[OLD] Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal

After the success of Going Commando, Ratchet & Clank continued the following year in 2004 with a third game, Up Your Arsenal (you've probably noticed the double entendres in these titles). This game offers a few enhancements to the series' gameplay style, as well as the addition of a new Multiplayer function, which would continue to be featured in later games of the franchise.

It's been a while since the events of Going Commando, as the titular Ratchet and Clank are seen playing a game to pass the time, that is until Clank tunes into his new television show, Secret Agent Clank. Disinterested, Ratchet changes the channel to a news broadcast, where it is reported that his home planet Veldin is under attack by an alien race known as the Thyrranoids. It is also reported that the culprit behind the attack is a robot that goes by the name of Dr. Nefarious. A native of Veldin himself, the Lombax (Ratchet) decides to take action, getting himself into something much more than meets the eye.

Along with returning characters from the first installments, the game introduces a handful of new and interesting characters, helped by the great voice cast, among them the aforementioned Dr. Nefarious. I found this new villain to be much more interesting to watch than the previous two, especially with his high-pitched voice, a quirk where he freezes and picks up radio broadcasts of a soap opera whenever he gets excited, and the conversations he has with his assistant Lawrence. The quirkiness of this character has given me a few laughs and he is so far my favorite Ratchet & Clank villain.

The gun play of the previous title returns here, but now comes with a nice improvement. Your Quick Select can now hold double the guns and gadgets, totaling 16 instead of 8, and you can switch between two rings of your arsenal by holding R1. This helps in that it becomes less time consuming to figure out what items go into either of these wheels, though you may still end up changing around your inventory a few times. As with the last game, if an old Save of the last adventure is detected when you visit a Gadgetron Vendor, you can recover some of your old weapons for free, so you can save your bolts for something else and increase the range of items to pick from in either wheel. The upgrade system also returns, except now you can boost your weapons by up to five levels rather than two, this time including the ones you previously owned. Another change is the Health display, in that it's represented by numbers rather than in segments, which makes calculating damage you take from an attack a little easier.

On the topic of variety, a series of mini-games is introduced in the form of Qwark Vid-comics, which tell the story of how Captain Qwark previously went up against Dr. Nefarious. These comics not only have amazing art and break up the gun play a little, but they also provide a few laughs as well as add more depth to the overall story. These mini-games are actually quite fun to play, and the music provided for each of them is very catchy and quirky in itself, providing an atmosphere unique from the rest of the game.

While I enjoyed my time with this older game, there was one thing I didn't like in particular, namely the ways Bolts can be spent. The previous game had special flying segments where you can use Raritanium (introduced in the first Ratchet & Clank) to change the design and capabilities of your ship. Here, you can instead use your regular Bolts, but they are instead used for cosmetic purposes, which led me to wonder why the option was even included in the first place. Then there's Titanium Bolts; while I admittedly could not figure out how they were supposed to be used previously, when they were called Platinum Bolts, I did manage to find how they could be spent here: Skins, which serve no gameplay purpose other than to make yourself look different. Like with customizing the ship, I couldn't help but wonder what exactly the point of this is, unless you really, really want to play through the game as a snowman. This also isn't very much of a complaint, but traveling around planets is more linear here than in the last two games, since in those there was more incentive to not only go around each planet but also revisit older ones for special rewards. However this is minor and doesn't impact the experience at all.

A notable aspect of this game is that it is the first in the series to incorporate Multiplayer, including an Online option. However, since this is a PS2 game from 2004, I will not be covering the Online portion of this option, but rather the Local aspect of it. There are three different gameplay modes, two of which appear on every map: Seige, Capture the Flag, and Deathmatch. Today these are standard for many games with Online Multiplayer, but they still provide a challenge in Local, though I would recommend playing with more than two people, since it can get a little boring if you don't have enough friends to play with nearby.

Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal is a must-have for Ratchet & Clank fans, and a game one should definitely have in their PS2 library. It's a fun and quirky title that keeps you invested until the very end. If you have any friends with you and want to play something old-school, give the Local Multiplayer in this title a shot; you may end up having a good time.

[OLD] Ratchet & Clank Collection

At the same time God of War Saga was released, two other HD Collections were released as part of Sony's new Collection series, one of which is today's subject, Ratchet & Clank Collection. This collection gathers the first three games in the series, Ratchet & Clank, Ratchet & Clank: Going Commando, and Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal, and slaps on an HD coat of paint with some minor tweaks. While this game came out before Full Frontal Assault did, I played that one first because at the time I had gotten both this and that game, Full Frontal Assault was shorter and more recent. That said, this one took a bit longer than I thought it would because of school (and with Finals coming up, I'm glad I finally finally finished it), but despite that taking priority I actually had a good time with this Collection in my off time, though it has some minor issues.

In terms of visual quality, the graphics of the games look better than they did in the original versions, which is complimented nicely with a much better draw distance (especially in the original Ratchet & Clank) than there was before. However, there at least one or two things that don't quite make it through the HD upgrade, such as a section in Going Commando involving a small pool of water where your perspective with the camera changes whether or not the submerged rocks even exist. A couple of minor, albeit somewhat noticeable changes are also made in both the audio and visual departments, such as changing Save and Load icons to a brain in a jar (instead of a Memory Card) and another section in Going Commando where a particular bit of audio was actually muted (I'm not sure why they did this). However, as the ability to gain a bonus from your Saves is kept throughout each game, making this collection especially worth it, the icon for reading the old Save is still that of a Memory Card.

Now while the transition from Standard to High Def is great, there is one particular tidbit that deserves mentioning, namely the HD version of Going Commando (yes, this game again). While Ratchet & Clank and Up Your Arsenal are still SD-friendly, I noticed, having played on an SD TV, that the HD version of Going Commando is actually slightly bigger than the other two games, which means the very top of the HUD is cut off a little bit. While I did get used to this as I played, this can be a little annoying since there's no way to readjust the screen. Just a little heads up for those who don't have an HD TV but wish to play these classics for the first time. There's also sort of a minor problem with the audio in Up Your Arsenal, where close to the end of a cutscene the visual will stutter a little, causing the audio to become slightly out of synch (this is put on full display during one specific scene, which you will know when you see it). The checkpoint system of the games can become annoying due to today's standards, though on the bright side it can help you prepare your moves better in advance.

One of the many obstacles Ratchet must overcome in the first game.

One thing that can't go unmentioned is that this collection has a multiplayer function, specifically the multiplayer of Up Your Arsenal, while Going Commando's multiplayer capability is removed entirely (that game has a lot of problems in the HD version, doesn't it?). For those of you that have played the multiplayer mode after the servers went down, you'll be glad to hear that the servers are back online. I can't say how well they function because I'm not the Online type of guy, but my experience in the Local version proves that it's still a better experience with more than two people.

Although I can't exactly make a comment on it, there's something I find rather interesting about this collection. According to the fan-edited Ratchet & Clank Wiki, one release of this set (presumably not the US release that I have) includes an extra bit of plot that manages to make Ratchet & Clank Collection canon to the Ratchet & Clank timeline. If this is true, that is actually kind of awesome since no one (as far as I know) seems to have done that before and I give Insomniac props for creating an extra bit of incentive to own the collection (though for me it was the chance to play a Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time demo, which is no longer an option for someone picking this release up for the first time due to it being a download voucher).

Despite a few quibbles here and there, Ratchet & Clank Collection is a collection worth having in your library. This is especially a must-have for people who have never played Ratchet & Clank before or if you want to relive these classics and no longer have the original game. However, I would keep the screen size problem with Going Commando in mind if you don't own an HD set, but it doesn't particularly get in the way of the experience too much.

So if you're new to Ratchet & Clank, start your journey with this collection.

It'll have you screaming for more.

[OLD] Ratchet: Deadlocked - Challenge Mode: The Video Game

Continuing with our build-up to Sly 4 later this year, Insomniac's Ratchet & Clank series moves forward into 2005 with Ratchet: Deadlocked, released one year after Up Your Arsenal. This game not only continues to provide a multiplayer mode like last time, but also takes gameplay in a different direction than the previous games. Although this title was still received fairly well, like others I have a few problems with it.

The plot of this game is, not to put too fine a point on it, thin compared to the stories preceding Ratchet & Clank games have to offer. After the defeat of Dr. Nefarious, Ratchet, Clank, and Al are kidnapped from the Starship Phoenix after it has been reported that several galactic heroes have disappeared. It is then revealed that the three of them are being held captive by Gleeman Vox, head of DreadZone, an event in which contestants must survive a series of challenges, shown on the channel Vox (a thinly veiled jab at Fox). While Clank and Al try to figure a way out of their predicament, Ratchet must survive all of DreadZone's challenges before going up against the champion, Ace Hardlight.

