Tag Archives: 360

Ancient Italy from The Sofa

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Who’d have thought I’d be pleased to be back at work? Well today, I am. That’s mostly because I’ve spent the majority of the time since Saturday lying down on either the sofa or bed, within dashing distance of the bathroom, thanks to a particularly horrible gastric thing. Today I managed to eat and keep down some breakfast, and despite feeling weak as a kitten got my backside dressed and into work. I had to come in on Monday morning to help set up a new starter, but that was a really bad idea which I soon regretted. It’s nice to be vertical again, and the thought that there’s only three days until a weeks leave is a good one.

My time reclined hasn’t been wasted though, oh no siree, I’ve been wisely investing it in some quality time with the Xbox as it’s not had much love from me recently and I thought it was long overdue some. I managed to pick up a very cheap copy of Assassins Creed 2 and got around to sitting down and playing it, and I’m really glad I did. I haven’t had this much fun with a game since the very excellent (side note: whenever I write ‘very excellent’ I hear Bill & Ted saying it, just like in the film when they introduce the very excellent barbarian, mister Genghis Khan!) Batman: Arkham Asylum.

Most of the game is set in 17th century Italy in areas like Florence, Venice and Tuscany, and it’s all beautifully rendered with a real sense of attention to detail. Ok, there’s some artistic license, but it’s all very believable. I love the sound of the tiles slipping underfoot as you run over the roofs. Without wanting to ruin the story (which is great), for the most part you play a character named Ezio, who inadvertently finds himself learning the assassin trade in order to avenge his family. Ezio’s a nimble chap, and apparently free-running was all the rage 350 years ago in Europe, so you find yourself clambering, climbing, swinging, running and jumping through the ancient architecture. The sense of freedom works really well and it never feels like the acrobatics are shoehorned into what’s actually a very linear platform game, a la Prince of Persia. The main story is a great draw, but what’s really been eating into my time is all of the side missions and distractions.

There are ‘viewpoints’ to discover and scale, and making it to one of them and hitting Y reveals more of the fogged map. Then you get the fun of swan-diving from ridiculous heights into bales of hay or carts of leaves – entirely unrealistic but spectacular. At the same time as working your way through the story there’s loads of other things happening, like finding ‘glyphs’ painted on certain buildings. Scanning one of the glyphs opens an abstract puzzle, and solving it unlocks a couple of seconds of video. I imagine once I get them all I get to re-sequence them and see what the ‘truth’ is. You also spend your time distracting guards to liberate ‘codex pages’ which again, reveal something once complete.

There’s a real high to be had when you know the city guards are all out to get you, and you’re using your blending skills to hide among the crowds of people, or desperately trying to find a hiding hole as they chase you over rooftops. The assassin tomb side-missions are also great and really test your platforming skill; it’s satisfying to find yourself in the top of a massive cathedral and look back down at the route you’ve taken to get there.

You can pick it up for less than fifteen quid brand new now, and less than a tenner second-hand, and for that money I’d really recommend it. It’s a bit slow for the first hour, but get past that and the game world opens up and sucks you in like a Dyson. If you’re looking for something to play and don’t want to spend forty pounds on something brand new, pick it up. I was more than pleasantly surprised.

Now all I have to do is get some food in me, get some strength back and get back to training. Watching sucks, doing rocks.

Gotham and Grading

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I’ve recently been playing through Batman: Arkham Asylum on the 360, and I’ve been surprised by just how much I’ve enjoyed it. I tried the demo way-back-when and liked the fighting system, but I was surprised by all the rave reviews it got when it was released. I suppose it always had a good chance as it was a stand-alone release, I mean, it didn’t have a stupid film tie-in to try to meet in terms of plot and release schedule. The simple fact is that it’s a fantastic game, full of atmosphere and some wonderful controls.

For the first time that I can think of, I really enjoyed the stealth aspects of the game too. Normally stealth games drive me to distraction; I hate having to hide somewhere for ages only to sneak out round a corner and get seen by someone. Batman seems to be the exception to the rule though; the ‘Predator Rooms’ are brilliant. You’re given a room full of armed guards and have to take them all out, but Batman, tough though he is, isn’t bullet-proof. Staying out of sight is the order of the day, so using gargoyles to survey the scene from above is the way to go. There are a load of different techniques to get the job done, including inverted takedowns from said gargoyles, sneaking up from underneath floor panels, smashing through glass ceilings or just plain creeping up on someone unseen. Great fun and a real sense of achievement when it all works.

Joker Choker?

The story is tied together with amazing visuals and a plot and back-history dripping with detail. Interview tapes hidden around the islands reveal insights into how the various bad guys came to be there, and there are all sorts of other hidden things to find. Not least of which being the Riddler’s… riddles. There are some which require you to ‘scan’ particular objects in an area, and some are just trophies hidden which need finding. Add all of these little bits together and you’ve got a completionist’s dream, there’s plenty to come back for. Add in the challenge modes and DLC and there’s plenty to keep you playing long after the credits roll. That to me, is how I know this is a great game – not only have I completed it, I loved the stealth aspects and I’m still playing it now, just to try to find all of the hidden stuff. You can pick up a Game of the Year edition for less than 25 quid now, I’d really recommend doing so.

