Impressions: Ace Combat Assault Horizon

I’ve been a fan of the Ace Combat series since I first laid eyes on the fourth entry, Shattered Skies.  Though I’ve only played that, The Unsung War and Zero, I feel an intense fondness for this franchise and its many charms.  Due to not owning an Xbox 360, I missed out on Ace Combat 6, unfortunately.  So you can imagine I was ecstatic when Namco first showed a trailer for Assault Horizon, which would be on PS3 too.

Unfortunately, this entry is radically different from its predecessors.  Namco has changed or even outright removed some things, in an attempt to modernize the series and capture a wider audience.  One result of this is immediately apparent.  Ace Combat: Assault Horizon takes place in the real world.  One of the hallmarks of the series (and one that I found extremely appealing) was the fictional yet realistic setting Project Aces drew up for each installment.  Though there were clear parallels drawn from real life—Yuktobonia (AC5) and Emmeria (AC6) being stand-out examples—the stories woven within this fictional dimension felt fresh.  As we glimpse a soldier checking Twitter on his smartphone before boarding a helicopter in opening moments of the debut trailer however, it’s made clear that we’re “back in Kansas”, so to speak.  Now the story apparently follows NATO (read: America) as they fight against insurgents in Africa, only to find that they are receiving aid from a group of Russians.

In a move that I still don’t understand, Namco has also added helicopter and bomber gameplay; a first for the series.  There hasn’t been much word on bombing missions, but helicopter gameplay is intended to have a slower, more deliberate pace, as opposed to the high adrenaline Namco is trying to inject into the jet gameplay.  Naturally, I’ve had misgivings about the game ever since.  The game releases on October 11^th, but just this past Tuesday, Namco released a demo for the game, including the tutorial missions for fighter and helicopter gameplay.

Namco wanted to make jet combat a more visceral, exciting affair, so they shook up the gameplay, too.  The most notable addition is Close Range Assault, which you’ll see plenty of in the trailers (or CRA, for short).  Basically, it’s an upgraded version of the simple lock-on.  You get close enough to a targeted enemy, and you can press both triggers (like you would for auto-pilot) to activate CRA, which basically turns the game into a chase scene.  The camera zooms in and dynamically changes angles to highlight the weapon you’re using;  the game mostly flies your plane for you, following your target closely and only really leaving with enough manual flying capability to aim your gun and accelerate/decelerate.  In CRA mode, a circle appears on your UI, getting larger the closer you are to the enemy plane.  If you can if you can keep the enemy plane within that circle (AC veterans, think SAAMs), a meter charges up that, when full allows you to fire a missile with super heightened tracking ability.  We’re talking 90 degree angles on the dime.  You can try to tear the target up with your gun (which by the way has been nerfed quite a bit due to its new lack of accuracy), but really, CRA is about getting that meter full, loosing off a missile, rinsing, and repeating.  The game will even frequently give you a close up of the downed planes as they spin through the air, losing part after part along the way, Burnout-style.

Enemies can also initiate CRA on you, where a circle appears on your UI, that you definitely want to avoid.  If you feel like taking a risk though, you can slow up, which will make it extremely easy for the enemy to target you, but also—if you get close enough—allow you to do a crazy backwards somersault that flips the tables, landing you behind your ex-predator and putting you into CRA.

Though this sounds like a rant somewhat, Close Range Assault is actually a pretty novel feature, and it certainly does a lot to alleviate the concerns some people had that the games were boring because you rarely got to get a look at the targets you splashed.

While I don’t have a problem with Close Range Assault, I do have a problem with the way it’s executed.  It’s not just encouraged, like the vibe you get from the trailers and Namco’s statements about the game; you HAVE to use it.  Now enemies apparently come in squads led by leaders.  Leaders CANNOT be taken down through normal means, believe me I tried.  I pumped 5 missiles into one, and he was still flying perfectly fine.  Go into CRA on him, and it only takes two, like normal.  Normal enemies can be shot of the air however you please, but the game forces you to use Close Range Assault on squad leaders.  Furthermore, outside of CRA your weapons feel nerfed.  Missiles have even worse tracking ability than they normally do, and your gun is almost a waste of time.  Furthermore, the controls are sluggish, such to the point that it almost feels like a chore to keep up with enemies, even in the Raptor you are given in the demo, which has always been one of the best planes in the game, statistically speaking.

The game’s graphics are also sort of a mixed bag, all things considered.  The plane models are great, but Namco doesn’t get points for that because they’ve always looked pretty good.  Some explosions are better than others, but the effects I’ve seen so far (namely flames) are very bland.  The ground looks a lot better than it used to, with actual buildings that you can fly in-between, and the demo’s lower altitude dofighting allows one to realize that this is the first game in the series that really nails that sense of speed.  When you’re hitting the after burners and seeing subtle depth of field and motion blur come into play as you zoom past the ground, you know you’re going fast.

Namco’s really shaking things up this time, and I’m not sure I like it.  They’ve made some things, like the guns and setting more realistic, but they also threw more sorcery into the mix, including regenerating health and missiles that go from barely qualifying as being self-guided to being monsters that hunt targets with ferocity nobody knew they had.  Right now, Close Range Assault makes the game laughably easy, such to the point that I feel really bad using it (like that crazy guidance system in HAWX).  But granted, this is apparently the tutorial mission, and as such the enemy AI was probably too stupid to counter it or even really fire at me at all.  I don’t want to judge the game too harshly, because I don’t think this demo portrays a picture perfect image of it.  Even within this real-world setting, there’s still the possibility that Namco’s got a good story to tell us, and that later missions will more fun.  Even now, just thinking about the demo makes me really enticed to go another round, because it it’s so exciting in concept.  But every time, the gameplay takes some wind out of my sails, all the same.

