---Earlier this year, the sequel to Bangai-O, Bangai-O Spirits, surprised me with it's amount of variety and tension. It's still one of my favorite games I've played this year. Thus I was highly anticipating playing the sequel to that game: Bangai-O HD: Missile Fury. I was hoping for even more improvements and variety in this installment, as well as an expectation of a visual improvement here. Well, I did get those things sort of. If you would like some Bangai-O, then this is definitely that, but I'm afraid it doesn't amount to much more. It's competent, and fun, but it's more of the same of what we got in Spirits.
---That being said, there are some welcome additions and improvements here that make this something like the "Half-Life 2: Episode 1" of Bangai-O. You now gain back health for every enemy you kill. The freeze weapon is now bound into the dash skill. Speaking of: the big dash feature is amazing and very satisfying to pull off. There's also new weapons like the Fast bullets and the Wide bullets, though it seems Bangai-O favors it's Bounce and Homing weapons more.
---Which does start to bring me to my complaints. You can't choose weapons right at the start anymore. Instead you have to break boxes in order to retrieve them, and even then they go away after awhile so you better hope you see them in Bangai-O HD's hectic fire fights. I also didn't like how much Treasure has brought over and implemented from Spirits into Missile Fury. The tilemaps and background and shared heavily between the game to the point where Missile Fury lacks identity. You can also tell Missile Fury had a bit of a lower budget as Dr. Ban is now a flat static sprite that looks like he's still in the concept art stage. Overall I think Bangai-O HD proves how unique and interesting the series as a whole is, and how underrated it has gone, but I don't think this will blow the minds of long-time fans either. It's a Bangai-O game, and that's it. - [07/10]

-----Intelligent Systems is one of the most important companies affiliated with Nintendo and it's history. Most people may not be aware of their many contributions to Nintendo's history. Most will know about their Fire Emblem and Advance War games, but what about their support on games like Metroid, Mario Bros., Wario Ware, or even Duck Hunt? There's also the multiple contributions they've made to Nintendo hardware as well. Intelligent System is as essential to the Nintendo cannon as any named staff member of the company you could think of. In the midst of their many credits sits the 2000 classic Paper Mario.
-----Some history first. The first Mario themed RPG can be credited to Square Soft with their SNES game Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Swords. Super Mario RPG has it's own legacy, and is highly regarded and sought after by those in the know. This is as true now as it was back then, as Super Mario RPG was a great success. So much so that a sequel was planned. However, Square would back out of that, instead setting their sights of the optical disc consoles of the future rather than deal with Nintendo's new cartridge based 64-bit console. The job for the follow-up to Super Mario RPG 2 would instead go to Nintendo's reliable long-time partners, already discussed in the first paragraph.
-----Thus Paper Mario, or "Mario Story" as it's called in some parts of the world, was developed and released as it's own standalone product rather than a straight follow-up to it's SNES predecessor. What resulted has become one of the most well regarded games in the Nintendo catalog. People still pine for this game and it's sequel to this day. So, what makes this game so alluring to those who've played it?
-----Let's start with charm, because Paper Mario has plenty of it. As the name suggests, Paper Mario takes on a more flat, cartoony aesthetic. It's world is purposefully jaggy, it's characters; animated sprites standing upright, animated to move around believably. The colors of Paper Mario are extremely vibrant. Meanwhile the dialogue, and especially the characters are always memorable. Whether it be an island of Yoshi's, a desert town with shady secrets, or a frozen murder mystery, the environments of Paper Mario are never boring. In fact, Paper Mario pulls a lot from the Mario lore that's been established up to this point to provide a wide range of creatures for NPCs and enemies.
---Speaking of enemies, the battle system of Paper Mario is something truly unique feeling. Battle scenes in RPGs can often feel derivative of the Final Fantasy and Dragon Warrior roots of the genre, but not here. Paper Mario does have a strong foothold in RPG staples. Long time players of the genre won't be lost here. However, Paper Mario does bring delightful twists too. For example the action commands brought over from Super Mario RPG offer great real time action type gameplay. There's also the satisfying badge system that can add abilities and buffs to each battle. It's often surprising how much depth is brought out of the only two attacks Mario himself can do: jumping and hammering. Of course I can't forget to mention your allies, which can bring their own unique abilities into the fold.
-----These allies have their uses even outside of battle. Each one has a special ability that can be used in Paper Mario's various fields to do things like provide alternate routes, puzzle solutions, or helpful information. Mario can also provide his own field abilities with those aforementioned jump and hammer actions. There's even a spin move that adds speed into the movement mix. Speaking of movement, Paper Mario doesn't quite offer the same robust platforming mechanics of it's parent franchise, but the Mushroom Kingdom you explore is often designed with some great 3D layouts. The scenes flow up and down. Each feels as important and thought out as the last.
-----In terms of story, Paper Mario's high concept is very familiar. Bowser has kidnapped Princess Peach and her castle using the power of the Star Rod, and item stolen from Star Haven; the home of the wish-granting Star Spirits. Mario is easily overwhelmed at the start of the game, and is ejected out Peach Castle, which sits in the sky for the majority of the narrative. Mario regains consciousness back in the Mushroom Kingdom, and must traverse it's varied lands to free the trapped Star Spirits from the clutches of Bower's most power minions. While I've heard criticism of this story for not breaking new ground, I can't help but ask if it needs to, or if it even matters. There's so many turns and events in the meat of Paper Mario that I can't but fall in love with each story beat.
