Empire Bay is a detailed and vast recreation of an East coast, 1940-50s US city. A fictional metropolis which resembles parts of a number of iconic American cities, it is the most impressive and memorable part of last year’s Mafia II.

Despite being set in an urban sandbox it is a linear game devoid of side missions and optional narrative paths. You awake at the beginning of each chapter, receive a phone call from a friend, undertake a straightforward mission which is guaranteed to go tits-up, then spend the rest of the day trying to pick up the pieces before heading back home and hitting the hay. With the exception of the 159 collectable wanted posters plastered across the city, Mafia II offers no impetus to give in to your wanderlust.

Finishing the campaign and deciding to mop up some of the remaining trophies, I began to fully explore a city which had only been teased during the course of the game. In doing so I was truly astonished by the detail on display and the effort that must have gone into its creation. Alleys, back roads and huge plots of land that were left undiscovered during the campaign displayed the same level of detail as the more visible main streets and buildings.

Behind uninviting chain link fences lay abandoned workshops, their facades lovingly decorated with detailed period posters of consumer goods. Turn the corner and you might find a mechanic working on a car or a homeless gentleman slumped against a dumpster. At the far end of a seemingly inaccessible labyrinth of warehouses are countless labourers milling around waiting to be found. Expensive chalets await in the hills overlooking the city, where wealthy residents sit under a parasol enjoying ice cold lemonade. I would wager that the vast majority of Mafia II gamers will never stumble upon these hidden treasures as it makes no attempt to lead you towards them.

Mafia II is part of an increasing trend of sandbox games this generation, a pattern which may largely be traced back to the huge success of the Grand Theft Auto series, in particular GTA IV. When done well, an open world can be an exciting playground, but when the execution isn’t up to scratch it can be a distraction that consumes all else in the game and is liable to become repetitive, fast. Mafia II features an exemplar sandbox, yet does so little with it, which begs the question; why set a linear game in a sandbox? Creating a city on the scale of Empire Bay must be a time consuming and costly proposition, but increasingly it has become the norm as developers are not averse to creating worlds that outgrow the stories and characters living within them. 2010’s Just Cause 2 is a perfect example of this.

After nine hours Rico finally ran out of road

Whereas Mafia II creates a city, Just Cause 2 created its own country. The fictional South Asian island state of Panau is one of the most impressive and overwhelming open worlds yet, taking in varied terrain including alpine resorts, cities, towns, rainforests and glorious beaches straight out of a holiday brochure. Unlike Mafia II, the majority of the game is non-linear as you travel all over the islands, laying waste to infrastructure in whatever method you see fit.

The story is just as silly as the many daredevil activities which you are encouraged to partake in, taking a back seat to the free-roam fun. It makes no apologies for having the narrative and characters play second fiddle to the setting and extracurricular activities it affords. Just Cause 2 pushes the sandbox to the very limit, but at times it feels like overkill. Travelling in a jet aircraft from one corner of the map to another can take the best part of 5 minutes, and travelling in more pedestrian and easier to find transport becomes a dull and drawn-out affair. Driving through rainforest and seeing no sign of civilization for minutes at a time makes you wonder if the map is attempting anything other than offering an impressive sense of scale.

Large open worlds can feel bare and succumb to repetition, something which Empire Bay avoids with its smaller land mass and attention to detail. Panau falls victim to this, but being more rural than urban and thus offering fewer opportunities for detail, this is not overly surprising. However, Red Dead Redemption’s prairies, deserts, hills and woodland feature only a frugal collection of settlements, yet it is full of character, feeling lived-in and an integral part of RDR’s significant charms. More sparse than the majority of modern sandboxes, it manages to be far more atmospheric than most and allows its interesting inhabitants to take centre stage, never overwhelming the scene. Rockstar excel at creating worlds that are a defining feature, yet are careful not to steal the lime light from the real stars such as Nikko Belic and John Marston.

No matter how hard he looked, John couldn't find a stunt ramp.

One of the ways Rockstar have achieved this level of excellence is through music; a crucial element in creating an immersive open world, helping to build upon the mise-en-scene and establishes mood in a setting that desperately needs to be filled. A quiet sandbox can feel hollow – a lonely place that you are far less likely to want to explore. Driving around Liberty City (GTA IV) is infinitely more enjoyable when listening to the in-game radio stations, and it pulls you in deeper when the DJ refers to places you have just passed, or even plot events.

Mafia II succeeds with its period tunes from artists such as Chuck Berry and Muddy Waters and news reports which detail the aftermath of your latest heist. In the same manner, the low-key sounds and occasional folk songs enrich Red Dead Redemption. Taking this a step further, by putting the musical landscape in the hands of the player, Burnout Paradise challenges you to put your own stamp on Paradise City. The custom soundtrack is fully integrated into the game, giving life to a map otherwise devoid of human presence.

By moving away from the usual single-player confines of an open world map, Red Dead Redemption took the unusual step of utilising its sandbox as a massive multiplayer hub. Usually a rather controlled and rigid entity, it turned the hub into an ideal place to posse up with friends, shoot the shit, other players and NPCs and explore the game outside of competition. Continuing the theme of the vastness and nothingness of the old West, it made the jump from single-player to multi far less jarring and more of a seamless transition, which Burnout Paradise also achieved with stunning results. This is something I hope we see a lot more of in the future as developers try to bridge the gap between single and multiplayer.

Sandboxes come in all shapes and sizes, whether its Rome in Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood or Dead Rising 2′s mall with their invisible barriers, or Just Cause 2′s island state which sticks closest of all to the principals of a truly open world. The best of them display a fine balance between the open world and what’s going on within, and are ever mindful of how small details work to flesh out their setting, be it through the soundtrack or art design. The rest of them fall well short.

I have found myself increasingly drawn to sandbox games of late, and have come to appreciate their charms whilst being very aware of their drawbacks. A good open world game is full of fun distractions, able to draw you attention away from the narrative drive. A great one succeeds in leading you back, knowing that without addictive core gameplay and an engrossing narrative a sandbox is just a big, empty space waiting to be filled.

• Format: PS3
• Unleashed: Out Now
• Publisher: SEGA
• Developer: CS1 Team
• Players: 1
• Site: http://ryu-ga-gotoku.com/four/index.html

Yakuza 4 can be rather overwhelming, even for the most adventurous of gamers. From the outset you are invited to explore every nook and cranny of Kamurocho – a city filled to the brim with sub-stories, side-missions and mini-games which can easily keep you occupied for the best part of 100 hours. It is a distinctive game, one that will further delight the converted but is unlikely to win-over Yakuza detractors.

Picking up the story one year after the events of Yakuza 3, we return to Kamurocho, Tokyo for the vast majority of the game. Kazuma Kiryu, reformed Yakuza and living legend, is back helping the weak by cracking skulls and protecting his kin, but this time he is joined by three other playable protagonists. Each of the four characters enjoys their own section of the game, but their intertwining stories are convincingly drawn together for the final chapter. In a series that has stuck religiously to its established formula this ranks as quite the change, and it is one for the better.

