Wii Uprising

For Wii owners who happen to be hardcore gamers, the software lineup hasn’t exactly been thrilling in the past year or so. For every Mario Galaxy or Zelda: Twilight Princess, there seems to be a Happy Feet or Anubis. The year 2009, however, already appears to have many great things in store for owners of Nintendo’s fascinating yet disappointing machine. Below are some of the best upcoming and already-released titles as well as some others that you might want to keep an eye on.

Deadly Creatures

How many games give you control over spiders and scorpions? Exactly! And that’s why you should give Deadly Creatures a chance, even with its cheesy name. In Deadly Creatures (“DC” as I will refer to it from now on), you are given the opportunity to play as both a spider and scorpion via a third-person view. Both creatures feature strengths and weaknesses which force players to utilize different strategies depending on which one is being controlled. The scorpion, for example, is slow but powerful; whereas the spider is the quicker of the two and can also use its web to subdue foes and access out-of-reach locations. The animations of the creatures are also very fluid and impressive. DC even features some impressive talent behind the scenes such as Billy Bob Thornton who provides the voice for one of the human characters in the storyline. Overall, DC should not be overlooked. It certainly won’t win any “Game of the Year” awards for 2009, but in my opinion it’s one of the Wii’s first sleeper hits of 2009 because it focuses on a concept not often targeted in video games and does its well.

MadWorld

Without a doubt one of the Wii’s goriest games yet, MadWorld is like a modern-day, heavily stylized version of “Smash T.V.” The concept is simple but intriguing: You’re a participant in a violent television show and are tasked with killing as many “enemies” as possible. The visual style is coated in black and white except for blood, which shows up in bright red amidst the otherwise colorless world, and there are lots of bad guys and ways to dispose of them so you can expect to see plenty of the red stuff being splattered everywhere. The main character is also armed with a chainsaw that is practically attached to his arm (a throwback to Evil Dead?), so I’m sure you can imagine just how gruesome it can become. Keeping the game fresh will be numerous creative ways to kill opponents, such as sawing them in half and even shoving street signs through their heads. What I’ve explained above is pretty much MadWorld in a nutshell. If it sounds simplistic that’s because, for the most part, it is. But when the game plays well, adds in some dark humor, and offers a boatload of violent entertainment, what’s not to like about it? Prepare to hear from enraged parents this March when the game is released.

The Conduit

You’d figure that on paper the Wii, with its point-and-shoot control scheme, would be perhaps the greatest console out there for shooters. Unfortunately, this hasn’t exactly been the case. It all went downhill from the time Red Steel launched alongside the Wii itself and flopped harder than a catfish jumping out of an airplane, as it not only played poorly but also looked outdated and was not near as immersive as it was made out to be. Thanks to some solid efforts from games such as Metroid Prime and even Medal of Honor Heroes, the Wii’s first-person shooter scene has actually had its successes; but it still hasn’t quite scored the killer app it needs in order to “raise the bar.” At least until now, it seems. The Conduit is one of the most impressive upcoming shooters the Wii has to offer. Not only does the game look fantastic thanks to the fresh game engine that utilizes bump-mapping, depth of field, and other effects, but it also offers tons of customization for controls and even online multiplayer. The customizable controls – right down to being able to tweak the size of the screen’s bounding box and even the location of HUD elements – mean that anyone should be able to tweak the game for maximum efficiency. The impressive visuals and awesome looking alien-ish enemies and weapons are also a breath of fresh air. Finally, the multiplayer component will feature both online play and the capability to use the Wii Speak device in order to chat with other players in-game. There’s far too much to say about this game in a tiny summary such as this, but you should come to expect big things from The Conduit when it releases this year. (As an added note: The game received several first place Wii awards at E3 2008!)

Punch-Out!!

