Ghost Squad

Review 4: Ghost Squad - Your mission, SEGA, was to create a lousy Wii cash in using absolutely none of the horsepower or ingenuity of the console. At this mission, you have succeeded brillantly...

Oh man. There are so many of these games for the Wii that I'm getting sick of reading about them and even sicker of playing them. Publishers have discovered a formula which they seem to be using more and more often to squeeze $$ out of the Wii's expanding userbase:

1. Dig into your company code archives.
2. Find something that can be ported quickly and dirtily.
3. Tack on some waggle.
4. Profit!

I knew the time would come sooner or later when I'd take one of these "quickies" to task and actually post a (scathing) review. That time, unfortunately for publisher Sega, is now. And I'm sorry for picking on Sega, but as a publisher known for putting out some gems lately, you have to be held accountable when you churn out the turds. First you rush a HORRIBLY buggy Sonic The Hedgehog next-gen title out for 360 and PS3, and then you drop this turd-of-a-game on the completely undeserving userbase of the Wii. For shame, Sega. For shame... I expect this from Ubisoft, Activision, and THQ, but not from you...

At its heart, the concept of Ghost Squad is simple. It takes an arcade light-gun shooter, adds a few extras and party games, and brings the package home at a bargain price. However, there is very little content for the money here, and what is provided is so ridiculously sub-par that I could barely tolerate the game for longer than the hour it took to blaze through the provided 3 missions. After playing the (much better) Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles, this game seems unfinished in comparison, even taking into consideration its status as an arcade port.

I guess first I'll start with the positives. First, for a light-gun shooter, the control with the Wii-mote fits perfectly. You point, you shoot, terrorists die. It's not hard, and fairly well-implemented. The cursor sensitivity settings are decent, and it's easy to hit your marks. There are a lot of unlockable costumes and other goodies, but the main game is so disgustingly sub-par that it would take someone with a lot of patience to push through and unlock them all. Same is true for the branching paths in the levels. Depending on your choices as well as how well you perform in timed "action events" (little minigames ranging from eliminating a certain number of enemies with a sniper rifle to diffusing bombs) the path through each stage will differ. Again, if you are a completionist and MUST see every part of the three graphical nightmares the game calls "stages", you'll be playing for quite a while.

Where this game falls apart is in production values and extras. Given that the game was developed by Virtua Fighter gurus AM2, I expected it would at least showcase more of what the Wii can do. At the very least, a slight update of the original arcade game's graphics - like Namco did with Time Crisis II for PS2 - would have sufficed. Unfortunately, Sega would have none of that here. What they gave us is a bare-bones arcade port, with graphics that look like an early PS2 game. Jaggies and muddy textures galore, and even SLOWDOWN when more than 3 characters are on the screen at once. This is COMPLETELY unforgivable when dealing with a game of this type (light-gun games generally relied on their graphics to draw players in), and makes the entire product look disgustingly rushed. The game offers unlimited continues, so it's pretty easy to beat all 3 missions in one setting (though you can actually FAIL the last mission and end your game prematurely by messing up an action event). The voice acting is typical light gun game fare (in that it's horrible to the point of being funny), but neither helps nor hinders the game itself. Music is fairly forgettable.

As I mentioned before, there are quite a few extras thrown in, such as unlockable costumes and party games. But honestly, good thing this is a budget game, because it's going to be extremely difficult for any hardcore gamer to see past this game's shortcomings in both length and graphics. I'm hoping this team is NOT in charge of the upcoming House of the Dead 2 and 3 Return ports for Wii. As they are both better games at their core than Ghost Squad, I still have faith in you, Sega... Don't let me down again.


Rating System: Who needs stars and numbers? I'm all about the otaku emoticons!

*-* = Amazing
^-^ = Good
-_- = Fair
T_T = Poor


Graphics: T_T
Disgustingly hideous, some of the worst I've seen on Wii. From the muddy textures and jaggies to the slowdown present in many cutscenes, this was a blatant rush-job. The code ported from the arcade version seemed to be "dumbed down" for a console that is blatantly more powerful than the arcade hardware originally running the game. This is unforgivable, and sadly, only one of many games that is taking the "we don't have to do graphics because it's the Wii" route. One positive: I noticed a lot of objects in the environments were destructible, which was a nice touch.

Sound: -_-
Hilariously bad voice acting complements forgettable arcade music. Really nothing else to say here...it gets the job done, for an arcade game. Nothing really stands out as either good or bad. The dialogue can be unintentionally funny at times.

Replayability: -_-

It's an arcade port. There's extra missions and things to unlock, along with party games, but after playing the arcade mode, you most likely won't want to see any more. Kudos to the developers for adding extra content, though I wonder how many players will be able to stand looking for it after completing arcade mode. There are multiple paths through each mission as well...so if you did want to see everything, it would take you a while to do it.