The fifth and perhaps most important star of Yakuza 4 is Kamurocho City. You will be treated to a virtual tour of the neon-lit streets of a very convincing take on Shinjuku’s red light and entertainment district, Kabuki-cho. It is a city that is as alive and vibrant as any urban sandbox that has come before it, feeling both lived-in and characterful. Traversing the streets you will come across young couples chatting about the latest phone app, a solitary salaryman sat in despair in the corner of a burger shop, shady looking men loitering in the park looking for trouble, and the non-stop hustle of an izakaya employee trying to herd customers into his restaurant. You feel like one of the thousands of inhabitants in a city that would carry on without you.

The City is the real star of Yakuza 4

The authenticity of the setting is aided by the decision to retain the original and excellent Japanese voice acting, and the localization comes across as being natural and well scripted. On occasion a conversation will be lost in translation, and that is to be expected from a game so rich in dialogue, but for the vast majority of the time the subtitles feel like the words that should be coming from the mouths of these men.

The city has changed very little since Yakuza 3, with the exception of a few new stores and a subterranean labyrinth of sewers and abandoned malls. But more than the landmarks themselves, it’s the varied activities you can access within that are of interest. Mini-games and sub-stories, which for the most part have absolutely no ramifications upon the narrative, are plentiful and the average gamer will likely only scratch the surface of what’s on offer. In the same vein as Shenmue, mundane events like eating lunch or a trip to the convenience store become mini-adventures – as worthwhile as you are willing to make them.

This time around the hostess bars have made the journey to the West intact, offering a charming but rather repetitive Hostess Maker management sim. Boxcelios 2 is the main draw at the SEGA arcades; an excellent shooter which merits your attention, and between bowling, karaoke, batting cages, casinos, massage parlours and a game of steamy table tennis, there is no shortage of time-wasters to enjoy.

Between beat-downs, Kazuma loves nothing more than belting out a tune at Karaoke

For all its lighter moments and quirky characters, Yakuza 4 can be ruthless in its depiction of violence and nowhere is this more apparent than in its brutal street fights. Much like world map or dungeon encounters in an RPG, you will constantly be the target of over-zealous street gangs and Yakuza looking to start a ruckus. Just as the A-Team before them, our leads seem incapable of killing anyone – one of the few traits which set them apart from the majority of the villains – no matter how fatal their skull crushing finishers appear. Blood spurts from shattered noses and faces contort as teeth fly across the screen and bones are snapped. The unapologetic violence and gritty realism of these street fights (outcome aside) does make the moments when characters catch fire or jump twenty feet into the air that much more jarring, though there has always been an element of the absurd to Yakuza’s violence, especially during boss encounters.

Each character has a distinct fighting style as well as a varied set of moves which helps keep the combat interesting. However, this does mean that you start back at zero once you switch characters, temporarily taking away all your hard earned progress and leaving you frustrated as you move back from powerful combos to elementary strikes and grabs. There are plenty of moves and upgrades on offer, but with the exception of a couple of fights it’s easy to survive by just spamming punch and kick. Overall, the combat is satisfying yet far from perfect and, with no lock-on feature to speak of you will be lashing-out at thin air far too often.

Akiyama introduces a street thug to his knee

Any series set largely in one location with each game spread over tens of hours runs the risk of becoming stale. There are times when you will sigh at the sight of yet another agitated gangster making a bee-line for you, or lose interest in an uninspired delivery mission. To combat this Yakuza 4 expertly utilizes its riveting narrative, knowing just the right time to drop another well-directed extended cut-scene, when to shed light on another aspect of the story or introduce a new player to the intrigue.

Yakuza 4 is like violent Marmite. It’s liable to split opinion and chances are you already know if you are likely to enjoy it. If you appreciate a good story, are drawn to Japanese popular culture and city life, enjoy RPG-like mechanics, repetitive grinding and don’t feel that every activity must have a meaningful outcome, then Yakuza 4 just may end up being your favourite game of 2011.

• Format: PS3 (version reviewed), PS2, PSP, Xbox 360, Wii
• Unleashed: Out Now
• Publisher: THQ
• Developer: THQ
• Players: 1-4
• Site: www.wweallstars.com

WWE All Stars attempts something a bit different with the wrestling genre and the WWE license. An arcade style brawler, it pits a roster of past stars against some of today’s finest and simplifies the more realistic move-sets of games like Smackdown vs. Raw. Concerns such as body proportions and gravity have been discarded, resulting in impossibly beefed-up wrestlers leaping ten feet in the air and tossing each other around like rag-dolls.

WWE All Stars is as colourful as its roster of wrestlers, which includes past greats such as Hulk Hogan, The Ultimate Warrior and Stone Cold as well as current day stars like John Cena and Randy Orton. There are a handful of unlockable characters and more are promised as DLC. Both sides of the roster are well balanced, with no discernible advantage in choosing the legends over the current pretenders, or vice versa. No matter their era these great hulks fill every inch of the screen and there is a real sense of weight and power behind each slam and blow.

The mix of old and new offers the opportunity to stage “what if” matches. Finally, we may conclusively answer questions such as “Who is slower – Big Show or Andre the Giant?” or “Who is the toughest Scot – Roddy Piper or Drew McIntyre?” The Fantasy Warfare mode takes full advantage of this, pairing similar wrestlers in a collection of battles for the ages. Each of these bouts is preceded by entertaining TV-like segments comparing the two wrestlers and making you believe that they are squaring off through the mists of time. This provides a great deal of fan entertainment, but is unlikely to be of interest to those with less knowledge of WWE lore. However, there is enough elsewhere to keep any brawler happy, WWE fan or not, including the Path of Champions and its three story campaigns.

The controls are easy to pick-up, and somewhat limited in their scope, featuring a collection of grabs and strikes (strong and weak), the results of which can be altered with a flick of the right stick. Counters and blocks are mapped to the triggers, which are tricky to master as each move requires different timing to successfully reverse. Signature moves are earned throughout the bout and are mapped to a combination of the grapple or punch buttons. Powerful finishers are made available once certain conditions are met, offering a gloriously OTT and satisfying end to each match.

Action is viewed in a more close-up fashion than other games of its ilk, highlighting the combatant’s freakish size and physique but taking away from your sense of the surroundings – much more akin to a beat ‘em up than a wrestling game. There are a number of events including tag-team, cage matches and triple threats, but these slight variations fail to disguise the limitations and repetitiveness of the action and moves on offer.

Online matches bring out the best and worst of WWE All Stars. Finding ways to defeat your opponent and triggering your finisher at the optimal moment to score the pin or KO is hugely satisfying. However, the limitations of the tricky reversals come to a head when battling a human foe. Bouts can quickly descend into a competition of who has the best counter timing – or who has the best luck with spamming the triggers – as moves are countered back and forth. No matter the grapple, element of surprise or health level, virtually all standard moves can be countered, which becomes increasingly frustrating against human competition and certain CPU opponents.

The biggest stumbling block is the incessant load screens. By far the most bothersome is the caching data screen, a five minute waiting period (on the PS3) which you must sit through every time you fire it up. By the time you are finally in control, you may well have moved onto something else entirely.

