VideoGames

Developer: Nintendo EAD
Publisher: Nintendo
Release Date: 2007
Platform: Nintendo DS
Genre: Adventure
ESRB Rating: E for Everyone
Sequel to The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker

Ever since the original NES game The Legend of Zelda, the franchise has been defined by top-down adventure, a sword-wielding hero who gets more powerful as the game goes on, swords that can be upgraded or replaced with more powerful ones, and a plethora of useful, multi-purpose tools for use both as weapons and for solving puzzles. It's one of my favorite video game franchises, and I've played several of them through to their conclusion.

Phantom Hourglass is a phenomenal addition to the series, bringing not only a new edition of innovative gameplay and fun puzzles to the player, but also making good, practical use of the Nintendo DS's many features (dual screens, touchscreen, microphone, wireless capability, and even the ability to close the cover gets used in the game!).

The real killer app of Phantom Hourglass is the ability to draw on the touchscreen. In fact, there's one uncharted island where you need to use this ability to draw the map in the first place. Drawing on the map lets you make notes, trace out safe routes, mark the location of valuable items, and write reminders to yourself. Similarly, you trace out the route of Linebeck's ship on the sea charts and the path you want the boomerang to take on the action screen. These features are used quite often, since the world of Phantom Hourglass is a series of islands in the ocean, and the boomerang is used to trip switches and levers around corners and behind obstacles. Finally, there are several points in the game where you need to draw symbols on doors, signs, and other objects to activate them. It really fits seamlessly into the game and adds a lot to puzzle solving aspect.

The dual screens are used to good effect, allowing the player to have the map on the top screen while walking around on the bottom screen, and occasionally showing a different point of view on one screen or the other. Then of course there are also the giant, two-screen high boss enemies and extended views for mini-games.

Additionally, the microphone is used to blow out candles and "shout" at people to get their attention a couple of times. I was worried about that part, since shouting at your video game is a little weird in a portable system that you could potentially be using on, say for example, an airplane. But it turns out you can discreetly blow into the microphone to satisfy the requirements just as well.

There are three modes of play

(not counting the several mini-games)

First is the generic top-down view. In this mode, there is a map on the upper screen and Link is on the lower, touchscreen. The game is not played with the D-pad and buttons, rather almost every action command is performed with the touchscreen. While this means that your hand and stylus will cover part of the screen while playing, and thus potentially hiding an enemy, in practice this is never a problem. Running, sword swinging, lunging attacks, and item use are all touchscreen functions. This does take some getting used to, but the fact that you can aim an item or weapon in any arbitrary direction, rather than only the classic 8 D-pad directions, brings such a wonderful freedom to the game that you'll wonder how you will ever get along without it again.

Second is sailing. After you meet Linebeck, you get to use his ship to sail all over the world map, or at least in the places you have sea charts for. When sailing, the ship follows any arbitrary route you trace on the sea chart with the touchscreen, and you can look around and fire your cannon (when you get it) 360 degrees around.

Third is an arena battle, mostly used for boss fights. Rather than a top-down view, the camera switches to a view slightly above and behind Link. It works out to be very similar to the top-down view, but the additional field of vision in front of you is essential for figuring out how to strike their weak spots.

Review

Phantom Hourglass gets full points for fun. Massively innovative gameplay, good use of the Nintendo DS's special features, and puzzles that are tricky but never get frustrating combine to make what I consider the second^† best Legend of Zelda game to date.

† updated: I just played Twilight Princess, which has taken Phantom Hourglass's place as #1

Tips

There were a couple of things that the game doesn't explain very well. Knowing these will make the game more enjoyable without ruining it.

The grappling hook, when stretched between two posts, can be used as a tightrope, something to bounce things off of, and also a slingshot to toss Link over wide chasms.

Ignore everything the game tells you about fishing. This is how to fish:
After you get the fishing rod, ride your boat over a fish shadow on the map and select "Fish" from the menu. When the fish grabs the bait, the screen will say PULL!. All you have to do at this point is press the stylus against the bottom center of the screen. As long as you keep the stylus at the bottom of the screen you will charge the meter on the left side that shows how securely the fish is hooked. If the fish pulls right, slide the stylus to the bottom-left, and bottom-right if the fish pulls left. Pick up the stylus temporarily when the fish jumps. Make circles on the screen with the stylus to reel in the fish, but the meter will drop as you do this, let it drop too far and you'll lose the fish. Put the stylus back on the bottom of the screen to charge the meter in between reelings.

