UP and Away With a New Pixar Adventure

By Brad Cook

Pixar has seen nothing but critical and box office success since the release of “Toy Story” in 1995, and developer Heavy Iron Studios has matched the studio stride-for-stride with complementary videogames since 2004’s “The Incredibles.” (The lone exception was “Cars” in 2006.) So when the time came to translate Pixar’s tenth feature film, “UP,” into the world of videogames, senior producer Brian Wiklem and his team at Heavy Iron were ready to do the heavy lifting.

He recalls: “From the minute our screening of ‘UP’ — in storyboard fashion nearly two years before the film’s release — ended, the film team was talking to us about gameplay ideas, games they had played previously that could be inspirational, and ways we could explore the ‘UP’ universe using angles that perhaps wouldn’t make it into the film.”

Wiklem adds: “The film team are avid gamers, and they’ve been vocal about what we’ve created for the UP videogame. On average we were talking to members of the film team bi-weekly. Oftentimes they were blown away that we could prototype full game sequences before they had even blocked them out in the film version.”
The Essence of the Tale

The movie’s storyline features the unlikely pairing of elderly widower Carl Fredericksen and eight-year-old Wilderness Explorer Russell. With the threat of being moved into an assisted living facility over his head, Carl decides to fulfill his late wife’s dream of seeing South America by tying thousands of balloons to his home and taking to the skies. Russell, who had visited Carl to earn his “Assisting the Elderly” merit badge, becomes an accidental companion on the voyage.

“We tried to capture the essence of UP’s most exciting film moments and offer an experience that happens between those big moments in the film.”
- Brian Wiklem, senior producer

After Carl and Russell arrive at the majestic table-top tepuis of South America, however, their journey takes a sharp turn when they encounter famous adventurer Charles F. Muntz, his airship, and his pack of talking dogs, including one named Dug. A prehistoric flightless bird called Kevin adds to the intrigue as Carl and Russell try to keep him from being captured. Soon the pair find themselves embroiled in an adventure worthy of Indiana Jones.

Wiklem explains: “We tried to capture the essence of UP’s most exciting film moments and offer an experience that happens between those big moments in the film. The Pixar team was very detailed about what they saw and witnessed in South America on those tepuis, and we tried to be as faithful as possible to the reality of not just that area of South America, but also what was visually expressed in the film.”

He adds: “For example, we have a couple boss levels that you won’t see in the film, but all of the animals and vegetation in the game were thoroughly researched and taken directly from the geographic region.”


Rounding Out the Characters

As gruff Carl slowly warms to energetic Russell, the two work together to navigate the harsh environment, fend off enemies, and keep each other safe from danger. That dynamic encompasses the movie and the game, as Wiklem explains: “The entire game is based on cooperation, rather than individual challenges that require only one character. Even in single-player mode, the player will have to switch characters so they can work together and achieve their goals.”

Kung Fu Panda: The Bodacity of Hope

By Brad Cook

“Let’s try to make it a real martial arts movie, albeit one with a comic character, and let’s take our action seriously,” Kung Fu Panda co-director John Stevenson says in an interview with ComingSoon.net. “Let’s really make sure that our kung fu is as cool as any kung fu ever done … and make sure it’s a beautiful movie … and then let’s see if we can imbue it with real heart and emotion.”

As it was in the movie, so shall it be in Kung Fu Panda the videogame. As in the movie, our hero is Po, a panda living in the Valley of Peace. He’s destined to become the Dragon Warrior — “a fighter of extreme skill and bodacity” — but for now, he finds himself working in his goose father’s noodle restaurant and dreaming of bigger things. Given the opportunity to learn kung fu, however, Po rises to the occasion, increasing his repertoire of skills as he battles the evil forces of Tai Lung the snow leopard and other enemies.

During Po’s adventures, you’ll meet the red panda Master Shifu, who takes Po’s abilities to the next level, as well as the Jade Palace’s martial experts, known as The Furious Five: Master Tigress, Master Monkey, Master Mantis, Master Viper, and Master Crane. You’ll unlock The Furious Five as you progress through the game, giving you access to their unique powers in a variety of multiplayer battles that expand the action in new ways, including all-out brawls, target practice, and more.

Stevenson explains: “The Furious Five are based on the original five animal fighting styles in kung fu — tiger, crane, monkey, mantis and snake-style — so our big conceit was, ‘Well, how does it look to see the original animals that inspired the kung fu moves that shaolin monks adopted? How does an animal do that as opposed to how a human being imitates that animal?’” Patience, panda cub: you’ll soon learn the answers.
Expanding the Movie World

As you learn new fighting styles and explore the game’s 13 levels, keep your eyes open for coins that you can collect and cash in to increase Po’s health and chi (the latter lets him execute special moves, such as the rolling attack known as Stumbling). You can also spend the money to enhance Po’s attacks and obtain special outfits, including the legendary Dragon Warrior attire. Find rare coins and figurines of The Furious Five to unlock special prizes, including video clips and new multiplayer levels and characters.

The game expands on the movie’s vision of ancient China in many ways, introducing new places for you to explore and new enemies to defeat, such as Great Gorilla and the Wu Sisters. You’ll also encounter new characters who need your help, like a mother turtle who needs you to save her hatchling from the Imperial Golden Croc Gang. While many tasks are optional, completing all of them will grow Po’s powers.

You’ll need all the help you can get for the final battle, which features the fearsome Tai Lung. You’ll need to bring all of Po’s skills, including his prowess with weapons, into play, proving, as he says, that he’s not “a big fat panda,” he’s “the big fat panda.” Skidoosh!

Suicide By Video Game

10:18 A.M. Wednesday
I log into WoW and dick around for what feels like fifteen minutes, standing on top of a busy mailbox and /flexing every time someone approaches.
Every now and then we hear stories of people playing video games for so long that they neglect their basic needs for rest and nourishment, eventually passing away before the bluish glow of their screens. Can such a thing really happen? Is it possible to be so oblivious that you'd throw away this precious life that you've been given for a video game? You bet it is, and you can do it yourself! While the process is fairly straightforward, I'll show you what to expect by keeping a simple liveblog of my own attempted gamicide.

Before getting started, there are a few things we'll need:

- Computer and/or consoles and games in one location that you can easily reach from the comfort of that leather gaming chair that cost more than your wardrobe.

- Nothing to live for.

- A last will and testament (probably scrawled on a roll of toilet paper tucked away beside your monitor) that saves your loved ones grief by clearly spelling out who gets your collection of dusty video game boxes and that Steel Battalion controller.

- Approximately six hundred cans of Halo 3 edition Mountain Dew Game Fuel. I'm pretty sure this stuff is devoid of water and any nutritional content, but it will keep you awake, which makes it ideal.

- One framed picture of Shigeru Miyamoto for moral support. I would specify a picture when he's smiling, but I dare you to find a picture where the dude doesn't look like he just won the lottery.

Note that I didn't specify which games you should use, because that's a matter of preference. Pick something that will draw you in and really consume your time. My games of choice will be Peggle, Team Fortress 2, and the old standby World Of Warcraft.
2:31 A.M. Thursday
Alt-Tab out, only to realize that sixteen hours have passed. I instinctively move to get out of my chair and go to the bathroom, but stop myself before ass breaks contact with cushion. Mustn't leave the seat. What do I do?

I briefly consider going the route of the poopsocker, but think better of it. No, I still have my dignity. I'll just hold it in and hope that the waste building up inside of my body will act as a toxin to speed up my impending death.

2:40 A.M. Thursday
Load up Peggle and attempt to complete the 750,000 points in one level challenge, which is a lot like dropping a quarter from a space shuttle orbiting the Earth and getting it to land on a saucer floating in a stormy sea without breaking it, with the coin standing perfectly on its side.

6:58 A.M. Thursday
After getting 749,500 points in one round before losing, I angrily close the game. I've got a headache, and the fact that I'm starving and dehydrated doesn't help. I pound three cans of Game Fuel to fill my stomach, bringing my total slightly past "entirely too much".

