Madden NFL 13 PS3 Review

Part of the excitement of Fall is that football returns to dominates our lives. Like clockwork, millions of people sign up for fantasy teams, team updates, and the latest of edition of EA Sports’s longest ongoing sports franchise – Madden. I’ve been a fan of football games since the original Madden offered mini-sprites the chance to blur their way into end-zones on the SNES. Now that August’s almost over, Madden 13′s customarily arrived alongside the NFL and fantasy football season, and the game’s undergone massive changes in an attempt to overhaul gameplay and presentation. Does it work? Extremely well. In fact, this year’s edition might be the best football game we’ve seen this console generation.

The presentation for Madden 13 has dramatically improved from last year. The camera angles, lighting effects, and broadcast atmosphere mimic what you might see on a Sunday afternoon. Stylistically, small changes like setting the broadcast booth at Heinz Field in its authentic location – compared to Ralph Wilson stadium – and pregame analyses focusing on marquee players further the presentation, even if you don’t initially notice the details.

Admittedly, the 3D likenesses of Nantz and Sims are a little creepy (their eyes… *shudder*) and in need of strengthening, and, despite over 6,000 lines of broadcast dialogue, conversations repeat more often than you’d like. I heard the same discussion about Pittsburgh receiver Mike Wallace take place three time in the span of one half. That’s unfortunate because the banter between Jim Nantz and Phil Simms actually sounds – unlike many of the slow, processed deliveries of former series regulars Micheals and Madden – somewhat realistic. Despite all this, while stadium fans still need to look less like cardboard and characters on the sideline need to look like they’re alive rather than members of a morgue therapy group, the presentation’s still exemplary.

Fortunately, the improvements to the gameplay make up for the commentary issues. EA has added degrading field effects to gameplay along with a new physics engine – The Infinity Engine – that make this year’s game feel much faster and smoother than any Madden I’ve played in recent memory. The engine doesn’t simply ragdoll players as they make tackles; rather, it actually creates contact and organically reacts based on the place, speed, and weight of the players involved in the tackle.

More often than not, the result is plays that feel weighty and continue beyond the referee’s whistle. Linemen like Ndamukong Suh and Terrell Suggs have far more violent collisions than ones between players fighting for a pass, and receivers now have over four hundred different ways of catching the ball. It may not seem initially noticeable, but having the ball caught in its trajectory rather than magically shifting into a receiver’s hands makes passing that much better.

The Infinity Engine also completely revamps the passing game. New throwing and catching animations add diversity to offensive drives, and finally having those variations feels like additions we always should have had. Past games used just three different pass speeds (bullet, lob, and “touch”), and regardless of how far you threw the ball, the type of pass determined its trajectory. To be honest, that variation always felt a bit archaic and consistently frustrated any aerial excitement.

Instead, Madden 13 offers twenty five different pass trajectories that make finesse passes a thing of beauty. End zone fades? They’re awesome, and you should try them against a run-preventative defensive live. Deep middles? Step aside Ed Reed, I’m coming down your wheelhouse (okay, so what if he’d actually destroy me outside the game). Shovel passes? Yes, I played as Tebow and won the Super Bowl primarily running the option.

Alongside the new trajectories, this year’s Madden features both realistic Quarterback play and a vastly improved defensive AI that eliminates omniscient defenders from stopping every ball you throw. When you roll out of the pocket, the defense doesn’t automatically position itself in front of any available receiver; instead, your QB’s r0llout has been balanced so that it’s far more difficult to throw accurately while being chased by the defensive line. Basically, you’ll see more open receivers, but you’ll struggle to complete the pass because the engine realistically makes the play more difficult because you’re running for your life. There’s also no more reactive AI magically reaching up to deflect a pass he’s never seen.

Additionally, the game’s added actual cadences from numerous quarterbacks (Cam Newton, Aaron Rodgers, Peyton Manning, and Drew Brees among others) so that you’ll not only reflect their playing styles but hear their voices in the huddle. Still, the system isn’t perfect. Ben Roethlisberger is known for his ability to operate outside the pocket, yet his skill there was hardly different than Manning, a pure pocket-passer who rarely ventures outside of it. The difference is there, but the balance was slightly off (then again, I’m a Steelers fan so maybe I’m just used to perfection). I went there.

