Review: PixelJunk Eden

When it comes to downloadable games the PixelJunk series is comprised of arguably the most unique and captivating titles on the market. The striking but cordial visuals are unassuming enough to entice the casual player into picking up the controller and the simple but addictive gameplay has the depth to keep both the casual and the hardcore gamer hooked.

Eden is the third game in the PixelJunk series and serves as the first foray in to platform games; however, this isn’t the run-of-the-mill platforming experience we’ve all become begrudgingly accustomed to. For better or for worse the classic genre has been injected with the unmistakable PixelJunk style along with a number of gameplay twists and what results is both a euphoric and frustrating gaming experience.

The game is comprised of 10 gardens that are accessed from within Eden which serves as the hub world. Players are given control of a creature called ‘Grimp’, a name attributed to it because of its ability to grip and jump. Grimp is also able to shoot out a line of silk which it can then use to swing from one part of the garden to another as well as to collect pollen.

Armed with these functions the player is tasked with transforming the serene but barren gardens into gardens thriving with plant-life. The ultimate goal of the game is to collect each of the 5 Spectra (a large flower like item) within the 10 gardens; these Spectra in turn develop the hub world into an idyllic Eden. In order to collect the Spectra that are hidden deeper within the garden the player must gather pollen from the floating pods which burst upon contact with the Grimp or its silk, once the pollen is gathered up using the silk it is drawn into nearby seeds which are fertilised and grow upon contact with the Grimp, the player must then traverse the newly developed terrain to access previously unreachable areas and collect the Spectra.

It is at this point when the first hurdle must be overcome – the controls. In order to jump the analogue stick is used to define a trajectory and then a double tap of the ‘X’ button will launch Grimp into a jump. Pressing ‘X’ once produces a line of silk which is used to swing in a small circle around the original launch point, the distance of the swing can be altered using the trigger buttons which reel Grimp in. While airborne holding the button down will send Grimp into a spin, this allows it to pass through plants the player wishes to bypass, which is useful since Grimp automatically sticks to surfaces it comes into contact with.

While the controls aren’t exactly unwieldy or unusable they do require some getting used to, especially since navigation requires precise and calculated jumps, which can easily go awry if you aren’t comfortable with the controls and are being set upon by one of the patrolling enemies aiming to impede your progression - falling to the bottom of the garden after fifteen minutes of climbing is devastating.

It’s hard to describe the visual style of PixelJunk Eden without resorting to drawing from the lexicon of a stoned frat boy since it is arguably the best fit for the art style – but I’ll refrain.

The appeal of the visual style of Eden lies in the simplicity of the art; the gardens are comprised of psychedelic backgrounds complimented by plants and various pollen pods peppered around each of the gardens, in comparison to the hypnotic backgrounds these are usually simple solid colours but serve as a visually pleasing contrast to the insanity behind it. The delicate use of colour and the subtle changes in lighting make the gardens extremely atmospheric.

Gameplay and the visual style in PixelJunk Eden seem to have a symbiotic relationship, the persistently changing environment and swaying plant-life along with the music perfectly compliment the jumping and swinging mechanic and together manage to create a flow to the gameplay which you can easily lose yourself in, it’s an undeniably stunning game.

The biggest problem in PixelJunk Eden is a problem that stifles the experience to the point that it can become extremely frustrating playing the game; this problem is the time mechanic. While working through the garden there is a timer counting down, once the time runs out you are kicked out of the garden and back to Eden, although the time can be extended through collecting pickups this has a severe impact on the flow of the game since it shifts the focus from exploration and collecting Spectra to a frantic dash to find pickups and prevent expulsion from the garden, and usually ends in a misjudged jump followed by a long and painful fall to the bottom of the garden. The time mechanic breaks the sense of progression and forces the player to abandon any sort of flow or rhythm in order to backtrack.

As well as the time mechanic the progression through the gardens can become increasingly exasperating since the game will only allow the collection of 1 new Spectra at a time, after each new Spectra is collected the game kicks the player out and back to Eden thus forcing the player to constantly replay the same sections numerous times. Coupled with the time mechanic this can become infuriating to the point that some players may feel it just isn’t worth playing through the same areas again.

