May 11, 2010 by Nate
Picross 3D is the latest brain-teaser game for the Nintendo DS. If you're not familiar with the concept of Picross,it's a simple puzzle game: a grid of squares is presented, and numbersnext to the rows or columns indicate how many squares in that column orrow should be colored in. As squares are colored in, they clue theplayer in on what other squares should be colored in. The end result isa crude object, like a person or a clock. It's simple enough that itcould be done on graph paper, but Nintendo has made millions of dollarscollecting these puzzles and putting them in videogames, most recently Picross DS a few years ago.
Picross 3D takes the concept in threedimensions, giving the player a large cube or rectangular prism made upof blocks. Remove the right blocks and an object appears. The conceptis almost as simple in 3D as it is on graph paper, though it would benigh-impossible to do with physical objects. It's well-suited forvideogames, however, where virtual representations can easily becreated.
As someone who enjoys brain-teasers and puzzle games, I have a feeling I'll enjoy Picross3D as long as I'm sufficiently challenged. But this is one of thosenew-fangled "Casual games" that seem to be popping up everywherenowadays and trying to appeal to everybody, so it may be oversimplifiedor very slow to start. Let's find out.
May 10, 2010 by Mike in Omaha
You may have seen our recent article covering a conference call presented by Iron Man 2 developer: Sega San Francisco. The First Hour was invited to take part in a small pre-release Q&A with two of the people involved with the production of the game. I sat in on the call and submitted a few questions. It was a good conversation and lots of aspects of the game were touched on, so if you’d like some more insight into what went into making this game what it is, please check it out here.
Ok, now that that’s out of the way, I recently sat down with a copy of Iron Man 2. To state the obvious, Iron Man 2 is the sequel to Iron Man. Both games were released to coincide with the movies of the same name. As most people know, releasing a game on a movies timeline can be... problematic. It often leads to rushed development schedules and lots of cut corners in the final product. Despite this situation, the first game was commercially successful. However, it struggled to win over most critics. With an aggregate score of 45 on Metacritic, that’s probably an understatement. However, I was one of the people who enjoyed the first game (while recognizing it’s many flaws), which is why I was chosen/volunteered to review the sequel.
Much like Greg’s recent review of Saboteur, this game is the final release of a studio before it gets shut down. Sega San Fancisco, formerly Secret Level Games will close shortly after the release of Iron Man 2. This does not bode well for the 3 other gamers besides me crossing their fingers for a Golden Axe: Beast Rider sequel.
I went into this first hour with an open mind and reasonable expectations. Having enjoyed the first game, more of the same with increased graphical performance, control tweaks and mission diversity would be a good start. Let’s see if they were able to squeeze any of that into the first 60 minutes of Iron Man 2.
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May 07, 2010 by Nate
The first third-party Wii game was revealed in the May 2006 issue ofGame Informer. It promised intuitive swordfighting controls andunmatched precision in gunplay, all in a stylish Yakuza setting. In thesix months between reveal and launch, Red Steel hype built tounattainable levels. Disappointment was inevitable. But even withtempered expectations, Red Steel is barely an average game, and thecase for motion controls in action games took a serious blow when itfailed to impress.
That said, the game rode the launch hype into some pretty decentsales, eventually crossing the million mark. A sequel was rumoredalmost as soon as the original appeared on store shelves. It took threeand a half years, but the sequel did eventually arrive in March 2010.Barring the focus on guns and swords, Red Steel 2 is nothing like theoriginal: the realistic visuals are switched out for a cel-shadedstyle, the Yakuza setting and characters are changed to anotherworldly-mix of Samurai and Western trappings, and the hopes dashedby waggle at launch are replaced with renewed fervor for precise motioncontrols, which are provided by the Wii Motion Plus controllerattachment that Red Steel 2 requires.
Even if you made the mistake of purchasing Red Steel back in 2006, don't make the mistake of ignoring Red Steel 2 now.
May 06, 2010 by Greg Noe
A few months ago I reviewed the first hour of Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction. I enjoyed it, but had issues with the controls which really hampered myexperience. Fast forward to... now, and I'm about to tackle PandemicStudio's final game, The Saboteur. It's disappointing when a studio is closed down, and definitely scaryconsidering EA bought them out at the same time as they did BioWare(can you imagine EA shutting them down?). While I never reallyplayed any of Pandemic's games, the Mercenaries and Destroy All Humansseries were always popular, sad to see them go.
Anyways, thegame! You came here for some World War II open world action set inParis, right? Well, this is what you're going to get. The Saboteurwas released late last year on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, andWindows, and has you killing lots and lots of Nazis. Everyone hatesNazis, and The Saboteur features a ton of different ways to executethat hate into physical violence.
