Review: The Binding of Isaac

Biblical influence, faecal matter.

Yep, tiny crying boy versus monstrous, skeletal spider thing; sums up the game really

There's an enemy in The Binding of Isaac; a little maggot that slithers along the ground slowly. With big, bright eyes and a cheery smile on its cute, little face, it whimsically wanders about in random directions, minding its own business and enjoying the scenery. Until it spots you. Then it gets angry. And that mouth you thought was cute? It's now wide open, revealing a set of dentata that wouldn't look out of place in a Lovecraft novel. The way it slowly slithered about? It's now charging right for you hell-for-leather. This little maggot? It is The Binding of Isaac. A game with a cute and fluffy exterior, hiding a viciousness that will rip you apart and eat the pieces. What else did you expect when your primary weapon is a child's tears?

Binding (which I'll refer to it as from now on, just a little time-saver) is a roguelike game. Now, considering the recent influx of this style of game, the term has become more widely-known, but not to the extent where I feel comfortable throwing it about with no explanation. Thus, for anyone unaware, a roguelike is an RPG usually displaying the following features: randomly-generated levels, permanent death, and turn-based movement/combat. Binding has two of the three, with the latter being abandoned in favour of a more action-heavy, real-time combat system. The genre also typically relies on the theme of discovery, along with intense difficulty that demands a high degree of concentration. Binding is no different. It will kick your ass time and time again.

I wish I had something to say about this scene... but I don't

The game tells the story of, unsurprisingly, a lad named Isaac. Taking obvious inspiration from the biblical tale of the same name, Isaac's mother receives a message from God instructing that she sacrifice her young son. She attempts to dutifully oblige, brandishing a scary-looking kitchen knife and making her way to Isaac's room. Luckily, the little scamp spots a trapdoor in the floor and makes good his escape. Unluckily, his "escape" leads him to a labyrinthine basement, full of unworldly terrors. This is undoubtedly the most unfortunate event to befall young Isaac, but not the first, as the game's loading screens show him being bullied and humiliated in all manner of ways. In a way, Binding is the ultimate unlikely hero story. Isaac is a punching bag; a puny, little runt with a mother that wants to kill him, peers that degrade him, and all manner of nasties out for his blood. Yet, despite everything that happens to him--and trust me, a lot of horrible things happen to him--he keeps going and maybe, somehow, he might just overcome the odds and get through this after all. It's up to you to guide him there, and you'll have to be either very good or very lucky to make it. The game has over a dozen endings, and it's great to see the care and humour of the game's art-style crosses over to the story too.

Speaking of the game's look, it might just be the most striking feature of the whole package. Edmund McMillen continues right where he left off after Meat Boy, with a chunky-outlined, cute/gore mashup style hovering somewhere between The Powerpuff Girls and Ren and Stimpy, with a whole lot of darkness and toilet humour thrown in for good measure. The game's dungeons are flooded with faeces, flies, and fearsome fiends, with the bosses in particular being of startlingly gruesome design; from incontinent blobs of flesh to giant burrowing worms. In spite of the game boasting a world rich with bodily-fluids, monstrous creations, and body horror, the times are plentiful where you simply can't help but chuckle at the sight before your eyes. Well, you'll either be chuckling or wretching since the gross-out factor of the game cannot be understated; a simplistic cartoony-style isn't enough to shield your senses when you utilise "Mom's Pad" as a weapon. This is a game where you play a child, thrust into a basement stark naked, and forced to use your own salty tears to break apart piles of excrement, in the hopes of finding coins to pay for a rock to stick into your head and make you more powerful. Frankly, I must pay testament to the art and humour that goes some way to bringing levity to such ludicrously dark proceedings. Nevertheless, the style of the game will naturally prove divisive, but those who like it, will really like it.

It's just apple juice, honestly

So how does this thing play? Well, it's actually pretty simple. You find yourself in a randomly-generated dungeon floor and move from room to room, defeating enemies as you go, while collecting keys, coins, bombs, and all manner of special items. Your objective? Survive, defeat the boss, and make it to the next stage, with your ultimate aim being to defeat your mother in glorious combat. Said combat takes the form of a basic shoot 'em up, with Isaac able to shoot up, down, left, and right, with circle-strafing his strongest ally. Three rooms are more or less guaranteed on each floor: a boss room, a shop, and a treasure room. But there are all sorts of other secret rooms to find, from the "Sacrifice Room" which offers you the chance to spill your own blood in exchange for prizes, to the "Library" which, as you might expect, contains all manner of books for you to make use of. You'll need them. You'll need everything you can get, and boy is there a lot to get in this game. A regular feature of the roguelike genre is a sense of discovery, and Binding incorporates this to maximum effect. There are more items in this game than you can count; an incredibly impressive feat when one considers that this title was made by only two people. Every item has a distinct use, making each feel different than the last, and often is the time you won't really know what each thing does until you use it.

