Battalion Wars II

A few nights ago I met up with another forum member for some post work online fun with the Wiiware game Onslaught but it was not to be. It felt like the Nintendo server was making horn shapes with its thumbs in its ears and a loud raspberry emanating from its tongue, not allowing us to connect together for a game. Instead we decided, and I can’t remember whether it was Myrrhman or myself who suggested it, that we should try Battalion Wars 2 instead. We’ve played the game many times together across Nintendo’s Wifi but the last time was over a year ago.


BW2 has three different online options – co-op, assault and skirmish – and as we had been looking forward to the cooperative action in Onslaught that is what we chose.
I think the point that I realised just how rusty we both were came as my units got caught in the crossfire between an enemy light tank and helicopter gunship. I have no idea what my team mate was up to but I assume that it was similar to my pitiful experience.

How do I?

aaarrrggghh

NO I don’t want you to attack

erm

I want to control that unit

what’s the right button?

By the third attempt at the mission the old familiarity was back again and we cruised through, attaining an ‘S’ Rank for a perfect 100% score. On then to the next co-op mission and another ‘S’ rank, this time at the first attempt!


Have you ever assumed that you’ve remembered the controls for a game only to realise too late that you haven’t?



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Nintendo Classic Controller PRO

The controller above has appeared on Nintendo's Japanese website and it appears they've been listening to the criticisms leveled at the original Classic Controller.

The main ones being that the analogue sticks have been spaced further apart so your thumbs will no longer meet in the middle and the shoulder buttons have been moved into a more conventional layout. Of course you probably already spotted the added grips dangling at the bottom and that the cable now comes out of the top.

When it's coming isn't clear or whether we'll even get to see it over here.

Control yourself on the GAMEOV3R Forum

GAMEOV3R meets Noby Noby Boy!

So far in this 'game' I've managed to snap myself in two and had to eat my own butt to become one again. I've eaten a person and and a pear and pooped them out as a new person with a fruit for a head. I've contributed over 8000 metres to the length of the GIRL in an effort to reach the moon. At the point of writing her total length stands at just over 81 million metres with the top player having added over half a million of that. What happens when she reaches the moon I have no idea. I also have no idea what I'm playing or why I'm playing it. If all that sounds strange it's because it is, but this virtual playground is fun and compelling in a way I can't explain. And I thought we at GAMEOV3R had warped minds!

There's a great interview with the creator here which makes things a little clearer... only a little though.

Noby Noby Boy is available on the PSN now for not much more than the price of a sandwich. Possibly the very sandwich that makes this game one short of a picnic.

Stretch out on the GAMEOV3R Forum

Onslaught Wii

Onslaught Wii was released on the Virtual Console on the 13th Feb 2009. Being hugely indifferent to the whole FPS genre I wasn’t really bothered about it but I had 1000 Wii Points doing nothing and, with the temptation of 4 player online gaming making the decision easier, so I downloaded it. I've played for a couple of hours now (on easy mode .. .. .. don't laugh!) so my initial reactions to the game are thus:

You are part of a research team stranded on an alien planet when your ship crash lands and your first task is to make your way to a known base. Using the nunchuk to move and the wiimote to point and shoot you make your way through the dingy caverns, punctuated by the bright green of alien slime. From the outset you have a choice of weapons including a rocket launcher which can be selected by each direction on the d-pad so pick your favourite and off you go. The map in the top left of the screen lets you see where the next group of bugs are so you can decide your route from what you haven't already killed. Complete the mission and you then can progress to the next group of missions. Fairly early into the game you can ride a vehicle and inflict twin cannon destruction on the enemy.

I should probably say at this point that I've enjoyed playing the game so far and for £7 it seems like relatively good value to me. I'm going to focus on the negatives as I perceive thm for a while although I have no real idea of the standards that have been set in this genre apart from a 2 week flirtation with MOHH2 (before the frustration of not being able to reliably connect online boiled over).

1. The scenery isn't hugely detailed, is fairly repetitive and the colour palette is limited. This may just be setting the scene for the alien environment or lack of memory to be able to add more detail. It hasn't detracted from my enjoyment though.
2. There are a limited number of enemy types. Each type behaves, as you would expect from a bug, in a pre-defined manner with little deviation. The difficulty comes from the weight of numbers of these things that can, at times, come at you from all angles.
3. Map layout. One level in particular has had my screaming in rage as I can't find the way to get through to the part where I need to be. I've tried going quickly, slowly, searching every possible route but I can't find how to get to the centre of the level (where I need to be). I might be missing something .. .. .. .. on other levels the path you need to take may as well have flashing arrows pointing the route. This might just be my inexperience shining through.

The positives then?
1.If you liked the movie Starship Troupers and wanted, like every Citizen should, to fight the menace of the bugs then this game allows you to do that!
2.The basic controls are smooth and accurate.
3.There are some nice touches included too. If you get too close to a bug when you shoot it you will get splattered with green goo which needs to be wiped off by swiping the nunchuk. Look up and you can see a dark sky with a beautiful starfield.
4. There are a mix of level objectives including 'reach this point' and 'defend this point' so there is some variety of challenge.


Overall .. .. .. .. so far .. .. .. .. I'm still not a convert to FPS but I will be playing this some more.


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Banned and Reborn

The Great Giana Sisters, a Super Mario Bros clone, is getting a new lease of life long after being banned. Not by the fashion police though it's wonder why they didn't step in first.

