F.E.A.R. 3

Survive being hunted by a ruthless supernatural entity.

PC Release: June 21, 2011

By Ian Coppock

What’s worse than a ghost that tears people apart with her mind? Two ghosts that tear people apart with their minds. That’s the premise of F.E.A.R. 3, a game that attempts to wrap up the legendary F.E.A.R. series. The saga started off on strong footing, with the original F.E.A.R. presenting an apt blend of Half-Life 2-style gameplay and heavy influence from Japanese horror films. F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin picked up where the first game left off, but was content to be a slightly unsettling Call of Duty clone that had forgotten the definition of subtlety. Where does all of that leave F.E.A.R. 3?

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F.E.A.R. 3 (or F.3.A.R., because someone decided that F.Three.A.R. sounded cool) is the third and final installment in the F.E.A.R. series of horror-shooters. Unlike the first two F.E.A.R. games, F.E.A.R. 3 was developed by a little-known studio called Day 1 instead of Monolith. John Carpenter, director of 1982’s The Thing and a fan of the original game, directed F.E.A.R. 3‘s cinematic custcenes. Steve Niles, the writer of 30 Days of Night and Simon Dark, was also brought in to help pen the game’s narrative.

F.E.A.R. 3 takes place nine months after the events of F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin and stars the Point Man, the protagonist of F.E.A.R. Following the events of the first game, the Point Man was captured by the dastardly Armacham Technology Corporation and taken to a hideout in Brazil, where he’s been interrogated ever since. True to the demeanor he displayed in the first game, the Point Man never talks, remaining a silent protagonist even as he’s getting punched up by bros in flak jackets.

The Point Man is back, baby! Or as that zombie might say, “PURNT MURN URS BURK!” (it’s the zombie of Scott Stapp)

Just as the Point Man’s interrogators give up and decide to kill him, he’s rescued by Paxton Fettel, the psychic cannibal antagonist of F.E.A.R. Fettel is still sore over how things shook out in the first game, but tells the Point Man that they need to hurry back to the city of Fairport. Alma, the enraged ghost at the heart of all of F.E.A.R.‘s supernatural phenomena, is about to give birth, and there’s no telling what kind of monster her baby will be. To make matters worse, both Fettel and the Point Man are being hunted by a mysterious monster called the Creep. The two men form a shaky alliance to stop the Creep, though the jury’s still out on what they’ll do about Alma.

Like the previous F.E.A.R. games, F.E.A.R. 3 is a first-person shooter. The Point Man is proficient with the many pistols, shotguns, assault rifles and other weapons found throughout the game, and he can also snap to cover behind various in-game objects. The Point Man retains his signature slo-mo ability, which allows players to slow time and pick off enemies with surgical precision. The Point Man can also occasionally hop into a mech suit to tear s*** up with missiles and gatling guns.

That’ll teach you to take me to Brazil and keep me from the beach.

F.E.A.R. 3‘s story campaign can be played co-op, with Paxton Fettel taking on the role of deuteragonist. Unlike the gun-crazy Point Man, Fettel uses his psychic powers to take the fight to the enemy, throwing objects around and possessing enemy soldiers. Playing as Fettel makes for a clunkier experience than playing as the Point Man, but it’s still fun to throw things and pop enemies’ heads like pimples. Fettel doesn’t appear as an allied NPC if players decide to tackle F.E.A.R. 3 solo and can’t be used in solo mode until after that level’s been completed at least once as the Point Man.

Standing between the Point Man and Alma is the Armacham Corporation, whose soldiers are still trying to contain the supernatural mess that Fairport has become. These troops are none too picky about their targets and come after the Point Man with a few tricks of their own (like soldiers that can phase through walls). The city has also become infested with Left 4 Dead-style mutants that come running at the player brandishing everything from hatchets to bare fists.

Chopping enemies’ heads off usually does the trick.

Unfortunately for horror fans, F.E.A.R. 3‘s visage and gameplay are much more in line with F.E.A.R. 2 than the original F.E.A.R. Like the second game, F.E.A.R. 3 draws clear and shameless inspiration from Call of Duty with conventional shoot-till-they drop gunplay that no shooter fan hasn’t already seen a million times. F.E.A.R. 3 also uses the Call of Duty-style health regeneration system. Getting rid of medkits is a great way to kill tension in a horror game, because players don’t have to worry about whether they’ll survive the next monster attack and can simply take cover while the Point Man magically heals himself.

To F.E.A.R. 3‘s credit, the game does have a few sequences that allow suspense to build, but these are the exception rather than the rule. Sometimes the Point Man will be walking around a grocery store and hear things rummaging through shelves, or see something in the shadows snatching corpses, but this happens, like… two times throughout the game. Most times it’s just mowing down hordes of screaming zombies or taking out an army of machine gun-wielding frat boys. Top this all off with being able to use mech walkers for combat, and the result is a game that is a perfectly average shooter, and a perfectly mediocre horror game.

(sigh)

F.E.A.R. 3‘s level design is somehow even more linear and constricting than the design of F.E.A.R. 2, with strictly defined paths forward unto more enemies. The developers attempted to pretty up the linearity with conveniently placed car blockages and concrete barricades but that won’t help players feel like the game isn’t shunting them from firefight to firefight. Just keep moving forward. Keep shooting the bad guys and keep moving forward. Any areas that have a trace of openness to them are dinner reservations for boss fights.

At least F.E.A.R. 3 isn’t drowning in film grain like F.E.A.R. 2 was, and its volumetric lighting is exceptional for a game that came out in 2011. F.E.A.R. 3 also makes use of a strong color palette in doling out its environments, whether it’s a house covered in blood or a bridge littered with wrecked cars. The object placement and use of color is sound on a technical level but it also makes Fairport look just like the dozens of other bombed-out cities endemic to the shooter genre. F.E.A.R. 3‘s cinematic cutscenes also look absolutely atrocious, with the stiff character animations and heavily pixelated aesthetic one might expect of a 90’s-era cinematic, not a 2010’s one.

You can have the on-sale items if you crawl under the shelf into that pitch-black alcove that’s emitting growling noises. Have fun!

The nail in F.E.A.R. 3‘s bargain bin of scares is the story, which feels rushed and unevenly paced. The game can’t seem to decide which plot point is most important for the Point Man and Fettel to focus on. First, it’s stopping Alma. Then, it’s rescuing someone. Then, it’s stopping the Creep. F.E.A.R. 3‘s storytelling is so disjointed that each level almost feels like its own game, a problem that’s reinforced by those levels taking place in completely separate areas. First it was a suburb. Now it’s an airport. Now the Point Man’s magically back at the Project Origin facility. The hell’s going on here?

These problems start to make sense when taking a look at F.E.A.R. 3‘s development. The game’s initial release date was October 2010, but it got pushed to March 2011. In March, it was pushed to April. In April, it was pushed to June. In June it finally hit store shelves, but games don’t get delayed that many times in such short order without something worrisome happening behind the scenes. Whatever happened with F.E.A.R. 3, the result is a conventional scares-lite shooter that manages to be even more of a disappointment than F.E.A.R. 2. The game manages to end the series on a satisfactory note, but players have to suffer through 6-8 hours of fragmented storytelling and pedestrian shooter gameplay to get there.

F.E.A.R. 3 is all getting to choppers and no ghosts.

F.E.A.R. 3, like F.E.A.R 2, is patently unworthy of the original F.E.A.R. and a disappointing title in its own right. The game offers some fun gunplay here and there, but can’t hope to get players invested in its story when it itself is so disinterested in storytelling. The game strips out any sort of ancillary exposition and crams what little story it does have between strictly divided set pieces. All of this makes the game feel impatient, unfinished, and uninspired.

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You can buy F.E.A.R. 3 here.

Thank you for reading! My next review will be posted in a few days. You can follow Art as Games on Twitter @IanLayneCoppock, or friend me at username Art as Games on Steam. Feel free to leave a comment or email me at ianlaynecoppock@gmail.com with a game that you’d like to see reviewed, though bear in mind that I only review PC games.

Star Wars: Battlefront II

Fight on the front lines of Star Wars’ biggest battles.

PC Release: November 1, 2005

By Ian Coppock

Right off the bat, anyone who came here somehow expecting a review of this November’s Battlefront II is going to be sorely disappointed. Not even Art as Games can acquire titles that early. No, this is a review of the old Battlefront II, or what some old-school and expanded universe fans call the real Battlefront II. As the last Battlefront game to be released under the banner of LucasArts before the series’ decade-long hibernation, Battlefront II deserves a quick look back. Before Electronic Arts got its claws on the Battlefront license, what was LucasArts’ take on galaxy-wide shooting?

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Originally released in the winter of ’05, Battlefront II is a shooter set in the prequel and classic Star Wars eras. Players can duke it out in galaxy-wide wars for supremacy as the Republic or Confederacy of Independent Systems (CIS), or as the Rebel Alliance or Galactic Empire. The action takes place on over a dozen iconic Star Wars worlds, whether it’s boots on the ground or in the cockpit of a starfighter. In most modes, whoever kills all the enemy combatants first wins the match.

Unlike EA’s 2015 Battlefront reboot, Battlefront II is a class-based shooter that can be played in first-person. Players can pick from one of several specialized classes that each sport different weapons and strategies. Stormtroopers make for great general assault units, while scout troopers come with sniper rifles. Generally, each faction has assault, sniper, explosive, and support classes, as well as a few specialized units that can usually only be used after the player racks up enough points. Battlefront II also features space battles with three starfighter classes and a few types of capital ships.

The weather outside is especially frightful today, buddy.

Gameplay in Battlefront II is pretty simple. On the ground, players simply shoot enemies to death with their class’s firearm and can also use grenades. Crouching behind objects is, believe it or not, a great way to avoid getting killed, as is making liberal use of health and ammo packs. Most maps also feature turrets and vehicles that players can hop into. Depending on the map, players might be able to access AT-AT walkers, Homing Spider Droids, or any number of tanks and speeders. Like EA’s Battlefront, players who rack up enough points can temporarily play as a hero character, such as Darth Vader, General Grievous, Luke Skywalker, or Yoda.

In space, players score points by destroying enemy starfighters and damaging the opposing capital ship, and whoever achieves that score first wins. Hopping into a starfighter to wreak havoc from above is all well and good, but players less suited to flying can also land on the enemy ship and sabotage critical systems. That latter one is a great way to rack up points quickly, but Battlefront II‘s flying controls are fairly simple to pick up. Just don’t barrel roll into a Star Destroyer.

