In an effort to bring Geek, Cultured forward some more I’ve added a Youtube channel and have plenty of video to roll out over the next few weeks! Although, right now, I am only working through Half Life 2 in my feature “Play Throughs I Forgot to Play Through” I will be adding different videos and commentaries once things get up and running!

The plan right now is to have a new video up 3-5 days a week so why don’t you go ahead and subscribe to the channel now? Plenty of content and hopefully some extra fun as I become more competent and less nervous about making my own videos!

Geek, Cultured Youtube Channel

Episode One: Pilot ~ Lot of audio problems here. No need to suffer, move on to the next episode!

Episode Two: Things really get rolling now!

Episode Three: “Puzzles, Puzzles Everywhere!” And we’re rolling! The first episode I’m extremely proud of!

Subscriptions help, comments are awesome; won’t you join me in my adventure through Half Life 2?

The level design in Trials Evolution is easy to marvel at, with such simplistic design choices and some great set pieces that game offers a differing challenge level that gradually increases as the players familiarity with the tricks and features strengthens. Sure, much like Trials HD and many other games before it, you’re navigating a motorbike across an obstacle course with only acceleration, brake and the riders lean at your control but the game offers multiple routes for attempts and really drives home a deep seeded desire to beat the times already put up by your friends. The levels are vibrant and extend throughout multiple different settings keeping new areas fresh and players wanting more. The range and difficulty aren’t squandered as a smart tutorial in the form of license tests introduces players new to the genre to subtle differences in jumps and hops that will navigate through the more difficult of challenges. If you’re up for the challenge (And yes, it truly is a challenge) you can make your way painstakingly through each level with restarts a mere button press away; ghosts will provide feedback on how your friends accomplished their times and how your previous runs looked but this, ultimately, became a distraction where I would try to mimic people rather than try something different with my own run.

The fact that I came in to Trials Evolution with some Trials HD experience and that lean based motorbike games are the thing I mostly play on my phone meant absolutely nothing. I was thrown so deeply into the world of Trials that I forgot everything I had learned before and became a fresh slate. I wasn’t there to just finish the race, I would spend time butting up against an obstacle and then restart the entire race once I had moved past it and worked it out just to get the better time. Although I could say this will end up being detrimental to my psyche it provides a platform for any kind of gamer; some will pick up Trials Evolution and play a couple of levels months apart, some, like me, will push through the different stages and become enraged with the mistakes I make in an effort to put up a blisteringly fast time and yet, there will always be someone out there with far superior times that sit atop my friends leaderboard taunting me. Trials Evolution capitalizes on EA’s Autolog concept and drops your friends times either right in to the actual game or as a leaderboard at the end of the race bringing you either a sense of pride or a deep hatred for those who seem so naturally gifted with their obstacle courses.

The multiplayer component reminds me of the classic Excitebike for the NES, four players barreling over the exact same course in an effort to beat out friends. These Supercross challenges are often shorter and less technical than the single player components but do offer an easier time for those looking to mess around with friends or just dive in and try their hand at something different. Multiplayer is set as a kind of tournament mode where you will pick seven different races and will be awarded points for you position in each and then accumulated total will provide the true master of Trials Evolution. While the single player levels can be selected in multiplayer I often found the stress and peer pressure to do well on such encounters a sour point and often did a lot worse than I usually would (Honest!) in the single player campaign. The multiplayer works best with friends as you try and one up each other through multiple rounds and finally end up selecting GigaTrack (A mammoth 10 minute soul busting track) as the deciding factor.

Trials Evolution comes packed with a solid level editor that can be selected with basic tools for beginners or advanced for the full experience. I messed around slightly in here and made small tracks to test things out but the sheer options from the advanced editor was something so daunting I dared not approach for fear I would dragged down a rabbit hole from where there was no escape. For fans of games like LittleBig Planet and ModNation Racer this editor is going to give you everything you need to scratch that building bug and is robust enough that the actual developers created most of the levels on something very similar to what you have available.

