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.

Path of Exile: Review

Well Torchlight 2 was the spiritual successor to Diablo 2, now Path of Exile is positioning itself as the homage. Currently the game is in open beta and is scheduled for a soft release soon. Normally I wouldn’t review a beta, however the transition from beta to release will little more than a patch and announcement. Also, Path of Exile is a free-to-play title supported by micro-transactions and the store is already active and ready for you to spend your money, so a review seems fair game to me.

So where does Path of Exile’s gameplay sit in the ARPG marketplace?  Well unfortunately it makes only a few changes distinguish itself, choosing to stick to tried and tested ideas. The combat is very clunky due to a lack of feedback and further handicapped by an odd lag spike every now and again. I often had to wonder if I had genuinely missed an enemy with my swing, or if the game was lagging again. Spells are also seriously lacking in impact. When I summoned a hail of meteors, it seemed to barely inconvenience my foes as if it were merely a light rain. There’s a lack of force and reaction to the damage your character deals.  

Another traditional feature is the mana bar. Once again you’re free to cast your equipped spells as frequently as you want, your only limit being your mana pool. So once you’ve found your favourite single target and area of effect skills, you never need to use any other abilities except for a bit of variety. It really detracts from the action when you can use the same solution in every scenario. Even boss battles were lacklustre and required no tactics to beat. It was simply a test of my character’s equipment.

Thankfully mixing things up is a rather interesting change to potions. Usually you would simply carry giant stacks of health and mana potions around with you to avoid running out at a key moment. Here, potions have only five inventory slots and the potions themselves contain a set number of charges to limit how many uses they have. This makes them a lot more precious during a boss fight, adding a little tension as you have a very limited supply. Outside of boss fights, killing enemies restores potion charges, removing the tedious shopping trips of other titles.

Your character customisation comes from two main areas. Firstly, the skills you use come from gems found as drops in the world. These can be put into equipment sockets to activate them on you skill bar. There’s space on the UI for eight active skills, but you can have more than this inserted into your equipment as there’s a selection of support gems that can boost skills they’re attached to.  Your skill gems also have their own independent experience bars, so the skills you keep socketed in your equipment will become stronger over time as long as you have the base stats required for their next level.

Secondly, the colossal passive skill tree has numerous paths to follow. Each path will give a bonus to one of three base three stats and provided branches into nodes for specific bonuses, such as better spell casting or weapon specialisations. It’s clearly based on the sphere grid from Final Fantasy X and the idea is brilliantly implemented into Path of Exile. It suits the gameplay, allowing you to tailor your character to a play-style you prefer.  Each of the six characters you can choose from has a different starting position on the skill tree, but there’s nothing to stop you from expanding into another character’s area.

The developer’s intentions for Path of Exile are quite clear. Grinding Gear Games have created a dark world, very similar to Diablo 2.  The story follows a similar act structure and even mimics an event in the second act that plunges the world into darkness. On their website they state:

“We're sick of the recent trend towards bright, cartoony RPGs. The art style we chose for Path of Exile is dark, gritty and realistic. Wraeclast is terrifying, and we've tried hard to do it justice.”

And the aesthetic they’ve chosen does live up to that statement. In particular the music does an excellent job of setting the tone of the game, providing a mix of desperation, loneliness and exploration. Although it does have to be said that there’s nothing wrong with the artistic choices made by other titles.

Importantly, the micro-transactions have been carefully designed to avoid players buying power as a major part of the end-game is designed around PvP. Currently the shop sells a range visual customisations which don’t impact the on the gameplay. You can also buy some extra inventory space and character slots which will be useful for players who get heavily into the game. I found the default space to be plenty big enough for the two characters I’ve been playing.

Ultimately, any free-to-play game will be judged on whether or not it’s worth your time. Path of Exile would benefit from improvements to the combat and a better overarching story to drive your adventure forwards. Both of these areas are done better by other games, but since you don’t have to pay for Path of Exile, it can be a good single player game to dip in and out of when you have some spare time. Alternatively, if you’re looking for a co-op game, this is worth checking out as playing as group greatly improves the experience.

League of Legends: All Random All Mid

Considering LoL is around three and a half years old, it’s surprising how little they have deviated from the classic Defence of the Ancients gameplay. That being said, LoL now has more variety than most other Multiplayer Online Battle Arenas (MOBAs).

So with the recent Freljord update, Riot formalised an old favourite of the community, All Random All Mid (ARAM). It’s as simple as it sounds. Each player is assigned a random champion and both teams fight for control over a single lane. The straightforward nature of ARAM makes a nice break from the complex tactics and long matches that often happen in the classic game.