Some games have a mode where you complete a series of challenges in order to improve your skills and get rewards for completing them. This game's main campaign is exactly that, complete with an in-game Leaderboard. While there is an option to play the campaign with someone else (or by yourself, in which case you play with a pair of upgrade-able robots), this doesn't change the feeling of repetitiveness as you go forward, especially since some of the challenges across the different planets are essentially the same.

No Ratchet & Clank game is complete without a variety of weapons at your disposal, however there aren't as many here as there were before. The two-ring arsenal system is kept, though it can be awkward to use this time, and the experience system is intact, allowing you to get your weapons up to Level 10. This game also introduces a system of Mods, which you can purchase to upgrade your weapons to do all sorts of things, from freezing enemies to spouting pools of lava and even turn foes into various animals. However, the excitement is stripped away once you realize you can survive the challenges using only one weapon (for me at least, it was the Magma/Vulcan Cannon with an Acid Mod).

While the character's voices are still done rather well, the dialogue leaves something to be desired when the DreadZone announcer Dallas keeps repeating the same lines over and over to the point where you can predict what he's going to say next as he's saying it (he also seems to have a thing for co-announcer Juanita apparantly). Due to the thin plot, there isn't too much room for developing the new characters, but whatever is squeezed in manages to get the game by, with some rather funny moments thrown in to keep you going. The sound isn't all bad, since the music of this game is not annoying and is still worth a listen.

As I've said in my review of Up Your Arsenal, there is a small problem I have with spending Bolts, the currency of the series. While Bolts can still be used to buy helpful weapons and upgrades, though there is a lack of a bonus from saving your last game, I still found it odd that they can still be used to merely change the aesthetic of something, this time the design and color scheme of your robot allies in the main campaign. I personally found this to be rather unnecessary, but I'm sure there's some people out there who would get a kick out of doing this.

As stated before, the Multiplayer returns here, but like the game before it, it's more fun with more than two people. I haven't tried the Online function, given that there aren't any servers anymore, but if you have this game and at least two friends, I would say to give this mode a go.

Ratchet: Deadlocked isn't a terrible game, but so far it isn't the best one I've played. Despite the flaws I've expressed here, I'm not exactly sure how to feel about it. The gameplay is solid despite its repetition, even though all it seems to have going for it in terms of story are the nods it makes to its predecessor. If you are a fan of Ratchet & Clank, or you are someone who enjoys the challenge modes found in other games, I would still say to play this game, even though it's not for everyone.

[OLD] Second Opinion - DmC Devil May Cry - SSSensational!!!

This game has been re-reviewed. Read it here: https://trophyunlocked.blogspot.com/2016/08/dmc-devil-may-cry-definitive-edition.html

I would like to start by saying that, before going into this game, I knew what the older Devil May Cry canon was like, including all four games (counting a Special Edition) and the Devil May Cry anime. However, I have never actually played any of those games, my only direct interaction with the series being watching the anime (and subsequently gaining a craving for a strawberry sundae) and observing my brother playing said games. As such, this is my first time playing a Devil May Cry game, and so I will be looking at this game from the perspective of someone who has seen, but never played, Devil May Cry before. After spending time with this alternate take on the series, DmC Devil May Cry, I'm glad that I played it.

The story of DmC Devil May Cry follows a man named Dante as he is taken into Limbo, the demon world, by a hunter demon. After a human girl named Kat, who is able to interact with Limbo, helps him get back to the human world, it is discovered that she works for an organization known as The Order, who has recently been big news on television. Kat takes Dante to their headquarters, where he not only discovers that the leader is his long-lost brother Vergil, but also that he and Vergil are both Nephilim, half-angel and half-demon, and are the heirs of the legendary demon Sparda. Vergil also explains that The Order is a small resistance group that seeks to take down the Demon King Mundus, who rules over the human world, and bring about freedom. Knowing what's at stake, Dante agrees to help them.

A more in-depth look at the story can be found here, but I felt that the tale of this new Dante was pulled off very nicely. As the game went on I realized that I actually cared about what happened to the characters, with some nice nuances in Dante's character development as he grows more attached to Kat and the human race as a whole. The game has some very shocking and emotional scenes that add more depth to the characters and overall plot, which made me want to see everything through to the end. As I have said with The Darkness, I found the execution of Ninja Theory's plot to be similar to that of a (really good) live-action movie, thanks to it being (somewhat) more realistic.

Since I have not experienced Devil May Cry gameplay until now, I decided to play on the Human (Easy) difficulty setting; even then, I ended up having a tough time against some of my enemies at first, although it did get easier as I completed more Missions, of which there are 20. I enjoyed the variety of the weaponry, ranging from various guns (including the classic Ebony and Ivory), Angel weapons (which focus on range and bringing yourself toward the enemy), Demon weapons (which focus on close-range and bringing the enemy to you), and the sword Rebellion, totaling eight. The game even encourages you to change up how you kill your enemies on the fly, which is easy to do by way of the d-pad and shoulder buttons, as it grades you based on your variety, ranging from D to A and going to S, SS, and even SSS. Some platforming sections also make really good use of a an Angel whip and a Demon whip, the former pulling you forward and the latter pulling a platform towards you (they can even be chained together).

As you defeat enemies, you can gain White Orbs, which fill up a small meter; once that meter is full, you get an Upgrade Point, which can be used to upgrade your skills in combat as well as your arsenal for more damage and combos. Fortunately, each upgrade only costs one Upgrade Point, which gives you more breathing room to adjust to your own play style. Later on, defeating enemies also increases a Devil Trigger gauge which, when activated, gives Dante more power and leaves his enemies helpless (save for bosses). While I enjoyed using this ability, I didn't like that it took a lot of effort to fill up, only for it to be drained in a matter of seconds upon use. It would've been nice if there was more of a balance between filling up and draining the Devil Trigger, although I suppose lengthy fill-up and short use is better than effortless fill-up and absurdly lengthy use.

The enemy variety is amazing, though the weapon variety nearly grinds to a halt as soon as color-coded enemies show up. To elaborate, enemies coated in a strong red require Demon weapons to take damage, and Angel weapons for enemies colored strong blue. This bogs down some encounters a little, especially when one of each of these colors is present at the same time, but otherwise the enemies provide more of a natural challenge. Most of the boss battles are also admittedly a little weak, in that they don't take much advantage of Dante's arsenal and instead relegate themselves to being more akin to platforming games (though as someone who enjoys playing platformers, I feel mixed on this issue). However, they are no less memorable, especially when you have to fight an MCP-esque demon Bill O'Reilly stand-in inside of a news broadcast (this is probably one of the most absurd-sounding descriptions I have ever written). There were also some points where I wished there was some sort of lock-on feature, if only just to make getting to certain things easier, but I still got used to this easily since I had no prior Devil May Cry experience. While there may be issues, I overall had some real fun with the combat once I got used to it.

As some final thoughts, the game also features plenty of replay value, with secrets and collectibles in every non-boss stage, which I like to see in a game like this. This ensures that, once you gain the right weapon, you will want to return to earlier stages just to see what you may have missed. I also really enjoyed the voice acting, which made the characters more emotional as they have the right tone in the right situation. This also helps with Dante's one-liners, among other pieces of dialogue, which I often found to be extremely hilarious. I additionally praise the soundtrack, performed by electronic groups Noisia and Combichrist, which is very catchy and can stay in your head for quite a while after hearing it. I recently discovered that Noisia has released their contributions to this game through their website, and is now on my list of video game soundtracks to purchase in the future.

DmC Devil May Cry is a great jumping-on point for those new to Devil May Cry. It has solid combat, a great story, and plenty of memorable moments and music. This game can provide a challenge for newcomers to this type of gameplay, even on a lower difficulty setting, but once you acquire a bigger arsenal, the combat really gets fun. Veterans of Devil May Cry might want to start on the higher Nephilim setting first, but despite any changes made since the previous continuity, this game provides something that more open-minded Devil May Cry fans will enjoy. I found myself loving this new game and I can't wait to play a sequel if it gets made.

[OLD] Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time

And now it has come to this: the ending of the Future Trilogy in the Ratchet & Clank series, A Crack in Time, released in 2009 following Quest for Booty. Unlike the last game though, this is a full game you can get at retail and not as a download, and it should be noted that this is the first Ratchet & Clank game to have PS3 Trophy support. While it isn't the last of Ratchet & Clank, this game is definitely one of the best I've seen from the series, especially in regards to the story, and I enjoyed every moment of it.

