Bob Came in Pieces. Trine. Shatter. Crayon Physics Deluxe.

In any other time, this collection of words would only suggest a lapse into madness by the speaker. Today though, they are recognisable as the titles of four videogames I am squeezing into the sexy corset of the ‘puzzle’ genre. This is where you are given a chance to exercise your cognitive abilities beyond the aiming of a crosshair or the quick reflexes of caffeine-riddled finger muscles. All in all, puzzle games offer a relaxing break from the run-and-gun stresses of my normal gaming life. Now that we understand what we’re dealing with, let’s compare the four titles, shall we?

Aims & Objectives 

First off, let’s take a look at the aim of each game: what are we being asked to do? A good puzzle game should stick to a simple concept, capable of being expanded through the level progression. Unlike many other genres, I don’t believe reasoning is important; for the most part, the puzzles themselves are reason enough to keep playing the game.

Starting with Crayon Physics Deluxe, the game is split into islands, in turn chopped into levels. Your objective is to indirectly manipulate a ball in such a way that it collects all the stars in each level. As well as the stars you collect in the level, you are rewarded a bonus star if you solve the level in three distinct ways; which I will cover later in this article. The distinction between these stars means you can casually burn through the levels or take your time and engross yourself in the game, in order to collect all the stars.

The aim of the second game, Shatter, is simple: destroy all the blocks in a level to proceed to the next one. Collecting the fragments that the blocks leave allows you to power up a special meter and rapidly destroy blocks without a ball. Occasionally there’s a boss, but they’re made of blocks, so its pretty much business as usual. Some blocks do different things when you try to destroy them, so a bit of strategy will pay dividends in the later levels.

With the last two games on the plate, Trine and Bob Came in Pieces, the aim can be summed up in exactly the same manner: reach the exit of the level by avoiding obstacles. I guess they’re both platformers in a broad sense, but rest assured both games are very different, as I shall explain in the rest of the article.

Tools

Once you understand your aim in a puzzle game, the other make or break factor is their tools: by what means are you able to solve the puzzles presented to you?

In our first title, Bob does indeed come in ‘pieces’. To be more specific, its his spacecraft which comes in pieces. It consists of a main cockpit capsule, around the outside of which there are eight connection points for various modules. You can click and drag the modules to specialise the ship for different puzzles: sometimes you might want a pull ray facing down for lifting objects, other times you might want a lot of thrust on the left hand side for avoiding a trap. You have limited numbers and types of each component to use and you pick more up as the game progresses. Finding hidden components, in order to give yourself more options when reorganising the ship, is a the main incentive to explore the levels and complete all the puzzles.

Trine provides you with a three-pronged multi-tool in order to traverse its levels, by solving it’s puzzles. The game’s protagonists are a wizard, a thief and a knight. In single-player, you can switch between the three at any time; but clearly, the game lends itself to three player co-op. The three characters each have their own abilities: the Wizard can manoeuvre physics objects and conjure his own blocks, bridges and floating platforms; the Thief has a grappling hook for swinging around and a bow for some very useful long range combat abilities; and the Knight has a sword and shield combo for general combat and defense, and a hammer for stronger attacks and smashing obstacles. As well as getting to the end of each level, you have a strong incentive to search the level thoroughly in search of experience bottles. This experience will let you level up certain traits of each character over others. For example, the Thief has options to upgrade to frost arrows, or alternatively shoot multiple arrows at once. I personally found in single-player, that I stuck with the Thief because of her mobility in searching for secrets and moving on in the level, not to mention the fact that she can hold her own in most of the combat situations.

Shatter plays a lot like Arkanoid on its side: you shoot a ball at some blocks, which get destroyed and ricochet the ball. You then need to slip into your tennis shoes and reflect the ball back at the blocks until you win. In order to complete your secondary objective, Shatter allows you to both suck and blow out air. This will affect the fragments, remaining blocks and all balls; drawing them towards you or repelling them away. If any blocks hit your paddle, you take damage. You have a shield which will absorb some damage, but this limits your other abilities. One solid strategy is to destroy the majority of blocks, while blowing away and then suck and collect all the fragments before destroying the final few blocks. As well as a linear single and co-op story mode, Shatter comes with quite a fun endless arcade mode.

