From the Butlerniverse

Tonight, I review a great but ungodly expensive game (in the grand scheme of things) for the PS3, as I eagerly await the much less expensive PSP game in the franchise.

Game Title: The Eye of Judgment

Platform Reviewed: Playstation 3

Also Available: N/A

Created by: Japan Studio

When I was younger, I did not get into Magic: The Gathering when it was all the rage. In fact, I only acquired MTG cards and played MTG  years later, when I was able to buy a bunch of them cheap from a friend, just so we could play against each other. That is not to say that I didn’t enjoy card games. I was a huge fan of the Star Wars Customizable Card Game (SWCCG) from Decipher (the precursor to the great WARS Trading Card Game franchise that I’m now writing a novella for, if you hadn’t heard). I hunted down virtually every main character’s rare cards for several years, spending far too much money on that particular game. In later years, I played a tiny bit of Net Runner and even Pokemon (due to that same friend), but none of those games held my attention in later years, except for a quasi-CCG from Steve Jackson Games called Knightmare Chess, which included only two pre-created sets of cards (no booster packs) that were played alongside a game of real chess.

Then I purchased a PS3. After years of not having played CCGs/TCGs at all, I found myself intrigued by an unusual game for  the Playstation 3. The game, entitled The Eye of Judgment used specially designed cards with coding on them. As the game is played in front of the Playstation Eye with the PS3 game running, the battles “come to life” on the screen for a very dynamic experience. Best of all, I could play it without another player, now that my time is limited, as is my array of friends in this area who enjoy such games.

But is the game worthwhile, you ask? Therein lies the purpose of this review.

Story: The story of The Eye of Judgment is really incidental in the PS3 version of the game (though more prominent in the PSP version that is coming soon, The Eye of Judgment: Legends). In essence, there are numerous factions vying for power in a mystical land, each of which is aligned with an aspect of nature (and one unnatural “element”): Earth; Fire; Wood; Water; and the unnatural, mechanical Biolith alignment. You play as a wizard (mage, wizard, Harry Potter wannabe, whatever you prefer) that is casting spells to bring these factions into combat. Beyond that, the story is a somewhat convoluted fantasy tale, but it is all told in the manuals and such (or in bonus features of the game, in text form), so it does not play a major role in the game. The card gaming is the star of this experience, not the story.

Gameplay: Rather than going into all of the details of the card game’s mechanics, which would bore the living hell out of anyone now heavily into card games, let me try to summarize the most salient points of The Eye of Judgment and its approach to gaming.

When you first purchase the game, which originally retailed for $70 ($10 more than a regular PS3 game) but is much cheaper most places now, you receive: the PS3 game; a 30-card starter deck; a booster pack; a game mat; and the Playstation Eye camera with a special stand.

Now, let’s be clear on what I just said: you get actual, physical cards here. This is not like the Star Wars Galaxies Trading Card Game or its ilk, where all cards are digital. You literally play with real cards, all of which have special coding on them, so that the Playstation Eye can recognize the card and certain actions, so that the card game literally interacts with the video game (which requires the cards to play).

You lay out the “mat” (your “field of battle”) on a flat surface, with the PS Eye camera on its stand in a specific position in relation to the playing mat. The field consists of nine squares, laid out like a tic-tac-toe board. As you “summon” creatures and such, they are placed into those squares, facing a particular direction. (On the TV screen, you will see these creatures spring to life atop their respective location on the board, and when they battle each other, you see animations of those actions in a full-screen battle sequence, or you can skip that part when it becomes tedious.)

Your goal here is not to wipe out the other player’s (or computer’s) life force (deck in most games). Instead, your goal is to end a turn while controlling five of the nine spaces on the board, while trying to stop your opponent from doing so by kicking the ever-loving asses of his or her creatures.

The Cards: The cards for this series are quite well done, and there is a great variety of characters and factions in play. I actually find the selection about as intriguing as the WARS TCG, which is really saying something here.

There is a catch, however.

The original set of cards (aptly called “Set 1″) consists of about 100 cards. You are playing with a starter deck and one booster pack, from which to develop your 30-card deck for dueling. As you defeat the CPU, you unlock different themed decks to play against, but you need actual cards to use a card on your end. In other words, to play with more than just the cards the game came with, you’ll be needing to purchase more cards, and that becomes difficult because, quite frankly, I have never seen The Eye of Judgment cards on sale anywhere except on Ebay or Amazon. You won’t have much luck finding these in brick and mortar stores, most likely.

To make matters more frustrating, you not only have to purchase more cards if you want to use different characters (like in a regular TCG, which is to be expected), but when you want to start using cards from Set 2 or Set 3, the other two 100-card (or so) expansion packs, you will have to spend $14.99 per set to obtain a license that unlocks that portion of the game itself (after downloading the newest update to the software).

