Overlord starts out with Shepard being contacted by the Illusive man to investigate a cell that went off the grid.  After arriving on Planet Aite you’re met with the grim sight of numerous dead bodies of the personnel working on the base.  You then get a video message from Dr. Archer who explains his position and the events that took place on the base before your arrival.  A Virtual Intelligence has seized control of the Geth as well as all the bases and is attempting to spread its influence off planet.  From there you are instructed to retract the transmission dish before that happens.

The Environments

The environments from Overlord are definitely a few notches above the standard environments found in ME2′s assignments and sub-missions.  You can tell that each level was carefully laid out and given its own mood and color pallet and sound.  The sound was exceptionally effective in certain areas one sound sound effect in particular which is an inaudible VI scream still gives me the creeps which is one effect that this mission does well.  In many of the bases there is a general uneasiness that will send a cold chill down your spine.  One base is a downed Geth ship and as you walk through it you really get the sense that something  is watching you and that is ready to attack you at any time.  Its moments like this that make this DLC really shine.

The Gameplay

In terms of gameplay, Overlord plays like a hybrid of Mass Effect aand Mass Effect 2.  In stead of being dropped at each base as you’ve been accustomed to in Mass Effect 2, you have to travel to each base in the M-44 Hammerhead, ME2′s answer to the Mako from the first game.  Before everyone gets flashbacks to the awful controls of the Mako in ME1 rest assured that the Hammerhead controls are greatly improved and handles just as a hovercraft should.  The controls are just loose enough to feel like a hovercraft but tight enough to do any task without frustration.  During these segments you are tasked with getting from base to base avoiding environmental obstacles such as mountains, caves, and molten lava, as well ass facing off against rogue turret and some Geth weaponry.  The on foot sections are standard fanfare.  Enter base, exterminate enemy, flip a switch or activate a computer, and get a tidbit of information on the story.  While that sounds awfully boring, Overlord’s saving grace is the great environmental effects and excellent pacing make it incredibly fun to play as you feel there is a sense of urgency but you also want to know how deep the rabbit hole goes and what really went on with the experiments.

The Verdict

Once all the pieces come together at the end, Overlord delivers a truly compelling experience even though its a self contained story with no bearing on the overall narrative of Mass Effect 2.  The pacing was great, the mood was down right creepy and the gameplay was pretty fun.  It was a great experience i won’t mind repeating on my next playthrough.  9/ FULL PRICE

The presentation of Limbo is very basic yet very stylized and beautiful.  The art design borrows heavily from 1950′s noir style filming.  This is evident in the menu design which incorporates Futura Bold as its type face as well as a foggy black and white color pallet reminiscent of watching an old black and white television.  This beautiful and consistent color palette and art style is what gives Limbo much of its style and distinctive look.

That doesn't look dangerous

Story:

Well in terms of story all the information is provided for you in the description of the game.  You play a boy who wakes up in a mysterious place and is in search of his sister who he lost.  Thats it.  No fancy cutscenes.   No dialogue.  No character development.  Now you might be thinking why should I play this game or care about the character.  Well quite simply put its the gameplay that draws you in.  Much like how many people grew attached to characters such as Wander and Agro from Shadow of Colossus and the classic characters of the past your attachment is developed through gameplay.  After watching the character get enveloped in several gruesome traps I found myself really wanting him to survive this place and find his sister.

Oh hey sis!

Graphics and Sound:

In terms of graphics this game is beautiful.  While one might consider black and white a limited color palette, Playdead achieved a lot of depth and variety with the shades of gray.  Top that off with amazing atmospheric effects and you have a 2d game that achieves alot in terms of visual quality.  The character animation in this game is also very well done.  All the characters seem alive and all the death animations are especially gruesome and will send a chill down your spine as you watch what appear to be children get killed in the most horrible ways imaginable ways possible.  In the sound department Limbo is eerily devoid of music.  In its place are ambient noise and riffs which adds the the borederline uncomfortable mood of the game.  The sound effects are all well done and appropriately fit into the game’s theme.

Uh... Maybe I should walk in the opposite direction

Gameplay:

What would a game be without gameplay?  Limbo delivers a well crafted platforming and puzzle solving experience.  While it always manages to teeter on the edge of frustration it never crosses that line.  This is due in large part to infinite lives and frequent checkpoints which encourages the player to experiment and find their own way to solve the puzzles.  My only complaint in this area is that there is no autosave or checkpoint marker so sometimes its never racking when you don’t know how far back the last checkpoint is or when is it safe to turn it off.  Beyond that everything else is just about perfect and refined.  The controls are responsive and intuitive giving it a very pick up and play feel.  Combine that with the fact that the game is very short makes this a great XBL Arcade game that you can pick up and play whenever you are short on time or just want a smaller experience out of your game.

Oh yeah! Good ol' platforming

Final Thoughts:

All in all Limbo a tight and engaging experience for those who are looking for a little more strategy out of their platformer and something that won’t take a thousand hours to beat.  The gameplay is a perfect balance of platform and puzzle game that has a simple and easy control scheme that alows anyone to enjoy it.  While some my be off put by its someone gruesome child violence others will be in awe of its great artstyle and beautiful graphics.  I give Limbo a 9.5 / FULL PRICE.

Presentation:

In terms of presentation FFXIII has all the bells and whistles you expect from a Final Fantasy game. Sleek menu design and amazing cutscenes. However the problem in the presentation department is the story. This is odd seeing as the game goes to great lengths to showcase it. You take a few steps and then a cutscene. You run down a long corridor, fight a few enemies, fight a boss, and then cutscene. Then you rinse and repeat. I generally wouldn’t have an issue with this being a veteran of the Xenosaga series but the problem is the story isn’t that interesting. If you’ve seen it once you’ve seen it a thousand times.

