NinjaBread Man: Just Say No!

Here at Videogamenewsblog, we like to focus on the positive, bringing you reviews of the games we liked and exciting news of upcoming titles. However, from time to time we like to take the opportunity to warn you of certain gaming disasters, to spare you the anguish that a rubbish game can bring. This time around we have NinjaBread Man from developers Data Design, a game that has sold way more copies than it ever had the right to sell! Now, this is not a new game, so our warnings are a little too late, but hopefully we can deter any gamers from picking this up if they haven't already done so.

The game falls at the first hurdle with vastly miscalculating the gameplay. For a platformer, the controls in NinjaBread Man are frustratingly misjudged. But in NinjaBread Man, jumping is handled by shaking the Nunchuk, a task that requires coordination that I doubt many human beings consistently possess. Combat is also greatly frustrating, with the enemies you encounter being overly powerful. Normally this could be overcome with skill, but the Wii remote is so unresponsive in this game that most of your attacks go unregistered.

In NinjaBread Man, you either walk (which is excruciatingly slow) or you can run, which makes your character very hard to control. Losing your character off the edge of a platform is a common occurance due to the low quality controls. Story and plot are almost non existant, with the game lacking any cut scenes, although with only three stages, there's not a lot of time to get used to the game anyway.

All this would be almost forgiveable if Data Design were a young, up and coming producer with much to learn, but these guys have been around for years, and they really should know better. NinjaBread Man is another example of just how poor the Wii games can be - avoid it at all costs!

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Upcoming Wii Greats

Word of mouth is stating that 2009 is going to be the year of the Wii. Developers are promising a range of impressive games that are going to push the console to its limits in terms of graphics and gameplay. Spring has already witnessed a steady stream of impressive games, such as Boom Blox Party, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Guitar Hero: Metallica, Virtua Tennis 2009 and Puzzle Kingdom. All great games, but here we give a quick list of the three games we're most looking forward to;

Excitebots: This is the eagerly anticipated sequel to Excite Truck, one of the most popular launch titles for the Wii. This time around, players are promised an even quicker pace and a more technical reflection of high speed racing. Instead of racing a mere truck, players take control of mechanical bots that mimic both the abilities and attributes of specific animals and insects. While the turtle is slow, it's also heavy and steady, in contrast to the bat, who is extremely fast and can jump far, but lacks weight, and can be easily knocked aside. Also, an innovative addition has been added, allowing mini games to be played whilst driving, to give players an edge in the race proper. Sounds complicated, but the way it works is very impressive.

Klonoa: We've spoken of our excitement for Klonoa already over here, so we'll just say that this promises to be a highly innovative and successful game, if the original is anything to go by!

Punch-Out! is also a remake, and the first installment in the series in about 20 years. It's a style of boxing gameplay that has been revisioned in 3D by many developers, in games such as Ready 2 Rumble and Wii Sports Boxing. The series has always been a sure hit with fans and continues to deliver the goods, and so any further installment is always going to be a good thing!

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Dead Space: Wii Style

Released last year on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, Dead Space became an instant hit across the market, lauded for its suspenseful gameplay and stylised, immensely frightening setting. Taking control of Isaac Clarke, a deep space engineer, the player had to fight their way through claustrophobic corridors and blood spattered rooms whilst being attacked by monstrous alien hybrids known as Necromorphs. Implementing a Resident Evil style over-the-shoulder control system, Dead Space played smoothly and delivered the goods. The recent announcement of a Wii version, Dead Space: Extraction, has been met with heightened excitement.

However, Extraction will play a lot differently to the other Next gen Dead Space game. Specifically, the Wii version will be played on rails, meaning that the camera and actual movement of your character is controlled by the computer. All the player has to do is shoot out on-screen enemies, making for an arcade style gameplay. Now, this isn't exactly the news Wii owners were hoping for, but early footage of the game still reveals the same attention to detail and immersive atmosphere experienced in the original.
According to the developers, Extraction implements every mechanic the original was known for, not just the strategic dismemberment used to defeat the Necromorphs, but also stasis, telekinesis, and zero gravity. Simply aim and press the Stasis button to use that feature.