Special thanks to Shannon Spencer Fox, whose Side-Quest FAQ taught me how to fish.
http://www.gamefaqs.com/portable/ds/file/932377/50485

Developer: Nintendo EAD
Publisher: Nintendo
Release Date (Wii Version): November 19, 2006 (North America), December 2, 2006 (Japan), December 7, 2006 (Australia), December 8, 2006 (Europe)
Release Date (GameCube Version): December 11, 2006 (North America), December 2, 2006 (Japan), December 19, 2006 (Australia), December 15, 2006 (Europe)
Platforms: Nintendo GameCube, Nintendo Wii
ESRB Rating: T (Animated Blood, Fantasy Violence)

Introduction

While The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker for the Nintendo GameCube was a success, many gamers (myself not included) disliked the cartoonish cel-shaded art style it introduced to the series. These gamers fondly remembered an early GameCube tech demo starring a graphically-enhanced version of the N64-era 'realistic' Link and pushed for a return to this style in the next Zelda game. Nintendo, for their part, made vague remarks about a 'Wind Waker 2' and showed nothing, until their E3 press conference in 2004. With the unveiling of the Nintendo DS handheld dominating the show, Nintendo did not seem to have any major news about Zelda or, for that matter, any other major new GameCube game... until the end. The brief trailer for the 'realistic Zelda' shown at E3 2004 came out of nowhere, surprising Nintendo's many fans and leading to widespread speculation for the (eventual) two and a half years before Twilight Princess's release.

Originally planned for release in November 2005 for the GameCube, Twilight Princess was delayed twice, first to spring 2006 and then, finally, to fall 2006. With the imminent release of Nintendo's new console, now named Wii, Nintendo announced at E3 2006 that it would not only be released as a GameCube game, but would also be the flagship Wii title at that console's launch in November/December 2006. The two versions would differ due to the vast difference between the two systems' controllers, but would still both be the same complete game; no bonus Wii or GameCube content would be added.

Story and Characters

While Link begins the game as a farmhand in rustic Ordon Village, his destiny as the legendary hero becomes evident early on, when the world of Hyrule is transformed into an eerie wasteland through contact with the mysterious Twilight Realm. In this state, all the people are transformed into insubstantial spirits, but Link is instead transfigured into a grey wolf. Teaming up with the impish twilight being Midna, Link then works to drive back the the twilight covering Hyrule and regain his human form. Link is aided on his quest by a number of allies, including the non-human Gorons and Zora, the people of Ordon and Kakariko Villages, and an underground group devoted to the restoration of Hyrule (who, of course, leave most of the dirty work to Link). The story-heavy presentation revels in both a refreshingly twisty main plot and a variety of a small character subplots, some optional, and some integral to Link's quest.

Control (Wii Version)

As the world's prime introduction to the Wii controller for full-length 'hardcore' games, the control scheme for Twilight Princess received a large amount of scrutiny. Fortunately, Nintendo was able to produce a set of controls that stood up to this scrutiny and proved a comfortable, improved interface to the classic 3D Zelda gameplay. The Wiimote is used with the Nunchuck attachement to provide both movement and pointer functionality with two-hand motion sensing.

The most welcome improvement the Wii interface brings is in the aiming of various items. The standard Zelda boomerang, bow, and hookshot return, but rather than aiming at their targets with a joystick and reticle, the Wiimote's pointing ability is used. Aiming on the fly, which has been something of a chore for previous 3D Zelda games, becomes smooth, precise, and intuitive with this method, employing the Wiimote's trigger-like B button as the action button.

Sword combat has also been revamped to use the Wii's two-handed motion sensing. Rather than providing an action button for swinging Link's sword, Nintendo mapped it to a side-to-side swing of the Wiimote, which can be as vigorous or (almost) as gentle as you want. This does not mean that the sword tracks the motion of the Wiimote in any way, but rather is simply the use of a gesture as a direct replacement for a button press. Special combat moves found by Link through his adventure make use of more motion sensing gestures. Link's spin attack can now be performed without a warm-up by shaking the Nunchuck left and right quickly, and his shield can be used to stun enemies with a forward push of the Nunchuck, for a satisfying sense of connection to the game world. Combat as Wolf Link is controlled identically, but the control in this case feels unnatural, as Wolf Link's charging and biting attacks map poorly to Wiimote shakes.

