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1626

TalkBack / RE:REVIEWS: Chibi-Robo

« on: February 22, 2006, 06:28:35 PM »

The actual length depends on how you're calculating: when I beat the story with a few objectives yet to complete, my game clock said 20 hours. However each 15 minute day actually lasts around 20-25 minutes of real time with loading, menus, and dialogue, but the clock only counts actual gameplay time. I think 25 hours is a good rough estimate, but it could be more or less, particularly depending on your ability to figure out some of the more obscure puzzles.  

[Two are better than one. Right?]

1627

TalkBack / Yu-Gi-Oh Double Pack ships

« on: February 22, 2006, 03:03:11 PM »

Two are better than one. Right?

KONAMI SHIPS YU-GI-OH! DOUBLE PACK    

Combining Yu-Gi-Oh! The Sacred Cards and Yu-Gi-Oh! Reshef of Destruction Onto One GBA Game Pak For The Ultimate Card Battling Experience    

REDWOOD CITY, Calif. – February 22, 2006 – Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc., announced today it has shipped Yu-Gi-Oh! Double Pack for the Nintendo Game Boy® Advance handheld video game system to retail stores nationwide. The classic titles Yu-Gi-Oh! The Sacred Cards and Yu-Gi-Oh! Reshef of Destruction are combined onto one GBA cartridge, letting Yu-Gi-Oh! players duel in the ultimate card dueling tournaments. Based on the popular animated TV series and TRADING CARD GAME, both chapters are among the most highly acclaimed games in the long running Yu-Gi-Oh! franchise and will provide hours of portable gaming fun. Additionally, the game comes packaged with two exclusive trading cards: Dark Magician Knight and Knight’s Tale.    

In Yu-Gi-Oh! The Sacred Cards, players strive to become the strongest duelist in the world by collecting the three God cards. The game takes place in Battle City, which features more than 100 characters and 900 cards.  Players must duel to gain valuable experience to increase their level and the ability to use more powerful cards.    

Yu-Gi-Oh! Reshef of Destruction, the sequel to Yu-Gi-Oh! The Sacred Cards, pits players against Reshef - “The Dark Being" – who, if left unchecked, will shroud the world in a mire of darkness. Players must build their decks and gain experience, even as new twists and turns threaten to derail efforts to stop evil. As players explore the world, they will have to buy and sell, even wager, their cards to create an unbeatable deck to stop Reshef and restore order.    

Yu-Gi-Oh! Double Pack is rated “E" for Everyone by the ESRB and has an SRP of $29.99.  For more information on Yu-Gi-Oh! Double Pack and the Yu-Gi-Oh! franchise, please visit: www.konami.com/gs.

[Spread the happiness or die.]

1628

TalkBack / REVIEWS: Chibi-Robo

« on: February 22, 2006, 02:32:49 PM »

Spread the happiness or die.

Chibi-Robo is a tiny robot that does your chores for you, and he's become the latest fad. A particular Chibi-Robo was given to a particular eight year old girl in the Sanderson household on her birthday. The Sanderson family did not know how far-reaching the implications of his presence would be, and neither does any gamer out there right now. You can expect anything you want from Chibi-Robo, but it will invariably deliver something completely different.    

But of course, this is a good thing! The game will catch you off your guard the moment you pop it in. Though it has a child's game look and feel, it stays just this side of shallow and is long enough to keep any aged gamer satisfied. The main purpose of the game is to make the Sandersons happy. Good deeds and housekeeping are rewarded with happy points, which act as a sort of currency. Gaining more happy points than any other Chibi-Robo on the planet will earn our hero status as Super Chibi-Robo. It's clear from the outset that his work won't be easy: Mr. Sanderson is unemployed, his wife wants to divorce him, and his daughter believes she is a frog. Being only four inches tall doesn't help either, but Chibi is resilient and resourceful.    

Chibi gains happy points by scrubbing the stains on the Sanderson's floors, picking up their trash, and giving them gifts or things that they've lost. These activities never go away and make up roughly half of the gameplay. There are also more complex objectives that form the brunt of the story and involve interactions between the various characters in the house, the majority of whom are living toys. A lot of these objectives are simple minigames that have a surprising amount of difficulty, though often they entail progressing to a tough-to-reach area, finding a lost item, and giving the item to someone.    