Skill games are a new addition to the Trials series, with stipulated events (No Rider lean, throttle always down or running low on fuel) to events that come from nowhere (You’re a marble; Fly a UFO; Explode yourself and Dirt Skiing) that it provides some entertainment but these events are so few in number and stuck in a corner somewhere that they seem more of an afterthought than a selling point. Personally I think these sorts of challenges provide a new level of skill and offer some training to players looking to move in to the more advanced levels; they also offer a little comedy to the game and would love to see some more of these come down the pipeline in time.

Trials Evolution is great, it’s a game with a robust amount of content that will keep you coming back long after you first complete the main levels. With the addition of user created content which so far looks pretty good you could theoretically continue playing indefinitely; the game’s soundtrack is seriously lacking any kind of variety and if you don’t like the genre or just play a lot of the game the music will get repetitive and annoying, I spent most playing with the sound down and my own music playing. Although Trials Evolution offers little to further to advance the genre it is the pinnacle of obstacle course games and will provide enjoyment for a wide range of players with different skill levels and time commitments. It’s vibrant and, at times, unforgiving, but you allow this because when you do succeed the victory is so much sweeter to taste. The link with friends keeps a driving force lit under you as you set times and that is bolstered by the multiplayer component where you could quite literally challenge a friend to go head to head into any level; add to that the potential a track editor brings to the mix and the game could just keep on giving.

Trials Evolution is a shining example of what is great about downloadable games; this isn’t something throwaway nor is it something to be ignored, it’s a great robust game with wide appeal.

Trials Evolution gets Five out of Five stars and is available on Xbox Live Marketplace right now for 1200 Microsoft points

Gomez is a sprite living in a 2D world who has never strayed far from his village until one day, the strange village elder summons him to the stop of the world and he is thrust into an adventure no one could have ever predicted. Gomez is introduced into 3D space, he is given the ability to rotate his world and across different plains. Although he always inhabits a 2D world he is able to spin the world to his whim which allows him access to certain restricted areas and allows him to explore the largely unseen portions of his world. He alone is sent to rebuild the disconnect in his world and forge a cube out of cube bits that have exploded throughout the five different zones.

Fez’s five worlds hold very unique and specific aesthetics and keep a mysterious feeling throughout; the largely lonesome world feels abandoned and ancient, lost to some civilization that moved on years ago. The story unfolds in a unique and non-linear way that, should you be uninterested, you would miss entirely. Developers at Polytron create a new language for the world of Fez, with its own numbers and alphabet; these are uncovered through different artifacts and eventually you’ll be scrawling every little scrap of writing down and referring back to your notes to translate messages. Although you discover the language in game it never truly reveals the secrets too you. The foreign language remains foreign and it leaves the work to the player to translate if they want. I felt like a twelve year old again, scrawling down codes for saves and cheats from friends as I made my way through the world, a nostalgic wave washing over as I enjoyed the world Fez threw me in too.

Fez isn’t without its troubles however and I often ran in to sluggish load times while making my way through the different areas and more often than not that would translate into a slight hitch in the first few seconds of play which, as you might guess, for a platformer, was extremely frustrating at times. The load times are horrendously long and this really hurts any momentum you build up through the previous stages, you always feel like you’re starting fresh rather than riding high on the puzzle you just solved to move forward. I also encountered a number of occasions where, inexplicably, the game would crash out to the dashboard and would need restarting. Although the save system is robust enough to keep you where you left off it is still frustrating to have to go through the exercise when you just want to play.

Fez is an ambitious project, it relies heavily on player involvement and for the most part you get out what you’re willing to put in. Fez’s story isn’t delivered on a platter and you’d not be truly mistaken if you just saw this game as a puzzle platformer but it holds a lot more as you begin to peel back the different layers. The story provides great backdrop for driving you forward if you take the time to understand what is happening and when you finally do come to finish the game you’ll be given the option of a New Game+ with an extra first-person mechanic that will allow you to complete some of the more devious puzzles in the game. Fez can be a quick six hour experience or you could spend an entire week trying to uncover its secrets and I think there is merit in both those ideas as it appeals to a largely differing audience with different time constraints and is something a lot of games get wrong when tried. The fact that I sat playing with a notepad and pen at my side jotting down what felt like Hieroglyphs from an ancient egyptian dig site filled me with a sense of completion every time I finished a section; I bought in to the game in a big way and that was largely because of the world Polytron have developed for us to see.