Art as Games does not advocate drunk flying, even if it stokes courage.

It’s worth mentioning at this point that Battlefront II‘s multiplayer is pretty dead. It’s still technically online thanks to GameRanger, but don’t go in expecting a vibrant community with an endless server list. More introverted shooter fans will be glad to know that Battlefront II supports computer matches, but it only takes one match to know a computer’s habits. If for nothing else, playing against the computer can be entertaining because of its spurious decision making, like using its resources to buy extra medical supplies instead of a capital ship.

Fortunately, Battlefront II‘s Galactic Conquest mode is much livelier than its multiplayer. Comparable to a turn-based Empire at War, Galactic Conquest gives players about a dozen worlds to conquer. Each victory brings in money that players can use to unlock new soldier classes, build new fleets, and acquire perks like extra meds and ammo. Even if the mode’s AI and sequence of space-land battles becomes a bit predictable, Galactic Conquest is a fun mode to try. It’s like chess but with Star Wars instead of chess.

The droids are back in town, the droids are back in town…

When EA’s Battlefront launched, the game got a lot of heat for lacking a single-player campaign. This absence was made all the more conspicuous by the single-player campaign present in Battlefront II, a story that chronicles the elite 501st clone legion as the Republic transitions into the Empire. To be fair to EA, this story mode is not the tear-jerking war drama that ardent old-school fans claim it is, but it’s still a substantial helping of colorful battles across iconic Star Wars set pieces. Even if the exposition is restricted solely to an old clone’s narration, it’s fun to wage the climactic battles that drove events in the Star Wars films.

Each mission also forces conditions upon the player that aren’t present in multiplayer modes. Some missions might give players only a small handful of troops for a greater challenge, others might have arbitrary restrictions on which vehicles can be used. Still others might feature cross-era confrontations, like the missions where the Empire has to destroy a holdout of Separatist war droids. The core gameplay of running and gunning goes little changed in the story mode, but it does tinker with a few things here and there to provide novelty unseen in the multiplayer mode. It also toys with the idea of what happened to the clones after Order 66, though this narrative is no longer considered canon.

You worms are no match for the dark side!

Battlefront II‘s gameplay has aged pretty well, certainly more than its visual or sound design. Though Battlefront II‘s visuals were considered cutting-edge back in the day, that day has long since passed, and the game’s visual design is left looking a little shabby. Muddy textures and awkward character animations are classic LucasArts fare, but the muffled sounds of everything from blasters to lightsabers is a bit more worrisome. None of this detracts from the gameplay’s entertainment value… in fact, one might consider dated visuals a plus, if for nothing more than to laugh at a rectangular pile of snow.

A game this old runs on pretty much any machine these days, but Battlefront II is still known to occasionally crash or fill its cutscenes with visual glitches. The game’s options menu is quite impressive and allows for fixing almost any performance issue, but players thinking about picking this up might want to wear a visor in case the cutscenes go schizophrenic. But the keyword in that sentence was occasionally; by and large, Battlefront II runs just fine and its 2005-era processing requirements constitute barely a whisper of effort on modern machines.

All systems are go.

Battlefront II‘s legacy can still be felt in subsequent Star Wars games. Even EA’s Battlefront, despite some fundamental design differences, draws clear inspiration from this classic title. EA may have decided to forgo the class-based combat, but capturing objectives in Battlefront is an obvious echo of gameplay in Battlefront II. The new Battlefront II (the one coming out in November) seems to have embraced its predecessor’s design a bit more by including a story campaign and combat set in multiple eras.

Even if players look past or lack Star Wars fandom, Battlefront II is still worth considering because of its fluid class-based combat. In this age of play-your-way platitudes and endless character customization, class-based shooters have become somewhat endangered. Despite its massive popularity, Team Fortress 2 is really the last megabastion of such gameplay left in the contemporary PC scene. Players who yearn for that era will find it in spades with Battlefront II.

Teamwork makes the dream work.

Battlefront II has aged, but only visually. Like a fine Corellian brandy, the label on the bottle might seem faded, but the beverage within is succulent and well-balanced. Players picking this game up for the multiplayer will want to head over to GameRanger to find a match, while everyone else is still in for a delectable mix of turn-based strategy, instant shooting, and a fireside story about clone troopers in the era of the Empire. It’ll be interesting to see how else, if at all, this November’s Battlefront II stacks up to the original. In the meantime, this venerable game is worth a shot.

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You can buy Star Wars: Battlefront II here.

Thank you for reading! My next review will be posted in a few days. You can follow Art as Games on Twitter @IanLayneCoppock, or friend me at username Art as Games on Steam. Feel free to leave a comment or email me at ianlaynecoppock@gmail.com with a game that you’d like to see reviewed, though bear in mind that I only review PC games.

Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy

Become a Padawan learner at Luke Skywalker’s Jedi Academy.

PC Release: September 17, 2003

By Ian Coppock

Well folks, we’re coming up on the end of Star Wars Month. How fitting that tonight’s game is the fourth and final chapter of the Kyle Katarn saga. It’s a bittersweet moment, because Kyle Katarn’s adventures are regarded as some of LucasArts’ best work before their eventual shutdown years later. At the same time, Jedi Academy shares a contentious rivalry with its predecessor, Jedi Outcast, so part of tonight’s review will also settle the question of which game is better. For now, though, get ready for blastoff into Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy.

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Some old-school fans might take issue with calling Jedi Academy a Kyle Katarn game… and that’s because he’s actually not the player character this time. Players instead assume the role of Jaden Korr, a Jedi initiate who’s admitted to Luke Skywalker’s Jedi Academy after building a lightsaber with no prior instruction. Though Kyle is not the star of the show, he takes Jaden on as his Padawan and appears in many missions as an allied NPC. Jedi Academy can still be considered part of the Kyle Katarn series because it was built in the same engine as Jedi Outcast, features much of the same gameplay, and picks up from a few narrative threads left behind in Outcast.

Anyway, Jedi Academy is set 10 years after the Battle of Endor and two years after Jedi Outcast. Following his battle against Desann, Kyle decides to become a full-time Jedi again and takes a teaching job at the Jedi Academy on Yavin 4. Jaden Korr, the player character, can be customized from the ground up to be male or female. The character can also be human or one of several alien races, some of which are restricted to one gender or the other (of course the Twi’lek can only be female, and comes with some pretty risque clothing options). Players can also create their own lightsaber from a broad selection of blade colors and hilts.

Players create their own Padawan in Jedi Academy.

After creating their Jaden, players arrive to Luke’s academy and are taken on as Kyle’s apprentice. Players learn a few basic abilities in the tutorial before selecting from a wide variety of missions set all over the galaxy. Some missions have to do with investigating a mysterious Sith cult that’s suddenly cropping up everywhere, but others are the type of benevolent superhero work that the Jedi have always been known for. Jedi Academy presents its missions to players in batches of five (playable in any order) followed by a story mission that closes off that act of the game and opens another. There are about 20 missions in total.

Jaden is not alone in his/her journey to become a Jedi. Kyle features prominently in the game as Jaden’s Jedi Master, and when he’s not giving orders over a comlink, he’s there fighting alongside the player. Rosh Penin, a fellow student, quickly becomes a passive-aggressive rival to the player and is the only other named student character encountered in the game. Jedi Academy also features cameos from Luke Skywalker, C-3PO, Chewbacca, Wedge Antilles, and other iconic characters from the Star Wars films. To further establish its place in the Star Wars universe, Jedi Academy uses a mix of iconic songs and sound effects from the films.

Oh my God, that’s HIM! Can I get your autograph when you’re done barbecuing me?

On the surface, Jedi Academy‘s gameplay is nigh identical to that of Jedi Outcast. Players can use their lightsaber to deflect blaster bolts and cut down foes, but they can also use ranged weapons to keep the action at a distance. Jaden can use grenades (excuse me, thermal detonators) to blow s*** up, which, while not a very Jedi-like thing to do, is a great way to give a stormtrooper a spontaneous skydiving lesson. Players can also use the Force to jump higher, run faster, and get around the environment much easier than their non-Force-sensitive foes. Just don’t careen into a wall or over any cliffs.

Though all of that gameplay is borrowed from Jedi Outcast, Jedi Academy makes some hefty retrofits to it. Lightsaber combat has been refined and smoothed out to give players more control of their blade, which is especially important considering all of the Sith cultists running around. Jedi Academy also introduces new Force-powered acrobatics that allow players to wall-jump, cartwheel, and perform other elaborate gymnastics at the touch of a button. Not only does this make the combat far superior to that of Jedi Outcast, it also gives players much more freedom in navigating the battlefield. Outcast let players decapitate enemies. Academy lets players decapitate enemies by wall-running and then front-flipping over them.

Academy’s gameplay is a huge improvement over Outcast’s.

Just as Academy gives players more physical freedom than Outcast, it also gives players more freedom in shaping their characters. Whereas Outcast dropped players off with a random assortment of weapons and Force powers, Academy allows players to pick their loadout of guns and grenades before each mission. Even better, Academy lets players select which Force powers they want to upgrade instead of upgrading predetermined powers a la Outcast. Some core powers only improve with each set of completed missions, but players are still free to upgrade powers like Force Lightning and Force Healing as they will. It’s a great way to let players shape their ideal Jedi.

Finally, and most awesomely, Jedi Academy eventually lets players trade in their lightsaber for a double-bladed one (like Darth Maul’s) or learn how to use two lightsabers at once. Want to recreate the final fight scene in the Phantom Menace with two unlucky Sith, or just chop everything up with dual blades? Jedi Academy lets players have at it. Each style of lightsaber combat comes with its own moves, which are further diversified with a selection of strong, medium, and fast fighting stances. Not only is this system versatile, it feels fluid and badass, and it remains one of the most fun melee combat systems in gaming despite being 14 years old.

…Not quite sure what’s happening in this shot, but she has two lightsabers so it’s automatically fine.

Jedi Academy also dramatically overhauls one of Jedi Outcast‘s less admirable features: the level design. Academy replaces the maze-like, confusing level design of Outcast with much more intuitive set pieces. Despite being more linear, these levels are far easier to navigate and still allow for lots of fierce combat. It’s far easier in Jedi Academy to know where to go and what to do, especially when combined with a plethora of environmental hints that point the way. Most of Academy‘s levels still allow for some exploration off the beaten path, but finding the beaten path again is easy once the player’s ready to move on.

