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Review: Neverwinter Nights 2 Mask of the Betrayer (PC)

One of the best things Atari ever did with the Dungeons and Dragons license after splashing onto the PC scene with the Baldur’s Gate series was to create its spiritual successor, the original Neverwinter Nights, which not only offered epic storylines in the package, but a robust set of tools to encourage user-created adventures and mods so that, quite literally, there’d never be any real reason to stop playing the game.

It worked well, and last year’s upgrade of that PC classic, Neverwinter Nights 2, was long overdue and much welcomed, even though BioWare, creator of the original Neverwinter Nights, had sadly moved on to other ventures, including the recently released Xbox 360 blockbuster, Mass Effect.

The first expansion to Neverwinter Nights 2 continues Atari’s fine tradition of long-term support of the series. Mask of the Betrayer contains an all-new, full-length adventure that basically picks up where the previous adventure left off, with your party trapped in a underground cavern, sitting at around Level 18, and wondering what happens next.

The story, which is richly realized, especially by PC RPG standards, is an entertaining one, though I can’t say too much about it without giving up tons of spoilage and, well, we wouldn’t want that now, would we? So let’s just say that the fine storytelling standard of the first game does not go missing here.

While there are graphical tweaks and lots of new objects in the game, there’s no real graphic upgrade to speak of, which is done to ensure that mods created by anyone using the Neverwinter Nights 2 toolkit will be able to be played by anyone else playing the same game. So don’t expect a new leap forward in graphics until Neverwinter Nights 3 starts being a gleam in Atari’s eye, sometime around 2010 or beyond.

One aspect that is nice about this game is that you get to explore a completely different neck of the Forgotten Realms woods; the game takes place an entire continent away from good ol’ Neverwinter. That frees the developers up to add new monsters, new races, new classes and yet maintain an internal consistency to the Neverwinter Nights 2 universe.

The presence of more puzzles and mysteries to be solved helps diversify the game play a bit more this time out; sometimes in D&D games, combat is the first and primary option for resolving anything, which makes sense given that the franchise’s name is not Pleasant Conversation and Dragons. Even so, it’s nice to see some diversity brought to bear on how one spends their time in the game world.

Overall, Mask of the Betrayer is a fun adventure in and of itself and adds a lot to the arsenal of the “create it yourself” crowd that keep so many of the rest of us playing this game endlessly. Nearly every expansion pack for the Neverwinter Nights and Neverwinter Nights 2 series has been a must have. This is no exception.

Review: Smallville The Complete 6th Season

You can tell when a series like Smallville is winding toward its ultimate resolution. When the show began back in 2001 – the same season 24 premiered – they made viewers some specific promises. No capes. No costumes. No flying. Just plenty of the human story of Clark Kent, the Superman-to-be coming into his own. A peek behind what made him and those around him who they were.

Actually, Smallville was sort of the second pitch of its kind entertained by the then-WB Network. A year before, a series pitch had set Internet message boards ablaze that promised a very similar treatment of Bruce Wayne/Batman. Whether the deemed the show too dark, or whether it was because the Chris Nolan-directed Batman film was already in pre-production or whatever, The WB never greenlit the pilot. A year later, the same “Superman: The Early Years” concept got the go-ahead and became Smallville.

Basically, the show was Dawson’s Creek with superpowers and the element that soon became the show’s signature was the unique early friendship – which everyone knew was doomed – between a young Clark Kent and his rich pal, Lex Luthor. Seeming to remember the central lesson of all comic books, and the M. Night Shyamalan movie Unbreakable, the show reformulated the Superman mythos so that the two men destined to become the bitterest enemies would start out as friends.

In season six of Smallville, that friendship is now in tatters as Lex is evolving into the villain he is destined to become, and the shows creators are having fun bringing foreshadows of his future into his present. The biggest addition this season was the casting of the Oliver Queen hero Green Arrow, who played prominently in forming a nascent version of the Justice League of America, something mentioned only as a insider joke in season five when Aquaman was featured and was attempted to be launched as a spinoff show, Mercy Reef.

During the season, there was some talk of a JLA spinoff show, but it came to nothing. Still, all the fireworks provided comics fans so serious thrills over the course of the season as Smallville began to look a bit more like a comic book and a bit less like Dawson’s Creek. But a sense of the series winding down continues to hang over the show.

