Including what is likely a surprise to many, I've been playing a bunch of XBLA games. Here are my brief impressions for each of the games I've played in the last month but please keep in mind I do not have Live Gold so I'm going mainly based on the single-player experiences:
1) Worms HD: it's worms, you either like it or you don't. Really not much more to be said. The $10 price point is decent, would be a steal for $5. I put about 7 hours just into the challenges, which get quite difficult once you get past the 10th one. And that's without playing any online or local multiplayer games which would be a blast.
2) Super Street Fighter Turbo HD Remix: old-school Street Fighter. Its quite dated now but fun for a nostalgia kick. Arcade default settings are also a little bit on the tough side for those of us who aren't tournament-calibre players, so it will give you a bit of a test. $15 is a bit much IMO but it really depends on your preferences. Quite easy to bury many, many hours, especially online, if this is your type of game. Personally, it was a fun evening for me but that's about it.
3) Misadventures of P.B. Winterbottom: what a phenomenal puzzle-platformer. The closest thing to it is Braid but this one is based around the copies of yourself levels from the 4th World in Braid taken to a whole new level. The story mode to me is on the same level of quality as Braid in nearly every way (length, design, making you think, use of gameplay mechanics, etc.) and on top of it, you have roughly 30 time and recording (ie. how many copies do you need) trials that are actually quite challenging. All this combined makes it one of the better values of all XBLA games at its original $10 price tag and was an absolute steal when it dropped to $5. I recommend this one to anyone looking for a good downloadable game that's different, neat, a little comical with a neat setting, and a decent challenge.
4) Poker Smash: essentially, this is Tetris Attack/Pokemon Puzzle League/Planet Puzzle League/Panel de Pon but you make poker hands instead of just lining up (and chaining) 3 to 5 similarly coloured blocks and try to chain them together. It's great 'cause now hands such as full house, straights, and flushes become legit options. Hell, you can even do 9-flushes (since you need a minimum of 5 cards for a flush). But in this game, you have bombs that allow you to eliminate a single card and also the ability to slow the speed at which the board scrolls, but with a power bar so you can't hold it down forever. A great little additional to the standard Panel de Pon gameplay. It even has your time trials and 50 puzzle levels to figure out (as well as online multi, but no one is ever on). Great thing is, your score become in-game currency that you can use to purchase new skins for your boards, gamer pics, and even the solutions to the puzzles. I'm a bit of a puzzle game fanatic (like pretty much everything aside from Bejeweled-like games) so I'm a bit biased, but I do think this game is worth the $10 (hell, I put a ton of time and had a ton of fun with it) and is a steal at $5.
5) Trials HD: I have such a love-hate relationship with this game. There's a ton of to really love about this game: it's got wonderful level design, there's an absolute ton of content and gameplay modes, realistic-style physics, and it's beautiful to look at. For those who don't know what kind of game it is, imagine Excitebike (more specifically, the phenomenal Excitebike 64) with 2 1/2 levels and crazy, bike-trick level design. And this game is huge, it's got more content than most retail games. Unfortunately, it has a fatal flaw: the controls are fucking horrible. Specifically the touchiness and bounciness of the bike itself. It's not so bad in the beginning, you kinda learn to live with it and it just becomes part of the challenge. And really, you don't think much of it.....until you hit the hard tracks. For those who have played the game, I got golds on the Easy and Normal and over half of Mediums and was able to complete all of the Hard and the first Extreme track and was a hair away from the second, so I've played it a lot and been relatively successful at it. But man, the controls became a pervasive nuisance when going for the Hard and Extreme tracks, to the point where the frustration far outweighed the fun. Essentially, it was the opposite of Castlevania 64 (that game had horrid first few levels and got a lot better). If the controls would be any better, this game would be worth every penny of the $15. There really is a ton to love about the game. As it is, I may still buy it myself if it ever drops to $10 but it's so frustrating to have a game that's so good with such a fatal flaw. I hope to hell they make a sequel and fix those controls.
6) Geometry Wars 2: this game is everything a sequel should be. It essentially takes the gameplay well all know and love and adds 5 extra new modes, all of which were really good. Hell, they turned that Pacifism achievement into an entire mode (man, I was SOOO close to the Wax Off achievement) where you don't shoot but can only kill the enemies by flying through gates that kill all enemies in a certain area. They added a King mode where can only shoot from one of 3 circular areas that disappear after a certain time and get replaced by another somewhere else on the board. The Sequence mode is also awesome, where you have a set amount of lives and bombs (you can earn more through score) and have to get through 20 consecutive timed levels (death means you fail the level). Where the first one was a neat idea it feels like a tech demo compared to the sequel which is the best praise you can give a sequel. Certainly worth the $10 asking price if you liked the original and want some more.
