• 31Jan 10

  Bayonetta Review

  LINK

  Expect a long read, and enjoy. Yes I love the game
  
  

  "Bayonetta is an exceptional action game that belongs among the elite of its genre"
  
  Bayonetta is a game that delivers a narrative that is more than likely going to turn people away. Its excessively cheesy and heavily sexualized main character Bayonetta (her suit is made entirely of her hair) character can enter offensive and shameless territory. The dialogue is cringe worthy, but for those that are willing to go in with an open mind and forgive the narrative will find an exceptional action game. Bayonetta is stylish, insane, over the top, and all around exciting from start to finish, and probably the best way to kick of the "monumental" year we all hope 2010 will be.
  
  Bringing the focus back on the plot one can go in with two different approaches. You can rip into it for the abomination of a narrative that it is, or you can go in with a more open mind. One that is willing to forgive it as something that is cheesy on purpose, that essentially goes out of its way to not take itself seriously. It's divisive part of the overall game and could be a major turnoff for many. The story is about witches, angels, magical stones, and a six foot witch who is shamelessly over sexualized throughout the entire experience. For the most part, the game pretty much knows what it is doing, and it probably goes without saying that the game was pretty much meant to be what it is.
  
  So it's a good thing the game is able to make up for its audience dividing plot with an incredible combat scheme, and impressive game design overall. Bayonetta's combat scheme is the work of the Legendary Hideki Kamiya (Devil May Cry, Okami, Pitiful Joe) and Platinum Games. It won't take very long for veterans of the genre to realize that the game borrows and builds upon the stylish combat of the Devil May Cry series. That doesn't mean Bayonetta is a rip-off though, as Bayonetta does many things to give its own unique feel and separate itself from its spiritual predecessor.
  
  
  
  Bayonetta is capable of attaching weapons to both her legs and her arms. These weapons can range from guns to a sword, ice skates, a snake like whip, and of course Bazooka Tonfas. Yes, the Bazooka Tonfas are nothing short of majestic. You press the Y button to use the weapon attached to the arms, and the B button to use the weapon on your feet. The X button takes care of shooting Bayonetta's guns and then there is the right bumper taking duties as a short cut for specific types of attacks (when coupled with B or Y). The left trigger and right trigger take over the ability to switch weapon combinations and utilize your dodge. Bayonetta is fast, fluid, and accessible. It doesn't take many button inputs to dish out serious damage on the angels of Paradiso. What really helps it stick out is the myriad of combos that one can perform in Bayonetta. It's a combat scheme with an ocean of depth that when coupled with the fluidity and accessibility of the controls allows players to get extremely creative with their combos.
  
  The weapons of the game all provide their own perk of some kind. The shotguns provide a lot of the same moves as your standard pistols if attached to one of Bayonetta's limbs, but they bring far more force and their ability to hit multiple enemies is greater. The sword becomes an old faithful with its speed, large move set, and the ability to dish out a strong amount of damage. Ice skates provide you the ability to freeze enemies, and also being able to traverse lava and bringing no harm to Bayonetta. This is a tactic that will come in handy for those that want platinum trophies on certain levels. The serpentine whip doesn't bring much in terms of speed or damage, but it does open up a whole new way to get in aerial combos and makes a good weapon for a combination where you can switch between your set of weapons. The bazooka tonfas speak for themselves, and for those that dare to try to beat the game on the games hardest difficulty. There is a nice surprise weapon that will easily put a smile on your face.
  
  The more weapons and techniques you unlock the more the game play opens up. It may not be as brutally visceral as the Ninja Gaiden series, but it is arguably the most satisfying combat scheme in any action game to date. Abilities such as break dancing, to being able to do a clockwise shooting attack to target multiple enemies are only the beginning of the insanity one can produce on the screen. With properly timed dodges a player can force "Witch Time": the "slow mo" mode for the Bayonetta series essentially giving you a good chance to fire up some massive combos on your enemies. You also have finisher moves that Bayonetta can use when the magic gauge is full which can be a whole list of devilish traps and devices used to kill enemies from something like a guillotine to a sarcophagus filled with spikes ready to obliterate your foes. Then, when it comes to Climax Attacks, Bayonetta can use the hair on her body to create gigantic creatures that vanquish your enemies with ease. For veterans of the genre, you can cancel out of attacks even in the middle of animations, something that was long overdue for the genre.
  
  To the point where it becomes incredibly difficult to explain the insanity one can produce on the screen in Bayonetta. Her ability to turn into animals to traverse the area also provides bonuses in combat as ways to evade, mitigate damage, or even another way to attack the enemies on screen and adding unto your combo. The enemies also do a good job of not being punching bags, as they don't stop just because you are hitting them. The angels of Paradiso are capable of dishing out their own attacks while getting hit, and can even dish out attacks that not only knock you the player out of rhythm but can chain moves of their own to dish out some serious damage.
  
