X05 Impressions - Part 2

There were a couple of surprises for me at X05, and Condemned: Criminal Origins was one of them. When I saw the game at E3, I wasn't very impressed. While the graphics looked great even then, I just wasn't that impressed by the gameplay. It looked a lot better at X05.

In Condemned: Criminal Origins you play as agent Ethan Thomas, who is part of the FBI's Serial Crimes Unit. The demo starts off at what seems to be the beginning of the game, when you're called in by the local PD to look at the murder of a woman in a dark, abandoned building. You start off by scanning the crime scene; this is all easy stuff. With a press of the X button the right equipment comes up, you look around until the equipment offers an indicator that you are at the right spot and voila, evidence collected. You immediately get feedback on the collected evidence from the SCU lab through your PDA. In this particular case your partner back at the crime labs tells you it looks like the murder was the work of someone called the Match Maker. This particular creep strangles women, and then sets them up in scenes with mannequins.

After some more crime scene processing you discover the alleged suspect is still at the crime scene, and what follows is a pursuit through the abandoned building. Condemned is not at all a game of run and gun. Instead it is slow, and suspenseful. Thomas isn't exactly a fan of the dark, and there are moments where you start breathing heavily or start seeing things that aren't there. What is there however, is the scum of the earth. The city where the game takes place seems to have a big problem with the homeless, as well as totally crazy junkies.

Combat in the game is brutal. Though you are equipped with a gun when you start out, it's not like you're just going to find ammo lying around. So before too long you start using axes, wrenches, shovels, or lead pipes to fend off the insane junkies that attack you. These guys themselves are equipped with similar weaponry, although the popular weapon of choice seems to be a 2x4 with rusty nails. And it's not like in other games where red might flash on your screen, or the screen shakes a little. Instead the camera follows the attack, so if you get hit in the face your perspective kind of recoils back and upwards. Similarly, whoever you are beating up will stumble before eventually regaining balance, or dropping to the floor.

As you progress through the level you eventually come face to face with the suspect, who takes your gun after you nearly electrocute yourself throwing a power switch. Towards the end of the level (many beatings later) you encounter him again, as he emerges from the dark and starts to pistol whip you. But for some reason, he doesn't want you dead just yet. While he has you in a chokehold (and this is all from a first person perspective, not some third person cutscene), he shoots the two cops who are trying to rescue you, with the gun he took from you. You are then thrown out of a third-story window, and the camera angle changes downwards so you can actually see see the street coming towards you at a high speed. When you regain consciousness you find out that as far as the police is concerned, it is an open and shut case; you're a cop killer. It's up to you to prove your innocence.

Condemned is a mature game all the way through. Not just its subject matter, or its violence, but your foes also let you know that they don't give a fuck and that you should fucking die. Bless the M rating. Condemned: Criminal Origins should be released this November.

Gears of War

No Xbox 360 press event is complete without a showing of Gears of War, Epic's highly anticipated third person action game. The E3 presentation of the game showed some outside, open action, while the X05 presentation focused more on close quarter combat, and the creepier elements of the game.

The demo started as Marcus and his squad just arrived in a forest type area, close to a factory where there's been some reports of Locust activity. It's pitch dark, and raining -- something noticable on Marcus' face, as well as the mud on the ground, and it showed that Gears of War is about more than just constant combat. As the team made slowly made their way to the facility, there were random screeches.. lightning revealed that the team wasn't alone out there. Lights at nearby buildings suddenly stopped working. Figuring the slow approach might not be the safest way out in the dark, Cliff (Bleszinski, the game's lead designer) made Marcus quickly run towards the structure. Running moved the camera downwards to waist height (usually its just above the shoulder) and turned into a shakycam - a neat, cinematic angle.

