Reviews – Matheus Pitillo

August 20, 2013 — Comments are off for this post.

Review: Disney Infinity

Disney Infinity

Release Date: August 18, 2013
Developer: Avalanche Software
Publisher: Disney Interactive
Genre: Adventure / Sandbox
Plataform: PS3 / 360 / Wii U / Wii / 3DS / Mobile / PC

Lets face it: everyone is a Disney fan! I honestly won't believe you if you say that at one point of your life you weren't touched by Disney's unique way of telling stories. Whether by their characters, art, animations, parks, shows, songs or even by Mickey himself. I bet you have experienced that "magic" and, if you are a human full of emotions, you probably fell in love too.

And finally the big day arrives for all of those Disney lovers: the big release of Disney Infinity, a game that - as Disney - is everywhere. Or at least in almost all platforms. The player can find it on PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Nintendo WiiU - as the main console version - or even on Nintendo 3DS, following more as a "Mario Party" gameplay style. Nintendo Wii also received the game for its platform, though with fewer features, such as the absence of a co-op experience in the Play Set part of the game. And if it wasn't enough, players can also experience Disney Infinity on PC and iOS devices, offering the options to build, edit and share all of your toy box experiments at any time.

For the ones who still don't know, the game allows players to share their creations on ANY PLATFORM. It doesn't matter if you are a Nintendo player, you can easily share your Toy Box with an user that plays on PlayStation 3, for example.

WHERE DREAMS COME TRUE

Disney Infinity it is not just one game, it's a game within a game. Imagine that you have the opportunity to go back to your childhood and you are gifted with an amazing and colorful Toy Box. All you need to do is to drop all of these items on the floor and start to build your own dreams. You can do "anything", you just need to use a spark of your imagination. Who never imagined making the boring Winnie the Pooh do a quick visit to Cruella de Vil's house? Well, maybe not! Who would want to do such a thing, right? *cough cough*

The point is: while the game offers original Play Sets with original adventure experiences related to the character's Universe, it also offers a second game mode in which it is YOU who have freedom to create whatever you want, in the way that you want, to finally share with your friends and see how they will react whitin your creations. This concept allows the game to attract an even wider audience. Whether you are a big fan of the movies, or adventure games, or even if you are just a crazy action figure collector person like myself, you will always find people getting trapped inside this expensive cycle. So, by following this philosophy I will write this review in a different way than usual: find the category that best fits you and read this review. (Or, you might just read it all, since I lost loads of time writing it! LOL)

DISNEY INFINITY FOR GAMERS

First of all, Disney Infinity is not Skylanders. The only thing similar between both games is the Base that allows to have figures being "scanned" inside the game. But besides that, the games are totally different. It's almost like trying to compare Assassin's Creed with Watch Dogs, because both use basically the same control scheme. Anyway...

By purchasing the Starter Pack the player will receive three characters/figures - Jack Sparrow, Sulley and Mr. Incredible - and a Play Set with their unique worlds. Play Sets are a piece that contains the whole Universe of a specific group of characters. The player needs to place this piece on top of the Disney Infinity Base - that comes in the Starter Pack - to finally be able to access this Universe. Within the Play Set, players also needs to place their characters on the DI Base, so they can be brought to "life" into the game.

Each Play Set delivers a complete open world campaign experience - based on the Play Set theme - full of objectives and collectables. Because of the theme related experience, the players can only use the characters that are part of that Universe. So, if you want to play, for example, in The Incredibles' Metro City, you will need to use Mr. Incredible, Mrs. Incredible, Dash, Violet or Syndrome. But if you want to use different characters from different Disney Worlds, you will only be able to do it by playing in the Toy Box. And that's the good news: there is a secret Big Vault in each one of the Play Sets, that can only be opened if you use all of the characters from that Universe. By opening it you will be rewarded with an already designed Toy Box of that specific Play Set. So you and your friends can play together, without the restriction of only being able to use characters of that specific universe. Finally, there are also unique items to unlock in the Toy Box that can only be found in specific Play Sets.

Gameplay wise Play Sets also offers different types of gaming mechanics and experiences. Although all of them follows for an open world adventure idea, each one of the Play Sets focus more on a different concept. Monster University is all about pranks, scares and competing. They even have a school points scale, that reminds me the whole idea of House's competition in Harry Potter series. LOL. Pirates of the Caribbean introduces swordplay combats, ship battles and even ship customization. Yeah, you can customize your own ship! And, finally, The Incredibles gives you loads of melee combat, with super powers and small missions around Metro City.

Each Play Set can take around 5 to 7 hours to complete, plus the hours that you will spend by searching for all unlockable items. Since the Starter Pack comes with 3 Play Sets, you can easily calculate 15 to 21 hours of experience to complete the whole game of this first wave. Of course the player can always place a new character and search for all the specific missions and items related to that character, increasing even more their gameplay.

Not everything is perfect, though. Even offering different mechanics, story lines, environments and experience, all the starter play sets end up giving the feeling of lack of something. The stories are not very strong - compared to the original movies - and the missions tend to not vary too much, differing only on basic mechanics, for the same theme/idea. But don't get me wrong! I am not saying that the game, or these Play Sets, are bad. They are actually very good. But not perfect, you know? I was actually quite surprise with The Incredibles in specific, because I felt like they had a bigger variance of characters vs. powers, compared to Pirates of the Caribbean for instance. But on the other hand, in the Pirates Play Set I found that the universe looked bigger, and with more stuff to do, while the characters themselves were almost the same.

Regarding the controls, while the Nintendo Wii U seemed to be the best option to play the game - considering that the player could easily use the gamepad to navigate through the items, objectives and menus - if the player decides to play on Co-Op, the only controller that will actually work for the second player is the Wii Remote. This kind of sucks, considering that it's a mess to move and rotate the camera, or even to use special attacks etc. Luckily Disney already announced that they will soon release a patch giving support to the Pro Controller as well. Besides that, all controllers are pretty easy to learn and it seems to be very intuitive, even with loads of options to do.

Finally, if you are a gamer who loves to create your own Worlds, quests and stories, the best game mode for you will definitely be the Toy Box.

The Toy Box is this empty environment/level to be filled up with your imagination, using the items you collected in the game. By playing the main campaigns - or the characters specific Adventures - and leveling up your character, the player is rewarded with Spins. Spins can also be found in capsules, around other pre-made Toy Boxes. Those Spins can be used in the Toy Box Vault which randomly rewards the player with one item, out of 16, per spin. Every time that you want to increase the number of items to use in your Toy Box, you will need to rely on your luck and in your progression with Spins. The other option, of course, is to collect those items around each one of the Play Sets, as I said before.

It is not hard to create your own adventures, but it might require a little bit of patience. You just need to change between pages of categories and items, and finally place it on the environment. You have the option to rotate and move those pieces until you achieve the best spot for your adventure. To change textures or even to delete something, you can use the Magic Wand that offers more options to the player. There are also items that help you to quickly change the sky just by pressing a button, as well as to spawn new enemies etc. But talking about "patience" one more time, what I found a little bit frustrating is the low speed between menus and items. Maybe it's just me, but every time I decide to move from gameplay mode, to building mode, it drives me crazy because of the delay between options.

Triggers, events box and links can also be used in the Toy Box. if you are familiar with some Game Engines such as UDK or Unity, you will find that to "script" the events on Disney Infinity is very easy. Players can connect special items together and give them basic rules. You can easily link a button that, when pressed, will activate fireworks, open doors, start a song or spawn new objects or enemies. There are even cameras to unlock in the Toy Box Vault that allows you to change from top-down to side-scrolling games. And the character will also follow this pattern while locked inside this camera mode. It's awesome! And, the best part is that for the new players, the game also offers tutorials teaching the basic mechanics of the triggers and objects.

After creating your own Toy Box, you can easily share it online between your friends, or even send to Disney to wait for a review. If approved, your Toy Box can be downloaded directly from their Original Database. Players can play any toy box in any of the platforms.

So, if you are included in the GAMER category that I said before, I would recommend Disney Infinity if you like an easy-to-play adventure experience, with building and customization options. If you are a big fan of Little Big Planet and Minecraft you will probably love this game.

DISNEY INFINITY FOR FANS

It's pretty clear how much love the effort the team put into this game. Disney Infinity was made by Fans for Fans. Each one of the Play Sets features a whole new storyline in parallel with the original one shown in the movies. And it was confirmed that Avalanche Software and Disney worked directly with Pixar to make these storylines as good and complete as the ones seen in theatres. It might have not succeed 100% - as I said earlier in this review - but it was pretty close to it.

You can easily recognize the personality of each one of your favourite characters. The voice acting is stunning and the animations make them be extremely alive. It's nice to have the option to see how their lives existed after the movies and how we have total control on top of that now.

Right in the beginning of the game the player can experience one of the most beautiful introductions I have ever see in a game. All the first part is actually playable - and without spoilers - you will learn the first mechanics and controls, and also be enchanted with the beautiful Universe that Infinity is part of. All the possibilities are introduced right there, and it just make us, fans, even more excited to start building everything that we always dreamed as well.

As a fan, if there is a negative point in the game I would say that it is the lack of classic characters. Of course this problem can easily be solved soon, in the next wave of characters and Play Sets. But the thing is, as much as I love Monsters University, The Incredibles, Cars or any of other Pixar movies, I really miss the classic characters from the first Disney animations. Where is Simba? What about Ariel, Mulan or Pocahontas? One Play Set about Aladdin would be amazing as well, you know? I understand that the developers can add it, if they decide to, but I really don't get why there was a lack of this content for the first wave of the game. I just hope they are not planning to do only Play Sets related to Pixar movies...

DISNEY INFINITY FOR COLLECTORS

Now comes the best part - And also the most expensive one! If you are a crazy collector like me, you finally found the perfect game. Man, no words describes how well done each of the figures are. The quality is amazing! Their unique poses represents perfectly each one of the characters and all that I want is to buy them all, even if I don't end up playing the game anymore or bankrupting myself in the process.

And if it wasn't enough, everything related to Disney Infinity comes in waves, bundles, accessories and pieces. You will not only collect figures, but also Power Discs, albums and cases. To have the most powerful character, or the most complete Toy Box, the player can add Power Discs on top of the DI Base, to increase a character's stats, or add tools and characteristics to your own Toy Box.

For the first wave of items, there are 20 official Power Discs - 3 of them are rare pieces - while stores like Toys R Us and GameStop have their own exclusive Power Discs as well. So, if you decide to have all figures and all Discs, expect to spend at least 200 hundred dollars, if not more.

Knowing about this huge marketing, Disney Infinity created a special feature inside the game that they call the Hall of Fame. Every character or Power Disc that the player purchased and unlocked in the game will appear in this Hall of Fame as a physical statue. The statue can vary from Bronze, Silver to Gold, according to the level experience of the character. The Hall of Fame constantly evolves, growing walls, celling, flowers etc. It's a very beautiful and stunning experience to face. And you end up having your original figures in hand, but also inside the game.