  
  
  With multiple enemy types that require a different form of finesse, strategy, and timing to get in hits without taking too many shots of your own. Plus there are the extremely large bosses of the game that are more or less horrific designs of biblical lore (that just happened to be named after human emotions). The bosses are incredibly well designed and provide some of the most satisfying obstacles of the game. Especially the battles with Bayonetta's rival witch, which are nothing short of awesome. What these battles lack in overall challenge they make up for in spades in creativity and sty-le. They're so well crafted that you'll probably ignore the lack of difficulty and just enjoy the fights for the grand spectacle they are. Like the series Bayonetta is inspired from, a lot of the sub-bosses and bosses will come back further on in the game although a bit weaker and as sub-bosses, in the case of the latter. They won't necessarily all play out the same way as a new variable will be thrown your way, but the return fights won't be nearly as memorable as the initial fights.
  
  
  
  Where the games core gameplay may fail to deliver for veterans of the genre is probably going to be the difficulty. The enemies just aren't aggressive enough on the default normal difficulty (you have to unlock the harder modes), and the impressive and large boss fights aren't very difficult for those that have been seasoned by other big names in the genre. The bosses for the most part can come off as major push-overs. The standard difficulty also lets you get away with button mashing as a reasonable way to eliminate enemies.
  
  To counteract this though, Bayonetta's rewards and prizes are all about scoring. Each section of action in a mission is called a verse. After each verse you will see where your current score for the mission is, and what kind of medal you got for the verse. Pure Platinum is the highest of honors and only rewarded if you can dish out a platinum-worthy combo without ever taking any damage. So if you want to pile on Halo Rings which is the currency of the game and points you need to be more creative than simply button mashing. Taking too much damage, and even dying during a mission will be a significant penalty to your overall score and thus leading to lower scores and even lower trophy rewards. If you're one that likes to get competitive with friends and other around the world on XBL/PSN leader boards, Bayonetta gives enough of an incentive to be on top of your game.
  
  From a progression standpoint Bayonetta is strictly linear like the Devil May Cry series. You'll go from one area to another fighting waves and waves of enemies, always getting different types as you progress so not to come off repetitive. Sub-bosses are thrown in to keep you busy and challenged, and major bosses appear to ice off key points of the game. You won't do much puzzle work, but they way you traverse the areas in Bayonetta can change overtime. When the moon is out, Bayonetta is capable of walking on walls and going vertical in a completely different way. This way the game is capable of bringing you back to areas you've seen without feeling stale and making it look like pointless backtracking. The plat forming is pretty solid and is never in a position to ruin the pacing of the game. This is in large part due to level design that at times can both be remarkable and creative. If you're a person that also enjoys a game that can take his/her breath away with its scale, just wait until you see Bayonetta's final level.
  
  
  
  What might hurt it is some of the homage's to clas-sic Sega games. The two that stick out the most as major down points in the overall experience include a segment where Bayonetta is riding a motorcycle, and another one where she is piloting a missile. When the initial appeal of nostalgia and the lovely reference wears off, it quickly becomes apparent that these portions are far too repetitive and drawn out. They come off as excessively unsatisfying, and easily stick out as the worst segments of the game. That's not to say the other references in the game aren't fun though. There are multiple lines in the game that make references to popular games like Halo and Resident Evil 4, to even Platinum Games' original game Madworld.
  
  From a presentation standpoint the game is pretty good all around. The game usually runs at 60 frames per second on the 360, but there are some notable framerate dips and screen tearing. There are also some slowdowns here and there, but overall the game runs very well. Visually the graphics are pretty good, although nothing exceptional. Animations are top notch and some of the best you'll get. The audio work is pretty good for the most part as well. You have a nice mix of J-pop and some Jazz giving you some catchy tunes to enjoy the intense battles of the game. The voice acting is a mixed bag. It's hard to put the blame on just the voice acting considering the script is so incredibly bad (which again, is meant to be cheesy purpose). The cut scenes are all well choreographed, but some of them can drag on far too long and keep the player out of the action for too long. This annoyance also carries over to some rather annoying placement of quick time events. Other forms of the story are told through slide show, film strips. They aren't bad, but they come off as a lazy way to do things.
  
  I cannot stress enough how exceptional Bayonetta's combat is. It's wild, over the top, and incredibly satisfying. It's fast, fluid, and filled to the brim with a superfluous amount of combo all the while maintaining an accessible control scheme that lets you unleash all the insanity without being overly complicated. The marvelously crafted boss fights provide some of the most satisfying moments in the overall game, and the final segments of the game (both gameplay and the ending cut scenes, including post credits) just find a way to get better and better. Bayonetta is at this point the definitive action game of the current generation, and a game that belongs among the elite games of the genre. Oh and it has Bazooka Tonfas. What more do you need?
  
