Split/Second

Ah, racing games.  How I enjoy them.  Nothing like the thrill of being behind the wheel of an exotic vehicle, tearing down tracks at crazy speeds with a pack of rivals, and fighting tooth and nail for first place, barely edging out a photo finish.  It’s been a couple years since a game like that came my way (has it really been that long since I delved into Burnout Paradise?).  Now Split/Second has walked up to the plate; color me interested.

Let’s start from the beginning.  Split/Second is a racing game, named after the titular fictional show that you play as a contestant on.  Split/Second pits racers driving fast, expensive-looking cars against each other in a host of events, including races and lap runs.  The show’s (and, by extension, the game’s) name comes from the inclusion of Power Plays, scripted events that participants can trigger mid-race.  Dozens of explosives have been planted in various places on each track; Power Plays set them off.  The effect can vary wildly, from merely exploding a nearby tanker, to downing an entire building.  The idea is that you use Power Plays as an offensive tactic; instead of throwing a blue shell at someone, or a missile, or something, you can cause the warehouse they’re in to implode, or the bridge they’re racing under to collapse.  I’ve slipped under closing doors, made ludicrous detours in the blink of an eye, and just barely evaded swinging wrecking balls more times than I can count.  Hence, Split/Second.  The entire game is like if you took that scene in a generic action movie where the hero and his girlfriend are trying to escape the enemy HQ, right after the hero set off that cleverly planted set of bombs, and the whole place is coming down...and you stretched it into a TV series.  There’s jumps, improvised detours, and hazards galore.

The presentation and overall design of the game is very consistent; every aspect of the game does its part to convey a general theme.  The menus are slick and edgy, and the HUD--a small overlay that trails directly behind your car, telling you the lap number and your current place, among other things--is a creative touch, being sufficiently informative without being at all distracting.

Progression in the game’s career mode is split up into episodes.  Each episode has about five events.  Each event you complete adds to your total credits, with higher placement netting you more credits.  Credits unlock cars, and also unlock the Elite Races.  To progress to a new episode, you have to place 3rd or better in the current episode’s Elite Race.  While other events are purely for credits, each Elite Race, also counts towards a single ongoing tournament, with higher placements being assigned higher point values.  Since Elite Races are exclusively done with a set of named racers, considered to be the best contenders in the series, the points ladder is sort of a way to see your current standing in the series, regardless of episode.

While Split/Second is hardly a complicated game, there are some things you’ll definitely be wanting to pay attention to as you race.  Power Plays are activated using energy from a bar on your HUD, segmented into three pieces.  There’s a few ways to gain energy, but your primary methods will be drifting and drafting.  Drifting is something anyone who knows anything about racing will be familiar with.  Drafting is in a similar boat, but I’ll explain it anyway.  Drafting is the act of taking advantage of an opponent’s slipstream to pass them.  Getting into a bit of aerodynamics, when you’re going fast, air resistance becomes a more significant factor in your speed output.  If you imagined a car boring through a mound of earth, and another car following closely behind it, you’d have an idea of what drafting is except it’s air, not earth you’re “tunneling” through.  Long story short, following about 1-2 seconds behind a car, at fast speeds gives you a speed boost, allowing you to catch up and pass them.  It will also charge your Power Play meter.

Other things to pay attention to are the types of Power Plays.  Like I said before, they come in many flavors, some being more effective most.  For example, a common basic Power Play is to cause a parked car to explode, causing it to roll across the road in a veritable ball of fire.  Another is to cause a piece of machinery to activate, like a wrecking ball swinging across the track, or a set of buzz saws flying out of their encasing.  Even if the actual explosion or effect doesn’t directly hit you, in many cases the mere activation of a Power Play sends out a shockwave that turns your wheels to jelly (metaphorically, of course), and sends you skidding, making it all too easy to crash into something, or worse yet, spin out.  Some Power Plays will activate shortcuts, such as opening a gate, allowing you to bypass a sharp turn altogether.  Others will cause shortcuts to come crashing down on those inside of them.  Power Plays are context sensitive, appearing over other racers’ cars when they’re in range of being affected by one.  Still, some opportunities to use Power Plays are better than others, and even with the shockwave it’s very possible to miss entirely, or for a Power Play to have essentially no effect.  Frequently I’ve activated a Power Play, only for those near it to shake it off.  And yet one time I managed to eliminate six racers simultaneously by detonating a tanker, causing it to slide across the track, sweeping the whole rest of the pack into oblivion.

The most destructive Level 2 Power Plays require a full bar of energy, but the results are beautiful to behold.  Usually Level 2 Power Plays alter the course of the track, forcing a detour and wrecking anyone and everyone who are too late to switch routes.  For example, driving across a warf, I activated a Lv2 Power Play, which detonated a large ship, causing it to tip sideways, completely wrecking the stretch of track in front of us.  We instead had to drive onto the deck of the ship to bypass the wall of fire that had sprung up.  Another one derailed a train, causing it to crash in the area up ahead, and forcing us onto the freeway overhead.

