REVIEW: The Wheelman

Developer: Tigon Studios | Publisher: Ubisoft | Format: PS3 Reviewer: Craig Jay Gallagher The Wheelman is the latest from Vin Diesel’s very own Tigon studios, their first since the truly superb The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay which to this day remains this reviewers favourite FPS. Taking a completely different route the Wheelman plays like the bastard lovechild of GTA, Burnout and the Blues Brothers.

Diesel plays Milo Burik, a driver for hire working in Barcelona for various gang bosses. The story takes awhile to unveil it’s self and much like the Fast and the Furious which made Diesel a star the game is more concerned with fast cars, things going boom and copious amounts of shooting people. To say anything more about the story would spoil it for most gamers though anyone with a basic understanding of how Blockbusters work will take no time figuring it all out.

One of this reviewers biggest gripe with many racing games is just how serious they take themselves. Wheelman recognices that the most entertaining car based games are the ones which throw realism out the window. You can hijack cars by leaping through the air in slow motion before casually throwing the driver out. You can race through traffic, leap through office buildings and ignore the laws of psychics as you generally go mad. It’s quite reminiscent of Crazy Taxi only with the addition of weapons.

Enemy AI is seriously lacking at times. One of the most obvious examples is a side mission which involves you surviving for 5 minutes with a 5 star wanted level. Now this may seem quite difficult and it is for the first few attempts. However if instead of trying to escape the cops by driving like a maniac through the city all you have to do is drive around one of many fountains or roundabouts and watch as the cops fail miserably to catch you. Yes, it’s that simple.

Barcelona looks fantastic, it’s bright and vibrant at times looking even photo realistic. Unfortunately the characters all appear fake and  have a plastic tint to them. The audio though is great. Diesel is on fine form though the rest of the cast just seem to be lacking something.

The Wheelman is an enjoyable romp but with a few problems which could have been fixed with a little more polish. While never scaling the heights of Riddick, The Wheelman is a respectable follow up for Tigon and one which bodes well for the future.

REVIEW: Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4

Developer: Atlus | Publisher: Square Enix| Format: PS2

Reviewer: Craig Jay Gallagher

For those out there who have yet to experience the world of Shin Megami Tensei: Persona you really are missing out. For not only is it a thoroughly entertaining franchise the latest entry Persona 4 is perhaps the greatest RPG ever released.

The game takes place in Japan of the near future and against most RPG conventions the heroes aren’t mystic wizards or knights they are in fact high school students. The story follows our nameless protagonist who also happens to be the new kid in town living with his policeman uncle and his daughter. As the game progresses the game takes an unexpected twist when a spate of murders begin to plague the town. If things weren’t odd enough it becomes clear that people are being sucked into their televisions and killed by creatures who live within them. The story is absolutely fantastic and the level of respect with which it’s treated is impressive. Hell the story is so important that it doesn’t even really kick in till around the 5 hour mark.

A large portion of the game sees the gamer making their way through dungeons in an constantly evolving and changing demonic world. Each of the dungeons is based on the mind of the people who are sucked into the TV meaning that each new dungeon looks and play different to the one which came before. To help fight the man obstacles that you come across each character has their own person, a demon who expresses their innerself. The only character without such a unique person is our protagonist who can change his persona at the drop of a hat, that is after he collects them during the course of the game.

Battles are as hard as they come, hell the most basic creatures can easily tear you apart in just two turns. The turn based combat is far more intricate than first appearances will lead you to believe. You can carry up to 5 personas with you at any given time. Each of these personas gains new skills as it levels up making it more powerful. The games is set over a year. You proceed day by day giving you 365 game days to complete the mystery.

Each day plays a part in the over all strategy you will employ. Each of your personas abilities and powers are tied into its corresponding social link. Hanging out with your friends will do more for you fighting abilities than simply rushing from battle to battle. At times Persona 4 is kind of like the Sims only far more entertaining.

The shadows (Bad guys) only attack after it rains so if rain is reported for 3 days time that means that you have 3 days in which to save their life. The question now is do you head straight into the TV world or do you continue to work on your social skills for another day as you feel that it could be the deciding factor in you saving a life.

Given the sheer amount of gameplay here you could be forgiven for expecting sub par graphics but this is far from the case. If anything these could be the best graphics on the PS2 to date. That they never dip in quality over the games 100 hours is something to be celebrated. Throw in the fantastic score and pleasantly delivered dialogue, Persona really is the best game on the PS2 and as good as any next gen title.

If we had a rating system then Persona 4 would score solid 10’s in all categories. It’s quite simply put, the best game in the history of the PS2, one of the best titles currently available on any platform and the single best title released in the past two years. In fact so good is Persona 4 that it’s in this reviewers top 5  games of all time.

Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 Iron Fist Trailer

Here’s the latest trailer for the upcoming Marvel Alliance 2. The trailer feautes Iron Fist and showcases many of his trademark moves.

REVIEW:The Last Remnant

Developer: Square Enix | Publisher: Square Enix| Format: PC

Reviewer: Craig Jay Gallagher

Japanese RPG’s have predominantly found their homes on one of the major consoles, generally the results for PC versions have been poor and ill judged. To say that Last Remnant manages to successfully accomplish a successful port from the 360 to PC wold be an understatement. It’s one of the most refreshing and entertaining PC RPG’s in as long as this reviewer can remember.

Rush Sykes our plucky hero is searching for his sister who was recently kidnapped. Being an epic RPG his path soon crosses with that of an up and coming city leader and before you can say what, he finds himself involved in a world wide conflict which could decide the very fate of existence.

The battle system is a little different, rather than controlling a group of heroes you will instead recruit leaders and then soldiers grouping them into various unions. Each union will then have their own stats, equipment, etc you will issue army wide commands during the battles. Traditionally RPG’s have you issue specific commands such as casting a spell  in the Last Remnant you have to issue commands on a far greater scale. You will heal entire units or raise Rush’s awesome Cyclops into helping you vanquish the enemy.

In the game you’ll eventually encounter some truly amazing battle. While this look amazing they are also quite difficult. These battles can involve dozens and dozens of unions. Restrictions on your finances and the rather hard enemies make battles long and torturous meaning that any casual gamer looking for a quick and easy RPG should look elsewhere. There us between 40-50 hours of gameplay in The Last Remnant which is something which should be celebrated given that many modern games can be completed in less than 10.

The game sounds absolutely fantastic though that said the voice acting does suffer due to some of the awkward dialogue which the actors try their best to make sound natural but come across stilted and plain odd. The soundtrack really inspires, it’s rousing and gives battles an additional level of grandiose. Graphically the game is top notch with battles and individual characters taking your breath away.

While it’s not the greatest game ever made, The Last Remnant remains one of the most refreshing PC based RPG’s in a long time. Casual gamers may feel a little lost in the games complexities but for hardened fans it’s a truly wonderful game.

Konami Pick Up Saw the Game

Konami has picked up the rights to the in-development SAW game from the bankrupt Brash. The game rights reverted back to Liongate after the bankruptcy whom decided not to publish the title themselves and allow Konami to do so. Developers Zombie whom were working for Brash are still developing the game which will be released next Halloween around the same time as Saw VI.

Konami no doubt has it’s eye on developing the title into it’s second horror franchise. The company know for its psychological horror Silent Hill are venturing into somewhat unknown territory given that the Saw films rely on visceral violence and gore. The plot for the game will follow a character in an asylum who must decide how to take apart Jigsaw’s traps and save his intended victims.