Blue Reflection (2017) - Retro Reflection

Blue Reflection (2017) by developer GUST and publisher Koei Tecmo America—Sony PlayStation 4 retro reflection written by Pierre-Yves with a purchased copy.

Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

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Having been released back in 2017, GUST and Koei Tecmo's Blue Reflection is a JRPG that has been on my to-do list for a long time. Starting off later in the school year due to a leg injury, our tale begins on Hinako Shirai's first day only to find that this won’t be your average school year. With bizarre glowing energy forming around her fellow students from intense emotional reactions, it’s somehow going to come down to her to fix these issues and stabilize their hearts with powers that she didn’t even know that she had as a magical school girl known in this world as Reflectors.

Blue Reflection is all about Hinako and the citrus sisters Yuzu and Lime (yes the puns start early) who will guide her through the process of stabilizing people’s emotional hearts and always seem to know more than they are telling. Between the three of them though, they'll be forming bonds with twelve other students in order to gain enough power to not only repel giant monstrous beings known as Sephiroth, but eventually defeat them to keep the world safe from destruction.

Knowing next to nothing about this title other than it's been sitting on my shelf since release, I went into it with no expectations or bias. Having now sat through the 30+ adventure that I found myself upon, and will find myself returning to in order to mop up trophies for a platinum one, I can say that it was a decent turn from the usual GUST experience of the Atelier Series. Blue Reflection is not only something with a more serious tone and slice of life approach, even if we are talking about magical school girls, but it also does away with the usual grinding experience that one can find in a JRPG which was rather refreshing.

Taking place almost exclusively within a high school, the adventure unfolds at your pace. From the first day that Hinako walks across the school's threshold until the end, you get to choose what to do and when you do it. Do you blitz through doing the minimum? Or do you slow it down and do everything you can as unlike Atlus's Persona series from (3-5), there's no school year calendar and also unlike some of the Atelier series during that time, no due dates to potentially game over on if you miss reaching certain objectives.

The overall premise is a rather simple one and while it works, because of its design style it may have felt a bit too simplistic. Unlike the rest of the Atelier series that GUST have created over the years, Blue Reflection takes place within very few locations that doesn't offer much in terms of exploration. You have the three floors of the high school in the real world and then you have a few zones in the commons that don't change or really evolve. What's there is what's there and that's that as it's really all that's needed to tell this story.

So it’s with this change in style that instead of leveling up traditionally, you instead get more powerful by creating new bonds and hanging out with the other twelve people who make up your group. Essentially four people that act as support cast per party member when it comes to the large scale boss battles. While it could have been easy to get this wrong such as going up against bosses unprepared, every chapter instead has a minimum requirement in order to move forward so at the very least, while hard, you should be able to pull it off.

Now there’s one thing that I kept coming back to as I went through this older JRPG. While I could see where various elements have come from and where various elements have led to such as Atelier Ryza: Ever Darkness & The Secret Hideout and Atelier Ryza 2: Lost Legends & the Secret Fairy, I kept coming back to that if you removed the combat, you would have had an interesting visual novel as the overall experience didn’t even need it. The short dives into the commons to find materials and dispatch a few monsters always felt tacked on against the real purpose of this adventure. The purpose is to make strong everlasting bonds with your new friends in order to protect them and the world.

Most of the gameplay in that regard boils down to make a few hours for several boss fights and material gathering to make items for the one trophy that you need. The rest is reading and listening to your friends, going out after school, hanging out at lunch, and prepping for whatever comes next like the school festival play. Spread in between all of these moments are times where you need to lend a hand to someone’s emotions getting out of hand which will raise your bond points thus making you strong. So if you were to remove a lot of the combat, you would still have a great narrative experience which is why once the credits rolled I wondered how much was actually necessary and if this should have been a JRPG or just a Visual Novel.

Summary

In either case, I regret having taken this long in order to sit down to it but I have no regrets in having blitzed through thirty hours in a week between everything else in life in order to experience this older title that by our standards is more of a Retro Reflection than a review at this point. If you’re interested in what we thought back in the day, I would recommend reading Nick’s review who also thoroughly enjoyed his time with GUST and Koei Tecmo’s title.

Score: N/A

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Warsong - Retro Reflections

Warsong by developer Career Soft and publisher Treco—SEGA Genesis retro reflection written by Nick with a purchased copy.

Estimated reading time: 7 minutes

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This is an update to the original article Warsong - Sega Genesis: Possibly the best strategy game you never played - Retro Reflections posted on May 25th, 2012.

Back when I first discussed this title with our readers nearly eight years ago, I was prompted due to some other articles I had posted around the time focusing on the SEGA Genesis console. However, Warsong (known as Langrisser overseas originally) is gaining some modern relevance due to the upcoming release of Langrisser I & II coming in March this year.

Warsong has long stood as one of my all-time favorite Genesis titles, though in fairness I haven't played it in several years now, and there is a good chance the average gamer has never even heard of it, let alone played it.

I am not sure what inspired me to pick it up at the time. I had heard nothing about this game in any of the magazines I read, none of my friends had played it, but something about it caught my eye when I was mulling what game to purchase next.