Unfortunately, it’s not all positives.  Just like in many other games of the genre, there is some definite rubber-banding present, and it can get really bad at times.  When it takes you the better part of a lap to catch up to a computer cruising in 1st place, but only a minute or so for the computer to do the same to you, you know something’s not right.  The computer’s cars also don’t always seem to observe the same stats as yours do.  Trucks and SUVs are fully capable of passing sports cars (they weren’t drafting me, I checked), and a couple times I even saw a car literally spawn a couple hundred feet behind me.  It’s to the point that it actually kind of squanders your sense of progression in regards to the cars you earn.  Even though there’s a definite increase in performance as you unlock more cars, going back to older races with your newly unlocked cars doesn’t help much, as the computer will always use cars similar in class to the one you’re using.  


I also have a personal problem with the fact that the trucks and SUVs seem to be the computer’s car class of choice, just like you’ll find AI opponents more often than not touting rocket launchers and shock rifles in Unreal Tournament, and always dropping everything to go for health recovery items and the Smash Ball in Super Smash Bros games.  There’s just few things in life more irritating than driving an exotic super car and having an SUV just zoom right past you.  The competitors that aren’t driving in humongous trucks instead tend to choose whatever car you’re driving.  It’s kind of underwhelming, but at least the copying is only at its worst in the beginning episodes, when you don’t have that many cars.

Some of the crashes suffered by both you and the computer will feel arbitrary.  You’ll see it far more often in the AI, who will get pushed by a Power Play and either blow up right then and there, or essentially stop trying to steer, and go careening into a wall.  But it happens to you as well occasionally;  sometimes it feels like the game has frozen your steering wheel as a side effect of a Power Play shockwave, forcing you to crash.  Other times, the game won’t even give you a chance to actually hit something; your car will simply explode, and that’ll be that.  This hasn’t happened enough to cause frustration more than a couple times in my playtime thus far, though.

Other than races, there’s a fair number of other event types.  Detonator is very similar to your generic time attack sort of deal, except nearly every Power Play in the stage (including Level 2’s) is being activated as you draw near them, making this possibly the most action-y mode in the game.  Normally I dislike time trials, but Detonator is actually really fun.  There’s also Eliminator, which is kind of like Race except there’s a timer, and when that timer depletes, the guy in last place explodes, and is eliminated from the race.  This goes on at 20-30 second intervals, until there’s only one competitor left.  Clearly, to be a competitor in Split/Second you’d have to have a bit of crazy in you, evidenced by the other modes, Air Attack, Air Revenge, and Survival (the latter of which has you skirting in between a spill of explosive barrels dropped out of a series of giant big rigs).

Split/Second’s car selection isn’t bad.  There’s mainly three varieties of cars: 1)trucks and SUVs, which have good handling, and handle shockwaves better than the other guys, 2)sports cars and tuners, which are fast and nimble, but get knocked around easily, and 3)muscle cars, all-around vehicles that tend to have decent stats in every area.

There’s only a handful of environments, with a couple tracks running through each one, stretched across all 12 episodes.  Though this issue is diminished greatly by the ability to switch routes (sometimes multiple times on track) using Lv2 Power Plays, as of this writing I’m a little over halfway through the game and I am starting to feel the effects of recycled content.  What environments there are though, are nicely varied.

Overall, Split/Second is a well-performing, good looking game.  There’s a load screen when you first start the game up, and before starting each event, but thankfully you don’t have to sit through one if you decide to restart an event.  The game makes pretty great use of effects, with plenty of lens flare present.  For a game filled with explosions though, I think the explosions could actually look much better, as could the objects that go flying as a result of them.  There’s some clear crudeness in a lot of the environment models, and the textures aren’t too convincing.  I've also spotted the occasional visual glitch, such as the ground disappearing into a black abyss, but they usually come and go so quickly that it's hard to pay much attention to them.  


The car models look great.  When the race begins, they look like they just rolled out of the dealership.  Crossing the finish line, there’s scratches galore on the sides, and streaks of dirt and dust on the paint.  At really fast speeds you get a bit of camera shake to let you know you’re being totally reckless, and dirt and debris tends to fly onscreen when something goes off near you.

Whoever was in charge of sound design in this game probably deserves a pat on the back, because Split/Second’s audio is incredibly engaging.  The BGM seems to consist of only one song, but it never feels like it because that song is remixed wildly to fit different situations.  For example, when you first arrive at the title screen, only a barebones version of it is playing.  As you go from menu to menu, more instruments chime in.  Mid-race is where you’ll really see the rewards of excellent sound design.  For example, you’re driving across an airport, and you see something in the sky way, way far up ahead.  Just as you realize that’s a mother-effin’ cargo plane on a crash course for you, the music just completely stops momentarily, as if you’re stuck in a vacuum.  Then it hits, and everything strikes back up again.  This game’s audio sucks you in.  Other sounds of note include a definite presence of the doppler effect (especially when you head into tunnels), and convincing engine sounds.

Split/Second is a very good game.  I didn’t get a chance to try its multiplayer (it also has two player split-screen, quick play and online modes), but the single player stands firm by itself as a fun and engaging experience.  The AI rubber-banding is irritating at times, to be sure, but it doesn’t do a whole lot to hamper what is otherwise a very solid racing title.  Especially for someone who enjoys Mario Kart, arguably the king of AI hax.  An 8.5/10.

