andPOP » David Barmak

Guitar Hero Smash Hits — a Smash Hit!

David Barmak — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 22:17:24 +0000

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I still remember the summer when Guitar Hero 2 came out. It was a summer not unlike this one. The sun was hot and the air was clear, but I did not go outside. I stayed in and worked my way through career mode on medium, then hard, and then expert. Would you believe, I started impressing girls with my button-shredding abilities?

Video game fans, take my advice. Stay in this season and hone your fake guitar skills with Activision’s Guitar Hero: Smash Hits. Some may scoff at this newest entry, a compilation of the greatest hits from previous guitar hero releases, but the core gameplay remains tight and challenging as ever. The tracks have been taken from Guitar Heroes 1, 2 and 3, with entries from Rock the 80′s and Aerosmith. All of the tracks are now playable by the whole band – guitar, bass, vocals and drums – just as in Guitar Hero World Tour. The selection features lots of reliable favourites, but like the rest of the series there’s a heavy weighting on classic rock and metal.

GH has always separated itself from Rock Band by playing up the competitive aspect of the game. Where Rock Band 2 added favourites like Psycho Killer by the Talking Heads and Eye of the Tiger by Survivor, Guitar Hero 3 saw soul-crushing entries like Raining Blood by Slayer and Through the Fire and the Flames by Dragonforce. As a devoted Guitar Hero player since the series started, I could simply not get through either of the latter songs, even on hard mode. Guitar Hero: Smash Hits has remedied the problem by smoothing out the gap between difficulty modes. It took me lots of work to beat Raining Blood on Hard in GH3, but the song has been rejigged to make it less complicated this time around. The difficulty definitely ramps up in Expert mode – but even Through the Fire and the Flames lets you play most of the song on the slider bar without worrying about strumming. On the other hand, it means that the note layouts on your favourite song have probably changed. If you had almost memorized The Sword’s Freya, for example, you might be as bothered as I was to have to learn the song again.

As the music genre slowly evolves, gamers are becoming more familiar with plastic instruments. Guitar Hero: Smash Hits doesn’t quite offer anything new in the way of gameplay that a previous entry hadn’t already done. Guitar Hero: Metallica brought us Expert+ mode on drums – and it’s back. Some really tough songs have a skull and crossbones icon, meaning you can attach a second bass pedal to your drum kit and blast your way through Lamb of God’s Laid to Rest, among others. The bass has recently been improved with an open note, where no buttons are pressed, and this makes songs like Rush’s YYZ all the more dynamic and enjoyable.

Despite these subtle changes I have described, this is still a Guitar Hero game, and you have definitely played this before. The game runs on the same engine as World Tour, and features many of the same options including customizable avatars, guitars and tattoos. Activision has recently announced a downloadable licensing patch that will make Guitar Hero 5 backwards compatible with most of the tracks on the Smash Hits disc. This will certainly give the GH franchise some legs, as it jostles to dethrone Rock Band 2 as the reigning rhythm game.

Guitar Hero: Smash Hits has the same visual style as its predecessors. There is a cartoony feel to the characters on screen matched by realistic motion capturing. The venues are exotic this time around, everything from the pyramids in Egypt to the strangely-chosen final level in Quebec City. The sound is generally pretty good in this game, but there are some slight discrepancies between the tracks as they appear here and their original recordings. No One Knows by Queens of the Stone Age suffers from this – the bass is way too quiet in the game mix. Audience effects are pretty minor here, and I’m fondly reminded of Rock Band here; nothing sounds as exhilarating as when the audience sings along with your song.

Ultimately, the gaming enthusiast has two distinct choices on the console. Rock Band is known for its lengthy list of downloadable tracks. Lots of popular genres are represented, including simpler tracks that demand less skill to play. This can make it boring for extended play sessions. Guitar Hero, on the other hand, has always curated a list of challenging songs. Sure, the series features I Love Rock and Roll and other ultra-basic tracks, but the difficulty ramps up fast. The career mode of Guitar Hero: Smash Hits is where it’s at. Practice with this game, and you will be a fret-shredder in no time.