-----Overall Paper Mario is one of the favorite RPGs. In fact I think it's one of the most well made RPGs you could play. It's mechanics are unique and engaging, it's look is colorful and vibrant, and it's story is so lovable it's insane. While Paper Mario is often eclipsed by it's successor, I will always have a special place in my heart for this childhood classic. It's a game I always think about, and a concept I hope sees the light of the day again at some point in the future. - [VOID: Nostalgic Bias]

-----When a collection of media grows as large as Final Fantasy, it becomes hard to tell where you should start. It helps that Final Fantasy is a collection of non-related stories with the only element that builds from entry to entry is the self-referentialism of certain symbols like “Cid” or “Chocobo.” Still though, mechanically and aesthetically there is still some difficulty on where to begin. For example the first entry in the franchise is a good suggestion. It’s simple, to the point, mechanically relevant to the franchise, and isn’t even that esoteric for an NES title. Then again there’s the latest installment of XV. That one’s more relevant socially, has updated mechanics that appeals to the action crowd, has more depth to it’s characters, and generally looks pretty. Well, may I suggest somewhere in the middle of that for a place to start with Final Fantasy: number 9.
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-----Going into Final Fantasy IX, I wasn’t that familiar with it. I wanted to play it through a recommendation of a close friend whose a Final Fantasy fanatic. This game here is his favorite. I did know a lot of others also hold this title in high regard. Contextually I knew 9 comes after FF (Final Fantasy) 7, which to this day is considered to be one of the most seminal entries in the RPG cannon. That would pin 9 as a continuation of the mechanics and tools the FF developers were working with at the time. I also knew Vivi, the most iconic black mage design in FF, was in this game. That’s about all I knew. Personally I didn’t know what to really expect from this, other than the usual hope for any game: that it’s fun.
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-----Fun is certainly what I would use to describe the opening of FF9. Images of an evil queen amongst a huge crowd waiting for a play to start. A theater of thieves plan to kidnap a princess using the play as a disguise. Meanwhile outside the castle a strange pointy hatted boy becomes the errand boy for a small rat. All these elements and more come together as the play starts, only for things to go awry for the thieves when the princess actively tries to escape the castle herself, convincing the thieves to take her with them. It’s thrilling and a perfect way to start the game proper. From this point the story continues to become more interesting as the band of characters that becomes the player’s main party trek across the continent, visiting other villages and kingdoms that adds a lot of character to FF9’s world.
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-----I feel it is important to take a step back from the story from time to time to appreciate the great art direction of the software. Almost all the background environments of the game are static frames akin to the matte paintings you would see in old films. In fact upon closer inspection of character models, you can see these little strokes in their texture work as if the entire world has been painted. I think this is further enhanced by the aspect of the color use in FF9 as it’s rich and varied. The style is cute, but never saccharin. It makes everything from the characters to the darker subject matter FF9 tackles in it’s themes more approachable. I also think the attention to detail here is to be admired as well. I can’t really think of a dull frame in the entirety of FF9’s runtime.
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-----Mechanically, FF9 is fine. It’s familiar, which can be good. The presentation itself is mostly static third person as you go from scene to scene, kind of like old Resident Evil. The only complex 3D aspects of the game are kept to it’s overworld. If you’ve played a FF before, you know exactly what to expect. The player goes from plot beat to plot beat with a party of character, each with their own traits, stats, and class characteristics. When necessary, you talk to key characters and townsfolk to learn information, and you use FF’s currency gil to buy armor, weapons, items, and more. FF9’s strength’s don’t necessarily lie in it’s higher mechanical levels, as much as what it does in-between them. For example, peppered throughout the body of FF9 are little mini-games like monster hunting, frog catching, balancing puzzles, and more. The biggest of which is this card game called Tetra Master, which you can challenge select NPCs too. I like this diversion, as it has enough depth to be interesting while promoting collection and strategy.
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-----Another small addition to FF that 9 boasts are the Active Time Events (ATE). ATE are like optional B-stories you can view at a press of a button. They’re never obstructive or even require you to sit through, but I always found these fun to watch anyway. Again these add a lot of character to the game. In fact, that’s the word of the day for FF9: character. The developers make sure to add where it counts for the majority of the game, really helping to sell you on what’s going on in a given moment. This includes the little side quests you can run into, or the random areas you come across in the overall, or even the moogles that save you game by slamming a book down a writing in it.
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-----However, one area I think could’ve used a bit more addition are the battle mechanics. Like everything else before, these are fine. Familiar. In fact that’s the main problem here. Everything is so familiar that FF9’s battles never felt exciting to me. They felt kind of standard for what was going on for FF around this era of the franchise. For one, it uses the Active Time Battle (ATB) system that FF has been using since, I think, it’s fourth entry. Nothing wrong with that per say, but FF9 doesn’t expand upon that or anything. Any flaws or benefits of the system carry over into this game. For example, the length of battles certainly felt like an issue at times, especially with the camera sometimes taking it’s time showing the battle scene environment at the beginning of battles. Thankfully I was able to turn that feature off for the most part, however battle times could still feel too long. Loading screens into battles could also be an issue at times as well.
