Fatal Frame PS2 Review

So after a rant and a review on what makes a good survival horror game, I have found me one. All I had to do was search numerous Gamestops and reverse back a system. And it appears to be so good that it's still $40 used after 2 sequels, with a 4th in Japan, and for being a 7 year old game. Good thing I had coups.

Fatal Frame has all the elements of what makes a good survival horror game: monstrous foes, puzzles, creepy music and environments, and the fear of having a ghost pop out at you at any moment.

What makes this survival horror game different from it's competitors is the weapon system. Unlike having a gun and knife to fend off evil foes you use a camera to capture the ghosts energy. What makes that so interesting if the fact that it comes from reality or well what some people believe to be reality. The idea that a camera can capture your soul and allow you to see spirits is one deeply rooted in our history all over the world. It may not be your belief, but it's still neat idea for a game.

The first Fatal Frame is also based on a true story or well two. How many videogames out there can claim that? The idea that the game has basis in reality can make the reality of the gameplay more interesting and scary for some. Many people have in fact claimed that Fatal Frame is one of the scariest games out there. I won't deny that it's a scary game, but I believe that Silent Hill is the scariest shit out there. Now that really plays with your mind.

As for actual gameplay and story, I found it interesting and engaging. You first take the control of Mafuyu, a young man in search of his mentor who has gone missing inside of a haunted mansion. You don't control him for long. After finding a special camera know as Camera Obscura, and defeating your first ghost, he too goes missing. You then take control of Miku, Mafuyu's sister, as she goes on a hunt for him. She too finds the camera and searches deeper into the mansion for Mafuyu as she finds out the dark secrets that the mansion holds.

In this game you will not have hoards of ghosts attack you all at once, I think the most I had to fend off was 3 at a time, but that makes it scarier in my opinion. Not knowing when a ghost will appear and even have them move through walls is scary and adds a different bit of challenge to the game.

The controls are a bit clunky, think original Resident Evil as the control system is pretty much the same for walking and camera angles, and sometimes you will run into invisible objects. The system for walking up and down ladders is incredibly slow. You could get into some real trouble if you are heading down a ladder with a ghost chasing after you. What makes it worse is there is no button command to use a ladder, if you walk up close to it you just start climbing. Combine this with the changing camera angles for different areas and you could end up using the ladder 3 or 4 times in a row.

The game has two different endings, 3 if you have the xbox version. Both endings seem sad in their own way to me, but you will just have to play through to figure out what you think of them.

Fatal Frame gets a 4 out of 5 stars for unique weapons, scary situations, and a good storyline. I knocked off a point for clunky controls, but it's still manageable.

UNCHARTED: Drake's Fortune PS3 Review

With Uncharted 2 just around the corner, I finally decided to pick up a copy of the original and give it go. After playing, it got me wondering why I didn't pick up this title sooner. It has a nice mix of a third person shooter, an adventure game, and a puzzle game all rolled into one with a few other surprise elements.

You are Nathan Drake, who sets out to find a treasure with hints and a map from your ancestor on the same hunt. Throughout the game you get some help and help out a couple of AI characters. Luckily these AI characters can't die that way you don't have to worry about saving their ass every five minutes. However in the storyline you do seem to be saving their asses quite a bit. One is a old friend and con artist, while the other is a film journalist. When your friend gets into trouble you question his motives, while when the female AI character (aka the film journalist, who you just can't seem to get rid of) is in trouble you have to be the hero and save the damsel in distress even though she can handle herself most of the time. She does rescue you a few times so it helps balance out this injustice. But I mostly kid. The dynamic between these characters help build a strong story.

As for the gameplay, there really is a lot to it. You have a variety of weapons, however you can only carry three weapons at a time: one sidearm; one machine gun, shot gun or sniper rifle; and a set of grenades at a time. So rationing ammo and deciding what weapon will be needed to carry on with you to the next part becomes a bit harder. If you do run out of ammo or just want a different kind of action you can do melee moves and combo attacks.

