not impact on your want to play the game I say give it a try, it can be very brutal at times but then there is a reason for it getting such an adult rating & even though it didn’t stick entirely to the original poem it was extremely entertaining well worth the wait. I’m giving Dante’s Inferno a much deserved 9 out of 10, I’m taking a point off because the game could have been a little longer in places - the developers have recently announced that there are already 2 downloadable packs soon to be released. These include Dark Forest & Trials of St. Lucia, Dark Forest will be a prologue level while St. Lucia will not only add a new playable character but also cooperative multiplayer game play & a game-editor while will allow players to create their own maps. Trials of St. Lucia is due to be released on the 29th of April.