The cherry-flavored bile that's been sloshing around my esophagus for the past few hours finally eats its way through the lining of my throat. I can sort of taste neckbone. Does this count as eating? I hope not.

3:03 P.M. Thursday
I hop on a goon-run Team Fortress 2 server. My class? Pyro. My strategy? Stay in the spawn room and try to figure out why /flex isn't working.

10:52 P.M. Thursday
My knee blows out. Wasn't quite expecting that. Luckily, none of the bone fragments that penetrated the underside of my desk hit anything important like the keyboard. The pain is good. It keeps me awake.

4:18 A.M. Friday
I'm beyond exhausted now. Do you remember that part in 2001: A Space Odyssey when Ed Harris is traveling through the cosmos and it's flashing all these weird colors and his eyeballs keep darting around and you're not really sure if he's dying or hallucinating or what? That part just came on, I love that. What a great movie. I can't believe people used to play games without a video iPod nearby.

5:03 A.M. Friday
The librarian just told me I have to leave because "other people need to use the computer". Oh, I'm sorry, lady who's watching over my shoulder as I type this. I didn't realize we lived in a POLICE STATE, or that such a limited amount of power could go to someone's hea

Video Game Cosplay Highlights

Nerds are drawn to Comic Con every year like nerdy moths to a glowing lightsaber. As the convention continually grows larger, the outfits displayed by cosplayers grow more elaborate. In turn, our country becomes more deserving of the hatred of people in third world countries who can't afford to buy AIDS-free loincloths, much less a fully-functional Iron Man suit with a custom built 52-inch waist.

Most of the costumes represent characters from comics, anime, and action films, but video game characters have come into vogue in recent years. Now that this year's Comic Con has wrapped up, it's time to highlight some of the most impressive and understated video game cosplayers from the event.

F1 World Grand Prix for Dreamcast

The Dreamcast delivers a new sense of realism to the racing-games genre with F1 World Grand Prix. Not only is it one of the most beautiful games of its kind, with lavishly modeled cars and tracks, but it's one of the deepest ones as well. Almost every aspect of F1's cars can be customized, including gear ratio, suspension, brake sensitivity, front and rear wings, as well as tires and the amount of fuel racers choose to carry. Pit stops let players refuel and repair damage--which cars take realistically--and an announcer identifies racers' ranking, position gains and losses, and specific car damage.There are 16 races in championship mode, each with weather conditions based on conditions found in the real event. A match-race mode lets two friends compete, which is ideal when you want to go head-to-head against a buddy. The only real drawback to this game is that it lacks the speed of an arcade-style racer, but this fact alone may be enough to scare away nonracing fans.

Grand Theft Auto (GTA): Vice City for PlayStation 2

he no holds barred world that has had critics up in arms for years is back with Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. All of the carnage and mayhem of the previous GTA games is back with a 1980s flair taken right out of such films as Scarface. Set in a fictional Miami, players must work their way to the top of the organized crime world using any means necessary. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City not only packs more violence and mayhem than the Godfather, but it’s also a fantastic achievement in the world of video games.

Final Fantasy XI: Chains Of Promathia for PlayStation 2

Final Fantasy XI: Chains Of Promathia takes you into the aftermath of a great war, as you answer a desperate call to defend your people. In this first ever cross-platform massive multiplayer online game, you'll unite with other warriors as they save their world from utter destruction. Volunteer for missions to defend the world and its people, across 100 different gameplay areas -- mountains, deserts, oceans, castles and dungeons, all with lives of their own. Fight the constant time and weather changes and create a legend

Dragon Age: Origins

From the makers of Mass Effect, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, and Baldur's Gate comes Dragon Age: Origins, an epic tale of violence, lust, and betrayal. The survival of humanity rests in the hands of those chosen by fate. You are a Grey Warden, one of the last of an ancient order of guardians who have defended the lands throughout the centuries. Betrayed by a trusted general in a critical battle, you must hunt down the traitor and bring him to justice. As you fight your way towards the final confrontation with an evil nemesis, you will face monstrous foes and engage in epic quests to unite the disparate peoples of a world at war. A romance with a seductive shapeshifter may hold the key to victory, or she may be a dangerous diversion from the heart of your mission. To be a leader, you must make ruthless decisions and be willing to sacrifice your friends and loved ones for the greater good of mankind.

Video Game Addiction No Fun

ompulsive video gaming is a modern-day psychological disorder that experts tell WebMD is becoming more and more popular.
By Sherry Rauh
WebMD Feature

Reviewed by Louise Chang, MD

At an addiction treatment center in Amsterdam, in the Netherlands, teenagers and young adults begin detox by admitting they are powerless over their addiction. But these addicts aren't hooked on drugs or alcohol. They are going cold turkey to break their dependence on video games.

Keith Bakker, director of Smith & Jones Addiction Consultants, tells WebMD he created the new program in response to a growing problem among young men and boys. "The more we looked at it, the more we saw [gaming] was taking over the lives of kids."

Detox for video game addiction may sound like a stretch, but addiction experts say the concept makes sense. "I was surprised we didn't think of it here in America," says Kimberly Young, PsyD, clinical director of the Center for On-Line Addiction and author of Caught in the Net: How to Recognize the Signs of Internet Addiction -- and a Winning Strategy for Recovery. "I've had so many parents call me over the last year or two, particularly about the role-playing games online. I see it getting worse as the opportunity to game grows - for example, cell phone gaming."

But can a game truly become an addiction? Absolutely, Young tells WebMD. "It's a clinical impulse control disorder," an addiction in the same sense as compulsive gambling.


Defining Addiction

While most people associate addiction with substances, such as drugs or alcohol, doctors recognize addictive behaviors as well. In a WebMD feature on the definition of addiction, psychiatrist Michael Brody, MD, set forth the following criteria:

1. The person needs more and more of a substance or behavior to keep him going.
2. If the person does not get more of the substance or behavior, he becomes irritable and miserable.

Young says compulsive gaming meets these criteria, and she has seen severe withdrawal symptoms in game addicts. "They become angry, violent, or depressed. If [parents] take away the computer, their child sits in the corner and cries, refuses to eat, sleep, or do anything."
The Psychological Factor

Unlike with substance abuse, the biological aspect of video game addiction is uncertain. "Research suggests gambling elevates dopamine," Young says, and gaming is in the same category. But there's more to addiction than brain chemistry. "Even with alcohol, it's not just physical. There's a psychological component to the addiction, knowing 'I can escape or feel good about my life.'"

Bakker agrees. "The person is trying to change the way they feel by taking something outside of themselves. The [ cocaine] addict learns, 'I don't like the way I feel, I take a line of cocaine.' For gamers, it's the fantasy world that makes them feel better."

The lure of a fantasy world is especially pertinent to online role-playing games. These are games in which a player assumes the role of a fictional character and interacts with other players in a virtual world. As Young puts it, an intelligent child who is unpopular at school can "become dominant in the game." The virtual life becomes more appealing than real life.


Where's the Harm?

Too much gaming may seem relatively harmless compared with the dangers of a drug overdose, but Bakker says video game addiction can ruin lives. Children who play four to five hours per day have no time for socializing, doing homework, or playing sports, he says. "That takes away from normal social development. You can get a 21-year-old with the emotional intelligence of a 12-year-old. He's never learned to talk to girls. He's never learned to play a sport."

In older addicts, compulsive gaming can jeopardize jobs or relationships. Howard, a 33-year-old project manager who asked to be identified only by his first name, started playing an online role-playing game about six months ago. He plays for three to four hours almost every day -- more on weekends -- occasionally putting off meals or sleep. His fiancée says he's addicted.
Addiction Warning Signs

Spending a lot of time gaming doesn't necessarily qualify as an addiction. "Eighty percent of the world can play games safely," Bakker says. "The question is: Can you always control your gaming activity?"