The puzzles and some other aspects of the game are very reminiscent of Tomb Raider. If Nathan drake had a higher voice and large breasts I might actually think I was playing one. The puzzles have you move or drag objects around and he jumps and clings to cliffs in a very similar way. But even with the similarities UNCHARTED is it's own game. The targeting system and health system is different. You can choose to have a cursor appear and aim for the enemy you want and not to just the closest one. There is also no health packs in UNCHARTED. If you get low on health the screen colors dim until they become black and white and the only way to recover is to stay out of the line of fire for a short amount of time. The swimming system is also different. Nathan cannot swim under water like Laura can, which I actually prefer since I hate water levels.

But enough with comparing UNCHARTED to other games. It can stand alone as a very strong game with many twists in turns and with a sequel on the way I can see this series lasting a long time. So UNCHARTED: Drake's Fortune gets a 4 out of 5 stars from me.

Just a note for those of you picking UNCHARTED up after the PS3 update 3.0. Some people have reported the game freezing constantly forcing you to restart your system. There is now an optional update known as 3.1 that you can install that will fix this problem.

Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box DS Review

Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box is the second in a series of puzzle games and the latest one to come stateside. Like the first game, Diabolical Box follows Professor Layton and his apprentice Luke to solve a mystery by solving puzzles. It's a point and click adventure with an intriguing storyline that separates this game from other puzzle games putting it in a class of it's own. There are over 100 puzzles in the game ranging from fairly easy to quite difficult which will keep you entertained and puzzled for hours.

I'm gonna to spend a good chunk of this review discussing the puzzles because this game at it's core is a puzzle game. There are a variety of different puzzles ranging from guessing the right item from a number of clues to classic peg board puzzles to sliding puzzles. Some of the puzzles are unique to the other puzzles in the game, while others are just a harder version of a previous puzzle. A couple use outside elements taking you away from the screen. One of them uses a paper ticket that is found in the game's booklet which is instructed for your use in game. The last puzzle in the story uses a feature that none other in the game uses, leaving you to really think about what you have to do. That puzzle was my favorite because it really utilizes all the features that make the DS so unique.

If you get stumped on one of these puzzles you can get up to three hints which can be unlocked by using hint coins found throughout the game hidden in the background. Most of the coins are easy to find and hidden in the same types of places that they would be found in the first Professor Layton game. I was hoping for more of a challenge looking for these coins, but since they are used as a helping tool and not necessary to finish the game it wasn't a big deal. Plus it might be nice to not struggle over where to find one of these when you really need one to be finish a puzzle that you just can't seem to figure out. But then it becomes even more easier to find them when you finish the hamster side quest puzzle as he actually will point out their location to you.

Speaking of these side quests, there are a few for you to accomplish as you head through story mode. Three are of them to be exact. You will run into a chef on the train who will tell you about his pet hamster and how he needs some exercise for he fears that he is too unhealthy from living in a kitchen feeding off all the scraps. There are five levels and once he is fit and feeling good he will help you find those hint coins.

Another of these side quests involves a broken camera you receive. Again you will find pieces after solving puzzles and then you have to put all the pieces together to fix the camera. Once the camera is fixed more puzzles will be available to you.

The last side quest is played by mixing herbs together to make tea for the towns people. This side quest was the least fun. The towns people randomly appear to be sweating, indicating that they need tea. But if you serve them the wrong tea they don't seem to want another cup until some random time later. It's a bit frustrating to serve them the wrong tea just to go back later and find out you still don't have it right.

Other than the extensive amount of puzzles there is a story that ties them together nicely. Some puzzles are even tied into the story, so not to make them just a random element. The story to Diabolical Box was nice and full of mystery. You discover a little more and more of the giant puzzle as you move along like any good story, too bad you don't have to figure this one out on your own. It is all revealed through cutscenes, sometimes being backed up with a puzzle.