Fez is only 800 MS points and will probably be the most rewarding game of the year if you’re willing to put the effort in so go an play it now!

Fez gets Four out of Five stars.

Chris Nielsen (Williams) is a man in crisis, his children have recently died in a car crash and his wife is struggling to deal with the pain of such a loss; the once close couple drift and go without seeing each other for the longest time, consumed by the loss that now drives both their separate lives. Chris dies one night in a car accident while on his way home to make things right with his wife. He awakens to a vibrant world of colour and elegance, a dream like state where the colours run like paint and the world seems easier than before; the family dog greets him as he struggles with the realization that he is dead and with what he is seeing. His heaven – The one he creates – is within the paintings his wife had painted for him over the years of the marriage, his solace is within her, a place she created on a page for them to live out eternity. Chris connects with Arthur (Cuba Gooding Jr.) who, at first, is a blurred mess Chris can hardly comprehend; still in limbo Chris finally accepts his fate and moves through the paint filled world to another, more solid, yet as beautiful scene that encapsulates his dreams and his hopes. Chris is able to watch Annie as she descends through different stages of grief, unable to connect with anything around her now that her entire family have been taken; Annie paints again yet her paintings are dark and angry, blacks atop greys as death appears through her conscience and on to the paper which she stains. These images – The darkness inside of Annie – transforms Chris’ world in to something different, a soulless place of despair, the hope ebbing away with each brush stroke. Chris’ journey becomes something different, he has a purpose and to save Annie’s soul he must put everything at risk and reunite his entire family before they lose each other forever.

With such a depressing start the film risked losing an audience straight away; with an entire family taken away through multiple tragedies most would find Annie’s descent heart wrenching if not unbearable yet the film portrays the afterlife with such grace and cohesiveness that we are soon lead from the darkness into something more comforting, Chris’ life has ended but his soul had found somewhere he could be eternally happy. Although the film relies on one torturous truth – Everything ends – it also provides answers and a completion that is rare in a film such as this; its whimsical setting and abundance of colour that is represented is unusual from a film dealing with such fragile story telling and it keeps audiences drawn to every word as the story concludes, without fizz or bang, but with heart and subtlety.

What Dreams May Come isn’t something you can have on in the background while multitasking. It’s script and subject demand a heightened attention while the story unfolds and rewards audiences for such respect with Williams and Gooding Jr. putting in stellar performances; the story twits in unexpected ways that leave you tugging at your heart strings and begging for the outcome you so desire. You cheer for Chris as he moves deeper, trying to save his wife, and you weep when he realises the depths to which she had sunk. The whimsical nature of the scenes and the great set dressing could confuse audiences in to letting their children watching the film yet this is certainly an adult set piece that desires to be everything that it can be. It doesn’t want you to watch and walk away; the film wants to leave you with a message of hope and peace that films often forego, the story strikes at the heart of the matter and begins a discussion that could range from faith to the afterlife, the past and present. It’s great to see such talent as William’s step from his comfort zone and absolutely wonderful to see that pay off in such abundance; Williams’ portrayal of Chris is believable as a man who wants nothing more than to spend the rest of his days alongside the woman he loves. Some people will discredit this film for its romantic intentions but that drives so deeply into the heart of the film that it allows audiences something to attach too even if they can’t connect with the obvious religious intentions behind some scenes.

A great film to sit down and spend some time with, perhaps not a first date movies but a great watch all the same!

What Dreams May Come gets Four out of Five stars

It’s hard to call Dear Esther a game no matter how pretentious that may come across to those  who aren’t invested in the gaming world; gaming as art is a discussion for another time and another day from someone far more knowledgeable in both subjects than I could ever claim to be. So, while playing and writing about Dear Esther I tried to look at it as something more than what it was, tried to look beyond the scene that was set and the visuals in front of me before realising I was doing it all wrong. Dear Esther doesn’t do anything overt that hits you with an instant impression, there is no vase with sunflowers on for you to compare to the art world and, in large, there isn’t much to hold Dear Esther in comparison too in the gaming world. Games such as this that focus solely on the player’s experience while playing the game are very tough to judge on any form of scale, each player will experience the scenes laid out differently and in a differing order that will likely alter their own perspective of the game once the final scene closes. While seemingly linear in its progression Dear Esther offers choices and options that differ the speed and direction of the narrative, feeding players bits of information on the end of a stick to drive them forward through the wondrous island built by the games developers.