Nevertheless, the restricted button set of the Wii controller does result in some more awkward controls, as well. The single analog stick has brought an end to the free camera rotation of the GameCube Zelda games, returning to the Z-centering camera of the N64 games, which sometimes clashes with the use of the Z button for lock-on targeting. Unlike the GameCube version, which has two buttons Link's items can be assigned to, there is only one active item mapped to the B button. While three other items can be equipped to the left, right, and down directions on the Wiimote's D-pad, these are swapped with the active item on a button-press due to the relative inaccessibility of the D-pad, thus requiring a second button-press to actually use. Despite these deficiencies, the Wii control for Twilight Princess is a considerable improvement over the already comfortable GameCube control scheme.

Gameplay

Twilight Princess makes few major changes to the 3D Zelda play style established in Ocarina of Time. Horseback riding makes a return following Wind Waker's focus on sailing, and Link's usual series of items appears once again, though with some added twists. Twilight Princess features the largest land area of any 3D Zelda game (Wind Waker's world is larger but mostly water), with several wide-open areas well-built for riding. These areas are home to several involving set-pieces and a variety of secrets. The exploration of this vast world becomes wide open about a third of the way into the game, and the later dungeon items can be used to uncover an even wider variety of treasures. Several collectibles are found around the world, which can be traded in town for useful benefits. The tradition of giving Link a companion for this quest reaches a new level with the capricious twilight being Midna, whose fascinating character almost makes up for the collection of nagging fairies Link has been saddled with in other games. In addition to her helpful hints, Midna can also teleport Link to the locations in Hyrule they've previously visited, and she helps out Wolf Link with a variety of puzzles with some, more direct, actions.

The heart of the gameplay, as with any Zelda game, is found in the game's nine dungeons. The beginning of the game has the usual forest temple, fire temple, water temple progression created in Ocarina of Time but later on Link visits some truly inventive areas, complete with original items. The dungeon items are used to great effect in each level, and although some early items seem unused outside their host temple they resurface just long enough later for the player to have forgotten about them. Despite the difficulty of some of the dungeons, the bosses in Twilight Princess are surprisingly easy. All of the bosses require the dungeon item to defeat, but only the last two require any major effort from a seasoned Zelda veteran. Overall, though, the gameplay is the solidest and most refined of the 3D Zelda games, and the main quest is longer and more varied than any of them.

Graphics and Sound

While the concurrent Gamecube/Wii development prevented Twilight Princess from taking advantage of any additional horsepower in the newer system outside of offering a widescreen mode, it remains a graphically impressive game, and probably the most graphically intense GameCube game. While the lower resolution prevents it from looking as sharp as an Xbox 360 or Playstation 3 game, the artistic design more than makes up for the deficiency. The designers at Nintendo have made Twilight Princess the most detailed and varied of the series, with the pastoral Ordon Village seeming worlds away from the Wild West ghost town of Kakariko Village, and both contrasting against the bustling walled Castle Town. It is in the areas covered in twilight, though that the style most impresses. While the 'normal' world is fairly realistic in style, the Twilight Realm is warped into something much creepier. Floating 'slabs' of darkness, grotesque creatures, and unusual colours combine to create a version of Hyrule that is at once both recognizable and clearly corrupted.

The synthesised soundtrack has been the source of no small criticism, especially following the fully-orchestrated trailer, but real-time synthesis allows for the music to dynamically follow the action, permitting its use as a subtle clue to the player when monsters approach. The music is the usual solid mix of classic tunes and new material, and serves its purpose well. Sound effects are the best of the series to date, with the sounds of characters, enemies, and items appropriately matching their appearance. Many sound effects are played through the Wiimote speaker for greater verisimilitude; the bow effect is the best executed of these, but most of the others are also well done. Nintendo has once again eschewed the use of voice-over dialogue in favour of a pure text-box approach, with Link as a mute (but not expressionless) hero. This may have been done for reasons of space on the GameCube disc, but bad voice acting would also reflect poorly on the (otherwise high) production values, and any voice work would have translation/lip synching issues to deal with, possibly delaying an already late game.