Starting off immediately after the end of Quest for Booty, there is another scene that elaborates on the origins of Clank, calling all the way back to the the very first game in the series. At that moment, the one who had abducted Clank at the end of Tools of Destruction is revealed to be none other than Dr. Nefarious, Ratchet's enemy from Up Your Arsenal, along with his butler Lawrence. After Nefarious fails an attempt to hack into Clank's brain, and losing his trust with the Zoni, Clank escapes, but is caught by Nefarious again, where he learns about the structure they are in called the Great Clock, built in the exact center of the universe (give or take fifty feet). Later, Clank meets another robot named Sigmund, Junior Caretaker to the Clock, and learns of his destiny to manage time. Meanwhile in space, Ratchet and Qwark are busy looking for Clank, when the Lombax learns of an "exile" that may help him in his quest. When he meets the exile, it turns out to be a Lombax like him, named General Alister Azimuth, who seeks to use the Great Clock to undo the fate of the Lombax race. With Ratchet's help, Azimuth not only promises the return of Clank, but also the chance for Ratchet to see his family.

The story is overall very suspenseful and awe-inspiring, having a bit of a cinematic quality to it that helps carry the events forward. There are still quite a few laughs thrown in to prevent it from becoming too serious, but in any case there are some memorable moments from the cutscenes, including bits where the characters make a small jab at story conventions, including highly ironic revenge schemes and wavy flashback effects. There are also plenty of references made to previous games in the franchise, so they might be confusing to anyone who hasn't been keeping up with the franchise from the first installment onward. Regardless, it all felt very much like a movie. A really, really good movie at that.

Familiar control schemes and gunplay elements return in this game from later installments, making it easier to pick up and play, especially for those already initiated. Among these returning elements is the new wrench mechanic introduced in the last game, and it was still interesting in the way it was integrated. However, there are a couple of new upgrade systems; there is one for special "Constructo" weapons where you can pick up mods throughout the game to customize them to your purposes; there is also a new system for your ship, in which you can collect Zoni to give it new upgrades and abilities. There is also a new gameplay element for Clank, where in during his levels you can reverse time when you hit an object, thereby repairing it, slow down time by throwing a special grenade, or recording multiple versions of yourself in order to solve puzzles. I found some of these puzzles to be quite a challenge, and at least once I started one over again once I found a much simpler solution. However, this is the good kind of challenge where you can learn from your mistakes as opposed to the soul-crushing variety.

The music of this game is simply spectacular, with each cutscene having a film-like score that helps the cinematic feel mentioned earlier. The music of the levels is also very good to listen to, and as usual is not annoying in any way while helping build up the tone of the game. The voice acting is also just as good as ever, including the voices provided to the robot characters, and like the background music is not annoying. The acting present on the central characters is deep and can be rather emotional at times, allowing you to feel whatever they are feeling as well. On that note, the performance of Dr. Nefarious in this game served to remind me exactly why he is by far my favorite Ratchet & Clank villain to date. The graphics of this game are some of the best I've have ever seen, in fact the best so far in this series alone, with special praise going to the cutscenes that help display the characters expressions during the story (again, even the robot characters are included).

I didn't actually notice any major problems with this title, aside from there being a couple times when Ratchet would inexplicably fall off of something for no apparent reason. Besides that, I can't really say anything too negative about this game. On a side note, the difficulty setting returns here from Quest for Booty, so depending on your situation you can switch it up or down at any time.

Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time is one of the best this franchise has to offer, and the cinematic qualities it brings are stunning for a game in the modern age. While this is a game I would highly recommend, it's more enjoyable once you are more familiar with the characters presented by playing all the older (console) games. Overall the Future Trilogy is a very enjoyable aspect of the Ratchet & Clank series and is not to be passed up, most especially if you are already a fan. When I return to this series, things go two-dimensional.

[OLD] Feature - Top Ten Video Game Boss Fights

Boss battles are a tradition that spans much of the history of video games, from dnd in 1975 on the PLATO Network all the way to the contemporary bosses of today's gaming such as The Joker from Batman: Arkham Asylum. While they have become pretty much a staple of major AAA productions like the popular Gears of War or Metal Gear franchises, there are only a select few who are so good that people form lists around describing which ones they find to be the best. This is one such list.

The idea came to Tetris_King and I after watching a video made last year by Tyler Uslan for his Gameplay First review show (the series has recently ended, but the video can be found here) in which he made such a list. After watching that video, and subsequently finding other boss lists online, we began to think about what we would put in such a list, partly because there were some we thought that video overlooked. Recently the two of us finally sat down and wrote up a list of who we thought to be worthy candidates for boss selection, specifically trying to follow Uslan's criteria, with a couple addendums:

• The Boss must be memorable
• The Boss must be challenging
• Only one boss per franchise could be chosen (Addendum: Does not apply to Honorable Mentions list)
• A boss could only be chosen if we played the game they came from
• Addendum: The last rule is applicable even if only one of us has played the game

After creating that list, it was a little difficult whittling it down to just ten, much less putting them in a specific order, but throughout the process, we always had an idea of what the #1 slot would go to and couldn't think of a boss that would bring it down even one slot.

Before continuing, keep in mind that most of these bosses are contemporary. I've seen Ganondorf and Bowser appear on several best boss lists, usually in the top ten for longer lists, but our first console was a PS2, which means that we don't have the experience or nostalgia to put such bosses on the list. As such, these entries are all, for the most part, pretty recent and if they are included in a game that has been reviewed on this blog, we will link to that review so you may read our opinions on those games.

So, you're probably wondering, who is in this immovable #1 slot? The answer is after the jump, but first are some honorable mentions and the runners up. Our individual opinions will be color-coded as such: EHeroFlareNeos; Tetris_King.

Spoiler Note: Since some of these bosses are final bosses, there will be unmarked spoilers regarding their identities and importance to their parent games.

Opinion Note: This list is very subjective and represents only the opinions of its writers. If you have a problem with the final selection, then make your own list in the comments.

[OLD] God of War (2005)

This game has been re-reviewed. Read it here: https://trophyunlocked.blogspot.com/2024/03/second-look-god-of-war-2005.html

If you've been playing games long enough or have have done enough research into them, chances are you've heard of David Jaffe. You may have heard that name through his best known creations Twisted Metal and God of War, both of which remain exclusive to PlayStation. While he's been involved with the majority of Twisted Metal games, including this year's reboot, he has only been involved with the first two God of War games, the first one more intimately. While there is the upcoming God of War: Ascension early next year, that is not the only reason why I'm reviewing the first game right now, since the new game is another prequel; rather, it is a combination of boredom (due to any new games that interest me not coming out for a while), my recent acquisition of God of War Saga and the fact that the only God of War reviews on this blog are of handheld and mobile games. Surprisingly, even 7 years from its initial release, this highly-regarded PS2 classic still holds up after all this time.

The story of the game seems simple enough: Kratos is a Spartan who has served under the Gods for ten years. Tired of his servitude and experiencing visions of his past, he seeks to kill Ares, the God of War, with help of the other Gods along the way in order to finally be free of his contract with him. While this appears simple on the surface, there is more depth to it revealed as the game progresses. This is actually made very interesting, since once every layer has been revealed on what set Kratos on his (lengthy) act of revenge against Ares, you begin to feel a bit of sympathy for him.

Though this game is from 2005, the graphics aren't really all that bad. They don't hold up to today's standards of realistic graphics, but for a later PS2 title the visuals still look pretty good and hit all the right marks. There's still a great amount of detail for the limitations of the time and everything can be easily made out thanks to a good balance of light and dark colors. While the in-game graphics are good, by contrast the cutscenes are animated beautifully. Each one uses an amazing blend of still art and amazingly detailed realistic animations and each one transitions and flows very smoothly. The animations have an incredible amount of detail, with hair, fur, and clothing moving very realistically. Even the various forms of cloth in the game, including flags and particularly Kratos' loincloth, have a good deal of this animation, which is still amazing for the time.

The combat system of the game is simple, which may or may not sound familiar to you. Kratos' pimary weapon is the Blades of Chaos, which can be swung at an incredible distance to slaughter anyone who stands in his way. As you kill enemies or destroy breakable objects, you obtain red orbs that can be used to power up your available arsenal to open up a whole slew of new combos with each upgrade. As you progress through the story, the other gods, including Zeus and Hades among others, grant you special weapons and magical abilities they posses in order to help slay Ares as he goes on a rampage against Athens. Opening chests gives you orbs to increase your health, magic, and red orb count, as well as Gorgon Eyes and Phoenix Feathers that can upgrade your health and magic meters respectively. In addition, when prompted, you can perform a Quick Time Event on an enemy in order to deal a finishing blow and gain an extra reward, such as increased health.