According to the Center for On-Line Addiction, warning signs for video game addiction include:

* Playing for increasing amounts of time
* Thinking about gaming during other activities
* Gaming to escape from real-life problems, anxiety, or depression
* Lying to friends and family to conceal gaming
* Feeling irritable when trying to cut down on gaming

In addition, video game addicts tend to become isolated, dropping out of their social networks and giving up other hobbies. "It's about somebody who has completely withdrawn from other activities," Young says. "One mother called me when her son dropped out of baseball. He used to love baseball, so that's when she knew there was a problem."

Howard, the project manager, says he still goes out with friends and family, so he doubts he is addicted. "I am not limiting myself to gaming as my only pastime or hobby," he tells WebMD. "If I needed to stop playing, I'm convinced that I could."
Parents, Take Note

Young and Bakker say the overwhelming majority of video game addicts are males under 30. "It's usually children with poor self-esteem and social problems," Young tells WebMD. "They're intelligent and imaginative but don't have many friends at school." She says a family history of addiction may also be a factor.

If you're concerned your child may be addicted to video games don't dismiss it as a phase, Young says. Keep good documents of the child's gaming behavior, including:

* Logs of when the child plays and for how long
* Problems resulting from gaming
* How the child reacts to time limits

"You need to document the severity of the problem," Young says. "Don't delay seeking professional help; if there is a problem, it will probably only get worse."


Video Game Detox

Treatment for video game addiction is similar to detox for other addictions, with one important difference. Computers have become an important part of everyday life, as well as many jobs, so compulsive gamers can't just look the other way when they see a PC.

"It's like a food addiction," Young explains. "You have to learn to live with food."

Because video game addicts can't avoid computers, they have to learn to use them responsibly. Bakker says that means no gaming. As for limiting game time to an hour a day, he compares that to "an alcoholic saying he's only going to drink beer."

Bakker says the toughest part of treating video game addicts is that "it's a little bit more difficult to show somebody they're in trouble. Nobody's ever been put in jail for being under the influence of [a game]."

The key, he says, is to show gamers they are powerless over their addiction, and then teach them "real-life excitement as opposed to online excitement."

Sequels are Sequels!

We've all heard it before and thought about it ourselves. When a franchise is driven into the ground with numerous sequels, we talk about the lack of originality and creativity, but we're also the ones first in line to purchase the next Grand Theft Auto, Halo, Legend of Zelda, or Super Mario Bros. With this in mind, why should any developer with a hot IP on their hands risk anything on a new title? With Fable 2, Grand Theft Auto IV, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Metriod Prime 3: Corruption, Halo 3, Final Fantasy XIII, Metal Gear Solid 4, and numerous other sequels due out soon, are sequels choking out original titles? When do we have too many sequels?

D'Marcus Beatty, Co-Site Director

Sequels are an unavoidable facet of video games, movies, books, and most forms of entertainment. When someone is entertained, they usually look for a similar experience to entertain them the same way. When a relationship is established with existing characters, it's easy for someone to seek to follow that character throughout multiple adventures or scenarios. However, it is also too easy for developers, authors, producers, etc. to become too complacent when churning out sequels by expecting a loyal audience to support their ventures. Consider the thousands of Mega Man, Street Fighter, and Madden games, each with only a slight improvement (if any) over the previous version.

A sequel is a difficult pitch because it has to be a fresh experience that, ironically, is also trying to recreate a previous experience. Very few games are able to pull this off. More often than not, games with endless sequels run the series into the ground, making each new iteration a shadow of the former games…unless the first few games were bad to begin with, of course.

The sequel decision is a difficult one. Most developers and producers are simply worried about figures and will create a sequel if there is a good chance of it selling. However, when considering making a sequel, the developers should ask if they can genuinely make a good game that builds off of the foundation the first (or previous) game(s) made. Is there anything fresh we can bring to the table? Is there something we wanted to try but couldn't that we could put in the sequel? Do we have some unanswered questions to resolve (if there is an interesting story to begin with)? If they sincerely think they can give us a good game, a sequel isn't a problem. But a sequel for the sake of having a sequel is a no-no. No more Megamans please until we get a next-gen update!

Maria Montoro, Co-Site Director

Video game sequels have become necessary for game developers. Because of the ever-increasing cost of developing video games, companies can't afford to take a risk with every game they give birth. Developing video games for Xbox 360 and PS3 has become especially expensive, and some companies are having budget difficulties that they need to overcome with methods like creating cheaper, downloadable games with less overhead costs and developing sequels for those games that truly guarantee good revenue.

BF 1942: Secret Weapons of WWII

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Secret Weapons of World War II is the second expansion pack that EA has released for Battlefield 1942 this year. The first expansion, Road to Rome, brought the Italian theater into the game. Secret Weapons, as the name implies, introduces a host of high-tech toys, many of which were never actually used during the war.
Given that Battlefield has never strived to be all that realistic, I suppose that the developers at Dice felt that they could take this one over the top, although the bulk of Battlefield players I know roll their eyes at the mere mention of jets and rocket packs.

Secret Weapons adds 16 vehicles, 6 weapons, 8 maps, and one new game mode to Battlefield. I was as skeptical as anyone when I installed this expansion, but it turned out to be more balanced and playable than I expected.

The new vehicles range from relatively plausible motorcycles with sidecar-mounted machine guns and amphibious transports, to the rather far-fetched rocket planes and guided rockets. Some of the jets fly so fast that it's difficult just keeping them on the map. Unless you're flying in circle, you will be constantly harassed by the "deserters will be shot" message. With a little practice, however, they can be mastered, and the unguided missiles used by several of these new aircraft are easier to target accurately than bombs. Fortunately, there is also some very lethal anti-air weaponry in Secret Weapons, such as the Flakpanzer, to bring things back down to earth.

The Wasserfall guided rocket is an amusing addition, allowing players to steer a missile into enemy units from a stationary launch pad. Again, it will traverse even the largest maps in a matter of seconds, making it a challenge to control, but its payload is equally deadly against planes and ground troops.

Borrowing an idea from the Desert Combat mod, Secret Weapons introduces the C-47 cargo plane, which serves as a mobile spawn point. Although trying to keep this large, slow moving craft in the sky for more than one or two passes is not easy, anything that cuts down on spawn camping is a welcome addition. I would like to see something like this patched onto the original game.

As for the infamous Rocket Pack, it is surprisingly well executed. It doesn't permit you to zip around like Superman, but rather gives you the ability to make large jumps, reminiscent of low-gravity Quake. You are still susceptible to fall damage, and its volatile fuel will explode upon a direct hit from the enemy, so its strategic value is limited. However, it can prove quite useful for jumping from heights that would otherwise kill you, leap

More believable are the heavy tanks that come with this expansion. The Allies get the T95, which is an armored monster that is nearly unstoppable, especially with a couple lighter tanks backing it up. It has a hefty gun, but the Axis' Sturmtiger packs an even bigger punch with its mounted naval cannon. The Sturmtiger has no horizontal aim whatsoever, so you have to adjust your shot by pointing the tank in the direction of your target.

New weapons include a stealthy throwing knife, the Remington Auto 5 shotgun, a deadly grenade rifle, and the Gewehr 43 semiautomatic sniper rifle, which lets a sniper unleash a whole clip without zooming out. It might have been nice if the grenade rifle had been given to the anti-tank class rather than engineers, who already had a nifty variety of nifty things to use.

One of the best things about this expansion are the additional maps. They are very well thought out and involve a number of missions with a "destroy the top-secret Nazi laboratory" feel, which is a natural fit for the experimental weaponry. The rough terrain in the Eagle's Nest map is quite impressive, and there are an abundance of interesting features like tunnels, bridges, lakes and islands in the new maps.
One of the battles is set in the dark of night for a change. The only disappointment here is that there aren't more of them. It seems like 8 maps are barely enough to showcase the rest of the content introduced, a complaint partly outweighed by the fact that the maps are playable in an entirely new mode.