Summary

Nintendo's Legend of Zelda team has done it again; Twilight Princess stands next to the all-time classic Ocarina of Time as the best of the series in 3D. While Ocarina revolutionized the adventure genre by translating the classic Zelda formula into 3D, Twilight Princess is perhaps the most refined 3D adventure yet produced by Nintendo. Long-time fans of the series will see much that is familiar here, but the depth of the gameplay will bring them back for more. Meanwhile, the smooth Wii control brings new moves to Link's arsenal and makes the game more accessible to new players. Though it may not be the reinvention of Zelda for a new era, Twilight Princess deserved its place as the flagship Wii launch game and as the GameCube's last hurrah.

Pros:

• Vast world with numerous quests, dungeons, and items
  
• Plot driven adventure with many well-drawn characters, especially Link's travelling companion Midna
  
• Wii control is solid and improves on GameCube control in most areas
  

Cons:

• Awkward camera control and Wolf Link combat control on Wii
• Repeats many classic Zelda tropes, occasionally a little more than is good for it
• Another late GameCube game is co-opted to boost the Wii (though a GameCube version still saw release)

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(CC)
This writeup is copyright 2007 by me and is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs-NonCommercial licence. Details can be found at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd-nc/2.5/ .

Developed by: 2kBoston/2kAustralia (Formerly Irrational Games)

Published by: 2kGames

Players: 1

Released: August 21st, 2007 (some may argue August 14th, 2007, see below)

Genre: Science Fiction/Horror FPS/RPG

Systems: PC, XBox 360

 Bioshock.   Bio, meaning life.  Shock, meaning holy-shit-what-the-fuck-just-happened.  These two combine to form what many are lauding as a masterpiece of modern gaming, myself included.  Its score on Metacritic as of right now¹, 98/100, is only surpassed by The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.  This game which has been in production since 2004, and gathering hype for these past three years, is actually seeming to live up to expectations.

 And some say surpass them.

Plot (Spoiler Free)

 The game opens in 1960, over the Mid-Atlantic.  Your character, Jack, is flying.  To where?  From where?  We know not, and are given little opportunity to find out as screams are heard.  The plane is crashing.  You are, as cliche would dictate, the sole survivor.  Sitting in the water, you swim towards the only object that seems to offer refuge -- a mysterious lighthouse, in mild disrepair.  The large bronze doors are slightly ajar, and shut behind you upon entry, leaving you in darkness.  A record player scratches to life, as light blinks into existence.  Directly in front of you is a massive bust of a man, with a tattered banner draped in front.  "NO GODS OR KINGS, ONLY MAN" it reads, in a blocked gold on red.  You descend the stairwell, find a bathysphere, and begin a voyage to a terrible utopia.

 Its name is Rapture, the brainchild of Andrew Ryan.  Rapture is a place of pure, unbridled capitalism.  In Ryan's own words, "a place where the artist would not fear the censor, a place where the scientist would not be bound by the laws of petty morality, a place where the great would not be constrained by the small."  As a note, you objectivists should be going "ooh" right now, as the heavy Randian overtones begin their bear.

 Years ago, in Rapture, a pair of scientists discovered sea slugs which could produce pure stem cells.  Through these, they developed a method of modifying one's genetic code, allowing telekinesis, pyrokinesis, and a variety of other kinesises and genetic enhancements, all for the right price.  Their use scarred the denizens of Rapture, and slowly drove them mad.

 In 1959, on New Year's Eve, a revolution began.  You come in, then, at the tail of it.  Rapture is in shambles, the ocean desperate to reclaim this city under the sea.

Lingo

Before I continue, let's get some vocabulary out of the way, it'll make all this easier.  You'll catch on, I promise.

