Halo: Spartan Assault Review

Time sure does fly when you are playing and making games! Back in April, I wrote out a preview of Halo: Spartan Assault. Summer is here and so is the Steam sale allowing me to finally get my hands on 343 Studios twin stick shooter. Does it live up to the it’s first person predecessors or is it a pocket sized version of the Halo series?

Halo: Spartan Assault feels like a pocket sized version of the Halo series. This is not always a bad thing though because the levels have a clear focus and doesn’t waste your time. The campaign is pretty long and has a great amount of re-playability to get the highest points. You can also add skulls to your campaign making it even more challenging and will give you more experience points to use better weapons.

The games story is perfect for fans of the lore but as someone who hasn’t followed it since 3, it really didn’t mean much to me at all. You essentially go through the missions of Spartan Palmer that involve killing X number of this and defend this for X amount of time. The level structure isn’t all that inspired and the level designs aren’t all that interesting. The graphics, however, are fantastic and a lot of polish went behind the particles and textures. The music is also well orchestrated but most of the time I ignored it because they never really fit with what was happening in game. Unlike the other games (that I’ve played) the music was punchy during combat and really fit the mood while in Spartan Assault, the slower music would be taking place during fire fights which just felt bizarre.

The gameplay itself is really solid and works well with the feeling of the FPS Halo’s, but top-down. As I said in my preview, it would be nice to jump around in order to dodge enemy attacks are traverse the areas that seem to be able to be traversed. The game limits itself to one plane which focuses gameplay nicely but flying enemies and certain points of elevation make it difficult to not want to jump around. Spartan Assault is also a much more slower twin stick game in pace which makes the game feel longer and less chaotic than it is. There will be points where you are being shot at all angles but the game doesn’t feel like you are in any danger because the enemies are slow and low in numbers. Certain levels, like the vehicle levels and defending levels, are very fun but their are some exceptions. One level in particular was designed so poorly that I didn’t have to move away from my turret throughout the entire level. A rare occurrence but in game with a great amount of polish makes this very noticeable.

Halo: Spartan Assault is a good game but could have been so much more. It is disappointing to see 343 Studios make a game that has a great amount of production value in cutscenes but little in-game. I’m hoping to see more game studios take this route with their IP’s though.

 

7.5/10

 

 

Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris E3 Thoughts

I’ll be honest with you, I was really surprised to see this game announced at E3. Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light came out almost four years ago and was very fun from what I played. Crystal Dynamics and Square Enix seems to be really pushing the Tomb Raider license. To be fair, this is probably the best time to do so considering how popular and strong the IP is.

The biggest change I saw was the inclusion of the two extra characters to finally have four player co-op.  From what it looked like, they seem to be generic characters but I’m hoping to see some four player puzzles scattered across the game. Thanks to Pocket-lint, it seems that there will be some dynamic puzzle solving based on how many players are in the game. I’m very interested to see how this works out and how creative these dynamic puzzles could be.

The game also appears to be taking place in Egypt and will have enemies and bosses based off of that mythos. In fact, it appears that there is a new version of Totec that could change the way puzzles are solved. The enhanced graphics to the game really make animations and particles pop and the four player inclusion appears to make the game more chaotic.

The game is said to be coming out soon, which makes me want to play through Guardian of Light now.

 

PixelJunk Shooter- PS Vita Preview

PixelJunk Shooter is the fourth installment of the PixelJunk series developed by Q-Games. PixelJunk Shooter rethinks the twin stick shooter in multiple ways. Like Square Off, the game is more of a side scroller but still acts as a twin stick shooter using the right stick to shoot and the left to control your subterranean vehicle. PixelJunk Shooter also contains a lot more puzzles and exploration than shooting actual enemies but still has its fair share of intense moments.