So, if this review is for you - a collector - don't think twice and go buy your figures. Take zillions pictures of them. Place it inside protection cases - available from all major retailers for a small cost - and show it to your friends or enemies, so they can envy you too. LOL. Yeah, it's awesome and I love it! And since Disney knows exactly how to sell more dreams, a new wave of characters are coming soon, with new Play Sets. You will be able to find characters such as Rapunzel, Skeleton Jack, Woody etc.

TO INFINITY AND BEYOND

Disney Infinity has everything going for it to be one of the biggest hits for the ending of this generation of video games. It's a game that allows for the mixing of any type of genre, with the ability to create anything that only relies on your own imagination. It's a game which also puts friends and family together, with infinite fun and choices. To know for sure how long this game will last, it only depends of how long the developers will give support to it. But I would guess that it will take a long, long time, to disappear from your shelf, or from the stores.

My Personal Score: 4/5

[button type="icon" icon="paper"]Written by Matheus Pitillo.[/button]

Published by Matheus Pitillo in Game Articles, Reviews

March 31, 2013 — Comments are off for this post.

Review: Bioshock Infinite

Bioshock Infinite

Release Date: March 26, 2013
Developer: Irrational Games
Publisher: 2K Games
Genre: First Person Shooter
Plataform: PlayStation 3 / Xbox 360 / PC / Mac

When a game gets to the point that it is able to convince players to invest in a genre that they never enjoyed in the past, it means that the game did it right. I felt exactly like that when the first Bioshock was released and fell immediately in love with this incredible masterpiece of storytelling. The Bioshock series deserves all the honour and admiration it has received, again sending the player to one of the most beautiful and incredible cities ever.

COLUMBIA - THE CITY IN THE SKY

In Bioshock: Infinite the player controls Booker DeWitt, a private investigator that refers to himself as an "independent contractor". Following a series of events and problems that he faced in the past, he become involve in gambling, leaving an enormous debt to pay. To find a way to pay his debt, he is sent to Columbia - a floating city in the sky - to find a girl named Elizabeth and bring her back to New York City.

Columbia is divided into two different factions: the Founders and the Vox Populi. The Founders try to keep the city for pure Americans only, while the Vox Populi represents the others of color or different ethnicity. With that in mind, the player will face all types of conflicts between those two groups of people.

Different of the other Bioshock games, Infinite introduces to players a character who actually speaks and have his own personality. Full of opinion and attitudes, DeWitt will express himself from beginning to the end of the game, creating a very strong bond between player and character. And all of this "expression" gets even deeper when the player finally meets Elizabeth, having in-game dialogues all the time during the game experience. Some players have criticised these dialogues as annoying during the gameplay, but in my opinion - considering how immersive and important the story of the game is - those dialogues worked pretty well and I could not complain of a single one. Elizabeth is extremely interesting and special and I could listen to her talking for hours and hours.

Columbia is one of the most exciting and "welcoming" cities that I have ever experienced in a game. Every corner of Columbia is filled by NPC's actions, colours, songs etc. You don't feel like you are walking around a "synthetic and plastic" city. Columbia actually convinces you that you are facing a "real" and nice place to live. Right in the beginning of the game when you first gets to Columbia, a city fair is happening, full of people, music, activities and fireworks. Everything looks amazing and magical. Columbia is huge and everything that you see of it by distance are actually parts of the city that you will still visit at some point of the game. But there is something dark brewing below the vibrant exterior.

ELIZABETH - AN AI THAT ACTUALLY WORKS

Elizabeth is an extremely special character in the game. While the whole plot of Infinite runs around her, the player also has her help during the combat situations and other moments of the game. And, so far, I guess this is the first time that an NPC artificial intelligence for in-game co-op works so well. Elizabeth will "never break" during the game. She always knows exactly where to go and where to hide from the enemies, as well giving you 100% of support all the time. She is there to give you tips, more ammunition, health packages and money - in this case it's kind of annoying at some point, considering that she gives you items all the time, making the game too easy at times.

The mystery surrounding Elizabeth is the main plot of the game and goes from beginning until the last minute of it. Don't expect to figure out the twist in the storyline, because YOU WILL NOT. Just let things happen and try to absorb as much information as you can from the game dialogues and Voxphones - the new Audio Diaries of the first two Bioshocks - and you will not regret it.

It is not too odd to compare Elizabeth with some princesses from Disney. The classic princess locked in the tower, watched over by a monster, and waiting for her hero to save her. To be more specific, her tastes and desires to live in France, as well as your looks, love for songs and dances and even her commitment with reading, makes me compare her directly with Belle from Beauty and the Beast. In the first half of the game Elizabeth will earn your affection, with all of her kindness and love. She is definitely more than an AI. She is a true character that will follow you during your journey and staying at your side, allowing you to see how she grows up.

So, while Elizabeth "is" Belle, Songbird - the giant mechanical bird - is Beast; having mixed feelings that evolves from protection, to possession, rage and love and uncomfortably evokes feelings of a possessive lover. I just wonder if this relationship between both characters were suppose to have some reference from the classic of Disney.

LEVEL DESIGN AND GAMEPLAY EXPERIENCE

As I said before, and you probably already saw in some videos of the game, Columbia is an huge city. So, probably you are wondering if you will feel lost in some moments of the game, while searching for your main objective direction. The answer is NO! DIfferent from the first two Bioshocks, in Infinite the game offers an option to guide the player to the right direction by just pressing a button and following the arrow that will arise in the floor in front of you. In theory this may seem like a very weak strategy, but in practice it works very well and can save hours lost by players who would be looking for the right direction until now.

Another cool aspect in the game is how the player is introduced to the new gameplay mechanics. By using the city fair that is happening in Columbia as an excuse, the tutorial is presented as part of this festival, offering at the same time more details for the plot, like how racist and heavy the game is, as well as an amazing set for the two first Vigors - the new Plasmids in Infinite - as well as shooting and aiming game controls. But as always, not everything can be perfect. Something sounded weird for me, considering that he is using the two first Vigors for the first time in the game, DeWitt does not react hesitant or different, despite knowing that his body is changing and being affected by this strange power. But what is even more odd is that when he finally gets for real a fixed Vigor, he starts feeling weird and uncomfortable, and reacts with that by dialogues in-game. I understand that the first Vigors to be introduced are there just as a part of a "tutorial section" of the game, but even so, they could have at least activate an "event" condition that by the first time that DeWitt gets the first Vigor - tutorial or not - he should react with his body changes.

But you know what? The Vigors are awesome, the special effects by using it are amazing, and the traditional "new power old-style explanation" is still in there, so I will stop being too judgmental and start giving positive points to Infinite.

Level Design wise the game works very well. All objectives are creative and pretty clear. I didn't feel bored by completing any of them. Everything makes sense with the plot and with what you are searching for in the game. Another nice thing about the levels / environments is that if you actually come back in an old area to complete a side mission, or even just to visit a specific place again, the game will not reload enemies. All enemies are spawned for a reason in each one of the environments and they all make sense for the game storytelling and combat situations. By playing the game you can see that each part of Columbia was constructed to be able to be revisited in different moments, with different "eyes".

The combats in Infinite are very similar of the old Bioshocks - not considering the newest AI help from Elizabeth - you will be basically just swapping between weapons and vigors, trying to find the perfect match between them. The difference is that this time you can only care two weapons with you, forcing you to think carefully before making a choice. Another cool thing is that the game also allows you to combine Vigors Powers, damaging the enemy even more.

Another big surprise is how easy and intuitive the skylines are. It's pretty easy and pleasurable to control DeWitt around the huge number of skylines around Columbia. They help you to reach some places faster of the city, as well as offering amazing exciting combat situations.

Although the game offers some choice moments, your actual decisions for those choices does not influences the plot of the game at all. I can understand that this was added more like a way to explore more how the players will react and judge according to each situation, but I don't think Irrational Games explored this in the best way possible.

Besides that, what else was changed for the best? Mini games! They are not present in the game anymore and I am just glad for that. You will not face mini games to unlock doors or hack computers and machines. That's why Elizabeth is next to you after all.

STUNNING VISUALS AND AMAZING ENVIRONMENT ATMOSPHERE

Bioshock Infinite is stunning! I don't have too much to say besides the fact that EVERYTHING in the game seems so well planed from Pre-Production to the actual Production of it. Again, Columbia is the most convincing city that I ever played on. Everything is so colourful, magical, beautiful, well modelled and alive.

The game starts introducing this amazing and bright city, that drastically moves to a radical atmosphere, darker, dirtier and "cold". Each one of the environments have something special that characterizes the game moment and explore the maximum of its forms. We can feel exactly the feelings that they wanted us to feel by playing and walking around the city.

LESS HORROR, LESS HARDCORE

Different of the older Bioshocks, Infinite is extremely easy, considering the Normal Mode Difficult. Enemies seem to die easier and if it wasn't enough, Elizabeth is always there to give you extra life and salt, to help you during combat. Out of combats, the girl will also offer you loads of cash, making it super easy to buy new items, weapons and vigors upgrades. The whole financial hard time presented in the old Bioshocks are not here in this game and I still don't know what I think about that...

Difficulty is not the only thing that changed in the game series. Infinite has no sense of horror or tension. Don't expect to feel the tension that you probably had at the first time that you fight against a Big Daddy or a Big Sister. What Infinite offers is a very deep and strong sense of action. I guess my biggest mistake was to wait too much for Songbird and the Boys of Silence. Don't get me wrong: both enemies are amazing and they totally make sense with the plot, but I was expecting to see them more often in the game and to face epic combats against them. And, unfortunately, that's not what happens. I would actually say that characters like the Lutece twins were much more interesting characters to me, if not my favourite ones in the game.

Finally, independently of whether you are a fan or not of Bioshock, you definitely need to try this one. Infinite brings all the big aspects of an epic game, with a magical environment, a plot full of intelligent twist and characters that makes you believe that even a digital character can have real feelings. I am trying to not show my personal feelings for this game too much, but I can say that it is one of - if not - my favourite games ever.

My Personal Score: 5/5

[button type="icon" icon="paper"]Written by Matheus Pitillo.[/button]

Published by Matheus Pitillo in Game Articles, Reviews

Tags: 2k Games, Beauty and the Beast, Bioshock, Bioshock 3, Bioshock Infinite, Booker DeWitt, Columbia, Elizabeth, game, Irrational Games, Matheus Pitillo, PC, PlayStation 3, Rapture, review, Unreal, Xbox 360

March 7, 2013 — Comments are off for this post.

