Preview: Portal 2

The clearest thing about 2007 is that, among the biggest triple-A titles that were released including but not limited to Halo 3, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Bioshock, Crysis, and God of War 2, few would have anticipated that a little tie-in title to a Valve box set release would garner such love.  When the Orange Box was released that October, though home to the much anticipated Team Fortress 2 and Half-Life 2, Portal stood out far beyond either of them and gained both the love of gamers and a seat in the spotlight reserved for only a handful of games in history.  The charm, puzzles, dialog, and amazingly fun gameplay was universally acclaimed in such a way that people were frothing for a sequel or, at the very least, an expansion within weeks of the game’s release.  Valve heard those pleas and released an expansion for the Xbox Live Arcade called Portal: Still Alive the following year that consisted of the full game and additional maps created from user generated content.

This however was simply not enough.  Portal 2 was announced last month and, from all reports, it looks to be both a strong departure and yet a return to the familiar.

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Fratricide is the Only Way

Portal 2’s announcement couldn’t have come in a more obscure package even if Valve tried.  On March 1st Valve released a cryptic update to the PC version of Portal that “changed radio transmission frequency to comply with federal and state spectrum management regulations.”  While this may seem like a nonsensical update to a game that hadn’t seen any significant patches since early 2009 it did drive a handful of curious Valve purists to find out what was going on.  Players entered Portal for the umpteenth time and discovered that they could manipulate the radios which yielded a Morse code transmission that, when translated, implied a computer restart and a link to Aperture Science promotional video.   Further investigation would yield a phone number and a large amount of ASCII images of logos and items from within Portal.

The true meaning of this strange patch was made clear two days later when Valve released another update for the title, this time adding “valuable asset retrieval.”  The end result: an extended ending for Portal, one in which the main character, Chell, was dragged off by a robot after GLaDOS’ death who thanks her for using the party escort submission position.  And thus, today, this is where we stand.

The Baked Good is a Falsification of Reality

When Chell finally destroyed GLaDOS at the end of Portal 1 fans were eager to see what has happened in the outside world that she had been warned about.  Unfortunately all we got to see was a parking lot with debris falling out of the sky before being dragged off by a “party associate” while she drifted into unconsciousness.  What happened during that time however is anything but insignificant.  As Chell reawakens once again within the building it is clear that it has been a long time since she defeated GLaDOS; several hundred years to be exact.  The rest of the world never rediscovered the Aperture Science facility.  Whatever happened after the events of Half-Life 2’s saga have long since passed and it seems that Valve has no intention of reconnecting Portal 2 with the rest of the Half-Life universe.

In the centuries after Chell’s first adventure through the testing chambers and her final battle with her silicon captor the facility has not fared well.  With no humans present, the once sprawling modern buildings have fallen into a state of almost irreparable damage.  Many areas have had their ceilings collapse and nature is actively reclaiming everything manmade.  Vines, brush, and ponds of water now occupy areas that were once clean rooms and test chambers.  Formerly impenetrable walls that guided Chell on her previous linear journey are crumbling apart and exposing the vulnerable guts of the once grandiose buildings and underground chambers.

And yet, through it all, two things remain the same: Chell still lives, but so does GLaDOS.

 New Friends, Old Enemies

When players got their hands on Portal 1, one thing was clear: it was a very lonely experience.  With only GLaDOS as a vague and eventually life threatening task maker, players noticed that, other than Chell, the Aperture Science facility was a slightly unsettling place with no humans around.  During development, Valve designers threw around the idea of have the player character being stalked by a “party associate” during the course of the latter half of the game after you’ve escaped the final test chamber.  Though the idea never came to fruition, Valve did see fit to implement the idea of a more lively facility.  In the game’s final cinema the game’s camera took us through winding corridors and unknown sections to a large storage room filled with AI cores that came to life as the candle on the cake was blown out.  These AI cores are now alive and wander the facility each with its own distinct personality and have spent the centuries expanding the underground chambers while leaving the human-created sections to rot.

After Chell awakens at the beginning of the Portal 2 she meet her first AI core named Wheatley who ops to join her on a tour of the facility.  As they ascend in an elevator it suddenly stops and opens up on a very familiar place: GLaDOS’ chamber, the site of the final battle hundreds of years before.  As they venture into the room however the lifeless shell of Chell’s former enemy comes to life and bears down on her destroyer.  “Oh, it’s YOU,” says the sultry voice of the GLaDOS used after players destroyed her morality core at the end of Portal 1.  GLaDOS is anything but happy to see you but in the end decides that the need to continue to advance science outweighs her need for revenge.  “Okay, look.  We both said a lot of things that you are going to regret but I think we should put our differences behind us for science.  You monster.”

In the Orange, Out the Blue

Portal 1’s use of a seemingly simple transportation mechanic took on a life of its own in a way that both bended the mind and, at times, served to leave many first-time players stumped.  With the test chambers destroyed at the end of the first game almost any hope of continuing returning to the same tests have been lost.  In the years that have followed that cataclysmic event GLaDOS has been actively building new chambers to send test participants through.  Many of these chambers remain unfinished and players will have to avoid inadvertent missing geometry while navigating the lethal nature of each room.  As the chambers are still in the process of being built walls and surfaces can (and will) shift and actively change the nature of puzzles.

However, despite utilizing the same Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device from the first game very much has changed this time around.  Valve is introducing a new physics system that interacts with the portals themselves.  One such example involves the use of the Vital Apparatus Vents, the air chamber system that yielded test materials such as the weighted companion cube.  Now, when broken, the vents create a cone of suction that pulls anything into them.  By placing a portal underneath one and then placing the other next two an object that is immovable to the player the resulting suction pulls the object free.

Another new system involves the use of paint.  Previously players could only activate a portal on stationary wall and objects that were not colored black.  Valve, seemingly taking more than a few notes from indie game Tag: the Power of Paint, different colors of paint that the player uses will have different physics effects on both the player and the environment.  For example, an orange paint allows Chell to run across a surface at a breakneck speed whereas a blue paint has a trampoline-like effect and makes objects bounce off the affected surface.

Weighted cubes are not the only objects in the environment that Chell will be using to proceed throughout the test chambers.  Weighted Storage Balls will function identically to that of cubes except that they only interact with floor buttons shaped like buckets.  Redirection Cubes come with reflective surfaces that can redirect laser beams to awaiting vessels; think the temple puzzle sections of Resident Evil 5.  Finally, Aerial Faith Plates launch the player high into the air and allow Chell to reach otherwise inaccessible parts of a level.