In other words, expect to spend some cash here.

That being said, the array of cards is nice, and the fact that each set has only 100 cards (instead of 300 or more as in some card games) makes collecting the sets at least a bit more feasible than it otherwise might be.

Moreover, Set 1 (built into the game upon purchase) and Set 2 (the first expansion of cards and DLC) both include theme decks that you can purchase instead of loading up on a ton of booster packs. That was the route that I took, outside of purchasing big lots of rare or other cards on Ebay.  Each Set (1 or 2) has five possible theme decks, one for each of the alignments in the game. Unfortunately, Set 3 did away with theme decks (for purchase, at least). You still play against Set 3 CPU theme decks in the one-player game, but they are not able to be purchased as such, making Set 3 the only booster-only set of the trio.

The Verdict: The Eye of Judgment is a game that never fails to entertain me, even as its “normal” difficulty level (the one necessary to unlock theme decks to battle against) continuously kicks my ass all over the field. As someone who, over time, has purchased the original game, all of the ten theme decks (five each from Sets 1 and 2), and a ton of other cards (now amounting to an almost full set), I really enjoy breaking out the cards and getting into some EOJ.

The visuals are nice, and, frankly, this is the kind of interactive card game that I have wanted for decades. I really enjoy this game.

The downsides, though, are pretty heavy if you don’t have both the patience to set up the PS Eye and play mat every time you want to play or the money to purchase cards beyond the original starter deck that comes with the game.

If you have the cash and the time, this is an awesome experience for TCG/CCG fans.

However, let me offer a different piece of advice this time, rather than “buy it” or “don’t buy it.”

Later this year (Spring 2010, they say, though it is already out in Japan), a new entry in the series is being launched. The Eye of Judgment: Legends will be launched on the PSP (yes, PSP, not PS3) and feature the same great gameplay. However, the PSP version will lack the battle animations (at least the larger ones) and will use virtual cards, not physical cards, which you can earn, among other ways, through in-game victories. The PSP version will also include a story mode for single player outings. This PSP version, with its virtual cards, seems as though it will be a lot cheaper (and require zero setup time with a PS Eye or other peripherals), which might make this the better choice for someone new to the Eye of Judgment franchise.

Even better: the PSP game has a demo available for download already. While I still think the original EOJ experience is the better of the two for card gamers, the PSP version is such a close second that I’d recommend either one very highly to those into TCG/CCG play.

Grade: B+ (if we count setup time and cost) or A (ignoring setup time and cost)

A trading card game that blends seamlessly into a PS3 game, finally bringing such card games to a whole new level. Highly recommended for those with the time and money to play.

Tonight, I finally continue the Metroid reviews with the first chronological entry in the Metroid Prime subseries.

Game Title: Metroid Prime

Platform Reviewed: Nintendo Wii

Also Available: Gamecube

Created by: Retro Studios (developer), Nintendo (publisher)

Story: Metroid Prime is set after the events of the original Metroid. It kicks off the Metroid Prime Trilogy (and the tie-in Nintendo DS games, Metroid Prime: Hunters and Metroid Prime Pinball). Samus Aran receives a distress signal from a Space Pirate vessel, which is essentially in the midst of a civil war. They have been experimenting on their own, creating super soldiers, in a sense. Now, the ship is heavily damaged. Samus goes aboard and battles parasites, only to find herself injured (and her suit diminished back to square one, typical of Metroid games) before following Meta Ridley (her foe from Metroid in cybernetic form) down to the nearby planet Tallon IV. There, she discovers that the pirates are experimenting with an energy called Phazon. She battles through hordes of pirates and creatures, eventually battling the enhanced pirates and Meta Ridley, before heading down to an impact crater, formerly sealed by the Chozo and guarded by their spirits, where she discovers Metroid Prime, a Phazon-enhanced (or perhaps Phazon-born) creature that must be destroyed to save the planet from its Phazon corruption (and to end the Phazon experiment by the piratse).

Gameplay: First, let me say this: At one time, I picked up Metroid Prime 3: Corruption for the Wii and found myself wanting to play the first two, so I scrounged around for them on Ebay and in used game stores. I found the third game’s Wii controls so much better than the restrictive Gamecube controls for the other two (along with the restrictive aspect ratio on the GC, as compared to the Wii). I eventually gave up on MP1 and MP2, then sold them for a decent profit. I later watched as a friend finished MP3 while I had no time to play due to work obligations, and once I saw how it ended, I also stopped playing MP3 (because, eh, I’d seen it all already, if not experienced it), so I sold that one off too.