Chibi is controlled by an odd mix of Zelda and Mario play styles. Like Link, Chibi cannot jump but will hop on top of things when pushed against them. He will equip items from a menu and use them when necessary. Yet the game often has more action platforming a la Mario; due to Chibi's height, exploration is predominantly vertical. Chibi also has a battery that slowly ticks down as time passes and is used up much faster by performing any action, including walking. You can recharge at any outlet, but most rooms have only one or two. This does not so much present strategy as prevent you from venturing too far into the house until you gain larger batteries. By the last half of the game you won't need to worry about it much at all, giving you some breathing room for exploring.    

Exploring is one of the thrills of Chibi-Robo – each room is slowly unlocked, Metroid style, by gaining new abilities. The rooms are all quite large, with secrets up to the ceiling. Only with inventive use of your tools will you get to these heights. Along the way there will be more stains to clean, trash to pick up, and a few items that will make the Sandersons and their toys happy. Though exploring is great, interacting with and helping the characters in Chibi-Robo is much of the game's fun. The dialogue is incredibly funny, and the situations presented are truly bizarre. Everyone's favorite character will be Space Hunter Drake Redcrest, a justice-obsessed toy who informs you that the first rule of being a Space Hunter is to greet everyone by yelling. Also memorable is the army of toy eggs at war with the family dog, the nectar-addicted teddy bear who promises to go straight after he gets one last fix, and the aliens in the backyard who greet you by saying, “Hi. We're aliens." At first it seems these humorous subquests are Chibi-Robo's only plot, but they slowly and surprisingly build to one main plot that is actually quite touching. By the end the game's family feels like your family, and that is an achievement.    

Unfortunately, the balance of the game is just a little off. Halfway through the game you'll have unlocked every room in the house (which does not, oddly, include a bathroom). This dramatically alters the incentive to gain new abilities and happy points. Then, in the final third of the game, the plot-oriented objectives become more difficult, so you'll end up doing more cleaning than exploring, just to keep those happy points coming. I spent a few game days accomplishing nothing at all, and that was frustrating. Since this last third of the game is quite a bit longer than it should be, the excellent ending chapters come too late to redeem the faults. Some gamers might not make it past this portion. This is an unfortunate downside to an excellent game, one that could have been fixed by more rooms and objectives or a complete revamping of how the game plays in the last half (cleaning does get a little old).    

Otherwise, I most heartily recommend Chibi-Robo to Nintendo gamers, meaning if you bought a GameCube just for Resident Evil 4, don't bother. On the other hand, those stalwart defenders of games like Pikmin, Nintendogs, and Animal Crossing need look no further for their next fix. Everyone else is encouraged to rent, particularly since these characters will soon become legendary, and you wouldn't want to be left out.

Pros:
       

Unique gameplay  

Great characters and sense of humor  

Excellent sound design  

The plot is surprisingly touching.

       Cons:
       

Chores stop being fun halfway through the game  

Objectives and puzzles sometimes unclear  

Too long, or too short, depending on how you spin it

               Graphics:  7.5
       The environments and characters are colorful, happy, and simple, but lack polygons. Character animations are re-used for comic effect, though it starts to feel cheap after awhile.

               Sound:  9.5
       Chibi-Robo's sound design is compelling: Chibi's every movement, from walking to using items, makes its own unique music in lieu of sound effects. Combined with catchy background music, Chibi-Robo is aurally brilliant.

               Control:  8.5
       Chibi's controls are tight, though only equipping one item at a time can be bothersome. The camera is very adaptable with only a few hang-ups.

                      Gameplay:  8.5
       Starts out inspired and fresh and stays that way for most of the game, but during the last third you'll desire more objectives and less housekeeping. Unlocking rooms is satisfying, but there aren't enough for how long the game is. The story is the game's unlikely high-point; after 25 hours of emotionally connecting with the game's characters, the final chapters reveal more depth than immediately apparent. Worth playing through to the end.

 

       Lastability:  8.5
       There is a LOT to do in this game, which has its pluses and minuses. For those who want the game to last forever, don't worry, it just might.

 

       Final:  8.5
       Original and daring, Chibi-Robo is fun to play and rewarding to complete. The kiddie-game presentation is offset by a grown-up sense of humor. The repetitive gameplay starts to nag by the end, and some puzzles are stupidly simple but impossible to figure out. Overall, though, the experience is great if you're open to it.      