Review: Tomb Raider

Tomb Raider

Release Date: March 05, 2013
Developer: Crystal Dynamics / Eidos Studios - Montreal
Publisher: Square-Enix
Genre: Action
Plataform: PlayStation 3 / Xbox 360 / Microsoft Windows

Lara Croft is iconic for a number of people around the world since she first appeared 17 years ago. Often times we would hear a woman with a strong personality be compared with the famous Lara Croft. And at some point, woman started to actually try to achieve that. Lara is the whole package: intelligent, strong, sexy, rich and powerful; so why women would not want to be like her? And for men she was more than strong, she was also a sex symbol that was cultivated for generations, from the digital world until Angelina Jolie donned the famous persona. (That, by the way, the blood river scene in the game was suppose to be a reference to Angelina Jolie in Beowulf? LOL.)

But this time in the new Tomb Raider, this is not the Lara Croft that we have come to know. Ok, she is still sexy, very good looking and can still do some gravity-defying acrobatics; but now Lara is young, inexperienced, vulnerable, naive and in some moments even too dramatic. All that she wants is to go back home and leave behind all the nightmare that she starts to face, but of course, this is not an option.

A SURVIVOR IS BORN

I would be lying if I don't admit that my first impressions of the game was totally incoherent with the rest of my game experience. If you were expecting to play a little bit before the whole "ship accident" happens, you are totally wrong - I was wrong too! - The game starts exactly with the same cinematic that we have seen countless times since Tomb Raider was first announced long ago. You don't have time to connect yourself and gain affection with the other characters of the ship Endurance. The game just starts: BOOOM! And you are trapped in the middle of a creepy cavern. Why would you want to risk your life to save someone that wasn't even introduced to you - as a player - in the game? That was my first bad impression. And unfortunately, this impression was followed by the next moments in the beginning of the game.

Since the cavern moment was the first part of the game, they try to make it so spectacular that they actually don't think about how the "new" Lara Croft would be able to face all the obstacles she faces inside the cave. We know that the whole game idea is to focus in how the little girl grows up and turns into a strong woman, but if Lara still needs to grow, how believable is it that, even in the first minutes of the game, Lara would be able to do all that she does? I just think that if they wanted to make her evolve, then allow a little more time for that. All this should be presented and learned with time, when she finally see herself as a Survivor. And not as the old heroin right from the start. (...) Besides that? The rest of the game is incredible and my opinion totally changed right after the first 20 minutes of gameplay.

The whole game runs around the idea of putting Lara Croft into situations that will test her limits. She is a Survivor and to keep alive she needs to defend herself by killing people, learning how to hunt animals, as well as exploring, climbing and hiding in different environments. The game also offers a cool "Survivor Instinct" option in which, when used, it makes the game screen black and white, highlighting only objective direction, items, enemies and animals. It's almost like the Eagle Vision in Assassin's Creed, working pretty well.

STORY AND ENVIRONMENTS

In search for the lost Japanese civilization of Yamatai, Lara convince the Endurance Crew to enter the Dragon's Triangle, an area renowned for causing ships to disappear. And, of course, the Endurance is added to this list by facing a huge storm and crashing in the island. When Lara wakes up in the beach, she is attacked right after, starting the whole cavern first game sequence. After the first minutes of the game you start to understand that the habitants of the island are in search of a woman sacrifice to resurrect the Sun Queen, Himiko. And guess what? Samantha - Lara's friend - is the one chosen.

The plot may seem to be a little bit weak or cliché, but actually it works pretty well. With some twists of magic and legends, and with some mature and gore content, all the island and each single environment compliments the game in an amazing way.

The environments' representation are amazing and it varies a lot during the game. There are forests, beaches, tombs, snow areas and everything that you could expect. The lighting matches according to those environments, creating even more an appropriate atmosphere. When it is raining you can see the lightning illuminating the environment, while the rain actually affects the game camera, making us believe that we are part of that world.

SOME ELEMENTS OF THE CLASSIC GAMES

So, here we are with this new Lara and the question arises: Does she faces puzzles and explore tombs like before? Does she like it? Well, if she likes I'm not so sure, considering that in a moment of the game she actually says that she hates tombs. But that does not means that she will not explore some of those. In this Tomb Raider the player has the option to find and explore different tombs - in a total of 7 of them - Upon completing it you are rewarded with some item and XP points, as well as a Treasure Map for an area on the island, helping the player to identify certain items.

Most all of the puzzles are presented in those optional tombs. Out of that, the player will probably face 3 or 4 different puzzle situations, which makes me feel as though they could have added more and increased the difficulty a little bit. I can count on one hand the number of times that I actually had difficulty with one puzzle in the game.

The relic viewer mode is also here. The player can find and collect relics around the game and, by doing that, you can visualize it by close, zoom in, rotating and even trying to find some extra clue. Those clues do not affect the gameplay itself, but give extra information to the main plot. By collecting relics you are rewarded with XP.

And finally, Lara Croft is still a very fast and light character, that can jump very far, hang in platforms, climb and shoot.

NEW ELEMENTS FOR A NEW GENERATION

What would be good new features for the game? Surprisingly - for me at least - the upgrades are one of the nicest part of the game. By collecting relics, killing enemies with headshot, finding treasures in tombs or even reaching new environments, the player will be rewarded with XP. Accessing one of the camps, the player can exchange those XP for a number of new abilities to Lara, increasing from Hunting Skills to Fighting Skills.

Another upgrade system is related with the weapons and gears. By collecting Salvage - destroying boxes or getting from enemy bodies - you can use it to upgrade your weapons. Sometimes you need more than Salvage to get the weapon to another level. In this case, the player will need to find more parts of the respective weapon, usually by collecting the treasures that you can find in each optional tomb. In the end, both upgrade system works very well and it's not annoying or hard to understand. Actually the game makes me want to collect everything, just to be able to upgrade my equipments and skills and this is something new for me.

The hunting is one of the newest element in this game, but also the most stupid. The idea of it is pretty nice, but the execution went very bad. Right in the beginning of the game you are "forced" to hunt a deer, to learn how to do it and how to collect something from their body. But the problem is that after this first time, you can play the whole game without ever having to hunt again. It turns something totally unnecessary and with no purpose, considering that Lara Croft does not have a hunger bar or anything like that.

LEVEL DESIGN AND GAMEPLAY

I had loads of fun by playing Tomb Raider. Maybe because it features various elements that are present in two of my favourite game series: Uncharted and Assassin's Creed.

Uncharted by following the recipe of integrating many cinematic sequences while you have a total in-game control, loads of enemies appearing all the time, incredible combat situations, explosions, different types of gameplay - like the one in the parachute or in the waterfall - and a charismatic character. And Assassin's Creed by considering a whole area that you can "free" explore, quick travelling between camps and even with some screen glitches.

The gameplay and controls work in a very smooth way. Everything is very intuitive and clear. It's fun to use Lara's Bow, trying to kill the enemies while keeping yourself in a stealth approach. That was actually one of my favourites part of the game: the use of the Bow.

While the gameplay gives us a very good experience, the Level Design tends to try to convince us of a fake freedom. As I said before, some elements remind me of Assassin's Creed, when you see that you are surrounded by this big map, full of choices and directions to go. But all this freedom is broken by following the right path in the game. The player ends up needing to follow ahead to the next point, moving on with the right direction, not actually giving choices to the player. They tried to sell us a free experience, but in my opinion is just a linear Uncharted Level Design, with clear objectives and directions. Well, not that I am complaining. At least I didn't get lost.

IN THE WAITING FOR THE NEXT ONES

Finally, Tomb Raider did a good job in returning to this generation, promising something new and fun to play. With a large and beautiful environment, super exciting gameplay moments and cinematics, it seems that they finally got the right choices for the game and we are assuming that next ones will come soon. It will be interesting to imagine what new ideas and features can come. And, if they accomplish at least half of what this Tomb Raider offered to us, I'm pretty sure it will be another success.

My Personal Score: 4.5/5

[button type="icon" icon="paper"]Written by Matheus Pitillo.[/button]

Published by Matheus Pitillo in Reviews

Tags: 2013, Action, Blood and Gore, Crystal Dynamics, Eidos Studios, game, Matheus Pitillo, Multiplatform, PC, PS3, review, Square-Enix, Tomb Raider, uncharted, Video Game, Xbox 360

November 27, 2012 — Comments are off for this post.

Review: ZombiU

ZombiU

Release Date: November 18, 2012
Developer: Ubisoft Montepellier / Ubisoft Bucharest
Genre: First Person Survival Horror
Plataform: Nintendo WiiU

To play as loads of different people in a very small time interval was never so fun and yet so "frustrating" at the same time. I felt terrible to see my first character dying in the middle of a zombie horde, and losing all the weapons and equipment that I collected in the first few minutes of gameplay. But, even worse was when I started with a new character, Liz, who died right before she was able to recover all the items that I lost some minutes before. And the worst part: against the same zombie! At that time I realised that I should get used to the idea that I would be losing all "those people" during the game and that I should accept it or, If I didn't want to feel so frustrated any more, then perhaps the best idea was to take the game out of my WiiU and focus on New Super Mario Bros U again. So, this review is for you if, like me, didn't give up on playing ZombiU just because of one frustration or, hmmm... maybe 30 others. LOL.

Wii U Game Pad features right in the first minutes!

Talking again about my first minutes of game, the first impression that I had with ZombiU was how immersive this game is. Without revealing any spoilers, the game starts with the first survivor in the middle of a zombie attack, in one of the numerous streets of London. The action starts without giving you any clues, or even a moment to catch your breath. This first minutes work as a tutorial, but they don't pause at all for you to learn it too well -- your only option is to hear the voice that talks with you, and follow his instructions, running away from that attack and hiding yourself in the safest and nearest room available. This "tutorial" ends up being a good option, since the normal human reaction for this situation is always to run away, trying to figure out the controllers by themselves. And yeah! I did it. HA!

The game brings to you the best working example of the WiiU since the launch. A lot of the features are presented right there, showing what the Gamepad is capable of. I would say that if you are a new owner of the Nintendo WiiU, you should start with ZombiU. It's a great choice! 🙂

It's impressive how immersive the game can be having the Gamepad as the main controller. In the game you control a lot of things directly through the Gamepad. Your map is always visible on it and by pressing a radar button you can scan to see if there are zombies nearby. It's scary some moments in which you are in a total darkness and you turn on your radar and can see zombies ominously approaching you. By the way, another very nice feature - which may sound a little bit silly - is the lantern. With one click you can turn it on or off. While on, the battery will decrease, but if you turn it off again it will recover very fast. The strategy is to use it in a intelligent way, because if a zombie sees your light you can be sure that the game will be even harder. They will hunt and try to kill you at any cost.