This all works to Binding's benefit in the end; since the frustration of death--which occurs pretty often--is cushioned by the excitement of restarting just to see what you'll find. The fact that most items completely change the look of Isaac, along with your own playstyle, only adds to this. You might find a bent spoon that gives Isaac a flaming third eye in the centre of his forehead, and the ability to shoot purple homing shots, or a little floating baby that acts like a Gradius option or familiar, shooting out its own tears in support.The things you find might even make you chuckle, with items referencing the likes of Super Meat Boy, Magic: The Gathering, and Arrested Development. The phrase "No two playthroughs will ever be the same!" is thrown around an awful lot these days, conjuring images of variety that often disappoint, but Binding absolutely does it justice. With so many things to find, so many different rooms, enemies, and bosses, and so many variations of Isaac--or indeed any of the other six playable characters--to discover, you'll have a different experience every time.

Isaac's time in the basement can change him in all sorts of ways

Thus, we come to one of the unfortunate side effects of such a system; since some items and combinations are so much more useful than others, the luck of the draw winds up having as much influence on your progress as your own personal skill level. It took me an awful lot of tries to complete the game, and when I finally did it was only on a run where I'd been fortunate enough to find the most powerful standard weapon, a familiar, the ability to see the entire map, an excellent secondary weapon, and the ability to fly. My next run saw me grab nothing but a couple of health boosts and bonus bombs. Now, I make no claims at being an expert at this sort of game and I can imagine plenty of people with good skill levels can complete it even with the very worst items, but I can only report from personal experience. Yet, in spite of the mild frustration one might feel at spending their last key on a treasure room and being rewarded with naught but a useless random teleport ability, you have to accept it's all part and parcel of the experience and I wouldn't have the game without it.

Unfortunately, the game suffers from a couple of issues that aren't quite so defensible. A lack of proper controller support is hardly crippling, but remains a hassle that might have been avoided rather simply. Yet the real problem is slowdown; the game was made rather hurriedly in Flash, and unfortunately struggles almost any time there's a lot happening on screen. Upon researching this issue, I've discovered that it is a rather common fault, and occurs even on top-of-the-line machines. I must regrettably recount that it may in fact be considered gamebreaking by some; with the game regularly stuttering to a veritable crawl even on low settings. This appears to be an issue that won't affect everyone, and I hope that others will be far luckier than myself, but it's very much worth bearing in mind before making a purchase.

It's testament to the game that in spite of such an issue, I haven't been able to stop playing it and can do nothing but recommend it. The Binding of Isaac is a wonderful example of where the industry is nowadays, if a team of two can turn out such a deep, engaging, addictive, witty, and most importantly enjoyable product within such a short amount of time, then the mind boggles at the future of video games. The game upholds the standards of its genre, capturing the senses of discovery and difficulty that make a roguelike fun to play, whilst overcoming the seeming inaccessibility of this style of game. With the most hideous of design, the darkest of humour, and the most unforgiving of difficulty, one would expect this game's appeal to be about as limited as possible; yet, through the developers' mastery of their craft, with a careful application of humour, self-awareness, and modern ideas, Binding becomes more than the sum of its parts. It is a complicated game, shrouded with a visage of complexity, and I would implore anyone on the fence to take a peek behind the curtain. There's something pretty savage back there, but you might just love it.

Review: Offspring Fling!

Look before you chuck!

Nawww

From the mind of budding indie developer Kyle Pulver comes yet another retro-styled puzzle-platformer. Offspring Fling! follows the maternal exploits of a fuzzy, yellow bird as she attempts to rescue the little hatchlings she has unfortunately misplaced. How does she go about saving her spawn? By hurling the adorable furballs all over the place. Frankly, I'm a little astonished the species has made it this far, but luckily the chicks seem to possess skeletons that would make Wolverine blush, and can take being smashed against a wall without even the unsightly inconvenience of a bruise. Be that as it may, they're not immune to acid pools and giant hornets, so it'll take every ounce of mama's efforts and your brainpower to suss out the more complex stages and--I can't believe I'm saying this--throw her children carefully.  Nowadays, bird-throwing is becoming something of a subgenre in gaming, but worry ye not innovation-enthusiasts, Offspring Fling! is not the Angry Birds clone its premise might suggest. In fact, it's completely incomparable to the smartphone sensation, focusing instead on a wide variety of evolving action puzzles, with plenty of new hazards and tricks thrown your way with each passing stage.

