Game: Darksiders (2010)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Hack-n-Slash
Developer(s): Vigil Games
Publisher(s): THQ
Platform(s): PS3, Xbox 360, PC
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Rating: 8 out of 10
Pros: Stunning graphics/animations, varied arsenal, compelling story
Cons: Unoriginal gadgets/puzzles, lack of interesting combat combos
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Darksiders begins in conflict, as angels and demons war against one another on Earth. The player takes on the role of War, one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, sent to pass judgement on angels, demons, and humans alike. War quickly discovers, however, that this Apocalypse isn't all peaches and cream as he is the only Horseman sent to Earth to hack things apart. This act violates the terms of the Apocalypse (even though the angels and demons started it!), so War is banished to face the judgement of the Charred Council. Once he is stripped of his powers, War is given a second chance to fix HIS mistake, and then sent back to Earth.
While Darksiders was entertaining to play and had an interesting, original story, its gameplay didn't seem as original. The combat system is very similar to God of War's: button smashing enemies to death, hitting (circle) to perform a finishing move. However, the combo system isn't as involved as God of War's, with [square] and /triangle\ being the only attack buttons and no way to intermingle them. You use souls to purchase upgrades and items (similar to GoW), restore health, and to restore Wrath (mana). The gadgets and puzzles that you solve are very similar to those found in the Zelda games: a hook-shot-like device, a bladed boomerang, using bombs to blow up crystal formations, collecting parts of an item to increase your health (heart containers), pushing heavy objects, etc. Lastly, there is a gadget called the Warpgate device, which shoots blue and red portals to solve puzzles... like in Portal.
While I do deduct points for lack of originality, Darksiders is still a fun game because it consolidates the fun elements of those other games into one game; those elements worked for those games, so they work for Darksiders. What I have come to learn about game design is that all games build off previous games in some way, either mirroring or expanding on proven design techniques.
An element unique to Darksiders that I enjoyed was the weapon-rune system. You could collect runes that, when attached to a weapon, grant War additional benefits. For example, there are runes that grant additional weapon damage, increase the amount of souls collected from each slain enemy, increase your armor, or allow you to gain rage more quickly (allowing War to hulk out into a demon-like creature). Each rune also alters the look of War's sword, which adds a nice aesthetic touch. While these runes added a little customization and flavor to the game, I wish the system was a tad more developed. It didn't seem like the bonuses granted by each rune was very significant or noticeable. You essentially had to assume that they were making a difference.
All in all, the game was fun and entertaining to play. The story and graphics were stunning, leaving me eager for the sequel (spoiler alert!). However, the game lacks replay-ability: There is only one path you can take through the story, weapon runes are interchangeable, and there is no multiplayer functionality. I full-heartedly suggest playing this game, which is possible to beat in about 10-15 gameplay hours, or over a renting period.
Game: Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions (2010)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Platformer, Stealth?
Developer(s): Beenox
Publisher(s): Activision
Platform(s): PS3, Xbox 360, PC, Wii
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Rating: 7 out of 10
Pros: Spider-Man, clever quips, varied gameplay mechanics, comic-book like
Cons: Lots of bugs (and I'm not talking about the obvious arachnids)
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Spider-Man is by far my favorite super-hero, and I usually enjoy Spider-Man games, but I have mixed feelings when it comes to Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions. I thought the game was entertaining and fun, but it had clunky controls, rigid camera angles, and was crawling with bugs.
Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions features four distinct Spider-Man universes: Amazing (red suit), Ultimate (black, symbiote suit), Noir (sepia-toned suit), and 2099 (blue, futuristic suit). Each universe/dimension features slightly unique combat styles, but the control system and combos are essentially the same for each Spider-Man, making switching between each version seamless.
Amazing Spider-Man features a combination of melee attacks and cartoony mid-ranged web attacks (creating large fists or weapons out of web during combo attacks). Amazing Spider-Man has no real unique combat style or mechanic of his own, but forms the basis for all other Spider-Man combos and tactics.