Downloadable Content: N/A

Wii game. No DLC.

Fun Factor: T_T

Simply not much fun to play. Though it can help hone your skills for better light-gun shooters. If you're in the mood for a light gun shooter on Wii, do yourself a favor and pick up the much-more-complete Resident Evil:The Umbrella Chronicles.

Overall: T_T

Sorry, Sega... Mission: Failed.

10 things that I learned from getting my arse kicked in a Guilty Gear tourney this weekend...

1.) Millia rushdowns don't work against anyone except No Pants Kid, who has absolutely no idea what an instant recovery is nor how to use one effectively. If you rush down a tournament player, expect to be thrown and then comboed into oblivion.

2.) One dust opening will cost you 80% of your life bar when playing against Robo Ky. And no, it's not pretty to see 80% of your lifebar magically disappear in the span of a 6-second unescapable air combo... especially when it's done to you MORE THAN ONCE.

3.) Tournaments are BYOC (bring your own controller), and nobody uses PS2 controllers. Custom arcade sticks are the norm here, folks. I still don't understand this. I like the way an arcade stick feels but for some reason I'm more accurate with my special moves on a PS2 controller. I guess I'm still a n00b.

4.) Whiffing an overdrive is a no-no, you'll be eating an extra helping of combo sandwich before you even realized what you did...

5.) Dust button is your friend. Really. Air combos FTW. As long as you're not on the receiving end, that is...

6.) Nobody plays as Jam. R1 is no longer the red-haired costume, in Accent Core either -- you hear that, No Pants Kid?

7.) Sol, Ky, Robo Ky, Slayer, Potemkin, Axl. You'll be playing against (and most likely get pwnd by) one or more of these. Guaranteed.

8.) Roman Cancels. That is all.

9.) A life bar can be depleted in less than five seconds.

10.) I've never felt more insignificant in my entire life.


The last one's a joke, of course.

I've now been reformed into tournament-style play. Today marks the beginning of my first step in "real" Guilty Gear play. HEAVEN OR HELL... LET'S ROCK!

Grudge Match! Naruto CoNR vs Naruto GNT4

COMING SOON...

Naruto: Rise of a Ninja

Review 3: Naruto: Rise of a Ninja - can developer Ubisoft Montreal deliver on a well-known anime/manga franchise? Believe it-tebayo!

As long as there has been anime and video games, the two have been unmistakably intertwined with each other. Just about every famous anime has had at least one game adaptation, and some long-running series (*cough* Gundam *cough*) have had practically hundreds. Like many licenses, the results among these kinds of games are decidedly mixed, though it is generally argued that their quality has increased substantially in the PS2 generation forward. From Dragon Ball Z Budokai 1 - 3 to Bleach DS, anime games are rising both in popularity and quality. The current 'darling' of this upward trend in anime licensed gaming happens to be Naruto. In the last generation, there were two stand-alone PS2 fighters in the Ultimate Ninja (Narutimate Hero in Japan) series, and two Gamecube fighters in the Clash of Ninja (Gekitou Ninja Taisen!!) series. Both sets of games managed reasonably high scores, and the latter is often played in tournament settings around the country.

Due to this surge in popularity and brisk sales of both titles, it's not surprising that a large international publisher smelled a ride on the money train and began developing an exclusive game for the Xbox 360 in the Naruto franchise. What was unusual about this game was its developer: Assassin's Creed studio Ubisoft Montreal. Upon hearing this, the fans were livid. How could a non-Japanese studio possibly due the game justice?! This was a legitimate concern, as Ubisoft is well known (along with EA and others) for doing quick license cash-ins. However, I'm happy to report that the game turned out much better than I (or a lot of other people) expected it to.

For those unfamiliar with the Naruto storyline or characters, it revolves around the coming-of-age of a young ninja who bears the burden of having a powerful demon creature (a Kyuubi - ninetailed demon fox) sealed inside of him...and that's pretty much all I need to say here, since the storyline depicted in the game will take you through the first 60 episodes of the anime. I will say that the storyline is generally more interesting than other shonen series such as Dragon Ball, Yu Yu Hakusho, and Bleach, and I think if you have a tolerance for this kind of thing you'll find something to like here - but chances are you're already familiar enough with the storyline to be excited about this game... or, that you don't give a flying rat's arse about the franchise.