(Box art from the NES version)
It has been a long, long time since we’ve seen a Punch-Out!! game. In fact, since the SNES there have literally been no other continuations in the series up to this point. Later this year, however, this will all change when Punch-Out!! bobs and weaves its way back onto the scene. Just like the NES and SNES versions were played, the Wii version will utilize the same behind-the-back camera angle and even many of the same gameplay elements and foes, only this time the cel-shaded graphical style will make things even more attractive and give the opponents that much more personality. Of course, seeing as how this is on the Wii, the Wii Remote and nunchuck combination will be used to control “Little Mac” as he again takes on Glass Joe, King Hippo, and several other oldschool characters. There isn’t a whole lot to say about Punch-Out!! that isn’t known or hasn’t been stated already. Even with its simplistic gameplay which revolves around figuring out the pattern of opponents and capitalizing on them, I look forward to this as being one of the Wii’s first truly great sports titles and recapturing some great memories from the original game itself. Now where the hell is Glass Joe? I’m ready to dish out another ass-whipping.

The four games above are my most anticipated for 2009, but they’re certainly not the only ones to keep an eye out for. Below is a list of some other titles you should consider checking out and that could possibly become as big or bigger than the ones I’ve listed above. Please allow the following titles to reinforce the fact that 2009 is going to be one of the Wii’s best years yet:

The House of the Dead: Overkill – As of now, this game should be on store shelves. A recipient of many great reviews already, House of the Dead: Overkill is supposedly grittier and more intense than many of the previous titles in the series. Although the light-shooter genre isn’t exactly the hottest around, Overkill appears to be an exception to the norm and should provide any arcade fan with hours of rail-shooting bliss.

Dead Rising: Chop Til You Drop – Dead Rising was a big hit on PC and XBOX 360, so having it arrive on the Wii is a pretty big deal. This version of the game will be running on a modified Resident Evil 4 engine; but many of the same gameplay elements will be present even with the graphical limitations and the environments are ported from the previous versions and will still be the same size. Lots of zombies will still be on-screen and the impressive number of weapons will allow players to get their hands on just about everything they can think of in order to blast away, hammer at, and even slice and dice through any zombies that get in the way.

Muramasa: The Demon Blade – A highly stylized Japanese-set 2D platformer that looks to be a sleeper hit. Don’t let the not-so-memorable name fool you, as this game looks incredibly beautiful and engaging. I wish I had more to say about it, but all one needs is to view some screenshots to understand why this one is worth looking out for. Take Viewtiful Joe and mix it with Okami and this is essentially what you would end up with.

Endless Ocean 2: Beautiful Ocean – The first Endless Ocean was one of the most unique and relaxing titles the Wii had ever seen. The simple concept, diving and exploring the ocean to learn more about what lay beneath, provided more hours of awe and wonder than I could have ever imagined. When the sequel is released later this year, my only hope is that more folks will start paying attention to this series.

Sonic and the Black Knight – Sonic’s recent outings haven’t been the most impressive, but I did find Sonic and the Secret Rings a fairly enjoyable game and hope that Sonic and the Black Knight will also be fun to play. Seeing Sonic running around with a sword doesn’t make a whole lot of sense but does bring back some retro memories of Rocket Knight Adventures from the Sega Genesis era and could potentially add some extra flair to Sonic’s combat. We’ll just have to wait and see what the developers do with this strange new take on the series.

Let's Tap – The name of the game isn’t the only strange thing about this one. Let’s Tap is slated to be packaged with a cardboard box on which the Wii Remote is to be placed so that, when it is tapped, the vibrations give the input required to play the game. The visual style is also quite odd, with a bunch of tiny men who resemble Mr. Game and Watch competing in Olympics-style races with outer space backdrops and virtual-reality grid-like track surfaces. Without a doubt, we’ve never seen anything quite like this before. If the gameplay is addicting, expect lots of tap, tap, rat-a-tat-tapping going on later this year when Let’s Tap lands on store shelves.

Battlefield 1943 - Franchise Destruction 101

This is pure speculation, but I don't like what I'm seeing from Battlefield 1943. In fact, I don't like it one bit. Revealed just a few days ago, "Battlefield 1943" is one of several upcoming "Battlefield" titles and is on the path to being an absolute disgrace to the series. I won't discuss the other titles in this entry as I'm sure BF 1943 will leave me with my hands full by the time I'm finished ranting.