Objective mode, in which the Allies must achieve certain objectives and the Axis must stop them, is good to see, as it gives the game some much needed depth. Conquest mode, the most widely used type of gameplay in Battlefield right now, tends to be a rather chaotic, every-man-for-himself effort to capture command points. When the game is played in Objective mode, organization becomes more critical to success. Of course, if your team is particularly clueless, this can be a bad thing, as they will ignore the objectives altogether and carry on capturing command points, ultimately losing the match because of it.

Secret Weapons is an entertaining, if not mildly comical, expansion, and it's few flaws are minor ones. Unfortunately, at around $30 the price tag is a bit hard to swallow.
Like the more economical Road to Rome ($20), I can't see too many people rushing out to buy it until they have completely exhausted the original game and the numerous free mods now available for it. There do, however, seem to be more servers running it than the Road to Rome expansion. If you're a hardcore Battlefield 1942 fan and you need more content, Secret Weapons will go a long way toward fulfilling your Rocket Pack dreams.

Battlefield Vietnam Review

Let me begin by saying, no, it's not an expansion pack, I repeat, NOT AN EXPANSION PACK for Battlefield 1942. Battlefield Vietnam, though it bears more similarities to Battlefield 1942 than just its name, is an entirely new stand-alone game and Battlefield 1942 is not required to play.
Now that we've cleared that up, you may have noticed that military themed first-person shooters are everywhere these days. Given the flood of titles and expansion packs that have been released in this area lately, one has to wonder how many such games the market can support. I couldn't help marvelling at the ad for Medal of Honor: Pacific Assault on the back of the Battlefield Vietnam CD case.

Subsequently, your first impression of Battlefield Vietnam is likely to be one of deja vu. Battlefield 1942 players will find most of the features and game modes they are familiar with in a very immersive jungle setting. If you haven't played BF 1942, the appeal of the game, in a nutshell, is that you can commandeer a wide variety of vehicles, including tanks, ships, and planes, on the front line. For the most part, this is accomplished with a very simple set of standard FPS controls which minimize the learning curve.

Battlefield Vietnam does not stray from this successful formula. It effectively takes the vehicular warfare we love from '42 into the chopper-filled skies of Vietnam, but it doesn't attempt anything as revolutionary as its predecessor did.

What's New
One thing you're likely to notice right away is the music. EA has licensed a bunch of popular protest songs from the Vietnam era, which go a long way toward recreating the atmosphere. Sound in the game is very well done, from the authenticy of the gun shots and helicopter chops to the ability to blast the soundtrack from vehicles in the game. No reviewer yet has failed to mention that approaching the battle in a Huey pumping out "The Ride of the Valkyries" is somewhere up there with, say, free beer.

The graphics have also been stepped up a notch. There is plenty of jungle vegetation to hide in and the terrain of Vietnam is well replicated. Models are a little smoother, the pixel-shaded surfaces are nice if your system is up to it, and explosions are more spectacular than ever. Even reloading your weapon is a treat, as the animations for this are now probably as accurate as those in America's Army.

Of course, better graphics means slower graphics. It may be more stable than BF 1942 was when it was released, but it would appear that there is still a significant amount of optimizing to be done. Prepare to do some tweaking to get acceptable performance with the detail cranked up.

It wouldn't be the Vietnam War without helicopters, and there are a variety of these available to both sides. Some of them have the ability to airlift other vehicles into combat, although this requires some rather precise flying which I have yet to witness in action. I was able to do it on an empty server, but the helicopter controls seem overly sensitive even with a joystick, and you'll see plenty of players having a difficult enough time just staying in the air while under fire, never mind trying to drop a tank gently on the ground.

The basic classes of soldier, bazooka/heat-seeking missle man, engineer, and sniper remain, but the beloved medic is noticeably missing in action! On the other hand, because each class now gets to choose from two primary weapon kits, you actually have more options than BF 1942 offered. There is also bit more variety to the weaponry available to the two sides and, although it's a little too early to say for sure, I suspect there are lingering balance issues. The M60/LAW combination seems particularly lethal at this point. As you can imagine, there is a lot of air power in the game, but there appears to be anti-air mechanisms capable of keeping the role of infantry interesting.

Battlefield Vietnam has a new "Evolution" mode which allows scores to be carried over a pair of historically related maps. Though at least one map has objectives, Objective mode, featured in the Secret Weapons expansion, is gone, perhaps because everyone plays Conquest anyway.

Many subtle improvements have been made to the game over BF 1942. Your weapon remains available in many of Battlefield Vietnam's vehicles, which can make being a passenger a lot more fun. The command point capture timer is more sophisticated, allowing a group of soldiers to capture a command point more quickly than a lone wolf. VC engineers can move special tunnel entrance spawn points around the map, making for some great covert strategy gameplay.

To top it all off, there is a (beta) map editor and mod kit included.

What's Old
If your Internet connection goes down one day and you decide to try single-player mode, you'll discover the same weak (often downright bewildered) AI used in BF 1942. Battlefield Vietnam doesn't even pretend to offer a compelling single-player campaign, so if you're not into online play, pass on this one.

Despite the beefy new graphics, fog is still used in abundance to limit your viewing distance. It's a small annoyance, but you really notice it after playing games with minimal or no fog, especially when flying.

Joystick support remains at an absolute minimum. At the very least I would have expected separate options for planes and helicopters, but no such luck. I'm aware that a lot of people don't use joysticks, and employ no controllers other than mouse and keyboard, yet in game with air vehicles as a central feature, there is really no excuse for such poor controller support.

Maps are quite well thought out and present some interesting scenarios, all modeled loosely on battles that took place during the Vietnam War. Unfortunately, you can still fly across them in less than 30 seconds in a jet, so the familiar "out of bounds" warning is never far off. The slower moving choppers are better suited to maps this size.

The Bottom Line
I don't know if it's the appeal of Vietnam era or what, but gamers certainly haven't waited for the reviews to come out before running to the store and buying Battlefield Vietnam. Two weeks after its release it already has more players that BF 1942 and enough servers to make the in-game browser slightly dysfunctional.

What is here will be excellent in a patch or two. I'm slightly disappointed by what isn't here. For an entirely new game Battlefield Vietnam doesn't really try to do anything new. Surely FPS developers haven't completely exhausted the possibilities when it comes to things like multiplayer game modes? Some games have had integrated voice communication for a long time now, and given that Unreal Tournament 2004 has it, it doesn't seem like too much to ask. How about a favorites list and a buddy tracker in the server browser? I know we have the technology.

Minor omissions aside, Battlefield Vietnam does excel in the only area that really counts - it's undeniably fun. Whether you're spraying an enemy base with machine gun fire from the back of a chopper or sneaking around in the brush with your sniper rifle, the excitement is relentless. Not even the impending release of Doom 3 will keep people out of this jungle.

Gaming for Money: Trading Game Assets

One of the most interesting and unexpected things to arise from online gaming is the birth of real-world economies based on the value of persistent world game characters and items. When Ultima Online and EverQuest characters started appearing on eBay, a lot of people found it hard to believe that anyone was willing to exchange actual money for game items that are, after all, largely imaginary. Nevertheless, trade in these digital goods continues to grow, and it has already gone from being a pastime pursued only by a handful of hard-core gamers to being a fledgling industry in its own right.

Time is Money
We've all heard it said that time is money. This is no less true when it comes to persistent world online games. Under normal circumstances, it can take months or even years to work a character into the upper ranks of a game like EverQuest, or acquire some rare item that only drops on, say, the Plane of Complete Annihilation. I guess it should come as no surprize that many people are willing to spend a little extra to get there faster. In fact, since you're paying by the month to play in most cases anyway, purchasing what you need to get straight to the end game may even be cost effective for some people.

Enter eBay
For those who are serious about trading in game economies, the epicenter of activity is Category 1654, Internet Games, on eBay. While not every item in the category is a game item (lately I've noticed quite a few manuals on how to make big money trading game items), it remains the most popular auction for virtual marketeers. Dr. Edward Castronova, an economics professor at California State University, has been compiling statistics related to the category, and in 2004 it racked up over $22 million in total sales. Several entrepeneurs have taken notice of this and started other auctions and currency exchanges that specialize in virtual game property.