But something about the back of that box must have sparked my interest, because I took the game home, put it in and and began to play. To define what Warsong is, I would say it was a fantasy strategy/RPG hybrid – maybe the first I had ever played quite like it.

I immediately loved the game’s art style. The graphics had a colorful, anime feel to them when showing character portraits. The actual battles that took place were actually pretty active as soldiers kill each other off. The backdrops and map designs were actually pretty well detailed also.

The sound and music get the job done. There was nothing terribly memorable about it, but this was a game that was more about the tactics. It would have been nice to have a bit more variety in the music, but I don’t recall it ever particularly bothering me either.

So how did the game play? Well, there were two aspects to it. There are the leader characters, and they are the most important. Hints of Fire Emblem here, as when a leader dies, he or she is gone for good. I recall saving often to prevent that from happening. Shades of Dragonforce follow, as each of these main characters had soldier units they could control. Each character has a range or aura of influence and if their soldier units fight within that range, they got bonuses to their stats. Each leader can hire different kinds of soldiers at the start of each level, and there is a sort of rock/paper/scissors mechanic to which soldier units perform best against one another.

There are other factors as well, such as terrain and if your leader characters have any gear equipped (at the start of each level, a scenario is given to you and you have a chance to spend your hard earned gold on different kinds and quantities of soldiers, and that is also when you can choose to put a piece of equipment on a leader character). I recall getting so good at the game that I could go through the first couple of levels or so without buying any soldier units, to conserve money for when I would need it more in subsequent levels.

When a leader character dies (the enemy units are made up of these as well), their support soldiers will perish as well. Some levels also have assorted neutral characters who will go after anyone who gets to o close. Some missions are designed for certain types of soldiers as well – for example one of your heroes can hire mermen and they are almost essential for water combat – but useless in levels without water to cross.

The game is made up of twenty levels, which may not sound like much, but each stage can take quite some time to get through. The menu and controls are very simple to navigate and while it is easy to learn – there is are so many different tactics and unit strategies to apply that there is perfectly valid reason to come back and play again once you beat the game.

The story itself is nothing new – good guys are put on the run for attacking bad guys. Good guys regroup after getting smacked around a bit in the first level, and rally a force to defeat not only the known bad guys, but the evil controlling them behind the scenes. It is all really well presented though, with story pieces between levels and dialog scenes from characters on maps. While you have no options to change the storyline itself, it was actually one that I found fairly interesting.

The RPG elements come in the form of gold, equipment, experience and levels. In fact, this game was the inspiration to a leveling system I implimented on my MUD over a decade ago that I called a Tier system. Your characters start off a specific class, level up to a point, and then choose one of two. Level up some more, and you can again choose one more new class from a new set of branching options. Some characters were so similar that their later tiers became the same thing, like Magic Knight, but there were unique ones too. For example your lead character Garrett can become a King class, and no one else can. Each tier brings new skills and powerful stat boosts and adds a good deal of replay value to the mix.

And replay I did – I can recall beating this game at least three times – maybe more. And it was a hit among my friends who initially asked: Warsong? What’s that?

But these were the same friends I had gotten hooked on strategy games on the NES years before too (Nobunaga’s Ambition, Bandit Kings of Ancient China and Romance of the Three Kingdoms to name a few) – so they gave it a shot and not a single one disliked it. Most of them borrowed it long enough to beat the game once if not twice (and one other friend borrowed my copy for a day and a half. I was a bit surprised when he handed it back to me and said I could have it back. I asked if he had not liked it – turned out he simply went out and bought his own copy afterward).

To this day, this ranks as one of my favorite all-time video games, and influenced my opinion on what a strategy game could be. It also had clear effects on my own game design years later for my MUD, Kingdoms of the Lost. I played it again recently and feel that it holds up pretty well today still. If I bring it up in conversation with most gamers though, none seem to have ever heard of, let alone played this under-appreciated classic.

The strategy/RPG hybrid genre has seen a nice uptick over the last several years, since I first reflected on Warsong here at Chalgyr's Game Room, led largely by the Fire Emblem series, but numerous other titles like Fell Seal, Banner Saga and Disgaea have had popular runs as well. In particular, Fire Emblem: Three Houses in 2019 received rave reviews, and was even my pick for 2019 Game of the Year.

This is a genre that has always just stuck with me, and I'm excited to see how the updated take on Langrisser 1 pans out, and I never did get to experience the sequel. I was aware of its existence, but it never came over to North America, so this is a chance to see where the story had gone. I am looking forward to doing a modern review of this retro title once it does release in March.

Score: N/A

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Power Rangers: Super Legends - Retro Reflection

Power Rangers: Super Legends by developer A2M and publisher Disney Interactive Studios—Sony Playstation 2 retro reflection written by Dimitris with a purchased copy.

Estimated reading time: 4 minutes

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The Red Ranger paused for a moment to observe his surroundings: shiny, metal walls, neon lights and large windows, through which he could see the towering skyscrapers of the metropolis. The sky was blue but his mission was not a walk in the park. He had to stop his enemies from getting the time crystals and messing with history, preventing the Rangers from existing.