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-----Additionally, there isn’t a particular component of FF9’s battles that really defines the game for me. What I mean is that if I point to a part of the battle mechanics, I can usually trace it to a FF game that came before 9. Third Person perspective battles and Limit Breaks (called Trances here)? Final Fantasy 7. The ATB system? Final Fantasy 4 (I think). Summons? Final Fantasy 3. Magic, weaknesses, class abilities, status effects and such? I mean come on, that’s just an RPG. Even the one sort of unique attribute to FF9’s battles is very similar to the Materia of FF7. What I’m referring to here are the equipment abilities. You see, each piece of equipment in FF9 will come with up to three abilities that the character that is equipped with the item could learn. Each character can only learn certain abilities with certain equipment, so it’s best to swap equipment items around to see who can learn what with what. When a character is equipped with an item that has ability they can learn, a few things can happen from here.
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-----One, the ability is a class ability, and can automatically be used right away by the character. These are normally attached to the weapons that only that character class can use, so these don’t require any equipment swapping. However, there is outcome number two: the ability is a passive ability that needs to be assigned via the ability menu item in the pause screen. Each character has these gem points they can use to attach these abilities onto them so that they take effect during battle. Regardless if it’s a class ability or passive ability, each of these items aren’t permanent to the character right away. If you take off the chest piece, it’s abilities follow suit, and the character loses the right to use those abilities. However, each ability also comes with it’s own integer progress value that starts at 0, and can be filled up to a certain max value for that ability. Once this stat reaches it’s max value, the character permanently learns the ability, and can use it even if they take off the equipment item that ability originated from. This progress stat can be filled via the Ability Points (AP) earned through battles.
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-----Thus, these equipment abilities differ from FF7’s Materia in that Materia was it’s own item that needed to be found, then equipped to equipment slots, then leveled up. FF9’s equipment abilities streamlines that process by making equipment and abilities one in the same. This minimizes inventory, and makes the best case I’ve seen an RPG make in terms of keeping old equipment around. This especially helps legitimize synthesis, a process where you meld two items together to create something new. I like equipment abilities overall, but they’re not enough to make FF9’s battles feel fresh. Maybe if they were more of a focal point of the game and the equipment items changed the look of the characters, sure, but that’s not the case. I’m not asking for a reinvention of the wheel, but I think a little remixing goes a long way.
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-----The other big criticism towards FF9 I can think of does have to do with it’s story. That may come as a shock being as I praised the game’s beginnings, and in fact I would also like to heap equal praise on FF9’s mid-portion as well. The game’s narrative stays exciting and interesting up until the end of it’s second act. It’s at this point of the game things take a turn, as the main threat changes, as well as the game’s focus. We go from a continent sized adventure to a mutli-world sized one, and somehow things feel more shallow and undeveloped than ever before. For one, the overall threat changes from the queen to something more cliché and tired for FF. This isn’t helped by the usual routine of getting a boat, then an airship to travel a relatively bland overworld whose creators couldn’t even be bothered to give interesting names to other continents. If I said “Forgotten Continent,” “Lost Continent,” and “Outer Continent” I’m pretty sure somebody would think I’m talking about the same place, but these are all big swaths of land independent from each other.
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-----Then there’s the main characters, who were really done dirty in this third act. The main protagonist, Zidane, gets an unneeded backstory not very far from other FF narratives. The princess, Garnet, who finds out she’s been estranged from her real family quickly forgives her mass murdering false queen mother and decides to take the throne herself? Vivi kind of fades into the background for the most part, only showing back up time to time when the game needs reminding that it had a strong emotional vector. Steiner has been unlikable the entire time up until the 2nd act, where you think he’ll have a change of perspective and personality, only for him to stay the same static unlikable character. Freya, poor Freya, seems like she’ll have to rebuild a lost relationship from the beginning, but her story is just dropped after an amnesia reveal and never picked back up. Eiko seems like she might have something interesting going on, but she too is left in the dust. The game’s joke character, Quina, has a teacher that is introduced as having a connection to Vivi’s uncle, but nothing more comes of it. Finally Amarant is such a non-character that it completely flies in the face of a much better character for the main party: Beatrix. Beatrix even has an arc she goes through. Why she isn’t part of the team is beyond me.
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-----All of this is to say that it’s really disappointing and annoying to see FF9 build itself up so well with a really nuanced story just to fumble the ball at it’s last moments. It honestly reminds me of Dragon Quest VII with how miscalculated and poorly thought out this 3rd act twist is. I was having a conversation with another friend at the mall about this, and something he said stuck out to me: that Final Fantasy had to be “grand.” As if for Final Fantasy to be Final Fantasy, it needs to have the complicated origin stories, over the top God-like antagonists, world traveling, and all that jazz. I disagree, and I think the first two acts of FF9 prove my point. I think you can have a Final Fantasy game that takes place on one continent against an evil queen while still having a great story through things like reincorporation of story elements, tragedy, and character drama. Just once I would like to see a Final Fantasy game where we don’t face a God at the end of it. I’d rather be a band of regular people solving human problems. That’s much more interesting to me.