• Plasmid - the more 'Active' genetic enhancements discussed above, including pyrokinesis, cryokinesis, special abilities which allow you to turn enemies against each other, and more.
• Tonic - the more 'Passive' genetic enhancements, including increased melee strength, invisibility when standing still, and improved hacking abilities.
• Splicing - the act of using either Plasmids or Tonics, from the modern concept of splicing genes.  Plasmid users are known as Splicers.
• ADAM - The stem cell secretion that is used to make Plasmids and Tonics. Without it, one cannot further splice oneself.
• Little Sisters - Young girls, looking to be around 7 or so, who harvest ADAM from the dead.
• Big Daddies - Massive, hulking tanks, looking like retrofitted diving equipment with giant weapons and incredible speed when agitated. They protect the Little Sisters.  There are two varieties: Bouncers, who are melee oriented with a gargantuan drill, and Rosies, who carry a powerful rivet gun and proximity mines.

Gameplay

In two words: it delivers.  In more:

This is one of the most engaging expriences I've had playing a game in a long time.  The fundamental mechanism of play is to get from point A to point B; however, there is always something more complicated about what you've got to do than that.  In attempting to save Atlas's family and defeat Andrew Ryan, you'll need to photograph terrible insane mutants, save an underwater forest, photograph some dead terrible insane mutants for an art project, destroy the core of Rapture, find a cure for genetic mind control, and become a Big Daddy.  Admittedly, it seems a little cheesy in retrospect, but the game is entertaining enough while you're playing it that you'll often forget.

 The plasmids add a very interesting dynamic to what would otherwise be just a neat FPS.  Firing lightning from your hands, making your enemies fight each other, and turning invisible when standing still are all quite handy.  However, some of them are particularly overpowered (Electro Bolt, I'm looking at you).  The ability to electrocute an enemy, stunning them, then get a quick shot to their head with the pistol (or later, the crossbow) seems a bit cheap.  Personally, though, I like the feeling of absolute power this grants after a time.  You are just simply too badass for these guys to handle.

 A note on enemy spawns:  Aside from plot related spawns, when other characters will send Splicers after you in retribution, I can only think back to one instance of a scripted moment.  All other enemy spawns are either native, where it's where they begin in the level, or essentially random.  This gives the game an interesting feeling of wandering monsters, as you can't really know for a fact if there's going to be someone sneaking up on you, waiting around the corner, or watching you from a balcony above.  Sometimes it can break immersion ("How'd they get in there?  I just came out the only entrance...") but those moments are few and far enough between.

 News and Controversy

Bioshock's release was anything but smooth.  Firstly, Toys "R" Us broke the street date of August 21st to release the game a week early.  They were quickly reprimanded, but many people were able to obtain a copy and begin to spoil the plot online.  For a game like this, where the story and plot twists are major selling points, this was a major problem.

After the game was released, numerous problems were noticed by the community.  The first one to hit the waves was an 'issue' with the FOV, and how it changed between playing in widescreen (16:9) and regular aspect ratio (4:3).  Many gamers noticed that the people playing in 4:3 had a taller view, with the same viewing width as the widescreen players.  The widescreen users felt both ripped off and lied to -- 2k had previously said that they were designing this game with widescreen as the expected FOV.  However, 2k released a statement after a few days stating that what they said was indeed true.  The difference in the vertical view was a design decision made to minimize the view loss when the game was played in regular aspect ratio.  This placated some and outraged others, as can be predicted.  Some PC users have discovered a way to gain the increased view height in widescreen through modification of a few key game files, prompting 2k to begin working on an official 'solution' to this 'problem'.  Personally, I didn't care a lick about it -- the game was gorgeous as it was.

Another issue facing the PC gamers was the copy protection software SecuROM used by 2k.  This allowed only two installations of the game for its lifespan, effectively killing its ability to be sold as a used game, much less shared between family members on their own personal computers.   2k has stated since that they're working on a way to allow people to uninstall the game and the license on that computer simultaneously, so that it may be reinstalled on another device.  They have also said that in the future (more distant than soon) that they will be removing the SecuROM protection entirely.

My opinion

In summary, the game is absolutely amazing the first play through.  Unfortunately, I personally am finding it a terrible grind to get through a second time.  Even though I'm playing on Hard instead of Medium, the game still flows much faster and plays much more easily now that I know what I'm doing, and I'm not sure I like that.  In honesty, the main reason I'm fighting through it at all is to get the achievements I've missed.  Even despite the lack of replay value, I'm really glad I've played through it.  It's a great discussion topic amongst my friends, and (to sound very fanboyish) it was a brilliant way to fill the time until Halo 3.  Not to belittle this game at all, of course. 

