Grid 2: Review

It’s been a long time since Grid’s release; it was a quirky arcade racer with some obvious flaws. So it’s good to see Codemasters returning for another go as arcade racers are really few and far between.

This time round Codemasters have taken a new approach to the single player story progression. You start out as an upcoming driver hired by Patrick Callaghan, an entrepreneur with the grand vision of creating a new racing league; the World Series of Racing. You set off a journey to race against the best drivers and clubs in the world in a bid to get them to join the WSR.

This is broken down into a series of different racing modes and challenges, with your progress being tracked by the number of fans that begin to follow you. You earn new fans with top three finishes and by completing sponsor objectives, which add extra objectives to achieve in races. Sponsor objectives do tend to be incredibly specific such as beating a particular opponent on a certain track. I ended up ignoring them entirely as it became too much trouble, only to then find that I would constantly get hassled by Patrick to complete them. It wasn’t long before I muted the voices in the sound options.

You start off with just a single car, but as you complete various races, you’re given the choice of a new vehicle to add to your garage. Your ‘fans’ effectively represent your experience bar, the more you earn, the more events you unlock until eventually you can race in the season finale.  Do well and you can jump up to the next tier of vehicles and a new set of events. There was only one season in which I had to complete a drift event that I really wasn’t interested in to progress, and that was thankfully short. Otherwise there was enough variety for me to always pick a race type I wanted to take part in.

You can unlock all of the cars by taking part in extra events as you progress so that you have a complete garage, but often races are limited to which cars you can use, so it’s only really necessary for the sense of completion.

The other noteworthy element of the single player is the effort they’ve put in to make the WSR convincing. Between seasons you’re treated to cut scenes showing how the WSR progressing as word spreads via social networks and even makes appearances on the sports network ESPN. I expected the acted scenes for ESPN to be completely cringe-worthy, but I was pleasantly surprised. The ESPN anchor did a good job and made the discussion around the WSR sound believable, though I can’t say the same for the pundit who was a bit silly.

Mechanically Grid 2 plays exactly as you would expect. There’s a whole selection of vehicles from hatchbacks, muscle cars, track cars and super cars spread throughout the game. To keep things simple, each has a clear set of stats and a description of its handling type. So if you fancy having some fun with a bit over-steer, there are plenty of cars with a drift set up. Oddly, only a few cars have a focus on grip for a more traditional driving experience. You do spend a lot of time going round corners sideways with tyres screeching for a road and track based racing game.

Instant replays are present again to help undo your mistakes. You get five for each race, but with less control than in previous Codemaster’s titles. When you hit the replay button now, the game simply rewinds and you have to be ready to start racing again when you want. In multiplayer, using a replay acts as a quick reset to track, so consuming them to avoid an impending crash can be a real time saver.

And saving time is something I really wish had been the focus of the multiplayer. Instead everything about it seems overly long and laborious. Loading screens, waiting times and a slow levelling curve all made a negative impact here. The time between races can become quite ridiculous. I decided to put the game to the test. Having just finished a race, I decided to see if I could make a cup of tea between all the loading screens. Sadly the answer is yes, although the tea was a small plus. And this was using the quick match option. There’s some serious room for streamlining here as spending time waiting for experience bars to tick up, tracks to be vetoed and new players to join takes just as long as the race itself!

The other major problem with the quick multiplayer is that its collision enabled. Almost every race can be won in the first few corners if you manage to escape the guaranteed pile-ups. Cornering can also be a highly risky business with a player behind you. Often in this situation you quickly find that you become a ramming target and there’s little you can do about it. If you don’t escape the main pack, you often find yourself being clawed back into an abyss of crashes. The only way round it is to join custom games with no collisions, but this only adds to the waiting problem as the host messes about with settings.

I stuck with the multiplayer for a few hours as I was drawn in by the levelling and customisation options. As you progress, you can buy new cars and upgrades with money earned in races. However it didn’t take long for it to become clear how incredibly steep the curve was. I noticed a few players had opted to buy the DLC to get access to a greater choice of higher tier cars. By default you have a car for each tier without upgrades, so it’s hardly a level playing when veteran players are in the same lobby as you.

A small plus for the multiplayer in the inclusion of a split screen option which is very welcome. Far too many games snub this feature. To get the most out the multiplayer, you need a lot of patience and to focus on custom games. Another handy feature is that all players in a lobby can be easily muted, although you have to do this every time you enter a new lobby.

