Star Wars 1313 lurks in the shadows

"Star Wars: 1313."  Don't bother going to the game's site right now, there's nothing there. That's just how under-wraps this game is. LucasArts, working closely with Industrial Light and Magic, is striving to bring fans the first M-rated expedition into the "Star Wars" universe.

Unfortunately the Vault was not able to get a look at this game during E3, but Adam Sessler did mention it when he met with us on the show floor. His take: "'Uncharted' and 'Star Wars' in a gritty M-Rated game? Yes, I'll take it if it's derivative, I'll take that derivation."

No one really knows anything about the game other than what we've seen as we creep through the internet, seeing an article here and picture there. If you do your homework though, you can see the trailer above compiled with some actual gameplay too. Oh, what's that? Don't want to do the work? Well that's why we're here, because we love you.

So what we see first off is the amazing graphics. It's as if they took the best of "Force Unleashed" and added the facial software from "L.A. Noire."

Well that might be exactly what they did, as reports have that LucasArts and ILM worked on using that technology to give a very realistic look to their newest project

Gameplay shows us a third-person shooting mechanic a la "Uncharted," or "Jedi Knight" if you were fond of the old school Kyle Katarn games where you could switch from first and third-person. However, the way the mechanic moves makes it look more like "Uncharted" and "Mafia 2" than anything else.

Thank heavens for a cover system too, because if this was another "Star Wars" game without a cover system a million voices would have cried out in pain and then would been suddenly silenced. I couldn't resist the Alderaan joke. I'm sorry.

The main character hiding in the shadows, just like the game he's in.

As for story, little has be revealed except the premise. You play as a bounty hunter traveling to one of the worst crime-ridden slums of the city-world Coruscant, level 1313. Other than that, we don't have much to go on, but when we do, you'll be the first to know.

LucasArts seems to be getting darker and darker as the years progress. From "Republic Commando" to "The Force Unleashed," their content has ranged from gritty warfare to wanton destruction. Even "The Old Republic," the MMO collaboration with Bioware, has some fairly intense choices that deal with torture and outright murder. Could it be that "Star Wars" might be growing up to fit it's older fan base? Does that mean we can expect gore and grit and well-scripted storylines? "1313" will hopefully deliver both and here's hoping it's not heavy-handed with either.

Eyes on Injustice: Gods Among Us

We've all had the conversations with our friends about who would win in a fight between Superman and Batman. How about Harley Quinn and Nightwing? What about Flash and Cyborg?" Well, if you're a fan of the DC Universe you've probably had these conversations.

"Injustice: Gods Among Us" saves you the trouble of having to imagine what these fights would be like by allowing you to decimate cities and barren wastelands with some of the iconic characters of the DC comic world. At least the DC characters that Warner Brothers Games and NetherRealm Studios feel are iconic.

As of right now, the characters that have been revealed for the line-up are as follows: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Harley Quinn, Cyborg, Nightwing, Flash and Solomon Grundy.

While the trailer looks mighty fine, the graphics seem a little less than that. It looks to be on par with the newest "Mortal Kombat" game, which was just passable.

If the trailer is any indication, this game is basically "Super Smash Bros." with some edgy looking DC characters. Other than that there doesn't seem to be a story or anything else. Granted, NetherRealm always seems to put a plot into their fighting games regardless of advertising it.

There's nothing wrong with a good rock'em-sock'em fighting game, but this has been done before. What am I talking about? Well, I'm talking about this game:

Oh yeah, that was a thing about 4 years ago or something. Now, the idea behind that was different. The DC Universe somehow bled into the Mortal Kombat one and there were more characters and more things going on and yadda yadda. But in all honesty, was this game so successful that they had to give the DC characters their own game? If so, what made it so good? As I recall, the "Mortal Kombat" games are good, some would say great even. They're not revolutionary, however, and they're certainly just re-hashings of the classic game.

While there's nothing wrong with remaking a game with better graphics (or is there? The debate still rages on about that), some would say that a spin-off of a mash-up game based off of a remake is...risky. Risky in that it seems to be an unimaginative filler game when the fans might want another "Mortal Kombat." Or they could just do a sequel game to "Mortal Kombat vs DC."

I'm not sure the Lasso of Truth is going to help much against a zombie.

Regardless, the game itself seems to be fully formed and full of fun. One of the biggest topics that everyone is talking about is the detail but into the world around the fighters. Whether it's the Batcave or what appears to be downtown Metropolis, there's always something to look at behind the fight. As the trailer shows, the player can even send their opponent flying up into space with Superman's strength, or toss them around like a sack of potatoes with Batman's vicious pummelings.

Of course the fights have to be balanced because half of the roster would honestly murder the other just through sheer power. I'm not saying she wouldn't put up a good fight, but Harley has no chance against an Amazon warrior or a man who can run so fast he can travel between dimensions (yes Wally West can do that because he's the most powerful Flash, and no, I will not get into an argument about it). Not to mention that Solomon Grundy is an undead monster reminiscent of the Hulk. If you played "Batman: Arkham City" you might remember him as one of Penguin's many minions.

There's still a lot going on with this game as the roster continues to to grow. Nightwing and Cyborg being added recently means they seem to be going with a pattern of super powered and non-super powered individuals to try and even the characters out.

As a DC comics fan, I'm not sure how to feel about this game, and I feel like other fans don't either. There seems to be some excitement because who doesn't love seeing their world come to life for playability and the chance to beat the snot out of your friends with Batman? But this also just seems to follow in the vein of games that might just end up being a disappointment in the arena of super-powered "mehs."