On the audio side of things, I don't really have any complaints. The voice acting, I felt, was solid. TC Carson's role as Kratos continues on from here, and while it does evolve somewhat over the course of the franchise, it's interesting to revisit the roots of his performance after so many games. Though the other characters change voice actors over time, some performances that stood out to me were Steve Blum as Ares, Nolan North as Hades (he surprisingly doesn't do a bad job voicing the God of Death), and Paul Eiding as Zeus, ruler of the Gods. Linda Hunt's voice is perfect for the narrations, becoming a staple throughout the rest of the franchise (save for Betrayal, which didn't even have voice work). The music also works perfectly well with the game itself, including the talents of a massive choir to create the game's epic atmosphere.

While God of War is an excellent game all around, I do have only one complaint, a nightmare that can be summed up in a single word: Hades. And I'm not talking about the God here, I'm referring to the location that is the ancient Greek version of Hell. When Kratos gets sent there during the game, you are almost immediately faced with what is guaranteed to be one of the most frustrating experiences of your Mature gaming career. While the environment is appropriately totally disgusting, there is a large section where you must traverse across spinning ledges (covered in blades), after which you must climb up a pair of spinning columns (covered in blades), and by the end you must create your pathway out by fighting off a group of Satyrs (wielding blades). Even when I took the opportunity earlier in the game to go down to Easy, this section was the source of the majority of all of my deaths and I nearly wanted to throw my controller in rage. However, given that it's Hell, the difficulty is probably appropriate.

After so many years, the original God of War is still a great game. It has an interesting concept and executes it extremely well, earning its rightful spot in gaming history. If you still own a PS2, are of age, and have not yet played this game, I suggest you look for a copy and play it as soon as you can. You will not be disappointed. And don't worry: On this blog, Kratos will return.

Little Kitty, Big City (Switch)

Although I’m personally not the biggest Nintendo fan, their Nintendo Directs have made me aware of some interesting third-party games for their platforms. Such was the case with Little Kitty, Big City, which I first heard about through their 2023 Indie World presentation, thanks to its art direction and atmosphere. Though I played a demo of the game on PC through Steam and enjoyed it, I intended to play the full game on console, which I did when it launched for the Switch due to it having a reduced launch price on there compared with the Xbox Series X. I then got to playing the game as soon as I could, finding it overall fun in the short time it lasted.

Darksiders III - The Apocalypse Keeps Going, And It's Not So Awesome

When I wrote my Darksiders II review back in 2012, I said I hoped that that game would get THQ back on their feet. Needless to say, THQ went bankrupt in 2012 and liquidated all of their assets, leading to massive layoffs while several properties were auctioned off. The “THQ” trademark would then transfer to Nordic Games, now pronounced “THQ Nordic”. THQ Nordic was fortunately interested in doing something with THQ’s properties, which included Darksiders III, developed by Gunfire Games and released in late 2018. With a new studio at the helm, the franchise was certainly given new life, but I felt like they somehow kept holding their own ambitious vision back.

[OLD] Saints Row: The Third - Open World Gaming On Steroids

Open World games aren't a genre I usually play. They require you to dedicate a lot of time, the distractions are numerous, and it's possible to never get around to finishing the campaign and subsequently forget what the story was about. While I did end up playing a couple later on, like Assassin's Creed II onward and Batman: Arkham City, I never thought I would ever play a Saints Row game due to my unfamiliarity. However, a demonstration of the game at the last San Diego Comic-Con (2011) managed to capture my interest. The video I saw demonstrated that not only could a game in this genre take place in a brightly colored world, but it could also have the capability to not take itself seriously. The mixture of adult humor, spontaneous urban chaos and destruction of high magnitude, vast customization, and intriguing pre-order bonus took my breath away and instantly encouraged me to not only buy the game (as designed of course), but also become a fan of Saints Row and its shift in tone from most other open world games out there. Playing about half of Saints Row 2 soon after the convention really got me excited for the potential of this game, and after spending over 20 hours already with Saints Row: The Third, I am mostly pleased with how it turned out.

With so much to talk about, I suppose I should start with the story. After the events of Saints Row II, the Third Street Saints have become a worldwide media icon, hocking energy drinks, clothing stores, and even have a movie deal lined up. After a heist falls through however, they find themselves face-to-face with The Syndicate, a corporation that wishes to take advantage of the Saints' fame to control the city of Steelport. Naturally the Saints refuse, crash landing into the city as felons. The rest of the plot is focused on them taking down three rival gangs under The Syndicate and reclaiming control over Steelport.

The execution of this plot is actually pretty well handled. Taking out the gangs one rung at a time reveals more about the relationships between the characters and just what they're willing to do when their turn comes to take down their biggest competition. The story also moves at a good pace to keep the player invested and throws in a few memorable twists and lasting events to ensure that no matter when you pick it up again, you'll know how to feel. Perhaps the most memorable characters in the cast are cyber punk Matt Miller and masked wrestler Killbane, who both want the same result, but only the latter is willing to put literally everything on the line to do it, even his own crew.

Near the very beginning of the story, the look and personality of the player character is left entirely up to you. Unlike other character creation aspects of games however, what you see is merely a small taste of the game's astounding customization abilities. During development, Volition reported the game to have 2 Googols worth of combinations, and from the amount of clothing and colors available to pick from, it seems to be completely true. Being able to wear cardinal robes, a stunt suit with a Professor Genki head, be a toilet, or even run around naked brings an element of surprise and merriment to the city-wide destruction capable of the player.

The tools available to do so is another highlight of this game. While other games like Grand Theft Auto limit you mostly to the conventional weapons of the genre, with special weapons used in specific circumstances, Saints Row: The Third allows access to an RC Drone, Fart in a Jar, a dildo bat, and even an Air Strike virtually at will. Some of these weapons can also be upgraded to insane degrees, from a pistol using incendiary rounds to a a shotgun having three barrels at once. No matter what combination of weapons I carried into battle, even if I only used a pair of fists capable of reducing someone to a cloud of meat, I had a feeling of glee as I decimated anyone in my way. With an arsenal as unique as what this game provides, it's hard not to have any fun or find a favorite.

While combat arsenal is exceptional, the controls themselves are incredibly easy to use and smartly applied to the controller. Weapons are easy to switch on the fly and aiming and shooting feel very fluid and tight. The same can be said about the vehicle control, although the only vehicle that felt awkward at first was the tank thanks to how tank controls normally operate on a single stick. Getting used to how each vehicle of each type works is also key to navigation, since just about every one is unique in handling. On another note, the ability to jump into a vehicle through the windshield or side window always felt good, soon becoming my exclusive form of entry. My other favorite ability was finally being able to hit someone in the crotch at will, and the fact that every weapon has a unique animation for trying it is also very humorous.

Of course, if you're going to be driving around a city like Steelport, you'll need a place to go. If you're running away for instance, you can simply go into a shop or crib you have purchased and your notoriety will simply vanish, also granting an opportunity to change outfits, get a tattoo, or mess around with your guns and vehicles. Owning shops, cribs, and strongholds also gives you an hourly income from the particular building or area, which you can spend on upgrades as you level up by earning Respect. Respect in turn can be earned by doing just about anything, from certain actions in combat to just performing a powerslide in a car. One of the more fun ways to do this is by going to and completing side missions, of which there are plenty. While these require you to do things like defend your homies while in a helicopter or destroy cyber tanks in a Tron-like environment as a form of hacking, the one that really stands out the most is one called Professor Genki's Super Ethical Reality Climax, which operates like The Running Man meets Japanese game show. Contestants on Professor Genki's S.E.R.C. have to make it out of a maze alive while earning enough cash by shooting mascots and bonus markers while also dodging fire and electrical traps, which both can quickly impede progress if you're not careful enough. While I do like how the side missions get progressively difficult as you go, providing a great challenge as well, I couldn't help but notice that some of my favorites from Saints Row 2 like Septic Avenger were strangely absent from this installment, which felt a bit disappointing.

Another aspect to mention is the AI. At times the enemy AI feels genuinely overwhelming, which makes it satisfying once you either outsmart them or just run away to lower notoriety. Thankfully, your partner AI is smart enough to assist in combat, which is needed given your ability to summon one via smartphone in a tight spot. These situations grant a sense of relief, but in a way that doesn't feel like you're sacrificing control of the mission over to them.