When Metroid Prime Trilogy arrived for the Wii (featuring Metroid Prime 3 in its normal Wii format, plus Wii-enhanced versions of Metroid Prime and Metroid Prime 2: Echoes with controls like MP3 and widescreen support). I had heard good things about these new versions of MP1 and MP2 when released in Japan as part of Nintendo’s New Play Control series. I decided it was time to dive in headfirst. I even went so far as to collect all of the other Metroid games that I’d never played much (which meant every game except Metroid II: Return of Samus). I played all of those first, then began Metroid Prime, only to stop playing for months while various obligations took up my time and other games took my interest.

Thus, I have finally went full-bore into finishing Metroid Prime, finally completing it today with 100% item completion in just under 14 hours. (Yeah, it’s long, though not RPG long.)

That all being said . . .

The Metroid Prime games are hailed as “First Person Adventures” (FPA) instead of “First Person Shooters” (FPS). This was the first Metroid game to move into first person, 3D gaming, rather than side scrolling 2D.

Samus’ moves (new and old), include: multiple beam weapons (Power; Wave; Ice; and Plasma, each of which can build up a larger blast with the Charge Beam feature); missiles; Morph Ball mode (with bombs, power bombs; spider ball, and boost ball features); space jump boots (double-jumping, but no Screw Attack this time); four visors (regular; scanning; thermal; and X-ray); four suits (regular; Varia; Gravity; and Phazon); and the Grapple Beam that allows her to swing on an energy tether. Samus can also combine a charged shot with her missile ammunition to create combo weapons, including Super Missiles (Power Beam); Wavebuster (Wave Beam); Ice Spreader (Ice Beam); and Flamethrower (Plasma Beam).

From a control standpoint, the Wii version is definitely an upgrade from the Gamecube. Jumping is handled with the B button (right hand trigger). Firing the beam weapons is handled with the A button (right hand thumb), while the missiles are fired with down on the directional pad (right hand thumb, forward of A button). Menus are accessed via 1 and 2 buttons (lower on the top surface of the Wii remote), while holding the – or + buttons will allow you to easily point to a particular segment of the screen to quickly switch visors or beam weapons (or a quick tap will default to the regular visor or Power Beam). Aiming is handled with the Wii remote’s pointer, as you move crosshairs on the screen, which also turns Samus. Forward, backward, and strafing movements are handled with the analog stick (left hand thumb), while C (upper left hand trigger) activates and deactivates Morph Ball mode (wherein bombs are dropped with A and power bombs are dropped with down on the directional pad, while boosting is handled with B and spider ball gripping is handled with Z). The Z button (lower right hand trigger) locks on or activates the Grapple Beam when pointing at a grapple point. While in Scan Visor mode, Z also scans targeted objects.

The Verdict: This is a classic Metroid game in terms of gathering power-ups and exploring a huge world, while entering the 3D realm. With Wii controls in place, it  makes for a great experience, even if I’m horrible at 3D, first person platforming with the space jump ability. I was able to get through the game in 14 hours, while getting every single item that counts toward your finishing percent (and the unveiling of different endings).

If you have a Wii, Metroid Prime is a good pick in GC format (if you care for those controls), but with its inclusion on Metroid Prime Trilogy, along with the other two Metroid Prime games, I would consider that collected edition an absolute “must buy.”

With that being said, let me provide a word of warning: Nintendo has apparently ceased production on Metroid Prime Trilogy for the Wii. It was apparently a limited run item. If you find a copy, buy it! Even if you don’t plan to play for a long while, get that sucker. If you don’t, you may end up regretting it now that it is out of print and will either become very hard to find or very expensive to purchase. Save yourself the self-flagellation later. Get it now.

Grades: A- (because I am grading it against Metroid Prime 3: Corruption due to the gameplay similarities)

A great start to a great trilogy, even with the backtracking involved in earning a 100% ending.

Note: It will be a long while before the next entry in this review series. Metroid: Other M will not be released until later this year, and I own (but have not completed) the other three games in this review series: Metroid Prime 2: Echoes; Metroid Prime 3: Corruption; and Super Metroid. I will soon begin playing Metroid Prime 2 on the Metroid Prime Trilogy game disc, but I have a feeling that it will be slow going, given that God of War III arrives very soon, and most of my free time that isn’t video game stress relief is being used to work on my novella.

I’ve reviewed the great Dante’s Inferno game, the asinine Soul Packs, and two new costumes for Dante: the awful Poet Dante and the decent (but not very different) Animated Dante. Now, it’s the DLC that Playstation 3 fans have been waiting for (because it’s, well, free) and another oddball.