After having the successes of "Batman: Arkham Asylum" and "Arkham City," DC fans are now used to having games of excellent quality. That could be anything from using one of the most iconic characters in the DC universe, to making a game that works with gadgets and stealth like so many others before it.

It seems that if fans want to immerse themselves in the DC Universe with more than just a slugfest, they'll have to go for one of the game ins the "Arkham" series, or perhaps "DC Universe Online." However, if they want a knock-down drag-out showdown, "Injustice: Gods Among Us" might be the game for them.

There just isn't a good "Fast and the Furious" joke for this picture.

Despite rumor, Final Fantasy Versus XIII still in development

A couple of days ago, Kotaku had reported that the long-in-development "Final Fantasy Versus XIII" had been cancelled and that Square Enix had not made it public so it would not make their stock prices drop.

Well, all the fanboys and fangirls can breathe a sigh of relief because t turns out that the rumor is just that - a rumor.

"Theres someone making a false rumor that Versus was cancelled, Haha....Just a minute ago the regular Versus meeting had ended. If you saw the presentation of the city, it'd knock you off your feet," Yoichi Wada, president of Sqare Enix, said on Twitter.

All this was based on a rumor from an anonymous tip. It was reported that Square Enix wanted the game to die out in a whisper and just fade away.

This sent an uproar in "FF" community because a lot of people wanted this game to come out, myself included. The trailers were amazing and the gameplay shown made it seem like this game could be an instant hit whenever it came out.

"Final Fantasy Versus XIII" was first announced at E3 in 2006, but after that it was rarely heard of. We're being kept in the dark about specifics of the story, but it from what we've seen and what Wada had said, it looks to be a good one.

Who's Watching the WatchDogs? We are.

Want information about "WatchDogs?" Get in line. Ubisoft is being as tight-lipped and shady about their new title as their protagonist Aiden Pearce. Looking like a modern version of comic-book characters The Question or Rorschach, Pearce seems to be a surveillance and technology nut. Motives? Unknown. Objective? Unknown. What everyone does know is what Mr. Pearce can do with his smartphone and a telescoping nightstick. God help you if he gets his hands on a gun too. How do we know this? Well, Ubisoft showed a rather impressive demo of the game at E3 this year and talk hasn't stopped since then. Check it out.

The first thing everyone wanted to know was just what system that game was running on. The graphics are stellar. From the rain glistening off the buildings, to the wind blowing clothes around and even the lighting. It's reminiscent of the graphical magic of "Red Dead Redemption."

Character animations look remarkably smooth as well. The conversation between Aiden and his companion was like watching two actors hash it out on set. Combat animations are glorious. From the shooting, to the sliding over car hoods and rescuing innocent bystanders. Of course, it's entirely possible that the entire thing was scripted for purposes of the demo to the public, so one has to assume it won't be that awesome during gameplay. Regardless, it still looks about ten levels of awesome.

Very classy, Aiden.

Aiden seems to only need one tool for this entire game, his smartphone, which he pulls out just as much as an antsy teenager at the mall waiting for a text from a crush. No one suspects the dude in a trench coat looking at his phone. Apparently everyone should now because using just his phone Aiden can stop traffic, disrupt telecommunications, hack into phone conversations, background check individuals in any environment and I'd be surprised if he didn't have "Angry Birds" and a wicked-awesome HD camera on that thing too.

Preying on our dependence on technology is a stroke of genius and honestly scarily realistic. Aiden's tools are simple, of course a multi-purposed hacking tool that can do all of the above might be a tough thing to find. He doesn't seem to need a gun unless his opponents have them.

The question remains, though: Just who is Aiden Pearce.

When the Vault talked with Adam Sessler at E3, he was very excited about "WatchDogs" and what it could mean for the industry. However, he brought up a good point. Are all of Aiden's tools and abilities going to be used as gimmicks and become old fast, or will they be crucial tools that can be used at the player's discretion? Worse, will they only be available when the game allows them to be used? The answer will dramatically change how the game is played and how fun the game itself will be.

After only seeing the demo, no one is quite sure how open-ended the game will be or how many tools Aiden will be able to use to escape those following him, and how much you'll be able to play as his pursuers. At the end of the demo, the audience was able to see Aiden running from the police through another person's eyes. Who is this person? Will we get to play as him? How often? So many questions, and not enough answers. Maybe that's how Ubisoft wants it.

Keeping with their apparent theme of sci-fi thrillers like "Assassin's Creed" and "Ghost Recon: Future Soldier," "WatchDogs" will fit in nicely with Ubisoft's line-up.

I will never trust anyone on the street with their phone out again.

Rhythm and Motion

As the Nintendo Wii came out of the shadow of the Nintendo Revolution rumor, movement based gaming suddenly received a jolt of life on the home console. Games that were traditionally thought of as arcade titles and not feasible for the home environment were now entirely possible and encouraged.

However, the gaming community began to see this as a dilution of their hallowed pastime. Now that everyone was encouraged to play since the controller became as complicated as their bodily movement, gamers felt that their hobby was no longer unique and the hardcore games were fading away for more family friendly titles.

Those rabbids are...ravin'.

The first wave were games like "Red Steel" or the surprisingly popular "Rayman: Raving Rabbids." Simply enough, the tech focused on moving the controller in time with directions or beats to get the correct sequence. I mention these before the shameful peripheral that was the PlayStation EyeToy or even the home version of "Dance Dance Revolution" because the Wii games were actually considered triple-a titles.