With the Justice League formed, the Clark-Lex friendship beyond repair, Johnathon Kent long dead from season five and Supergirl headed into the picture in season seven, there are serious questions about how much longer the show can go on and maintain its roots; most of the show now takes place in Metropolis rather than Smallville and it just plain feels like the season that comes after this collection, this year’s season seven, could be our final ride, unless the WGA Strike messes things up.

This full-season collection has all the requisite special features one has come to expect from such things; there are episode commentaries, though unfortunately usually by writers and directors rather than Tom Welling, Michael Rosenbaum, Kristin Kreuk, Allison Mack and the like. Those are the people most series fans want to hear comment on a favorite episode.

Personally, I would have enjoyed more behind-the-scenes features, but the scattering found here is better than nothing. Then again, I’m usually all about the special features when it comes to collecting series on DVD.

Unfortunately, too many of the special features found in this season collection were actually available on the CW Web site for the show during the season and are only being collected here, rather than being original content in and of itself. Of course, for those folks who don’t subscribe to Verizon Wireless, some of this content will at least seem completely new.

Whether facing off with Phantom Zone creeps or rescuing Lana from a fire while trapped behind fire glass, this collection is a solid addition for series completists. However, while the show is still entertaining, the days when the opening strains of Remy Zero’s “Save Me” really stirred emotions are indeed starting to fade. It’s been a good run; let’s hope they end it classy and before the show really starts to go downhill.

Review: NBA 2K8 (360)

One thing that’s great about NBA 2K8 on the Xbox 360 is that it’s always easy to find an online opponent. After playtesting for review Sony’s NBA 08 on PS3 and finding the online lobbies almost always vacant, it was a relief to get into what is arguably the best NBA videogame on the market for several years running, 2K Sports’ NBA 2K8.

Sure, EA Sports partisans will argue in favor of NBA Live 08, but EA has treated its pro and college basketball games like some pig farmer’s boot heel for some time now. I mean, the company still hasn’t implemented something as simple as linking the college and pro games via draft files last I checked; how simple is that? As simple as installing car spoilers, really; simpler, even!

Pretty simple for NBA 2K8, for which something that basic is a given, so that their energy goes into more critical improvements. This year, team chemistry is a theme, and considering some of the team chemistry blowups we’ve witnessed in the real NBA, like Marbury and the Knicks, Bryant and the Lakers, and before the season started, Garnett and the Wolves, it’s a wonder that this element was given short shrift for so long.

Keeping all the player egos in check is a key to success in the single-player franchise mode; if players start becoming discontent, you can see the results more noticeably on the court this season. That’s nice because although a lack of production may frustrate some gamers who want arcade-style thrills, those seeking more realistic performances and results will not be disappointed.

Back this season is my main man, Kevin Harlan, heading up the announce duties; this man IS the voice of the NBA for me, since he cut his teeth calling Wolves games on KFAN AM 1500 in Minneapolis, back in the pre-Kevin Garnett days. 2K Sports is wise to keep him on for another season.

On the court, the physics are solid and even the online play via Xbox Live seems a bit smoother this year. I’ve run into a lot more “good sportsmanship” types this season than last year and, thankfully, a lot fewer “quit if they start losing” types. The graphics are a marginal upgrade at best, though, since the developers seem to have put more energy into other aspects of the game, such as refining the franchise mode, working on new online play features, and getting animations smoother, rather than a general detail-level upgrade graphically.

While the game is always fun to play, in all candor there’s not a revolution going on with this game, this time out. The game is a solid upgrade over last year’s version, but doesn’t introduce anything world-changing. If that’s enough for you as an NBA fan, NBA 2K8 is still the cream of the pro hoops crop this season on any gaming console. (And no, I’m not counting text-sims on PC like Wolverine Sports’ Draft Day Sports: Pro Basketball, which is in an entirely separate category.)