The Nitty Gritty 

(details that might not be meaningful to newcomers, but those who’ve played AC before might want to know):

-In the demo, the Raptor comes equipped with 4AAM special weapons, effective at about 10,000ft.  It seems to be a new version of the XMAAs, though with shorter range.

-Weapons that can lock onto multiple targets at once can now lock onto the same target multiple times.  So, if you have only three targets on hand and you’re aiming the 4AAM, you’ll just end up firing two missiles at once target.  I think this is incredibly lame.

-Health regenerates.  Very slowly albeit, but it regenerates.  There is no health meter, apparently.  Instead the game will tell you how damaged you are, going from Heavy to Light damage as you regenerate.

-There were no squad commands in the demo.  That’s not to say they won’t be in the full game, however.

-The gun now has a more realistic firing arc, shortening its range noticeably and making it much harder to use.

-Enemies regenerate as well.

-Though you don’t get as high a stock of weapons as in Ace Combat 6, it’s still many more than you get in the PS2 games.

-The expand map and missile/special weapon toggle buttons have been swapped.  Now Select/Back expands the minimap, and Square/X toggles your weapons.

-The two schemes have been renamed, but you can still choose between bank-to-turn flying and full barrel-rolling ability.  There’s also a new option for beginners that provides automated assistance such as automatically leveling your plane to prevent crashes.

-Oddly, there is no sonic boom visual effect.

-The afterburners work a little differently.  Now, they only start up at certain speed thresholds, as opposed to activating them simply by holding down R1/Right Bumper all the way.  A small “AB” indicator also shows up beside the speedometer.

-The 3^rd person view is zoomed in further than normal.

-Now, going out of bounds instantly fails you, instead of giving you a momentary chance to get back within the mission area.

-Auto-Pilot is back, and you can still use it to level your plane.

-I didn’t talk about the other view too much because I rarely use them; I like the 3^rd person view.  The cockpit view is much improved, though according those who played AC6 that one had a more realistic cockpit.

-Planes accelerate much faster than before.  The F-22, at least.

-Flares are introduced.  Enemies will use them frequently, and you have them too, though I still haven’t figured out how they’re used.

Note: I didn’t write about the heli portion because I didn’t play the heli portion, and I might not ever.