The cutscenes are nice with three different kinds that move the story along. The best is the actual moving pictures with voice acting. The style, even though not realistic is quite nicely drawn. The other two types is a still frame of the two characters currently talking with subtitles. Some of them are voice acted while others are not. It leaves you wondering why all aren't voice acted.

This game has a good replay value. Even after the story is finished there might still be puzzles to be solved since you don't need to solve them all to finish the story mode. There are also more puzzles to be downloaded through wi-fi just like the first. With so many puzzles and a cute artistic style this is truely one game on the DS to not pass up. I give it 4 out of 5 stars.

Inside Game Informer

Picking up my shiny new issue of Game Informer I headed right for the Dear GI section. I was a bit distracted talking to my brother, but then the world stopped as I honed onto the bold letters spelling out my name. I made it into Game Informer! Sure it's just the letters to the editor section, but to have an opinion published in a national magazine still feels pretty good. They did cut it down a bit, which was to be expected for space issues and they cleaned it up a bit. So here is a view of what showed up in the magazine.

In Issue 196, a reader called out Wii gamers by bringing up a few good games and asking why people weren't buying them. Here's my best answer: Just because you are a hardcore gamer doesn't mean that everyone likes the same type of hardcore games. I still enjoy my Wii and pick up a new game for it when it appeals to me, but for the types of games that I enjoy, being a multi-console gamer is the only way to go.

And just so you don't have to go back an entry, here is my full response that I sent into Game Informer.

Growing up with video games and owning consoles from Sony, Sega, and Nintendo had me in a bit of a quarrel as to what system to buy this generation. I ended up going with the Nintendo Wii back when it was still almost impossible to get one and the games were very much lacking. But it's innovated idea on gameplay and having a new Zelda game to boot had me wanting one. But after 2 years of owning one, I as a hardcore gamer who also likes "casual" games, was missing many of the hardcore games that were released for the PS3 and the 360. So I went out and bought a PS3 a few months ago. I now don't have the feeling of missing out on good hardcore games because they won't come to the Wii for one reason or another. That way I can still play games like Zelda and Mario Kart, but still not miss out on games like Resident Evil 5 and Prototype. In issue 196, Patrick brought up a few good games for hardcore gamers that came out for the Wii and asked why people weren't buying them. But just because you are a hardcore gamer doesn't mean that we all like the same type of hardcore games. I did, however, pick up Okami, but went with the ps2 version instead. Don't get me wrong I still enjoy my Wii and pick up a new game for it when it appeals to me, but overall Nintendo seems to have targeted the Wii more towards the "casual" gamer. For me being a multi-console gamer is the only way to go.

Here's some pics for those of you who don't get Game Informer. I got Cover 1 of 2, so if yours doesn't look like this then you probably got cover 2 for September 2009. (click on them to make them larger)

Fat Princess PS3 Review Download

Who says a game for 14.99 can't be fun? I'm not sure if that has ever really been said, but people seem to think that if something is cheap it's not good. This is not the case with Fat Princess, which is a downloadable game for the Playstation 3. You play as a villager in a kingdom where your princess and a neighboring princess are addicted to cake. In this game the cake is not a lie! There are different tasks ranging from a capture the flag type game to being the first team to kill a certain number of the opposing teams to claiming all the towers on the map for your team. In any of the game types you can be a range of characters. Trying on different hats give you different abilities such as throwing fire, building and repairing buildings, shooting arrows, healing party members and the likes. These differences gives you a bunch of different ways to play giving the game more replay value.

In Fat Princess there are two modes of gameplay: a single player story mode and an online vs. mode. The single player mode as a whole is short, however some of the levels can be quite long, which isn't necessarily a good thing. I was on one level for a few hours, gave up, came back to it for a couple more hours of gameplay before finishing it. With a level just being one simple task this can get boring if it runs on for too long.

The online mode is where this game really shines. If it wasn't for the trophies, yes I just might be a trophy whore, I'm not sure if I would have finished the single player mode so soon. But playing online with friends is quite fun. There can be up to 32 players total which each team consisting of 16 people. If you don't have that many the remaining characters are replaced with A.I. characters. For the most part they are pretty easy when you place yourself up against them especially with real people on your team.