Games often end in frantic clumsy team fights, which is great for a less serious game. Matches usually take less than twenty minutes, so playing at your best isn’t absolutely essential. However it doesn’t stop the stereotypical LoL ‘community’ members from appearing in your games. If you play without a full team of friends, you still have to expect a random player taking the game incredibly seriously. On more than one occasion I’ve played in games where another player has left after throwing a tantrum, leading rather one sided fights.

There are a couple of tweaks to the standard gameplay. The home base no longer heals, making teammates with healing skills very valuable. Health pick-ups spawn in a few locations down the lane, often leading to a frantic scrabble between players to steal them from their opponents. A few items that would be too powerful are removed from the shop, although games frequently don’t last long enough for you to complete a full set of items.

The Howling Abyss map is beautifully themed in the frozen aesthetic of the update; which is strikingly similar in theme to the Wrath of the Lich King expansion for WoW. There’s some excellent attention to detail, with animations for scenery crumbling around the battle and defensive towers taking damage. The shop keeper is replaced by the ghost of a fallen warrior who has a funny variety of lines to yell as you charge back into battle.

The only problem with the game mode is the random nature. When each team is revealed on the loading screen, you can easily predict the winner as it very easy to be assigned a set of champions that lack any synergy. For example, a team with a couple of good ranged champions will have a large advantage over a team that is all melee. You are given the option to re-roll your champion, but these re-rolls have to be earned at a very slow rate from playing games. Bizarrely you can also be assigned any champion that is on free-to-play for the week. So if you only own a few champions, you’re likely to be assigned a free-to-play champion that you haven’t played before.

Given how slowly the world of MOBAs evolves, it’s a nice change to have another game mode being introduced by Riot. It has given me a reason to play LoL without having to spend a good forty minutes or more on a single round.

Fire Emblem Awakening: Review

Having finally reached Europe following a several month localisation delay, the latest Fire Emblem has landed and immediately claimed the top spot for portable strategy games. It continues down the path laid out by previous title in the series as a turn-based strategy game where you control individual characters across square grid battlefields.

The core gameplay is focused around fighting AI forces across a series story driven encounters. Each character under you control has their own strengths and weakness determined by their equipment and statistics. At first I was worried by how detailed the statistics appeared, but it only took an hour or so of play to get a feeling for the combat.

The first few battles introduce the game’s basic tactics. Explaining the series’ staple mechanics such as which weapons get an advantage over others. The tutorial is well-paced, only adding a few explanations each time. After the opening fights I felt fully up to speed with the game and I was happily constructing my own tactics.

Battles come in three different varieties throughout the game: main story missions, side quests and optional bonus battles against the undead in previous locations which are useful for some extra experience. Each battle will last between twenty to forty minutes depending on your play-style and difficulty level.

The dual screens are well used in the game. In battle, the touch screen displays the statistics and equipment of the selected unit. Tapping any element will bring up an explanation for the effects in combat. The top screen shows the battlefield as well as cut scenes and other post battle menus.

The 3D is best used in the animated cut scenes, the anime aesthetic looks fantastic in these moments. Sadly they are few and far between, with the majority of the story being told in dialogue boxes and further cut scenes that use the game engine. The game engine cut scenes stand out as being a bit awkward as the characters appear stiff and strangely, everyone’s feet clip through the floor. 3D doesn’t really add anything to the game anywhere else. The battle gird is very flat even with the 3D turned on.

Combat animations are done to a high quality. Every character has a series of animations for the weapons they can wield as well as extra animations for critical hits and dodges. Complex sequences of charges and dodges look excellent as the animations adapt to the characters movements, rather than having them fixed rigidly in place. The variety will only last for a few engagements though, so around half way through the game I ended up turning them off to speed up the gameplay. There are plenty of other options though. You can select to only watch specific characters animations and speed up animations by holding the A button.

The UI presents combat information in a very clear manner. Before you commit to any action, the likely result of the combat is displayed allowing you to make swift comparisons and decisions. The controls are simple and serve their purpose perfectly. Controlling units was always straight forward, making the turn based strategy gameplay very satisfying. 

Extra depth is added onto the combat as you progress. Characters will level up and gain new abilities to use. As usual with Fire Emblem games, a key part of the difficulty is in keeping a balanced force so you don’t become too reliant on a single character.