Set to be a download-only title marked at a price range from $15-to-$20, BF 1943 will be seeing releases on PS3, XBOX 360, and - wait for it - PC. Initially this was music to my ears. I've been a Battlefield fan for as long as the series has been alive, starting with the beta for Battlefield 1942 way back in 2002 and moving all the way up to the last-released PC title, Battlefield 2142. When I first saw "1943" coming to PC, I soiled my pants. "So this is going to be like 1942, only even better?" If only that were true. I was in for a shocker.

Okay. Enough beating around the bush to ease the pain. I'm going to let it all out, point-by-point. Let's examine some of Battlefield 1943's features:

• Three player kits
• Unlimited ammo & health
  
• Three maps
• Twenty-four players max
• Frostbite engine (Battlefield: Bad Company)
  
  

Three player kits
It's a great idea to narrow down the classes in the series because, in my opinion, there were simply too many in previous Battlefield titles. What I don't like, however, is the fact that all three classes will come equipped with weaponry to defeat vehicles and there will be no medics or special assist classes like in previous titles. What this means is even less emphasis on teamwork, period. For the record, the three classes are infantry, rifleman, and scout. The first specializes in automatic weaponry, the second in rifles, and the last in sniper rifles.

Unlimited ammo & health
Of all the features that eat me up the most, these easily take the crown. In fact, I was hoping this was some sort of sick joke when I was first made aware of it. Every player kit has unlimited ammo, meaning that "ammo cabinets" and ammo-giving player kits are completely out of question. When you need ammo, you simply reload and the job is done. As if this weren't maddening enough, every player will also feature regenerating health. At this point, I was flipping out and seriously seeking a psychiatrist. What exactly is this? Halo? With these features, it's almost impossible to avoid conversing about the negative effects it will have on teamwork. When everyone is essentially Rambo, why care about anyone but yourself?

Three maps
As a value-priced game, I would normally have no beef with 1943's lack of content. The only problem is that this game is titled as if it's a sequel to BF 1942, therefore I expect it to be bigger and better than its predecessor. Instead, we'll be playing a grand total of three maps - all set in the Pacific theater. Even worse is that they're maps we've already played a thousand times before. Wake Island, Guadalcanal, and Iwo Jima. I've played Wake Island so many times before that, at this point, I could really care fucking less to see it again regardless of the changes made. I liked it in 1942, hated it when it was released as a special add-on in Vietnam, and flat out avoided it when it again reared its ugly head in BF 2. I also wouldn't be so upset about the lack of maps if I didn't know that EA and DICE more than likely have something up their sleeves in the form of priced download content for both consoles and PC. I can already see "map packs" easing their way onto the scene (as well as unlockable weapons, uniforms, and so forth.)

Twenty-four players max
Remember back in 1942 when we could play on huge maps featuring jam-packed servers with thirty-two combatants on each side, sixty-four in all? Why is it that a game released in 2002 (seven years ago; I've done the math for you) features not even half that number of players? I'll answer the question for you: It is because of the networking restrictions found on consoles, according to the developers themselves. You can CLICK HERE to read what they have to say about it, but be sure and prepare a barf bag because you're going to need one by the time it's all said and done. After viewing several gameplay videos, it's painfully obvious that the maps have been scaled down to fit the new twenty-four player limit. What I'm getting at is that modders with aspirations of "upping" the limit are going to be stopped dead in their tracks by the sizes of the maps alone. If twenty-four is the default limit, a modded sixty-four player server would be like watching live, canned sardines having a brawl. It simply would not work.

Frostbite engine (Battlefield: Bad Company)
The fact that BF 1943 will be powered by the Frostbite engine has its ups and downs. As mentioned earlier, thanks to the limitations on consoles, allowing for more than twenty-four players at a time simply isn't a current possibility for 1943. The fact that the Frostbite engine was used for BF Bad Company only aids the problem, as Bad Company was a console exclusive. The destructible environments, I'm sure, are part of the reason for this. At the same time, however, such destruction will allow for neat strategies to unfold in a landscape that was once mostly static back when we were playing 1942. This time, trees can be shot down (ala Crysis), buildings can be destroyed piece-by-piece, and even the terrain can be molded and deformed by bombs and other explosive weaponry. If there's a single feature in 1943 that I'll be looking forward to, it's seeing how this game engine will change the way I look at some of the maps I played on so long ago. I'm sure that new strategies will unfold because, for example, at one point in the video below, the presenter notes that bridges can be destroyed in order to force players to take alternate routes.