In each time zone they had gathered special forces to stop him and this place was no different: soldiers materialized out of nowhere and attacked him immediately. He punched and kicked, knocking them down swiftly. One of them fired his laser gun. The Ranger ducked, then jumped over his enemy and slammed him on the ground. A huge armored guy charged but once again the Ranger's agility saved him. He grabbed the closest soldier and tossed him on the giant, gaining enough time to pull out his pistol and fire a charged blast that disposed of the remaining opposition. He moved ahead.

A half transparent platform hovered above his head. He bent his knees and jumped, landing on its smooth surface. A large door was built many feet higher, meant to hinder further progress. He leaped towards the opposite wall, bounced off of it and smashed the door with a dashing air kick. A secret room was revealed, full of goodies, including a yellow bolt. Now he could replenish his energy and perform his devastating super attack. Soon, he would find the boss commanding all those mindless minions and start a nice conversation with him.

Power Rangers Super Legends is a side scrolling platform/ beat’ em up, based on the famous TV series. In case you ‘ve never heard of them, the Rangers are a team of super heroes who use impressive martial arts to protect Earth from hostile aliens. I admit I did not watch the series when I was a kid, so I cannot say how close the game is to the show. However, I enjoyed it thanks to its tight controls, variety of moves, colorful graphics and cool sounds.

There are several locations, including a traditional Japanese mansion on the mountains, ancient desert ruins, a high-tech factory and the ordinary alleys and rooftops of a city. In each stage, your objective is to reach the exit but frequent energy barriers block your path until you clear all foes. Enemies are humanoid and attack you in small groups; beating two or three of them simultaneously is satisfying.

There are environmental hazards too, sush as flame jets or chasms. Occasionally you face a boss; if you beat them him, or her, he transforms into a huge giant, forcing you to become enormous too, by merging with all the Rangers. The gameplay changes accordingly and you need to press the right buttons at the correct moment to win.

When you die your score is reduced and you are revived on the spot. If you can run out of points you will die permanently but this never happened to me. As for the game’s length, there are few stages which are not very long. You can try to improve your score after each level and there are various Rangers to choose from, however, all characters play the same and there is no option for a higher difficulty.

To sum it up, Power Rangers Super Legends is a good arcade game. Combining style with fast action and cool, strong heroes it reminded me of another platform game on PS2, Kim Possible. The few hours I spent on it were worth it.

Score: N/A

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Power Rangers: Super Legends - Retro Reflection

The Red Ranger paused for a moment to observe his surroundings: shiny, metal walls, neon lights and large windows, through which he could see the towering skyscrapers of the metropolis. The sky was blue but his mission was not a walk in the park. He had to stop his enemies from getting the time crystals and messing with history, preventing the Rangers from existing.

In each time zone they had gathered special forces to stop him and this place was no different: soldiers materialized out of nowhere and attacked him immediately. He punched and kicked, knocking them down swiftly. One of them fired his laser gun. The Ranger ducked, then jumped over his enemy and slammed him on the ground. A huge armored guy charged but once again the Ranger's agility saved him. He grabbed the closest soldier and tossed him on the giant, gaining enough time to pull out his pistol and fire a charged blast that disposed of the remaining opposition. He moved ahead.

A half transparent platform hovered above his head. He bent his knees and jumped, landing on its smooth surface. A large door was built many feet higher, meant to hinder further progress.  He leaped towards the opposite wall, bounced off of it and smashed the door with a dashing air kick. A secret room was revealed, full of goodies, including a yellow bolt. Now he could replenish his energy and perform his devastating super attack. Soon, he would find the boss commanding all those mindless minions and start a nice conversation with him. 

Power Rangers Super Legends is a side scrolling platform/ beat’ em up, based on the famous TV series. In case you ‘ve never heard of them, the Rangers are a team of super heroes who use impressive martial arts to protect Earth from hostile aliens. I admit I did not watch the series when I was a kid, so I cannot say how close the game is to the show. However, I enjoyed it thanks to its tight controls, variety of moves, colorful graphics and cool sounds.

There are several locations, including a traditional Japanese mansion on the mountains, ancient desert ruins, a high-tech factory and the ordinary alleys and rooftops of a city. In each stage, your objective is to reach the exit but frequent energy barriers block your path until you clear all foes. Enemies are humanoid and attack you in small groups; beating two or three of them simultaneously is satisfying.

There are environmental hazards too, sush as flame jets or chasms. Occasionally you face a boss; if you beat them him, or her, he transforms into a huge giant, forcing you to become enormous too, by merging with all the Rangers. The gameplay changes accordingly and you need to press the right buttons at the correct moment to win.

When you die your score is reduced and you are revived on the spot. If you can run out of points you will die permanently but this never happened to me. As for the game’s length, there are few stages which are not very long. You can try to improve your score after each level and there are various Rangers to choose from, however, all characters play the same and there is no option for a higher difficulty.

To sum it up, Power Rangers Super Legends is a good arcade game. Combining style with fast action and cool, strong heroes it reminded me of another platform game on PS2, Kim Possible. The few hours I spent on it were worth it.