You don't even have to load this one up to see where its influences lie. Everything about the game screams 16-bit homage, from the trailer sporting an amusing 'Super Pretendo' logo, to the game's cutesy graphics style, two-button control scheme, and simplistic premise. This is the sort of game you really could cut and paste to an old SNES or GBC cart and convincingly pass off as the real deal. Frankly, there were times when I wished it were an old SNES game, if only for the benefit of being able to use a controller. The game's default control scheme--using the arrow keys for movement and Z/X for actions--is frankly diabolical, but even reworking things to WASD provides little improvement. The game's platforming isn't too demanding, too often, but when it is you really begin to notice the awkwardness of the keyboard. Hardware isn't the only culprit here though, the mama bird has something of a floaty jump and difficult sense of momentum, she's one of those rebellious, little characters who just doesn't quite feel ready to respond to your inputs. The game is hardly Super Meat Boy, but at times seems to demand a more accurate control scheme than it bears.

Nintendo could probably sue but who even cares?

Fortunately, the game's progression system helps to make up for its shortcomings in the control department (as does the in-built pad support). Beating levels earns you flowers, beating par times on levels earns you gold flowers, and beating the almost godlike developer times earns you rainbow flowers. What do flowers unlock? Levels! Thus, you'll nearly always have a pretty big choice of available stages, and can jump in and out as you please, skipping the more difficult challenges altogether if you so desire. It's a system Pulver utilised again recently in Snapshot and it works just as well here but, as I said with that game, it can only mask the game's flaws, not erase them. Again, as with Snapshot, it's nice to see the par times thrown in to offer a bit of replayability, and a bonus layer of challenge. Speaking of replays, the game saves ghosts of your best times to race against, and these can even be uploaded and downloaded from the net to really see who is the best fowl flinger. 

The levels themselves are more or less what you would expect. The game, just like plenty of other titles in the genre, has a core mechanic and squeezes a whole lot of mileage out of it. All each stage asks is that you collect your babies and bring them, and yourself, to the exit unharmed. From the humble beginnings of hurling one chick over a gap, right up to levels where you're juggling half a dozen of the sprogs, setting them down on buttons and catching them in mid-air, all while evading killer wildlife. In spite of the huge number of levels and the carefully-paced difficulty curve, I never actually found myself stuck for more than a minute or two. Perhaps the capacity for complications is somewhat limited by the simplicity of the game's mechanic. After all, being able to pick up, throw, and put-down objects is hardly a novelty in video gaming. There really are only so many things one can do with this idea, but you can't fault Pulver's level design; an awful lot of content is eked out of a basic concept. Unfortunately, for the most part, said content doesn't particularly do much to either tease or tingle your brain, and it's all a bit too ordinary. There's a level editor available to download, so maybe the community at large might be able to come up with something special, and at least fans of the game have a way to extend their playtime.

Look at all the retro

Thus, if there's any area where the game falls short, it's unfortunately a biggie. Unlike the Braids and Closures of the world, or even Pulver's more recent offering Snapshot, Offspring Fling! doesn't give you that sense of accomplishment, those "Aha!" moments. I enjoy a puzzle most when, upon solving it, I feel both bewilderment at the intellect of its designer, and pride in my own. Unfortunately, this game never treated me to these emotions. Not once. I completed it in under ninety minutes, and even then barely felt like I'd particularly achieved anything. I'd hate to say the game's too easy, and I don't think it is, but its mechanic is too easy. I spent my whole playthrough waiting for Offspring Fling! to do something out of the ordinary, but it never quite does. The game is cute and simple, that's what it sets out to do and that's what it achieves. Such fast-paced simplicity lends it the feel of an iOS title, and I can't help feeling it would be more successful on that platform. Essentially, this is very much what our modern-day parlance would label a "casual puzzler." There's more than enough fun to be had with it, and for those who often bemoan the difficulty of the genre, this'll be right up your alley. But for the serious puzzle-solvers out there, the only challenge you'll find here is getting to grips with the controls, and mastering each stage to muscle memory in efforts to beat the par times.

Having recently played Pulver's latest game Snapshot, I'm compelled to draw similarities. In both, we have around one hundred levels of puzzling action, with a carefully-plotted difficulty curve, and enough fresh ideas to keep the game from at least getting stale. In both we rely on some cute designs and smart stages to push us along, with neither game presenting much in the way of story. Both are well-made, both are fine little ways to kill a few hours, both are, ultimately, nothing too special. I can just picture the remarkably cute, little chicks of Offspring Fling! looking at me with teary-filled eyes right now as I denounce their game, but--I'm sorry little munchkins--it's the truth. Perhaps, in an effort to emulate the styles of old, Pulver went too far with this one and created a game that certainly would've flown out of the nest in 1992, but can't quite stand-up in 2012. Don't get me wrong, the game has a brilliant look, a super soundtrack, and is a perfectly pleasant way to spend an hour or two, just don't expect that hour or two to be all that memorable.