The story follows the exploits of Lightning and the gang and their struggle against the government of Cocoon in order to save the world. Sound familiar? Replace Lightning with Cloud or Squall and replace Cocoon with Shinra or Galbadia and you’ll get the picture. However those game succeeded through deep character development and a consistent world. You travel the world and get a sense of the different cultures and the people that populate it, and along the way you get into adventures in which the character’s grow as people and you get deep insight into what makes them tick. Not only that but these strong characters are pit against strong antagonists. Villains you love to hate but at the same time understand their motives and give you something to fight against that drives the story forward. These things don’t exist in Final Fantasy XIII.

I’m 75% of the way through this game and I have no clue who the bad guy is and what they look to accomplish. I also haven’t gotten a sense of what Cocoon or Pulse is like. This is due to the extreme linearity of this game. Final Fantasy XIII is essentially one long passageway. There are no towns and no over-world map. The narrative determines the setting so you’re bounce around depending on what set of characters you’re using at a particular point in the narrative. This kills the sense of a “world”. While in a couple places you are in populated areas there is very limited with the townsfolk.

In terms of character development there really isn’t any. Square Enix’s reliance on old archetypes is incredibly atrocious in this title. Whether it be Lightning’s spot on impersonation of Cloud Strife or Snow’s impersonation of Zell. You’ve seen them all before. Stoic leader? Check! Whiny adolescent boy? Check! Peppy adolescent girl? Check! Borderline offensive depiction of an African-American? Check! The list goes on and on. And while in previous incarnations most if not all of them had sufficient back-story to back them up, this isn’t the case in FFXIII. The pacing is too quick and there just isn’t too much going on to make this happen. All in all Square is going to have to go back to the drawing board if they hope to keep up with current RPG’s like Mass Effect 2.

Graphics:

The graphics in this game are amazing. The goal square has been trying to reach to get the in game visuals on par with cutscenes has been achieved. With the exception of really amazing lighting the in game models are nearly identical to those found in the non in-game cutscenes. The environments are all breathtaking and beautiful to look at. All the animations are smooth and do a great job of recreating the look and feel of Advent Children. The only drawback is due to its linearity you never get any of those beautiful city shots that you would fine in early titles.

Sound:

The music in this game is top notch. While long time Final Fantasy composer Nobuo Uematsu was not involved in this project Masashi Hamauzu does a good job filling in his shoes. The different battle songs are the best I have heard in a few years more often than not getting stuck in my head even when I’m not playing the game. However what the soundtrack lacks are those powerful tracks that really move you in the way that Aerith’s Theme or Man with a Machine Gun did. Also often during cutscenes Hamauzu lays on the music too thick often bringing up the strings in an attempt to add emotion to scenes but this more often than not backfires making the emotion in the scene come off as being manufactured.

The voice acting in this game is very good compared to many other games in the genre. All the main characters have strong voice actors who define the characters. They do a good job of covering up the fact that most if not all of the characters have no depth to them.

Gameplay:

The gameplay is where Final Fantasy XIII truly shines. The new battle system is fun and interactive. Its as if they took all the negative feedback from Final Fantasy XII and aimed to create a total opposite experience. Where XII put an emphasis on setting up gambits ahead of time so that when entering battle character didn’t have to lift a finger during battles other than healing or spaming Quickenings, XIII creates a vary dynamic battle system through the use of the Paradigm System. In this system players are forced to switch Paradigms on the fly in order to survive battles. Paradigms determine the specific configuration of characters’ abilities much like the job system in previous incarnations. The closest comparison that could be made would be to Final Fantasy X-2′s garment grid system minus all the fan service. This battle system adds a lot of strategy to battles and forces players to be engaged in the battle.

The Crystarium system governs the characters ability growth much in the same way the sphere grid did in Final Fantasy X. After every battle characters collect Crystarium points which they use to upgrade each of their characters’ specific jobs. The great thing about this system is that regardless of your party’s configuration every character on your roster collects the same amount of points whether they are used in battle or not. This helps to keep all your characters on roughly the same level and removes the need to grind with every character to keep things even.

Final Thoughts:

All in all Final Fantasy is a flawed but fun experience. The battle system keeps things fresh throughout but it isn’t enough to cover up the weak story and characters and extreme linearity. In terms of gameplay it elevates the J-RPG genre to new heights but derivative character and plot techniques keep this game from being a FULL PRICE game. With that said buy this game USED or wait for the price to go down to $40 or $50. At $60+ dollars its just not worth your money.

Well Kojima shocked me and the world by announcing Metal Gear Solid: Rising for the Xbox 360. Seeing as I have a 360 I’m not too concerned but there’s probably a lot of pissed off PS3 owners who are crossing there fingers that its not 360 exclusive. I’m gonna keep my fingers crossed too.

So I’ve gotten to the second save point in Ico. So far its nothing like anything I’ve played before. There’s no HUD and no life bar. It sort of plays like Prince of Persia stripped down to its bare bones. The mission I’m assuming is getting out of the castle. Which seems like its going to be a lot of fun/hassle. Yorda isn’t as irritating as you would think. The only time shes really in the way is when the shadows try to take her away other than that she really and extension of Ico. Press R1 and you’ll hold hands with her and she’ll follow you where ever you go. While not as epic as Shadow of Colossus I’m thoroughly enjoying this game.