Amagami SS

Been a while since I talked about an anime.  Possibly because I don’t watch quite as much as I used to a couple years ago.   Anyway, this time I’m here to talk about Amagami SS.  It’s a romance anime that’s doesn’t stray from the typical in its content, but still manages to feel fresh through its presentation.
Our protagonist is Tachibana Junichi, a high school junior.  After being stood up for a date on Christmas Eve, Junichi’s been hesitant to try again with another girl, for fear of being hurt.  It’s gotten to the point where Christmas time has become a source of depression for him, and he often ducks out of the annual Founder’s Festival, a big event hosted by his school.

Junichi's a pretty ordinary guy.

Two years later, Junichi has finally decided to give the dating game another shot.  With the self-imposed challenge of getting a date for Christmas Eve, Junichi sets out to get with one of six girls.  However, instead of a single overarching story, the anime remarkably takes the visual novel route, dividing the twenty five episodes up into six arcs (plus one bonus arc at the end), one to represent a “route” for each girl.  After Junichi manages to land a date with a girl on the 4th episode of her arc, the story begins anew, and progresses from a different angle, with a different girl.  This brings me to the first reason why I enjoyed this series quite a bit.  It’s very easy to take in.  Even though, in total it’s a mid-range series in terms of length, each arc is self-contained, meaning you can watch four episodes and then stop.  

Though developing a typical high school romance over the course of a mere four episodes is no small task, the show makes a solid effort, and most of the arcs come to a satisfying conclusion.
The series has two openings, and seven endings; one for each girl, sung by the voice actress for the heroine of the current arc.  The six available heroines are as follows (in the order their arcs go).. 

Haruka Morishima

 Possibly one of, if not my favorite characters in the series.  Haruka is a senior, probably viewed as the prettiest girl in the school.  She’s won the Miss Santa contest for a couple years in a row now, and is overall a very popular girl.  Stereotypical on paper, right?  But you don’t need to know Haruka for long to know that she’s an oddball.  Her interests, antics, and general behavior can’t be described as anything but random and amusing.

Haruka's no slouch in the pretty department

She lords over dogs with surprising skill, and can often be caught peeking in on the girls swim club, not unlike your typical male pervert.  She also whips out gratuitous English with phrases with “WOW”, and “Okie Dokie” regularly.  Haruka is also extremely aggressive with her screentime, even when it’s not her arc; often randomly popping in to say something incredibly silly, or prey on Junichi’s younger sister for being too cute.  The only one able to keep her actions in check is her friend Hibiki, who is usually the one to foil Haruka’s peeking sessions, being the captain of the swim team.

Do want.

 Junichi actually has to confess to her twice (she rejects him the first time) before she starts to see him as more than an acquaintance to do weird things with.  Haruka’s arc is probably one that suffers the most from being limited to only four episodes.  After all, she goes from being “that unreachable popular girl” to being hopelessly in love with him, in a little less than the span of the average feature film.  Haruka’s ED is my 4th favorite.  It’s kind of all over the place, in more ways than one, but it’s very upbeat.  Overall, however, her arc is my second favorite in the series.
 

Kaoru Tanimachi

 Next we have Kaoru Tanimachi.  Kaoru, Junichi, and Umehara (Junichi’s friend and “partner in crime”, if you will) have been buds for a few years now.  Their friendship is actually pretty infectious, filled with teasing, headlocks, and, in the case of Junichi and Umehara, porn magazines.  Kaoru herself is an independent, fairly strong young woman.  A lot of her actions would even suggest she might even be a tomboy, but I don’t think I’d go quite that far.  After all, you’re not allowed to be a tomboy with hair as stylish as Kaoru’s.

Kaoru's a big tease.

For the most part, Kaoru’s arc is a “friend turned lover” sort of deal.  Her arc is hurt a little by how typical it is on paper, but I thought it was delivered well enough for this to be overlooked.  And it helps that Kaoru is one foxy lady.  Kaoru’s ED is my 2nd favorite among all the heroines.  Its melancholy tone is instantly touching, and the theme fits in perfectly with her arc’s theme of evaluation; both of herself and her relationship with Junichi.  Her arc ranks as my 4th  favorite overall.

 Sae Nakata

  

Sae Nakata fills in the role of both the adorable moeblob and the shy underclassman.  She’s a freshman at Junichi’s highschool, and a friend of Miya, his sister.  As Miya puts it, Sae is “big where it counts”.  Despite being a head shorter, she’s got a bust to rival Haruka.  She develops a crush on Junichi when he helps her get lunch.  

I think you can guess what's going on..

Being the shy girl that she is, Sae normally finds it near impossible to navigate the lunch crowds to get decent pickings.  She has a soft spot for childish things like tokusatsu shows (things like Power Rangers and their Japanese equivalent, Kamen Rider), and cute things in general; she takes a liking to Junichi’s squishy pink coin purse, for example. 