Android Hell

Portal 1’s unique puzzle gameplay and the “charming” relationship between the player and GLaDOS yielded an immensely replayable experience.  The only thing that many people could say was missing was cooperative play.  While Narbtacular Drop, the Digipen test product that eventually became Portal 1, experimented with the idea of multiplayer the overall experience turned out to be a hectic and confusing one according to Valve testers.  It seems that Valve has worked out the kinks this time around however and recognizes that Portal 1 was one of the strongest non-multiplayer experiences to be had with friends.

While Chell has enough to worry about with GLaDOS intent on making sure that she makes it through the tests or her dying trying, players who wish to do co-op will find themselves to a logically concurrent separate campaign.  Instead of placing players in the shoes of other humans two new test subjects have been jury-rigged from an AI core and a dismantled turret.  These two nameless robots each have their own portal gun though the nature of four portals instead of two could potentially lead to a far more perplexing experience than players have ever dealt with.  GLaDOS will spend the majority of her time monitoring Chell’s progress with murderous intent but she will pop in at the end of a test chamber to insult you; it seems that she doesn‘t have much love for other metallic beings.

Luckily Valve is looking to make the experience less puzzling than they appear.  In addition to allowing both splitscreen and online co-op, online players will have the option of a picture-in-picture screen that shows their partner’s point of view.  Valve will also be including a context wheel command system that will help facilitate communication between players.

Alive and Kicking

Valve’s next installment in the Portal series looks to have everything a senior Portal player could possibly want: an expanded story, a rekindled “relationship” with the cynical yet hilarious GLaDOS, a full cooperative mode, and an even more fleshed out physics system.  This may not be as accessible to newcomers to the Portal franchise but hey, that’s what Portal 1 is for.  So get set for this Fall where we know that your adventures with Chell and GLaDOS is still alive; it’s just a question of whether you can actually stay alive.

Review: Splinter Cell Conviction

If there's one thing you can safely say about Ubisoft it's that they love putting out games in the Clancy franchise. The great thing about this is that almost every one of them have been quality titles that you'll end up playing for months afterward. When the first Splinter Cell title was released on the Xbox back in 2002, few believed that the would-be series had the potential to challenge Metal Gear, the universally acclaimed stealth franchise. Today, however, with five core titles under its belt, a novel series, and even quiet talks of a film, Splinter Cell has without a doubt taken the crown.

In 2007, a handful of months after the release of the fourth game in the franchise, Double Agent, Ubisoft announced an exclusive deal with Microsoft to bring the fifth game in the series, Conviction, exclusively to the Xbox 360 and PC. The demo shown in May 2007 showed a vastly different depiction of the franchise, with Sam Fisher mingling through crowds while evading and fighting police with brutality not seen before in the series. However, after missing its intended release date in November of that year, the game was put on hold and sent back to the drawing board amidst gameplay and other development issues. When the game debuted at E3 2009, any doubts about the title were laid to rest thanks to a seemingly complete redesign and an entirely different approach to stealth combat.


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A Father's Hatred

Things have been tough on Sam Fisher since the death of his daughter Sarah prior to the events of Double Agent. He infiltrated a terrorist organization in an operation that ended up saving New York but at unbearable cost: the death of his best friend Lambert by his own hand. On the run from the law and even his former agency, Sam spends the next three years trying to find a reason to live. However, when a group of mercenaries come after him Sam is tipped off on the identity of the man responsible for the death of his daughter: Andre Kobin, a thug-for-hire with a long rap sheet. Infiltrating Kobin's mansion, Sam murders his way through wave after wave of body guards before putting his hand to Kobin's neck. In the ensuing struggle Sam learns a terrifying fact: his daughter's death wasn't an accident.

From there, Sam begins his quest to discover the roots of the conspiracy, one with implications that go far beyond his inner circle. I won't spoil it for you but the 24-esque story will keep you on the edge of your seat throughout the course of the game.

One of the most pleasing aspects of the game's story is in the focus on the characters rather than the events happening around them. The Splinter Cell franchise has always been about being the man instead of the tool. In this way Splinter Cell has provided plausible geo-political scenarios that let players explore conflicts and the use of cyber warfare. Conviction isn't truly about stopping a conspiracy that threatens Washington D.C.: rather, it is about the franchise's principle character Sam Fisher. Fisher's character has always been defined by player actions, witty quips, and the occasional emotional dialogue between main characters. This time around the story develops both on the fly and is far more personal than any other Splinter Cell title. This shift isn't dramatic, however; as the change has been coming since the release of Chaos Theory

The cast of supporting characters is a mixed bag, unfortunately. Victor Coste, an old war buddy of Sam's and the narrator for the story, comes off as a character that definitely needs to be reoccurring in the next game. Tom Reed, the head of Third Echelon after the death of Lambert, is the game's main antagonist and is almost cookie-cutter in design. Heck, all that Reed is missing is a sinister laugh. Anna Grim Grimmsdottir, the only other reoccurring character in the series save for Sam, serves as your guide and aids him with both intelligence and advice. As good as it is to see Grim return and in a far more prominent role than in any of the previous titles her character's design and delivery are far different from what is depicted in the previous games and in the novels. Instead of the workaholic yet charming Anna, we get this no-BS, balls to the wall character who seems to want nothing more than save the country at Sam's expense. This is understandable given the situation she is in throughout the course of the game but it just doesn't match up with what you'd expect out of her.

Despite some flaws the story is delivered in a very satisfying and emotional way that will have you wanting to return for a second or even third playthrough. The ending is a bit abrupt but it is nothing that precludes the possibility of yet another outing for Sam.


Panther Is On the Move

What we have in our hands is an action title among action titles. This comes at the cost of the series' coveted stealth mechanics, as the game truly emphasizes confronting the enemy rather than sneaking through the environment. The developers of Conviction say that they think of Sam as a panther who strikes as quietly as it is fast and with no mercy whatsoever. This probably couldn't be better put.

If you can get past the mindset of sneaking, you get a solid third person shooter that stresses melee combat. The kind of brutality that players are able to inflict upon the enemy is that of which Hollywood only wishes could be put on the silver screen. One such memorable sequence involves Sam snapping the leg of an opponent and throwing him to the ground before putting a bullet in his chest and head. The moderated brutality of the game is almost awe-inspiring and in a completely different league than games like God of War where gore is always the answer.

Another brutality highlight are the interrogation sequences you will come across every now and then. Throughout the course of the game Sam comes across certain characters that, shall we say, need to be persuaded to give him the information he requires. These sequences are a limited sandbox environment in which Sam carries his enemies by the neck and can introduce them to various objects in the environment. The environmental actions are completely optional though you will find yourself being drawn to various items just to see what happens. Some of the highlights present include forcing a man's head into a paper shredder, introducing them to a urinal face first and even showing them exactly how hot the stove is with the side of their heads. It's vicious, sure, but very entertaining. Just keep your children out of the room when you do these things.