PixelJunk Eden is delightfully simple in both gameplay and aesthetics but despite the simplicity the visuals are vibrant and engaging and the gameplay is fluid and deep, it’s a unique botanical adventure that needs to be experienced first-hand in order to be appreciated. However it isn’t without flaws, artificially extending the game through forced repetition and time constraints that betray the very nature of the game results in an extremely trying and at times an uneven gameplay experience.

Destructoid Feature

The fine folks at Destructoid.com have deemed my piece on E3 2008 worthy enough to be featured on their website...click here to take a look.

E3 - What has changed?

For those attending E3 today marks the end of a week filled with announcements, press conferences and for many ambitious journalists - frantic live blogging. Those watching at home facilitated via the numerous live streams and gaming websites enjoy a luxury not available to journalists caught up in the weeklong news-storm and media-blitz; the time to absorb all the information, formulate their own opinions and then take to the internet and troll forums pledging their allegiance to a single company whilst attempting to quantify how much ‘win’ each press conference contained.

It’s been an interesting week despite the fact that E3 was largely uneventful with the exception of one bombshell dropped by Microsoft courtesy of Square-Enix president Yoichi Wada, like many UK based video game enthusiasts I’ve never had the pleasure of attending E3, neither as a fat guy collecting free schwag and adding to line congestion in the ‘glory days’ of E3 or as a journalist covering the E3 that some are now describing as a ‘shadow of its former self’, but I’ve always watched from the comfort of my home, so in my own way I’ve been there for all the important bits.

For someone watching a live stream of the event it’s near impossible to gauge excitement or to experience the general atmosphere around the convention hall but in the E3’s of yesteryear you could always rely on the Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft conferences to get the average gamers excited and work the fanboys up into a frenzy, but this year the big three conferences were a tamed affair, despite numerous high profile announcement and a number of great game demonstrations in comparison to the previous years they were pretty boring, but why?

It’s no secret that the video game industry is adversarial, whether the console manufacturers want it or not the fans will inevitably compare each console and claim their console of choice as the superior one. During the year the majority of these pissing contests we’ve lovingly coming to call ‘the console wars’ are confined to internet message boards but once a year it spills over into E3, whether people admit or not for some E3 serves as an opportunity to stock up on ammo as well as an opportunity for the big three to give the world a glimpse into the future of their console. This got me thinking, could the absence of the insanely dedicated fanboys and people using E3 as their own real life loot collecting playground be the reason that this E3 seemed lackluster?

We’ve come know E3 as the place where the proverbial ‘gaming bombshells’ are dropped and in past years E3 has lived up to its name, but since the exodus of the average Joe gamer its gone from the gaming event of the year to just another in a long line of gaming events, and it could be the loss of once reviled fanboys and loot gatherers that has caused this, in my opinion their presence served as a rationale for the big three to engage in their own little pissing contest by trying to one up each other through making the biggest announcements of the show which in turn generated buzz around the convention as well on the message boards, the winning company becomes the talk of the industry and the fanboys get their ammo – it was a win win situation.

Without them the big three have adapted their approach to aid the aims of the journalists who are being given more time with games and are therefore able to provide in-depth previews and impressions. While this is ultimately a huge benefit for consumers it shifts the approach away from attempting to surpass the competition in terms of announcements and moves it to announcements and further information being given on existing games and other services that are already in the general gaming consciousness, and we all know which one was more fun.

Even though many people are arguing the view that E3 is no longer necessary because the various gamers days and other events such as TGS and Comic-con have basically taken over the duties of E3 I still think the convention serves a purpose, but recently I’ve felt that there has been something missing – think of this as my attempt at figuring out what.