Hand's On: Nexus S

So recently I switched to an unlocked Nexus S as my cell phone of choice. It’s my first time dabbling in the field of unlocked phones, and things are going pretty well so far. The Nexus S definitely provides a different experience from other phones I’ve had, so I thought I’d write up a post on it.
In simple words, the Nexus S is the closest an Android enthusiast is going to get to having an iPhone 4-like experience. The two are similar in many ways. Aside from hardware bullet points like a gorgeous screen, dual cameras, internal storage and a 1Ghz processor (more on all of this in a bit), they’re both currently the flagship devices for their OS’s.
As both an unlocked phone and Google’s flagship, the Nexus S ships with a completely vanilla version of Android 2.3. That means no skins or overlays—i.e. the Sense UI you see on HTC phones, or TouchWiz on Samsung phones—and no carrier provided apps; like the iPhone. Unlike the iPhone however, it also means shockingly few apps to start with at all. Having come from an HTC Shift 4G (and an HTC Aria before that), I had come to take for granted some of the features Sense provided, with the assumption that it was just “re-arranging” standard Android features. Nope! Gone were my Scenes, gone was my ability to sort contacts into groups, gone was Friend Stream, and gone was extra extra bit of customizability with sound profiles. Even the simplest bits of functionality that HTC provided, like a reliable flashlight app or a simple stopwatch were nowhere to be seen on the newly unboxed and unwrapped Nexus S sitting in my hand. I was a little astonished.
But mind you, I’m not really complaining. What I’m driving at here is that vanilla Android offers a different experience from versions that have overlays and skins plastered over them; one that you are expected to build from the ground up by yourself, for yourself. Once I got over my initial surprise, as a tech enthusiast I was unperturbed—and even a bit impressed—by this. But it’s something to keep in mind. So off to the Android Market I went, for once to do some actual shopping, and not just browse idly.
And Android 2.3 is worth getting to know. It’s a slick and lean-feeling OS. It comes with a built in app manager that you can use to observe running processes and cut ones that get too bloated. Unlike in earlier versions of Android however, very rarely do I ever feel the need to implement a task manager, as I seem to get a respectable amount of battery life without one. Android 2.3 also comes with built-in hotspot and tethering functionality—alongside the regular slew of wireless communications options like VPN, Airplane mode, Bluetooth and Wifi—so you can use that freely if you happen to have a mobile data plan associated with the SIM card you stick in your phone. As an unlocked phone, the Nexus S also has useful options regarding mobile data networks, ensuring you’re able to text and surf the web reliably. Little usability touches like the app library animation and the screen lock mimicking the look of an old TV turning off go a fair way in making both the OS and phone running it a joy to use.
Though as of this writing the Nexus S is getting on in age in the veritable arms race that is the mobile industry, it’s still a very capable phone hardware-wise, and it shows in its performance. The device is pure black, save the chrome-rimmed camera lens, flash LED, and gray engravings on the back for Google and Samsung (the latter of which manufactured the phone). There are no sharp angles to be found on this phone; it has a very rounded shape, from the soft edges and corners to the inwardly curved screen, dubbed the Contour Display. I guess the curve is supposed to make watching movies more awesome. Personally, I don’t think that’s really case, but it’s a cool and unique touch nonetheless. On the right side there’s a small but very easy to use power/screen wake/unlock button, on the left a large and similarly comfy volume rocker. Meanwhile, the bottom edge is occupied by a micro-USB slot, the mic hole, and the 3.5mm headphone jack—incidentally, the phone came with a luxurious-looking set of in-ear earbuds, though I’m having trouble using them to good effect.
Unfortunately there’s no notification LED to be found on the Nexus S. It was surprisingly useful feature on my HTC phones of past, telling me at a glance when I had a new email or text. While I do miss it, I certainly get on fine without it.
Inside, the Nexus S is packing the standard smartphone stuff like WiFi, Bluetooth, but throws in a surprise or two in the form of a 16GB helping of internal flash storage (a la iPhone), and an NFC chip (attached to the inside of the back cover). For those of you who don’t know, NFC—otherwise known as Near Field Communications—is a form of close range, extremely low power wireless communication that is currently all the rage in Japan. Capable of dealing in small amounts of data, NFC works in a couple different ways to make certain actions less mundane. To give some examples of it, you could wave your phone near a cash register to instantly check out and be on with your business, or hold it near a receptacle to receive a coupon on your phone. To my knowledge it hasn’t really caught on at all in the US yet, but it’s a pleasant addition nonetheless.
I know some people really like having expandable storage via microSD cards, but 16GB is way more than I ever had on my other phones, since I never wanted to put down cash for an expensive storage card. I actually like having the internal storage; it simplifies things.
As mentioned before, the Nexus S also comes with a 1GHz processor. Furthermore, it comes packing 1GB of RAM. By today’s standards that’s by no means makes it a blazing stallion, but this is the smoothest Android experience I’ve ever had. The Nexus S is easily the first phone I can safely say equals the iPhone 4 in sheer smoothness of the user experience. Everything just works, and the extra hardware helps make navigating the phone fun and intuitive.
The Nexus S also has one of the best cameras I’ve seen on a phone. I’m no photography aficionado, nor have I tested out dozens of phones or cameras in my time, so I guess my opinion doesn’t count for much; I’m just saying that the pictures that come out of this phone’s 5MP back lens come out surprisingly clear and vibrant. The tracking is smooth too; more so than most phones, but not quite up there with the iPhone 4 or even the iPod Touch. The front facing camera is as good as you’d expect a front-facing camera to be—that is, not very good. But it’s there, and it’s a pleasant addition. The Nexus S’s camera is interesting to me in that it does not autofocus until you press the capture button. All cameras I’ve used before, you would get your picture ready, try to steady the lens, and then the phone would automatically autofocus, something that you would wait a bit for before taking the shot. Here, pressing the capture button begins the focusing process, and then the phone takes the shot automatically when it’s done. The camera software comes with an acceptable number of photo taking options, including exposure level, quality (and resulting file size), and a couple of filters. I would like to give special note to the included image gallery software, which is pretty rad. It reminds me a lot of the photo gallery app on the PS3; flashy, but functional.
Call quality on the Nexus S seems to be pretty good. I didn’t run any tests whatsoever, but I’ve not had a single person ask me to repeat what I said or say they’re having trouble hearing me in the 3 months or so that I’ve had the phone so far. I would like to say that the ambient light sensor on this thing is probably the most effective one I’ve ever had the pleasure of being acquainted with. The screen shuts on and off with perfect timing when I hold it up to my face, and it adjusts its own brightness automatically just as well as any Apple product.
Being mostly plastic, the phone may feel surprisingly light and cheap to some people. I can understand that complaint, especially coming from an Evo Shift, which was a pretty bulky, heavy phone for all its bells and whistles. Personally, I think the Nexus S’s sleek piano black finish and elegant curves make up for the materials it’s composed of.
The Nexus S is probably the best phone I’ve ever had, to be frank. There were a couple trade-offs coming from my Evo Shift 4G—mainly a physical keyboard and HTC Sense—but for a phone as smooth (both in operation and design) as this, I think whatever misgivings I might have are far outweighed.

Dead Space 2

Dead Space was part of an attempt by EA to branch out into new ground.  It was a survival horror game with a science fiction setting; not the most original idea I suppose, but it was a good game nonetheless.

EA and Visceral have seen fit to continue the Dead Space saga (well really, they've pretty much turned it into a franchise), and a result we now have Dead Space 2.  In the first game we were introduced to Isaac Clarke, an engineer.  Him and a small team are summoned to the USG Ishimura—a large planet-cracker that was apparently mining the surface of the planet Aegis 7.  Though part of the reason they were being sent out was to investigate why the ship had stopped communicating, it was supposed to be a routine maintenance mission.  Isaac himself had been looking forward to visiting his girlfriend Nicole, who was serving as a medical officer on the Ishimura.