While the stealth mechanics have been significantly reduced the gunplay has been greatly improved in comparison to previous titles. While you always knew that there would come sequences in the other games in the franchise that would force you to face off against a wave of enemies, Conviction is specifically set up for kill-them-all-and-move-on gameplay. More often than not you'll find yourself in a room with five different bad guys you'll have to kill them all in order to proceed. Thanks to solid shooting mechanics (though accompanied by a slightly awkward control scheme) this usually isn't a problem.

To make up for the lack of stealth, Ubisoft has added a feature that aids players in avoiding detection should you need to get away from your enemies. Utilizing what is called the Last Known Position system, if you break the enemy's line of sight, a silhouette of Sam appears where the enemy last saw Sam and they will focus their fire on that position. This continues until either the enemy finds you again or they discover that you are not where they thought you were. The enemy doesn't return to normal patrol patterns after you are out of sight for a while; if they lose track of you they will continue to search the area until you leave or you kill them all. This feature is very well designed and definitely useful in large environments full of hostiles.

One of the key ingredients in the gunplay recipe is the new Mark and Execute mechanic, though it is hardly new to the Clancy franchise. Simply put, upon executing a melee attack on an enemy the player is granted the ability to mark enemies and objects in the environment in a way similar to what was utilized in both Rainbow Six Vegas titles. Sam's marking ability is only limited by the stats of the weapon being utilized (though these can be upgraded). With the press of a button Sam goes into an automated state in which he gets a kill shot on all the marked enemies within just a few seconds. The mechanic can become a crutch later on in the game, as it becomes a little more linear and almost forces you to take out all enemies but it's certainly a welcome addition to the series.

One thing you can count on when playing a Splinter Cell title are gadgets and high tech weapons and believe me when I say you have quite a few to choose from. At various weapon stashes Sam will find a collection of weapons, including pistols, shotguns, assault rifles and various other accoutrements. These stations also provide complete refills of ammo and gadgets. The Clancy franchise's almost prerequisite Persistent Elite Creation system is back and once again you'll find yourself completing challenges in order to earn points that can be spent on upgrading weapons and gadgets present in the game. The difficulty of these challenges vary but most of these can be completed in either mode and really serve the replayability of the game.


United Under a Common Goal

The conspiracy present in Splinter Cell Conviction began some time before the events of the single-player campaign. Conviction's multiplayer segment explores this aspect of the game's story. While the story isn't nearly as powerful as the singleplayer experience the cooperative mode is a must play.

Players are put in the shoes of Archer, a Third Echelon operative, and Kestrel, an operative on loan to Third Echelon from Russian rival agency Voron. Other than Malta there are no other levels that take place outside of the United States in the game's single-player campaign. Archer and Kestrel are sent on a whirlwind tour of the former Soviet Union, beginning in Moscow.

Instead of having a small arsenal at your disposal like Fisher has in the main game, Archer and Kestrel are relegated to only two or three gadgets depending on the stats of their uniforms. Various camo patterns can be purchased for several uniforms in the Persistent Elite Creation system and your outfits can be augmented for extra gadget pockets, ammo or armor though you can only equip three of the nine choices available. These options are also only available in the multiplayer portion of the game.

The co-op stresses the use of coordinated attacks upon groups of enemies though it is forgiving should you find yourself in a position that is anything but to your advantage. The Mark and Execute system is also in use, so both the number of marks available is greatly increased and players can kill their partner's marks. This is a great system to utilize when in a room filled with upwards of a dozen enemies and is almost a necessity when sneaking isn't an option.

In addition to the cooperative campaign, players also have the option of competitive and adversarial modes. These modes, called Deniable Ops, allow players to proceed through all four co-op maps as well as two additional maps exclusive to the mode. These modes are quite entertaining in themselves and are the perfect environment for speed runs and are perfect for those looking to get a little time into the game without having to play through the storyline for the 12th time.


A Man Stands By His Convictions

Splinter Cell Conviction is both a welcome entry in the series as well as a strong departure from the norm. Gone are the many strong lighting-based stealth mechanics, replaced with a simple can/cannot be seen lighting scheme that both works and detracts from core Splinter Cell gameplay. This has been replaced with several interesting and intuitive combat actions. While it may be a mixed bag for hardcore fans of the franchise, Conviction is by far one of the best action games of this generation and is definitely a major contender for Game of the Year 2010. If you're a Tom Clancy fan then you'd be hard pressed not to sit down for Sam Fisher's latest and possibly final entry in the franchise.

Review: Alien Vs. Predator

20^th Century Fox’s Alien and Predator franchises are seemingly the peanut butter and chocolate of the sci-fi genre.  Combining the two over the past several decades has served as both an example and as a disappointment for franchise crossovers, only inspiring a select few such as Robocop Vs. The Terminator to succeed where many have failed.  Their crossover comics have been going strong for 20 years but their attempted entries into film have been nothing short of substandard failures.

One medium of entertainment that has managed almost as well as the comic series has been that of video games.  Rebellion, a developer out of Oxford, started the crossover with their first title in 1991 for the Atari Jaguar and gained critical acclaim as the single best title on that doomed system.  Rebellion followed up that title with a remake in 1999 for the PC and Mac.  Again, Rebellion achieved critical acclaim but did not return to the franchise after that, instead opting to have Monolith studios create the next sequel.   When SEGA announced that they had purchased the rights to the Aliens franchise back in late 2008 many were skeptical as to what the three-game-deal would yield.  With Obsidian’s Aliens RPG cancelled and Gearbox’s gorgeous looking Aliens Colonial Marines pushed back in favor of Rebellion’s newest remake, this new title has a lot to live up to.  Does the newest Aliens Vs. Predator succeed in the same way that its predecessors did or does Rebellion’s streak come to a grinding halt?

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I Ain’t Got Time to Bleed

The game’s singleplayer component is broken up into three distinct campaigns: human, alien, and predator.  Each of them are considerably short and take no more than a couple hours to complete which is sorely disappointing, especially since each campaign reuses the same maps.  The game begins for all three games the same way: Karl “Bishop” Weyland and scientists under the Weyland-Yutani banner (the overarching evil corporation present throughout the Alien and Predator franchises) discover an ancient Predator pyramid hidden beneath the surface of the human colony of Freya’s Prospect sometime after the destruction of LV426 in the original Aliens film.  Weyland and staff proceed to process and research the residing Xenomorphs (Aliens) contained with but upon breaching the pyramid itself a burst of energy launches into orbit from the pyramid and summons a Predator ship.  Shortly thereafter all hell breaks loose and contact with the colony is lost.  In response, a detachment of Colonial Marines is sent to Freya’s Prospect to eliminate a “possible” xenomorph infestation.  The Predator ship arrives shortly thereafter and only a small handful of Marines actually reach the surface before the Predator ship destroys the human cruiser.