Game Title: Dante’s Inferno

DLC: Dark Forest and Relics Triple Pack

The Relics Triple Pack is somewhat lackluster. Paolo’s Heart (upgradable to Level 3) allows the souls you earn to be converted into Mana to refill your Mana when you defeat enemies. Wing of Furie adds to your hit count multiplier, helping earn combos (and some trophies, I’d imagine) more easily. Brain of Rudggieri lets Dante evade during a focus attack animation.

You could argue that the hit counter affect is akin to the Soul Packs, an institutionalized way of cheating your way to the top. The ability to evade during focus attacks is decent, but I have not found much use for it yet. The ability to gain Mana from defeated enemies instead of souls when you are out of Mana is useful, but if you have reached Unholy Level 6 (or 7), then you already have an ability (probably) that lets you gain Mana from any enemy destroyed with Dante’s (Death’s) Scythe.

The Dark Forest DLC is what many fans of the game have been waiting for. PS3 owners were able to purchase the PS3 Divine Edition of the game (the only one available for PS3), instead of the standard version that Xbox 360 received. In that Divine Edition was a voucher (code) for a free download of a mysterious bit of DLC in March. It was said to include “a new costume, relic, and a prequel level featuring two new enemies, an expanded storyline, and more than 30 minutes of new gameplay.”

That DLC turned out to be Dark Forest, which is basically set during the earliest portion of the game, wherein Dante finds himself in the Dark Forest and must make his way to his father’s home, where Beatrice awaits. Basically, it inserts some action between parts of that opening cutscene, making it the promised “prequel level.”

It does indeed include two new enemies: a new variant on the big guardian demons and a new variant of the lust temptresses (a siren of sorts this time). Frankly, these feel like new skins over old enemies. The new enemies just feel like the same kind of swapped out looks for similar foes from the regular game, just like we see with variants of the enemies in the different circles of Hell.

Speaking of skins, I did not believe we could end up with a worse costume than that idiotic looking poet costume. I was wrong. The costume found here has nothing to do with the storyline, the time period, or anything else other than a pun. The game is Dante’s Inferno . . . so we get . . . and I shit you not . . . Disco Inferno Dante. Yes, the new costume is Dante in a white suit ready for disco dancing. (See, I told you it was more idiotic than that awful poet costume.)

The new relic is the Stone of Wrath, which reduces the amount of Mana your magic attacks use. That’s useful enough, but if you have already finished the game, your Dante is probably pretty badass by now anyway.

(Speaking of which, you start the DLC level through a separate menu but you retain all of Dante’s abilities from your saved game. LucasArts should take a lesson for this when making The Force Unleashed II rather than giving us the pre-created version of Starkiller in future DLC like they did with the original The Force Unleashed game.)

The new level plays out with some minor puzzles and some heavy enemy waves (mostly guardian variants, the new lust variants, a few heretics, and some furies). The gameplay is solid enough and feels like the rest of the overall game. Now, I have heard complaints about continuity with the DLC. For example, people are complaining that…

• Dante has Death’s Scythe in this level before he should
• The enemy Dante is pursuing reveals a major plot point spoiler (in terms of the flashbacks, not the “present” gameplay)
• Dante should not have powerful abilities at this point
• Dante should not be able to absolve or punish enemies yet because he does not have
• These enemies should not be present because Dante is not yet in Hell
• Dante sees Beatrice’s “ghost / soul” when he doesn’t know she’s dead yet.

I would argue that some of those are valid, but not all. For example, the claim that the Scythe comes later is just not true. Those making that argument don’t seem to understand the way the game plays out chronologically. Yes, the plot point is revealed. No, Dante should not have powers yet, not should hae have the ability to absolve or punish (given that he does not yet have Beatrice’s cross). As for the enemies . . . I would probably argue that since Lucifer is already at work here (seen in the cutscene and in his creatures attacking you before you go down into Hell in the original game), it makes some sense for him to have set loose others against you during the prequel level. As for Beatrice, perhaps he thinks it is a vision, not her ghost / soul?

The Verdict: The costumes have been $1.99, and they have been awful or “meh,” so I suppose I should consider the prices here. The Relics Triple Pack might be useful and nifty to have, so, for some, it will feel like it is worth the $2.99 price tag (if you’re willing to pay about a dollar per relic). For me, it felt like a wash.

As for the Dark Forest DLC, I have mixed feelings. If you purchased the game while the download code was available, then you picked up this for free. It is hard to argue with an extra level of Dante’s Inferno when it is free, just like it is  hard to argue against picking up Heavy Rain Chronicles: The Taxidermist when it was also free to preorder customers.

Without the free DLC voucher, however, this DLC costs $4.99. That is probably worth it, since you get a new level (albeit a short one) that (mostly) fits into the story. The relic is useful but not anything particularly interesting, and the two new enemies feel far too familiar to really feel “new.” The new costume, however, is outright crap. Travolta, Dante is not.

