Journey - Review

The characters don't speak, there is no narration, the story is told almost entirely through pictures and tapestrys, there is no violence to speak of and there is no online PVP experience. With so many staples of the current crop of blockbuster games missing, you would be forgiven for asking what all the fuss is about. Surely this is just a cheap downloadable game that couldn't afford voice actors?

Journey is the latest in the Sony exclusive trilogy of downloadable games from "That Game Company", and while it would probably be a good idea to take some time to think over my time with Journey, i won't be. The reason for this is simple, I absolutely loved the experience.

In the same way that Ico and Shadow of the Colossus told amazing stories without words, so too does Journey. The game has a simple premise, get to the top of the mountain and enjoy the trip on the way.

With gorgeous graphics, fantastic gameplay and a superb, haunting soundtrack, you'll find it difficult not to.

Much has been made of the interaction between players in Journey, there are no loading times, little to no lag on the evidence of my play through, and the game is designed in such a way that, even with two random players inhabiting the same environment, there's no competition. This is a game that rewards co-operation and creates an environment in which it is nurtured and encouraged, which is just as well since pairings are completely random.

Your traveller can fly and he can sing, although the sound of your voice is more flute like than human in sound). These two abilities are represented on your controller by the X and O buttons respectively, and despite these being the only two actions available to you during your time in the desert, the gameplay is both deep and rewarding.

Singing while your partner is in range of your voice (a visible white sound wave that radiates from your position) will re-charge his ability to fly, which is elegantly represented by a tapestry that hangs from the back of every travellers robes. When charged the tapestry, and later the robe of your character, will glow with an ornate white light pattern.

The power to fly can likewise be restored in an array of other ways, including coming into contact with swirling pieces of cloth, Manta Rays and Jelly Fish that share the same light pattern as your robes.

One tiny problem that i had with the online co-op of Journey was that it doesn't list the user names of players you meet along the way in the "players met" section of the XMB. They do at least show you a list of all the players you interacted with at the end of the game, So if you liked the experience of playing with a sensible adult instead of a screaming 12 year old you may want to write those names down...

From a graphical point of view this is a game that needs to be experienced first hand, no amount of waxing lyrical will quite cover how stunning it really is. The desert stages of the game are some of the best looking that I've seen in a video game, you can almost feel the heat on the back of your neck as the traveller traipses up one side of a dune and then expertly slides down the other.

The animation of the Traveller is also excellent. There are fluid transitions between walking and flying, as well as several different types of walking animation depending on surface and angle of incline. It really is hard to believe that this is a £10 downloadable title. When compared to some full retail releases it comes away looking like the more polished product

One of the most influential aspects of this game is the Music. The Macedonia Radio Symphonic Orchestra were responsible for the hauntingly powerful soundtrack to Journey, and with such affecting music as this you have to ask why more games developers don't go the orchestral route when scoring their work.



I've said in many a review, that good music can improve a game ten fold, while bad music can rip you right out of the experience. The beauty of Journey's soundtrack is that it syncs perfectly with the singing mechanic of the gameplay, the notes you sing often changing to better complement the music in the background.

The overall feeling i took away from playing Journey was that this is a phenomenal game. The story is emotionally affecting thanks to brilliant use of music and a narrative that relies on actions rather than words, the gameplay is deep and varied despite the two button control scheme and the level of polish is staggering for a game that retails for so little.

This game marks the end of the contract between Sony and "That Game Company", a relationship that saw  Flow, Flower and now Journey released exclusively on the PS3 platform. If i was Kazuo Hirai i would tie them down to a nice long deal, because on the strength of this release, they're the best studio in the business right now.

Catherine - Review

A certain Irish Stout advert states "Good things come to those who wait" In the case of Catherine this claim holds just as true. European gamers, unlike our American cousins, had to wait an extra 7 months for an English language version of the Japanese Survival horror/Dating Sim/Puzzler, but the wait was definitely worthwhile.

Those of you that follow this blog as well as the Killer Keyboard site will have seen the unboxing video for Catherine: Stray Sheep Edition that i made back in February. I've been a little slow to get into it, but when i finally did make the time to sit down and work my way through the latest Atlus release i discovered an extremely deep puzzle game wrapped in a delightfully vibrant yet disturbing anime style ribbon.



