Corpse Party Review

Corpse Party PSP
Developed By: Team GrisGris
Localized and Published by: XSEED
Date of Release: November 22, 2011
Price: $19.99

The visual novel genre. Very rarely do we see this majestic creature outside it's natural habitat of Japan. When we do however it is often quite a sight to behold, pairing engrossing storytelling with a rich audiovisual experience. Today's subject is one such rare creature, and though it's subject matter is not for the faint of heart, it will definitely satisfy those with a penchant for the macabre. Ladies and Gentlemen, for your approval I offer Corpse Party.




Corpse Party started out as a PC-98 game, which was then ported to PC as Corpse Party Blood Covered. It was then remade for the PSP as Corpse party Repeated Fear, which was localized by XSEED as simply Corpse Party, essentially making it a remake of a remake. In the process it gained an incredible upgrade in artwork fidelity, and some amazingly well-done voicework. Add to that the pulse-pounding score and the masterfully crafted story, and you have an edge-of-your seat experience that will grip you until the very end.




I don't want to spoil a single bit of the story for Corpse Party as it is best experienced first hand, but I will be clear on one fact: the game WILL take you in with the endearing characters, and then beat you about the head mercilessly with their tragic demise. That is not to say that it reaches the level of fan abuse, but I honestly had a few teary moments during my playthrough. Those who have a tendency to develop extreme attachments to characters may want to proceed with caution.




If you've read this far and you still think that Corpse Party sounds like a great experience, then let me tell you that you are correct. It is the perfect game for horror buffs and visual novel fans alike, and the decidedly Japanese setting is a refreshing change from the average cookie cutter thriller. Corpse party is in my humble opinion well worth the $20 price tag, and the replayability is excellent due to the massive number of endings that are available to those who look for them.

Tomba! Review

Tomba! (PSN)
Developed By: Whoopee Camp
Published By: MonkeyPaw Games
Date of Release: June 19, 2012
Price: $9.99

So there you are one day minding your own business and munching on some roast boar when an army of evil pigs overrun your country, steal your precious gold armband that your grandfather left to you, and mutate the flora and fauna into grotesque freaks of nature. The flowers now have a nasty bite, and farting butts grow from every vine! Sinister swine are on the rampage, looting and pillaging everything they can! What's a pink-haired cave dude to do? Looks like it's time to kick some porcine behind!




A series of well-drawn anime cutscenes set up the story for this grand adventure, and introduce our titular hero and his world's plight. The quality of the graphics are top notch, with fluid animation and eye-catching colors. The soundtrack is also wonderful with peppy upbeat tunes that keep from becoming repetitive no matter how many times you hear them. The gameplay is just as amazing, with a perfect blend of tricky platforming and metroidvania-style exploration.




In Tomba! your main weapon is a morning-star ball & chain type affair called the Blackjack. It knocks most enemies down with one hit leaving them stunned and vulnerable to your pounce attack. You can then fling them at other enemies or the scenery to finish them off. Along the way you will discover other weapons with a variety of uses, and you're definitely gonna need all of them if you want to be bringing home the bacon.



Along the way you'll be testing out your arsenal on a variety of enemies such as vicious pigs, crazed birds, and various nasties in between. The ultimate goal is to find all of the evil pig bags so that you can use them to seal away the seven evil pigs that are terrorizing the world. Defeating your enemies and solving quests will give you Adventure Points(AP) which are used to unlock new abilities and pass obstacles. Be sure to try and take out as many foes as you can together to earn extra points!




With everything that is right about Tomba!, it's quite sad what happened to the developer. Despite its near-universal critical acclaim it never sold well, and after bringing out a sequel Whoopee Camp ran out of funding and closed it's doors. If they had remained in business, one could only imagine what amazing experiences they could have crafted on today's hardware. Regardless, Tomba is a must buy for those who want to pig out on adventure, so pick it up today and hopefully we'll see the sequel on the PSN soon!

Escape Goat Review

Escape Goat
Developed and Published by: Magical Time Bean
Date of Release: June 14, 2012
Price: $4.99

You wake up deep underground, locked in a dank cell in the Prison of Agnus. You slowly gather your strength and find your footing, and start to explore your new surroundings. As your eyes adjust to the dim light you have time to reflect on what has happened in the last few hours. Your freedom has been stripped from you, and you have been imprisoned on false charges of witchcraft. Also, you are a goat.



In the latest puzzling adventure from Soulcaster I & II dev Magical Time Bean, you play as a purple goat who is hellbent on escaping from the Prison of Agnus. It's not going to be easy, as each room is a devilishly devised series of traps designed to make curry of you. Luckily you have a mousey buddy on your side who can help you out by squeezing through small spaces and even using a spell to switch places with you!