"Red Steel" was shamed and hailed as a glitchy and bugged-out game that should never have been a launch title. Sad, but true for the game that was actually somewhat fun if it wasn't for the awful use of motion control. "Rabbids," however, was socially looked down on, but reviewers and consumers ate it up. The gaming community couldn't really see any interest in it, and yet copies sold.


It took time, but eventually Nintendo figured out a somewhat workable use for the Wiimote and it became commonplace and accepted to a degree to those who were fans of the company. Soon, Sony and Microsoft were announcing their own movement based peripherals that were eerily similar to Nintendo's design, except for the Kinect using everything but a physical item in your hand.


Now, motion-based gameplay is still a gimmick, but one that gaming companies use cautiously. "Ghost Recon: Future Soldier" used in in their weapon customization system, which was probably the best use for the Xbox Kinect in recent years. The Nintendo Wii's motion controls have been streamlined so much so that even a novice to video gaming can use the system to workout with. Oprah gave her entire audience Wii systems and copies of "Wii Fit" during a taping of her daytime talk show. Sony still remains an the back of the race, unable to truly garner the attention of their customers to the PlayStation Move, awarding it a mediocre place in history just like the EyeToy.

What with "Dance Central" and "Just Dance" on Xbox and the Wii, motion controls are becoming more sophisticated than ever, completely removing the need for the "Dance Dance Revolution" floor pads.


The fever pitch of dancing games and music-based gameplay would not have reached the fever pitch that it did without the success of Harmonix's "Guitar Hero" franchise, which has been taken over by Neversoft, or their other music-based hit series, "Rock Band." Gamers could now feel a connection to something other than cyclops evisceration and collecting coins by working to make the chords and notes of their favorite songs happen. They felt a sense of accomplishment, and there was even a feeling of skill as people began to master certain songs.


Of course, gaming companies felt that this meant they could make comebacks for lightguns and props. Who could forget the completely awkward and unusable attachments to Wiimotes for "Wii Sports" made by Nerf? Or the ineffective and cumbersome Wii Zapper? Let's not forget the serious piece of hardware that Sony made recently that looks almost exactly like the Wii Zapper for their Move controllers and shooter games.


As musical gaming became more sophisticated and mainstream, drum sets were added along with keyboards and microphones that detected correct pitch. An entire band could be formed in a living room instead of a garage. The logical evolution? "Rocksmith."

The Vault tested out the effectiveness of "Rocksmith" and proved that it is indeed a working learning tool for those players looking to strum a six string. Now the gauntlet has been thrown down, and gamer speculation rises as to what the next instrument or game will be to teach the masses rather than just entertain them.


Success in both movement and music simulators, a term used hesitantly now as "Rocksmith" actually teaches the player, is an excellent lesson in game development and market manipulation.


Nintendo took a chance with the Wii. One could argue that motion-based gameplay was the evolution of the industry, but nonetheless it was a gamble to be the first in the running with that. Again, we must acknowledge Sony's attempt with the EyeToy, but it's utter failure cannot be ignored. It was no competition for a system built around motion control.

Even the marketing focused on physical movement.

The idea of the player actually moving meant that they were invested in the action and the game more than if they were merely sitting in a chair and watching their character do all the action. It's the sense of accomplishment that one gets from actually killing the dragon instead of watching someone else do it as you press four buttons. Of course, games are not there just yet, but they are moving towards it.


To that same idea, however, a gamer getting a high score when playing "Guitar Hero" or "Rock Band" feels that they've actually done something because they've made the music. Yes, they are still pressing buttons, but "Rocksmith" and the pro peripherals for "Rock Band" change the playing field because at that point a gamer is using an actual instrument.


How do game makers achieve a sense of accomplishment and investment in their games? If a developer can get the player more involved in a game, surely they'll want to keep coming back for more That's half the reason conversation options exist in RPGs, so that the player feels that they are responsible for the choices and events that occur. If that could be translated into actions, then perhaps something big would happen.


Looking at the musical game evolution, the argument could be made for the idea that if the player is engaged in learning something, then they will be more invested and more motivated to play. The "Dance Central" games may teach someone nothing but line dancing techniques, but they do teach you something. There have been no recorded instances of people actually dancing like that in clubs, but it's really only a matter of time now.

From a handheld device, to a person.

Buttons no longer do the job of getting the player into the game. As gaming has become more social, mental and physical through multiplayer, engaging storylines and technological advancements, more is expected from a game. People are now used to epic storylines spanning several games like "Mass Effect." A multiplayer element that pits gamers against other gamers where stories and experiences can be shared is almost standard in any game that features a gun. If the game uses motion controls, the way to garner success seems to be teaching something actually relevant that can be used with others or to give a desired outcome like learning an instrument or getting fit.


The bar has been raised, expectations have been changed and just sitting on the couch doesn't cut it anymore. The industry has changed and it's time for games to reflect that.

Eyes on Company of Heroes: General Winter

World War II is a point in history that the gaming industry seems to never get tired of. Fortunately for Relic Entertainment and THQ, this means a sequel to their critically acclaimed "Company of Heroes" PC game that graced shelves in 2006. Argued to be the RTS strategy that changed the way the game was played, the forthcoming second game, "Company of Heroes 2," seems to be striving to nab that title yet again with some surprising new features.

Focusing on the eastern front of of the European Theater, namely Russia and the outlying areas of the Iron Curtain that Germany blitzkreiged to oblivion, the game introduces a whole new element to tactical decisions.

A flaming winter wonderland of warfare. Say that three times fast.