Players are advised to start with the human campaign as a tutorial for learning how to use the other two campaigns.  As a Colonial Marine, the player’s dropship crash-lands on Freya’s Prospect and, after stumbling through unconsciousness quickly finds himself alone with only Tequila, your squadmate and Michelle Rodriguez sound-alike, guiding you out of the facility to reunite with the other Marines.  This part of the game is definitely where the horror aspect of Aliens Vs. Predator shines as you venture down dark corridors with your motion detector going off just in time to make you stop and panic.  You trek through the remains of the human colony and eventually make your way toward an escape vehicle all the while exploring the alien jungle, Predator hunting grounds, and even the pyramid itself.

The Predator campaign is a good bridging point between the human and Alien campaigns as it blends the focus of projectile combat with the melee combat of the Alien campaign.  Players begin as a newly promoted Predator.  In the eyes of their species the humans have desecrated their sacred hunting ground and have been tampering with their ultimate prey, the xenomorphs which their race calls serpents.  The entire focus of this campaign is to reach the pyramid and wipeout the serpent infestation as well as recover their sacred lost technology.  Players only start with a singular projectile weapon (the beam cannon seen in the Predator films) but the arsenal expands to include new weapons as well as a vision mode that highlights serpents in the environment.  While players will be utilizing the projectile weapons available to them, especially the cabani spear, the majority of your combat will be relegated to melee attacks.

The Alien campaign is chronologically the first in order of play but should be approached last if you are mainly a shooter fan.  You start out as specimen #6, being experimented on and studied by Weyland-Yutani scientists.  After reaching maturity you escape from your cell and free your cellmates and begin your search for your queen.  You venture through the same levels present in the two other campaigns but stop short of going to the pyramid itself.  The feeling of being one among a horde of xenomorphs is both very enjoyable and something that you do not get from the other two campaigns.  It’s a necessary feeling however; your character is just as weak as the other xenomorphs and without the element of stealth you’ll quickly find yourself at the game over screen without backup.

The biggest problem with the singleplayer campaigns on delivering a satisfying experience is not the length or the endings but rather the climactic fights present in all three.  During the human campaign you face both a xenomorph queen and a Predator but neither fight is as epic as could be.  The Predator’s campaign has a battle against waves of Aliens culminating with a special one highlighted earlier in the story but this fight ends up neither exciting  or memorable.  The worst fight of the three however is fighting against a trio of Predators as an Alien.  This fight, simply put, is one of the most annoying sequences to date, with players having to whittle away at their health while they jump all around an arena all the while fearing getting too close due to the Predator’s ability to deal massive amounts of damage.  This fight takes entirely too long and should have been altered for the final product.  May I never have to do that sequence ever again.

 I Like to Keep This for Close Encounters

The problem with all three campaigns is that each story does not end in any sort of a satisfying manner.  The ending for the human campaign is lackluster and leaves the player disappointed.  The Alien campaign ends far sooner than the human and Predator ones shortly after an event that occurs early on in the human campaign, leaving out entire levels to explore as the xenomorph.  The Predator campaign opens itself up to a sequel in a bad way, though it is probably the most satisfying of the three.  The real problem is that the game feels like it is building up itself toward a sequel, something that Rebellion is strongly hinting at just days after the release of the game.  Fellas, if you want to make a sequel to a game, make sure you at least get the singleplayer right in the first place; don’t talk about making another one hours after you’ve released the game to the public.

Balancing the three species in Aliens Vs. Predator’s singleplayer couldn’t have been an easy job, though it appears that Rebellion has succeeded in this department.  Each species has unique characteristics that do well to make each one feel very different from the others.  As previously stated, the humans and xenomorphs exclusively use projectile and melee attacks respectively while the Predators utilize a balance between the two.  Humans have the ability to utilize a motion sensor and flares to lighten up an area but can do little else.  The Aliens and Predators have the ability to enter a focus mode that gives them slightly enhanced abilities with humans trading off that ability for secondary fire options on all their weapons.  While in focus mode Predators can make strong leaps between platforms giving a sizeable advantage over the xenomorphs.  Against Marines the Predator can distract them to any location they so wish with just a few presses of a button, giving you the opportunity to separate a group and make it easier as such to take them down.  The Aliens have the ability to regenerate health however, something neither of the other species can attest to, as well as the ability to climb on almost any surface and hide in crevices and vents present throughout most of the levels.

Balancing out the three species across the same maps makes for an interesting experience as each species will obviously have different goals to achieve but also have different ways to interact with the environment.  Taking one of the first jungle environments into question, as a human you must gain access to certain buildings by sharing power nodes between them.  As a Predator you must first wipe out the human presence before proceeding inside the building to decapitate a human officer in order to use his head as a way to get past a gate with a biometric lock.  As an Alien you must do the same thing but you must knock out the power and harvest as many humans as possible in order to access the Predator ruins further on in the jungle.  The various ways that the game offers to go by your goals play to the strengths of each of the species.

Both the Predator and Alien species do have access to one thing the humans cannot claim to: trophy kills.  Making a nod at the original Predator films, players can sneak behind their opponent or when they are low on health, grab their victims, and proceed to commit one of the most brutal killing sequences seen since Epic Games showed off how to properly utilize a chainsaw in Gears of War.  The spectacle of these kills are both some of the most amazing and disturbing things this writer has seen in years with people literally being decapitated on screen, ripped out by their eye sockets among other things.  The gruesomeness of these kills cannot be understated; those who are squeamish should definitely be prepared before taking a hold of the controller.

The only problem present with the Alien and Predator is also where a lot of shooter fans are going to run into trouble: their general combat prowess.  Both species are almost completely focused on melee combat with the notable exception of the Predator’s secondary projectile weapons.  Even then however almost all the combat you find yourself in will be melee centric.  For the most part the game does a good job of making the combat succeed where only a handful of titles such as Namco’s Breakdown on the first Xbox have done so.  The basic melee combat is entirely focused on light, heavy, and counterattacks with the much needed emphasis on blocking at just the right time.  Light attacks are fast and do a small amount of damage and of course heavy attacks deal massive damage but require time to charge, leaving you vulnerable to quick light attacks.  When going up against a group of Marines however you’ll find yourself quickly being mowed down if you attempt anything but a stealthy approach; frontal assaults are near suicide as either species.

What the Hell are You?