Dear Esther feels more like an interactive journal than a video game; controls are simplistic and limited only to player movement and camera control as you guide a lonesome man on a journey of discovery across a single island with numerous locations and differing sets. Each is built with a guiding force and some minor directional choices that often tease something interesting in the path not taken. You start at the foot of a ramp from the sea, a man narrates as you take your first steps onto the island, he talks of a book and of Esther; of hopes and dreams, his feelings and thoughts as you stumble your way towards an empty beach. The solemn voice soon becomes the staple of narrative throughout the game and as you guide the character through the game that narration is obviously the inner monologue of the character whose experience you control. He notes things that players stumble across, referencing a past that almost seems long forgotten and lost.

Players move from the beach and into numerous different locations; choices made at these locations about direction allows the narrative to unfold differently in each play through, sometimes side corridors offer the smallest speech that enlightens players that much earlier on in the game, offering insight and intrigue as they begin to understand what is happening on the island. Although I felt a clear narrative direction forming in my head by the end of the game I also found myself questioning those decisions on subsequent playthroughs; was this a memory trapped within a delusional mind? A fractured man broken from a traumatic experience doomed to ponder his choices for eternity from a childhood place of woe? or, was this something more simple, a man in search of hope who stumbles across an island that reminds him of times past. Each theory seems plausible and the games refusal to give solid answers is refreshing, leaving each player their own feelings on what the experience meant for them.

The island is beautifully constructed by the team over at thechineseroom, each location holds a different feel, the background ebbs and flows with the beats of the sea and a crisp clean soundtrack amps up the tension throughout the game; chills running down my spine as the game builds up something so dramatic that I fear for what might be waiting ahead. Although not a horror game, and quite far from it, Dear Esther builds a scene like no other game I have played in a long time and executes with such precision and simplicity that you’re left with an extreme sense of relief once you take the final steps of the game and the story takes its final twist while you wait with baited breath.

Dear Esther is an excellent experience for the gamer who wants to see what can truly be achieved with such simplicity. Unfortunately I fear it will be overlooked by the younger generation of gamers (Or, as I like to call them, The Michael Bay era) due to the slow and methodical pacing of the game; long periods of silence and the ebbing narrative will likely leave a lot of people bored rather than appreciating what Dear Esther truly has to offer. Depending on your play style and how you like to discover games you’ll probably spend a little over an hour in Dear Esther on your first playthrough but the game offers a lot more on subsequent playthroughs such as little easter eggs and differing narrative that makes each time a unique and rewarding experience.

For £6.99 ($9.99) people will begin to question Dear Esther’s value but I cannot express how much all gamers should be play this game at least once; even if it’s to say you did and didn’t like it or are now so impressed with Indie games that you’re in for life, Dear Esther will be divisive and I think that’s what makes it so great. Play this game, see what all the fuss is about and finally understand what people mean when they say Games can be Art too.

Wizorb opens with a cursed village that has been recently destroyed, Cyrus, a master of the Wizorb art, vows to save the kingdom of Garudo from the constant attacks of the Devil King. Cyrus is first given the opportunity to talk with villagers around the kingdom as they plead for help before he begins his journey, each with a cost of repair for their shop or home; this soon becomes a great motivator throughout the game as not only are you trying to get through levels and keep yourself alive but hoard the money you gain from destroying blocks and completing levels. Althugh the simple RPG trappings that surround the core gameplay initially feel out of place they become a deep seeded motive to drive the story forward and keep players very aware of the current state of their wallet which is a direct comment on the quality of their playthrough.

Once on your journey begins you select stages from a simple over world that progress’ only after each level is complete; individual stages are a single screen puzzle that holds enemies, blocks and other obstacles that help to prevent you completing each stage. Breaking individual blocks drop coins, gems and potions for you to collect with your paddle; potions refill your magic meter which can be used for different powers such as a fireball or wind-change to turn your orb around. Keys can be collected from special blocks and can be stockpiled to open special levels for bonus’ or a shop for you to visit and purchase extra lives and powerups to aid in your journey to the Devil King. Powerups can be as great as they can be deadly, adding multiball can send a level in to absolute chaos as you try and track each of your orbs around the screen where as a slower start speed will ease you in to levels.