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-----However, don’t let my dower tone here define the review for you. First of all, the things I dislike here can be the exact reasons someone else loves Final Fantasy 9. As I argued at the beginning of the review, Final Fantasy 9 plays very much like the quintessential game in the franchise. It has everything that makes the franchise what it is. It’s just that, in my opinion, FF9 does that to a fault. That being said, there is still the beautiful, approachable painted aesthetic of the game that will help draw you in. Then once you are in, you’ll be treated to an incredible two thirds full of fun and interesting story bits. In the middle of which are pretty good RPG battle mechanics that, while not unique to this game, are still very well developed and balanced. Of course if you get tired of all that, there’s always minigames like Tetra Master to take your mind off things for awhile. Finally, the game as a whole, final third included, still offers one of the better experiences Final Fantasy has to offer. So why not start with Final Fantasy 9? It’s certainly a Final Fantasy crown jewel. A Garnet specifically. - [08/10]

---Despite the tedious nature of it, there's still a vigorous debate on what length a game should be. I understand the argument, especially if you value capitalism and think the dollar is almighty. I however don't care how long or short a game is, as long as it uses it's time well. I've played many games throughout the years, and out of all of them Pokemon Snap is one the best short games out there. Really it's a great game no matter what category you put it in. The fusion of excitement, wonder, and strategy is all delivered into this compact package of entertainment software.
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---For those unaware, Pokemon Snap is a video game where you play as a photographer who must document all the creatures (called Pokemon) on a remote wild island. How you document these Pokemon is through your primary tool: the camera. Each "course" in the game sees you going through an on-rails adventure, snapping shots of the wild life around you. Once your course is finished, you return to the local researcher, Professor Oak, who will grade your shots and put the best ones in a "Pokemon Report."
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---Snap is both a relaxing retreat and an exciting foray. It takes the mechanics of an on-rails first person shooter like House of the Dead, and recontextualizes them into this wonderful game about taking pictures. It's the kind of game that's got so much charm and appeal, that one can't help but complete it in a night, which isn't hard to do. Part of that is due to Snap's execution being water tight. There are no detours, or filler, or even pizzazz. From the start Snap is determined to just put you in the field and start documenting.
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---Another aspect of Snap's brevity is the courses themselves. Each course follows a specific theme. Think "beach", "cave", "river." These locations are a bit generic sounding on paper, but in execution they're so layered. Pokemon Snap makes fantastic use of 3D space. There's always going to be something you miss because you were trying to take a picture from a certain angle. These courses practically beg to be combed through by the player in order to experience everything they have to offer.
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---The one part of these courses I love the most are the Pokemon themselves. These creatures were already an iconic piece of pop culture by the time Snap was released. Though, Snap enhances the "Gotta Catch em' All" attitude of the franchise by giving these Pokemon personalities through how they interact with the environment, the other Pokemon, and even the player themselves. Having these personalities be based off what was established in the popular Pokemon anime is a genius touch. Each Pokemon in the game feels like an inhabitor in the game's world without having the looped routine nature of their backend logical behaviours poking through, ruining the illusion.
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---Another area Pokemon Snap excels at is it's flow and progression. Courses and additional abilities are unlocked by adding more Pokemon types to the Pokemon Report, or by boosting the score Professor Oak gives you with each shot you submit to him. The aforementioned abilities bring some welcome replayability to Snap's courses. For example the apple is great at luring Pokemon closer, or the pester ball which is great for disturbing the Pokemon's normal behaviour. These always come at the right time, and makes the player want to go back and use their newly acquired skills to find newer Pokemon or get better shots.
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---With all this praise I should say that I do think Snap has it's issues. For one, I'm sure it's brevity isn't for everyone, and I understand that. One part of the game I'm personally not a fan of is the photo scoring itself. Pokemon Snap's requirements for a good shot is for the Pokemon to be right at the center of the shot composition, with it taking up a good portion of the frame, and in some acceptable "pose". These criteria can be pretty dubiously graded at times, plus with some of the Pokemon always being far in the distance, getting the best shot can feel frustrating. I also thought a particular point in the game where you had to hit a button with a Pokemon could be a bit touchy.
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---Overall though I believe Pokemon Snap to be a brilliant game. One that still feels unique and fresh to this day while also being a great afternoon relaxer. It's a game to get lost in, and admire the world it builds up. It's also software that has depth, making for an enjoyable experience even if it does only last for a few hours. It's safe to say Pokemon Snap's cult status is well deserved, so please go ahead and take your shot at this classic video game. - [09/10]

-----I feel like one of the more important lessons we’re learning as a society right now is to look at things and systems, and analyze how they’ve become so widely known or commonplace. It can certainly be an interesting experiment. Sometimes you could work backwards, and find that your beloved band was once of humble origins. Other times you could find out the horrid origins of things like the police (slave patrols). Either way, I think this process can be categorized as “fun” in a way because it’s a chance for us to learn from the past and shape a better future. Some like to reevaluate societal systems, others like to pine through old media. Personally, I’ve always been a bit curious about the origins of the Call of Duty franchise.