Graphically the game looks stunning for the current generation. Even running the game on my modest machine let me turn the graphics up to high settings and get an average frame rate over forty. The city back drops and landscapes have a great level of detail. The car models all look excellent and the colour scheme options are quite extensive. The models and textures for the track side fans are still at a fairly low level of detail by comparison, but as they are a blur for the majority of the time that’s fine.

Overall the single player provides a solid experience. It could have made more use of the ‘live routes’ feature where the track changes mid-race. It only makes a couple of appearances and it’s the really distinctive game mode Grid 2 offers. The multiplayer feels like a grind that has been set up around the DLC content. Fun for a few goes until you begin to notice it flaws and get fed up with reckless drivers. I couldn’t recommend this as a full price title as the single player will only last a couple of hours. However if it appears at a bargain price and you’re looking for a new arcade racer, this will be a good option.

E3: The New Console War Begins!

And almost ends immediately with Microsoft’s rather spectacular misstep into the next console generation. There have been plenty of rumours about Valve making a ‘Steam Box’, but Microsoft have beaten them too it. The new Xbox One is so heavily DRM orientated; it’s practically the physical incarnation of EA and Ubisoft’s dreams.

And E3 was supposed to be their opportunity to gain some good PR for the Xbox One. Instead the details they finally had to release will likely put off even some of their most hard-core fans. The list of ‘features’ is somewhat ridiculous if you intended on lending, trading or buying and selling second hand games. The second hand restrictions have caused the most uproar. Games can now only be bought and sold second hand at selected retailers and require the publisher’s authority for this to happen.

It will be interesting to see how much this restriction is actually used considering that both the Wii U and PS4 have no restrictions atall. It would be odd for any multiplatform title to be locked down on the Xbox One whilst being freely tradable on the competition. Even the simple act of trading a game with a friend has another hurdle to overcome. Now the intended recipient of your used game has to have been on your Xbox friends list for at least 30 days and each game can only be traded once. This will likely be a minor inconvenience when trading games with people you know, but practically cuts off any private second hand buying a selling due to the nuisance of the waiting time.

Lending games might actually be the only feature users get out of the Xbox One. You’re allowed to have a group of ten family and friends that can access your game library via their own Xbox One. Only one person can use the feature at a time, which isn’t really a limitation as you could only lend a physical copy to one person at a time. However their Xbox One will start phoning home at more frequent intervals to make sure everything is ok, because you must be doing something suspicious if you start lending your games. And of course this feature can also be blocked by the publisher, so it’s actually usefulness can only be really gauged in the future.

The biggest worry is that even Microsoft won’t be capable of maintaining a perfect service. Currently your Xbox One will want to connect to Microsoft’s servers once every twenty-four hours. A task that a large cooperation like Microsoft should be able to handle, although their history with Games for Windows Live would suggest otherwise. If they get this wrong, there’ll be a lot of useless boxes that refuse to play any games. And there’s always the possibility of Microsoft’s servers being the target of a DDoS similar to that suffered by the PS3.

Handicapping themselves further, the Xbox One is currently limited to twenty-one countries. Notable omissions from the list include Eastern Europe and Japan. Now Japan has never been a successful market for Microsoft, but ignoring it entirely seems like a bad idea.

To make it a success, they’re going to need a very strong library of exclusives which at the moment appears to more Madden games; not great for the majority. There was also a distinct lack of anyone showing off the potential of the improved Kinect. If the game library barely supports it, a lot of consumers will wonder why it’s bundled in as it could easily be demoted to a glorified voice activated on off switch.

So what did Sony and Nintendo do to attract gamers away from Microsoft? Simply keep it business as usual. Nintendo didn’t even do a press conference this year, instead choosing to focus entirely on game announcements with a new Mario Kart, Donkey Kong Country and Super Smash Bros.

Sony’s press conference finally revealed the look of the new PS4 (another funny looking box); and added to Microsoft’s woes by revealing a much more competitive launch price and lack of any used game policies. The only real negative was their move away from the free online multiplayer of the PS3 to a subscription based model using PlayStation Plus.