On to the final game. Your main tool in Crayon Physics Deluxe is being able to draw physics objects. At first you’ll use this to simply make a path to the stars, but as the game rolls on, you’ll need to elevate the ball and create some fairly elaborate mechanisms to do so. The game also offers some extra tools: you can draw ropes and pivot points on objects; and simply push the ball right or left with the mouse. These abilities affect what special solutions you will be awarded. For every level you can get ‘old school’, ‘elegant’ and ‘awesome’ solutions: old school involves only using the drawing objects mechanic (no ropes, pivots or pushing allowed); elegant requires that just one object be drawn (but pivots and ropes are allowed); and awesome is just chosen by the player. A nice self-imposed challenge for me, was to try and get an old school, elegant solution in one go. Easy enough in the early levels, but it soon gets a bit too difficult.

Conclusions

If asked at a casual pub meeting, I would recommend any of these four titles. None of them are in any way stressful. All of them are decent value for money and available on Steam. And most importantly, they’re all very well designed. ‘Nuff said.

Hang on! You want me to buy four games? I thought you were meant to be giving us an idea of which of these games is the best in the puzzle genre.

Alright, alright. When push comes to shove, the game I’ve had most fun with – and the main reason I decided to write this – is Trine. It has some design issues with some boring enemy spawning. but its core, three-player, puzzle solving mechanic is really good fun and thoroughly addictive. It looks absolutely gorgeous, doesn’t overstay its welcome in terms of length and has fair capacity for re-playability. Bottom line: Trine is £6.99 well spent. But if you’re still unsure, then Bob Came in Pieces, Crayon Physics Deluxe and Trine all have free demos on Steam. So there’s no excuses, kids.

Righto, as we all know, Mass Effect 3 is out relatively soon. The final instalment in the trilogy, focusing on the all-out galactic war with the reapers. The demo was released back on February 14th and I’ve finally got around to typing up this review. I decided to give the demo a try, to see if the game had been over-hyped and if Bioware had lived up to my expectations.

Synopsis

The demo can be split up into two parts; the single-player portion and the multiplayer co-op. In the SP you get to customize your Shepard, before playing the game’s opening mission and part of a later level on Sur’kesh, the Salarian home world. The MP contains two maps, Noveria and Slums, along with a ton of unlockable classes, customization and weapons.

Single-player: The Rundown

The Mass Effect games have always been intended to be played by those who appreciate a good story and a good fight. Thanks to whoever’s idea it was to reach out to a greater audience (my money is on EA), there are now three options you are presented with on how to play: Action, Role-Playing, and Story. Action is for GoW and CoD players who can’t spell conversation nevermind partake in one, whilst story is for people who dislike shooting… but bought an third person shooter/RPG hybrid. Right. Anyways, just promise me you’ll play Role-Playing right?

After that fiasco, you get to the revamped character creator. It’s still got all the features from ME2, but some new bells and whistles added on, such as more hairstyles and lipstick and stuff like that, so people who want Shepard to look fabulous in pink armour with eyeshadow, you’re in luck! For the rest of us, the experience is similar to before, so far so good. Then of course you choose your military history (since you can’t import saves into the demo) things like who you virmired (Space Elvis in my case) and all that Jazz. Why anyone would choose “various” squad deaths doesn’t have enough brain cells to be playing this game. Seriously, in a galactic war you need as many allies as possible, don’t kill them off!

Now finally we get to the gameplay. It starts with a nice catch-up chat between Anderson, Shepard, Vega and the Virmire Survivor whilst you’re on your way to talk to the Alliance council about an incoming threat. It then becomes pretty obvious that Reapers are gonna Reap your shit pretty soon when the one british guy in the ME universe dies in a video feed and then the room explodes with lazers and dubstep. The Reapers have arrived, lucky for humanity. So the mission begins with you and Anderson making your way to the Normandy so you can go rally the other species to help in the war agains the Reapers, whilst Anderson stays behind on Earth to help rally people there and keep hope alive.

The demo then skips forward to part of the mission on Sur’Kesh, with Wrex, Liara and Garrus having a bit of banter on the shuttle ride down, as well as with Mordin and Kirrahe when you meet them. You then have to fight through Cerberus troops as you help Mordin escort a female Krogan who is immune to the Genophage away from the threat. Safe to say, shit hits the fan and there’s a lot of fighting.