And there are plenty of difficulty options available at the start of the game, but it’s key to pick the right one to get the most from the game; in particular the choice between classic and newcomer modes. In classic mode, if you one of your characters falls in battle, they’re permanently dead which can be very frustrating after becoming attached to them through the campaign. I opted for the latter looking for a more relaxed experience. Newcomer removes the permanent death from the game, although you still have to be careful when using your own character and Chrom. If either falls it’s game over and you’ll need to go back to your last save. Thankfully you can save at any point with three game slots and two further slots for mid battle saves.

I found newcomer to be a bit lacking at the start of the game. For the first two thirds of the game I didn’t have to worry about making mistakes. Usually losing a character meant they would miss out on a bit of experience, no real loss. However, the final third of the game was a real difficulty spike and I felt justified in my choice. I had to make sure I didn’t waste anyone’s abilities with frivolous moves. Making through some of those battles without anyone dying would be an incredibly difficult challenge.

Creating your own character is a fun touch as they feature as a main character in the story. Although the choices you have are really cosmetic as your character’s class is already set. The story told through the main missions has its moments, but for the most part it serves the gameplay by providing battle locations. The story pacing lurches wildly as some fights are crammed in just for the sake of having them. There are a few in particular that could be better used as optional side missions.

The story is easily the weakest part of the game as the main characters involved are incredibly stereotypical. After a new character is introduced, you’ll be able to predict their reaction to events for the rest of the game. The best writing comes from the relationships the characters build by fighting alongside each other. Each time a relationship reaches a new level, the characters gain a bonus to fighting side by side. You’re also treated to a quick dialogue between them which often reveals their true character. There are some brilliant lines and many genuinely made me laugh out loud; especially Virion’s dialogue.

Fire Emblem Awakening offers an excellent amount of well-structured strategy, lasting many hours even on the easiest difficulty settings. Battle times are perfect for a portable game, giving a good snippet of gaming whilst on the move. There are also plenty of DLC maps available to extend the game further. A title well worth its asking price on the 3DS.

BioShock Infinite: Review

*Warning, plot spoilers below of the first act.

Going into BioShock Infinite, I had only one question. Could Ken Levine deliver another experience as exceptional and memorable as BioShock? Anyone who’s played it can remember exploring the world of Rapture deep under the ocean and its striking introduction by Andrew Ryan as you plunged into the depths.

This time round, you once again start in familiar territory; in the middle the ocean with a single lighthouse as the only feature in sight. At least this time you don’t have to get your feet wet as your being rowed there by two mysterious people discussing the fact that you, Booker DeWitt can’t row. They also don’t seem too interested in Booker’s questions, leaving him standing on the jetty to the lighthouse with one objective in mind. Get the girl to wipe away the debt.  

After poking around the lighthouse for a few minutes, you discover some notes that give you a clue. What follows is another spectacular introduction. This time you’re greeted by the flying city of Columbia, a new heaven for Christian pilgrim, a city that is deeply rooted in the religious fundamentalism of the early 1900s. You step out into a small chapel that serves as the entrance and immediately Booker is confronted by the religion he has stepped away from. His only choice is to join in the group baptism, to be reborn to gain entry.

Unlike Rapture which had already fallen into chaos and anarchy when you arrive, Columbia is the complete opposite. It appears to be a city of perfection floating amongst the clouds, enjoying another day of glorious sunshine. As you walk out into the small square, you’re greeted by a towering statue of the Prophet Comstock, the city’s founder and leader.

The first hour or so allows you to explore freely around Columbia, allowing you to really immerse yourself in the atmosphere. In some ways, it seems like a city that’s too perfect. Everyone seems to be happy and enjoying themselves. By coincidence, Booker arrives on the same day the raffle is held. As you head over, Booker takes notice of the propaganda warning citizens to be wary of the false prophet and his mark. A capital ‘AD’ on the back of the right hand, matching the mark on Booker’s hand. 

As you arrive at the raffle, a rather fetching young lady invites Booker to take part in the draw, and of course Booker is the lucky winner. It’s at this point the game confronts you head on with Columbia’s darker side. As a white man and a black woman tied to posts are wheeled on stage, your ‘prize’ is revealed as the privilege to throw the first baseball as part of a lynch mob. You’re given the choice of throwing the baseball at the couple or the presenter. Whatever option you pick, the mark on Booker’s hand is quickly discovered. The peaceful façade of the city has now completely melted away as cries of the false prophet’s arrival ring out, forcing you to fight your way out of the squad of police officers charging at you.