The game modes for this year show a vast improvement over last year’s model and are another indication that Madden 13 feels deeper than the series has been in quite some time. Quick Game allows for instant access, but the game’s focus is obviously on the revamped career mode. Now known as Connected Careers, the mode takes aspects of traditional Online Franchise, Offline Franchise, and Superstar modes (which had always felt particularly lacking) and combines them into a compelling presentation. You can pick either a coach or player and be one of up to 32 people who compete against each other for cumulative statistics over an extended period of time.

Initially, the mode seemed a little forced. Like a normal dynasty mode, you’re forced to meet goals in-game (or administratively as a coach) and basically keep playing because, well, you can. But then I started to notice the virtual tweets about my team coming from the game’s rendition of analysts like Skip Bayless and Trey Wingo, and I was hooked. The objective of the mode is to be named to the game’s Pro Football Hall of Fame, and while some might lose interest in such a complex mode, Madden lovers will find more than enough reason here to play for a very long time.

I’ll go ahead and say it – this year’s Madden is the best football game I’ve played in a very long time. Is the game perfect? No. But the changes to this year’s edition are more than enough for me to recommend it for even the most casual fans of football. The changes aren’t merely cosmetic, but intended to make this year’s version more like the real game that so many of us love. And you know what? Madden’s never been closer.

Review Score: 90/100

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The Expendables 2 Video Game Review (PS3)

Rarely has there ever been more ass kicked in 103 minutes than there was in The Expendables. The movie, starring Sylvester Stallone and Jason Stathom, debuted in 2010. Two years later, the crew is back for more and they have brought along more action stars such as Chuck Norris and Jean Claude Van Damme.

The Expendables 2 is set to hit theaters this week and Ubisoft has developed a video game to accompany the film. Rather than producing a full-fledged game, The Expendables 2 Video Game went the digital route. The downloadable title will be available for PC, Xbox Live Arcade, and PlayStation Network.

Much like classic arcade games, the game features four player drop-in/drop-out co-op play. It can also be played solo although co-op is greatly encouraged. When playing alone, gamers have the ability to switch characters with the simple press of the D-pad. This is necessary at times as different characters have unique abilities.

Four characters from the film franchise are playable in the game. Unfortunately, not a single one of these characters is Chuck Norris. The characters portrayed by Sylvester Stallone, Jet Li, Terry Crews, and Dolph Lundgren are all digitally recreated for use in the game. Each wields a different weapon. Stallone has a pistol, Li an SMG, Crews carries his infamous shotgun and Lundgren has a sniper rifle. Each character also has a signature kill, an extra-violent, close-up kill.

While mowing down enemies, players earn XP. After completing a round, XP can be used to upgrade moves and abilities.

The Expendables movie is not known for having a deep, engaging plot. It is a fun flick that features a lot of people dying in many different ways but it does not try to be too serious. The Expendables 2 movie has yet to release but the video game takes the same tone.

Players will be forced to fight waves of enemies that heavily outnumber the playable four-man crew. The game has objectives that need to be completed but those mostly consist of just blowing away everything that appears on the screen.

There is generally no sense of strategy involved in completing this task. Enemies come out in hordes and they are quickly blown away. Weapons run out of ammo very quickly and reloads take too much time. On casual difficulty, it is easier just to melee attack enemies frantically.

A cover system is featured in the game and it is necessary to use for the game’s hardcore mode. However, it is difficult to master and really does not work in this type of game. Players will take too much damage from the opposition and this gets extremely frustrating.

Using the twin-stick controls can be cumbersome and unruly. The left stick is used to move the player while the right stick is used to aim. Aiming is not very accurate however, making tasks like taking down enemies on top of guard towers a chore.

Even the in-game menus are confusing and completely unoriginal.

Character models recreated in the game are not very detailed. This is not made very obvious however, as cutscenes are kept short and reveal little to no plot details. Crews and Lundgren voice their video game counterparts. Regrettably, Stallone does not. He is instead replaced by a horrible sound alike. Of course, anything Stallone says is difficult to understand anyways so the game may be better off without him.

Using a stand-in Sly might have been for the better if he had any meaningful lines in the game. He spits corny one-liners and barks objectives at the crew. The dialogue is dissatisfying and borderline annoying. Hearing a fake Stallone shout simple orders adds nothing to the game.

Four chapters of gameplay are included. Levels are mostly bland and repetitive. The only good quality is the action movie-like soundtrack that plays throughout the stages. Enemies all look exactly the same in the three-quarters top-down view.

