[Review] Nano Assault (3DS)

In recent years, twin stick shooters have gained quite the popularitywith games like Super Stardust HD andBangai-O HD: Missile Fury. Often,they involve futuristic concepts and larger than life proportions. Nano Assault, the third game in the Nano series from Shin’en, goes the otherdirection and takes players within to fight on the surfaces of infected cells. Likethe unexplored depths of the ocean, this proves to be just as interesting ajourney despite it being so close to home.

Each mission sends players to a different cell or part of abody to fight off infections, but players may soon forget this after severalmissions. Every level is satiated with cosmic colors rather than the dull, darkred that players would expect to find in their own bodies; if it weren’t forthe non-spherical structure of the cells that the Nanite fights on, I couldhave easily thought this game had taken place in space. Stereoscopic 3D visualsare put to great use here; the depth of field truly gives the trek around the cellsa magnificent view. It may take some getting used to and may be a bit dizzying atfirst, but once players get used to it, NanoAssault could be one of the most beautiful games on the 3DS.

While the sound effects themselves are nothing to write homeabout – many of which mirror the generic laser sounds science fiction isridiculed for – the soundtrack matches the game’s tone and becomes a key partof the experience. The eerie tone of the music appropriately conveys themystery of the microscopic world while featuring a high paced rhythm that eggsplayers on.

Aside from the 3D twin shooter control levels, the game alsohas levels that take place on a 2D plane and others where it acts as a thirdperson shooter. The former are generally designed well, keeping in mind the Nano series’ 2D roots. Though movementis restricted to two dimensions, players will be able to shoot and shot at inthree dimensions, retaining the game’s twin stick mechanics. The third personshooter levels are intense, often throwing projectiles and obstacles at theplayer at high speed, requiring quick defensive shots or maneuvering. Theexecution of these levels, however, is somewhat of a bust. Enemy shots’distances are often hard to judge, leading to delayed maneuvering and consequentialdeath, and both piloting and the aiming reticle are handled by the analogstick, which had me compensating and aiming at a group of enemies again afterdodging. Luckily, collecting blue gems dropped by enemies give players extrastarting lives, which make the occasional accidental Nanite death more passablethan frustrating. With each life, players get a full refill of special weapons that can be expended freely, robbing the game of its intended difficulty.

Though the twin shooter segments may be what draw gamers in,the boss fights are what keeps them in and take place primarily on the thirdperson segments. Precluded by long segments of exploration and trivial enemies,boss fights are also featured in an unlockable boss attack mode. Often, thesebosses throw cleverly placed projectiles towards players, requiring alertmovement to survive, not unlike the shooters of yesteryear.

The 3DS and its controls may not be the perfect setup for a twin stick shooter, but this game proves that we can still have one on the system. Visually breathtaking and a trip to microscopic levels that players may not have even fantasized about before, Nano Assault is as much an immersive journey as it is a captivating game. With only a few blemishes under its belt, this is definitely a worthy addition to any 3DS library.

Available on: 3DS; Publisher: Majesco Games; Developer: Shin'en; Players: 1; Released: December 5, 2011; ESRB: Everyone; Official Site

Note: A retail copy was provided to Denkiphile for review purposes by the publisher.

[Review] Payday: The Heist (PS3)

Okay, let's be real: given the opportunity and a lack of consequence, we would all want to rob a bank. Hollywood has given us all this guilty pleasure of having us scope out a bank and coordinate this feat to the last detail. Hopefully though, none of us will ever actually try to this because, let's be real once again, you'll die or go to jail. But to give us a better taste and some control in this action, Payday: The Heist is the perfect place to go, with ridiculous clown masks and everything.


The premise of Payday is simple. You and three other friends grab the closest creepy clown masks, some Uzi submachine guns and head to your nearest bank and tear that place up. There is no real tutorial provided; you just walk right up to the bank, listen to instructions, and at that point it becomes almost instinctual. You start yelling at the civilians, tying them up, shooting the security cameras, and looking for the bank manager who has the key to the vault. Though we all know it's never this simple; before long, the cops show up and it becomes a shoot out. It really is a lot of fun, and easy to pick up and play. Throughout the game, you may have an outside man who will give you instructions and updates on when and where police attacks are coming from. Though you might worry that robbing banks might get old one day, that's not the only thing that you do. The game comes with six different maps that will let you commit bank robbery, steal from drug dealers, diamond heists, and more. Developer Overkill Software has announced that there will be DLC to expand gameplay even more.