For the latter group, there is a fairly substantial fighting engine included in the game, along with several versus and online battle modes. The single player mode attempts to diversify and space out the combat by giving you an entire city to explore in-between missions. Within the city, you can earn money and level up your character by completing various quests for the villagers. The quests increase in difficulty as the game progresses, and completing them al Unfortunately, these quests tend to fall into 3 very repetitive patterns: (1.) the timed race, where you have to run through a set of gates before the time limit expires *these are a pain towards the end of the game* (2.) the fetch quest *a villager has left something valuable outside the village, go beat up some bandits and get it back*, or (3.) collectathon *grab enough coins/herbs/scrolls to satisfy the villager requesting them*. The game is kind enough to include a warping system to get you back to Konoha...err, 'the Village Hidden in the Leaves' (SCREW YOU, DUBBERS *ahem* -_-) after completing a quest, which is convenient and makes completing the quests more bearable. The quests reward you with a higher health or chakra limit, as well as money that you can use to purchase stat-boosting upgrades for your character or learn new moves. The more quests you complete, the more villagers will be happy with you. The happy the villagers are, the more achievements you unlock.

Actual missions that progress the storyline are generally made up of a sequence of battles that you have to complete without dying. If you do die, the game includes a 'memoclip' system that allows you to regain portions of your life back by recalling memories that occurred earlier in the game. If you run out of memoclips and die, it's game over. Die enough times, though, and the game will give you the option to refresh your memoclips, so you really can't get stuck. This was a good design decision, since the linear story missions don't always allow you the luxury of going back to town to re-stock supplies the way optional quests do. That's pretty much the single player mode in a nutshell.

As for the fighting portion of the game, it's a mixed bag, but is generally solid overall. The usual punch and kick buttons can be pressed in sequences to form combos, and you can teleport behind your opponent using the Block button if you have enough chakra remaining in your meter. This counter move becomes vital to escaping combos when fighting skilled opponents. The special moves (in this case, jutsus) require you to hold down a button and do hand-signs by pressing both analog sticks in specific directions. Once the jutsu is activated, a charge time is required as well (the more powerful the jutsu, the more charge time is required). In general, it will take at least 3-4 seconds to activate a jutsu. Those of you familiar with fighting games know that this is a LONG time to be unable to move or attack. Because of this, the engine allows for very few instances where a jutsu can be used effectively without being cancelled out. One more thing about the jutsus - assuming you actually get one to go off, you are then treated to a minigame. Timed button presses, tracking, memorization are all the norm here. Some people will like this, since it gives the player defending against the jutsu a chance to negate some (or all!) of the damage, but personally I like to be able to relish in the moment when I do a special move, not worry about a bunch of timed button presses just to make sure it hits. In general, the countering system rewards timing rather than mashing, so the game tends to play like a cross between Gekitou Ninja Taisen and Dead or Alive. It's fun, for what it is. The initial character roster is SORELY lacking, but the developer makes up for it with .... $6 DOWNLOADABLE CHARACTERS! YAY! -_-

The graphics in both modes are amazing, and the Naruto world is represented very well. The in-game character models, though rendered very well, lack expression. The mouths don't even move when the characters talk. This makes the whole package seem a bit rushed at times, since most of the cutscenes are ripped directly from the anime the developer probably decided that they didn't need to implement a lot of emotion for the polygonal models. In exploration mode, you can't really tell the difference, but in fight mode, it's a glaring flaw.

I for one, absolutely loathe a lot of the dubbing for Naruto. Some is tolerable, but in general I have a problem playing a game where "believe it!" is shouted every two seconds. Therefore, I give major props to Ubisoft for including the option to download the Japanese voices. Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU. You made the game a lot more tolerable for me.

Sadly, the single player story mode doesn't finish the story arc that it ends in, so yet again we're left feeling that the package had been rushed out. Whether Ubi has implemented the ability for additional story missions (Itachi, Kisame, Sannin saga, Naruto vs Sasuke saga *I can dream*) is unknown at this time, but judging how they showed the credits (no spoilers here), I'm going to go out on a limb and say that they do have that functionality built in. It's only a matter of time before we see it.

Overall, it's a great game. There's a lot to see and do, and fans of franchise will most likely not be disappointed.

Rating System: Who needs stars and numbers? I'm all about the otaku emoticons!

*-* = Amazing
^-^ = Good
-_- = Fair
T_T = Poor


Graphics: -_-
The character models themselves are detailed, environments are lush, city is well populated. Unfortunately, the actual number of models is small (about 10 different villagers), and main characters do not move their eyes or mouth when speaking in fight mode. This is a disgusting oversight, since the last-gen Naruto fighters don't have this problem.


Sound: *-*
Japanese voices. Japanese voices. JAPANESE VOICES!!! I can play a US-centric Naruto game without hearing "Believe it!" every 20 seconds. THANK YOU, Ubisoft. Other than that, the music is ripped right from the show, so you won't find many surprises, but those of you familiar with the show will find a lot to like.

Replayability: ^-^

Lots of stuff to do here. Tons of optional quests, lots of power-ups to collect. The online mode has you entering the "Forest of Death" exam, forcing you to win a specific number of times in a row before advancing to the next tier. This creates a lot of competition for those harder-to-get achievements. You can't choose your opponent here, either, so good luck pairing up with your buddy to whore out those Gamerpoints.