1629

TalkBack / RE:Trauma Centre: Under the Knife Coming to Europe this April

« on: February 20, 2006, 08:05:48 AM »

I got mine at EBGames, but it was the last place I looked. European gamers will hopefully enjoy the sultry nurse voice that says "Good Job, Dr. Stiles," when you don't kill the patient.

1630

TalkBack / RE:REVIEWS: LEGO Star Wars

« on: February 19, 2006, 07:17:07 PM »

The only thing from Return of the Jedi that made me cry was the movie itself.

My personal fave geek out moment from Star Wars is Yoda's "No. There is another." moment as Luke is leaving Dagobah.

Judging by the details released about LSWII, the developers are trying to fix most of the problems from LSW mentioned in my review. Also, the existence of two games will justify owning both of them even though they can be beaten in a rental. Perhaps they're novelty, but I can see myself pulling this out often just to show people.

-Evan T. Burchfield  

[If only I had held her like that time on Naboo.]

1631

TalkBack / REVIEWS: LEGO Star Wars

« on: February 19, 2006, 12:19:13 PM »

If only I had held her like that time on Naboo.

Playing Lego Star Wars is like seeing a model of the Taj Mahal made out of popsicle sticks, or Notre Dame constructed from PlayDoh. The game deftly mocks our most Holy Cinematic Scripture, Star Wars, irreverently modifying it while heightening our awareness of its cultural power. It's frankly unbelievable that a licensed game is capable of such layering, or even allowed to exist. Someone at LucasCorp must've been looking the other way when this project got approved, but what luck: Lego Star Wars rises above spoofery to glorify Star Wars while humorously deconstructing it. While by most standards it is merely an above average game, it is nonetheless (and more importantly) an excellent aesthetic experience.    

To summarize, Lego Star Wars is a collection of key moments from Episodes I through III, recreated mostly in Lego. The gameplay is action-oriented, divided by five or six levels per Episode. You can start with any Episode you want, or you can mix and match and play bits of each Episode as you go. Most of the levels have you playing as Jedi who not only swing lightsabers but use the Force, which can be used as a combat attack (awesome) or to rearrange Lego blocks into structures or items that will get you through the level. You also play as blaster characters (such as Queen Amidala), astromech and protocol droids, and lots of various aliens and military droids. The first time you play through a level is called "Story Mode," where you play mostly as Obi-Wan, Padme, or Anakin. Since you are limited to the story characters in this mode, you cannot solve some puzzles that require high-jumpers or specific droids. Once you've beaten a level, you unlock its characters, and can use any of the 50 or so available in "Free Play" mode, cycling among them with the L or R buttons. This second play-through is just as fun, and it's necessary to complete the puzzles and get Lego tokens (cash). There are only a handful of different character types, but the joy of seeing them rendered as Lego men is worth unlocking them all.    

The gameplay is very simplistic, which will only affect certain types of gamers. Beating a level is usually pretty easy since they are linear and have no real objectives. As a Jedi character you swing your lightsaber nonstop and jump a lot, and there are a few very simple yet useful combo moves that dispense enemies more quickly. Along with the platform-action levels there are some on-rails flying missions that are just as simple, but offer some exciting variety and great graphics. If the gameplay sounds boring, that's because the real thrill of the game is just to see it. Playing with a friend is recommended because of how funny and absurd the whole concept is (more on co-op later). The strength of the game is its visuals, which are also simple and Lego-y, but recreate every Star Wars special effect. This seemingly awkward combination of the complex and the plain is really quite smooth. In fact, it is the high and low art dichotomy that is the source of Lego Star War's appeal. To see it once is to recognize how natural and great it is for a Lego Qui-Gon to fight a Lego Darth Maul, faithfully miming the film. The initial play-through is the most exciting because you know what must happen next, but you won't know how it will be conveyed through the Lego theme. As a result, the game is almost as much fun for onlookers as it is for players.    