Review: Metal Gear Solid 4

Metal Gear Solid 4 is the long awaited final instalment in Hideo Kojima’s seminal stealth action game and serves as the concluding chapter in the story of Solid Snake. MGS4 attempts to make sense of the complex and convoluted story by answering the numerous questions and providing a definitive conclusion to many issues that have until now been the subject of conjecture and speculation by series fans. Anyone familiar with the series can appreciate how lofty an ambition this is but by drawing on nearly every game in the series Kojima has managed to craft a story that provides closure and a satisfying conclusion to one of the greatest video game characters of all time, it may even bring tears to your eyes.
The story begins some years after the events of Metal Gear Solid 2, no longer the young and healthy soldier he once was Solid Snake is once again called into action and returns to the battlefield to finish the long running feud with his brother Liquid Snake and put a stop to his imminent insurrection, however along with the numerous enhanced soldiers, various disturbed bosses and the technologically hostile battle conditions Snake must also fight against his old age and deteriorating health in order to get the job done.
The most striking aspect of this game is the presentation, it’s evident that every facet of the game has had the utmost care and attention given to it, the visuals are a technical marvel with detailed and lush textures used to recreate environments such as the middle-east with astounding accuracy as well as producing highly detailed character and weapon models. The series is known for its high quality audio and MGS4 carries on the tradition with the return of long time score composer Harry Gregson-Williams and Metal Gear Acid composer Nobuko Toda. Another series staple is the top notch voice acting and for the most part the voice acting is superb, David Hayter once again provides the iconic voice for Old Snake and a number of other series favorites return to reprise their roles, while the majority of characters manage to pull of flawless performances there are some characters who sound a little awkward and forced, but this drop in quality is more than offset by the overall high quality in the voice acting. Working in unison these aspects combine to provide an authentic cinematic experience delivered through both the gameplay and the lengthy but awe-inspiring cut-scenes, since the cut-scenes are rendered using the in game engine Metal Gear Solid is the first example of a truly seamless transition between cut-scene and gameplay, it’ll take your breath away. The presentation also extends to storytelling and what results is the most sophisticated method of storytelling gaming has ever seen, it is something that just has to be experienced, there is no doubt that Metal Gear Solid 4 has fantastic visuals and great gameplay but what it will be remembered for is the storytelling.

The cut-scenes have long been the object of criticism in the Metal Gear Solid series with particular attention being given to their length, MGS4 doesn’t do anything to address these criticisms, while the inclusion of a pause function softens the blow somewhat it doesn’t mask the fact that the cut-scenes are just as long if not longer, the lengthy codec sequences have been removed but the cut-scenes have been extended to compensate for this, for some this will be a point of criticisms but for those looking for closure these cut-scenes provide answers to many of the series’ long standing questions, for those not looking for answers the high production values are likely to be engaging enough to keep you from hammering on the skip button. One of the most satisfying aspects of the cut-scenes is the small amount of interactivity within them, at various points during the cut-scenes players may be prompted to press L1 to look through Snake’s eyes or to press X to view flashbacks, while these sound insignificant they are integral to the story-telling and also contribute to the nostalgic theme of the game.

The gameplay in Metal Gear Solid 4 will feel familiar to anyone that has played the previous games, each iteration in the series has refined the gameplay (with the exception of the CQC controls in Snake Eater) and MGS4 has refined the gameplay to near perfection, the once cumbersome controls have been given an overhaul and now feel natural to the point that even the most complex maneuvers can be easily performed in the heat of battle. Taking a cue from the western approach to shooting controls the game features the Resident Evil 4/Gears of War over-the-shoulder view for aiming, along with the first-person viewpoint this provides a more satisfying and precise way to dispatch with enemies and is flexible enough to let you shoot yourself out of any situation, those choosing to run and gun their way through Metal Gear Solid 4 will find the controls to be more than accommodating. The sneaking has also been streamlined, actions such as pressing up against walls are now contextual button presses which means that the players fingers are free to do other tasks such as peeking out of corners and shooting, there has also been the addition of a stage of movement between standing and crawling, whereas in previous games pressing ‘X’ from a standing position would effectively take Snake into a crawl now Snake transitions into a crouched sneaking mode, this allows players to Sneak silently without enduring the mind numbingly slow pace of crawling. Snake is also equipped with a suite known as OctoCamo, this suite takes on the texture of any surface Snake presses up against, as well as being visually pleasing it eliminates the menu dependent camouflage system used in Snake Eater, by automatically changing camouflage and dispatching with the menu the player remains immersed in the game and sneaking is far more satisfying. In addition to the traditional sneaking and shooting gameplay there are also a number of unfamiliar gameplay types, while it is tempting to talk about them they may be considered a spoiler to many people, it’s safe to say that MGS4 doesn’t just stick to what it knows, it varies the gameplay and adds some new elements, the only problems is that they’re quite brief and since they occur just before the game goes into full on narrative mode you probably won’t get to spend as much time as you’d like with them.
Unlike the previous games where Snake was thrown head-first into the battlefield as a lone agent in a remote island, floating plant or military base, a large portion of this game is spent in expansive open environments in scenarios where rebels are engaging Private Military Corporations, this means that Snake can choose to befriend rebels and work alongside them, the interesting aspect of this is that as you assist the rebels your notoriety amongst them grows and you will become somewhat of a hero to them, this means that Snake can use the cover provided by the rebels to facilitate his sneaking. These large scale firefights are uncommon territory for the series but are done exceptionally well, the rebels exhibit comradery amongst each other and with you, PMC’s are constantly adapting their tactics to your movements and the firefights have an epic feel to them; bullets are whizzing around, vehicles are exploding and buildings in the distance are being toppled, it creates a very tense atmosphere.

