Mini Game Reviews 1: Beautiful Space
In China, I watched a lot of TV series and started writing short reviews to keep me busy. Now that I’m back in the US, my entertainment focus has shifted from TV back to good, old video games. I used to write in-depth reviews for gaming sites, but I don’t have the time to be in-depth anymore. I’m going to go mini for a while.
Beautiful Katamari (Xbox 360)
Six years ago, I thought the original Katamari Damacy was the most creative game ever. Today, it’s apparent the series has not progressed at all. As I played Beautiful Katamari (and grew increasingly angry with the stubborn controls), I kept asking myself, “Didn’t I already do this level in the first game?” It all pans out the same, anyway. You roll a little ball around, collecting bits of garbage or food or animals, until it grows bigger and bigger and starts engulfing ocean liners and entire cities. The idea is, admittedly, pretty amusing. If you haven’t seen a katamari ball roll up a herd of cows before, you really ought to get on that. But the biggest misgiving about the game is that watching it is actually more enjoyable than playing it. The controls, even after six years, suck. Rolling the ball requires the use of both analog sticks and maneuvers like a broken tank. If this series wants to keep going, the developers have got to reinvent the way you move, because I honestly can’t take another minute of it.
Dead Space: Extraction (Wii)
I’ve realized now that the Wii is only good for two things: Smash Bros. and on-rails shooters. Hey, on-rails shooters are awesome! But the enjoyment comes from playing with another player and seeing who can shoot those rascally space creatures faster. Dead Space has a nice, diverse selection of weapons and a satisfying limb dislocation system that lets you pin off a monster’s arms and legs one by one. The monsters make some really disturbing sounds when they die, though. I’d rather play Ghost Squad for that reason alone. Well… I also prefer Ghost Squad’s quick, skippable story. Dead Space lays on the dialogue and atmosphere a bit too thick, and there are times where several minutes have passed and nothing’s showed up to shoot. An on-rails shooter is not the medium to make me care about the characters! Granted, there is a challenge mode that’s all about shooting monsters, it just lacks any kind of purpose or reward. It wasn’t meant to be the game’s selling point.
Gears of War (Xbox 360)
I was always hesitant to try (and like) Gears of War. Maybe I was just tired of Cliff Bleszinski being the poster boy for game designers. But since the Gears clamor has finally died down, I’ve discovered that the game really is a fun experience. Its “duck and cover” gameplay is a nice change of pace from the usual “run in guns blazing” nature of shooters. The game’s even better in co-op, because you can coordinate strategies like having your friend be a decoy while you snipe from a safe distance. The enemy is doing the same thing, too, so there’s a lot of figuring out how to safely advance from one hiding spot to the next. Gears has an entire chapter, though, where you’re trudging through tight corridors, having to fight off monsters with a shotgun, because it’s too cramped to back up and aim at anything. And I kept thinking, “This is not what this game is good at.” What it is good at, however, are the open, epic battles against waves of monsters with plenty of walls to run and crouch behind. I’m definitely a fan of those.
Pinball Hall of Fame: Williams Collection (Xbox 360)
I don’t say this often enough. I love video pinball. But good pinball is hard to find, and I’ve often had to fall back on the Windows pack-in Space Cadet to get my fix. Pinball Hall of Fame, on the other hand, kicks ass… in more ways than one. This game is really tough. The problem with pinball (and Pinball Hall of Fame) is how the tables are designed so the ball always falls down the side holes. Every single time! But bumping the table is a legitimate strategy and actually feels like it does something in this game. It’s very rewarding when you can successfully nudge the ball away from the hole. It’s also very rewarding when you finally beat all the basic goals on one of the tables. Just don’t get me started on the wizard goals. Did I mention this game is hard? But that’s the beauty of pinball. For as frustrating as it is, it’s rarely the fault of crappy game design or physics. Yeah, some of the tables are just a little too unforgiving, but you’ve got 13 total to choose from. That’s a lot of tables for $10.
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Responses to “Mini Game Reviews 1: Beautiful Space”
Comments RSS Feed – All CommentsHopfrog — 26 February 2010 @ 2:24 am
I remember a while back you posted a link to your video game reviews and I read a few of them, they were very well done. I’m a fellow addict from way back (Zork…. anyone?).
I recently played Dragon Age, that is a really fantastic game but does take some time to get into and unfortunately isn’t true open world, which is normally a deal breaker for me in a RPG, but the story really drew me in. Also just picked up Mass Effect to see what all the hoopla is about, but haven’t had time yet.
As a huge fan of both westerns and games, the one I am really looking forward to is Red Dead Redemption.
But my real passion is simracing. I’d encourage any racing fans to check out iracing.com and pick up a playseat and a logitech wheel, its been so much fun, but its a pure sim, not really a game.
Clark — 26 February 2010 @ 9:15 pm
Hell yeah, I remember Zork! But in every game, I always got stuck early on and quit. Instead, I grew up playing King’s Quest and all the LucasArts adventure games.
I have Mass Effect, too, and, like you, I haven’t touched it yet. So many other games have been fighting for my attention. Co-op games always get pushed to the top of the pile.
I love reviewing games, though. It’s a great way to practice writing and to justify playing games in the first place! In fact, as I stress over this website project, I keep thinking how I would rather be a game journalist than a web developer.
Hopfrog — 27 February 2010 @ 12:17 am
I was a gaming journalist for a startup sports gaming website for all of about 2 weeks before the project got scrapped. Was fun though. Wrote one review and one commentary. I had a hard time knocking the game I reviewed even though I should have, just because I kept thinking about how much time someone had put into it.
Yeah, I keep thinking I would love a job at like gamespot or something, but I am sure the pay is terrible and I need those exotic vacations and toys! I used to be a big Madden fan back in the day, and even made it into Madden 99 as a player on a secret team they made for people who did well in one of the first ever Madden Tourneys. I even did an interview with EA to become part of their internal testing team and got the job offer. Unfortunately when they told me they paid $8 an hour to start, my fantasies of playing games for pay were immediately crushed.
The LucasArts games, man those were some great games. Full Throttle to this day stands as the game that made me laugh out loud the most. Mark Hammil’s singing as that whacked out character still makes me crack up when I think about it.
Clark — 27 February 2010 @ 4:15 pm
When I first started getting review copies of games, I had a really hard time writing negative reviews. I mean, they gave this game to me for free! But there was one game that was so awful, I gave it a 1/10, and I haven’t felt bad about a score since. Hey, bad games are bad games!
That’s pretty cool about EA, though. I had always wanted to be a game tester. I even offered to work for free at one company, but they still didn’t want me. That’s how bad my luck is. Did you ever do any other tournaments?
Hopfrog — 27 February 2010 @ 11:19 pm
No that was the last one I did. That tourney was for one of the worst versions ever, Madden ‘98 and I think I finished either 7th or 12th I can’t remember. Prior to that was Madden ‘97 (one of the best versions), and that was really the start of the whole Madden craze. The online community wasn’t huge like it is today and I, sorry to brag, was probably the best in the country at Madden ‘97. Madden ‘99 was a completely new engine and the game just exploded after that and I found myself starting over and unable to remain competitive at a top level with so many new guys pouring in tons of time because it was fresh to them.
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