Game Information

Platform:
Sony PlayStation 2
Developer(s):
A2M
Publisher(s):
Disney Interactive Studios
Genre(s):
Action, Advenure
Mode(s):
Single Player, Multiplayer
Other Platform(s):
Nintendo DS, PC

Source:
Purchased

Article by Dimitris

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PK: Out of the Shadows - Retro Reflection

Couldn't find a nice PS2 Cover for the article

When I was a kid I loved reading the adventures of quarrelsome Donald, his naughty nephews and greedy uncle Scrooge. They were funny and full of surprises and helped my mind travel away from my everyday life. Later I started reading Marvel stories but I always had fond memories of Disney’s comics. So, it was natural to buy a platformer that featured Donald Duck as its hero.

“Donald Duck PK” seems like a decent platform game at first. The hero becomes Phantom Duck and must stop an alien invasion, guided by a mysterious artificial intelligence and armed with a laser pistol and small jetpacks. The obstacles you face and your abilities are well balanced and the controls are responsive: “X” for jumping, “□” for shooting, R2 for locking onto a target. There are platforms that disappear after a while, anti-gravity fields that propel you upwards, moving giant machines, pools of toxic liquid, rotating electric beams and, of course, plenty of bottomless pits.

Upgrades include a grappling hook and a charged shot, for shattering enemy barriers. Aliens, who look like ducks, fire slow moving projectiles and you have to dodge their fire and shoot back. Donald hovers by tapping the jump button repeatedly and occasionally he encounters a sealed gate and needs to manoeuvre a tiny flying robot through a maze to open it.

Green spheres are scattered in each level and you must collect at least 15 to activate a checkpoint; thankfully, even if you miss a few you can still collect enough to activate all checkpoints, thus relieving you from the frustration of replaying large sections of the game. Moreover, every stage contains six captured scientists and you should save as many of them as possible to enter the alien mothership later. The fast action, colorful graphics (mainly purple and blue) and reasonable difficulty made the game fun to play until…

…I realized it had nothing to do with Donald Duck! There was not a single stage involving the places I knew and loved from the old comics, such as Donald’s house or Scrooge’s vault. As for Donald, his behavior and voice did not remind me of the comics or cartoons at all and his dialogues made me cringe. The action and level design also started to lose their initial entertainment value as the same obstacles and aliens were recycled. Thankfully, I completed the game soon (it took me about 4 hours in total).

“Donald Duck PK” showed to me that appearances alone do not make characters and high playability does not make a game exciting. You will find here many ingredients of good platform games but the lack of inspiration on behalf of the designers is disappointing. Even the hero is not called Phantom Duck, although he wears his distinctive black, red, yellow and blue uniform. It is as if the producers could not acquire a licence to use anything from the comics except for Donald’s appearance. And that’s what they did, they fooled their customers into thinking they were going to enter Donald’s magical world but offered them a generic, humorless platform game instead. “PK” is by no means bad, however, compared to platformers like “Ratchet and Clank” or “Kim Possible”, its lack of character is obvious.

Game Information

Platform:
Sony PlayStation 2
Developer(s):
Ubisoft Montreal
Publisher(s):
Ubisoft
Genre(s):
Adventure
Mode(s):
Single Player
Other Platform(s):
Nintendo GameCube

Source:
Purchased

Article by Dimitris

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The Punisher - Retro Reflection

Story

After witnessing the brutal murder of his family during a mob hit, ex Vietnam war veteran Frank Castle launches a never ending war against crime, taking no prisoners and showing no mercy. This is not justice or revenge, it is punishment! In the “Punisher” game, you face three major criminal organizations, the Italian Gnucci (my favorite), the Russian mercenaries and the Japanese Yakuza. The mastermind behind them is revealed towards the end.

The story is simplistic and the only plot twist is evident from the start but Frank’s character is portrayed well. Criminals say things such as “It’s the Punisher, he’s gonna kill us all!” and there were two Yakuza members talking, one of them mentioned that Daredevil confronted a hundred thugs and they all ended up in jail or the hospital, the other responded “Yes but we are facing the Punisher, not Daredevil.” and the first one replied “Yes, we will end up dead”. These details depict how notorious and fearful Frank is in the underworld.

Other moments capture interesting subtleties of his character, for example the fact he never hurts civilians or how he still remembers the death of his family -“you don’t know what funerals feel like to me”, he retorts to a police officer-. And there are some hilarious moments too, for example when a thug exclaims desperately “oh no, you’re going to punish me, aren’t you?” or the Punisher, after destroying the villain Bushwacker, thinks “I don’t smile a lot. I don’t smile at all. But if I did, now would be a moment”. Marvel heroes, such as Fury or Black Widow, make short appearances, with little impact though.

Gameplay

This is a third person shooter, like Rogue Trooper, so you move and look around/aim with the analogue sticks and shoot with R1. However, there is an original addition which makes the action different and very enjoyable, the “instant kill/shield/interrogation” mechanism. Let me explain: when you are close to an enemy you can kill him instantly by pressing “□” or grab him by pressing “x”. Instant kills eliminate even the toughest foes, which normally can only be killed if you shoot them in the head, and give you “blue energy”, required to enter “slaughter mode”. During this, the Punisher is strong as a beast and replenishes lost health. Grabbed enemies can be interrogated or used as shields.

