Review: Never Alone

Never Alone is based on a folk tale about a child named Nuna. Nuna is an Iñupiat, a term used to describe the Alaskan Indigenous. Nuna’s village is in danger and thrown into turmoil by what feels like a never ending blizzard. Nuna must discover the source of the cold weather in order to save her own village. Nuna is accompanied by a white arctic fox who can assist her in her journey too, just to nail home the interdependent nature of the Iñupiat people.

While Never Alone might not be the most intense or complicated of games it represents a very unique collaboration and principle. The game was developed in conjunction with input with the Cook Inlet Tribal Council, a not for profit organisation who are dedicated to working with the Iñupiat people of Alaska.

It’s an interesting concept and one that the game draws its main story from – which is serviceable. The true highlight here is the video vignettes that discuss and describe aspects of Iñupiat culture or elements of that game you’ve just experienced or are about to experience. It is worth mentioning that the game itself is easily eclipsed by these vignettes, however.

Never Alone is a pretty great looking game, If slightly simplistic. The entire game is presented in a haze like state that gives it a dream like quality while also masking any of the limitations the game might have due to its budget or simplistic design. Being largely set in a snowy and arctic maelstrom, the snow is definitely the highlight here. It moves and reacts realistically to Nuna’s movements. Some of the later set pieces in the game look pretty fantastic and help to break up the monotony you’d come to expect from a game based almost entirely in snow – but it would be a crime to spoil them here.

The soundtrack is similarly quite a strong offering that emphasises the meditative tone the visuals help to set. Most of the pieces on offer here are very sombre and help to set the atmosphere of the game perfectly. The voice work is similarly quite strong helping to set the tone for several key scenes throughout the game.

Never Alone is more or less a typical two dimensional platformer. Players move from the left to the right of the screen in pursuit of a goal of some sort while solving simple puzzles along the way. Nuna is the main character that players will control, but during certain times in the game they’ll have to control Nuna’s fox companion too, who can move and jump faster and farther, respectively.

It’s somewhat obvious that the developers may have taken some light inspiration from Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons in the way that you’re tasked to switch between these characters to solve puzzle. Of course, as you’d expect, each of the characters have their own abilities too. Nuna has access to certain pieces of equipment (as she acquires them throughout the story) whereas the Fox can communicate with the spirits of the natural world. Doing so creates platforms for Nuna to traverse dangerous areas with.

And while it sounds like a pretty sound and simple concept on paper, it’s simply too simplistic to be majorly engrossing. If you’re stuck in an area, chances are you’ve just got to switch to the Fox and run around aimlessly until a spirit appears and opens up the linear path for Nuna. If that’s not the problem, you’re probably playing as the Fox and Nuna is needed to set off some arbitrary trigger to progress the story. What I’m trying to say is that it’s rarely a point in the game where you’ll be blocked by an organic obstacle, it’s almost always going to be something due to questionable design decisions by the developer.

And then there’s some moments in the game that just seem to peddle frustration more than anything. During a section of the game where you’re treated to a rather interesting visual display, enemies will commonly lurch in and take either Nuna or her Fox away. It’d be less annoying if it was something we could control, but when the enemies in this area can take away the (poorly programmed) AI character, it’s just plain frustrating. Similarly, the developers chose to implement a change in game mechanics literally during the final boss battle which seems baffling and jarring.

Whether or not this is meant to be remedied by playing the game in co-operative mode where one player players as Nuna and the other as the Fox is a non-issue, as the game has its fair share of problems for anyone not wanting to do so. Still, it’s not necessarily a bad game, just marred by a few disappointing and baffling design decisions. But it’s definitely one to be played co-operatively if you can – as the AI will commonly fall behind or not even jump when they’re supposed to which can get frustrating.

But just be warned that Never Alone isn’t an incredibly lengthy experience. Most players will take less than six hours, maybe even four, to see the end of Nuna’s adventure. But it’s still an incredibly enlightening experience – the twenty or so videos that are unlocked throughout were genuinely interesting and it’s rare I can walk away from a video game having learnt so much. But there’s little reason to return to the adventure once you’ve finished it as most of the unlockable videos will be found through natural play.

Review: Destiny: The Dark Below

Ewan Roxburgh10 years ago

Destiny, Bungie’s mass-multiplayer online role-playing game first person shooter – or MMORPGFPS for short – experienced varying criticisms following its release in September this year. Whilst the storyline fell flat and most of the voice acting felt phoned-in, the strong, fluid gameplay and simple, intuitive RPG elements proved very addictive and sucked many players into grinding through what were essentially very repetitive and bland missions in order to acquire new armour and upgrades. Whilst the game was not everything we hoped for, Destiny continued to listen to the community’s concerns and gradually bring about changes. It was my personal hope that many of the grievances I had with the game would be rectified by The Dark Below DLC, the first expansion pack for the core game. At times, I thought it came close but ultimately it failed to reach the potential this game has.