All of that said, Jedi Academy was built on the exact same engine as Jedi Outcast, so it shares its predecessor’s awkward character animations and muddled textures. Even the new animations added for using a new kind of lightsaber remain a bit stiff. It’s not a huge surprise that Academy had little time to innovate, since it was released only 18 months after Outcast, but players hoping for an improvement over Outcast‘s stilted designs will find no such thing in Academy. This isn’t a deal-breaker, but players won’t have to look at the packaging to see that this game came out in 2003.

Seriously, wtf is she doing?

It might seem like Jedi Academy has Jedi Outcast beat at this point, what with its overhauled gameplay and far superior level design, but that’s not quite the case. For while Jedi Academy does gameplay and level design better than its predecessor, it comes up short on storytelling. Sure, Academy has a central plot, but it has less to do with evolving a character and more to do with tying up a few narrative loose ends from Outcast. At least half of the game is also spent on one-shot missions that have less to do with stopping a Sith cult and more to do with the Star Wars equivalent of helping an old lady get her cat out of a tree.

As a character, Jaden Korr is far less interesting than Kyle Katarn. He/she is little more than a blank canvas with a few token sentiments about bravery and selflessness to boot. Sure, the character cracks the occasional joke, but it’s usually in response to the far more jokey Kyle, who retains the gruff likability that made him a star in previous Jedi Knight games. Jaden’s remarks are propelled entirely by observations of the world around them, and both the male and female voice acting for the character is… uninspired, to put it politely. Funnily enough, the character retains human voice acting even if they’re, say, a Rodian.

Jaden is a bit of a bore.

So yes, while Jedi Academy provides fun gameplay and level design, it does so at the expense of the narrative grit that put its predecessors on the map. Even though Outcast‘s game design had some problems, the game still presented a compelling story with an acute sense of character development. Jedi Academy lacks that narrative cohesion, preferring instead to be more of a Skywalker-era Padawan concept piece. The game’s central story isn’t bad, but it’s certainly several steps down from the deeply personal storytelling that characterized Jedi Knight and Jedi Outcast.

As with many video game disputes, it’s not that Jedi Outcast is better than Jedi Academy or vice-versa; they each do some things well and some things not so well. Jedi Outcast has a great story but confusing level design and alright gameplay. Jedi Academy has great gameplay and level design, but a much less interesting story and main character. Games are like that sometimes; developers see what made their first game popular or unpopular and compensate for it in the next title. Jedi Academy is a clear-cut case of a studio that did a great job of fixing what was wrong with the previous game, but at the expense of what made the previous game decent despite those problems.

Did I mention that you get to drive a speeder?

The main takeaway from all of this is that Jedi Outcast and Jedi Academy are both good games, for different reasons. One has a great story, the other has some of the most fun Star Wars gameplay ever devised. Because of that, Jedi Academy is worth any Star Wars fan’s time, and still provides a hearty conclusion to the Kyle Katarn saga even if he’s not the star of the show. The star of the show is able to take on a horde of stormtroopers with a double-bladed blue lightsaber and lots of Force Lightning while wall-running over a waterfall. If that doesn’t sound fun, then nothing will.

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You can buy Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy here.

Thank you for reading! My next review will be posted in a few days. You can follow Art as Games on Twitter @IanLayneCoppock, or friend me at username Art as Games on Steam. Feel free to leave a comment or email me at ianlaynecoppock@gmail.com with a game that you’d like to see reviewed, though bear in mind that I only review PC games.

Audiosurf 2

Race on zany tracks made from your favorite music.

PC Release: May 26, 2015

By Ian Coppock

Music is often compared to a drug, with good reason. It can have a profound effect on mood, outlook, and the desire to thrash one’s head back and forth like someone receiving an exorcism. How fitting, then, that Audiosurf 2 combines music with the psychedelic visuals associated with hard drugs. It also allows players to choose how those two media interact, for just as the atmosphere and composition of a song can affect mood, so too can those qualities of a game. Audiosurf 2 seeks to join music and gameplay together in creative ways.

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Created by Dylan Fitterer, developer of 2008’s Audiosurf, Audiosurf 2 is a game that lets players ride their music. Simply upload a favorite song, plug in a visual theme, and ride a futuristic car along a road paved with that song’s notes. All the while, that tune is playing in crystal-clear quality. Players can also collect points that pop up along the track and execute combos to drive up their score. Just like in Audiosurf, players can select different vehicles and from a palette of different visual themes.

Once players have picked a song, a ride, and a theme, it’s time to hit the road. Audiosurf 2‘s music-seeking software makes finding a song on the hard drive easy as pie. The game comes with a few pre-packaged songs, but they’re not all that great. Besides, Audiosurf 2‘s best selling point is hitting a digital road to the tune of the player‘s favorite song, and it executes that function smoothly. That the game can build a track out of any song means that Audiosurf 2 has as much variety as the entire spectrum of music. It’s a cool feature whose novelty is matched only by that of the original Audiosurf.

(furious headbanging)

Audiosurf 2 has single-player and multiplayer modes. Whoever can rack up the most points littering each track gets a spot on that song’s worldwide leaderboards. More popular songs have a lot of competition for spot no. 1, so uploading an obscure song is a great way to earn worldwide prestige on the cheap. Success in multiplayer requires knowing the ebb and flow of the song, and maximizing a vehicle’s points-earning ability. Similarly to Audiosurf, points take the form of blocks called “cars” and mosey along the road for players to speed through.

How cars are laid out and how the track flows depends entirely on the song. A slow or tranquil song makes for a straight shot of a race, while a fast song can produce one heck of a bumpy road. The faster the song is paced, the more difficult the track. Players can swap between three lanes of traffic to pick up points and fill three points meters at the bottom of the screen. Players may be expected to collect points while going over a series of speed bumps or even through a loop-de-loop, depending on how intense the song is.

Starbucks’ Unicorn Frappuchino in road form.

Although Audiosurf 2‘s track-building software seems little-changed from that of Audiosurf, the game features a larger palette of visual themes. Whereas players were previously restricted to a small handful of themes, Audiosurf 2 has a much wider selection of stylized racing worlds. Players can stick to the game’s signature Tron-esque racing corridors or opt for dusky cities, winter wonderlands, etc etc. Audiosurf 2 also has a thriving modding community, and players have created dozens of additional tracks to choose from. The Knights of the Old Republic swoop racing level is particularly fun.

On top of that, Audiosurf 2‘s visuals have received a serious overhaul over those of the first game. Audiosurf is a beautiful game, but its textures are blurry and its objects occasionally hard to define. Audiosurf 2 opts for much sharper visuals and brighter, more interesting lighting effects. The vehicles have much more defined textures, and some tracks feature reflective, well-lit surfaces.  The other elements of the racecourse, like the track itself and the in-game visuals that spawn and bloom around the player, are also significantly more beautiful.

Audiosurf 2 is lookin’ sharp.

One of the issues plaguing Audiosurf was the game’s vehicle selection, which gave players a huge roster of different musical buggies and vaguely defined special abilities. Some vehicles might be better at gathering points arranged in a row, others might force false point blocks onto the track, so on and so forth. Audiosurf 2 nixes this issue by reformatting the different vehicle perks as racing modes. Now, players simply pick a mode where points are gathered in clumps instead of having to pick a vehicle that executes that effect. Players can now select a vehicle for how it looks, not what it does.

Even though Audiosurf 2 also does a better job of explaining each mode than the first game did, this title’s loading screens are peppered with weirdly written advice, like gathering points during “big moments” in a song. It’s possible that Dylan’s referring to loop-de-loops or something, but everyone’s idea of a “big moment” in a song is different. That’s the beauty of music, but it also obfuscates the meaning of the in-game advice. Players are better off sticking to the stated goal of the mode they’re in. Those tidbits, at least, remain clearly written.

I’m supposed to do what now?

Audiosurf 2 also benefits from improved menu design. The options menu is a far cry from the barebones sliders and buttons in Audiosurf, with more ways for players to tweak their in-game experience. The menus for selecting races and songs have also been heavily streamlined and are broken down into three simple selection windows that make getting out onto the course a piece of cake. (By the way, my recent dieting is responsible for all these baked good analogies. About to hit day 90 of the diet and am hallucinating that everyone is birthday cake or a piece of pie. Maintain a safe distance).

Although Audiosurf 2‘s core menus are a sight for sore eyes, not all of the game’s interfaces are well-implemented. The YouTube streaming option is a crapshoot; at one point that mechanic’s implementation broke the entire game and made it impossible to play without streaming. That problem was eventually remedied, but the patch has since resulted in sound issues for many players. Gamers who buy Audiosurf 2 have noted, with alarming regularity, a complete lack of sound across all operating systems. A steady stream of patches hasn’t done much to stem the flow of these complaints.

This game has a few glitches in the matrix.

More than a few Audiosurf 2 players have also taken the game to task for its inability to stream music from services like Spotify and Pandora, but making that kind of arrangement with the music industry can be murderously difficult. These companies guard their music with enough jealously to make a French lover balk, and that’s no hyperbole. Dmytry Lavrov, developer of 2010’s The Polynomial, mentioned to Art as Games that current industry laws make it very difficult for music games to stream songs and even use certain file formats. Truly, music execs are the Scrooges of the digital age.

So yeah, while only being able to use music stored on a hard drive may seem like old hat these days, Dylan deserves a bit of a break for not cracking into the most curmudgeonly segment of the entertainment industry. Music executives and industry leaders have guarded their holdings for decades, and it’s most likely that obstruction, not Audiosurf 2, that’s responsible for the game’s lack of streaming compatibility. Overbearing restrictions and copyrights are probably why Audiosurf 2‘s Soundcloud compatibility was abruptly stripped out a while back. Hopefully the situation will change someday, but in this age of overzealous DRM, it’s unlikely.

The music rights are in another castle!

Audiosurf 2 offers a streamlined, reforged music racing experience over its predecessor, but players would do well to watch out for those aforementioned sound bugs. Give the game a go; if the sound still works, keep the game and give that music library a whole new meaning. If not, return Audiosurf 2 to sender and dive back into the first game. When Audiosurf 2 runs well, it takes the freedom and fun introduced by the first game to dramatic new heights. It makes racing on favorite songs a cinch and customization of the overall experience easier. Hopefully Dylan will continue to work on the game and address its rough spots, as he’s done diligently since its 2015 release, but Audiosurf 2 is worth at least trying in the meantime.

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You can buy Audiosurf 2 here.

Thank you for reading! My next review will be posted in a few days. You can follow Art as Games on Twitter @IanLayneCoppock, or friend me at username Art as Games on Steam. Feel free to leave a comment or email me at ianlaynecoppock@gmail.com with a game that you’d like to see reviewed, though bear in mind that I only review PC games.