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-----A monolith of the first person shooter genre, Call of Duty took hold of the minds of the mainstream with it’s seminal fourth entry: Modern Warfare. Modern Warfare was a slick, gritty, and enthralling video game that set the stage for video games not only in its own genre, but across the entire spectrum. That influence extends to it’s multiplayer, whose integration of RPG elements, customizability, and matchmaking would lay out the blueprint for any other multiplayer focused game to come in its wake. Call of Duty entries can be equal parts epic, and equal parts dumb, and it all depends on the kind of person you are and what you tolerate. Personally I look back fondly on Call of Duty’s classic period. This in turn fuels my interest for the three games that came before it.
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-----Now, Call of Duty 3 I’ve already played, so that just leaves two others to experience. Enter Call of Duty (the first one). Released back in 2003, Call of Duty entered a quickly saturating market of military shooters. Simulations of the two world wars, especially World War II for it’s simplistic us vs. them narrative, were incredibly popular due to the already extensive and geeky field of World War aficionados. One of the top game franchises of this movement was the Medal of Honor series, a series I’m not familiar with at all. What I do know is how Call of Duty was partially developed as a counterpoint to that very franchise. In fact, many developers of Call of Duty were also key staff involved in making Medal of Honor: Allied Assault. No doubt this experience helped the newly formed Infinity Ward create this new franchise which had a focus on AI, improved animation, and of course a multi-perspective narrative.
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-----Though, calling what Call of Duty has a “Narrative” would be pushing things a bit. In the game, you play as soldiers of the Allies during WWII. The main campaign focuses on three distinct sides of the conflict: the Americans, the British, and the Russians. This was relatively unique back then, as most other military shooters around the same time would pick one pair of eyes and stick to them. In general Call of Duty does a great job with differentiating between the three armies. Each has their own set of period accurate weaponry, each fights in their own theater, each are voice acted, and each campaign is grouped together so there is no confusion to who you’re playing as. That being said, the through line that connects each level together can be spotty and vague. The pre-level loading screens with their wall of text do an all right job of giving the player some context, but there are certainly levels that feel like blatant filler.
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-----Additionally, the three campaigns fail to form a cohesive whole. The American levels are mind-numbingly dull. They have no real memorability to them. They blur together in my head. The Russian levels are more grand by comparison, as most take place during the Battle of Stalingrad. The high city walls and scope of these scenes can be pretty effective, which is eye opening as Call of Duty was technically doing city levels well a year before Half-Life 2’s City 17. However the Russian levels themselves can be hit or miss. Some are exciting and tense, others are frustrating. This is mostly due to getting lost, or being shot at from somewhere high and out of the way. Finally there is the British portion of Call of Duty’s campaign. These are the best moments of the software, as there’s never a dull moment. One level you’re shooting panzerfaust anti-tank missiles out of the back of a truck, the next you’re taking over an airport demolishing stukas. My favorite level of the game is where you clear out an entire German dam base, destroying key weaponry and picking off the security as you go along.
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-----A key as to why I may love these levels so much may have to do with the absence of Call of Duty’s trademark regenerative health. Instead you get a very video gamey health bar in the bottom right corner of the screen. I think this feature adds an element of risk and carefulness to the gameplay of Call of Duty that subsequent entries don’t have. That being said, a consequence of this form of health is that you need items to replenish it. This comes in the form of little health kits. While I didn’t have a huge issue with these, health kits weren’t as plentiful or were rewarded as often as I would have liked. For some examples, one of the ways health kits can be acquired is through killing enemies, though this rarely and unreliably dispenses the item. There is also the method of finding them placed throughout the level, though the developers didn’t spread these out enough in my opinion, nor did they reward exploration as there are several dead ends in the level designs of Call of Duty that don’t have any kind of reward at all.
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-----Changing focus, I think the look of Call of Duty has aged well enough. The graphical fidelity is surely of it’s time, but the developers’ texture work and eye for coloring and focus help keeps things clear...except for whose an enemy, and whose an ally. I found distinguishing between the two could be a bit confusing in the heat of battle, which can be frustrating as the game punishes those who engage in friendly fire. This confusion wasn’t helped by the AI all sharing the same animations; most of which looked clunky and goofy. This form of Call of Duty also has it’s crosshair behavior work in a way opposite to what some may be used to. In Call of Duty, when you turn your crosshairs toward an ally, the element turns red. Normally it’s the other way around, as red subconsciously means bad, thus is used for enemies. However, giving credit where credit is due: Call of Duty has a good safeguard system against friendly fire where pressing fire while over looking at an ally doesn’t shoot them, but rather tells them to move out of your way. Albeit, you have to do this explicitly, but it shows the developers thought this through.