The resident cutie

Sae manages to get into Junichi’s life when, mesmerized by the cute uniforms worn by waitresses in Kaoru’s restaurant, she resolves to try and get a job there.  She’s far too scared to attempt on her own though, so Junichi volunteers to “train” her, to help prepare for the nuances of waitressing.  It’s during this time that her simple crush turns into full on love.  Sae’s arc is easily my least favorite.  Her shyness makes for a lot of awkward moments and unnecessary blushing, something that feels out of place in a story of such short length.  Still, she manages to mature past these typical shortcomings eventually, and the arc comes to a truly cute (if a bit random) conclusion.  Her ED is also my least favorite.  It’s okay, I guess...but the other girls’ ones are much better in comparison.

Ai Nanasaki

 Ai is a freshman like Sae (and in fact, the two acquaintances).  Showing some hostility to Junichi initially for his perverse tendencies, she exhibits some characteristics of a Type A tsundere.  Though quick to perceive his less desirable traits, Ai warms up to Junichi soon enough as she learns more about his various nuances and quirks.  

This is mostly what made her arc enjoyable.  Ai doesn’t even particularly like Junichi at first (as a person, and certainly not as a potential romantic option), but she becomes interested him slowly but surely as she gets to know him better.  It’s not like many other fictional romance stories, where the girl is either already in love with the guy whether she knows it or not, or just magically falls in love with him through one or two significant occurrences.

Don't make that face, Ai.

There’s actual, genuine development to the story between Ai and Junichi, from start to finish, with both sides.  I guess what I’m saying is that Ai’s arc feels the most realistic.  It’s a close decision whether I like Kaoru or Ai better, both in terms of their stories and end songs.  But Ai just barely edges out victory in both areas, singing the best ED in the series in my opinion, and having the 3rd best arc.

 Rihoko Sakurai

"Wait!  It's not as bad as it looks."

Rihoko’s character design (and indeed, that of much of the rest of the cast) already gets kudos for not being unbelievably sexy, like how so many female anime characters are displayed.  However, Rihoko is just plain adorable; sometimes more so than Nakata.  Rihoko loves food, and as a result, is a bit on the chubby side (but not fat, mind you).  She’s also a huge ditz, prone to tripping, oversleeping, and forgetfulness.  She’s a sophomore; one year younger than Junichi.  But she’s known him longer than any of the other girls, fulfilling the role of the childhood friend.  The premise of Rihoko’s story is similar to Kaoru’s: the friend who becomes the lover.  But it’s of a distinctly different flavor.  The most concrete reason behind this is kind of a spoiler, but to say that Rihoko and Kaoru are very different people requiring very different romantic routes should suffice.  Also, while Kaoru and Junichi are purely friends initially, Rihoko has a faint but definite crush on Junichi, and has for some time.

[Insert witty caption here]

Rihoko is a part of the Tea Club, which is currently only composed of herself, and two seniors.  She’s not especially good at making tea, so it’s pretty obvious that she likely only joined for the snacks.  But at the same time she does genuinely care about the club, which will be disbanded if she remains as the only member next year, after the seniors graduate.  To this end, much of her arc is spent with her trying to get Junichi to join the club, which will serve the dual purpose of being able to spend more time with him and saving the club.  The ending to Rihoko’s arc is tragically bittersweet when you think about it; in retrospect hers feels almost more like a story of friendship than romance.  Her ending theme is my 3rd favorite of the bunch, being pretty dang catchy.
 

Tsukasa Ayatsuji

 I’m gonna go ahead and say it:  Tsukasa’s arc is easily my favorite of the entire bunch, and it’s incredibly fitting that they would save it for last.  You see her plenty often throughout the series, as she’s both the Class Rep and the volunteer organizer for the Founder’s Festival (which is a significant element of the plot).  She portrays the stereotype of that uber-smart, really pro-active student that’s the first to raise their hand in class, and stays after school to do all sorts of extracurricular stuff.  Ayatsuji is respected, and is rarely seen without a smile on her face.

Ayatsuji-san..?

It’s important to note, however, that she’s not without issues.  Being essentially in a league of her own, other students seem to distance themselves from her.  She’s also seen as a stick in the mud by some.  Those are all trivial, however, compared to what we see of her doing her arc, which is easily the most plot-heavy in the series.  What you’ll have seen of Ayatsuji up until the end of the first episode of her story is entirely her “nice” side.  But she has another side, too; one that she suppresses with the utmost care.  And one that completely blindsided me.  

I admit that I wasn’t actually expecting much from her arc, because I couldn’t help but wonder how it could possibly be interesting to watch Junichi somehow wrangle a do-gooder like her.  Well apparently the writers agreed, so in went this curveball.  I probably shouldn’t have even said this much, but then I wouldn’t have much to talk about.  Tsukasa’s is one of three arcs that gets a “true” epilogue, the other two being Haruka and Sae (though the latter’s is questionable).  Really, hers has the most fleshed out story and ending of them all, quite a feat once again considering the four episode limit.

Merry Christmas!