Star Wars: Republic Commando

Lead an elite squad of clones against the Separatist army.

PC Release: March 1, 2005

By Ian Coppock

The Star Wars prequels still get a bad rap even though 12 years have passed since Revenge of the Sith opened in theaters. It’s easy to paint crosshairs on Hayden Christensen or Natalie Portman, but George Lucas brought about the films’ downfall by taking screenwriting and directing duties on personally. Not a great idea, George. In the years since the prequels, that era of Star Wars has slowly been redeemed by other media, including the Clone Wars TV series and a smattering of comic books. Video games have also helped purge the taste of Lucas’s screenwriting, including a particularly excellent first-person shooter called Star Wars: Republic Commando.

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Released about two months before Revenge of the Sith hit theaters, Republic Commando avoids Jedi pomp and circumstance in favor of clone troopers. But not just any clone troopers — true to the game’s name, the clones at the heart of Republic Commando are elite units that were literally born for the galaxy’s toughest missions. Players assume the role of Boss, a clone commando leader voiced by Jango Fett actor Temuera Morrison, and are given command over fellow soldiers Scorch, Fixer and Sev. Together the team comprises Delta Squad, the Republic’s most elite black ops clone troopers.

Republic Commando takes place between Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith, and follows the squad as they undertake hazardous missions throughout the Clone Wars. The game starts players out on Geonosis, but also takes place on a derelict warship and the Wookie homeworld of Kashyyyk. It’s up to players to lead their squad against hordes of battle droids, and complete missions vital to victory in the Clone Wars. The game comes up a bit short with just three story campaigns, but each one is a fierce bout of gunfights, explosions, and organic dialogue. These campaigns benefit from tight level design that’s linear without being too constrictive.

Delta Squad was bred for war.

As Boss, players can wield experimental next-gen blaster rifles that are great for blowing up battle droids, and they can even be configured for sniper or anti-armor combat. Exotic alien weapons like Geonosian energy beams can also be found out in the game world. Players can round out Boss’s arsenal with frag, EMP and other types of grenades, each suited to a different type of foe. Battle droids comprise the bulk of Delta Squad’s enemies, but the team will also be pitted against Geonosian warriors and ruthless alien mercenaries.

Even deadlier than Boss himself is the team that he commands. Players can direct their clone squadmates to hack computers, breach and clear a room, or take up a sniper position. As Boss, players can also direct their clones to aggressively sweep through an enemy base or play it slow and cautious. Republic Commando makes a big noise about each commando having his own specialty, but the clones can each perform any task with identical (tee-hee) precision.

Open fire, boys!

Republic Commando‘s first-person shooting isn’t anything fans of the genre haven’t seen before, but the squad commands are where the game truly comes alive. With just a few keystrokes, players can make their clones execute sophisticated search patterns or take up firing positions for an ambush. It’s equally simple to command troops to use certain weapons or perform a three-man breaching maneuver. Not only does this give Republic Commando a novel tactical element… it just feels badass. It’s good enough to be given control of three merciless supersoldiers, but only Republic Commando makes the experience feel so fluid.

Because of the game’s variety of commands, players are given a lot of freedom in how they wage war. They can send their clones charging into a base guns blazing, or they can slowly take the enemy out room by room. Stealth isn’t usually an option with enemies as hyper-aware as war droids, but that hardly eliminates the opportunity for tactics. It helps that the clones’ AI is sophisticated enough that they’ll take cover if hurt and avoid suicidal rampages. If Boss’s health hits zero, players can direct a squadmate to administer first aid. Just don’t do that while the enemy is still standing.

Tactics are a must for the game’s heavy-hitting droids.

The presence of a squad in Republic Commando also opens the floor to some of the funniest and most organic dialogue of any Star Wars game. Having been together since birth, the clones aren’t shy about making fun of each other and offering their wry observations about how a battle’s going. Interestingly, the other clones in the squad are voiced not by Temuera Morrison, but voice actors who sound nothing like clones. While the decision to give each clone different voice actors doesn’t make logical sense, it’s actually a great way to give each one his own identity.

Scorch, the team’s demolitions expert, is a happy-go-lucky pyromaniac voiced by Raphael Sbarge (who also voiced Kaiden Alenko in Mass Effect). His eagerness to light fires is comic relief that doesn’t feel forced. When he’s not blowing s*** up, Scorch is busy arguing with Sev, the team’s sniper, whose dry wit and unsettling bloodthirst is not only amusing in its own right, but also leads to some hilarious banter with his cheerier squadmate. Fixer, the computer expert, is the team’s rock, whose strict adherence to military discipline basically makes him the Frank Burns of Republic Commando.

Clankers! (Sorry, that was droidist)

The clones’ dialogue is where most of Republic Commando‘s writing lives. Because of this, the game focuses less on an overt story and more on transplanting the military brotherhood motif to the Star Wars universe. Even if the game’s narrative is basically a series of military objectives, the clones’ constant banter and discussions about the missions make Republic Commando compelling. The dialogue writing feels organic, and makes each clone an endearing character. Republic Commando makes for an exciting story because it keeps the Republic a peripheral entity and focuses instead on the clones fighting for each other.

Republic Commando‘s gameplay format is a natural fit for the brotherhood motif. What better way to present a game about serving together than squad-and-tactic-based gameplay? The clones have to work together in order to succeed in their mission and will oftentimes be expected to save each other from overwhelming enemy forces. The game’s lightest and heaviest moments alike all revolve around that idea, making Republic Commando one of the smoothest gameplay/story concept pairings of any Star Wars video game.

All together now.

Republic Commando‘s world is brought to life with a mix of sounds from the films and some original audio concoctions. The game is replete with blaster and starship sound effects from the films. Thankfully, the game does away with the nasally battle droid dialogue from the movies and gives them deeper, more intimidating voices. Most of the game’s sound effects still cut crystal clear, though some, like explosions, are strangely muffled.

The game’s soundtrack is similarly an eclectic mix of movie and original soundtracks. Republic Commando borrows a handful of John Williams’ Star Wars prequel compositions, but most of the music is completely original. Incredibly enough, the flagship song of the game contains opera movements sung in the Mandalorian language, which is uncommon attention to detail for video game music. Republic Commando also breaks from tradition in having a heavy rock song as its theme music instead of the Star Wars theme, but don’t worry; it doesn’t play during the actual game (just the credits).

Republic Commando’s soundtrack is incredible.

As long as players don’t look at Republic Commando‘s textures too closely, its visuals haven’t aged that badly over the years. The game is unafraid to take creative liberties with its portrayal of battle droids, making them bulkier and more insect-looking to lend them an alien feel. The character animations are passable but can be a bit robotic (even on the characters that aren’t robots). Environments both natural and man-made are full of interesting little details to look at, and players who miss them will usually get a sardonic opinion on them from one of the squadmates.

Despite the environmental detail, Republic Commando‘s colors are a bit dour. The Geonosis campaign seems to be done out in just two shades of brown. The other game environments seem intent on using as few shades of color as possible, made duller by the game’s usage of low lights and thick shadows. It’s a color palette that could’ve done with a serious touch-up, inadvertently rendering detailed environments more meh on the eyes.

EVERYTHING IS OCHRE.

Don’t be fooled by Republic Commando‘s aged visage; despite that minor drawback, it’s one of the best Star Wars games ever made and one of the most criminally underrated shooters of all time. It remains one of the best tactical shooters despite being over a decade old, and has the tightest, most intuitive squad commands of any game in its genre. The game’s bold decision to give each clone his own voice makes them all endearing characters, as does the narrative’s focus on their wartime bond instead of a grander plot. Buy the game and experience the Clone Wars not from the top-end perspective of a Jedi, but through the eyes of a gritty, witty team of warrior brothers.

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You can buy Star Wars: Republic Commando here.

Thank you for reading! My next review will be posted in a few days. You can follow Art as Games on Twitter @IanLayneCoppock, or friend me at username Art as Games on Steam. Feel free to leave a comment or email me at ianlaynecoppock@gmail.com with a game that you’d like to see reviewed, though bear in mind that I only review PC games.

Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast

Re-learn the Jedi way… while seeking revenge.

PC Release: March 26, 2002

By Ian Coppock

The Jedi are portrayed as humanity at its best, always being mature and relying on positive emotions without getting angry or sad. This caricature is pretty uniform across the Star Wars universe, but it can make Jedi characters seem emotionless and difficult to relate to. Sith characters, like Darth Vader and Clone Wars-era Darth Maul, are easier to empathize with because they both try to seek justice while battling personal demons, which is something most of us endure every day. Trying to do the right thing without resorting to baser instincts is a common character arc in Star Wars, but no Star Wars video game does it better than Jedi Outcast.

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Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast is the third title in the Kyle Katarn saga. The mercenary who took down an evil army in Dark Forces and learned the ways of the Force in Jedi Knight returns for a third bout of action in Jedi Outcast, which was originally released back in 2002. Like all the other Star Wars games being reviewed here this month, Jedi Outcast is no longer considered canon, but Star Wars fans ignore expanded universe narratives at their peril.

Anyway, Jedi Outcast is set eight years after the Battle of Endor. Even though he became a Jedi in the last game, Kyle becomes afraid of falling to the dark side and severs his connection to the Force, trading in his lightsaber for his old collection of guns. Kyle runs missions for the New Republic against the remnants of the Empire, accompanied by his longtime partner Jan. Jedi Outcast begins when Kyle’s asked to investigate a seemingly abandoned Imperial outpost, and if video games have one rule, it’s that “seemingly abandoned” means “filled with bad guys”.

It’s back to guns and grenades for Kyle.

Kyle discovers that there’s much more to the outpost than meets the eye and eventually encounters Desann, a fallen Jedi who is intent on conquering the galaxy. Without the Force, Kyle is easily defeated by Desann, who murders his beloved Jan right in front of him. Enraged, Kyle is left for dead but vows to kill Desann, and enlists Luke Skywalker’s help in reconnecting with the Force. Luke reluctantly gives Kyle his lightsaber back, but fears that in his quest for revenge, Kyle might end up falling to the dark side after all.

Kyle’s journey to avenge Jan and stop Desann can be played from first- or third-person. As in Jedi Knight, Kyle wields a wide arsenal of blasters and other weaponry against his enemies. The lightsaber is the star of the show, of course, able to deflect blaster bolts and turn enemies into chop suey. As players progress through the game, Kyle’s Force powers reawaken, and he’ll start out each level with new and improved abilities. These will be critical to stopping Desann, as well as the underworld criminals and stormtroopers he’s lined up against Kyle.