Vincent Brooks is the main character in Catherine, a man who avoids commitment and growing up at all costs. His girlfriend of 5 years, Katherine, is restless with the current state of their relationship and is starting to exert pressure on our man to commit to her long term (yep, the M word people) However, his increasingly complex life takes yet another turn when the morning after a heavy night's drinking he wakes up next to his dream girl, who strangely enough is also named Catherine, but as you can see it's with a C not a K.

Katherine and Catherine

 The game is, at this point, split into 2 main parts. During Vincent's waking hours you see him eating with friends, and can take control of him when he goes to the Stray Sheep bar to drink and talk to his friends. In the bar you can talk to the patrons, check your phone for messages, drink until you drop (the drunker you are the faster you move in your dreams) use the jukebox to play music that is unlocked as you progress through the game, and play a strange game called Rapunzel which bears a striking resemblance to the Nightmares that you will have to play through in the other half of the game. Texting is an important part of your waking life, the messages you send can alter how the story plays out so think carefully about how to end your texts in-case they give the wrong impression.

This Nightmare half of Catherine is where the puzzle elements come to the fore. Every night when Vincent goes to sleep he finds himself in a weird nightmare world where everyone else looks like sheep, and he must climb giant block mountains if he is to survive the night. Because as the theory goes, if you die in your dreams you die in real life too. The puzzle portion of the game is surprisingly deep and extremely addictive, the emphasis during the nightmare is to ascend the tower as quickly as you can while the blocks below you fall away. on top of this there are some stages where you will be pursued by your worst fears, be that a demonic chainsaw wielding baby or a shadowy reflection of yourself.



At regular points during your nightmare you'll reach a base camp of sorts which more closely resemble a church than anything else. During these levels you can save progress, talk to other sheep to figure out what's going on and even exchange techniques that could better help you climb the towers still to come. If you look closely you may even recognise a few of the sheep you talk to at this base camp...

As you progress, the towers will get more and more difficult to ascend, and more varieties of blocks will be brought into play. Immovable blocks, heavy blocks, black holes, exploding blocks and spike traps are just a few of the varieties you'll have to learn to use to your advantage because, and i forgot to mention this before, you might not be the only one climbing the tower, and the other sheep won;t think twice about throwing you off the block and down to your death.

When Catherine was originally released in Japan a lot was said about how difficult the game was, and that it was prohibitively difficult for Western audiences let alone the Japanese. Luckily Atlus patched the Japanese release to lower the difficulty, and included that coding in the EU and US releases of the game. There's also a "Very Easy" mode available if you're really having a hard time of it, but for the most part i have to say that Easy is rather forgiving while still frustrating you every now and then. Rapunzel, the arcade game in the Stray Sheep Bar also offers some fantastic alternative gameplay as it focusses more on solving the puzzle rather than getting it done as quickly as possible. It really is the hidden gem inside the larger hidden gem that is Catherine.

Music, as most of you will appreciate, is a very important part of any game and in Catherine this is just as evident. The Music is excellent, there's a good mixture of songs available on the Stray Sheep's Jukebox so everybody should be able to find something listenable there, while the classical music used in the nightmare stages is unsettling and atmospheric. As a fan of Samurai Champloo it was nice to see some J-Hip-Hop used in the Game intro as well, you really get the feeling that Atlus appreciate how music can improve the game play experience.

Graphically the game looks superb, Atlus themselves have said that it serves as "an experiment for Persona 5" and there's no doubt it was a success as the engine runs superbly. The animations are smooth and natural while the cell shade style gives it a unique look that few games can match. Studio 4 degrees C have done a stand-up job with the story animations as well, they mesh perfectly with the rest of the game thanks to the cell shade colouring of the in-game engine.


Fans of Japanese games will lap this up while most gamers who enjoy a puzzle game should find plenty to enjoy about the game too. The multiple endings give Catherine decent replay value as do the nightmare levels themselves as they all have multiple solutions. Rapunzel offers something different while the additional Babel and Colosseum game modes offer something different for anyone who wants to slide some blocks around outside of the main story. 