Extraction is actually a prequel, telling the stories of the dawning of the Necromorph contagion. Centering around a small mining colony, you follow a small group of survivors desperately trying to escape an outbreak. aswell as introducing a new female protagonist, there are said to be a number of new weapons found in Extraction, but the only one revealed so far is the Arc Welder, used to fire an electrical charge which arcs between enemies, therefore used to great effect whilst facing multiple enemies at once.

The jury is still out on this one. On the one hand, the original Dead Space was a tremendous hit, with a lot of love and care put into the game to create a perfect survival horror title. If the same effort has been put into Extraction, then the game should mirror the success of the original. On the other hand, on rail shooters are not very well-liked in the home gaming arena, often accused of being too simple and eschewing freedom and exploration by dumbing down the gameplay. How well will Dead Space Extraction be received? We can only wait and see as release is slated for this coming Autumn.

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Movie adaptations to look out for!

It’s the time of the year when this years blockbuster movies come out in succession. It’s also the time when movie games, based on said movies, come out to coincide with the movie release. Video games based on films tend to sell very well, but don’t tend to be very good. This year, however, the games are looking fantastic. So what is in store for this summer?

X-Men Origins: Wolverine

Who wouldn’t like to control a regenerating, virtually indestructible, claw wielding superhero? Well, in X-Men Origins: Wolverine you get to do just that! Developed by Raven Software, Wolverine is the video game companion to Marvel’s summer blockbuster of the same name. The plot for the game is not directly related to the movie, but it does feature Hugh Jackman as Wolverine in both his likeness to the character and his voice.

For a Marvel video game it is quite a bloody affair. Wolverine’s claws rip through Weapon X security guards, leaving pools of blood and dismembered body parts all over the place. This is no surprise, since Raven Software created one of the most bloodiest game series ever, Soldier of Fortune. It seems Raven have took the idea of Wolverine having these claws and put them into context in the real world and in the real world sharp metal claws equals blood, blood and more blood!

Graphics-wise Wolverine looks great, but this is to be expected. Movie video game tie-ins are expected to be as good looking as the films they represent. This usually has a unfortunate effect on the rest of the game as the developers focus on making it look like the movie and sacrifice gameplay, AI and other important aspects. However, in this case Raven Software have managed to not sacrifice the important aspects. The controls are fluid and intuitive with moves being mapped to only a few buttons and AI is generally good with the usual inclusion of cannon fodder.

In essence, X-Men Origins: Wolverine is just like its main protagonist, a raw, animalistic beast, and that’s what makes it so good. Wolverine is available on the PS3, Xbox 360 and PC.

Terminator: Salvation

The new Terminator Salvation movie looks awesome. Many people doubted whether another film should be done especially after Terminator 3. The same could be said for the games. Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines was a poor game at best with the only cool thing about it was it had terminators in it. Then again most movie based video games generally aren’t that great, but there are a few exceptions, and Terminator: Salvation is looking to be one of those games that will buck the trend.

The main reason for this is the inclusion of two-player co-operative play. While only limited to split screen, co-operative play has been a big hook since its inclusion in Gears of War. Not only that, GRIN the developers have put a lot of time and effort into creating a believable post-apocalyptic world and its shows.

In this post-apocalyptic world you, as John Conner, and your team carry out specific missions to take the fight to the machines. Conner can take cover behind various objects and trade fire whist behind them. But GRIN have designed the combat system to allow you to flank the enemy by exploiting the environment. This is a neat feature and adds another dynamic to the gameplay.

The games story takes place two years before the film when John Connor is in the military. It follows you as John Connor on his missions before the events of the film and his development into the heroic leader most fans know him as in the first couple of films. GRIN seem to have nailed the post-apocalyptic world of the Terminator universe, co-operative play and have developed a combat system that allows for various ways of taking down the machines. Terminator: Salvation looks like a movie video game worthy of the attention. Terminator: Salvation will be available on the PS3 and Xbox 360 when released.

Ghostbusters:

Yes Ghostbusters was released in the 80’s but this is a game based on a movie franchise worth writing about. In essence the Ghostbusters game is the third film in the series (even though a third film has been announced). The story is written by the writers of the original film, Dan Acykroyd and Harold Ramis, so already it’s a must!