The Dark Below storyline introduces itself through a ‘cinematic cutscene’ found in an icon floating near the Tower on the Orbit Navigation screen. In it, a freaky women, Eris Mora, with mysterious black ooze streaking down her face, tells of her ordeal attempting to kill Crota – a Hive go – and her personal tragedy of being the only survivor. She tasks you with finishing her mission; you are our last hope.

As a set-up, this sounds like an okay beginning, but the story does not progress anywhere from here. Instead, you seemingly run around, doing errands, repeating her mistakes and correcting a few others, with far greater ease then she suggests it will be. Each of the new missions follow the formula of the core story missions to the letter. “Go kill this thing. Now go kill this thing;” there certainly isn’t the variety I’d have hoped for.

The only praise I can think to give it is that there is a nice gradual feel of progress. Each story mission gets progressively harder, beginning at 25 and then reaching level 30 by the new Raid. Each task you are set works with the intention of better preparing yourself for your fight with Crota in the new Raid and to a degree, the missions feel to have a bit more purpose and immediate result, working your way towards another Raid, undoubtedly one of the most rewarding missions you’ll experience in Destiny as a whole.

Perhaps the most troubling aspect of The Dark Below is it status as nothing more than fan service. Sure, there are more weapons, bounties, armour, mulitplayer maps and a higher level cap, but most of these additions are out of reach of most players yet to make headway into the ‘light levels’. Most of The Dark Below’s most enticing features, such as the new armour, weapons and the Raid, are totally out of reach for most players not so keen on grinding to get to the high enough level where earning these rewards are feasible. For this reason, I would only recommend someone to purchase the DLC if they are an avid player and have at least a level 26 or 27 character and plans to level it up further.

On the whole, the voice acting of Eris is okay, although not varied. The same lines of death and misery about her failed mission are repeated over and over and it becomes more tedious then sinister. Again, this seems more the fault of the script and direction then that of the actual voice actress.

Obviously the new missions in some newer regions of already familiar environments look just as impressive as they did in the core game, but it is worth mentioning the clever UI choices that make it easier to identify the new missions. A simple roman numeral ‘I’ icon denotes anything related to the expansion making it easy to locate all the additional content.

I’d also like to celebrate the darker atmosphere occasionally created in The Dark Below storyline. The Hive are by far my favourite enemies to fight as there is a creepy element to them, reminding me of the Flood from Halo. On occasions, the DLC works to create an eerie and sinister atmosphere, which I wish featured more prominently then it does in both the core game and The Dark Below DLC.

On the whole, the gameplay remains true to what we’ve already experience in Destiny. The Thrall, running zombie-like Hive feature more so then they did in the core game which provides some additional challenge and fast reflexes, especially in the harder difficulties.

Some nice new additions have been included too. The randomly spawning ‘Blades of Crota’ in Patrol missions drop their sword upon death, allowing you to wield the ‘relic’ much as you did in one of the story’s missions. It was nice to see this return as it was one of the standout moments of the core game.

The opening mission of the DLC was by far one of my favourites. The creepy elements returned, as did hordes of Thrall. Progressively harder bosses reflected the dark tone of the story and the final boss of this mission came with a handicap, a ‘dark burden’, that dramatically hindered your movement, making the game suddenly feel much more like a boss battle in a survival horror then the typical arena we’ve come to expect of the game.

These were features largely absent from the rest of the missions with the exception of the Raid, Crota’s End. Much like the core game, the Raid is really where the game shines, a combination of challenging enemies, exploration, navigation and puzzles (initially) that really demands teamwork. Unfortunately, to experience these Raid’s requires a lot of commitment to the game, lots of grinding and generally speaking, lots of cooperative gaming buddies.

Review: Pro Evolution Soccer 2015

Shannon Grixti10 years ago

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After reinventing itself last year with the implementation of Konami’s FOX Engine, 2015 marks the first year that Pro Evolution Soccer appears on the current generation of consoles. After trying to catch up to FIFA in the last year years, will 2015 mark the year that Pro Evolution Soccer overtakes FIFA?

Presentation wise, Pro Evolution Soccer is still lacking, especially since FIFA’s overhaul last year. It’s a lot similar to FIFA now in the sense that it has added a bit more colours and now features a tiled based system. It does the job of allowing you to get into a game and manage your team, but it’s definitely not revolutionary in any way, shape or form.

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Graphically, Pro Evolution Soccer 2015 is miles ahead of PES 2014. Whilst not quite up to the standards of FIFA, it’s still completely stunning. Lighting has seen a huge improvement and crowds are also more dynamic. Although, when you don’t have the huge licenses that FIFA has it doesn’t mean a whole lot. Really, now that you can actually recognised players who each have their own unique expressions, it shows quite clearly just how lacking Pro Evolution Soccer is without the big names of the FIFA franchise.

Another area where I think that Pro Evolution Soccer 2015 is still let down is it’s audio. The soundtrack consists of about 5-10 songs and commentators still aren’t up to scratch.