Video games based on movies are usually not very good and are more of a simple cash grab for movie studios. Unfortunately, The Expendables 2 Video Game is just another in a long line of bad games based on a movie. While the game effectively captures the spirit of the film, the gameplay is not up to par with modern games. In a way, the top-down co-op shooter fits The Expendables perfectly because it is as outdated as the film’s stars. The game would have been better served as a mobile title but it just does not work on consoles, no matter how many asses get kicked.

The Expendables 2 Video Game is available now on PlayStation Network and will explode onto Xbox Live Arcade and PC on August 17(today).

Review Score: 43/100

Darksiders II Review

If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, Nintendo must have felt honored when Vigil Games released the original Darksiders back in 2010. Taking obvious cues from The Legend of Zelda franchise, along with other notable series like God of War and Portal, THQ’s tale of a Horseman out for redemption managed to meld various familiar elements into a solid, if not familiar, experience.

What’s important is that the project was successful enough to warrant a sequel, and trust me when I say that that’s a good thing. Darksiders II drops War as its protagonist and instead ventures forward with his brother Death, but fortunately, the results are far from grim. While still shameless with regards to its design inspirations, Vigil’s second outing both improves and expands on the successful facets from the first game while incorporating a slew of interesting elements you never even knew you needed. Piles of loot and bundles of collectables will keep you exploring the expansive world for hours, but it’s the engaging moment-to-moment action and brilliant sense of movement that make that time slip away almost unnoticed. A few questionable design decision may hold it back from its true potential, but Darksiders II manages to borrow bits and pieces from what seems like every successful franchise of the last decade and still surface as a grand, unique adventure.

Though Death’s quest is considered a sequel, the narrative actually runs concurrent to the events of the original game. What makes Darksiders II a separate experience is the game’s focus on a new Horseman, Death, and his journey for both his brother’s redemption and his own absolution. After Death learns of War’s conviction by the Charred Council, the masked Horseman drops his fatal duties and defies those whom he believes falsely accused his fellow Rider. War, in Death’s eyes, is the most honorable of the Horsemen, so the Pale Rider travels across both Heaven and Hell to see his brother’s name cleared. New wrinkles discovered while traveling the long road add depth to both the core story and the protagonist, but the goal of restoring War’s honor at any cost stays consistent throughout.

The character change is more than welcome in Darksiders II. War may have been a solid hero to lean on in the original title, but the added dimensions of Death’s conflicted past bring are a breath of fresh air in a world so full of dark, one-sided creatures. Though self-serious and forever brooding, it’s difficult not to appreciate (and maybe even relate to) the reaper and the rest of the colorful cast you’ll bump into as you journey along the expansive open world. Both the voice acting and writing are spot-on for the narrative being delivered, and while this isn’t an emotional tale that will stick with you long after the credits role, it certainly keeps you interested from dungeon to dungeon.

There’s plenty to do and see during Death’s mission, as the world of Darksiders II is twice the size of the original game’s. It really feels that way, too. There are plenty of linear, structured areas to conquer, but exiting a central hub and entering the open field reveals significant land masses just waiting to be explored and pilfered. Secret treasure chests, collectable items that can be sold to merchants, dangerous tombs and plenty of other unique mysteries occupy the open world, but similar to the Zelda franchise, the real meat of the game is located within the multitude of puzzle-filled dungeons.

Each story beat nudges you in the direction of a new lava-filled temple or harrowing catacomb, and while these areas do little to show off the true scope of the game, they are where you’ll find the most focused puzzle and combat sequences. It can be overwhelming to see the numerous locked doors, unsearched rooms and rabid creatures waiting to greet you upon first entering a new dungeon, but as long as you keep a level head and take each location one segment at a time, the correct path becomes both apparent and feasible. Puzzles incorporate items discovered within the dungeons themselves, allowing for surprising new twists on gameplay up until the very end. A spectral hand will help you traverse wider gaps, an object that splits Death into two parts assists in timing-based puzzles and time travel even makes a special appearance. No single riddle ever brought me to a point of frustration, but there’s an undeniable challenge throughout that will keep players’ brains working as they’re slicing and dicing the hordes of demons.