7) Lumines Live: it's Lumines, nothing different than the PSP version at all. Made by Q Entertainment, your actions affect the techno music but at the end of the day, it feels like Tetris' not-quite-as-good little cousin. I definitely don't feel it's worth the $15 asking price (not that great of a game) but if you really, really dig gameplay, it could be. More of a $5 game to me
8 ) Bomberman Live: it's Bomberman in all it's glory. By now, you either love or hate the simplicity of the gameplay. Personally, I've always liked it (man, we played Saturn Bomberman quite a bit back in the day) and enjoyed the simplicity and frantic pace of it. I'm very out of practice, the computer handed me my ass pretty good. Is it worth the $10 asking price? This game requires multiple people to play (local or online) and enjoy properly. Blowing the computer up isn't nearly as fun as wasting your friends 'cause you miss out on the trash-talking which is essential to the experience. If you can pull that off and love Bomberman, it's worth it. Otherwise, not so much.
9) Alan Wake: In my opinion, this may be the best survival horror game ever made. It's that damned good. Everything about the game is phenomenal: the atmosphere, graphics, storyline, voice acting, graphics, gameplay...everything. For those of you who don't know anything about the game, it's essentially The Shining mixed with Silent Hill but with a touch of Twin Peaks and the gameplay of an action game (these are the Max Payne guys after all). Survival horror games are known for having poor gameplay aside from a few exceptions, and this is one of those few. The great thing about it is it's set up like a 6-episode mini-series, complete with "Previously on Alan Wake" intros and cliff-hanger episode endings. The atmosphere is essentially unmatched. The Darkness feels more and more uncomfortable as it starts to close in on you and it's a phenomenal feeling. The Taken look and feel very neat as well. I made a point of going after the manuscript pages, I loved the idea and how they added that extra layer to the storyline. And the great thing is, the game gets better with each episode and has such a great ending sequence. Don't listen to these idiot reviewers who probably never played past the second scenario, this game is fucking long, particularly for a survival horror game. It took us about 13 hours to beat. The first two scenarios were only 3 1/2 hours combined but the rest are about twice the size. Really, the only flaw in the game is the feeling of "sameness" you get, particularly in the first few episodes. You are running through the forested areas of the resort town....a lot. Sometimes it can drag a little and feel repetitive, particularly if you're hunting manuscript pages other secrets. It gets better in the second half of the eps but you get it a lot in the beginning. And you are fighting only about 5 or 6 different enemies throughout the entire game. But I thought they were so well done that I actually enjoyed it. If you like the genre at all, play this game. It's absolutely phenomenal.
10) Sin and Punishment: Treasure goodness through and through. Feels so much like the first one and is just as frantic and beautiful. If you like the original and Treasure's stuff, you want this game. It's awesome. If you don't know what this game is, it's basically an on-rails shooter with a little more depth (chaining and getting certain enemies killed takes a little more than just aiming and shooting). I love Treasure's games and was all over this but it's certainly a limited fanbase.
11) Braid: I've mentioned this one a lot in the past mostly based on the pricing but I want to be very clear: this truly is one of the best downloadable games on any system. It's got excellent atmosphere, a very interesting story, excellent level design, and constantly makes you think about how to collect all those puzzle pieces. The ending sequence is phenomenal and I actually wanted to do the stars but really couldn't (that's explained in the next paragraph). And like Winterbottom, it's a good deal at $10 (it takes only about 6 hours to beat first time) and a steal at $5......but certainly feels like it's too expensive at $15.
The reasons behind why I couldn't do the stars are why I will never, ever pay for this game, not even if it drops to $1, is due to the petty programming choices made by the developer. I actually borrowed my friends hard drive to play this and it's the only game I've ever seen which has an in-game check to ensure your profile is one that purchased the game. Just FYI for those who don't know: if you have the profile of someone who purchased a game signed on, the games become unlocked in your Games Library so even the profile signed on for the other players can play the games (and earn achievements). Basically, I sign my bud into Player 1, myself into Player 2 and I can play the game and earn achievements. It's a fair compromise which still makes you feel like you actually own the damned game (since you can take it over to your friends' houses or have them play the game you purchased). But with Braid, even with my friends' profile as the only one logged on while his HDD was plugged into my 360, the game actually kicked into trial mode (and his saved game wasn't loaded). That means that not even my bud could play his own game on my system, the one he paid for. There is a way around it (if anyone wants to know how, message me and I'll tell you how it works) but that forced me to play the game in one sitting without the ability to save (hell, I couldn't even load up my buddy's saved game). The existence of such programming epitomizes the limitations that show the shortcomings of digital downloading vs physical media, strongly supporting all those value arguments I was mentioning before, as well as revealing the petty, money-grubbing nature of developer. For that, he will never get a penny from me for any game he creates, period. To me, that's the equivalent of linking your physical disc to your system so you can't play it anywhere else and if I'm not mistaken, didn't everyone absolutely tear into EA and Ubicrap for that DRM bullshit on the PC?