"Company of Heroes" utilized a cover system, real-time building destruction that was randomized every time, squad combat mechanics, resource gathering based off of strategic points and realistic weapons of warfare. Its success was easily witnessed as many called it one of the best RTS games of all time. It definitely built on several conventions that had been used over the years and capitalized off of their popularity.

I have a saying: don't reinvent the wheel, put rubber on it. "Company of Heroes" did just that. Taking some of the work that Relic did on the "Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War" series concerning squad based tactics and strategic point capturing, they then utilized buildings, artillery and anything else they could get their hands on.

Now, "Company of Heroes 2" is pushing the envelope with "General Winter." No, there is no in-game character named General Winter, though a frosty old man that commands his forces while sounding like Ed Asner would be amazing, but that's just silly.

General Winter refers to the weather conditions actually playing a major role in the game itself. In a GameSpy interview, principle designer Quinn Duffy said that General Winter is almost like having a third, neutral player. The eastern front was bitterly cold, especially the winter of '41 and '42, with temperatures reaching minus 40 degrees Celsius. In those kinds of conditions, exposed flesh can freeze in just a couple of minutes - literally a couple of minutes - and you had tens of thousands of soldiers dying of exposure to the cold.

Even with the fire and the snow, the Russians still held out.

Player squads will actually have a temperature gauge above them, and if the squad's heat is too low they will freeze to death. Their heat can be raised by standing near campfires, or going into cover or transports. This adds another element of strategy when attacking the enemy. Going after sources of warmth for their troops will be instrumental to victory. Tanks rolling over iced over lakes and rivers will have to be wary as the surface beneath them can be targeted to send them to a chilly bath below.

"Company of Heroes 2" is throwing a whole new depth of strategy at the player now. Not only does the environment mean that unit management needs to be taken seriously and that units cannot be left someplace without them freezing to death, but it also can change the way that players fight. Instead of trying to overpower the enemy, it's now possible to outlast them. a kind of war of attrition over war of arms.

It seems that players will be battling the harsh elements of the eastern theater along with the Nazis when "Company of Heroes 2" hits shelves. Due to the innovative new gameplay that will be in it, the Vault will definitely be looking into it. 

Un-tie the tie-ins

I've played quite a few movie tie-in games in my life, and (surprise) they are generally not very good. I don't think it's the fault of the developers, though, because studios like Beenox, which has created both movie tie-in and original titles, are capable of creating very good games when they aren't tied to films.

I think the so-called curse of movie tie-in games is not so much a curse as it is a failure to recognize the difference in development methods and schedules of movies and video games.

Often, movie tie-in games are expected to begin and end development at or around the same time as the films they are tied to. This production schedule regularly results in game developers having to sacrifice polish and testing in order to ship the product around the same time as the film.

The fact is that video games aren’t created in the same way or within the same time frame that movies are.

This recent movie tie-in game was decent, but not stellar.

Some games are even meant to emulate the film experience so much that a considerable amount of control is taken away from the player in order to show off particularly impressive graphics and scripted scenes.

Video games are not about watching movies from a first-person perspective.

They are about experiencing events, emotions and characters in ways that films cannot allow. They are about giving players the power to create the memorable moments rather than just happen upon them.

Playing cooperatively with someone online and coming together in a moment of tension to overcome a particularly challenging obstacle can be so much more satisfying than walking up to a ledge overlooking a massive battlefield and watching explosions while a battle-weary non-play character spouts lines about how war never changes.

If I want to have a story presented to me, I can read a book. If I want a story presented to me visually and with sound, I can watch a movie. If I want to have an experience that I would otherwise never be able to feel for myself, I can play a video game that places me in a new world and gives me the power to act of my own will within it.

That’s not to say that cinematic games like those in the “Uncharted” series or “Call of Duty” games filled with scripted moments aren’t worth players’ time, or even that they aren’t fun. It’s just that those types of experiences can be had elsewhere in media.

Games give us an opportunity that generations before us could not have imagined. They give us the chance to explore worlds and affect events and individuals in those worlds while creating our own stories.

A game like “Minecraft,” in which there is no narrative background given and no story aside from the one players create for themselves is a good example of the type of freedom games can offer.

Here's a world and some tools. Do whatever you want.

Another game that gives players great narrative power is “The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.” The latest chapter in the Elder Scrolls series contains many small stories that players can choose to take part in as well as a main, over-arching storyline, and all of those paths are interesting. But the thing that Bethesda did with the game that makes it so impressive was to offer players the option to follow none of those storylines and simply allow them to explore the land as they see fit. 

Letting people loose in a new world is what makes gaming great.

Certainly, there is a place in the industry for exciting space operas and gritty war stories, and including some interactivity in what would otherwise be a linear story can make for great art, but in the long run, I think that game makers should focus on creating worlds to explore and fill with our own stories rather than guiding players to their end.

Theatrhythm Final Fantasy Review

Gather, humans, moogles, & chocobos alike, for I have a review for you! It's been 25 years since "Final Fantasy" was introduced to the gaming masses, and what a glorious 25 years it's been. The "Final Fantasy" series has so much to love from the characters to the story - and even the music. That music is what Square Enix has based their newest 3DS game on.

"Theatrhythm Final Fantasy" is a rhythm-based game using the wonderful music tracks from the past 13 main "Final Fantasy" games. Each game is represented with five songs each adding up to a total of 65 tracks, not including the available downloadable content.

The visuals are very cutesy. The characters and monsters themselves look like little plush dolls with colored dots for eyes and blushing cheeks. It all looks very reminiscent of a mannequin or puppet show.

