• New Gameboy Advance SP Zelda Limited Edition in gold signed by Shigeru Miyamoto
• New The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap cart
• Booklets and manuals
• Slightly crushed display box
• The new feeling of receiving something shipped from Canada
  

Why It Won: Zelda games come around more frequently than Mario games and so aren't held to the same absurd scrutiny. In fact, after a lifetime of mostly-identical storylines (the princess is kidnapped, oh noes!) it wouldn't be altogether ridiculous to wonder when something new would come along for Link to do besides spend all day fishing, blowing into an ocarina, and looking for pieces of the much-elusive Tri-force. I'd all but discounted the series as an ad-tedium retread of the same concepts when The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass came along and I, feeling sorry for my oft-neglected DS, decided to give it a whirl.

Contra 4: This was the first game in a long time to "feel" like a Contra game. The fast-paced shooter is one of the best portables released this year and deserves recognition, but the joy it takes in its difficulty makes it a game not for everyone, and besides taking advantage of both screens the only real reason for this game to be on the DS is because it would look ridiculous on any other platform. What the game needs is a boomerang you control by drawing its path with the stylus.

Soulcalibur Legends boasts the following features:

• Wii Exclusive -  Designed specifically for the Nintendo Wii, use the Wii remote and Nunchuk to master a character’s suite of attacks in order to unify the pieces of Soul Edge
• Unique Ally System - Switch between the various characters encountered throughout the quest to gain more versatility in every situation
• Classic Soulcalibur Roster - Play and level up as one of several renowned Soulcalibur characters as you follow their path within history and level up through the ranking system
• New Enemies and Bosses -  Sword fighting capabilities are pushed to the limit as players encounter a lineup of new enemies and large scale bosses
• Weapon progression Weapons evolve with your experience, giving you added control and more powerful attacks

• "She Builds Quick Machines" Off of the "Libertad Allbum"
• "Slither" Off of the "Contraband Allbum"
• "Messages" Off of the "Libertad (deluxe version)", as performed by Velvet Revolver.

• "The Pretender" Off of the "Echoes Silence Patience & Grace"
• "All My life" Off of the "One by One"
• "This Is A Call" Off of the "Foo Fighters (self titled)" as performed by Foo Fighters.

The Legend of the Dragon story begins against the backdrop of China’s sacred temples and just as a new Golden Dragon is selected. The Golden Dragon is the honourable title given to the chosen warrior set to fight the evil Zodiac Master, Woo Yin.

Each of the 12 Chinese zodiac signs has its own temple protected by a guardian; all guardians have individual powers unique to their zodiac symbol to help them defend their temple. The Zodiac Master – Woo Yin - plans to capture these powers; with them he will be unstoppable in his fight for the dark side to reign over China.

Ang Leung has been chosen as the new Golden Dragon over his twin sister Ling, but the surprise and humiliation of this decision is too much for Ling and she quickly defects to the dark side. In her new position as the Shadow Dragon, she will fight against her brother and old friends in a bid for revenge.

Role-playing games have been a big part of Sony’s console success both in the United States and abroad for the PlayStation 2. They are hoping to continue that trend on the PlayStation 3 with one of the system’s first RPG’s, Untold Legends: Dark Kingdom. Sony Online is very familiar with the hack and slash genre with hits like Everquest and Champions of Norrath. Does Sony have a hit in the making or is Untold Legends another run of the mill role-playing title?

Overall the story and game experience are solid. You go on a near 20 hour exploration in the land of Dureth. In the beginning you are given the chance to choose one of three fighters - the warrior, scout, or mage - and then you can choose to play in one of four levels of difficulty. Both the inclusion of three different characters and four difficulty levels does provide a nice variation in play and gives players the opportunity to go back, especially considering each fighter has a slightly different story to tell.

From there, you are chosen by the king to go out and extinguish the barbarian unrest by facing wave after wave of enemies. Soon enough though, you realize that the king himself is killing his own people and now it’s up to you to stop him.

Like most other RPG’s, the game allows you to level up by gaining experience and various orbs in a variety of colors. Red orbs are for health, blue for mana, and yellow for essence. As far as experience goes, killing enemies will boost your statistics which in turn can be used to level up one of nine spells included in the game. Meanwhile, essence is used at checkpoints to upgrade a wide variety of items for you including new armor, upgraded weapons, and more.

One other nice thing in the game, although very small is the fact that friendly fighters join your cause once in a while. The fighters include villagers, animals and more, and you actually have the ability to give them armor and weapons. The only thing with these characters, however, is that they don’t stay forever. They’ll show up on occasion and then disappear.

Of course, you can’t talk about Untold Legends without discussing a key fact about the title and that is online play. Dark Kingdom does allow gamers to play with up to four people from any save point they have in the single-player game and you can then continue your quest offline after you’re done playing with friends. Overall this was one area in which Sony’s developers did a very good job.

Finally, the score from the Prague Orchestra is a very nice compliment to the game. Sadly, the voice acting couldn’t live up to the same standards and seriously needs an overhaul.

The big problem with Untold Legends is once you actually get into battle. Whether you’re the warrior, scout, or mage, all of them basically require you to push X and square repeatedly to pull off various attacks. Sadly this is what the game mostly requires of you and even the magician or mage is quite capable of hand-to-hand combat. Thankfully though, Dark Kingdom doesn’t solely rely on fighting and instead does have a few puzzle solving elements too.

Aside from the repetitive hack and slash nature of the game, there are some serious flaws in the game and environments. Although there are lots of characters on-screen at times, the result of this is some significant slowdown. On top of that, environments are rarely interactive unless getting stuck on or in objects is your idea of interactive. Add to that the fact that load times are rather long for a next-generation title and there’s little question this title was rushed to market.

As for the graphics, they look ok, but the environments are sparse. Most levels feature a few rocks and barrels and then much of the rest of the area is wide open space. What gets worse than that is the fact that areas will actually look empty and then enemies magically appear from nowhere. Meanwhile, the camera in Untold Legends is pretty rough too. Walls, trees, rocks, and more will get in your way during battle and block your view of the action.

Sadly, the last thing that needs to be mentioned particularly for a PlayStation 3 launch title is the exclusion of the motion capability in the SIXAXIS controller. Unlike just about every other launch title on the market, Dark Kingdom doesn’t utilize it at all.

Untold Legends: Dark Kingdom isn’t a terrible experience on the PlayStation 3, but it certainly isn’t the role-playing game most are hoping for either. Instead, it’s probably more of a title for RPG fanatics as the game’s graphics and repetitive gameplay pull it down. Certainly there are some good elements to the game like its online play and various upgradeable options. In the end though, Untold Legends sticks to its roots and doesn’t quite feel like it’s made the jump to the next-generation.

The game has very repetitive hack and slash gameplay that utilizes just a few buttons.

Graphics look decent, but the game suffers from slowdown and a poor camera.

Voice acting isn’t very desirable, but the music score is very impressive

Not a very enjoyable experience because of the gameplay and the fact it doesn’t feel next-gen.

Online mode should give players a bit more to do, but still suffers from poor hack and slash.

]]> Tue, 05 Dec 2006 21:55:00 -0600 The Gaming Horizon Archive http://www.gamebump.com/go/new_screens_from_twilight_princess http://www.gamebump.com/go/new_screens_from_twilight_princess http://www.gamebump.com/go/new_screens_from_twilight_princess# This article was originally published on Gaming Horizon, GameBump's predecessor. Certain formatting, imaged, and embedded content may have been lost in the transition process.The original author is Evan Lahti.

Look below for 14 new images from The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess on the Wii. Arguably the "must-have" title for the console at launch, Link's latest adventure is said to capture a darker tone, much like Majora's Mask did on the Nintendo 64. ]]> Mon, 06 Nov 2006 08:55:00 -0600 The Gaming Horizon Archive http://www.gamebump.com/go/ahoy_a_boatload_of_new_ps3_screens http://www.gamebump.com/go/ahoy_a_boatload_of_new_ps3_screens http://www.gamebump.com/go/ahoy_a_boatload_of_new_ps3_screens# This article was originally published on Gaming Horizon, GameBump's predecessor. Certain formatting, imaged, and embedded content may have been lost in the transition process.The original author is Evan Lahti.

Legend of Heroes II: Prophecy of the Moonlight Witch is the follow-up to last year’s Legend of Heroes: A Tear of Vermillion, which itself wasn’t too bad, but didn’t offer tons of originality to a genre that’s always reinventing itself in some way. If you didn’t play the first offering, don’t worry about having to catch up on the story because Moonlight Witch has its own standalone story and cast of characters. However, the story shares the same generic and bland writing that the first one suffered from as well as some other short comings in its game mechanics. Let’s delve deeper shall we?

The best part about Legend of Heroes 2 is how meaty it is. This is an RPG that will take more than a few dozen hours or so to finish. Don’t think that just because it’s a PSP title that this will be a quick weekend play. While the majority of that time is spent with the main story arc, I actually didn’t mind it here because of the way the story is set up. The two main characters, Jurio and Chris(tine), are two young teens from a small village. Village tradition dictates that the two will partake on a long pilgrimage to help the two youths find themselves. And so the game’s length adds to the feeling that you’re following along with them instead of just playing through. They’ll come across a number of other characters as one would expect, though Jurio and Chris’ introductions to them really seem sugar-coated. Having the two so goody two-shoes gets a little annoying. And there are many times where things slow down horribly, but if you can make it past the slow stretches and the totally generic plot, you’ll get plenty of value out of LoH 2.

Random battles are thankfully not present. In fact, just about every battle is avoidable; all enemies are visible and the on-screen character moves at a pretty fast clip. If you’re good at maneuvering through some tight spaces, you could easily minimize the number of battles you’ll face. Of course, that isn’t the best idea because you’ll miss out on all the money and experience. Surprisingly, level ups feel very substantial here. Within the same area, an extra of level or two will show dividends – enemies will do much less damage and your party will start killing off enemies in less turns.

Killing off enemies faster is always a good thing, but here you’ll really want to do so because the battles can sometimes be cumbersome. If you stick to physical attacks, most battles will be a breeze as long as you hit hard enough. But, there will be times when spells and skills will be necessary and the animations for these can take a while resulting in some fights dragging on. Luckily, there’s a mechanic that can cut some time off – finishing moves. Each character has a meter that’s filled up when they deal or take damage. Once it’s filled, they can unleash a powerful move that can usually kill a foe in one shot. The meter fills up rather quickly leaving them frequently at your disposal, so when you feel like shaving some time, let loose with them.

The rest of the battle system is pretty simple. You choose an action – attack, skill, magic, etc – for each character in your party, up to four max. Once that’s done the turn plays out between the two sides with actions based on the agility stat. However, different types of attacks can affect initiative, so be wary of that when choosing who does what, as that could lead to the untimely demise of someone who you needed to cast a critical spell.