Review: Folklore (PS3)

Billed by Sony as “the next generation in dark fantasy games,” Folklore, like so many action platformer games, tried to bill itself as an action RPG but the truth is the game more honestly has more in common with Rachet and Clank than it does with Final Fantasy XII. Although filled with gorgeously detailed graphics, the designers sometimes went overboard in artistry and didn’t think enough about legibility for game elements like the bits of dialog that have to be read on-screen instead of being spoken.

The game has two playable characters, a young blonde girl named Ellen, and an older male character, a journalist named Keats. Both end up traveling to Doolin, Ireland and entering a dark fantasy world where they must fight individually, and ultimately together, to survive in a world filled with monsters known as Folk.

Sounds a bit more intriguing than it becomes in execution, however. The unique gameplay element is supposedly how you defeat monsters using the motion-sensing SixAxis controller. Basically, after beating them down to where they are stunned, you rip their souls out of their bodies by … waving the SixAxis up and down. A lot. Not as innovative as it sounds, and it grows kind of boring and repetitive, fairly early on.

The story is somewhat interesting; Ellen is searching for her dead mother, which draws to mind the plot set-up of Silent Hill 2, while Keats is tracking down a lead springing from a call by a mysterious woman. While such is the stuff true dark fantasies like Silent Hill are made of, Folklore is far less dark, belonging more to the world of Papa Smurf than to the living dead. And while it’s a nice framing sequence, the story just isn’t all that deep or intriguing once they toss you into the game itself.

As for depth, there are over 100 creatures to encounter in the game, which plays out over seven different realms. The real problem is repetition and tedium; once the novelty of the game’s battle system wears off – which happens quickly – you are able to step back and realize just how simplistic the combat actually is, which destroys the charm. There is also not much in the way of minigames, such as Mizuno golf or fishing or anything like that, which keeps the focus too much on the maps and areas which respawn enemies at a rather annoying rate of frequency.

It’s too bad some of the lovely graphics are adorning such a gameplay- and story-lacking package. The look of the game itself is well done if a bit polished and idealisitic, but it gives one a solid idea of what can graphically be achieved on the PlayStation 3. While I’m certainly awaiting even better examples, like White Knight Story, Silent Hill 5, and Final Fantasy XIII, Folklore is at least an eye-catching showpiece.

Unfortunately for gamers, it’s not much more than that.

Merging media

I had a chance to try an iPod Touch first-hand recently. Basically an iPhone without the phone, you don’t need great cell reception in order to take full advantage of the device; it works off any wireless network for some of its online features, rather than a cell network.

The design of the iPod Touch is revolutionary and fun, but it reminds me an awful lot of the Nintendo DS. Which raises the question: could videogames merge into the iPod design in a more full-scale way, eventually?

For two generations of hardware now, the same three companies have dominated the platform wars: Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft. But such standardization is rarely maintainable. Some new company always comes along and tries their hand at things rather successfully, upsetting who the “big three” are in any given generation.

Sony was that company when they introduced the original PlayStation. Microsoft stepped up when Sega fell off.

Could Apple be the next corporation to wet its toes in the videogame market?

I can imagine it: a handheld system with HD-quality video, touch controls, an FM tuner, the ability to act as a personal organizer, a full-scale MP3 and MP4 player, with wireless internet and an optional phone feature, all in a size that slips into a Blackberry-sized cell phone holster.

The name?

Apple iPlay.

It could happen…

No WGA presence in videogame industry?

As Hollywood writers prepare to strike, one has to wonder why creators in the arena of electronic entertainment have never camped out in a canvas tent outside of Electronic Arts or Activision or some other big-name videogame producer with a bunch of protest signs, asking for a bigger stake in the profits of franchises like Madden, Final Fantasy, Metal Gear Solid or the Spider-Man games.

Is it because the videogame industry is a complete delight to work for with ideal working conditions and everyone’s rich beyond their wildest dreams? I doubt it.

I suspect part of the reason is that writers in electronic entertainment may not be unionized. Are videogame translators, script-writers, localizers and the sort even allowed into the Writers Guild of America?

Frankly, I don’t know.

But considering some of the rumors of 20-hour shifts, conditions that expect creators to live, eat and sleep in developers’ studios when on deadline and other such working conditions, it would be a surprising oversight by the WGA not to at least attempt to protect the scribes who bring us Silent Hill and Resident Evil.