Would I pick up Dark Forest if I were paying for it? Yeah, probably. And then I would gripe even more about the idiotic costume, while saying that the new level was “meh.” If you’re a diehard Dante’s Inferno fan, pick it up. Others, consider whether there’s something else to spend your $4.99 on this week.

Grade: B (for the Dark Forest DLC free); B- (for Dark Forest DLC if paying for it); C (for the Relics Triple Pack)

Tonight, we continue looking at the new DLC for Resident Evil 5.

Game Title: Resident Evil 5

DLC: Desperate Escape and Costume Pack 2

As mentioned in a previous review for Resident Evil 5: Lost in NightmaresCharacter Pack 1 and, Capcom is releasing Resident Evil 5: Gold Edition on March 9, 2010. Rather than forcing players to repurchase the game to get the new content (or pulling a LucasArts and claiming the content is “exclusive” and then totally screwing the diehard fans over by having that turn out to be a flat-out lie), Capcom has taken the new content for the game and made it available as DLC. Those who purchase all of the DLC will have all of the same content as the new purchasers, which is a very nice setup.

Resident Evil 5 began without a regular versus mode. They then released the Versus DLC, which added in two Versus modes (Slayers and Survivor) for $4.99. Much, much later, they released the first of the new items tying into Gold Edition: the Lost in Nightmares mission (which has you acting out an extended version of the major flashback sequence from RE5) and the first Character Pack. By purchasing Character Pack 1, a new version of Mercenaries, entitled Mercenaries Reunion and found under Extra Content, not within the original Mercenaries game, was open for play with new characters.

Thus, until this week’s new DLC, we had Mercenaries Reunion with Warrior Chris, Fairy Tale Sheva, Excella Gionne, and Barry Burton. (The new costumes for Chris and Sheva can be used in the regular game as well.)

This week, we have seen the release of Character Pack 2. This new pack includes Heavy Metal Chris and Business Sheva, both playable in Mercenaries Reunion and as skins in the regular game. Again, for $1.99, this might not be worth it for the skins unless you are really into new game skins, but the ability to play as these characters as part of the total of eight characters (as of this week) available in Mercenaries Reunion probably makes it worth the two dollars.

The major new content this week is Desperate Escape, however. This new pack provides two new Mercenaries Reunion characters: Josh Stone (RE5) and Rebecca Chambers (featured in RE1 but a playable character in RE0). That is just a side bonus, though. The real meat of the release is a new mission (playable with co-op as in the rest of the game’s missions). Whereas Lost in Nightmares was a slow, moody, rather dull (in my opinion) trek through Spencer’s mansion, this segment is a “balls to the wall” action sequence that lasts quite a bit longer and features hordes of enemies, including some of the ones that will make you say “oh shit” from the regular game. (There don’t seem to be any new baddies, unlike the new baddie introduced in Lost in Nightmares, but that makes sense for the premise.) The sequence follows Jill Valentine from the moment that Sheva and Chris leave her in the main game. It then follows Jill and Sheva’s old ally Josh Stone, as they make their way to a landing pad to escape through tons of enemies. This sets up sequences with Jill via radio and via helicopter late in the regular game. It is, in essence, much like Separate Ways in RE4 in that it runs parallel to the original game and explains what some characters were doing “off screen” during the storyline as it was originally presented. You play as Jill at first, then  you can unlock Josh after completing the scenario.

The Verdict: The Costume Packs (both of them) are $1.99 and worth it if you like new costumes or want the two versions of Chris and two versions of Sheva that can be used in Mercenaries Reunion. Desperate Escape, at a measly $4.99 makes a fun, hectic new addition to the Resident Evil 5 experience and, in my opinion, is probably the best of the RE5 DLC to date. (That is, of course, unless you are huge on multiplayer, then you’ll probably consider this one as coming in second to the Versus DLC.)

I, for one, am happy with these purchases, much more so than I was with the previous RE5 DLC.

Grade: A

Tonight, I take a look at the first ever DLC for the phenomenal Heavy Rain.

Game Title: Heavy Rain

DLC: Heavy Rain Chronicles: The Taxidermist

A few days ago, I reviewed the amazing new PS3 exclusive, Heavy Rain. The game itself enthralled me so much that not only did I give it a rave review, but it also became the one and only game that I have spent hours going back to get every single possible trophy, earning my first (and probably ever only) platinum trophy.

Those who preordered Heavy Rain through certain outlets (Amazon for me) received a code for the Playstation Network Store to download the first DLC for free and early. That made for a good deal. At the moment, those who did not preorder the game (but instead purchased it since its release, even on the release date) will have to wait for it to become available as a paid download sometime in the future (likely within a month or so, I’d imagine).