The game isn't without its faults. though. My main complaint is the co-operative mode: certainly it is a vital part of the game yet it works very poorly. Since the game uses only one camera for co-op, both players will often head for opposite ends of the screen, which gets them nowhere. The two players are forced to stay very close together, and with lightsabers flying, this can create a lot of accidental deaths. When playing the Pod Race level in co-op, each player gets his own Pod, and both must win the race. I would say it is nearly impossible to do, though attempting it is a good way to kill an hour. It feels like some of the levels were designed entirely with co-op in mind, while others are made tedious by it. On the plus side, the co-op mode is drop-in/drop-out, so one player can leave at any time and then re-join later. Despite all the flaws, co-op is the best way to play the game. Then there are some minor flaws: in keeping with the game's aesthetic unity, the camera is uncontrollable, presenting frequent problems when the level design fights the current angle. Also, the game is very easy and quickly beatable. Really, I wish each individual Episode was two or three levels longer, because it often feels like the game skips absolutely excellent scenes from the movies in favor of other ones. Finally, the soundtrack is merely recordings of Star Wars tunes plopped into the levels and edited to match the action. At times it sounds very shoddy, especially after Factor Five's excellent sound design for the Rogue Squadron games.    

Overall, the faults of Lego Star Wars can be forgiven just to play as a Lego General Grievious swinging four lightsabers, or as Yoda bouncing around, or as Chewbacca. The game can be forgiven because it is willing to make fun of the plot and style of the new Star Wars trilogy, while accepting it as a part of the canon. It is an excellent example of why a reviewer cannot look at a game as a sum of its parts and round the scores off accordingly; the total event must be in view, and in this case it is one worth experiencing.

Pros:
       

Hilarious  

Fun to play and watch  

Lots of secrets to unlock  

Low price-point

       Cons:
       

Short, even with the secrets  

Camera is so-so  

Co-op, while fun, needs work

               Graphics:  9.0
       While not technically impressive, the entire game is a visual package. Everything looks Lego and Star Wars at the same time, which is a feat in itself. The cutscenes are often humorous and always fun to watch. Character animations are fluid, not blocky, and are lifted right out of the movies. Ki-Adi Mundi fights exactly like he does in the films.

               Sound:  7.0
       The sounds and music are lifted straight out of the films, but the music especially feels poorly implemented. Otherwise, these elements aid in re-creating the Star Wars universe.

               Control:  7.5
       There are only a few buttons to learn, and very little to complain about, outside of a lack of camera control.

               Lastability:  6.5
       The game is woefully short. The addition of Free Play mode, unlockable once a level is completed, does add incentive to replay each level with different characters to find secrets. However, it is easy to get every secret rather quickly; three devoted days and the game is 100% complete.

               Gameplay:  7.5
       The gameplay mechanics are simple and fun, though sometimes repetitive. The vehicle levels are all on rails, which is great for aesthetic reasons but makes them very limited in scope. Puzzles are usually easy, but you have to unlock and use extra characters to solve some of them, creating some welcomed challenge. Co-op is necessary for maximum enjoyment, but due to a limited camera range the players must stay close together. The vehicle levels are sometimes unplayable or too difficult in co-op.

               Final:  8.5
       Forget the faults: Legos + Star Wars = Awesome. Star Wars fans should buy for the low price, but renting will yield most of the game's pleasures.      

[The real winners are for Sony platforms. Why no RE4? Click here.]

1632

TalkBack / Nintendogs the only Nintendo Game to Win at AIAS Awards

« on: February 11, 2006, 01:41:09 PM »

The real winners are for Sony platforms. Why no RE4? Click here.

9th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards Winners Announced by the Academy   of Interactive Arts and Sciences    

God of War Conquers the Awards With Seven Wins    

CALABASAS, Calif., Feb. 10 /PRNewswire/ -- The Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences (AIAS) announced last night the winners of the 9th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards held at "The Joint" in the Hard Rock Hotel   and Casino in Las Vegas, NV.  Sony Computer Entertainment America's "God of War" was the evening's big winner earning seven coveted AIAS statues.  Red Octane's "Guitar Hero" came in a close second garnering five wins.  In addition, AIAS inducted computer games pioneer Richard Garriott into the AIAS Hall of Fame.    

The Interactive Achievement Awards is a peer-based award that recognizes the  outstanding products, talented individuals and development teams that have contributed to the advancement of the multi-billion dollar worldwide entertainment software industry.    

"Last night's award ceremony was an exciting event as we recognized the best in video games," said Joseph Olin, president, AIAS.  "It was an impressive year for video games and the interactive entertainment industry is commended for their creative vision."    