Players and Publishers React
To be sure, not all online game publishers, or players, for that matter, are happy with the real-world trade in game assets. Sony has been quite firm on this issue, and they've successfully had SOE game items removed from eBay. Blizzard has sternly reminded World of Warcraft players that it is against their policy as well, and that anyone caught doing it will be banned. Naturally, the trade in gear for these games continues through other auctions, and it seems unlikely that either company has the power to eradicate it completely. Other game companies have taken a more hands-off approach, condoning and sometimes even facilitating the exchange of cyber goods.

One can easily imagine the assortment of potential problems this trend creates for game developers and gamers alike. Many people equate it with cheating, and consider it unfair that a player can buy their way into game status that would otherwise take many game hours to achieve. For the developer, it can escalate into a customer service nightmare. Support staff will find themselves on the receiving end of complaints about bad transactions and rip-offs, while cheaters are provided with an economic incentive to hack and exploit the game.

There's Money in Those Swords
Nevertheless, it's clear that this sort of trade is here to stay, regardless of how game companies or players feel about it, and many would argue that it's a good thing. The best solution is probably to integrate secure exchange services into the game, so that players don't need to go to outside auctions like eBay to conduct transactions. Several online worlds are already experimenting with this approach. The inhabitants of There, for example, are able to purchase ThereBucks with a credit card and shop for, or sell, game items in an auction that is part of the game. Interestingly, although the last time I checked, there is no "official" way to convert ThereBucks back into real bucks, it is standard proceedure at player-operated banks. In an interview with ACM Que in early 2004, CEO Will Harvey pointed out that one of the top designers of clothes in There is earning the equivalent of $3,000 a month.

I don't intend to encourage anyone to dump their day job and pursue a career as a trader of virtual property, but it can't be denied that some people are making a significant amount of money in this enterprise. One of the highest profile and most forthright traders I've come across is Julian Dibbell, who has documented his experiences trading Ultima Online gear for the last year in detail. If you want some idea what it would take to turn playing into a career, I encourage you to read back through his blog, as it is both informative and insightful. Note that, in the last month of his year long experiment, Julian was the number 2 seller of UO assets on eBay, and made a handsome profit of $3,917. It sure makes the game's monthly subscription fee look like one hell of a bargain.

A Black Market is Born
Of course, World of Warcraft and EverQuest assets are probably where the greatest demand is, at least in North America. Services such as Player Auctions have stepped in to fill the gap created by the removal of EQ items from eBay. The Gaming Open Market once offered a money exchange for different types of game currency, allowing people to more conveniently transfer funds from one virtual world, or game server, to another. After a bad transaction that cost the GOM's operator a consider sum of real cash, the decision was made to limit services to Second Life. (The GOM has discontinued operations because Second Life decided to offer their own exchange system.)

Given the profit potential, I guess it was inevitable that we would see the birth of companies dedicated to the acquisition and sale of game property on a larger scale. Internet Gaming Entertainment (IGE) is one such company. With offices in Hong Kong and the U.S., they now have over 100 full-time employees and a small army of "suppliers" selling them virtual goods from a variety of online games. The whole thing conjures up visions of sweatshops in China where child laborers are forced to toil away at computer terminals 16 hours a day leveling Dark Age of Camelot characters. I don't think we're there yet, but considering the amount of money changing hands, it can only be a matter of time.

Looking Ahead
Over the next few years we can expect to hear a lot more about virtual economies and their impact on real economies, and it promises to be interesting to see how, or if, governments will try to regulate this growing market. I also look forward to seeing how game developers will respond to this phenomenon, since at the moment they seem split between embracing it as a potential enhancement to the game, and discouraging it as an impediment to fair gameplay.

Game Design Artist

Overview of the role of a Video Game Artist

As you might expect, artists in the game industry do a range of diverse jobs, and as such, several specific job categories have developed over time. Each of the categories is associated with different styles, techniques and areas within the game development process.

Although the details will vary between companies, the following list of definitions should be useful at least as a guide:

Concept Artist
2D/3D Animator
2D Texture Artist

Concept Artist

This person will create and design characters and worlds used within the game.
To begin with, everything is created on paper as a rough concept. When this is approved, it goes through a cleaning up period which may involve scanning the designs on to computer and using an art package such as Photoshop to perfect fine line work and add details. Colour is then introduced into the Image so that the texture artist can create the correct textures for the world or character. Once the concept artwork has been completed it is passed on to the 3D Model Builder (or Animator if it is an animated character).

A concept artist will be required to:

Ensure the design fits with the general look and feel of the game

Achieve maximum effect with minimum complexity - complex designs eventually lead to more complex 3D models (something that can be easily created with as few polygons as possible is desirable)

Consider colours and colour schemes used to maintain a balance of colour throughout the design.


How do I become a Concept Artist in the games industry?
Hmmm, this is a tricky one. Concept art cannot really be taught. Being a good concept artist is about drawing as much as you possibly can, whenever you can. The great Chuck Jones once said that every artist has a million naff drawings inside them, it's just a matter of working through them so you get to the point where you only produce your best.
I myself have been drawing from the very first moment I picked up a pencil, but to get really good takes time and persistence. It's good that you admire Disney and Anime but don't try to copy and imitate them too much, use the style and line construction as a guide and try to develop your own line style and characters. If you spend most of your time copying other people's work you will never learn how to come up with outstanding creations of your own.
A good way of getting good is to focus on an aspect of drawing that you really enjoy. I chose traditional animation and background art, it teaches you a lot about a character's attitude, emotion, and motivation, aspects which are all to important when creating believable characters and environments.

Drawing characters and animals
One of the most important parts of becoming a good character and animal illustrator is life drawing and good observation skills. Try to learn as much as you can about anatomy, proportion and skeletal structures, this will ensure that you put the right muscle in the right place, there's nothing worse that a character with made up anatomy. Life drawing may be a little daunting at times but if you get good at it the rules of construction and pose that you learn will come across in your own creative work.

Creating environments
Again, as with characters, observation and drawing from real buildings and landscapes will teach you how to produce realistic environments that seem real and believable. Focus the layout and try to find the hidden composition that makes for a captivating and impressive environment, this will all go towards helping you to come up with your own creations and how to make the unreal seem real.

What you need to do now
If you're sure (as I was) that illustration and design is the direction you want to go I would suggest you find a course which tries to encompass all aspects of Art and Design. After School I went into a Graphic Design course at Stafford Art College which taught me many different aspects of Design. The course itself involved life drawing, graphic design, photography, animation, illustration, calligraphy and technical drawing. All of these media types helped me find an overall understanding of art and design.
After my 2 years at college I went to University to study Traditional Animation. This again involved a lot of drawing from life and a lot of observational drawing, as well as learning how to animate characters and produce background artwork.

The route here isn't necessarily the best route and everyone's different but the best advice is to try to find a good art course at a respectable art college and see where it takes you. You may find out that you have other skills that you never thought you had.

A few main points to remember:

Keep drawing and don't copy other people's work, use it as a guide and learn from what they have done.

Don't be afraid of blank paper - just get in there and draw, nothing ever comes out right first time anyway.

Be critical of your art, and look hard at it to see what doesn't look right and then change weak aspects and improve on parts that already work within the illustration.

2D/3D Animator

The job of a 3D artist is to provide a game's levels and character content. You may also be required to provide high definition models for concept and marketing purposes.

The animators position involves animating individual characters and scenic elements within a game. They may also be required to animate filmic introductions, cut scenes and endings for the game.

The task of texturing a 3D object is often given to a specific 2D artist, but you may be required to create textures and apply them when needed.

2D Texture Artist

The job of a 2D Texture Artist is to provide all the texture elements within a game for the 3D models.

We use in-house developed tools for applying the textures to the models, but the creation of the textures requires the use of packages such as Photoshop, Painter, Deep Paint and vector based applications like Xara and Illustrator.

There are also other 2D elements required within a game such as lighting and special effects.