Aliens Vs. Predator isn’t a franchise known for its singleplayer however; the multiplayer is where it has found its mark on history.  This newest entry into the franchise does unfortunately disappoint, at least in the adversarial multiplayer department.  The game has the usual assortment of competitive modes such as deathmatch and territories, none of which are anything special in an age where Modern Warfare 2, Halo, or Uncharted 2 continues to dominate the online play charts.  The affair is almost entirely deathmatch focused giving the player the ability to choose between the three species on the outset of the match.  The end result however is that humans, given their motion detector and large assortment of weapons are heavily favored and, in this writer’s experience, are most likely to be the victors in most deathmatch games.  For the most part the adversarial modes will have you switching back to your copy of Modern Warfare 2 in just a handful of days if you are a strong shooter fan.

There are however three notable exceptions to this ruling: Survivor, Infestation, and Predator Hunt.  Each of these are cooperative-based and lead to a tremendously fun time to be had.  Survivor mode is essentially the game’s horde mode and has a team of four Marines facing off against progressively harder waves of Aliens.  This is certainly a fun time to be had and is a great alternative to those who have been playing Gears of War 2 and Call of Duty World at War.  Infestation mode is essentially the game’s zombie mode and has a squad of Marines facing off against respawning Aliens.  If a Marine falls that player then becomes an Alien and must hunt down his former squadmates.  Predator Hunt is to Aliens Vs. Predator what Juggernaut mode is to Halo; a team of Marines facing off against a singular player who is the Predator.  If you kill the target you become the Predator which balances both the cooperative and adversarial aspects of the mode.  Unfortunately only two cooperative maps for Infestation and Survivor modes so players are going to have to live with the same two environments until the inevitable DLC.

All of this is a mute point however if you can’t actually enjoy a smooth matchmaking sequence.  The lobby system in the game takes quite a long time to get a match going in comparison to most online shooters these days and even if you get into a match there is no guarantee that you’ll stay in there thanks to the game’s lack host migration.  The game features a ranking system like many others these days as well but the experience points are based almost solely on kills you won’t find yourself enjoying the rewards as fast as you’d like to.

That’s a Real Nasty Habit You Got There

Four and a half years on into this console cycle we’ve experienced some of the most beautiful games ever conceived of, with games like Crysis still setting the high bar despite being released back in 2007.  At this point in the cycle however you should begin to see games reaching their visual limit based on the console’s abilities.  Sadly it seems that Aliens Vs. Predator has not reached this stage at all.  Glaring issues are present throughout the game that will make the player cringe at times.

The largest offender in question has to be the texture work.  While some areas do justice to the visual style present in the previous games and films alike more often than not you find yourself looking at levels that neither offer the claustrophobic feel of a xenomorph infestation nor the feeling of awe at an alien jungle.  The biggest problem present most certainly has to be the environments of an Alien hive.  While the areas do credit to the lighting, feeling, and approach of the Alien’s realm the walls themselves use lacking attempts at normal mapping with far less detain than desired and the areas are so open that you don’t feel at all threatened within the confines of the locale.  Even one of the most famous sequences from the Aliens franchise, the moment in which a xenomorph is sleeping within an indention in the wall and comes out to attack the player, is disappointing as the Alien sticks out amongst the background and gives a strong amount of forewarning.

The other largely annoying part of the game’s design is the use of human dialogue.  For some reason the game likes to reuse only a handful of idle dialogue no matter what species you choose to play as.  Rebellion, I can understand having to limit resources where they can be limited but I swear if I hear someone say “don’t relax just yet Marines” one more time I’m going to hurt somebody.  Seriously, if I want to approach someone in a stealthy manner I should be able to plan stuff out while the Marines have a conversation, not the same line said over and over again for five minutes straight.

That’s not to say that other aspects of the game’s design aren’t satisfying; far from it.  Aliens Vs. Predator’s sound design is quite close to fantastic; treading carefully down a dark corridor hearing your motion detector go off as a pipe pings to the ground somewhere ahead of you instills a feeling of dread only usually seen in horror titles such as Dead Space.  Lance Henriksen reprises his role from the original Aliens films as Mr. Weyland in a satisfying delivery.  Beyond the sound design, the animators deserve particular praise for their work on the trophy kills.  Many of the trophy kills are beautiful in their lethality and make you afraid to ask where the designers came up with the idea for them.  The design of the Alien character deserves considerable note as turning quickly enough allows the player to see their tale and looking down you can see your feet move in a very natural manner.

When all is said and done though Aliens Vs. Predator you may have many great points to look at but many glaring and inexcusable issues abound. 

Game Over Man, Game Over!

Rebellion is a company that has a lot going for it but for a third-time remake the end results are not what they should be.  In an age where every shooter on the market involves everyone shooting guns Aliens Vs. Predator does make a good effort to introduce melee combat but it is all for naught if the entire multiplayer experience doesn’t entertain the player.  A lackluster singleplayer experience doesn’t help either.  Now that the groundwork has been laid out for a sequel maybe the next effort will fix many of these issues.  Until then we’re stuck with a game that just makes this author want to play Aliens Colonial Marines even more than ever before.  Gearbox, if you’re reading this, I live in Austin; I’m not that far a drive away from a friendly visit…



Review: Darksiders

The apocalypse is something that isn’t uncommon in the medium of entertainment.  Be it movies, television, or games, the end of the world has always been a source of awe and wonder.  Vigil Games knows this just as much as Bethesda or any other studio out there does but their vision of the end comes in the form of a relatively uncommon form: traditional religion.  Darksiders, their inaugural title, brings us a world of demons and angels fighting on the war-torn battlegrounds of the Earth in the vision of comic book creator Joe Madureira.  But does Darksiders stand tall in this freshman outing or is it simply another skeleton destined for the bargain bin?

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When the Man Comes Around

Darksiders brings us a familiar setting for the end of the world and then some but puts the story in a different light.  From the beginning, Heaven and Hell fought one another endlessly in a war that has consumed the entire universe.  To stop the endless cycle of violence the Charred Council stepped in as a mediator and, wielding their Four Horsemen, slaughter both demon and angel alike until a truce was formed that came to be known as the Balance.  Around this time arrived the first humans and, forseeing the potential in the mortals, the Charred Council hailed the creation of the third kingdom of man.  However, knowing that the Balance would not last forever, the Charred Council laid the ground rules out for the battle of Armageddon.  Before the battle is to begin between the three kingdoms however the Seven Seals that serve as the symbol of the Balance would be broken only when the kingdom of man is fully prepared for the divine war.

Unfortunately it seems that someone’s jumped the gun a little as man in modern times is little more prepared for the end of the world than James Cameron is for a poor box office showing.  On modern day Earth the battle begins as angels and demons alike descend to Earth like meteors for the long-awaited conflict.  As thousands die in the battle around them, War, one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, steps onto the scene and begins his duties.  However, after approaching the archangel Abbadon and learning that the Seventh Seal was never broken and the battle has begun prematurely, War watches as he is killed by Stragos, one of the greater demons, before being killed himself.  War awakens before the Charred Council and is accused of starting the war before man was ready, leading to the total destruction of humanity and the reignited war between Heaven and Hell.  War, faced with eternal damnation, pleads to be sent back to Earth to discover the true culprit.  The Council agrees but in doing so strips War of his powers and assigns the Watcher, a servant of the Council, to keep an eye on him and prevent War from opposing them.  And thus our story begins.