In Closing

Play Bioshock.  Seriously.  As far as system preference goes, I like the XBox version better having played both.  But if you've only got one or the other, you're not really missing out.  The game is worth the $50-$60USD you'd be paying for it.

 

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¹August 23rd was when this statistic was taken.  It currently (as of this posting) has a score of 96/100 on Metacritic, a very respectable score in any event.

Caution: Some spoilers.

Developer & Publisher: Valve
Release Date: October 2007
Format: PC (version played), PS3 (not yet released), XBOX 360
Genre: First-person puzzler

When stuck, remember our motto: there's a hole in the sky, through which things can fly

Portal is a first-person shooter with a twist: you have no weapons. Instead, equipped with the "Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device", the player must navigate their way through the Aperture Science Enrichment Centre by creation of wormhole-like portals. These allow objects- typically the player - to be teleported, momentum intact, around the level in otherwise physically impossible ways, the implications of which drive most of the puzzle-solving gameplay. Whilst the challenge is mostly cerebral, towards the end typical FPS timing and precision skills become a necessary part of the solutions you come up with.

Momentum- a product of mass and velocity - is conserved between portals. In layman's terms, "speedy thing goes in, speedy thing comes out"

The portal concept was developed for the game Narbacular Drop, a project by students at the DigiPen Institute of Technology. Both the concept and the students were picked up by Valve, to develop Portal as part of the Half-Life universe for inclusion with the next installment of that series. This, coupled with an early demo video that outlined most of the clever abuses of physics made possible by the portals, meant that Portal could have held few surprises, serving as a clever but straightforward side order to the meat of the main game series, more an advertisement of the Havok physics engine than a game.

The Enrichment Centre is committed to the well-being of all participants. Cake, and grief counselling, will be available at the conclusion of the test.

But they've created a masterpiece, and I've barely touched Episode 2 as a result. Portal is a convincing candidate for videogames as art - it's as much an experience as a game. This is in large part due to one simple element- your progression throughout the game is accompanied by the narration of the brilliantly scripted GLaDOS, the AI apparently in charge of the Aperture science project and variously your instructor, guide, and often would-be murderer. Ellen McLain (who also contributed to HL2 and plays the role of the Team Fortress 2 announcer) provided the voice of GLaDOS by carefully mimicking the unusual intonation of a text-to-speech program, with her dialogue then being further distorted to enhance the mechanical feel.

Please be advised that a noticeable taste of blood is not part of any test protocol but is an unintended side effect of the aperture science material emancipation grille. Which may, in semi-rare cases, emancipate dental fillings, crowns, tooth enamel, and teeth.

Gameplay begins with your awakening at the Aperture Centre, proceeding immediately to what seems to be basic training. Clinically clean rooms contain simple challenges to familiarise you with the basic principles of portal gun operation: using portals to trigger switches, cover vast distances in an instant or avoid hazards. As well as simple icons on viewscreens around the facility, GLaDOS offers advice on these techniques: although her announcements carry a tone of casual disregard for your well-being that British Rail would be proud of.

Please note that we have added a consequence for failure. Any contact with the chamber floor will result in an unsatisfactory mark on your official testing record, followed by death.

As you progress with your training, it becomes apparent that all is not well with the Aperture Centre. Occasional glitches in GLaDOS lead to garbled warning messages and monotone references to "subject name" and "subject home town" in the middle of speech routines. Observation windows are bereft of observers, and indeed the whole place seems deserted: WolfDaddy points out the interesting fact that with both the narrator and player character being female, the game features no men at all! Further investigation turns up broken computers, stockpiles of beans, and deranged graffiti'd warnings that the oft-promised cake is a lie. Challenges become increasingly difficult, then outrightly hostile, culminating in GLaDOS's attempt to incinerate you once all the official tests have been completed. Escaping this fate leads you behind the scenes of the test chambers to a ruined, perilous industrial environment, where you must put your skills with the portal gun to true use.

Uh-oh, somebody cut the cake. I told them to wait for you, but they cut it anyway. There is still some left though, if you hurry back...