Other than rotting my brain with video games, I’ve been concentrating on TSD again. This Sunday past I had the privilege to sit on the grading panel at our Spring grading. Having only very recently passed my own first Dan grading, I didn’t expect to be sat there for a long time, at least until I was teaching my own class, but the opportunity presented itself and I wasn’t about to say no. I was really surprised to find that just being in the grading hall made me nervous, even though all I was going to do was sit down and watch others going through it. It’s actually quite difficult to watch one or more people and look for all the things you know should be in a performance, while at the same time conferring with the rest of the panel and making notes, and I really felt the weight of responsibility for these students’ progression (or lack thereof).

I needn’t have worried too much though, on the whole everyone grading did themselves and the club proud. There were a few standout performances and you can really tell which people have been putting in the extra time and training. Sitting less than a couple of feet from them when they went through their kyok pa (breaking) you could hear the nerves in a lot of their breathing. Breaks are normally my favourite part of a grading; it means you’re nearly at the finish line. The day also helped me realise that I’m not getting any younger in terms of competing, and that I’d really like to be able to pass on what I’ve learned so far, and what I’ll continue to learn as the years go on. It actually feels like quite a responsibility, as I’ve always had teachers of a very high standard and I want to be able to pass that high standard on to anyone I end up teaching. Our Kwan has earned itself a very good and well-deserved reputation now, it lies with me and other future instructors coming up through the ranks to make sure it stays that way.

A Glut Of Games

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It’s no secret that I still love games, and still play and buy them regularly, but recently I’m up to my neck in them. First up was Darksiders which I wrote about in a previous entry, and it really is a fantastic game, but I’m stuck at a save point where I have a tricky fight before I can get any further, and after dying umpteen times it’s been relegated to the games shelves until I can be bothered to try again.

I picked up Forza Motorsport 3 on the cheap at the end of an online January sale and got stuck into it, and it’s a great racing game. I’ve always like the Forza series, they seem to find a great balance between realism and fun, and 3 is no different. There are an enormous number of cars to choose from as your career progresses, and as always with Forza, an insane amount of customisation options. As well as being able to change and tweak every part of the internal workings and chassis, there are the famous aesthetics options too. The Forza car editor has no equal when it comes to custom decals and paint jobs, and the inclusion of the storefront (which enables players to buy and sell customised cars and paint jobs) means that everyone has access to them. I’ve still got a long way to go in the career mode, but it’s a gorgeous looking game and I’m so pleased they managed to keep it all running at a silky-smooth 60FPS. If you can pick it up for under thirty quid (easily done online) then do it if you’re at all into racing games.

A friend of mine has been singing the praises of the next game for months, and I finally gave in and decided to have a look at what all the fuss was about. Tatsunoko Vs Capcom is the latest in the ‘Vs’ series from Capcom, which now that I think back has been going for years, and includes some cracking games. Marvel Vs Capcom 1 & 2, SNK Vs Capcom 1, 2 and Chaos, X-Men Vs Streetfighter to name but a few, but new on the scene is Tatsunoko Vs Capcom. Tatsunoko is the Japanese cartoon house which won’t be overly familiar to most people, unless they’re old enough to remember the ‘Battle Of The Planets’ cartoons in the early 80s. In Japan it was known as Kagaku Ninja Tai Gacchaman (Science Ninja Team Gatchaman), and was a far different cartoon (violence and transgenderism being common themes), but it still provides some of the characters for the game, along with other less well-known series. Surprisingly it’s a Wii-only release, but I kinda like that, it’s a reason to use my dust-collecting console at the very least. The gameplay is excellent, proper ‘Vs’ style fighting with over the top super moves, tag play and all manner of intricacies to work out. There’s a decent roster of characters with both sides well-represented, just don’t let the fact that you may not know many of the Tatsunoko cast put you off. Capcom have covered all bases with characters ranging from the stalwarts (Ryu, Chun Li) right through to some you might not to expect to see (Frank West from Dead Rising and a giant mech from Lost Planet spring to mind). It’s well worth a buy for anyone fond of Capcom 2D fighters, but even moreso if you like the ‘Vs’ games. It’s out today, although I luckily got mine yesterday after nattering to the guys working in a local indy games shop and them telling me they were breaking the release date. I was weak, I bought it, and I’m very glad I did. You should do the same.