The following is a recent developer walkthrough video showing the XBOX 360 version in action. Note how the weapon takes up half the screen, a complaint not even mentioned or hinted at above. I could go on-and-on about the things this game is already doing wrong, as I've only touched the surface in this blog:


If you're as angry as I am right now about the current situation of the Battlefield series, I don't blame you. In summary, even at an incredibly low price, this latest WW2-era reincarnation of Battlefield simply isn't acceptable. What we've been needing is a vastly improved version of BF 1942. Just imagine even more players (up to 128, perhaps) storming Omaha beach or taking part in massive bombing runs across larger cities than we'd ever had in previous titles. Just thinking about it sends chills up my spine. But now, thanks to the desire to appeal to a casual player base and console gaming in general, we're getting a watered down, pissed on "sequel" delivered to us by the caring folks at EA and DICE.

Battlefield Heroes - Free war? I'll have a piece!

As many of you know, Battlefield Heroes will be entering the online space of free-to-play games later this year. What some of you may not know is what the game will do differently from other Battlefield games and why it's worth looking forward to. Let me begin by pointing out some of the game's best features, then giving a more thorough rundown on each of them:

• Match-making
• Customizable soldiers
• Character stat-tracking
• Metagame
• Great performance

Match-making
In the Battlefield games prior to Heroes, players were forced to find servers based on ping times and number of players rather than skill level. This will be changed by the new match-making system found in Heroes, which allows players to be tossed into games being played by folks who match closely with his/her skill level. This is great for a number of reasons: 1) The game will be made more accessible by newbies. 2) There will be no terrible teammates (for the most part) or lopsided matches 3) Opponents will remain challenging, regardless of the server the player connects to.

Customizable soldiers
Most of us have already watched the trailers showing soldiers running around with eye-patches and peg legs, but the customization goes further than that. Weapons and abilities may also be purchased and added to the arsenal of soldiers, making each one unique from the next. Gestures can even be added, meaning one player will likely have different types of in-game gestures (playful/communication animations) than the next.

Character stat-tracking
When you create your own soldier (or "hero") and send him out to battle, each kill will add to your experience points and allow you to earn new abilities and better assist your team. As players level up, expect to see impressive team strategies unfold as some will be healing whereas others will be attacking and others may even be defending through their unique special powers. Adding to this strategical depth is the fact that each player class (Commando, Soldier, and Gunner) features its own abilities.

Metagame
As if the stat-tracking and in-game strategical depth wasn't enough, Battlefield Heroes will also feature a points-based "metagame" which pits the two opposing factions - the National and Royal armies - against one another for supremacy on a world map. As each army has success and wins battles, it will give out bonuses to its players based on the progress made. Although the metagame is set to be an optional component, I think that even casual players will enjoy the added depth gives to the fictional war they'll be waging on their computers.

Great performance
Last but certainly not least: Battlefield Heroes will be a great performer on a wide range of computers. Because it is powered by the same engine behind Battlefield 2142, Battlefield Heroes' will not cause older computers to be over-burdened with any of its engine features. Whereas some of Team Fortress 2's special visual features are tough on PC's of the past, Battlefield Heroes is being specifically designed to appeal to gamers who may be on tight budgets or own not-so-great "gaming" computers. In short: As long as you can run Battlefield 2142 - a several-year old game that most can easily play today - you should have no problem running Heroes and enjoying its sleek, cartoonish visual style.



As an added note, at the time of this article, the kind folks behind the development of Battlefield Heroes are hosting signups for the upcoming Open Beta. Go HERE to register for your chance to play this neat little game before everybody else does!