Portal 2

So finally got around to playing Portal 2 and I liked it but I do have some concerns and some things I did not like about it. One of the annoying parts of the game is that it simply did not work until I tried it two days ago; The game would not start and I had not even heard of many people encountering this problem and I am normally the last person to have problems playing games with my computer.

Basically, Portal 2 is Portal with a normal game like plot, a longer single player campaign, and a quite long cooperative two player online multiplayer, and new puzzles elements.

Lets start with my first point and, what I would call, the most controversial part of of the entire game, how it is far more like a normal game. There are long, numerous, and unskippable cutscenes throughout; A whole lot of dialogue, and lots of new environments and situations. In a lot of ways this is fantastic, most of the dialogue I love, it is simply hilarious; But it is not the same elegant minimalistic unique game that Portal was and is. This part of the game is quite well done and a very enjoyable but it is not Portal. While Portal gave you extremely well written witty and well placed dialogue, in Portal 2 someone is almost constantly chatting into your ear and there is as many cut scenes as puzzles. And a lot of the dialogue is fantastic but some of it is not, for the most part there is just so much dialogue that eventually you go over the same stuff multiple times. So yes it is terrific and better then almost all mainstream video games but it is not in a whole other category like the original.

On to the length; I would call it a four hour game (single player campaign), which is ridiculously short but then a lot of people will probably take longer. And then add onto that the multiplayer which is supposed to be almost the same length again. But I for one have no interest in coop, and of course should not be included in any game length stats. Coop sounds interesting but unless you have a friend who wants to play it with you then it is going to be a very hit and miss. You simply cannot progress one single step if your partner is unwilling or unable to help.

So what about the puzzles? The puzzles are another controversial feature in my opinion. Yes, the additions work pretty well and are fun to use but they just seem too complicated. The original Portal works so well because it does something basic and simple, bridging two areas of space together seamlessly. But my biggest problem with the puzzles is simply the design, that is it is far too closed.  The original Portal was great partly because quite a lot of the walls were made of portal-supportable materials, basically unless a surface needed to be inaccessible or ruin the entire puzzle it was left usable; This allowed multiple solutions, the very enjoyable challenges, and a lot or real analytical problem solving; That's all gone now, instead you have puzzles where every portal-able surface will have to be used at some point to solve the puzzle, which is a linear one solution puzzle (with not very many steps). So basically all challenge has been taken out of the game.

If you have not noticed yet I am really not sure how to rate this game. It is good but it is a horrible sequel to Portal. It is a very fun game, but ultimately I think it is more like a very well polished turd then anything else. Portal is great because it has a inner beauty, but most of Portal 2's beauty is just skin deep.

Bulletstorm

Bulletstorm is the latest release from the esteemed studio of People Can Fly, and like the rest of their games it is a over the top shooter, and in this case one of the first person variety. It has gotten moderately good reviews overall and I agree with them in general. It is a fun game, but I have played FPSs with better core mechanics.

The first issue I want to tackle is a problem that this game shares with many recent FPSs and other combat focused genres. Bulletstorm, even on very hard difficulty (the hardest difficulty setting), is only moderately challenging. And I am not even a FPS person, so I feel bad for all the veteran FPS players out there, you just cannot seem to find a FPS that should not be played on the hardest setting the first time through any more. All in all it was not a bad difficulty to play on, but if I wanted to replay the game it would certainty be far too easy now to be worth it.

Additionally, I found the difficulty to be very inconsistent. For one the most hyped up, supposedly uber powerful, enemy in the game, the Burnouts. These enemies have giant soft spots all over their bodies in the form of puss filled cysts which act as instant kill (or head-shot) locations if given a small amount of damage; These enemies are also not quick, have no long range attack, and have absolutely no special abilities in other words they are a joke, and yet the game warns you about these end game super enemies more then any other. And the bosses and to an extent the mini-bosses make these Burnouts look like Rambo in comparison. The first boss is by far the best one, and the only one I would consider an actual boss, with multiple phases and tones of HP; The others are all clones of themselves, fight identically, only have one phase, and can be killed almost instantly. But there is one thing that all of these bosses have in common, it is near impossible for them to even hit you, let alone kill you (and even though I was playing the game for the first time on the hardest difficulty I still was never even close to hurt by any of them).

Not that the game is bad by any means, it simply is not as dedicated to this sort of finesse stuff. Instead Bulletstorm focuses on over the top, macho, and run and gun gameplay. For this you have the ability to kick objects and people and send them flying across the map; Leash them and send them flying towards you; Or doing a sliding kick which sends you sliding across the ground and kicks anything or anyone you come into contact with. Add to this the strategically placed explosive barrels, spikes, and pits and you get some pretty creative ways of killing people. And even the guns are styled in such a way to promote this run and gun style. For example, the sniper rifle goes into a slow-mo time when shot and actually allows you to aim and move the bullet as it travels to such an extent as to go around corners and over barriers to reach the target.

But probably the most unique aspect of the game is the skill point system. As you play you are awarded points as you kill people and the more creative you are the more points you get. It is basically a FPS version of Madworld. Except that I found it annoying to keep having to look up and memorise special combos and change guns simply to get the other gun specific ones. Additionally, more points then just playing like normal were not needed. Points are used to purchase gun upgrades and ammo. The ammo is at least moderately useful, but the upgrades also include additional storage space for ammo and both the ammo for and additional storage spots for charged shots, which are super powerful single shot attacks; Which are useful in some situations, but are too slow for the average firefight.