Tatsunoko wasn’t the only game I was surprised to be playing yesterday. Some time ago I wrote about the beta of MAG and how I enjoyed it, so much so in fact that I pre-ordered the game. Shopto had both the normal and collectors editions of the game, but I didn’t want to pay the extra five pounds for an extra outfit in the game and some themes, so I stuck with the cheaper option. The game’s released today, but Shopto being the efficient little elves they are, they got it to me yesterday (in fact the postman needed a signature, so signed it himself and wrote ‘signed for it, hope that’s ok, Postie’ on it – I have a great postman!). I opened it up and found the steelbook collectors edition inside too, ideal! I didn’t want to pay extra for it, but if they’re going to give it to me for free then who am I to argue?! I’ve only had time to play one mission so far, but initial impressions are good, it feels far snappier and more inclined to hit the person I’m aiming at, rather than the lagfest the beta could be at times.

I need to get these games out of my system before April when the clocks go forward and I get my evenings out with the dog back again, and there are still a few more to come before then too.

Roll On Next Weekend

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It’s been a while, but I’m actually very excited by the prospect of a new game being released. I was browsing the new demo releases on Xbox Live one evening last week and noticed a name on there that I’ve seen around, but have no idea about: Mirror’s Edge. It was only a 1GB download so I set it going, just to see what it was. When I say I had no idea what it was, I’m not joking either, I literally didn’t even know what style of game it was, let alone if it was likely to be a good example of the genre. It turns out that even if I did know I couldn’t really have had any preconceptions, as it’s effectively a new genre – 1st Person Free Running / Parkour. I know there was a Free Running game released on the PS2, but given the poor reviews I’m not really including that.

I have to come clean and say that the snob in me reared its ugly head at first when I loaded it and saw that it was an EA game. I’m guilty of a little prejudice when it comes to games, but in my defence it’s usually with good cause. EA have, in the past, been guilty of churning out some mass-market pap, the sort of stuff to get consistent 70% reviews across the board. Ok, it’s not always bad software, but they’re not usually the sort of thing I’d be spending forty quid on either. These days however you can’t really afford to judge a game on a publisher any more. Gone are the days of loads of small publishers with a few different dev teams producing games for them, this generation sees the Super Publishers, with the likes of Ubisoft and EA “borging” all and sundry. The developers of Mirror’s Edge are long-time EA stalwarts Digital Illusions (DICE), a name that fans of the Battlefield series of games should be instantly familiar with, and reassuringly a name with a good First-Person pedigree.

Anyway, back to the game. As soon as the demo loaded I was really impressed with the clean, artistic style. Too many games these days go for gritty realism, it’s so refreshing to see a big name release with stylised visuals. Everything’s very “blue and white” which gives a really nice clean look. Judging by the video at the end of the demo, the whole game isn’t bright and airy, but it does keep the nice clean lines, not something I expected from an Unreal 3 Engine powered game. The first thing it reminded me of was a cross between Jet Grind/Set Radio and the more recent Suda 51 titles like Killer 7 and No More Heroes. The game breaks you in easily with a nice tutorial teaching you the basics, and I was very quickly in love with it. Running across the city rooftops actually feels really good, and the first-person viewpoint does a great job of connecting you with the character because the head bob is perfect and you can see ‘your’ limbs as you jump, vault and slide around. The camera even rolls 360 when you roll out of a big drop. I’m amazed mostly how well it flows and works though, there was a danger of it feeling really clunky.

The controls are very instinctive and don’t take long to learn. LB is for upwards movement, so jumping, clambering up, vaulting etc. The left trigger takes care of downwards actions which include crouching, sliding and rolling, while the right trigger handles combat. Combat ranges from simple punches to jump and slide kicks, and thankfully seems to make up a minority of the action. Your first goal should be getting the hell out of there if there are enemies. If that’s not an option though, there are loads of really well worked disarm and self-defence type scenarios handled with the Y button. Add in the RB button for doing instant turns and you’ve got all the tools you need to get going. DICE have included something they dub “Runner Vision” which daubs important things red for you. These red things might be certain places to launch from or land on, or indicate an enemy in your way who’ll need dealing with. The sense of freedom is what makes the game though. If you have to get somewhere, it’s entirely up to you how you handle it. Ok, so you could hit that running jump, roll out of it, slide under the pipe and scoot past the enemy, but what about a wall-run, kicking out into a vault, swing under a pipe into another wall-run into jump-kick? If the demo is anything to go by, it could really be a great playground.

I’m so enamoured by the demo that I’ve gone ahead and pre-ordered the full game, and I can’t remember the last time I did that. There’s a bonus time trial mode in the demo which needs unlocking with a pre-order code, so I’m eagerly waiting for that to turn up. I implore anyone with a 360 or a PS3 to download the demo and try out the most refreshing first-person game in years. I love having a winter game to play on the run-up to Christmas, and some recent years have been really memorable. Last year was Mario Galaxy (awesome!), other years have been Call Of Duty 4, Project Gotham 3; there’s always something each year. This year I’ve still got Fable II which I’m plugging through steadily, but I reckon Mirror’s Edge is going to eat into my time like nothing else.