Buttonbasher

I’m usually not a fan of Xbox’s arcade game selection, and why waste precious Microsoft points on games when I can use them to buy more rock band songs? Ikaruga is the exception. It’s your everyday classic vertical shooter em’ up, with a big twist. Your ship can switch between two modes of “polarity” with inverting effects. Light polarity absorbs light based attacks and deals critical damage to dark enemies. Switching to dark polarity absorbs dark based attacks and deals critical damage to light enemies. The whole game is based around this concept of polarity.

This game is very simple, consisting of 3 buttons: fire, change polarity, and release a charged attack from absorbed attacks. While holding down fire and swerving around to avoid enemy fire seems simple enough, there’s another puzzle like twist to it. You can put together chains of 3 to gain a bonus to score. And with the the light and dark enemies scrambled together, this can quite the challenge to put together a respectable chain.

Ikaruga is insanely difficult no matter what difficulty you pick. The screen is littered with black and white dots, and you’re immune to half of them. Boss fights are over the top and very punishing if you making one wrong move, so fast reflexes are a must here. Two player co-op makes Ikaruga a little less daunting to attempt, but still challenging regardless.

There seems to be some lag issues in Ikaruga, but nothing game breaking. On certain occasions, like the explosion of a boss, the frame rate slows down to a crawl. It might be intentional, but it did stand out. And playing two player co-op over Xbox live often presents a delay in control, for example it may take a half a second for your ship to move left when you press left on the joystick. When this issue occurs depends on who you are playing with. However, there is no delay when playing a local or a system link match. What I also dislike is the fact you must play for extended periods of time to gain more continues. For every hour you invest into Ikaruga you gain another continue to use for a another attempt to run though the game.

Overall Ikaruga is a must have for fans of the shoot ‘em up genre. I recommend trying the trial version first for everyone else before considering purchasing. For me this was definitely worth 800 Microsoft points.

Rizer1

Life can sure be hard when your arm is infected by satanic powers. Sure, you’ll gain the ability to use it as a grappling arm, and be able to make it really big to punch large foes, but it can be a real put off to the ladies.

Thus is the story of Nero, A trench coat clad, white haired lad that has a blue demonic arm (affectionately called the “Devil Bringer”). Nero leads the story of Devil May Cry 4. Fan’s of the series will notice that there has been a change up. Normally players assume the role of Dante, a similar trench coat clad white haired lad, that also has ties to demonic power. Early on in the game (shortly after Nero runs to church, kicking creatures with swords for legs on the way), you’ll find that Dante isn’t missing from this installment. He makes his grand entrance by attacking the church leader, just as Nero makes his way in. With a new found rival, and a dead clergyman, the events of Devil May Cry 4 are set into motion.

The average player could play the game by furiously mashing the attack buttons, but the real fun of the combat comes by generating combos. It’s satisfying to launch your opponent into the air with your sword, juggle him mid-air with bullets, jump up in the air to join him with aerial sword attacks, and finish him off by using your demon arm to throw him to the ground. There are weapon and skill upgrades throughout the game, but if you don’t want to get into all of that you can set it to automatically upgrade you.

The first half of the game was very enjoyable. The enemies are fun to fight, and try combos on. The bosses are larger than life, and present interesting challenges. The problem is that once you make your way to the final area, something happens to Nero and you begin playing as Dante. While it’s interesting to see how the two differ in playstyles, what’s not as interesting is the environments you’ll find yourself traversing. Dante’s missions are basically everything Nero just did, but backwards. You go in reverse order through the same levels, fighting the same foes and bosses. Once this is done, you get back to controlling Nero. The next mission is fighting the bosses a third time, working your way up to the the final boss. Sure they’re much easier to take down at this point, but I really think Capcom could have expanded the variety a bit more. Despite repeating content, what’s available is fun.

The production value of the game makes it feel like a summer action movie, with epic battles, a love story, and fairly good acting. The orchestrated music can really complement serious scenes, and when you’re locked in the heat of combat the music will reflect that situation with an offering of rock. The voice acting in the gorgeous cutscenes is equally good. Seeing the graphics that the game pulls off makes me extremely excited to see what future Capcom games will look like (Resident Evil 5, I’m talking about you).

Overall I’m pretty satisfied with what Devil May Cry 4 offers. Besides some backtracking complaints, I can’t really think of many other issues I had with the game. Having never played a Devil May Cry game before, I didn’t feel overwhelmed due to lack of knowledge of the universe. I played it on Human (Easy) mode, but I plan to replay it on a Harder difficulty to see what’s different. If you’re a fan of the series, or a newcomer, I really recommend checking this game out.