Probably the best – and most frustrating – part of Wizorb is the decision to use a limited amount of lives and continues and limiting your options to save and return to town. This, of course, means managing your lives becomes a pressure gauge of frustration as you watch an orb bounce unpredictably from an enemy as you struggle to move your paddle across the screen and knock it back up. This gives the game an old feel too it as the difficultyis instantly spiked without changing the gameplay. You could get through the whole game by visiting shops and stocking up on extra life but never help rebuild the kingdom leading you to reset your expectations and restart the game over and over.

Although Wizorb doesn’t do anything to revolutionize the atypical gameplay of watching a ball bounce across a screen and destroy blocks I would make the argument that such a  feat could be impossible and, instead, Wizorb strives the be the best in a very tight category that has been replicated again and again. The five worlds with twelve stages each leaves players with 60 levels, multiple boss fights; the story adds the potential for replayability and differing playthroughs, all dependant on play quality.

Wizorb is not only a great game for those who remember Arkanoid but is also an awesome way for a newer generation of gamer to appreciate a category that has long been forgotten under the pile of higher budget, fast paced, more modern games. Tribute games has created something that feels fresh and easy to pick up that has lasting appeal with gamers, old and new, and is a step forward while still feeling like a throwback to an older generation.

Wizorb is available on Xbox Live for 240 MS points, on Steam for £1.99 ($2.99) and is an absolute steal; a most for all gamers to at least give something different a try!

I find it extremely difficult to quantify what I expected going in to Drive Angry. It skirts between genres with such haphazardness that the audience becomes embroiled in the films twisted need to be something it simply is not and unintentionally draws people away from what could have been a straight played vengeance film starring Nicholas Cage.

Cage plays Milton, a man who has escaped from the clutches of hell in order to save his granddaughter whose parents were killed by Jonah King(Billy Burke), the leader of a satanic cult. The film doesn’t waste time with exposition and jumps straight in to what fills the majority of the rather lengthy 104 minutes; guns, gore and explosions. Milton hooks up with Piper (Amber Heard), a down and out waitress low on luck with even less friends, looking for an escape she reluctantly agrees to find with Milton. William Fichtner plays The Accountant, the films version of Death who spends his time balancing the books of Hell; he roams around after Milton, sometimes helping and sometimes hindering progress throughout the film.

Drive Angry is nonsensical in its delivery as it tries so desperately to be a Grindhouse movie yet hasn’t delivered well enough on all aspects to be appreciated on that level; this constant grasp takes away from the vengeance aspect as we are left facing absolutely ridiculous scenes of Nicholas Cage rolling around the floor, mid-coitus, with a naked woman while he dispatches of multiple enemies who seem intent on ruining the evening he had planned. The film doesn’t justify its stupidity with a story that ties together these loose action scenes and the actors aren’t strong enough to push forward any hope of an emotional connection.

The climax of the second act focuses on a car chase that seems to be put in to keep audiences attention in to the last third of the film. The action sequence should be the easiest part of the film to follow, guns cars and bullets with a guitar riffing in the background. Simple yet effective. However, add in to the fact that the chase splits in to three completely different scenes and things start to become a confusing mess that is hard to unravel even after the fact. You have a scene inside a camper van, a scene where Milton is chasing the camper van and then, finally, Milton and the people pursuing him. The scenes were poorly edited in after the fact and leave you wondering who is where and what is happening with the previous section of the chase; you spend so much time pondering the unbearable stunt driving that has Milton’s car drive in to oncoming traffic for no reason that you eventually give up and let the film take you down this strange rabbit hole that there is no return from.

The film wraps in an all too predictable and family friendly way for what the film was trying to be. The final fight scarcely holds together with choppy editing and poor stunt work that draws you away from what should be the best part of the film, there isn’t a part where I wasn’t cringing with terror as the inner workings of the films become obvious; with guys flying off from the car without even being touched and fire spreading without ever coming in to contact with someone. Seemingly thrown together faster than the rest of the film the ending is a shining example of what is wrong with the film. Instead of the crescendo of blood, guts, guns, gore and sex that the audience is due after sitting through the rest of the film, you’re given something so mellow and unbelievably tied up that you’re left with the sourness of defeat on your tongue as the final credits role.

