Super Scribblenauts

In the spirit of Halloween I shall mask myself as old Kotaku and review Super Scribblenauts they way they use to (and probably fail at it).

Super Scribblenauts is the follow-up tittle to 5Th Cell's 2009 game Scribblenauts which was ultimately so-so on account of wonky controls and lack of any real progression. Have they stepped up with their addition of Adjectives? We shall see.

Liked:

New Control Scheme For Max: In the first Scribblenauts the only way to move Max was to tap the screen and Max would flail towards the spot knocking down any intricate set up you had trying to solve the puzzle. Apparently 5Th Cell heard our screams of frustration and made Max controllable with the D-Pad which is much appreciated especially since there are some puzzle which require very steady movements and precise controlling.

Adjectives, Adjectives and more Adjectives!: The addition of adjectives really mixes up the Scribblenauts formula making creating things and solving puzzles that much more entertaining. Adjectives can alter the size, nature, even the texture of any item. For example, you can type in "Angry Orange House" and an angry bouncing house will appear and if you're standing too close you will get attacked by it. Adjectives also makes challenges more difficult by making them only solvable with certain adjective described items adding more thought to each puzzle.

Hints! For a fee: The addition of Hints comes in handy when a certain puzzle is wracking your brain. Though sometimes they are a little obscure they ultimately point you in the right direction to solving the puzzle. Hints appear in a small hourglass that fills up over time, if you take too long solving the puzzle the hint will start ticking and let you know there's a hint available. Inclusively, you can buy the hints if you have enough Ollars and don't want to wait. You get three hints in total with the final one pretty much telling you what you need to summon.


Didn't Like

Repetitive Levels : Seriously Super Scribblenauts how many times do I have to see that 3x3 grid with the fill in the missing squares stage? I can honestly say that out of 6 played levels I've seen that grid easily 8 or more times. With the addition of adjectives you'd think that their levels would vary more. That also goes for the create-a-blank machine level. I swear between those two levels its about 40% of the entire game.

Wow This Game is Short: The first Scribblenauts had two sets of levels per world. That made the game extremely long and challenging since the flip levels where usually much more harder. Heck I still haven't gotten through all the flip levels. Super Scribblenauts ditches that ( I guess they needed room for all the "wacky" adjectives) and just lets us repeat the level using different words and adjectives. Personally I hated doing that because it got really old after doing that stage twice. The entire game has about 12 levels with about 12 puzzles each. Compared to the first Scribblenauts 20 levels and about 24 puzzles per level.

Still Lacking Any Direction or Objective: This game suffers from what the first one did, With the ability to make anything a reality you get bored because you have no sense of direction or any sense of structure. When you complete a level it doesn't really feel like you've accomplished anything other than killing time. There's no overall story no real point to do anything other than solving the puzzle right in front of you.

Obscure Wording. Yep Again : Yes this game also suffers from the weird wording that the first one did but this also includes adjectives. You will get frustrated when the game continuously crosses out what you're trying to spawn even if you've tried every word you can think off for the item and even resorted to writing it in another language out of frustration. I don't blame 5Th Cell because they do have a lot of stuff to add but making them less complex to create would be ideal. They don't even bother correcting it they just cross it out and spawn whatever the noun was.

Super Scribblenauts

In the spirit of Halloween I shall mask myself as old Kotaku and review Super Scribblenauts they way they use to (and probably fail at it).

Super Scribblenauts is the follow-up tittle to 5Th Cell's 2009 game Scribblenauts which was ultimately so-so on account of wonky controls and lack of any real progression. Have they stepped up with their addition of Adjectives? We shall see.

Liked:

New Control Scheme For Max: In the first Scribblenauts the only way to move Max was to tap the screen and Max would flail towards the spot knocking down any intricate set up you had trying to solve the puzzle. Apparently 5Th Cell heard our screams of frustration and made Max controllable with the D-Pad which is much appreciated especially since there are some puzzle which require very steady movements and precise controlling.

Adjectives, Adjectives and more Adjectives!: The addition of adjectives really mixes up the Scribblenauts formula making creating things and solving puzzles that much more entertaining. Adjectives can alter the size, nature, even the texture of any item. For example, you can type in "Angry Orange House" and an angry bouncing house will appear and if you're standing too close you will get attacked by it. Adjectives also makes challenges more difficult by making them only solvable with certain adjective described items adding more thought to each puzzle.

Hints! For a fee: The addition of Hints comes in handy when a certain puzzle is wracking your brain. Though sometimes they are a little obscure they ultimately point you in the right direction to solving the puzzle. Hints appear in a small hourglass that fills up over time, if you take too long solving the puzzle the hint will start ticking and let you know there's a hint available. Inclusively, you can buy the hints if you have enough Ollars and don't want to wait. You get three hints in total with the final one pretty much telling you what you need to summon.