KLind

Patapon is a rhythm game for the PSP with an awesome art style. It offers an extremely entertaining and original experience. The game is a steal at $20, and is quite possibly one of the best games out for the PSP right now.

You play the game as The Mighty One, who can lead the Patapons to victory and triumph. The Patapon’s army is exhausted and hopeless from searching for a magical, godly drum that you bring to them. The game starts out on a battlefield where you revive the Patapon’s flag carrier. This Patapon will stick with you to the end!
I understand that this type of gameplay may frighten people, but it’s really very simple. The beginning is slow and lets you learn how to use the command system. You start with only one command, “Pata Pata Pata Pon” (Square, Square, Square, Circle) which is ‘move forward’. Then you’ll learn another basic attack, “Pon Pon Pata Pon” (Circle, Circle, Square, Circle) which is ‘attack’. As you progress through the game you learn many new commands, but at a slow enough pace that you can master them. The rhythm and beats become second nature and soon you forget about the button combinations and just perform the actions. Once you learn a few commands the game becomes very strategic.

There are quite a few bosses, each of which is replayable with increasing difficulty. Some of the later bosses get very tough and you have to upgrade your Patapons. You can create new, more powerful Patapons using rocks and sticks you pick up from your enemies or win from the fun (rhythm based, of course) mini-games.

Don’t worry! It will all make sense once you start playing it! And if you don’t take this review to heart, then check out the Playstation.com demo!

-M58

When several of the Buttonbasher writers found that they were playing the same game, they decided to try a new review format. The game is Professor Layton and the Curious Village for Nintendo DS.

KLind: 
Professor Layton is mix between Touch Detective, and a Mensa IQ test, with the art style  a mix of Triplets of Belleville and a Miyazaki Movie. Walking around the town of St. Mystere, you get to meet some truely unique characters (my personal favorite is Deke). You’re thrown into a puzzle pretty much every conversation. You see, St. Mystere’s main export is Puzzles!

The game lends itself well to those with a busy lifestyle as well. You can pop in, do a quick puzzle, save, and continue on with your day. Ranging from match puzzles to mathematics, these puzzles will entertain, and make you feel smart.

And really, who doesn’t want to feel smart?

Urb4n Z0mb13:
Layton truly appeals to everyone, as a matter of fact my grandmother has actually stolen my DS a few times, just to try and solve the next puzzle. That’s something new!

My only qualm with the game is the fact that after you have solved all the puzzles, there is nothing to bring you back except the weekly wi-fi puzzles, and those are bound to run dry at some point in the near future, although I earnestly hope they will tide me over until the sequel.

Speaking of the sequel, it looks fantastic. I’ve played the Japanese demo and it looks like the puzzles are fairly contextual this time around. It also features improved visuals and a rival puzzle solver for Layton to have a duel of wits with.

DGRP:
After enjoying such games as Hotel Dusk, Trace Memory and Phoenix Wright I felt right at home with Professor Layton. It’s definitely a great game to kick back, relax and just enjoy. At first, I never really considered the game to be in my radar. Then KLind told me about it, so I decided to check it out and see for myself. I was surprised that a game filled with puzzles and riddles could be so much fun. The story line made it even more intriguing.

But I think the most impressive thing about Professor Layton would be the established characters with unique personas. That reminds me: this game is loaded with production value. Cinematics and voiceovers make this game even more enjoyable, and with weekly downloadable puzzles/riddles, the game stays always fresh. The only problem I had with it was the difficulty curve with some puzzles. Some difficult ones do appear a bit early in the game, but the good thing is that we could always solve them later.

So in other words: Get it. NOW.

Watch the Professor Layton trailer

I attended the first Video Games Live show in Quebec. After many letters and emails sent to the team, they finally got to bring the show here. As a result: 2 sold out nights filled with raving (read: insane) fans waiting to get their minds blown by the composers and by the Montreal Symphony (and Choir).

It was convenient to have the St-Denis Theatre right in front of the subway station where I got off. I went to the box office to pick up my tickets for the event. They also came in a special envelope waiting for me!

By 6:30, they opened the doors to the lobby with 3 bars, 2 Wii booths (Wii Sports and GH3), 1 (supposedly working) PS3 HD MOVIE BOOTH, and the shop booth. I rocked it with GHWii to pass the time, jamming to Number of the Beast, My Name is Jonas and Knights of Cydonia (some guy was requesting me to play The Metal.)

I also ran into someone who recognized me from Festival Arcadia back in November, he had a ponytail, glasses and wore a hoodie. So if you (mysterious man) are reading this: Hi.

About a half an hour later, the theatre doors opened up and I went to go find my seat. The place was big, but I was only looking at the ground floor (ignoring the Balcony level). The stage was also big to accommodate our symphony (and the choir.)