Once Marcus and his squad reached the complex, they discovered that the Locust had in fact had their ways with the humans there, showing a grizzly scene with torn up bodies covered with flies, and blood smeared everywhere. Then, it was time for some action. We got our first look at Wretches, quick four legged foes who run towards you from above and below. It was them who emitted the screeches heard earlier, and their high pitched tones makes lights shatter. There's no scaring Marcus though, as the Wretches flew back just as fast as they had jumped towards him after a shotgun blast to the face.

Later in the level you arrive what amounts to mine carts ("Space Mountain with guns"), and you hop in before taking care of some Locust drones. This was pretty much one crazy shootout, and did a great job of showing the game's amazing visual effects. Gears of War is still by far the best looking Xbox 360 game. Also noteworthy is that during this sequence Marcus and the other main character Dom got seperated. Because the game's co-op allows a friend to take control of Dominique at any time, you'll both experience different things if you happen to play this area or any other part of the game where Marcus and Dom branch off. This should certainly help with replayability, as you could play through the game as Marcus, and then join your friend's game to play as Dom instead.

Just like the E3 demo, this demo showed that action in Gears of War is not about running and gunning. If you just expect to run around like a headless chicken, you'll find yourself dead pretty quickly. Instead, Epic wants the game to be about cover. Find a good spot to attack from, duck instead of taking enemy fire, peek around corners. In some cases, that might be a bit boring..with this game, not a chance in hell.

Perfect Dark Zero

You could find few better looking games at X05 than Perfect Dark Zero. Seemingly one of the few Xbox 360 launch titles to really make full use of the power of the Xbox 360; you name a technology buzzword, it is probably being used in the game. The screenshots really don't do the game justice. But how is the gameplay?

The singleplayer level I got to play took place on rooftops in Hong-Kong, where you take out various bad guys as you cover your dad Jack who's in the streets down below. Though people who were up close showed decent AI, anyone you had to zoom in on with your sniper rifle to take out never notice you and even if you managed to miss a shot right next to them they didn't seem to move.

Perfect Dark Zero isn't just about shooting though. Occasionally you'll have to open doors by breaking their locks. Usually this involves a device that has you use your analog stick to get the combination just right (represented by a color). Or, if you're using a bomb to take down a wall you have to re-order a schematic that makes the current through the bomb go from left to right. If it sounds a bit complicated, don't worry, it isn't.

There is also a cover mode. If enemies have you pinned down, you can use a crate or chimney to hide behind. Here the game changes from first to third person where you are looking at Joanna. You can then take aim at something before shooting without taking damage. There's also some basic environmental interactivity in the game. Lights can be shot out, glass breaks nicely, but I never noticed anything beyond that. Still, most games these days still don't even bother with the basic touch of being able to shoot lights.

Not sure where to go in the game? Blue arrows show up pointing you in the right way, though I'm unsure this is only on lower difficulties (I never set mine). I have to say that this was pretty helpful in places, especially since blue markers also indicate where you want to use a zipline to go from one roof to another.

There's a fair amount of weapons in the game, with most of them reality based. I used a sniper rifle, dual wield uzis, a shotgun, there was a heavy machine gun and plenty more that I'm sure I missed. There are just a few weapon slots though, so you'll have to decide what weapon is more important at a certain time.

One of the more exciting features in the game is its co-op play, where one player is Joanna while the other takes over for AI. In the rooftop level that I played you are covering for Joanna's dad Jack, by taking out snipers and other bad guys in his path (at times you're helped by some very nice exploding barrels). In the co-op mode, Jack would be a player controlled character and though Joanna is still helping him, you also do things to help her progress through the level. Through an occasional picture-in-picture system you see what the other person is doing. The game also supports 32 player deathmatch multiplayer. Perfect Dark Zero will be released alongside the Xbox 360.