News: Humble Bundle 7 Gets 3 New Games

That's right, even more reasons to buy the thing you already had SO many reasons to buy!

You too can receive an email just like this one by signing up at www.humblebundle.com

Despite already boasting the likes of Legend of Grimrock and Closure, the folks over at Humble Bundle clearly felt that their latest-offering could do with an extra helping of brilliance (it is Christmas, after all). Thus, for the next five days, you can get your hands on not only these great games, but three extra titles too. These bonus games, as mentioned in the earlier article, are locked behind the average price barrier (which just happens to be $6.52 at the time of writing), but anyone who already bought the bundle gets them absolutely free regardless of the price you paid. 

So what are you getting? Let's begin with Offspring Fling - this one-man creation perfectly emulates the look and feel of the great puzzle platformers of yesteryear. Featuring over 100 levels, an art style reminiscent of the SNES era, and some of the cutest pixelated critters you ever did see, it's already worth more than the asking-price. Next up there's Cave Story+, the critically-acclaimed 'Metroidvania' homage. A true platforming-adventure echoing the style of 8-bit classics, while injecting just the right amount of modernity, with a soundtrack that is, quite frankly, aural gold. Finally, and perhaps most interestingly, we have The Basement Collection; an assortment of Flash games created by none other than Edmund McMillen (yes, he's certainly getting a lot of coverage in this particular bundle). The collection features Meat Boy, Aether, Coil, Spewer, Triachnid, Grey-Matter and Time Fcuk, along with a whole mess of unlockable content. If you haven't heard of some of those titles then don't worry, I haven't either, but since they're from the mind of the man who gave us Super Meat Boy and The Binding of Isaac I'm eager to check them out.

So Humble Bundle 7 gets even better and frankly I can't think of a single person I couldn't recommend it too. More great games have been added to an already fantastic collection, and you've only got a few days left so please do get at it. It'll certainly be a little while before another package like this comes along so I'd encourage everyone to take advantage while you can. Expect more reviews of the Bundle games in the coming days. 

Review: Snapshot

World Press winner or Facebook profile pic?

Imagine how useful this would be in real life

If I were to list the modern trends I find most frustrating then obsessive photography would have to be near the top. These days, everyone and their mum seems to find it necessary to assemble a digital catalogue of their daily goings-on, with budding photographers the world over force-feeding us countless, frozen captures of their lives on a constant basis. Perhaps in an effort to satirise our snap-happy society, Snapshot--the latest in the long line of puzzling-platform-puzzle-platformers--is entirely-focused around a magical camera, with the ability to store real-world objects inside photographs, and re-distribute them about the world as you please.

This wondrous ability is one that, as you might imagine, can be used in all sorts of inventive ways and Snapshot makes great use of its core mechanic, quickly building up from straightforward crate-stacking to reflex-based mid-air photography, throwing a wide range of hazards and tricks in your face as the game progresses, and even incorporating the laws of momentum to create some truly devilish late stages. The difficulty curve is an important factor of any puzzler, and I'm pleased to report that developer Retro Affect succeed with aplomb in this respect, the game ratchets up the challenge at a fine pace, and no two puzzles out of the near one hundred on offer are ever quite the same.

Along with an impressive number of levels, the game features acres of replayability for those who care to indulge. Each level has stars to collect, a hidden item to photograph, and a par time to beat. I wish I could tell you what all of this unlocks, if anything, but the secret items are, at times, concealed amongst the narrowest of pixels, while the par times are very tough to better, often demanding absolute precision from the game's less-than-absolutely precise controls. In any case, I personally haven't felt a strong enough inclination to seek everything out, but this stuff is there and suffice it to say, it's a completionist's dream (or nightmare, depending how you see it). Whether or not you'll summon the desire to seek these secrets out and grind out lightning-fast times is perhaps besides the point; the designers must be commended for including so much relevant content.

Look at all those lovely medals to nab and secrets to collect

Unfortunately, it isn't just the puzzles and par times that'll dish out a dose of frustration. The controls can hardly be labelled poor but in this sort of game, where pinpoint accuracy is often required to complete the more intricate stages, and the slightest misplaced jump or photograph will lead to certain death, it's a real shame that the controls so often fail to live up to the game around them. The system itself couldn't be more intuitive; guide your little robot Pic about with the keyboard while flying the camera around the world and snapping pictures with the mouse. It's a fine example of smart design, and testament to the talent at Retro Affect, but it simply isn't refined to a high enough standard here. The annoyance I felt each time the mouse decided to seemingly triple its sensitivity as I sought to carefully rotate a photograph to the correct angle, or the anxiety I'd experience just before the last jump of a level in case I hadn't quite judged it right and fell to my doom wouldn't have been so bad if it didn't occur so often. 