Kyle is not a flashy about his abilities.

Players embark upon a series of linear missions to stop Desann, set in locales both new and old across the Star Wars universe. Gameplay involves exploring levels for clues and dicing up enemies who get in the way. Kyle can protect himself with personal shields but will need medkits if he gets hurt (eventually he learns how to heal himself through the Force, but not before players will have gone through enough medkits to necessitate a repurposed drinking hat). Players can also access better and more effective powers as the game progresses, including Force lightning. It’s a decent mix of gameplay that remains surprisingly fluid after 15 years.

Kyle’s high-stakes journey of personal growth is not dissimilar to Jedi Knight. In that game, Kyle was becoming aware of a higher state of being while avenging a murder long committed. In this game, he’s reluctantly returning to that higher state while being driven by much fresher wounds. He’s a character who’s had it pretty rough in that galaxy far, far away, but that doesn’t stop him from cracking a few jokes and making glib comments about his odds of success. Jedi Outcast also features an appearance from Lando Calrissian, who serves as Kyle’s companion for a good chunk of the game and responds to Kyle’s bleak sarcasm with his own stylish wit.

Lando’s optimism is a foil to Kyle’s anger.

Jedi Outcast‘s narrative is cut from the same gritty cloth as Jedi Knight. Like that game, the story is a very personal tale that focuses less on ramifications for the Star Wars galaxy and more on how Kyle Katarn evolves as a character. His thirst for revenge gradually evolves as he learns more about Desann’s plans, and as he lets more friends in to help him through his grief. The character is written and voice-acted well enough to present believable evolution; he’s a hard-boiled mercenary learning to open himself back up to the galaxy that gave him so much pain. This character study is the focus of Jedi Outcast, and though the dialogue writing is awkward in places, it makes for a compelling story.

Kyle receives the most writing and attention throughout the narrative, but Desann is not far behind. A product of tragic circumstances himself, Desann is a character who teeters between being a careful planner and a maelstrom of rage. His backstory is tied up in Luke Skywalker’s first attempt at a Jedi Academy, and he approaches galactic conquest in a manner fundamentally different from Emperor Palpatine and other scheming bad guys. He’s arguably the most tragic villain of any Star Wars game, and his story bears much resemblance to a certain ex-Jedi who appeared in Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

Jedi Outcast’s storytelling is deep.

The Star Wars universe always makes for a great storytelling backdrop… but Jedi Outcast‘s visuals look dated by contemporary standards. The awkward character animations look like ghosts posing mannequins rather than natural human movement. Similarly, the game’s clone-stamped textures are pretty soft. The lighting effects are decent, and the environments are pretty, but Jedi Outcast‘s looks were only cutting edge in 2002. The game’s soundtrack benefits from borrowing John Williams’ classic songs from the Star Wars films, and the sound design similarly makes use of the films’ weapon and starship sound effects.

Jedi Outcast‘s level design also leaves a lot to be desired and is by far the most regrettable facet of the game. Kyle starts out missions with an objective, but the game doesn’t do jack to point the player in the right direction. Oftentimes players will be left scouring dizzying mazes in search of where to go or what to do next. Rather than casually hinting at the next area with, say, an open door or a well-lit doorway, the game simply drops players into a large area with a vague objective and says “have fun”. Jedi Outcast is content to let Kyle hop around aimlessly. It’s a great way to practice those Force-aided jumps, but not a great way to keep the game moving.

Surely someone in the Star Wars galaxy invented Google Maps…

It’s lucky for Jedi Outcast that a good story doesn’t require cutting-edge visuals. The level design kerfuffle may be more of a deal breaker, but Star Wars fans who are confident about their sense of direction should consider Jedi Outcast. It has the grand scale of a Star Wars narrative, but its intimate focus on a single character makes it a much more personal tale. Kyle Katarn’s inner battle between doing the right thing and resorting to baser instincts may not make him a perfect Jedi, but it makes him the most human one, and makes Jedi Outcast a pivotal installment in his story.

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You can buy Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast here.

Thank you for reading! My next review will be posted in a few days. You can follow Art as Games on Twitter @IanLayneCoppock, or friend me at username Art as Games on Steam. Feel free to leave a comment or email me at ianlaynecoppock@gmail.com with a game that you’d like to see reviewed, though bear in mind that I only review PC games.

Crysis 2

Stop genocidal aliens from overrunning New York City.

PC Release: March 22, 2011

By Ian Coppock

Pumping aliens full of lead is not a new trend in video games, but the Crysis series’ impact on that premise is sorely underappreciated. The original Crysis is one of the best shooters ever made, with a lively mix of open-ended levels and tactical gunplay that few, if any, modern titles have replicated. Crysis 2 was kicked onto shelves four years after its predecessor stormed the boards with high-end visuals and exotic alien weaponry, and while it has both of those things in spades, Crysis 2 marked the series’ descent into the relative obscurity it “enjoys” today, despite being a good game.

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Crysis 2 was developed by Crytek, the one and same German studio that produced the first Crysis and the original Far Cry. The game is built on the CryEngine, so named because its high-end visuals and steep processing demands have been known to make computers shed tears. Crysis 2 continues its predecessor’s proud tradition of eye-popping visuals and smooth performance, but don’t try to run it on a potato. Its in-depth options menu can only do so much to throttle the game’s visuals, which were several years ahead of its 2011 release date.

Crysis 2 is set in 2023, three years after a group of special ops soldiers accidentally unearthed prehistoric aliens in the first game. Those aliens, the Ceph, have since begun attacking humanity worldwide, unleashing a lethal virus in New York City. The game begins as a Marine code-named Alcatraz is sent to NYC to extract Dr. Nathan Gould, a scientist who claims to have info on stopping the disease. Alcatraz’s infiltration goes south when the Ceph sink his submarine, and when he wakes up, he finds he’s been strapped into a Nanosuit.

Fancy duds.

Alcatraz finds out that the suit’s owner was on his way to save humanity from the virus, but got infected before he could finish the mission, leaving Alcatraz to carry on instead. The suit left to Alcatraz is the one and same piece of equipment used in the original Crysis: a suit that allows its wearer to jump higher, run faster, and even turn invisible. Even with those abilities, Alcatraz has his work cut out navigating a city full of alien warriors and hostile human mercs. He sets off for Dr. Gould’s lab in the hope that humanity can be saved after all.

Players can use their Nanosuit’s powers to play Crysis 2 their way. Alcatraz can barge in with armor mode on, or play it cool in stealth mode. Crysis 2 introduces a few improvements on the suit over Crysis, like combining speed and strength modes into a single physical fitness module, and allowing players to use multiple modes at the same time. Players can use these abilities in short bursts before waiting for the battery to recharge, but Alcatraz’s proficiency with firearms leaves him anything but helpless.

Players can leverage Alcatraz’s suit however they want.

As in Crysis, the enemies in Crysis 2 are more intelligent than your standard-issue bad guys. They use tactics, they fan out, and they notice strange activity. Alcatraz has to fight his way through groups of alien soldiers and the soldiers of the corrupt CELL corporation, and they each use different weapons and strategies for taking the hero on in battle. This gives Crysis 2 a pleasant jolt of variety, as players never know if the next corner’ll have straight-faced human grunts or octopuses clad in armor. Both are smart, and both make for fun target practice.

It’s disappointing that Crysis 2 nerfed its alien enemies, though. In Crysis, the Ceph attacked with giant flying creatures, which were tactically distinct from the game’s other foes and felt scary to fight. In Crysis 2, the Ceph have reconfigured themselves into human-shaped soldiers. The story’s tagline is that this form is better suited to urban combat, but making the Ceph humanoid takes away from the novelty of the first game’s flying death squids. It makes the aliens feel less, well, alien.

The enemies act different, but they go down the same way.

The Ceph are given the spotlight they deserve in Crysis 2‘s narrative, which is more nuanced and fleshed out than the first game’s story. As Alcatraz fights his way through New York City, he becomes bound up in a series of conspiracies that do what most military shooters don’t: take straight-faced dudes in flak jackets and make them multifaceted. Several factions in the city have different goals for the aliens, and navigating those goals becomes as dangerous as Alcatraz’s street-to-street firefights.

Along his journey Alcatraz meets up with a gallery of fascinating and well-written characters. Dr. Nathan Gould is Jurassic Park‘s Ian Malcolm on steroids, spouting off funnily written anecdotes about science alongside his life-or-death monologues about beating the Ceph. The CELL Corporation’s Lieutenant Strickland seems dedicated to her company’s shady behavior on the surface, but the events she drives on and off of Crysis 2‘s screen point to something more. Crysis 2 has crisp, multilayered writing that concisely tells the story and provides a great deal of exposition.

Bazooka drone murder. Another possible name for the band.

Crysis 2‘s rendition of New York City makes for a thrilling sci-fi setting, and is to Crysis‘s tropical island what night is to day. The thick jungle groves of the first game have been traded out for blocks of skyscrapers and narrow alleyways, making Crysis 2 one of gaming’s purest exercises in urban warfare. Visually, the game is stunning, with sharp textures blanketing every surface. Volumetric lighting and shadow affects that were years ahead of their time make Crysis 2 look more like a 2014 title than a 2011 one. The game’s use of strong color, fluid character animations, and impressive facial capture technology all do a great job of bringing this game to life. The visuals certainly add to the fun of visiting post-apocalyptic Wall Street, Times Square, and other NYC locales.

Unfortunately, Crysis 2‘s level design is what stops the game from being as novel as its predecessor. Even more than the Nanosuit, the core characteristic of Crysis was being able to play across large areas. Players could traverse entire square miles of terrain on their way to a goal, free to sneak or shoot their way through and explore for hidden avenues. Crysis 2 sadly abandons this design philosophy in favor of narrow linearity, which gives the game a much more pedestrian feel. Crysis 2 might’ve appealed to a larger audience by going the way of Call of Duty and Halo‘s level design, but sacrificed much of the series’ novelty in the process.

Only one path forward.

In making Crysis 2 so linear, Crytek also missed an opportunity to apply their open-ended formula to an urban environment. New York City is a metropolis teeming with vertical space, whether it’s underground in a subway tunnel or atop the city’s many skyscrapers. Imagine if players had the freedom to traverse these environments as they saw fit. Alcatraz spends plenty of time in subway tunnels and on skyscrapers, but it’s all predetermined. That player agency that made Crysis such an open-ended tactical masterpiece has been abruptly amputated in Crysis 2.