The original cast has been faithfully recreated to look almost identical to what they looked like in the two films. The game negates having a heads-up-display to show information, like health, and instead opts for a similar system to Dead Space, were your proton pack displays all you vital information.

Now about those proton packs, apart from crossing the streams, you need to also worry about overheating, luckily you don’t need to worry about ammo. The ghost-trapping gameplay works a treat, with you throwing out traps and slamming them with your proton beam, everything feels just as it should. The developers, Terminal Reality, have also managed to create an atmosphere that borders between scary and humorous. As you walk down spooky corridors you comrades start making fun of you or crack a joke of and occasionally shout out advice.

The graphics of Ghostbusters depends on which version you purchase, the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions have very realistic, shiny graphics that the owners almost expect to see these days, where as the Wii version has a more cartoony look to it. This maybe due to the lack of powerful hardware in the Wii, but it the chosen graphics work extremely well. You could go as far as saying it makes it feel that more Ghostbusters-y. Rumours have been flying around about co-operative play being included then taken out. If this is the truth it would be the only negative in what looks to be a great game. Hopefully, there is co-operative play as there would be nothing better than playing this game with three of your friends.

Which ever version you pick up, Ghostbusters looks to be a video game treat. Many fans have been waiting for a Ghostbusters game like this, me included. Ghostbusters will be released 16/06/2009 for the DS, PS3, PC, Xbox 360 and Wii.

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Wii Want Spectrobes!

Spectrobes was initially released to the Nintendo DSi to a rather nonplussed set of reviews. The game, which is simular enough to concepts such as Pokemon, sees a galaxy strewn with tiny fossilized creatures (the Spectrobes) which can be discovered and trained, their skills and abilities utilized in battle. This would sound like a dead cert to appeal to younger players and fans of RPGs alike, but the game has so far been viewed to be repetitive and uninspired in its gameplay. However, Nintendo are not ready to rule out this franchise just yet, and have further plans for the Spectrobes.

Spectrobes: Origins sees the first home release for the franchise, bringing it onto the Wii. Viewed as a reboot, or retelling of the beginning of the series; the titular "Origins" bringing us closer to the dawning of this saga. It's rather fitting that the new game is literally a new start for the series because, though it may be a little too soon to tell, it seems that Origins may completely surpass all other Specrobes installments before it.

Heading in the direction of other RPGs lately, random encounters have been dropped in favour of an open field of vision, allowing players to see their enemies and thus choose to attack or evade accordingly. The remote and nunchuk are used to perform a variety of on screen functions, with menus juggled with the C button. Spectrobes are discovered progressively throughout the game, and upto six can be carried at any given time.

Though the Spectrobes will largely attack independently, you can issue further commands to bring forward their devastating abilities. Suffice to say the further you progress along your quest the more impressive your Spectrobes will become. Main character Rallen is not pushover either, and can be commanded to atack using various weapons and skills at disposal.

Theres still a long way to go for Spectrobes, and though the visuals look original and inspired, a further polish is still required. Disney haven't stated a confirmed release date yet, although we're expecting to see it around the end of the year. Until then, lets just hope that the Wii version can bring this franchise, which has so far seen a lot of squandered potential, to the forefront of home gaming.

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Silent Hill Remake

Konami have announced that Silent Hill, originally released on the PlayStation, will be remade for the Wii, PS2 and the PSP and will go under the new name of Silent Hill: Shattered Memories.

The Wii has had many remakes from previous generation consoles and Silent Hill: Shattered Memories is another one to add to the ever growing list. Developers seem to believe that the Wii’s advanced control system can reinvigorate new life into previously released games that if remade on the PS3 or Xbox 360 would just look more prettier. Is it a good idea? Well it seems to be working for Nintendo and it allows people to pick up games they may have missed and play them with a more intuitive control system.

Back to Silent Hill, Shattered Memories is not a direct port of the original, with approachable characters that respond differently and can be found in different places, and new clues and game paths can be found and followed, almost leading to a new experience for players. The Wii version will make full use of the WiiMote in really novel ways – the WiiMote takes the role of playing both your phone and torch, as well as being used to pick up, manipulate and examine items to solve puzzles. The WiiMote being used as a torch in the game is a master stroke and will add a level of tension when you are exploring around with Harry Mason, the lead character, until something unexpected happens and you have to change to a weapon!