The gameplay parallels that of any typical first person shooter, though it can be choppy and in general less smooth than other titles. My biggest issue would be that the aiming can lack fluidity and make it difficult to shoot moving cops, though adjusting the sensitivity does help and is recommended. While both the single player and multiplayer have identical gameplay, the best part of the game is playing online and organizing your team, shouting commands to each other and sweating profusely under the pressure. With three pretty much useless AI teammates, you really need that human factor of conflict and arguing to make the game that much more authentic.

After completing a heist, you are awarded money that measures what level you are and can allow certain upgrades such as extra armor, guns, health packs and others. However, one big oversight of the game is that the upgrade system is hidden deep in the settings; players will have to spend some time searching to figure it out that there is an upgrade tree that allows you to choose a path to upgrade your character.  But once you do, it really enhances the gameplay. This is especially true while playing online because upgrades allow you to use different strategies and possibly equip certain players with extra ammo or extra health. These also allow for a larger variety of guns, so you can have a look out sniping, a power guy with heavy firepower, and a more subtle stealthy player amongst other possibilities.

Payday: The Heist might not be the best first person shooter out there but it offers more than enough to keep your criminal urges under control. With the variety in the gameplay combined with the (hopefully) upcoming DLC, this game offers a lot at the $20 price point, making for great replay value. So get your team together and start building your money and reputation as you try to become the most successful criminal in the world, or the virtual world at least.

Available on: PC, PS3; Publisher: Sony Online Entertainment; Developer: Overkill Software; Players: 1 - 4; Released: October 18, 2011; ESRB: Mature; Official Site

Note: A promotional code was provided to Denkiphile for review purposes by the publisher.

[Review] Rage (PC)

While popular, apocalyptic scenarios often feel weak andseparated from the world we live in at large. Rage takes a different angle, playing out a scenario where reallife asteroid Apophis strikes the Earth in 2029, leaving the world in afamiliar wasteland as many have seen before in other games. Inaccurate dateaside, Rage has been in developmentfor over four years and been on the receiving end of some much deserved hype. Thegame not only did a good job of hyping players up, but delivers the premiereFPS experience worthy of id’s reputation.

In the beginning, players assume the role of a nameless arksurvivor and are immediately thrown into the fray, surrounded by eager raiderswho are ready to take the bounty on any ark survivor’s head. Luckily, theplayer is saved by Dan Hager, a leader of a small settlement who sets him upwith everything needed to go out and explore the wastelands, before kicking himout that is. It’s the basic premise that most post apocalyptic games willinclude, but Rage just does such agreat job of throwing players into the world. Rides through the desolate desertbegin as lonely treks, but are soon joined by mutants who would be satisfied bynothing more than turning players’ buggies into scrap metal. More than that,interaction with NPCs rarely result in long conversations, but are shortone-liners that usually telegraph how little trust this society has – untilit’s earned, of course.

As daunting as it may be to drive through the badlands, thegunfights take center stage and instill even more terror into a future wherescientists fail to deter Aphophis’s descent. Though hostile territory willoften seem peaceful, there are enemies waiting at every turn. Not in the cheapway where they will just pop up and scare players into flinching, but they cancome from all corners, announcing their presence with a battle cry andprompting players to search in all directions. The enemies come fast and hard,forcing a panicked shot to repel them. It’s an interesting way to terrorizeplayers and definitely fits with the tone of the game. Each shot providesfurther excitement; enemies flinch and react accordingly to their targetedlimbs, perhaps doing a slight barrel roll and regaining their composure beforecontinuing their assault.  

In order to make mutant shooting an engaging experience, thegame’s arsenal is as varied as they are interesting. While many of these weaponsmay seem like the archetypes we’re already used to, such as pistols, shotguns,and sniper rifles, Rage’s inclusionof special bullets with additional effects. There’s just a certain satisfactionwith blowing up a crowd with a pistol. Appropriately, weapons are banged up andlack the luster that a preapocalyptic world’s routinely cleaned weapons wouldhave. It’s just another way the game makes the environment feel authentic,rather than simply plugging players into a different world with the samegeneric tools, Rage provides theplayer with believability down to the firearms.

In a first, Ragewas developed to be the same across the board, providing the ideal visual andgameplay experience to all gamers regardless of platform. However, that comeswith its own set of problems. While the PC is generally the ideal platform toplay any game, having the benefit of graphics processors that may cost as muchas most video game consoles, these capabilities are clearly untapped. Beassured that the game’s textures and graphics look amazing, but the amount ofpop-ups throughout are staggering. Even worse, the game provided no performanceoptions for graphics, dumbing Rage downto a console game and omitting the customization that PC gamers so fancy.