So it is a fun game but it hardly seems polished. Worth checking out if a less sophisticated FPS sounds appealing to you but it is hard to compare to the many well balanced titles out there.

My mini-review of Bulletstorm.

Puzzle Agent 2

With mysteries remaining in Scoggins, Minnesota detective Nelson Tethers just cannot get it out of his thoughts or the gnomes out of his nightmares, even if the case is officially considered solved. So taking vacation leave Tethers returns to Scoggins to finally bring the mystery of the forest gnomes and the missing people to a close.

Puzzle Agent 2 is most of all a sequel to Puzzle Agent, it has the same cartoony 2D hand drawn graphics, wacky plot, selection of mini-games, and starts off right where the first game ended. So if you enjoyed the first game you are likely to enjoy this one just as much but for anyone who has not played either of these games I will try to convince you in the following review.

Puzzle Agent 2, and more generally the entire series to date, is a very unique adventure/puzzle game. In addition to the normal conversation trees with NPCs and story progression there are numerous and diverse mini-games, which are the centrepiece of the entire game. There are optional puzzles and bonus puzzles, mathematical based puzzles and logical puzzles, hard puzzles and easy puzzles, as well as familiar puzzles and unknown puzzles, but all of them are at least somewhat enjoyable.

The graphics are interesting if nothing else. Quintessentially, cartoony and at least appearing to be hand drawn with minimalist jerky animation. They lend a unique visual style which is as essential as beauty, but I cannot say that they look great or even much better then good.

And equally as unique as the rest of the game, the plot of Puzzle Agent 2 is a direct sequel to Puzzle Agent. But where the first game has a freaky and strange plot already Puzzle Agent 2 takes this concept and runs with it, and it definitely keeps you on your toes. And like the graphics I cannot really say that is is a great plot; It serves to differentiate and give the Puzzle Agent world its own theme and mood, which is as important as anything else and it does make one enjoyable world.

Overall it is one of the more realistic fictional worlds. Everything just fits together, makes sense, and makes a finished product that is even better then the sum of its parts. The one bad part of the entire game is the length which, even while not using a single walkthrough or external hint, I was able to complete in under 4 hours, and I think 2 hours would be easily possible, for anyone who is not worrying about their score.

My mini-review of Puzzle Agent 2.

Another World (aka Out of This World)

Another World is a classic action platformer that is available on many consoles and OSes. I recently got around to playing this game and absolutely loved it.

In Another World you traverse a 2D alien world using platforming, rudimentary environmental puzzle solving, and combat. The most unique and hard aspect of this game is this combat which is completely done through a laser pistol; Additionally, this laser pistol (as well as the other unique features) are not explained in many walkthroughs nor are there any hint and tip articles about this particular game that I could find, so I will try to give some instructions for use along with this article.

The first thing to know about this game is that it is extremely short (30 minutes too an hour) if you know exactly what you are doing, but without hints, tips, a precise walkthrough, and (not or) previous hands on experience it could take anywhere from 10 hours, 20 hours, or even many times more. The reasons for this is both the extreme difficulty of the game with the check-point nature of saving and the pseudo open world sandbox-yness of the game world. The hardness is pretty standard classic fare, with not only most locations needing pin point accuracy and rapid reaction time but many needing prior knowledge of what you will encounter on the other side of a screen or what will appear after you walk past a certain spot; But these challenges are only a small part of what makes the game so time consuming. The open worldliness is the most potentially time consuming and quite unique to boot. Often you have multiple paths open to you at all times, but all but one of these paths will result either in a dead end in which you must back go back to your last save point to try again or end up in an impossible to survive situation. Not that it is all guess and check work, one of the best ways to figure out if you are going in the wrong direction is simply that your game will not save (which it normally does quite rapidly). Eventually, all of these paths are traversed but a specific linear order must be followed.

When you first get your first and only weapon, the laser pistol, it has a very limited number of shots and you have to almost perfectly conserve the charge for a handful of fights until you encounter a charging station. In combat, as well as the rest of the game, everything is instant kill but in combat you have one advantage, an energy shield. With this pistol you, and your enemies, are able to perform three types of shots by charging the pistol for progressively longer. The first shot, produced through a simple button tap, fires a regular laser shot that will either kill anything it touches or slightly damage any energy shields. The second shot is created by charging the shot for a short while, creating a temporary energy shield that wares out over time and use and stops any energy hurtled at it but allows physical matter to pass through it. This shield is created slightly in front of you but with your gun still forwards enough to fire through it; Correct use of these shields are the corner stone of the combat and necessary for survival. The third shot takes quite a long time to charge but packs quite a large punch; Capable to blasting through doors, some walls, and instantly through any shield this shot might be one of the least used but it is a life saver when used correctly.

But probably the best part of the game is the alien and brutal environment. With its unique and beautiful vector graphics and mysterious atmosphere Another World is a treat to explore. Most of all the brutality and danger of the worlds hits you. At every turn everything seems to be capable of mercilessly, efficiently, and viscerally dispatching you. All in all it creates a wonderful unique world that I would recommend to anyone, but I would recommend reading a walkthrough as you play even more.

My mini-review of Another World.