Gameplay: 5/5

Graphics: 4/5

Sound: 4/5

Replay Value: 4.5/5

Rock Out with a Hannah Montana PSP

David Barmak — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 17:31:54 +0000

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It’s not just for boys or the Japanese anymore. Sony Computer Entertainment America has announced a new Limited Edition Hannah Montana PSP Entertainment Pack. Similar to the Madden and Daxter packs that came before it, the Hannah Montana kit will include: a copy of Disney Interactive’s Hannah Montana: Rock Out The Show video game, three episodes of the tv show on UMD, a 2GB Memory Stick Pro DUO and, of course, a lilac-coloured PSP-3000.

Gamers can customize their PSP with fashionable vinyl stickers also included. “The new Limited
Edition Hannah Montana PSP Entertainment Pack plays a central role in SCEA’s larger ‘Girlz Play Too’ initiative and we’re committed to bringing a steady stream of female-friendly content to consumers,” says John Koller, the company’s Director of Hardware Marketing. “While SCEA has a broad range of PSP owners from under 12 to over 45 years old, we saw a tremendous opportunity for us to connect with the female and ‘tween’ demographic and create a PSP system that girls will love.” Sony has certainly been throwing a lot of support at the PSP lately. Some gamers can look forward to portable entries from Ubisoft’s Petz and LittleBigPlanet, while others await the new Assassin’s Creed and Soulcalibur games.

The Hannah Montana Pack has an MSRP of $199.99 and is out now.

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

David Barmak — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 20:00:22 +0000

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Ubisoft has announced they will be making a Scott Pilgrim video game to coincide with the Universal film release in 2010. The movie, starring Michael Cera in the titular role, is of course based on the comic book, which is heavily inspired by video game culture. Before Scott can attain true happiness with his new girlfriend Ramona Flowers, he must defeat her Seven Evil Ex-Boyfriends. If you are not familiar with the comic series, I URGE you now to pick it up.

“Video games have been a huge influence on the characters and world of Scott Pilgrim,” said Bryan Lee O’Malley, creator of the original comic. “As a gamer myself, it is a true pleasure to work closely with the talented team at Ubisoft to bring Scott to life on video game screens worldwide.” Scott spends his days at home playing Sonic the Hedgehog, and named his band Sex Bob-omb, a clever Super Mario reference. “The storyline mirrors the escalating structure of a video game, and it is filled with clever homages to video game culture,” said Bill Kispert, vice president interactive at Universal Partnerships & Licensing. “We are thrilled to be collaborating with Ubisoft to bring fans a thoroughly entertaining interactive experience.”

The movie is being directed by Edgar Wright, famous already for his work on Shuan of the Dead and Hot Fuzz. There is no official release date yet, but it should be out sometime in 2010. The video game will arrive at the same time — as will the sixth and final issue in the comic series.

Dark Horse to Turn Mass Effect into Comic Book

David Barmak — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 17:03:49 +0000

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A little plesent coversation in the midst of total destruction.

EA and Dark Horse have announced a new comic series called Mass Effect: Redemption. The narrative will bridge the gap between the first and second video games. Commander Shepard must fight for survival away from his crew on the Normandy while his close companion, Dr. Liara T’Soni, tries to bring him back.

The Mass Effect: Redemption story is written by Mac Walters, the script writer behind Mass Effect 2. He will no doubt bring some unique insight and depth to the Mass Effect universe. The comic is scripted by John Jackson Miller (Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic, The Invincible Iron Man) and drawn by Omar Francia (Star Wars Legacy). The first four-part series explores the exotic and dangerous future Milky Way, and promises brand new locations and aliens. Walters and Francia were on hand today at the San Diego Comic Con. ”Fans of Mass Effect are going to be pleasantly shocked by the events in these comics,” said Walters. “We worked very closely with Dark Horse to make sure this story was built into the Mass Effect 2 arc, right from the ground up.”

Mass Effect: Redemption issue #1 hits comic shop shelves on January 6, 2010. The eagerly anticipated Mass Effect 2 is scheduled for release on Xbox 360 and PC in early 2010.