The level design’s drastic change doesn’t make Crysis 2 a bad game. In fact, Crysis 2 remains one of the better sci-fi shooters made this decade; but the game has a much harder time standing out from the other titles in its genre because of its linearity. Fans of the first game will be sorely disappointed to be shunted down avenues instead of free to sit in a river all day watching enemy troops play Parcheesi.

Look at all of those invisible walls.

Crysis 2 is still worth any shooter fan’s time thanks to its fierce firefights and outstanding visuals. The game also benefits from neatly written storytelling that gives players exposition and character development at a smooth pace. It’s just a shame that Crytek decided to forsake the open-ended design that helped put their first titles on the map. It’s not a given that this format change made the Crysis series harder to distinguish from other first-person shooters, but considering that Crysis 2 still does everything else better than most games in that genre, it’s a strong possibility. Enjoy saving New York City from aliens, but don’t expect Crysis 2 to allow for any dillydallying.

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You can buy Crysis 2 – Maximum Edition here.

Thank you for reading! My next review will be posted in a few days. You can follow Art as Games on Twitter @IanLayneCoppock, or friend me at username Art as Games on Steam. Feel free to leave a comment or email me at ianlaynecoppock@gmail.com with a game that you’d like to see reviewed, though bear in mind that I only review PC games.

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords

Stop the Sith from wiping out the last Jedi.

PC Release: December 6, 2004

By Ian Coppock

For anything that can be said about the Star Wars prequels, that sequence in Revenge of the Sith in which countless Jedi are getting murdered is a real gut-punch. It’s arguably the most pivotal scene of the entire prequel trilogy, where the Star Wars universe violently changes hands from Jedi to Sith. Tragic as that scene is, though, it’s not the first time that the Jedi were driven to the brink of extinction. If the old Star Wars canon is to be believed, there was an even darker, grittier period for the Jedi that began with Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords.

Take a seat, young Skywalker. This game makes for quite a tale.

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Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords (let’s just call it Sith Lords, that title’s one hell of a mouthful) is a third-person RPG set in the Star Wars universe, and the direct sequel to BioWare’s wildly popular Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. Unlike the first KOTOR, Sith Lords was actually developed by Obsidian, a studio that makes bank developing sequels and spinoffs on behalf of other devs. Like KOTOR, Sith Lords comprises a mix of quick turn-based combat and open-world exploration across a variety of planets. The game allows players to create their own character, pick a class, and recruit squadmates to fight alongside them.

Sith Lords takes place five years after the events of KOTOR, which is itself set an eye-popping 4,000 years before the Star Wars films. Neither game is considered canon anymore, but that doesn’t stop them from being good Star Wars stories. KOTOR detailed a galaxy-wide war between the ancient Republic and an entire empire of Sith warriors led by a cyborg with a chip on his shoulder (or is it his jaw?). Anyway, even though the Republic eventually won out over the Sith, the galaxy was left a pile of smoldering wreckage. Most of the Jedi were wiped out in the conflict, leaving only a small handful still standing when the dust settled.

The Jedi victory over the Sith came at an awful price.

To make matters worse, the remaining Sith simply fled underground and spent the next few years ambushing and assassinating the remaining Jedi from the shadows. A new generation of Sith Lords is now but a few steps away from galactic domination, and only one more Jedi stands in their way: the player character. Sith Lords begins as the titular baddies ambush the protagonist, and the unlucky Jedi wakes up dazed and confused in a derelict mining colony.

Like KOTOR, Sith Lords allows players to create their own male or female character, and choose from a couple of different cosmetic options. Unlike in KOTOR, Sith Lords’ character starts out as a Jedi, so players nix picking a soldier class and can start leveling up Force abilities from the get-go. Canonically, the character is actually a female Jedi named Meetra Surik, a name that Star Wars: The Old Republic players might recognize. To the game and most NPCs, though, the character is known simply as “the Exile.”

The Exile! (jazz hands)

After wandering out of the colony’s medical bay, the Exile encounters a strange old woman named Kreia, who claims that the two share a bond through the Force. The Exile finds a few more characters strewn throughout the colony, but the group is forced to make a quick escape when the Sith show up to finish their dirty work. Kreia believes that the Exile is the galaxy’s best chance for stopping the Sith, though stops short of endorsing such a mission herself. Indeed, the old woman’s motivations remain delightfully vague for most of the game.

As the Exile travels around space running missions and picking up more oddball squadmates, he/she notices a few particular Force abilities. For a start, the Exile can form bonds with squadmates through the Force, strengthening their trust in him/her and even influencing their sense of morality. The Exile also learns that these abilities may or may not be tied up in why they were, well, exiled from the Jedi Order so many years ago. The Exile decides to try to seek out the Jedi Masters who oversaw his/her banishing — not just to learn why it happened, but to enlist their aid in stopping the Sith.

Yay, they brought back this sarcastic clunker!

The Exile’s journey around the galaxy plays out a lot like the main character’s quest in KOTOR. Players have a ship (the same ship from KOTOR, in fact) that they can use to putz around the galaxy and visit a few planets. Those planets are chock full of story missions, side quests, and lots of money and items. Combat is third-person and turn-based, but as with KOTOR‘s combat, the turns move quickly enough to keep the fight interesting. Attacks do only have a chance to hit, though, so be sure to level up that accuracy and critical hit damage as much as possible.

Each squadmate in the Exile’s party has his, her, or its own combat specialty and unique abilities. Some squadmates have latent Force powers and can eventually become Jedi apprentices (though lightsabers are rarer than gold dust in this game). Others are trigger-happy shootists that would rather put a blaster bolt between someone’s eyes than give them the time of day. Still others are more specialized in their abilities, adept at hacking into places they shouldn’t. Regardless of their specialties, the Exile’s team has that Mass Effect 2 ultimate badasses vibe to it. Who knows? Maybe a Sith ends up joining the team! That’d be crazy, right?

Right.

The changes that Sith Lords makes to KOTOR‘s gameplay are relatively few. Players can now craft their own components for their armor and weapons, rather than having to find them out in the field. The Exile can also make a few basic guns and battle drugs, given the proper materials. Sith Lords‘ range of hand-to-hand combat moves is expanded for some reason, and the conversation system is a bit more dynamic, giving players more freedom to persuade the weak-minded through the Force or just be a really good debater. Players can also access a palette of new and interesting Force powers. Force Scream, for example, is logistically similar to Force lighting but lets players flatten people like that little kid in Linkin Park’s music video for From the Inside.

Anything else? Not really. Money is a lot easier to come by, that’s for damn sure. KOTOR had an approximate game-wide limit on its money, and players had to be really choosy about where to drop that coin. Sith Lords makes it far easier to pick up some extra cash, and it’s not like there aren’t tons of weapons and armor to buy anyway, right? That’s pretty much all there is to be said about the changes Sith Lords makes to the KOTOR formula. That is to say… not many.

Punch him in the lightsaber! That’ll show him!

The changes that Sith Lords makes to the KOTOR aesthetic are also few in number. This game was only released a year after KOTOR, so there wasn’t time for Obsidian to get to work developing new assets or visuals. There are plenty of new character models, which is neat, but the game retains KOTOR‘s awkward character animations and not-so-well-aged object details. Textures remain blurry, colors are still a bit blotchy… fights have a few new animations, but they’re mostly restricted to the fisticuffs. Still not sure what the purpose of that skill tree is when the player can use a lightsaber.

Sith Lords has a few original creations, though, that outshine everything the game borrowed from KOTOR and even give its beloved predecessor a run for its money. The first is the game’s sound design. Guns, lightsabers and spaceships return in rip-roaring audio glory, and they still come through cleanly despite being over a decade old. Far better even than that, though, is Sith Lords‘ soundtrack, which is one of the greatest Star Wars soundtracks of all time. Alternating between quietly haunting melodies and dramatic, triumphant strings, Sith Lords‘ score is an audio masterpiece. The music is so good that LucasArts was using it for videos and promotional material up to the very last second before the Disney acquisition. Seriously, it’s damn good music.

I find your lack of musical taste disturbing…

The final and grandest piece of Sith Lords is the game’s narrative. With the game’s war-torn set pieces and the bleak notion of being the very last Jedi, Sith Lords is the closest that Star Wars has ever been to having a post-apocalyptic setting. Some aspects of the game, like invisible Sith assassins that crawl around like animals, even give off a horror vibe. Sith Lords‘ atmosphere is impressively dark, and that bleakness is carefully arranged in every war-torn city, every battle-weary NPC. The Exile cannot trust anyone; even the Force is arrayed against them. Players are as hunted by these grim signs as they are by in-game Sith assassins and bounty hunters.

More than just the apocalyptic vibe, Sith Lords benefits from having some of the best writing of any Star Wars game, far superior even to that of KOTOR. The writing results in some truly memorable characters with believable development arcs and heart-wrenching motivations. Kreia, the aforementioned old woman, is one of the most interesting video game characters ever written, Star Wars or otherwise. Her reserved character and constant criticism of the player no matter what they do smack of a depth rarely seen in RPGs anymore. Similar things can be said about the bounty hunter who’s secretly afraid, and the Mandalorian getting too old for this s***. It all makes for a batch of believable characters… characters that become very dear to the player very quickly.

That Kreia is a mysterious one…

It’s impressive that Sith Lords manages to tell a great story despite not being a finished game. It’s true; an entire planet and a few other side quests were left out of production so that Obsidian could meet a deadline. While it’s unfortunate that some content was left out of the game, the studio did a good job at covering those loose ends up (not sure if that’s commendable or unfortunate) and the rest of the game doesn’t feel short, clocking in at a few hours longer than KOTOR. A few mods are floating around that add bits and pieces of that content to the base game, but finding and downloading them is another story.

Sith Lords also deserves some leniency for the creative risks it took in penning its narrative. Rather than merely giving staple Star Wars concepts a new face, it twists those staple concepts around in interesting and terrifying ways. The idea of the Force undergoing a metamorphosis is an exotic concept, and the game’s portrayal of the Sith as hungry animals rather than cunning tacticians makes for a refreshing change. The point is that Sith Lords isn’t afraid to bend some of Star Wars‘ rules or tinker around with concepts enshrined as untouchable, and that’s what makes it such a great game. Perhaps even better than KOTOR.

Just another day in space-pocalypse.