Both Nintendo and Sony received positive commentary for their inclusion of indie titles on the show floor. How much indie titles manage to really impact this console generation remains to be seen. I highly suspect that it will be a continuation of the last generation where a few select titles get the press coverage needed to get serious sales. It’s also likely that the console manufacturers will run into the same problem that Valve currently have with Steam; how do you effectively content curate to ensure quality?

It appears that Microsoft is going to have a miserable Christmas sales period. They could still surprise the market, but I’d expect that to come from changing a lot of their policies to be more consumer friendly.

*UPDATE

Microsoft have done a serious policy change and have removed the restrictions of the console. The flip side of that is sharing feature has been removed. The press release can be found here.

Game Dev Tycoon: Review

Well here’s something different which could have only come from the indie scene. Game Dev Tycoon transports you back to the early eightes via a Dolorean to just after the gaming crash. Your goal is to create the most successful game development studio the world has ever seen using your knowledge of the future.

And so you jump right in. Once you have your avatar’s snazzy jumper and company name sorted, you’re ready to develop your first game. Unsurprisingly the development process in the core gameplay. You pick from a selection of topics, genres, platforms and game engines and then cross your fingers that your game is going to be great, as for the most part, all the choices you make will be absolute guess work.

Each game you create goes through a three stage development process, where you have to decide how to allocate your time between key game features such as level design and AI. You also have to choose the extra features that are bolted on to your creation, each adding onto the cost of the development. All through the process, your team generates little bubbles of technology and design that give you some feedback on how your title will stack up against your previous releases. They also have the annoying habit of generating bugs that have to be patched out before release, costing you more precious time and funds.

Then you have to brace yourself, your new pride and joy is ready for release. It could make the difference between wild success and bankruptcy for your fledgling studio, and then the review scores come in. It’s a 7! That’ll do, it’ll keep the studion going a few more months. Who knew a Pirate simulation with a focus on dialogue combined with joystick, mouse and steering wheel support for the Gameboy would do so well!

And that is core problem with Game Dev Tycoon, it is part simulation and part rogue-like. All the calculations for review scores are hidden and you’re not given any feedback on what made one game a success and another a giant flop. Obviously, good genre topic combinations always seem to do well such as sci-fi / RPG and racing / simulation. So there is some consistency to the game, but as soon as you go into experimental territory, you can easily create a terrible title that causes you to lose a lot of money and haemorrhage fans. And fans become crucial to your success later in the game. Having a good fan base allows you to self-publish with a great deal of hype behind every release, guaranteeing reasonable sales.

In a way, that just reinforces the simulation side of the game. Taking risks is risky. And the choice is stark; you can live on the edge, trying to survive with a lean team aiming for indie success. Or expand with more staff, developing for large publishing deals to get your name out there. Taking no risks and becoming the mediocre developer that never surprises.

Between developing you have to carefully use your time researching new technology and topics, training staff and sending them on vacation. If you fall behind the curve, your games fall off the cutting edge and garner more average reviews. Sales take a hit and you’re unable to keep up with the increase in your staff salaries.

The ultimate goal is to succeed over thirty years, with the upcoming Xbox and Playstation being the last platform releases. The game gives you a heads up when you’re about to reach the end so you can push out one last title to try and achieve a new high score. It only took me two attempts to reach the end of the game, so the difficulty curve is low as long as you can remember what has and hasn’t worked well. You also have the option to keep playing past the end of the game for fun. In my second play-through I kept going an extra ten years too unlock all the research possibilities such as releasing your own digital distribution platform and console.

There’s a lot of charm in the presentation, however the soundtrack is lacking any variety. There’s one long tune on loop and that’s it. I’d highly recommend that you have a podcast or your own playlist to substitute for the music.

The replay-ability of Game Dev Tycoon is entirely limited by how much you enjoy uncertainty. The review scores are always a tense moment and achieving perfect tens will take a few goes. It entertained me for a few hours and as a small indie title, I wasn’t expecting much more. It would make a perfect portable title and hopefully developer Greenheart Games will be able to transition to those platforms in the future. For now, you can buy it direct from their website for Windows, Mac and Linux. It’s a little on the pricey side, so I’d recommend checking out the demo before buying.

Sanctum 2: Review

Of all the map mods that spawned from Warcraft 3, it’s the Tower Defence game mode that has seen the most variety in the titles that have come from it. I usually prefer those that stick close to the original formula, placing towers to make a gauntlet that waves of enemies have to brave in an attempt to beat you. A perfect formula for arm-chair generals who like to sit back, plan, and watch.