The battle system also takes into account relative positions, so some attacks won’t hit anything unless you’re close enough to an enemy. It adds a strategic element to a rather straightforward battle system. Unfortunately it sounds better than it was executed since you can just hammer through attacks with no regard to positioning for the most part and still get the job done.

Graphically, Legend of Heroes 2 doesn’t break any ground, like the rest of the game. But they do just fine. Its top down view evokes the days of the classic 16-bit games while the 3D backgrounds and plump characters hit you over the head that it isn’t a title from those days.

The story, sadly for all its hours, is generic the entire way through as I mentioned before. Nothing will surprise you; nothing will be unexpected. If anything, you’ll be able to easily predict what will happen next. What doesn’t help is the poorly translated and edited script. As you’re reading through the tons of text, you’ll spot tons of spelling errors, awkward sentence splits, and some badly translated names and places. An error here and there I can live with (editors can’t spot everything), but the number present here is absurd.

LoH2 also isn’t built well for on-the-go gaming. Being able to save anywhere helps, but the game does a bad job telling you where to go if you just so happened to leave off at an odd point. For the most part though, the journey is straight forward, with event triggers (i.e. conversations with NPCs) marked with exclamation points. However, if you’re not paying intent enough attention, you could end up mindlessly wandering the routes between towns. It’ll help you level up, but there’s nothing more frustrating than being lost without any help of being pointed in the right direction. Also, the overworld map doesn’t tell you where to go next and the lack of a quest log can really hinder progress if you’ve totally forgotten what your next step should be.

Lastly, there is a pet that follows you around. You can feed it different kinds of foods that will have it randomly do different things in battle like cast an elemental magic, raise defense, raise attack, etc. You can also scold it and praise it, which I think may have an effect on how often the pet acts; I never found any use for it. It sounds like an interesting aspect, but it’s underwhelming to the point that I completely forgot about it at times. You can get through the entire game without bothering with it at all, but what kind of pet owner are you to let your cat or dog starve for the entire duration of Chris’ and Jurio’s pilgrimage.

Legend of Heroes II: The Prophecy of the Moonlight Witch doesn’t reinvent the wheel. What it does offer is the tried-and-true gameplay of a typical turn-based RPG. If you don’t mind a generic story, a simple battle system, and a lengthy, though at times slow, journey, then you may want to consider giving this a look. Otherwise, there are others that may hold your interest better.

Simple battle system and avoidable combat are good. Sometimes cumbersome pacing – bad.

Nothing spectacular, but they aren’t horrid.

Nothing memorable at all. I can’t even remember if there were voices.

It can get very slow at times, but if you can overcome those, you’ll have a good time.

You won’t play through it again, but the one time through is long enough is keep one satisfied.

]]> Thu, 31 Aug 2006 22:52:00 -0500 The Gaming Horizon Archive http://www.gamebump.com/go/tomb_raider_legend_officially_announced http://www.gamebump.com/go/tomb_raider_legend_officially_announced http://www.gamebump.com/go/tomb_raider_legend_officially_announced#

“In setting the stage for the Tomb Raider franchise moving forward, we took ourselves back to Lara’s origins, asked ourselves the hard questions and challenged ourselves to think differently,” said Chip Blundell, vice president of brand marketing, Eidos Inc. “Who is Lara Croft? What makes her tick? How is she relevant today? Only by answering these questions could we ensure that gamers get the experience they deserve with the character they love.”

“Even before the first title launched, Lara Croft had to fight her way into the Tomb Raider franchise, since at the time most game characters were muscle-bound blokes,” said Gard. “The Lara Croft character is resilient and totally unstoppable. In Tomb Raider: Legend, we explore these core personality traits and reveal the Lara Croft gamers have been waiting to see.”

The character model that you see below features natural structure, realistic textures, detailed facial features, reactive eyes and fluid motion, all of which make her part of a living environment. Crystal Dynamics also stated that Lara Croft will have new controls, so expect Lara to do various new things that you are not used too seeing in past versions.

There will be three versions spanning across the PlayStation 2, Xbox, and PC. No word on a PSP version as of yet. Gaming Horizon will have a full preview of Tomb Raider: Legend on April 12. So bookmark the page!

Think you're the baddest general ever to grind an opponent into paste in Big Huge Games' Rise of Legends? Well, young one, there's forty grand at stake if you can prove it.

In a press release today, Big Huge Games has announced the "Rise of the Ultimate Champion" tournament. Gamers from around the world will have the chance to do battle with the best of the best, with $100,000 in cash and prizes to be tossed out to the best of the best - including a whopping $40,000 grand prize for the champion. From the press release:Participants can play in one of three preliminary events that will take place beginning Sept. 15, Oct 13, and Nov. 17, 2006. Results from the first three events will be used to determine seeding for the Ultimate Championship, which kicks off Jan. 12, 2007. The top eight will win a trip to the finals where they will battle it out for the title of Ultimate Champion!

For more information, visit the official contest website.]]> Mon, 10 Jul 2006 15:23:00 -0500 The Gaming Horizon Archive http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_review_rise_of_nations_rise_of_legends_pc http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_review_rise_of_nations_rise_of_legends_pc http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_review_rise_of_nations_rise_of_legends_pc# This review was originally published on Gaming Horizon, GameBump's predecessor. Its format does not match our own but we support its content. It was written by Nate Francis.

It's been more than a decade now since Westwood Studios wrenched PC gaming forward with the landmark title Command and Conquer. That genre-defining event set the stage for a virtual real-time strategy takeover of the PC gaming market, as a host of development and publishing outfits rushed to get their own RTS titles to market and utterly saturated it. Since that time, however, there've been few releases that have truly moved the RTS format forward. The Total War series blended in strategic world maps and a nonlinear scenario advancement build; Warcraft III gave us the concept of a hero that was nearly an army unto itself, whose use of special powers could help break even superior forces.

As the industry waits for the next godsend that will drive the genre into true "next-gen" territory, Microsoft and Big Huge Games have teamed up to launch the anticipated sequel to the award-winning title Rise of Nations. Rise of Legends takes the player out of the "real" and into a mythical land where gunpowder and steam engines contest with malevolent magic and fantasy creatures for the fate of the world.

Brian Reynold's team was assembled with one goal in mind: Make a better game than Rise of Nations. "You can never be satisfied," said executive producer Tim Train in a recent interview. "Don't get me wrong, we're proud of Rise of Nations, but when we sat down to consider what our next game would be, all we kept talking about were the things in Rise of Nations we felt we could have done better." Particularly unhappy with the game's dated graphics engine, Big Huge Games back-burner-ed RoN 2, and updated its money franchise with the Rise of Legends title.

So was it worth it?

From the outset of the game, it's eminently clear that Rise of Legends has succeeded in making a more visually appealing product than its predecessor. The opening cinematic alone is nearly worth the price of admission, and although it's obviously never a true indicator of the quality of game behind it, this one really set the game off on the right foot. Play it at a LAN; in no time, you will have a crowd oooh-ing and aaah-ing behind you. 

The beginning of the game itself opens in formulaic fashion. There are three campaigns involved:

Sitting down to the game and simply playing is fairly easy. Players are presented with a strategic campaign screen to begin, upon which your hero strides, preparing for conquest. Each district is clearly outlined, and inside of each lird a city. Each city, then, is marked for difficulty, along with any special resources it confers once conquered. Additionally, the cities on the strategic map can be built up as you accumulate wealth; adding additional districts makes them both more secure and profitable, depending on what type of district you choose to build. As you proceed to tame the continent, those bonuses will come into play more and more, from providing extra starter units prior to each scenario, to additional resources and hero abilities.

Players will also note, as they begin, that they are not alone on the globe. Aside from the main objective of each campaign, other opposing generals will be attempting to make inroads into territory you've already conquered. As you move from scenario to scenario, these AI-controlled foes will be on the move as well - and should they attack a city you've captured and forgotten to garrison (with a military district), you'll find yourself having to backtrack and re-conquer. It's time consuming and a pain, so make sure to attend to your defenses!

While the strategic map comprises a moderately entertaining minigame in its own right, the meat of any RTS game lies in its tactical warfare, and Rise of Legends does not disappoint.

Each individual scenario has a difficulty level setting that you select when you begin. This is great for people who suck at RTS games (like me) or are just so impatient that they’d rather blast through to the end of the story arc (also like me). Alternately, if you fancy yourself an elitist commando with an RTS pedigree dating back a decade and an ego that doesn't allow for anything simple, ramp up the difficulty and do your worst, Hannibal.

More so than many other "gather and conquer" games, Legends seems to go out of its way to make the gathering/building paradigm as painless as possible. You simply build your main city (whose buildings all need to touch each other), set down some gold-generating districts (unless you're Cuotl, as they trade solely on energy), and watch the cash start rolling in. The other farmable resource, cleverly labeled Timonium, is ripe for mining. As in many other RTS titles, you simply pop down a mine near a Timonium deposit and queue up some miners. Aside from occasionally defending or upgrading your mines, you can now forget about them. Gold not coming in fast enough? Plop down another commercial district in any of your cities and build a new, automated trade caravan.

Of course, there are also buildings adjunct to your cities, which can be placed anywhere inside your ever-expanding borders. These buildings allow you to begin most of your production and research work, in a similar fashion to virtually every other RTS on the market. Buildings erect themselves (or in the Cuotl case, materialize from thin air), requiring no peons or other labor to construct.

The ease of city and resource management makes building fairly vast armies a quick and painless process, in comparison to many other titles. It also allows you to pay more attention to the real fun, which is the warfare. While the sound production is fairly generic and uninspiring, the sharp visuals here are second to none. As a slick, shiftless interface, gratuitous use of tool-tips and on-demand, in-game hints and tips combine to make the game as user-friendly as possible, simply tossing the unread manual on the desk and logging in to crush something is no longer an impossible, learning-curve dream. And really, who has time to read when there are dudes to be slaughtered?

While Legends is simple to sit down and play, Big Huge Games seems to have designed it with Blizzard's mantra in mind: Easy to learn, hard to master. This wouldn't be a Brian Reynolds game without some serious depth to it, and he delivers that necessary depth in a fashion that, unlike many aspects of his Alpha Centauri project, is not at all obnoxious. The tech tree and unit abilities advance at a pace that most any gamer can be comfortable with, while you'll continue to fiddle with things like dominance abilities right up until the end of the game. Personally, I've got about 20 hours into the game (most of them sober, even), and I still feel like there are depths to be plumbed in army composition, use of dominance powers, tech advancement... virtually every aspect of the game. As I advance into the Alin campaign, I'm already rethinking some of my strategies (or lack thereof) from the Vinci campaign, wondering how I could have turned skin-of-my-teeth victories into sheer blowouts.

Rise of Legends may well suffer from what many gamers will find most attractive about it: Its accessibility. Simplifying resource management and city maintenance "dumbed down" an aspect of play that many hardcore RTS fans find compelling. Their ability to manage complex structures and resource chains whilst simultaneously shredding the planet into confetti with staggering armies is a point of pride and enjoyment for many, and it isn't too difficult to find people for whom the relative ease of managing the game makes it fall flat.