Darksiders’ story takes players around a principle city a century after the battle where the legions of Hell have taken over.  Across the landscapes of the destroyed city War finds himself searching for the answers without any mercy for those in his path.  It is definitely an enticing one to learn and keeps you coming back even as the credits roll.  If you’re looking at for a new series built around the concept of an intriguing story filled with brutality, Darksiders 2 (when it comes) is something to look into purchasing.

One Hundred Million Angels Screaming

Darksiders plays just like any other God of War clone that has come along in recent years but to give it a title as such is both demoralizing and disrespectful.  As one of the Four Horsemen you are endowed with the ability to rip foes asunder in increasingly more brutal ways than before.  And, that, my friends, is nothing short of FUN.

This game is brutal; devastatingly brutal.  As players progress throughout the game you gain access to more tools to decimate your enemies with, several of which start off as being merely puzzle solving and exploration oriented.  However, in the end the best weapon you can use is also the one you start out with: the Chaos Eater.  This prolific bringer of organ destruction is longer than War is tall and will tear through your enemies in a most enjoyable fashion.  The combo system for the Chaos Seater allows for an almost infinite amount of hits based on the situation before you so you’ll be evoking those Devil May Cry or Ninja Gaiden feelings quite quickly.  This, along with War’s Chaos Form, which allows him to turn into a twenty foot tall demon for a short amount of time, makes for a fun and enticing combat system.

The enemy variety in the game is a mixed bag unfortunately and is really the only true downside to the game.  While there are plenty of enemies around to keep the blood on your weapons fresh, the variety you will find is disappointing.  Many of the common enemies have three or four different and progressively tougher versions of themselves and exhibit almost no changes whatsoever other than a different skin.  The amount of closed-in arena battles can lead into the realm of annoying as some dungeon areas have you stopping to dispatch foes with seconds between encounters.

 The Whirlwind is in the Thorn Tree

What makes Darksiders really interesting is its blending of genres.  Despite being a combo-based hack-n-slash game it is also a bit of a platformer and even incorporates exploration and RPG elements.  Put quite simply, it is the closest blending of God of War and Legend of Zelda to date, taking elements from both and coming out with what seems to be the Reeses of 2010.  Players can actively upgrade their weapons through repeated use and can purchase enhancements and new attacks for each one.  Various attachments can be found in the environment that will both actively and passively enhance the weapon of your choice.  Given the right combination thereof farming for souls or finishing off enemies faster is easily done.

Vigil’s freshman product is not without a couple freshman errors, none the least of which is the game’s forced lengthening.  Several instances in Darksiders force players to enter arena battles in which players have to meet certain conditions in a battle (usually killing enemies a certain way) in order to progress on to the dungeon ahead.  Now, had these been optional it would have been tolerable but for these to be required to advance is simply irritating.  This reviewer does not know if these arenas were designed to train players on how to utilize War’s different abilities (especially these arenas occur early on in the game) but the forced lengthening of the game by an hour or two is simply a waste of time.  Next time Vigil, make these fights optional; players will have more fun with them that way.

The world of Darksiders is large to say the least.  While some areas may take a mere minute or two to traverse you’ll find yourself desiring transportation later on in the game.  Thankfully Vigil anticipated this and incorporated Serpent Tunnels that link areas as well as War’s horse Ruin… despite the fact that you’ve played half the game before your proverbial Horseman becomes one.  The tunnels are an excellent way around and help to make back-tracking a less painful.  Exploration is a surprisingly large part of Darksiders and once you find a new weapon or tool you’ll quickly be back-tracking into previous areas searching for new locations and rewards.

Backtracking can be a double-edged sword though and unfortunately Vigil nicked its finger on this one.  Allowing players to return to previous areas is a good thing and usually works when this is passively enabled.  Vigil chose to make this mandatory unfortunately as near the end of the game players are forced to visit several areas they’ve previously visited with a new ability in order to collect pieces of an item that is to be used in the final boss fight.  Had this have been optional this reviewer would have certainly done it anyway but for it to be forced on the player is simply a bad design decision.

 It's Alpha's and Omega's Kingdom Come

From a visual standpoint Darksiders is a beautiful game.  Joe Madureira, the creative director for the game, brought his comic design A game when it came to the art direction and the results are nothing but stellar.  Characters, enemies, and environments alike are supremely detailed and always great to look at.  While the environment variety is your typical color wheel variety with very little blending between any of them they are still nice to look at and give you different ideas on how the Apocalyptic landscape feels.

War is not one to be trifled with if Vigil has anything to say about it.  Quite possibly he is the baddest mofo in the entire Darksiders universe.  Every character in the game knows this too as War is issued a small amount of respect before all the main villains and allies alike.  You will be offered everything in the world in exchange for your sparing of the enemy; too bad War has a one track mind.  The respect offered up is actually quite refreshing in comparison to most hack-n-slash titles out there like God of War as only a handful of times in the genre have I actually felt like a badass when not fully powered up.  Good job Vigil.

The sound design for Darksiders is enjoyable as well and immerses the player into the game quite well.  No two environments share similar sounds other than those of the protagonist so props for that.  Indeed, from the overgrown plateaus and waterfalls of Anvil’s Ford to the wind-swept desert of the Sea of Sand, the environmental sound design is great.  The voice acting is no slouch either as the cast is a nice variety of famous voice actors with Liam O’Brien (Gaara from Naruto) taking the helm as War.  Mark Hamill’s rendition of the Watcher is excellent as well, though it almost comes off as a rhaspy version of the Joker from Batman Arkham Asylum.  Prolific voice actor Phil LaMarr, whose done everything from the Simpsons to Metal Gear Solid, plays Vulgrim, a greedy demon who serves as the game’s merchant.  Even Moon Bloodgood, one of the actresses from Terminator Salvation as well as the holder of the title of one of the most enviable names in history, takes on a role (Uriel).  Overall it’s a nice cast that lends well to the characters they portray.

And Hell Followed With Him

Darksiders is, by far, one of the best hack-n-slash titles to come out in recent years and is a remarkable first effort from Vigil.  That’s not to say it’s a godsend, but if you’re looking for something that screams satisfying dismemberment without rampant quick time events then Darksiders is something to pay attention to.