Tsukusa’s arc is followed by one final single episode arc, labeled the “truth” arc.  This will feel familiar to anyone who’s played their share of VNs, or just stories with multiple endings.  Often, the creators put in one ending among them all that is actually the canon one; what really happened.  Same deal here.  Until the final episode, I was content to treat each route as an individual plot taking place in a parallel universe.  The Truth arc, however, strings all the previous arcs together as mere “what-if” scenarios.  I’m not sure how I felt about this, but the nice thing about Amagami SS is that I can simply pretend the Truth arc does not exist. 

Though the content kept me watching, what actually drew me to Amagami SS was the visual style.  Presented in HD, the show looks absolutely terrific.  Through countless battles with my internet connection, I was able to procure both a few episodes in 720p, and one in 1080p.  It was a feast for the eyes.  More eye-catching, however, is the character design.  All of the characters in Amagami SS manage to look very unique from each other, without straying from the realistic.  Bodies are drawn proportionally, and the wide variety of hair styles is actually a little inspiring.  Nothing about the visual design in Amagami SS says “colorful” or “extravagant”, something that can’t be said of so many other anime series.  In short, the show strikes a perfect balance between the reserved and the flashy, resulting in a subtle yet tasteful art style that is nothing short of refreshing. 

It's ticklin' time.

Once more, the reason why I truly enjoyed Amagami SS lied in its presentation.  The unique plot format and polished visuals both helped a lot to boost the overall quality of an otherwise conventional romance title.  Amagami SS is a Grade A example of an ordinary design made extraordinary through the sheer power of good execution.

PS:  Now I remember why I don't do as many anime posts!  Because Blogger's image formatting options are broken at worst, and restrictive at best.  Really, the formatting in general is busted, but it's a lot easier to deal with when the article is just text.

LittleBigPlanet 2

Though it wasn’t an immediate commercial success like some other blockbuster titles have been, LittleBigPlanet remains one of the most important games this generation, at least to the Playstation community. Why? Because for one thing, it was one of the games that served to truly round out Sony’s 1st party title lineup, giving them a positive image of variety. It also served as the spearhead for their “Play.Create.Share” movement, that encouraged the development of games where players could create much of the content for themselves, and share it with others across a broad, self-sustained community.

Now Media Molecule is back with LittleBigPlanet 2. This game is kind of interesting because it doesn’t initially come off as being justifiable as a full-on sequel. The graphics have been slightly but noticeably tweaked, but I don’t think the game really looks or runs significantly better. Which isn’t a bad thing, because the first game looked and ran perfectly fine, and even two years later, LittleBigPlanet 2 actually looks pretty good. When you first jump into the game, everything is very familiar. The controls haven’t changed, and Sackboy still handles virtually identical to how he did in his first outing. Upon first starting the game, you’ll run through an introductory level that serves as the opening credits, narrated once more by that charming Stephen Fry. You drop into your pod, and the replica PS3 controller is sitting there awaiting your input.

Even your good ol’ Popit is back, which gives you access to a multitude of things (more so in Create Mode) with the press of the button, including stickers, costumes, and the “reset” button, all returning from the first game, and all working in precisely the same way as before. Stickers can be used pretty much anytime and anywhere to decorate areas, but can also be used to activate switches. The reset button allows you to self-destruct, respawning at the last activated checkpoint. Costumes let you dress your Sackboy up however you please. Any costume pieces you unlocked in LittleBigPlanet will carry over to this sequel, and you’ll be able to collect even more pieces throughout LBP2’s campaign. Costumes still don’t affect gameplay in the slightest; as much as I sometimes wish they did.

In short, you will have no trouble picking up the controller again. Everything works pretty much exactly the same as it did previously, in terms of core gameplay mechanics. I really can’t stress this enough. What has changed, instead, is the sheer scope of the game. No longer are levels limited to run and jump platforming. The new tools and gadgets introduced allow for an infinitely wider range of gameplay. The Grappling Hook, for example, does exactly what you’d think it does, allowing Sackboy to grab materials from afar and swing from them. The Grabinator gives Sackboy the Herculean strength necessary to lift the various objects you might encounter in a level, and throw them. Bounce Pads are like futuristic trampolines, shooting you upward when you step on them. Four player multiplayer is back, as is the ability to play with any combination of local and online players. Add to this the fact that all of the gadgets have “friendly fire” enabled (i.e. being able to grab and toss each other with the Grabinator), and you have a recipe for mayhem. Before, I thought it was great fun to slap a fellow comrade off a cliff (which you can still do, mind you). Now we’re tossing each other into death traps with the Grabinator, forming multi-person trapezes with the Grappling Hook, and shooting giant cupcakes at each other with the Creatinator, among so many other things. In short, LBP2’s multiplayer is still composed of the same absolute hilarity that made its predecessor so much fun to play with others. In many ways, the addition of these new gimmicks have made the game even funner, whether you’re playing by yourself or with others.