But as they found out within 15 minutes of docking, something had gone horribly wrong on the Ishimura.  Disfigured creatures, dubbed Necromorphs—creatures that apparently used to be the crew--attack Isaac and the team.  As they fight for their lives, they gradually unravel a plot far more ambitious than I certainly expected.  Unfortunately, Issac’s adventures on the Ishimura have knocked a couple screws loose in his head.  Now he’s locked up in a psych ward, straitjacket and all; and here is where Dead Space 2’s story begins.  On Titan Station, otherwise known as the Sprawl; a metropolis located on one of Saturn’s moons.

As I played through the game, it became clear that Visceral had aimed to make a more explosive, more exciting game with Dead Space 2.   You’ll learn that they succeeded in this effort less than a minute in, as you watch a fellow trying to help you escape get transformed into a necromorph right in front of your eyes, then are forced to run for dear life—while still in a straitjacket—as more of them crash in from all sides.  And that’s not the half of it.  By the time you get your engineering suit back some 20 minutes later, you’ll have fought off a necromorph in said straitjacket, seen a man slit his own throat and watched the blood pour from it as he gurgled in pain, and watched a soldier get straight up impaled through the torso before being dragged through the air conditioning system and thrown back out as several chunks of meat.  This game means business.

The core gameplay is very similar to the first, though.  You’ll be minding your own business, finger casually on the trigger, before a necromorph pops out—frequently with friends—and makes every attempt to skewer you.  The unique physiology of most necromorphs makes head and torso shots ineffective; they will keep on trucking even if you blow their brains out.  So, instead you have to go for the limbs.

How’s a simple engineer to cope?  By ignoring all those safety and warning labels that come plastered over the tools of his trade!  The result of this is a surprisingly unique and cool arsenal of weapons, comprised primarily of workman’s tools jerry-rigged for combat.  These include Isaac’s trusty mineral cutter, a rivet gun, a hydrazine torch (read: a flamethrower), and a circular saw blade.  Alongside these (which were also in the old game), Dead Space 2 introduces a couple of toys of its own, while also tweaking the functionality of some of the returning weapons.  Among the newly introduced is the Javelin Gun, a pneumatic spear launcher that fires giant titanium spikes that will impale a target and send it soaring across the room until it is pinned to something.

As you play, you’ll find schematics for new weapons tools, as well as ammo supplies for them, which you can then purchase at store kiosks interspersed throughout the city.  Unfortunately, you won’t find nearly enough money to keep yourself decently equipped just lying on the ground, so like any survival horror game, you’ll need to do a lot of looting and scavenging; usually off of corpses.  Furthermore, as an engineer, Isaac can take a moment to perform upgrades on his stuff at any workbench he comes across, using Power Nodes either bought from the store or found lying around.  Most of this won’t sound new to anyone who's played the first game, though.

That’s not to say there aren’t some notable refinements, however.  Zero G segments are back, but they’ve been revamped.  Now, instead of jumping from wall to wall, Isaac can make use of small air thrusters installed around his suit to float around at will.  This is actually really fun, due in some small part to the fact that enemies are now almost nonexistent during these.  I recall saying that the first Dead Space was not a scary game, but its Zero G segments did keep me on edge, simply because the reduced volume made it impossible to hear and track enemies who would fly towards you from distant walls, attempting a full on collision (often from behind) that would scare the daylights out of me.

Kinesis is also back, allowing you to pick up most loose objects and move them around, as well as throw them as a form of attack.  Though you could do this in the first game, Dead Space 2 heavily emphasizes the use of Kinesis by giving you less ammo drops, and introducing sharp objects like construction poles lying around, that you can use to your advantage in combat.  Hint, hint.  You can even rip the claw off of a dead necromorph and use it to as a projectile.  Another returning feature is stasis, which lets you slow down objects and attacking enemies alike, giving you some breathing room in combat, and a method to solve certain puzzles during exploration.

Dead Space 2’s pacing has also been tweaked a little bit.  Now there are more highs and lows.  One moment you’re walking in silence, listening to audio tapes and text logs a la Bioshock and Metroid, the next you’re being held upside down by some giant abomination, about to be impaled through the head; or otherwise being awesome.  Many of the set-pieces are too epic to be described in words.  The “ebb and flow” pace of the original game is still here, but it’s been injected with a shot of badass here and there.

The visuals of Dead Space 2 look great.  I mean, perhaps from a technical standpoint the graphics aren’t awe inspiring per se, but what it lacks there it makes up in its themes and style.  Unlike the first game, which had you exploring mostly the same sorts of places (you were on a giant space ship, after all), Dead Space 2 has more variety.  Sure, the bleak futuristic locales and elements are still here and dominant, but there are some treats here and there; you’ll explore caverns, a church, and even an elementary school; complete with a showdown in the gym.  Some extra attention has been given to the details, like the various nuances of Isaac’s suit (it’s awesome seeing him put it on), and, perhaps most notably the afore-mentioned necromorph transformation scene.  Like in the first game, your HUD is composed mostly of a vitality bar attached to Isaac’s suit (known as your RIG), and an ammo readout projected above each gun.  Even your inventory is a hologram, and the game doesn’t pause as you sort through it.  This lack of any real overlay adds to the tension-inducing ambience.

As a horror game, I would expect animation, lights and shadows to be up to par, and Dead Space 2 delivers here as well.  Necromorphs exhibit some truly unsettling tendencies, like one that twitches constantly, and another that gyrates as it moves. Should you die in battle, most necromorphs have their own special finishing scenes, like one that beheads Isaac and then settles itself where his head used to be, taking control of his body.