Review: Left 4 Dead 2

When Valve released Left 4 Dead last year fans far and wide praised it for its unique use of co-op and the insanely fun versus mode.  When Left 4 Dead 2 was announced at E3 2009 however the praise was anything but.  Despite the positive message Valve attempted to relay the game was met with harsh criticisms, attempted boycotts, and universal journalistic skepticism.  For Valve to meet a pre-set release date is something of a wonder, but to do it releasing a full retail title in just a year’s time is simply unheard of.  Many argue whether Left 4 Dead 2 is worthy of being released as a full game versus an expansion, so which side of the road is it?

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This Used to be a NICE Neighborhood!

With the saga of Bill, Zoe, Louis, and Francis over, four new unwilling survivors have stepped up to the plate to try to escape from the Infected horde.  However, this time, things have taken a turn for the worst.  Whereas the group from the original game was smack-dab in the middle of the horde, the new survivors are at the frontline of the spread of the infection with new mutations appearing and spreading quickly.

Our cast of characters is quite different from the previous four this time around but still manages to take on four stereotypical roles in the zombie genre.  Ellis, the youngest of the group, is a mechanic turned “zombie killing machine” from Atlanta with a passion for high-power weapons and things that smell.  Rochelle was a television producer who covered the infections advance into Atlanta before finding herself fleeing like everyone else.  Nick is a conman who broke into a clothing store and stole the best looking suit possible to ride out the zombie apocalypse in style.  Finally, there’s Coach, the religious high school football, er, coach with a passion for eating and getting into arguments with Nick.  Don’t bother asking for his real name; he never says.

The cast of characters this time around seem a bit more cohesive than the original four ever did as the first cast gave the impression that you were thrown into their lives sometime after they’ve met.  This time around the game has a stronger narrative and thus your first experience with them is just as they are meeting for the first time.  At the start of the first campaign, the survivors meet on top of a burning hotel as military helicopters take off without them.  The good news is that the dialogue is much stronger and far more ramped up than it was in the first game but at the same time you still miss hearing about what Francis hates and hearing Louis talk about his plans.

The question arises as to whether the first or second cast is better and unfortunately the second cast still resonates with this writer.  Sure, the dialogue is nowhere near as cohesive as it is in this title but there’s just something about the charm of the first cast as compared to the second.  That’s not to say that the new cast is bland; far from it.  Rather, the conversations are great.  Starting each chapter of a campaign usually leads to Ellis telling a story about him and his buddy Keith, a person who goes through far too many acts of stupidity to possibly exist.  Hearing Nick tease and make cynical comments can be hilarious and Coach’s sermons coinciding with his love for food is wonderful.  The odd-man-out here unfortunately is Rochelle, as she really doesn’t have much to say past the first campaign.

Goddamn You Jimmy Gibbs Jr!

The story of Left 4 Dead 2 takes place over the course of four to five chapters each.  Dead Center, the first campaign, takes place in Atlanta as the survivors flee to the local mall to hopefully get rescued.  When they get there however they find their own way out: a race car on display driven by local racing legend Jimmy Gibbs Jr.  The second campaign, Dark Carnival begins as they find a pileup on the highway south of town and are forced to abandon the vehicle, much to Nick’s cursing and Ellis’ sadness, and make their way on foot to an amusement park hoping to find transportation out of there.

The story from there progresses in a logical direction.  The chopper pilot who rescues them at the end of Dark Carnival gets infected and they crash to being the third campaign The Swamp.  The survivors eventually make it out of that jam on a boat and make their way to the forth campaign Hard Rain and eventually to New Orleans for The Parish, the final campaign of the game.  Each campaign is uniquely fun and different from the others present.

By far the most entertaining of all the campaigns is Hard Rain not only due to the impressive use of the Source engine but also due to it being specifically designed for unique backtracking, something that has never been incorporated in the series until now.  After the survivors are dropped off by a fisherman to fetch gas for the boat they find they forgot to bring along their bag of weapons and signal flares to get picked up.  As they make their way through the town a storm arrives and slowly turns into a strong squall.  The storm progresses from light to heavy as the campaign continues and beings to flood the town and players are forced to make their way back through the areas they played earlier that is now covered in water.  And if that isn’t enough for the survivors to deal with there are a large number of Witches in the sugar mill they have to pass through to reach the gas station as, evidently, they are naturally attracted to sugar.  Sugar, spice, and everything nice?  I don’t think so.

The storm in Hard Rain is most likely one of the coolest uses of the Source engine to date.  After the first two chapters of Hard Rain have been completed and the survivors are on their way back to their drop-off point, the storm takes a turn for the worse.  At random times from there on the storm has a series of microbursts in which the wind and rain suddenly pick-up, dropping visibility to just a few feet in front of you.  It is during these moments that the storm is so loud that you can’t hear much else unless you are in a shelter.  And, in due fashion to help set the mood for the moment, the AI Director usually spawns a horde when the microburst occurs.  These are some of the tensest moments in the entire game and will have most players scrambling for cover as the horde comes from all directions and often makes the player jump.

In the end though the game’s story is just as uninformative as the previous one was; sure you get to see more about how the US is dealing with the infection based on the locations you visit but in the end you still aren’t satisfied narrative-wise.  Valve, when you eventually release Left 4 Dead 3, please give us more story!

That Ain't Right for a Man to be Ridden Like That

The survivors have a lot cut out for them this time around far beyond what Left 4 Dead 1’s cast had to deal with.  As the Infected’s numbers grow new strains of mutation have begun to pop-up and are just as imposing as the classic Hunter, Smoker, Boomer, Witch, and Tank were previously, if not more so.  Three new special Infected have joined the ranks as well as what are called “uncommon” common Infected.  Each new special Infected is designed specifically to address issues players had in both co-op and versus modes of the previous games.

First off we have the Charger.  The Charger is Valve’s answer to the common survivor tactic of bunching up together.  Designed to look like something out of The Hills Have Eyes, the Charger has a heavily mutated and strengthened right arm and has the health of a mini-Tank.  The Charger’s attack is, well, a charge, as it sprints forward in a straight line, grabs a survivor and knocks others in his path into the air before coming to a stop and relentlessly pounding the hapless victim into the ground with his overgrown arm.  The Charger is an excellent way to instantly separate the survivors even if it fails to actually grab one, opening up an opportunity for the rest of the infected to take them out.

Next up is the Spitter.  This lovely creation is a hillbilly “trophy wife” whose appearance is something that you unfortunately have to look at.  The Spitter is very similar to the Boomer in approach but at the same time is quite different.  She has the ability to spray acid onto the ground and create an area-of-effect that quickly diminishes the survivor’s health.  The Spitter was developed to help prevent corner-camping that many players are prone to doing and is very useful when used in conjunction with the other infected for a coordinated attack.