As you can imagine, there's a fine sense of injustice and frustration after you've spent time solving a level's puzzle, particularly some of the more difficult stages that require some very tight timing, and then find yourself in a fail state and forced to restart the whole darn thing after one little mistake that you don't really feel was your fault. It's an unfortunate issue that one feels could've been solved quite easily with an undo button or checkpoint system. Luckily, each level is a relatively concise, bite-size chunk; it never really takes too long to redo one's progress, especially after you've sussed the puzzle, and there's usually a wide choice of available stages to jump into, so if anything gets too frustrating you can always come back to it later. This stuff helps to hide the game's issues, but not erase them, and it simply has to be said that your temper will endure some gratuitous trying times throughout your Snapshot experience.

Visually, the game can be taken in one of two ways. On the positive side, I could mention the way it reminded me of classic Kirby, with a simplistic, yet colourful and tidy composition. The environments are hardly original, but pleasant to traverse and there's enough variation in design to keep things from getting too stale. It's a somewhat refreshing change of palette in a genre dominated by obscure styles, like the harsh monochromatism of Limbo or Closure. On the other hand I can say that at least games like those, and even more colourful fare like Braid or Fez, have looks that ooze personality, granting them the distinction of a memorable identity. Snapshot unfortunately falls victim to a look more reminiscent of an online flash game than the hefty competition it's up against, with the game's charming tunes similarly cute and polished, but quickly forgettable.  

Some of the trickier levels include snapping objects in mid-flight and re-directing them

Shall we discuss the story? ... Did you enjoy that discussion? Simply put, there's only the faintest scrap of plot meat on this game's bones, and you can more or less see why; just as with the sound and music, the designers frankly didn't seem to be focusing their efforts on giving this game much more than its puzzles. Okay, that's a little harsh; there are a few cut-scenes that go some way to tying everything together, but let's not kid ourselves, the focus here is almost entirely on gameplay, and seeing as how this thing is a video game after all, we have to be grateful for that much. I'd be the first person to tell you that even these days, not every title needs a rich, expansive universe with engaging characters and award-winning writing, particularly games like this. It's simply a shame that the developers appear to have made little to no meaningful effort in compensating for the game's absence of plot, the result being a wholly, for lack of a better word, ordinary experience; deficient in any particular charisma or personality.

Perhaps if the gameplay were just a smidgen tighter, if the look were a tad more striking, if the game just had a bit more of something about it, then a recommendation would be far easier to make. That's not to say I can't advise you check this one out; it's perfectly enjoyable and if you like these sort of games then there's literally hours of brain-teasing fun to be had, the presentation is simple but not at all bad, and in spite of a few troubles, the gameplay itself is more than adequate. On the whole, Snapshot is quite honestly a fine video game, but not a special one. An abundance of content helps to recompense for the game's dearth of character, and if you desire nothing more than a light-puzzler with fairly tight controls, smart mechanics, and a whole lot of stuff to do then it's hard not to recommend Snapshot. Simultaneously, it's not hard to recommend a whole host of games that more or less do what it does, but better.

News: Humble Bundle 7

Great games, great cause, Grimrock, what else do you need?

Head over to www.humblebundle.com to buy now!

Well, it's that time of the year and what better way to treat yourself or a loved than with a bundle of great games, soundtracks, a documentary, and a donation to a good cause all wrapped up in one. We're now onto the seventh numbered Humble Bundle, and it's one of the best so far; a veritable stocking full of goodies to keep any gamer more than occupied over the holiday season.

For anyone unaware, a Humble Bundle is a collection of games--usually indie games but sometimes otherwise--music albums, or eBooks. Mostly games though. It's the games we care about here. This collection is then offered on a pay-what-you-want basis for a limited time, with certain games or extras being locked behind an average price barrier, and more content usually added over time. Not only that, but all of the money you choose to donate can then be distributed, again by you, however you like amongst the developers, the Humble Bundle operators themselves, and various charities. Pretty awesome, right? I know!

So, back we go to this particular bundle and let's take a look what's inside. For now--since the bundles usually grow over time--we have six games, five of which include their respective soundtrack, and the award-winning documentary Indie Game: The Movie, along with its soundtrack. Two of the games are locked behind the average price barrier which is around $6 at the time of writing. You have until the end of December to buy, and any donations over $1 grant you Steam keys for all your games. 

This is Grimrock. It's worth more than twice the average price of the Bundle. Purchase justified.