There's more to this game thanjust beating up baddies, but a city to save by raising their morale andwill to fight. If you're looking for a World War II game that isn't aderivative first person shooter, well this might be it. Let's get intothe first hour of The Saboteur.
May 05, 2010 by Greg Noe
There's an absolutely stunning deal running right now that can net you five great indie games for whatever price you want to pay. Similar to the pay what you want World of Goo deal that was running last year, the Humble Indie Bundle can be grabbed for as much as you feel like handing over. They even allow you to split your contribution up between the developers, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, and the Child's Play charity. All great programs that do good work and need money.
World of Goo is honestly worth the $20 I originally paid for it (plus the $3 I tossed to them last year during their promotion), so go get that game. GO! The other games are Aquaria, Gish, Lugara, and Penumbra Overture. While I know next to nothing about these titles, supporting the independent developer is always a great cause. The best part: all the games are available for Windows, Mac, and Linux and are DRM free. No excuses now!
Buy the Humble Indie Bundle, it's running for six more days!
Read moreMay 04, 2010 by Greg Noe
It's been four years since I received what is probably the best handheld system of all time, the Nintendo DS. My original DS was the red one that came packed in with Mario Kart DS. Even though I was obsessed with Mario Kart on the GBA, I only played it on the DS once. No explanation for that one.
I love this system because it's truly a portable fan's dream, not to mention all the awesome and innovative games available for it. The best feature of the DS is that you simply close it to put it in standby and open it to start playing right away. It's like a laptop but works super fast and never fails to come back. Battery life can last for days with it in standby meaning you can close it up at night and then resume right away in the morning. There has been many-a-time where I fell asleep playing the latest Ace Attorney game in bed, and the DS fell to the ground and closed on itself. No need to even save the game!
Read moreMay 03, 2010 by Steve
Today's first hour review is for Trine, a unique sidescrollerbrought to us by Frozenbyte. Having known nothing about the companybefore now, Wikipedia tells us that they are a Finnish developer,founded in 2001 and consisting of around 20. They previously made twogames for PC, Shadowgrounds and Shadowgrounds Survivor (apparently FPSwith RPG hybrid elements).
Their latest game, Trine, was releasedin 2009 for PC and later PS3 (with 360 version seemingly cancelled). Ibecame drawn to the game by a cheap price on Steam along with prettyscreenshots and a bit of positive word-of-mouth.
Read moreApril 30, 2010 by Paul Abbamondi
Bargain bins. Sometimes they holdtreasures, other times just stuff better left at the bottom where noone can see. Still, I'm poor and always hoping for the best so Ican't help but look around. Surprisingly, I found XIII in one ofthese dumpster dive sessions, and for $1.99 at that. All I reallyknew of the game was that it was cel-shaded, likened constantly to anaction-fused comic book, and a FPS.
A few weeks ago, Games for Lunch's KyleOrland reviewed XIII's first hour. He died numerous times and wasultimately frustrated with the game's gameplay. Hopefully I'll have abetter sixty minutes.
Read moreApril 29, 2010 by Ian M. Bagley
I'd like to apologize for being so wordy this week at the First Hour, but the writers here love to write! I recently asked Ian to tell me about his gaming history, thinking I'd get a couple line reponse about how his parents bought him a Game Boy or something, but along comes a serious epic that will probably seem very familiar to many of us reading along.
If you've got your own story you'd like to tell, reply in the comments or send me an email, I'd love to host it here!
Read moreApril 28, 2010 by Greg Noe
A few years ago, I had to opportunity to borrow an Xbox 360 along witha bunch of games when my friend was out of the country. Assassin'sCreed was one of them, and while I was more or less satisfied after the first hour, the entire game left a lot to be desired. I found it incredibly repetitive and full of crappy A.I. while lackingany kind of story framework. It had its moments, like finding thelookout points around the city along with some beautiful graphics, butthe game left a foul taste in my mouth.
Fast forward more than two years later and this time Assassin's Creed IIhas fallen into my lap. Everyone was raving about how much Ubisoft hadimproved the game over the original, but then again all those samepeople had lavished praise on the first one. I'm not one to judge agame without giving it a try though, so here we are for another goaround with the first hour of Assassin's Creed II.
For a quick introduction, the Assassin's Creed series is all about third-person parkourin the past. You play as an assassin who runs around the city doingwhat assassins do: finding out information about their target and thentaking them out. The first game took place in the Holy Land in the12th century whereas the sequel is set in Italy during theirRenaissance in the 15th century.
Warning: Do not buy this game for Windows as Ubisoft wrapped Assassin's Creed II in some of the most awful DRM anyone could ever imagine:a required, persistent internet connection for a single player game. Avoid this at all costs, don't buy it and don't pirate it for Windows. Do not give Ubisoft any reason to justify what they did. Two yearsago, Ubisoft released Prince of Persia without any DRM whatsoever, ask them to return to those days.