Like the last game though, the real winner here is sound.  This is one game that I found truly benefited from a surround sound setup.  The sound design here is nothing short of masterful, to be frank.  All necromorphs have distinct sounds and screams, and the game plays along when they fake death, killing all the chords as they drop to the ground in mock defeat.  Often you’ll enter vacuums, areas with no oxygen.  Appropriately, the sound becomes heavily reduced and muddled, as if you were underwater.  Suddenly even the slightest audio cues have you glancing over your shoulder.  Even in normal areas, I found myself straining to hear: was that sound a necromorph, or perhaps just something minor thing falling over?  I could never tell, but it had me quaking in my boots sometimes.

This isn’t helped by the addition of a few new enemies such as one that is super fast (such to the point that it is literally a blur), and another that moves only with buddies, intelligently hiding from and flanking you, then performing a hit and run body slam before running back to hide.  You’ll even find yourself set upon by packs of rabid schoolchildren.

The voice acting is also not too shabby.  Isaac—previously a mute—now has a voice, though I didn’t think it changed things much.   It is amusing to hear him go nuts with the F-bombs when repeatedly bringing the boot of justice down upon the bodies of downed enemies.

One final new, if easily forgotten addition to Dead Space 2 is multiplayer.  At the time of this writing, I’ve only spent a couple hours playing it, but I was surprised by how good my impression was of it.  Players take on the role of two opposing teams: the Humans the Necromorphs.  If you remember games like Unreal Tournament and Time Splitters, overall most multiplayer rounds play like a game of Assault.  The humans have a sequence of objectives to complete (determined by what map is being played) and a set amount of time to complete them, while the necromorphs are tasked with stopping them. 

The two sides play very differently, but both require teamwork; a lone wolf is little more than a dead one.  As the humans, you’re given a plasma rifle, a stasis module, and a secondary weapon (the starter choice is a plasma cutter), as well as one med pack and one stasis pack.  Sticking together is key, especially because healing yourself will also heal others nearby (and you get extra XP for that).  Friendly fire is very possible however, so you have to check your fire, even when trying to shoot off a necromorph that has jumped one of your friends.

As a necromorph, you’re able to choose from a few different types, from the Lurker (a small babylike character that can fire projectiles and run on walls), to the Spitter, who can vomit acid across a room that will not only do damage, but slow the victim down to a crawl temporarily.  While the humans stand a better chance in a straight up confrontation, the necromorphs are not without advantages.  First of all, aside from the actual players, a steady flow of regular bot-controlled necromorphs also spawn.  Just like in the campaign, necromorphs can spawn from any vent on the map, unlike the humans who have set spawn areas.  Furthermore, you can fast-travel between vents to save time, and see humans through walls (as well as get a sense of their health via a color-coded glow emitted from their bodies).  Secondly, again like in the campaign, necromorphs can latch onto humans, immobilizing them, doing damage, and possibly performing an execution on them.  Finally, you can keep in mind that necromorphs are only playing defense.  Though you get points for kills, in the end you’ll probably walk away with more XP at the end of the round if your team won, than if you got a bunch of executions.

Like in every modern multiplayer game, your XP adds to your level, and leveling up unlocks new stuff.  For humans, you’ll unlock things like higher stasis capacity, other secondary weapons, and new suits, while the necromorphs get stat gains such as higher damage dealt as a certain class.  There also appears to be some viral content floating around.

Overall, Dead Space 2 is a wonderful game.  The multiplayer is competent, but the game stands strong without it.  Most of the tweaks made to the formula established in the first game work to positive effect.  Since multiple playthroughs (as well as a run through the aptly named Hardcore mode) are required to unlock everything, you’ve got a pretty reasonable amount of game here.  Furthermore, if you got the Limited Edition version on PS3, you got the acclaimed Wii game Dead Space Extraction for free!  Score!  A 9.0/10.

inFamous 2

inFamous was, as I indicated in my post for it, a great game.  If it wasn’t, I wouldn’t have had the patience to grab every single blast shard, listen to every dead drop, do every stunt, and otherwise Platinum the game.  So when Sucker Punch announced inFamous 2, you can bet I was interested.  As I read more and more coverage of the game, though, very little led me to believe that the sequel wouldn’t just be more of the same.  A new location, some new powers, and a couple new characters added to the same core gameplay.  Having finished my first playthrough of inFamous 2, I can say with some confidence that for the most part I was right.  And yet that’s not a bad thing.

The game begins not long after the first one--you should skip to the next paragraph if you haven’t finished inFamous.  An introductory cutscene explains what’s occurred in the interlude: Lucy Kuo, a government agent, contacts Cole and Zeke, telling them that her and an informant in New Marais have figured out a way to take out the Beast.  As they’re packing their bags, though, the Beast finally makes its appearance, apparently ahead of time.  Cole stays behind to fight it off (which serves as the game’s basics tutorial), but even though he manages to defeat it momentarily, the Beast drains many of his powers in the process, before reviving itself and resuming its rampage.

The story’s direction is still governed by the Karma system, which remains unchanged.  One of the complaints made against the first game was how black and white the Karma system was, in contrast to games like Mass Effect and Red Dead Redemption.  inFamous 2 ignores this complaint, and in fact embraces the rigid polarization.  When you are presented with a choice or opportunity, it is almost always immediately apparent which is good and which is bad.  And like Mass Effect 2, you’re encouraged to pick an alignment and stick with it, because some powers only unlock at higher levels of Good or Evil Karma, and the final plot choice requires you to be either full evil or full good.