Once you have finally reached the main menu, you will sit through a further three load screens before you take control of your chosen character in an exhibition match. They crop up after character selection, another after a brief ring announcement and one more after the unbelievably dull entrances. This puts a very real dampener on what should have been an ideal game for playing in short bursts. If you only have twenty minutes to spend gaming you may well find yourself reluctant to load up WWE All Stars, aware that so much of that time will be eaten up by the caching data and load screens.

Those looking for a Smackdown vs. Raw clone will be disappointed as WWE All Stars lacks the depth and polish of that series. It’s no simulation, happy instead to be an over the top brawler with larger than life characters doing larger than life things. Its simplicity and horrendous load screens do hold it back, but it is still a quality piece of disposable entertainment; capable of appealing to both wrestling fans and those who remain perplexed by grown men grappling in pants.

• Format: PS3 (version reviewed), Xbox 360, PC, Mac
• Unleashed: Out Now
• Publisher: EA
• Developer: BioWare
• Players: 1
• Site: http://dragonage.bioware.com/

Comparing Dragon Age II to its predecessor, Dragon Age: Origins, doesn’t do it any favours. Despite offering a deep and engaging adventure it is difficult to shake the feeling that it’s a wasted opportunity – neither building upon nor matching the achievements of the first instalment of Dragon Age.

You assume the role of Hawke, one of a group of refugees fleeing from war-torn Ferelden. Making your escape to the sprawling city of Kirkwall, you soon discover that the demonic hordes of the Archdemon are not the only hostile forces in your way. Rife with in-fighting, turmoil and segregation, the city plays host to your rise from illegal immigrant to hero over the course of a decade.

Hawke’s story is told through prolonged flashbacks with Varric the dwarf, one of your more charismatic companions, recounting the tale. Varric has the gift of the gab – never afraid to let the truth get in the way of a good story – with his audience, and the player left to question the validity of his claims. This framed narrative lends weight to your actions, even if it makes their outcome inevitable, as you are aware your quest is destined to become legend.

This fantasy yarn lacks a clearly defined goal, a deliberate choice on the part of the developer. It’s not always apparent what exactly you are striving towards, with a number of subplots simmering under the surface, only some of which are fully developed. It’s an interesting approach which succeeds in keeping the story fresh, but it falters when pacing issues make it easy to loose sight of your overall objective.

Hawke’s rise to power is assured, but how you get there is largely at your discretion. There is no shortage of side missions which line your pockets with gold, award experience and swell the ranks of your party. Most of these quests are generic, but they succeed in keeping the player engaged by showcasing interesting characters and plotlines, as well as affecting other aspects of the game. Each of your companions have their own side missions which uncover more of their past, either distancing or ingratiating themselves to Hawke. Suitably fleshed-out, you come to genuinely care about your crew – ever wary of the impact of your words and actions on these delicate relationships.

Across each play through you take part in hundreds of engrossing conversations. Utilizing a similar system to the morality based Mass Effect dialogue wheel, almost every response comes with a number of disparate options clearly labelled as being romantic, fair, sarcastic or stern. Brilliantly scripted and well voiced, these interactions remain entertaining throughout, and you may find yourself rushing through the combat in an effort to return to the rich and immersive dialogue.

Battles are fairly straight forward, at least on consoles; a satisfying mix of button-mashing and none-too-taxing tactics that is missing some of the nuances of its peers. What it lacks in depth it gains in accessibility, though at times you may find yourself yearning for more challenging foes. The equipment system has been streamlined, removing the ability to tinker with companion’s armour, which frees up precious inventory spots to better prepare Hawke and ensures continuity in character appearance.

Dragon Age II’s most prominent failing is its claustrophobic setting. For most of the game you are stranded in the city of Kirkwall. Throughout the first third you are teased with the prospect of visiting different locales, eventually breaking free from the city around the ten hour mark to embark on an expedition to the cavernous Deep Roads. This is an exciting but painfully brief sojourn which concludes by dumping you back into the city. It soon becomes clear that your wanderlust will go unsated, as Kirkwall becomes the permanent setting for the remainder of your geographically challenged adventure.

Stuck in one place for tens of hours, it is easy to dwell upon abundant rough edges and questionable mechanics – faults that are more easily forgiven when on the move. The constant load screens become frustrating, marking what, in-game, is just a short jog from one street to another. Having to speak to a merchant’s chest of wares instead of the tradesman himself is a tricky job of finding just the right angle, and will try your patience well before the hundredth attempt. As cabin fever takes hold, these small grievances are magnified and start to spoil the experience.

On the rare occasion that you do venture outside of the city walls – usually for a side mission in the surrounding mountains – you quickly come to realise that art direction and variety weren’t two of BioWare’s primary concerns. Dungeons are recycled ad nauseum, as what was once a mine shaft will soon reappear in countless others missions as a dragon’s den or a smugglers hideout. These dull labyrinths soon make you long for the familiar streets of Kirkwall.

While it clearly lacks the scope of other BioWare RPGs, the contained setting does allow for a full realising of Kirkwall. It feels like a real city, populated by characters you come to know and trust, or distrust. When a character is missing from his regular spot you take note, and likewise you are instantly aware of any new, unsavoury characters. Informative scrolls and codex are littered throughout the city, contributing to Kirkwall’s extensive back-story, making it easier to believe that it has stood for hundreds of years. The brilliantly atmospheric soundtrack adds character to the repetitive settings, yet it inexplicably drops in places, leaving long periods of silence before it suddenly returns for no apparent reason.

Dragon Age II is repetitive and confined, yet anyone who enjoyed Origins is sure to find something that will take their fancy. It falls well short of expectations yet the interesting characters, their riveting interactions and the tantalizing details of the land they call home do, in part, make up for its shortcomings. Dragon Age II is a limited yet enjoyable entry in a series which we have yet to see the best of.

• Format: Xbox 360
• Unleashed: Out Now
• Publisher: Mastertronic
• Developer: PopCap
• Players: 1-2 (up to 4 online)
• Site: http://www.popcap.com

Chances are you familiar with, or perhaps even own, at least one of the puzzlers found on PopCap Hits. Offering four games of varying quality, it is a tidy reminder of PopCap’s impressive back-catalogue. However, it is a rather lazy collection and is thus difficult to recommend to the majority of gamers.

Volume one features two of PopCap’s finest – Peggle and Bejeweled 2 – along with two far more forgettable puzzlers in AstroPop and Feeding Frenzy. All four have been available separately on XBLA for some time, not to mention numerous other platforms.

Peggle couldn’t be simpler; fire a marble at a series of pegs, and then sit back and enjoy the illusion that you are in control of the ensuing chaos. Orange pegs are your primary target, but extra points can be earned by taking out other colours, culminating in a blast of Beethoven as you eradicate the final orange peg in dramatic slow-mo. There are a number of game modes including the Peggle Nights DLC, which all-in-all will keep any Peggle enthusiast content for hours on end.