I eventually found my seats, Row G Seat 7. Which was very cozy since it was in a sweet spot which was in the middle and not too far from the stage.

By 8:00, every thing kicked off.

As usual the show started out with the cosplay contest. The contestants were: an Auron (Final Fantasy), an Aeris (Final Fantasy), a Dick Gumshoe (Ace Attorney), a Link (Zelda), a Snake (Metal Gear Solid), a Darth Vader(?), and Meryl (Metal Gear Solid). I for one was cheering on the Dick Gumshoe and booing the Auron and Aeris. But in the end, the kid dressed up as Link won.

After that, the real show finally kicked off. Started off with a poem (yes, THAT ONE) and then Jack Wall was introduced by Snake (David Hayter) and walked in with a Retro Games tribute. Then Tommy was introduced and took the stage to talk about VGL coming to Montreal, telling us how happy they were to get 2 sold out shows and might be coming back when “It gets warmer”.

He later moved on and talked about Video Games.

“Some people say video games are for children.” The crowd booed. During the quiet long pause, I was offended. I yelled out that I was in fact a “MANCHILD” Lulz ensued.

“Some people say video games are violent.” Without a doubt, Jack Thompson’s name flew out loud and Tommy responded: “Who know’s who I’m talking about.”

He also jokingly asked for requests. Some guy yelled out “Tron” and Tommy was pointing at him to agree. I yelled out for MDK.

Then the usual pieces for the first act was in full motion. The MGS skit was hilarious. Also I couldn’t forget Matin Leung (The Video Game Pianist.) He started out with a Final Fantasy Medley and worked his other pieces during the show.

My mind was officially blown, but that was just Act I. A 20 minute pause for Act II took place briefly.

Back for more, Act II was more impressive than the first. Beyond Good & Evil, World of Warcraft (Jack started a horde/alliance fight), Starcraft 2(!), and more.

But that’s not all, Martin came back to play us some Namco pieces and introduced us to one of the show’s new pieces: a BioShock Piano solo.

The show ended with a Halo medley with Tommy on the guitar, some guy yelled: “HALO SUCKS” before the piece, once again lulz ensued. After the standing ovation, Tommy had something else to say…

“You know how people demand an encore in a rock show? They put up their lighters and chant. Now, since we’re in the a concert about video games, I want everybody to put up their DSes and PSPs in the air.”

“Wait, look at that guy in the balcony holding a laptop, what the hell are you doing with a laptop? Now tell me, is it a PC or a Mac?” The guy replies a Mac.

“A Mac?” The crowd boos at the guy.

Tommy swaps guitars and finishes the event with “One Winged Angel” (From FF7).

After the show, it was the Meet and Greet section in the lobby, I was surprised that almost everybody left and only a few people stayed after the show. I met Tommy, Jack and Martin. They were cool and enthusiastic about the fans. I mentioned to Tommy that I was the guy who requested MDK, he was happily surprised since nobody he heard requested it before. I also snagged something else.

So, in a nut shell, Video Games Live was amazing and mind blowing. I can’t wait to see it again (hopefully very soon).

DGRP

Hey guys and gals, I’m SpudBud. I’ll be posting reviews every now and then, hope you enjoy.

Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune, developed by Naughty Dog and published by Sony Computer Entertainment, stars Nathan Drake, a treasure hunter searching for the lost treasure of Sir Francis Drake. During the course of the game, Drake will travel to exotic locations and fight off ruthless pirates to find out the mystery of Francis Drake’s last voyage.

The story, while good, can be a tad predicable at times. It has some nice plot twists, and a very satisfyingly ending . Uncharted also features amazing cutscenes, some great voice work, and a powerful score, which really adds to the atmosphere. The game’s presentation is top-notch.

Gameplay wise, the game lacks a little originality. The shooting and cover mechanics seem ripped straight from “Gears of War” and its health mechanic is similar as well. Drake is only allowed two weapons at a time and a small stash of grenades. Weapon variety is nice (pistols, assault rilfes, etc.), and all are based on real world weapons.

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Hey, I’m squeakypants, and I’ll be posting stuff here on Buttonbasher on occasion. Here’s what I think of Geometry Wars Galaxies on Wii and DS.

In the midst of Halo 3, Super Mario Galaxy, the Orange Box, and Rock Band; hundreds of games have come out in the past month for the Christmas season. Geometry Wars: Galaxies is one of said games. I’ve played both the DS and the Wii version. What I don’t have is a 360, so this was my first outing with the game besides a PC ripoff I tried awhile ago and hated. However, this game is so immensely popular I figure it should have some solid grounding.

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Gather up the family and friends, get your buzzers ready, it’s time to play Buzz! The Mega Quiz!