Didn't Like

Repetitive Levels : Seriously Super Scribblenauts how many times do I have to see that 3x3 grid with the fill in the missing squares level? I can honestly say that out of 6 played levels I've seen that grid easily 8 or more times. With the addition of adjectives you'd think that their levels would vary more. That also goes for the create-a-blank machine level. I swear between those two levels its about 40% of the entire game.

Wow This Game is Short: The first Scribblenauts had two sets of levels per world. That made the game extremely long and challenging since the flip levels where usually much more harder. Heck I still haven't gotten through all the flip levels. Super Scribblenauts ditches that ( I guess they needed room for all the "wacky" adjectives) and just lets us repeat the level using different words and adjectives. Personally I hated doing that because it got really old after doing that stage twice. The entire game has about 12 levels with about 12 puzzles each. Compared to the first Scribblenauts 20 levels and about 24 puzzles per level.

Still Lacking Any Direction or Objective: This game suffers from what the first one did, With the ability to make anything a reality you get bored because you have no sense of direction or any sense of structure. When you complete a level it doesn't really feel like you've accomplished anything other than killing time. There's no overall story no real point to do anything other than solving the puzzle right in front of you.

Obscure Wording. Yep Again : Yes this game also suffers from the weird wording that the first one did but this also includes adjectives. You will get frustrated when the game continuously crosses out what you're trying to spawn even if you've tried every word you can think off for the item and even resorted to writing it in another language out of frustration. I don't blame 5Th Cell because they do have a lot of stuff to add but making them less complex to create would be ideal. They don't even bother correcting it they just cross it out and spawn whatever the noun was.

Read Dead Redemption : Undead Nightmare

Rockstar has a track record for releasing some amazing DLC for their games and this is no different. It has everything you can ever want in a undead apocalypse game, Undead, Nuns, people eating each other, Unicorns, and even Sasquatches!

The game starts off right after John Marston gets home to his family after killing Bill Williamson. The Marston family is having a nice familiar gathering when they wonder where Uncle is. They don't put too much worry on it and head to bed. Uncle makes for a rude awakening as he has become a shambling undead and attacks John and Abigail in there bedroom. John manages to knock him out with a lamp and he runs off to find his gun leaving Abigail in there with the Undead Uncle which later regains consciousness and chases Abigail outside and proceeds to bite her. While she writhes in pain Marston kills Uncle. Their son runs out to see if his mother is alright and is bitten by her. They soon change into Undead and Marston ties them up and stows them in their house as he sets off to find a cure for this "disease".

This DLC does not mix with the main Red Dead storyline and when you start up the game you get a prompt on which version of the game you want to play which is pretty awesome. I was worried that they would be forced to make it all either a dream state or a hallucination. If you were expecting a half assed DLC with Undead attached you are gladly mistaken. The DLC actually has a really good story with many old characters popping up and some meeting their fate to the barrel of your gun (for the first time or again).

The Undead type are spread even into the animals. From Undead Bears to Undead Bulls, everything has been infected. The main human Undead is classified into four groups; Your standard slow walking shambling Undead, A Retcher which spits out blobs of acid and explodes when killed causing splash damage (It is NOT a L4D2 Spitter even if they do kind of moan the same), Bruisers big fat guys who rush you and attempt to knock you down (No they're not Chargers from L4D), and Bolters who scurry around the floor on all fours at high speeds and attack you (Not Jockeys from L4D2). This mix of undead proves to some annoyingly hard situations when you get attacked by 4 Bolters while getting spit on by a Retcher for example which can lead to death in a few seconds. Luckily you have a handful of new weapons to assist you; a Blunderbuss which shots undead body parts, Undead Bait which comes in handy to draw them out if you're snipping them from a roof top, A Torch melee weapon which sets undead on fire, and Holy Water which sets Undead on fire in a glorious blue flame. Oh and you can only kill undead with headshots. I know right?!

The environment and ambiance of this game really pulls you in. Everything is covered in an eerie gray fog, the skies are covered with grey clouds and it periodically rains making it feel even more dreary. When you save a town from an Undead Horde the sky above the town clears up and sunshine pours in which I thought was a really nice touch. Also, when you ride out and spot a saved town you can see the sky opening and the rays of light shinning down which gives the game a more dream-scape like feeling to it.

The new Challenges and collectibles (so to speak) for this DLC come in the shape of the Four Horses Of The Apocalypse (Famine,War,Pestilence and Death) which you find through random encounters exploring the world. So have specific traits that prove useful (Pestilence has a high damage resistance for example)when traveling. They have unlimited stamina which is another plus when trying to outrun an undead Cougar (or 4 Undead cougars =|) or a flash mob of Undead. The Hunter Challenges are still there and come in a few fun and sometimes ridiculously over the top packages.