Although the progression in the game boils down to ‘get from point A to point B’ and is ultimately linear there are a number of alternate routes and approaches that can be taken to reach the designated goal and the environments are open enough to facilitate exploration, the routes are suited to different playing styles, players can opt to blast their way through the middle, sneak their way through the battlefield by sticking to the outskirts, or get to higher ground for a mixed approach, exploration is rewarded through weapon and ammo pickups as well as the occasional special item such as costumes.

The Metal Gear Solid series has had some of the most creative boss battles in video game history and while the bosses in MGS4 aren’t on the same level as Psycho Mantis or The End they are still a cut above most boss battles. While some battles can boil down to finding the boss and then shooting it others require far more finesse with factors such as wind direction and footprints in play, other battles may require the player to utilize various items in order to figure out the trick behind beating a boss. The boss fights while enjoyable (and in some cases quite memorable) are a bit unnecessary; the bosses are all given different personalities and a tragic back story, these feel like an afterthought and ultimately take a backseat to the overarching Metal Gear storyline.
Another major addition to the game is the shop system, in the game the world has become one where weapons are ID-locked, anyone who isn’t registered to that weapon is unable to use it, after meeting a weapons launderer you are given the ability to utilize his services and have him unlock weapons for usage, in return any weapons already acquired by you that are collected on the battlefield are traded to him in exchange for points, these points can be used to buy additional weapons, ammo or used for unlocking. The shop is available to Snake at all points in the game via the start menu, this means that as long as you have points you can keep buying ammo and guns, while this seems to encourage people to blast their way through the game there are other factors at play. The war economy runs on a war price, prices of weapons and ammo change according to the prevalence of fighting and war at the time and the need for weaponry, this means that If you kill everyone and regularly create situations of conflict the war price will increase and as a result the prices of guns and ammo will increase.

Metal Gear Solid 4’s biggest achievement is in storytelling, Kojima has created an incredible story that manages to tie up all the loose ends and address all the unanswered questions (yes, even the arm) but it also serves as Kojima’s mouthpiece and this is the game only real flaw. It successfully provides closure on the series but does so at a cost, the balance of gameplay and storytelling takes a serious hit towards the second half of the game, in order to provide said closure Kojima uses the majority of the second-half of the game to tie up the loose ends; so players will find themselves mostly watching cut-scenes, and while there is a reasonable amount of gameplay it isn’t the type of gameplay that players have become accustomed to up until this point, it is restrictively linear gameplay focused entirely on narrative, to some this will be to the games detriment but to others this will be exactly what they play the Metal Gear Solid games for, these small bits of gameplay are synergy between gaming and storytelling at its best and are compelling and engaging enough to have you jump out of your seat and scream at the TV.Metal Gear Solid 4 is quite simply a masterpiece, both as a technical achievement and in terms of storytelling and narrative. The game continues the tradition of having one of the most intricate and complicated stories but the way it tells the story is truly amazing. Kojima manages to create a connection between the player and Snake in a way that will have you feeling the pain and desperation Snake feels during his journey, a journey that ends with one of the most memorable sequences in video gaming history, Metal Gear Solid 4 is an emotional experience unlike anything the video game world has seen before.