What really earns LittleBigPlanet 2’s sequel certificate however, is the vastly expanded Create mode. You’ll get a taste of its potential as you play through the story. A bunch of new tools have been introduced, both major and minor. Some of biggest additions include the Controlinator, Sackbots, and the Creatinator. The Controlinator is essentially a cockpit for Sackboy. It can be used to map various functions to buttons on the PS3 controller. Before, when you got into a car, for example you might have to put in a grabbable material like a sponge, with a grab sensor plugged into the wheels. You would make the car move by grabbing the sponge. Now, you can assign those functions to buttons the controller, with (for example) the left stick accelerating the car in either direction, and the X button activating the nitro boost you almost certainly installed in the back. Basically, the Controlinator completely streamlines the use of vehicles, and allows the creation of more complex ones. For those of you who know a bit about Create mode, the Creatinator is basically an Emitter strapped to a player’s head; think about that for a moment. It’s acquired in the same way other powerups are, such as the Jetpack and Grappling Hook, and can function similarly to the Paintinator. Except instead of shooting paint, it can shoot anything. Fire, plasma, velociraptors, kitchen sinks, you name it.

Now, Sackbots are a whole different ballgame. They’re NPCs that can be programmed and customized to a pretty impressive extent. You can give them skins to make them look just like Sackboy, for example, and then proceed to dress them up in costumes just like you would for yourself. This means you can essentially have a variety of actual organic characters in levels, not just material creations with patched on eyeballs and mouths, and swiveling limbs. Sackbots can be programmed to do a number of things, including follow players and/or preset tags, use Controlinators and other powerups, and activate switches. If the basic options aren’t enough, you can also take control yourself to record an action. This can be done as many times as you please, with each action being recorded as a “Behavior” on the Sackbot’s logic board.

I could go on and on and on about the Create mode. I could excitedly explain the significance of Logic Boards and Microchips. I could mention the added ability to create cutscenes (complete with new cameras and effects), and link levels together to essentially create games. I could talk about the new music sequencer which lets you create songs from scratch, or the multitude of new world tweakers, like water and the anti-gravity tool. I could list the various other new tools added, like the various mover and rotator badges, or the destroyer tool. I could even touch on some new Share features, most notably lbp.me, which is a website devoted entirely to discovering new community levels. But then this review would never end.

So, instead I’m going to close off this review by highly recommending that you buy LittleBigPlanet 2, and tinker with this veritable horde of new toys for yourself. Or with some friends. Because I can confidently say that this game is meant to be experienced, not read about. On the back of LittleBigPlanet’s box there’s a motto: “Fun Shall Overcome”. LittleBigPlanet 2 lives up to that motto so well it’s a little ridiculous. Because that’s what the game offers in spades. Pure, unadulterated fun. And for that, a 10/10.

Dead Nation

I quite enjoy twin stick shooters. It’s a genre that’s never failed to entertain me. I picked up Super Stardust HD as soon as a heard about it, and have enjoyed it ever since. It makes sense, then, that I would be interested to know what Housemarque, the creators of SSHD would be up to in their next endeavor. It turned out to be a nice little game called Dead Nation.

Dead Nation is a twin stick shooter as well. Except you’re not shooting rocks in this game; you’re shooting zombies. Lots and lots of zombies. You have the option of playing either a male or female survivor, in yet another world plagued by the zombie apocalypse. Instead of simply being dropped into an area and being basically trying to survive for a set amount of time before being whisked away to another level (like in SSHD or Zombie Apocalypse, a conceptually similar game), Dead Nation features a full campaign and plot. Housemarque doesn’t try to put any spin on the classic zombie formula, though; the story and setting aren’t anything you haven’t seen a few times before.

As in any game of this nature, you have a lot of weapons at your disposal. At the beginning of the game you start with a basic assault rifle. Though you still have to reload, you have unlimited ammo with this weapon, and you can charge it up for a power shot that will score automatic headshots on zombies and also scythe through and hit any ones directly behind them. As you progress through each level, you’ll encounter a number of rest stops along the way, which each hold shops where you can buy additional weapons and ammo. Such additonal weapons include standard fare like the SMG, shotgun and flamethrower, and less-than-standard fare like the blade gun, which shoots saw blades that rip through zombies (think the Ripper from Unreal Tournament). Shops are also where you’ll go to buy upgrades for your weapons. Each weapon can be upgraded in a number of categories, such as clip size, damage, and fire rate.

Scattered around the various levels are various chests. Some are easier to find than others, but all of them hold either ammo, money, or points for your score multiplier. Most importantly however, some of them hold armor pieces. Different armor pieces can give different stat boosts; endurance is for HP, strength for melee damage, agility for running speed, etc. You can choose your armor loadout in shops.

Like I said before, Dead Nation will throw a veritable horde of zombies at you, on a fairly regular basis. And sometimes they don’t always just come from the front. Sometimes they come from the back simultaneously; sometimes they drop down on you from above. There will be times when you fumble switching weapons or reloading, and that’s all it takes for them to bear down on you. For those times, you have the Rush technique and melee. Rushing is a technique carried over from Super Stardust HD. Basically, it’s a brief, headlong charge where you quickly sprint in one direction. You’re invincible during a Rush, so it’s a great way to evade attacks and escape being cornered. It takes several seconds to recharge a Rush though, so it’s not something to be used lightly. Melee is for those times when you can’t Rush, and you don’t have time to reload or switch weapons. It does enough damage to incapacitate most zombies in a single hit, so meleeing is often an effective way to take care of any strays that manage to get past your hail of gunfire.