Still, inFamous 2 does what it can with the Karma system.  There are more choices like the one regarding Trish in the first game--you know what I mean.  A new addition is random events, which has either good or evil opportunities pop up nearby as you play the game.  Good ones include crimes in progress, like muggings or kidnappings, that you put a stop to, while Evil ones include roaming cops that you can bully, and citizens in possession of blast shards who you can kill.

inFamous 2 is definitely a case of addition and refinement, and gameplay is no exception.  Most of your powers from the first game will carry over (if not immediately than soon enough), like the Lightning Grenade, Static Thrusters, and Thunder Drop.  Combat still consists of you aiming in third person to fire basic shots, and tossing in the odd grenade or rocket when necessary, and fighting hand to hand when you can.  Though your health regenerates, you can speed up the process and refill your energy by draining electricity from anything that would have it; street lamps, cars, generators, fans, etc.  To summarize, inFamous 2 does indeed play very much like its predecessor; at first.

Then you’re steadily introduced to all the new powers and abilities this sequel has to offer, the first being the Amp, which is more or less a giant cattle prod.  The Amp replaces Cole’s punches and kicks as his melee option.  Melee in general feels much more weighted, much more dynamic.  Consecutive hits fill up your “finisher” bar which, when full lets you perform a flashy attack that will instantly incapacitate most enemies.  For the most part the Amp serves as an extremely satisfying addition, and--combined with the finishers--makes close quarters combat a more viable option than it ever was in the first game.  The camera can, on occasion get a little crazy if you get too into it though.

Cole’s parkour abilities work pretty much exactly as they did previously.  You jump towards something; anything really, and he’ll grab onto it.  This was amazing to see in the first game, but with series like Assassin’s Creed and Uncharted having shown us that climbing can be more realistic looking, Cole now looks a lot like a squirrel to me.  But your mileage may vary.  What is helpful is the addition of a couple more traversal abilities.  In addition to the wires you can grind on, now there are vertical electric poles stuck to the side of many buildings that you can grab onto which rocket you upwards.  Later on you’ll get access to abilities like Lightning Tether, which lets you pull yourself to any object or surface, like the “zip-line” technique in a lot of Spiderman games.  However, another complaint from the first game still stands.  Cole’s not always easy to maneuver in tight spaces due to his being magnetically attracted to the nearest grab-able object.  In fact the attraction seems to have been upped a notch or two.

Stunts are back, and play a more central role in gameplay.  Just like in the first game, Cole can unlock new powers using XP gained from missions and defeated enemies.  But most powers remain locked, each one asking you to do a certain number of stunts before you can use it.  However, since Cole already learned the basic versions of most of the abilities in inFamous, a lot of the stuff you unlock are variations or more powerful versions of what you already know, like turning your basic shock into a rapid fire stream of electric bolts.

Many new abilities are mapped to the R2 button, like the Kinetic Pulse, which lets you hurl various objects (including cars), and the afore-mentioned LIghtning Tether.  The boomstick ability Lightning Storm from inFamous has been reworked into a new category of powers called ionic abilities.  The first ionic ability you learn is the Ionic Vortex, which you’ve likely seen if you’ve been paying close attention to coverage of the game.  Ionic abilities are extremely powerful, and as such, require the use of an ionic charge, dropped by enemies.

Overall, inFamous 2 represents an incredible maturing of the gameplay introduced by its predecessor.  Many of the new additions make some of the stuff you learn in inFamous--like the Thunder Drop and cover system--seem basic or even downright archaic.

The final major addition to inFamous 2 gameplay-wise is UGC, or user-generated content.  That’s right, Play.Create.Share has made its way into one more game.  If you’re connected online, custom missions will show up on your map as green icons.  You can apply filters to the missions that show up, and rate a mission after playing it.  The UGC missions are decent, from what I’ve played so far, but you’re not going to get a level of quality similar to what you get in the story and side missions.  To be fair though, much of that has to do with the lack of voice acting.

Visually, inFamous 2 doesn’t fail to improve upon it’s predecessor.  The new locale, New Marais, is based on a Louisiana type setting, complete with a swamp bayou on the outskirts of town.  There’s more variety to be had, including a red light district, industrial district, and an entire island that’s completely flooded, and of course the previously mentioned swamps.  Citizens still look and act mostly the same the as they did in the first game though, following a pretty limited set of actions.

One aspect of the the graphics that deserves special attention is the body animation.  It was yet another sticking point for people that played inFamous, but here it’s been given a massive facelift.  Facial animation in particular is superb, though not quite up there with LA Noire and Uncharted.  All characters--Cole in particular, of course--move with a newfound fluidity.

I noted in my review for inFamous that the game ran very well for an open world sandbox title.  The sequel retains that standard.  Glitches were few and far between, and the game did not crash or drop in framerate once during my playtime.  Loading screens are also uncommon and fairly brief.

inFamous 2 is, in short, a wonderful game.  Not as often as I’d like do we see excellent games come out, only for their successor to completely improve on them, such to the point that the predecessor suddenly looks unappealing.  Yet this is what inFamous 2 does.  It is, in more ways than one, the mature, developed version of inFamous.  Still, it raises exciting possibilities.  A 9/10.

Valkyria Chronicles

Lately I’ve returned to Valkyria Chronicles, giving it a second playthrough on my new game+ file.  I feel like writing about it again, because for one thing I don’t like the quality of my original post for it.