Drive Angry stinks of the politics of Hollywood. It is obvious that director Patrick Lussier came on board with the express intention of making a Grindhouse movie for the masses with Nicholas Cage as his poster boy; what he ended up with was a studio unwilling to allow such a large investment pushed in to a niche market where Grindhouse films firmly sit. Everything from the gore, action, flimsy plot and even the credits scream Grindhouse and yet the final edit shows more of a less than mediocre vengeance film with a quirk to it.

Drive Angry won’t appeal to a lot of people and it doesn’t deserve too. Its inability to pick a genre and stick to its morals have left us with a dry and pointless waste of two hours. With all the other choices on Netflix, why waste your time on this?

Drive Angry gets One out of Five stars.

Buried can’t claim to have an original concept, the singular focus on a man in peril has been done time and again to varying degrees of success; going in I knew exactly what I had signed up for and therefore knew to limit expectations.

Buried is a film that focuses on Paul Conroy, a truck driver for an American firm that has been captured by terrorists and locked away in a coffin mere feet underground. He has been left with a cell phone and other bits such as a torch, glow sticks and a knife. The phone gives him contact with the outside world; his wife, hostage rescue teams, the US in varying forms and the terrorists themselves. The film spends a lot of time on exposition which seems unnecessary at first but steadily builds the pressure on the situation nicely, although the film doesn’t really ramp up until the end few minutes the previous time spent establishing a link between Paul and his potential saviour plays a pivotal role in the final scene. The focus on bureaucratic nonsense, company double-talk and ass covering from the outside world takes up a lot of Paul’s time on the phone which, while unexpected, often leaves you speechless and incensed with a realization of the world we live in. The ending is an unexpected welcome and leaves you contemplating the film over again, throwaway comments come back from earlier and the message of the film becomes clear only as the credits begin to roll.

Casting Ryan Reynolds in the only role to be seen on film was a risky decision; usually the charismatic wise-guy with a lot to say in any situation risked adding a levity to the situation that would have felt out of place and forced. Reynolds reigns in his quips and quickly attaches himself to the role, Paul Conroy is a truck driver caught in the wrong part of the world at the wrong time, a million miles away from family and friends. Although Paul’s anger is rife throughout the film he softens as the films goes on and he begins to accept what might have been a foregone conclusion before the first phone call had been made. He struggles and fights for release, tries to aid in the release of someone from his convoy who was also captures and spends most of the film in an effort to get on the phone with his wife. His softer side shining through in a minor phone call to his mother and the last phone call of the film to his wife. Robert Paterson should be lauded as Dan Brenner, the voice of the hostage rescue expert that talks Paul through his entire ordeal. Paterson’s ability to form a connection with the audience with just a voice in unimaginably effective and when he rushes to dig Paul from the ground the exhilaration you feel in his voice is palpable.
When shooting something like this every scene is like gold dust, every shot key to the tension you’re building and how the audience will be drawn in. Unlike other movies Buried cannot rely on background noise in a shot that may ease a tense scene or draw people away from the main events of the film, there is nothing but darkness within the coffin for people to rely on and that, if anything, adds to the audience tension. The film does an excellent job of crafting interesting scenes within a tight space and allowing the audience a bit of visual freedom from the expected closeups of Ryan Reynolds face for ninety minutes. The quick cuts and alterations in focus keep audience minds sharp and ready for the next piece of the film. The camera isn’t constrained by the coffin and their are some scenes where an upper set of the coffin is added for a slow zoom or exit shot, this represents the characters isolation in perfect darkness excellently and even left me wondering what I would feel in the same situation.

Although there is a lot to like about Buried there were also a lot of absurd decisions made the distract audiences and pad out screen time; the addition of a hole in the coffin which seemingly appears from nowhere and provides a snake for Paul to struggle with midway through the film provided a strange break in the tension that just picked right off from before the snakes appearance. This seven minute escapade was seemingly shoved in at the last minute and provided nothing to the film except the tension break which, quite honestly, was rather unwelcome!