  

  • Posted Jan 31, 2010 1:48 am GMT
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• 22Jan 10

  New Sig

  New Avi
  
  
  
  New Sig
  
  
  
  I know, my wife looks so majestic.
  
  I'm in a good mood

  • Posted Jan 22, 2010 11:13 pm GMT
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• 11Jan 10

  Batman Arkham Asylum Review

  LINK

  
  The Above Link has an edited version of this post. YOu know for you grammer nazi's
  
  
  
  Let's just put it simply, Batman is a badass. Few fictional characters and comic book characters kick ass the way Batman does. His ass kicking appeal has not only translated to great cartoons, but even big budget films. So it's quite shocking that a medium built on kicking ass and great action is a medium Batman has had very little success in. Well with Rocksteady's Batman: Arkham Asylum that last blemish on an impressive resume is finally gone. Batman: Arkham Asylum isn't just a good batman game; quite frankly it's a damn good action game that would be just as good without Batman. Exceptional pacing, well designed gameplay, and one of the more atmospheric environments in gaming make the game worth playing.
  
  Arkham Asylum starts off with a pretty extensive intro, but it does it's purpose of telling you exactly what is going on and giving you a feel for the type of mood the game is going to evoke throughout the game. Batman has recently recaptured the Joker and is driving him to Arkham Asylum, the largest prison facility for all of Gotham City's psychotic villains. The catch here is that you find out Joker didn't exactly go down with a fight. He pretty much wanted to get captured, and before you know it Joker takes over the entirety of Arkham Asylum in a matter of minutes. Without getting too far into the narrative, it does it's job of giving you reason to progress through the game. If you're a Batman fan it's not anything you probably haven't seen before, but the writing for the most part is pretty good. A lot of the Joker's lines are both disturbing and quite funny at the same time.
  
  
  
  The heart and soul of what makes the game impressive is a combination of the action and the stealth mechanics of the game. The combat is very simple for the most part. It really isn't to complicated. You have a counter button for you're defensive attacks. Then there is the main action button where you seamlessly just beat your enemies to a pulp, and if needed you can always block. What makes the combat so enjoyable first and foremost is just how fluid and responsive it is. What it lacks in depth and complexity it makes up with smooth transitions between hits, great feedback, and fluid system that focuses more on making sure you have your timing down and can get into a consistent flow with each battle. Few combat schemes are this responsive, flashy, and make you feel like you are in so much control like the one in Arkham Asylum. It's a combat scheme that works even better the more you build up your combo. The longer the combo streak the faster and more agile Batman moves. The faster he moves, the more hits you get in. Making fights with a horde of enemies an exciting beat down. This coupled with the great feedback is what makes it so brutally awesome. The game may not give you the grotesque over the top gore of a Ninja Gaiden or a God of War; but every bone crushing, skull cracking hit sends a satisfying echoing sound that just makes every hit so gratifying.
  
  
  
  As the game progresses you do begin to add some more tricks and gadgets to the action. All of which have a use one way or another. Like Batman's iconic grappling hook can be used to take away weapons from certain enemies. Batarangs can be used to stun or slow down your opponents, and with the bigger enemies a much needed tool. Takedowns and grapple moves provide a quicker way to down the easy enemies, while also giving you a nice flashy finish that is simply badass. Unfortunately the simplicity of the combat does make it very button mash friendly, and very repetitive by the end of the game. This issue is offset by the Hard difficulty forcing you to be even more precise on your combat input, and putting a large emphasis on making sure your timing is on point and are keeping up with the flow of the action. This doesn't negate the simplicity too much though, and it might lose a lot of it's luster the further you get into the game.
  
  Obviously going into a fist fight might not be the best thing to do against Batman, so logically you will also encounter areas where you will have a ton of enemies with guns ready to add some bullet wounds to Batman. These are the moments where the stealth mechanics of the game take in glorious fashion. You can grapple to high vantage points, and then glide down to boot your enemies. Knock them out while they are down. Hang from the gargoyles and then grab an unsuspecting thug and leave him hanging as bait. Knock him down off and mess with the surrounding enemies. Use corners as cover, use batarangs to stun enemies from corners, and then there is explosive gel you can use to get the attention of your enemies.
  