Speaking of the games, let's take a closer look at those on offer. We've got what I would, so far, deem one of the highlights of the package in the form of The Binding of Isaac plus its Wrath of the Lamb DLC; a surprisingly deep, top-down, roguelike game from Edmund McMillen (co-creator of Super Meat Boy) and friends. The game has a fantastic art-style, a sick sense of humour, and countless loot-filled, randomly-generated dungeons to plunder. The fact that the DLC is included here is more than a welcome bonus since it includes a shocking amount of new content that expands your Binding of Isaac experience in the best possible way; more goodies to find and more bosses to fight. Up next there's Snapshot, yet another of those 2D platform-puzzlers that garners cries of "Ooh that's clever!" from anyone who tries it. I've not played much so far, but it's cute, clever and convivial, with a nicely-managed difficulty curve and some smart mechanics. Closure, winner of the 2012 Indie Game Challenge, is in fact yet another of those puzzle-platformers. Yet with an eerie, monochromatic art-style, almost 100 challenging puzzles to solve, and some very unique light manipulation techniques, this one looks a little bit special. The last of the games that isn't locked behind the average price is Shank 2, Klei Entertainment's sequel to their smash-hit, side-scrolling stab-em-up. New weapons, fresh multiplayer, and plenty of brutal shanking ensure that if you enjoyed the first game, you'll find lots to love here.

The two 'bonus' games are Legend of Grimrock and Dungeon Defenders with its DLC. The former; an old-school, grid-based dungeon crawler with beautiful graphics and some inventive puzzling. The latter; a multiplayer-focused, tower defense action RPG, and yes I agree these long-named sub-genres are getting rather silly nowadays. Suffice it to say that all six of these games seem more than worth your time, every one of them has received some degree of critical acclaim and I think they're all worth a try. The only thing left to discuss is Indie Game: The Movie; it's an award-winning documentary, highly relevant to the Humble Bundle, charting the efforts and toils of several independent video game developers including the likes of Phil Fish (Fez) and Edmund McMillen. Frankly, I'm no movie reviewer but it's an incredibly well-assembled piece of film that should be of great interest to anyone with a passion for the game industry, offering an extensive look behind the scenes of indie development and shedding some humanising, and at times harrowing light on the creators themselves.

So there you have it, Humble Bundle 7 is available now for a very limited time, and I'd encourage every gamer to treat themselves or a friend to a few extra Christmas presents. I'll be playing each of the games and reviewing most over the coming days, but frankly I can already recommend a purchase. Supposing you were to pay the average price, the games you're getting are exceedingly good value for money, with the movie and soundtracks being welcome and valuable additions themselves. Not to mention that if you buy early, you'll receive any additional games absolutely free of charge, and I'm sure the bundle guys are feeling pretty generous this time of year.

Round 2: Fight!

Let's play some games!

Well, it's as simple as that really. After a far-too-lengthy yet eventful absence, I have returned. I'm ready to game, write, and... well that's about it actually; gaming and writing are the only two things that really matter to this blog. Before we get started though, I have to own up to what I've done. I've been away from the site for nearly half a year and we can't just pretend like nothing happened, so let's do this.

So, you know how this sort of thing goes; first I issue an apology, followed swiftly by a smorgasbord of excuses. Thus, I am genuinely sorry to have been away for so long, I feel that I have let myself down along with anyone who reads the blog. It was, and remains my aspiration and intention to eventually do this sort of thing professionally, and personally I'm very disappointed to have gone over five months without posting a darn thing here. The reasons are many, but primarily I've spent much of the second half of 2012 relocating to a new country, studying, and writing towards other projects. However, even reasons like those cannot excuse such an extensive absence, I simply wasn't managing my time effectively and plan to correct that forthwith. Frankly this little blog is very important to me and I've missed it in the time I've been away. I would happily apologise more thoroughly, but I feel that actions speak louder than words, or perhaps in this case words speak louder than... different words. Basically I plan on writing a lot to make up for lost time. Got it? Cool.

Fortunately for all concerned (that's you and me), I've still been gaming away during this period of truancy and have a lot to talk about. I'm making no promises but remain very optimistic and determined to post plenty of content over the coming weeks/months/units of time. Some of it will most-likely be incredibly outdated at this point; there's a Rayman Origins review I've had sitting in draft for almost a year, but as long as I'm happy with my work then quality content is quality content so I'll stick it up on the site. I'll try to keep the majority as relevant as possible though.

Thanks again for visiting and reading, and all that's left to say is watch this space!

Review: The Walking Dead: Episode 1 - A New Day

The Talking Dead?