Getting into the Video Game industry

I wanna get into the games industry!!, but how??

The question posed in the title is probably one of the most frequent we get here at Animation Arena (send your questions to arenamaster@animationarena.com) and one you could write pages and pages about, but i'll try and keep things fairly succinct >:^).

First off you shouldn't try starting up your own game development team. Game development is no longer the kind of thing that you can just do in your bedroom with a few friends, it's a big money industry run by professional people who demand quality or the heat will rain down on you and you'll be lumped with a mass of debt. If you want to make your own game development group that makes games you might see on a store shelf then you should get a few years experience in the industry at least. If you want to do it on a hobbyist level to get some practice in i'd suggest looking for mod teams to join. There are hundreds of mods out there and most are always on the look-out for fresh talent.

So that leaves getting a job with an existing developer...

In order to be a video game artist you have to have a good mix of traditional art skills and modern computer based art skills, the balance of which will depend on the eventual specialization you go for. Within the title "games artist" are many sub-categories of artist including animators, texture artists, character modelers, object modelers, concept artists, etc etc. While it's ok for now to look at your target career simply as a games artist or game designer, the eventual specialization you do will have an impact on what you should be learning in the mean time, so you should start out by sampling everything and then concentrating on the bit/bits that you enjoy doing the most. For example, a concept artist will do purely traditional art, so they won't need to know much at all about computer based art. You can find out more about what each specialization of artist should be learning in the Animation Arena Video Game Design section, which is pretty much dedicated to answering the question posed in this title.

So once you've got in mind what you need to be learning you need to go about doing it. Unfortunately with all art the only way you're going to get better at it is through practice. Some people maintain that people that are good at art are "naturally artistic", like artistic ability is somehow genetic, but ask any good artist how they got good and they'll tell you how they got where they are by practicing their asses off.

Traditional art wise you should be drawing at least one thing every day. Whether it's a cartoon or a still life or whatever, it doesn't matter, but making sure you draw at least one thing a day will improve your drawing dramatically. Doing an art night class would help alot too. Considering this is for games, you need to be drawing lots of people, so learning to draw anatomy will be greatly beneficial too. One thing I would suggest is steering clear of anime. Looking at the portfolio work of other aspiring games artists just goes to show where this generations art influences are coming from, and learning the anime style won't help you stand out from the crowd at all when it comes to getting a job.

For 3D you should worry less about learning a wide variety of programs and more about learning the general concepts of modeling. All the 3D packages work differently but the core concepts are all the same, so it's best to choose one program and get to the point where you can be creative within that, than trying to learn all the different programs at once. There are tons of books now on each package, or they typically have decent tutorials in the help files. As for which program you should go for, that used to be simple, but it's getting a trickier choice by the day. It used to be that everyone used 3D Studio Max, because it was powerful, reasonably easy to use (as 3D programs go), was well suited to games, and yet it didn't cost the earth. Recently however Discreet who make 3D Studio Max have started aiming their product at the movie industry, while Alias|Wavefront that make Maya and Avid that make SoftImage have recently switched their focus from the movie industry to the games industry. If it was me personally I'd still recommend you start by learning 3D Studio Max.

For 2D computer based work, such as textures, you should be learning Photoshop. Photoshop is like the mack daddy of industry standard 2D art, and absolutely everyone uses it. Again, it's best to just get a book on it.

If you want to be an Animator then it's important not to get too carried away with what the computer can do. Motion capture is getting bigger by the day, and games are now beginning to really take on stuff like physics simulation, but while games still require stuff like monsters and big robots there will always be a need for animators, since you can't motion capture say... a dragon. You should be learning the principles of animation first and foremost, things like squash and stretch and the wave principle, and some traditional animation will always help with that. For animation principles The Animator's Survival Kit by Richard Williams is the absolute best animation book you can lay your hands on, although be warned that it has nothing in there about animating with computers (books about 3D programs will have that).

For all of these there are a number of courses at universities and vocational schools that you might look at (see Animation Arena's list of Video Game Schools in your area). While some game developers are particular about their artist having a degree, most places are more concerned that you can demonstrate ability through a portfolio rather than a piece of paper, so a degree isn't needed if you have the talent. That said art schools and vocational schools are a good place to spend time working on developing your skills and creating a portfolio, and most people with the talent are the kind of people that could have got a degree fairly easily anyway. The Animation Arena Video Game Design section also has a section on how to get into the industry, which includes a list of all the universities and vocational schools in the country that do games development degrees.

So once you've actually learnt all this and you start apply for jobs, what next. Well you need to be able to demonstrate your abilities. When you apply to places you should send copies of your traditional work, and more importantly your reel. This is a video cassette which has 3D model turnarounds and animations on it. These days even better is a CD containing examples of your work.

I said I'd try and be succinct and I've not been, so I should probably finish off and any more questions you might have then feel free to ask and I'll do my best to answer them. Hope this has all been of help and good luck with the whole getting into the industry thing.

How to Become a Video Game Designer

One of the most exciting jobs out in the market today is video game designing. Many have the impression that it would take too much time and skills to accomplish this. Well reality check people...it does not! If you are into video games and love spending your leisure time (even your work time!), playing games then you have already passed the qualifying stages to becoming a video game designer. May it be for console, arcade, or PC; video game designing reaches all these platforms. Now, let me explain to you some of the basic principles to get you an idea of how to make this dream job work for you.

Throughout the years, games have evolved from the simple Atari and first generation Nintendo graphics to the complex 3D and multi level games of the present. There are just no limits to game designing these days. This multibillion-dollar industry is ballooning and encompassing other industries at a pace no one ever thought was possible. A major factor to this can be attributed to the gamers who are in their 20's and 30's and have never stopped picking up on the latest games and game platforms. Walk into any gaming shop and you will find adults mingling with kids to check out latest releases and try them out...together! So combined with the teenage market, this raving monster called the Gaming Industry is eating chunks out of the adult and teenage market today.

Need for video game design teams have increased dramatically because of this growth in the industry and the demand for better and more creative games by consumers. Therefore, the outlook for anyone trying to enter this industry is not bad at all. If you have the love and drive to create games then there is more than a lot of opportunities to do that. Become a video game designer and you could take part and even play a major role in producing legendary games such as Sims, Unreal tournament and Halo to name a few. Get a chance to team up with the best companies and game studios by becoming a video game designer. If there ever was a time to take that leap of faith and trust your gut instincts then it is now! A genuine love for games is one of the most important qualities a game designer must possess. For natural love for gaming spawns creativity and a drive to excel in producing games people will endear themselves to. You could even ask yourself a question. Why would I do a job that I do not have the talents and passion for? Now, if your answer is I am doing this because it is what I love to do, then you are the right man for this job.

This natural passion, even though very important, is only one of the aspects that makes a good video game designer. Companies who hire designers are also looking for someone with good problem solving skills and who is inhumanly patient. There are so many bugs and potential problems when designing a game that it could drive someone mad. These problems range from collision detection to making things look convincing animation-wise. Many of these complex problems need to be resolved quickly and with ingenuity. You should always strive to improve and to innovate the game at any point of the production. This can be profoundly stressful and take up huge amounts of your time even to the point of exhaustion but the rewards are more than worth it. The experience brings a completely new meaning to the phrase sleeping on the job!

Being a perfectionist is also a quality sought after by many of these gaming companies and studios. Making sure everything is up to the highest quality standards and done as efficiently as possible in as little time as possible are talents which are definitely sought after in this fast paced industry. Now, if you have all or even just some of these qualities then this job is just waiting for you out there... so go out and grab it.

So now, you are ready to proceed and create games huh? However, wait, you just cannot walk right into one of these companies and apply for this job if you do not have the skills! Knowledge about such things as graphic designing, computer animation and game development is necessary here. You need very specific training on these and other elements in order to be a certified video game designer. Below is a listing of where you can get the best training in these areas of expertise. With no further ado, here are some of the premier video game design schools you will need to enroll in to become a top video game designer.