Ultimate Spider-Man uses the symbiote's tendrils and symbiote-goo instead of webbing. The core combat mechanic of Ultimate Spider-Man is Symbiotic Rage. The rage meter fills by attacking enemies or by being attacked. Once the meter fills, Spider-Man can become enraged, causing his combo attacks to cause greater damage and hit multiple enemies. Hitting enemies while enraged helps to sustain your rage, which I thought was a cool feature.
Spider-Man 2099 utilized a technologically advanced spider-suit for enhanced agility and powerful melee combo attacks. Spider-Man 2099's unique ability was his suit's Accelerated Vision, which heightens his reflex to the point where enemies seem slower, making it easier for Spider-Man to dodge incoming attacks or maneuver through combat. Even though this combat mechanic didn't have as much of an impact on Spider-Man's fighting ability as Symbiotic Rage, it was a nice little ability to have when dealing with boss fights or when swarmed by enemies.
Completely unique from the other universes, the Noir dimension revolved around a stealth system. Enemies were much tougher (blocked more of Spider-Man's attacks) and had guns that did some serious damage if detected. Noir Spider-Man also lacked the sweeping area attacks and combos of the other Spider-Men, focusing more on one-to-one combat combos should he be discovered. The best way to handle enemies in the Noir dimension was to use a web-pull, yanking enemies into the darkness and then feeding them a knuckle-sandwich or restraining them in webbing.
While this system was completely unique from the others, it could have been more refined. Being concealed in the shadows wasn't apparent enough half the time; the screen would change from sepia tone to black and white if you were in the shadows, but the color change wasn't drastic enough and there wasn't any other indicators (like a spider symbol that changed color or something). Noir Spider-Man's health also regenerated at a much quicker rate, making detection from enemies too forgiving (the consequences for being detected weren't severe enough. You could just run and hide for a couple of seconds, and then be at full health, diminishing the stealth system experience).
Lastly, there weren't any specific upgrades for Noir Spider-Man like there were for 2099's Accelerated Vision or Ultimate's Symbiotic Rage, which I felt could have given the Noir dimension more flavor.
Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions also featured an upgrade system in which you could spend spider-essence to purchase new combo attacks, upgrade Spider-Man's health and health regeneration, enhance the Rage and Accelerated Vision abilities, or purchase alternate costumes for each Spider-Man. New upgrades would unlock after completing a certain number of challenges; for example: defeat x number of enemies, perform ability x, y number of times, etc. This made replaying certain levels more viable, giving you something new to strive for each time you did.
One element of the game that I really enjoyed was throughout gameplay, the camera would change to first-person view during some cut-scenes, immersing you in the experience of actually being Spider-Man. This also happened during certain boss fights, allowing you to get up close and personal to those villains as you grapple and exchange blows.
The only detriments to my gameplay experience were the numerous glitches and bugs I encountered, forcing me to either restart the level or fall back to a previous savepoint. It wasn't like I was looking for bugs; these glitches appeared throughout routine gameplay (reoccurring each time I restarted the level until I played it out differently). I am baffled at how a game can ship with so many obvious bugs; with any bugs at all, really, excluding those extremely rare glitches (that's what they have QA testers for, no?).
In terms of game design, I would have liked to have seen the game's mechanics better refined. Perhaps tweak the combos a bit and offer some damage upgrades (I noticed that even though you got new combos, it still took roughly the same number of hits to bring the same enemy down). The Noir stealth system could also use more depth, such as upgrades that make Spider-Man harder to detect, or if detected, return to stealth quicker, adding modifiers for walking/sneaking vs. running and jumping, or giving enemies an enhanced detection system, etc. Another interesting idea would be to design the game around sandbox levels (similar to Spider-Man: Web of Shadows), to include some secondary missions to change up gameplay, and to allow players to switch between dimensions as you play (offering unique missions/enemies/etc) instead of playing each dimension separately.
Despite the bugs/glitches, Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions was fun and entertaining to play. I would definitely recommend playing this game, which is totally possible over a renting period (the game plays out like any other action/adventure game, averaging about 10-15 hours of gameplay).
