Game Room: October Roundup

Author:
SI Staff
Publish date:
Nov 1, 2012

Game Room: October Roundup

NBA 2K13

In recent years, the NBA 2K franchise has been the gold standard for not only basketball sims, but sports video game franchises in general. This year's iteration is an evolutionary step that builds on the vast improvements of the past two years. The presentation -- this year overseen by rapper Jay-Z -- shows extraordinary polish and an almost eerie integration with real-life, same-day games and outcomes. The game doesn't just look like a broadcast; it is actually its own portal into the day's actual NBA games and scores. The gameplay is as robust and intricate as ever, though the controls aren't well documented and can be overwhelming for beginners. There is Kinect playcalling support though, again, it's not always easy to tell which plays you can actually call that way. When it works, though, it's very cool.The controls are fluid and the opponent AI is highly demanding; if you try to play arcade-style, fast-paced charge-and-shoot basketball, the game will beat you every time. Like any good sports sim, the only way to win reliably against a stronger opponent is to learn your team's strengths, set up smart plays and execute them well. New this year is the Dribble Stick, which is an evolution of IsoMotion from years' past. Player likenesses are mostly spot-on and, aside from the occasional hitchy animation, the game could easily be mistaken for a television broadcast. NBA 2K13 is another winner for anyone looking for a top-notch sports sim -- it just would be nice to have a little more handholding to learn how to exploit all of the new moves and capabilities. Score: 9 out of 10

Halo 4

The Halo franchise has long been a pillar of the Xbox, but a change in developers from Bungie to 343 begged the question: Would the quality remain? The answer is a resounding "yes," as Master Chief returns for another epic sci-fi adventure that introduces a new enemy and features a storyline that smartly focuses on Chief's AI companion, Cortana. Combat is the heart of Halo 4, and it's fantastic. New vehicles and well-designed set pieces fuel intense action, whether running-and-gunning on foot, flying around on a jetpack or manning land and air vehicles (including a new mech suit, the Mantis). The game also features new weapons to wield, plus some subtle changes to existing standards like the Battle Rifle Magnum and DMR. Each weapon is ideal for a specific attacking distance and a specific enemy, and learning this intricate game of rock-paper-scissors is both intuitive and rewarding. What's more, Halo 4's stunning indoor and outdoor environments work seamlessly to create an immersive gaming experience, which is further enhanced by an ethereal score and a raw tonnage of spectacular audio effects. Enemy AI is strong, though you'll need to step up to the Heroic and Legendary difficulty settings to appreciate it. The single-player campaign alone is worth the price of admission, but when you factor in the co-op campaign and numerous multiplayer options, Halo 4 becomes not only a must-buy for Xbox owners, but also a system seller for folks who don't have one. Score: 10 out of 10

Need for Speed Most Wanted

Need for Speed Most Wanted is the latest installment in the arcade series, offering a wealth of racing in a fantastic sandbox environment. In the game you're set loose in Fairhaven, a sprawling city boasting a wide variety of terrain and tons of hidden roads and attractions. Most Wanted allows you to drive over 40 cars, with each vehicle featuring five unique races. As the game progresses you'll acquire Speed Points used to upgrade cars and to challenge the top 10 Most Wanted racers. Modifications to your car, like improving handling, can be done while driving so you don't have to waste time driving to centralized garages. But you can and will crash if you get too focused on this process while speeding around Fairhaven. A staple in Need for Speed games -- drawing the attention of cops and getting them to chase you around the city -- remains a flat-out fun experience. As pursuit intensifies you'll get more aggressive attention from the po-po's fleet of chase vehicles. A highlight of multiplayer is the option to drive Fairhaven with friends while playing thru set lists of races. Score: 9 out of 10

Forza Horizon

Forza Horizon delivers a visually stunning open-world racing game centered on the quest to become champion of the Horizon Festival. Along the way you'll purchase, discover and upgrade a host of traditional and exotic vehicles. The action is varied with point-to-point, lap and variable terrain races. The experience is highlighted by intense lighting effects and sweeping vistas, a good dose of night racing, satisfying audio effects and very detailed car models. Forza Horizon sports tight and varied handling for a wide range of vehicles and offers key driving assists that you can leave on or turn off if you prefer a more realistic and challenging breed of racing. Either way, the experience is sure to please. Tuning options aren't as robust as we've seen in the likes of Forza 4, but you can go plenty deep into vehicle customization. There's also plenty of well-crafted multiplayer options to keep you behind the wheel for a long time. Score: 9 out of 10

