Remember Wayne? He's back—in Wii form.

ith the Wii, Nintendo and its licensees have aimed, from the beginning, to deliver a very specific experience—a pleasing sense of connection between your motions and the on-screen action, not really trying to masquerade as ‘simulation.’ The Wii magic. So, how satisfying and how magical is NHL Slapshot (Sepember 7th; EA Sports; rated everyone), the first Wii hockey game that video sports expert Electronic Arts has published?

Many gamers are curious about the stick peripheral that comes with the game; yes, you play this game while holding a reasonable facsimile of a hockey stick. Rest assured it doesn’t feel flimsy or cheap; it’s solid, without being heavy. And it’s not even completely asinine. It’s actually cool. Much effort and thought evidently went into its design—Senior Producer Joe Nickolls says the team tried 11 different iterations before arriving at the current one, which he says is the first Wii peripheral that Nintendo has ever licensed, that they didn’t build themselves.

We got off to a rocky start, the stick and I. Though I’d been impressed by a live demo I had at EA headquarters a week earlier, when I opened up the game to review it, I found no assembly instruction sheet for the stick peripheral (which ships in about 7 pieces) in the box; all I found were a few sentences in the game manual which may as well have said, “put the thing in the other thing.” No pictures, even. And since the game isn’t in stores yet, it hasn’t spawned much community discussion—so I couldn’t even ask the internet how to build the thing. Before I’d even switched the Wii on, I was already feeling bogged down and tripped up by the peripheral.

But then I fired up the game, and immediately discovered video tutorials for stick assembly, and also for the various facets of gameplay. The vids are absolutely clear, well-produced, and to me, served to make the stick peripheral seem like a good idea again.

What do you know; Wayne embraces technology

Gameplay-wise, simply put, I liked how the experience of skating, passing, shooting and chasing loose pucks in Slapshot compares with that in other hockey games. Reliable scoring moves, back-and-forth action, tons of hits, and deadly one-timer setups remind me of NHL games of yesteryear. I get a sense that, once I get the hang of positioning and timing, I’ll be able to score most of the time when wide-open. And, whether or not it winds up being a reliable way to score, picking a corner after a speed burst-deke combo is pretty satisfying.

Graphics and sound are good for the Wii; there’s absolutely nothing wrong with the presentation here. But unfortunately, jaggies and flickering constantly reminded me that the Wii is technologically inferior to the PS3 and 360. I’m not saying it ruined the experience—just that I noticed.

Game modes are standard for the most part—Single game, season, playoffs, mini-games, practice modes, and the like. ‘Pee-wee to Pro’ mode puts you in control of a single player, guiding him through a career, starting as far back as Peewee if you wish (though you can also just enter the NHL draft as a big person, and start in the big time). Starting out as a wobbly, awkward kid and growing into a superstar athlete has novelty value, but aside from the aesthetic, (did you wonder why marketing materials for this game were full of images of stumpy 11 and 12-year-old hockey players? I did) the career mode here doesn’t stand out, it’s pretty basic.

But how fair is a comparison with hockey games at large? Somewhat… But the Wii is the Wii. And winding up and taking slapshots, and deking out defenders with 1-to-1ish Wiimote motions is a lot of fun, even if the game is low-frills in other regards.

Nope, the logical (and only truly fair) comparison is with NHL2K11, also released recently, and which I haven’t tested extensively, but seems to deliver an experience that’s a little more ‘realistic’, and, while utilizing motion controls, doesn’t have a hockey stick peripheral.

I anticipate both games having their proponents this year, but Slapshot winning the duel. If only because of the stick, and because Wayne Gretzky is a more commanding cover presence than Ryan Kessler. Sorry, Kessie.

I have very few beefs about the game; NHL Slapshot plays well. Turns out, it’s a lot of fun to play video game hockey with a stick in your hands. Though, the fact shooting is motion-controlled but passing is button-controlled, is kind of unfortunate. It necessitates an extra level of thought, which dispels some of that Wii magic. If the Slapshot experiment continues next year, hopefully they find a way to make both shooting and passing motion-based. Also, why can’t we do backhand shots with a backhand motion?

But NHL Slapshot is, not altogether unsurprisingly, as much about hitting, as taking shots. The motion-controlled bodycheck, performed by making a cross-checking motion with the stick peripheral, is punctuated with a terrific boom, and screen shake, and feels pretty darn satisfying. Furthermore it feels more 1:1 than anything you do with the puck. And while you may poke-check and stick lift if you like, I didn’t find those defensive maneuvers nearly as effective as good old fashioned hitting. You’ll be lining up and throwing hits more or less constantly when you don’t have the puck, drawing very few penalties in the process; in my time with the game, the bodychecking mechanic didn’t stop feeling good.