Buzz! The Mega Quiz for PS2 is a game that puts you and your friends on the TV game show Buzz! hosted by Buzz, a snappy British cartoon styled character. Buzz says some generally funny things but can also get under your skin if you’re not doing so well. The game has made me chuckle a few times, which is not something most games do.

The game comes packaged with 4 buzzer controllers, which you use to select answers and ring in during a speed round. The game is broken up into segments ranging from Globe Trotter, which has a player choose what place on Earth the question will come from, to Winner Stays On which players answer questions based on two images, and winner keeps playing losers are out for the round.

With a good variety in the games it’s well balanced, on the exception of a game called Point Stealer. This segment comes at the end of the game, and basically makes all of the points you earned meaningless. The game asks you questions, and whichever player gets the correct answer first gets to pluck a large amount of points from the player of their choice. So even if you’ve been winning the the entire game, during that round you could come out losing the entire game.

Aside from that minor annoyance the group of people I played with all had a blast. It’s a great game to just pull out when people come over and play a quick round. The game is smart with the humor and can ask some difficult questions. It doesn’t lend itself well to single-player though, so be prepared for that.

Overall the game is worth your time if you’re looking for a good party game for the holidays.

8.5/10

KLind

When I first was introduced to Xbox, the first game I played was Blinx the Time Cat, and I hated it. At this point I owned a Nintendo 64. I had yet to really be introduced to something beyond the platforming, and racing games I had grown up with. That day changed around Christmas of 2001. My friend had just gotten an Xbox for Christmas with one game.

Halo: Combat Evolved.

The opening sequence of the game, that was not presented with a plumber jumping out a seemingly harmless tube, blew me away. It was like the first time seeing Star Wars when the ship flys over the screen. I wasn’t used to games being presented with such story. From the moment I took my first steps as the Master Chief, I could never have known that I would become so interested in the fictional universe. Spanning from Alternate Reality Games, to Novels, Soundtracks, and TShirts, I was hooked on Halo. While others played Slayer I played the story. Monday night I stood in line to receive my copy of Halo 3, the epic conclusion to the trilogy.

While Halo Combat Evolved featured vast outdoor environments, Halo 2 was more tight quarters indoor combat. Thankfully Halo 3 features mostly outdoor environments. The game really promotes exploration. Breaking free of the path ahead can lead to finding something useful.

What Bungie calls the Halo “Sandbox” (basically guns, grenades, and vehicles) has been expanded in a very useful way. A new class of items called Equipment, has been added to Halo 3 which make encounters much more enjoyable because you aren’t the only one that can use them. Example: In the first level of the game, in the first encounter, I ran up to a Brute pack and some Grunts and began blasting at them with my dual Spikers. One of the Brutes threw down a Bubble Shield which forced me to get closer because you can’t shoot in or out of it. I stepped inside the bubble and got a sticky grenade from a Grunt right in the face. Suffice to say, the enemy AI has became much smarter.

The presentation of the story in Halo 3 is what really struck me. It feels like there’s a lot more going on in the game itself. Story is told not only in cutscenes but during the game. The music also helps create the mood. Halo has always had great music, but this improves on the first 2 games by a long shot. Certain fans will be happy to know there isn’t any blaring Steve Vai guitar solos in the game (Although I didn’t mind it). The music is a mix of familiar mixes of from the previous games, and new songs entirely. The music during the very emotional scenes, gives me goosebumps every time. After the last scene and when the credits started rolling, the haunting Halo theme of the monks singing, was so powerful it made me tear up. Halo 3 is the first game (or pretty much any other media) that has made me cry. Just knowing that the story that I’ve been following so deeply is over. It just hit me. I’m not ashamed of it either.

The graphics are amazing as well. There’s a strange way of looking almost handpainted in areas. The lighting is also some of the best I’ve seen in a 360 game. There are some other crazy graphical effects (that would be too spoiler for this review) that are really quite awesome.

From what I’ve played with on Multiplayer, it’s the same amazing Multiplayer that you’ve known and loved, but with a ton of new options. Not only can you mess with player traits (300% Speed 50% gravity One hit kill), but you can also use the Forge Map editor to place any object from the Halo sandbox where ever you want on a map. Multiplayer will keep me occupied for many long years.

With an amazing story, awesome visuals, superb graphics, and the award winning multiplayer, you really can’t go wrong with Halo 3.

10/10

KLind

Kotaku broke the news on ‘Halo 3 THE RIDE’ an epic journey into dreams that you could ride at Leipzig Game Convention.

Now, they have posted a Hands on Review of what promises to be the best videogame tie-in Ferris wheel in history on their site.

Check it out, and wish you could Man-cannon over to Germany to finish the ride.

KLind