Is there a benefit to the WGA potentially not having a presence in the vidoegame industry? Sure; no chance of a strike if there’s no union.

Then again, the way the industry tends to gobble up and spit out scribes, often leaving them in poor health from overworked conditions, uninsured and sometimes blamed for games that flop, well… maybe a bit more WGA presence in the industry wouldn’t be such a horrible thing, either.

FFT on PSP Slim

Final Fantasy Tactics: War of the Lions on PSP has been a great way to break in my new PSP Slim so far, and create in me a lot of affection for the system as well as the game.

But I have to say I’m annoyed by one feature: all those side-missions you used to be able to get at the taverns? They’re still there, but you HAVE to find an online player to play them with.

There are tons of items and character-advancing experiences to go through via these tavern missions, and I think requiring them to be completed via cooperative play is a big mistake; I have yet to find a single opponent online in order to complete even one of them

This should be optional for coop or solo play.

Review: Transformers The Game (PSP)

With a team like Stephen Spielberg and Michael Bay combining their efforts, Transformers: The Movie was supposed to be the event action movie of the summer. While it did OK at the box office, however, other films from Spider-Man 3 to Live Free or Die Hard to Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix all made similar or better impacts. Still, the Transformers franchise would be a lead-pipe cinch to do well on videogame consoles, right? Well, that depends on how the game is carried off.

Not well at all, is the short answer. First, it ought to be said that developer Savage Entertainment was behind the PSP version, and they simply don’t have the resume for quality development that Traveler’s Tales, the PS3 version developer, possesses. This game is an entirely different product from the PS3 version and anyone expecting differently will be disappointed by the quality of … well, virtually every element.

The graphics are right around mid-PSone standard, and show no signs of a creative spark. This is poorly complimented by uninspired level design, funky controls that rarely respond as one would expect, and a battle system that is somehow even shallower than the system employed on the PS3 version of the game. It’s almost painful to play, compounded by frequent, long load times.

Like the movie, the film centers around the battle between good robots and evil robots, which has spilled over to Earth as the two sides search for the AllSpark. The AllSpark is the life force for all Transformers, so naturally they want it back. Of course, the plot is more of a window dressing to this loud, exploding, event-packed action game that keeps a gamer on their toes … for as long as it lasts.

Mercifully, the PSP version of Transformers the Game is a brief affair, and you’ll brief with relief that it’s over if you’re made of strong enough stuff to stick it out. The slowness of the graphics takes any action-oriented excitement out of the mix, and one wonders if the team was simply pressured to release the game far too early in the development process. Something went seriously wrong somewhere, and it would not be surprising if most members of the team involved in this title left this game off their resumes when looking for their next gig.

While a hot 80s-nostalgia license like Transformers should be hard to screw up, somehow Transformers The Game PSP has managed to fall as an all-too-typical victim of movie-licensed games. While the PS3 version by Traveler’s Tales isn’t great, it is playable. Sadly, he PSP version is better left on store shelves, even if it is found in the $10 bargain bin with a bunch of advertising pens.

Review: Transformers The Game (PS3)

With a team like Stephen Spielberg and Michael Bay combining their efforts, Transformers: The Movie was supposed to be the event action movie of the summer. While it did OK at the box office, however, other films from Spider-Man 3 to Live Free or Die Hard to Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix all made similar or better impacts. Still, the Transformers franchise would be a lead-pipe cinch to do well on videogame consoles, right? Well, that depends on how the game is carried off.

First, it ought to be said that developer Traveler’s Tales had a good pedigree coming into the game. As the developer behind Lego Star Wars and a Chronicles of Narnia game, among others, they know their way around action games, though their experience has been in games that skew just a bit younger.

The graphics show that the developer is ready for more than just Lego games based on LucasFilm franchises, though. While not quite measuring up to the top PlayStation 3 titles on the market, the graphics are a step above PlayStation 2; call it PlayStation 2.5-level graphics. While short of the near-photorealism the PS3 is capable of and a noticeable step down from the movie, Transformers The Game does look sharp and the smoothness and speed of the animations that display transforming characters from vehicle to robot are a nice achievement. They don’t get in the way of the action and yet contain an impressive amount of detail.