Like I mentioned before, the game world is very brightly colored, helping it stand out from other games in the genre very easily and contrasts very well with the impending gunfights all over Steelport. The graphics they are laid on are also a sight to behold, with beautifully rendered buildings and an attractive style used to create the character models. There is also a fairly large draw distance, with next to no pop-up textures in sight. Vehicles are also very sleek and shine well with the game's great lighting in day or night.

Final mentions go to the voice acting and music. To me, the voice acting never got tiring, with a great voice cast chosen to portray every character in the game no matter their importance, even Zimos and his auto-tuned voice. The radio stations also each provide a great driving soundtrack containing well chosen licensed songs spanning genres like metal, electronica, 80's/90's rock tunes, and hip hop, although some points in the game also highlight some specific tracks and made me see them from another angle (who knew deadmau5 could make an epic fight song?).

Since that first look at Comic-Con, I have been in love with Saints Row: The Third, and the final product is a very exceptional experience. With such a great blend of already established elements, as well as some newer more hilarious ones, you can't go wrong, as this product provides endless joy, even if all you do is run around and shoot. I would gladly recommend this title to anyone wishing to see something different in an open world game compared with the more dark and serious titles already out there.

[Note: I apologize for the lateness of this review. My time was spread out more due to a combination of schoolwork and my dad playing this game at every chance he got.]

[OLD] Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters - It Sure Does

Continuing down the line in the Ratchet & Clank series, we go from the PS2 to the PSP with the fifth game, Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters, released in 2007. This is the first game not to be developed by Insomniac, but rather High Impact Games, and is also the game that came packaged with my PSP when I first got it. I never completed it when I first played it, and going back to it again after all this time I remember why.

Our heroes Ratchet and Clank are relaxing on the planet Pokitaru when a little girl named Luna appears, wanting to take pictures of the duo doing "heroic thtuff" for a school project. However, Luna gets kidnapped and is taken to another planet, after which the two go after her. Meanwhile, Clank discovers Captain Qwark spying on him and Ratchet at the beach, trying to jump into their next adventure. When Clank asks why he isn't spending time with his family, Qwark breaks down and is encouraged to find his biological parents (apparently he was raised by monkeys).

Starting with the positives of this game, the voice acting is still rather good like with previous installments, and the music is catchy and fits the tone of each world. There aren't that many weapons and gadgets compared to Up Your Arsenal, but there is still plenty of variety for a handheld game and they all work well. You can also upgrade your weapons by defeating enough enemies, as well as by purchasing mods to enhance their capabilities from a separate vendor. A first for this game is the ability to customize your armor, by way of collecting pieces from various armor sets to gain special abilities as well as increase the damage resistance to Ratchet.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, I discovered a few issues that really began to bug me as I went forward. First off, it's a tad difficult to actually move Ratchet or Clank when playing as either of them. The analog stick is the primary form of control, but sometimes it doesn't feel like responding to the simple command of moving forward. The D-Pad is a secondary form of movement, but even then you can only move in so many different directions, so I ended up having to switch between these two countless times just so the character could move in the direction I wanted them to. On the other hand, the analog stick works perfectly fine when playing a hoverboard race or robot combat mini-game, which don't seem to to fit in to the overall scheme of things and felt almost pointless.

An even bigger problem I ran into was the camera, namely adjusting it to match where I wanted to look. Since the PSP doesn't have a second analog stick, camera controls are moved to the two shoulder buttons on the system (holding both allows you to jump higher/farther), and simply mastering it made it rather infuriating for me. This combined with the difficulty to move the player character frustrated me to the point where I had to hold myself back from exercising physical violence against the UMD. None of this is helped by the fact that regular enemies seem slightly overpowered, but that one's probably just me.

Due to the problems I have just described, I haven't actually beaten the game, but I don't plan to continue anytime soon. Aside from that, what I've managed to play of Size Matters wasn't too bad for a small package. If you can get past the problems with the basic controls, then you will have a better time than I did with this game, guaranteed.

[OLD] Ratchet & Clank: Full Frontal Assault

Last year, as a follow-up to Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One, as well as to celebrate 10 years of Ratchet & Clank, developer Insomniac Games released a pair of Ratchet & Clank titles, one being an HD Collection of the first three titles (which I received for Christmas and will get to eventually), the other being a brand new game called Ratchet & Clank: Full Frontal Assault (also a gift). This game was originally to share the same fate as Quest for Booty, wherein it would get a retail release in Europe and only as a PSN download in North America. However, in a strange twist of fate, the game has also received a physical release in North America, something that pleased me greatly, under the same $20 price range as the download version. It should also be noted that this game supports Sony's new Cross Buy initiative, where if you buy the PS3 version of the game, you will also get its PlayStation Vita counterpart for free (however, as of this writing, the Vita version of this game does not come out for another week, but at least I have the physical PS3 disk). Released to little fanfare and a seemingly limited physical run (when I asked my nearest GameStop about the game when it came out, they had only gotten 20 copies), is this game a worthy installment in the Ratchet & Clank series?

The story (or what little there is of it) follows the events of All 4 One, with Ratchet, Clank, and former Galactic President Qwark aboard the Starship Phoenix II. As Qwark expresses boredom over not being able to fight anything, he gets excited when Ratchet mentions a group of rouge cleaner bots. Once they are dealt with, they receive a message from a new, unknown menace that has a personal agenda against Captain Qwark. With this, the three of them spring into action. While the campaign only lasts but a few hours (what else can you expect from a $20 game?), this plot manages to string the events together as best as it can and features some great moments of hilarity and actually manages to have one or two unexpected twists thrown in. One of these twists, revealed after completing the first (of five) levels, is the identity of the villain: Stuart Zergo (voiced by the ever-entertaining Richard Steven Horvitz). (Remember him? Neither did I. He is an easily-forgotten/unfound Captain Qwark fanboy from Going Commando, the second game in the entire Ratchet & Clank franchise!) Overall, the story of this installment is thin, but enjoyable for what it's worth.

The gameplay of Full Frontal Assault is, as advertised, a return to the classic Ratchet & Clank gameplay, but with a new twist: there is now a Tower Defense type of gameplay where you must also defend a base from enemy attack, using defenses such as mines, walls, and turrets. As more advanced defenses are at your disposal, equally more powerful enemies are also sent to attack. The newer items require more Bolts to be spent, but once you get a good groove going, it becomes a lot easier to figure out how best to defend your base. At the same time, you must also infiltrate another base on the other side of the map by destroying power nodes and then rebooting your base for completion. You must also defend a set of generators within your base, using Bolts to repair damaged (but not destroyed) generators, and turrets and bombs can be set up around them. Weapons, among them the amazing Groovitron and Mr. Zurkon in later levels, are found inside special pods, which require a special minigame to open, with breakable Bolt and ammo crates scattered around the environment; ammo and Nanotech crates can be found with the weapon pods once they are opened and regenerate over time. I was a little worried about the Tower Defense mechanic at first, given what I saw of it in Assassin's Creed: Revelations, but when I actually played the campaign I thought Insomniac did a very good job with this style of gameplay, incorporating it well with the rest of the core gameplay. I also enjoyed the level design, though their layout caused me to take more time in some cases to explore everything in order to increase my arsenal and finish certain objectives.

The game also features Local Co-Op, much like in All 4 One, but unlike All 4 One, it is limited to two players instead of four. After testing this feature out with my brother, I found that it works really well (aside from it taking less time to beat a level). Weapons unlocked are shared among players and any Bolts earned are added to both players' Bolt counts, eliminating any sort of competition that was found in the previous title (this is not a bad thing to me, given the style of gameplay present here). However, this feature sadly does not work on Standard Definition TV's, due to it not supporting that resolution. I fortunately own a High Definition TV to allow this to work properly, but this really bothered me, since it singles out players who do not own an HD set. So remember: if you want to play with your friends, make sure you've been keeping up with the latest entertainment technologies.

The graphics are similar to that of All 4 One, in that they are very good. As with the new Dante in the Devil May Cry reboot, I have grown accustomed to this new art style; it keeps the cartoonish look set up by the previous games of the franchise, while retaining the light-hearted atmosphere displayed in the earlier games. Everything is bright and colorful, as is to be expected from a Ratchet & Clank game. This is accompanied by some top notch voice acting, though this is also to be expected, given that whatever few voices there are mostly comprise that of returning characters (including the Plumber's obligatory appearance) and the aforementioned Richard Horvitz. This is backed up by music that suits the atmosphere, although you would be more invested in the gameplay to pay attention to most of it; still, I liked whatever I could get out of the music.