NBA Live 06

The 360 version of NBA Live 06 is not just a port of the current-gen version with improved graphics, instead it is a totally new, build-from-the-ground-up game that left me majorly impressed. Everything is new and improved. When you load up the game now, you don't start with a menu. Instead, a random player will appear on a basketball court, and you can immediately start shooting some hoops. With the press of the start button you call up the menu, allowing you to tweak settings, go online, or just play game. You select the sides, and game settings, and the game starts loading... there's no loading screen though. Instead you go back to the player, so you can continue to shoot or dunk while waiting for the game to finish loading. Once it does, the player is teleported away Star Trek style, and the camera zooms in on a big screen behind the basket and live into the arena. A very nice touch.

While commentary in NBA Live 06 for current-gen/PC was partly new due to the Steve Kerr being added to the booth to replace Mike Fratello, Marv Albert was still saying mostly the same things which is kinda annoying since he's been saying them for several years now. Live 06 on the 360? I only played a few 5 minute quarters, but I already heard a lot of new things. Looks like they were saving the good stuff for the game's best version.

Graphics are phenomenal. Players are already more recognizable from a distance, but during closeup views you really get to see how eerily lifelike players are now looking. I figure it's going to be a while before developers figure out the "dead eyes" problem, but everything else is spot-on. From the face, to the flowing hair, to the sweat, it's all there. The game also uses a depth of field, things in the background are often a bit blurred like you would see on TV.

One thing that hasn't really changed is the basic gameplay. It all felt very familiar to me; the way you pass, shoot, call plays, steal. One thing that has been changed is the freethrow system. Up till now, freethrows weren't exactly a challenge. You just had to hit a button right as a scan line hit the middle of the backboard. Now, sort of have to make the freethrow movement with your controller. You press the right analog stick down, and move the stick downwards. Then you sort of flip the stick upwards as if you are throwing the ball to the basket. Unfortunately this build didn't have any kind of indicator of when you were supposed to do something or how fast you were supposed to be doing the movement, so all my attempts were short or long. A very cool touch is that if you happen to be playing against a friend, you will be able to button mash on your controller, resulting in force feedback being activated on his controller which might just cause him to miss a freethrow.

One thing that NBA Live 06 for the 360 lacks compared to the current versions is a Franchise mode. You can't do anything beyond one season. With all the new stuff they are putting in, they just didn't have time for it this year. I can't say that I have ever used the feature myself. Create a player is still in there. The crowd has also received an upgrade. No longer a bunch of sad sprites, the 3D crowd still doesn't seem as lively compared to what I saw in the 360 version of NBA 2K6.

The worst thing about NBA Live 06 though? Having to wait until the Xbox 360 launches before being able to get my hands on it again.

Quick Takes

Ridge Racer 6 - Ridge Racer 6 was one game that failed to impress. Though I greatly enjoy Ridge Racer for the PSP, this 360 version of the game just doesn't do it for me.

The main problem is that the game just totally fails to excite. There is just no sense of speed here, when driving regularly or when using your nitro. Sure you see a flame coming out of the exhausts, and you notice your car goes faster, but there isn't any kind of blur or warp effect that really gets your adrenaline going. Seeing what games like PGR3 and Burnout do, this just seems sub par. The drifts are also ridiculous easy in the game. You can pretty much just constantly turn 180 degrees and keep on sliding.

While the graphics are decent enough, and the draw distance is impressive, this isn't exactly a game that makes you want to spend $400 on a new console. With Need for Speed: Most Wanted and Project Gotham Racing 3 coming out around the same time, it's hard to see why you would want to bother with Ridge Racer 6.

Top Spin 2 - Liked Top Spin? Then you will probably enjoy this 720p version. Because really, that's mostly what this is. Character models are a ton better, textures are sharper, but the game really isn't a whole lot different. Not that that is a bad thing really.

Dead or Alive 4 - What can I really say here. It's really exactly what you would expect. Hot chicks fighting, bouncing boobs, random upskirt views and interactive environments. The game looks great at 720p, the animations are very fluid and controls very responsive. If you enjoyed any of the previous Dead or Alive games, you really can't go wrong with the new fighters and arenas this game has to offer.

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