Assassins Creed 3

Actually the fifth Assassin's Creed console release, AC III takes the time-traveling narrative of the franchise in a new direction: specifically, the American Revolutionary War. Moving on from Altair and Ezio, players now take the role of Connor, a half-American-Indian assassin sent from Europe to uncover mysterious artifacts in the New World. Like the previous games, the bulk of the adventure takes place in an open world which players can explore using a variety of climbing parkour-style moves. There is a narrative to follow, but there's also lots of opportunities to seek out missions from bystanders and explore the virginal American continent. The beginning of the game is more tightly scripted than in years past, but once the story is set up players are left with the freedom they've come to expect. The game looks amazing, with better-than-average character and clothing designs and art direction. Even better, the voice acting is almost entirely convincing. Naval battles offer yet another new wrinkle this year. The Assassin's Creed plot arc has really become one of the most interesting and novel stories in gaming, and this year's iteration offers plenty of thrills and new adventures for fans, while retaining everything that made it great to begin with. Score: 9 out of 10

Dishonored

Dishonored plays like the offspring of some of the great franchises of PC memory: Deus Ex, Thief and, more recently, Bioshock. Players assume the role of an assassin, Corvo, wrongly accused of the murder of his beloved empress, fighting and sneaking through a plague-infested steampunk city to solve the mystery of her death and to search for her kidnapped young daughter. The game does an excellent job with setting a grim tone with superb art direction and sound. Play mechanics are generally excellent, with killing enemies being entirely optional. As players level up their character, he gains supernatural abilities to see through walls, teleport for short distances and, depending on whether players want to be stealthy or deadly, his skills can be customized to their play style. The only real ding on the game is its cover and stealth system, which sometimes makes it challenging to tell how visible the player is -- Thief handled that much better with its light gem system back in 1998. Still, in an industry rife with sequel after sequel, Dishonored's high quality experience builds handily on the successes of its influencers while being unafraid to strike out in new directions. Score: 8 out of 10

Resident Evil 6

Resident Evil 6 features hordes of the zombies you know and love, but also a host of new and exotic creatures to combat. The game is very ambitious in offering four different playable campaigns which focus on unraveling the mystery of the new C-Virus. Each campaign has some very memorable moments, but all four are marred by a hefty amount of tedious shooting sequences and a repetition of shared sequences. All four combine for 20-plus hours, but one great edited down 10-12 hour campaign probably would've produced a much better experience. Resident Evil 6 features strong art design, highlighted by great lighting and sound effects. Unfortunately, wonky camera issues pop up, especially when enemies lunge at you or when you use hand-to-hand -- or actually hand-to-zombie -- attacks. A decent suite of multiplayer options rounds out the experience including co-op campaign. Score: 7 out of 10

Street Fighters X Tekken

When Capcom released Street Fighter X Tekken to the Xbox and PS3 in March, it was a true love or hate affair. Now, seven months later, the game has made it to the Vita. The game's robust training mode is helpful, but the control scheme remains as complicated as the console version. And despite a wide array of available characters there's definitely some balance issues between the Street Fighter and Tekken lots. The graphics in SFXT are not quite on par with what we've seen from other Vita titles: backgrounds have been converted down to 2D, and there's less detail to textures overall. If you're looking for a portable fighter this might do the trick, but it won't likely appeal to hardcore fighting fans. Score: 5.5 out of 10

Skylanders Giants

It's easy to dismiss Skylanders and its new sequel as a shallow, cynical money grab. After all, the game is replete with ads -- errr... previews -- for the 40-plus action figures that open new areas and characters in the game. The integration between the toys and the game, though, is still awfully cool, and the toys and the characters they unlock are varied and great fun to upgrade. This time around there are eight giant-sized characters that add a additional wrinkles to the familiar kill-the-bad-guys-to-level-up action from the first game. Fortunately, all of the characters from the first game continue to work in the sequel, though Activision has brought plenty of new toys to the party. The game's uneven difficulty level can bring frustration for younger gamers, but the three levels of difficulty help smooth things over. Skylanders Giants is perfect for kids, fun for adults, murder on the wallet. Score: 8 out of 10

Harry Potter for Kinect

What a missed opportunity. Harry Potter for Kinect lets players reenact key moments from the Harry Potter movies using the Xbox's full-body motion sensing camera. Players will be called upon to mix potions, chase the Seeker in Quidditch, cast spells and a variety of other film-inspired activities. The visuals in the game are generally quite impressive, though the voice acting sound-alikes run the gamut from spot-on to cringe-inducing. Unfortunately, the game mechanics are often awkward and sloppy and the game uses stills throughout instead of movie clips. Kids might enjoy the game's simplicity, but otherwise only the hardest-core Harry Potter fans need even consider. Score: 5 out of 10