Here’s the week 10 Boar article which once again I left writing until the very last second; and then some. Will thoroughly dealt with the first three platforms, whilst I wrote most of the latter three consoles’ recommendations; though I must admit to the need to entirely retract the recommendation for Guitar Hero: World Tour. It was made in lieu of any other decent DS releases in Europe for this holiday period.
Since this is the last Boar before Christmas, we thought that it would be a good idea to do a bit of a Buyer’s Guide of what you really want in terms of game. We’ll look at each of the consoles, hopefully we’ll help you decide which one’s right for you, and we’ll have a look at the best games coming out this holiday season.
Xbox 360
Considering that the Xbox 360 starts from only £129.99 for the Arcade, it really is a great all-rounder. Saying that, we’d recommend getting the 60GB Pro; it’s a bit more expensive but necessary if you’re serious about gaming. If you’re not too worried about High Def movie playback, the 360 has a lot to offer; a huge library of solid titles (the older ones now available for cheap), excellent graphics and a great online service (bear in mind, it isn’t free), all make it an excellent machine. It isn’t the sleek consumer electronic that the PS3 is, it doesn’t have built in Wi-Fi, Blu-Ray playback or rechargeable controllers, it does, however, offer you great games at a fraction of the cost.
Recommended – Gears of War 2
Following up from the hugely successful Gears of War, this sequel improves the franchise in every way. Continuing on the story of Delta Squad’s fight against the Locust Horde, Gears 2 takes it to the next level; as the developer said, Gears 2 is “bigger, better and more badass”. The graphics are improved, the cover system implemented has been refined and the enemy AI is more intelligent, flanking you and simply being harder to take down. The story itself also holds more emotional depth (it’s still cheesy in a lot of places), giving you a bit more of a reason to kill things.
The original cemented the Xbox 360 as a “next generation” console and many thought Gears 2 couldn’t take the genre any further; it’s safe to say that they were wrong.
Budget – Viva Piñata
There are a number of great budget titles available for the 360 but we thought we’d recommend something that’s not a shooter; Viva Pinata. If you go to a shop and pick this game up, you might be put off; it looks like a kid’s game. However, once you fire it up you find that there’s an extremely complex management sim underneath its colourful exterior which is completely addictive. You are effectively controlling the lives of a large range of pinatas, all of which have sweet related names (the game’s hedgehog pinata is called a “Fudgehog”, for example). You’re given a square patch of land that you can change to fit your pinata’s needs and a variety of objects to buy. There really isn’t an aim to the game, you’re simply trying to attract bigger and better pinata to your garden; this is what makes Viva Pinata great, you aren’t frantically shooting things, you’re just having a nice, relaxing time.
Playstation 3
The Playstation 3 is a slick piece of machinery but it does come at a price. You do get a lot of cutting edge technology for the £300 price tag: at its core is the Cell Broadband Processor, which is used in the world’s fastest supercomputer; it includes a Blu-Ray drive, the next generation of movie playback; and it has Wi-Fi out of the box. And the Blu-Ray really is a great feature, if you have a HD Ready TV then you really need to see a film in High Def, you will not go back to your old DVDs. The games are good too! There are a number of excellent PS3 exclusives and there is a large catalogue of titles available. If you want something a bit more future-proof, you can’t go wrong with the Playstation 3.
Recommended – Little Big Planet
Simply put, LittleBigPlanet (LBP) puts game creation into the players had. Although it’s only a basic platformer at its core, the main appeal is the ability to create your own levels and change everything in the game, on the fly. You control the, now iconic, Sack Boy and are able to bring up a number of tools that allow you to modify the surrounding environment; such as the placement of textures and objects or how the player interacts with the objects in the level. The creation tools aren’t daunting though; they are very easy to mess around with, although you might need to invest some time to make something that’s actually good.
There wouldn’t be much point to the creation of all these levels if you couldn’t share them with people. LBP has a fantastic online component that allows the user to share their creations with the rest of the world as well as play them with 3 others, over the net. You haven’t experienced anything like LBP before; this really is a next generation title.
Budget – Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune
Having just been released on the Playstation’s Platinum range, Uncharted is a great budget game. When it was released back in December last year, it was an exclusive title that gave consumers a real game-related reason to buy a PS3; up until this point, the PS3 only had a few exclusives worth getting, which really isn’t a good enough reason to spend £300+ on a console! Uncharted is a mix of Tomb Raider and Gears of War, there’s some solid platforming involved and a good cover system is included. Along with a great story (if a bit short), lush graphics and excellent sound design, Uncharted is a great game even at retail price – for £20 you can’t go wrong!