NHL Slapshot is imperfect and not especially deep (if you’re a hardcore sports gamer, this disc won’t replace NHL 11, also built by EA Sports, and which goes retail the same day, for HD consoles Xbox 360 and Playstation 3) it embodies the spirit that made Wii Sports such a joy, and the Wii the best-selling console this generation. And dude—you get to play it with a hockey stick. Do I think people ought to at least try it? Definitely.

Art by Elijah Williams: Nintendo's other 'M'

Metroid: Other M (Aug. 31, Nintendo, rated teen) is an event in the video game universe, being a major first-party release on the world’s most popular gaming console, as well as the latest chapter in a beloved franchise. But it’s a different production than a lot of fans had in mind, and one can even anticipate a small percentage of gamers being weirded the hell out by it.

With Tecmo / Team Ninja (the development team behind the Ninja Gaiden and Dead or Alive franchises) at the helm for the Wii game, and with a new experimental control system in play, Other M, while nevertheless overseen and published by Nintendo, was built from day 1 to be very different from previous entries in the best-selling, universally acclaimed Metroid series. How well has it worked?

Other M can aptly be described as a developer’s attempt to craft a progressive Metroid experience, as an amalgamation of retro side-scrolling, evolved fighting mechanics, innovative use of the Wii’s controls, and “the Metroid vibe.” I think it’s a reasonably successful experiment.

Other M is easy on the eyes; character models and environments are as high quality and good looking as you’d expect from Nintendo. Heroine Samus Aran (she’s the one in the yellow suit) animates fluidly, with a consistent frame rate, even when the screen is packed with neon baddies. And the game shows off nicer lighting effects than I’ve ever seen on the Wii. While these things are often a matter of taste, I personally found it as eye-popping as Sega’s The Conduit, often cited as “The best looking Wii action game.”

There is new emphasis on close-quarters combat and streamlined action sequences, never before seen in Metroid. Charge attacks, evade maneuvers and even finishing moves make every battle exciting. Bosses require timing, skill and patience. Most enemies disintegrate with a satisfying burst when blasted. and there is precious little down time to pause and recharge, which makes health management more vital than ever.

Other M feels way different than any other Metroid. Now, what's a Metroid again?

Other M’s progression is definitely more linear than that in the Metroid Prime trilogy, which placed a premium on exploring your environment thoroughly and learning it inside and out; the (apparently not-so) abandoned Bottle Ship on which Other M takes place is less a maze, than a series of locked doors. It’s generally a given where you’re headed next, but you’ll frequently need to stop and think about how to reach the next area—the map is rife with switch blocks, tunnels, vents and ducts, and to succeed, you’ll need to figure out how they interconnect.

Do the controls work? Mostly. Other M is played with a Wiimote is turned on its side, NES style, the majority of the time. But pointing the Wiimote at the screen flips the player’s perspective to first-person mode, giving Samus decreased mobility, but greater targeting accuracy, and access to her missiles. A similar flip-grip is used to recharge health and missles (though recharging is slow, and gets interrupted if you’re attacked).

This move—changing the position of the Wiimote in your hands—is core to the new mechanic; you will perform this grip shift repeatedly, as you play the game.

With practice, one is able to switch back and forth between modes without too much thought. But occasionally, when switching into 3rd person, the camera inexplicably freaks out, and you wind up taking damage instead of getting off a clean shot—so the Wii and the player are sometimes at odds.

Also, you must correctly orient Samus on screen, ensure she’s facing the direction of the object you wish to target, because if you’re turned around, rotating in first-person mode is hopelessly slow.

My sense is that for such a control system to be declared a complete success, switching perspectives ought not feel any more cumbersome than switching weapons in any other game and should work reliably—and definitely shouldn’t require much thinking. So in other words, in Other M it amounts to a cool idea which is, while functional, not quite there yet.

And finally, though I want this review to be spoiler-free, I need to touch upon the storyline at least briefly, since apparently it’s sore spot for some fans. Samus has been giving a voice, and extensive dialogue for the first time, and her inner struggles and motivations are more fleshed out than in any previous Metroid game. And some gamers simply don’t like what the writers have done to her.

Perhaps it’s to my benefit that I’ve never felt a particularly strong connection with the Metroid story or its characters—I just loved being immersed in its environments—for I don’t feel betrayed or let down by Other M, though I understand some do, and can kind of see their point. Some of the cinematic sequences are truly cringe-worthy. It’s definitely not where I’d have taken the narrative. But I’m inclined to tune the story out altogether, rather than try to reconcile its missteps.

In any case, I’ll live with imperfect controls and story problems in an otherwise good video game. For Metroid: Other M sessions prove immersive, and in many other regards, deeply satisfying.

8 out of 10

Come one, come all, post on the side board, found here.