1) Worms HD: it's worms, you either like it or you don't. Really not much more to be said. The $10 price point is decent, would be a steal for $5. I put about 7 hours just into the challenges, which get quite difficult once you get past the 10th one. And that's without playing any online or local multiplayer games which would be a blast.
2) Super Street Fighter Turbo HD Remix: old-school Street Fighter. Its quite dated now but fun for a nostalgia kick. Arcade default settings are also a little bit on the tough side for those of us who aren't tournament-calibre players, so it will give you a bit of a test. $15 is a bit much IMO but it really depends on your preferences. Quite easy to bury many, many hours, especially online, if this is your type of game. Personally, it was a fun evening for me but that's about it.
3) Misadventures of P.B. Winterbottom: what a phenomenal puzzle-platformer. The closest thing to it is Braid but this one is based around the copies of yourself levels from the 4th World in Braid taken to a whole new level. The story mode to me is on the same level of quality as Braid in nearly every way (length, design, making you think, use of gameplay mechanics, etc.) and on top of it, you have roughly 30 time and recording (ie. how many copies do you need) trials that are actually quite challenging. All this combined makes it one of the better values of all XBLA games at its original $10 price tag and was an absolute steal when it dropped to $5. I recommend this one to anyone looking for a good downloadable game that's different, neat, a little comical with a neat setting, and a decent challenge.
4) Poker Smash: essentially, this is Tetris Attack/Pokemon Puzzle League/Planet Puzzle League/Panel de Pon but you make poker hands instead of just lining up (and chaining) 3 to 5 similarly coloured blocks and try to chain them together. It's great 'cause now hands such as full house, straights, and flushes become legit options. Hell, you can even do 9-flushes (since you need a minimum of 5 cards for a flush). But in this game, you have bombs that allow you to eliminate a single card and also the ability to slow the speed at which the board scrolls, but with a power bar so you can't hold it down forever. A great little additional to the standard Panel de Pon gameplay. It even has your time trials and 50 puzzle levels to figure out (as well as online multi, but no one is ever on). Great thing is, your score become in-game currency that you can use to purchase new skins for your boards, gamer pics, and even the solutions to the puzzles. I'm a bit of a puzzle game fanatic (like pretty much everything aside from Bejeweled-like games) so I'm a bit biased, but I do think this game is worth the $10 (hell, I put a ton of time and had a ton of fun with it) and is a steal at $5.
5) Trials HD: I have such a love-hate relationship with this game. There's a ton of to really love about this game: it's got wonderful level design, there's an absolute ton of content and gameplay modes, realistic-style physics, and it's beautiful to look at. For those who don't know what kind of game it is, imagine Excitebike (more specifically, the phenomenal Excitebike 64) with 2 1/2 levels and crazy, bike-trick level design. And this game is huge, it's got more content than most retail games. Unfortunately, it has a fatal flaw: the controls are fucking horrible. Specifically the touchiness and bounciness of the bike itself. It's not so bad in the beginning, you kinda learn to live with it and it just becomes part of the challenge. And really, you don't think much of it.....until you hit the hard tracks. For those who have played the game, I got golds on the Easy and Normal and over half of Mediums and was able to complete all of the Hard and the first Extreme track and was a hair away from the second, so I've played it a lot and been relatively successful at it. But man, the controls became a pervasive nuisance when going for the Hard and Extreme tracks, to the point where the frustration far outweighed the fun. Essentially, it was the opposite of Castlevania 64 (that game had horrid first few levels and got a lot better). If the controls would be any better, this game would be worth every penny of the $15. There really is a ton to love about the game. As it is, I may still buy it myself if it ever drops to $10 but it's so frustrating to have a game that's so good with such a fatal flaw. I hope to hell they make a sequel and fix those controls.
6) Geometry Wars 2: this game is everything a sequel should be. It essentially takes the gameplay well all know and love and adds 5 extra new modes, all of which were really good. Hell, they turned that Pacifism achievement into an entire mode (man, I was SOOO close to the Wax Off achievement) where you don't shoot but can only kill the enemies by flying through gates that kill all enemies in a certain area. They added a King mode where can only shoot from one of 3 circular areas that disappear after a certain time and get replaced by another somewhere else on the board. The Sequence mode is also awesome, where you have a set amount of lives and bombs (you can earn more through score) and have to get through 20 consecutive timed levels (death means you fail the level). Where the first one was a neat idea it feels like a tech demo compared to the sequel which is the best praise you can give a sequel. Certainly worth the $10 asking price if you liked the original and want some more.