If I have one major complaint about Full Frontal Assault, it's that the game sort of dates itself. The villain's personality seems more tailored to a more modern audience and they spout a handful of internet slang and memes at certain opportunities (though I will give Insomniac credit for doing their research on this). The phrases the bad guy spouts out are thankfully some of the more well-known ones, including "like a boss" and the common "n00b"; there's even a visual joke where using the Groovitron in the final battle allows the antagonist to dance as in the popular music video for "Gangnam Style" by K-Pop musician PSY (the ship's computer is also guilty of this, spouting the internet phrase "U mad, bro?" at one point). On top of this, there is a point where the villain hacks the Starship Phoenix II and the song "I Am Glad, 'Cause I'm Finally Returning Back Home", aka the "Trololo" song, plays over the speakers (R.I.P. Eduard Khil). While this does make the game more relevant to an audience from the modern age of the internet, I have the feeling that these references will become less relevant as time goes on if this sort of thing eventually dies down (then again, this is the internet, so I might be underestimating it here). On the other hand, while these references are more relevant to the time I am typing this, I will admit they're actually pretty funny.

For what the end product is, I would actually say to Ratchet & Clank fans to give Ratchet & Clank: Full Frontal Assault a shot. It has rather unique gameplay for a Ratchet & Clank title and the Co-Op and Tower Defense systems work really well. The plot is admittedly paper thin, but I believe the voice acting and twists help to balance out the short campaign. I hesitate to recommend this game to a newcomer since there are a couple of plot references to previous games (one of which requires you to really know your Ratchet & Clank trivia in order to be fully surprised by the identity of the bad guy), unless you don't care that much about the continuity or being somewhat confused right off the bat. While Full Frontal Assault isn't as deep as previous entries (in fact it's rather shallow by comparison), I won't hold it against Insomniac for trying something new.

Happy 10th Anniversary, Ratchet & Clank, and I hope your next 10 years are awesome.

[OLD] Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction

Continuing through the Ratchet & Clank series in anticipation of Sly 4, we come to Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction, released in 2007. It is the first game in what is known as the Future Trilogy, as well as the first Ratchet & Clank game released for the PS3. For the first next-gen game in this series, I would say that it's really well done, though a minor problem arose during play.

On the planet Kerwan, Ratchet is fixing up a hoverbike when Clank gets a distress signal from Captain Qwark, who is under attack by a swarm of heavily-armed robots. They try to reach him through the hoverbike, but crash before fighting their way to Qwark's base. Once there, the duo finds out that the robots are actually trying to eliminate Ratchet, and try to escape. However, they are stopped by the robot army and learn that they are being controlled by Emperor Percival Tachyon, leader of the Cragmite race, who's goal is to wipe out all Lombaxes for eradicating his kind. However, Ratchet escapes before Tachyon can finish the job. As the last Lombax in the universe, Ratchet must defeat the Emperor, also the last of the Cragmites, with help from some friends he meets along the way. Meanwhile, Clank comes into contact with a mysterious group of aliens called the Zoni, who seem to know more about the future than one might anticipate.

The new characters introduced in this installment are pretty enjoyable and not annoying, though it was also nice to see some old faces every so often. I also felt the new female lead, Talwyn Apogee, seemed fairly well-rounded, complimented by some amazing work from her voice actress, Tara Strong (she recently lent her voice to Harley Quinn in Batman: Arkham City). However, that is not to say the rest of the voice acting isn't great, as everyone gave a solid performance overall. While I'm on the sound side of things, I should also compliment the music, which is just as engaging as ever, including an entertaining bit of music from a new gadget, the Groovitron.

Speaking of which, there's a plethora of new weapons and gadgets to use in this game, in fact so much that the Quick Select is now divided into three rings instead of two. Switching between these rings is much easier than in Deadlocked, since it utilizes the shoulder buttons to go through them really quickly. Like in previous games your arsenal can level up over time, though here the maximum Level is back to 5. There is a system similar to the Mods in Deadlocked present through a vendor, but this time it can be used to upgrade various aspects of your weapons, including Ammo capacity, Bolt drops, and Raritanium drops among others, the latter of which is used for the upgrades in the first place. One of my favorite items to use was a robot called Mr. Zurkon, who can be very handy in taking down tougher enemies while hilariously delivering trash talk (one of my favorites is where he compares a target's fighting to "an infant bird-fly").

An interesting addition to the gameplay is the way that the DualShock 3 controller is utilized. Using the Sixaxis functionality of the controller, you can perform actions such as cutting through rock by moving the controller in the desired direction. Fortunately, if there is a point where this becomes too hard to handle, you are given the option to use an analog stick instead for the rest of the game.

The graphics are amazing for an earlier PS3 title, and the physics are actually improved upon, if only in a more minor, yet noticeable sense. Crates this time are smaller and have more weight compared to previous games, in that if you manipulate them in certain ways they will fall over as opposed to just dropping down. While this might cause you to lose a crate if you aren't too careful around gaps, it's still very impressive to behold. When you visit some planets throughout your journey, since there is more texture it's interesting to think of it as Ratchet placed in a modern video game setting, as well as the subtle contrast it creates.

I've brought up the checkpoint system in previous games, and the qualities of it seem to work the same way here. However, this is not the minor problem I mentioned before, since I've learned to expect this sort of thing from a Ratchet & Clank game. The aforementioned problem is actually an instance where the sound in one cutscene went out of synch for whatever reason. Aside from that incident, the synchronization was perfect throughout the game.

Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction is a nice step forward for the Ratchet & Clank series. It has many great improvements to the formula, the graphics are still stunning after a few years, and there are plenty of strong performances all around. The story also is very engaging and leaves on an interesting cliffhanger. If you are a Ratchet & Clank fan, this is one game you don't want to miss.

[OLD] Secret Agent Clank

After developing Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters, High Impact Games would return to the Ratchet & Clank series to release a second game for the PSP, Secret Agent Clank, which as the title suggests stars Clank in the main role. The game is a take-off of the in-universe Secret Agent Clank series introduced in Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal and is noted for having a James Bond theme, as it takes elements of a spy movie and runs with them. While I found it more enjoyable than the last PSP venture, I still found something off about it.

A priceless gem known as the Eye of Infinity has been stolen from the Boltaire Museum and it appears Ratchet is to blame after words spoken against Clank. With the Lombax in prison, Clank believes his friend is innocent despite evidence to the contrary. As Clank sets out to free his friend, a conspiracy unfolds as he discovers the real culprit. Meanwhile, Captain Qwark is writing a "biography" of sorts, consisting mainly of fantastic stories.

Aside from the consistently good voice acting and music, some changes have been made to the gameplay from the last installment. You are still able to upgrade weapons and select from a small wheel of weapons during battle. These weapons are more based on spy gadgets and work rather impressively, although I ran into a problem with one item that you can't refuel via vendor, the Blackout Pen; this gadget is used to disable cameras and deadly lasers with giant blobs of black ink, but you must refuel them using very special and sparsely placed crates that resemble an ink well. The armor system has also been removed, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, though you now must use Bolts on weapons for both Clank and Ratchet.

On this topic, there is a much greater variety of gameplay here than in previous Ratchet & Clank games. In addition to playing as Clank a majority of the time, there are also times where you can be Ratchet in prison fights, the Gadgebots in small puzzle segments, and Qwark as he tells an odd story. The Gadgebot segments can really get you to think sometimes, especially in certain sections later on, and the Qwark sections can be entertaining or frustrating depending on how you play them. On the other hand I found the Ratchet sections a little difficult compared to the other character-specific portions, but they are possible to get through after a number of tries. There are also times where you have to play a small rhythm game, but they don't exactly work properly due to the lack of any actual rhythm.

While the game has an interesting story, you can actually see some of the plot twists coming from a mile away (except for the big one which I will not spoil), though this doesn't take too much away from the overall experience. Near the end though, I ran into some trouble with the final boss. Since the game up until then is relatively easy, it's a bit jarring to see the difficulty suddenly spike up a bit to the point where it's nigh unbeatable. All I can say regarding this is good luck.

Secret Agent Clank is a fairly enjoyable Ratchet & Clank game, even if a few screws are loose. There is an extra bonus from having a save of the less enjoyable Size Matters, though it's only a set of skins, and just a basic knowledge of what happens throughout that game is all that's needed to understand the continuity between the handheld games. If you're looking for a decent handheld Ratchet & Clank experience, I would direct you to this game instead of the previous one. When I return to this series, time marches on.