The Gamepad also offers different features such as the innovative Scanner that you have probably already seen in one of the videos online. The Scanner is used to identify hidden items around the environment, as well giving you a night vision, or even the capability to hack some cameras and systems in London. The player can move with the Gamepad in any direction around itself to actually see the real environment in-game, or you have the option to just rotate using the right analog stick. After scanning objects, they will be fixed in your map forever so it is easy to search for later.

Another exciting moment is that every time that you need to get an item from your inventory the game does not pause. You need to select everything directly in the Gamepad in real-time, being sure to always keep in mind that you could be mauled by a zombie at any time. LOL.

But, surprisingly, one of my favourite Gamepad features are the voices that come directly from the Gamepad. Everything that I hear from my "guide friend" - speaking in English, with his amazing British accent - comes directly from the Gamepad, making me feel like I'm even more inside the game. The quality of the audio is AMAZING! You feel like someone is there, in your "hands", trying to help you. You can only understand this feeling after you finally play it. So, for now, just believe me.

Besides that, ZombiU offers more than 20 different features to show off what the Gamepad is capable of. Between those features, the most common are: the aforementioned Sonar; the Weapon Crafting, that gives the option to upgrade, tweak and customize your weapons and gear to give you a much needed edge over the zombie hordes; the precision sniping, that makes the GamePad transform into a scope that enables the player to zoom in for headshot; the hack door systems; the lock picking, the blacklight, the turret, the mini map, the inventory management, the shooting skills, the personal notebook, the barricade system and others.

The Demon's Souls of Nintendo?

As I said at the beginning of this review, if you are not a hardcore gamer, or if you hate how hard a game like Demon's Souls can be, you should maybe avoid using time playing ZombiU. Maybe I'm over exaggerating and the difficulty is not THAT HARD, but believe me when I say that it is at least comparable. ZombiU offers two different game modes: Normal Mode and Survival Mode, and both modes are pretty hard.

In Normal Mode, every time you die you start as a new character, with only a pistol with 6 bullets and a piece of wood in your inventory. If you want to recover all the items that your last survivor collected, you need to find him on the map in his zombie form. The game registers each one of your survivors during the game, as well as your name, last name, gameplay time and other small information. This way you can keep a track of how many survivors you have played with during your campaign and how long each one survived. That's not a joke when the Game X-Statement is: "How long will you survive?"

For Survival Mode the game is even more insane. If you die, the game is over! Like, really over! At least the player has the chance to choose between two modes inside Survival Mode, the chicken one and the hardest one.

The difficulty of the game is impressive. There are some moments with a slower pace, with some environment exploration and chance to search for some items or small "puzzles", but for the most part the game follows a faster pace and when a battle starts you can expect at least eight more zombies to come to attack you, all at the same time. Some of them possess different characteristics and attacks, creating different types of combat situations with close combat or long range attacks. For example, there is a zombie that spills a powerful vomit that burns the player or a guard zombie that uses a helmet, making his resistance to attacks higher.

Despair in the streets of London

If you have ever been to London this is another aspect that will make amaze you about this game. It is unbelievable how faithful the game is with places of London. It's awesome to see the same places that you've visited before in real life, but this time all destroyed, in flames and populated with hordes of roaming zombies. There are some moments in the game that you will need to visit places such as the Buckingham Palace while you are facing a huge storm. You will also find and read some of the letters written to the Queen. It's AMAZING!

But this is not a huge surprise, since Ubisoft is well known as a company that creates environments very similar to the reality, e.g. Assassins Creed Trilogy. While the game shows a lot of huge and very beautiful environments, it loses some points for repeating little aspects of some of those environment in a way that can make you feel as though you have already been there before. But not to an extent that actually makes you feel too bad about it.

Talking about the feeling of despair, ZombiU does a great job. Mixing a gameplay style that features Survival Horror with a First Person Game, you will feel excited and scared for the majority of the game. A lot of the environments in the game will be in the dark, allowing you to make good use of your lantern in the right moments of the game, as well as creating a better horror atmosphere. The game makes sure to create some specific fright moments that make you jump behind your sofa, or at least almost that. LOL. Maybe one of the reasons to be so scared to die are the controls of the game. And that is what I will be talking about in the next part of the review.

Level Design, Objectives Directions and Controllers

You probably read somewhere online or heard one of your friends saying that the Controls in ZombiU are probably not the best. I mean, after some minutes of gameplay, you can easily learn how to aim better by utilising your weapons or understand the best combat strategy for a situation according to timing. But even so you might hate how at some moments of the game the controls feel like it is playing with you! I can't say very well how I would make the controls differently, since the conceptual idea for the game was to focus on the Gamepad new functionalities, but definitely I can imagine that new First Player games will have the same critics focused on how inefficient it is to play with the Gamepad. But again, nothing that you can't get used after some time. Aside from that, all the other controls seem to work well and the control scheme seems to be easy understandable. You can make your character run by pressing the left analog stick while you move it forward. And this is one of the things that you will be mostly using in the game. Oh, yeah!

As the Level Design and Objective Direction in the game, I can say that ZombiU works very well. At any time, by pressing the button "-" in your gamepad, the missions will be displayed on the gamepad screen at the same time. And all the time, by starting a new mission, a direction mark will show on your map in the gamepad, helping you to not feel so lost during the game. Honestly, I just felt lost for two moments of the game, and mostly because I was more distracted with a fire environment that made me fail to notice that there was actually a path right in front of me! But generally speaking the missions work very smooth, as well as directions, in-game information etc.

Hunting other Online Zombies

ZombiU offers a very simple Online Gameplay Experience. According to the game idea, I believe the online experience is quite good enough actually. The game does not offer an online campaign mode against your friends, or anything like that. Mostly, the way it works is that during your main campaign, if you are playing online, is allowing you to find other players' survivors that have turned into zombies. So, by killing them, you can loot their items and also have their gamertag registered in your gamepad, showing how many other online zombie players you have killed during your campaign. I agree this is not as much as fun as they could have done - for example, if other online players could control their zombie against you, but again, I believe this is to create foster the idea that the game wants us to feel loneliness in the chaotic universe they have created.

Another online function present in the game is the In-Game Online Messages. After around two hours of gameplay you will find a spray paint can that gives you the option to leave messages on the wall by using some default drawings that the gamepad offers. You can see those messages during your campaign by searching with your scanner. You also have the option to like those messages or not, making them have more realistic value if the information is trustful.

The King of Zombies: A "blah!" Multiplayer Experience.

I'm not sure if the reason that I disliked the multiplayer was because I played with my roommate while he was using the WiiRemote + Nunchuck instead of a Wii U Pro Controller, but the game play was pretty hard, and not to mention somewhat annoying. Well, both game modes are nice, actually, but the gameplay experience is frustrating.

Basically ZombiU Multiplayer features two modes: the King of Zombies and the cliche Capture the Flag Level. In the King of Zombies the player with the GamePad needs to use their energy points to summon zombies around the level, trying the best to kill the survivor. All his strategies need to be done directly on the GamePad screen, making each decision a mystery for the other player. The player controlling the WiiRemote (BLAH!) or the Pro Controller needs to survive as long as he can, killing the zombies summoned by the King of Zombies. With time, the King of Zombies can summon new types of zombies, increasing the difficulty.

The second multiplayer mode is the Capture the flag Level, in which the King of Zombies needs to again summon zombies before the other player captures all flags in the level. Both Game Modes offer different types of levels and conditions.

The problem is that the player who is controlling the survivor will face a lot of frustrating moments, since the control layout used on the Wii Remote are a piece of junk! It's super hard to aim and shoot using the Wii Remote. The controls are difficult to memorize and to feel right, considering that the player is in a fast paced situation. But talking about the King of Zombie the experience is quite exciting, offering a new type of gameplay style and a very intelligent one as well.

Again, maybe the problem was the controller that I used. At least I'm hoping for that.

Nintendo Wii U first option game!

Finally, to finish this review, I would say that if you are planning to buy a Nintendo Wii U, or if you already bought one, you should get ZombiU. Of course there are a lot of small issues, as well as some control problems and repetitions, but definitely if you want a great introduction to what the Nintendo Wii U can do in this generation, ZombiU is the best option to show you that.

Nintendo made an excellent choice by releasing the game with the début of their new console. Maybe the game does not have the best graphics ever, but for sure it has a innovate and uniquely immersive gameplay experience, with a reasonable length, very challenging game difficulty and environments with amazing lighting and scary moments.

As a final score, I would need to take 0.5 points from ZombiU because of the confusing Multiplayer Mode that didn't please me, even though it featured a nice concept. But what is a nice concept without good execution?

My Personal Score: 4/5

[button type="icon" icon="paper"]Written by Matheus Pitillo.[/button]

Published by Matheus Pitillo in Game Articles, Reviews

Tags: 2012, articles, features, First Person Survival Horror, game release, Gamepad, gamepad features, king of zombies, Level Design, Matheus Pitillo, Missions, mode, multiplayer, Nintendo Wii U, online, review, Ubisoft, WiiU, ZombiU

January 20, 2012 — Comments are off for this post.

Review: Catherine

Catherine

Release Date: July 26, 2011
Developer: Atlus Persona Team
Publisher: Atlus
Genre: Adventure / Puzzle
Plataform: PlayStation 3 / Xbox 360

Ok! Let's clarify a few things before anything else. If you are looking for a hentai game, with naked characters and sex, then get out of here and do not continue this review. Catherine is not a porn game. The most you will "get" is the cover image of the box art.

Have you ever cheated before?
Hmm! If I've betrayed before? Wait, what is to betray someone? If I only had one night of sex with someone else, but without love, it is considered betray? Vincent, a man of 32 years old, which is already in a stable relationship for 5 years with his girlfriend Katherine, goes through the same confusion in the game. The whole game is presented as a television program - Golden Playhouse - through a mix of scenes in anime, parallel to the incredible 3D cinematic.

Early on in the game, Vincent is in a discussion with his girlfriend Katherine. She says that both of them are on the same level of the relationship a few years ago and that she would like to go one step further in this process, citing the idea of a marriage. The moment the boy is taken by surprise by this suggestion of his girlfriend, a flow of confusing thoughts arise in his mind, questioning whether he is ready for all this responsibility, or whether to keep the field he is already familiar with in their relationship.

Frustrated with all the pressure, Vincent meets his best friends in a bar - which by the way is where much of the game takes place - and begins to drink to distract his head from these problems. A lot of drinks later, he don't know how he came to his home, and when he wakes up from a strange nightmare in the next day and looks to the other side of his bed... BOOM!!! Someone is there with him.

Vincent betrays his girlfriend Katherine with a young girl, blonde, blue eyes, perfect body - in other words, the stereotype of the ideal girl - and when he realizes, he makes it a daily habit and don't know how to control this situation. And to top it off, the new girl is called Catherine.