The question here is whether or not the DLC is worth trying and whether it will be worth paying for down the line.

First of all, let’s talk premise. The story in the DLC takes place a while before Heavy Rain (about two years or so, though it seems more like months). Madison Paige, the journalist from the original game, is hunting clues on the Origami Killer to get a scoop. Instead of finding him, she finds herself in the twisted home and workshop of a different kind of monster. This supposedly helps explain why we first meet Madison during a nightmare, along with why she generally has insomnia (minus a few minor naps here and there).

The scenario is divided into three parts. You will select the story under the downloaded content menu, then start up one of three save slot (though you won’t need that many). You then play through a fairly short scenario. It runs for less than an hour of playing time for one playthrough, and you could probably skip a lot of exploration and finish the story in about fifteen minutes, I’d imagine. Once you finish, you will have discovered one of five possible endings, accompanied by a newspaper headline. The final screen after the credits will give you a checklist of all five headlines and urge you to return to the scenario to figure out how to see the other four endings. You can do so by jumping into the opening of the chapter, an exploration segment, or a tense final segment. Bear in mind that not all of these endings can be canonical, given that certain characters have to be around for the original Heavy Rain later.

Completing the five endings is interesting, but the path through them is fairly similar. You receive no trophies once you have completed all five (or any of them), but you do unlock a concept art gallery for The Taxidermist, which is a nice addition to all of the concept art galleries and such that are unlocked in the regular game.

What really bugs the hell out of me about this first Heavy Rain Chronicle is the voice work. The voice actor for Scott Shelby in the main game plays the voice of the villain in this scenario, who bears no relation to Scott at all. They have also completely replaced the voice actress for Madison, which, after hearing her voice for most of the original game, just feels out of place and, frankly, as if she has become a wimp. I’m not sure how I would feel about the performances if I didn’t have the voices of Madison and Scott in my head from the original game, but it just feels like a clunky choice here.

The Verdict: This is the very first DLC for Heavy Rain. Given how amazing the original game was, I was expecting more from the DLC. The voice actor choices, the lack of any trophies to go along with those I hunted for days on the original game, and the brevity of the scenario make it something that I want to recommend (because I love the Heavy Rain characters) but feel tentative in doing so.

If you preordered the game and have the free DLC code, then, obviously, get The Taxidermist. If you didn’t preorder the game, then, for now, you have no choice but to wait. When this finally becomes available for purchase, I would say that it may be worth $4.99 (as I’m betting it will be), but it isn’t worth a $9.99 price point if they go that route. Seeing more of Heavy Rain is exciting, but this particular episode of the Heavy Rain Chronicles left me wanting more, not because of how great the DLC turned out, but because I felt as though it was lacking. (I feel the same about this, I suppose, as I did about Resident Evil 5: Lost in Nightmares.)

Grade: C+

A quick update for those who follow my “stuff.”

First, be sure to check out the newest episode (234) of Star Wars Action News to hear the second part of my eight part series on “collecting approaches” (or the “EU Collecting Series” as I often call it). The series began in a previous episode (228) with a look at different approaches to collecting Star Wars EU novels, and this new episode brings a segment about approaches to collecting Star Wars comic books. (For the record, the remaining six segments focus on comic packs, “choose your own adventure” books, trading card games, the roleplaying game, home video releases, and video games, though not necessarily in that order.)

Second, be sure to check out We Talk Clones: Episode 32 on the Solo Sound website. This special episode features me as a guest, as the guys grill me (friendly-like) on the “Mandalorian / Traviss / etc.” issue from The Clone Wars.

Third, be on the look out for more video game reviews in the next week or so. Tonight marks the release of Costume Pack 2 and Desperate Escape DLC for Resident Evil 5, plus the Relics Triple Pack and Dark Forest DLC for Dante’s Inferno, and the first episode of Heavy Rain Chronicles DLC (entitled The Taxidermist).

I am going to have to wait on the Dante’s Inferno and Heavy Rain DLC, it seems, as the Playstation Network Store is not currently recognizing preorder bonus vouchers for either of these two DLC items  (and it is not yet clear whether the Relics Triple Pack is something totally new or if it is made of relics that can be found in Dark Forest, making them redundant). If you are having the same problems, I’d be curious to know (use Twitter) to know whether you purchased either game via Amazon. Both of mine were and neither works at the moment. (Then again, it really doesn’t seem as though it is working for anyone. Also, there seems to be no Heavy Rain DLC for direct purchase, only via vouchers . . . which aren’t working.)

I’ll likely play through the RE5 materials tonight, since those are pay-only (not vouchered, if that’s even a word), so I’ll have those tonight.