You’re also able to carry a number of consumable weapons and items. Flares emit a pillar of light and smoke, attracting nearly every zombie in the vicinity, and in turn taking a lot of heat off of you. Grenades work similar to pipe bombs in Left 4 Dead, beeping to attract attention before exploding. You also have access to mines and molotov cocktails.

The levels in Dead Nation are pretty giant. It usually takes me 30-45 minutes to complete each one, and they’re filled with side paths and various nooks and crannies. A couple times each level you’ll come across a set piece, usually in the form of something that needs to be activated, and of course, will attract a lot of zombies in the process. One instance had me fending off a legion of the undead as I activated a switch to extend a bridge across an otherwise uncrossable gap. Another showdown occurred in a construction area as I warmed up an exterior elevator to get to the top of a sky scraper. Conveniently, it was filled with volatile gas tanks. The game was released with no loading checkpoints between levels, which meant that if you quit before finishing, you’d have to start that entire level over. That has been changed, recently with a patch, however.

While Dead Nation’s gameplay is definitely fun, what I found to be its greatest aspect is its visuals. For a top down game, it features some surprising production values. Explosions send debris flying every which way (including upward; I’ve had a chunk of zombie flesh fly directly into the camera from a grenade explosion), and the game really plays well with light and shadows. You’re constantly equipped with a flashlight, which is beamed in the direction that you aim. That flashlight is a lot more important to your survival than you might think. Most areas are very darkly lit, requiring you to constantly shine your light in every corner to check for danger. One area, for example, was flooded with a thick fog, making any lurking enemies appear as little more than shadows. Another area, which served as a set piece, gloomily lit and had zombies flooding out of buildings from nearly every angle. The orange glow provided by flares and frequent explosions served as my primary source of light as I frantically checked each direction. The result of all this is a remarkably immersive game, despite being a top down shooter.

But..this is a top down shooter, with arcade elements to prove it. Dead Nation provides for you score junkies out there with leaderboards and plenty of ways to multiply your score at the end of each level. Chief among this is the score multiplier. As you kill zombies and loot cars and chests, you’ll find two things: money and score points. Score points add to your multiplier, which, if you can sustain it until the end of the level, can accumulate a handsome bonus at the results screen. Every time you get hit though, your multiplier decreases, so the challenge is on! You can also tackle the game with a friend in local and online coop (voice chat has recently been patched in). The only quirk with this is that the co-op isn’t drop in/drop out. Co-op play has it’s own campaign, meaning you can’t have a friend join you in a level in your singleplayer campaign, and you can’t take a solo stab at levels unlocked in in co-op campaign. But the campaigns are exactly the same, in terms of plot and content.

Dead Nation’s name comes from its metagame. Each nation is plagued by a virus cycle, and to defeat it will require the death of many, many zombies. More than one person (or even a few dozen of people) could typically slay in a reasonable amount of time. So every time you finish a level, your performance is uploaded to the game’s servers, joining your efforts with that of everyone else in the country who’s playing the game. You can view each nation’s ranking and progress in realtime; right now the US is in the lead, followed by Japan.

Dead Nation is not a unique game. The setting has been done over and over again, sometimes better. The weapons, the items, the score system--aside from the metagame, there’s almost nothing about this game that is innovative. Instead, Housemarque took a tried and true concept and polished it to a sheen. They gave it a full campaign and story, graphical fidelity suitable for a full retail game, and an engine that runs smooth as butter. It’s an old, almost tired concept, polished to a bright sheen. What does this mean? It means Dead Nation is fun, that’s what it means. And really, that’s all that matters, isn’t it? 8.5/10

Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective

I think text adventure games might be starting to grow on me. It’s nice to be able to settle back during down times and enjoy some good, humorous writing accompanied by an entertaining cast of characters and some light gameplay. After finishing Trials and Tribulations, I heard about Ghost Trick. And my interest was piqued. Ghost Trick is a DS game, from the same mind that created the Ace Attorney series, Takumi Shu. And it shows, in many ways.

Like any Ace Attorney game, the game features a convoluted story filled with twists, turns and secrets. The immediate plot--which stretches over the course of a single fateful night--begins with Sissel, who has come to realize that he is in a bit of a predicament. He’s dead, you see. Not only that, he can’t remember why or how he perished. Or even why his consciousness still exists. Really Sissel can’t remember anything at all. To make matters worse, the only person who might have some insight as to how he kicked the bucket--a young woman we later learn is named Lynne--is currently being held at gunpoint herself by a hitman. See? He’s in a bit of a pickle.

But all is not lost, as is soon pointed out to Sissel; he’s been given special powers. These abilities, known as Ghost Tricks, let Sissel possess various nearby objects and manipulate them to varying effects. For example, Sissel can possess a nearby guitar and strum it to spook Lynne’s hitman, distracting him just long enough for her to attempt to make a break for it. In this case, it changes her fate only slightly, however, as the hitman soon catches her once more, and this time he manages to kill her. And this is when we’re introduced to another of Sissel’s abilities. Though he can’t manipulate corpses, by interacting with one he has the option of rewinding time to exactly four minutes before that person’s death, with the aim of altering their fate.

