Remember the first time you ever played Silent Hill? Admit it, you were terrified. The suffocating industrial atmosphere was so opressive that you kept juggling with a strange envy to close the console and go take some fresh air. But something kept you going. You had the strange impression to be fighting the good fight, the one to reunite a father and a daughter separated by a world of nightmare. Therein lies the genius of the Silent Hill franchise. If the fans were generally disappointed by the latest installment of the series, Silent Hill:Shattered Memories, developed by the British crew of Climax (who were also behind the underwhelming Silent Hill:Origins), offers a new start to the franchise. Sit tight, rewind the clock back to 1998, relax and press start.
You know the story. Harry Mason is crashing his car with his daughter in it and when he comes back to his senses, she's gone...and seemingly into Silent Hill! So what was the approach of the guys at Climax in order to make it feel new. First of all, you start the game in a psychiatrist office, face to face with a man named Dr.K. Now, anyone who has played Silent Hill before and set a foot into Alchemilla Hospital knows better than to trust any doctors. I would suggest to trust him though. He clearly wants to toy with your mind, but isn't it why you buy a Silent Hill game in the first place? In fact, Dr. K. is the characterization of the psychological profiling feature in the game. He will give you tests, play games with you all in order to stock information on you, get to your mind and shape the reality you will be playing. You'll get a similar story whatever you answer, but you will see it with different eyes.
Silent Hill:Shattered Memories establishes a type of gameplay that incorporates itself to the story. Despite the fact that this title was published on PS2, Climax is doing a better job at blending gameplay and storytelling than a lot of titles that came out on the latter generation. There are no lulls in the pacing (all right the pacing is slow), there is no moment where you let go of the story to concentrate fully on a puzzle. The puzzles are the story and the story is the puzzles.
Take the nightmares for example, they are the only part of the game where you actually risk anything. The world is freezing over and you are getting chased by screeching mannequins (if you played a previous installment of Silent Hill, you know what a mannequin is). They cannot be harmed, only blocked by furniture you push down or brushed away when they climb to your back. They are the only real puzzles in the game...and boy they have an accurate name. The nightmares really feel suffocating like real nightmares. You bust through doors, to endless hallways. You will mess up, you will turn in a circle, feel trapped, until you figure the right route. There is a little bit of trial and error, but Shattered Memories is a pretty instinctive game, you will end up catching the patterns and figure your way through corridors and faceless monsters. The chases are frantic, they are fun and the writer surprisingly found himself humming the Punch-Out! jogging tune while running for his life.
When you're not in a nightmare mode, the game slows down into a contemplating mode. Sometimes, it felt like playing a click and play computer game (Leisure Suit Larry 1 - 7, Monkey Island, Phantasmagoria, etc.), it feels dated in 2010. Also, if you're not a fan of Silent Hill, you might not appreciate this revamped look at the haunted town. There is really little challenge outside the nightmare mode. There has been much talk about Harry's maglite in the Wii reviews, but it isn't as much as its made out to be. You don't depend on it, at least not all the time.
This is an aspect that's harder to talk about without being unfair. Yes the graphics are dated. It's a PS2 game. It looks very good for a title on an obsolete console though. There is little to no polygon chop, character animation looks better than some of the PS3 best titles (ahem...Assassin's Creed 2...ahem), but there are some lesser sides. Harry looks like he's missing a forearm when you're running with the maglite for example. There is also a swimming scene which is poorly rendered. The water is choppy and the melting snow effect is mediocre at best, but somehow the dated feeling to the graphics give the game a gritty feeling. There are just a few details unpolished.
One real downside to Shattered Memories is the controls. There's a few things to do, but the controls don't do them properly. Running, for example, takes one or two seconds to kick off. Another asinine function is that you can open just a crack in the doors, so technically, you can look what is on the other side before opening it wide open with the left stck. Too bad there are no monsters outside the nightmare mode...and that you're running through doors when you are getting chased.
Silent Hill:Shattered Memories is an enjoyable experience. It's a bit short (around six hours to do one playthrough), but it packs a mean punch. The ending will leave the fans gasping for air. Rare are the endings that live up to their tales. Shattered Memories brilliantly passes the test. It's one of the best sucker punchers you will see for a while.
It's not very accesible to the average video gamer that is not into Silent Hill in the first place. The game has been described as more of a psychological thriller than a survival horror game and thats agreeable. There is an arthouse feeling to Shattered Memories. It's a treat for the fans, but if you're in dire need of nasty survival horror, you might be looking at the wrong place.Every Silent Hill fan that felt let down by Origins and Homecoming should give a chance to Shattered Memories and let the madness get to them again.
With the phrase ‘party game’ being somewhat of a profanity these days, largely thanks to the ever-increasing amount of Wii shovelware of the same genre, it’s distressing that one of the originals has been largely ignored. Wario Ware Mega Party Games premise can never be done justice by the written word: it’s basically a series of rapid fire mini-games – each lasting approximately five seconds – that have to be completed until all lives have been exhausted. The crux is its simplicity as the only control inputs are the ‘A’ button and use of the analogue stick. Though this seems basic, it demands the player rely solely on gut instinct. Each mini game issues a command, one for instance instructs the player to ‘dodge’, reactions are instantaneous and you use the analogue stick to manoeuvre a superhero out of the way of oncoming buildings.