Anyone looking for an off the wall puzzle game with charm and personality could do a lot worse than giving Catherine a try, This is a great example of a game being different and better for it.

Forza 4 - Review

Have you ever driven home and decided to take the longer route just for the fun of it? Do you sometimes go for a drive to clear your head? Maybe you like to tinker with an engine at the weekend? For some the auto-mobile is simply a tool, a way to get from A to B in as little time as possible. For the people at Turn 10 and Top Gear however, cars are so much more than that.

Forza 4 represents their passion for the internal combustion engine in all its many forms, be it a tiny four cylinder super mini or a fire breathing V12 Aston Martin DBS, every car in the game is painstakingly modelled to be the best that it can be, and it shows.

Booting up the game, you're immediately greeted by the gruff tones of Jeremy Clarkson, one of the immediate examples of the partnership that's been forged between Top Gear and FM4. He explains that car enthusiasts are being marginalised, that we're no longer accepted in a world that values mpg over mph. Then he let's us all in on a secret, there's a safe haven for us all, and it's right here in our own living rooms.

After a quick blast around the Bernese Alps (one of the new Tracks in Forza 4) in a Ferrari, you're introduced to the main menu and given the option to load your save data from Forza 3 for a bonus gift in return. Being a Forza veteran, i was interested to see what bonuses i would get for having a Forza 3 save on my system. I was pleased to see that not only did I get some money in my pocket but I was also rewrded for my dedication to Turn 10's racing series with a few extra cars in my garage. This meant that if I really didn't want to start out in the slow as all hell Ford Ka, or equivilent small car, I could quickly jump into an Aston Martin DBS racing car and not miss a beat.

The world tour "career" mode in Forza 4 is a fairly linear affair, at least in terms of where you'll be racing. Each year of your career is broken into several race days, with later years becoming longer more drawn out affairs than your earlier ones. You'll visit tracks from all around the world in a set order and take part in special events like track days and Car Bowling. However, despite the lack of choice as to where you'll be racing, Forza 4 never makes you feel like you have no input into what you're doing.

Every race day has three seperate events to choose from and these change depending on the car you're currently in. If you're currently driving a Ferrari Italia 458 you might get some S class events and a specific Ferrari challenge, but if you get into your Fiesta the options will be altered to suit that cars class and body style. It's a fantastic way to let the player progress at their own pace in cars that they're comfortable with. As mentioned earlier, Forza 3 players are given extra Money and bonus cars in their garage, so experts in the field can race S class and above from the get go.

It isn't just career mode that's been tweaked in this years game though, the levelling system in Forza 4 has had something of an overhaul too. In the last game Driver Exp was rewarded with a new car at each level, and while that has remained the case in this game, the mantra of "choice" has once again been applied.

Wait, i get to choose?!

Anyone that's ever bought a car to compete with and then ended up being given the same car soon after will know how annoying that can be. Turn 10 seemed to realise this and so they've decided that every time your Driver level increases in Forza 4 you should be able to choose your next reward car. Each level is associated with a type of car, be it Super Minis at level 1 or Boutique Supercars at level 35, each level has at least 3 cars to choose from, ensuring that every time you level up, you get something new.

Similarly, the Car Exp of the previous game has been almost completely scrapped in favour of a new system called "Affinity". Essentially you earn affinity points based on the brand of car you drive rather than the model, so if you drive a Ka, then a Fiesta and then move onto a Focus RS, all the Exp you have earned will count towards your Ford affinity. This gives you more reason to keep using a car, instead of dumping it after reaching level 5 because you get no further bonuses.

The only criticism I have of this system is that after level 4 you have a 100% discount on all parts for the brand in question, which does rather gimp the game slightly. It would have been better, in my opinion, to give discounts at 10% increments and then financial rewards after that. We'll see how it affects the game, although in fairness i haven't had to upgrade a single car yet as the ones you win when you level up on Driver Exp are all very competitive in their individual classes.

The car Models themselves are what this game is really all about though, and with the new lighting system that Turn 10 developed for this game the cars have never looked better. It's an astonishing achievement that so many cars from so many manufacturers have been crammed onto 2 discs and yet the visual quality off all of them remains impeccably high. Where GT5 only allowed interior cabin views in a selected number of premium cars Forza have said "Sod that, they're all premium cars in our game!" It's a testament to their hard work and dedication that a Fiat Punto looks as stunningly realistic as an Audi R8 does.