Further, there seem to be several scenarios wherein the production crew simply "gave up" on interesting pre-scenario cutscenes. The first several scenarios include cutscenes at their beginning which advance the story and provide plot-basis for the objectives you'll set out to achieve. Yet, in virtually half of the campaigns, you'll get the same generic cutscene: A quick visual overview of the scenario terrain, with a background voiceover telling you something like "The enemy is near; we must prepare. If the enemy gets in our way, he must be destroyed." It seems like a bit of laziness incongruous with the detail involved with much of the rest of the game, and makes it that much more galling - especially after hearing it for the sixth or seventh time. Unfortunately, this same lack of attention seems to have been paid to the audio department. Compared to the great visuals, the sounds of gunfire, spells and airships are almost relegated to a muzac-style of background noise. Disappointing, especially for audiophiles with big investments in surround sound systems and top-end cards.

Multiplayer is also a bit of a gamble at this time. The game is extremely well-balanced for multiplayer play, but actually making it work can be problematic. Big Huge Games is currently addressing many common support requests for multiplayer assistance on its website.

Finally, there's also news that, while the minimum system requirements are relatively low (1.4GHz CPU mated to a 64MB video card) that the game is struggling a bit even on mid-range systems. This is odd for an RTS, which is usually a genre noted for its system-friendliness, yet there's enough being said about it online that it can't be discounted. This is fair warning only; this reviewer tested it on an AMD X2 4600 with 4GB of RAM and a GF7950 pushing two video cores and a gig of RAM, and it ran both stable and flawlessly.

Ultimately, Rise of Legends is a game that succeeds at providing a quality, enjoyable RTS experience. Taking the best interface cues from genre stalwarts like Command and Conquer, Warcraft III and Age of Empires, the player will become immersed in a global conflict pitting two well-balanced yet different powers against an unimaginable foe. While the game at first comes off as "more of the same" due to heavy borrowing of mechanics and concepts from other genre titles, it grows to have its own feel quickly enough that even most jaded gamers will find themselves hooked, should they stick with it. Plumbing the depths of the game doesn't seem to end until the game does, yet it doesn't come at the player in an overwhelming fashion which can quickly confuse and swamp many normal gamers in technical micromanagement. The sides of the conflict, instead of feeling like three sides of the same triangle, feel and play differently, which is a refreshing change of pace that will hopefully, one day, become typical of the genre.

Oh, and there are no elves. Anywhere. Winner!

Intuitive and friendly UI, stable, engrossing fun.

Excellent unit detail, wonderful landscapes waiting to be destroyed.

It serves the purpose of letting you know when you're being attacked, but that's about it.

Easy to sit down and enjoy for hours on end, even for RTS novices.

Enough depth to keep most players coming back to the single-player; balanced for multiplayer.

]]> Mon, 10 Jul 2006 10:03:00 -0500 The Gaming Horizon Archive http://www.gamebump.com/go/pirates_of_the_caribbean_the_legend_of_jack_sparrow_shipped_to_retailers http://www.gamebump.com/go/pirates_of_the_caribbean_the_legend_of_jack_sparrow_shipped_to_retailers http://www.gamebump.com/go/pirates_of_the_caribbean_the_legend_of_jack_sparrow_shipped_to_retailers# This article was originally published on Gaming Horizon, GameBump's predecessor. Certain formatting, imaged, and embedded content may have been lost in the transition process.The original author is Nate Francis.

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Legend of Jack Sparrow has been shipped to retailers today,  courtesy of Bethesda Softworks.

Legend will bring players into the role of Jack sparrow himself, as they begin to embark on his now-famous career leading up to the events of the first film. With voice talent provided by Johnny Depp himself, this immersive, atmospheric adventure game will use swordplay, puzzle-solving and environmental challenges to let players live the story of the planet's favorite scabrous dog.

Look for it on a store shelf near you!]]> Thu, 29 Jun 2006 07:50:00 -0500 Brian Mohr http://www.gamebump.com/go/the_legend_of_heroes_ii_ships_for_psp http://www.gamebump.com/go/the_legend_of_heroes_ii_ships_for_psp http://www.gamebump.com/go/the_legend_of_heroes_ii_ships_for_psp# This article was originally published on Gaming Horizon, GameBump's predecessor. Certain formatting, imaged, and embedded content may have been lost in the transition process.

Namco has announced that they have shipped the PSP role-playing game, The Legend of Heroes II: Prophecy of the Moonlight Witch to retailers.

The game follows two young boys, Jurio and Chris who discover the Raual Wave which is able to destroy the world. In the game, the two head out on a journey to five shrines to save the world. Legend of Heroes II features character art and the pet system featured in the first title.]]> Thu, 22 Jun 2006 20:05:00 -0500 Shiva Stella http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_review_lara_croft_tomb_raider_legend_xbox http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_review_lara_croft_tomb_raider_legend_xbox http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_review_lara_croft_tomb_raider_legend_xbox# This review was originally published on Gaming Horizon, GameBump's predecessor. Its format does not match our own but we support its content.

More than a decade has passed since the inception of the Tomb Raider series back in 1995, when Tomb Raider I hit the market on the original PlayStation and firmly defined the modern platform genre. Eidos Interactive’s Core Design introduced the popular world to what would become Britain’s greatest digital superstar – Lara Croft, the archeologist lady of mystery who specialized in ancient cultures, updated weaponry, and shrewd wit. From the franchise’s early beginnings, it was clear that Eidos had lucked upon a character and a series that would bring in the cash to fund other projects, but this was despite the lack of quality that further installments possessed. The game of Tomb Raider soon became the race to push out a new Lara adventure just in time for Christmas, and to increase sales, each rendition boasted a “remade” Lara that effectively turned her into a pinup girl that decorated the rooms of adolescent males everywhere – a pinup girl selling bad games.

After the previous “remade” Lara, as featured in

Takes a hit for shortness, needed interactivity. Combat tweaked; love the grapple.

Very detailed environs, reworked Lara, visually impressive tombs. Some generic models, though.

Strong voiceovers. Solid music when you get it. Good sound effects.

Had a great time except for those damned motorcycle portions.

Get pulled through it, go through it again, then check out the extras and the mansion.

]]> Mon, 12 Jun 2006 13:39:00 -0500 Shiva Stella http://www.gamebump.com/go/phantom_hourglass_details_screens http://www.gamebump.com/go/phantom_hourglass_details_screens http://www.gamebump.com/go/phantom_hourglass_details_screens# This article was originally published on Gaming Horizon, GameBump's predecessor. Certain formatting, imaged, and embedded content may have been lost in the transition process.

The completely new Spyro adventure, featuring gameplay focused heavily on dynamic action and fast-paced combat, uncovers the true origin of Spyro the Dragon as he evolves into a living, breathing weapon of explosive destruction! This epic story of Spyro's quest to discover his roots and realize his destiny is amazingly brought to life by leading Hollywood voice-over cast members Elijah Wood (Frodo Baggins in The Lord of the Rings trilogy) as the new voice of Spyro; David Spade (The Benchwarmers) as Spyro's sidekick Sparx the dragonfly; and Gary Oldman (Sirius Black from the Harry Potter films) as Ignitus, the Fire Dragon Elder and Spyro's mentor.

In The Legend of Spyro A New Beginning, players will experience the awesome power of the purple dragon as they unleash devastating fury attacks, upgradeable breaths and ground-to-aerial melee combos in frenzied battles with hordes of menacing enemies and bone-chilling bosses. The action game also introduces a new dragon upgrade system, giving players the freedom to increase the power and variety of attacks to their liking. Developed by critically-acclaimed developers Krome Studios (console and Game Boy Advance) and Amaze Entertainment (Nintendo DS), The Legend of Spyro A New Beginning is scheduled to be released in October 2006.

"The Stronghold franchise has been very well received, with more than two million units sold worldwide," said Christoph Hartmann, Managing Director, 2K Games. "Stronghold Legends will build on the popular Stronghold franchise and offer an exciting new twist on the classic gameplay."

The game is scheduled for fall 2006 on the PC.

Namco Bandai has announced that its Tales of Legendia for the PlayStation 2 has shipped to North American retailers. The game is a PS2 exclusive RPG that features a real-time fighting mechanic influenced by the Soul Calibur series and took several years to develop.Tales of Legendia combines the depth and storytelling of a traditional RPG with the action and strategy of a fighting game, while taking on fearsome enemies with the game’s new Crossover Linear Motion Battle System (X-LiMBS). Influenced by the acclaimed Soul Calibur series of fighting games, X-LiMBS lets players unleash attacks never before seen together in a role playing game that including throws, rapid fire combos, and potent team attacks. Boasting detailed and vibrant 3D graphics, Tales of Legendia features an all-new cast of characters and close to 30 minutes of anime cut scenes featuring characters designed by artist Kazuto Nakazawa, renowned for his work on the animated sequences in Kill Bill: Volume 1 and the anime series Samurai Champloo.

Said Yoshi Niki, business unit director at Namco Bandai Games America, "We are very excited that Tales of Legendia will introduce PlayStation 2 owners to the Tales series because it delivers what the Tales series has always been known for – a fun and compelling role-playing experience. With its innovative combat system and top-notch story telling, Tales of Legendia is sure to be on the ‘must play’ list of role-playing fans everywhere."The game is rated Teen by the ESRB and carries an MSRP of $49.99. You can view our own preview by clicking here.

]]> Tue, 07 Feb 2006 11:15:00 -0600 Brian Mohr http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_preview_untold_legends_the_warriors_code_psp1 http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_preview_untold_legends_the_warriors_code_psp1 http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_preview_untold_legends_the_warriors_code_psp1# This preview was originally published on Gaming Horizon, GameBump's predecessor. Its format does not match our own but we support its content.

When the PlayStation Portable launched last spring, Untold Legends was one of the handheld’s release titles and quickly became a hit amongst RPG fans even though it had its problems. The success of the original obviously meant a sequel wasn’t too far off, and Sony Online Entertainment is at it again with Untold Legends: The Warrior’s Code. 

The previous game was pretty simplistic and featured an action-based RPG component similar to Baldur’s Gate. The latest edition, Warrior’s Code, looks to build on that success by improving everything, including graphics, combat, deeper missions and more. Of course like any sequel the graphics are going to be much improved as water is interactive and many smaller details like lighting and shadows are all much better. The game looks feature three options for your top down camera as well.

Besides that, the combat system in the game is going to be a lot deeper with vulnerability thrown in. This will allow you to claim enemy items if you attack an enemy at the appropriate time; items collected may be combined to form better and stronger weapons.

As for the levels, last year the game’s missions were pretty straight forward. This time there are many more objectives to accomplish with the inclusion of doors and stairs that lead to many different areas.