All in all, the gameplay is ridiculously improved from ME2. Going back and finishing my play-through on that made me realize this fully. The ability to move fluidly through cover and up ladders, as well as JUMP OVER LEDGES! Turns out Shepard can jump outside of cutscenes. Who knew? The gunplay is much better as well, with guns being more responsive and diverse. Powers are amazing as well,  with the huge amount of specialization you can do you can end up with such varied builds that I may end up spending more hours in this game than ME1 and ME2 combined. The enemy’s AI is so much better as well, even the husks are harder to fight! The Cerberus troops work in teams, rallying around Centurions and pushing up along with Gaurdians, actively trying to root you out of cover by flanking and such.

Sqaudmates play much better now also. Rather than having all of 2 powers for half the game (like ME2) they have 5 active powers, which are just as customizable as yours. The demo also outfits you with a ridiculous arsenal of weapons, so your power cooldowns are pretty long, so using squaddies effectively is vital. The new powers added to each class also add to gameplay tons, with returning favourites such as frag grenade (its useful now!) and the old disk grenades as proximity mines. Lift is back as one of two new biotic grenades, along with cluster grenade, which is like warp but x20 better. Nova is a fun but risky vanguard power, whilst sticky grenades are hilarious when a tropper just flails around and explodes. That is, if you don’t waste all your grenade ammo missing like I do… Fitness also returns for everyone, focusing on increasing health and melee damage.

All in all, despite the story being stripped down for the demo, the conversations, banter, amazing score (brownie points to Clint Mansell, the music is amazing), and great gameplay come together to make a  great experience. I would definitely recommend pre-ordering ME3, except for one thing…

Why are EA such arses?

Now from the majority of this review you will probably realize I enjoy the ME games, and ME3 is no exception. It’s great, but the marketing seems to have let down the core experience to an extent. Everyone and their dog has a different bonus for pre-ordering there, which detracts from the simple premise of  buying an game and playing the whole thing. They have also tried to draw in new players, saying that ME3 is the best place to start playing. What the hell? Its the finale of the trilogy. That’s like saying there was no point with the first two games. It also makes people think that they’re decisions from the first two games may not make a difference, but from what I’ve garnered from a few spoilers and questions asked to guys who got the space editions, they will come back in great force so it’s all good. EA have also pulled the biggest sin in the gaming industry: day one DLC. Not free DLC like Zaeed, paid DLC. They also spoiled what this DLC was early, which has enraged a lot of players. This DLC squaddie seems like they will have a huge impact on the ME universe but they are supposedly already in the game, but just can’t be recruited unless you have the DLC so it could be worse, but all in all EA are shitting on this game, Bioware, and the customers. Safe to say I will be buying my CE of ME3 and hopefully really enjoying the game, but it will probably be the last game published by EA that I buy.

Video of some Sentinel gameplay I recorded:

ME3 Demo Sentinel gameplay

No-one messes with the saints!
Well, here we are again, another saints row game. From what started as a GTA esque game and as those grew more serious these grew sillier, it has really grown into its own. The third game in the Saints Row series removes the Saints from their Stillwater fame after they run into trouble with the “Syndicate” gangs and end up stuck in Steelport and have to work their way back up to the top, crushing opposing gangs and most of the city in their way…

The Improvements:
Overall, the game is a huge improvement to the sequel. For a console-orientated series, the PC version was very smooth and well done, though the UI was a bit clunky. The graphics were sweet and the art style very coherent, with the “bigger is better” motto shown from the giant mega-cribs to the missiles you can launch. SR3 takes ridiculous to a new level, with a civilian car controller weapon, and gang members including a giant russian genius who was cloned to prduce the huge brutes you fight throughout the game. The gangs are much more memorable than they were in SR2 as well, with the Cyber-punk Deckers and the Mexican wrestler Luchadores. Aswell as all of this, they added choices to the game! Some of them moral! They change the game ending and stuff! Now for a game like this, it seems a risky move but when most of the choices are: gain this money or this respect; or gain this crib or blow shit up kinda stuff it fits the game well.

