It's a crowded but unremarkable week for new game releases, so in lieu of a look at the list here are a few of the most interesting things to come out of the annual Tokyo Game Show.
The console makers really want your money this Christmas.
The recent round of price drops have seen the market-leading Nintendo Wii fall to $200, the PS3 fall to $299, and the Xbox 360's top-of-the-line Elite system drop to $250.
In the meantime, it looks as though Sony has turned its attention to playing catchup with the Wii motion controls and the Xbox's extremely well-received Natal tech (see video below).
From The Associated Press today:
NEW YORK — Sony is planning a spring release of its new motion controller for the PlayStation 3 video game console.
The controller, a prototype of which Sony unveiled in June, will work with the existing PlayStation Eye camera, which can track players' voices, faces and body motion. The controller, in turn, has on its end a light-emitting sphere that can be recognized by the PlayStation Eye camera.
Sony did not say how much the controller will cost.
Motion controllers let people play video games without complex buttons and levers. They were popularized by Nintendo Co.'s Wii when the console launched in 2006.
Now Sony Corp. is pushing past that technology, as is Microsoft Corp. with its own motion control device, "Project Natal." Natal, which combines a camera, depth sensor, microphone and processor, eliminates the need for any button-mashing device. Microsoft has not yet set a release date for Natal.
Sony's announcement came in the heels of Nintendo's decision to cut the price of the Wii by $50, to $200 beginning Sunday.
The price cut comes just ahead of big game releases for Nintendo — "Wii Fit-Plus" on Oct. 4 and the multiplayer "New Super Mario Bros." for the Wii on Nov. 15.
The most impressive thing about the new pulp action game Wet is the presentation - from the promo videos to the incredibly imaginative in-game elements. There's a scratchy film filter over everything, images are bright and washed out, and the "film" occassionally melts or comes completely off the reel at the end of a scene. Levels are broken up by drive-in movie theater commercials.
The story revolves around a hired gun named Rubi who specializes in "wetwork" (hands literally "wet with blood"). Think Laura Croft from "Tomb Raider" meets The Bride from "Kill Bill." Eliza Dushku ("Buffy the Vampire Slayer," "Dollhouse"), who plays Rubi, feels like the perfect fit here, and it's obvious that she inspired the concept of the character in both personality and look.
For the most part, the action itself is as tongue-in-cheek pulpy and over the top as you'd expect. You flip and dive around levels in slow motion, raining down a hail of gunfire on nearly neverending waves of hapless, vaguely European foes as driving surf rock bangs away in the background. Dying or failing levels is rarely much of a concern - it's quite easy to advance to the next area and keep progressing through the story. But the focus here is on carving through levels stylishly. You're graded on (and rewarded for) your performance, getting bigger boosts if you pull off a fluid John Woo ballet of death. Doing so takes practice and patience.
Some outrageous set pieces and staged moments break up the splatterfest. You'll find yourself in cinematic old-west style duels with your nemesis, jumping from moving car to moving car during a gunfight in heavy traffic, and shooting at enemies while dodging flaming debris as you fall from an exploding plane. Many of these segments are presented as movies that require you to hit a certain button when prompted, a la Dragon's Lair. It's usually a nice change of pace after the shooting segments and really helps immerse you in the story.
Because the game feels so scripted, there's a lot of emphasis on replaying segments once you know what you're supposed to be doing and where you're supposed to go. The levels are big and open, but the game is linear - requiring you to follow a set path through those levels. That path rarely feels obvious or intuitive the first time you play a level. "Rubi Vision," which highlights all of the ledges, lightpoles, and so on that she can use to bound through the area, helps somewhat. Still, it can be frustrating to have to stop all the slow-motion gunfighting fun while you stand there and try to figure out where the game wants you to go next. Choose the wrong path and you instantly fall to your death and have to replay the level. Note to the developers: Pls keep your platforming game out of my pulp action game. Thx.
Provided you can handle a little frustration, Wet is mindless, bloody fun and has some of the most clever presentation I've ever seen in a game. I could easily see it becoming a franchise and eventually a movie. Here's hoping.
There's a lot to love about this hack and slash role playing game, especially for comic book geeks and action game fans... and there are a few annoying issues. But here's the short version: If you liked the first game, you'll probably love this one. The sequel is essentially the same experience but with a more cohesive story, some streamlining of the interface, and much higher quality graphics and presentation throughout.
The darker, more somber storyline focuses on a civil war between Marvel heroes and forces you to choose sides between the pro-government faction led by Iron Man and a rebel faction led by Captain America. Your choice will change how the story plays out and will limit the heroes you'll be able to use - two excellent reasons to play through the game twice.
The good news is that, whichever path you choose, you'll have access to a terrific roster of stars like the Fantastic Four, Spider-Man, and the X-Men. You'll also get the chance to play as lesser-known heroes like Songbird or Iron Fist, and even villains like The Green Goblin. Each has a unique set of moves and powers (and one-liners) which reflect their personalities extremely well. Whether you like to play, as a hands-on - or claws-on - brawler or as a room-clearing support character, you're likely to enjoy exploring the different heroes and movesets. It helps that almost anyone can play the game. Simply hammering away on the buttons will get you through most of it, and make you look really cool.
Gameplay is from the same distant, top-down view as the original, but the graphics are a massive improvement here and hold up extremely well during closeups. Some of the outdoor environments are downright gorgeous, as are the new "fusion" attacks, which allow you to combine the power of two superheroes for moves like a level-clearing fire-fueled tornado courtesy of The Human Torch and Storm - and yes, that's just as awesome as it sounds. The levels themselves are more destructible than the original, meaning that environments naturally get ripped apart and even used as weapons during fights, which is very satisfying and make your characters feel that much more powerful.
Sadly, all of this colorful chaos makes it very difficult to keep track of where you are onscreen, especially when more than one person is playing. On top of that, the camera can sometimes lock in an awkward position for no apparent reason and make it impossible to see anything.
The story is more involving than the original game but much shorter as well. You could probably finish it in a weekend. There's more replay value, though, both in the two-path story mode and in the legions of unlockables and side diversions like trivia games and simulator challenge missions.
Still, if you've got a friend or three - online or off - and are up for some super-powered action, Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 will keep you blasting away bad guys until your thumbs are sore.
The blitz of holiday-season game releases has officially started. One look at the crowded list of new releases proves it.
This is the time of year that I really get the most out of the Netflix-style Gamefly rental service - instead of buying games, I end up playing several new titles a week for about $20 a month. At the moment I've got Wet and Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2, with Halo: ODST shipping out next week. I'll post impressions of each, but for now here's a roundup of some recent reviews of high-profile releases:
Wet
A 1970s pulp-style action game with an emphasis on acrobatic, over-the-top moves and presentation