The winners in each category are as follows:    

I.  Game of the Year:    

a.  Overall - God of War (P: Sony Computer Entertainment America, D: Sony Computer Entertainment America-Santa Monica)    

b.  Computer - Battlefield 2 (P: Electronic Arts, D: Digital Illusions)    

c.  Console - God of War (P: Sony Computer Entertainment America, D: Sony Computer Entertainment America-Santa Monica)    

II. Outstanding Innovation in Gaming - Guitar Hero (P: Red Octane, D: Harmonix Music Systems)    

III. Outstanding Achievement:    

a.  Animation - God of War (P: Sony Computer Entertainment America, D: Sony Computer Entertainment America-Santa Monica)    

b.  Art Direction - Shadow of the Colossus (P: Sony Computer Entertainment America, D: Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.)    

c.  Soundtrack - Guitar Hero (P: Red Octane, D: Harmonix Music Systems)    

d.  Original Music Composition - God of War (P: Sony Computer Entertainment America, D: Sony Computer Entertainment America-Santa Monica)    

e.  Sound Design - God of War (P: Sony Computer Entertainment America, D: Sony Computer Entertainment America-Santa Monica)    

f.  Story and Character Development - Call of Duty: Big Red One (P: Activision, D: Treyarch)    

g.  Game Play Engineering (Tie)  - Nintendogs (P: Nintendo, D: Nintendo EAD)  - Guitar Hero (P: Red Octane, D: Harmonix Music Systems)    

h.  Online Game Play - Battlefield 2 (P: Electronic Arts, D: Digital Illusions)    

i.  Visual Engineering - Shadow of the Colossus (P: Sony Computer Entertainment America, D: Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.)    

j.  Game Design - Guitar Hero (P: Red Octane, D: Harmonix Music Systems)    

IV. Outstanding Character Performance: a.  Male - God of War (P: Sony Computer Entertainment America, D: Sony Computer Entertainment America-Santa Monica)  b.  Female - Jade Empire (P: Microsoft, D: Bioware Corp.)    

V.  Genre Awards:    

a.  Sports Game of the Year - SSX On Tour (P: Electronic Arts, D: EA-Canada)    

b.  First-Person Action Game of the Year - Battlefield 2 (P: Electronic Arts, D: Digital Illusions)    

c.  Role-Playing Game of the Year - Jade Empire (P: Microsoft, D: Bioware Corp.)    

d.  Fighting Game of the Year - Soul Calibur 3 (P:/D: Namco)    

e.  Action/ Adventure Game of the Year - God of War (P: Sony Computer Entertainment America, D: Sony Computer Entertainment America-Santa Monica)    

f.  Racing Game of the Year - Need For Speed: Most Wanted (P: Electronic Arts, D: EA-Vancouver)    

g.  Children's Game of the Year - We Love Katamari (P:/D: Namco)    

h.  Downloadable Game of the Year - WIK: Fable of Souls (P: Microsoft, D: Reflexive Games)    

i.  Family Game of the Year - Guitar Hero (P: Red Octane, D: Harmonix Music Systems)    

j.  Simulation Game of the Year - The Movies (P: Activision, D: Lionhead Studios)    

k.  Strategy Game of the Year - Civilization IV (P: 2K Games, D: Firaxis Games)    

l.  Massively Multiplayer/Persistent World Game of the Year (Tie) - City Villains (P: NCSoft, D: Cryptic Studios)  - Guild Wars (P: NCSoft, D: ArenaNet)    

m.  Handheld Game of the Year - Nintendogs (P: Nintendo, D: Nintendo EAD)    

n.  Cellular Game of the Year - Ancient Empires II (P:/D: Glu Mobile)    

A peer panel of eight to 12 AIAS members played and evaluated all nominated titles in their assigned category.  Interactive Achievement Award recipients were determined by a vote of qualified Academy members.  AIAS voting was secret, conducted online and supervised and certified by eBallot. The   integrity of the system, coupled with a broad-based voting population of AIAS members, makes the Interactive Achievement Awards the most credible, respected and recognized awards for interactive entertainment software.

[I once had a childhood nightmare about Sonic beating up Tails and taking his lunch money. This game is my dream, now fully realized.]

1633

TalkBack / REVIEWS: Shadow the Hedgehog

« on: February 06, 2006, 07:12:34 PM »

I once had a childhood nightmare about Sonic beating up Tails and taking his lunch money. This game is my dream, now fully realized.

