Entries in XBLA (6)
The Game Journal StaffBloody Good Time - The Game Journal Review
Does the spiritual successor to The Ship live up to its name? It depends on who you're playing with.
Comic Jumper - The Game Journal Review
Title: Comic Jumper
Developed By: Twisted Pixel Games
Published By: Twisted Pixel Games
Comedy is a tough racket. Making people laugh is not always an easy thing to do, especially in video games. When a game sets out to be funny, when humor is as important to the game's design as any other element, it's usually a recipe for disaster. There's something about the pandering nature of a game that asks you to laugh at it, that usually does not resonate with me.
Thankfully, Twisted Pixel's Comic Jumper is a genuinely funny game. While I didn't find their previous effort, Splosion Man, as hilarious as some of my peers, Comic Jumper hit all of the right notes for me when it came to the game's sense of humor. Of course, not all of the jokes are winners, but more often than not I found myself smiling after a punch line. Twisted Pixel isn't afraid to break the fourth wall, with references to Twisted Pixel's other games and live action full motion video sequences. The absurdity of the humor works well with the game world they've crafted.
The story follows Captain Smiley, a comic book hero, who's readership has fallen to such low levels that his comic book is put on hiatus. In order to earn enough money to get his comic going again he has to make guest appearances in other comic books. Captain Smiley guest stars in three different comic series, with each series having multiple issues. There is a Conan knock off, a "Golden-Age" comic and Twisted Pixel's take on Japanese Manga. Each comic has its own unique art style and gameplay wrinkle. For example, in the Manga levels, instead of moving left to right on the screen, Captain Smiley moves right to left.
Unfortunately, the gameplay doesn't meet the high quality of the humor. It's not that the gameplay is bad, more that it feels repetitive. For the most part you'll be holding your guns on bullet sponge enemies waiting for them to die before training your gun on the next enemies that pop onto the screen. Twisted Pixel does try to add some variety by including melee only levels as well as shifting the perspective to a behind the back view with some on-rails sequences that allow you to strafe while moving cross hairs around the screen. There are also a few sequences where you'll have to press buttons corresponding with those on screen. I realize with the variety of things I've just listed that calling the game repetitive seems a bit foolish, but once you're in the game, shooting the same enemies over and over again with little variation in their attacks and it taking too many bullets to kill them, you'll know what I mean.
That being said, it's not like the gameplay is bad. It's just repetitive. The bullet sponge issue is eventually mitigated by upgrading Captain Smiley's abilities, which you can do for cash you earn while playing each level. You can go back and play levels multiple times to grind for cash, and there is a nice leaderboard system set up for each level letting you compete with your friends' best scores.
Rare is the game that makes me laugh out loud. Comic Jumper is one of those games. Taken as an overall experience, the humor, which I feel is as important an element as any other part of the game, helps Comic Jumper rise above its, at times, frustrating gameplay. If you want to play a funny game, this is your best bet out of the recent crop of titles released on XBLA. It's a shame the actually gameplay itself ends up feeling so repetitive and uninspired.
Blade Kitten - The Game Journal Review
Title: Blade Kitten
Developed By: Krome Studios
Published By: Atari
When I first sat down and started playing Blade Kitten, I was a bit underwhelmed. In spite of the protagonist, Kit Ballard's, bubbly personality, all I could make sense of was that I was chasing some woman across the game world for what looked like a futuristic home pregnancy test. The graphics, which looked so great in the preview coverage, were hard to appreciate with the camera being, for the most part, pulled far back from the action. Kit's running animation seemed a bit "off" to me and the combat seemed overy simplistic and the level design appeared to lack depth.
As I played on, my initial disappointment started to fade away. Blade Kitten does have a story to tell, and though it's one I won't spoil here, I will say that it does involve a bit more than chasing a girl around for your stolen property. The characters are well realized due to the excellent voice acting and lip-synching. Kit, in particular, exudes a bubbliness, and a cheeky, devil may care attitude, even in the face of danger. It's a nice contrast to either the uber-serious dude protagonists in most games or the joke characters who mock the aforementioned bros in other games. Though she may laugh things off and the story is full of whimsical moments, Kit, in spite of her overuse of "leet" speak, isn't a joke character, and I appreciate that.
The more I played, the more I'd take time to look at the backgrounds of the levels in which Kit was running around in, and I began to appreciate why Krome pulled the camera back so far at times. The world in which Blade Kitten takes place is a pretty well realized one. As you play on the game shows a lot of variety in its settings and the background artwork is very impressive. Once I took my focus off of Kit and, literally looked at the bigger picture, it all came together for me.
As I progressed the combat, which I initially found repetitive began to show a little bit more depth, but still not as much as I would have liked. It's not the most elaborate combat system in the world, with short and long range attacks getting their own buttons, and a special attack being available when you fill a meter. Balanced is attempted by throwing a stamina meter into the mix as well, and you can block attacks as well, but this is frustratingly achieved by holding down the melee button. Ultimately the combat end up being pretty average. It has some unique ideas, the sword itself is a character, but ultimately the combat ends up being neither offensive nor exemplary.
Thankfully there is more to the game than just combat. Kit has the cat-like agility and the ability to climb most surfaces. This leads to some light platforming which I found pleasant. Though you're always relegated to a 2D plane, the game promotes exploration of the levels by offering up Hex, which is the in-game currency in every nook and cranny of each level. You can use the Hex to buy upgrades for Kit's attributes and weapons as well as new clothes. You'll also encounter level mounts, which add more variety to the mix. It also should be noted that the game is fairly large by downloadable standards.
By the time I'd finished Blade Kitten the game had almost won me over. My initial disappointments were, for the most part, pushed aside as I played. It's not a genre defining experience, but it is, by no means, terrible. If I had to describe the game in one word in would be 'pleasant.' The game world, characters, voice acting, story and artwork all coalesce to make a whimsical action platformer with a lot of character, but the gameplay itself relegates the game to merely average status.
Castlevania: Harmony Of Despair - The Game Journal Review
Title: Castlevania: Harmony of Despair
Developed By: Konami
Published By: Konami
Harmony of Despair is no Symphony of the Night, but that's okay because it's not trying to be. The first orginal 2D Castlevania game for HD consoles is best played with friends.