[OLD] Devil May Cry 4 - A New Protagonist Breathes New Life

To help bring my Devil May Cry (DMC) coverage to a close, I'll now look at the most recent release in the series, Devil May Cry 4. This 2008 release is not only one of the PlayStation 3's first games and the first multi-platform Devil May Cry game, but also happens to be the first game I had ever played in the series. While I'll admit that that's an odd thing to do, it did end up getting me interested in the rest of the franchise, so I think that playing this as one of my first M-Rated games was a pretty good decision in the long run. I've beaten this game several times already between two PS3's, and I think at least once on PC, and beating it again was something that I was more than willing to do for the sake of reviewing it.

As it turns out, introducing a controllable protagonist beyond Dante can bring new gameplay possibilities and story opportunities. In this case, we have another demon hunter named Nero, a man who is a member of a religious cult who worships Sparda as a god and their savior. While he doesn't really buy into the whole thing, the sudden appearance of Dante spins his life out of control, as he and his girlfriend Kyrie get involved in something much bigger than they are. As the player controls him, not only do they get to see a well-written and well-paced tale unfold (mostly) from his end, but they get to wield powers beyond their wildest dreams.

Nero is very awesome to control. His demonic arm introduces a cool new mechanic to the table called the Devil Bringer, which has the power to close the gap between the hunter and the hunted. This fascinating mechanic not only makes it harder to go back and replay previous DMC titles, it increases the thrill of the hunt by reducing the amount of time it would have normally taken to run after an enemy knocked quite a distance away, in turn increasing the ability to keep the Style Gauge building up longer. This single mechanic made just about every second of combat with Nero exciting, especially when powered up, and the fact that it also has a combat application beyond that with individual animations for every single enemy while in either a normal or Devil Triggered state got me seeking every opportunity I could just to see what new thing it could do.

Of course, having one arm dedicated to the Devil Bringer does limit the amount of weapons that Nero can wield, but this does not prove to be a problem for a second. His gun Blue Rose, a gun engineered by him to be able to fire two shots nearly simultaneously, proves to be effective as slowing enemies down as well as continuing a mid-air juggle. The other weapon of his, the sword Red Queen, is also very effective in combat and is capable of dishing out major hurt on demons. It utilizes a special game mechanic where Nero can rev it up to put it in an Exceed state up to three times to increase its damage output and allow well-animated flames to make it even more stylish in motion, accompanied by a cool animation on the appropriate gauge. Having only three weapons really streamlines the combat and brings beautiful and artful simplicity into the franchise to make it much more enjoyable than it ever was before.

The enemies are uniquely and impressively designed and all require a specific strategy to defeat, fitting the tone of the stages perfectly and providing a good challenge that forces the player to put variety into their moves to stay alive. Thankfully the difficulty on the default setting isn't completely soul crushing and allows the player to ease better into the harder stuff. This extends to the bosses, who require a bit of skill to take down, though not completely in the realm of impossible. A couple of them however are more difficult than all the others, though it feels satisfying to eliminate them nonetheless.

While I do praise the introduction of Nero to the franchise, that doesn't mean I've forgotten about the demon hunter Dante. Switching to him about  midway through the game is both a surprise and an inevitable event, but the game proves that he hasn't stopped being awesome. His arsenal is very expansive and much more individualized, with cool weapons like Pandora, which uses a unique Disaster Gauge mechanic, and Lucifer to provide new opportunity to mix up your strategy as well as suit any play style. The Styles introduced in DMC3 return, but now use the oft-empty d-pad to switch between them on the fly, making it even easier to enjoy all of his cool abilities.

The downside to being Dante however is that the time the player spends with him is used merely to backtrack through all of Nero's levels in reverse order and fight almost all of the bosses a second time. This means that once you finally get through Mission 19 when you switch back to being Nero, you'll have fought every single boss three times already. This gets boring after a while and I couldn't help but wish that they might have used Dante's time better by expanding on the world. Wielding his powers however almost makes up for this loss, but I was still a little disappointed in the end by the lack of expansion.

I do also praise the story for being able to establish Nero and his relationship with Kyrie while also making him and the other numerous new characters appropriately likable or badass. While I might have liked to see more of the world, I am satisfied by what I did and I love how the many differing personalities clash at certain points. One particular stand-out example is when, later in the game, Dante confronts the equally hammy Agnus in a battle for supremacy before they get to the actual fisticuffs.

Level design is done very well, though Mission 19 can become an exercise in frustration thanks to the large amount of dice-rolling required to advance properly to the next fight. I liked the architecture and how it matched the setting it was in, as well as the variety in locales and how they made finding the numerous secrets actually kinda fun. The physics are good and the graphics still impress me, especially how it makes Dante's already beautiful women even better to look at, as well as the lighting and high quality voice acting. I also like the soundtrack (I even own a three-disk copy) and the electric guitars blaring during the fights in a way that pumps you up, including the themes that match the bosses and characters perfectly by highlighting something about them, be it their setting or personality.

On the technical side of things, my only major dislike is the 20-minute install required for the PS3 version, which takes up 4.7 Gigabytes on the system. While this does shorten the length of the loading screens in comparison to the 360 version, it does bog down the initial excitement that comes with wanting to play the game. It's very fortunate then that the game itself is very well worth the wait.

All in all, Devil May Cry 4 is a fantastic entry into the series and I'm very glad I played it. The balanced nature of the combat and levels, combined with some of the best music and visuals, helps Nero's story to stand out well and elevate him to a status comparable to Dante. I've already beaten it numerous times and I'd be happy to do it again. If you decide to play it yourself, you'll likely be satisfied as well, even if it's your entry point into the series like it was for me.

Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker - Tactical Espionage Operations

Note: The following review is based on both the PSP and PS3 versions of Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, the latter of which was played via Metal Gear Solid: The Legacy Collection.

In about a year’s time, I’ve gone from knowing nothing about the Metal Gear franchise to knowing nearly everything about its story and characters. Since I first played Metal Gear Solid for PS1, I’ve become completely drawn in by the world the games have set up and have now been eagerly anticipating new installments, one of them being the recent Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance. My attention has now been drawn to Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes, a game which I have been following coverage of since I became more aware of it. However, I realized that in order to understand its events, I’d have to play the previous chronological entry, Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker. To that end, I got the PSP version and began playing it, but then switched to the PS3 version partway and completed it there. I’ll explain how and why later, but the important thing is that I ended up liking Peace Walker, although I felt some of the gameplay tweaks and revamped mechanics needed a bit of getting used to.

In 1974, ten years after the events of Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (MSG3), Naked Snake, now known as Big Boss, has created his own army, the Militaires San Frontières (MSF; translates to Soldiers Without Borders), composed of those who have abandoned all ties to their home country. On November 4, at Columbia’s Barranquilla Coast, MSF deputy commander Kazuhira Miller introduces Snake to two potential clients from Costa Rica, Paz Ortega Andrade and Ramón Gálvez Mena. Gálvez explains that since Costa Rica has no army, he was given authority by the Costa Rican government to hire MSF to protect them from an invading armed group. Kaz encourages Snake to send MSF as protection, but Snake is reluctant to do so. As persuasion, Gálvez takes out a SONY Walkman, which he gives to Snake, and plays a cassette tape containing a recent recording of The Boss’ voice. Surprised, Snake agrees to help out and is provided an offshore platform in the Caribbean as a base, which is dubbed Mother Base. Six days later, MSF leaps into action. During his mission, however, Snake learns information revealing that there’s a lot more going on than he initially thought.

Ramón Gálvez Mena as he appears before Snake.

Written by Hideo Kojima, the story of Peace Walker is pretty much a direct continuation of MGS3, since The Boss is an important element of the overall plot. She serves as the motivation for Big Boss’ actions and her past and ideals are frequently brought up and discussed. That said, the story is very well-written. Big Boss’ journey leads him to meeting new characters, all of whom are well-rounded, though we don’t always get a glimpse of their entire personality. Every single character is important to the plot and a couple, Huey Emmerich and Kazuhira Miller, are also important to the events of other games chronologically. The game’s theme of nuclear deterrence is also heavily discussed, with characters Huey Emmerich and Dr. Strangelove at the center of the issue via their creation of the eponymous Peace Walker AI weapon. I like how the search for Peace Walker is played with gradually increasing urgency across four lengthy chapters until it reaches a very emotional climax and ends in a way that caps off the major events of the story perfectly.

Peace Walker as it is first seen.

Of course, I feel I should mention at this point in time that while you do go through four chapters to get to the end, there is a fifth chapter that is only accessible after the credits have rolled. This chapter requires the player to go through certain motions or fulfill requirements to keep it going and it doesn’t take very much time to finish. That said, this chapter is also home to some very major plot twists, which I won’t spoil so that you find out for yourself. If chapter four is the emotional climax, then chapter five is more like an epilogue, which isn’t that bad considering the length. At the same time it hints at future adventures for Big Boss, which makes me all the more curious about the events of the upcoming Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes.