Not knowing what to do, Vincent continues his decisions throughout the game, couldn't decide whether to sever the relationship with Katherine and following an "adventure" with the new Catherine, or whether it should assume its responsibilities and accept the new stage of life as a responsible adult.

What is most interesting in the game is the way each character behaves and how we are really faced with real situations of human relationships. It's awesome how the game treats Vincent in his confusion in the process of maturing as a person. And the huge difference between the personality of Catherine / Katherine is also a key point in this game, which you as a player, can choose what choices to take, and which way to go, assuming your own consequences.

A Puzzle Nightmare
The game progresses in a space of nine days, in which you control Vincent in two different realities. While awake, you have control of the character within the Stray Sheep Bar, in which you must communicate with other people who are there, share information, better understand what are these supernatural cases that is happening in the city and, beyond to talk to your friends, read and reply to messages on your cell phone, which will completely change the history of the game, depending on the choices you make.

In moments that you back to your home and sleep, are the most active part of gameplay. The Main Gameplay takes place in Vincent's Nightmares. Unexplained deaths are occuring among men of different ages. What they say is that if you die during your nightmare, you will not wake up anymore. ~~Freddy Krueger sends hi??~~

These Nightmares are organized into puzzle stages. Everyone who are in these nightmares are represented as sheep. Vincent - in a sheep form - must climb up huge staircases against time, to reach the top, before the whole place collapse. To accomplish this, he needs to pull, push and climb blocks the faster as he can, while avoiding various different kinds of traps. In the end of each group of stages, Vincent needs to confront a boss, who represents his deepest concerns of the previous day.

At the end of each level, Vincent has to enter in a confessional and answer questions related to relationships. Is really cool because when you do your answer, one table with percentage values emerges, showing what the vast majority of other players answered. And so the game does a search based on human behavior upon the response of each player.

The whole game revolves around betrayal, statistical data, consequences and on social punishments of that. The coolest thing is that from beginning to end, all your answers will be evaluated and influenced in the flow of history. Even in what Vincent will think about his relationship with Katherine and attitudes of upcoming.

Love is Over
Catherine scored big points for creativity and a depth story. Although often a subject always present in the lives of almost everyone, the way the game creates this scenario and its characters, makes the game be a rare piece from the majority.

The game has an amazing art direction, with very charismatic 3D models, full of bright colors. Is it clear that the emphasis is to the anime scenes, which are really impressive. But the production art of the game managed well to put the two things together during the game.

By contrast, although the game's soundtrack is composed by beautiful classical music, dubbing and synchronization of the game fail in a few moments during the dialogues between the characters in in-game scenes, especially early in the game. Is not something that actually makes you uncomfortable, but is remarkably in the beginning.

If you enjoy a good puzzle game and is addicted to anime and Japanese culture, Catherine has been done for you. Or if you just want to play to better understand what might be the consequences of a betrayal, feel free. Maybe that way you think twice before...

My Personal Score: 3,5/5

[button type="icon" icon="paper"]Written by Matheus Pitillo.[/button]

Published by Matheus Pitillo in Reviews

Tags: adventure, análise, Catherine, gameplay, love is over, Matheus Pitillo, pictures, PlayStation 3, PS3, Puzzle Game, review, video, Xbox 360

December 25, 2011 — Comments are off for this post.

Review: Uncharted 3

Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception

Release Date: November 1, 2011
Developer: Naughty Dog
Publisher: SCEA
Genre: Action
Plataform: PlayStation 3

When we play Uncharted 1 for the very first time, we feel the sensation that we never saw a game with such a amazing graphics and scenarios full of so realistic nature. Then comes Uncharted 2, which can offer to you graphics even better and with a so distinct narrative that we never saw in a game before, as they can present to you the story in the same time that you are playing and controlling your game character. And finally, when we are thinking in how Naughty Dog could give to us a new Uncharted with a lot of surprising things like the old ones, we will never expected that would be this all. However we could find that the game would be great, we would not expect how much he really was amazing. And that's why I'm always saying that Naughty Dog is one of the most incredible game companies that I know until now, and of course, like me, must have another thousands of people dreaming to work there someday.

Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception have the same initial plot focused on something that is always in the games of the series. Nathan Drake is in search of lost treasure in a mysterious land in the middle of ~~nothing~~ desert and for that, he have the presence of his inseparable friend Victor Sullivan. But even coming with the same cliche as always, this time we notice that the main objective of his search in the story is not exactly just the treasure, but actually the answers for some unsolved questions that Nate are carrying for so long. The story is much more! Is about Nathan's life, his feelings, what he believes and how proud he can be, at the point of risk his and his friends lifes.

In some way we have two opposite opinions here. This screenplay is one of the most vague of all, or one of the most strong? I’m saying that because differently from the other previous two games, you never feel that you are really searching for the treasure. Of course you are going to find tips of how to find the correct place that the treasure are, you are dealing with enemies that want the same as you, and you are risking your life for that. But during all the story, I don’t feel that the main characters really want to find the precious treasure, like in the old games. And that’s why I’m here questioning myself if it is something good or not. Since in all the others games of the series we are always seeing the same plot. It looks like that Amy Hennig - game director and script writer of Naughty Dog - finally made a story that absorbs players into something more intimate and exciting.

The Little Thief
Soon after the first scene of the game - which by the way is set in a Pub in London - in the end of the first chapter, we are led to the first steps of Nathan as a little thief and treasure hunter. We can control the Nathan of 20 years ago through the colourful streets of Colombia, and better understand how his childhood was influenced for everything and how he met Sullivan and started his friendship in a uncommon way.

It's interesting to learn how was Nathan's life, and all the difficulties that he passed. And it's amazing to see how the story take all the old characters of the old games and put then together in a natural way.

One new character is presented too, and she is the villain of Drake's Deception. Her name is Marlowe and she's in Nate's childhood too. Marlowe was the first woman villain in Uncharted series, and she can be both a manipulative woman, also a person who cares about Nate in some strange ways. She want to find the same treasure that Nate are searching for 20 years ago.

Visual richness in all aspects
Every time Naughty Dog focuses on a different main ambiance. The first two games we were surprised with a great realistic nature, water and ice scenarios, respectively. This time, graphically, we can see that they made a big upgrade with more realistic scenarios, and presenting for the first time one huge desert full of sand effects. With all references that the team searched for, they were capable to create realistic real time sand physics, presenting exactly how the sand reacts when someone walks on it. It's amazing and indescribable when Nate walks around the desert, trying to stand firm and survive while walking with no direction.

The Level Design team had a lot of research based in all scenarios to make them the most realistic possible. Every detail has been thoroughly studied, able to create a very realistic atmosphere for every place. They visited cities such as Cartagena, in Colombia, Pubs in London and even castles in Syria, to create the most realistic possible the new scenarios of the game. And the result that they had have been really impressive. The wealth of detail is such that reminds me some times the game Assassin's Creed, but with brighter and more vibrant colours.

But as if that's not enough, Drake's Deception can impress us even more with all the light effects and render, that we had never seen in PS3 game so far. It's impossible to don't agree that we feel like we are seeing a playable hollywood action movie in real time.

Barbie, the new generation
If have something that Nathan doesn't cease to do in Drake's Deception is to change his clothes. I was taking note every time that he appears using new clothes or just swapping between the old ones or adding a new accessory. Naughty Dog was not stopped when it came to creating new looks for our hero.

Throughout the game, Nate ranged between visual as a elegant black smoke, his jeans and green T-shirt for use in forests, long sleeve white shirt, then adding a Blue Palestinian scarf for levels in the desert and, finally, returning to the traditional green T-shirt.

A new cherry in the old cake recipe
Overall the game follows a very similar gameplay to the already known in the series. All progress through the game is presented by a gameplay that tricks you with a false freedom that doesn't exist. As different as your fighting may be, the end result will always be the same, looking like you're following a rhythm of quick-time events. But what benefits these pace of play, is that the narrative can convince you that you have control of your choices and in the end what matters most are the scenes that you saw through its results.

This time the game also focuses on melee combat. It is clear that the moments of great tension and firing are included in the game as always. But now you also have the option of attacking your enemies with many different types of scams, and even steal their weapons and grenades during your defence against the enemy attack, and your own counterattack.

Another thing that makes the gameplay more fun and variable is how the level design is very important for the gameplay. This time you have more option to take advantage of scenarios to use them in your favour, dodging the blows of the enemy, climbing platforms and even taking advantage of object scenarios to attack your rivals, for example, using chairs and bottles.

Of course we see some glitches during the gameplay. One of the most notable and frequent is during the horse fighting level. Sometimes we can see that is impossible to Nate jump in the back of the horse from where he is, and then, even so, he just appear on it like everything was totally normal. By the way, this level is amazing!

In general the gameplay changes between action and puzzles, with great well-built cutscenes, making you feel like you never spend so long on just one activity during the game. They knew how to mix all chapters in a way that you don't want to stop to play the game until you solve everything. Even though the game follows a linear sequence, and without many difficulties.

Without wasting more time, I might add that the soundtrack is also something that deserves our congratulations. All the action scenes were perfectly represented by the music, as well as the most sensitive and quiet scenes of the game. What about voice acting, Drake's Deception also remains with the impeccable quality of the previous games, but maybe a little disappointed in the language voiceovers in Portuguese-BR, because of some inconsistencies with our true language.

Naughty Dog Lovers
The Uncharted series has always been a good option for the worshipers of games, the curious, and especially for Game Designers. The extras with several making-of in the game are still available. Not to mention the variety of options for dubbing and subtitles in several languages, including our Portuguese of Brazil.

It's clear that the game - as all of them! - has some failures. But I believe that the qualities that the same gives to the players and all the affection and love that we can see in the production of it, makes any slight failures be acceptable to the point of putting Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception in the list of one of the best games ever developed.

My Personal Score: 5/5

[button type="icon" icon="paper"]Written by Matheus Pitillo.[/button]

Published by Matheus Pitillo in Game Articles, Reviews

Tags: Amy Hennig, análise, game, Matheus Pitillo, nathan drake clothes, naughty dog, PS3, review, uncharted, uncharted 3

December 3, 2011 — Comments are off for this post.

Review: Zelda Skyward Sword

The legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword

Release Date: November 20, 2011
Developer: Nintendo
Publisher: Nintendo
Genre: Action / Adventure
Plataform: Nintendo Wii

To criticize about a game so strong and expected as the Zelda series, requires a lot of responsibility on the part of the writer. Of course, anyone can pick up a paper - or in this case a blog! - And write whatever they want, without using foundation or even trying to prove and to invent new reasons to justify his criticism. This does not mean that an analysis is worth more than the other, but what should be taken into account is the responsibility brought along with his words. And it is thinking about this aspect that I start my review on the newest game in the series The Legend of Zelda. This time the long-awaited Skyward Sword. I believe that many may not agree with my opinion here, perhaps taking it personally and not accepting that one can negatively criticize this game in some aspects, but I hope you understand that analyzed not only the side of art, as well as technical aspects.