Bejeweled 2 requires a little more thought, though it’s far from taxing. It’s a very simple process (are you noticing a theme?) of matching coloured gems without exhausting your options and forcing a “No More Moves” game-over. Endless mode and time and score attack are all worthwhile additions, contributing to a game that will keep you entertained far longer than many other bigger, more complex and polished puzzlers.

Unfortunately the other half of PopCap Hits is far less impressive. AstroPop offers little of interest and is unlikely to lure you away from another session of Bejeweled or Peggle. The objective is to match colour coded blocks by grabbing and then shooting them at similar shaded rectangles, working towards a target score to proceed to the next, virtually identical level.

Feeding Frenzy sticks out from the pack thanks to its unusual premise and because it allows more freedom of movement than the other three. As a ravenous fish you must gobble up as many small-fry as you can, ever wary not to become a snack for even larger fish. As you rack up the points your fish begins to expand, able to hunt the larger inhabitants of the ocean as predator becomes prey. Unfortunately it doesn’t really progress much beyond this and very quickly becomes stale, no matter how hard it tries to keep your attention with marine factoids. Did you know that to allow it to expand, the stomach of a Puffer Fish is pleated, like a Scottish kilt?

Bejeweled 2 and Peggle are prime examples of what has made PopCap an industry leader, offering a neat package of simplistic, addictive and highly entertaining puzzles, suitable for enjoyment in short bursts or insomnia inducing marathons. However, AstroPop and Feeding Frenzy are mild distractions at best, unlikely to keep you playing longer than the time it takes to get the hang of your objective.

PopCap Hits does the term vanilla disc a disservice, as there is zero content here that has not been made available elsewhere in the past. If you already own Bejeweled 2 or Peggle on XBLA or elsewhere then you may as well stop reading here and put the cash back in your pocket; that is unless you have an overwhelming desire to own a physical copy.

To add insult to injury, at the time of writing half of this bundle (AstroPop and Feeding Frenzy) may require some tedious fiddling down the back your TV, being that they are unplayable in Pal-60. Upon entering the main menu and highlighting either of these two, anyone playing with an HDMI cable or component set to HD will be informed that they must change to the 50Hz setting, impossible for anyone using an HDMI cable.

Your options are to either switch out your HDMI lead for the old component cable, or just ignore half the collection, which isn’t a bad option considering the underwhelming qualities of AstroPop and Feeding Frenzy;  but it will make the cost of the collection (£29.99 SRP) seem even less palatable.

In an age where we are constantly being reminded that we should be playing our current generation games in the crisp picture quality that HDMI provides, it seems incomprehensible to release a game that is incompatible with it. A forthcoming patch may yet provide a fix, but it won’t excuse the initial disappointment.

While it is hard to fault the mindless joys of Bejeweled 2 and Peggle, the same cannot be said for this disappointing collection as a whole, especially when you can get these two cheaper elsewhere as stand-alone titles. AstroPop and Feeding Frenzy, presuming that you have the required cables, are simply not worth the price of admission.

“Matt-san.”

“Matt-san” came the voice again. I ignored it, aware that I was dreaming.

“Do you know where… icanfind any sailors?” It was a broken American accent with no concept of where to pause or place emphasis.

“Ryo, is that you?” I replied, now conscious of being sat on a fork-lift truck, solitary, floating in darkness.

“Why have you forsaken me, Matt-san?” asked the bodiless voice.

“I’m sorry” I pleaded. ”I intended on playing lots of Dreamcast games when I bought the console last year, but lots of other things came up”. Images of Red Dead Redemption, Mass Effect 2 and Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood flashed before my eyes.

“You must help me avenge my Father” came his stern retort.

“Sailors” he whispered, to no one in particular.

Before I had the chance to reply, he was gone. And I was awake, imbued with a new sense of purpose. I would hook up my Dreamcast and finally start Shenmue.

***********

We all have holes in our gaming library, some more notable than others. A title passes us by and before we know it we are onto a new generation, too busy playing our contemporary games to lavish attention on acclaimed relics, especially when they haven’t been given the HD, downloadable make-over. Most of my absent classics are Nintendo, and to this day my eyes glaze over when friends reminisce about Mario or Zelda. But the most glaring omission, one that has been troubling me for some time, is Shenmue.

For years I have listened keenly to gamers wax lyrically about Yu Suzuki’s ahead-of-its-time adventure. Trying to keep pace and save face I often resorted to my lone Shenmue fact to try to legitimize my presence in any Shenmue conversation – “Good point, but did you know that Suzuki initially envisioned Shenmue as a Virtual Fighter origins story?” Once I had blurted out that little gem, I would try my hardest to steer the conversation back to Metal Gear Solid, Uncharted or some other shared experience.

I finally bought a Dreamcast last spring, about 10 years later than I should. SEGA had screwed me in the late nineties, deciding to discontinue the Saturn shortly after I had committed to it valuable birthdays, Christmases and pocket money. Feeling hard done by I sold my beloved Saturn, shunned the Dreamcast, bought a PlayStation and never looked back. That all changed in spring 2010 when I bought a second-hand DC along with the games I needed to play catch-up. Shenmue 1 & 2 were my top priority and I soon found them as a reasonably priced pair, though still costing triple what I had paid for the console and trimmings.

Like so many of my retro purchases my DC and games soon went into hibernation, only making the occasional appearance when, once in a blue moon, I fancied dipping into Jet Set Radio or Space Channel Five. My planned Shenmue marathon was forever being put on hold, relegated in favour of an ever growing pile of current generation titles, with their pretty graphics and shiny trophies.

With the recent release of Shenmue Gai as a gentle reminder of what was patiently waiting on the shelf, I finally relented a few days back and threw on Shenmue. I was unsure if I could I hope to fully appreciate it, or any other piece of gaming vintage for that matter, playing for the first time so long after release. Would the engrossing narrative and deep gameplay shine through the dated graphics, typical SEGA voice acting and awkward controls? I managed to answer some of those questions, getting through three in-game days before succumbing to the urge to write about it and, I’m afraid to say, play something else.

December 3rd 1986 was my first day in the shoes of Ryo Hazuki. A significant day, but not quite on par with “That Day” – a day so eventful and tragic that the inhabitants of Yokosuka simply refer to that day as “that day” with no risk of confusion as to which day in particular they are referring. That day? It is the day from which all else in Shenmue derives. Spending my first session trying to gather clues regarding the murder of Ryo’s father, I was both relieved to finally be playing and enjoying Shenmue, yet disappointed that it would never be for me what it had been for those who had played it first 11 years ago.

What immediately shone through is that it was well ahead of its time, having many of the features that define modern narrative-driven games of today, yet it does not seem to have aged well. The execution of its “modern” features is missing that extra level of polish we demand from our AAA titles today. This is not surprising considering its age, but it makes the story, generally regarded as one of its greatest strengths, that much less immersive.