You can clearly tell that it was intended for a Nintendo audience, which is not a bad thing because its visual style alone lets the game stand out on its own from the franchise.

The game does a great job of making you feel like an orchestra conductor. You pick a party of four characters from the different iterations of the franchise, and then can pick a game in the "Final Fantasy" series (I-XIII) one by one and play it's music.

Playing is as easy as tapping, swiping or dragging your stylus across the screen.

The actual gameplay is simple: follow the command prompt, then scroll and tap,swipe or drag when it gets into the appropriate area. Its very simplistic, but can be very challenging when you up the difficulty.

The songs are split up into three different stages.

Field music stages, which pull their songs from instances in the series in which the characters are traveling in an open-world map, have the challenge of keeping the character running to the rhythm of the song while trying progress on the map. There are sections of the songs devoted to summoning a chocobo to help speed players along the map which add for a fun challenge.

Battle music stages are set to the battle music of the franchise (such as "One Winged Angel") and pit your party against monsters and bosses while trying to keep the party's health points up and attempting to perform a summon.

Event music stages treat players to cutscenes from a particular game in the "Final Fantasy" series spliced together to songs from that game. These do great justice in showing the series' growth from 8-bit to the high-definition games we have today. The only letdowns here are that the text in the cutscenes are not in English, and unlocking songs along with new characters takes a small eternity. Overall the gameplay is fun enough to keep people playing it.

"Theatrythm Final Fantasy" is great as fan service and as a piece of nostalgia for the "FF" veterans, but is also a great invitation to the series for newcomers.

I give "Theatrythm Final Fantasy" a 9.5/10.

The Amazing Spider-Man review

Warning: This review contains spoilers for both “The Amazing Spider-Man” game and movie.

He sticks to the shadows while waiting for just the right moment to pounce on his unsuspecting target and rip him to the ceiling before anyone notices what happened. The other goons in the room are vaguely aware that they are now a man short, but the silent attacker is nowhere to be seen. One by one they are picked off by this invisible assailant. Is it a phantom? A giant, bat-like creature? No, it's a smart-mouthed, cocky teenager who calls himself Spider-Man.

“The Amazing Spider-Man,” developed by Beenox, is a game created as a direct sequel to the recently released movie of the same title. It's incredibly reminiscent of the “Arkham” series of Batman games, but without all the polish and engaging storylines or stellar voice acting.

Unfortunately, this most recent Spider-Man game falls in line with most other movie tie-in games, and ends up being pretty bad.

The gameplay feels like the "Arkham" games with its free-flow combat and stealth attacks, but lacks polish and consistency in attack effectiveness. Attempting to remain unseen while picking off enemies from ledges or ceilings is more tedious than exhilarating, and more time is spent running away from acid-spitting mutants and bouncing from wall to wall haphazardly than skillfully cocooning enemies and hanging them from ceilings.

Controls are finicky and the game's Web Rush mode, in which you can pause time momentarily and choose areas for Spidey to quickly move to or enemies to attack, sometimes doesn't respond to controller inputs. The Web Rush mode brings the fast-paced action to a halt over and over again. There were many instances where I intended for Spidey to zip away from an incoming attack, but instead saw him lunge directly toward it.

Sneaking up on baddies could have worked better.

It seems like the developers devised Web Rush as a way to overcome Spider-Man's inability to swing in areas without high-rise buildings to anchor his webs to, which would have been clever. However, in this game, Spider-Man does not anchor his webs to anything. He shoots them directly into the sky. The player must be in the general vicinity of a building in order to swing, but there is no need to choose where to shoot webs for the best swinging routes.

Manhattan is fully explorable in the game, and there are several mini-missions to accomplish aside from the main storyline, but they becoming tedious and inane after saving random person #16 from random mugger #25 for the fifteenth time. Spider-Man can also end high-speed chases by entering a quick-time event or do stunts for a man in a blimp called the “Xtreme Reporter.”

The ability to swing freely and perform heroics throughout the city is the best part of this game. It brings back memories of “Spider-Man 2” from the original Xbox days.

The graphics are unimpressive aside from some reflections on buildings in Manhattan (which turn out to be static images of the same location on every reflective surface) and the characters look and act nothing like their film counterparts.

The story involves a massive outbreak of cross-species (half person, half animal) throughout New York which Spider-Man must take care of. Curt Connors, also known as The Lizard, plays a large role in the story, but the main villain is the newest head of Oscorp's science division, Alistair Smythe.

Smythe is voiced by none other than the seemingly omnipresent Nolan North, and is bent on saving the city from the cross-species epidemic by destroying everything with giant robots and introducing a nanobot-powered serum into the blood of all infected citizens that he claims will eradicate that cross-species threat.

As is the case in most super-hero stories, the villain goes mad with power and the hero is tasked with stopping him at any cost.

Spidey can swing through Manhattan freely.

Spider-Man fights several cross-species baddies along the way including classic Spidey nemeses Rhino and Scorpion, but there are no stand-out baddies in the whole game. There's no sense of a master scheme from Smythe, but rather the story seems like a series of mistakes and coincidences that involves Spider-Man beating up a bunch of mutants and robots.

Boss fights in the game are very repetitive. Spidey dodges, punches and triggers a quick-time event. Repeat three or four times.

Nobody really ever expects movie tie-in games to be particularly spectacular, but a lot of people had high hopes for “The Amazing Spider-Man” because of Beenox's choice to return to open-world gameplay in Manhattan after years of linear Spidey games.