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-----Staying on the topic of AI, Call of Duty’s biggest selling point was it’s NPC helpers. Most other military shooters didn’t have that. Call of Duty, on the other hand, puts enough bucketheads on the field to help you feel the full scope of an actual battle. Honestly I think this was towards the game’s detriment. Part of that has to do with what effect these added helpers have towards the core player experience. These AI feel like they take away more from player agency than do to help player immersion. It’s kind of a bummer because the AI are clearly smart (for their time). They get behind cover, they flank, they’ll even have audio lines pertaining to the situation. However I don’t think they were really worth the cost of making the game more boring.
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-----What wasn’t boring though was the audio. The audio is honestly great. Too great. What I mean by that is due to the most persistent sound Call of Duty has to offer: it’s wall of gunfire. It makes sense this would be the core of the audio experience of Call of Duty because, well, it’s a game about war. Gunfire is kinda a given. And yet, of all the games I’ve played, Call of Duty 2003 has to have offered the most dense, overpowering, and at times terrifying wall of audio in video games I've heard. In fact it shows up so much it can become annoying. I’m willing to bet that this wall of gunfire is what caused most moments in Call of Duty to feel monotonous. It’s loud, it’s deafening, it kind of feels like you’re actually on the battlefield.
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-----Actually, that’s a key point to all of this. Of all the things Call of Duty made me feel, nothing was as poignant or present as the feeling of this being a game about war. This begs the question: what does Call of Duty even have to say about war? I never really thought about it because Call of Duty games are normally big and dumb, and when I look back at other games in the franchise, I can’t think of any particular stance those games took. Call of Duty 2003 however has a very clear feeling about war to me. It starts with it’s opening movie right before the title screen. It’s sombre and full of strings, like it’s some emotional tragic moment in a film. A very odd way to start the game. Then there’s the pre-level loading screens I mentioned earlier. They’re functionally a wall of text, but aesthetically they take the form of notebooks soldiers would keep while on the frontline, or dossiers from higher up generals, or even physical order pages with instructions that the soldier you’re playing as is scribbling on as the levels progress. These are items based on real life media that were used during WWII. I should also mention the real-life quotes that would pop-up on loading screens as well. Each seemed to reflect upon things like the cost of war, the bravery of the men, or the tragic nature of it all. All real sombre stuff.
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-----One of the most effective moments in the game for me however was at the very start of the Russian campaign. In the first level, you play as a Russian soldier amongst many, crowded on a small boat that’s sailing towards the shores of Stalingrad. The boat is carved in a way where higher up military officers can stand completely above the infantry men who will actually be doing the fighting. One of these military officers is shouting in a megaphone directly above you. He relays the orders of Stalin, saying how we’re going to be serving our country, and reminds us “not to take one step back” lest we be fired up for being a traitorous coward. As this is happening, the ocean is being bombed and shot around us by German planes. The planes actually manage to shoot down one of the military officers above us. This causes one of the infantry men on the boat with me to abandon ship, only to be shot dead by the surviving officers. This makes that “Not a step back” policy a stark reality.
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-----Then we reach the shore, and we pour out of the boat. Each of us gather in a blob at the end of the pier as another military officer is handing out weaponry. He shouts a repetition slogan over the gunfire happening behind him. Most officers on the pier get a weapon. You, the player, do not. You then rush, defenseless, onto the battlefield. You’re joined by infantrymen like you. However one by one they’re either shot dead by adversaries you can’t see, or bombed out of existence by place. You yourself barely make it. You post behind a mostly destroyed brick wall with another, more experienced and equipped soldier. His progress is being stalled by deafening German machine guns. Thus, once you join him, he tells you to run out of cover once the gunners reload. He wants you to act like bait for their gunfire, while he takes care of them. At the first sign of silence, you bolt towards a blown up car for cover. The soldier, now unencumbered, shoots the gunners dead and joins you. This happens again and again until finally the soldier calls in an airstrike, flattening the line of buildings the Germans were using to suppress the Russian force. This is where the level ends. You only have to shoot one shot.
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-----Never have I had a level, or really any piece of media, make me feel as small and expendable as this sequence in Call of Duty. Even the numerous recounts of D-Day pale in comparison to what happens here. The horrors and tragedy of war never have felt more omnipresent, and it’s all historically accurate. This is all based on real life events. Just look up Order No. 227. Stalin deliberately had his own troops shot at, to no effect, all because his idea of turning back and retreating was cowardice. It’s something like this level here that really helps remind you how much of a waste of life war really is, how the lives of soldiers and what they fight for are up to politicians that have their own goals, and couldn’t give less of a shit about what they’re spending for that. It’s because of this level and everything else I’ve mentioned and more that the final level of Call of Duty had me sick to my stomach. In this level, the Russians are closing in upon Germany’s capital.
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-----Now, I’m going to throw a bit of a content warning in the review at this point, as I’m going to put some context as to why seeing Russians in Germany at the end of WWII triggered me. In the game, this level is kind of like the final hurdle you need to cross before dealing the final blow to the Nazis. You take down anti-tank weapons, cross courtyards, and finally overtake the Reichstag, Germany’s chief political building during this era, all to heroically wave your Russian flag above the German Nazi scum. Though, that doesn’t really begin to touch upon a full picture here. You see, it was during this time, and afterward that something that is now referred to as the “Rape during the occupation of Germany” occurred. While many Allied soldiers took part in this, it’s agreed upon that Soviet troops were in the majority of raping many, many German women. The type of women these troops would assault ranged from age 80, to as young as 8 years old. Some estimates on the amount of victims of these rapes range in the hundreds of thousands, to around the single digit millions. I think it’s safe to say that an entire generation of German women were defiled, traumatized, and even murdered at the hands of Allied soldiers, specifically Russians. That’s why playing as a Russian in Germany, being portrayed as a hero as if my presence is a good thing, sickens me to my fucking core.