Finally, the sequel looks to feature both single-player and multiplayer gameplay. The multiplayer can be either ad hoc or infrastructure. Multiplayer modes enable players to battle it out with three other people in a player vs. player mode with various games, including capture the flag, robber and more. There is also a cooperative mode that enables you to simply go through the game’s various missions with a partner at your side.

Untold Legends: The Warrior’s Code should be a hit when it ships on March 14, as it looks to improve on just about every facet from the original, including graphics, combat, gameplay and more. Probably the only problem with the game is that those who liked the original are essentially the audience for the sequel, but that’s not really a bad thing in this case as Untold Legends is one of the best-selling games on the PlayStation Portable.]]> Wed, 01 Feb 2006 23:50:17 -0600 The Gaming Horizon Archive http://www.gamebump.com/go/untold_legends_goes_gold_for_psp http://www.gamebump.com/go/untold_legends_goes_gold_for_psp http://www.gamebump.com/go/untold_legends_goes_gold_for_psp# Sony Online Entertainment Inc. today announced that Untold Legends: Brotherhood of the Blade has gone gold for the PSP.

“In just a few days, the handheld gaming revolution begins with the launch of the PSP handheld system, and given the strong feedback we are receiving from the press, retailers, and consumers via pre-sell orders, Untold Legends is proving to be a must-have launch title,” said Torrie Dorrell, Senior Vice President, Sony Online Entertainment. “Untold Legends is a brand new intellectual property built from the ground up specifically for the PSP handheld system, and will be the only action role-playing game available at the new system’s launch.”

Untold Legends will be available at a price of $39.99 and is scheduled to ship to retail stores on March 22, 2005.

Originally written by Tim Grube]]> Tue, 31 Jan 2006 22:23:00 -0600 The Gaming Horizon Archive http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_preview_tales_of_legendia_ps21 http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_preview_tales_of_legendia_ps21 http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_preview_tales_of_legendia_ps21# This preview was originally published on Gaming Horizon, GameBump's predecessor. Its format does not match our own but we support its content. It was written by Eric Dayday.

Namco’s Tales series hasn’t been one of the more popular RPG franchises in the states, but it’s definitely no new kid on the block. It’s seen a number of different games in the series, most never making it over to these shores. In the summer of 2004, Tales finally broke through with Tales of Symphonia on the GameCube. RPG loving ‘Cube owners flocked to it because it was one of the few games of that genre to hit Nintendo’s little console. What fans were treated to was a fantastic game featuring a fun real-time battle system. It was eventually ported to the PS2 in Japan and paved the way for the newest game – Tales of Legendia, which releases next Tuesday.

The epic story starts off with the brother-sister pair of Senel and Shirley Coolidge. They’re adrift at sea and Shirley is gradually growing sicker by the minute, showing a weakness to the poisonous sea air that surrounds them. Suddenly, a large flash of light swallows them up and they then find themselves washed up on a beach – or at least that’s what they think it is. It’s actually an enormous floating island. In typical RPG-fashion, the inhabitants take the sick Shirley away while Senel screams questions asking why at them. From there, the rest of the story unravels with a number of other characters joining Senel on his journey.

The battle system in Legendia will feel very familiar to Tales fans, though those coming directly from Symphonia will be most at home here. Battles, however, are now initiated through random encounters. [Ed. note: Preview updated and edited with information that random battles are present.] The 2D linear battle system returns, though you can still expect to get hit from all sides if you’re surrounded. In battle, you have control over one character while the rest of the party acts according to the AI you’ve set in the menus. Hitting the X button initiates a standard melee combo, which you can aim to hit flying enemies or crouching ones.

“Eres” sounds like a new facet to fighting, but in fact it’s just a new moniker for the old and familiar techs. These eres are what you’ll be using to cause massive amounts of damage in battles. Iron eres are melee special moves while crystal eres are what most would consider typical magic attacks. Most eres are character specific and learning new ones involves the repeated use of the eres already in your arsenal. The more powerful eres tend to be combinations of lower leveled ones, so using them often is always a prudent move. However, each use of an eres eats up a character’s TP, or technical points. At the end of a battle, there’s a partial restoration of the TP, but don’t rely on that, especially in lengthy dungeons. The best way to restore TP is landing solid non-eres type hits on enemies; so as long as you can string some combos together, you shouldn’t find yourself struggling to regain TP too often.

One large difference is the lack of the unison attacks. And so, instead of building up a unison attack bar, you’ll be filling up a climax bar with each subsequent hit. When it is finally filled, you can activate it using the L1 button. Doing so freezes all the enemies for a couple of seconds, allowing you to get in a ton of free licks. Just imagine how useful that will be in when you find yourself in a pinch during a boss fight.

Other returning mechanics are titles and cooking. Titles are earned in different ways, such as running away a certain number of times with a particular person in the party or reaching a combo plateau. These titles are character specific and by “equipping” a title, they’ll earn stat bonuses at each level up. Thus, you can technically create a custom character by selecting a title that adds bonuses in a stat category you want to build up. Want a high defense magic caster or a melee fighter with a ton of TP so you can spam eres attacks? If you have the right title, you can do so.

Cooking is one of the Tales series’ more interesting mini-games. But, thinking of it as a mini-game is a little misleading because it can help you out in dire situations. Cooking involves finding recipes and ingredients. Recipes are usually found from other NPCs, while ingredients can be bought at stores or found through enemy drops. At the end of a battle, you can cook to restore HP, TP, or status ailments depending on what dish you chose in the menu. The catch is that your party members have rankings for each dish. If they’re bad at cooking a dish there’s a good chance cooking will fail and you’ll waste ingredients without gaining the restoration you were looking for. It’s smart to set up a good cook with a dish that you’ll think you’ll need for your next trek.

A big change to the series is the use of 3D models for the characters. The old PS1 Tales featured colorful 2D sprites and Symphonia used cel-shading to maintain the cartoony look without appearing horribly outdated. As a fan of that look, I was a bit skeptical of this new direction, but the more I was exposed to it, the more I grew to love it. And it’s not like it is ugly. It just took me a little while to adjust to it and I’m pretty sure I’m in the minority when it comes to this.

The Tales series has always had a solid showing and even though the momentum Namco had from Symphonia is long gone, Tales of Legendia is shaping up to be hit in the RPG community. Though the story looks cliché from just the first couple of minutes, there’s no telling where the story will lead. The fast-paced battle system and slight degrees of customization look like it may equal the fun and great times fans had with Tales of Symphonia. In fact, now that it’s on the PS2 and its wider installed user base, it may surpass it. Look for it on shelves next week.]]> Tue, 31 Jan 2006 14:58:00 -0600 The Gaming Horizon Archive http://www.gamebump.com/go/burnout_legends_announced http://www.gamebump.com/go/burnout_legends_announced http://www.gamebump.com/go/burnout_legends_announced# Electronic Arts has announced Burnout Legends for the PSP handheld.

The concept of the game is a combination of updated versions of Burnout 1, 2 and 3 to the handheld. Legends will include the same music from the first two games along with the same race tracks just updated.

"Burnout Legends will deliver the best of the Burnout series. We are re-inventing it specifically for the PSP...with new Pursuit and Legend modes," said producer Nick Channon. As mentioned the modes include Legends Face-off, Grand Prix and Pursuit Rage which combines pursuit and road rage. All of the games will be available through WiFi as well.

Burnout Legends will also make use of the Game Sharing feature as you can share a demo level with friends. Few other details are known about the option at this time. Burnout will include about 25 new cars including at least six police cars. There will be five unlockable games in single-player and the rest you'll be able to unlock through multiplayer.

Renderware will be utilized for the game and Channon went on to say about it, "Our challenge has been to create the sense of speed that any Burnout game has yet to have, and yet create a product that looks like PS2 on a handheld."

The game will also include the slow-motion crash scenes from Burnout 3 along with a slew of crash junctions. The count right now is approximately 70 or 80 junctions. Channon finished by saying, "Burnout is perfect for the PSP platform, by bringing all the best elements of the series and some incredible new features for PSP, this game is a great addition to the Burnout series, as well as being the fastest and most intense racing experience to hit the platform."

Hopefully there will be more on Burnout Legends at E3 this mnoth on May 18-20th. Check back for more on this and other games at Gaming Horizon.

Koei’s “800-pound gorilla” is back – again. This time, only a mere 7 months after the release Dynasty Warriors 5, comes its stand-alone/expansion pack Dynasty Warriors 5: Xtreme Legends. It’s still more of the same mindless hack-and-slash that’s become stale over the last few entries. However, that won’t stop diehard fans from eating it up like candy. There is an all-new mode, though, that might make fans drool with delight and will definitely leave them wanting more of it in the almost inevitable DW6. 

If you’re unfamiliar with the Dynasty Warriors series, then I have to ask what rock you’ve been living under the last five years. But if you really need to know, you take the role of a general during the time of the ancient Chinese dynasties (hence the title) and slash your way through thousands of faceless soldiers. With characters and scenarios based loosely upon the “Romance of the Three Kingdoms”, you can expect some historical facts thrown about and a bunch load more of inaccuracies. But, none of that matters since all you really want to do is mow down an entire army.

If you’ve played a previous DW game before, you’ll feel right at home as the gameplay hasn’t changed at all save for the new musou rage feature that was introduced in DW5 back in March. Musou rage can only be activated when you find a musou token; after you’ve collected one, hitting R3 will cause you to speed up and double your attack damage. While in this state triggering your musou attack will unleash the character’s true musou, even if the life bar isn’t in the red. Beyond that, there isn’t much difference.

Graphically, this is the best looking DW of them all, continuing DW5’s trend of little to no slowdown and less fog to cover up the horizon. Thus, it’s very satisfying to see the entire screen filled with enemies galore while the game maintains a relatively smooth framerate. I remember in previous versions where it stayed in slow motion for a good 5-10 seconds. None of that here folks, so feel free to wreak massive havoc without having to worry about that. Kudos to the dev team for finally solving this problem.

There are four modes in DW5: XL. The first of which is legend mode, though it’s been given a makeover since we last saw it in DW4. DW4’s version of legend mode featured a single stage for every character. In DW5, you’re given a lengthy laundry list of battles and then given the choice of using 2 or 3 characters they “recommend”. The reason for this is that the recommended characters played major roles in the battles in a historical context, and thus you get to play out their role in the battle. Once you’ve beaten it with one side, you can do it with the other, or bring in an outside force such as your own favorite character.

Xtreme mode makes its return as well and there are some changes made to it, such as being able to play this mode in co-op with a friend, but it’s essentially the same thing you saw in DW4. In xtreme mode, you select a general and progress through a never-ending series of randomly generated stages. The catch is that you can only heal in-between stages by buying items at shops. You can also visit a blacksmith between stages to forge a better weapon using the spare iron you may have found while fighting. This mode is only fun for a little while and considering that all the work you do in the mode to build up a character doesn’t carry over to any other mode in the game, it’s rather pointless to play through for more than a handful of stages.