If that last description sounded bizarre, that’s just the bottom of Wario’s barrel of weird. Other mini games involve shaking hands with a Boarder Colley, walking around on a cake whilst trying to avoid a gigantic hand and most alarmingly, trying to bite a baby with a mosquito, attempting to avoid clouds of insect spray. Some of the mini games feature such great animations it’s worth failing on purpose just to witness the results.
Though the single player experience is amiable at best, few games can boast the multiplayer accessibility of WWMPG. There are several four player game modes on offer, all revolving around the rapid-fire mini games. Balloon Bang has players take turns to play mini games while the others press the ‘A’ button to inflate a balloon, whoever is playing the mini-game when it bursts loses. Outta The Way involves playing fifteen mini-games in a row whilst the other players try to obstruct the view. The house favourite and superbly named Wobbly Bobbly has players attempt to balance on an increasing stack of turtles, which are administered on opponents by winning mini games. Most of the games are well-balanced competitive fun. The only faux pas is Card E Card, which relies a little too much on luck and doesn’t reward success as graciously as the others.
Where WWMPG really shines is in managing the difficulty curb of the multiplayer. The better a player does, the harder the core mini games become for them, meaning victories are always hard fought. It’s an excellent design choice that accommodates players of all skill levels, allowing them to progress further and occasionally pick up the fluky win. And should they lose they are still catered for by being presented with the opportunity to become a nuisance to the other players. In Wobbly Bobbly for instance, eliminated players become little turtles that can nibble at other players stacks, thus making it harder for them to balance.
The sixteen-player elimination mode is the best way to keep a room full of people amused. Simplicity is the key: pass one control pad around and take it in turns to play mini-games until everyone is eliminated. As the game progresses the speed and difficulty of the mini games increases, instigating a cacophony of panicked wailing. Seeing your name on screen accompanied by a ridiculous avatar clad in a power ranger-like coloured body suit is a sight to behold.
WWMPG is a charming, well-designed mini game riot that outshines its contemporaries. It’s balanced without feeling punishing and simplistic without being basic. Played with friends it’s arguably one of the most frantic and entertaining titles you can experience under one roof. It’s a title has united non-gamers, the Nintendo faithful and World of Warcraft fanatics, all on one control pad. Whatever crass gaming stereotype you adhere to, WWMPG makes for an excellent night in.
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The Legend of Zelda is a series that nearly everyone has come to know and love. It’s been a long time since the original game was released in 1987, but each Zelda game, even in this modern era, still makes waves when announced. Nearly all the games receive critical acclaim.
The series has a very famous trademark: the games are not released in chronological order. There is speculation that the overall story has split into two timelines. Both occur after the events of Ocarina of Time—one timeline where Link returns to his childhood after having slept for seven years, and another where time keeps moving forward while Link has been sent back to his past. Fans of the series spend hours debating which games fit into which timeline, and new games are always being figured into the equation.
So which are the best Zelda games? Well, many would certainly say Ocarina of Time was the very best. It’s been on so many "Greatest Games Of All Time" lists that it’s almost expected to be on any Greatest Games list that come along. It’s definitely an oldie but a goodie. Certainly the newer games such as Wind Waker and Twilight Princess are a couple of the best as well, but in the newer generation, you’re hard-pressed to find someone who goes backwards and actually wants to play the older games.
But of course, never judge a book by its cover—or in this case, a game by its graphics. The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening, the first Zelda game for a handheld system (the Gameboy), was released in 1993. This Zelda game stands out from all the others. It’s one of the very few Zelda games that does not take place in Hyrule, and interestingly enough, it does not feature Ganondorf or even Zelda, who’s only mentioned but not seen. Being without its usual villain and princess, the story is quite unusual for a Zelda entry. Link wakes up on a mysterious island and must find a way out. His only chance is to awaken the dreaming Wind Fish.
Link must uncover the secrets of the island to get home—there’s sort of an Odyssian adventure that he has to go on. To wake up the legendary Wind Fish that’s been sleeping in a giant egg on the top of the mountains of Koholint Island, Link must find eight instruments. Along the way, he finds out that when he wakes up the Wind Fish, the island will disappear. Here the game presents a very interesting moral dilemma—should Link sacrifice the island and all of its people, everyone that he has met, to go home? Link decides to move on, collect the instruments, and see what happens.
The game has several interesting components. Remember the Chain Chomp from Mario? He makes a guest appearance as BowWow. Link takes him for a walk, and he’ll munch up enemies in the way. Link’s Awakening has so many little quirks, such as the sign that says “The Mysterious Forest (it’s a little bit mysterious),” or the store owner who will kick you out if you steal something and your name will be converted to “Thief” for the rest of the game.