Valkyria Chronicles is a unique mix of tactical RPG and third person shooter.  As the prologue so aptly describes, the game tells a story of war, and those affected by it.  The setting is an alternate but similar version of Earth in the mid 1900s.  In 1935 two world powers--the Federation and the Empire--scuffle over an increasingly important mineral resource called ragnite.  Tensions rise, and soon the Empire invades the Federation, beginning the Second Europan War.  The Empire makes good progress in the initial attack, and with the confidence gained from this, proceeds to also set its sights on Gallia.  Gallia is a small country sandwiched by the Federation and Empire, and until now it had managed to maintain a neutral position in their affairs.  However, Gallia is known to be a rich source of ragnite, and thus the Empire invades, opening up the Gallian Front in the war.  In addition to its regular army, the Gallian government enacts an emergency draft, mobilizing a militia.  The game deals with the Gallians’ efforts to push back the Empire’s assault.

We’re soon introduced to our main characters, Welkin Gunther and Alicia Melchiott.  Welkin is a calm-hearted tank commander and nature enthusiast with a wide knowledge of natural science.  Alicia serves on the town watch, and is also a talented baker.  Though kind, she’s no stranger to battle, and is determined to see her goals through.  The war sees both Welkin and Alicia assigned to Squad 7 in the militia, where they meet many different characters, most notably Largo and Rosie, the former of which is a grizzled war veteran, and the latter a sassy lass who used to sing in a bar.

The visual theme of the game is that of a history (or story) book that focuses on Squad 7 and its various members as they live and fight in a world ravaged by war.  The book serves as your menu, with different plot chapters and modes present in their own chapters in the book.  Story progress is made by selecting various illustrations on each page, which represent either cutscenes or battles.

When you’re not watching a cutscene or navigating menus, battles make up all of the gameplay in Valkyria Chronicles, even though it doesn’t feel like it.  When you first enter an engagement, you’re given a briefing that outlines your objectives and recommended strategies.  Then you’re given a chance to deploy your units; up to 9 (later 10) can be present at a time.  Once you’re satisfied with your formation, you can start.  Battles are turn based.  There are two parts to a turn (known as a phase in game).  First, you look at an overhead map that displays your units and captured camps and the known positions of enemy units and their camps.  Here is where you’d do most of your strategic planning, much like in any other SRPG.  Once you decide to make a move, you select a unit.  The game then delves right into the game world, where you control that unit directly, in real time.  Playing as a soldier on the battlefield, you have certain actions that you can take, before you have to go back to the map.  Each unit has a set amount of AP, or Action Points, that dictate how far they can move before they are rendered immobile for that turn.  Furthermore, you can also use something from your equipment loadout once.  This could be firing your rifle, tossing a grenade, healing yourself, etc.  Once you’ve done what you wanted to with that unit, the camera flies upward again, and you’re back at the map screen.  Taking control of a unit uses one Command Point (two, in the case of tanks).  Once you’re out of Command Points, your phase is over, and the enemy gets to move.  Once they finish, you go again, with a new stock of Command Points.  And so it goes.  The typical battle has you working to either eliminate all enemy units or capture all enemy base camps.

Units come in six different classes: Tanks, Scouts, Shocktroopers, Lancers, Engineers, and Snipers.  Aside from the ragnaid first-aid capsule (used to heal yourself or others) that all classes are equipped with, they all come with different equipment and stats.  

Scouts have the most AP of any class, and have a standard rifle and grenade loadout, but aren’t very tough.  Shocktroopers use machine guns (and later flamethrowers) to cut down enemy infantry with brutal efficiency, while trading max AP for higher defense.  As your anti-tank footsoldiers, Lancers are very tough, sturdy units, but are limited to rockets and portable mortars as their weapons of choice, with finite ammo per phase.  Engineers do everything on the battle except fight, having almost as much AP as Scouts (and sharing their equipment loadout), and being able to repair tanks other structures, disarm mines and replenish ammo, in exchange for being the weakest class in terms of defense.  Snipers have very little AP and defense, but come packing powerful sniper rifles, which can have better accuracy, anti-personnel damage, and range than any other weapon in the game.

Finally, we have the Tank class.  For much of the game, Welkin will be piloting your only tank.  Since he’s a central character, the destruction of the Edelweiss is an instant game over.  From most angles, tanks are completely immune to gunfire and grenades, and resistant to any other weapon.  They have about the same amount of AP as perhaps a Shocktrooper.  Tanks have two health bars; one is their primary HP, and the other is their tread HP.  Destroying a tank’s treads won’t destroy the tank itself, but it will leave it with almost no AP, rendering it close to immobile.  All tanks have a heatsink sticking out their back, which serves as their critical weakpoint.  Even bullets will do fair damage if aimed at this glowing weakpoint.  A tank’s primary weapon is its main cannon, which of course fires tank shells.  Tanks also have mortars and machine guns, for dealing with infantry.

The different unit classes form a loose rock-paper-scissors relationship, with certain units being more effective others, and better for certain roles.  There are many other nuances to combat, as well.  Different weapons have different effective ranges.  Attempting to hit enemies that sit beyond a weapon’s range results in dramatically reduced damage (and of course a much less lower chance to hit).  Even as you run for cover and take action in realtime, there are certain “rules” that arbitrate your success.  Enemies whose sight range you walk into are free to open fire on you, but are forced to halt as soon as you press R1 to begin aiming a shot.  When you aim at an enemy, a chart at the top of the screen tells you how many shots you will shoot, compared to how many will be necessary to KO the target.  An orange circle around the targeting reticule represents the extent to which shots can miss.