Metroid: Other M

I got some hands-on time with the upcoming Metroid release (to be released on August 31 for Wii) at a press event in Vancouver last week. It was held in a nightclub—think bouncers built like tanks with knife fight scars, disco balls, and black lights. It made for bad photo ops, but lots of vibe.

And fair enough; the newest Metroid can definitely boast that it has vibe, so maybe its press demos should, as well.

First things first: die-hard fans needn’t worry—Other M appears to preserve most of Metroid’s trademark characteristics, including that quiet, atmospheric zen, which one achieves only by exploring a dark, not-so-deserted outpost turned labyrinth in a yellow space suit.

Read the rest here.

You might like Limbo (Xbox 360; Playdead; Microsoft; rated teen) if you enjoyed Braid, or if you’ve always wished LittleBigPlanet was a little more depressing.

You might not like Limbo if you’ve sustained a serious brain injury recently.

Yup, we’re dealing with the kind of game here that critics love, but because of its quiet, minimalist presentation and puzzle elements, may disappoint some gamers who generally play louder, faster games, but bought Limbo anyway, because of beautiful screen shots and great review scores. And you can already see the forum discussions: fans of the game will unleash contempt (or pity, since clearly, TC suffers from some measure of diminished mental capacity) upon anyone who dares dislike it. Such whipping boys will in turn, call Limbo’s fans pretentious. That’s just how these things work; ask Braid, Okami, and any other ‘art’ game.

But let’s get right down to it—this is a positive review. Limbo is among the most memorable, lovingly crafted 2D puzzle platformers I’ve ever played. Since I can only experience it for the first time once, I want to share Limbo with everyone I know, and watch them play it. And I’d wanted to thrust an Xbox controller into Roger Ebert’s hands, and make him revisit that “video games can’t be art” piece, before I discovered he’d already recanted much of it, earlier this month.

Limbo is definitely artistic, not merely in terms of its uncommon simplicity of staging (bare minimum of story conveyed entirely through pictures, no dialogue) or its visuals, which are absolutely gorgeous and give Limbo a ‘look’ all its own; but rather, with regard to the art of gameplay design.

I don’t play every game of this type (‘artsy’ XBL/PSN games with retro gameplay sensibilities, costing $10–$20, made by independent developers or small studios), not even all of the ones critics swoon over.  But I really admired 2008’s Braid for how it provided a framework for a series of clever puzzles, without ever making you think, “ok, it’s time to do a puzzle now.”

Similarly, Limbo’s puzzles are well integrated, and it’s really good at wordlessly presenting the puzzle parameters (the block, the switch, the moving platform), making it clear where you need to be, then letting you have at it, without violating any rules it has implied, or cheating to make things tougher. There’s got to be an art—or at least a craft—to accomplishing this so well.

Control-wise, there’s a floaty feel to the physics of jumping, swinging and block-dragging, reminiscent of LittleBigPlanet, which didn’t always feel all that precise. But it works fine; Limbo is about nimble platforming, than pushing forward by solving puzzles, gaining access to new areas through making the right choices.

It’s short—it took me just 4 hours or so to get to the end—but at 1200 Microsoft points (or $15), no complaints here. Besides which, there’s enough platforming variety to make subsequent runs enjoyable, even once you’ve ‘solved’ its puzzles.

9 out of 10

2K sports may have a winner on their hands with NHL2K11… this time. Time will tell if gamers at large agree; the game goes on sale August 24.

I got some hands-on with the game when the NHL 2K11 Coast-to-Coast tour rolled through Vancouver (yesterday and today) and found that it plays well, and at least in casual play modes, features wide open back-and-forth style of action found in early NHL hockey video games I loved growing up.

I brought video gear, too—below is an interview with 2k Sports Director of Marketing Chris Snyder and NHL Player Kyle Turris, of the Phoenix Coyotes, conducted by the lovely and talented Loara Holmes:

For the first time, NHL2K is a Wii-exclusive for 2011—2K sports opted to focus on squeezing more fun out of Wii Motionplus, rather than try to compete with EA Sports hockey releases on the HD consoles. 1:1 puck control allows players to flick, slap and maneuver the puck by using the Wiimote like a hockey stick, and it’s more refined and much better integrated than last year.

All in all I like what I’ve seen so far, the action was fast and fun, and the graphics were better than I expected out of the Wii.

Want to try it out yourself? The NHL2K11 RV may be rolling past your house this summer. Check Here for dates and locations for tour stops, and here’s a regional breakdown:

• July 17-18: Calgary
• July 22-23: Vancouver
• July 26-27: Edmonton
• July 30-31: Winnipeg
• August 2-3: Minneapolis
• August 7-8: Chicago
• August 10-11: Detroit
• August 14-15: Pittsburgh
• August 17-18: Toronto
• August 22-23: Ottawa
• August 27-28: Boston
• August 30-31: Philadelphia
• September 3-4: Washington, DC
• September 7-8: New York

You might like Singularity if you enjoyed BioShock but wished it had better guns and uglier enemies, and you really long for the days when Russians were evil and, for the most part, named Boris or Natasha.