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-----Of course, I think there’s even more here to touch upon, like how the “heroic” victory of the Allies against the Nazis was “all around good” when, in fact, the politicians that ordered these men around would then carve Germany into four parts, form Israel on top of Palenstine, introduce the concept of the nuclear bomb to the world, fight amongst each other, form Neo-Nazi movements of their own and ignore them, and more. That’s why when I was playing Call of Duty, I didn’t see the men fighting as heroes. I saw them as fools. I also saw any kind of tragedy or respect Infinity Ward showed for the soldiers who gave their lives in WWII as shallow. I don’t think any developer really understood the full weight of what they were making when they made these military shooters. They most likely thought it was cool to play a part in this seemingly simple war where you’re a hero taking on the bad guy.
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-----Then again, I think that’s why it’s so important we take a look back at the origins of things, and gain from our new understanding of them. For me I learned two things. One, war is terrible, and useless, and unnecessary, and is really an excuse to put monsters on a power trip while lives are wasted for a future uncertain to the one actually holding the gun. Two, while Call of Duty has come a long way from it’s debut, in ways it hasn’t really changed all that much. The first Call of Duty is still big, and dumb, and ignorant like it’s bigger brothers and sisters. That being said, it’s not like it can’t be fun from time to time, especially during the British missions. However, I wouldn’t necessarily play Call of Duty again. Maybe those British missions, but certainly not the whole game through.

---Finding games considered to be "Hidden Gems" is pretty daunting, as everyone has their own definitions and opinions on what gets this hallowed status. One game that has had a stronger sense of Hidden Gem has been Singularity here, which is often propped up by the Xbox 360 crowd. That isn't for no good reason. A - This is one of the last games developed by legendary FPS studio Raven Software, who up to this point has had a fantastic run of games even in the 2000s with the Wolfenstein reboot, Quake 4, X-Men Origins, and Marvel Ultimate Alliance. Everything they would do after Singularity would come to as little as a footnote credit in subsequent Call of Duty games.
---B - Many would see Singularity as a breath of fresh air amongst the late 2000s FPS landscape. It bares reminding that during this time FPS's had big bombastic set-pieces, with red tinted screens, limited arsenals, cover mechanics, shoe-horned campaigns that gave way to multiplayer instead, and more. By contrast, Singularity's health bars and mechanics are welcome relief from that. Heck, you get a minigun as a regular weapon in this game. Any other game during this time would relegate that to a gimmick item for one mission.
---Singularity also very much wears it's classic FPS influences on it's sleeves. You've got audio logs via Bioshock, Horrorcore via F.E.A.R., and even a Gravity-Gun esc glove via Half-Life 2. That last item you can use to also shoot balls that slow time, or force pushes to knock back enemies. In that sense, Singularity gives the player some nice options during firefights. It's also got upgrade points to the player and weapons, which fills a nice secrets quota, though these aren't as interesting to get as what you would find in a Serious Sam or Duke Nukem game.
---Singularity also starts strong with an intriguing story about Russian experiments camps messing with a strange element. However, once you reach the big twist at the end of the first leg of the game, things go from interesting to predictable in my opinion. It's also when the game's weak feeling gun weaponry starts to feel stale. For a majority of Singularity, there are these little nuggets where you think it might surprise you, but Raven Software never really fully capitalizes on these moments.
---It doesn't help that the game was made with Unreal Engine 3. While Unreal has a certain pedigree now, back then it's murky textures, cheap effects, and shiny bump-mapping was an eyesore, and it's only gotten worse with time. Raven Software alleviates this with some good environment design, but you have to look past Unreal 3's awful fidelity to admire the props. Everything else about Singularity is kind of forgettable. It's flow is fine, it's music is there, the voice-acting is ok, and the game throws in something new every once in awhile to keep things fresh. However, I think Singularity's "gen" status isn't very earned. There isn't much impressive here nowadays. In the future it will probably stay hidden. - [05/10]

---Back in the early arcade era of video gaming, the medium was still getting it's footing. A lot of the greatest and most influential games come from this era, but that doesn't mean most of them have aged particularly well. Unfortunately I think Defender falls into this group, which I'm disappointed by. I was initially excited to play this game as it comes from the mind of Eugene Jarvis, co-creator of one of my favorite early arcade titles: Robotron 2084. However, once I picked up this game and started playing it, I knew I would come to dread the coming playthroughs.
