Limbo -- All-In-One.

The third annual Summer of Arcade is upon us. The first entry this year is Limbo. The game was developed by PlayDead Games and published by Microsoft Game Studios. Limbo is a puzzle-centric platforming game along the lines of Out of This World and Flashback. You play as a little boy who has entered Limbo to find out what has happened to his sister. You have the one button to jump with and another button that allows you to interact with objects in the game and that's it. The game's visual style immediately steals the show. The stark black and white and gray visuals are matched with a minimalist sound design that create a truly creepy game world to explore. The game's puzzles are as equally brilliant as the game's aesthetics. The game employs a healthy amount of action within its puzzles. The controls handle very well and won't really get in your way. The game isn't entirely perfect though. I'm not sure I'm a fan of its reactionary action design. It's not really an issue when just playing the game. But there is an achievement for completing the game in one sitting with five or fewer deaths. The game has more than a few moments of cheap death. The game is also short. Which normally isn't an issue. But we're talking a fifteen dollar asking price for what for me was less than four hours of game one time through. I will be going back for a couple more achievements. I can't help come away feeling the game really should have been at least five dollars cheaper. I'm giving Limbo an 8. It's a good start to this year's Summer of Arcade.

DeathSpank -- Final Opinion.

I've completed DeathSpank with the full two-hundred points. I have to say I'm thoroughly impressed with DeathSpank. Purely comic games are rare. Purely comic games that are genuinely funny are even more rare. Purely comic games that are funny from start to finish are even more rare still. I found DeathSpank to be very funny from start to finish. It took me twelve hours to complete the game. The game was surprisingly large. I figured most of the gigabyte file size was due to the game's fully voiced story and the amazingly detailed graphics. Those things are part of it of course, but the other reason is that there is just so much game to be had. The production values of the game are top notch. It beats the pants off a lot of disc based games. The graphics are amazing. The entire world of Death Spank is essentially represented as a sphere with 2D trees and buildings and the like sticking out of it. It adds to the game's great aesthetic and is a technique I'd like to see more of. The game is a wonderfully colorful and stylized experience. Hopefully the game takes off as I believe the action genre is far more approachable to the modern gamer than the traditional graphic adventure nature of a lot of previous comedic games. I'd really like to see further adventures with the character. I'm giving DeathSpank a 9.

DeathSpank -- Initial Impression.

Now that Crackdown 2 is winding down and I'm still playing Dragon Quest 9, I'll be playing the Xbox Live Arcade version of DeathSpank. The game was developed by Ron Gilbert and Hothead Games while published by Electronic Arts. Ron Gilbert developed Maniac Mansion and the first two Monkey Island games. He also programmed the SCUMM (Script Creation Utility for Maniac Mansion) engine which would be used in almost every single LucasArts adventure title. DeathSpank is a mix of the pure comedy of Monkey Island crossed with the loot whoring of Diablo. That's a pretty interesting mix, loot whoring and comedy. So far I've found the game to be truly funny. I'm also impressed with how good the game looks. It has a great cartoon aesthetic. It's a really good looking game. The combat is also rather fun. DeathSpank initially seems to be worth the $15 asking price. Now let's see if I can finish it before Limbo kicks off the Summer of Arcade for this year.

Crackdown 2 -- Final Opinion.

Another game, another one-thousand points. I've completed Crackdown 2. I've found all the orbs, completed all races, and went through every stunt ring in the game. Oh yeah, I've also completed the story but that's not really saying much. The story is barely there and it's entirely irrelevant. You're not playing Crackdown for the story. You're playing Crackdown for the playground they've provided. You're playing Crackdown for the co-op. You're playing Crackdown for those maddeningly addictive orbs. I played through the entirety of the game in co-op with various people. I'm still messing around with the game helping others complete stunt rings or finding orbs. The game is both impressive and marred by its extremely short and fast development cycle. It's impressive they got it up and running and out the door while providing some decent new content. No matter how fun Crackdown 2 may be, there is a distinct lack of polish to the game clearly resulting from such a short development cycle. An extra six months would have done wonders for fixing some climbing issues and further refining the aiming and vehicles. The game could have been truly impressive. Hopefully we'll see a Crackdown 3 that has been given the proper amount of time to develop. The blame falls squarely on the shoulders of Microsoft. I think Ruffian Games have done rather well with what they were given. I had a great time with Crackdown 2. It scratched an itch for more Crackdown. I'm giving Crackdown 2 an 8.

Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Sky -- Initial Impression.

While I'm still continuing to crackdown on the freaks in Pacific City in Crackdown 2, I'm going to be starting another game. That game of course is Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies for the Nintendo DS. The game was developed by Armor Project, Level 5, and Square-Enix. It was published in the west by Nintendo. The ninth game in the mainline Dragon Quest series marks a few notable firsts. This is the first title in the series developed for a handheld. This is the first title in the series to ditch random battles. And this is the first title in the series to include a multiplayer aspect. Despite all of those firsts, from the time I've spent with the game so far, I can say that Dragon Quest IX feels like Dragon Quest. The holy trinity of Yuji Horii, Akira Toriyama, and Koichi Sugiyama are still in place as they have been for every entry in the series. Horii handling the scenario, Toriyama providing the concept art, and Sugiyama providing the score. I'm quite intrigued by the premise of Dragon Quest IX thus far. Horii's stories are always charming and focused on the human element more so than the quest itself. Everything seems on track for another classic Dragon Quest experience. I'm not worried about this one going south on me.

Crackdown 2 -- Initial Impression.

I'll be returning to Pacific City in Crackdown 2 for the Xbox 360. Crackdown 2 was developed by Ruffian Games and published by Microsoft Game Studios. The Internet is ablaze with comments about how the game is ugly. How it's the same exact city. How it's not Crackdown. How the freaks ruin the game. How it's merely an expansion and shouldn't have the two in the title. How not having the transforming agency cars entirely ruins the experience. Blah blah blah. It's been one amazing bitchfest. Realtime Worlds developed the original Crackdown. They were keen on making a sequel and striking while the iron was hot. After all the original Crackdown was merely the game attached to the Halo 3 beta and wasn't actually supposed to amount to anything. Let alone a gloriously fun sandbox co-op experience. Microsoft initially didn't feel the need for Crackdown 2 and Realtime Worlds set about developing APB. A year and a half ago Microsoft comes around and asks them if they wanted to do Crackdown 2. Ruffian Games was born from a good percentage of designers from Realtime Worlds who wished to do just that. They were faced with an insanely close deadline right from the start. Obviously time saving considerations were made. It's amazing Ruffian Games was even able to get the game out the door on time. I could tell from the demo that's been out for a few weeks that Crackdown 2 was indeed more Crackdown. And that's exactly what I wanted. That's not to say that Ruffian Games hasn't added to the mix. They certainly have. They've bumped the co-op game up to four players from two players. That alone is massive. Crackdown was a fun game single-player, but it was a great game in co-op. They've added various new types of orbs to collect. From co-op orbs, which can only be collected online with more than one person, to the absolutely fiendish renegade orbs which actually flee from your pursuit on foot, via wing suit, or in vehicles. They've added new weapons and grenades. Is Crackdown 2 a real sequel as opposed to an expansion? Who gives a shit? Magus and I spent five hours in co-op last night having a blast doing nothing more than roaming the city leveling skills and not advancing the story in any way. And that's what it's really supposed to be about now, isn't it?

LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4 -- Final Opinion.

I've completed LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4 for the Xbox 360 with the full one-thousand points. If you've played any of the previous LEGO games from Traveler's Tales then you know exactly what to expect from the Harry Potter variant. They don't stray from the formula in any way. If you didn't like any of the previous entries in the series then you're not going to suddenly find yourself in love with the gameplay here. The Harry Potter universe fits in perfectly and it's as charming as all the others. The shift away from combat towards more puzzle solving is welcome. Also welcome is the use of Hogwarts as metroidvania hub. The graphics and sound and music were handled well. The plastic LEGO visual style has never looked better. The music is straight from the films so you can't go wrong there. I am however starting to wonder what's going on over at Traveler's Tales when the games still suffer from major screen tearing four games in. Judging from Internet reaction the game still seems as glitchy as ever. I've managed to make it all the way through the four games without getting hit. The kid in me still thoroughly enjoys the LEGO games. I'm giving LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4 an 8. And I'm looking forward to LEGO Star Wars 3: The Clone Wars and LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7 and whatever may come next. Bond perhaps? Lord of the Rings? Next up for me I'll be booking a flight to Pacific City to eradicate some freaks and to deal the Cell.