Living LIVE 10.12.09: Issue No. 42
Posted by Trace Aber on 10.12.2009
Featuring full reviews of South Park Let's Go Tower Defense Play!, Lucidity, WhipCrack, SLAM: Indie Edition, and Elfland Reloaded Vol 1!
This week in video games has been spent mostly playing the new South Park tower defense game. There's a review of that below, but my friends and I have been having a blast with it. Even my girlfriend, who doesn't play too many TD games, has been getting in on the fun. It seems like it's done a lot to the genre, but then again I've only played a handful of TD games so I don't really know how much it's changed. Still, badass game.
I'm Trace Aber and this is Living LIVE.
The Xbox Arcade saw two anticipated games being released this week, though only one truly delivers if you ask me. Let's take a look at what's on tap for people looking to spend 800MP…
South Park Let's Go Tower Defense Play! (800MP)
This game was a rare exception in my "try before you buy" rule for downloadable games. It occurred because of two reasons – One, I love South Park and have watched it since the beginning and, two, I've recently fallen in love with the tower defense genre. But then, as soon as I purchased it, I began to worry. Mostly because all of the South Park games in the past have been disappointing to say the least. Luckily, I was pleasantly surprised once I loaded the game up and started playing.
The biggest difference about SPLGTDP is the ability to move around on the screen and throw snowballs at your enemies to do damage. You can charge these snowballs up to do more damage and increase their range, though if you miss you've wasted a lot of time. Featuring four player local and online co-op, you have to work together if you're going to defeat the waves. If you don't have enough people you are able to switch between the unused child and move them to where you want them to be. This allows them to become a tower in their own right, constantly throwing snowballs. Just make sure the enemies don't run you over. As far as the actual towers you get, they are your standard fare, albeit named differently. The fastpitch is your generic tower while the firey-works takes out enemies such as sixth graders on bikes. Yeah, all of the enemies are from episodes in the series and range from underpants gnomes to Scott Tenorman.
The levels are what really surprised me. They're quite creative and you'll have to be quick on your feet as some maps are completely up to you to design. Granted, you'll be given plenty of time to place items, but it's still intense. Some maps will have environmental elements that you'll have to worry about, such as the City Wok guy throwing boulders of snow or a water drowning all of your enemies…if they're in the right place or right time. I was surprised that how much this game added to the genre and what's even more surprising is that it all works really well.
There are 15 unlockable characters you can play as in addition to the boys and each character has their own stats and special moves. These range from healing the town (which is what you're protecting) to doing damage to all of the enemies on screen to my personal favorite, Kenny's Welfare Check, which causes enemies to drop up to twenty coins.
For fans of the TD genre or South Park, and especially for fans of both, SPLGTDP is a great game that is well worth the $10. While you won't see such intricate strategies being developed as you would in Defense Grid, you'll be having a lot of fun with what, to my knowledge, is the only multiplayer tower defense game on major consoles. Definitely a lot of fun and with the addition of the scrapbook, which features info and videos for nearly every aspect of the game (characters, enemies, towers, levels, etc etc), there's no reason to avoid a title like this. Rating: 9.0
Lucidity (800MP)
I heard a decent amount of hype leading into the release of Lucidity and I bought into it. I guess I never truly researched the game but I was quick to download the demo and try it out, just because I heard it was so different and unique. And, to be honest, it's true. It is very different and unique, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's worth your time or money. I know, coming from me, who freaks out at every unique thing he sees.
In Lucidity you're guiding Sofi through her dream world. It just so happens that Sofi dreams of weird stuff and a world in which pieces of wood and springs are needed to finish the path. That's where you come in – you're not controlling Sofi in the traditional sense. All you're doing is laying down objects to help Sofi complete the level as she continually walks to the right, apparently oblivious to the dangers around her. You collect fireflies to gain health and if you collect enough you can open a secret level. The pieces come randomly and you're able to hold one piece for later use, so think of it as an over-the-top Tetris. But, this is the biggest problem with the game – it's so hard to get into it. Some people will legitimately enjoy this game, but for the typical gamer it gets boring really quick.
As far as the art direction of the game – it's magnificent. The style certainly sets it apart from other games on the 360 and I think half the reason I was interested in the game is simply because of the art style. The music fits as well, and together they combine to create this surreal dream world where nothing is as it seems. Even the enemies and hazards in the game have a sort of innocent nature to them, which makes sense since you're in a little girl's dream world. But, despite the brilliant art direction, the game doesn't have the player doing enough. Placing objects while watching a little girl move doesn't translate to a great game, unfortunately. Rating: 6.5
The indies games this week are kind of a mixed bag, with the best game actually being a rerelease from earlier this year. But, again, you're bound to have those weeks. Let's see what the indie games section has to offer us this time around.