A friendship in the sky
A letter of Zelda comes to Link early in the game. Unlike expected, is not a distress call from the young princess, but a warning reminding you of the event between both of them. In this new adventure, Link, Zelda and the other characters do not live in the famous land of Hyrule. His new place is called Skyloft, an island that floats above the clouds in the sky. And as a floating city, the whole aspect of art, gadgets and buildings are based upon this concept. The main transport of people are already trained giant birds known as Loftwings. And, of course, the bird of Link is different from the others, causing him to suffer prejudice on the part of the town troublemakers, and compliments on the part of Zelda, her best friend from childhood and, until then, it is not a princess.

It is interesting to note that the timeline between this, with previous games in the series, follows a disordered flow. By the way history is presented, makes you believe that Skyward Sword takes place before the events of Ocarina of Time. No one can say that all games follow a sequence and complete in itself, but somehow if we were put in a timeline, that would be what makes the most sense so far, taking into account that the inhabitants of Skyloft not know the "world below the clouds", and that fear was like hell down there and was just a legend. But of course that is not enough to Zelda. She believes that there is a whole new world down there, and that even the other calling that place of legend, she was always curious to discover and prove their veracity.

Dialogues here, childish taunts there and some disputes in the sky - which is also one of the coolest thing in the game! - While Zelda and Link are talking and flying over their giant birds, a strong whirlwind comes and sucks the girl down there. So Link must leave for his childhood friend and uncover the secrets of the world below the clouds, finally discovering the evil land of Hyrule. To do this, Link meets Fi, a spirit of feminine appearance, created by the Goddess worshiped in Skyloft, which inhabits the sword of Link. She will guide Link on his journey, providing information necessary for its advancement, helping at certain times of the plot.

It is noteworthy that unlike The Wind Waker, which we sailed in a boat, fly in your Loftwing in Skyward Sword can be an amazing experience. To begin the flight speed does not compare to the time it took the boat to cross the oceans. Flying is something magnificent, practical and fun. All control of Link's Loftwing is made with the movements of the Wii Remote. And the feeling of weightlessness for the variation of speed is something that really responds very well. Not to mention how fun it is to run out of the floating island and jump in the clouds, calling your bird with a whistle and flying freely in the sky.

When the Legend evolved
Create a new game for an old franchise requires a lot of the developers, especially when it is considered a legend. What is better? Risk and develop points that have always been well-regarded in the series, but trying to innovate with what is already offered for the new generation, or keep the same rate as the previous games and be sure it will be a good game, but without any great new? Luckily Skyward Sword tries to mix a little of both and can evolve, but without slipping and risking too much. The present developments in the game are rather details that bring a more positive aspect, but it's nothing that really stands out as a great new differential, which finally could have been.

I would rate this new Zelda as an Action / Adventure game with new RPG touches. I say RPG because now this is an evolving system of items and equipment that are based on the collection of other specific materials during the game, such as jewelry, captured insects etc. You have the freedom to evolve what equipment you want and even to have a stronger shield you should evolve it or use one that best suits in the environment you are visiting then, remembering that now shields can break depending on usage unbalanced. Again, I sort as an RPG game because even the narrative of the game in the end of everything just follow the same line, the way everything is presented and the fact that Link remains a "dumb" character, makes this game even more closely matches in the genre. This inclusive, are details that should have been better observed by the creative team. First, why to offer the player a choice of answers that Link could give during the game, if all the answers will lead to exactly the same result, only changing the tone of the conversation? Or, before all the fantastic art direction and soundtrack of the game, why not this time progress and not risk a little more and dub the voices of the characters eventually? Even if that dubbing follow a dialect unique and special, as the character Fi in the game features. Well, these are questions that will be left unanswered for now...

Still treating of the technical side I must confess an initial shock that I had when I play the game in Nintendo Wii. Unconsciously, it comes to the current generation of Video Games, we are frightened when we see graphics that do not correspond with those of recent games. My first impression to start playing Skyward Sword was that something was wrong with my television. The graphics did not look beautiful, the textures are presented in low resolution and jaggies, wow, how many jaggies! But I can guarantee that after 20 minutes your whole outlook changes and the game begins to convince you perfectly, because you see a great affection in every little detail of the scenarios, colors, art direction, great level design and creativity with everything. The game features a color palette to envy others. Combining this with superb soundtrack managed by Koji Kondo, we can't criticize the game and not drooling for each new second. In my opinion, is definitely the best soundtrack of the game series The Legend of Zelda.

As we are talking about technical developments, another major difference is the new gameplay that the game presents. Attacking using Link's sword is now much more fun. Finally, with the help of the Motion Plus, the game has more accurate controls - as far as possible! - Ensuring that the movement of the sword will follow the same direction and angle that you do holding your Wii Remote with your hands. The feeling of lifting your Wii Remote over your head and see Link doing the same movement while charging the energy of the sword is amazing. Cuts are allowed horizontal, vertical and diagonal from left to right or vice versa, while the Nunchuck is responsible for the control of the shield on the other hand. And the coolest part of all this is that "with great power, comes great responsibility" and, therefore, the enemies have different strategies to combat them, which vary for the position that they defends or attacks. In fact, in the case of a difficulty curve, I found that the Skyward Sword has the greater initial difficulty in Zelda games series. I emphasize the word "initial" because although the game begins with a difficulty curve strengthened, everything ceases to exist going forward. Despite going Dungeons becoming increasingly complex, lengthy and at times even boring, the bosses in the end of each Dungeon possess a decreasing level of difficulty, which is unsatisfactory.

The Goddess Oracle
During the search for Zelda in the World below the Clouds, Link comes across another character that is also behind the girl, in which he refers to as the Oracle of the Goddess. The character, known as Lord Ghirahim, is the villain of the game and aims to resurrect their master, and for that, somehow need Zelda.

Lord Ghirahim can be one of the MOST BIZARRE villains of all time. Possessing feminine traits, haircut "trendy" and clothes that seem to ~~have gone out of the closet of Lady Gaga~~ leave it even stranger. The objectives of the villain are not fully disclosed at the beginning of the game. All we know is that Zelda is one of the chosen and possess a very vital role for both the Goddess and to generate enough energy to revive the great master of Ghirahim. So besides having to go in search for Zelda and understand everything that is happening, Link must also be present in time to protect the girl from the surprise attacks of Lord Ghirahim.

One of the sacred objects in Skyward Sword and that inclusive is Zelda that handling early in the game, is the Harp of the Goddess. It would be the equivalent of Ocarina in Ocarina of Time. During the game you also learn to play different songs on the harp, and the entire command is controlled by the Motion Plus, simulating the motion of strumming.

The Hero's Journey
Throughout all his journey and his goal of save her best friend Zelda in the World below the Clouds, Link begins to realize that there are more secrets than he could imagine. He realize that Zelda also has a mission and it will not give it up until she finish her goal, regardless of the new danger that she is running. New alliances are emerging, proving that Link is not alone in this. But to achieve your next step, the energy of the Triforce is put into practice again, forcing our hero to find within you the Strength, Courage and Wisdom enough to be able to complete this additional challenge.

While I analyze in a positive point the way that Triforce is presented in Skyward Sword, showing that Link must earn that power to move on, there is another point that disappointed me a little and added a lot of negative way for the progress of history, which is the repetition.

Okay, this new Zelda is probably the largest Zelda Game ever launched before. The total time of the game is huge if you complete all the goals and extra check for all items, and even then only if the linear narrative of the game duration is also very rewarding. However, there are several completely unnecessary moments or ways that developers justified to extend the plot. If you are one of the players that, for example, didn't like the forced repetition of the game Folklore (PS3) in return for their game scenarios, you end up feeling uncomfortable about it around here too.

After completing the initial and main Dungeons in the game to finally get to earn and acquire the power of the Triforce, Link must travel again for each of the Dungeons and achieve what is asked in the game. Of course, the scenarios change in some respects, but nothing like it so much that the players need to "recycle" level designs that at first impression, was seen in a good way. The obligation to follow the same steps again, give to Skyward Sword a downside to the game.

Still, even with some technical problems, repetitions or even that feeling that could have been a game more evolved compared to previous series, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword can stand well with an impeccable art direction, a level design to let anyone open mouth, and keeps on top, or rather, above the clouds, proving once again that the LEGEND remains as a Legend.

My Personal Score: 3,5/5

[button type="icon" icon="paper"]Written by Matheus Pitillo.[/button]

Published by Matheus Pitillo in Reviews

Tags: análise, game, Matheus Pitillo, Nintendo Wii, review, Skyward Sword, the legend of zelda, Zelda

November 7, 2011 — Comments are off for this post.

Review: Folklore

Folklore
Also published in Fórum UOL Jogos

Release Date: October 09, 2007
Developer: SCEJ
Publisher: SCEJ
Genre: RPG
Plataform: PlayStation 3

Folklore story is set in modern times, in the remote village of Doolin. A seaside village which lies on the West Coast of Ireland. Over time, Doolin became a village isolated from the rest of the World. Their routes to the village began to be ruined and even the fishermen who go close to there avoid the village. But there isn´t the difficulty of access to the local that causes everyone to be far away. Rumors indicate and, according to the Folklore of the village, like it or not, there you can end at any time communicating with death.

Welcome to Doolin
In Folklore you spend much of your time unraveling the mysteries that have happened and still happen in Doolin, and then gain access to any of the portals to the Netherworld. Usually you explore the village by day, going out for clues and "Mementos" of people who have died, and then at night when you have collected all the necessary data, you can offer these found objects, so they can open up access to the Kingdoms of the other World.

In short, the game starts to change his focus a bit while you're in the village of Doolin. It would be a mix of Adventure with RPG. What I think made the game even more interesting, because many of the discoveries you will have about what happened 17 years ago in Doolin, are made through conversations with some of the residents who still live in the village, and through objects you find, notes, pictures etc. Despite residents avoid talking much about everything that happened, there are moments in the game that they end up being "forced" to reveal some things, and so parts of this whole "puzzle" in that village are beginning to be understood. The script becomes increasingly complex and intriguing.

In the beginning of the game, two strangers are mysterious called by someone, who told them to meet her in the Village of Doolin, where they say that the living can meet the dead. One of them is Ellen. A young girl student, who goes to Doolin believing that her mother, allegedly killed 17 years ago, could be there waiting for her. The other is Keats, a reporter of one occult magazine who gets a call on his agency, with a distress call about a possible murder involving fairies. So he decided to go to Doolin to investigate this crime and write a new story for your supernatural magazine.