Stylistically, Shenmue jumps out as being very much late Nineties SEGA. I was instantly won over by the flair and colour of the Dreamcast, demonstrating the innovation that made SEGA such a great loss to the console market. However, it is also cursed with the appalling voice acting and dialogue of its stable mates. What adds to the kitsch and remains entertaining in House of the Dead works against Shenmue, making it difficult to take seriously and dating it where the graphics and concept still feel fresh. Are we so much more discerning today, or was the dialogue as terrible then as it appears now? I suppose some of the hilarious scripting is down to a haphazard translation, but the god awful voice acting is harder to explain away, not to mention the racial stereotyping that only a Japanese title could produce. However much I try to get past it, the dialogue has had by far the most detrimental effect on an experience I wanted to enjoy so much more.

Staying with the voice track, however un-natural it may be, the sheer volume of recorded dialogue still astounds. Virtually everyone has something audible to say, no matter how moronic and pigeon-English it may be, a story to tell that makes the people more real and the backstreets of Yokosuka come alive. Speaking of the setting, I was surprised by how well it captures the look and feel of the non-descript back streets of suburban Greater Tokyo.

From the tiny park, to the local store through to the seedy bars and smoky arcades, it is the unattractive yet strangely appealing streets of suburban Japan, through and through. The detail is astounding, visible in the gatcha-gatcha toy vending machines, shop façades and the middle aged drunkards who appear out of thin air to litter the streets as soon as the clock hits 7pm, a nightly ritual in Tokyo by which I once set my watch.

Being a sucker for throw-away extras, I wasted no time in heading to the arcade to play full versions of a number of eighties SEGA classics. I’m not sure how playing Space Harrier and Super Hang On help to solve a murder, any more than five finger fillet brought John Marston closer to reuniting with his family, but its certainly more entertaining than probing locals for clues about the whereabouts of sailors and Chinese people.

Eleven years on, and Shenmue still impresses, and by experiencing this moment in gaming history first hand, no matter how minute that sample, I feel like a weight has been lifted. This was perhaps what I most hoped to achieve by giving it a whirl – a misguided sense of duty to at least try what had passed me by. I recognise in Shenmue so many features that I enjoy in contemporary games, such as the freedom afforded by GTA IV, the numerous lives and stories made audible in games like Dragon Age Origins or the minute, and often mundane details of Japanese city life found in Yakuza 3, the series that most resembles Shenmue in both spirit and appearance.

It is not difficult to appreciate how impressive Shenmue must have been, but experiencing it now, without the rose-tinted glasses, I’m struggling to see it through. I can’t escape the feeling of disappointment that often accompanies any experience long postponed and so well hyped. When we miss a game initially, are we forever doomed never to truly appreciate it?  Should I bother sampling Zelda for the first time so far removed from its heralded debut, or finally get into the Halo series 10 years too late? Games just don’t seem to age as well as other comparable media, or at least I’m not as patient with them.

I try to imagine myself playing Shenmue back in 2000, how I would have been wowed by its sheer ambition and innovation. But then it’s back to reality and I begin to loose interest, eventually moving onto something else. Most likely my increasingly short attention span is as much to blame as the ravages of time, spoiled by the instant gratification of modern games.

If I can persevere with Shenmue perhaps it will engross me like it has so many other gamers. But for now at least, I’d rather just fire up my PS3 and play Yakuza 3, content that the next time friends are discussing Shenmue I’ll be able to keep pace for a little bit longer.

Assassin’s Creed has been entertaining us since 2007 with its unique take on history. Chronicling an age-old struggle between a brotherhood of Assassins and the powerful Templars, it tells of mortal enemies who fight and die for control of mysterious and powerful artefacts, known as Pieces of Eden. We have been transported from the Middle East of the Third Crusades to Renaissance Italy by a potent mix of historical fact and nonsense, featuring real life figures such as Richard the Lionheart, Leonardo Da Vinci and Rodriguo Borgia co-existing comfortably with fictional assassins, jumping back and forth between the past and (almost) present day.

Three entries deep on home consoles, and bolstered by a number of portable tie-ins, Assassins Creed Brotherhood (one of our favourite games of 2010) left the series at an interesting juncture, hinting at a shift in focus from the escapades of long deceased assassins to our contemporary, Desmond. I must admit that I don’t particularly care for Desmond and his part in the saga, feeling the series always shines brightest when its carefully chosen historical settings take centre stage, following Altair and then Ezio through the most important moments of their lives. Desmond’s sections never seem quite up to the task, too simplistic and linear in comparison with his infinitely more interesting ancestors. But like it or not, he figures to feature heavily in future instalments, being as he is a “chosen one” of sorts; though I fear that the mysterious entity that did the choosing may have mistaken him for Nathan Drake, also voiced by vide game staple Nolan North – a proven commodity in killing and treasure hunting.

The story of Ezio, the protagonist from Assassin’s Creed 2 and Brotherhood, appears to have run its course. For a man who spends most of his life hooded and lurking in the shadows, I feel I have gotten to know him pretty well. It is time for a new character and setting to emerge to complement Desmond’s reality, something that Ubisoft have already alluded to. Various figures involved with the series have dropped hints, some contradictory, as to where it will and won’t travel next. We have been told that it won’t be set during World War Two, but the USSR and ancient Rome are possibilities; and it has been suggested that each numbered Assassin’s Creed will feature a new location and ancestor. The setting for Assassin’s Creed 3 will most likely have been decided long ago, and Ubisoft will not have been short of options.

Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood opened our eyes to Assassin activity all across Europe by way of a new assignment system. This amounted to a rather repetitive task of shipping your apprentices (recruited from the civilian population of Rome) across the continent to ply their trade, accruing experience points and ultimately become fully fledged assassins. Clearly the Brotherhood has spread its wings, bothering Templar interests wherever they are found, so I’m assuming that any location in the “civilized world” is fair game for AC3.

I will be surprised and somewhat disappointed if Ubisoft settle for anything post World War One, after which warfare in the modern sense took shape. From that point onwards a man walking around with concealed knives, AC’s defining and most appealing tool of the trade, would just be shot in the face – or simply slapped with an ASBO. Either way, it would make for a rather short and painful adventure.

Our robed hatchet men rile against established Templar power, attempting to overthrow despotic rulers and perceived threats to the balance of things. In achieving their goals, they look to the support of the people and encourage them to rise against their corrupt rulers, a revolutionary catalyst of sorts. Therefore I can think of no better setting than Paris circa 1789 and the ensuing years of organized terror. The French Revolution was rich with larger than life characters such as Maximilien Robespierre and Jean-Paul Marat, ready to step into the shoes of the Borgia of Brotherhood. At a time when blood ran freely – during the Reign of Terror (1793-4) it is estimated that as many as 40,000 men, women and children were executed, many without trial; no one would notice an assassin stabbing their way through Paris or taking a header off the Bastille into a carefully placed hay cart.