I didn't want to give away everything but overall this add-on does not take itself seriously at all. From the cheesy B-movie intro scene to a Sasquatch talking to you about how horrible humans are, Undead Nightmare is probably one of the best DLCs to come out this year and I suggest everyone with a copy of RDR to get it.

P.S: There's also a stand alone hard copy of it coming out Nov. 26 for 30 bucks just in case you dont want to buy RDR just for the DLC.

Enslaved: Odyssey to the West

Enslaved throws you head first into a world unknown yet familiar. This is honestly one of the most interesting games I've played in 2010. An old concept of AI co-op but with a refreshing take on it (your AI partner is actually useful!).

Enslaved tells the story of Monkey, a loner with a strange hatred for wearing shirts. Through a serious of events you end up meeting your partner (and master) Trip, who puts a slave headband on you to help her get back to her home after a epic crash in the decaying ruins of New York City. What keeps you from ignoring her and stamping her out like a match of you ask? Well if her heart stops beating for any reason, the headband with deliver a lethal charge and kill you. This sets off a love/hate relationship between these two and starts probably the best forced co-op game to date. Trip is extremely useful; from distracting enemies shooting at you to opening doors to finding the way around the map for you. You do have to save her from time to time but its usually from ledges she's about to slip off or a hoard of robots ganging up on her. These situations happen less and less as the game progresses which means you wont be having to watch her all the time.

Enslaved is a highly platform oriented game with some combat elements which work well. The combat is limited however by the lack of any real combos other than the standard heavy and light attacks. This shouldn't put you off though since the combat sequences are solid and movement is fluid. One thing that I don't recommend using while in the heat of battle is the plasma shots your Staff (main and only personal weapon) emits because it switches the camera to over the shoulder and kills your speed leaving you wide open for a barrage of attacks from the more difficult enemies. The enemies in Enslaved come in the form of blade wielding, electricity flinging mechs but are somewhat lacking with only about 4 different variations. There are also 2 different mini boss mechs which prove easier than expected. They do get annoying and repetitive at times when you have to fight the same enemies over and over again but again, this should not put you off the game.

Besides the somewhat ho-hum combat and enemy types, the platforming is where this game shines. It is absolutely phenomenal. Think Prince of Persia meets Mario with a dash of Uncharted. Swinging from ledge to pipe to platform is incredibly smooth and effortless. Even maneuvering through timed jumps feels easy and never tedious or tough. The climbable ledges in the environment are thankfully highlighted in a glossy finish. Though sometimes with the camera shifts you might miss them. Speaking of environment, the backgrounds for this game are hugeeee. You feel completely submerged in your environment. There's a lot of depth and looking down from high places gives you a sense of grandeur and some fear about how hard it will hurt to fall off.

The controls for this game are pretty easy to understand and its very easy to pick up and play without much specialization on the buttons. There is a "Hey Button" which makes Monkey jump and yell "Hey!" every time its pressed. Its just for kicks at times but in reality its useful for drawing attention away from any mechs about to attack Trip. The camera for this game is really easy to control although when the game shifts angles you are sometimes left walking into the wall for a few seconds while you refocus yourself. The controls for combat are easy, your standard Y for heavy and X for fast attacks. You can't walk off low ledges in this game which forces you to press the jump button to get down but I guess its a good thing so you don't accidentally walk off a ledge. Then again Monkey does walk down certain ledges without jumping soo I guess he's just being a bitch.

The story for this game is rather simple in the beginning. After you are enslaved by Trip you both need to cross NYC and get to the other side for Trip to reunite with her father and set you free. Without giving away too much of the story it does get a bit complex near the last few hours with the addition of one highly colorful and awesome character and some obvious sexual tension between you and Trip. The ending for this game will leave you questioning your decision on it and what you perceive as correct. It is a very eye opening albeit cheesy ending with real world undertones.

There are orbs you collect through the world to upgrade your Staff, health and combat skills which actually feel like they're helping and you are not just wasting orbs on useless stuff. There are some rare collectibles in the form of "glitches" which are floating masks that when picked up flash images of locations and people before the decay of the planet.

Few quick gripes, The graphics aren't that great. Most of the time everything needs about 10 seconds for all the layers to appear making the game look muddy for awhile. The explosions are really pathetic making big explosions look like tiny firecracker pops. Also, sometimes checkpoints are right before a cutscene forcing you to sit through it if you restart or die. You can skip some with the Select button though.

All things considered though, Enslaved is a very very good game with a fresh idea, easy controls and a engrossing story. If you have been burned by other forced AI games *coughRE5cough* pick this game up and see how its really done.

Oh oh also there's a nod to Portal that made me smile so more props to you Enslaved!