I expected from this point onwards to be constantly battling my way from one objective to another, but the plot still allowed for some quiet moments in the first act. I often found myself stopping just to take in the vistas. And it was intriguing to get more glimpses of the city and the citizens going about their daily business; kindly ignoring the shotgun in my hand, which broke my immersion on a couple of occasions. It would have been nice to be able to holster my weapons for those specific moments.

Combat is a mixed bag throughout the game and hasn’t changed much since BioShock. This time, you can only carry two weapons at a time; thankfully reducing the amount of controls required so that playing the game feels slightly less complicated than a flight sim. It also has the effect of making your weapon choice matter, as you can only buy a limited selection of ammunition from vending machines. Picking up a heavy weapon can be a handy tool for one fight, yet the lack of ammunition will stop it from becoming a crutch you rely on for the rest of the game.

The weapons look and sound great with some nice variety throughout. However, firing them is quite boring due to Booker’s perfect aim. There’s no weapon sway, bullet spread or bullet drop; only a small amount of weapon recoil which can easily be kept under control. You can simply headshot any enemy who is foolish enough to stand still for more than a second.

What livens up the combat and makes it worthwhile are the Vigors. These function in a very similar way to the Plasmids of BioShock. You collect a variety of powers by drinking the mysterious contents of the Vigor bottles you find scattered around. Each fires an attack with a quick tap or can lay a trap by being briefly charged up. You can complement and combine the powers to create some interesting combinations. Nevertheless you will be forced to use firearms when your Salts run out, Slats simply being another name for a conventional mana-bar.

Another factor shaping the combat are the arenas and corridors you find yourself fighting in. Towards the end of the game these often include sky rails and cargo hooks, each adding a vertical element to the combat. Sky rails loop around areas allowing you to shoot at enemies as you zip by, and enable rather devastating leap strikes with the grappling hook. However your foes will also chase you around on them or electrify the rails, forcing you to return to the ground.

The AI is quite impressive as it’s capable of making smart choices on how to reach you, or get a line of sight to fire given the complicated scenery. It’s still dumb enough to walk into your traps though, which means they’re useful throughout the game. There were some moments when enemies would stop moving when I hid behind partial cover. I was never sure if this was the AI being smart and waiting for me to come into the open again, or if it had got stuck making its next decision.

Another part of the AI does stand out as being rather exceptional and that is the AI for Elizabeth. Having made her acquaintance early on, she’ll join you on your adventure as you both try to escape Columbia. In combat, Elizabeth doesn’t fight. Instead she takes cover and scavenges useful ammo, health and Salt pick-ups for you. Out of combat, Elizabeth is always close by, occasionally finding money for you and doing a rather good job of not getting in your way. I only bumped into her a few times and the AI was smart enough to react and move her out of the way.

All things considered, the combat is a bit clunky; mostly let down by the weak gunplay and dependence on it. Unless you play on hard difficulty, you’ll have little reason to use the powers available to you as the guns are rather strong. It would have been nice for combat to be balanced more towards using the Vigors with a larger Salts bar.

The real strength of BioShock Infinite is its atmosphere and story. Despite being set in 1912 after the events of the American Civil War, Comstock’s vision has created a city for religious fundamentalists who preach hatred and intolerance. A city that is still run on the slave labour of African Americans and Irish immigrants. The game never shies away from depicting the racism of the era, although it’s not show in a direct manner after the events of the raffle. Rather through a series of small touches such as segregated areas, and clear messages in workers quarters reminding them of their position in society.

The dynamic between Booker and Elizabeth is excellent. Their relationship changes with events and revelations, each reacting in a manner consistent to their character throughout; yet there are a few circumstances where their development felt rushed. Their interactions with the other main characters of Columbia are equally fantastic as the plot unfolds. They are a well written duo, each with their own goals, meaning BioShock Infinite steers well clear from ever feeling like an extended escort mission.

The plot cumulates in a very ambitious ending. The last hour of the game is like playing an epilogue rather than a climatic act three finale and doesn’t quite tie up all the loose ends, leaving a lot for consideration and debate. This is the only other area of the game that is somewhat lacking. Especially when compared to the strong story elements that lead up to it.

Bioshock Infinite does deliver an overall great experience, but doesn’t quite reach the high it could have hit. Mostly due to the combat which after a while, serves the function of being the filler between excellent story segments. Does it measure up to BioShock as a memorable gaming experience? Definitely, although which you’ll prefer will likely depend on who your favourite characters are.