Buried encapsulates why I have always liked Ryan Reynolds, his strength in the singular role of the film really stand out to me as a shining example of why I hate the career decisions he makes over and over again; playing roles that he thinks the audience will love rather than testing himself with roles such as Buried. It was a refreshing change to his normal cocky outburst, add in to that a great story that is driven by smooth camera work and excellent direction and Buried makes for a compelling package. The tension isn’t something you can shrug off and the dialogue is often muffled through the phone so definitely a film you’ll want to watch in silence with the lights off but, all the same, is definitely worth checking out!

Buried gets Four out of Five stars!

The Darkness follows Jackie Estecado, a hitman for the mob, on his 21st birthday. Jackie is swiftly betrayed by the mob and, more namely, his adopted uncle Paulie as his way of talking out about the family’s direction isn’t much appreciated by his seniors. Jackie is set up and on the run, he hears a voice calling to him from inside his head and quickly he runs in to the owner of the voice; an entity from within himself known only as The Darkness. This entity appears as tentacles that spring forth at will from within Jackie and, as you may have guessed, makes his escape from doom a little easier that it was previously. Jackie’s new found power includes summoning demons and sending forth one of the tentacles to search for hidden items or open locked doorways. Jackie spends some time with his girlfriend before his life is turned upside down and he realises there is no escape from the impending doom that bears down on him. He goes in search of answers across New York and meets a myriad of characters who appreciate Jackie’s adherence to “The older ways” and therefore side with him over his uncle Paulie.

Although the story drives forward at a nice pace, you’re often allowed small sections where the linearity of the game opens up and you get to visit specific New York neighbourhoods. There are a few side quests to complete but mostly this pads out the game in an annoying way; with no sprint option for Jackie, if you make a wrong turn, you’re faced with a ten minute round trip to circle back to the one and only train station per neighbourhood. These sections feel tacked on and don’t hold enough substance to really feed in to the game; they are hardly populated, and mostly by gun wielding nuts or bad guys, and the lack of traffic or civilians leaves the city feeling desolate.

Although The Darkness is a first person shooter, it doesn’t feel like you would expect. With the four different powers you gain to use over the course of the game and the six different weapons you find each combat puzzle a unique challenge with multiple solutions right in front of you. Towards the end of the game I found myself leaning towards the black hole power a little too much as the amount of enemies in a corridor would increase and one black hole would suck them in and move me forward at a nice pace. Although I truly enjoyed this, the other powers hardly compared and so were left by the wayside more often than not. There is no upgrade mechanic for the powers but you do devour your enemies hearts to increase you Darkness level which allows you to deal the more damaging attacks.

The game tries to get you to use all of your powers through the game with small puzzles designed to stretch your imagination; you’ll be crawling through vents or putting a box over a grate that allows toxic gas in to a room, but no explanation is given to how and the only information handed to you is a small paragraph on the different abilities. I found myself stuck before an electrified pool for twenty minutes as I tested different powers and summoned different beasts to help until, finally, I shot an electric cable out and the power shut off. No explanation or guidance and nothing similar before in the game.

The game looks great and offers some nice, if a little cliche, locations as you go in search of vengeance on your uncle Paulie. An abbatoir, an orphanage and a drug boat all make the cut as well as a war torn World War I set in hell as dismembered-and-reassembled Allies fight Zombie Nazis while delving deep in to the origin of The Darkness and the ties with Jackie’s family.

The story takes some wonderfully dark turns and the first act ends leaving you speechless and alone; the unexpected turn and sudden violent outburst that often goes unseen in gaming really compels you to push through and see the vengeful tale through to the end. Starbreeze studios constructed a well thought out narrative that offers a lot; while the end product is flawed and leaves a lot to be desired there is definitely drive all the way through the game. The conclusion wraps up in a wonderful coming together of fury, emotion and death; a classic horror game that knows exactly what it is and doesn’t strive too far from that box.

Although better games have come and gone since The Darkness I was extremely impressed with how well it holds up even when held to the same standards as today’s first person shooters. It tries a few different things, some of which hold up, and does a lot of the very basic things right; the story is paced great and the combat feels very empowering as it challenges you to try different things. If you played The Darkness on release you were right; if you didn’t then with the sequel just released now it a perfect time to take the jump and find out what all the fuss was about!