However Sanctum 2 mixes that up immediately. It’s a genre crossbreed of Tower Defence and FPS, so not only are you responsible for the strategic placements of towers, but you’re also relied on to take down the enemies; a hostile and varied alien race known as Lumes . Each genre takes it’s turn in the gameplay, every wave alternates between first placing your towers and then gunning down your foes.

The game is spread across sixteen levels linked via a story campaign. Sanctum 2 is set on a planet that has been colonised by humanity. You play as one of four core guardians tasked with protecting the colonists from the invading hordes of the Lumes. The story is told through a series of comic strips between levels and does a reasonable job of explaining why the characters need to keep moving from one location to another. But there is no link to the first title and no description of the planet you’re on or the history of the world. I had to read the backstory on a wiki; it’s not vital context to the story although it’s a silly omission.

The levels themselves represent a wide variety of Tower Defence game design. Some have plenty of space for construction, allowing you to build brilliant mazes. Others have a clear path for the Lumes to run down that you can’t obstruct in any way. On these maps your towers are very much relegated to a support role, firing from the side lines as you have to run around like a headless chicken trying to stop the Lumes at every turn.

In single player, I felt that the towers really didn’t play a big enough role in the gameplay. Even on maps where I was able to build a complicated maze to maximise their effectiveness, they lacked the hitting power to be really useful in the ten waves or so of enemies. You’re presented with a stats screen at the end of a level and almost every single one showed that I’d personally done around seventy five per cent of the damage and kills. Things improved somewhat when I switched to survival mode. Instead of a set amount of waves, the game keeps ramping up the difficulty until you lose. It was fun to reply my favourite levels to see how long I could last, and that longevity gave me a lot more resources to construct more towers and make them a bigger part of the gameplay.

I found a similar improvement in multiplayer as well. Each player gets their own pool of resources to face much larger waves of Lumes. This meant there was a much greater amount of towers playing their part in the game and with just two players, it reached a nice balance. Although trying to get a random person to agree with my plans for the maze was tricky.

The FPS side of the game is a solid experience in its own right. It clearly takes inspiration from Borderlands with floating low gravity jumps and a collection of crazy weaponry. The Lumes are quite varied enemies, all with a prominent weak-spot that can be hit for extra damage. Each of the four characters has their own signature weapon and a passive bonus such as double jump or extra health. You also get a choice of secondary weapon and there’s enough variety for you to pick something that complements your character’s build and play-style.

The AI of the Lumes is clever and consistent. I only noticed an enemy get stuck once trying to navigate the maze. They’re also capable of making a quick priority decision between either attacking you or going to destroy the core. If a group of them gangs up to hit you; you can very quickly be killed and have to wait an agonising ten seconds to re-spawn. It requires you to be aware of your surroundings so you can jump over your tower wall to safety.

There is one large problem with the enemies that I wish the developer Coffee Stain Studios would change, and that’s the boss enemies are too powerful. They make sense from a game mechanics point of view, there needs to be big threats that you have to deal with. Yet it’s stupid to see a boss enemy that is immune to towers soaking all their damage. Also, there are a couple that can destroy your towers. They are the most frustrating enemies every created. As soon as they put a hole in your maze you end up having to kill everything yourself. Then spend your time repairing everything before the next round. The levels they appear in I’ve only played to advance the story and to never return as they just break the gameplay.

Oddly a progression system has been shoe-horned in. It’s a simple system with level-ups granting access to more towers, secondary weapons and passive skills. It provides a little extra replay-ability and incentivises increasing the difficulty for extra experience. As it’s such a short levelling curve, I feel it would have made more sense to use a more traditional unlock system; linking progression to completing each level or beating specific challenges.

Also worth mentioning is the soundtrack which provides a fun selection of futuristic sounds. The music switches between relaxed, laid back tunes for your strategic planning and up tempo beats for fighting the Lumes.

Sanctum 2 doesn’t take long to complete on normal difficult and there’s an easy option for a more relaxed experience as well. The game really gets it’s playtime from replay-ability, which is unfortunately handicapped by certain levels really minimising the impact of towers or throwing the irritating boss enemies at you. That being said I’ve still enjoyed plenty of hours with Sanctum 2 already and as a budget title, it’s ultimately delivered on value for money.