This year will see an updated version of the game released on the .... wait for it……. W a i t for it! ….. on the Nintendo DS. Nintendo may be going soft in their old age seeing how it was they that had the Giana Sisters removed from the shelves for copyright infringement back in 1988. It’s true that the sisters copied the brothers. Blatantly and gloriously but they didn’t better the NES Mario Bros masterpiece. Nevertheless the sisters were very well received back in their day. Zzap64 reviewed the game and bestowed it with a Gold Medal award and a healthy 96%.

The Great Giana Sisters is well worth checking out if you have a penchant for platformers and have a C64 or a **cough** emulator **cough** handy. With the DS already laden with great platform games it’ll be interesting to see how the sisters do when they're released in June.

Maybe Nintendo really are going soft. Or maybe they want a to see the sisters fail miserably against New Super Mario Bros.

So, in a fight….. would the sisters kick the brothers into a pile of dismembered pixels or would the brothers flatten the sisters? Looking at that mohawk I’d have to say my money is on the girls!

Have a square go on the GAMEOV3R Forum

I've Got You Under My Skin

I've been a bit of a late comer to the Little Big Planet party. Despite it's many 10/10 reviews something didn't sell it to me. I loved the characters but watching the brief trailer that played in game shops around its release it seemed a bit... erm how can I describe it... imprecise? Things being dragged around in a clumsy manner and faltering jumps are some of the things that created a first impression I guess. I put it on my Christmas list anyway with it being available for under £20, it would while away a few hours at the very least over the holidays... and it did. In fact it still is. The apparent clumsiness from watching is all part of the physics that make everything feel completely solid and believable in the game, from cardboard to bricks to material blocks. I think I've regressed back to childhood in wanting to build things out of everyday objects. Emptying moms cupboards to make buildings out of tin cans and cereal packets. The 'clumsiness' just adds to the charm and often results in some of the funniest moments in the game. I'm not saying it can't on occasion be frustrating in particularly tricky sections of a level but change Sackboys expression, tilt the controller to make him wiggle, wave his arms around and just try holding back a smile.

A level based on the achievement in Half-Life 2: Episode 2 where you're asked to carry a garden gnome throughout the entire game...

Gnome Liberation Front (no sound)


It's gotten under my skin even more over time having completed the main story levels and the Metal Gear Solid download pack (Well worth it by the way. The five levels don't take that long to complete but getting the trophies provides a good challenge and the paintinator adds a whole new dimension to the game). I'm now really starting to look at what people have been creating and some of it is truly stunning. Whether they're original creations, based on popular tv shows and games or just incredibly clever use of the creation tools. Speaking of which... check out the Little Big Computer below. Looks simple enough if you don't know the tools available to you but fast forward and just look at the workings!



Tell us your favourite levels on the GAMEOV3R Forum

Nearly a year old and

It’s been 10 months since Mario Kart Wii was released in Europe and I thought I’d get in a personal early first birthday retrospective. One of the first major titles to hit shelves in Europe before North America there was much comment, much excitement, and much trepidation from the gaming community prior to release. After the success of MKDS, which has just passed 14 million sales, many found it hard to see how Nintendo could improve on the franchise.

I was one of the many that descended on the 24-hour supermarkets to pick up a copy at midnight, driving furiously home so that I could play the game while most gamers were in bed dreaming of red shells. I got home, unpacked my wheel and began to re-learn how to play Mario Kart. Since then it has barely left my Wii.

Many people couldn’t adjust to the updated control scheme. I recall one blogger likening the Wii Wheel to “strapping a biscuit tin to your wiimote”; many complained about a lack of accuracy. Me? I just plugged away at it getting better with every hour of track time.

Then there were, and still are, those who complain “it isn’t fair” or that the game is “a whole lot of luck and very little skill”. These whining voices are from a generation of gamers who want instant gratification, easy wins and no learning curve. They aren’t prepared to accept that their shortcomings as gamers are to blame as it must be the game’s fault.

Then there are those, like myself, who aren’t naturally brilliant but have learned how to play the game; learned the tricks, the techniques that allow us to improve our scores. We’ve played endlessly online (which is by far the best Nintendo online interface) and been beaten by some of the best out there, but always learning and always getting that little bit better.

I’ve set myself the challenge of hitting a ** rating by the end of the month, a step up from my current * rating. So far out of the 5 revisited Grand Prix I have achieved my goal on the first attempt. Only 8 more to go until that second star is mine!

Mario Kart Wii. You have provided me with many laughs, many tears and more than the occasional swear word. Nearly Happy First Birthday to you.

Why not join in the regular races arranged on the Gameov3r FORUM

Sackboy Knitting Pattern

From the response to the home made Sackboy posted on the GAMEOV3R forums it seems everybody wants one. I was aware that one of the knitting magazines (Simply Knitting) printed a pattern to take you through the process but not really being down with the knitting scene I didn't get a copy that month.

This may be old news but I just found out that courtesy of The Sun they've made the pattern available as a free PDF right here.

Print out in hand I'm off to find someone who can knit!

Get knitted on the GAMEOV3R Forum

Super Paper Mario Returns!!!

Well, ok, he doesn't actually return. In fact Mario is nowhere to be seen in any form here in this article. What I do have though is a game thoroughly inspired by Paper Mario and the concept of taking a gaming icon and turning him and his world paper thin. I give you..... Super Paper Snake!!



Show us what you can do with a piece of toilet paper on the GAMEOV3R Forum

Snow Fun!

We've already had a few snow men posted on the forum and this is one sent in to Kotaku from a reader called Anneka. Can you do better?...



Show us what you can do with a load of snow on the GAMEOV3R Forum