A successful interrogation (keep the enemy’ tension high for three seconds) gives you points, spent to buy upgrades at the end of each stage, such as increased armor. It also gives you information, for example the location of hidden stashes of guns. A shield protects the Punisher from enemy fire (unless he is attacked from the back or the side) as he carries the criminal around with an iron grip and fires with his free right arm. He can even reload a shotgun while doing this, Terminator style! Crooks show no sympathy for their captured friend so they fire at you until the shield’s health is depleted. It is funny to hear them say things such as “”sorry Mike, better you than me!”.

Nevertheless, when you lose a shield you may simply grab a new one! You can always interrogate someone after using him as a shield and vice versa, or instantly kill him, so the aforementioned mechanism is both effective and flexible.

Brutality

You can never have too much violence in a game, right? I am joking, however, Frank Castle is not: besides instant kills or failed interrogations, which end up in breaking someone’s neck or shooting him at point blank, each stage has spots for “special interrogations”, for example you can threaten to throw a thug in a piranha pool, burn him in an incinerator or crash him in a giant press! If the interrogation fails the criminal has a most painful and bloody end. There are spots for special kills too, e.g., in the jungle the Punisher tossed a mercenary to a giant snake for a quick snack! And let’s not forget slaughter mode, during which you slash, stab and smash your enemies like an unstoppable death machine. Sweet!

Graphics/sound

The game’s scenery is often detailed and interesting, such as the luxurious, stylish mansion of Ma Gnucci, Tony Stark’s tower, loaded with high technology devices, or the Yakuza base, which features a traditional restaurant, smooth, wooden floors and ancient suits of armor. Even the zoo is nice, with a variety of locations for keeping animals and alternate routes. Other places, like the docks or a meat factory, are not exciting, nonetheless, they are well designed.

The sound includes excellent voice acting for Castle, as the actor playing him captured the character’s mood and personality. The music is fantastic and you should definitely listen to the game’s soundtrack on youtube. I also liked the sound effects for the various weapons.

Flaws

Not much to point out here. There were a couple of boss fights that could have been better, for example the fight in the attic, which took me a long time to complete (that Gnucci mobster really run like a rat in a maze!), and I think Frank should be able to carry more guns, as you can only hold one “one handed” and one “two handed” weapon at a time (for example, two pistols and a shotgun but not a shotgun and an assault rifle). Also, a more developed story would help, since the designers took for granted the player already knew characters such as Kingpin or Bullseye.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the “Punisher” is a must have game for fans of the comic or shooters. It has colorful graphics that keep changing, great sound, perfect controls, exciting gunfights and mega violence! I even loved the newspaper clips, which show how the media can distort events to create a fictional “truth”. Do not miss.

Game Information

Platform:
Sony PlayStation 2
Developer(s):
Volition
Publisher(s):
THQ
Genre(s):
Third Person Shooter
Mode(s):
Single Player
Other Platform(s):
Microsoft Xbox
PC

Source:
Purchased

Article by Dimitris

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Final Fight Streetwise - Retro Reflection

Final Fight was a popular beat ’em up in the early nineties that also gave birth to a series on SNES. The story featured a fearless mayor, named Haggar, whose daughter was kidnapped by a criminal gang that controlled his city, so he set out to save her, aided by his two friends, Guy and Cody. Those two guys later became characters in the Street Alpha series but Haggar never made it, maybe because there was already Zangief, another super muscular dude.

Final Fight Streetwise includes the above heroes but, inexplicably, they are not playable; instead, they only appear in specific stages and fight alongside you. The hero is a generic guy who earns money by participating in underground battles, tries hard to sound tough and searches for his missing brother, Cody. Gradually, he discovers there is a new criminal organization in town, which manufactures a powerful drug that threatens to destroy the fabric of society. To be frank, I couldn’t care less, as I prefer the classic “save the princess” type of story.

Another thing I found strange is the game’s structure: instead of putting the player in stages where he/she confronts groups of thugs, defeats a boss and progresses to the next stage, thus creating a sense of fast pacing, here you have small areas, connected to each other, for example via a train station, that are supposed to be parts of a town. However, these areas are so small and movement in them is so limited (you cannot enter most buildings, except for a few shops) that this “town” looks fake.

The graphics are not appealing either. Old school beat ‘em ups often had colorful backdrops with details that caught you attention but Final Fight’s locations are bland, showing few colors and lack of style. As for the sound, I don’t recall anything particular about it.

So far Final Fight Streetwise seems like a loser, nevertheless, I enjoyed it. Why? Because it offered what I mainly expect from a beat ‘em up: the opportunity to smash dozens of bad guys mercilessly using easy to learn controls. Indeed, the main character delivers punches to all directions with speed and devastating power. You may find yourself in a dark alley surrounded by half a dozen thugs but in a few seconds they all lie on the ground. Besides your fists, you can use deadly weapons, such as knives and bats, or purchase special moves and other upgrades, necessary for the last stages. Those small additions provide the game with some much needed variety and increase the fun level.

Besides fighting gangs you also face stronger opponents in a ring and a few bosses. Those are much stronger and cannot be defeated just by mashing buttons. Unfortunately, Capcom thought it would be a good idea to have the player face something different in the last stage, namely… zombies (I am not kidding). This decision is both illogical and irrelevant to the game’s theme and although they tried to explain it (zombies are created by the aforementioned drug) it harms the game. Thankfully, the zombie area is not long, although it is by far the hardest stage and I only vanquished the final boss with the help of luck.