Many people associate Pro Evolution Soccer with the PS2. When presentation didn’t matter so much and it was all about gameplay, most people considered PES to be a better franchise than FIFA. Unfortunately as graphics and presentation became more important resource hogging, EA took advantage and FIFA became the juggernaut that it is today. Thankfully, this is the most promising iteration of Pro Evolution Soccer in years.

The first thing that you’ll notice about Pro Evolution Soccer 15 is the addition of an XP system. Much like in FIFA, you’re able to gain what Konami call Game Points for completing certain challenges and milestones. This mainly ties in to playing multiplayer games and Master League Online.

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The core gameplay of PES 15 often feels better than Fifa. Dribbling feels extremely impressive and gives you a much bigger sense of control. PES also allows you to automate skills moves so that you’re not having to learn complicated button combinations. Something that I use a lot in FIFA is the double-team OR pressure. This is done by a simple shoulder button in FIFA however requires an extremely annoying combination in PES. I’m not sure if this is something that’ll frustrate a lot of players however it annoyed me from the start.

Tactics is another area where PES feels a lot more open than Fifa. You’re able to tweak things such as how many players push up in attack or make players create a certain formation depending on the situation. Sure, these are things that only hardcore soccer players will use but it’s great that they’re there nonetheless.

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Master League has been much improved and is much easier to navigate than FIFA’s comparable mode. You’re able to quickly give each player different training regimens in order to improve lacking parts of their game. The biggest inclusion is coach mode which allows you to perform instructions and watch your team act them out on the fly.

The enjoyment level of Pro Evolution 2015 is down to how you like to play sports games. It’s a lot more tactical than FIFA and feels a lot less scripted at times. Through-balls don’t just automatically work and passes and shots will go widely astray. The different is though, it will mostly be your fault when these things happen. Sure, it can be hard to score at times but it provides for a intense match of soccer and if you’re the type of person who likes to be tactical and perfect your plays, Pro Evolution Soccer 15 should be right up your alley.

Opinion: Anita Sarkeesian Would Be A Welcome Contributor To Mirror’s Edge 2

Ewan Roxburgh10 years ago

Always the centre of much discussion and controversy on the Internet, vocal feminist leader and Feminist Frequency creator, Anita Sarkeesian, was rumoured to have been consulted in the development of DICE’s Mirror’s Edge 2. Initially suggested back in 2012, the speculation triggered a wave of anger and opposition across social networks with a change.org petition amassing over 42,000 signatures as of early-December 2014. EA have since dispelled the myth, claiming she has not been consulted, however, I personally believe the game would have something to gain from any influence Sarkessian could have, assuming she approached the role in an appropriate fashion.

The game’s lead protagonist is presumably Faith, the lead female protagonist of the first game. In the original Mirror’s Edge, Faith represents resistance against the world of corruption, security and control she inhabits; she is undoubtedly a strong character and a positive representation of women, much the same as Samus Aran, Ellie (from The Last of Us) or Lara Croft.

Regardless on where you stand in the social discourse currently occurring in relation to the representation of women in the media, no one can deny that these characters are some of the most enduring in the video game industry.

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Faith is evidently a character immensely respected by both fans of the Mirror’s Edge franchise and it’s developers. Anita Sarkeesian’s involvment – I hope – is only to maintain this respect, and more broadly the respect for the gender she belongs too. Hence, fans of Mirror’s Edge should welcome this news. If you care for the character of Faith, why would you not want her to be loved by everyone? Why would you not want her to be admired by male and female gamers alike?

Although I personally do not agree with all of Anita Sarkeesian’s opinions, I have no doubt that serving as a consultant on the development of the game would have a positive influence on the construction of Faith’s character and the messages and themes of the game.

The petition’s claims that she should not be involved as she has “no credibility or experience in game development” is irrelevant. Of course she is not likely to have any direct input into the game mechanics; instead she should focus her attention on the game’s story and characters.

Similiarly, the claim that Sarkeesian “does not speak for gamers, female or otherwise” is unfair. Many people, male and female, greatly respect her views and opinions. She is not the only person contributing to the game; as is the very well trusted DICE development team. There is no ‘one-person’ that can speak for gamers and although she may not have experience developing games, she is no stranger to video games. She is no less qualified then you or I.

That being said, I do share one concern with the petition. It suggests that Sarkessian has proposed a “simplified control scheme” for female players which simply makes no sense. Approximately 43% of all gamers in Australia are female and they play the same games as male gamers with the same control schemes. Her proposal – if true – is insulting; of course male and female gamers can play a game in the same fashion and treating them any differently is just perpetuating the myth that there is some difference in ability between men and women.

So here’s to wishful thinking: hoping that Anita Sarkeesian could have had an influential role in the creation of Faith’s character and her development, allowing male and female players alike to admire her strength and placing her in the realm of Samus, Ellie and Lara.

Review: Never Alone

Review: Destiny: The Dark Below

Review: Pro Evolution Soccer 2015

Opinion: Anita Sarkeesian Would Be A Welcome Contributor To Mirror’s Edge 2

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