Activision, Image Team-Up on Singulary Comic Book

David Barmak — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 17:03:26 +0000

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Activision is teaming up with a crew of industry veterans at Twistory Studios and Image Publishing. They’ll be publishing a comic book based on the upcoming game Singularity.

The team includes David Atchinson, of the Occult Times Taskforce, Davide Fabbri, with credits from Heavy Metal and Dark Horse’s Star Wars, Christopher “mink” Morrison, whose work includes Dark Horse’s upcoming Shinjuku with Yoshitaka Amano, and Tom Mandrake, renowned artist of Batman and The Punisher. Atchinson, Fabbri and Morrison are making an appearance at this year’s San Diego Comic Con.

In Singularity players attempt to unravel a deadly Cold War conspiracy that has fractured the fabric of time itself, fighting their way through an ever-shifting environment occupied by Russian mercenaries and time-ravaged creatures.

The comic will tell the story of the shadowy events off the Russian Peninsula that unraveled time as we know it and ultimately led to ‘the Singularity’. The single issue graphic novel will be available following the launch of the game, scheduled to release in early 2010 for the Xbox 360, PS3 and PC.

Where The Wild Things Are (Answer: Wii, Xbox 360, PS3 & DS)

David Barmak — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 02:00:33 +0000

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Fans of the 1963 Maurice Sednak classic children’s book are in for a treat this fall. Warner Bros. has just announced a Where the Wild Things Are video game to coincide with the feature film release. The movie adaptation is directed by Spike Jonze and releases on October 16, 2009. Expect the game to launch sometime around then.

In the video game, players assume the role of the rambunctious young Max and can explore the island of the Wild Things, journey across its dangerous terrain, overcome hazardous obstacles and battle fierce creatures. “Through their action-filled adventure, players will team-up with the Wild Things – each with their own unique skills or special talents – learn valuable new abilities and work together to find a way to safety, ” said Samantha Ryan, senior vice president, Production and Development, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment.

Where the Wild Things Are is being developed for the Nintendo Wii, Xbox 360 and PS3 by Amaze Entertainment, a Foundation 9 studio, and for Nintendo DS by WayForward.

Carlos Santana Grooves in Guitar Hero 5

David Barmak — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 05:52:51 +0000

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11-time Grammy winner Carlos Santana is set to appear in the latest installment of the Guitar Hero franchise. Santana will be an in-game character and contributes a live version of the Latin themed “No One to Depend On.”

Guitar Hero 5 will launch with a typically diverse list of songs — everything from the Rolling Stones and Tom Petty, to the White Stripes and Vampire Weekend. A new feature this time around will be the Party Play Mode, allowing players to jump in and out of songs on the fly.

“We’re thrilled to showcase one of the top guitarists of all time in Guitar Hero 5 and offer fans the opportunity to experience Carlos Santana’s signature sounds and iconic likeness first-hand,” said Tim Riley, vice president of music affairs for Guitar Hero, speaking today. “His accomplished career and breadth of musical style are a great illustration of the variety of rock experiences we have included in the game and we are excited to announce him as the first of five playable in-game artists.”

No word yet on any of the four other playable characters. We’ll know for sure when Guitar Hero 5 launches September 1, 2009.

EA Reveals Free DLC for Fight Night Round 4 Starting August

David Barmak — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 01:51:46 +0000

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It hasn’t taken long for EA to announce the first batch of DLC for Fight Night Round 4 — and it’s free! There are a couple of items in the pipes. By early August, Fight Night fans can expect a new training gym, new gameplay sliders, and a host of new equipment that can be used for outfitting boxers. And as cross-promotional exclusive, Xbox 360 users will receive an alternate version of Sugar Ray Leornard courtesy of Pizza Hut.

Then by early September, EA will release a controversial update that allows players to use the face buttons to throw punches instead of wielding the analog sticks with Total Punch Control precision. “Among the new content in development, our new button control scheme will give fans a choice for how they want to throw punches in the game,” says Dean Richards, senior producer of EA Sports. “We strongly believe that the refined Total Punch Control is the most intuitive way to throw punches in Fight Night Round 4, but we also want fans of the franchise to have an option.”