Challenge mode is the same as last time. It features a number of different challenges – defeat as many enemies as possible in a time limit, don’t let anyone cross the bridge, etc. Just like with xtreme mode, it’s fun for a time, but beyond that you won’t be in this mode much.

The mode that makes this game worth it is destiny mode. Here you create a character from scratch, starting out as a lowly peon under the command of a general you choose from the existing cast. You’ll start out with just a 2-hit combo and none of the fancy stuff like a musou bar or even a charge attack. However, perform well and meet the objectives you set for yourself at the onset of each battle and you’ll be awarded skill points that you can spend to better your character. You can purchase multiple hit combos, horse skills, bow skills, and even fire tactics that can only be used in this mode. As you progress through destiny mode, you’ll sometimes be given the opportunity to switch sides and spy or flat out defect to an opposing force. It adds another great element to an already great mode. On top of all that is that you can unlock various costumes for both sexes by meeting certain conditions or building your aspiring general a certain way though the use of skill points. And when you’re done going through destiny mode with your character, you can then register him or her in the edit mode stable for use in other modes. You may be thinking what’s the difference between that one and one you created in edit mode? Well, if you register a destiny mode general you’ll notice that they’ll have quite a head start in stats. It’s a fun mode and there’s something very satisfying about working your way up through the army’s ranks. However, it’s not without its faults.

Destiny mode is fun – there is no doubt about that. The problem is that it’s too short. It’s only eight stages long and some of them can be completed in just a few minutes. I was able to take about 4 characters through destiny mode in two days all while unlocking the majority of the costumes. It’s an awesome mode and a great start for it. Now, let’s see Koei flesh it out more in the next Dynasty Warriors.

The biggest downfall, however, is the fact that it’s $30. They advertise it as being a competent stand-alone game, but it really isn’t. Destiny mode is awesome and all and legend mode will eat up some time, but those two aren’t enough to carry the game by itself. You can only truly appreciate it if you also have the original DW5 disc as well. Having that in your possession opens up musou and free modes for use in XL. Earlier I mentioned that you can use your destiny general in other modes. Well, if all you have is Xtreme Legends, then the only other mode you can use them is in an already cleared legend mode stage, and trust me when I say that having that be so limited sucks.

And even if you do have DW5, I’m not sure how willing one would be to shell out an extra $30 for game where only two of the five modes are worthy of your time. It’s the same exact game of hack-and-slash and the original DW5 disc does it better.

Dynasty Warriors 5: Xtreme Legends is an ok game, but I’m sick of the blatant milking of this cash cow. DW5 was released earlier this year and for another $30, all you’re getting is a decent legend mode and destiny mode while the rest of it can be easily overlooked. Diehard DW fans will most likely pick this up, but if you’re on the fence about it, I suggest you only get it if you already have the original DW5 disc, which is now impossible to find new these days. If you’re planning on buying just DW5XL alone, I suggest you avoid it and spend the $30 elsewhere.

Same tired hack-and-slash formula that fans still eat up. Destiny mode is great though.

Best in the series with little slowdown and less fog to eat up the background.

Voice work is generally better. Instead of being atrocious, it’s now just serviceable.

May be the old tired formula but mowing down a whole army single-handedly is downright fun.

You won’t come back much except for legend and destiny mode. Add an extra point if you have DW5

]]> Mon, 28 Nov 2005 13:23:00 -0600 The Gaming Horizon Archive http://www.gamebump.com/go/new_dynasty_warriors_5_xtreme_legends_shots http://www.gamebump.com/go/new_dynasty_warriors_5_xtreme_legends_shots http://www.gamebump.com/go/new_dynasty_warriors_5_xtreme_legends_shots#
Originally written by Shiva Stella]]> Thu, 17 Nov 2005 14:01:00 -0600 The Gaming Horizon Archive http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_review_xmen_legends_ii_rise_of_apocalypse_xbox http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_review_xmen_legends_ii_rise_of_apocalypse_xbox http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_review_xmen_legends_ii_rise_of_apocalypse_xbox# This review was originally published on Gaming Horizon, GameBump's predecessor. Its format does not match our own but we support its content. It was written by Eric Dayday.

The first X-men Legends turned out to be quite successful and with the way that game ended, you could tell it was set up for the inevitable sequel. The sequel is finally here in the form of X-Men Legends 2: Rise of Apocalypse. It takes the same successful formula of the first game, adds in a bucket load of new mutants and abilities, and fixes up some of the mistakes Raven made in their first go-round. Even if it was a carbon copy of the original Legends, it would have been a decent game, but with the tweaks and additions, it makes it a great game. Read on to find out why.

As I mentioned, the first X-Men Legends was already a good game and so Raven took the phrase “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” to heart. The graphics remain largely unchanged though they did clean up it some as the textures look clearer and crisper. The audio also remains with the generic booms and pows scattered amongst the hits. The voice acting is still very well done, with Patrick Stewart returning as Professor X as well as some other very familiar VAs taking up the parts of the other mutants. The music is much improved, however, as it will change depending on the situation – it’s soft and subtle while exploring, then pumps out some hard rock during fight sequences. It’s also not the same generic music throughout, as each stage has its own musical motif to fit the environment.

Speaking of the stages, there are definitely a lot more to traverse in Legends 2. The variety is a wonderful addition. You’ll find yourself exploring the mutant country of Genosha, fighting hordes of enemies in the wasted streets of New York City, and finally hunting down the main villain of the game, Apocalypse, in the temples of Egypt.

What Legends 2 does leaps and bounds better than its predecessor is the cast of characters and their interactions with one another. Just like Ultimate Spider-man, the writers know their source material very well. The first game featured a roster of 15 characters; X-Men Legends 2 has that same number, but it is a more “flavorful” roster, it you will. The threat of Apocalypse is greater than the X-men or Brotherhood of Evil could ever imagine taking on by themselves. This leaves them no choice but to combine forces for the most un-likeliest of team-ups ever. Thus, you’ll have at your disposal not only some of the big name X-men like Cyclops, Jean Grey, and Wolverine, but also Brotherhood mutants like Magneto and Juggernaut. Another wonderful touch is the addition of some of the lesser known names (to the general public at least, comic book fans should easily know these names) like Sunfire, Scarlet Witch, and Bishop. Their exchanges during the mission briefings are priceless, as not only do they fit their comic book counterparts well, but they’re quite funny too. They may be working together, but the animosity between the two teams is still very evident.

A number of other mutants make appearances as non-playable characters, some of whom have huge impacts on the story. Fans ought to get a kick out of seeing Mister Sinister acting as Apocalypse’s right-hand man, or seeing Angel in both his original and his Archangel Four Horsemen forms. Others offer help outside of direct combat – Forge will sell you wares, Blink gives you the ability to teleport to your homebase at anytime, and Havok will act as the X-Jet pilot to get you places.

The best thing about the roster is that it is more balanced than the original. In the first one, you could just bust through the entire game with Wolverine alone. Now, that same thing can occur with some characters here, but at least no one in Legends 2 is useless unlike some others in the original (cough, Jubilee, cough). The reason for this is that they’ve expanded the number of mutant powers available for each person to about 10. Whereas you had a couple of passive abilities and a mutant power for each face button in Legends 1, you’ll find yourself struggling with figuring out what powers you want to level up and have active. And with more powers than face buttons, Raven thankfully added the ability to quick switch mutant powers on the fly.

Keeping this balance does take some work however. Leveling up is still a big part of the game and allowing the AI to distribute stat points and skill points will lead to some mediocre character builds. Some may not like this micromanagement, but trust me when I say that it pays off in the end. In my first run through the game, I stuck to the same four characters and built them up myself, and they became unstoppable. In my second run, I chose to use 8 different characters, and they too were able to hold their own throughout the game. A good example is how I leveled up my Iceman. In the first Legends, I used him primarily as a close up melee fighter, but in the sequel, I turned him into a freeze beam spamming machine by pumping most of his stat points into his focus. I could have done the same thing I did in the first game, but after seeing his new ability list, I decided to go that route. Customizing characters has always been an important part of RPGs, and Legends 2 offers it up in large quantities.

The load times have been greatly improved since the last time. When trying to access menus in Legends 1, the load took forever – so long, in fact, that one of the load screen artworks was shown while you waited. This time around, the menu pops up in almost a blink of eye; almost I say, because there is still a bit of loading, but nothing compared to the old one.

Lastly, the multiplayer aspect has been fixed. Last year, it felt tacked on especially since many of the missions involved Magma alone, thus totally eliminating any sort of enjoyment for the others trying to play. Raven alleviated that problem here by always having four people in the party at once. By doing so, anyone can jump in and play at any time, which is a good thing since you can take this online.

Online, you can participate in some of the versus Danger Room activities, but the biggest reason to play online is that you can load up a saved campaign and play four-player co-op with other players across the country. And let me tell you that it is freaking awesome. It’s a throwback to the days when Gauntlet ruled the arcades. The only downside is that the game pauses whenever someone accesses their menu, which will happen very often since level ups occur at a rather brisk pace as well as when trying to change equipment.

Hmm, you know, I can’t really think of anything bad to say about X-men Legends 2. There are a couple of things to nitpick at, but nothing too big.

Finishing the game only clocks in at about 15-17 hours, and that’s with completing every available sidequest. But, when you beat the game you open up Deadpool and if you do a certain sidequest, Iron Man. Doing all the Danger Room missions also unlocks Professor X and playing through the game again with those three is definitely fun, even if Iron Man totally messes up the character balance that Raven had addressed. Considering what you have to do to get him, however, he’s such a great reward.

There are also Danger Room missions, comic art, and concept art littered throughout the stages, but other than that, multiple difficulties, and playing through again with the unlocked characters, Legends 2 is lacking a bit in replay value.

I guess another fault would be that there aren’t enough online options, but I honestly think that the online co-op campaigns are more than enough to satisfy fans.

Lastly, the game still feels a little too easy, and it’s because of the same problem the first game suffered from – health and energy packs are abundant, with enemies dropping them left and right. You’ll never be in short supply of them, so you don’t have to worry about dying too often unless it’s against certain enemies that hit really hard.

Raven took a successful formula and made it even better by addressing the mistakes it made and improving them. The result – a fantastic action RPG that fans of the Marvel universe and non-fans alike should enjoy sinking their teeth into for more than a couple of hours. If you have the first one, you should have this in your possession already, and if you don’t, I suggest you track this game down and purchase it today.

Still the same solid gameplay fans know and love, though might be too hack-and-slash for some.

Cleaner than the last game’s. Nothing overwhelming, but captures the comic look well.

Music is improved, voice acting is still brilliant.

A face paced, action packed dungeon crawl gets more fun with multiplayers, off- or online.

3 unlockable characters, 3 difficulties, and some art to find is all. Online saves this score.