Wii
The Wii really isn’t the same as the PS3 or 360; although it has a few games for the hardcore audience, such as Super Mario Galaxy and Metroid Prime 3, it’s mainly aimed at the casual demographic. Its main selling point is the motion-sensitive controller that it comes with. It’s a completely different method of user input and is nothing like your normal dual-stick controller; you won’t be playing Gears of War on the Wii, anytime soon! The Wii is good for families or those who don’t take gaming too seriously and it can defiantly be fun when you’ve got some friends round, maybe not so much when you’re playing solo. If you want a more “hardcore” gaming experience, I’d recommend one of the other two home consoles.
Recommended – Super Mario Galaxy
OK so Super Mario Galaxy was released this season, not even this year, but considering the lack of a really great, new game for this Christmas, we thought it was necessary to ensure that every Wii owner has a copy of Super Mario Galaxy in their library. The game is centred around a hub world from which you can access more than 40 different galaxies all containing 6 or 7 challenges (each with their respective stars to collect). Each galaxy varies in style with its own planetoids and even with different physics, making each galaxy unique and entertaining. If you’ve ever played one of Mario’s Gamecube outings before, you’ll be at home with the presentation of Galaxy; the graphics are probably THE best available on the Wii. The game also makes use of the Wii’s controls, not implementing gimmicky “waggle” but using it in a way that makes sense.
Although Mario Galaxy still based around its well known platforming mechanic, its feel like a completely new adventure and throws you back to the good old Nintendo 64 days – this really is a must own.
Budget – de Blog
Probably one of the few really good 3rd party Wii titles, de Blob is a platformer at heart but with a bit of a twist. The story goes something like this; the evil INKT Corporation have drained all the colour from Chroma City, it falls to you to restore colour and free its people. You’re simply a ball-like creature that you use the Wii-mote to jump and roll around the city, restoring colour to everything you touch. You get points depending on how well you’re doing which open gates to continue to the next area. It’s simple but fun. The game’s presentation is superb; excellent CG videos hold the story together, solid graphics and art style make it look surprisingly good for a Wii game and the menu system really adds to the overall experience. Considering the distinct lack of games that are fun to play on your own for the Wii, de Blob is really worth a look, especially at only £20.
Nintendo DS
The Nintendo DS is almost single-handedly responsible for bumping Nintendo from its troubled position of just a few years ago into the market-controlling behemoth that it now is. By far and away the best selling console in the current generation; many developers, such as Square Enix with Dragon Quest, are moving large franchises away from the consoles which have traditionally been their home onto the DS. Whilst unfortunately having a reputation for being a “kiddies” console with childish and poor quality games; the truth is that there are more mature titles of a high quality available on DS than for almost any other platform. From the remakes of older Final Fantasy titles (though, alas, not VII), through the original IP of The World Ends With You to the traditional Nintendo staples of Zelda; the DS has more games than even the most hardcore gamer could shake a stick at. Its comparatively low price point also makes it ideal for those who find other consoles to be outside of their price range, and the software is generally available at a very reasonable price.
Recommended – Guitar Hero: On Tour Decades
The Guitar Hero franchise has, in just a few short years, run amok through the gaming world; selling millions of copies to new-found rock wannabes whilst single-handedly reinventing an entire genre around it. Given the obvious requirements and a stonking huge replica guitar, it’s a franchise which until now has been very much confined to home console. However, it seems that Activision have been incontent with not sourcing a revenue stream from this generation’s best selling console (the Nintendo DS) and have conspired to release Guitar Hero in its most portable form to date. It succeeds in being just that: an enjoyable port of Guitar Hero which can be played on the move and remains great fun despite some limitations inherit in the platform, such as the number of fret buttons being reduced to 4. The set list has clearly been tailored to the DS’s percieved audience of younger players; but it’s a Guitar Hero game which is as fundamentally fun as the series ever was.
Budget – Elite Beat Agents
Whilst I feel somewhat apologetic for recommending two separate music titles, Elite Beat Agent unfortunately escaped the attention of many when it was originally released over a year ago. EBA is a beat action music game which essentially requires the DS’s screen to be tapped in time to one of the twenty or so varied and generally decent tracks included within the game. A Westernisation of the earlier Japanese Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan, the game’s Japanese origins are still clear in the bright and vivid anime cartoon-book like animations which tell a story to accompany each song; the plot loosely being that people in trouble are rescued by the sheer wonder of the Agents’ dancing skills, encouraged by your essential… err… cheerleading. The game’s difficulty curve is well sculpted such that replaying each song never feels like a chore, and practice is rewarded by progression, and the sheer elation of seeing a happy conclusion to the tale. For me, EBA’s price of admission was entirely justified by a single, heart-wrenching song; which I’ll happily admit to being one of the very few gaming moments that I’ve shed a tear over. This title doesn’t deserve to be in the bargain bins it now seems to be filling: really, give it a chance.