Fight Night Round 4 was released in North America on June 23, 2009. It is currently available for the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3.

2K Sports Announces NBA 2K Online for Asian Market

David Barmak — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 20:17:37 +0000

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2K Sports has got a new NBA game in the works, and it’s not just the yearly 2K10 entry. The company has announced a partnership to co-develop NBA 2K Online with Tencent Holdings Limited, an internet portal in China. This new team will be dubbed Take-Two Asia, and will also release the game in Taiwan, South Korea and other parts of Southeast Asia. Tencent has plenty of experience in the online world. It represents China’s largest virtual community with 411 million active user accounts. By comparison, Steam has a mere 1 million users. Yikes.

NBA 2K Online will be exclusive to the Asian market. Paul Thornton, a portfolio manger, and founder of www.investorbootcamp.ca says Chinese game companies face a unique challenge. “Online gaming is growing in China versus retail sales because there is a reputation of piracy in everything from music to movies,” he says. ”This way revenues can be controlled.” Tencent is listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, where its shares are trading 30% higher on a year-over-year basis. With its market cap at a whopping $160.75 billion, Tencent is ten times larger than Activision Blizzard’s market cap of $15.68 billion. To be fair though, it is a holding company with diversified internet interests – Activision is focused on publishing games.

China experienced a huge spike in online gaming in 2008 — growing 61% from the previous year, and generating a revenue of $2.75 billion. Analysts at Nikko Partners project it could reach almost $9 billion by 2013. We’re talking big here. ”China’s online games market is at a nascent stage and we believe that opportunities are just beginning to unfold,” says Martin Lau, president of Tencent. His company currently operates 67 mini casual games, five advanced casual games and five MMORPGs.

The popularity of the NBA continues to grow in China. The basketball league is considering building 12 arenas in the country, where it estimates the fanbase consists of more than 500 million people. Paul Thornton puts it simply: “You have to think that an online NBA game in China is going to go gangbusters.”

Game Review: Castle Crashers

David Barmak — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 17:00:45 +0000

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A short, 2D man stumbles into a tavern and dies. His body flashes and then disappears. This is your introduction to the world of Castle Crashers, a game full of self-reflexive and irreverent humour. Someone has crashed the castle and kidnapped four princesses. You must choose the Blue, Red, Green or Orange knight to go out and rescue the princesses and win them back one kiss at a time.

Castle Crashers is a classic, side-scrolling arcade game. You progress across linear levels from left to right and defeat bad guys as you go. The game has many throwbacks to the coin-op era, including a flashing finger pointing you right as the screen is cleared. A more contemporary twist has been added, as the characters level up with attributable skill points to strength, magic, defense and speed.

This is an action game with a quick pace. The game does not halt when your character gains a level; instead, it let’s you adjust your skill points between stages. Magic spells are limited to three per character with generic elemental themes such as ice for the Blue Knight and fire for the Orange Knight. As you clear stages, more characters are unlocked. I played as the Orange Knight and ran into big trouble in the lava stage as the enemies were immune to my magic attacks. Later in the game, I encountered more magic-resistant enemies. During these sections, the combat became very one-dimensional as I button mashed my way to the next stage so it’s important to keep your characters balanced if playing solo.

The controls are quite simple to pick up, allowing even novice video game players a chance to crash some castles. On the other hand, not all of the buttons on the controller have been utilized. Throughout the game, your character will unlock different weapons and helper animals. You can only change your weapon in between stages by navigating all the way back to the beginning of the map. The game would have benefited from the ability to map weapons to the directional-pad, making it possible to switch from magic-boosting mace to power hammer in a click.

Hardcore gamers will take pleasure in the boss battles. These are a lot of fun. Often the battles began with a lot of cursing and swearing on my part before I would eventually catch onto the right rhythm as each boss (like classic games of the past) have a certain technique to defeat. The boss of the ice level, for example, summons crystals to crash down constantly, forcing your character to literally skate across screen without stopping in one place.