To conclude, Final Fight Streetwise is a half-hearted effort on behalf of Capcom. It seems as if they did not trust their own series and could not decide how it should evolve. In addition, the production values are mediocre. I could recommend F.F.S. to fans of beat ‘em ups, like myself, since there are very few games of this genre on PS2. However, if companies like Capcom cannot revive their own franchises I do not expect beat ‘em ups to return to their former glory.

Game Information

Platform:
Sony PlayStation 2
Developer(s):
Capcom
Publisher(s):
Capcom
Genre(s):
Beat 'Em Up
Mode(s):
Single Player
Multiplayer
Other Platform(s):
Microsoft Xbox

Source:
Purchased

Article by Dimitris

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Max Payne - Retro Reflection

It happens rarely in life, finding the special one. The time you spend together is unforgettable and you wish it could last forever. Max Payne is one such game!

The story is about a tough police detective who investigates the brutal murder of his wife and baby child and becomes entangled in a horrible conspiracy. It has a vivid film noir atmosphere and a captivating narration: instead of video cut-scenes the designers preferred beautiful comic book images, which appear not only at the end of each stage but also during gameplay, in the form of radio and television broadcasts or documents the hero finds. The integration of narration in gameplay is standard now but back in 2001 it was innovative. The story is simple, as Payne faces organized crime, corrupted police officers and evil businessmen with political ties, slowly approaching the ugly truth, yet, the writing style makes it stand out: Max narrates like a dramatic poet, describing events with surprising eloquence, and I sympathized with him for his suffering.

Another thing that captured my attention was the graphics quality: the texture detail is impressive, the use of shadows and light is excellent and plenty of blood is depicted when you pump hot lead into a criminal. The level design, including an underground train station, a seedy hotel, a luxurious manor and a high technology skyscraper, gives the game a rare sense of realism and makes you think you are inside a movie. Of course, there are things added for gameplay reasons, for example, a crate put at the right spot for you to climb on and move forward. I should also mention the two stages taking place inside Max’ tormented mind, which feature a unique style and architecture. The only funny thing about the graphics is the models’ expressions, which look a bit fake, although this didn’t bother me.

The sound effects, produced by beauties such as the Desert Eagle and the Colt assault rifle, are powerful and distinct, adding to the fun considerably. Unfortunately, there was a problem with my pc and I had no music, which is a shame. I found the soundtrack on youtube though and it is worth listening to.

Concerning the controls, you use the keyboard buttons to strafe, run, jump, roll, switch weapons, reload or interact with the environment; the mouse is for aiming/looking around, firing and activating the game’s main innovation, bullet time. The latter reminds of “Matrix”, as everything moves slower except your targeting reticle, allowing you to dodge fire and eliminate enemies a fraction of a second before they kill you. Bullet time “energy” is depleted when you use it but it is replenished by killing foes. It should be noted that this mechanism does not make the game easy, it only lets you survive situations that otherwise would be impossible; so, it is both original and smoothly implemented. Also, since this is a third person game, it is possible to move the camera and scout the area ahead without exposing yourself to danger. This way you can spot, for example, an armed guard lurking behind a corner, and avoid cheap deaths.

Naturally, gunfights are the game’s main attraction and they are as good as they could be. Nothing beats pelting a thug with dozens of bullets from your trusty Ingram or throwing him many feet away with a shotgun blast. You face dozens of armed criminals, nevertheless, every encounter feels unique, entertaining and intense. I died countless times, however, the quick save feature allowed me to complete the game. Enemies deal lots of damage very fast and are highly accurate, so, you must take cover, aim quickly and activate bullet time wisely. Although you constantly gather ammo from dead adversaries, it is crucial to save your best weapons for the more difficult situations; an extra grenade, for example, can make the difference between clearing a room instantly and dying repeatedly.

Another innovation, for its time, is that Max automatically recovers a small percentage of lost health; to heal more he consumes painkillers, usually found in small boxes. Lastly, there are several moments which add nice variety to the action, for example when Max operates a train to smash through a heavy wooden blockade or runs for his life in a burning restaurant. The final confrontation is even more suspenseful, as you have limited time to stop the villain from escaping. I was afraid I would not succeed but, in the end, justice was served!

My friend John says that Max Payne 2 is a masterpiece and I agree with him. Nevertheless, after playing Max Payne, I realized it established the main elements that made the sequel so magical: the film noir atmosphere, the narration style, the characters, including mysterious Mona Sax, the realistic level design and, of course, the exciting gunfights. There is no need to decide which masterpiece is better though: Max Payne is untouched by time and proves that games have become an art form.

----
P.S. No, I won’t comment on the 2008 movie. How someone can mess up a film based on such a great game and starring Mila Kunis and Olga Kurylenko is beyond my comprehension.

Game Information

Platform:
PC
Developer(s):
Remedy Entertainment
Publisher(s):
Gathering of Developers
Genre(s):
Third Person Shooter
Mode(s):
Single Player
Other Platform(s):
Sony PlayStation 2
Microsoft Xbox / 360

Source:
Purchased

Article by Dimitris

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World War Zero - Retro Reflection

Dozens of first person shooters have been produced since the 1990s, when the genre first appeared. Most of them follow standard rules that make them enjoyable even when they are of average quality. World War Zero is one of those average games that offer a few hours of mild amusement and then they are forgotten.