The gameplay in Peace Walker is different from the approach the other games have taken. Rather than simply play through one continuous story, the game is divided into chapters, further subdivided into individual Main Ops missions that take varying lengths of time to complete. As you play through each chapter, you are also encouraged by Kaz to knock out your enemies and use the Fulton Recovery System on them so they’ll end up in Mother Base and expand the MSF’s ranks. By replaying missions, you can not only capture more soldiers for Mother Base, but you can also repeat fights against vehicles to expand your arsenal or have a rematch against one of the AI weapons to obtain parts and AI boards for weapons of your own. Apart from the Main Ops, there are also Extra Ops where you complete different challenges, such as recovering POWs or obtaining classified documents, to gain rewards and further Mother Base’s potential. It gets easy to adapt to this mission setup, but there are a couple elements that will take longer to do so.

Mother Base after a good deal of expansion.

One of these elements is that not only do you have to make sure MSF has a good number of people in it, but you also have to manage Mother Base itself. You are responsible for putting different soldiers into different divisions, like R&D and Combat, with more divisions of Mother Base becoming available as you advance through the story. You can Auto Assign people to these different divisions, but eventually you’ll probably be forced to make some decisions manually and even end up firing those who contribute the least. Your R&D division also relies on GMP from Combat to determine what weapons and items they can develop, with some naturally taking longer than others (completing missions will move time forward). At first I found myself greatly understaffed, which caused me to have low division ranks (which also determine what R&D can do), but when I finished playing I was nearly at capacity, so I would suggest taking some time to figure out who you think really deserves to be at Mother Base to advance development and keep things running as smoothly as possible.

There's also a surprise special guest.

The other element that takes getting used to is the general control scheme. You can choose between three different layouts, with one being based on the earlier Portable Ops, one based on Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (MGS4) and another based on the Monster Hunter game series (which, if my research is accurate, inspired the Mother Base management element). I chose Shooter Type so it would feel more natural, down to adjusting the control scheme to mimic classic Metal Gear gameplay as closely as possible. This helped me get through the game better, but having played both the PSP and PS3 versions (I’ll explain how in a bit), I would suggest playing on PS3 due to the better camera and weapon/item selection controls. On that note, items and weapons can, on PS3, be accessed with L2 and R2, but requires you to still scroll left and right in real time on a menu that takes up a majority of the screen. I’m more used to the action pausing to let me switch, so I needed more time to adjust to this method. I also liked certain changes from MGS3, like not requiring the player to go through menu after menu to heal or change camouflage patterns, since you select one camo to use for the mission and “Ration = Health” is reintroduced, along with more cardboard box options and other healing items. The Psyche gauge makes an appearance from MGS4 in place of Stamina, which results overall in a pretty solid hybrid of MGS3 and MGS4 gameplay. I now wonder where future games will go with this idea.

Since I’ve mentioned Monster Hunter, I’d like to spend a little time on that. By completing certain requirements (listen to all of Chico’s briefing files about mythical creatures, then almost complete Extra Ops 029 but go to the ocean instead of the Fulton Recovery Point, then go to the end of the bridge and watch a cutscene), you can unlock missions where Snake fights different creatures from the Monster Hunter franchise. Having never played Monster Hunter, I still found this crossover idea interesting and actually felt my adrenaline going during combat. However, these missions can also be very difficult depending on your strategy, so I only got to beat the first one, Rathalos. These fights can also get majorly annoying, particularly when you mix persistent Velociprey creatures with relentless attacks from the boss creatures, especially Tigrex (who I died against every single time I challenged it). Still, this offers the game quite a bit of replay value and is a good treat for Monster Hunter fans.

Believe it or not, this is even more challenging than it looks.

Before I go into the technical aspects of the game, I’d like to point out one major continuity error. This has nothing to do with the number of minor retcons, like making it so it wasn’t Huey (Otacons’ dad) but rather his dad (Otacon’s grandfather) that was involved in the Manhattan project, as Metal Gear does it enough that you just have to roll with them for the story to still make sense. This is actually about something that one might overlook that goes through the entire game and some might say that I care too much to point out: Snake’s eye patch. In MGS3, the player gets to see the moment Naked Snake (not yet Big Boss) loses his right eye before gaining his iconic eye patch. This moment is so poignant and important to Naked Snake’s development that the game even alters the First-Person aiming so the player is only seeing out of his left eye, forcing one to try and adjust how they fire to make up for this. In Peace Walker however, no matter who Big Boss is fighting, regardless of it being a cutscene or manual aiming, he is always aiming out of his right eye, which means that he is somehow looking through the eye patch to fire off a weapon. After a while I stopped worrying about it, but I could never really let this little detail go because it goes against everything that should logically happen in a universe that is already very realistic (except for the giant robots and technological marvels of course). Hopefully this is just a one-time thing.

Seriously, how is he doing that? Is it nanomachines or something?

Since I mentioned it before, I’d like to explain how I was able to play both versions of the game for this review. When Metal Gear Solid HD Collection was in production, Kojima Productions developed a new technology that Hideo Kojima called “Transfarring” (a portmanteau of “transferring” and “sharing”). This technology allows someone to begin playing Peace Walker on the PS3 and then transfer their save to the PSP version so they can keep playing it on the go; this mindset also applies to the HD Collection in general since you can move your files to and from the Vita version. For veteran PlayStation users, you may recognize this as the Cross-Play technology introduced to PS3, PS4 and Vita, which is essentially a widespread adoption and integration of the Transfarring technology. In my case, I began on PSP before Transfarring to PS3 for the better control scheme. I may not have any Trophies for doing so, but at the very least I was able to more comfortably play and finish the game.

The Transfarring screen for Peace Walker.

Graphically, Peace Walker is actually pretty good. Of course, the character models on PSP look more akin to an average PS2 game, and the PS3 version, though in HD, is simultaneously better and kind of the same, but the backgrounds are amazing. I never got tired of looking at Costa Rica, with the amazing attention to detail on the flora and fauna of the area. I was reminded quite a bit of MGS3, especially in the background noises, but I can’t fault the game for trying to be as detailed as its brethren and, in some ways, succeeding. As usual, Yoji Shinkawa’s art style is really good in Peace Walker, as the new characters go in with the recurring cast perfectly; Paz in particular is actually pretty cute.

The high art quality actually carries over to the cutscenes, which were actually better than anticipated. Ashley Wood, from what I read, was heavily involved with the art for Portable Ops, but in Peace Walker he is actually credited as a guest artist; the art style used throughout is more akin to Yoji Shinkawa, who led a team of artists for the game. To me, this style suits the game better than Ashley Wood going solo, who I still say is best for horror comics, and I think the game is better off for it.

The general style of the cutscenes (Pictured: Paz).

Peace Walker also features very good voice acting. David Hayter returns as Naked Snake, although his voice sounds raspier than usual. Christopher Randolph also returns to voice Huey Emmerich, which makes sense given that Huey is Hal Emmerich’s father. While his performance is not completely unlike Otacon, there’s something a little different about it to set the two characters apart from each other. Tara Strong and Steve Blum, two of my favorite voice actors in general, also return to the series (having previously appeared in Portable Ops) to voice Paz and Ramón respectively. Both of them give strong performances that lend a lot of depth to their characters, which helps the vocal quality in general. Overall, everyone involved does such a good job and I hope this level of quality carries over to future games.

Lastly, the music is very good as well. There is a lot of range in the compositions with plenty of style changes throughout the course of the game. When there is a sense of urgency or triumph, the music perfectly reflects that, but the lack of music in certain situations is also good as it keeps you on your feet.

Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker is an excellent addition to the Metal Gear franchise. The story directly continues from MGS3 in a brilliant way and nuclear deterrence is discussed in fascinating detail. The gameplay changes things up quite a bit and, while it takes some time to get used to it, it’s a very natural evolution and hybridization of MGS3 and MGS4’s gameplay styles. I would highly recommend existing fans to check it out, but I would also strongly suggest playing it on PS3 for the sake of a better control scheme. Newcomers to Metal Gear shouldn’t even try to start with this one, as they’ll likely become lost by the references to previously existing events. In that case, I’d suggest actually playing the rest of the games first, beginning with Metal Gear Solid and going forward by release order. Considering what’s on the horizon, this is an essential game in the franchise that there is really no excuse for fans to miss.

[Revised 3/27/16]