Rah Rah Rasputin, Russia’s greatest love machine – Boney M

Perhaps the Assassins were front and centre in the disposition of Louis XVI , only to be duped and double crossed by the men who assumed power, spending the ensuing years undoing their mistakes with some secretive stabbery. We could jump ahead to the Russian Revolution (1917) instead, as the Brotherhood light the fuse that sets off the whole of Russia, though that would be a lot of blood on the hands of our protagonist. If Ubisoft wanted to take the unusual step of casting a known figure as our lead, why not plump for Grigori Rasputin, the mad monk whose alleged resistance to bullets, knives and poison are worthy of a videogame character. Secretly attempting to unravel the Romanov dynasty from within and get his hands on a piece of Eden, he could hide bodies in his beard, all the while accompanied by the sounds of Boney M, who I’m sure would be happy to contribute a disco soundtrack.

Why not venture even further back into the depths of time to explore the birth of the Brotherhood and discover the motivations of its founding fathers. Was Alexander the Great (356-323 BC) the first Western ruler to stumble upon a Piece of Eden, drawn to it by his unquenchable thirst for power? The Brotherhood may have been born out of necessity, formed from the rank and file of Alexander’s huge army. Overwhelmed by the power and influence of his otherworldly artefact, and deluded by divine aspirations, Alexander finally succumbs to an assassin’s poison, a probable cause of the fever-like symptoms which killed him, perishing in his Babylonian palace before he discovers the true power of the weapon in his possession.

Staying with Babylon, we could witness the assassins’ role in the fall of a once proud city, ushering the downfall of a decadent seat of power that once oversaw an empire. The purveyors of organized chaos, our nimble scallywags could sew the seeds of doubt and decay in some of history’s most opulent cities. The final Imperial days of Rome and Constantinople would provide stunning backdrops, our assassins rooting out the causes of ruin and ultimately sacrificing the city for the greater good/more exciting game.

If Ubisoft are in the mood for a bit of blasphemy, why not return to the Holy Land, only this time in the first century AD, and explore the connection between the artefacts, their past owners and Christianity. This is something that has been touched upon in the revelations of Subject 16′s videos in Assassin’s Creed 2 and Brotherhood. Perhaps Jesus and his crew were part of the Peoples’ Front of Judea, under the astute leadership of Assassin Reg, looking to overthrow the tyranny of Roman rule. Culminating in Jesus’ crucifixion, his disciples use their Piece of Eden to bring about his resurrection. That story line would certainly generate publicity, if nothing else.

Don't cross the Assassins

A trip further afield would keep the series fresh, venturing further outside its comfort zone of European history. China or Japan in the Nineteenth or early Twentieth centuries would offer an irresistible change of scenery as they both struggled, often violently, with retaining traditional culture and values in the face of Westernization. The bloodshed and chaos of the Boxer Rebellion or the Opium Wars would offer an exciting subplot. I can envision our protagonist racing through the flames of Beijing’s Old Summer Palace attempting to complete his charge as the walls crumble around him, submitting to the overwhelming bombardment of the French and British forces.

Assassin’s Creed has mastered the gameplay fundamentals, established a narrative that resonates and made the assassin’s cowl an internationally recognised gaming icon. The setting is the icing on the cake. The last 2000+ years of world history is wrought with epic struggles and sinister characters who would lend themselves perfectly to the AC yarn, making the developers’ job that much easier. The series could go on and on, tapping into the lives of the countless assassins who came before Desmond, and as long as there is demand, I’m sure it will. After all, rewriting and reliving history is always appealing, especially when it involves smoke bombs, prostitutes and spring loaded blades.

Assassin’s Creed 3 is an inevitability yet, as my above ramblings would suggest, we know very little about it. However, even with so much up in the air, there is one thing we can be reasonably sure of – a nonsensical ending, something of a series speciality. So in keeping with tradition, 1873 was an excellent year for philatelists.

Desmond, are you listening?

I’m in the mood for a bit of a moan and in the process I am likely to make a number of sweeping statements about games, gamers, the mainstream media, and the public in general and do not intend on offering any solutions. This is merely an act of catharsis. Already slightly annoyed? I know I certainly am.

I consider myself tolerant and patient, relatively anyway. I have come to accept that common sense is not as prevalent as the phrase would suggest, and have learned to ignore people and situations accordingly. However, when it comes to the portrayal of videogames in the media – be it print, radio, TV, news or advertising – I do tend to get a little wound-up. I can be merrily hurling insults at X Factor contestants on a Saturday evening (I enjoyed that show far more than I’m comfortable with), only to have my viewing displeasure ruined by a Nintendo advert showing three people playing the same DS, or four idiots playing with PS Move, having the kind of “banter” that gives me chest pains. Tolerant indeed.

My personal issues with Nintendo commercials aside, videogames still suffer an unbalanced and at times rough treatment in the media. I appreciate that all new forms of entertainment are liable to take their lumps before establishing their place and style in the press, and although we have been playing games for the best part of 40 years, it’s only been in the last decade that they have demanded the attention of society as a whole. Yet I’m still left disappointed and a little bitter when I turn to the culture supplement of my daily newspaper and videogames are nowhere to be seen. It would seem that there is no space amongst the CD, movie, theatre and literature reviews for my past-time of choice.

"Hang on, how come we got stuck with the bloody steering wheels?"

When the subject isn’t being ignored entirely it often falls prey to lazy journalism centred on the debatable premise that they are corrupting our youth and devoid of any redeemable qualities. Enter a recent BBC breakfast time call-in, where a concerned viewer lamented the violence her ten year old child was witnessing in Call of Duty: Black Ops. Predictably, the presenters nodded away in judgmental agreement, failing to raise the obvious question: why on earth did you let your ten year old get his hands on a game that is clearly labelled as being suitable for eighteen years and over?

It is clear that the mainstream media still struggles with how best to cover and portray videogames and gaming culture. The long held belief that it is the past-time of boys and socially inept shut-ins is at odds with the increasingly overwhelming evidence to the contrary; that people of all ages and walks of life play videogames be they console, PC, portable, or browser based. This identity crisis presents a dilemma for non specialist media, proving difficult to pigeonhole within the established order of things. However, this does not excuse the lack of basic research of many an attempt. As the following example would suggest, taken from Radio 1′s Video Games Week, research is not always a prerequisite for reporting on video games.

“At number ten, It’s an online game. It’s very popular. It’s Half Life, specifically Half-Life 2, which is set some time in the near future after the nuclear apocalypse – as it always is. It’s a roleplaying game on your PC, like World of Warcraft, but not as fantastical. And you basically have to survive and earn as many points as possible. Some people live on Half-Life, like spend half their lives on it. It was the first online game where people started hiring other people to play for them while they were at work. That actually happens.”

No DJ Treble T, it does not. I accept that as a long-time gamer, who particularly savours telling people that they are wrong, I am far more likely to seek out such gaffes than the average reader, listener or viewer. Still, it does make you wonder why simple and easily researched facts go astray time and time again and why the topic seems to attract such ineptness. I recently stumbled upon a far less embarrassing, yet equally glaring error in The Times. An article about Microsoft’s Kinect listed Sony’s Move as a forthcoming release and speculated as to how it would eventually fair against Kinect. However, at the time of press the PS Move had already been in the shops for the best part of two months.

"It’s a roleplaying game on your PC, like World of Warcraft, but not as fantastical." Piss off.