]]> Sun, 16 Oct 2005 13:33:00 -0500 The Gaming Horizon Archive http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_review_burnout_legends_psp http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_review_burnout_legends_psp http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_review_burnout_legends_psp# This review was originally published on Gaming Horizon, GameBump's predecessor. Its format does not match our own but we support its content. It was written by Eric Dayday.

The Burnout series has been around for a while, but it didn’t take off until Burnout 3: Takedown came out and blew away everyone with its intense “drive and destroy” gameplay. Now, for those of you who may have missed out on the previous Burnout entries, EA gives you the chance by stuffing all of their content into Burnout Legends for the PSP. Does it make the smooth transition from consoles to handheld? Read on to find out.

Burnout Legends brings the stages and cars from the first three iterations of the Burnout franchise though it doesn’t come right out and tell you that. Of course, it also brings along all the modes as well: race, road rage, pursuit, and crash. Race is a typical race except that you’ll want to drive like a maniac all while trying to take out your rivals. You don’t necessarily have to do that and could just drive like a normal racing game trying to reach the finish line, but where’s the fun in that? But, there is also an incentive to drive wild and take out others. The boost meter plays a vital role in where you’ll finish and the only way to build it is to drive dangerously, like weaving through oncoming traffic. A more effective way to build boost while trying to gain a lead is to cause a rival to crash, or to initiate a “takedown”. Not only does it build the boost meter up quickly, but it’ll also add a section to the bar, extending it to insane proportions.

Takedowns vary from simply crushing another car against the wall to you actually crashing and then controlling yourself in mid-air, or what the game dubs as “aftertouching”, to land on top of another racer. Performing one of these aftertouch takedowns not only slows your rivals down, but it also allows you to keep your boost meter filled, as crashing will reset your meter’s length and completely drain it. There is a huge variety of takedowns in the game, and there are some called “signature takedowns” that can only be done in certain stages.

Two of the other modes are road rage and pursuit. Road rage is regarded by many as the best mode in the Burnout games and who can blame them. This mode is the perfect remedy for those for you sick of other drivers since your goal in here is to takedown as many racers as possible in a given time limit. It’s easy at first but as you progress further, the harder it becomes and you’ll have to think of new creative ways to eliminate them. Pursuit puts you in the role of the cop and you must eliminate a single target in either a set time limit or within a set distance.

The last mode is crash, which I personally loved the most because it’s like a racing puzzler, if you can imagine that. In crash, you’ll be given a set up of cars, intersections, etc. and it is up to you to wreck the most havoc possible in a quick single run. Scores are recorded in dollars, so you’ll know how much damage you’re inflicting. To help you out there are cash bonus icons as well as a crashbreaker icon. Hitting the crashbreaker icon will cause you to explode the instant you touch it, causing damage around you, but you’ll also be able to aftertouch onto nearby icons or other cars. You can also initiate the crashbreaker without touching the icon. After a number of wrecks, you can hit triangle to initiate the crashbreaker.

Unlocking new cars and tracks requires progressing through World Tour. By beating races and such you’ll unlock new tracks. To unlock new cars, you need to accrue takedowns points which are earned with every takedown you perform. The heavyweight division is a little different though as those are unlocked at set monetary values in crash mode (all the money you’ve incurred from “damages” is cumulative in crash mode).

On the technical side of things, Burnout Legends does it all quite well. The graphics look nice with well-detailed environments – buildings aren’t flat globs of color, but are vibrant 3D giants. The cars may not be real, but their models definitely take a lot of cues from some real life counterparts and they look fantastic. The fact that they aren’t real is a blessing since that allows the developers to go wild in creating mangled pieces of metal flying through the air and sliding across the pavement. Best of all, even with the high-quality graphics, the frame rate is consistently high.

To go along with the graphics, the sound effects are spot on. Screeching tires, explosions, and the sound of metal on metal added with the visual effects will bring a smile to your face as it adds to creating that sense of being in the middle of a huge pileup. Staying in the sound department, the soundtrack is a variety of rock and techno. It’s not the best in the world, but most of the time you’ll be so focused on the racing and destruction that you won’t even notice that there is music playing.

Burnout’s gameplay is set up perfectly for some multiplayer action. Co-op crash mode is fun beyond words, but so is trying to ram your buddy off the road or into an oncoming bus. Unfortunately, it only supports ad-hoc communications, so those looking to play it with someone across the country are out of luck. However, it does support Game Sharing, although you’ll only be able to play race mode on a single track, and the download times will vary from 30 seconds to five whole minutes.

There is no doubt that Burnout Legends is an awesome game, but there are a few issues with it. First of all, while the graphics are great there are some instances where the game can get ugly. Throughout the game you’ll see a number of blue dots along the road. These dots match the color of the sky, so it looks like you’re looking through the road at times which detracts greatly from the 3D illusion. It’s not a enormous problem, but it does get distracting sometimes and is a bit of a disappointment considering how well built the rest of the game is.

Also, in crash mode, the game suffers from what I call “moving ground syndrome”. After the crash, the camera stays stationary focusing in on the last crash. Sometimes, a couple of the polygons on the ground will shake, as if that portion of the road is still in motion – in other words, it’s what the road would look like if you were driving at a high speed. Again, this doesn’t kill the gameplay at all since it occurs after you’re done crash, but it is still a blemish on an otherwise great game.

Progressing through crash mode is rather easy since all you need is a bronze medal to unlock new events. Those who want to achieve all golds, however, will need a lot of patience as some of the stages require not only a lot of skill, but also a tad bit of luck. The best advice I can give to those stuck on a crash stage is to persevere and you will eventually get that gold.

The controls are rather good, but only when you use the D-pad. The analog nub feels way too sensitive. However, this could just be personal preference as I’ve yet to really adjust to playing with the analog nub.

Two last nitpicks is that when the game changes tracks in the middle of a race, the game will skip a bit. It won’t mess you up – most of the time. And when it does you’ll want to throw your PSP across the room, or at least think about it. The second is the load times – they aren’t overly long but my goodness there are a ton of them, which definitely adds up. It seems like there’s a load screen every time you go to a different menu.

Though it has been shrunk, Burnout Legends still retains all of the elements that made the other ones great even in a smaller form. The graphics are top-notch, despite some problems here and there, and the gameplay is still tight and fun as ever. Burnout Legends is the best racer available for the PSP and may be one of the top five best games for Sony's handheld. If you’re a fan of the series, this is a must-buy; even if you aren’t and you have a PSP, with the drought of new PSP games over the summer, this is as good a place as any to start with the Burnout series.

The balance between racing and destruction is almost perfect.

Some glitches here and there are a little bothersome, but otherwise the game looks great.

Soundtrack is hit-or-miss, mostly hit. Sound effects are excellent.

Causing crashes worth half a million dollars is fun as hell – and that’s just one mode.

Plenty of cars to unlock and records to set.

]]> Tue, 27 Sep 2005 23:22:00 -0500 Shiva Stella http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_preview_lara_croft_tomb_raider_legend_ps21 http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_preview_lara_croft_tomb_raider_legend_ps21 http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_preview_lara_croft_tomb_raider_legend_ps21# This preview was originally published on Gaming Horizon, GameBump's predecessor. Its format does not match our own but we support its content.

If you remember the tagline for Eidos’ Tomb Raider: Angel of Darkness then you’re already amused by the series’ irony. “Out of the tombs and into hell” was splattered across every gaming site on the Internet, and intrigued gamers waited anxiously to give the industry’s leading lady a next-generation, honest chance. Lo’ and behold, the game…sucked. It suffered from horrendous slowdown, AI that simply didn’t work, and plagued controls.

Almost immediately after its release Eidos shocked everyone by repositioning the series, stripping it from Core Design and handing it to Crystal Dynamics, the company responsible for Gex and the Legacy of Kain/Soul Reaver franchises. The pressure was on, and Crystal Dynamics was charged with nothing short of overhauling the series to bring it into the modern era. To do this the developing house – along with Lara’s original creator, Toby Gard – embarked upon a “soul searching” quest, finally asking the big questions – “Who is Lara Croft? What makes her tick? How is she relevant today?” The result: a return to Lara’s roots in Tomb Raider: Legend.

Very little is known of Legend’s plot. It involves the standard globetrotting to eight different locations, including jungle, snow, mountainous, and underground areas. The bulk of these gorgeous environments consist of tombs, and judging from the available screenshots, are reminiscent of the underground/cavernous areas in the original. The Himalayas are cited as key to the storyline, which brings to mind the famed airplane crash from the original’s background story. It’s unknown whether the levels progress on a non-linear timeline (i.e., Chronicles) or follow Last Revelation’s timeline jumps from past to present, though it’s confirmed that Lara, while in search of another ancient artifact, confronts a foe long-thought dead. The enemy’s name – and why he’s concerned with the artifact – remains a mystery.

To navigate throughout these tombs Lara requires precision controls, a feature that enabled the previous versions to exist but was MIA in AoD. The switch to analog controls was troublesome and crippling; lining Lara up for jumps, performing the most basic maneuvers, and just repositioning her to look around was difficult. Crystal Dynamics has revamped the control scheme in Legend, increasing its functionality and comfort. It’s uncertain if the game allows for D-pad use, but it’s a good guess that the analog control system was at least completely re-worked (compared to AoD’s controls this can only be a good thing). Lara performs her favorite moves – swan dive, back flip, handstand, etc., - and does so smoothly. Her model receives another facelift with a higher polygon count, detailed facial features, reactive eyes, and a complete new look thanks to the original’s character designer.

There’s no word on enemy types but Lara retains her usual weapons, the dual pistols, now paired with an updated “move and shoot” system and goodies. High-powered binoculars, a personal camera for dark areas, frag grenades, communication devices, and a new magnetic grappling hook are introduced. A lock-on system is in place, and judging from trailer footage actually uses a targeting icon, unlike AoD. Another new feature is Lara’s ability to shoot destructible objects in the environment, like barrels. Any opponent near said barrels gets splattered with splinters and firepower, assuming they’re stacked with something inflammable. When a bad guy goes down Lara can even steal his weapon, though she’s limited to only one rifle at a time. Melee combat for close-quarter fighting is present and hopefully nothing like AoD’s dysfunctional stealth/melee system, but then again details are sparse.

Legend, as a return to Lara’s roots, probably removes itself from the action emphasis AoD had and focuses on puzzle and platform gameplay. To help players find their next destination/clue Lara turns her head to the location, indicating the relevant area. In trailer footage arrows designate important directions. The camera, while controllable, is said to move and pan the area naturally.

There’s an online component but Crystal Dynamics hasn’t commented on it yet, though Xbox Live (and probably PS2 network play) is confirmed. An Xbox 360 and PSP version are rumored to be in the works, too.