Sith Lords isn’t the most well-known Star Wars game ever made, but it is one of the best. Its dark, rich story introduces bold new ideas to the Star Wars universe, rounded out with terrific music and some of the best writing of any Star Wars media. Don’t let Sith Lords‘ aged aesthetic or its relegation to non-canon status by Disney stop a playthrough. Pick up a copy (the Steam version’s nice and updated) and delve into some of the darkest, grittiest Star Wars storytelling ever penned.

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You can buy Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords here.

Thank you for reading! My next review will be posted in a few days. You can follow Art as Games on Twitter @IanLayneCoppock, or friend me at username Art as Games on Steam. Feel free to leave a comment or email me at ianlaynecoppock@gmail.com with a game that you’d like to see reviewed, though bear in mind that I only review PC games.

Star Wars Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II

Stop a fallen Jedi from becoming more powerful than can be possibly imagined.

PC Release: September 30, 1997

By Ian Coppock

Writing nothing but Star Wars reviews these past few weeks has been fun, and the tourney of said fun continues with a look at Star Wars Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II. Awkward arrangement of the title’s segments notwithstanding, Jedi Knight was well-received when it launched in ’97 and remains notable for being one of the first Star Wars games to let players wield a lightsaber. How well that and other mechanics have aged has been a subject of debate, and it’s one of the subjects of tonight’s review. That and, well, being able to slash people with lightsabers. Don’t worry, those people usually shoot first. Usually.

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As can be inferred from the Dark Forces II subtitle, Jedi Knight is a direct sequel to Dark Forces featuring the return of Rebel mercenary Kyle Katarn. Jedi Knight is set one year after the events of Return of the Jedi, as the Rebel Alliance transforms into the New Republic and the Empire’s various leftovers squabble for Emperor Palpatine’s vacated throne. Sadly, this game’s story was classified as non-canon when Disney bought the rights to Star Wars, but that certainly doesn’t stop the game from setting out with its own vision of how things shook out after the destruction of the second Death Star.

Anyway, the story of Jedi Knight begins as Kyle receives new information on the death of his father Morgan, whose murder by the Empire was what convinced him to join the rebellion in the first place. Kyle learns that his father was killed by Jerec, a fallen Jedi who served Palpatine as an Inquisitor and struck out on his own after the emperor’s death at Endor. Unafraid of Jerec’s ruthless reputation or the dark Jedi’s skill with a lightsaber, Kyle strikes out to find his newest nemesis.

Dark Forces II: The Return Of The 90’s

As Kyle begins searching for Jerec, he receives a vision telling him that the dark warrior is searching for the Valley of the Jedi, a nexus of Force power that will make him invincible if he taps it. Kyle also finds an old lightsaber left behind by a friend of his father’s and activates it, discovering that he has a connection to the Force. Kyle’s mission against Jerec becomes both a quest for personal vengeance and to stop Jerec before he becomes all-powerful and conquers the galaxy. With Jan by his side, he sets out to stop Jerec and his dark apprentices, all while learning what it means to be a Jedi.

Jedi Knight‘s audacious start helped get the game off the ground as much as its upgrade to fully 3D graphics and more dynamic gunplay than that of Dark Forces. Indeed, all three of these elements helped propel the game to dizzying heights when it first hit shelves in 1997. Audiences were smitten by everything from the 3D character models to the live-action cutscenes interspersed between levels (strange to think that such mundane things were once the toast of the gaming world). For every gritty investigative vibe that Dark Forces gave off, Jedi Knight has a much more character-driven narrative.

Ah yes, these must be the infamous Triangle-Faced Troopers. A truly deadly variant.

Jedi Knight is a shooter/slasher that can be played from either a first-or-third-person perspective, though generally it’s best to use the former for guns and the latter for the lightsaber. Kyle starts out with his blaster pistol, but he can quickly upgrade his arsenal with more advanced guns and grenades. Some of these weapons return from Dark Forces. The lightsaber is found relatively early in the game, and Kyle gets progressively better with it as the game goes on. Before long, the mercenary Jedi becomes pretty adept at deflecting blaster bolts and slashing enemies out of his way. Every so often the player can sever an enemy’s arm, which was considered ghastly and shocking in the 90’s.

Jedi Knight‘s other gameplay component is simple puzzles. After Kyle’s done shooting and stabbing his way through an enemy regiment, players have to solve a few simple physics conundrums in order to progress in the game. These include opening doors, balancing fuel tanks… nothing too mentally taxing but just varied enough to keep things interesting. Some levels are thinly disguised key hunts, but Jedi Knight puts enough variety into its level design to keep those from becoming too rote. Through puzzles and gunfights, Kyle has to find health and shield pickups to stay alive. Ammo is also ludicrously plentiful, even for top-tier weapons.

Put ’em up, you insidious marshmallow man!

Jedi Knight provides a solid, unpredictable mix of shooting and puzzling, but that doesn’t stop a few glaring design flaws from, well, glaring out of the woodwork. The lightsaber is a bit OP, especially later in the game when Kyle can just deflect all the blaster bolts and cut down every stormtrooper between him and the next level. This can make the game a bit easy; even the Empire’s hardest-hitting troops go down in one lightsaber strike. This, coupled with a few basic Force powers, can make short work of even the hardiest Kyle-hating combatant.  The initial fun that comes with cutting enemies to shreds with a lightsaber starts to feel old alarmingly quickly.

Jedi Knight also comes with a few platforming sections that could’ve done with more development and less reliance on micro-precise jumping. This is especially true of some of the game’s early levels, like Kyle’s father’s farm, where the player has to jump between precariously tiny ledges over an endless abyss. Similar jumping obstacles pepper many of the game’s levels, some of them with fans, anti-gravity, or something else to make hitting a square foot-wide target even more challenging. Even if Jedi Knight‘s level design sheds some of the convoluted corridors that plagued Dark Forces, its abundance of invisible walls and twisting paths can still leave players’ heads spinning.

What, jumping on a brick that juts out from the wall isn’t fun all the sudden?

Just as it would be a lie to say that the original Dark Forces‘ graphics have aged gracefully, so too would it be false to say the same of Jedi Knight. Make no mistake, the latter title’s 3D graphics are a tremendous improvement over those of Dark Forces, but some of the in-game objects are still pretty hideous. Blurry textures and awkward character animations are nothing in the face of blotchy in-game illustrations and some of the worst character model details ever devised by man or machine. Each character’s face, for example, looks like an orgy of colorful pixels with perhaps a semblance of normal facial features.

Jedi Knight manages to fare quite a bit better in the sound department, with a wide palette of crisp, impacting sound effects. Some of them reek a bit too much of static, but the sounds of blaster fire and the swoosh of the lightsaber have some satisfying weight to them. The same goes for walking on various surfaces and the rip-roaring sound of an exploding fuel barrel. The game’s score comprises the music of the classic Star Wars films, which, while a bit of a cop-out, also means that Jedi Knight isn’t hurting for great songs.

What the hell is that?! A seahorse in a tunic?!

The narrative at the heart of Jedi Knight is by far the game’s most admirable quality. It swaps out the investigative vibe of Dark Forces for a story that lets players get to know the real Kyle Katarn — not the quiet secret agent from the first game, but a stoic and rapidly evolving warrior finding his true place in the universe. Kyle’s mission to avenge his father’s death carries much more personal weight than his fight against the Dark Troopers in Dark Forces; this allows for a believable character development arc that takes him from detached mercenary to courageous champion.

…Or does it? Depending on certain actions the player takes during the course of the game, Kyle may very well be driven to the dark side in his quest for justice against Jerec. If Jedi Knight is to be believed, the path to darkness comprises killing every innocent bystander that Kyle happens upon during his journey. Unfortunately for dark side enthusiasts, though, the game doesn’t do jack to tell players that slaughtering random NPCs alters the course of the story. That’s a pretty crappy way to alter the story anyway, though; just cutting down NPCs who are otherwise unmentioned and have no bearing on the plot is a weird idea of changing the narrative’s trajectory.

It’s okay if the NPCs try to kill Kyle, though.

Even though Jedi Knight is by all accounts a direct sequel to Dark Forces, the games’ stories are two very different animals. Dark Forces is a tale of investigation and subterfuge that has little to do with the player personally, while the other is simultaneously a revenge story and a coming-of-age narrative. Jedi Knight ultimately wins out in narrative weight because of the aforementioned character development in Kyle as well as his allies and enemies. His relationship with Jan continues to evolve, as does his adversity against the brutal, greedy Jerec.

It’s difficult to say that Jedi Knight‘s narrative is strong enough to make players ignore the game’s ghoulish visuals and bad level design choices, though. Worse still, most players won’t ever get the chance to find out, because Jedi Knight is difficult to run even on Windows 7. The Steam version of the game is dead in the water due to an embarrassing bug that makes the game request putting in a disc, which… wow. The GOG version is a bit more up-to-date but still rife with  problems. Some players have gotten Jedi Knight to run after spending hours in the forums, but Jedi Knight might not be worth all those hours.

Bugs are even worse than fallen Jedi.

Unfortunately, these problems are also endemic to Mysteries of the Sith, an expansion pack that was released for Jedi Knight in 1998. The expansion is set five years after the events of Jedi Knight and follows both Kyle Katarn and Mara Jade, an Imperial agent-turned-Jedi apprentice and one of the expanded universe’s most popular characters. Despite the implementation of in-game cutscenes and a few performance updates, Mysteries of the Sith suffers the same performance and running snafus as its larger counterpart. The Steam version of this game also asks for a disc.

It’s a shame that one of Star Wars’ most iconic expanded universe characters (and the future wife of Luke Skywalker, according to the old canon) didn’t get the video game debut that she deserved. The story of Mysteries of the Sith relegates Mara Jade to a few disjointed and ultimately forgettable mercenary missions that have little to do with each other. The expansion’s ending helps set the stage for Kyle Katarn’s next game, but that’s about it. Still, even if the expansion is underwhelming, it’s too bad that getting it to run so that players can decide for themselves is next to impossible.

Sorry, Mara.

Even if players manage to get Jedi Knight to function, the story at the center of the game isn’t quite enough to save it from a plethora of badly designed visuals and weird level-building choices. The lightsaber also neuters much of the game’s challenge, even in boss fights, and that only increases as Kyle gains powerful if clunky Force abilities. Mysteries of the Sith is similarly morose in its offerings. Ultimately, both games are better off avoided, at least until they’re patched to be able to run on modern systems. Until then, Kyle’s first sortee against lightsaber-wielding bad guys is probably better off floating in space.

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You can buy Star Wars Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II here.