At times I am guilty of being too defensive of my hobby and unwilling to listen to reasonable criticism, a fault with which I’m sure many gamers can sympathise. The fact that some of us still act like objectionable children when the artistic merits of videogames are questioned betrays our underlying insecurities with the medium and misses the point of why we should care in the first place if Shadow of the Colossus is art (it’s not art, it’s a videogame). Such impulsive reactions may be traced back to the mishandling of games in the mainstream media, which makes those who care about them that much more protective. It’s a vicious circle from which we are yet to emerge, and one that I recently fell into. Late last year I missed a rather interesting, perhaps even balanced episode of the TV show Panorama which looked into games, mostly MMORPGs, causing compulsive behaviour. This was no oversight on my part. I purposefully avoided it as my gut reaction was that it was going to wind me up and make me cringe.

Of course, it’s not all doom and gloom. At times I am pleasantly surprised by the quality of the odd TV spot, such as an excellent five minute segment on the BBC investigating why Western games struggle in Japan. It was a thought provoking and thoroughly well researched piece, which included interviews with a number of industry figures. The recent success of Call of Duty: Black Ops also generated a great deal of positive coverage as a number of news agencies picked up on its popularity and huge sales, instead of running the tired “here comes another killing-sim” angle. Even Fidel Castro’s fury at being featured in Black Ops’ Cold War storyline was reported slightly tongue in cheek, instead of the fervour usually reserved for violent games.

But why are these examples still the exception rather than the rule? For all the good done by these interesting shows and articles, it is quickly unravelled by the kind of drivel and baseless attacks churned out, in most cases, by the tabloid press. Tabloids will still tap into society’s mistrust of games to stir up trouble. That renowned purveyor of truth, The Daily Star, earlier last year claimed that Rockstar (Grand Theft Auto) were developing GTA – Rothbury, based on the tragic events of Raol Moat’s killing spree in Cumbria. They even went to the trouble of mocking-up a sleeve and interviewing family members of the deceased. The Daily Star was forced to retract the story, admitting in print that it was entirely fabricated and ordered to pay compensation to Rockstar, who presumably spent it on crack and whores. Despite this full and embarrassing retraction, many readers will remember the sensationalist original article and not the apology, forever viewing Rockstar as a group of immoral bastards looking to prosper off the back of tragedy, and failing to remember that the Daily Star is as reliable as courier services come December. Damage done.

Plumbing the depths.

So what can we learn from this state of affairs? I’m not too sure really. Having read this far, you would be forgiven for expecting some sort of conclusion, or a definitive statement on the matter, but I’m afraid you are to be disappointed. I offer no solution, but I do now feel slightly less irate.

If we allow ourselves to be optimistic for a moment, perhaps 2011 will be the year that videogames and the media finally get on. Frankly, I’d be content if Nintendo would just stop making commercials with three people crowded around the same DS. I won’t be holding my breath, and I suspect neither will you.

It’s now official: there will be no new NBA Elite, what was NBA Live, this year. In an almost unprecedented move, EA have turned a self imposed delay into a full-blown cancellation, removing an annual staple and a guaranteed earner from their release schedule . Their failure to churn out a competent reboot for their flagging basketball sim has already proved a disaster; causing significant damage to the once proud Live series, conceding further ground to the rival NBA2K franchise, damaging EA’s reputation, and contributing to some of the recent “seasonal” lay-offs which hit the Elite development team at EA Canada the hardest. All of this heartache may be traced back to one lousy 10 minute demo. It was the penultimate stage of a series rethink that, with the benefit of hindsight, was thoroughly ill-conceived and poorly executed.

I have been a fan of the NBA Live series since 1997, hopelessly addicted for 18 solid months to its impressive re-creation of the game I loved and its glorious statistics. To this day, I still consider it one of my all-time favourite games, as there are scant few others that have provided so much enjoyment over such a prolonged period. I have tended to buy a new NBA Live game every two or three installments, only straying to a competing series (NBA2K) once in the space of 13 years. With the inclusion of NBA Jam as a downloadable incentive for PS3 and 360 owners, I had already convinced myself that I would be picking up NBA Elite. Craving my basketball-sim fix, I only required that the demo be passable to justify filling Amazon’s coffers with another thirty five quid.  Unfortunately, it was anything but.

It was by all accounts a disaster. A series rethink plagued by bugs, unintuitive controls and shit-for-brains AI, the demo was released to the Live and PSN services at the tail end of September and was lambasted and ridiculed by critics and gamers alike. The skill based shot control and new dribbling techniques, along with a complete re-think of the core mechanics and an abandonment of a fifteen year heritage, left fans new and old scratching their heads. There was one moment above all that defined its shoddiness: Andrew Bynum, the LA Lakers seven foot centre static at mid-court, arms stretched wide doing his best impression of an airplane as the rest of the game passed him by. Much like Bynum, NBA Elite would never quite get off the ground, as in response to the terrible feedback EA would postpone the release citing “concerns about gameplay polish”. Quickly realising that you can’t polish a turd, it was aborted on November 2^nd 2010.

One of these players won’t be passing the mid-season drug test.

The immediate effects of this cancellation can be seen in EA’s recent layoffs as well as the ensuing rethink of the structure of the EA Sports team. But outside of the in-house fallout, it has the potential to affect the industry-wide approach to annual sports titles, or any other multi installment franchise for that matter. These games present a catch 22; don’t include enough upgrades and come under fire for standing pat year after year, or make changes and risk alienating your fan base, many of whom are satisfied with team and player updates and a new lick of paint. The Live series wasn’t operating from a position of strength, being met with increasing apathy from the press and losing fans in droves to the NBA2K series despite some recent improvements – but was such a drastic overhaul really necessary? EA only need look to their FIFA series for an excellent example of how to upgrade without overhauling, as the last two or three years have seen incremental improvements, without sacrificing the essence of the series.

It doesn’t seem unreasonable to presume that other sports franchises are now going to think longer and harder before changing core mechanics, even when they are clearly broken. After all, you are better off pleasing the existing fan base than risk sinking the game with a makeover, even if that means innovation takes a permanent backseat to maintaining the status quo.

Outside the realms of annual sports titles, the implications of the NBA Elite travesty may yet fall heaviest on the pre-launch demo. Like most gamers on a budget, I love pre-release demos, affording me the opportunity to weed out the weak links in my crowded gaming wish list. What started as a disc mounted on the front of your favourite magazine has evolved into a vital part of the video game life-cycle. A demo, be it pre or post launch, can be accessed by millions of potential customers and has the power to make or break any game. Through a successful pre-launch demo, the public’s early perception can be carefully moulded, as due to their short and linear nature they need only show the most exciting and polished segments and hide the rough and mundane. An unimpressive showing is capable of crippling a franchise as well established as NBA Live and troubling an industry heavyweight. With so much on the line, studios must consider whether it is fiscally responsible to make available a pre-release demo, especially with the NBA Elite blueprint for disaster now in place.