Lookit! It's gorgeous out there!

The improved visuals don't just stop at the cars though, oh no. The tracks have all been given a lick of paint with the digital brush and now look even more gorgeous than they already did. New tracks like the Bernes Alps, and the sure to be fan favourite Top Gear Test Track are welcome additions to what has become a robust, if slightly too American, roster of raceways. It would be nice to see some more European and Asian tracks included, especially the Singapore Grand Prix circuit or one of the many Australian tracks used for Touring Car racing there, but perhaps there's scope for that in the DLC to come.

Every car in Forza 4 handles uniquely on the track, which once again is testament to Turn 10's hard work in getting all the details right. While lumbering giants like the Range Rover Sport are positively barge like in their response in the corners, nimble roadsters like the Lotus Elise are tail happy to the point of being nigh on uncontrollable. The difference between FWD, RWD and 4WD is easily noticeable from the off, but thanks to the raft of driver aids available in the difficulty menu even a rank amateur should be able to handle the most exotic grand tourers on offer.

Feedback through the controller is often ignored as inconsequential in most games, but in Forza 4 it's an essential extension of your relationship with the car. That Turn 10 have managed to make each rumble feel so intuitive to me is praise worthy. On several occasions I've rescued myself from a spin out thanks to the feedback the controller has given me on track.

With the tyre deformation technology introduced in the last game as well as the extra research that Turn 10 have been given access to thanks to an alliance with Pirelli, Forza 4 is the closest to driving the real thing that we've seen so far this generation, and i imagine it will continue to be for some time yet.

The rewind function that so divided the fan base last time round has made its return here, and honestly it's for the best. Players who dislike it can ignore it's existence while those who don't want to have to repeat the longer races because of a lack of concentration on the penultimate corner of the race can rewind till they're blue in the face.

Unfortunately the complete lack of night time racing and the absence once again of rain/wet track races is distractingly noticeable. It was maybe forgiveable when FM3 was released that they left these options out, after all they had put together an exhaustive new set of online features and managed to create a very solid racer around it, but with GT5 having both these features, it seems strange that Turn 10 haven't done the same.

Autovista is a function that got a lot of attention when Turn 10 announced it, especially since it allows you to explore a car using Kinect technology. Getting around the cars is simplicity itself, with just a few presses of your pad you can "explode" the car (that would be where all the doors, boot lids and engine bays open up) and when you highlight any of the marked points of interest you can have the Game narrator explain some of the technical specs for the car. Even better is the option to have Jeremy Clarkson tell you what he thinks of the car, and he doesn't hold back with some of them that's for sure. This makes for a refreshing approach to what can be rather boring facts and figures, giving you another example of how Cars can affect us on an emotional level when we look at them as much as when we drive them.There's an example of Jezza's musings below, it's a doozie.



On the Audio front, Forza 4 is an impressive beast. The number of different samples of engine noises that must be in this game is immense, every time i get in a new car it sounds completely different from the last. Exhaust notes vary from high pitch small block engines to the rich and deafening roar of the supercars and again when you graduate to the fire spitting, raw power of the race spec cars. Music has become an important part of the Racing game genre, and while the track listing in Forza 4 is probably weaker than both GT5 and Forza 3 in terms of big names, it's still highly listenable. Although why you really need music anywhere except the menu screens escapes me to be honest, especially with such wonderfully captured engine acoustics running through your gameplay experience.

Conclusion

With Forza 4, Turn 10 have created a game with the most stunning visuals, realistic gameplay and the most diverse selection of Cars seen this generation. Racing sim fans are guaranteed one of the finest examples of the genre ever to hit the Xbox 360 and most likely any current console, while newcomers to the series/genre will find it instantly accessible. While they've left out features such as changeable weather and night time racing, they've created a compelling racer that gives the player ultimate control of where they go and what they do. The Online community is central to Turn 10's efforts and can once again boast the most creatively enabling edit modes of any game in any genre. GT5 had better move over, because there's a new guy sitting on Pole position.