While this game does have several weak points, it still feels pretty good to just take some time to swing around town as the Web Slinger. I can't recommend picking this game up at full price, but it you ever come across it in a bargain bin, give it a shot.

Eyes on Total War: Rome II

After disappearing into the mist behind "Medieval 2: Total War," "Empire: Total War," "Napoleon: Total War" and most recently "Shogun 2: Total War," "Rome 2: Total War" comes crashing back into our line of site like the Roman Empire trying to retain the last vestiges of power before its fall. By the looks of it, it'll be just as glamorous and blood-soaked as the real life empire.

Whether you call it "Total War: Rome 2" or "Rome 2: Total War," you're still talking about an installment in one of the most highly acclaimed historical strategy franchises of all time. Developer Creative Assembly's "Total War" titles have been compared to "RISK" and the "Civilization" games with the flair and drama of a real-time-strategy game's combat mechanics. Beautifully rendered and geographically accurate maps of nations and factions set the stage for the bloody battles that the player can command in fields or at the gates of their enemy's fortresses.

The "Rome" series was the third incarnation of the "Total War" name, and many have claimed it is one of the best despite it being one of the most graphically inferior games to share the name. That being said, it's been several years with tons of improvements and mechanics added to the games that have come after such as naval combat and hauntingly realistic character models and animations.

Some would say that the greatest improvements made over the years have been cosmetic. The artificial intelligence and gameplay suffer at times in certain areas such as battles and game complexity. Occasionally, stories like the American Revolution were used to try and garner more players, but those tactics fell somewhat flat as die-hard fans of the series didn't seem to care for the olive branch extended toward newer players.

Certain titles that were expansions or even sequels to some of the other titles were also less than impressive to gamers. "Assassin's Creed: Revelations" and "Brotherhood" are to "Assassin's Creed" as "Napoleon: Total War" is to "Empire: Total War." These titles were good, but were not the most impressive and certainly not the most loved due to their lack of innovation and being widely perceived as mere filler.

"Rome 2: Total War" inspires high hopes as both "Medieval 2: Total War" and "Shogun 2: Total War" were both highly acclaimed and received better than their predecessors. One would hope so after giving the teams several years to improve on the graphics and gameplay.

This is either a scene from the film Troy or a really good screenshot...

While no one has actually seen any gameplay at all from the announced title, that hasn't stopped the team from speaking on it. The most noticeable difference that fans can see from the screenshots is the graphical quality. Compared to "Shogun 2," which was called stunning and beautiful, "Rome 2" seems to put them to shame. Lead designer James Russell told IGN that the budget for the game is markedly larger than that of "Shogun 2" and that they're going to try and push even the most advanced PC rigs to the limit.

Of course, the biggest fear players have now is slowing their real-time battles filled with literally hundreds to thousands of soldiers to a crawl with the new facial animations and detail that are supposed to be in the game. Not to mention the staggering amount of detail in the world itself.

Map design from "Rome: Total War," the previous game in this line of the "Total War" series.

That's only half of the game as the majority of it is played on a sprawling digital map of the Mediterranean. In the past, each country or region had a singular stronghold that needed to be taken by a faction for them to control it. Russell said that there will be multiple areas within a region that can be controlled by a number of factions to ensure that no one can headshot and take the whole area in one fell swoop.

While this may be much more realistic than the simulations in the past, it greatly increases the difficulty of the game itself and makes the map that much larger if there are multiple strategic points per region. All in all, a full etenxion of gameplay and a more life-like twist.

But of course, there's the buzz about the live-action trailer that surfaced some weeks ago. Since these have become somewhat of a trend in the last couple of months - maybe the whole year, in fact - it's surprising to see an RTS franchise using real actors to promote their game that isn't exactly action packed or filled with stunning stories.

Adding a story to the franchise now seems like an odd move, but there's no harm in trying the game to see if it plays out well. For all anyone knows, Creative Assembly could be a powerhouse in the literary field and could create one of the best RTS narratives of all time to go with its gargantuan game. Or it could fall flat and no one could care. We'll see when the game comes out.

Roma Invicta

Sean Murray on "Joe Danger 2: The Movie"

Our final interview from E3 2012 with Sean Murray from Hello Games. Never played "Joe Danger?" For shame! It's a wonderfully fun and campy game that you should all check out. If you listen closely, Sean talks about his four-man team's efforts to make "Joe Danger" and the new features in "Joe Danger 2: The Movie." Learn well, Vault fans!

Industry Interview: Cory Butler of Bioware Austin

"Star Wars: The Old Republic" has been getting a lot of traffic over the past months since its release. Three major content updates, a fully voiced-over script as well as an immersive Star Wars experience has really sent the gaming world buzzing. At San Diego Comic Con, the Vault was able to chat with Cory Butler, a Senior Producer at the game's developer, Bioware Austin, and ask some questions concerning the new contender in the massively-multiplayer-online gaming ring.

After one of the most successful MMO launches in recent history, "SW:TOR" has announced that it will be free to play up to level 15 for those who aren't already subscribed to the vast, interactive space-opera.

Bioware isn't the first company to tackle the free-to-play market, with Blizzard doing so with "World of Warcraft's" beginning levels as well as dark horse Paragon Studios with their almost decade-old title "City of Heroes." Even "DC Universe Online" went free to play in almost record time - nearly half a year after launch.

Anyone can be a scruffy-looking nerf herder in "Star Wars: The Old Republic."