Plants vs Zombies vs Some Moody Humans

At this point, you'd have to be pretty far removed from society to be unaware of The Walking Dead in one form or another. Robert Kirkman's Eisnar Award-winning zombie comic series, thanks in no small part to AMC's hugely successful TV adaptation, has quickly become the most popular go-to source for post-apocalyptic fiction fans worldwide. The question of whether or not the slower-paced, character-driven nature of The Walking Dead's universe could translate to a video game began to be posed, and Telltale stepped up to answer. Thus came the first in a line of episodic adventure games. Or, maybe action adventure? Then again, there's an awful lot of dialogue too, but there aren't really many puzzles. So, I'd say what we've got here is a Role-Playing, Action Adventure, Post-Apocalyptic Interactive Story. Thank heaven for sub-genres, eh?

Yes, I did say "Interactive Story" and no that shouldn't be read as "This isn't a video game", it should simply serve as a note of guidance regarding the real nature of this title. A New Day has almost everything you could expect from the recent line of action-oriented Telltale adventures, and for anyone unfamiliar, allow me to break it down; the game is completely driven by its story. It endeavours to present you with superb writing, well-developed characters, and a captivating narrative, and expects these to be your primary motivators, your reasons to see the game through to the end. This game is its story. It's a story that can play out in all sorts of ways, depending on you, your decisions and the actions you take. Yes, our old friend "Moral Choice" makes yet another somewhat indifferent guest appearance on this particular episode, naturally his buddy "Branching Storyline" stars alongside him. Many, Telltale included, have touted the game's huge sense of choice and consequence, and while we'll have to wait a little while to see how these choices really affect how things play out in the long run, there's plenty of reason for any fans of moral dilemmas to get excited. Without spoiling anything, there are no less than five major decisions throughout the first episode, by which I mean choices that impressively impact the way it unfolds, and encourage a great deal of replayability for those who want to see the various paths the story can take. Replaying the game is probably something you'll want to do, especially if you want to see some value for your purchase, since it's only around ninety minutes long, if you take your time.

The chunky outline art-style is heavily-inspired by the comic, and looks wonderful in motion

Impressively, A New Day's choice and consequence system extends beyond those major decisions. Almost every action you take and nearly everything you say seems to have an effect one way or another. Be hostile to those you meet, and perhaps they'll be less inclined to help you. Ask how a guy's family are doing, and he'll remember that you took an interest. It's hard to really say how much each individual line of dialogue truly affects proceedings, but the game does a decent job of making you choose your words carefully, allowing you to incite both friendship and enmity in those you meet depending on the things you say, and the way in which you conduct yourself. For now, we can only hope that Telltale make good on their promises and truly do reward players with some genuine repercussions in later episodes. If the first is anything to go by, we can certainly indulge in a little optimism for the future.

Choice is all well and good, but there's something far more important that must always go hand-in-hand with it, a question you have to ask yourself any time one of these opportunities presents itself and you, as an embodier of a role, as a director of the action, or simply as a guy or girl playing a video game, must answer the question, "Do I care?" It's not hard for games to force us to make choices, we make them all the time, "Should I pick up this shotgun?" "Shall I fight as Ryu or Ken?" "Man City or Barcelona?" "Squirtle or Charmander?" Choice is everywhere in video games--albeit presented in very different ways--but making us care about the choice enough to pause for thought, giving us a compulsion to deliberate over our actions and consider their consequences; that's the tricky part. I'm happy to say that, at least from a personal perspective, A New Day gets more right than wrong, but results and impressions will naturally vary from player to player. It's an entirely subjective matter and will depend solely on how well you can resonate with the characters, how much you care about the story, and the mindset with which you approach the game. It's clear to see that your choices will have visible, tangible effects in the world, and if that's enough to compel you then you'll enjoy this game. If you're one of those who require something more, you might find it a little trickier to engage with A New Day. The story isn't exceptionally well-written, most of the characters never really have the space to develop since there are simply too many of them and not enough time to know them all. Plus, well, you're part of a fractured group of survivors in a zombie-ridden world; the nature of this genre, combined with the universe in which the game is set, coerce the plot in a very obvious direction along a well-worn path. Thus, the choices you must make are predictable, and you can expect very few surprises from A New Day.