Strategy in Valkyria Chronicles extends not only to how you use your units, but what state you leave them in at the end of your phase.  You always have to be careful to make sure your tank won’t get hit in the behind before you end control over it, and it’s always advisable to leave your infantry either out of sight or sitting behind cover before you head back to the map.  Sometimes you can predict enemy movement and obstruct it by positioning your units to open fire on them as soon as they move.  In the map screen you can trade Command Points to use Orders, which can have positive effects on your units; anything from stat buffs to covering fire from offsite.

While the enemy AI definitely puts up a fight, it soon became clear to me that they were following a fairly straightforward and inflexible set of rules.  The result of this is a glaring lack of strategic sense on your opponents’ part.  Not unlike the philosophy of the Empire that most commonly represents your enemies on the battlefield, game difficulty will usually come from being outnumbered and outgunned, not outmaneuvered or outsmarted.

Of course, Welkin, Alicia, Rosie and Largo don’t serve as the only troops in Squad 7.  From book mode, you can view the Headquarters menu, which gives you access to the Command Room.  Here you can fill the squad’s ranks, drawing from a pool of around 50 unique individuals, spanning all the different classes (except for Tanks).  Each character is unique and voiced, with their own backgrounds and personalities.  All characters also have a set of traits and/or abilities known as potentials.  Potentials have the chance to activate while you’re controlling a unit in battle, and can have a range of effects.  For example, some scouts, like Alicia, can gain access to the potential “Double Movement”, which gives them a chance to completely refill their AP meter once it’s depleted once, allowing twice as much travel in one turn.    Jann, a Lancer, has a man-crush on Largo, exemplified by his “Largo Lover” potential, that gives bonuses when you bring him near the fellow Lancer.   One of the Shocktroopers, Jane, has the “Sadist” potential, that gives her a boost to damage when gunning down the Empire’s forces.  Characters also like and dislike certain others, with friendly faces being likely to pitch in with shots of their own when you open fire on an enemy while they’re nearby.

Should a character fall in battle, you have three turns to get another unit to their side and call in a medic before they bleed out and die, becoming lost to your ranks for the rest of the game.  The credits will show a list of everyone who lived or died, so you can imagine I felt pretty good when every character in the squad showed up as “Living”.

Headquarters (located in the Gallian capital Randgriz) is also home to a host of other options.  You can upgrade your troops’ weapons and equipment as well as individually fine tune each unit’s weapon loadout.  You can also use experience points gained from battle to level up your troops, which, in addition to buffing their stats, unlocks potentials and new orders.  Medals and rewards gained for battle performance are also received at headquarters.  Furthermore, it is home to The Writing on the Wall, a local newspaper that covers national events.  New articles are posted on it from time to time that not only cover story occurrences, but also other things going on, painting a better picture of the world as a whole.  Additionally, you can purchase playable “Reports”, extra chapters that aren’t part of the main plot but flesh out the squad’s various personalities; among these is the compulsory swimsuit/beach special.

The story book theme extends to the game’s visuals, which sit among some of the coolest I’ve yet seen, even today.  The engine was designed from the ground up to have a colorful, art book style of graphics.  The result is a game that looks like a painting or sketchbook in motion.  This is exemplified most effectively by the first few moments in the opening cutscene.  You watch as a picture depicting Welkin and Alicia riding the Edelweiss is first rapidly sketched up then colored, with them immediately springing into motion once the portrait is finished.  A finishing touch is added in the form of various emotes and onomatopoeia.  Even though it’s not eye-poppingly gorgeous from a technical standpoint, the game still looks great because of its art style, even today.  But if someone demanded that I think of a complaint against the visuals, it would be that the facial expressions and body language aren’t as lifelike as the voices and personalities associated with them.

Valkyria Chronicles isn’t just a stunner in the visual department; the audio is great too.  The soundtrack is one of the better ones I’ve heard this generation, and the voice acting is well delivered for nearly every character; a notable triumph, considering the rather large cast of voiced characters there are in this game.  Sticklers for original dubbing will be delighted to discover that the game also offers an option to play with the Japanese voice tracks.

Also of note is the game’s performance.  There is an optional install available, and with it loading times are usually very brief, spanning no more than 10 seconds, if I had to estimate.  Aside from some occasionally questionable rag doll physics, glitches are totally absent.  Framerate does dip noticeably sometimes though; particularly in grassy areas.

Earlier battles stick to having you capture enemy base camps, and are over quickly.  However, you’ll find that the further in you get, the longer and more tactically inclined they become.  I found myself spending more and more time poring over my map, planning effective courses of action, and before I knew it, a skirmish had lasted longer than 45 minutes.  There are about 18 chapters in the main campaign, with 1-2 battles per chapter.  Those that fall head over heels in love with the game may find interest in Skirmish mode, which provides extra, non-story related battles.

Valkyria Chronicles is easily one of the most charming games I’ve ever played.  It intrigues you with its colorful yet modest presentation, then keeps you interested with an engaging story, an incredible cast, and a unique gameplay style that leaves you wondering how it hadn’t been thought of before.  Few other games have touched me like this game did; its wonderful portrayal of human emotion is worth experiencing many times over.  A 9.5/10.