That, or I’ll run through the end of Heavy Rain a few more times to change the endings and get my last two trophies on the only game I’ve ever cared about trophies for (he says, ending with a preposition).

It takes a rare game to leave me effectively speechless after having played it. It also takes a rare gaming experience to either leave me muttering “wow” frequently or to have actually been able to move me, almost to tears (but, uhm, manly tears). Heavy Rain does that and more. It is a PS3 game that no PS3 owner should miss.

Game Title: Heavy Rain

Platform Reviewed: Playstation 3

Also Available: N/A

Created by: Quantic Dream

Let me begin by saying that I am not a gamer who cares about trophies or achievements. When I play a game, I play it to unlock new in-game content or bonus content, while completing the story. Heavy Rain is so engaging that this is the first (and likely for the foreseeable future, only) game that I’ve gone back and cared about hunting down every single trophy for in order to earn that elusive platinum (you earned all the other trophies) trophy. Thus far, I’m still not bored with it.

Story: The story of Heavy Rain is a murder and kidnapping mystery. The so-called Origami Killer has been preying on young boys, kidnapping them and killing them in a way that leaves no visible marks on the body. All of the boys have been drowned and have had their bodies abandoned with an origami figure in one hand and an orchid left on their chests.

You play, throughout the game, as four major characters and a handful of side characters. The four main characters include: Ethan Mars (father of two who has already experienced loss and now faces both his own son being the killer’s latest kidnapping victim, who will die very soon if not rescued, and the notion that he may very well be the killer himself during a series of blackouts); Madison Paige (a photo journalist with insomnia); Norman Jayden (an FBI agent working with mostly uncooperative local police, and decked out with a special set of glasses that creates a Virtual Reality environment and crime scene investigatory scanning mode similar to Batman’s cowl); and Scott Shelby (a private investigator on the Origami Killer case).

As each individual character’s story progresses, you work your way closer to (hopefully) finding the killer and saving Shaun Mars. Their stories intersect at times, and the cast of characters and locales grows as the story moves forward.

The story amounts to a sort of high-tech “Choose Your Own Adventure” book (or “Decide Your Destiny” to make a more current Star Wars reference). Your actions in various scenes affect those scenes, and important decisions made within the story can create very different paths through the tale. Do you save a convenience store owner from a holdup, or do you let him die? Do you forgive or reject one who has lied to you?

In certain scenarios (though not all), it is possible for your characters (and related characters that aren’t usually playable) to die. Let the big bruiser junkyard owner get the upper hand and put you in a car about to be crushed, and you had better free yourself before it is dropped into the masher.

Here’s the kicker, though . . . Your choices do matter. The game relies mostly on “quick time events” (QTEs), which I’ll discuss in the gameplay section below. However, unlike most QTEs in other games (God of War, Dante’s Inferno, The Force Unleashed, etc.), failing an action does not always automatically bring you back to the beginning of the sequence you screwed up. Oh, sure, it might do that if the sequence is about drinking some orange juice or getting into or out of a chair, but if you foul up when trying to escape the police, you can end up in jail, or a mistake in the wrong life-risking can literally kill that character.

And the story . . . moves . . . on.

Understand what I’m saying here. If a character fails an important action or dies, the game continues onward. This isn’t “oops, start again.” It is “oops, time to see how the consequences of your actions change the course of the game.” A character that dies is gone from the game, except as others mourn them, while the others continue trying to find the killer without that character’s contributions, which profoundly impacts the last chapters of the game. Moreover, you can even purposely help the killer commit the “perfect crime” and escape.

More than in any other game I’ve seen, this one takes its storytelling cues from your actions.

Add in some good voice work (and some downright awful, especially for child characters), highly emotive characters (with the most advanced facial modeling in video games I’ve seen thus far), and an engaging overall plotline with great pacing (right through the downright epic-feeling finale if everyone survives going into it), and you have a story that should not be missed.

Beware however: The story is not for children. The game itself includes not only violence and some disturbing imagery but also male rear nudity and female rear and frontal nudity, along with a type of scene that ties together both, so to speak. This is not a game for kids.

Gameplay: Heavy Rain was often dismissed prior to release as being an “interactive movie” or a “QTE-only game,” assumed to be meant more for watching than interacting.

The truth is somewhat different, though it is somewhat difficult to describe.

The game allows you to control a character’s movement (walking) and the direction in which they look to notice surroundings, usually with two interchangeable fixed camera angles. Actions that are available in those free moving segments are noted by symbols that represent actions on the controller. Carrying out that action interacts with the environment. At other times, we are talking about actual QTEs. (A “quick time event” means that a sequence is playing in the game and you are to input certain button-presses, analog stick moves, or similar inputs in order to get through the sequence successfully.) In fact, QTEs are a huge part of the game design.