The story takes place in an alternate Earth, about fifty years after the first World War begun and …never ended! It seems that Britain, France and the United States did not defeat Germany and Austria in time and a new force emerged: Russia, which tries to control all Eurasia. The war has been waged for decades and the hero is an officer who undertakes a crucial mission involving the construction of a secret weapon. It is a pity the designers did not take advantage of the game’s unique premise and made it look and play like any other first person shooter. The only thing that shows you are in an alternate world is some text-only, repetitive radio messages and the fact that you fight soldiers dressed in Russian uniforms.

The action starts in the trenches and soon you go to other places, such as an occupied town and an armored, gigantic train. Unfortunately, most locations you visit are generic and boring, for example, empty, repetitive buildings and tunnels. The graphics are average at best, including the blocky character models. As for the sound, there is no music and the moans of dying enemies sound silly.

The gameplay focuses on marching forward and shooting anything that moves. I liked it when I had to escape a prison lab and find a gun immediately or activated a crane to jump on a departing train but most of the time the action is unexciting. Occasionally you are asked to kill an enemy officer and there is only one boss, at the end, which needs about 30 rockets to die; at first I thought I had encountered a bug! The level design is linear and exploration is very limited.

There is an auto aim mechanism, however, it is so effective it requires no skill on behalf of the player: when you point your target near a foe it locks onto him automatically and all you do afterwards is keep the fire button pressed. Weapons include a shotgun, a flame thrower, a rocket launcher and a sniper rifle although most of the time you use the assault rifle, which is deadly at close or long range. You find plenty of ammo lying around and save points that look like radios. Do not play the game on the easy difficulty, though, because it is almost impossible to die.

World War Zero is a first person shooter that does only what is necessary. Though it is highly playable and offers fast action, its production values are mediocre and there are many shooters on PS2 which are certainly better. I am afraid this war will never end…

Game Information

Platform:
Sony PlayStation 2
Developer(s):
Rebellion Developments
Publisher(s):
MC2-Microϊds
Genre(s):
First Person Shooter
Mode(s):
Single Player
Multiplayer
Other Platform(s):
PC

Source:
Purchased

Article by Dimitris

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Knights of the Temple - Retro Reflection

Medieval history and hack and slash games are among my favorite things, so I was glad to discover Knights of the Temple on PS2. The story is about Paul, an idealistic new member of the famous Knights of the Temple, a powerful group of warriors established during the Crusades. Paul finds out his beloved Adelle has been kidnapped by the corrupted bishop of Belmont, who plans to bring hell on Earth by performing a diabolical ritual. Unfortunately, what follows teaches you nothing about the Templars and the plot is simplistic and uninteresting.

Knights of the Temple is a pure hack and slash game: Paul massacres enemies in melee combat, using swords, maces and axes (there is also a bow that is rarely used); the action is fast and enjoyable, making you feel like a human killing machine. Besides melee attacks, which can be combined, you gradually acquire spells and special moves (eight in total). Spells can heal you, make you invulnerable or hurt enemies; they consume magical energy, accumulated by killing adversaries. Special moves break through defenses or deal extra damage; they require stamina, which is replenished very quickly automatically.

There are a few puzzles too, like changing the water level in the sewers or rotating zodiac symbols on a map to open a gate. The level design is linear, however some side rooms contain health items, spell upgrades or new weapons.

The atmosphere of the first level is fantastic, as you fight in narrow stone corridors against possessed monks who wield scythes and move like puppets with broken strings. In the desolate town of Belmont you are attacked by armored thugs and escape through the harbor. Afterwards, you travel to the city Acre, where you battle in yards against Saracens with turbans and curvy swords. Then you go to sacred Jerusalem, Petra, a giant monument carved in stone, the lava pits of hell (which makes no sense at all) and Belmont, again.

Technically, the game is nothing special: few colors are used, for example you see lots of grey and brown at Belmont, and the PS2 textures are a bit unclear and blurry. What I did not like is that after Acre you see the same scenery and enemies often; in addition, Jerusalem is reduced to a series of generic yards and buildings with countless doors you cannot open. The sound contributes to a sense of dread when you are in the monastery and changes appropriately in the Middle East. The controls are perfect, making combat easy to handle and fun. The face buttons are for melee attacks, blocking (essential) and interacting with the environment. You save at the end of a stage and there are save points too, which can be used only once.

In general, Knights of the Temple offered a mixed experience: I loved the bloody action and dark atmosphere but the second half is less good and the ending is disappointing. Fans of medieval themes and the hack and slash genre may be interested in it.

Game Information

Platform:
Sony PlayStation 2
Developer(s):
Starbreeze Studios
Publisher(s):
TDK Mediactive
Genre(s):
Action
Adventure
Hack & Slash
Mode(s):
Single Player
Multiplayer
Other Platform(s):
Microsoft Xbox
Nintendo GameCube
PC

Source:
Purchased

Article by Dimitris

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Constantine - Retro Reflection

In the old days, video games based on movies often were hastily made and disappointed fans. "Constantine", on the other hand, is a rare specimen that, in my opinion, is better than its source material.