WhipCrack (240MP)
WhipCrack is every SciFi Dominatrix wet dream – you control a whip, whipping things called Blocktagons, and then doing some stuff with them. Honestly, with the exception of the previously mentioned, I can't picture anyone enjoying this after spending 240MP on it. What probably sounded like a good idea comes off as the developers simply trying too hard and it backfiring on them. That's the best way to explain it, I suppose.
The game's main character is something called a Recycler, who's been sent to repair a tower or something like that. He's number twelve, since number eleven hasn't been doing it's damn job. Twelve is sent out to repair a tower and his only defense is you, or WHIP, to be exact. It stands for something but it's not important. You're taking on a series of Blocktagons, who for whatever reason are all about destroying towers. It's up to the WHIP to whipcrack (that's the term) the blocktagons until they're uncharged, which then you throw to the recycler who turns them into charges that you have to help him absorb and then you can upgrade. All of this sounds well until you realize you're a whip. That's it…a space age whip that you have to charge before each it. So you can't even go on a whipping spree, but I guess it doesn't matter since nothing I encountered in the demo actually harmed WHIP.
The visuals look good even though there's not a whole lot going on. The WHIP itself is like a malleable lightsaber in appearance, though everything has a sort of glow to it I guess. The audio grows old real quick and before the demo was over I found myself putting my own music on. Then again, I may have just wanted to listen to Honesty. Billy Joel or not, this game just doesn't offer much reason to want to play it, unless you really want to hear something called a recycler talk constantly Rating: 5.0
SLAM: Indie Edition (80MP)
SLAM was a community game that was released earlier this year for the price of 800MP, though now I think you can get it for 240MP. This version is essentially the same as the more expensive version from what I can tell, but I assume there's less levels or something. Honestly, it doesn't say what is missing from this version.
But, basically, SLAM is a combination of Breakout, Tempest, and Pinball and it all works together pretty well. You're put in a circular field and attempting to destroy all of the bricks before you run out of lives, though the physics in this game adds a bit of a challenge. You'll have to think about how you approach the returning ball and if you're not careful you can send the ball too far or the complete wrong way. Luckily, the game offers powerups that help you (though sometimes the multi-ball just causes more mayhem than help) and the ability to tilt the paddle left or right, given you good control of the ball.
You get a total of fifty levels and 20 brick types within those levels, with each level presenting a different challenge. Sometimes the bricks are hidden within other bricks and sometimes you have to time it just right to get what you want, but it all works really well. With this being only 80MP, fans of the genre should definitely pick this up if they haven't already. I'm glad to see discounted versions of these games being released, even if it is essentially the same of an old game. Not a bad pick up and play game at all. Rating: 7.0
Elfland Reloaded Vol 1 (240MP)
From what I can tell, Elfland Reloaded has no relation to last week's Fields Reloaded. Probably for the best because I would have been disappointed in the people who made Fields Reloaded for releasing…this. In Elfland, you take the role of either Elfie or Elfita, who are trying to put a complete stop to the ongoing troll problem. See, Trolls totally hate elves and are causing havoc on the Elf Village of Elfland. It turns out that the only person who can seemingly help you is Gorgimer, a local alchemist who may just have the secret to stopping the trolls. Probably a gun, but who knows?
Elfland is a platformer that has you jumping up trees and down holes to find Gorgimer, but the trip really doesn't seem worth it. First off, the controls are pretty terrible. There's an attack button and you have limited ammo (you throw cherries or apples) but one press of the button sends about five or six of them out, meaning you have to be really careful when you press fire. Another problem is that the layout of the game is really poor. From the first couple of levels you're just jumping up tall trees or clouds that share the weirdest formation in the history of mankind. The enemies are irritating and not even close to be satisfying to kill, because you just stun them. They range from springs to snakes to birds, but it's pretty dumb all around.
Everytime you walk into an elf you're forced to talk to it, which brings up a huge box with a bunch of text. I read it all, sure, but I never want to read that much about elves ever again. In fact, I really hope they don't release a volume 2 because volume one was tortuous enough. Rating: 4.5
Review Round Up South Park Let's Go Tower Defense Play: 9 [Buy] Lucidity: 6.5 [Try] WhipCrack: 5.0 [Skip] SLAM: Indie Edition: 7.0 [Buy] Elfland Reloaded Volume 1: 4.5 [Skip]
Check back next week as I review the newest arcade and indie games and let you know what's worth buying, trying, and skipping. Also, don't forget to bookmark 411Mania! And a note to all of the Indie Game developers out there – if you have an upcoming title that's going to be released soon drop me a line at traceaber@gmail.com and let me know. I'll write a full review of your game to be posted on 411Mania.com, which is a great way to get your game promoted!