Like the movie, the film centers around the battle between good robots and evil robots, which has spilled over to Earth as the two sides search for the AllSpark. The AllSpark is the life force for all Transformers, so naturally they want it back. Of course, the plot is more of a window dressing to this loud, exploding, event-packed action game that keeps a gamer on their toes … for as long as it lasts.

One of the game’s strengths is its destructible environments, which are on full display on the PS3 version of the game. Nearly anything can be “blowed up real good,” which makes the settings for each chapter a lot of fun to play around in and destroy. Not that that really advances the game, but can be the source of some sadly sadistic fun for a while once the paper-thin plot begins to wear thin; those who love to test the limits of “what can I and can’t I do in this game” when they play videogames will find plenty to enjoy here.

However, ultimately the game is cut low by its relatively brief length. There’s a wide universe to explore in the Transformers franchise, but so much is left unexplored by this game it should have land for sale signs posted all around. By action game standards, it’s probably not too bad, but at $60 a pop for PS3 titles, it might seem a bit of a flirt-and-flee affair. What is present in the game is fun, but in the end a lack of significant length or depth may leave most gamers feeling unsatisfied, especially by the rather simplistic combat system, which could have been so much deeper. Optimus Prime out!

Review: Wild ARMs 5

Wild ARMs, as a series, began as one of the first RPGs Sony itself produced for its young PSone platform. Sporting a mixture of wild west and fantasy influences, it marked a slightly different take on the RPG formula popular at the time. A PSone sequel was released and two previous PS2 outings have been unleashed on the world from a rotating selection of game publishers.

The latest home for the Wild ARMs series is XSeed Games, who have published a PS2-remix of the first Wild ARMs title, Wild ARMs 4 and now the latest installment, Wild ARMs 5.Throughout the series, the core elements have stayed true to its origins; a mixture of wild west and fantasy elements, as well as a distinctive style of turn-based RPG combat.

That is one element that gets a bit of a twist this time out; while the combat is still turn-based, a dash of grid-based tactical RPG style is tossed into the soup for a fresh flavor; for the most part, it works in livening up the works, at least for a while. Some squares on each battle grin are aligned with particular elements and can offer strategic advantages or disadvantages in battle; when multiple party members line up in the same square, devastating combo moves can be opened up, although they reveal themselves over time. The downside is, in a return attack, all party members sharing the same square share damage, meaning that several characters can fall at once instead of separately.

The game was released in a special anniversary package that celebrated the first decade of Wild ARMs games. That packaging includes a collectible art book that series fans ought to find appealing. Yet that’s just the “wrapping paper,” as it were. The package itself is a nice step forward for Wild ARMs as a series, as the game now seems fully at home on the PlayStation 2; unfortunately, it comes to the PS2 table a bit late as most games are now gearing up for their big PS3 premieres, and even Wild ARMs 5, for all it’s merits, trails a bit behind other late PS2 RPG releases like Final Fantasy XII, Rogue Galaxy and others.

Also, the story stretches credulity, even on fantasy terms, in a James Bond, “oh yeah, right, that’d work” fashion. For example, in one early sequence, one of our protagonists is tossed from a train riding a wood rail bridge high atop a desert floor; the hero-tosser also tosses down a hand grenade and we’re supposed to buy that the impact force of the exploding hand grenade below him cushions his fall to the desert floor, allowing him to land unharmed below.

Happens every day. And twice on Sundays. Right?

Still, as good as it is to be sojourning through another tale of the world of Filgaia, the wrinkle lines are definitely beginning to show on the series and its execution. Though the names change over the sequels, the tales remain just a bit too familiar and one gets the sense that it is well past due for the Wild ARMs formula to undergo an extreme makeover. If the series devolves any more, it will be about as fun as a colon cleanse. While the essential idea of a wild West RPG can still hold a lot of appeal, it’s time to mix things up a bit in terms of the style of tale told.

As potentially the final PS2 installment of the series, Wild ARMs 5 will satisfy most series fans, even if it converts no skeptics. However, when the first PS3-era edition of Wild ARMs debuts, I believe it will require more than just prettier graphics to help the series feel fresh and new. In the meantime, this final walk with an old friend through a familiar neighborhood will stir up all he proper sentimental feelings for longtime series fans.