The down right crazy:
I’m not going to lie, I loved this game. It makes its new attitude known from the word go, robbing a bank in a Johnny Gat bobblehead with a method actor tagging along. This leads to you airlifting the safe into a helicopter fight, and eventually shooting down tanks whilst freefalling to earth. Yeah, crazy. At the end of the first mission, you get a missile launcher. Go figure. The crazy continues, with the Saints moving into Shaundi’s Ex’s crib, which is a small flat now lined with explosives. Also, Genki. That strange cat guy is the host of a japanese like gameshow where you avoid deadly traps and shoot mascots dressed as dogs and hotdogs to earn cash, but not the pandas, thats unethical. Yeah, I don’t know either. Anyways, fuck him. He’s the worlds biggest pain in the arse. Still, he added to the various mayhem-filled side missions of the game and certainly added to the crazy.

Before I go:
Overall, Saints Row 3 is a great game, but not the ideal game to follow-on the series. Fans of SR2 may not like it as much as I did, but if you love crazy and explosions this is the game for you. The free roam attitude to city-takeover along with a good story which is great fun (Gimp chariot racing. I’ll say no more.) It definitely tops GTA in my books, thats for sure.

Dust off your crowbars, slip into your HEV suits and join the (at time of writing) 45,000+ members of the Half Life: Call for Communication group in an attempt to open a secure line of communication with our most beloved game developers: Valve. This isn’t a protest. This isn’t a boycott. They’re not even asking Valve to get a move on. In their own words:

all that we ask for is a basic response on the matter, and to let fans know whether or not the current story arc is scheduled to conclude at another point in time.

If you’d like to get involved in achieving this aim, its simple: all you need to do is play some Half Life 2 at 7pm GMT. If you live outside this time zone, then have a look here or here for more accurate information. If you are unforntunate enough to be otherwise occupied at the zero hour, then you can still help the cause by idling. Just leave the game on and go about your important duties, because every addition to the simultaneous player count will help. Other than the time, all details are left up to you: you can start from where you want, play for as long as you want, all that matters is that the fans of the Half Life series unite to show Valve that there’s still some love for their old first person shooters.

Me? I’m thinking a good old fashioned speed run attempt is in order. Or possibly a trip straight to Ravenholm. How about you? What will you be doing on this Red Letter Day?

Okay, so this may not be ‘hot’ or ‘new’, but its more of them than a ‘review’. More acurately though, this is a recommendation to you all to start regularly visiting another project of mine, called The Tutorial Level. Its a blog and its aim is to be a breeding ground for healthy academic discussions of the words and phrases that we gamers use on an everyday basis.

The latest post it hosts is the first half of an in-depth look into the term ‘Rig’ (Take a cheeky click right here. Don’t worry, no one’s looking). If you’re planning to build your own pc and have found yourself confused by what’s important and what’s not, then look no further. If you’re completely baffled by what the word Rig even means, then this is the place for you. Its not just rigs that are being unravelled for the uninitiated: since last September, I have written about the following gaming-related terms:

• New Game Plus
• Pubbie
• Indie
• and Vanilla

with many more to come in the future.

So far here, I have set out this blog as only for those who know nothing about video games. On the contrary, all gamers are welcome and encouraged. I’m aware I don’t hold all the answers and I’m also excited about hearing what other gamers think about the topic at hand. So go ahead and pick an article from the list above, read it and if it makes you think: drop me a comment underneath, fling me an e-mail at tutoriallevel@gmail.com  or just have a word with your gamer friends and tell them what a stimulating experience you had reading everything at the Tutorial Level

Maybe next time I’ll explore what a ‘shameless plug’ is …

Brink: the basics

On to the review itself, starting with one of the most important aspects of any FPS …

The Combat
As far as the weapons themselves, Bioshock takes merit from having a revolver and a crossbow, which were excellently designed, while the sequel counter punches by improving the shotgun to a manly doubled barreled variety and following up the crossbow with an equally satisfying speargun. No discussion of combat would be complete without mentioning melee weapons and the fact that the wrench from Bioshock doesn’t use fuel, something 2K forgot when making the main character of the sequel a dude with a drill for a hand (I mean just think of the environment). Plasmids, some kind of gene-based drug powers, act as a secondary set of weapons for the Bioshock series. In both titles so far, these powers can be changed to an improved version, however in the successor there is more creativity in how the plasmids act as they level up.