Judging by the drastic change of development teams and redirection of the series, this is probably Lara’s last chance to appear in a reputable title published by Eidos. If Crystal Dynamics gives Legend an entirely re-worked precision control system, ups the interactive environment feature, grants it an innovative online mode, and strengthens the storyline then a comeback is possible. If it’s plagued by horrible AI, terrific slowdown, and repetitive gameplay, however, the formula is dead. Maybe Lara can join the long list of videogame celebrities in another DDR remix? Hey, even the British know how to get down.]]> Mon, 30 May 2005 19:43:00 -0500 Brian Mohr http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_preview_xmen_legends_ii_rise_of_apocalypse_xbox1 http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_preview_xmen_legends_ii_rise_of_apocalypse_xbox1 http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_preview_xmen_legends_ii_rise_of_apocalypse_xbox1# This preview was originally published on Gaming Horizon, GameBump's predecessor. Its format does not match our own but we support its content.

X-Men Legends 2: Rise of Apocalypse is looking to bring what was successful with the original Legends and improve on every aspect of it. In this version the developers are looking to have 16 playable characters in which each has approximately 12-14 mutant powers, more than doubling them from last time. The game also looks to feature over 20 bosses and three skins for each player including classic ones.

The designers particularly wanted to improve on the team aspect of the game and make you work together more. In this version, you'll be able to have Magneto and Wolverine on the same screen and play them together. There will be a completely new strategy in which you can play how you want as they made it to fit both role playing and action fans alike. One sort of example of this is in the boss battles which will include multiple stages as you'll have to progress through them. You'll see that the boss uses the environments against you and then in turn you must use it against him.

You can tell that the developers particularly worked on the graphics, the X-Men are much sharper and better looking than last time. The environments are also impressive and include enhanced destruction including the ability to throw and blow stuff up. The levels are also larger and there is more to do. One particular notice of graphics was when you were in the museum and scarabs were literally coming out of the floor, graphically this really worked and was very impressive.

The game's sound is also impressive with all new dialogue added to make the experience even better. If that's not enough, the game also supports online play for up to four people. Activision worked hard on overhauling the menu system for online play there is no waiting while other people are in menus, instead with the simple touch of the D-pad you can power switch thus keeping the nonstop action going. If you don't have four players, you can also fill the rest of your slots with the computer.

X-Men Legends 2 is looking to be an impressive sequel to the best selling X-Men game of all-time. With more powers, characters and options, the game certainly looks to build on every aspect of the original. The graphics are even sharper and the dialogue is better. Overall, X-Men Legends 2 certainly will fill the action and role playing desire of X-Men fans everywhere.]]> Sun, 22 May 2005 16:34:34 -0500 Brian Mohr http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_preview_burnout_legends_psp1 http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_preview_burnout_legends_psp1 http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_preview_burnout_legends_psp1# This preview was originally published on Gaming Horizon, GameBump's predecessor. Its format does not match our own but we support its content.

Burnout Legends looks to bring players the high intensity racing experience on the go. The game is approximately 70% complete and it shows as graphically it looks to be on the same level as the PlayStation 2. The game includes modes of play including pursuit, road rage, crash, time attack and race. The only new one to the Burnout world is Pursuit which allows you to chase or be chased by the police, think Need for Speed. In this mode, players have a distance meter and a health meter that help determine the outcome of the game.

As previously noted, the graphics in Burnout Legends are top notch and really standout on the impressive PSP screen. The graphics are true to the Burnout series and even the crashes although not quite as detailed as their console counterparts still show incredible destruction and mayhem.

Just based on the short demo available at the show, the only question marks for Burnout Legends are that the game can get a little choppy and slow to take in all that is going on when crashes happen, particularly in crash mode. This isn't terrible, but a slight annoyance. The only other drawback is that when the game shows crashes in slow motion, that screen pulls you away from the action way too long. Timing it, it was up to approximately eight to ten seconds and at least from our experience in the demo there's no way to press a button to pass through it.

Finally, the controls for Burnout are still very easy to pick up and play. If you've played the game on the PlayStation 2 before, you'll easily be able to pickup and play this one too.

Burnout Legends is shaping up to be one of the best Fall releases for the handheld. The game really translates the courses, cars and full experience from the consoles to the PSP. Burnout Legends will easily be one of the more popular UMDs in my PSP upon its release.]]> Thu, 19 May 2005 23:29:00 -0500 The Gaming Horizon Archive http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_preview_the_legend_of_zelda_twilight_princess_ngc1 http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_preview_the_legend_of_zelda_twilight_princess_ngc1 http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_preview_the_legend_of_zelda_twilight_princess_ngc1# This preview was originally published on Gaming Horizon, GameBump's predecessor. Its format does not match our own but we support its content. It was written by Aaron Thomas.

All you need to know about the buzz surrounding The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, is that the line to play it is nearly four hours long. Fortunately, our tour with Nintendo started with Zelda, and I was able to play all four parts of the demo, logging almost an hour with one of the most anticipated games of the show. Since the demo was broken down into four separate parts, I’ll talk about each portion on its own.

Toanu Village

The game opens with the camera panning around a farm, and centers on Link, who is getting off of work early. Your boss tells you to call your horse, Epona, by blowing into a piece of grass. Of course, the tune is Princess Zelda’s familiar theme from Ocarina of Time. As you finish playing, Epona comes barreling out of the barn, and you hop on to wrangle some animals into the barn. This teaches you the basic mechanics of riding Epona, and is quite fun. You basically circle around a few of the twenty goat-like animals, and hit the A button to “whoop” and send them scampering towards the barn. After you finish, your boss shows you how to clear jumps with Epona, which is as simple as pressing A to get some speed, and letting the computer do the rest. A girl named Ilia, whose father is the mayor yells at you for injuring Epona by performing jumps, and you are scolded for being late to a meeting for which you are representing the town.

It was after making a few jumps that everyone’s favorite pastime, torturing chickens, from the SNES Zelda, came into play. You can grab a chicken, lift it over your head and then run and jump off a ledge to glide down to the ground. Of course, you don’t have to use the chicken for something useful; you can just toss it around, but beware the wrath of angry chickens. This portion of the demo concludes when you help a pregnant woman retrieve her baby’s basket, which is floating down the river. I didn’t get to finish this last part, unfortunately.

Horse Battle

The Horse Battle takes place a few hours into the full version of the game, and opens with a scene of a young boy, that has been kidnapped and tied to a pole. The pole is attached to the horse, which is being ridden by a quite nasty looking villain. Of course, Link is there to save the day, and hops on Epona to rescue the boy. The boss calls for reinforcements, who surround Link, swing swords, and shoot flaming arrows to keep you from the fleeing Boss. You can knock them off fairly easily with your sword, but you also must use your limited “spur meter” to speed up and attack the boss at the same time.

This battle is quite tense, and while not terribly difficult, does require quite a bit of concentration. When I struck what I thought to be the final blow, I noticed how hard I had been gripping the controller, and eased up a bit. Little did I know, I was about to have a head to head confrontation, where both Link and the boss charged at each other while riding across a bridge. I rode straight for as long as I could, turning to the left at the last instant, and just landed a blow that knocked my foe off the bridge, no doubt to his death. The camera panned out, showing the silhouette of Link and Epona against the backdrop of a setting sun.

Forest Temple

The Forest Temple felt quite a bit like one of the temples in Ocarina of Time. It was here that I got the boomerang, mapped it to whatever button I wanted, and immediately took out some pesky spiders that were impeding my climbing. The basic battle mechanics are introduced here, and they are very, very similar to what was found in The Wind Waker, and Ocarina of Time. There is a new finishing move, which is performed by pressing the attack button when a foe is near death. The game actually prompts you to do this, but it doesn’t seem like the prompt will be there in the final game.

As you make it through the Forest Temple, one of the suspension bridges collapses, leaving you stranded. A chimp-like creature comes out, and you learn that you can help each other out. The chimp can hang from the ropes that cross the chasms and catch you as you leap, swinging you to the other side. You’ll have to let a few more of the creatures out of their cages in other parts of the temple, in order to have enough of them to cross the biggest gap. Jumping is automatic, and Link will jump when he gets to a ledge, just like he has done in the last few games. You also learn to perform the roll maneuver, which will help you dodge attacks, and in this case, allows you to roll into a pole to knock a caged chimp off. I also spent some time smashing pots to get hearts and rupees, and also wasted a few minutes chopping some of the tall grass.

Temple Boss

The Temple Boss was the last of the four part demo, and featured Link against a plant-like creature, who then gave way to a sort-of demon. Using the boomerang, you could target bombs that were set on platforms surrounded by lava, and then target the boss. After holding down the button long enough, the boomerang charges up, unleashing a tornado that picks up the bomb, carrying it to your second target, and blowing it up. Things get a bit more complex as the next set of bombs are being carried by a chimp, who is swinging back and forth across the screen. You have to target him, lock on with R, and then target the boss, again unleashing the tornado. As he is hit with the bomb, he falls forward, and you must rush towards him and slash at his head. After repeating this process a few times, he dies in grand fashion, leaving just his giant eye on the ground. The game then thanks you for playing the E3 2005 demo, and fades to black.

It’s no secret that people have been clamoring for a realistic looking Zelda, and Twilight Princess delivers a visual style that will certainly please anyone. The graphics are crisp, and feel like a naturally evolved version of the Nintendo 64 titles. There’s no voice acting in the game, but there are the “grunts” from previous Zelda’s when you being a conversation.

Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess is poised to be a great last hurrah for the Nintendo GameCube. The game was a blast to play, and didn’t seem to disappoint anyone – even the people that only got to play for 10 minutes after waiting for four hours. You can’t find another game on the show floor that can do that. ]]> Thu, 19 May 2005 19:49:00 -0500 Shiva Stella http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_review_untold_legends_brotherhood_of_the_blade_psp http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_review_untold_legends_brotherhood_of_the_blade_psp http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_review_untold_legends_brotherhood_of_the_blade_psp# This review was originally published on Gaming Horizon, GameBump's predecessor. Its format does not match our own but we support its content.

The first and only RPG available for Sony’s PSP, Untold Legends passes itself off as the sum of recently released RPGs, only portable, and for the most part that wouldn’t be incorrect. There are some detailed environments, a somewhat practical plot, a decent button-mashing premise, and the standard stats available for adjustment, but what it really comes down to is what you’re willing to sacrifice for a portable RPG.

UL’s storyline begins directly enough: the player’s character has won the championship title of Guardian, requiring that s/he stay in the city of Aven as its official protector, serving the people in times of need. Unfortunately something sinister is about, and of course this evil force begins attacking on your shift. The basic plot has the player completing quests to further the investigation of evil in order to save Aven. Not exactly earth-shaking or even remotely intriguing at the least, but for a portable title it’s enough to go on.

Basic gameplay has players choosing a class from the available list: alchemist, druid, knight, and berserker. The classes are rather self-explanatory and each plays simply; the alchemist focus her power into her intelligence stat and attacks with both melee and magic; the druid focuses on intelligence but rounds out his other stats (stamina, strength) more equally, using nature’s magic and basic melee attacks to advance; the knight focuses largely on strength and stamina, wielding the most powerful weapons while taking hits well; and the berserker focuses primarily upon strength, using the stat base to unleash devastating damage. Each class has a typical fighting technique – flips and kicks for the berserker, basic sword-swipes for the alchemist, etc. – and each can be visually modified in limited terms of skin tone, hair color, and hair style.