You might not like Singularity if you’ve been playing a lot of Killzone 2, Crysis, Gears or War, or some other exceptionally good-looking game lately, or if you’ll gnaw off your own fingers if you’re forced to collect one more “audio diary” in this lifetime.

Read the rest of the article here.

I’m generally not one to start wringing his hands in anticipation of stuff which won’t be out for months, but I’m a nerd, and there are definitely exceptions. Here’s something to drool over:

Graphics comparisons like this one, published by Bitmob, may have helped fuel criticisms that Crackdown 2 isn't a significant improvement over Crackdown 1

The press embargo has been up for an entire 12 hours now, and the Crackdown 2 review scores have begun to hit Metacritic, and already, loads of controversy. So here’s some more:

Thus far, 35 publications have submitted review scores ranging from 90 down to 42, and resulting in a Metascore of 73 (a weighted average; some outlets have more influence than others).

The “big sites” have played it safe, or in any case landed in the middle, giving it scores in the range of 70-75, and I don’t really have a comment on that. What interests me is the enormous variance between the high and low scores, and more specifically, the reasons cited by journalists who gave the game a bad review.

Now I’m not going to pick on anybody here, but this is a call to action: I implore you to look the game up on Metacritic, take some names, and then go yell intelligent things at the critics who punished Crackdown 2 for ridiculous reasons.

I love to debate. I am not attacking people for putting forth views which differ from my own. But I am questioning the barometer of those who so obviously let their expectations affect their analyses. Expectation is an enemy of fair critique. Especially when your unique position (as a games writer who plays basically everything) makes it unimaginable that your readers have the same expectations.

Wtf am I talking about? Well, I can’t see the justification for praising one game and rewarding it with superb review scores, (e.g. Crackdown, score of 90) and then roundly panning its sequel (e.g. Crackdown 2, score of 45), which you’ve acknowledged to be pretty similar to the original. Both games are good, but because you expected the second to be better…

The way I see it, most of the guys ripping on Crackdown 2 fall into two camps:

First, you’ve got the guy who rips it to make a point, railing against devs who build sequels which they deem too derivative of their predecessors, and feel that awarding a shockingly bad review score is a good way to express their disdain.

This guy is bastardizing an already suspect system. He’s using the review score scale to further an agenda, rather than to put forth a fair assessment of the value of the game. He doesn’t care that he’s obscuring the meaning of the Metascore by doing so, because he knows he’s right.

Second, there’s the guy who pans it because it’s not to “his personal tastes,” after all, review scores can’t be wrong; they’re opinion. And he doesn’t see himself playing Crackdown 2, given what else is available to him, and given how much he played Crackdown 1. I mean, if it’s not new and improved…. psshaw.

This guy is just plain out of touch with the reader—the actual dude—who reads his review.

Because here’s the thing: not everyone plays video games for a living. Most people get a game or two every few months. They don’t have a stack of stuff ‘which they’ve been meaning to get to,’ and to them, except for the odd one which genuinely sucks, video games are awesome. They bring home a new game enthusiastically and joyously, forcing themselves not to drive too fast on the way back from Best Buy because they’re so excited to play it. They don’t take it from a Fedex envelope, eye it suspiciously, and then toss it into the pile. And I think it’s a games writer’s job, to at least attempt to relate to them.

Because the average gamer won’t care, and possibly won’t even be aware that Crackdown 2 is very similar to Crackdown 1.

How do I figure? Go look at console sales at VGCharz. During the week ending june 26, 225,192 people bought Xbox 360s. Two hundred thousand people got a new Xbox 360 last week. And for most of them, it’s their first Xbox 360 (normal people don’t have multiple Xbox 360s).

So I want to ask the journalists in the second camp: if Johnny is buying an Xbox and wants to buy a game or two to go with it, why the hell shouldn’t one of them be Crackdown 2? It’s fun. It’s great mix of platforming and sandbox elements, it has addictive item collection, and when you factor in online play and co-op, many owners will play it for 100 hours or more. You said so yourself…yet your review scores serve to discourage people from buying it.

Also this is only loosely related, but can we agree once and for all that putting the word ‘uninspired’ in a video game review is kind of lame? How the hell do you know how inspired the creative team felt when they were crafting the game?

Rant complete. And forgive me if that sounded harsh; I haven’t had an Agility Orb fix in several hours now, and so I’m feeling moody.