They soon realize that the answers to what they seek are lost within each Kingdom of the Underworld, where spirits and creatures are waiting for them. Beings who act in their own ways.

Starting a New Chapter
Once the game starts you have the option of selecting between one of two characters. Each one has different perspectives on everything, which will directly influence in the game story. In addition to different goals, each following its principles and objectives.

The game is divided into chapters. In each chapter finished, you have the option to play with the another character, so go for switching between them and joining the story by two viewpoints: Ellen and Keats. However, you can also play with only one of them until a certain part of the game that keeps you from moving forward if you don´t complete all other outstanding chapters with the another character.

The game script unfolds slowly and becomes more interesting when you go seeing all sides of the events. For example, while Ellen may be going after something in the village of Doolin, Keats may be in the same time elsewhere in the village, and end up seeing something that you would never know if just playing with Ellen. Se what would be vague to you in the history, could be better explained when you were playing later the same chapter with Keats - or vice versa - that fit like a glove in the "hole" that is left in the game's storyline.

While it is interesting that you observe all different angles, on the other hand this double play by history can become a bit tiring at times, because the characters end up needing to go through the same Kingdoms, after discovering the memories of some people who have gone forever. But as each one has a different idea about death, what they end up seeing these Kingdoms also become a little different. But that I'll explain a little bit later here on this review.

Messengers of the Dead
In the game you embody the role of Messenger of the Netherworld. The Messengers are those people who has the lead role of take certain messages that the spirits of another World want to come to certain people in the Real World.

Ellen ends early in the game becoming the new Messenger of the Dead, and thus having the "permission" to travel between the Kingdoms of the other World. But while there is a new Messenger, also arises a new Guardian. And it turns out that Keats gains this role of Guardian, may also have access to another World.

For that they can open a portal to another dimension where the Kingdoms are, they need to get objects - known as Mementos - or memories of people who have gone, and then immediately offer in something like a ritual. So they listen to the voices of spirits that tell them somewhere to go. Arriving at this point, the portal to that Realm where the spirit is stunned, be open to the Messenger of the Dead and his Guardian.

Main Characters

Ellen is a 22 years old student who lost her parents when she was a child. Growing up she went through various institutions, orphanages etc. She has no memories of her childhood and can only vaguely remember a few things that her mother told her as a child. Since then she has always carried an emptiness and fear in your heart, and because of that she never trust the people enough. But one day Ellen received a letter that was signed with the name of her mother. Rising a little hope in her heart, Ellen decided to go to Doolin with the intent to understand all this.

Keats, a boy of 27 years of age, is a reporter for the third most popular magazine of supernatural phenomena. The Magazine Unknown Realms. Unlike others he doesn´t believe in supernatural, so in their stories he always tries to reveal the scientific side of the claims considered paranormal. At the end of one of his business day of work, Keats receives a phone call at his agency, in which a desperate woman asks for help, saying that fairies are trying to kill her in Doolin. Wanting a new material for his magazine and curious about what is happening, he decided to go to the Village of Doolin where there are reports that people can meet the dead.

Secondary Characters

Dr. Lester: Doctor of the Village of Doolin. He's isolated from all others when he feels guilty for the death of some people 17 years ago. Some think he may have committed child abuse, while others defend him by saying he is a man with a Gold Heart.

Suzette: Daughter of Regine and Renaldo, is the only one of the family that is still alive. Suzette is the first person who finds Keats and Ellen in the Village. She doesn´t seem to rely too much on others. She also avoids talking about her past, that somehow is mysterious even to her.

Harriet: She worked as an actress when she was young, until she suffered an accident that required to use a wheelchair now. When she was unable to walk, she began studies of hidden things. She researched on beliefs and although not fully believe in them, she still thinks that all these aren´t just stories.

O'Connel: He's in the village recently looking for a girl which disappear a week ago. As she was studying things about Folklore, he believes she may have gone to the Village of Doolin.

Belgae: An invisible Man, Halflive - which can travel between Real World and Netherworld - It is he who teaches Keats to get access to the Netherworld for the first time, acting like Keats's mentor for his journey. He have much knowledge about institutions and their way of speaking is very intellectual.

Fairy Lord: The King of the Faery Realm, who is trying to convince Ellen to stand on his side, making her a messenger in order to make way among all the other Kingdoms until the Netherworld Core, and thus "correct" what he thinks is wrong in the Netherworld.

Livane: Livane is hated by the King of the Fairies, for he says that she started a rebellion in the Netherworld, when she went to Netherworld Core and disabled a vital function of the Realm. Thus, provoking a war between her and the Faery Realm.

Scarecrow: A scarecrow Halflive - half alive, half dead - it is him who tells Ellen for the first time about the Netherworld, a place where you can meet the dead. He has a funny way of talking, and have a strange feeling that there are some things about the Worlds which prevents him from fully trust at all.

The World of the Dead
The Village of Doolin hides portals that provide access to various Realms of the World of the Dead, also known as The Netherworld. Realms created by the perception of humans of how life would be like after death.

They are spirits who live in these Kingdoms, creatures, fairies and monsters who are called "Folks". Folks have all these forms of attack and to defend itself, that shouldn´t be underestimated. Each Folk has powerful souls who are known as their ID's, and that can be captured and collected by travelers from the Netherworld, they being the Messengers and Guardians. So, right then can use the ID's captured by their own need.

The combat portion of the game is set in the Netherworld, while the operation was left to the Village of Doolin.

In Netherworld there are 7 distinct realms, with different characteristics and different Folks inhabiting them. In total you can find over 100 different Folks, needing to make the perfect combat strategy to defend itself, defeat and capture them.

For years and years of our lives, the man has accumulated a number of concepts about how life would be like after death. At the time that these concepts are so strong and constant, they end up materializing in the form of a new Realm in the Netherworld. Sometimes being a place as beautiful as Faery Realm, or so aggresive in a state of war, as Warcadia.

Folks
The Folks are inhabitants of the Netherworld. They are spirits of the dead who take a new shape in this new world of life after death. The way they died in the Real World interferes directly in these creatures they became. If a person commits suicide or was brutally murdered, she ends up materializing in a disturbing way in Netheworld, in which case, would be the Folks.

Interpreting the Death
Each person interprets life after death in a different way. Ellen and Keats didn´t difer from others in this respect. During the game you realize that the knowledge that each has upon as would be the Netherworld, directly affect the way they see the World and what they will find there.

What Keats find in every Realm where he passes, not to say that Ellen will find exactly the same. The Folks that are present there are different for each character, based on how they interpret the world. That is, in the same Realm, Ellen capture the ID's of some Folks, that Keats can't capture in the same Realm, and vice versa. Thus further increasing the vast "library" of Folks who have in the game, and also be very tiring preventing the passage of the character by the same temple that you just go with the previous character. Because you just need to use different strategies, which provides that new Folk to destroy others who are ahead, and finally, the Folklore that makes the "disorder" in that Realm.

As Ellen uses more tactics and strategies with the ID's captured, Keats often use more brute force attack, thus varying forms of combat.

The 7 Realms of Netherworld
There are seven different Realms in Netherworld, which are just like humans think that is life after death. Below I'll show you what they are and talk a little about some of the creatures who is living there.

Faery Realm
Built in a fantastic scenery and mystical, Faery Realm is the direct manifestation of the traditional view of men on the Paradise after death. Thus expressing the fear that people have of death, making the Realm a comfort. Cait Sidhe is one of the folks inhabitants of Faery Realm. He appears in the human world in the form of a Black Cat. He can speak the language of humans, but does so only on rare occasions. In Netherworld, the way he defends himself is using a kind of loose powder it, to confound his enemies.

Warcadia
The Realm of Warcadia is exactly our current world, experienced by the Dead. It is the idea of the afterlife and then in front, with the same aspects of the ignorant human being. A universe where the war is still prevalent. The two fields of Warcadia are trapped in an eternal fight, but not even folks remember why. Brummbear is one of the folks living in Warcadia. He is a officer man who loves commanding the moment of attack. He is usually watching the battle from afar, but even so it is no longer one of the strongest, if you need to get into the fight as well.

Undersea City
The city under the sea was once inhabited by various Gods created by the human race itself. Today, many of them began to lose his life, caused by the fact of lack of human belief in them. In Undersea City there is a swamp where some of the dead enter it, their memories will be forgotten forever, both for those who are still alive, as if to himself. Malabaricus is an inhabitant folk of the Undersea City. When he feels threatened, he released several smaller fish that are stored inside your mouth, and uses them as an attack to defend themselves.

Endless Corridor
The Endless Corridor is the kind of place where people who have lost faith about life after death, will stop. It is a world of puzzles. A labyrinth without input or output. He represents the modern day people who don't understand death. Endless Corridor is also said by the fairies, which is the Kingdom of Livan. Habetrot is an inhabitant folk of Endless Corridor. The key to this whole puzzle is upon him. He controls the rhythm in time he wants. To defend himself, he unleashes a wave that hypnotizes enemies.

Hellrealm
Death being where your sins are judged in the Hellrealm there is a court and a judge. Fachan is an inhabitant folk of the Hellrealm. He hates humans and don't want to let them remain there. Fachan acts with more force, but is not very smart.

Doolin
As I am avoiding any kind of spoiller, I'd rather not mention details about this part. Agapanthus is a very curious folk who seeks wisdom. When intruders appear, he tries to meet them, but then destroy them, following a process that he does.

Netherworld Core
The Realm of Netherworld Core was born at exactly the time that humans first understand death. The King of the Fairies aims to reach this Kingdom to fix something he says Livane chipped. A vital function. Coropuna is an inhabitant folk of the Realm Netherworld Core. He has incredible strength in his legs, but it generates a lot of effort into his head, that's why he has that rock on his head, which serves to dissipate the effort.

Rules of Combat
In Folklore your main goal in battle is not to kill your enemies. Indeed, what more should be done is to capture their souls. However, in some cases, to evolve the "level" of his folks caught, you need to kill some of them, without capturing their ID's.

Each type of Folk is identified with a different ID, which would be their souls. Capturing their ID's, you gain the ability to use them in the coming battles in the best way possible.

Overall, combat is divided into several steps, which they are: the battle, the absorption of ID, the selection of the access button that Folk will be available in your control, and the invocation of the Folk in the battle.

Fighting techniques
During battles, you will have the option to fight or just flee the enemy folks. If you decide to fight - which would be more consistent, since this just benefits - you will attack using the Folks you've already captured. Early in the game, in the first Realm has a cutscene that shows the characters getting their first two ID's of Folks. One that serves to attack, and one for defense.