Other than the basic stat adjustments, players are able to select their character’s armor, weapons, and jewelry. The inventory screen will appear familiar to RPGers, and is extremely reminiscent of Sony’s Champions of Norrath inventory selection system. Items take up a certain number of blocks, and when the weight limit has been reached the character is unable to carry any more equipment. The standard gear – armor and weapons – can be modified with special enchantment items, like storm totems, by selecting the enchantment item and then the equipment desired for upgrading. The menu system is maneuvered through via the L and R buttons (with some lag between screens) and the cursor is controlled with the analog stick.

When a player is ready to get into the actual game, he may choose to start a normal (offline) one, or go online and either join a multiplayer room or host his own. Since chances are good you’ll rarely ever spend time in multiplayer mode I’ll be focusing on the regular, single-player option. Once inside you’ll be greeted with the initial storyboards explaining the plot, a couple (very lengthy) loading screens, and finally the beginning stage, inside the Inn. Players control their character with the analog stick, which provides much smoother movement than I’d anticipated, and attacking is accomplished via mashing the X button. If magical attacks are your preferred method of slaying, you’ll be pleased to know that a now-standard quick-menu has been implemented. The quick-menu hosts up to eight magic spells and allows for two quick-magic buttons to be assigned (circle and triangle), which is now also standard and very convenient, and is accessed through the D-pad.

Killing in UL is just like killing in any other recent hack-fest RPG, and involves running into foes with blades swinging (or spells casting, depending upon your preference). There’s no manual targeting involved so spells and arrows kind of fly out on their own, but if you’d like to feel a little more control you can always zoom the camera in by holding down R and pressing up on the D-pad, showing where to more precisely attack. You can also adjust the camera from the normal via with the other D-pad buttons.

The environments in UL are adequately detailed, with trees dotting the forested landscapes, snow falling from the air, water rushing from spouts/pipes, rocks decorating the land, and individual concrete blocks visible on the streets. Spell effects are colorful, bright, and even nicely misty in some cases, showcasing the graphical power of the PSP. Modified weapons also shimmer/glow, and with the camera zoomed in you’ll be able to see the fine details in character clothing. Enemies (monsters, boars, spiders, and the like) receive just as much attention. The game isn’t exactly beautiful, but for the first RPG on the handheld, it’s got enough visual pizzazz for a single play-through.



That’s if, of course, you enjoy the game enough to even finish it once. The most serious fault of UL is that it’s extremely boring, typical, generic, and dull. Enemy AI is simple and straightforward, requiring absolutely no strategy from the player. Running around in circles, spewing acidic juices at bosses, is just as likely to guarantee a win as is standing and fighting, with or without strategy. There’s a slew of very long, very frequent loading screens for each time the player enters a new area. The storyline is so mediocre and un-intriguing that even the most aloof RPGer will find that it offers zero motivation or interest. An annoying bonus is the lack of sufficient quest information. You’ll learn to head to area A and that’s about it, which means you’ll spend some time wandering around, looking for the next (pointless) boss to kill.



Taken for what it is, Untold Legends: Brotherhood of the Blade is an adequate RPG for the PSP, being that it’s the only one available at the moment. However, even the most indifferent RPGer will find it boring and uneventful. If you can ignore the absolute dullness of Untold Legends and truly desire a portable RPG (and lack a GameBoy Advance), only then can I recommend you give Untold Legends a try.

Standard hack-n-slash that apparently every developer thinks constitutes a good RPG.

Not particularly bad, but bland. Good details for characters and enemies.

Swoosh, swing, growl, and howl, plus a forgetful background song.

Absolutely boring and bland.

Multiplayer means you might come back.

]]> Tue, 12 Apr 2005 19:46:00 -0500 Shiva Stella http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_review_musashi_samurai_legend_ps2 http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_review_musashi_samurai_legend_ps2 http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_review_musashi_samurai_legend_ps2# This review was originally published on Gaming Horizon, GameBump's predecessor. Its format does not match our own but we support its content.

It’s been a long while since we’ve seen or heard anything from our friend Musashi, who originally debuted in Brave Fencer Musashi for the PlayStation so many years ago. That original title played more like a fighter with a storyline than an RPG/adventure game, but the newest exploits of Musashi follow the latter pattern. Musashi: Samurai Legend is poised to be the anime-action/adventure RPG of the year, featuring a heavy emphasis on hack n’ slash gameplay and uniquely presented visuals, but can Musashi compete with the likes of other cartoonish RPGs with strong combat systems?

The plot in Musashi is simple enough. Summoned by a princess, Musashi arrives on the scene charged with rescuing the mystics (magic-users), saving some locals, finding some elemental swords to restore power to the Anthedon (a giant, magical flying whale) and defeating an evil corporation bent on gathering magical sources to eventually dominate the world. Unsurprising, to say the least.

Fortunately for Musashi if the storyline doesn’t motivate a player, the unique graphical presentation might. Musashi features an anime style of graphics strongly reminiscent of Dark Cloud 2’s; everything from the slow twisting of Musashi’s crazy hair down to the death animations of Muashi’s victims is an excellent visual touch. Character designs are lively and vivid, and the game’s environments are entirely in 3D with gentle lighting effects and standard level designs, though the areas are a tad small. One key graphical element concerns the game’s special attack effects; using the elemental swords’ latent abilities, or the learned attacks in general, presents short attack animations, which spruces up the fun.

The bulk of Musashi’s gameplay has players exploring lush landscapes in search of the maidens of the elemental swords. Defeating opponents via the hack n’ slash standard and retrieving the swords helps restore power to the Anthedon and increases Antheum’s (the town on the back of the Anthedon) resistance of the Gandrake Corporation. The controls are smooth and have Musashi performing very simplistic moves, essentially sword-swipes and stabs, to rescue the maidens.

Additionally, Square Enix included a duplication system to freshen the repetitive button-mashing. Every enemy type in Samurai Legend has a unique design and special move for Musashi’s learning; locking-on to an opponent via R1 fills a focus meter on the top-left of the screen, and when the bar is full and an opponent performs the new attack, a "sign" signals the player to hit the square button to bring up the ability’s button combination. Performing the combination grants Musashi the ability. Just incase you happen to forget the combination the start menu holds an ability set with button listings for all combinations learned. Furthermore, Musashi’s elemental swords possess latent abilities that help solve miniscule puzzles and plow through enemies. For example, the first elemental sword players receive is the earth sword, and its special ability is tremor thrust, which when performed gives off a small quake that breaks boulders and pushes buttons.

While en route to the maidens Musashi will run across nearly 30 giant blue capsules with townspeople inside. Rescuing the townspeople returns them to Antheum, where they can be used as plot/gameplay resources for Musashi. An example would be Mugg the blacksmith, who shapes magical alloys to Musashi’s weaponry.

When you’re not saving townspeople, maidens, mystics, or princesses, you’ll be taking on bosses, which requires a tad more strategy than the typical opponents. Each boss is a leading member of Gandrake Corporation and calls for a unique plan of action. For guaranteed victory gamers need to level Musashi up, which occurs after killing so many baddies. The level-up option is in the system menu and let’s players adjust HP, MP (for special attacks), strength, defense, luck, and focus. The system seems tailored to younger RPGers as it allows for an adjustment to be emphasized either manually (selecting a stat on your own) or automatically via choosing a description (i.e. "focus primarily on strength, improve defense", etc).

One mechanic that Musashi utilizes that I’ve never seen before is the carrying ability. Musashi is actually able to pick up a character (typically the damsel) via X and carry the character around, but don’t think that Musashi will be immune to attack just because he’s playing the hero – opponents can attack Musashi while he struggles with his burden, and Musashi can do the same. If presented with a considerable threat Musashi can toss the damsel into the air for enough time to swing at it, but as we know, what goes up comes down, and if the threat persists it’s probably best to just drop the damsel and kick into Rambo mode.

Samurai Legend’s presentation is solid, with lovely visuals (Antheum itself is quite gorgeous), nice attack effects, interesting character design, quirky cutscenes, and good background music, though nothing too noticeable. The standard gameplay sounds – slashes, jabs, stabs, etc., - are to be expected, but the enemy death animation sounds are a nice highlight.

Love it or hate it, Musashi plays like a simpleton's RPG; there's not a lot of substance here. The game feels more like a children's title with flashy graphics, not surprisingly. The hack n' slash gameplay is slightly more innovative thanks to the duplication process, but the system is a little tricky, and even once you've got it down and learned a slew of new moves, it's still not as exciting because it lacks magic, strategy, or even interesting cutscenes for progress motivation.

The storyline itself isn't exactly gripping: rescue the damsels in distress, restore power to the Anthedon, and save the princess of the mystics while simultaneously defeating Gandrake Corporation. Considering that this is Square I'd expect a lot more, but if indeed Musashi is targeted to pre-adolescents, it's not such a drawback. I doubt that the average pre-teens needs more than a basic plot to go on.

The continued swing, swing, and swing again gameplay formula is getting old, fast. Deprived of magic and intelligent enemy AI, the only strategic thing players have to do is correctly duplicate attacks. After that it's the same-ol’ repetitive formula without much motivation.

I also didn't care much for the dialogue style (very over-exaggerated) and voicework (which is just as exaggerated and silly). Then again, if Musashi is really targeted to a younger generation then you can't really complain - kiddies aren't going to care so much about simple, exaggerated dialogue/voiceacting. Everyone post-17, however, will quickly tire of it.

A few other problem areas abound. The 360-degree camera operates smoothly enough, but when backed into a corner the action causes some mild slowdown and is briefly daunting. There’s also some minimal slowdown when several enemies are on-screen at once and being disposed of, probably due to the extensive death animations. I’m also not pleased with the saving option being restricted to Antheum; if you want to save, you’ve got to get back on the Anthedon and hit Musashi’s room for the option. When a chapter contains more than one area and the threat of death looms overhead, you’ve got to stop what you’re doing – progressing to the next location – to visit another area to save. If a save-anywhere system couldn’t have been implemented then surely save spots/crystals should have. Finally, the game is quite easy, but again that’s probably due to the target audience.

Musashi: Samurai Legend isn’t exactly the biggest RPG of the year (or even close to being a contender), but is good for what it is - a simple, anime-styled RPG with a strong combat focus set in a distinctively beautiful world. Unfortunately what it lacks - an intriguing plot, apt save feature, good dialogue/voicework, more difficult gameplay - guarantees that older, more hardcore RPGers aren't going to be interested in Musashi for long.

Repetitive, but innovation in duplication system.

Interesting anime style with lovely 3D environments, plus effects.

Nice music and sound effects, though nothing special.

Probably for the younger crowd.

You can collect people/cards, but once through is enough.

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