7) Lumines Live: it's Lumines, nothing different than the PSP version at all. Made by Q Entertainment, your actions affect the techno music but at the end of the day, it feels like Tetris' not-quite-as-good little cousin. I definitely don't feel it's worth the $15 asking price (not that great of a game) but if you really, really dig gameplay, it could be. More of a $5 game to me
8 ) Bomberman Live: it's Bomberman in all it's glory. By now, you either love or hate the simplicity of the gameplay. Personally, I've always liked it (man, we played Saturn Bomberman quite a bit back in the day) and enjoyed the simplicity and frantic pace of it. I'm very out of practice, the computer handed me my ass pretty good. Is it worth the $10 asking price? This game requires multiple people to play (local or online) and enjoy properly. Blowing the computer up isn't nearly as fun as wasting your friends 'cause you miss out on the trash-talking which is essential to the experience. If you can pull that off and love Bomberman, it's worth it. Otherwise, not so much.
9) Alan Wake: In my opinion, this may be the best survival horror game ever made. It's that damned good. Everything about the game is phenomenal: the atmosphere, graphics, storyline, voice acting, graphics, gameplay...everything. For those of you who don't know anything about the game, it's essentially The Shining mixed with Silent Hill but with a touch of Twin Peaks and the gameplay of an action game (these are the Max Payne guys after all). Survival horror games are known for having poor gameplay aside from a few exceptions, and this is one of those few. The great thing about it is it's set up like a 6-episode mini-series, complete with "Previously on Alan Wake" intros and cliff-hanger episode endings. The atmosphere is essentially unmatched. The Darkness feels more and more uncomfortable as it starts to close in on you and it's a phenomenal feeling. The Taken look and feel very neat as well. I made a point of going after the manuscript pages, I loved the idea and how they added that extra layer to the storyline. And the great thing is, the game gets better with each episode and has such a great ending sequence. Don't listen to these idiot reviewers who probably never played past the second scenario, this game is fucking long, particularly for a survival horror game. It took us about 13 hours to beat. The first two scenarios were only 3 1/2 hours combined but the rest are about twice the size. Really, the only flaw in the game is the feeling of "sameness" you get, particularly in the first few episodes. You are running through the forested areas of the resort town....a lot. Sometimes it can drag a little and feel repetitive, particularly if you're hunting manuscript pages other secrets. It gets better in the second half of the eps but you get it a lot in the beginning. And you are fighting only about 5 or 6 different enemies throughout the entire game. But I thought they were so well done that I actually enjoyed it. If you like the genre at all, play this game. It's absolutely phenomenal.
10) Sin and Punishment: Treasure goodness through and through. Feels so much like the first one and is just as frantic and beautiful. If you like the original and Treasure's stuff, you want this game. It's awesome. If you don't know what this game is, it's basically an on-rails shooter with a little more depth (chaining and getting certain enemies killed takes a little more than just aiming and shooting). I love Treasure's games and was all over this but it's certainly a limited fanbase.
11) Braid: I've mentioned this one a lot in the past mostly based on the pricing but I want to be very clear: this truly is one of the best downloadable games on any system. It's got excellent atmosphere, a very interesting story, excellent level design, and constantly makes you think about how to collect all those puzzle pieces. The ending sequence is phenomenal and I actually wanted to do the stars but really couldn't (that's explained in the next paragraph). And like Winterbottom, it's a good deal at $10 (it takes only about 6 hours to beat first time) and a steal at $5......but certainly feels like it's too expensive at $15.
The reasons behind why I couldn't do the stars are why I will never, ever pay for this game, not even if it drops to $1, is due to the petty programming choices made by the developer. I actually borrowed my friends hard drive to play this and it's the only game I've ever seen which has an in-game check to ensure your profile is one that purchased the game. Just FYI for those who don't know: if you have the profile of someone who purchased a game signed on, the games become unlocked in your Games Library so even the profile signed on for the other players can play the games (and earn achievements). Basically, I sign my bud into Player 1, myself into Player 2 and I can play the game and earn achievements. It's a fair compromise which still makes you feel like you actually own the damned game (since you can take it over to your friends' houses or have them play the game you purchased). But with Braid, even with my friends' profile as the only one logged on while his HDD was plugged into my 360, the game actually kicked into trial mode (and his saved game wasn't loaded). That means that not even my bud could play his own game on my system, the one he paid for. There is a way around it (if anyone wants to know how, message me and I'll tell you how it works) but that forced me to play the game in one sitting without the ability to save (hell, I couldn't even load up my buddy's saved game). The existence of such programming epitomizes the limitations that show the shortcomings of digital downloading vs physical media, strongly supporting all those value arguments I was mentioning before, as well as revealing the petty, money-grubbing nature of developer. For that, he will never get a penny from me for any game he creates, period. To me, that's the equivalent of linking your physical disc to your system so you can't play it anywhere else and if I'm not mistaken, didn't everyone absolutely tear into EA and Ubicrap for that DRM bullshit on the PC?
I was there on that fateful day, were you?