Attack: You invoke your folks caught in order to combat the other. There are several types of attacks. From what you have to be close to the enemy, even those you can attack from afar and even hit several enemies at once. The Folks have different elements. You using the right combination, the effect upon the enemy Folk generated can be much larger. As well, you might happen to use some folk who don't have any effect upon your enemy. You acknowledge that everything is going well if your enemy when you attack him, his soul flashing in blue, with every blow received. In the pages of the book that you get in every Realm of the game, you can see tips on how to combat the enemy folks. And especially, and most importantly, the main Folklore what's in each of the Realms of the game.
Defense: When an enemy attacks you, you can use the skills of some of the defense Folks you have already captured, such as folk first defense of the game, which when invoked, appears in front of you and defend you from attacks of other enemies folks. But you can also do something else to try to defend themselves. Pressing the R2 button control, you make a kind of "dash" in the case it would be a quick leap that gives character to the sides. So you can try to divert the attacks of enemies, becoming a very useful technique, especially when you're surrounded by several of them.
Fleeing from enemies: You don't need to fight all Folks you meet along the way. If you want you also have the option to flee the area, to escape enemies. But keep in mind that if you avoid the fighting, you don't end up absorbing the soul of any of these folks enemies, preventing the evolution of ID's already captured. Because, on the run from various folks, you may end up failing to capture some of that may be essential in some moments of the game. Not only just in combat but also to open paths by Realms. Since there are "Memory Stones" which sometimes contains important point or block the path of the game. These "Memory Stones" are only destroyed in accordance with the color of the element that your captured folk has.

ID Absorption
If you hit enemies with the folks valid attacks, their soul will begin to jump out of their bodies in blue color. Insisting in the attacks, will have a moment that their soul will be red and that is when we take the ID of them by pressing the R1 button on the SIXAXIS.

During the game, you notice some variations of how to absorb the ID of the enemies. And these variations occur according to movements made directly by the SIXAXIS. As it happens the moment of absorption of the soul, you can press the R3 button control and view tips on how to do that such absorption.

While the absorption takes place, appears a menu bar at the bottom of the screen, showing how you've managed to complete the capture of Folk. If you finish all grafts that bar, the soul is captured successfully. There are 6 ways to absorb, that they are: Shot Timing, Beat, Balance, and Mix Stop & Go.

Shot: Absorbs enemy's ID just pulling up the control in the moment his soul is already red.
Timing: Absorb the ID of the enemy, pulling the control up, every time, at the right moment in which the soul turns red, to fill the bar absorption.
Beat: Absorbs the ID of the enemy, swinging control to the left and right, beating the folk on the ground, until he was weak.
Balance: Absorbs the ID of the enemy, directing his soul to the center of the screen. While the ID goes to the right, move it to the left slightly, to make it positioned in the center, and do the same if it went the other way.
Stop & Go: Absorbs enemy's ID, shaking the controller rapidly up and down. When the ID becomes cloudy, do not move your control, only returning to shake it when she comes back color.
Mix: Absorbs the ID of the enemy, with a combination of all previous actions, and ultimately, with the shot.

Folklores
In each Realm of Netherworld there is a different Folklore. The stronger spirit of the Realm. Winning each of them, you bring back some order to that Realm and you can discover memories of people who have gone before. Even capturing the soul of a Folklore, you can't use your ID later. He does not appear in your list of Folk.

In general, Folklore still managed to bring soon to the library of PlayStation, a RPG with traces of adventure and exploration, in a way that no player had expected. This is one of those classics that you love or hate. And, of course, for me it is on the shelf of the games I love.

* For this review, besides my own interpretation of the game, I used to research coming from sites like Gamespot, IGN, Folklore U.S. and the game manual.

My Personal Score: 4/5

[button type="icon" icon="paper"]Written by Matheus Pitillo.[/button]

Published by Matheus Pitillo in Reviews

Tags: folklore, game, Matheus Pitillo, PS3, review

October 13, 2011 — Comments are off for this post.

Review: Heavy Rain

Heavy Rain – The Origami Killer
Also published in Planeta Gamer

Release Date: February 23, 2010
Developer: Quantic Dreams
Publisher: SCEA
Genre: Adventure / QTE
Plataform: PlayStation 3

Perhaps the strongest feeling that humans have until today is LOVE. But regardless of its definition, we find ourselves questioning what actually emerges, is created and born of something as powerful as this. What is the love? Or even more, what would you do for love? Heavy Rain question exactly that: "How far you will go to save someone you love?". And the answer is: "Everything I did, I did for Love".

Heavy Rain, the second exclusive game to PlayStation 3 in 2010, developed by Quantic Dream Studio, treats exactly of a new concept in games, which happens through the player choices. If there is a way to summarize everything is saying that every choice you make in-game will result in consequences that you should check in the rest of the game story, in which are made guided by the load of emotion that you suck from each character.

In Heavy Rain you see yourself in control of four different stories. Four characters, different lives and feelings that somehow end up together in a central plot: The Origami Killer. Imagine knowing the life of each of the four characters in the game. Knowing their ideals, their ways of operating, their ways of interpreting things and, above all, the love that these have for their life and the life of another loved one. Now take this daily routine and remove what may be the most important thing in your life within it. Drag, and sink with him to an unknown place. What is left? In some cases, for some people, nothing else. A "nothing" enough to face everything and recover back what you love most.

We control four characters in the game, each one with its strengths and weaknesses. David Cage managed to shine a great deal of emotion for each character, which ultimately makes them unique. The old concept of perfect hero and anti-hero, which is present in many games, ends up falling to the ground in Heavy Rain. And this ability to make video game characters as human as us - the players themselves - makes the story seem even more real and sensible.

Ethan Mars, perhaps the star of this whole story, is a father, architect, married and has two children. His life could be seen as a trouble-free life, until an incident happens and Ethan witness the death of one of their children. Things begin to change dramatically, the feeling of guilt prevails over the man, which makes life seems increasingly meaningless. And when it seems to can't get worse, the second son of him is kidnapped by Origami Killer and that is where the game story really starts to take off.

Madison Paige is a photojournalist who recently also attracted to the cases of the Origami Killer to get more information for your story. But beyond that, is romantically involved by the father of kidnapped last victim, Ethan Mars. Madison suffers from insomnia, which causes it to her spend your nights in motels to try to get in control.

Norman Jayden is an FBI agent who ends up being scheduled to investigate the case of the Origami Killer. Early on we can see that his "problem" is the main dependence on a drug - known as Triptocaine - which will eventually be a physical and psychological conflict throughout the game story.

Scott Shelby is a private detective who investigates crimes commited by Origami Killer. Like all the other characters, Shelby also has a physical problem, which in his case is asthma. Even dressing as a tough detective, we also can observe a sense of his attention and affection with their customers - the parents of the murdered victims - in what passes for much of the game a high degree of safety for the character.

Overall, Heavy Rain tells the story of a series of murders that are happening in the same region of a particular city. All crimes are against children, and have the same characteristics, proving to be a killer set that follows a logical and calculated, following the pattern in every act of killing the child by drowning and leaving an origami in the victim's hand and orchids in their chests.

The four characters stories come together at the time that the son of Ethan Mars disappears, indicating that was one more work of the Origami Killer. Ethan initially seeks help from police, which involves the FBI agent Norman Jayden in this investigation as well. While Scott Shelby, private detective, search for other clues to the ancient families of the victims. Finally, Madison Paige, a journalist, just trying to find data for your article and also emotionally involved with the cause of Ethan.

Following a cinematographic line, the game is told with intense dialogues, actions and consequences. Thus, in the vast majority, Heavy Rain ends up being know almost like an interactive movie. Or in other words, a huge cutscene that players interacts through QTE - Quick Time Events - while deciding the fate of each character.

From begining, the game follows a slowly flow, or even boring. But all this is clearly justified in the game, since the time that the idea is to relate the characters to the insides of the players, creating a bond of much greater attention and sensitivity. For so, in the next scenes, we notice we can further feel more pain or happiness of each one of them. And when the player realizes, he is following a very strong and constant string of adrenaline and scenes that really bind you from start to finish. What, on the other hand, may end up offending some, since the game - like in the vast majority of PS3 exclusives games of these days - it has an average of about 9 to 12 hours of gameplay, which are divided into a total of 60 different chapters - which will vary in quantity, according to the choices that players made during the game, greatly increasing the replay factor.

If dealing with the gameplay of Heavy Rain, it varies from movement of the character, which is done pressing the R2 button; Read the thoughts of the character through the L2 button; Interact with objects in the scene and, finally and more frequent, the innovation is in the QTE system which vary since summations from buttons pressed, and even in accelerated repetition of buttons and individual sequences of the same.

As for the graphics, we are confronted with a very detailed universe. From art direction to the lighting of each scene of the game is extremely well done, creating the impression of a totally noir story and suspense from beginning to end. The facial character expressions surprises again, leaving the game Heavenly Sword to shame - until then, in my opinion, had one of the best graphics in this requirement - joining in with the scenarios, objects, very detailed clothes etc. However we must point out that while the game has spectacular graphics, he can sin sadly in a few props in scene. At the point of being noticeable the error from Quantic Dreams to not look away in small secondary objects. But nothing that upsets the final visual of the game, since there are few cases where this occurs.

Although I personally look at Heavy Rain as a spectacular work as a whole, the major highlights for me are two aspects in particular: the Game Script and the Sound. It's amazing how the game manages to hold you from start to finish. You can't leave the control until you understand why everything happened this way in the story. Why so much pain, evil and especially if your choices were the best possible in that situation. The script has a dose of mystery and suspense that unfolds bit by bit, giving you the "real answer for everything" only at the end. And when that happens you really realize that Heavy Rain has one great story.

Each key point is explained so well that you can convince even the greatest nonsense you wouldn't expect. But the story can be so convincing, so naturally, because it was married perfectly with the soundtrack and sound that Heavy Rain has. Each dubbing was done impeccably. I lose the accounts of the amount of time that I've thrilled when I heard the beautiful laughter of the childrens. Or even when the own Ethan moaned and punished himself by his own pain, bringing a mix of lamentation and cries of pain. And in the background, as if that wasn't enough, we come across a soundtrack very intense and melancholic. Each scene was very well selected for each sound. And each dialogue was very well played by each actor.

In short, Heavy Rain transports you to a universe in which your choices that will determine the continued flow of events. Your criterion for evaluating of the situations that will say what is right and wrong, or what, in your viewpoint, should be correct. And according to your emotions luggage, you will know the strength of each character and each situation.

Heavy Rain is not an ordinary game. It's far beyond that. It's like the real life of some people inside of a television screen. And who will tell the fate of each of these people is you, the player. Always keeping in mind that you become responsible for every little choice you make, whether for good or evil. But after all... how far would you go to save someone you love?

My Personal Score: 4/5

[button type="icon" icon="paper"]Written by Matheus Pitillo.[/button]

Published by Matheus Pitillo in Reviews

Tags: game, heavy rain, Matheus Pitillo, PS3, review