  These moments are enjoyable mostly for how pleasing it is to eliminate all the enemies in a room without ever being detected. Throw in areas that require you to use specific gadgets a certain way and you have some of the more memorable moments of the game. Once you start knocking enemies out one by one you can see how the AI is now worried about your presence and starts being sloppy. It adds a satisfying layer to the game of cat and mouse you can play with the thugs of the game. That said the horrible enemy AI can be an issue for some. The enemy AI is just far too unaware of many things, and it takes some of the fun out of the stealth moments in the game. The game is very lenient with what is considered something they can't see, or how wide open you need to be for them to see you. There are other times where the enemies are efficient enough to cover up a lot of the obvious spots in a given room. Thus making you have to figure out what opening you can take. It makes some of the moments less appealing when the game forces you to work more from the ground instead of the higher vantage points. As the ground stealth mechanics just aren't as strong or productive.
  
  
  
  Arkham Asylum for the most part is a linear game, but there is a good incentive to explore the iconic prison if you would like. First there are audio logs and the ghost of Arkham segments that add to the narrative of the game. Giving you a bit of interesting back story on the Asylum, and also giving you the mindset of the enemies you get to throw down with. Then there is probably the single best collect-a-thon in gaming period, and possibly the only good collect-a-thon ever. There a re 240 unique Riddle challenges. They can range from just finding a simple trophy to destroying a bunch of Joker teeth, but the best portions are the Riddles you get to figure out. Every time you enter a certain area a riddle will show up hinting at you to go to a certain part of the area or to be on the look out for something. While the incentive is only achievements/trophies they are quite satisfying to find. They are well thought out, and quite challenging. Some of them require paying attention to every single detail of an area as you can run around the same spot all day looking for the answer.
  
  One of the ways to find these Riddler challenges is using the detective mode. The closest comparison to this is the eagle vision in Assassin's Creed. It puts the game world into an x-ray vision basically. Highlight certain areas of importance. Such as finding a riddle, or giving you a vantage point, highlighting spots where you can use explosive gel, etc. It's also handy in certain tracking moments. Where the game requires that you follow a hidden trail be it a scent, or DNA or something of the like. It becomes an extremely useful part of the gameplay, that can also be too good for its own good. It becomes very easy to just stay in detective mode to pass through each area very quickly.
  
  
  
  When you are done with the game there is also predator and combat challenges that provide a nice way to use the mechanics of the game in a high scoring contest. Predator challenges require you to eliminate all the targets in an efficient manner without being detected. Combat challenges require you to kick ass with getting hit as little as possible All the challenges usually cover an area from the single player game. The added leader board and scoring challenge provides incentive for the highly competitive. That and for the most part the gameplay is strong enough to make even the most simplistic feature fun.
  
  The most disappointing aspect of Arkham Asylum though has to be the boss fights. It's not necessarily who you fight, it's a matter of how these fights occur. A lot of them are simply beat up a bunch of thugs, and then get a hit on the main boss character. The boss fight with Bain is sort of spammed with mini bosses later in the game(Titans). Basically wait for him to run at you and then dodge out of the way. Then there is this extremely long drawn out fight with Killer Croc. While a fist fight with him wouldn't make sense. It's far too drawn out, repetitive for its own good that the payoff just doesn't make up for it. The finale with The Joker is however the single most disappointing moment of the game. In short the boss fights are the largest issue with the game. They aren't intense, exciting. They aren't well thought out or engaging. For all intents and purposes they just aren't good boss fights, and are a clear flaw for the game and hinder the overall experience.
  
  
  
  From a technical standpoint the visuals in this game are very good. Arkham Asylum as a heavy atmospheric environment that is disturbing and eerie in many ways. It keeps you engrossed and immersed like very few game environments. The audio work is excellent, and offers proper sound effects for every bone crushing hit in the combat. Then there is the voice acting. If you don't know by now it's the entire voice cast from the exceptionally well done Batman cartoon series of the 90s. Kevin Conroy as Batman, and Mark Hammel as the Joker offer convincing performances and the right amount of nostalgia for Batman fans.
  
  Batman: Arkham Asylum is a seamless game that takes all of its elements and puts it together into one strong package. In spite of poor boss fights, horrible enemy AI, repetitive design later on in the game, and a rather simplistic combat. Arkham Asylum is an impressive game. The pacing of the game between each letdown boss fight is exceptional. The transitions between action and stealth is seamless. A responsive and fluid combat paired with a creative and extensive stealth design adds to fun and memorable gameplay moments. An immersive atmospheric environment is helped out with brilliant level design and polish that keeps you engaged into the experience. Predator and Combat challenges provide enough replay value, and the Riddler challenges are so gratifying you will gladly participate in the collect-a-thon.
  
  If you are a Batman fan, BUY THIS GAME. If you are a fan of third person action games, BUY THIS GAME

  • Posted Jan 11, 2010 1:36 pm GMT
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