Of all the first person shooter games available right now, Rage is undoubtedly the standout title,benefiting from years of experience from the id development team. While it’snot exactly a survival horror title, the natural feeling of fear the gameconveys is perfect, eliciting panic that compliments the fast paced shooting. Whilethe military shooters will still duke it out this Christmas season, Rage seems like it already holds theprime position for best single player experience in a first person shooter thisyear. 

Available on: PC, PS3, Xbox 360; Publisher: Bethesda Softworks; Developer: id Software; Players: 1; Released: October 4, 2011; ESRB: Mature; Official Site

[Review] Deus Ex: Human Revolution (PC)

Eleven years after the original game came out, Deus Ex: Human Revolution is ironically set 11 years before the original. With a different publisher, Square-Enix, that undoubtedly has more Japanese roots and is more reknown for their static, yet emotion driven stories, it was definitely an awkward combination with Deus Ex’s open-ended world that constantly changed with the player’s actions. Thankfully, the Japanese publisher’s signature gameplay and storytelling hasn’t interfered with the western philosophy of design and left gamers with everything they could expect of a sequel.

Everything in the surrounding does a great job of immersing the player into the futuristic world of Detroit, which seems to be the hotbed for the issue of human augmentation. Everyone is a part of the discussion somehow. Items such as eBooks and emails constantly give updates regarding previous missions and the war on augmentation. Overall, protagonist Adam Jensen’s missions feel more relevant unlike in other open-world games where pedestrians walk around blissfully unaware of the world-changing missions the protagonist embarks upon. Many of the NPCs working at Serif industries even comment on the player’s performance, making snide remarks about the Adam's increasing body count or complimenting him on a job done well.

During persuasion segments, the game uses realistic facial cues to convey a character’s emotions and allow players to make the proper decision based on that. Everything from body gestures to slight eye movements are enough to inform players of the right tactic to take. Like L.A. Noire before it, Human Revolution’s renditions of human emotions are almost downright creepy, yet a sight to behold, and only further immerse players into the 2027 version of Detroit. Outside of these persuasion segments and pre-rendered cutscenes, though, it seems as though every character suffers from OCD, constantly twitching their hands and turning their hands in every other direction.

Most impressively, Human Revolution offers a myriad of ways to play through the game. In baddie-riddled levels, players’ options are pretty much split between a stealth strategy and scattering the floor with bodies. Despite this possible oversimplification, Adam's slew of possible augmentations gives way to a variety of play styles. The best part about these is that there are no real tech trees or prerequisites to speak of; players are free to start building up Adam in any way they see fit. Unlike other RPGs that provide simple stat upgrades and encourage balanced skill building, Human Revolution’s augmentations all perform vastly different functions. None of them really conflict with each other, but it will take players both creativity and strategy to find the right combinations of  augmentations to fit the bill, whether it be some battery upgrades along with cloaking for effective sneaking or some augmentations for better armor and aim.

Despite the game allowing players to shoot down every enemy, impatient players will learn that such a strategy leads to a quick downfall. Without any augmentations, Adam can only last a couple of seconds in bullet fire or die from one well placed grenade; the constant threat of a swift death makes for some of the most adrenaline-pumping gun fights and sneaking that players will ever experience. At times though, the game’s AI can be a bit lacking. Some segments find the AI swarming over players, giving them less and less breathing room until cornered; at other times, they may be content firing aimlessly in Adam's direction despite him not having popped up for a good minute. To boot, the game’s ridiculously long load times will quickly detract most from attempting difficult boss fights more than a couple of times. Also, these very same boss battles don’t seem too well thought out. After losing to Barret countless times, I found that he bombed himself to death from grenades after I had only shot him five times, which was a bittersweet victory considering how hard I had tried before.

Human Revolution does many things right. Its world that reacts to the player’s decisions in subtle manners, persuasion scenes that show emotions uncannily resembling those of live human beings, and augmentations that allow almost any strategy to work are featured in few games, much less all together at the same time. However, the shortcomings that the game does have hold it back from being perfect. Nonetheless, these aspects do little to take away from an otherwise masterpiece of a game and gamers looking for the most complete, immersive experience should not let this one pass them by.

Available on: PC, PS3, Xbox 360; Publisher: Square-Enix; Developer: Eidos Montreal; Players: 1; Released: August 23, 2011; ESRB: Mature; Official Site