Downloadable Content: -_-

I like what's been coming out. So far, 5 new characters (one of which was free for registering the game), and four new arenas, with most likely more to come. What I don't like is paying $5 for characters every month that should have been included in the original release of the game. If they wanted to compete with the Gekitou Ninja Taisen!! (Clash of Ninja) or Narutimate Hero series fighting games, they needed more characters FROM THE BEGINNING, NOT AS DLC. In the defense of the publisher, the content was indeed added after the release (this can be deduced from the large size of the downloads), and not already on the disc. If the characters were cheaper, I'd give a higher rating. As it stands, if you don't download extra fighters, the roster is sparse. I blame Canada.

Fun Factor: ^-^

A good game and a step in the right direction for anime licensed games. While not as strong as an individual exploration game or combat game, the combination of things to do here is all done reasonably well, and will keep you busy for a while.Now bring on the Cyber-Connect 2 developed Naruto PS3 project. Oh, and a Clash of Revolution sequel for Wii...or an import player for Wii...or something.

Overall: ^-^

Journalistic Integrity in Gaming

Lately there has been a lot of controversy in the gaming media about publisher influence on gaming review scores.

While it's pretty much common knowledge that publisher advertising generates a large part of what keeps gaming magazines and websites in business, the treatment of the journalists by publishers is something that really isn't talked about much. There was recently a very interesting article on 1up about the bribes and threats experienced by the EGM team (although I can't seem to find the article now, it must have been taken down).

In Japan, it goes even further than bribes and threats. Over there, publisher-journalist review negotiation is a common practice. A publisher's influence is so great, in fact, that they get to comment on a review score prior to publication, and negotiate changes in the scores. Famitsu knows its fanbase, and caters to it. It doesn't bother giving most high-budget Square Enix games (like Final Fantasy/Kingdom Hearts/etc.) less than 9's, because they realize their fanbase is going to buy the game regardless of the reviews (even if the individual reviewers aren't fans of the franchises, for example). That being said, Famitsu doesn't deliberately score games lower than what the reviewers actually believe they should be scored, but high-budget advertising in the magazine tends to significantly inflate review scores. As I said, this is common practice in Japan and isn't considered immoral or corrupt. Japan lacks any kind of rental infrastructure due to laws inacted by none other than Nintendo during the NES era, and therefore gaming magazines like Famitsu carry a lot of weight as far as letting gamers know what to buy, even to this day.

Here in the US, I believe as the price of games and consoles continue to rise, the media's influence increases. Gamers are relying on reviews more than ever because of these price increases. No one wants to buy a $60 Turd (or in most cases, a $79.99 copy of Turd: The Collector's Edition - including artbook and sountrack), it makes them feel ripped off. Back in the days of the PS1 where games clocked in at $39.99, it was a little different - you could afford to gamble. You could buy TWO games for the price of Turd: The Collector's Edition.

That's why, nowadays, it's becoming even more important to publishers to create games worthy of good review scores...but more importantly, it's important for the media to maintain some form of honesty. I respect Dan "Shoe" Hsu of EGM, who not only stands firm with the review scores that the magazine gives, but called out (by name) the publishers who decided to cut off the flow of coverage to EGM due to disappointment in the review scores. For reference, those publishers are Ubisoft, Midway, and Sony Sports. Publishers, wake up. Start releasing better games and stop trying to get journalists fired for honesty. Gamers see through your crap.

Then again, publishers are as likely to stop bribing and threatening journalists as they are to stop releasing hundreds of horrible games based on movies every year... My advice to all of you: STOP BUYING THOSE, FOR THE GOOD OF ALL OF US!

K. Thx. Bai.

Decisions...

Hmm.

Folklore wasn't even worth a review, so my next two choices are Soul Nomad and the World Eaters, or a classic review of Grandia II for the Dreamcast. Thoughts? Preferences?

In response to comments...

俺はスペインゴが分からないけど、そのコッメントの意味がすこし分かった。

I noticed that a commenter asked whether or not I own Guitar Hero, so I'll go ahead and post something...this is a picture of one of the walls of my "Retro Room" which houses many a console and game. We found something interesting to do with our guitar controllers, since they do tend to take up a lot of space...

And to No Pants Kid, who compared Sonic Wii to Bubsy, I just tried to enlighten my girlfriend to the wonder that is Bubsy: Claws Encounters of the Furred Kind for SNES (after she inquired about the game after reading your comment). After putting it in the console and switching it on, I was dismayed at the black screen staring back at me... the game is now broken, after many, many years of being in solitary confinement in a box in a large Naperville basement. My grandparents paid $70 for that game back in the day... Sonic holds the advantage over Bubsy in that it actually works. :-)