---Now, for context, part of Defender's legacy is it's difficulty. This is one of the games that convinced developers at the time that players were seeking more challenging and complex experiences. While I do think some of Defender's challenge can be engaging, like protecting the citizens on earth and surviving waves of aliens, there's also a lot that makes me sigh. Mostly because of the kind of stuff that comes from early, rudimentary design, or the quarter munching goals of cabinet manufacturers. Things like shots coming at a pace faster than you can react to them, or ships that are programmed to smash into you at a moment's notice. This kind of stuff is what really bogged down the experience of Defender for me.
----Still, I really like the visuals here. The eccentric, rainbow hue visuals Robotron would become known for show up here. The ship itself looks great, especially it's thruster effect. I also love the trails of the bullets, and the explosions of objects. I even like the touch of the illusion of elevation on the ground below. And for what it's worth, the ship in Defender has an interesting control behavior where it's not quite responsive, causing you to think before you turn. Still, with Defender's want of super-precise shots and look-ahead camera, there are more things that hamper this classic arcade experience. I don't think many modern audience members will want to replay this for very long. - [04/10]

---In terms of creativity, uniqueness, and general energy, I don't think it gets any better than Ubisoft Montpellier's Rabbids Go Home. Up until this point, the Rabbids have embodied the chaotic annoying beasts that mess up rigid systems and cause havoc. They've also only appeared in minigame compilations a la Rayman Raving Rabbids, which are fine games, but clearly don't use the Rabbids to their fullest potential. That wouldn't come to fruition until their first solo effort here, which pushes the mutated mascots center stage.
---The idea here is that these Rabbids don't belong to the human world. Literally, they come from the moon, and at the beginning of Go Home the Rabbids grow home-sick. Their solution is to raid the metropolitan city outside their scrapyard for "stuff." Anything they can get their paws on to build a gigantic pile upwards towards their destination.
----What follows are levels that take place in settings such as hospitals, shopping malls, and airports. Rabbids Go Home isn't very subtle about it's "Bull in a China Shop" characters, and even critiques and parodies capitalist culture with radio voices, use of one-hit wonder songs, and the humans who seem shallow. As for the gameplay itself, you play as two Rabbids with a Shopping Cart. The goal is to go through each level collecting "Stuff."
---There are two kinds of stuff. The XS Stuff is your smaller objects strewn throughout the environments. Then there is an XL stuff like a giant hospital bed or boiler. Overall this accounts for 401 items in total that must be collected in each level. Your mechanics include a shopping cart which doesn't turn on dime, but can skid into a boost, a cannonball Rabbid, and a destructive scream that can even stun the most ferocious dogs.
---What results is a game that takes clear influence from past titles such as Katamari and Super Mario 64, but clearly puts it's own unique spin on the platforming collectathon formula. The art style is especially cartoony and colorful with stick people, and toon-like shading. I also love the original soundtrack, which uses a Moldovian Brass Band. A perfect fit for the Rabbids.
---Now, for all the praises I can throw at this game, I don't think it's perfect. The skill curve isn't as gradual as I'd like it to be. There is a bit of a jump in platforming difficulty in the later levels of the game. Meanwhile on the other side of that coin are the exterminator enemy types which are way too easy to dispense. There are harder variants of these, but they can be combo'd very easily. I also don't like how dying can just reset your item count at certain points. I imagine that would make completing the game a real pain. The framerate of Go Home doesn't consistent either, at least not on the Wii. Finally, Rabbids Go Home does seem to run out of ideas for XL items and settings near it's end. There's a lot of familiar ground that's covered, which I find disappointing.
---Regardless, I still think this is one of the most slept on titles of the Wii-era, utilizing motion controls extremely well. I even love the idea that there's a Rabbid living inside your remote which you can customize and thrash around. The premise is wonderfully silly, the gameplay is addictively brilliant, and the style is both self-aware and critical. I love this game to death and I hope it gets it's just dues as one of Ubisoft's most unique titles. - [08/10]

---I think every college student's favorite video game is Super Monkey Ball. After all, it's got a dirt simple premise with fun looking stages yet hard to master gameplay. For those who are unfamiliar with Super Monkey Ball, it's a Sega published platforming game made by Amusement Vision where you play as a Monkey in a Gashapon capsule trying to collect bananas and reach the goal with an alotted amount of time. The kicker is that to move, you use a control stick or track ball to tilt the stages. This is widely different from normal platformers where input influences the player character.
---What this control scheme does is allow for some extremely engaging gameplay. Monkey Ball's physics are very on point, making the act of moving the Monkey feel very fluid. You can also skip parts of stages if you're skilled enough. Amusement Vision even put in minigames and unlockables to give players goals to work towards. The aesthetic of Super Monkey Ball is very vibrant, yet very readable. I especially love the inclusion of grid textures here. I also like the mini-map, which helps with spatial awareness.
---That being said, I don't think Super Monkey Ball is perfect. It's camera for one is also influenced by input, which can be a real pain when you're trying to line up to thin pieces of environment. I also thought the lives and continue system wasn't necessary. If anything, it acts to prolong the game. Same goes for the replays you have to skip or watch everytime you die in the game. Finally, the expert stages aren't great, especially with their reliance on precise input, which Super Monkey Ball does not support. Still, I think this game deserves it's legacy. It's an extremely fun and welcoming platformer that I can see myself coming back to in the future. - [08/10]