The movie, starring Keanu Reeves, was about a man who had the gift to detect and banish demons back to hell. The plot was not clear and I could not understand what was going on. The game has the same strange plot, as the writers take for granted that you are familiar with the hero and his world. Thankfully, after a while it becomes apparent what you are trying to accomplish and there is even a nice surprise towards the end. Constantine's character is portrayed in an interesting way; although his past remains unknown, his broody demeanor, heavy responsibility and sense of humor made me like him.

The gameplay relies on exploration, third person shooting and puzzle solving. Exploring is necessary to find ammunition and upgrades or simply locate the exit of a dangerous place. Puzzles require some thinking and observation or even traveling from one world to the other (remember Zelda?) but they are never cryptic. The controls are perfect, allowing you to destroy demons with a variety of blessed weapons, such as a shotgun, a crossbow, a flame thrower and a nail gun (my favorite). You can also throw holy water flasks at possessed humans or cast spells by tapping buttons in the correct order. I loved "storm crow", which strikes monsters with lightning bolts while everything moves in slow motion and the screen trembles; super cool. Constantine can also see in total darkness and detect hidden doors or spots of interest by activating his special vision.

Generally, the game has an amazing atmosphere thanks to a combination of sharp, detailed graphics, dread-evoking scenery and excellent use of sound and shadows. Whether you descend to hell, where the sky is red and flames devour everything, explore a hospital flooded by monsters, try to find your way in a dark building basement or simply study the hero's notebook, "Constantine" pulls you into its scary, occult world.

There is not a big variety of monsters but they look hideous and attack in different ways, for example some crawl on ceilings and others teleport or fire projectiles. You save only at the end of a stage but you can replenish your health by drinking water from water dispensers (this reminds me of "Indiana Jones the Emperor's Tomb") and your mana regenerates over time. Nevertheless, it is important to find as many upgrades as possible to increase your maximum health and magical energy.

"Constantine" impressed me with its fine presentation and enjoyable action, mixing elements from the shooter and survival horror genre successfully. All its aspects, from its level design to the weapons to the cards you find scattered around to unlock extras, are crafted with attention to style and playability. Regardless of the movie, if you own a PS2 this is a great game.

Game Information

Platform:
Sony PlayStation 2
Developer(s):
Bits Studios
Publisher(s):
SCi Games
Genre(s):
Action
Adventure
Mode(s):
Single Player
Other Platform(s):
Microsoft Xbox
PC

Source:
Purchased

Article by Dimitris

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Darkwatch - Retro Reflection

As a fan of western movies, shooters and vampire stories Darkwatch was a “must have” game on XBOX. The story is about an outlaw who attempts to rob a train and accidentally releases a vampire that was being transported in it. The monster soon wreaks havoc in the land and the hero unwillingly accepts the responsibility to stop it; during his quest he is led by a virtuous woman who belongs to a sect dedicated to hunting supernatural threats.

This is a traditional first person shooter that is set apart by its dark atmosphere and the protagonist’s special abilities. Those include a regenerating shield that functions as armor, a super high jump and two sets of magical skills, “light” and “dark”. I chose the light skills, which include increased bullet damage, limited time invulnerability, lightning bolts and a spell that scares enemies away. They are all effective and fun. The super jump is great too, as you reach distant platforms many feet above the ground. Generally, your special abilities make you feel like a supernatural being, which is cool.

Guns available include a rifle that is good for most occasions, a crossbow which shoots exploding bolts, a sniper rifle and twin pistols that become devastating if you keep the fire button pressed. All weapons have a powerful melee attack, handy for close quarters combat, are well designed and dish out satisfying damage. Enemies do not present a lot of variety, however they are appropriate for the game’s theme; among others, you fight skeletons with scythes, obese things that can absorb lots of punishment and flying banshees who fire projectiles. At the end you face two demons who hurl deadly fireballs and require dozens of bullets before they return to the hell they came from; it’s a pity you have to kill the last boss though (I can’t explain why, it would be a spoiler!).

The graphics are not spectacular, however all locations, such as a mine, an abandoned fortress, a haunted town with rivers of lava, a cemetery, a canyon and an armored train create the impression you are in a Wild West subverted by the forces of evil. Concerning the sound I don’t recall anything worth mentioning and Darkwatch does not get any extra points in this domain. As for the controls and difficulty, aiming is never an issue and the game is challenging but not unfair.

If there is something I would rather change is the game’s length: when you become member of the Darkwatch (by the way, the giant rock where they hide reminds me of the vampire nest in the movie “Priest”) there should be a couple more missions and more interaction between the hero and the general as well as the captivating Talia.

In conclusion, Darkwatch is fun, atmospheric and highly playable. I recommend it to fans of shooters and horror fantasy. I am also surprised no one made a movie out of it yet; its story and setting are begging for the silver screen.

Game Information

Platform:
Microsoft Xbox
Developer(s):
High Moon Studios
Publisher(s):
Capcom (North America)
Ubisoft (Europe)
Genre(s):
First Person Shooter
Mode(s):
Single Player
Multiplayer
Other Platform(s):
Sony PlayStation 2

Source:
Purchased

Article by Dimitris

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