No matter how good or bad the combat system is, much of the enjoyment it brings, hinges on the movement of the character you are controlling. In this respect, Bioshock wins hands down for simply being able to move faster and therefore dodge more easily. Despite the above exchange of competent body blows, Bioshock 2 pulls out a knockout uppercut in the form of Elanor. Driven by daughterly attachment to you, Elanor fights by your side in the closing section of the game and no co-operative NPC has ever been this awesome. It’s difficult to put into words, but the plasmid which summons her to you side for a short time will become your best friend. On to the vain streak of the review with …

Setting and Graphics
The setting of an underwater, art-deco city in the 1950s felt nice and unique in the original, but mostly retreaded material by the time it came to Bioshock 2. Many of the set peices, particularly the theatre and train station sections, feel like they’re pulled straight from the first to the second game with only minor updates. Despite this, there are some beautiful underwater sections in Bioshock 2, which help to calm the player between heavy combat sections. The one problem with stepping out into the deep blue is the removal of tension. In the original Bioshock, one of the biggest enemies in the game was the ocean surrounding the city of rapture. The poor state of repair of the infrastructure meant that the threat of drowning at every turn was a very real one. This threat and accompanying fear is eradicated when you place the protagonist in an industrial strength diving suit. In terms of detailed appearance, both titles suffer from an over-abundance of shiny textures. Being set in a series of leaky underwater rooms, everything glistens and it gets somewhat tiring after a while. My final criticism in this area is with the unreal engine. While the detail it offers makes for a gorgeous looking couple of games, I personally prefer to be able to jump on everything in sight to explore for secrets and easter eggs. Minor nitpicks aside, how do the two games compare, when we look at their …

Story?
We can start with a recurring theme: support characters. As well as some useful guidance now and again, their strong accents help to add a bit of variety and lighten the mood of the game in some places. Bioshock takes home some big points by having some much more subtle, ambiguous villains and a high quality misdirection in the form of Atlas. Making the player question how they determine who is good and bad is a powerful ability for any story to have. The first game also has a playable character which is far easier to relate to, being human and not half bear, half mining machinery. Don’t think that the sequel is useless in this respect, the relationship with Elanor, your daughter, creates a very strong personal interest to complete the game for her benefit. Furthermore, with the incorporation of a previously mentioned plasmid, one story element in particular is worked far better into the gameplay than any in the original. Now that the three main aspects have been covered, its on to some topics specifically relevant to this series, starting with …

Hacking
The purpose of hacking in both games is to reduce the prices of items in vending machines and convert enemy turrets and cameras to work for rather than against the player. The methods change from a pipe connection minigame in the first title to stopping a needle on the coloured area of a dial in the sequel. Contrary to the perceived general opinion, I prefer the pipe-based hacking mechanic mainly because it stops time and adds a genuine, fun puzzle element throughout the game. Whereas, hacking in Bioshock 2 is reduced to a quick time event and sharp responses are not my strength. Both games also contain an autohacking mechanic, which is a way of occasionally bypassing the whole system (long time readers of my reviews may be reminded of Mass Effect’s ‘can’t be arsed’ button). Nevertheless, it just feels to undermine the whole process, so I tend to freeze the device in question, thereby slowing the liquid or needle and making it a little less stressful. Bioshock 2 introduces remote hack darts, which add a stealth option to those areas of the game which are heavily populated with turrets and cameras. As well as hacking, the Bioshock series plays host to a …

Moral Choice System
What the original game offered in terms of a moral choice was the repeated decision between killing a little girl to get a lot of experience or saving her to get less benefit initially, with a supplementary reward for sustained moral superiority. Seeing as most players will adhere to a strictly good or bad playthrough to ensure they see the appropriate ending, it would make more sense to condense all the moral choices into a single enquiry before you start the game as to how you intend to play it or which ending you’d like to see. By the time the sequel rolls around, there’s a little more depth to the moral choices in the game. The little sisters are still around and you are given the same choice to help or exploit them. However, this time, much like the story, everything is better woven into the gameplay, which revolves around you adopting the little sisters and leading them to sources of adam, where you have to keep the area clear of enemies while she gets to work. This is if you are being nice to them. The nasty option is pretty much the same as before and presumably cuts out a lot of gameplay.