International Academy of Design and Technology: The Bachelor of Fine Arts in Visual Communication (Game Design) is designed to provide training in principles and techniques used to create interactive 2D and 3D computer games. Students can learn design software; modeling and animation skills, networking principles, level and world editors, and game engines used to design and develop games, and will examine market research and business concepts related to game production and distribution processes. Project management, creative design, and communication skills are integrated throughout this dynamic curriculum to help prepare students for entry-level positions in the game design industry.

DeVry University: Offers something more towards the programming end of things with their hot Game and Simulation Programming program. This should really get your feet nice and wet. Take it Online, or check out the various campus locations.

ITT Technical Institute: The ITT Technical Institutes offer a bachelor degree in Digital Entertainment and Game Design. Courses in this program offer a strong foundation in digital game design through the study of subjects such as gaming technology, game design process, animation, level design, and general education coursework. In addition, with over 85 locations nation-wide, there is a good chance that you can find a school near you.

The Art Institutes: At The Art Institutes, you will receive hands-on training from industry professionals, and you will build your portfolio.

The Art Institute Online: The Art Institute Online courses have been designed with extensive input from game-industry professionals and focus on the artistic side of games - not on computer programming. You will concentrate on the specifics needed as a professional game artist: Scene and set design, Motion capture, Character development, Visual storytelling, Game design strategies, 3D animation, Low-polygon modeling, Game level design, Texture mapping... In other words, a lot of the fun stuff.

Westwood College of Technology-Online: Strong creativity, design, computer, and problem solving skills are the keys for success in this exciting and growing field. With these specialized skills in mind, Westwood College has designed a Bachelor degree program in Game Art and Design.

Digital Media Arts College: Learn from industry experts from leading companies such as SEGA, ImageWorks, Disney, and more. They are one of the United States' most technologically equipped digital artist colleges. They have the tools and techniques to empower your creative career.

Digipen Institute of Technology: Located in Seattle, take the first step towards becoming a video game designer by learning computer science, computer engineering and fine arts degree programs related to the digital entertainment technology.

Matt Hazard: Blood Bath and Beyond Review

This satirical shooter is fun, but it never takes advantage of the potential of its parodies.

The Good

* Cooperative play is a good time
* Higher difficulties offer plenty of challenge.


The Bad

* Parodies are uninspired
* Less than two hours long
* $15 is way too expensive
* Co-op play is offline only.


The Matt Hazard series of games is built on the premise that even the most popular franchises are not sacred cows. Considering that the industry frequently takes itself quite seriously, the idea of lampooning all that is dear has a certain charm to it. However, as noble as Matt Hazard's motives may be, the games in which he stars fall far short of their goal. Matt Hazard: Blood Bath and Beyond places the wisecracking hero in a 2D shooter reminiscent of Contra, and though the action rarely ventures beyond the scores of games that have come before it, it is challenging and diverse enough to keep things interesting through the two hours it takes to finish your quest. But because Blood Bath fails to take advantage of its parody material, it loses any chance to stand out from the crowd.

Matt Hazard has to rescue the person he holds most near to his heart: himself. Specifically, an 8-bit representation of himself, whose death would change history, causing the present-day Hazard to die an untimely death as well. It's a convoluted story that never expects you to accept the ridiculous premise. Blood Bath takes frequent jabs at its own inane logic, poking fun at the ludicrous situation and trying to figure out if time travel really can change the present. In fact, the only humorous moments in Blood Bath are when the game makes fun of either itself or its predecessor, Eat Lead. There are many jokes about the poor sales and chilly critical reception of the first game, and those instances of self-ridicule make the game more endearing and humorous than the by-numbers action and uninspired parodies do.

The eight levels play out in typical shooter fashion. You walk from left to right and spray bullets wildly while trying to avoid the slow-moving attacks from your countless foes. You can freely aim by holding LB and moving the left stick, which works well but feels clunky compared to last year's Shadow Complex, in which you could aim while running by swiveling the right stick. There are moments in which enemies will rush you from the background, and you can aim your sights that way with a tap of the trigger. It's not a particularly new idea, but it adds some depth to the typical shooting action, forcing you to keep your eyes darting across the screen to identify any potential threat. Weapon power-ups give the tried-and-true action a bit of variety. The assortment of machine guns, rocket launchers, and shotguns let you dispose of your enemies in deadly ways, but it's the flamethrower that is the gem of your arsenal. It lights up your attackers like campfire marshmallows, leaving behind a gooey residue that probably shouldn't be eaten.

A giant boss character waits at the end of each level, giving you a worthwhile ending sequence to all this bloody carnage. The bosses are purely pattern based, but they move quickly and have powerful attacks, forcing you to stay focused the whole time or you will meet a fast, and very violent, end. The most ridiculous of these battles is against a giant robotic lighthouse. There is no explanation for why someone would have equipped a lighthouse with legs and missile pods, but it sure is fun avoiding its deadly anchor and shooting its missile right back at it. If you aren't quick on your toes, you will die frequently at these bosses' hands, which makes the game pretty darn hard. On the higher two difficulty settings, your continues are finite, so you will need to start over from the beginning of the level if you fall to these giant monstrosities. The challenge never seems unfair, and it's rewarding to make it through a particularly difficult level unscathed and finally vanquish a boss who tormented you so thoroughly in the past.


The different levels draw inspiration from popular video game franchises, letting you walk through familiar backdrops that will evoke a pang of nostalgia when you think back on your time spent with those vastly superior games. The first level re-creates the undersea utopia from BioShock, another places you in the eerily clean city from Mirror's Edge, and a third level mixes Team Fortress 2 and Super Mario Bros. for some unexplained reason. The parodies are not always clear (the pirate-themed second level could be mimicking anything from Tomb Raider to Pirates of the Burning Sea), but it is neat when you recognize a game you previously enjoyed. The problem is that Blood Bath doesn't do anything with this material. Sure, it's interesting to blast through Rapture, but there aren't any jokes about the Little Sisters or Big Daddies. The art style is the only thing Blood Bath shares with BioShock, which feels like a missed opportunity. If the end boss destroyed itself with a golf club or Matt Hazard made fun of objectivism, the parodies would have been a lot more entertaining. As it is, the parodies are strictly visual and largely forgettable.

Although the adventure can be completed in less than two hours, there is a little bit of replay value for those who enjoy collecting. Every level has three hidden cartridges, and by nabbing them all, you unlock information on unreleased games Matt Hazard starred in from his fictional past. There is an offline-only cooperative mode as well, and though it doesn't change the action at all, it is certainly more fun blasting waves of enemies with a buddy than by your lonesome. The standard shooting in Matt Hazard: Blood Bath and Beyond is solid, but there is little in this package to entice those who have already torn through thousands of enemies in dozens of other games. The parodies are the one element that could have been interesting, but they are implemented in such an uninspired way that they serve only as a reminder of how much cooler this game could have been.

Divinity II: Ego Draconis Review

This role-playing sequel is a reasonably good time, but it doesn't nail some important basics.
The Good

* Fortress invasions are well paced and enjoyable
* It's fun to fly around as a dragon
* Lots of customizable weapons and armor
* You piece together your own summoned creature.

The Bad

* Level of challenge is wildly imbalanced
* Bland story populated with bland characters
* Mind reading feels half-baked
* Glitches, bugs, and other oddities.

In Divinity II, the hunter becomes the hunted. You begin this third-person role-playing game as a newly recruited dragon slayer, eager to join a bloodthirsty party tracking down a fearsome lizard. Soon, however, a turn of events transforms you into what you once reviled: a dragon knight who can slice through enemies on the ground as well as transform into a winged beast and take to the skies. The ability to morph back and forth between human and dragon form is Divinity II's best and most interesting feature, though there are a few other elements that also help set it apart from the competition. Unfortunately, these flames of originality are too often extinguished by Divinity II's less compelling facets. This adventure is a hefty challenge, but the difficulty too often stems from imbalanced enemy encounters rather than tough, thoughtfully constructed battles. Furthermore, thin characters and a by-the-numbers plot make it difficult to get invested in the story. Divinity II may satisfy your craving for some looting and leveling in a fantasy world, but it lacks the sparkle and cohesion of the better games in the genre.