Thank you for reading! My next review will be posted in a few days. You can follow Art as Games on Twitter @IanLayneCoppock, or friend me at username Art as Games on Steam. Feel free to leave a comment or email me at ianlaynecoppock@gmail.com with a game that you’d like to see reviewed, though bear in mind that I only review PC games.

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion

Stop the forces of Oblivion from destroying the mortal plane.

PC Release: March 20, 2006

By Ian Coppock

Whether it’s spending time outdoors or getting into a big video game, summer is usually a time for grand adventure. It’s no coincidence that fantasy RPGs like The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt are usually released during the summer months, and with that time of year right around the corner, this is a great opportunity to take a look back at the high fantasy epics of yore. The best adventure stories are still enjoyable years after they’ve been told, and though The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion‘s status as the best of those games is up for debate, its legacy is still felt over a decade after its release.

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The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion is the fourth title in Bethesda’s venerable Elder Scrolls series and, like the other games in that lineup, is a high fantasy RPG with all the hallmarks of a magical adventure: a big world with lots of items and helpless non-player characters for whom you can run fetch quests. A few editions of Oblivion have been released over the years, but the best one to buy these days is the Game of the Year Deluxe edition available on Steam, which includes the base title and a ton of DLC all to the tune of $20.00 (or about $.01 per hour of entertainment).

Like the other Elder Scrolls games, Oblivion takes place in the magical world of Tamriel, a continent rife with magic, elves, orcs, all that good fantasy stuff. The game’s story is set 200 years before the events of Skyrim, and in classic Elder Scrolls fashion, begins with the player character having been imprisoned for an unspecified crime. Players can fashion their character from 10 playable races and a wide variety of cosmetic options. Each race also has its own perks and abilities: elves are great with magic, orcs are great with smashing skulls, etc. Players can also pick a class to suit their playstyle, making Oblivion a much more rigid RPG than most fantasy adventures released today.

Wizards are great for burning things alive and for entertaining guests at parties.

The player character catches a big break from jail time when, of all people, emperor Uriel Septim shows up at their cell. Uriel’s being chased by assassins, and his secret escape route leads through the player’s cell. The emperor’s bodyguards allow the player to accompany their party into the tunnels below the prison, though their efforts are in vain, as Uriel gets killed by a cabal of red-robed assassins. Before dying, the emperor tells the player to find his secret son, and prevent the demonic forces of Oblivion (hey, name drop!) from overrunning Tamriel.

Even though the player’s been entrusted with saving the world, they can do whatever they want after this prologue ends. Like other Elder Scrolls games, Oblivion starts players out with the main story objective but gives them the freedom to go wherever they want. Players can join a faction, go find legendary items… hell, just sit there and relax by the lake, Oblivion doesn’t care. The Elder Scrolls has always been a big believer in player agency, and no less so than with Oblivion.

This is an Elder Scrolls game, so expect plenty of caves.

In grand RPG tradition, players gain experience by using their class’s core skills, and can level up attributes like athletics and magic affinity. Unlike Skyrim and other modern RPGs that are more open-ended, Oblivion only lets players level up if they use their class’s pre-assigned skills. A player who picks a magic class, for example, won’t level up if they use something outside that skillset, like swords. This design philosophy is dated by contemporary standards but Oblivion has over a dozen classes that combine lots of different skills. The biggest danger is that players only have the prologue to see what skills they like before being forced to choose something, so pick carefully.

Oblivion can be played from a first- or third-person perspective and gives players a high degree of freedom in choosing how to navigate the world. Players can charge into battle sword in hand or sneak around assassinating foes from afar with a bow. Magic makes for the most audacious combat approach, while lockpicking lets players get a bit more creative in “borrowing” enemies’ possessions. Players can also become adept at schmoozing up to NPCs and haggling at stores. Whatever the skillset, Oblivion‘s core gameplay is classic Elder Scrolls: talk to NPCs, get quests, descend into dungeons, and fulfill a goal. It’s an inveterate quest design structure that gets saved from weary repetition by the hours of adventuring fun players have along the way to an objective.

There are lots of baddies and treasures to find in Oblivion.

Oblivion‘s combat system is not difficult to understand: just use a sword, a spell or a bow to kill a foe before they can kill the player. Enemies will usually charge right at the player, but with a bit of practice, dodging the opponent’s attacks and going in for the kill become all but second-nature. As players level up, the world will start providing more advanced weapons and treasures. Of course, enemies will also level up, and more powerful monsters will start creeping along the realm’s roads. This combat system would eventually undergo little change in Skyrim, but weapons can degrade, so it pays to keep equipment nice and shiny.

Players can set out to complete Oblivion‘s main story, complete standalone side quests, or join a faction. Like Morrowind and Skyrim, Oblivion features entire quest arcs that are not only narratives in their own right, but also give players an opportunity to build their character and gain access to valuable resources. These factions’ quests can get pretty involved and almost always end with the player becoming the head of that organization. It turns out that when the world is ruled by swords and bloodshed, the promotion ladder becomes surprisingly flexible.

The first meeting of the Creepy Cave Guild will now come to order…

Most of Oblivion is set in a verdant province called Cyrodiil, which, with its castles and rolling green hills, is the quintessential medieval fantasy setting. Of course, this also makes the game world difficult to distinguish from the dozens of other medieval fantasy games that thought it would be innovative to have a world of castles and rolling green hills (because that‘s never been done before). There’s a bit of jungle to the south and some mountains in the map’s western corner, but the rest of the world features samey medieval countryside that, while pretty, is extremely conventional for a fantasy RPG.

Players can also head to one of the region’s many cities to find quests or just get a drink at the inn. For all the visual sameness afforded by Oblivion‘s wilderness, the game does a good job of giving each of its cities a different visual theme. Each city features its own palette of building and landmark textures, though they all offer the same mix of inns, guild stops, and NPCs bursting with random exposition. Some of Oblivion‘s visual design, especially its environments, have aged well over the years, but its NPCs and wildlife look mannequin-esque by contemporary standards.

The next person who talks about mudcrabs is getting a mace in the balls.

As it happens, Oblivion‘s NPCs are where most of the game’s weirdest design choices really shamble to life. For starters, the guards’ AI is omniscient, to the point where they can sometimes detect players burglarizing a house on the other side of town. The game’s friendship system is also one of the most bizarre minigames ever devised by man. Players who need to gain an NPC’s trust have to play a pie chart game that makes them alternate between telling jokes, making threats, and complimenting them on… what, exactly? No one knows; but it does allow players to forge lifelong friendships in the span of several minutes. It’s a wonky system that only gets funnier as years go by.

Even more hilarious than the instant buddy minigame is how Oblivion allots its voice actors. Rather than mix a bunch of voice actors together across the game’s numerous races, Bethesda decided it would be a good idea to give each race a single pair of male and female voice actors. In other words, a conversation between three male humans just sounds like one guy talking to his other two personalities. Because each NPC has its own canned dialogue, repeatedly pressing anyone from a suave nobleman to a dirty beggar for news will result in the same scuttlebutt, delivered in the exact same tone. Oblivion‘s voice acting is one of gaming’s most lovably bad design choices. Fortunately, the game does a lot better in other areas of sound design, especially its gorgeous soundtrack.

Subtitles are the only way to tell who in a group of the same race is saying something.

Oblivion‘s voice acting kerfuffle becomes less entertaining when confronted with the game’s writing. Most NPCs spend an inordinate amount of time drowning the player in exposition, which isn’t that out of character for an Elder Scrolls game but is particularly common in Oblivion. The shopkeeper who wants help investigating a shady merchant will take four or five paragraphs to explain exactly why she wants the job done. Drowning the player in mission details does not substitute for storytelling, but it does make it harder to remember why the quest was taken in the first place.

The bulk of Oblivion‘s storytelling and voice acting efforts were put into the main questline, which features performances from such big names as Terrence Stamp, Sean Bean, and the immortal Sir Patrick Stewart. These actors’ thoughtful performances and much more concise writing save Oblivion‘s story from becoming as plodding as the farmer who spends thirty minutes explaining why her dirtbag husband ran off. The story also touches on themes that pop up in other games, like how the whole Dragonborn thing works. Oblivion‘s main story is arguably the most involved of the series, and the idea of the entire world being destroyed by demons gives Skyrim‘s dragons a run for their money.

Oblivion’s main narrative is darkly beautiful.

The Elder Scrolls games are not known for deep character development, preferring to let their massive worlds be the meat of the game. There’s nothing wrong with that approach, but Oblivion features a modicum of character development that makes it stand out from its peers. The emperor’s bastard son, Martin Septim, is given a thoughtful demeanor and gradual character development arc by Sean Bean, who managed to channel his inner Ned Stark before ever having signed to HBO’s Game of Thrones. Mankar Camaron, the mortal bad guy voiced by Terrence Stamp, similarly provides some fascinating insights even if they are all squashed into the very end of the game.

Oblivion‘s staple of endearing characters continues in The Shivering Isles, an expansion pack that sends the player off to an island chain full of crazy people. The expansion is meant to be played after the main questline, but allows players to interact with kooky characters and gives the medieval fantasy trope a colorful twist of insanity. It’s one of those rare expansions that is both chock full of content and the clear product of lots of love; it remains one of the most memorable fantasy RPG expansions of all time. The Shivering Isles is rolled into the aforementioned Game of the Year Deluxe edition, along with the less memorable Knights of the Nine DLC and a variety of spell, house, and armor add-ons.

Gasp! My own tomb!

So why should modern RPG enthusiasts consider giving Oblivion a try, what with its dated visuals and oftentimes tedious dialogue? Because like other Elder Scrolls games, Oblivion succeeds in handing players a robust world and telling them to go wild. It contains that same spirit of wild abandon and exploration that was captured by Morrowind, and later Skyrim. It’s a fantasy game that allows for open-world grand adventure, but has a central story that’s deeper and more involved than that of any other Elder Scrolls games, giving it an element of enjoyment not quite found in Skyrim. Medieval fantasy enthusiasts pining for the next great adventure may well find it in Oblivion. Even 11 years later, it’s one of gaming’s surest staples of satisfying adventure.

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You can buy The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Game of the Year Edition Deluxe here.

Thank you for reading! My next review will be posted in a few days. You can follow Art as Games on Twitter @IanLayneCoppock, or friend me at username Art as Games on Steam. Feel free to leave a comment or email me at ianlaynecoppock@gmail.com with a game that you’d like to see reviewed, though bear in mind that I only review PC games.