However, to call these regular QTEs would be doing the game design an injustice. The QTEs in this game are extremely varied in their type and different from anything I’ve seen in other games. Yes, sometimes it is just hitting a certain button in time or “jamming” on a button rapidly for a set period of time. Other times, you are moving the right analog stick in a particular direction at the right time. When these are the case, that action feels natural in the gameplay. However, at other times you will nearly contort your fingers to carry out certain multiple button-holding actions, use the Sixaxis controller’s motion controls to balance, yank things in directions, turn a steering wheel, or other such movements. At times, speed plays a huge role in how successful you are. In other words, the game takes QTEs and makes them feel very natural and equal to the task at hand in the game, while introducing new ways of inputting such commands, while also allowing different difficulty levels to help both new and experienced players in getting through the game. (And, no, the demo version does not do this control scheme justice at all.) It needs to be tried in a major segment of the game to be truly appreciated.

The Verdict: If you are a Playstation 3 owner (and an adult), I cannot recommend Heavy Rain highly enough. It is as much of a “must play” or possible “killer app,” in my opinion, as last year’s uber-award winning Uncharted 2: Among Thieves. The story is engaging, the gameplay fits to a tee, and your feeling of true consequences for your actions is unparalleled in the current gaming generation.

What’s even better? We will soon see the beginning of Heavy Rain Chronicles, a series of DLC episodes that tie into the characters (if not perhaps the core story) of the game, and those who preordered Heavy Rain from certain retailers will receive the first episode, The Taxidermist, for free later this week.

Grade: A+

A gaming storytelling experience that should not be missed. ‘Nuff said.

Today, we continue the Metroid review series with a look at the strangest of the bunch, Metroid Prime Pinball.

Game Title: Metroid Prime Pinball

Platform Reviewed: Nintendo DS

Also Available: N/A

Created by: Fuse Games (developer), Nintendo (publisher)

Story: Metroid Prime Pinball is, well, a pinball game, which has its table features, special events, table themes, and music all based around Metroid Prime. There is not really a story to speak of, unless you consider this thematic journey through levels inspired by the game to be a tie-in to the story of the first Metroid Prime game.

Gameplay: The game is . . . pinball. You use the flippers, you can bump the table, and carrying out unique events on the table (with a ball that is Samus Aran in her morph ball form) will bring about enemies to briefly fight, artifacts to secure from “bosses” that appear on the tables, and so forth. It’s still pinball, though. I guess you could say that this is “Pinball Plus” or “Pinball Made Cooler.”

The Verdict: I have never really been into electronic pinball games, but this one captured my interest and attention with all the interesting tidbits you can do on the boards. It is only a Metroid game in theme, though, rather than in storyline or gameplay, making it the one game that bigtime “must see the entire story” Metroid video game fans can skip. I would give it a try, though. It’s a fun little time-killer.

Grades: A (for a pinball game)

A great pinball game that is only thematically a Metroid game that’s well worth the look.

Last time I reviewed DLC for Dante’s Inferno, I said it would be short and sweet, then it was rather long. This time, it actually will be short and sweet.

Game Title: Dante’s Inferno

DLC: Animated Dante

I previously reviewed the game itself, plus the first round of DLC for the game.

The previous DLC were the laughable Soul Packs and the butt-ugly Florentine Dante costume. This week’s new DLC is the Animated Film Dante Costume, which I’ll just call Animated Dante. The costume is based, as the name suggests, on the look of Dante as he appears in Dante’s Inferno: An Animated Epic, which I covered in the same review as the Dante’s Inferno core game.

The Verdict: Last time around, I really felt like the new Florentine Dante costume was hideous and a complete waste of $1.99 (which says a lot because $1.99 is, what, half a value meal?). This time, I find the purchase at least a wash, rather than something negative. While the stylized costume is interesting in its use of more shiny metal and more pointed portions of his costume, it suffers from the fact that it is just a slightly stylized version of his original costume (which makes sense, given that it’s the animated version thereof from the film). Most of the time, it is pretty tough to tell the difference between this costume and his original one, except for the placement of the ribbon (or whatever it’s called) coming from his costume. Still, if you are into collecting alternate costumes for games, this one is decent enough to leave you thinking “eh, it’s alright” rather than “what the hell is this crap” like the Florentine Dante.

Grade: B (if you are into getting alternate costumes for Dante’s Inferno)

At some point this weekend, expect me to post a review of the new Playstation 3 release from Quantic Dream, Heavy Rain. The game absolutely blew me away. I need to get my head around it before I write a real review. Just . . . wow, is about all I can say at this moment, having just finished my first playthrough.