Playstation Portable
Despite a reasonably quiet launch, the PSP has slowing been gaining momentum as a platform since it was launched three years ago. Differing crucially from the DS in its comprehensive multimedia support; including the ability to watch a movie or listen to music from either a UMD disk or a mass market memory stick or use the built-in wireless to browse the internet or play against others online; a recent upgrade and re-release of the PSP’s hardware makes this Christmas an ideal time to invest in one. The console has finally built a sweeping and comprehensive library of titles to suit all tastes, though there’s an evident bias towards a more hardcore gamer than the DS, with a greater prevailance of action and racing games. The exclusion of a second analogue stick stop it from being on par with an actual PS2, but the PSP still has a lot of offer; if you want a good all-rounder, look no further.
Recommended – Locoroco 2
As the sequel to one of the most quirky, addictive and enjoyable games thus far released on the PSP, Locoroco 2 never claimed that it would reinvent the genre or offer some soul-searching discussion of the human condition. Those who choose to invest in this title will receive exactly what they they expect: more levels, more Loco and more Roco. LocoRoco 2 remains true to its chirpy original, bringing with it charm in spades, well crafted and elegant level design, an equally memorable theme tune and many hours of some of the best platforming fun available on any console. Some might be put off by the “childish” and “simple” graphics; but allowing oneself to be deterred by such shallow principles will only result in you missing out on one of the most enjoyable experiences that the PSP can offer. In a world where games are supposed to be fun, pretension-free titles like LocoRoco 2 are all too often ignored.
Budget – Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories
At the opposite end of the gaming spectrum from LocoRoco lies Grand Theft Auto. One of the largest and most popular game series in existence, Rockstar seem not to be content with their games if they’re not pushing the bounds of what is possible both technically and socially. In itself, the fact that GTA:LCS even exists on the PSP is a technical marvel: this is the full world of Liberty City compressed with little compromise onto a platform which is technically much less competent than parent platform of the PS2. Though missions in LCS have been criticised for being slightly more restricted due to the nature of the platform, the title remains vintage GTA; those interested PSP owners who are yet to play it will find the living, breathing world of Liberty City pristinely rendered in the palm of their hands. For many this is little less than the gaming dream.
PC
The stalwart of gaming, the PC is becoming increasingly under threat as a gaming platform of late by the increased power and prominence of consoles. The drive for standardisation has left some recent big PC releases as little more than second rate ports, restricted by the console that is being used as the lead platform. However, due to the continuous upgradability of the PC, the few games that are PC exclusives are always at the bleeding edge, both in terms of graphics and artificial intelligence. Games like Crysis really stand testament to the fact that graphical fidelity on a PC can be so much better than that available on a console and, although expensive, if you’ve got the money to invest in a good set-up, you can have a unique experience not available anywhere else.
Recommended – Left 4 Dead
Left4Dead’s biggest selling points are the zombies. They infest every corner of the post-apocalyptic nightmare into which you are dropped, lurching at you from the darkest corners in the manner one has grown to expect having grown up on a diet of zombie movies from Night of the Living Dead to Shaun of the Dead. Other than the zombies, the game’s biggest selling point is its fantastic co-operative play. The game has been designed from the ground up to work best when playing as four friends helping each other through one of the game’s six “movies”. Playing together as a team is absolutely vital to finish on the games harder difficulty levels; and repeated playthroughs are an absolute joy rather than a bore thanks to the “AI Director” which dynamically chooses where the zombies spawn each time. Being able to go through the levels repeatedly and never being sure where the next wave will suddenly appear will hopefully keep L4D fresh and fun for years.
Budget – Peggle
What is there to say about Peggle that hasn’t already been said many times over? As the quintessential casual game on the PC; Peggle’s unique, transcendal appeal makes it a safe purchase for anyone you may know in possession of even the humblest of laptops. The basic gameplay dynamics involve simply firing a number of balls at a large number of “pegs”, with the intention of hitting all of the orange ones. Seeming apparently dull and uninteresting, Peggle instead using these simple mechanics with a wonderful charm and superb sense of humour to build a game that is one of the most endearing, entertaining and replayable titles available on any platform. For $10 on Steam or £5 in stores if you shop around, non-ownership is inexcusable.
Will Brierley and Nathan Wong
You so need to put our fulls names at the end of each of these articles (in bold) to make sure it’s not possible that people don’t know of our incredible writing skills!
Done!