On top of the little sisters, there are three other plot-relevant individuals, whose lives are placed in your hands throughout the game. In contrast to the countless, identical little sisters, these residents of Rapture each have interesting backgrounds and unique reasons to die, making the whole moral choice more worthy of repetition. Whether you choose to kill them or let them live also determines which ending you are presented with, which incidentally have been widened to include what are basically good, bad, very good and very bad endings. Of course, no gamer reviewing a moral-choice system would be able to sleep at night if they didn’t give some insight into how they approached the decisions. In the first game, I chose to extract adam from every little sister I encountered and consequently got the bad ending; entirely because I despise children. During Bioshock 2, I acted as a rebel towards the three human decisions: if they wanted to die, I let them live; if they begged to be saved, I killed them. I also saved every little sister, in part to be different to the first game but also because otherwise I felt I would be missing gameplay. I got the good ending. After reading 1,396 words of unbridled reviewing, you deserve to be offered a quick …

Summary
Try the taste of my five-point review round up, it’s fat free!

• Overall, Bioshock can be considered a very solid series of First Person Shooters, with enough uniqueness and variety in the plasmids to keep most players entertained
• The aforementioned moral choice system feels mostly unnecessary and tacked on to a game which would easily stand up without it
• The core gameplay of the second installment – acting as a chauffeur for every little sister in town – is more enjoyable and therapeutic than in the first game
• Bioshock 2 contains no game-breakingly bad decisions. In other words, nothing comparable to the little sister escort section towards the end of the first game, which stopped me completing the game for a second time
• I end with a fairly petty nitpick. Bioshock 2, as has been done by many games previously, often prompts you as to which buttons are bound to certain situational actions. This is very useful for the gamer who doesn’t want to open the controls menu every five seconds before they get used to the game. However, for those players who want to exercise their right to rebind the controls – as the options easily allow you to do – you will constantly be shown the old, incorrect prompts throughout the game. Its not an experiment gone wrong. Many developers have been able to either program their game to notice when the player rebinds keys or just not bother to use prompts at all; either of which would be better than this. Very disappointing for an otherwise very well made couple of games.

Minerva’s Den is a single player DLC set in the world of BioShock 2 available for Xbox 360, PS3 and PC. Whilst the Xbox 360 and PS3 received their content back in August 2010, it took 2K Games over a year after the initial release of BioShock 2 to finally release Minvera’s Den for PC gamers in May 2011. So, after countless setbacks and numerous delays, has it been worth the wait?

Play it again Mr Bubbles!

Rapture Central Computing is the stage for our newest journey through Rapture, in which the player takes on the role of a new Big Daddy by the name of Subject Sigma in a quest to uncover the mystery of “The Thinker”, a colossal computing machine that combines biological and mechanical engineering in a way never before seen. The whole experience is a huge throw back to the System Shock games which the BioShock series is based on, so anyone who is lucky enough to have been able to play both may notice a couple of similarities. The marketing for Minerva’s Den promised “A new narrative in the world of BioShock 2” and surprisingly enough, that’s exactly what it delivers. Having played through BioShock 2 (and I highly recommend you do so as well as completing the Protector Trials DLC before taking  on Minerva’s Den), I was initially sceptical as to how it would be possible to provide as strong a story element as that which takes place in the main campaign. I’m glad to say that any doubts I had about it were soon replaced with familiar feelings of joy at having yet another excuse to explore the hallways of Rapture once more.