So, this is pretty cool right here

As I said before, this game is its story, thus I won't spoil any of it here. Suffice it to say that this is fairly traditional zombie fare, or to be even more specific, this feels like an episode pulled straight from the TV show. Not one of the most memorable or impactful ones unfortunately, and considering its relatively short run-time, it's almost baffling how the episode manages to feel so cluttered, as though one too many zombie clichés have been crammed in. I can appreciate Telltale's willingness to draw-in players with this opener for the series, and demonstrate their moral choice system as much as possible, but perhaps they were a little overeager. It saddens me to say the game reached a point where I couldn't help but bemoan the lack of originality, as I stumbled into yet another of those tired scenarios you can find in virtually every zombie movie ever made. These scenes are clearly meant to have an emotional impact, but by the later stages of the game, it's hard to really care about things you've seen done much better elsewhere many times before. The genre naturally places limits on drama; there are only so many situations writers can conceive in such circumstances, A New Day conclusively proves this concept with an almost embarrassingly "zombie by numbers" plot. However, that's not to say the story isn't without its merits. Your character meets a little girl very early on in the game, and the relationship the pair share serves as a fine emotional hook to drive the plot along, and is easily one of the game's strengths. Whether you want to take on the role of father figure, or be an insensitive jerk is entirely up to you, but I'd wager most players will at least feel a bond with the girl. I found myself going out of my way to check up on her at any opportunity, and experienced genuine dread at the prospect of her coming to even the slightest harm. At least a couple of other characters have enough weight to them that you'll feel at least some degree of emotion towards them, and most of the scenes, despite being a little old hat, are very stylishly presented.

It's fair to say that dialogue makes up a good 75% of A New Day, but when you're not chatting away, there's a decent little bit of game to play. Telltale have experimented with more action-oriented adventures for some time now, with varying degrees of success (Yes, Jurassic Park sucked, but Back to the Future was alright!), but here, finally, there's plenty of evidence on display to suggest they are becoming masters of their craft. Quick-time events aside, the action scenes are very nicely done, often instilling a startling sense of panic as you race against an on-screen timer to play your part in the drama. The game never transforms into full-on third-person shooter, but you'll do your fair share of zombie-killing, and the encounters with the undead serve as welcome adrenaline-shots between the low-key dialogue and "puzzle" sections. I say "puzzle" because these "puzzles" really aren't puzzles at all, they're much more "puzzling" than puzzling, if you know what I mean. In traditional adventure game style, everything can be solved by clicking all over the screen until something happens, not that you'll really need to resort to such antics, since everything is fairly obvious and in plain sight. There's no combining socks with apples to fish a diamond necklace from the bottom of a well here; it's all very straightforward. As stated, time and again, A New Day is so much more about its story and characters above all else. The story must keep moving, and if you were forced to dwell in areas too long, backtracking from room to room searching for objects and clues, it really would break up the narrative. This will undoubtedly serve as a point of contention for some, but I think in this case the game certainly benefits from a more simplistic style, with the action and dialogue exchanges more than making up for any puzzle-deficiency.

Behold, the emotional power of a little girl in a cute cap 

The game runs perfectly well, for the most part, but I did encounter several issues with the audio; at times it would break up, go out of sync, or simply not play at all. Unfortunately, I'd be remiss not to cast light on some of A New Day's other difficulties. Naturally, linearity is to be expected in a game like this, but Telltale unnecessarily force this lack of freedom right down your throat in some pretty unappetising ways throughout. Upon reaching a house, I attempt to walk around it only to hear my character's inner monologue: "Maybe I should check inside that house first before carrying on!" Upon reaching the denouement of the story, invisible walls force me to talk to every character in the area, in the order the game wants. There's one major decision in the game where you're asked to choose between action A and action B--yes, this is as spoiler-free as it gets, people--yet I chose to simply wait out the timer and ignore both options A and B, a choice that the game let me make. Later on, when presented with an almost identical scenario, a scenario where logically I could very easily repeat my expression of neutrality and ignore actions A and B, the game refused to allow it, treating me to a game over screen after I thought I'd made my decision. A choice system is surely intrinsically flawed when the game seems to pick and choose your degree of freedom in whatever manner it feels. I can readily accept that, especially in a game that offers so much choice, it would be both selfish and unreasonable to demand more options, but all I ask for is a little consistency. There's also a few issues with characters seeming to forget the choices I made; a man referred to me as the girl's father despite having informed him, only moments before, that I was her babysitter; a woman thanked me for rescuing her son when I'd done nothing of the sort. These are minor gripes, but they all break immersion, the antithesis of a video game's intentions, and could all have been solved with a little more care and subtlety.

Faithfully interpreting a cult phenomenon in any medium is never an easy task, and Telltale must be commended for giving it a damn good try. The atmosphere, the emotion, the sense of small victories in a desperate struggle for survival: all are aspects of the Walking Dead universe that they have captured and presented as a video game almost effortlessly. It's a shame then that in their pursuit to maintain the comic's spirit, Telltale forgot to add any of their own. They appear to have tried too hard in some respects, and not hard enough in others, resulting in a curiously bittersweet melange of solid yet formulaic storytelling, entertaining yet wanting gameplay, and emotive yet vacuous characters. There's a lot to love and a lot to hate about A New Day. On the one hand, it does almost everything one could have expected from a Walking Dead adventure game, on the other, maybe that's not quite enough.

For the purposes of this review, the PC version of the game was played.