The challenge level in Escape Goat starts out easy enough for beginners, but quickly ramps up to a frenetic level. Thankfully the game allows you infinite lives, and you will definitely need them as this is a game built on trial and error as you find the best way through each puzzle. With 100 levels to play though, Escape Goat will keep you going for quite a while.



Of course if you ever decide that you want more after you finish the game, a full-featured level editor is also included which will let players craft their own insidious designs. Add that to the charming retro pixel graphics and the mind-blowing soundtrack, and Escape Goat is worth far more than the paltry sum that you have to play for it. You definitely won't regret picking it up.

Dragon's Lair Review

Dragon's Lair (XBLA)
Developed and Published by: Digital Leisure
Date of Release: May 18, 2012
Price: 800MSP

In the year 1983 things were going quite well for the arcade industry. Games such as Tron, Pac-Man, Mario Bros. and Donkey Kong were doing well, and Spy Hunter had just hit the scene. Now although these games were all amazing in their own rights, they were about to face some major competition. And that competition was Dragon's Lair.




As neat as all the other games were with their 8-bit graphics and happily chirping synthesized soundtracks, there was no way they could stand against the mighty behemoth of Dragon's Lair. Although the gameplay was simplistic in comparison to other games (all that players needed to do was choose a direction for the hero at pre-determined points, sometimes pressing the attck button to ward off foes) the experience was unlike any othr game at the time. With cinema-quality laserdisc animation by Don Bluth and high-quality sound effects and cinematic score, Dragon's Lair was a quarter-devouring hit.




And now in this modern day of near-photo realistic 3D graphics, how does this charmingly retro title hold up? Amazingly well! Digital Leisure has taken the original game, remastered the gorgeous hand drawn animation frame by frame in HD, and completely removed the original load times. On top of that they have provided the option for Kinect control support (which works amazingly well, simply gesture where you'd like to go) and even added a 2-player co-op mode.




Dragon's Lair for the Xbox 360 is quite a nostalgia trip for those who grew up in the glory days of arcade gaming, and it also serves as a decent history lesson for those who are just getting started with arcade gaming. With the option to use the original arcade scene layout, or the more streamlined home version, Dragon's lair provides hours of entertainment for arcade buffs. There is even an option to watch the entire game cut together into a seamless movie. At a mere 800MSP this is definitely a sweet package for arcade buffs and newcomers alike. Here's hoping that Dragon's Lair II and Space Ace get the same treatment!

Alan Wake's American Nightmare Review

Alan Wake's American Nightmare (PC)
Developed and Published By: Remedy Entertainment
Date of Release: May 22, 2012
Price: $14.99

Previously on Alan Wake...
When we last saw our hero he had just defeated the dark presence at the bottom of the lake and was searching for a way out of his own personal horror novel, trying to get back to the real world to take on his evil doppelganger Mr Scratch. Now it seems that he is trapped within an episode of his own TV series, frantically trying to write his way out as he once again faces off against hordes of the taken. Will he prevail? Can he overcome the darkness in his own mind? It will soon become all too clear that a writer's own imagination can be his worst enemy... in Night Springs.




Right off the bat fans of the original Alan Wake will notice that American Nightmare does nothing to reinvent the wheel, and for good reason. The original Alan Wake was a major success, with a tried and true gameplay formula. American Nightmare merely fine tunes the experience, and is better for it. If they had tried to reinvent the experience as many spinoff titles do, it would well have been a complete disaster. Instead what we have is a finely crafted machine that sets out to tell a story, and tells it damn well.




For those who haven't played the original Alan Wake, I'll provide a brief rundown of how the game works. Alan Wake games are traditional third person shooters with a twist: your enemies are fueled by the darkness. If you want to do any damage at all you have to focus your flashlight on them until they weaken, and then finish them off with a gunshot (though it's unknown whether it's the bullet or the muzzle flash itself that it lethal to them). Along the way you'll have to contend with plenty of possessed objects as well, so prepare to have tractors and cable spools fly at you by the dozen!




Of course all the amazing gameplay in the world wouldn't mean squat without an awesome story to tie it together, and that's where this series really shines. The stunning narrative is backed up by a cast of talented voice actors, who also step in to do live FMV as well. Accentuating the superb performance is an awesomely wrought cinematic score, as well as another fine appearance by the band Poets of The Fall masquerading as The Old Gods of Asgard. When you add up all the elements of Alan Wake's American Nightmare, you get an amazing experience that manages to stand on it's own. Which is more than you can say for most spinoffs. In my humble opinion, American Nightmare is worth every cent of it's price, so if you're a fan of the original, or if you just want an interesting change from the usual gaming glut, give it a try! It's available on Steam, and also DRM-free at GOG.com!