I went in to NBA 2K12 having not played a Basketball game for over five years, having being burnt by EA’s ignoble yearly cycle that eventually scarred me for a long time, pushing me to more of the arcade style games that are easy to pick up and put down without much need for practice, skill or preparation.

So I waded in with trepidation but was immediately drawn in by a crisp and easy to understand system that allowed me to drop directly in to a game or within seconds, be in one of the multiple modes that are on offer. The light tone and easy soundtrack allowed the game to sneak upon me with six hours of game play that I thoroughly enjoyed during my first session. In that time I had pushed through the exceptional training camp drills that explained the intricacies of the game in a very simple manner, never going deep enough for complete immersion, I think, on purpose, to allow entrance to new players without seeming too out of touch. The sim nature of the game, while present in all parts, lay aside enough of the time that if you just wanted to go through a season or play some legend matches you may never need to dig up those menus.

Understanding controls and understanding game play is two completely different aisles in NBA 2K12, while I started playing with an understanding of how things worked, I wasn’t hand held in to the ground when the game started leaving me a little bemused by the rich gameplay that looks exceptional off the bat. Time has been spent on the intro and tweaks to the gameplay means the game flows at a great pace, pushing you to make the better plays by making excellent use of the games commentary system.

Breaking from regular tradition the commentary team has three members who all bring their own spark to the conversation, a fourth member roams the floor with tidbits from team talks and offers her own point of view. The commentary follows the game and the team offers you advice on what your playing and subtly points you away from bad plays while breaking from the monotony when you pull a big play, nothing more satisfying than when you make a break away dunk and they break in to whoops and hollers. After 30 hours the commentary can get repetitive as there is only so much information the team can rely on to give out during a season but this is easy to digest as it is broken up between player and stat breakdowns as well as a TV broadcast set up that will run down how the rest of the league is shaping up at half time, how the next few games for teams are looking and how players are matching up against their opposites.

While playing as a legend is a massive draw and leading a team through a season is an exciting prospect, I’ve always found the measuring stick for sports games to be in the mode where you take your player through Rookie status and upwards towards becoming a hall of famer. This mode, entitled My Player, replicates a lot of what I loved about NHL ‘09’s system when it was first introduced. The addition of skill points and a true progression system leaves you with some great targets to strive for throughout the game and allows you to really see how far you will go throughout the course of a season. Play a bad game and your penalty will be few points to spend on improving your character, have a super game and be named the “Jordan Player of the Match” and you’ll find a nice pile waiting for you. Pre-Draft and Post game interviews drive you deeper in to the immersion and will make you want to make every play count on the field as you begin to understand how younger players feel, matched up with some of the greatest players of our time in a Rookie season and expected to match their performance. I found the pressure a great driver for me to keep playing the game and is the best example of a player system within a sports game I have ever played, packed with drills and scrimmages for you to improve your player and understanding of the game and your teams strengths.

The gameplay feels solid, looks excellent and although I often had bad matches now and again I could often attribute that too a skill based problem rather than software. The game shipped with numerous problems, such as a transfer bug that will auto shift teams halfway in to a season (The same bug present in the 2011 version) which has vilified fans a lot but after starting and playing three different players through their first season I can say I never encountered or noticed it. The interface through career modes could use a little work to present information better as digging through multiple menus to find the most basic information about my league placements is a pain when I’m checking between each match as we lead directly to the play offs.

The online in 2K games is notorious for its problems and that is no different here. I managed to compete in about half the matches I attempted and, when playing, things went excellently, but once in a lobby there was never a guarantee the match would actually begin.

Although NBA 2K12 isn’t a perfect product I am still holding it up as a shining example of how sports games should be made. This game has been produced by a team who love basketball and are now threatened with no NBA this season which adds a little extra significance to every little strength in the game. 2K have provided a game that is enough to quench peoples need for weekly games and is presented in such an excellent fashion that you may think you’re actually watching your favourite team rather than playing them. Many times I was asked what Basketball I was watching from another room due to the TV broadcast replicated coverage that is spread throughout NBA 2K12 and is exactly why this game is enough of a game to carry the torch alone this year.