Throughout, GLaDOS becomes increasingly disturbed, and jumps between an assortment of personalities in an attempt to regain control over her test subject- but curious to see what can be achieved. Promises of painful death are interspersed with offers of cakes and a party: previous threats are laughed off as a prank only to be reiterated. Yet for all her malice, GLaDOS remains a detached observer- beautifully contrasted to the sentry turrets, which pair lethal weapons with endearingly childlike personalities - and to the companion cube, which does nothing at all yet you'll still feel bad about disposing of.

That thing you're attacking isn't important to me. It's the fluid catalytic cracking unit. It makes shoes for orphans. Nice job breaking it, hero. I don't care.

Once the storyline is completed (and I have no wish to ruin the brilliant ending), the original test chambers can be revisited individually for a more conventional puzzle game- advanced versions of them are also unlocked. Valve have adopted the achievements idea from the XBOX 360 for use within the steam community, the latest addition to their online content delivery platform, and these provide further goals to enhance the replay value of Portal. The freedom of movement afforded by many FPS series has lead to subcultures of gamers interested in challenges beyond killing, such as speed runs or trick jumping techniques and Portal clearly lends itself to these. Thus achievements are available for using as few portals, footsteps or seconds as possible to complete a level, and I'll be fascinated to see what else the community (and Valve) comes up with, as there is a facility for importing additional maps.

Aperture Science
We do what we must, because we can
For the good of all of us- except the ones who are dead.

But there's no sense crying over every mistake
You just keep on trying til you run out of cake...

Developer: Traveller's Tales
Publisher: Eidos
Release Date: October 25, 2005 (North America), November 4, 2005 (Europe)
Platforms: Sony PlayStation 2, Nintendo GameCube, Microsoft Xbox, PC (Windows XP only), Macintosh
ESRB Rating: E (Violence)

Introduction

At first glance, Lego Star Wars: The Video Game sounds like crass commercialism at its finest: not only a licensed game but a licensed game based on licensed Lego! However, much like the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie, the apparent cash-grab fell into the creative hands of people who, through actually caring about their subject matter, make something much better than its origins might otherwise suggest. What Traveller's Tales has done is take the 'Star Wars in Lego' conceit and make an enjoyable, lightweight platform action game with a plethora of secrets and goals and quality, seamless co-op multiplayer. That it retells the story of the Star Wars prequel trilogy (in a rather silly and enjoyable way) only increases the familiarity of the setting and character, adding Lego Star Wars to the long  list of worthwhile Star Wars games.

Gameplay

Most of the 'Chapters' of Lego Star Wars consist of relatively conventional 3D platform game worlds, only with everything made up of Lego pieces. The player(s) lead around a party of two or more characters, which they can switch between at any time, battling enemies and passing through movement puzzles. Even in single-player, the team aspect persists, as the different types of characters have different ways of fighting and interacting with the level. Jedi characters fight with lightsabers and can manipulate a variety of (helpfully highlighted) objects and even (certain) enemies using their Force powers, and also have the now standard double-jump ability for moving around the level. Non-Jedi humans and aliens fight with blasters (or bowcasters for Wookiees) and compensate for the lack of double-jump with a grappling hook. Finally, droids, though mostly helpless in battle, allow the party to pass through locked doors and activate machinery, and some can also hover over gaps wider than other characters can jump. 

This toolbox of abilities is pressed into action fighting the legions of enemies populating the platform levels, collecting the ill-named Studs which act as score, extra lives, and currency, and finding secrets. When playing in the 'Story' mode the composition of your party is set by the necessities of the plot, while completing Chapters allows for 'Free Play' mode using any character yet unlocked in the Story Mode. Combat is a fairly straightforward affair, with additional subtlety for lightsaber-wielders by allowing them to deflect, and hopefully deflect back, the blaster bolts of the enemy forces. Each player has four hit points, replenished by collecting Hearts dropped by vanquished foes, but defeat is even more minor than it is in many other modern platform games; the character collapses into a pile of Studs, which are lost if not recollected, and then regenerates with full health in the same spot where they were defeated. This greatly decreases the difficulty of the game, as the only penalty for failure is the possible loss of a few Studs.