It would be naive to presume that developers and publishers aren’t more than aware when their product is sub-par. In this age of the almighty metacritc, where anything under an 80 average leads to bloodshed, you often hear of review copies for disappointing games being held back until the eve of release, in an attempt to reduce the damage done to the all important opening week sales. The pre-launch demo should be no different. This then begs the question; did EA really think that NBA Elite was going to be a winner? If not, and they had prepared themselves for the prospect of it being panned, then why release the demo in the first place? We will probably discover whether Lee Harvey Oswald really acted alone before we get to the bottom of that particular mystery.

Fortunately, it’s not all bad news.

Amid all this despair, EA are due some kudos for sending Elite to the knacker’s yard, opting not to release a sub-par title that was likely to still turn a substantial profit. In the last nine months we have seen a number of big titles released of unacceptable quality including APB (which subsequently sunk Realtime Worlds), and Final Fantasy XIV; where Square-Enix, relying on brand loyalty and their vast resources, are continuing to weather the storm. Only last month we finally got Fallout: New Vegas along with its debilitating glitches, which didn’t stop it from reaching the upper echelons of the game charts. EA fessed-up, took it on the chin and attempted to tackle the problems head-on. They realised the project was unsalvageable, then pulled the plug. What they didn’t do was release a fundamentally broken product and relied on the “we’ll fix it later” approach. Of course, however unsavoury the prospect may have been, EA have the luxury of being able to take the financial hit of abandoning such a large project, a setback that would scupper a lesser studio.

When EA dragged NBA Elite 11 out to be shot, they did more than just deprive gamers of a worthwhile alternative to NBA2K11. They elevated the status of the pre-launch demo to potential project-killer, giving publishers something else to agonize over apart from how best to avoid the Call of Duty release window, whilst giving developers worldwide more reason to pause when considering a series overhaul.

Although it will be of little consolation to EA, it’s not all doom and gloom, at least for the consumer. PS3 and 360 owners may now look forward to a stand-alone NBA Jam by the end of the month, replete with all the trimmings. Boom shakalaka indeed.

• Format: PS3 (version reviewed), 360
• Unleashed: Out Now
• Publisher: Bandai Namco Games
• Developer: Ninja Theory
• Players: 1
• Site: http://www.enslaved-thegame.com/

On paper, Enslaved: Odyssey To The West is undoubtedly a game of high pedigree. Coming from UK developers Ninja Theory (Heavenly Sword and the forthcoming Devil May Cry reboot), it’s a reworking of the classic Chinese novel, Journey to the West. Featuring the voice talents of Any Serkis (Lord of the Rings Trilogy), expertly scored by Nitin Sawhney and penned by novelist and screenwriter Alex Garland, it boasts an impressive collection of talent. But does it live up to expectations?

We are first introduced to Monkey, our muscle-bound protagonist, imprisoned on a slave airship which is rapidly losing its battle with gravity. Taking advantage of the ensuing chaos, he breaks free and crashes back down to earth and into a bleak vision of our future: a world plagued by machines (mechs), where man is an endangered species. Monkey’s return to slavery is immediate, ensnared by an unlikely captor; a young woman by the name of Trip. A co-escapee, she reluctantly enslaves him by means of a mechanical crown which will fry his brain if he fails to obey her every command. Connected at the hip, he must escort Trip safely home to win his freedom. Thus begins an immersive and enthralling adventure, but one that falls short of fulfilling its vast potential.

The bulk of Enslaved revolves around straightforward platforming, interspersed with simplistic combat and a spot of treasure hunting. It’s not a particularly challenging game, even on hard difficulty, and the combat is rather uninspired. Most enemies can be defeated simply by spamming the same combos, and the bosses, though entertaining, are easily vanquished once you decipher their predictable pattern of attack. There is an upgrade system (combat abilities, health, shield etc) which is funded by the red orbs that are scattered throughout the levels. Even so, the combat never really opens up beyond some special moves, counter attacks that require precise timing, and satisfying finishing blows.

As for the platforming, it never quite succeeds in creating the illusion that you are in control of your leaps and bounds. There is rarely more than one way up and you are made very aware of it. It feels far too rigid, merely a case of pressing jump and watching Monkey move with grace from point A to B. However, the clambering does reward the player with great panoramic views from some of the more imposing summits of New York and the wastelands.

The combat and platforming is successfully broken up with turret sections which don’t outstay their welcome, and some excellent break-neck chase scenes. Some of these include Monkey’s Cloud, a hoverboard of sorts which stars in a couple of the boss fights. One constant throughout these, and every other section, is the herky-jerky camera – which isn’t helped by occasional frame rate issues. A number of times you will turn a corner only for the camera to be one step behind, or make a leap that leaves it in the dust. It then tries to correct itself by swinging far too quickly into position, often losing sight of Monkey entirely. This lag is rather nauseating, though it becomes less bothersome the more you play.

Enslaved is perfectly paced, with no one area allowed to outstay its welcome. Each chapter revolves around one setting broken into a number of different areas, some of which require a more tactical approach than others. There are areas that can be tackled alone, with Trip taking a back seat, whereas others demand a co-operative solution. This often amounts to Trip causing a distraction and Monkey flanking the enemy and catching them unaware. This tactical approach is a welcome one, as a constant all out slug-fest would not have played to its strengths.

An average brawler and platformer, Enslaved’s saving grace is its engrossing story and triumvirate of appealing characters. Monkey and Trip are eventually joined by Piggsy, a squat spare-parts trader who knows his way around all manner of machinery (not to be confused with Manhunt’s chainsaw brandishing snuff star of the same name). He has a soft spot for Trip, which leads to an amusing display of one-upmanship between him and Monkey, culminating in an embarrassing proposition that will make you squirm. Piggsy enters the fray at the perfect moment, providing relief from the more serious opening third, and the remainder of the game is better off for his inclusion.

The relationships and interactions between the leads is touching and believable, conveyed through a series of subtle gestures and some outstanding facial animation. Stand-out moments include Trip’s face lighting up when Monkey reclaims his motorbike, and the moment when Piggsy is overcome with grief upon hearing some grave news. Facial animation and body language has rarely been put to work so brilliantly and convincingly in a video game. Enslaved is teeming with poignant and revealing moments that stay with you long after you put it down; including a divisive but thought provoking ending.

Graphically some corners have been cut, with textures lacking polish as well as the aforementioned frame rate issues. However, these hiccups are minor points as you will soon lose yourself in Ninja Theory’s unique take on a future US. The eye-catching pallet of the early, city based levels is a million miles from the standard realisation of a post apocalyptic world, with the standard greys and browns complimented by splashes of resplendent greens, reds and blues. New York is over-run with twisting roots and ivy, with deer prancing between the rusty chassis of antiquated taxis and the debris of a once bustling metropolis accompanied by a beautifully subtle score that never overwhelms the scene.

Enslaved: Odyssey to the West is a charming, imperfect adventure that will frustrate and delight in equal measure. In spite of its faults, Enslaved constantly redeems itself with moments of brilliance – be it a piece of sparkling dialogue or an engrossing turn in the narrative – which ultimately make it a worthwhile experience.