Butler explained that for their part, Bioware wanted to give a longer free trial to people who may not have wanted to make the commitment right away. It is a common fear of many gamers when looking at an MMO that they won't be able to support that game for very long and won't get their money's worth. The first 15 levels of the game (having played all the classes at this point personally) takes the player through a good portion of the beginning of each character's story and introduces a variety of different non-player characters integral to the overall story.

"Our philosophy is, 'Come test drive the game. We feel that you're going to like it enough that you're going to invest time in it,'" Butler said.

While the game's introduction levels are going free to play, this doesn't mean that Bioware hasn't been working tirelessly to provide content since launch for players. Rise of the Rakghouls came out as well as the Legacy Expansion, which both added some technical patches, content and flashpoint missions. The Allies patch added a more streamlined group finder and adaptive gear for players.

Many players have expressed the feeling that the game itself is made to be played socially. While it is entirely possible to completely level a character through solo work, it is often encouraged to join with others and play through the stories together.

"SW:TOR" has a unique system in this regard as player choices during conversations change the outcome of certain missions, which could potentially change the Light and Dark Side ramifications for those involved. It makes the teaming experience unique each time, and often more fun if you work with a dedicated team.

"It's one of the reasons we wanted to get the Group Finder in as soon as we could. That's why with [update] 1.3 we didn't focus on the content because that was the main feature we wanted to get out their to allow people to get in those groups," said Butler.

For those interested in dipping their toes in "SW:TOR" and trying out all of these features and stories, go to their site and sign up for the 15 level free trial.

Eyes on Assassin's Creed 3

It is nearly impossible to describe how utterly excited I am for this game to be released. Of course, I wouldn't be doing my job if I didn't analyze the game thoroughly from what has been released to the public through demos, trailers, videos and interviews instead of succumbing to rabid fanboyism.  
 
"Assassin's Creed" has been a pivotal game series in the last decade due to its innovative gameplay, stunning graphics, unique storyline and constant evolution. "Assassin's Creed 3" takes place during the American Revolution as Desmond takes what Ubisoft has stated is probably his final look into his past and become the British/Native American Assassin Connor. Wielding a tomahawk, pistols, saber, knives and a hunting bow makes Connor look like the deadliest and most versatile Assassin we have seen to date in the series.   

Of course, what "AC" game would be complete without historical figures for the player to interact with? None other than George Washington and Benjamin Franklin have been confirmed to appear in the game. This fits the trend of major historical figures such as Richard the Lionheart and Leonardo da Vinci appearing in past games.  

While a pre-rendered, CGI trailer from Blur Studios is nice, and quite frequently better than a major film trailer, they don't quite do games justice when it comes to the actual gameplay. Thankfully, attendees of E3 and San Diego Comic Con were treated to live demos to sate their curiosity. Haven't seen them? Don't fret:  
 

Fans of "Assassin's Creed" will note subtle differences to the gameplay this time around just from this snippet of gameplay. Obviously there was much focus on the tomahawk and bow and arrow usage. Likely because they're new and Ubisoft wanted to show off. That's just what you do when you've got a new game. Oddly enough, the tomahawk is so visceral and violent it seems to work with the somewhat cold and dirty look of the game. 

Connor's guerrilla tactics allow him to take no prisoners and show no mercy in his drive to get to his target. Plus, hanging that guy from the tree was pretty awesome. The bow and arrow replaces the crossbow from previous installments in the franchise, or at least it appears to do so, and really that doesn't seem to be that big of a deal. The crossbow was an excellent long distance stealth weapon for the player to utilize, and if your main character doesn't have access to that type of technology, then the next logical thing would be a basic bow. Although he does have pistols, but let's not split hairs when the entire basis of the game is science fiction anyway.   

Something else to take note of in the very beginning of the demo was the cover system in the tall grass. This mechanic is clever since there might be a shortage of hay bales in the deep woods and in fields. If Connor is supposed to be a hunter and tracker, then he would use such tactics to stalk his prey and pounce without warning. Speaking of prey, PETA might be a little upset at the large amount of animal killing. *audience laugh*  

The character animations and details are of a level we have come to expect from this franchise, having evolved from "AC: Revelations" accordingly and looking beautiful. From the way the deer limped and staggered after being shot, to the conversation Connor has and the way he fights, everything looks superb and seems to flow effortlessly.  
  

Free-flow combat returns in "Assassin's Creed 3."

Now that combat's been mentioned there's the little matter of multiple takedown moves and grabbing weapons on the run. "AC" is known for it's innovative free-flow combat and was one of the first games to perfect it from the style that was "Dynasty Warriors" and "God of War." Few games successfully emulate it now. To see it now you'd not blink twice, but it's good to see the company still providing something that works. 

The crowd at E3 cheered pretty loud when Connor snagged that rifle at the end and jumped to kill his target with it.  Free-running and climbing seems to be the same as in past games, but adding trees into the mix is a sigh of relief after fans constantly complained about not being able to climb trees with past heroes Ezio and Altair when they were easily able to scale the Vatican and other huge buildings.

What you don't see in this demo is the naval combat that was displayed on the show floor of E3. Looking vaguely like the system in "Empire: Total War" and "Napoleon: Total War", the player is able to steer the ship, target the enemy vessel and command the crew to fire at their pleasure. Unfortunately, the demo faded to white when the boarding of the enemy ship began, but hopefully there will be ship to ship combat to go with the cannon fire.
 

Assassins at sea.