Divinity II makes a good first impression. The initial areas are sunny and bright, and the first major town you visit has a nice fantasy ambience that's just off-kilter enough to avoid looking generic. This is Rivellon, the same world in which the first two games in the series--Divine Divinity and Beyond Divinity--took place, though you don't need to be familiar with them to follow along here. You play a dragon slayer recruit, still in the process of the initiation stages, when you stumble upon a dragon knight in her final death throes. She transfers her powers to you, you meet a bearded sorcerer wearing a big floppy hat covered with stars, and before you know it, you're a dragon knight yourself. It seems that dragons are not the real enemy; rather, the scowling, monologue-loving, bald-headed Damian has returned to the realm and is gathering a powerful army. But Zandalor, the aforementioned wizard stereotype, has a plan: infiltrate the Hall of Echoes, where the dead slumber, and revive Damian's lover, Ygerna. Due to the powerful magic that connects their souls, doing so will in turn trigger Damian's death.

It's a good premise, but the game does a poor job of making you feel connected to the events that unfold. The transformation from slayer to knight could have made an impact, but scant character development and minimalist dialogue siphon away any potential dramatic tension. Some talented voice actors give their lines energy and enthusiasm, but they're rarely given anything interesting to say, and key characters are simple cliches without much personality of their own. And even should you somehow become caught up in the struggle against Damian and his allies, the disappointing ending will let the wind out of your sails. Nevertheless, there are some clever delights scattered about Rivellon, and Divinity II is best when its tongue is planted firmly in cheek. A quest to stop a troll infestation eventually leads you to a roomful of clucking chickens; you solve a riddle filled with enough silly sexual double entendre to make even the most jaded player titter; and the creature you summon to your side stops from time to time to lift his leg and empty his bladder.

In the first hour you'll be asked to choose one of three classes, but don't give this decision too much consideration: Divinity II features a classless skill progression system and provides a good number of different skills to learn in multiple categories. Weapons and magic skills are what you'd expect to see in a fantasy game. Whether you prefer bows or axes, fireballs or magic missiles, you'll find something to your liking, and the steady flow of new goodies will keep loot lovers happy. The early hours, in which you seek out the objects and knowledge that allow you to take your dragon form, send you across sun-drenched fields and into a looming tower. In time you explore goblin-infested caves, mysterious mines, a beach littered with whale carcasses, and a zeppelin port, among other locales. The technology powering Divinity II is not cutting edge; animations are clumsy, textures are bland, and oddities like boulders that aren't flush to the ground and buildings that disappear when you move the camera betray a certain awkwardness. Yet there are some attractive vistas to ogle, and there is a nice amount of visual variety to the dungeons. The art design is familiar but lovely, masking the technical flaws with flourishes of ivy, the deep red glow of molten lava, and shafts of golden light.

It takes a few too many hours before you can take to the skies as a dragon. Once you reach that point, however, you'll appreciate how freeing it is to fly about the oft-unfriendly skies. You can't soar everywhere, mind you. There are plenty of mountains and invisible walls to hem you in, and certain areas are protected by force fields that will quickly fry you if you try to penetrate them. As a dragon you have access to a separate set of skills and armor, though these options are much more limited than those you get on the ground. Nevertheless, it's a hoot to unleash scorching fury on enemy wyrms and anti-dragon towers, particularly in areas containing flying fortresses. These regions have a nice pace to them, requiring you to switch back and forth between forms, moving quickly from aerial lizard fights to ground-based skirmishes. Oddly, however, you can't see ground-based enemies from the air, so you might exit dragon form only to land in the middle of a bunch of Black Ring troops eager to crush you to a pulp. On the flipside, airborne fiends will ignore you once you're on terra firma.

Your dragon form is not the only grand reward awaiting you once you've slashed your way through the first third of the game. You also gain access to your very own battle tower, which functions as a home base where you can store excess items and ask your private dancer to perform perhaps the unsexiest jig you ever did see. The tower is more than just a safe haven, however: it also provides you with a number of helpful non-player characters who make potions, enchant weapons and accessories, and extend your skill levels--all for a fee, of course. Enchantments make loot collection even more interesting, particularly since you can also improve your stats and skills by adding charms to many of your items. Your most intriguing employee, however, is the necromancer, who will sew a creature together out of various limbs you find or purchase. It all seems a bit creepy, but playing Dr. Frankenstein is fun, and the creature is a great help in battle.

Not all of Divinity II's more original facets require you to wait so long before you can enjoy them. In the first hour or so, you earn the ability to read minds, and during most conversations, you can choose the mind-reading option to discover what kinds of secrets characters might be hiding. A few quests, such as a very early one involving an unfaithful wife and her not-so-innocent husband, use this option to some effect and let you use the information you discover to solve the quest in a few different ways. However, most mind-reading attempts of significance lead to treasure chest passwords, hidden loot stashes, lower vendor prices, or additional skill points. These benefits are nice, but rarely does the option lead to quest flexibility or greater insight into a character's psyche. What mind reading essentially does is to turn experience points (which you must spend in order to read minds) into a form of currency: you spend XP for the chance to gain other types of rewards. Divinity II hints at the potential flexibility mind reading could have provided but never explores it, which is a shame considering the game's linear nature. There are plenty of side quests, and you can tackle many of them in more or less any order. But don't expect the kind of elasticity that games like Fallout 3, Dragon Age, or even Risen provide. In most conversations, it doesn't matter whether you choose the line that makes you sound like a jerk or the line that makes you sound like a paragon of virtue. With very few exceptions, such as a fascinating sequence in which your moral choices determine which reward you receive, the result is always the same.

While not all of these creative elements work as well as others, the ideas are mostly sound. Unfortunately, developer Larian Studios botched too many game design basics, which all too often makes you wish that these inventive ideas were used in a better, cleaner game. Enemy encounters are often a big problem for many reasons. This is a challenging game even on medium difficulty, though the challenge too often results from unbalanced skirmishes and poor pacing and is further exacerbated by the imprecise combat. Enemies don't respawn, so there aren't many chances to grind if you enter an area that seems out of your league. You'll die frequently as you make your way through the hordes of skeletons and dragon elves, but the game doesn't offer the precise combat needed to make for fair fights. Most boss fights are more easily won by exploiting the game's poor AI (hide behind a pillar so the bad guys don't see you) or poor pathfinding (get the enemy stuck running in place, and then fill him with arrows) than with clever battle tactics. As it is, these tactics involve a lot of jumping, rolling, and hit-and-run attacks, which is erratic but not very strategic--and not much fun.

Other quirks and flaws will also get in your way. Platforming sequences provide a nice change of pace, but floaty, inexact jumping make some of these sections more exasperating than enjoyable. If you pull a foe too far from its home area, it will regenerate its health and be all but invincible until it runs back to its starting location. In one dungeon, enemies regenerate indefinitely but (like many creatures summoned by your enemies) don't reward you with experience points, even though they can very certainly murder you. And we ran into a number of bugs on multiple systems. Exiting the game may cause the process to hang and force you to use the Windows task manager to close the program, and never-ending loading screens might also lead to a similar shutdown. In one case, we got stuck in an inescapable conversation and therefore could not complete a side quest. Divinity II is clumsy, from its poorly designed minimap to the thin quest log. As a result, it feels as if it were designed from the top down, rather than from the ground up.

Divinity II may draw you in despite its foibles. Flying about as a dragon, summoning your custom-made beast to your side, messing around with enchantments and charms--these elements are thoughtfully designed and inventive enough to be entertaining. But the disappointing story, glitchy AI, and all sorts of minor frustrations bog it down. If you're a forgiving RPG fanatic, you may be able to overlook the faults and see this sequel for what it might have been. But great ideas don't always make a great game, and Divinity II isn't as slick and addictive as its predecessors, or as gripping and replayable as its modern competition.