In addition, it’s got all the great elements of Zelda, such as the signature items like the boomerang and the bombs. Link can have two items equipped at once, one on the A button and the other on the B button, allowing free customization and a rather large array of combinations simply for two buttons. In a way, this also makes it more difficult than most Zelda games, since Link is limited to those two items equipped. For instance, Zelda players are used to having his sword and shield on hand all the time—but in Link’s Awakening, the shield and sword must be assigned to a button to use it. The item that lets Link pick up heavy rocks must also be equipped for him to pick up the heavy things.
This is also one of the rare Zelda games to feature jumping, using a feather item. The customization of items can make for some very interesting strategies. For instance, Link can be using the magic wand and the shield together, usually an abnormal combination. Or Link can be equipped with the wand and the sword, giving a unique might-and-magic attack.
Link’s Awakening also has a few side quests, such as collecting “secret seashells” that can be traded in for a better sword. The dungeons follow the basic pattern of the Zelda levels—solving puzzles, defeating enemies, getting keys (and getting lost), and getting to the big, bad boss. They also follow the general theme of getting a big item in the dungeon that is usually needed to defeat the boss.
Though the dungeons are the main levels of Zelda games, they become great through the stories, the creative item designs, and the characters—all elements of an excellent game. Link’s Awakening demonstrates the best qualities of all the Zelda games, making this a classic, timeless example of a fantastic Zelda game. It is an experience that all gamers should try, especially the newer generation, as Link's Awakening shows that even a departure from an IP's bread and butter can lead to success.
Where genre’s are rarely defined by a single series - often there are several important franchises which innovate and realign the boundaries of what becomes the industry standard - the wrestling genre has only one. What’s even more remarkable is that the genre’s peak has not been surpassed since the release of WWF: No Mercy, a game nearly ten years old.
No Mercy’s strengths are not drawn from presenting the player with a wide array of distractions. Aside from the usual multi man matches the only special matches are the ladder match, the Royal Rumble and the Steel Cage match. Nor does it draw on technical diversions such as extended wrestler entrances and audio commentary.
The strength of No Mercy is within its simplistic yet unsurpassed gameplay system, which works around two types of attacks, grapple with the ‘A’ button and strike with the ‘B’ button. Grapples can be blocked by pressing ‘L’ and strikes can be reversed by pressing ‘R’, both require a degree of timing. Strong grapples and strikes can also be executed by holding the respective buttons, they take longer to execute but inflict more damage. Tactics allude to second-guessing your opponent, once a grapple has been countered the opponent is briefly stunned, presenting the opportunity to strike or grapple. Do you opt for the strong grapple and maximise damage but risk chance of reversal or do you reduce risk to a minimum and decide to perform a weak grapple that inflicts only a small amount of damage?
No Mercy has no visible health bar; it has a momentum meter that depletes when damage is taken. Performing a succession of successful grapples or strikes when on the verge of defeat results in the meter filling up quicker, mirroring the usual structure of real professional wrestling matches. Once the momentum meter has all but diminished and enough damage has been sustained it is possible to be pinned, though this is still no mean feat. Just like in professional wrestling the finish must be convincing. Manoeuvres performed from weak grapples rarely get the job done. Strong grapple moves usually do the trick, a finishing move, executed by filling the momentum meter, is almost a certainty. Submissions function similarly as No Mercy introduces specific limb damage. Each move affects a certain part of the body, once a body part is weakened it is possible to make an opponent submit, provided the submission move targets the weakened body part.
Whilst every other wrestling game franchise has the button mashing credentials of a standard fighting game, No Mercy plays exactly like the sport it’s trying to emulate. The drama is orchestrated by the momentum meter and also by occasionally taking the player out of the picture. The multi functional momentum meter dictates the chance of reversing moves when tied up in the grapple (though some weak grapples are irreversible but actually increase the opponents momentum, furthering tactical play), the larger the momentum; the more chance the AI has of granting a reversal. Submission moves, once applied cannot be survived by any sort of button mashing mini-game, you must observe as to whether or not ones chosen muscle bound god can withstand the hold. Visualising another players face go through such agonies in the same room is priceless.
In terms of content No Mercy has always been in the shadow of its Playstation counterparts. While the roster is a generous fifty wrestlers strong, create a wrestler mode (which features a large array of moves) and changeable match options pale in comparison to the SmackDown series. Other snags include the disastrous sound track, which can only be described as ‘late nineties funk’ and slowdown experienced during four player bouts. Visually though, the charming blocky wrestlers in No Mercy have aged for the better. Audio is generally excellent with striking moves resulting in appropriate slaps, whilst chokeslams, piledrivers and powerbombs all deliver a suitable mat-crunching audio accompaniment. No Mercy’s collision detection is to this day superior to recent entries in the clunky SmackDown series.
No Mercy and its predecessors are unique because they actually play like wrestling simulators as opposed to fast-paced fighting games. The match types, editable options and extra features are usually on the sparse side, but what would you rather have, a streamlined classic or a wreck with additional nuts and bolts? To paraphrase a wrestling great; No Mercy is simply the best there is, the best there was and the best there ever will be.
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Retro
Monday, 08 February 2010 23:17 | 
Written by James E. Young |