A few Chapters forgo the usual platform gameplay for minigame-style racing or shooting. The pod race from Episode I is present, as well as a couple of space combat scenes and one ground-vehicle sequence. Unlike the forgiving gameplay of the platform sections, the minigames are fairly exacting. Anakin must win every section of the pod race, or he must do it over, and the rail shooter space combat sections are similar with the many hazards found along the player's path. Furthermore, many of the (sometimes complex) objectives are not explained in any way and must be figured out by trial and error. In general, I found the perfectionism and vague direction of most of these segments clashed with the lightweight and accessible nature of the rest of the game.

Presentation

As one might expect, the graphics for Lego Star Wars are blocky and flat-textured. All of the systems it is available for are capable of rendering plenty of Lego bricks and Traveller's Tales uses this to great effect. Many recognizable locales appear, clearly made at least partly out of Lego. When called on by the player's Force powers, objects smoothly break into their constituent bricks or assemble into useful structures. The simplicity of the graphics engine also allows the replication of many complicated scenes, especially during Episode III. While the gameplay of the opening space battle may be lacking, the dizzyingly complex battle from the movie is recreated convincingly in real-time all around the player, and a beach invasion on Kashhyyk later on includes hordes of troops and the clones' proto-AT-ATs without any slowdown. 

In the sound department, Lego Star Wars, like any other Star Wars game, gains strongly from the movies' music and sound effects. The music consists mostly of excerpts from John Williams's scores edited to fit the game's requirements, while familiar Star Wars artifacts all sound like you'd expect, from the buzz of the lightsabers to the swish of the doors to R2-D2's trademark beeping. Notably absent, though, is voice acting, but its absence is entirely mitigated by the hilarious cutscenes where all the pivotal moments are acted out solely through the gestures of the Lego-piece characters.

The control is simple, with the four face buttons mapping to jump, attack, special ability (usually the Force), and 'tag' to another character. Unfortunately I found that the control was at times annoyingly loose, especially during lightsaber combat. At no point during the game did I feel I was adequately controlling the lightsaber as opposed to randomly flailing at my enemies. After the smooth melee combat of other current platform games like Sly Cooper and even Ratchet and Clank, the lightsaber control felt lacking. It does seem that the developers recognized this, though, as most of the major boss battles have been redesigned, at least in part, from lightsaber duels to environmental battles often involving Force control of objects. 

Replayability

Lego Star Wars was designed with many reasons for people to keep playing after finishing the rather short Story Mode for the first time. The Lego Studs found throughout the game's levels, in addition to acting as currency for unlocking various bonuses at the game's hub, Dexter's Diner, are also a scoring method and fill up each level's Jedi Meter. If the player finds enough Studs to fill the Jedi Meter and keeps them through the end of the level, the player is said to have attained True Jedi status and a Superkit piece is acquired. If the entire Superkit is found (one piece for each level), a rather futuristic secret is unlocked. In addition, each level hides ten Minikit pieces, often hidden away or inaccessible using the characters from Story Mode. Collecting these has no practical consequence besides the 'gotta catch 'em all' factor, besides a few bonus Studs for completing each  level's Minikit. 

Although I was unable to try it, the co-op multiplayer is pervasive and is supported in all gameplay modes and levels, with a second player able to join or leave at any time simply by pressing the Start button on the second controller. Reports from elsewhere have been overwhelmingly positive on the multiplayer, and I can definitely see it being an enjoyably social experience. Only the final battle between Obi-Wan Kenobi and the nascent Darth Vader breaks with the co-op focus of the game, with normal co-op platformer sequences confusingly alternated with player-versus-player lightsaber dueling. 

Summary

Lego Star Wars is a fun and accessible game. While designed for a younger crowd than the usual hardcore gamer, it has a style and depth that make it a worthwhile play even for serious gamers. Its success has spawned a sequel based on the classic Star Wars trilogy and a port for newer systems called Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga. A Game Boy Advance game of the same title was also released but is vastly different due to the technical limitations of the platform. Now that the full Star Wars saga has been Lego-ized in game form, Travellers' Tales is moving on to a new license: Lego Batman. 

Pros:

• Accessible, lightweight gameplay
• Pervasive co-op multiplayer
• Humourously retells the Star Wars prequels with Lego people 

Cons:

• Loose, imprecise controls
• Minigame levels not up to the standard set by platform levels

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(CC)
This writeup is copyright 2007 by me and is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs-NonCommercial licence. Details can be found at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd-nc/2.5/ .