There are a couple of things that need some improving in my opinion. As a girl gamer I am used to being gypped when it comes to games for the most part. It's a man's world even though girl gamers are out there and not the ones just interested in silly little girl games. What I'm referring to in Fat Princess is your character. You can design your own character to an extent. You can change hair style and color, as well as eye color and facial hair. You can choose between a girl or a boy, which basically changes the voice of your character. So all is not lost for girl gamers. But the girl hairstyle choices are so small that there will either be girls with pigtails or a boys haircut. So that does mean that girl characters can have beards as well. A boy character can also choose to model the pigtails. As you go along you do unlock more hairstyles and colors, so maybe there is another girly hairstyle I just haven't unlocked yet. But either way this isn't a huge issue for me and am happy to sport my purple pigtails with blue skin.

The one thing that I wish they worked on more was giving us more maps. With only about 5 different maps it can get a little boring. Maybe this would be a good use of downloadable content.

All in all I find Fat Princess a good game well worth it's price tag with good online gameplay and funny commentary that ads a little personality to the game. I would give this game a 3.5 out of 5.

A Topic Worth Writing In For

After subscribing to Game Informer for a few years now there hasn't been a topic I felt strong enough to voice my opinion on until now. Sadly it's not an article or a game feature, but someone instigating a debate on the Wii, it's hardcore games and the whiney SOB's that claim they are hardcore gamers. Hey! I'm a whiney SOB claiming to be a hardcore gamer, so I had to jump on my soapbox and write in. Here's how it went down.

Dear GI:

Hardcore Negligence

In the reader art section of issue 195, there was a picture of Jack from the under appreciated MadWorld. I'm one of the few who bought the game - it makes me wonder about gamers who cry on internet forums about Nintendo failing its hardcore audience on the Wii. I'm starting to think the opposite is true: the hardcore audience has failed Nintendo. Why didn't you buy MadWorld, House of the Dead, Okami and No more Heros? All of those titles should have sold more copies. If you call yourself hardcore, why aren't you buying the games made for you?

Patrick Borrelli
Via Email

Hardcore Wii owners, Patrick is calling you out. What do you have to say in your defense? Have hardcore gamers let Nintendo down? Drop us a line and share your thoughts.

My Response:

Growing up with video games and owning consoles from Sony, Sega, and Nintendo had me in a bit of a quarrel as to what system to buy this generation. I ended up going with the Nintendo Wii back when it was still almost impossible to get one and the games were very much lacking. But it's innovated idea on gameplay and having a new Zelda game to boot had me wanting one. But after 2 years of owning one, I as a hardcore gamer who also likes "casual" games, was missing many of the hardcore games that were released for the PS3 and the 360. So I went out and bought a PS3 a few months ago. I now don't have the feeling of missing out on good hardcore games because they won't come to the Wii for one reason or another. That way I can still play games like Zelda and Mario Kart, but still not miss out on games like Resident Evil 5 and Prototype. In issue 196, Patrick brought up a few good games for hardcore gamers that came out for the Wii and asked why people weren't buying them. But just because you are a hardcore gamer doesn't mean that we all like the same type of hardcore games. I did, however, pick up Okami, but went with the ps2 version instead. Don't get me wrong I still enjoy my Wii and pick up a new game for it when it appeals to me, but overall Nintendo seems to have targeted the Wii more towards the "casual" gamer. For me being a multi-console gamer is the only way to go.

Will I show up in a future issue of Game Informer? Only one way to find out. In the mean time I would like to continue this discussion here. Tell me your thoughts on Patrick's and my responses to this issue. What are your feelings on the Wii/Hardcore Gamer relationship? I love a good debate.