The goal is to collect all the scientists in each small section of the map.  You also need to make sure to explore each section to obtain as many diamonds as you can which can be pretty difficult to find. You collect diamonds and scientists with a homing grapple hand and each level will be filled with enemies and various obstacles. Playing through the first area and part of the second, I was able to encounter quite a few interesting puzzles and sections that require a good amount of timing and patience. Whether you are using water to cool down lava and exploding it or getting lava to explode flammable gas, you are going to have to make sure you cleared the area of enemies as well as scientists. Killing enough scientists will end the game and force you to redo the section. Other than cooling down lava, water can be used to cool your vehicle down so you can shoot more homing rockets as well as shoot this rockets almost infinitely. If you become overheated through lava or a missile, you can save yourself by going into water which is really nice but the opportunity to save yourself doesn’t happen often.  The ice area will have you melt ice with lava and you can even replace your missiles with a lava shooter. As cool as it is, it is very dangerous if you shoot straight up because you will die immediately. There are sections when it is necessary to take out lava on the ceilings which is kinda tedious.

Thank you TGN!

I was also able to encounter a spider like boss that had multiple stages to it.  First you would have to shoot missile launchers on its back and then you had to shoot its face. while it spawns enemies that crawl on land masses that get pretty close to you. The boss took me quite a few tries but I managed to take it down to get to the ice area.

I played the PS Vita version and it travels very well. Sections are small enough to complete on a bus ride and it is free for Playstation Plus members. I plan on playing more of it because I am interested to see how much more variation to the puzzles they have created.

 

Why I Love and Hate Hotline Miami

Dennaton Games’ Hotline Miami is perhaps one of the greatest games to come out of the Game Maker engine. It combines the twitch reflexes of twin stick games and combines an intense layer of rogue-like stealth. When you die, it’s your fault and the consequences are very minimalistic. Each level takes less than three minutes but it will take you a lot longer than that. The premise is interesting and makes you feel like a gangster with something that resembles a heart. The graphics fit that 80’s Miami Vice look and the soundtrack compliments it perfectly. The limited ammunition for guns make sense and having them has their ups and downs. The game is over the top gory and red pixels never looked so good. That tiny window of peace between missions is like finding a save room in Resident Evil. As soon as you walk out that door it’s go time!

If you haven’t figured out why I love and respect Hotline Miami than you should reread the first paragraph. There is a reason this indie game became a cult classic but there are a few reasons why I really can’t stand this game. I’m sure a lot of it has to do with my lack of skill, but I can’t help but notice details in the game that make me want to range quit because the game feels like it cheated on me. For starters, I understand that this is a top down video game but as I put myself in the role of the player I have to wonder if my mask is obscuring my vision or if I need a pair of glasses because I should totally be able to see that dog or two guys with guns across the hall.  I understand that I am supposed to learn the first time, but there are cases where these goons are patrolling and my timing is not always the same. Being able to zoom the camera out would have helped greatly and seeing how the world outside the building is already barren, I already know it isn’t detailed. Perhaps this edition would have made the game too easy and was somewhere on the drawing board but giving the player the option to do so would be nice. Even taking the option out on a hard difficulty would have been nice.

Another thing I hate about this game is the super human AI. If you shoot your gun at someone you better be prepared. Funneling guards through a door works but not always. Locking on is the best way to kill enemies with a gun but the lock on doesn’t work to well with multiple bad guys. Even when you think you have your gun aimed directly at the door way, that AI will probably see you first. I’m sure there are huge stealth fans that love this edition but I don’t care for stealth in games. It’s strange why I even gave Hotline Miami a chance in that regards. Either way, the doesn’t feel human when the rest of the game does.  I’d play a different game if I wanted to fight supernatural creature or robots but in a game that aims to feel realistic, this crazy AI breaks my immersion.

With all that being said, I still need to finish my play through of Hotline Miami but boy do I suck at it. I am pretty excited to see what Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number brings to the table in terms of advancing the gameplay. So I ask you, what games do you love but hate with a fiery passion? Think about all those games you play but make you want to throw the controller out the window or smash your keyboard because it’s frustrating or hard.