Also on the show floor of E3 was a live demo of an in-game Boston, Mass. in which the development team took attendees on a tour through the streets of the city to show what urban gameplay would be like. It didn't seem much different from past games - sneaking through crowds, running on rooftops and assassinating soldiers in alleyways. What was impressive and fun to see was the ability to run through certain windows and come out the other side of buildings to evade capture. This was a little funny and I'm pretty sure I heard a woman scream in surprise as Connor trampled through her bedroom.

There are a few issues that should be addressed from previous games in the series that I hope the developers of "AC3" address. Enemy AI needs tweaking. Always always always. Sometimes it's downright stupid, only one man attacking at a time in a group of soldiers ten strong. Other times it's almost as if the guards are clairvoyant and can sense trouble from three blocks away, making things far more difficult than one would think they'd be. There never seems to be a happy medium. Perhaps this is Ubisoft's way at telling the player he needs to try a different approach, or maybe it's just one of those things that slips through the cracks. Who knows?  
 

Connor must have inherited his fashion sense from Ezio.

Also, for the love of all that is holy, can someone please fix the jelly-body bug? Yes, everyone loves ragdoll physics. They're creative and very life like. But after four games, you're still able to walk over a corpse and watch the body roll across the ground as if it's made of helium or watch it bounce as it falls from a death blow in a horrifically unrealistic fashion. Either the bodies aren't weighted correctly or there's just something wrong with the coding, I'm not sure. I'm not a programmer. But you'd think that after this many years someone could figure that out and fix it.  

 The repetitive nature of "AC" has been addressed in the past, and often times in games it seems fixed, while at other times it's just plain annoying to fetch this, look at that, deliver this and kill four of these guards.  Will there be more command of the Assassin's Order in this game? If not, that's a whole game mechanic removed that took a lot of time up for players and there should be something to replace it, or at least use players' time more effectively to ensure they don't miss leveling up their students.

Bugs, glitches, annoying pedestrian AI that blocks your path when you're trying to move stealthily through a crowd - there are numerous things that have popped up in their last four games that should hopefully be addressed and dealt with. "AC3" might be a perfect game if the rest of it is as good as it looks. If not, well, it will be enjoyable, but it might be a little disappointing compared to the other fan favorites in the franchise.
 

Beenox talks Amazing Spider-Man

"The Amazing Spider-Man" game has been released, the team at developer Beenox has some time to kill between projects, so I got the opportunity to talk with producer David Boudreault about the most recent installment in the Spidey franchise. 

[Ed. Note] This article will be presented in a question-then-answer style, with our question to Boudreault in bold text followed by his answer in normal text.

Spider-Man movie games have been coming out for as long as the movies have been, most of them not so good, but it seems that "The Amazing Spider-Man" is trying its hardest to break that stereotype, what drove you to make an (forgive the pun) amazing game?

At Beenox, everyone is a huge fan of Spider-Man so we dedicated all our passion and energy on making this a great game. The core team of "The Amazing Spider-Man" already delivered the awesome "Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions" two years ago, therefore we had strong and experimented resources working on this title.

 Because it is a movie tie-in game, were there any limitations that you had when creating the game?

Our main limitation was self-imposed . We wanted a great Spider-Man game, respectful of the source material and respectful of the movie universe created by Marc Webb.

With the game coming out a full week before the release date of the movie , should players be worried about any big spoilers in the game?

The game is heavily linked to the movie on some ways, but we made sure that we would not spoil anything too major.

Spider-Man is a little sneakier this time around.

On that note, did the team over at Beenox get a chance to see the film or at the very least read the script to help with the game?

Sony was really cooperative and they helped us tremendously in making sure the game would rock. We had the chance to read the script at the beginning of the project, and we were in constant communication throughout the course of the project. We received movies and images as references in order to make sure we were staying as close as possible to the movie universe.

You mentioned to me at E3 that the actor for "The Amazing Spider-Man," Andrew Garfield was too busy with the films shooting schedule to do the voice over for the game. Who did you get to replace him in the game, and do you think players are going to have a hard time reconciling the different voice actors?

Even though the game is an epilogue to the movie, we also made sure it was standing out on itself. Having a different actor won’t be such a big deal, especially since Sam Riegl did an awesome job in voicing Spidey/Peter.

The camera in this game has been brought to an over the shoulder position, which differs from many of the past Spider-Man games. What prompted this decision?

Spidey takes on Rhino.

We wanted to offer the most immersive experience yet for a Spider-Man game. To achieve this, the most clever solution, in our minds, was to bring the camera as close as possible to the character. That way, the player is able to experience the world as Spidey experiences it - from the sense of vertigo felt while web swinging to the pleasure of getting rid of opponents in close combat.

I recently just downloaded the "Amazing Spider-Man" demo for my 3DS and the villain of choice in the demo was Felicia Hardy, also known as the Black Cat. In the comics, she and Spider-Man have a little romance, so are we going to see that interaction as the story progresses?

You don't want me to spoil the story, do you?

The combat system has reportedly been built from the ground up replacing the old X, X, X, B combo style for a more free-flowing combat mechanic. What inspired this transition?

Spidey is a strong character, but we wanted to showcase his spectacular agility. We wanted the combat to be as acrobatic as possible. We feel our new, unique combat system will allow the player to experience that agility since you’ll see him execute moves never before seen in a Spidey game.

Beenox has become relatively well known for creating good Spider-Man games. Does the team still want to continue working on the franchise, or are they just fed up with the web slinger and want to move on?

Beenox thrives on challenges, be it with a character like Spidey or other characters. If fans like the game, we definitely would want the chance to give this game a great sequel. That being said, we might also have a surprise or two in our future.