At one point I got to a boss that was an evil corn-on-the-cob — and here, please, let me tell you about what makes this game special. Castle Crashers is simply the most cohesive game experience on Xbox Live Arcade. The graphics in 1080i are stunning! The art style is bright and colourful, and matches perfectly the overall wacky tone (indeed, featured artist Dan Paladin has been credited with “Art ‘n Animation”). The music is trancey and frenetic. As I blasted the giant, evil corn-on-the-cob with fireballs — POPCORN FLEW OFF. Yes, there have been zany games in the past like Earthworm Jim and Katamari Damacy, but evil corn-on-the-cob is about as close as we’ve come to kooky video game perfection.

Castle Crashers is available on the Xbox Live Arcade for 1200 Microsoft Points — a fair price to pay for a game with such high production value. The single-player took me about 12 hours to complete, and there are a multitude of characters to choose from for a second playthrough. Multiplayer is where Castle Crashers really shines. It supports up to four players in local or online coop. It’s a great party game which lends itself well to the informal pass-the-controller dynamic. Developer The Behemoth has already released an update patch, and more playable characters via downloadable content. The game also comes with an eating contest mini-game and a dueling mini-game for multiplayer action both online and off.

Now, this downloadable content dubbed the King Pack comes at the cost of 160 Microsoft points and provides those that download it with three new weapons (the king’s mace, a giant lollipop, and the golden sword) a new pet named Pelter that at times, freezes enemies, and two new playable characters, the open-faced grey knight (same as closed-faced grey knight) and the king himself (whom has the element of gold and has a magical spell that heals him and those around him). This downloadable pack adds more replay value for those that have gone through the title time and time again and need something new to play with. As well, adding the healing magic, we are introduced to a new dynamic in the game, that of the healing role for the rest of the team.

Overall, Castle Crashers was a blast to play and now even after almost a year has passed, it’s still one of my favourite Xbox Live Arcade titles out there. Check out The Behemoth’s website at www.thebehemoth.com for their contest in which players guess when exactly 1 million players will be on the castle crashers leader board!

Gameplay 3.5/5

Graphics 5/5

Sound 4.5/5

Replay Value 4.5/5

Alexander Ovechkin on the Cover of NHL 2K10

David Barmak — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 17:58:56 +0000

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2K Sports has chosen Alexander Ovechkin to grace the cover of NHL 2K10. In celebration, 2K Sports is holding a public outdoor motion capture session with Ovechkin himself at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas. The game’s producers will be putting the hockey star through a number of drills to capture his signature style data.

Alexander Ovechkin, in case you didn’t know, plays left wing with the Washington Capitals. He was the first overall selection in the 2004 entry draft, and scored more goals this season than anybody else in the NHL. In a statement published by 2K Sports, Ovechkin says: “It’s a good time to be Ovi!”

NHL 2K10 is being developed by Visual Concepts for the Wii, Xbox 360, PS3 and PS2. It ships later this fall.

BMW M3 GT2 Shifts onto Cover of NFS SHIFT

David Barmak — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 21:55:18 +0000

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Fans of the Need for Speed franchise may have to wait until fall to get Need for Speed SHIFT, EA’s latest entry in the 15 year franchise. But they may rejoice with the knowledge that the BMW M3 GT2 will be featured on the cover of the newest game. EA had the game on showcase at E3 this week, where gamers got their hands on it for the first time.

Players will have 65 cars to choose from. The game boasts a diverse selection ranging from the classic 1972 Nissan Skyline 2000 GT-R to the exotic 2007 Lamborghini Reventón. The tracks will include newly designed circuits and actual locations like the legendary 20km Nordschleife in Nürburg, Germany.

NFS fans should already know what to expect. “Need for Speed SHIFT is about the intense power and emotion of being behind the wheel,” said Patrick Soderlund, senior vice president, EA Games Europe. The game is being developed for the Xbox 360, PS3 and PC by Slightly Mad Studios in London, England. EA’s Bright Light Studio is developing a version for the PSP. Need for Speed SHIFT ships on September 22, 2009 in North America.