When not solving clever puzzles or galloping across the wide-open planes on your horse, you’ll be spending time silencing enemies through whatever means you prefer. While War carried a noticable weight, taking a more methodical pace (or “approach”) to combat, Death’s movements are as fluid as they are deadly. There’s a brilliance of movement in Darksiders II that wasn’t found in the first game, as both simple platforming and the act of swinging a scythe are supremely satisfying. Instead of a heavy block-and-counter system seen in most action titles, the key to success in battle is constant movement and explosive bursts of action. Death can quickly roll both toward and away from his targets, and while his speed makes one-on-one encounters a breeze, group battles require both quick reflexes and a sound understanding of the abilities of your custom character.

Loot plays a mammothrole in how each enemy encounter is handled, too. Treasure chests, merchants and random drops all contribute to the massive amounts of armor, weapons and amulets that help make Death an unstoppable force. While there’s a random element to the loot dropped by enemies, more advanced equipment can only be picked up later in the game. Your primary weapon will consistently be a scythe, but the secondary tool can range from a massive hammer to a pair of quick, razor-sharp claws. All the stat-boosting gear also has an aesthetic effect on Death, as he continues to look more menacing with each new piece of hardware. You’ll find yourself obsessing over the perfect combination of gear, and with plenty of room in your inventory and hundreds items to be gathered, the possibilities are seemingly endless.

Skill points earned through achieving new levels also add a layer of customization to the game, with the help of an expansive skill tree. Abilities that can be mapped to specific button combinations on the controller help add an ever greater level of variety to the core combat, as both active and passive maneuvers have the power to turn the tides of battle in an instant. However, activating these skills does feel a bit clunky. Techniques are attached to a combination of the left shoulder button and one of the four face buttons, with your lock-on mapped to the left trigger. On a PlayStation 3 controller, keeping a lock on a target while activating a skill feels unnatural, and you’ll often find yourself accidentally letting loose an unintended action. You’ll become more familiar with the control scheme as the game progresses, but it never quite becomes intuitive enough to ignore.

Even with so many high points, Darksiders II doesn’t ride off into the sunset without at least one stumble. Though the majority of the game keeps you engaged with break-neck action and a solid story, the structure of the quests begins to become too familiar as the game progresses. Death comes to each new area with one set goal, but instead of being directed toward the specific object or person needed, some odd circumstance inevitably requires the Rider to jump through far too many hoops beforehand. Instead of “complete this dungeon to find this important key,” you’ll be forced to find a magical rod. On your quest for that rod, you learn that it’s been shattered to pieces. Now, you’re searching for the first piece of a rod that you only need to find the original key, of which you’ll require two in order to progress.

This is a common trope in Japanese RPGs. It does a good job of stretching out the narrative and increasing total playtime, but becomes a bit disheartening when you arrive at an objective only to learn that you need to gather some miscellaneous trinket locked away in a dungeon first. It certainly helps that these dungeons you’re exploring are both well-designed and entertaining, and the entire game doesn’t suffer from this problem, but it’s still an issue that takes some of the steam out of the adventure.

Even if you do grow tired of being sent from one end of the map to the next, you’ll at least be able to enjoy the journey there with both your eyes and ears – as long as you don’t make use of the nifty fast travel feature. Darksiders II is a truly beautiful game; nailing down the comic-book vibe that saw so much success back in the first game. Bright colors that you wouldn’t expect to witness in such a terrifying land pop right off the screen, and the orchestral score has a knack for ramping up just when the action reaches a crescendo. Both work in tandem to produce a truly singular experience for the senses; one rarely seen in a genre so dominated by little more than heavy guitar riffs and violence.

A handful of sidequests, as well an arena-style, wave-based addition called Crucible Mode that incorporates online leaderboards, help make Darksiders II a fully-featured title, providing any type of player hours of entertainment. The inclusion of New Game Plus is just icing on the cake, and even after sinking around 18 hours into the game on my first run, I continue to have the urge to score more loot and take down more massive bosses.

Vigil Games’ open-world franchise may forever be linked to its many inspirations, but there’s no denying that Darksiders II has emerged as a quality title with its own personality. A sharper, more fluid combat system added to deep RPG elements and a bevy of worthwhile content make this sequel a significant improvement over its already impressive predecessor. You can make all the comparisons you want to other successful franchises on the market, but it’d be a terrible mistake to look past one of the finest games produced this year. Just play it, have fun, and hope that we’re lucky enough see the Horsemen ride again.

Review Score: 90/100