Welcome to Minerva’s Den

The most notable change for Minerva’s Den is to its environments. BioShock is known for the distinct art-deco visual style that it employed in the architecture of Rapture and although this is still present in the DLC, there is a distinct Grecian twist to many of the areas that fits with the overall style, such as intricately designed bulkheads or smooth stone pillars. Seeing as we are in the technology hub of rapture, there is also an abundance of wires, switchboards and various other whirring machinery that helps create a stark contrast with the more typical aesthetics of Rapture. In terms of story, much of it is told through the use of audio diaries and so the player’s understanding progresses naturally as they explore the various areas. This does mean however that there are barely any diaries that allude to anything outside of the main story arc, which is a shame given how much backstory many of the other locations on the series have had. It’s also worth noting the lack of Power to the People stations in Rapture Central Computing, the gameplay mechanic that previously allowed adventurous players to upgrade their weapons progressively. Instead, players find upgraded versions of their weaponry from fallen enemies or tucked away behind locked doors, all of which are completely optional side routes on the way to the main objective. Due to the length of the DLC, it’s satisfying to be able to find new weapons relatively quickly through exploration and helps to make sure that things don’t become tiresome too quickly. It is rather odd however finding weapons in a different order that you acquire them in the retail campaign, which can be a little daunting when fighting enemies with nothing but telekinesis, a drill and the new Ion Laser. Still, it makes for a clever way to have players try different loadouts, something which is always important in a game with such a wide variety of choices.

Wires, switchboards and various other whirring machinery helps create a stark contrast with the more typical aesthetics of Rapture.

New Arrivals in Rapture

One of the benefits of this DLC is the opportunities it brings with it to further expand the BioShock universe. As such, there are quite a few new features for veteran splicers or even those who have only just encountered the taste of a blood-stained EVE hypo. So, with that in mind, let’s get the ball rolling!

The Ion Laser:  A futuristic optical cannon that produces a hard hitting beam of intense light to accurately dispatch foes at almost any distance. It’s certainly a welcome addition to the traditional arsenal and as far as ammo goes, I rarely found myself feeling hard up as the inclusion of the new Lancer Big Daddies who wield these weapons means that there is plenty to go around.  It comes stocked with three types of ammo: Laser Cells for your typical laser needs, Incendiary Cells for cooking even the dampest splicers to a fine crisp and Burst Cells which are by far my favourite as the ability to charge up a high powered shot and quite literally blow Big Sisters away even on the highest difficulty never loses its appeal.

Gravity Well: An interesting new plasmid that grants the user the ability to form their very own miniature singularities! Levels 2 and 3 allow for the use of a proximity function and a nasty little burst of lurid acid to burn away at anyone unlucky enough to be sucked in. I personally found this to be a very tactical plasmid, as it is almost invaluable when gathering ADAM or holding down an area. It should be noted however that Gravity Well is almost useless against armoured opponents such as Big Daddies, as well as having the inconvenient effect of sucking in any security bots that happen to be following you. Still, it’s worth a look nonetheless and even better, you find the first level for free!

The Gravity Well plasmid and the new Ion Laser make a formidable duo when used together.

New faces:  

The Big Daddy family keeps getting bigger and bigger with the newest instalment, The Lancer. These armoured protectors can be found wielding the deadly Ion Laser and sporting a unique ability known as the Ion Flash which works similar to a modern flash bang by blinding players who don’t look away quick enough. There are also two new variants to some of the existing splicer types, the Brute and Houdini splicer, whereby they are immune to certain attacks such as Incinerate or Winter Blast. This makes for a new and interesting way to mix up gameplay so that the player has to do more than just ploughing through the same enemies again and again. One final point is the addition of three new types of Security Bot exclusive to Minerva’s Den. These bots can be found wielding explosive rockets, lasers similar to those the Lancer’s use and electric probes that have the ability to electrify water and stun the player too.  All in all, some challenging yet worthy additions to the tried and tested formula.

The Lancer is but one of the new faces you'll come across in Rapture Central Computing.

“A man chooses…”: The Verdict

Both BioShock and BioShock 2 attempted to tackle big fundamental issues such as the idea of free will, human advancement as well as suffering and the importance of society. However , there may well be some who find these kind of overarching concepts difficult to engage with. It’s refreshing therefore to have an experience that takes from the lore of Rapture but instead focuses on a more identifiably human and down to earth story. With a much smaller cast of characters, some familiar and some new, Minerva’s Den does nothing if not add to what has already been set in place, though perhaps some of the characters, particularly the main antagonist, could do with a little more fleshing out. Admittedly the whole thing does feel rather short as well, only clocking in 3-4 hours at most if you take the time to explore the scenery and really delve into every little mini-game and audio diary there is. For the PC users at least, there also seem to be a few graphical glitches which is astounding given the fact that it took so long to develop for the platform. Nevertheless, I enjoyed Minerva’s Den and found myself once again engrossed in the story being told, feeling particularly moved by the ending which for obvious reasons I won’t go into. In conclusion, Minerva’s Den delivers a short but sweet experience that although long in the waiting, is well worth your time if you are a fan of the BioShock franchise and an enjoyable outing for those new to the series.