Review: Tales of the World – Radiant Mythology

Sometimes I wonder if the Tales series of RPGs from Namco-Bandai was intended as a bedtime tale or a sleep aid; all I know for sure is, they’re exciting enough to put me to sleep fairly swiftly every time I play them.

Maybe it’s because the titles are such paint-by-numbers affairs, a charge which certainly applies to the company’s latest PSP RPG offering, Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology. Although not as bad as some early PSP RPGs, Tales of the World simply doesn’t inspire a sense of wonder or exploration. Perhaps that’s because there aren’t that many places to explore, and those that are offered must be explored over and over and over again to complete the little mini-missions that push one through the tale and that allow you to advance, ever-so-slowly, in level.

While the level design tends to keep one cautious in the early going, as one can run into monsters capable of wiping you out, the experience is uneven at best, and long after you know a particular area like the back of your hand, you still have to make too many return visits to clear out missions and move on in the storyline.

Sporting an action-based battle system similar to those found in most other Tales titles, there’s simply not much new to be found in Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology that hasn’t been done over and over again in other versions. More than many series far older than it, the Tales series is in need of a deep and abiding reinvention, a complete makeover than turns the series on its ear and makes the games fun and refreshing and new again.

That sort of remix simply is not in evidence in Tales of the World, however. It is a perfunctory, “more of the same old stuff” outing that makes one wonder of anyone’s even at the wheel of the franchise anymore. While once a refreshing change-of-pace series, Tales RPGs are now run-of-the-mill and sleep inducing, and it’s a sad thing to bear witness to.

It’s also a terrible time for a title like this to appear in the PSP platform, as well. With sharp, exciting titles, including RPGs, making their way to PSP in the latter half of 2007, from Jeanne d’Arc to Dungeons and Dragons Tactics to Final Fantasy Tactics: War of the Lions, the PSP is quite possibly this fall’s hot platform for RPG action. An asleep-at-the-wheel title like Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology will simply get passed over without a second thought, just like a book on mortgage life insurance sitting on the shelve next to the latest James Patterson thriller.

Review: Hot Shots Tennis PS2

It’s too bad Sony waited so late in the life of the PlayStation 2 to launch the new Hot Shots Tennis franchise. With the PS3 drawing so much attention these days, it’s hard for a new franchise on their old platform to draw the accolades it deserves.

Yet Hot Shots Tennis is definitely deserving. Like the numerous Hot Shots Golf titles before it, Sony has taken an anime approach to a lesser sport and made it full of addictive fun. While golf has Tiger Woods to put itself back in the spotlight, there is no single, electrifying personality that is helping lead a revival in the interest in professional tennis who rivals the celebrity of Woods.

Oh sure, every once in a while there’s an Anna Kournikova who comes along and draws attention to women’s tennis, not because of her ability to win but because she looks pretty on a poster or a wall calendar. So tennis is a bit more of an underdog sport than golf.

Also, from a videogame standpoint, the challenge with any tennis title is to avoid making it seem simply like a highly advanced form of Pong! Fortunately, Sony has succeeded by taking the same combination of humor, mad depth and a wide variety of challenges to make Hot Shot Tennis almost as addicting as most Hot Shots Golf outings they have released in the recent past.

There are many unlockable characters, rackets, uniforms, balls and other tennis accoutrements to earn and unlock as one makes their way through the world of singles and doubles tennis competition. The physics are juiced for special moves in the same way there were for golf, and yet despite this and the comedy content, the game portrays a respect for the fundamentals of the sport that rival any more serious tennis title on the market, such as Virtua Tennis. Plus, the signature Hot Shots series style is on display in full force; the game is cute as a button, turning seriously-skilled players into characters almost as adorable as plush animals.

It’s a neat trick to pull off, and the challenge level may surprise you; one has to play good, solid tennis to succeed at any level of the game, just as they must play smart golf to succeed in any Hot Shots Golf title. While Sony is hard at work on the soon-to-be-released Hot Shots Golf PS3 title, this reviewer was intrigued enough by this initial PS2 outing that if they carry the franchise over to the PS3, Hot Shots Tennis PS3 would definitely make for a “must try” experience.