EDIT: I have added a poll listing hardcore games for the 3 major consoles with the appearance of the ps2 and the gamecube because the games where just to good to leave off and some are expecting sequels in the future. Also if I left out your favorite hardcore game I'm sorry. I have also only listed the latest in a series, not what I think is the best. I had to end the list somewhere. But since this is a poll about Nintendo leaving hardcore gamers out with their current console I thought that current games on current consoles should be looked at. Please take the poll seriously. I want to see hardcore gamers opinions on what good hardcore games are out there and what systems have the best hardcore games. This study will help with the discussion. Please feel free to choose more than one option since being a hardcore gamer means you play more than just 1 or 2 games.

The Survival Horror Horror

This is not so much of a review, but more of a look at a specific genre of games and how it's evolving. I'm sure by the title you already guessed I'm talking about the Survival Horror Genre. Alone in the Dark and Sweet Home are among the first survival horror games, but the term was coined with the first Resident Evil. Resident Evil: Director's Cut for the Playstation was my first survival horror game and the standard I hold all the rest to.

So after completing Resident Evil 5 for the second time, I've been looking for new survival horror games to fix my itch. This is where the inspiration for this blog is coming from. I did some searches on the top survival horror games out there looking for more to play. Resident Evil always made the list. After being one of the most recognized survival horror game, with over 20 games and 4 movies, how could it not be. However, with most of the lists Resident Evil 4 was the Resident Evil game pf choice or placed higher then others. For me Resident Evil 4 was one of my least favorites, not to say that I have played all of the titles. But out of the main series, I feel it is lacking, while everyone gives their praises. This is where I feel the definition of survival horror is being turned upside-down.

The definition of survival horror can be easily broken down to a game where you try to survive in a really horrific, unreal situation. So yes Resident Evil 4 can technically be considered. But it's also about the build up to fear, the puzzles over the shoot 'em up style, conserving your ammo, and juggling your items. This is opposed to a shooter style like the game F.E.A.R., which is a horror type of game, but not a survival type at all. I believe Resident Evil 4 started moving towards a shooter style and away from the survival horror theme.

This move greatly saddens me. Especially since Resident Evil is one of my favorite games and others like it. Something about scaring the shit out of me intrigues me, though sometimes I find them to scary to play. An amusing thought I'm sure for someone who claims to love the games so much. Playing through Resident Evil 5 has made me miss the old style even more. Sure the graphics are fantastic and I take full advantage of the HD capabilities. But where were all the puzzles? Sure there are a few. The puzzle where you have to turn the mirrors to make the ancient elevators work wasn't bad, but it also seemed very Tomb Raideresque. Where are the password puzzles? Where are the puzzles where you have to have the right color combination of fuses to unlock something? Where are the objects that you have to find in order to move on or gain a new items? No broken shotgun to replace the real one so you can do a bait and switch just like in Indiana Jones? And all the key cards are obtained by killing a mini boss type of enemy instead of finding it hidden among a pile of papers or such like things? This just goes to show you that the games are heading more brawn then brains. The puzzles brought so much more to the game then we must kill everything in the way to survive. It gave more dimensions to the games and more game time since some of those puzzles can be pretty tricky.

I do have to give RE5 props though for the co-op campaign. Very few games have this, especially online. And they do it very well. Co-op campaign is lacking from a lot of games these days. Most multiplayer games are again strategic shoot up the other team before they get you. The only other game that I can think of that has co-op campaign that I've played was Obscure: The Aftermath for Wii, which is another survival horror title. It didn't have online play, which is too bad, but it didn't do half bad. It wasn't the best game I've ever played, but it was a lot of fun to play with a friend. It also kept the puzzles and I must add overly cheesy lines like a lot of survival horror games have, including the first Resident Evil. However playing with the AI when you don't have a friend can be difficult like with any AI character.

I know everything needs to evolve otherwise we would become bored of having the same kind of game over and over again. But that is what the different genres are for. Hell that's even what the different series of Resident Evil is for. From the main series to the survivor series to the chronicle series and so on. But bring back all the puzzles and the thrills instead of the kills. Though I do have to say that there are some freaky parts in RE5. I'm glad the lickers made a couple quite freaky and challenging appearances.