Shadow the Hedgehog is really just Sonic dressed up in black, and how appropriate! Sonic was the fastest hedgehog around, and his world was bright and speedy. Shadow's game, on the other hand, is full of dreary, pathos-laden environments that prevent speed of any kind. It is as though a good ol' Sonic game is wearing a dark costume and pretending to suck. A few critics have claimed that the poor design of this game is due to an over-emphasis on speed and an under-emphasis on gameplay, but to them I say pshah – this game is slow and has too much gameplay, the type borrowed from bad RareWare games on the N64. Shadow the Hedgehog ruins the Sonic concept. While Sonic games in the past were slight and lightning fast, this game makes me want to wear sackcloth and cover my head in ashes.      

     You quickly learn, via a gorgeous opening cinema, that Shadow has no memory, amnesia being the metaphor for humanity's consciousness, lost and captive in a hostile world. Like every good angst-hero, he cops an attitude with anyone who tries to help him along his journey. The game unwisely encourages you to play as Shadow, to identify with his amnesia, his lostness, and to fight your way through the Ivory Tower of B.S. to find your true meaning, your ultimate destiny (read: existential crap). Sonic Team has taken the oft-used, rarely successful position that “attitude" is cool (or at least it sells). In this game, Shadow not only uses guns, but he swears when he gets hurt, emphasizing his cool, too-cool, doesn't-care-if-he's-cool enigma. Never mind that he is a talking hedgehog.    

     Shadow's ambivalent morality directs the story, and it is also the bedrock of the gameplay. Each mission has a Hero and a Dark objective, and most also feature a Normal objective as well. The objective you decide to complete determines which level you will play next (twenty two in all). The Normal objective is usually the easiest, because apparently the path of least resistance is always preferable to a real choice. The Hero or Dark objective is usually some variation of “Find Four Statues" or “Light Five Torches" or “Kill All Dark Enemies." No matter which objective you decide to follow, both the good and the bad guys will attack you (they apparently hate ethical indecision), and your attacks will hurt both. Since you are thrown into a level without choosing an objective, you can very easily complete a mission half-way, stop, then decide to complete a different one instead. It is sometimes possible to work on two objectives at once, even unintentionally finishing one while devoting yourself to another. This reality reveals Sonic Team's marketing gimmick: they are able to tout over fifty different missions, but the levels stay unchanged no matter which choice you make.    

     The game has set up save points that are also teleports so you can backtrack if you miss anything, making the levels into endless loops which you must scour two or three times, or more, for the items you need to collect. Along for the ride is either a Hero or Dark companion, switchable with the D-Pad, and these support characters are supposed to offer help and advice. Well, they don't – they only patch up some of the badly designed portions of the game. Every time you progress to a new area, your companion must describe for you what the new objects, transports, and weapons are and how to use them, since nothing you've seen up to that point would give you any idea. However, when you get lost and can't complete an objective, the companion will only repeat the things he has said before. These characters are a uselessly necessary part of the game.    

     Shadow can also use guns, which sounds like a great idea but really isn't. Shadow picks up enemies' weapons and can use them until their ammo runs out, at which time they disintegrate. The weapons are necessary for some puzzles, but since there's never enough ammo around, and almost every enemy can be killed by a homing jump, the weapons are rendered useless. But don’t worry about actually killing the enemies, because you don’t have to. Want to pretend you’re playing an old-school Sonic game? Just run past the enemies as fast as you can. There’s never any reason to stop unless you want the ammo. Aiming is also problematic...because you don’t get to do it. You can only face Shadow in the direction of an enemy and fire. If you need to aim high, you must jump and then fire, which suspends Shadow in the air. Why? Because it looks cool. There are also swords, but for some reason, these too have ammo, usually even less than the guns. Weapons overall become just another distraction along the path to one of the game's endings.    

