RYSE SON OF ROME

Well, this review is different, since this is the last game in which I worked. Yep, yesterday I finished Ryse Son of Rome. No big surprises, as you may imagine.

Of course I had played the game dozens of times. So there were little space for unknowns. Actually I didn't find all collectibles so I may replay some levels. I'm actually thinking on finishing the game on Legendary mode, shouldn't be too difficult.

I could talk quite a lot about all the problems we had during production, and all the ones we overcome, but this is not the place. Instead, I'll focus on my frustration for the Metacritic rating: 60. I think the game deserves more, but at the end of the day you have to accept the public/media verdict. However, I seem to be stuck on the sixties: Imperial Glory was a 69, Wanted a 62 and now a 60. Am I the only one who can see a trend down here? In all of those projects I did my best, worked like a beast and still the ratings are poor. Lightfish/Ecofish did better, around 70-80, but they didn't have enough reviews to go into Metacritics.

So, I'm still waiting for my great game, that project that justifies my career in the industry. Let's see what comes next...

MIRROR'S EDGE (iOS)

Thanks to the 16 hour flight to Austin, I finally managed to finished Mirror's edge (iOS). The game is not bad at all, but I was stuck at a certain point and despite several attempts I could not go further. After multiple attempts and some cursing I finally beat the game.

On the plus side it's entertaining, captures with fidelity the spirit of the original game and for the most part the controls are simple enough. The screen is free from HUD (where's my pause option, dudes?) and graphically speaking is above the platform average. They've kept the iconic red for interactive elements, and the camera work is fairly good, I rarely had problems seeing what I was supposed to despite the high speed of the main character at times. It also features the same (I think) music than the AAA version, which for me is a plus.

On the minus side the controls often fail, and that was the reason I was stuck: The platforming challenges for jumping (swipe right) on one direction, grab a wall and then jump back (swipe left) were not responsive enough and by the end of the game there are a couple of puzzles that force you to do that on perfect timing.

Aside from that the story is narrated by on-screen text without much syncing with the game, which looks cheesy. Ah, and a little more variation on the enemies could have been nice.

Anyway, despite having felt heavily frustrated by the controls and almost got rid of it, I finally finished it. I won't recommend it unless you're extremely proficient on iPad swiping or you're a hard core fan of the series ;)

DEAD SPACE (iOS)

Continuing with my effort to clean up space from my iPad, I've just finished Dead Space (iOS). I wasn't really interested in the game but it was free that day and well, you know. Still it was almost a giga on my tablet and I need that for storing more House of Cards episodes!

Anyway, the game is quite good. Graphically speaking is clearly above the platform average, the controls are generally responsive and there is a nice variety of weapons and secondary uses. Not many enemies but they are well implemented and their abilities are varied enough to create additional challenges when different AI types are present simultaneously. Levels are too linear to my taste but there are some visual variations here and there to make them appealing. Devs used a good number of survival horror tricks (as many as the hardware limitations allows, I suspect) and they mostly work.

On the other hand, the story sucks. It's barely an excuse to keep you moving. The lack of checkpoints makes the experience really frustrating at times, and you can often end up in no-fucking-ammo-left situations with no option to go back and buy. Some of the game mechanics could have been used more (i.e. the gravity jumps and the no oxygen scenarios) but the overall experience is good. It took me less than 5 hours to finish it (admittedly I died a lot in some locations) but if I would have paid for it I would have thought my money was worth it.

WHERE'S MY WATER?

One of my new year's resolutions is to finish as many games as possible from all those I've got in different platforms. I need to free up some space from my iPad, so I've just completed all the free levels of Where's my water?

In case I haven't mentioned it, I think there is an immense amount of design talent in portable devices. I've seen little wonders in those platforms and they keep coming. Where's my water? is not necessarily one of those, but it's super-enjoyable and well crafted.

On the plus side the game features a basic mechanic of water physics across all levels and they make the best out of it. On every additional level package they add 1-2 new twists to the basic system, but all of them are well implemented. There are some meta-games of achievements and additional item collection that offer more replayability, and visually speaking the cartoon style fits great on the platform.

On the minus side, the game has too many "influences" from Cut the Rope. Seriously, looks like they copied that one in detail and without remorse: The Screen layout, the collection of 3 elements for additional points, the reward screen, the main character... Just enough differences to not get sued, I guess.

Another great thing of the game is that it seems to attract kids, even at early ages (although they fail repeatedly) so it's good for keeping the young ones entertained for a while. If you can find it cheap (I got my copy one day it was free) I definitively recommend it.

RYSE VIDEO REVIEW

I just finished watching a video review (in Spanish, sorry) of Ryse Son of Rome by a guy who's played the whole game. Yep, 10 hours of watching him saying 'Ven aquí muchacho' ('Come here boy') but interesting to see how people experience the game.

THE ROOM

Another proof of the superb design you can find in portable devices: The Room is probably the best puzzle game I've played ever.

On the minus side, it's just puzzles: There are no other subsystems to provide some relief from the core experience. Also the game is relatively short, only 5 levels of 30 min each.

On the plus side, the game features a unique approach to puzzles: All the secrets are contained in the same object, generally a wooden box with multiple gadgets. The wandering for the necessary items is really limited and often straight forward. Puzzles are surprisingly varied, enjoyable and accessible (I never had to look for solutions in the internet) and the concept of all puzzles in the same location supports a high quality of the graphics (you can be as detailed as you want since there won't be any other scenario).

There are some flavor elements surrounding the game: A paranormal plot which doesn't offer much and a supporting system for clues (similar to the one used in the Professor Layton series). But the core mechanics work very well, the camera is fairly responsive and the overall experience is one of a kind. I strongly recommend it to whoever like puzzle games.

BEYOND TWO SOULS

Thanks to my Spanish colleagues at Frankfurt, I got on my birthday Beyond two souls. I had previously played both Fahrenheit and Heavy Rain, and I personally like David Cage's approach to videogames. If you haven't tried any of them it'll suffice to say it's all about the story, and gameplay is limited to press buttons on certain moments to trigger the next story bit. This works for me as a variation from other (actually practically all) games but I totally understand if people accuse these games of lacking interaction. It's a fair point.

Anyway, the story on these titles is usually superior to other games, and BTS is no exception. You're told the story of Jodie, a young girl with paranormal skills who has been abandoned by parents, kicked out of foster homes and eventually ends up being raised by a couple of scientists. For the most part her story is a sad one, with lots of rejections and disappointments, but at the same time her special abilities have given her the possibility for changing for the better the lives of others. You develop a close relationship with her, promoted by the fact that you control her across her whole life: There are missions when she's 6, 12, 16 and 20 years old.

At the end, I tended to see her as a daughter, and I was protective in my decisions about her life. Interesting, isn't it? The mix between reality and supernatural is well balanced, and cutscenes and facial animations are probably the best of the last generation.

On the minus side yes, gameplay is poor. You're essentially requested to press certain buttons to make the story progress, and many times is not even clear which ones are those (you need to read the character animations to infer the direction to press on the stick). The game doesn't excel on that at all, but the story compensates these flaws imho.

Also I'm curious about the budget of the game. There were unique game systems in some missions which are not repeated anywhere else, practically a need animation set or character model per mission and multiple cutscenes. I suspect this game has been quite expensive, and considering it's destined to a niche segment I wonder if it's worth the money for Sony.

Anyway, I enjoyed it and recommend it to whoever is interested in videogame stories. It has a 70 in Metacritics but the user's 81 seems to be more accurate to me.