Minerva’s Den is available for 800 Microsoft Points on Xbox Live, under $10 on PSN and can be bought directly through the Windows Live Marketplace by PC users for around £7.

Come on down to Rapture Central Computing. The Thinker will be happy to fit you into its busy schedule.

At the end of September, Psychonauts – a game which probably owes a large portion of its sales to its appearance on the second official episode of Zero Punctuation and Yahtzee’s overwhelmingly positive review of it –  received brand new steam achievements, cloud saves support and a gameplay tweak to one of the endgame areas to make it slightly less brutal. With this update, I decided to embark on a new playthrough of the game, during which I started thinking about the perspective through which video games are delivered.

The two common types of perspective are these: first person, where you view the world through the eyes of the character you control; and third person, in which you see the entirety of your character from some theoretical point outside of them. Both these types of perspective offer different advancements and shortfalls. first person perspective games give greater immersion in the gameplay and make room for more use of the player’s immaginaton, while the third person perspective can make a character more aesthetically interesting and focus on the spectacle of the gameplay.

Where Psychonauts comes into this is its example of second person perspective. Much as in creative writing, the use of the second person perspective in video games is a rare occurrence. Second person perspective is a view of the main character from a secondary character’s viewpoint. In Psychonauts, this is achieved through one of the psychic powers you collect in the game, called clairvoyance. Its power is to allow you to see the view of any character which you can interact with physically or through possession of a personal artefact. It’s mostly cosmetic, but comes into play few times through out the game, including one awkward boss fight and an item hunt in a pitch black office monitored by security cameras equipped with night vision, pictured below.

The creative use of second person perspective is a small example of just how innovative and interesting this game is. If you haven’t already bought a copy for you and everyone you know, then take this article as a hearty recommendation for a first class game.

Furthermore, I challenge anyone reading this to produce evidence of another game which offers second person gameplay. I’m sure there must be others out there, but I’ll be damned if I can think of what they are.

So far, I think the new Nether additions are a great change. Before, the Nether was kinda boring and useless. Once you had a fast travel system up, you had no need to go exploring. The new mobs and loot gives the player more of an incentive to go exploring, and the nether strongholds look bitchin’. Along with all these Nether-y additions, there are many new awesome things back on the surface. Villages are no longer desolate, and seem to be filled with Squidward-esque Monks, who like to fall into caverns. Swamps are a lot more interesting now, with darker flora and water, as well as lily pads to add to the scenery. Snow biomes are also back, and they’re HUGE. To compliment this, you can craft Snow Golems to follow you around and protect you by harrasing mobs with snowballs. Along with old biomes returning, we now have the Terraria corruption like Mushroom biome, filled with Mycelium grass and giant mushrooms. Oh, and not forgetting Mooshrooms.

Overall the new biome changes are pretty cool. Mushroom biomes are rare as hell but can provide a great food source if you find one, and the new swamps look pretty awesome. Snow golems also make cool bodyguards, which is useful when you decide to make 20 of them. Villagers are a bit creepy and mundane, not exactly doing anything. Heres hoping that their Ai gets revamped greatly before the release. Along with the above changes, we have a bunch of new record disks, useful for you people who constantly raid dungeons for them, and we can breed animals! Feed two sheep wheat and a few seconds later… 3 sheep! Miracles, seriously. This adds more depth to minecraft farming, and gives a reason for me using Snow Golems to herd sheep into a paddock.

All in all, 1.9 is helping to greatly flesh out the adventure update part 1, fixing most of the annoying bugs, adding in tons more cool stuff to keep me amused for hours, and most importantly making Endermen even scarier… The new Potion and Enchantment system thats making its way into minecraft will help add to the magicy feel already seen, as well as help flesh out certain mechanics, such as combat.

Oh, and I almost forgot. For all you mental people, theres now Hardcore mode. If you die, you have to delete the world. Well, have fun!