     Sonic Team seems to misunderstand what Sonic games are all about. Ever since Sonic Adventure, the developers have been confused about whether to propel the gamer as fast as possible through a beautiful, simple level or make him solve boring, slow puzzles. They have sided with the latter for Shadow the Hedgehog, but they haven't changed how fast the main character moves – at full gallop, the scenery whizzes by quite impressively. Never mind that the levels are almost never made for this ability. Based on the level design, I would expect slow and steady play control a la Mario or even Zelda. The  main weakness of the game is that Shadow can move fast, but never gets the chance. The levels are all so ridiculously complex, with multiple routes, various objects to collect, and puzzles to solve, that each one is fifteen to twenty minutes long! One level in particular, “The Ark," has major vertical portions. Since Shadow cannot jump very high, he must use elevators (another emasculation of Shadow's natural attributes) to progress upwards. But don't bother trying to look up, because you can't; there are only left and right camera controls. There isn’t even a camera centering button, even though the L button is mysteriously unused. To top it all off, Shadow does not run, he glides or roller skates or something. His movement is therefore very floaty, and he can't turn very well. But there is never any stretch on “The Ark," to allow Shadow to run at full speed. Sonic Team made Sonic to be fast, but even in the Genesis days they didn't know how to balance his speed with exploration. The solution, I submit humbly, is to cut the exploration altogether. Why not create on-rails, high speed platforming? It would take guts and a lot of skill, but it could be done (see several notable levels from Sonic Adventure for the birth of this idea). This idea might be controversial - the 3-D Sonic games are not without a following. It is clear, though, that platform-style exploration has been mastered by Nintendo in the Mario games, where the play-mechanic suits it perfectly. If Sonic wants to stay fast he must discard the goal-based aesthetic of Mario and try on a new shoe.    

     It's always been fun to play a Sonic game not because of goal-completion or item collection, but because it looks and feels good to move fast. In other words, Sonic games are primarily aesthetic in nature. The goal-based platforming levels of Shadow the Hedgehog, as well as most levels from all the 3-D Sonic games up till now, have ignored this. Shadow has the speed to make for an exciting game to watch and play, but he never gets to use it due to the non-linear, (sometimes first person shooter-esque!), level design, compounded by the abundant objectives and items. What was unique is now bland. Overloaded with goals, we find that the easiest path is always the one of least resistance. The game teaches us that following good or evil is not desirable, just hard, and the result of our labors is more hardship.    

     In one of the game’s endings, Shadow tells Dr. Eggman that he will send him to hell, and he promptly follows this remark by killing him. That is nothing like any Sonic game I played as a kid. Those games were fast, colorful, simple, and fun - all things that Shadow the Hedgehog not only misses, but flat out ignores.

Pros:
       

The CG videos (particularly the opening one) are beautiful and well directed.  

The game's graphics, though dark and depressing, are not entirely worthless.

       Cons:
       

Slow  

Mixes fast, floaty control and non-linear, platform style level design.  

Unfocused with too many objectives, paths, and play-styles.  

Thinks the story of a roller-skating hedgehog can have philosophical merit.  

Takes everything that was Sonic, reverses it, and stomps on it.

               Graphics:  6.5
       Cutscenes are extremely well done, and some of the environments have a nicely detailed flair to them. The style, unfortunately, is drab and monotonous making the levels impossible to navigate. The character animations are average.

               Sound:  5.0
       The music is nondescript angst-rock. The voice-acting is well above average, but if you have to march through an area more than once you'll hear the same lines over and over.

               Control:  3.0
       Shadow's “roller-gliding" movement style is floaty, and the speed at which he moves is antithetical to the stop and go level design. There are only left/right, zoom in/out camera controls; no look option, or even a view centering button, while the L Button remains unused. There is a useless strafe control that would only come into play if shooting was a well-integrated part of the game.

               Lastability:  4.0
       There are lots of things to find and unlock, hundreds of paths to play through, twenty-two levels and ten endings. The only downside to getting all these things is that you have to play the game.

               Gameplay:  2.5
       The game's levels are, for the most part, built around a Mario platform jumping style, yet Shadow's movement is more akin to Sonic (heard of him?). Sometimes the levels will blaze by for a few seconds, then you'll suddenly run into an enemy or fall into oblivion. The levels have multiple paths, all of which are obscure, and the game is forced to use a chatty sidekick to tell you how to progress. Weapons are supposed to be a major new aspect of the premise, but they add nothing and detract plenty. Some portions of the game become less than unbearable, all of which are on-rails and involve a vehicle, but these are merely lucid moments in an otherwise confused, unintelligible game.

               Final:  3.5
       Doesn't do anything worthwhile other than keep you awake. Bad design all around; the only thing that doesn't suck is the presentation. Not even worth it for Sonic fans.