This is where the heart of Ghost Trick’s gameplay is. Many times throughout the game, you’ll witness the death of important individuals, only to rewind time. You’ll then have a limited amount of time to use your Ghost Tricks to somehow prevent the person’s death from happening, before the tragic event simply repeats itself. In Lynne’s case, after distracting the hitman a couple more times, I was able to goad the hitman into standing in just the right place to get squashed by a wrecking ball dropped when I possessed the overhead crane (the game’s prologue takes place in a junkyard). And thus Lynne’s fate is changed for the better. For the people he saves, Sissel’s Ghost Tricks are not without side effects, though. After dying once and having access to the Ghost World (where time stands still), characters gain the ability to mentally communicate with ghosts--namely, Sissel. Furthermore, even though they’re alive, they still remember the experience of their death.

With Lynne saved, after establishing that she is clearly connected in some way to Sissel’s death, the two decide to work together. Thus Sissel embarks on a long, bumpy road to figure out who killed him, and why. The story will take you to something like a dozen a different locations, and you’ll have run into over thirty characters by the time Sissel’s journey has reached its end. Some of them are more integral to the story than others, but rest assured you’ll end up changing the fates of each and every one of them. And because this is a game from the same mind that spawned the Ace Attorney series, you can expect each character to have their quirks. For example, Lynne dies so many times in the story that it becomes a bit of a running gag, with her more or less waiving away each death without batting an eyelash. Her mentor figure of sorts, Inspector Cabanela always arrives on the scene with a hop and a skip, finishing with a pirouette and a flashy dance step. The Justice Minister is a squirrelly, distressed man prone to heart attacks, while his wife, who has temporarily left him due him not succumbing to her demands makes her livelihood writing trashy romance novels. Always seen with a full wine glass in hand, she will toast to anything she deems fit. Sissel himself sports a gel’ed up hairdo, and his lack of any memory of his life in the human is sometimes used to comical effect.

As a ghost, Sissel has only two forms of movement. He can move through areas by moving from one object to the next, but can also travel greater distances by moving between the phone lines. By possessing a phone while somebody is using it, Sissel can also not only listen in on their conversation, but also trace the number of the person on the other line, thereby opening up a new area to explore. There are limitations, however. Sissel can only possess objects that are within his fairly short reach. He can only use the phone lines to travel when the lines are active, and only to phones whose numbers he has traced.

Despite the apparent freedom that being able to visit most places you have unlocked anytime you have access to a phone grants, Ghost Trick is actually quite linear; almost restrictively so. There are only certain items you can possess, and even fewer that you can manipulate. There is definitely a very arbitrary limit to what can and can’t be done with Sissel’s Ghost Tricks. Despite what the concept of being able to manipulate many things in an area to change a given situation might imply, there’s only one solution for virtually every predicament presented to you. The challenge then, is not figuring out what to use, but when to use them. Timing is a key aspect of Ghost Trick. Certain objects must be activated in a specific order, and at specific times, forming a carefully orchestrated Rube Goldberg-esque sequence of events. Understandably, this will sometimes require a lot of trial and error; luckily, Sissel can rewind time and return to the four minute mark as many times as necessary until you get it right, with no penalty.

Ghost Trick’s writing, characters and story are all very intriguing and very entertaining, but what really caught my eye as I got acquainted with the game were its visuals. During dialogue, characters are represented by portraits, just like in most other text adventures (such as the Ace Attorney games); and visual novels, for that matter. The art style distinguishes itself from the crowd, however, by being extremely sharply drawn, and well defined. Better still is the animation. I can’t quite place my finger on what makes the simple fluidity of the characters’ movements so visually appealing, but it’s not something you see often in a 2D game.

As a text adventure, Ghost Trick’s audio is understandably the smallest part of the package. The character’s aren’t voiced, and there it feels like the soundtrack is composed of a mere handful of BGMs. It’s a good thing, then, that each of the tracks are pretty good listens, and manage to complement whatever situation they play under nicely.

Ghost Trick is, overall, a very good game. The premise--a protagonist who is already dead--is fascinating enough to drawn you in, but it’s the sustained variety that will keep you going. New recurring characters are introduced on a frequent basis, and it’s never long before the game is sending you to a new location. Sure, you revisit places as well, but you never feel like your backtracking or seeing recycled content. The plot quickly snowballs into quite a tangle of events, but I’ve gotten used to that. All things considered--there are some tropes introduced into the plot later in the game that have historically been very difficult to pull off without leaving the reader behind--the story actually ties together pretty well. The one true flaw to the is its overall lack of replay value. The story is pretty meaty, featuring about 18 chapters, but the single solution approach to each puzzle means that once you’ve figured them out the first time, you’ll at least have a pretty good idea of how to progress during subsequent playthroughs. Overall..an 8.0/10