‘Ratchet,”Borderlands’ two fairly fun sci-fi games
Just because I don't want to play a certain video game very much doesn't mean I hate it.
To the contrary, two new video games are quite good, objectively speaking (they're entertaining and impressive), but simply aren't my cup of coffee.
First, "Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time" is a big, beautiful game where you travel the universe as Ratchet (a little squirrel-looking guy called a lombax) and his little buddy Clank (a tiny robot).
As in previous "Ratchet & Clank" games, this cartoonish, sci-fi fantasy calls on you to save the universe by shooting, punching and blowing up evil robots as you run from room to room in spectacularly imagined space stations, teeming with, for starters, robot villains equipped with chain-saw arms.
This is a creative, long and lovely looking game. If you play on the high-definition PS 3 and a high-definition TV, the fast-moving visuals fill your sumptuous screen with vibrant atmosphere and battle explosions.
Here's why I won't obsess over "A Crack in Time": The action is a little too traditional.
A) To make your way through rooms, you jump from platform to platform. B) You must collect nuts and bolts constantly from the ground. The nuts and bolts are your form of currency to upgrade weapons. C) You break a lot of wooden crates to get extra nuts and bolts.
I understand many gamers enjoy this traditional type of platform game. I was one of those gamers in 1991, when "Sonic the Hedgehog" came out; 1991 was a long time ago.
I must point out I have even enjoyed hours of fun playing "A Crack" and listening to its funny dialogue. But it's not my bag; I will put it aside soon. If you, though, love platformers, or have kids, I highly recommend it.
Second, "Borderlands" is a very stylized and crafty game featuring a flat-animated style set on a craven desert planet where scads of bad humans shoot at you, while ground animals bite at you.
This game is smart. "Borderlands" lets you piece together assortments of weapons to custom-create guns to your liking. And the game figures out what kinds of challenging villains to place in front of your path, depending on how you've played so far.
Here's why "Borderlands" won't keep me gaming much longer, though. If I play by myself, the game feels lonely and empty, because I essentially just run back and forth from the same map points in a sprawling desert landscape.
Online, I can play "Borderlands" in less-lonely cooperative mode, to join other real gamers to move through the game's levels. But I'm still running back and forth between the same old mission points. That seems a bit repetitive.
On the other hand, if you're looking for an unusually creative sci-fi shooter, you might like "Borderlands." I feel good saying that because, after all, different strokes for different folks, there's no accounting for taste, and all those cliches.
("Borderlands" by Take Two retails for $60 for Xbox 360 and PS 3; $50 for PC -- Plays fairly fun. Looks great. Moderately challenging. Rated "M" for blood, gore, intense violence, mature humor and strong language. Three stars out of four.)
("Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time" by Sony retails for $60 for PS 3 -- Plays fun, though not all that differently than previous "Ratchet & Crank" titles. Moderately challenging. Rated "E 10+" for animated blood, comic mischief and fantasy violence. Three and one-half stars.)
Contact Doug Elfman at delfman@reviewjournal.com. He blogs at reviewjournal.com/elfman.
NEW in stores
"Dragon Age: Origins" (EA) is for you "Dungeons & Dragons" lot. It's a role-playing game set in ye olden fantasy land of dragons and swords and such. The game makers like to say it's the spiritual successor to "Baldur's Gate."
"Origins" is looking like a 60-hour adventure packed with preloaded cinema-type scenes, where people say things such as, "Duncan, are your men ready for battle?" "They are, your majesty." And: "There have been no signs of any dragons in the wilds."
The plot? It's such a traditional fantasy, I'll just quote an executive producer, who said in a video run-through of the game: It takes place among "ancient ruins," where armies will "make their final stands against the Blight. You are a new Grey Warden recruit. And as a member of this ancient order, you are sworn to protect the people of (some mystical land) against the Blight -- the Arch Demon and the Dark Spawn Horde."
OK, then. So like any role playing game, you watch a bunch of cinema scenes. Then you run around talking to villagers and such, choosing your dialogue from a few lines that pop up on the screen. You can pick dialogue and actions that make you bad or good. This is a "karma" game with repercussions and rewards.
When you finally battle, you pause the game to choose a certain attack move, then you see your attack move carried out. You have "hit" points and the like. You upgrade your weaponry, magic and shields, and so on.
The game retails for $60 for Xbox 360 and PS 3; $50 for PC. It's rated "M" for blood, intense violence, language, partial nudity and sexual content.
"Pro Evolution Soccer 2010" (Konami) is the annually updated soccer outing. This year's changes:
You get a new analogue-stick option to play soccer with the two thumbsticks more; you can instantly change plays and strategies on the field; and players look more realistic.
The game retails for $60 for Xbox 360 and PS 3; $50 for Wii; $30 for PS 2 and PSP. It's rated "E" for mild lyrics.
"DDR Hottest Party" (Konami) proves that, yes, "Dance Dance Revolution" is still pumping out new games, and yes, they still sell.
This one's for the Wii, so you can use the Wii remotes to keep your hands moving to instructions, while dancing to the modes of free play, groove circuit and workout.
Among the songs: "Disco Inferno," "99 Red Balloons," "Rhythm is a Dancer" and "Clocks."
The game retails for $20 for Wii. It's rated "E 10+" for mild lyrics.
"Need for Speed: Nitro" (EA) brings to the Wii and the DS a racing game that is nothing like a driving simulator.
In "Nitro," you drive super Audis and other super cars so fast, the images greatly blur around the edges of the TV screen, giving you that "wow, I'm flying" feeling.
The tracks are environmental -- city streets, bridges, tunnels, shipyards and so on.
The game retails for $50 for Wii; $30 for DS. It's rated "E 10+" for mild lyrics and mild violence.
-- By DOUG ELFMAN