It may be another remake, but Silent Hill: Shattered Memories, looks like it may be one of the best remakes to date, more so the Wii version. Look out for Silent Hill: Shattered Memories this Autumn and will be available for the Wii, PS2 and PSP.

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Tiger Returns- PGA Golf Tour 10

Developers EA Sports have been very consistent with their Tiger Woods games over the last few years, releasing them at a rate of roughly one each year. Their latest offering, PGA Tour 10, comes to the Wii this year. PGA Tour 10 is a title that promises to address the many complaints that have arisen over the last few games, varying from gameplay niggles concerning the swing meters and drive force, to an unambitious outlook on in game graphics. From what we've seen so for, EA look set to make good on their promises.

To address the lacklustre approach to graphics and realism, EA have gone for an almost complete overhaul of the previous system. The aim is to pay much more attaention to the little details which will all mount up to craft a visually appealing and life-like dynamic. Everything is being catered for, with trees and ponds being given their own set of animations, to act independantly and realistically in relation to the surrounding environment.

A brilliant new feature being added exclusively to the Wii title is a weather system that works in tandem with the Wii forecast channel itself. The game has been designed to mimic the information generated through the Wii forecast channel and reproduce it in-game. This means that the game you're playing will actually respond to the real weather outside, so if you're in the middle of a game and you begin to hear raindrops on your window, the game will follow suit and rain will begin to pour. This element is set to include all weather conditions, ranging from sunshine, wind, rain, sleet, fog- anything you would imagine. This is not just a flashy gimmick either, as the in-game weather will effect the way to game is played, with the ground become sleek with rain and winds affecting the course of the ball etc.

Graphics and features improvements are all well and good, but what Wii players are really concerned about is the Wii motion sensing, which has been notoriously poor in recent PGA games. The draw and fade elements have been quite inaccurate, with players complaining that the motion sensing was just too sloppy or unresponsive. Enter the new WiiMotionPlus peripheral, a vast improvement to the earlier motion sensing as it actually reads the players movements on a 3D level, mapping out the entire dynamic structure of the participant to generate a much more accurate reading. EA are confident enough to state that this feature allows for 100% accuracy, and hopefully that's what we'll get!

The PGA games have always been a hit with fans, the fact that it has reached such a high level of installments is testament to just how popular they are. As popular as they have been however, they have always been let down by small problems that frankly should have been fixed by now. PGA 10 promises to right the wrongs of the past, and hopefully EA can deliver the truly perfect game that fans have patiently waited for.

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Chop Til You Drop!

The original Dead Rising was initially released the decent critical acclaim on the Xbox 360, intended as a system exclusive. The game revolved around a worldwide zombie pandemic, during which your character, Frank West, finds himself trapped inside a shopping mall infested with zombies. Frank must basically survive the game whilst using pretty much anything he can get his hands on to assist his fight. Ahead of a preposed sequel in the near future, Dead Rising is being ported to the Nintendo Wii and named Dead Rising: Chop Till You Drop.

Playing pretty much like a game version of the Dawn of the Dead movie (although developers were keen to stress that it is in no way affiliated with the franchise), Dead Rising featured an enjoyably simple premise, which required nothing more than your survival for three days (the eqivalent of 6 hours gameplay). However, there were plenty of side quests and optional missions to undertake which accumulated to give the player one of many possible endings.

Many adjustments have been made to the Wii port, including toning down what was stated to be an overly difficult level of gameplay, and of course the use of motion control. While the use of surrounding objects as weapons is accomplished with the A button, guns are aimed with the remote, and waggling the remote activates the special abilities of some weapons, such as the crazy flailing of a saw or a well aimed swipe with a bat.

Where the game gained much of its praise is in the sheer amount of makeshift weapons available for use. Pretty much anything you could find in a shopping mall is available for use, each to varying success. Just a few of the weapons available include chainsaws, baseball bats, plant pots, benches and tins of soup. Plus you can use of plenty other everyday objects to tilt the scales in your favor: such as breaking open a container of olive oil on the floor in front of your flesh-eating pursuers. Suffice to say these varying methods of dispatch make for many humourous and entertaining scenes!