Finally, there’s the weirdest of the new specials: the Jockey.  Not unlike a hunched-over Gollum, the Jockey laughs like a sick maniac as it approaches you and jumps on your back.  Yes, it jumps on the player’s back not unlike the proverbial monkey.  Once on you he steers you against your will in whatever direction the AI Director or the opposing team player wills; usually it means you are going for a ride into either a pool of Spitter acid or perhaps off a cliff or rooftop.  What he does on the player’s back is very questionable as the dialogue for the survivors state that they think that explicit acts are taking place.  Sure, steering you into danger is bad enough but whatever he’s doing while attached to the back of a survivor’s head is definitely not good.

In addition to these new threats are the “uncommon” common Infected.  These are regular Infected with special attributes that are unique to the scenario you are playing in.  For example, in Dead Center you will find Infected CEDA (this game’s combination of the CDC and FIMA) that wear large hazmat suits and thus can’t be lit on fire.  Riot zombies wear bulletproof armor and thus must be killed from behind.  There are a few others but the clear highlight of them all is the infected clown.  Yes, that’s right, it had to be a goddamn clown.  This uncommon Infected wear squeaky shoes and the classic red nose and will attracts the horde with the more noise it causes.  They’re both laughable and loveable.

If We Find a Burger Tank Around Here I’ma One Man Cheeseburger Apocalypse!

To help the survivors out the game gives you access to new weaponry and increases the much needed variety from the first game.  In addition to the returning weapons from the first game you will also find AK-47s, SCAR-Hs, SPAS-12s, grenade launchers (like the one used by the Governator in Terminator 2), and new sniper rifles.  You’ll also find magnum pistols on the ground to augment your secondary slot.  Each weapon is different from the other and has both a different fire rate and accuracy.  You’ll quickly find yourself picking a favorite after your first campaign.

Standard guns aren’t a singular addition however; players can modify their weapons by finding enhanced ammunition boxes and attachable laser sights for better accuracy.  The ammo boxes come in two varieties: flammable and explosive.  Fire ammo will light almost anything on fire and the explosive ammo causes area damage and can stun the special Infected.  These ammo packs are deployable at any time though you’ll have to sacrifice your health kit slot in order to take them with you.  Players will also find chest defibrillators every once in a while that can be used to bring a dead survivor back from the brink with half health.

The standard pipebomb and Molotov aren’t the only deployable weapons you’ll find this time around.  Valve added the Bile Bomb to both gross you out and be highly effective when used in the right context.  The Bile Bomb is basically a jar of Boomer vomit that attracts the horde to a specific location or a sprayed Infected or survivor.  It’s basically the survivor’s very own version of the Boomer’s attack but this time you can turn the tables on the Infected.  You will still have to deal with the common Infected once the effects of the Bile Bomb wear off but that’s far less a threat than the Tank that was hit with it.

You aren’t just going to find projectile weapons though; there are plenty of melee weapons strewn about to change up the pace significantly.  Players can pick up items such as axes, police batons, machetes and so much more to bash the Infected into tiny pieces.  And yes, a crowbar is present; after all this is a Valve title.  Even a chainsaw makes an appearance, though it’s use is limited to how much fuel it has.  These weapons take over the secondary slot and thus replace your pistol.  Is the trade off worth it?  With the right combination it definitely is but it has to work lest you find yourself without a long-range weapon when your buddy’s being ridden off into the distance by a Jockey.

Ellis, Sweetie, Can This Wait?

The five campaigns in the game are fun to play through cooperatively but the longevity of the game is in the competitive modes present.  Versus mode is back and better than ever with all five campaigns built from the ground-up for the mode unlike the previous game.  Survivor mode is still present and just as tense as it was last year.  However, the new highlight is the Scavenger mode.  Similar to Versus, Scavenger has players ground around a pre-determined level searching for gas cans to fill and power a generator; whichever team has the most cans wins.  This mode is immensely fun and well worth the time of those looking for a shorter Versus experience.

The other new mode available to players is a cooperative enhancement.  Do you find that expert difficulty isn’t as hard as it should be?  Then take on the Realism enhancement and see how well you fair!  With it activated, Realism causes the common Infected to be harder to kill, usually forcing you to headshot them or use melee weapons in order to save ammunition.  Weapons and ammo are much sparser with Realism active and players have to be much closer to items to pick them up.  Players are also not highlighted when they normally would be so sticking together is absolutely crucial.  Walk away for a few seconds and you’re probably dead right there.

Brains Come Out, Swamp Water Doesn't

A year later the Source engine is starting to show its age despite the fact that Left 4 Dead 2 is a definite graphical improvement.  The Infected are much more graphically detailed this time around and actually look like sick people rather than reanimated corpses in this game.  A contextual damage system has been added to the common Infected and allows for unique body deformation.  As such players will find them losing limbs and body parts in realistic manners.  It is quite gruesome to see them be chopped to pieces and still have them come at you.

There is a significant problem that is nigh unacceptable and often leave the player incredibly frustrated: the survivor AI.  The AI for the Infected, both common and special, is very smart and makes their best efforts to ruin your day but unfortunately so do the survivor AI.  Put bluntly, they’re dumb.  Amazingly dumb.  The AI probably has good intentions but is incredibly stupid in their approaches.  Standing in a pool of acid is painful enough but being forced to do so while an AI heals you with a medkit is outrageous.  More often than not if the player character is down the AI will go help the others and often help itself before getting to you.  They also heal you or themselves within seconds of their or your health dropping below 50%, wasting medkits like it is nobody’s business.

This writer remembers one frustrating scenario in which players must run across the tracks of a rollercoaster in Dark Carnival.  If the player does not stick to the AI like glue the end result is that they lag behind and are often incapacitated in just a handful of seconds.  On the fifth attempt this writer was hit by a Boomer and pounced by a Jockey leading to myself getting incapacitated.  The AI was a significant distance behind me on the course but I was holding my own with a pistol and shooting the occasional bunch of common; I was going to die soon if they didn’t arrive but I was doing ok.  However, halfway to me the straggler of the three goes down and the remaining two RUSH TO SAVE HIM INSTEAD OF ME.  I can understand this being done by a human player but for an AI to not place priority on already incapacitated players is a critical flaw that is entirely unacceptable.  Valve, I get the idea you are trying to provide a different experience with new finale events and such but your AI is dumb as dirt; fix it!

Dude, If We Had My Monster Truck We Could Drive Over All This!

Left 4 Dead 2 is a great enhancement that fans of the first title should be compelled to play.  While the AI is Darwinistically dumb and the Source engine now seems like a showgirl whose had a little too much plastic surgery, Left 4 Dead 2 is a great title that I still look forward to playing in the months to come.  Is it worth the $60 price point?  Maybe; give Valve a few more months to work out the kinks and drop some DLC and we’ll see.  Until then though you’ll have a solid multiplayer experience.