It's refreshing to see the Wii making the effort to shake free of the kiddy friendly image it has, and if ever a game could help in that mission, it's this one. Rarely has a game been so single minded in its purpose of creating no brainer fun for a few hours, and for those who sat and watched Dawn of the Dead thinking 'that looks like so much fun', well, this is your chance to live it out! Dead Rising: Chop til you Drop certainly isn't a deep game, but it's definitely an entertaining one!

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Metallica Rock!

Guitar Hero has always been at the forefront of music gaming. The franchise paved the way for interactive music gaming, and though its success has been emulated by peer games such as Rock Band, the various installments of Guitar Hero have always been the fan favourite, first to hit the takings records. A full blown sequel is planned, Guitar Hero 5, but that installment is yet to receive an official release date. In the meantime, Neversoft have developed Guitar Hero Metallica, a tribute to the band containing many of their greatest songs, as well as those of the bands that influenced Metallica or were similar to them in that era.

Aswell as this specialised concentration on Metallica, the game is set to pioneer a number of new features for the franchise. Probably the first exclusive feature of note is a new drums difficulty mode, called Expert+. One thing that has set Metallica apart from some bands is it's frequent bass pedal use. Expert+ allows you to plug in an extra kick pedal for advanced difficulty. This may not sound like such a big addition at first, but consider that this difficulty option will up the amount of notes that will appear onscreen to a total of seven. If you choose to do it, you should find yourself constantly moving your feet from one pedal to the other during some songs, while at the same time pulling off beats on the other note pads. It takes a lot of coordination and skill, and only those that have mastered the original Expert difficulty setting will likely feel confident enough to give it a shot.

As befits a game dedicated to a single band, Guitar Hero: Metallica features a number of band sepecific additional content, ranging from unlockable videos and live footage, to pop up facts and trvia that give you interesting information concerning the songs and how they were written, influences behind them etc. perfect for the Metallica fans this game is aimed at.

Another great feature included in Guitar Hero: World Tour was the Music Studio, in which players could create their own songs. This highly addictive function helps extend the replay value of the Guitar Hero games and the good news is that the feature returns in Metallica, bringing with it a host of new tones and options, each linked with the style of Metallica is mind.

Another Guitar Hero concentrating exclusively on a single band was another gamble from Neversoft, especially considering the negative feedback they got for Guitar Hero: Aeromsith, which claimed the game to be too concentrated on one style and thus lost any great replayability. Metallica runs the same risk, but the inclusion of notable extras should see the game through, and obviously for fans of Metallica buying this game is a definite no brainer!

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The Gloves Are On!

How many of you remember the boxing title Ready 2 Rumble? perhaps not many, but it was in fact one of the best dreamcast launch titles back in 1999. Shortly afterwards the game was released on the PS2 and N64 to decent critical acclaim. Now the game is set for another reinvention as the Nintendo Wii plans to release Ready 2 Rumble: Revolutuion.

Ready 2 Rumble was such a popular game due to its emphasis on precision and timing, emulating the actual sport of boxing by favouring skill over brute punches like earlier games. Shoulder buttons were specifically given over to ducking and weaving, creating a skilled and precise gameplay element. Successful consecutive blows would charge up your rumble meter, which wehn fully powered could be used to launch a devastating knockout punch.

Where the Wii version really intends to progress is in the use of the motion controls. Atari's game still places heightened emphasis on skill, and so linking this factor with the ability to use the nunchuk and controller should give rise to a pretty intense and challenging game. A few fun extras have been added, such as the chance to create your own personal boxer, with new features and parts being unlocked as the game progresses. Also returning are the training and exercise mini games used to enhance your boxer between fights.

All this leads us to be quietly excited about this new Wii title. The original Ready 2 rumble games were unheralded yet impressively technical games, and the sheen that Nintendo Wii will add to proceedings should no doubt create a perfect boxing package, something that's been missing from the gaming scene for quite some time now.

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